Acharn

I was assigned here by the U.S. Army in 1971. Under the Roles and Missions of the military, the U.S. Army operates all transport except air. That's trucks, railroads, and seaports. Also, during the Vietnam War the U.S. had support services (payroll, administration and such) for forces in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. We built a deep water port at Sattahip. Later, in Germany, one of my bosses was the Captain who was the last commanding officer at Sattahip (while he was still a First Lieutenant).

On 1/6/2021 at 2:09 PM, Pmbkk said:

 

I go along with this, we got married there with no witnesses - the officers were the witnesses.

 

 

 

Same with me and my late wife in Nakhon Sawan seven years ago. I believe it was true in amphoe Lam Plai Mat, changwat Buri Ram, when I married my first wife, but that was 48 years ago so things might have changed.

At this point there are 17 pages, and the ThaiVisa search function sucks. Is there an Endlish language version available somewhere? Neither app is available in the PlayStore on my six-year-old Android phone, and both the links in the article are in Thai, with no apparent thingy to click on to change language. I've been thinking about buying a new phone anyway, but it has to wait until I get my tax refund next month. Meanwhile my current phone is on Android 4.0 and can't be upgraded. Although I can read Thai, it's a pretty slow process and I don't enjoy it. At the Big C today they're still using dead tree notebooks for people to sign in. I think this "requirement" is going to founder like it did last year.

22 hours ago, Thomas J said:

I agree with worgeordie,  there are a glut of properties but there seems to be a strong resistance to fire sale pricing.  Rental prices have definitely fallen, I guess some feel if they can stem the bleeding cash flow a bit, they are going to hang on.  Also, very peculiar here in Thailand that foreclosed properties don't' get auctioned off at good pricing.  In my village there are two properties that were foreclosed several years ago.  As a former banker in the USA I know it was a practice to liquidate non earning assets as quickly as possible to turn them into earning assets and to stem the costs of holding them.  Here, these banks have held on for years and of course the properties without maintenance are in disrepair but the pricing remains the same.  I suspect at some point with the number of Thai's hurt from the lack of income from Covid that it will result in even more foreclosures unless the government imposes a moratorium.  While good for the homeowner it will hurt the banks. 

Saw the same thing in 1997, during/after the Dom Yum Kung financial crisis. People trying to sell real estate absolutely refused to lower prices. I guess eventually some of the did, but some of the properties with construction going on didn't find a buyer for years afterward. 

On 12/28/2020 at 7:44 PM, lovethai123 said:

well do thai buddhist woman need to convert (atleast on papers) if they marry an american, canadina, uk, nz, au, french, german, spanish, scandinavians , irish etc ? 

 

 

i am just curious. 

 

What do you mean, "have to?" I was raised Christian, but never accepted it, so there would be nothing for my wives to convert to. I suppose of you really cared about some religion like the Abrahamic ones, with jealous and angry creator gods, you might demand your wife "convert." What does convert mean? That she follow the forms? Buddhism is pretty accepting, as is Hinduism, and animism. Buddhist ceremonies are pretty ritualistic, and most Thai practice is caring for the spirit of the land, at their residence, and maybe some Chinese ceremonies during the course of the year. About one third of Americans are not members of any church or religion. Many people people who call themselves Christian never go to church and do not even know the basic requirements of faith (the Nicene Creed). People who follow the Prosperity Gospel are not, in any sense Christian. I believe the Catholic Church still refuses to recognize as valid any marriage between a Catholic and a non-Catholic. 

I'm afraid I don't understand what your problem is. If you don't need the money now, just let it pile up in whatever accounts it's going to. If you don't need it now, you may need it later. Medical expenses can wipe out even rich people (well, below the 0.01%, anyway). If you don't have any wish to leave a legacy, let the state take it. After you're dead you aren't going to care. As to the advice to withdraw a certain amount every year, that needs to be modified according to individual circumstances. Why would you withdraw it if you don't need to spend it?

