connda

Right!  They'll clone Big Joke and his clones will set off around rural Thailand enforcing prohibition.  ?

Groovy - sub-prime new auto loans to any Thai 18 years or older who breathes and has a heartbeat.  Works until it doesn't. 

13 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Prayuth has qualities to be next PM: New pro-Junta party

Such as being unable to handle criticism and without threatening to punch critics in the mouth?  Interesting! ?

I agree with Jo.  I maintain a bank account in Chiang Mai, but live and report to the immigration office in Lamphun.  I go the the Lamphun branch of that bank to obtain a letter regarding my account and to update my passbook. I've had no problems.

However, considering that having 800K in a Thai bank is an option for obtaining an extension based on retirement, it seems odd that whatever bank you approached refuses to open an account.  They should open an account based on you having a Non-O Visa and needing to deposit 800K to satisfy Immigrations requirements in order to obtain a retirement extension.  You may want to change banks.  Ask other retired expats on the TV Korat Forum which banks they use.

1 hour ago, petermik said:

Students even better.......ooops

If you read Thai, plenty of Dek Ying ads around the universities. 

Now branded The Diarrhea Tour - Ubon Ratchatani University - July 2018.  No doubt this will go down in the anals of history. 
Immodium - like a Rolex, don't leave home without it! 

Like overly hygiene-conscious farangs, his digestive system probably can't handle the bacteria in rural food.  Once they get him back to Bangkok and he eats at a couple of Michelin Five Star restaurants, his dyspepsia should be quickly cured.

Blame Thailand's environmental disaster of sea trash on -- of course -- the tourists!!!  ?  Better yet, Chinese tourists.  You can blame them for everything and they still keep coming in droves. 

Thailand -- the one country that I've visited in the world where it is next to impossible to find public refuse bins, and it you can find one then one that isn't overflowing.  I'll give props to PTT and other petrol stations though - almost always can find a bin there.  Out on public streets in the cities - best of luck.

FYI:

Thailand will not become a global medical hub if it can't get it's act together regarding smoothing the way for Visa extensions for individuals who have debilitating health conditions such as stroke.  Thai Immigration should be working directly with Thai hospitals which are caring for Medical Visa holder, or for that matter any visa holder who is medically incapacitated, to assure that they don't run afoul with Immigration. 

Given the aging expat community, it's going to look really good on international media when incapacitated patients are dragged out of their hospital bed or homes and throw in jail for 'overstaying their visa' when they were physically unable to process the visa paperwork while debilitated. 

6 hours ago, webfact said:

THAILAND’S 20-year strategy will become obsolete once the US implements its new Indo-Pacific strategy and expands its role across the two oceans, notably on security matters, two prominent Thai scholars on security and military affairs said.

That's making the assumption that the US Indo-Pac strategy will be more effective than China's control of the South China Sea couple their OBOR strategy.  This is now a rapidly evolving multipolar world.  But Thailand, being Thailand, will probably do what it has always done best - play the middle.

5 hours ago, webfact said:

According to Mr. Weerasak, it all started with British cave diver Vernon Unsworth, a long-time resident in Chiang Rai, who suggested that British cave divers should be brought in to help and he knew one of them, Robert Harper, who used to explore Tham Luang cave not long ago.

 

.....and unlike the tsunami relief effort, the authority didn't get their noses bent out of shape about foreigners volunteering in Thailand.  Perhaps someone learned something from that unmitigated disaster in 2004.

6 hours ago, webfact said:

“Caves have unique but fragile ecosystems and are the habitats of diverse species of fauna and flora,” Nonn said. “This is because the separateness of the caves’ environment to the outside world supports the development of distinctive ecosystems, just like remote islands in the ocean.

 

I wonder if any of these so-called 'environmentalists' have taken a look at Thailand 70 years ago and then compared it to today.  Then they get their nickers in a twist about one cave.  It's like focusing on one tree and completely missing the deforestation of virtually an entire country. 

4 hours ago, webfact said:

Going cold turkey on alcohol can cause symptoms such as shaking, shivering, irregular heart rate, sweating and insomnia for people who long dependent on booze

They're making the assumption that their own population are a bunch of really hard core boozers as opposed to social drinkers and they have to 'taper' or risk going into withdrawals or DTs.  Probably true. Then we're suppose to believe those running the country are tea-drinkers.  Doubt that too.

1 hour ago, masuk said:

Has anyone mentioned that working on line might be 'doing a Thai out of a job' and is therefore illegal for foreigners, unless of course, you have a work permit?

That particular subject is done to death if you search Thai Visa on the topic of digital nomads.  The answer is: "It depends."  TV is a good place to start to research the issue.

1 hour ago, moontang said:

A single girl could walk in a bar there, and a dozen men would start acting like idiots to get her attention, whle she does a nice tease act.  The same woman here wouldn't even get a expat pensioner to take a swallow off his beer...that is how dramatically different the places are for female companionship.

Lol - Well said!  <laughs> 

2 hours ago, moontang said:

When was thelast time you heard a Thai mention Tiger Woods?

Come to think of it, when was the last time I heard anyone of any nationality mention Tiger Woods?  ?