BigStar

The cheers from the peanut gallery are simply deafening. Well done!

Yep, exempt one property, with no implication you can't own other properties--irrelevant to the purpose of the yellow book. Moreover, if and when you own another property, you don't "update" your yellow book. If you move to that property and wish to declare it as your primary residence, then you'd cancel the old yellow book and get a new one. If getting one yellow book is too onerous for you, what horror to have to get another one! It's simply daft to imagine that a yellow book serves the same purpose as a chanote, you see. Totally different purposes.????

First, there's no "pink book." A couple of months ago, the DLT accepted my yellow book as proof of residence and gave me a new 5-year license based on it. Enough with the misinformation.

Compounding the irrelevance of your first post, illustrating further confusion, and affirming the perspicacity of my observation in response. The tax exemption isn’t based on your owning only one property, so it's simply daft to imagine the yellow book need verify any such thing.

Being on the chanote is no verification at all that you live in the place or that it is your primary residence. It's always amusing how assertions of Thais being daft or stupid usually apply more to the poster making them than to the Thais.

KBQ must right, as I see that TQ has announced reopening for 6 p.m. Sunday. http://tahitianqueen.com/

Ah. A count of steps does indicate one has at least engaged in movement, obviously better than no movement at all. But the cardiovascular benefits may be quite minimal. Hence The American Heart Association recommends 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous activity per week. Moderate intensity is key, exercise, not just movement. A recent study somewhere affirmed the recommendation applies to seniors. This article defines and explains: How to Get a Great Workout with Brisk Walking. So this is the goal to strive for. I suggested the OP start modestly--after getting medical clearance. Two years of inactivity, probably not very fit previously, possible underlying conditions, and possibly overweight--hmm. Details have been sparse. To prevent one from slacking and imagining that a comfortable stroll is in fact a workout, a fitness monitor that tracks heart rate is most useful. Lazada has one that looks OK here, and Aliexpress here. A Fitbit? Not at this level.???? But I would imagine the OP won't start now working on flexibility, as his main concern is with muscular strength or, more generally, functional fitness (like climbing into a baht bus????). If he manages to start making some progress, then stretching etc. should follow. Be great if he could talk the wife into their taking a yoga class together. But beyond flexibility and stretching, there's mobility. Mobility adds in strength and control to meet daily movement challenges, notably not falling down, the scourge of seniors. Steve Maxwell (fitness guru) illustrates the impressive degree to which mobility is possible for trained 70-year-old, with obvious anti-aging implications: Steve Maxwell: Mobility Conditioning Circuit.

Not at all, as I'm clearly referring to cardio work (such as it is) as preliminary before starting the resistance exercise he really needs to build up muscle strength. If he actually does that successfully, and then it turns out that's all he can make himself do, something is of course better than nothing. One of the best points about the water aerobics class was that the exercise was relatively strenuous for the (low) fitness level of the participants, meaning real exercise, not some typical, mostly useless, leisurely paddling. More informally, some find it helpful to walk with a partner to help supply inspiration to keep up a brisk pace, not just stroll and ogle women.

