DogNo1

All of the money that I wire to Thailand and use to fund my credit cards comes from savings in previous years accumulated after paying US taxes on them. I don't bring in any funds assessable for Thai income tax. If worldwide income is assessable in the future, I may have to file. I've never seen a Thai tax form and wouldn't be able to read it anyway. I wonder whether there is a foreign earned income deduction available.

My credit card number was recently stolen and two fraudulent purchases using it were made. My US bank flagged the charges as questionable. When I noticed charges as pending on my account, I called the bank. My card was cancelled and the two charges will be refunded to my account. My credit card was never out of my hands. Before those fraudulent charges, I had made an online purchase to iHerb when my VPN wasn’t running. IHerb wouldn’t complete the purchase. I was logged into my hotel Internet and believe that the card number was stolen through the hotel network at that time. I might have been asked to verify that I was human but can’t remember for sure. I now verify that my VPN is active before I do any financial business on my iPad.

Sometimes the same vendor lists the identical item for a higher price.

People younger than eighty writing on here don’t seem to be taking into account how a diminishing energy level will influence how much activity is possible and how that will influence their lives. I am now eighty-two and find, after two one-week hospitalizations last year, that my faculties and energy level are diminished. My activities are pretty much limited to watching TV, reading and occasionally going to concerts. I do get out of the house for 2-3 hours every day for tea and grocery shopping. I keep in touch with a few long-time friends and family by Skype and email. It would be nice to hear what other 80+ posters are doing. I’m not a bar goer so I don’t have many conversation opportunities.

Would an A-380 be possible on a USA direct flight? I have no idea of its relative fuel economy profile but I sure enjoyed flying first class on TIA to Tokyo and back.

My cure from methanol poisoning was three rounds of hemodialysis. That removed the methanol from my blood. Labeling in Thailand needs to be improved. When tins of methanol are simply labeled “Alcohol” disastrous mistakes can happen.

It might just have been due to a mistake. In Sathorn, 1 liter tins of methanol are sold as alcohol. The tin has no labeling specifying what type of alcohol it is. Two years ago, I spent five days in the hospital after being poisoned when using the methanol for cleaning. Fortunately, I recovered.

In Japan, elderly drivers must take a vision, written and driving test every two years to retain their driving licenses. Even so, there are many accidents similar to this one.

100 Baht is approximately $4.60 Aus. (100/21.37)

The Thais walk in the same way that they drive. There is no waiting for a few seconds for another pedestrian to reach a point or a turn. The imperative is "me first" even if it is only by millimeters. At walking speed, collision can just barely be avoid by millimeters. At driving speed collision is a certainty. It is too bad that women and men walk in the same manner. A margin of patience of few seconds without the need to ace the other walker out would make for a much more pleasant walking experience.

People in Thailand drive the same way that they walk - without any regard for others.

The suicide with a charcoal burner in the car is the way many Japanese do it. It must be relatively painless. There are lots of suicides in Japan.

Angiograms are expensive but they are the definitive test for cardiac artery blockages. Many hospitals like to add the charge of inserting a couple of stents. You can’t argue about them once they’re installed. You just have to pay. So be aware that you will probably be paying for more than the angiogram.

It seems that many of the relatively young posters on here haven't read the books published back in the 70's about westerners attempting to "save" girls from the indignity of a life of prostitution. One of the most impressive was "Patpong Sisters" written by an American woman who became an intimate friend of a woman who worked in Patpong. She concluded that you could take a girl out of Patpong but you couldn't take the Patpong out of the girl. The book makes for interesting reading.

I suffered methanol poisoning about three years ago after using methanol as a cleaning spray for some time. The container was just marked “Alcohol.” I had been charged for damages by my hotel after staining things with the blue alcohol so I switched to a clear alcohol that I bought in Silom. My assumption that it was Isopropyl was wrong. It would be good if Thailand were to require a danger label on Methanol. Fortunately, my body was not damaged.