connda

Good example of what I'm looking for and at the right price. Also now I know one of the integrated graphic cards you can find in a laptop: GeForce RTX 2050 Same here. The GeForce RTX 2050 would be a good fit. I think I may be making a trip to Chiang Mai to visit Banana Computers. They have a bunch of branches in CM. Way cool!

Yeah we have been discussing that haven't we.

True that, but what I've attempting to do is wrap my head around configurations that fit my needs, ie, Processor, graphic setup that is in my price range. Examples are good, but if the store doesn't have a specific make/model then I'm looking for similar rigs with similar configurations. But I got to start with examples to give me an idea of what to look for.

Oh, and food prices as compared to the West. For local fruits, produce and even meats like pork and chicken, if you shop at a local open-air markets food is still very affordable. Like, really affordable. If you cook for yourself and know how to shop. And if you live in a small village like I do, the prices at local one-item restaurants are still the same - 20 to 25 THB for a plate of whatever they are serving. The further you get away from the village level, the more expensive. Amphur 40 to 45 THB. City center of the province 50 to 55 THB. A city like BKK and even Chiang Mai - it's just getting stupid, so best to live out in the rice fields of rural Thailand. But still - compared to the West? A plate of mix vegetables with chicken over rice in Chiang Mai: 60 THB. The same dish in America? $10 / ฿360 THB or 6 times the price. Same dish out here in the rural boondocks? 25 THB. So that dish in America? 14 times the price. I really wonder sometimes why foreigners want to crash the gate at the US southern border to live in Expensiveville USA. <headshake>

If you set down roots and have a house and land (in my wife's name but goes to me for life under a Usufruct if she should expire before me, plus the land deed in that case will be held by my Thai son with whom I get along well): Very low property taxes. No inspectors and regulators or special permits to build on your own land. The government for the most part stays out of your personal affairs as long as you don't break laws. Fewer laws to break compared to your average Western country. If you break a law - money talks. Hot women! (oh you already noted that) <laughs> (I'm old, and married, but I'm not dead yet)

Normal use Internet, writing, online conferencing, but also using Whisper AI as a transcription tool Minimum VRAM on a graphics care (GPU) needs to be 4GB.

I'm considering a new laptop. Something that can be purchased at a brick and mortar shop in Chiang Mai or Lamphun. Actually, I'm pretty ignorant regarding the advances in laptop architecture. There have been major advances in graphics and processing and the number of options and configurations are enough to make my head hurt. What I'm really ignorant about is integrated graphics in laptops. (This is off topic buy needed for comparison): For my desktop system it's pretty easy. I'm currently running Nvidia Geforce GT730 which at the time I bought this desktop was sufficient as I don't game. However, I'm starting to play with AI applications that require a minimum of 4GB VRAM powering the GPU via the graphics card (if that doesn't sound correct, again, I am ignorant about the new tech but I'm open to learning). Anyway, I need GPU power for the application(s) I may be running in the future. For my desktop is seems there are a number of Nvidea GTX series of graphic cards with upwards of 4 to 8 GB VRAM for between 3500 to 5000 THB which would fit my needs. Now - laptops. As far as I know (I may be wrong) the graphic card components in a laptop are integrated onto the motherboard? Yeah? No? And with the laptop graphic components from what I've been reading they may share memory with the CPU as opposed to having their own dedicated memory. I've looked on Lazada and it was enough to make my head hurt - too many options. Also when looking at a few of the laptops they indicated they came loaded with Android. Android? On a laptop (not a tablet)? That confuses me as well as the architecture in the description sounds as though it should run Win11 (and in my case Linux (Ubuntu)). I don't need or want a touch-screen. So I'm looking for guidance and ideas. I want a laptop which includes graphic components with a minimum of 4GB VRAM and using an Intel i5 or i7 series of processors. As this is not a gaming system I'd like to keep the price around 20K THB. And the laptop needs to be capable of running Windows 11. And it needs to be capable of running Zoom or other conferencing apps. Anyway - I'm open for suggestions. I'd prefer to buy it at a store (as opposed to Lazada or online) in case there are problems with the hardware. Shipping computers back and forth and dealing with the seller online is more hassle then I want. If things don't work as expected I want to be able to speak with the seller directly. So looking for information about suggested makes and models based on my needs.

"Visas are not transfered." After 17 years living here - I do understand that, but the original visa type is noted in the transferred stamp in pp #2, i.e., "Non-B" in my case. Regarding bank books. I'll keep it in mind. If they want that, we'll just complete their dog-and-pony-show at a different time. I'm in no rush. My 90 day isn't due until September so I'll need to get this done by then seeing that the first 90 after passport renewal needs to be completed in-person. Thx.