Thai monks are not permitted to eat from noon until dawn the next day. I don't know how much they eat during the five or six hours, but I'm sure there are no restrictions on sugar, and I'm pretty sure they don't use electrolyte substitutes. I've been trying to cut down on the amount of sugar I eat, but not give it up altogether, so I haven't really paid attention, but I take a sports drink called New Tower Electrolyte Beverage. Sorry, I have no idea if it contains sugar, as the components are written in a very small Thai font which I can't read without a magnifying glass. I sympathize with your plight, but I think you're trying to be too strict. Long ago I adopted a motto from the alt.fitness Usenet News group, "Breathe through your mouth." The meaning is, you don't get extra points for running a marathon only breathing through your nose. Good luck with your quest.

9 hours ago, mr mr said:

 

for what ? 

 

does the headline not state that the place is deserted at night. that's a clear signal to open longer. 

 

sawatdee kap.

No, it doesn't. It says the place is deserted during the daytime. It'll never recover since PM Prayut, while head of the junta, ordered it to be cleaned up. The kind of tourists who went there (and did spend money, although not a lot per capita) do not do "cleaned up."

I really like Thai food, but I like other nationalities' food specialties, as well. I like Mexican, but it doesn't seem to be available here in Nakhon Sawan. The Mex restaurants I found in Bangkok seemed a little pricey. I know very little about Italian food except for pasta, which I love in various forms. German food is good. I haven't been there for many years, but my memory is there's a beer garden across the street from the entrance to Soi Cowboy from Soi 18 which has excellent German food. Next to the entrance from Soi 18 to Soi Cowboy is a Dutch restaurant which has a wonderful breakfast -- or did have. We left Bangkok over ten years ago, so I probably shouldn't be mentioning the restaurants I used to know. I've liked Indian food and Turkish food, too, but I could eat Phat Bai Grapao Mu or Gai every  day.

This is a rhetorical question, probably been addressed before, but what's with all these people who "fall off" sixth floor balconies? It seems to happen at least once a week, and they usually don't survive. I never had friends who lived in high rise apartments, or tall hotels, but it seems hard to think the rails on their balconies are so low.

4 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

That's odd, all the Thais on my moobaan say thanks to the security staff when they raise the entrance gates.

My kids say thanks (and a wai) when I hand them food or money, I say thanks when I send them out to get something from 7-11 for me.

 

You must live in a strange world where nobody says thanks.

Really? That's why I included the reservation I might be wrong. I've never lived around Thais who had servants or staff, so I didn't know that. I know that the people I know wai and say thank you when I hand them money, but I thought that was because it was something outside of routine obligations. Well, I'm still trying to learn Thai culture, and often I neglect to ask a Thai.

I'm pretty sure the scheme is open to every Thai citizen, and it's one reason Thaksin is still overwhelmingly popular with lower-income Thais. The problem is it only operates in full in hospitals fully owned and operated by the government, so they tend to be crowded. It applied to my late wife six years ago. She was unable to hold food down, so they had her in a ward to feed her intravenously. She stayed in that situation for five or six weeks, total charge for the whole period including medication, was ฿30. Finally the doctor decided to operate, something went wrong, and she was transferred to the ICU. They treated this as the start of a new treatment, and had to pay another ฿30. She lingered another two weeks, with 24 hour nursing care, hooked up to a lot of expensive machines, and there was no further charge. I'm pretty sure the program is still in effect, but most Thais with means prefer to use private hospitals. Last year my niece had a cut that required stitches, and she went to the government hospital -- ฿30. Most Thais who have means prefer to go to one of the many private hospitals, but the program has literally saved millions of lives of poor Thais.

My experience is that you do say thank you to family or friends when they do something for you. I may have gotten it wrong, but from observation, I would say that you are not supposed to say thank you to people who are doing their job or fulfilling their duty. For example, you do not thank a waiter or waitress for bringing you the dishes you ordered.

Normal maintenance, you're supposed to rotate your tires according to manufacturer's instructions. I think it's usually every 8,000 miles. They taught this stuff in high school back in the '50s, along with Driver Training.

2 minutes ago, Oxx said:

 

Neither is now possible.  Trump's definitely won Florida with 96% of votes counted, and he's strongly ahead in Pennsylvania with 55.1% of the vote versus Biden's 43.6% with 75% of the votes counted.

