OneZero

8 hours ago, Jingthing said:

The VPN thing is about financial institutions figuring out you live abroad. Not about IRS. U.S. financial institutions in the U.S. have a know your customer mandate and most don't really want expat accounts.

But why? I'm sure there is a valid reason, at least from their perspective.  What is it?

I assume there must be some USG regulation (?) requiring this.  But whatever the reason, what is the underlying rationale for the requirement?

A very satisfactory compromise for all concerned.  All's well that ends well.

2 hours ago, lkn said:

And you went on to imply that one of the posters was probably obese, should work out more, and change their diet, if they had problems breathing.

 

That is where I interjected and called your comment ignorant, which made you double down on the completely unrelated issue of personal diet and fitness.

 

Fact is that the air quality in Chiang Mai is causing serious health issues, even if you personally do not feel the effects, as you have been a smoker throughout your life and probably is too old to worry about shortened life expectancy.

 

You are certainly right that we can’t really do much about it, so we have to tolerate it or move someplace else, and I think many of us are seriously considered the latter, but even if we can’t do anything about it, it’s some comfort to know that this is considered a major problem by a large part of the expat/tourist community.

Insisting that the harmful aspects of the bad air in Chiang Mai only last for 2-3 weeks & anybody who disagrees has personal faults & deserves insults is indeed ignorant (there is a difference between ignorance & stupidity, so hopefully the moderators will not view this as a personal insult).  Yes, there are plenty of people whose weaker immune systems will recognize the harmful affects sooner than others and they should not be misled when contemplating long term stay in CM.

Who is the one that appears perhaps to be defensively complaining rather than accepting a bit of fair criticism?

19 hours ago, OneZero said:

Play up to both sides or play one side off against the other.  That is why Thailand was not colonized by Brits or French & that has made Thailand so proud it has continued it as a theme in foreign policy.  Witness WWII, declare war on US, but have an underground movement against the Japs.  Continuation of same theme.

 

 

16 hours ago, wwest5829 said:

Careful here, the war declaration was not delivered in Washington, unlike the war declaration on Britain. Thus, at the end of WW II, Britain wanted Thailand treated as an enemy combatant while the US supported a more “diplomatic” approach to the treatment of Thailand. If I am not mistaken in my reading of history. If I am, please cite the references so I can continue my education.

Ya,Thanks,  you illustrated the point I was making.  Bangkok declares War on US but it's ambassador in Washington refuses to deliver it. Interesting link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Thai_Movement

Background[edit]

In the aftermath of the Japanese invasion of Thailand on 7–8 December 1941, the regime of Plaek Phibunsongkhram (Phibun) declared war on the United Kingdom and the United States on 25 January 1942.^[1] Seni Pramoj, the Thai ambassador in Washington, refused to deliver the declaration to the United States government. Accordingly, the United States refrained from declaring war on Thailand. Seni, a conservative aristocrat whose anti-Japanese credentials were well established, organized the Free Thai Movement with American assistance, recruiting Thai students in the United States to work with the United States Office of Strategic Services (OSS). The OSS trained Thai personnel for underground activities, and units were readied to infiltrate Thailand. By the end of the war, more than 50,000 Thai had been trained and armed to resist the Japanese by Free Thai members who had been parachuted into the country.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Thai_Movement

Play up to both sides or play one side off against the other.  That is why Thailand was not colonized by Brits or French & that has made Thailand so proud it has continued it as a theme in foreign policy.  Witness WWII, declare war on US, but have an underground movement against the Japs.  Continuation of same theme.

Fon 081-638-2105.  But Fon has been in the US recently & had some relatives watching things at Doi Saket. That probably explains lack of response. I'm told she will retutn 17 November.

Pimann Inn at the old airport good pool and gym.  Rates not sure but I don't think too expensive.

Google it for map- my attempt topaste here rejected.

4 hours ago, LawrenceN said:

The news article says she was arrested in Muang Chiang Rai. That means somewhere in the city's central district. "Rim Kok" means the edge of the Kok River which flows through Chiang Rai, so Tambol Rim Kok is a subdistrict on the river in the district that includes the city. I bet a little googling would turn up a map if you're still curious.

Ya, that's why I asked the question if anybody knows exactly where the house is.  I own a condo at the Condotel (Utaradit Rd) and visit CR occasionally.  For all I know the house could have been just down the street (except I think the Condotel tambon is "Vieng").

" Wachira was allegedly taken by Masarat to her house in tambon Rim Kok "

Is this house right in the central city?  Does anybody know exactly where it is?

Apparently my close neighbors have some part time jobs.

AUA near Lumpini Park used to be popular.

Not if no one in the area you went to did a TM30 on you there (Jomtien Imm never knew you left). 

But if they did do a TM30 on you there, then before you do an extension of stay (retirement extension) in Jomtien, it would perhaps be wise/safe to update your return with Jomtien's TM30.

