DogNo1

The yellow tablet that I got from my pharmacy is Anpuzz.  It contains Dicycloverine hydrochloride and Mefenamic Acid.  I don't know if it is what is being referred to.  I find it fairly effective for pain. Another alternative is Voltaren.  I find that taking either one, while effective, leaves me exhausted for a day or two after I stop taking them.  The same thing happens with Tylenol which seems to attack my liver.  My favorite analgesics are aspirin or Tramadol. 

Glad to hear the news about the TM 30.  BTW, my 90-day report only takes me 15 minutes to prepare at home.  The hotel admin sends it by registered mail for me.  Of course, if the online app starts working, that will be even better.

Better Trump than a socialist government.  A dictatorship of the ideologists would be terrible.   

I've had to pay a surcharge of 30 baht for Grab taxis.  Never use them now.

Wwest:  At some point, Bangkok Bank will require the International ACH which US banks and brokerages won't do.  Using Transferwise may result in the transfer being coded as a local transfer in your bank book which is not acceptable.  The method that I am currently using is telephoning Fidelity each month to wire the money to my BKK Bank account.  Wiring from your cash management account is free but you must have a standing order with all of the details on file with Fidelity.  Getting the accepted  medallion signature on the standing order is virtually impossible overseas.  I finally did it by going in to the Renton, WA Fidelity branch this summer and can now wire $2,200 each month for free but I can't automate the wires.  I just telephone Fidelity each month.  The amount, converted to baht, shows up in my bank book coded FTT.       Good luck!

If you're an American PR, you still must pay tax on capital gains, dividends and interest to Uncle Sam.  When I turned seventy, I turned my portfolio over to Marty Fridson of LLFA in New York. He invests everything for income.  I was just making too many investment mistakes.  I considered Vanguard and others but I need the yearly income and don't want to do the work managing on my own.  Marty will be appearing on the Money Show in Chicago later this month.  Anyone interested can Google LFFA in New York.

I've had both good and poor health care in Thailand and Japan.  The difference is that in Japan it costs me 10% of the list price and I get expert care at Tokyo University Hospital.  In Thailand, I switched from Bumrungrad to St. Louis because of the tremendous difference in price and also because the staff at Bumrungrad have become short-tempered.  Last year, the nurse and doctor at Bumrungrad were furious that I included both medicines and supplements in the list of medicines that I was taking.  The revelation came for me when I refilled my prescription of Stilnox (Zolpidem) at St. Louis and was charged 23 baht per tablet instead of the 77 baht per tablet that I was charged at Bumrungrad.  Years ago, Bumrungrad used to be a reasonable and pleasant place.  Now the service is brusque and the overcharging is awful.

Couldu repeated TM 30 violations get you extradited to China?

The project feasibility has been thought about.  There was a presentation at FCCT 2-3 years ago featuring former Thai Railway officials who declared that the high-speed rail would be a big money-loser for Thailand.  Apparently the only beneficiary will be China.

My cleaning lady covers the very slick tiles in my bathroom with suction-cup bath mats and then covers these with towels.  I had two bad falls in the bathroom in successive years and struck my head hard each time.  I haven't had any more falls in the bathroom but sometimes trip but don't fall on unexpected irregularities in the road or sidewalk.  I just don't spot them.  I now do my walking in shopping centers on some days. I start on the top floor and walk the circumference of each floor going down.  I'm able to get in 4,000 to 5,000 steps a day.  On other days, I ride the recumbent bike in the fitness center for 30 - 40 minutes.  This seems top be adequate.

It's the landlord's responsibility to file the TM 30 unless he/she doesn't do it.  Then it becomes the tenant's responsibility to file it and apparently if it's not filed correctly, the tenant's extension of stay can be denied.  A hiatus of four days during which a foreigner did not report his stay in Bangkok before he returned to his permanent residence is said to have resulted in the denial of his extension of stay.  Exactly what threat to national security does this four-day omission pose?  I am baffled by what purpose knowing the location of every foreigner at all times serves.  Does anyone know?  

Well, I have never had visa, GF or culture problems but I post.  

"I Woke Up Not Dead Again Today" featuring Willie Nelson

Can the government practically USE the information that they receive from the TM 30 forms?  Do they keep a file on everyone and monitor their movements?  What bureau does this?  Do we know whether the information is entered into a database?  This seems similar to a practice used in China where they keep a citizen scorecard on everyone and assess penalties when an individual loses points for an unapproved action.  What a difference from America where people are infuriated when attempts are made just to enforce immigration laws.  This TM 30 stuff appears to be petty bureaucracy gone amock with questionable utility of the information received from the procedure.  It would be good to learn what the government's concerns are.  I live in Japan for part of the year where all they need is your registered permanent address in the country.  They get all of the other information that they need from your exit and entry cards collected by immigration on your way in and out.  They don't care where you travel within the country so long as your registered residence remains the same.  

Redoubt:  you are confused about the names of the visas.  An O-A visa can only be obtained from an embassy in your home country.  Depending on which visa you arrive with determines what you do next.  If you arrive on a 30-day visa waiver, you can convert to a 90-day Non-O visa at immigration, then apply for a one-year extension of stay (not a visa) before the end of the 90 days.  I imagine that the transfer of over 65,000 baht into your Bangkok Bank account each month, including the month of your arrival, will be accepted for your first one-year extension.  After that, it will have to be 12 monthly transfers (one each month.)  If you arrive on a visa waiver, you should apply for the conversion to Non-O 15 days after you arrive.  If you plan to arrive on a different status such as a tourist visa or an O-A visa please inquire further on the forum.  Welcome to Thailand.

Beware of "the grass is greener" fallacy.

You neglect to mention the amount of your Social Security deposit into your Bangkok Bank account and then the amount specified by "yet another bank letter."  If the total amount transferred into your Bangkok Bank account every month is equal to 65,000 Baht or more, you qualify for the one-year extension.  You don't need a letter from the consulate.  Besides, they don't issue them any more.  A bank wire to your Bangkok Bank account will result in an "FTT" deposit.  Bank-to-bank transfers stopped working in June or July of this year.  Transferwise and other transfer services are not guaranteed to get the money into your account as an "FTT."  Your case sounds pretty easy.  Just subtract the amount of your Social Security direct deposit from $2,200 and then wire the balance to your Bangkok Bank account every month.  So long as your bank book shows 65,000 or more of FTT transfers every month, you will qualify for your next extension.

Japan requires the scanning of one finger from each hand but only on entry - never on exit.  Even so, my prints don't scan well and it always takes multiple times to get a scan.  I hope that the Thai authorities rethink the fingerprint scan.  They already take a photo.

NFCU is great.  No hassles, no foreign transaction fee, no cash advance fee (but they do charge interest) and I get pennies back on every dollar I spend.  I pay it off at the end of every billing period.  I' m careful to never charge in dollars and get suckered by the proprietary rates of stores, restaurants, etc.  I use Fidelity for my monthly 65,000 transfer.  It will cost me $30 a month until I get the medallion signature for my cash management account back in the US later this month.

BTW, washing vegetables does not rid them entirely of bacteria and pesticides.  People have gotten very sick from eating contaminated spinach in the US even if it wash well-washed.

An article published in a Thai newspaper a year or so ago said that all produce sold in the big supermarkets was contaminated, even that sold as organic.  It's good to by fruits and vegetables that can be peeled or have their surface layer scraped away (carrots, etc.) but leafy foods such as spinach are the dirtiest in term of contamination.