The problem is - some people, in fact many people, really do "want to live in a world where we lock up people indefinitely because we don't agree with their beliefs." It's become really prevalent on the "progressive" Left in the US and elsewhere in the West since I left America 17 years ago. They align themselves with authoritarians who express similar beliefs as they do and urge authoritarian leaders to strip natural rights, like the Right of Free Speech enshrined in the First Amendment of the Constitution, away from those with whom the disagree. The entire "misinformation, disinformation, malinformation" canard is built on a foundation of authoritarianism that seeks to limit the individual's right to expound their views and opinions freely in the public square and to only speak the "official, endorsed narratives." What they miss is that in a totalitarian/authoritarian system of governance, it's usually just a matter of time before you run afoul of some other tenet of the governing authoritarian's system of beliefs - and then? You yourself become the target of the totalitarian/authoritarian's wrath. Study history. History is replete with examples. First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me. —Martin Niemöller As a object lesson, it's worthwhile to read about pastor Martin Niemöller himself: https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/martin-niemoeller-first-they-came-for-the-socialists Germany may no longer be bound to the horror of Nazism, but they have now embraced a different kind of totalitarianism that seeks to erase any opinion about the history of their country that does not reflect their own singular view of that history. Disagree with the "officially endorsed historical narratives" and you will find yourself in prison. There is something drastically wrong with that - it is the criminalization of speech itself! Like I said, I'd never live in Germany. That elderly women should not be in prison for voicing opinions. For as much as I criticize America, I do so out of a love of the country and the Constitution upon which it was founded. It still supports the right of the individual to express their opinions regardless of whether we agree with those opinions or not. But if you haven't noticed, many Western countries are now attempting to criminalize speech. There are massive dangers to the natural rights of the individual in those authoritarian forms of governance.

Thanks! Think I'll just take my first passport with me and keep it in my pocket just in case. The transferred stamps with the original visa and last entry date are on the first data page of my second passport, so they do have the information. My approach with Immigration is to go loaded for bear and expect the unexpected. <laughs> That's for the information!

What I want to know is how to extinguish a lithium-ion battery fire. Are there a class of fire extinguishers that are used to put out these types of fires?

I'm sorry to hear that. I've have laser surgery in my eye and it is not pleasant. Hope all works out for you. Best wishes!

America doesn't know how to play in an open and free global market. So it relies on bullying other nations with sanctions if it can't pursued them to only trade with the US and the West and states that it's to reinforce the America's "National Security." "You must be a good trading partner <pats Thailand leaders on the head>. Good Thailand, heel. HEEL Thailand!!! Heel or we take away all your toys and your bones! Don't make me break out the whip Thailand!" I find it really sad imho. America doesn't want to participate in global trade as an equal trading partner - it wants to control global trade for its own national interests and national corporate profits. Sorry America - BRICS+ is coming and it's gonna be a new multi-polar trading paradigm. Adapt or fail economically.

I seriously hope he's the DNC nominee after the DNC Convention. America deserves him.

You do what women do: You fake an orgasm. Been there, done that. I take my cue from Meg Ryan in "When Harry Met Sally."

Yep! After about 4 brews Mr. Johnson's erector-set works just dandy, but the valves to the happy-ending fire hose end up stuck closed. Happy partner tho'.

What they don't mention (and should) is that certain prescription drugs (although OTC in Thailand) as well as alcohol can make Mr. Johnson decide not to have a happy-ending. Gotta be careful using new drugs to counteract some other drugs which is causing the problem in the first place.

Sexier women?

I've just received a new US passport. This is my third passport I've had since entering Thailand. I've just replaced my second passport which was due to expire in Jan 2025. According to the TM.22 Transfer Stamp To New Passport Form items (5) and (6): Both of those items (last arrival stamp - April 2007) and (Original Non-B visa stamp) are in my first passport. My last arrival was in 2009 and have not left the country since. Maybe the easiest path forward is to make copies of every page from all of my three passports (2 old; 1 new) along with copies of the TM30, 90 Day Report slip, and TM.6, plus the US Embassy letter stating that the US Embassy doesn't do Passport Transfer letters anymore - and take all three passports with me - and a good book to while away the time. Chiang Mai Division 5, Lamphun Immigration Office - I'm assuming that the Lamphun Office will do pretty much what is done in the Chiang Mai Offices. Anyone run into this situation when transferring stamps, in other words, being on a third passport when the original visa stamp and arrival stamp are in your first passport, not the second passport you have just replaced? 22.Transfer-Stamp-to-New-Passport-Form.pdf

Full body oil massage and a 500 THB "tip." You'll enjoy the experience. Well, unless you're neutered.

Well color me surprised! I received my new passport exactly three weeks and three days from the time that it reached the US Embassy in Bangkok. 24 days! I'm impressed! I never expected that in my wildest dreams. Well - Kudos US State Department! Well - I'll write up my experience and lessons learned in the next couple of days. Dang - surprise, surprise!

ICE vs EV, the debate thread Hybrid. I'm going more and more for the hybrid bandwagon.

I may disagree with her, but I'd fight for her right to express her views. Well, that's the difference between living in a Neo-Totalitarian state and living in a country in which Freedom of Speech is enshrined in a constitution. Throwing people into prison for opinions is paving the road to Hell. Personally I wouldn't live in Germany. I don't like totalitarians anymore than I like Nazis. They both suck.

If she was in the US she could voice her opinion regarding the Holocaust without fear of being thrown into prison. I find that countries who don't hold the tenets of Freedom of Speech to be more of a threat to humanity then the Holocaust-denying elderly woman. So Germany is embracing Totalitarianism by being as intolerant as were the Fascists and the Nazis and the Communists and all the other intolerant "-isms" in the world. Throwing a 95 year old elderly woman in prison for an opinion. That's really needless as well as heartless. That could pretty much end up being a death sentence for her. Will throwing her in prison change her mind? No. It just attempts to shut her up.