Thanks for the update. That'll drive the Democrats even crazier than they've been since 2016. Maybe they'll get rid of the high priced consultants that have been running the party. They didn't even analyze what they did wrong in 2016, just followed John Brennan's advice to divert attention with the Russiagate hoax. It's going to be interesting.

28 minutes ago, Tedly said:

Slight variation on this topic, but I have a question for you guys who are getting SS while living in Thailand. I just read that if you are not living in USA they stop paying until you spend 30 days back in USA. How can I get around this, I'll be collecting in another year or so. Do you have to use a US address and US bank account? I hear different stories on this. 

   Thanks for any help.

Never heard that. I've been living here since 1982, collecting Social Security since 1999. Never a problem, but sometimes it's a couple days later than my Army pension. Strictly speaking it's supposed to be credited to my account the 3rd every month, but it's usually deposited on the 1st, unless the 1st is on a Saturday or Sunday. I have direct deposit to my U.S. credit union and then use Transferwise to put in my Thai bank. I understand it's become possible to have SS deposit directly to a Thai bank, but I still can't do that with my Army pension and the cost of this method is unimportant.

9 hours ago, sungod said:

What time will I be able to turn the TV on and see something else on the news other than this complete bore?

Better turn to a nice likhay with pretty girls. Also, just my opinion, but you won't get any news on American TV. Maybe try BBC. There are some good movies available with bittorrent.

Probably going to be Friday or Saturday. The unprecedented number of mailed ballots and the large turnout probably mean counting delays in some states. Several state laws require election officials to wait for election day to start counting mailed ballots. If the results are at all close there will be court cases files by both sides. The states have different ways to handle the situation if a decision hasn't been reached by 4 January. However, two states are key. If Biden wins both Pennsylvania and Florida he's almost surely the winner.

On 10/25/2020 at 6:48 PM, jerolamo said:

Why don't you go To Lao... they said only 2 die from COVID.

Are you serious ? can you really trust this number ? Ho come on...

I'd like to visit Lao, especially Luang Prabang, but don't have the money. The good COVID-19 numbers are not my reason(s) for living in Thailand, just another reason to like it. 

3 minutes ago, VBF said:

Agree....Further, certainly in UK, anyone who tests positive for CV is regarded as a "case" This Is an emotive description, implying, as it does, a possible worst-case scenario.

IMO...a  "case" is a person who is sick: ie has symptoms, needs medical attention or worse. They deserve our care and attention.

 

If the definition of "case" was reserved for truly sick people, and those who test positive but are asymptomatic were referred to as (say) "tested and healthy individuals" then the number of "cases" would possibly be far, far lower.

 

But what do I know...I'm not a Scientist sponsored by Government  ????

I agree, too. We're never told about the number of false negatives, which is a real possibility in this case (she tested negative twice). The way they treat the current news false positives aren't really important, except to the poor schlubs who have to spend the next two weeks in quarantine. It would be helpful if they showed how many of the positive tests are people who show symptoms and how many don't. Of course, I'm trying to deny that she caught the virus in Thailand.

12 hours ago, daveAustin said:

It is Fking EVERYWHERE!!! Of course. What's the big deal. Why do these little countries that purportedly display a '0' get up all in arms when it pops up? It was always China, but who cares where it came from thereafter? Stroll on!!

I agree it doesn't matter where it came from, but I like living in Thailand, where we've had 59 deaths, as compared to, say, Indonesia, which has had 13,299 deaths, or the U.S., with 220,000 and climbing. That's a big deal to me. If Thailand has another 10 deaths this year from social transmission, that's a really big deal.

23 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

you should not have to ask who they are. You have been part of the TV forum since 2004.  I am sure you can read into the sarcasm and figure out who They are..    

I didn't see any sarcasm. I think "sarcasm" does not mean what you think it does.

4 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

They don't appear all that bothered at the moment.

I've been here 11 years and just got my first one at Chiang Mai immigration.

I just played the elderly slightly demented old foreigner card, and while they wondered why I've never had one before, just did me one.

Kind of like what my friend did when they first started enforcing 90 day reporting in, I think, 1998. My friend said he went to Soi Suan Phlu and just acted as if he didn't understand and smiled, smiled, smiled, and they finally gave up and passed on the ฿2,000 fine.