ballpoint

If you "earn" less than THB 150,000 in a given year you don't have to pay income tax, and are exempt from filing a return. The company I worked for filed one for me in Bangkok every year I was working, but since retiring I changed my tax jurisdiction to my home province and visit them each year showing my bank statements for Thailand and the overseas account I transfer from. Each time I'm told I don't need to file a return. This includes a year that I was audited by the revenue department. Staying below THB 150,000 has been easy to do under the current law, but may involve more effort / be impossible going forward, depending on how the new directive is implemented. The countless speculation on multiple threads is quite worthless until the full details are disclosed.

Another that isn't a joke, but is interesting, and funny peculiar, never the less: The passenger steamer SS Warrimoo was quietly knifing its way through the waters of the mid-Pacific on its way from Vancouver to Australia. The navigator had just finished working out a star fix and brought Captain John DS. Phillips, the result. The Warrimoo's position was LAT 0º 31' N and LONG 179 30' W. The date was 31 December 1899. "Know what this means?" First Mate Payton broke in, "We're only a few miles from the intersection of the Equator and the International Date Line". Captain Phillips was prankish enough to take full advantage of the opportunity for achieving the navigational freak of a lifetime. He called his navigators to the bridge to check & double check the ship's position. He changed course slightly so as to bear directly on his mark. Then he adjusted the engine speed. The calm weather & clear night worked in his favor. At mid-night the SS Warrimoo lay on the Equator at exactly the point where it crossed the International Date Line! The consequences of this bizarre position were many: The forward part (bow) of the ship was in the Southern Hemisphere & in the middle of summer. The rear (stern) was in the Northern Hemisphere & in the middle of winter. The date in the aft part of the ship was 31 December 1899. In the bow (forward) part it was 1 January 1900. This ship was therefore not only in: Two different days, Two different months, Two different years, Two different seasons But in two different centuries - all at the same time!

The dangerous Kodak bear in its natural environment:

Even funnier because it's true: "A British man has been stopped from travelling overseas as his surname is deemed too rude to be written on a passport. A few years ago Kenny Kennard decided he would change his name for a laugh. He managed to get a driver’s license under his new name Fu-Kennard but his plan has since backfired after he was informed his new name would not be accepted on a passport". Man not allowed to travel overseas as surname is ‘too rude’ for passport (msn.com)