JeezeLooeze

This incident reminds me of the time I popped outside my condo front door to get rid of a bag of garbage. I also live alone and in the brief 10 second time I was outside my condo a gust of wind came in from my condo balcony door and slammed my condo front door shut. The lock mechanism wouldn't allow me to open it without a key -which I didn't have with me. This wouldn't have been so bad as it just meant waiting around for a locksmith to come. The worst part was that I was only dressed in rather revealing underwear, expecting to sneak out and back to the garbage room without anyone seeing so no need to get fully dressed. Without my mobile phone I was forced to go down to lobby reception and organize a locksmith only to be met with the staring gaze of all and sundry passing through! No threat to life and limb as in this story but I could have died of embarrassment! Lesson learned: have key and dress modestly at all times!!

My current non-O visa with the Chaeng Wattana IO expires 31 March 2023 when I plan to be out of Thailand. Going forward I would prefer to have my annual 1 year visa renews land in either June or July annually when I know I will more likely to be in Thailand. What are some proven strategies other knows of that work to be able to shift the date when my non- O visa is up for renewal and also ensure I maintain eligibility to re-apply for a non-O in the interim period between March and June/July together with the minimum THB800K/400K bank balance requirements over the 12 month period leading up to the new renewal date? Thoughts?

All world fiat currencies are 'falling' against the USD (except the Russian Ruble). Or you could say the USD is 'strengthening' against all other currencies. Why? Because of the international demand for USD (despite all that printing) to pay off USD denominated debt and interest. A better measure, over the long term, is to compare the gold price against all other currencies. You might be surprised at what you find.

For those crypto savvy and have both a Thai bank account and an account with Bitkub I've found some of the best forex rates can be had is by buying crypto (maybe a stable coin) on the Bitkub exchange with your THB then sending this crypto to your overseas crypto exchange where you can trade it back into EUR (or USD) to send to your EUR SEPA bank account (or EUR a/c with WISE). Bitkub charges USDT4.00 withdrawal fee or USDC10.00. Cheaper transfers can be if you use some altcoins and trade carefully but there maybe tax implications.

Meanwhile, overheard while getting a haircut at my local salon was the hair stylist asking a regular customer, a 'leading doctor' at a prestigious hospital down Sukhumvit way, whether he should get his second booster shot. "Don't bother" was the reply. "They don't work. The hospital puts pressure on doctors to push these drugs onto patients". Such is the state of the medical establishment that many of us have had grown to trust.

Prior to 2002 National Parks were controlled by the Royal Forestry Department. Their attitude was less about conservation and more about resources "on their land" ripe to be exploited hence a lot of illegal logging. With serious deforestation and corruption NPs were moved over to the newly created National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. Plodprasop Suraswadi was the permanent secretary at the time and introduced those huge increase in park entry fees for foreigners. He continued the attitude of exploiting natural parks to provide income but as the few remaining trees could not now be cut down (without a public outcry) he introduced and/or increased numerous fees for Thai and foreigners alike for those using NPs. In March 2020 Plodprasop was jailed for 2 years on corruption charges at the time he was acting permanent secretary. TIT.

Yes it might seem that way but it's actually legally required for Thai government departments to use Thai language and Thai numerals in official notices and letters. What gets me is when the Thai private sector also uses Thai numerals instead of Arabic when double pricing....

Went to Khao Sok NP last April and tried to get the Thai ticket price to no avail. This is despite having worked in Thailand for over 2 decades and paid over THB6million in Thai taxes. I do have a Thai driver's license and Pink ID card as proof of my long term resident status but the park warden did not accept them. I'm very selective of the NPs I visit as many of them don't warrant the expense. What was interesting was that at this park entrance there was a ticket vending machine so that the local officers did not have to handle any cash. Very trusting of their fellow state employees? That said however I doubt if much of this income ever gets onto the books at Bangkok. An interesting aside is that the huge increase in park fees for foreigners was introduced by Mr. Plodprasop Surasawadi quite a few years back when he was Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of which oversees the National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department. In March of 2020 Mr Surasawadi was sentenced to 2 years jail for corruption and misconduct at the time he was acting Permanent Secretary.