Perhaps help to get a reply if you are a bit more specific about type, amt, & any pre preparation of the food.

I don't have a precise answer for you.  But immediately go to City Hall on Pattaya Nua (in area across from TESCO) and get an answer from them.  Don't wait.

1 hour ago, dsfbrit said:

OneMoreFarang, thanks for the reply. I think I will take the bike in anyway. I will see if it passes its test as well and I will pay for the tax and insurance and get as much done as I can in one visit.

 

If I get problems, then I will sort them out as I go.

 

Thanks again for your help

Smart move.  I believe the tape over the numbers bit would only be allowed for "Authorized" Registration / Inspection Service Centers who then take your paperwork to DLT for you (& you pay a small fee (200-300?) for their service of course).

Quote: "The officials were informed by local municipal workers that usually the sewage was discharged out to sea, but due to recent strong waves and winds for the past 2 weeks, sand had formed a dam wall to block the water and had led to the detritus and waste water accumulating in an increasingly unpleasant puddle. Unquote.

I hope they don't think that if it is indeed discharged out to sea again in future, then that is ok, problem solved.

I thought I read somewhere in Thaivisa there is no combo option now.

 

It is either 65k or 800k.

Dante99: Wrong.  Combo is available for those who can get an Embassy/Consulate letter.

Comment:

I thought the embassy letter (from those embassy's still providing it) was sufficient by itself. 

Is that indeed the case?

If so, why would anybody bother with either the 800/400K method or the 65K method or trying to finagle and explain an individual specific combination?

Hope this isn't too much info for readers:

5.Myth — Declawing is a just a harmless “permanent nail trim” — I’m not sure who came up with the term declawing, because it’s quite misleading. The procedure should be called “de-toeing,” not declawing, because declawing implies only a cat’s claws are permanently removed. However, it’s impossible to remove the claws without amputating a portion of each toe.

More specifically, declawing isn't a nail trim or even nail removal. It's amputation of the claw, bones, nerves, the joint capsule, collateral ligaments and the extensor or flexor tendons, as you can clearly see in these two images:

A front-paw declaw requires 10 separate amputations. If the hind paws are also done, that's eight more separate amputations. Fortunately, hind paw declawing is much less common, but also considerably more painful for the cat. According to feline specialist Dr. Jean Hofve, declawing is so painful it is the procedure of choice to test new pain medications for cats. Believe it or not, everyone in the veterinary community under­stands it's a more painful procedure than spaying or neutering.

In addition to the mutilation of their toes, cats must use their paws to bear weight, which makes sitting up, and especially standing and walking, torturous. Most cats are sent home with just two or three days of pain medication. As we know, kitties hide pain exceptionally well, so while they may seem fine, the pain of declawing is still with them for much longer than a quick 48 hours.

Declawing can also create chronic, severe pain in a number of ways, and cats, being stoic, deal with it. They appear normal. They may even get back to playing. They may "pretend" to scratch with their missing front claws. They may climb and jump, but none of it is normal movement because declawing has altered their entire physiology. Their biomechanics have changed, and down the road, behav­ioral problems can arise.

There are immediate and obvious behavior changes in about a third of declawed cats, like biting and eliminating outside the litterbox. But there are also mental and emotional problems that can develop. Lots of owners of declawed cats report that their pet has become depressed, withdrawn, irritable and even aggressive after being declawed.  

Of course, this is to be expected if every step a cat takes causes pain. And while owners may not associate the behavior change with pain because cats are stoic, pain is usually the cause of it.  The good news is the majority of housecats these days aren't undergoing brutal toe amputations. The not-so-good news is that unless you take steps to prevent it, those sharp little claws can do big-time damage to your furniture, carpets, drapes and other surfaces around your home.

Click here for a step-by-step guide to teaching kitty what to scratch (and what not to scratch), and tips for protecting your belongings (and your skin!) from those sharp little claws.  In addition to the suggestions in the article, you might also want to investigate a new product by the makers of the feline pheromone, Feliway. It’s called Feliscratch, and you apply it directly to kitty’s scratching post. You can learn more about it at Feliway.com.

Ref the few posts above.  If both owner & co-signer can withdraw from a co-signer account, what is the difference between it & a joint account, at least with respect to Immigration's bias against approving extensions with a joint account? 

Playing devils advocate so as to not be surprised by an extension refusal when it's too late to do anything about it: 

I understand that the co-signer's name is not shown in the bankbook, but surely Immigration must be aware of the existence of this type account (co-signer).  Would not Immigration want to know if there is a co-signer and want that information revealed in the lketter from the bank?

It would be just my luck that perhaps the required letter from the bank would reveal to Immigration that the account has a co-signer who can withdraw money; and Immigration therefor disapproves the extension.