Your doc was indeed correct both times, a year ago and recently. It would appear you weren’t very fit even before the two years’ sabbatical. Walking everywhere and the occasional hike mean little. You’ll even hear people claim that housework is exercise, ‘cause it’s exhausting.???? Well, the unfit always say that sort of thing to fool themselves and avoid any real exercise. Exercise means consciously exercising to achieve the explicit purpose of being fit. And no, walking is not "enough," laughable idea. Motivation can be overrated, BTW. It comes and goes, but discipline is key. You may have enough to start anyway. I’ve exercised for decades without particularly enjoying it. I always have something else I’d prefer to do. Doesn’t matter, though; I want the benefits of fitness, need to fight sarcopenia, don’t want to lose what I have and ever start over. Starting is harder than just maintaining--fortunately, since the maintenance phase lasts a lot longer. Exercise has to be a priority with a schedule that you adhere to. It’s all on you, too, entirely your own responsibility. Nobody else cares what you do. In fact, most other people are actually bad influences, especially a partner who isn’t into a healthy lifestyle. Now, exercising at home offers you the advantage of watching movies or listening to music while you exercise to make it less boring. Me, I’m looking forward to watching the next new Star Trek episode this evening while I do intervals on my treadmill--in the air conditioning. Yeah, at home the air conditioning ensures “it’s too hot” is no excuse. You can certainly improve your physical condition if you’ll do it. But all we know is that you’re weak, no other details about your condition. Most advice about starting an exercise program begins with “check with your doctor” about what’s safe for you to do. You saw a doc recently, but a heart specialist? A lil' echocardiogram, in which many of our members place such great faith, is actually pretty useless. I’d get a full workup on your cardiovascular system. Maybe a stress test, CAC scan, get professional advice on what and how much you can safely do at this point. Something, definitely. So maybe you could start w/ at least a 15 min walk per day, work up to 30, and speed up the pace as you feel stronger. An elliptical trainer sounds all to the good, would help the upper body a bit too. You could of course swim, but I've never seen any old out-of-shape guy keep it up. I got one to sign up and pay for a year's membership at a Y for the water aerobics program popular with overweight women. At least he could do that. Never attended a single session. Oh, and died early. If you get serious and succeed in doing that for a few months, then you could start resistance training, which you absolutely need. Can take many forms, needn’t take a lot of time, needn’t destroy your joints, doesn’t require a gym. It’s harder than just doing that ol’ long slow “cardio” though. Come back here when you have some real progress to show and feel confident you can handle more.

From https://www.diabetes.org/diabetes/a1c/diagnosis, reputable source: Other sources: https://www.endocrineweb.com/conditions/pre-diabetes https://www.medicinenet.com/is_a_glucose_level_of_101_bad/article.htm https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/basics/getting-tested.html You may see the more congenial 110 around, but I'd go with the usual figure and take it very seriously--meaning adopting a healthier lifestyle rather than hitting metaformin. Medications often have the effect of making the underlying condition even worse and leading to the need for more and stronger medications. Such is the case w/ the progression of diabetes.

What's wrong with this one? https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004179992913.html?algo_exp_id=9b7c0835-a0b4-4aff-891e-e7cfb56f64ce-12&pdp_ext_f={"sku_id"%3A"12000028301656194"}&pdp_npi=2%40dis!THB!!120.7!!!78.5!!%400bb0600116522928593078151e53a4!12000028301656194!sea

What's not clear to you in my statement of exactly that? Which in fact it has been doing from the first lockdown and continues doing today. And not only in Thailand, as the article notes. It also mentions the hope for the return of international tourism. Problem?

She could, just as an old Thai granny could don a thong and swim at Jomtien, but she's obviously an outlier, as you should be able to perceive. Note the OP specifically but not exclusively references "families," the prime domestic tourism demographic. "Prime" would include farang w/ families, not mongers or backpackers, though YES they can be domestic tourists also. The OP makes no claim that ALL Thais will become domestic tourists on every holiday, BTW. Study different cultures. The Thai, or Asian, women traveling around alone to tourists areas generally have a business purpose for doing so, as economic beneficiaries of domestic tourism, esp. by single farang men.???? Your maid would tour around if she had a boyfriend to invite her and pay all the expenses. Go find her one and find out. Invite her family over and see what happens. Should the gov't encourage domestic tourism? Yes, and it has, just as in other countries where we understand such promotion perfectly. It's only Thai domestic tourism we just can't understand. Why's that? Still awaiting the answer. I'm still not seeing that you have any disagreement with or logical conclusion to make from the OP.

The 50-satang "scam" has been done to death over many years. Someone's always coming along to "rediscover" it.

Irrelevant example of one Burmese maid w/ no family here.

Last figure I saw from some years back had 35% of Thais as middle class. No, they aren’t all office workers and gov’t employees. I don’t think you have a clue, really. Why not just argue a point that’s actually in the OP rather than posture? Now that you’ve stopped pretending there’s no Thai middle class who spend during holidays, the next step is to give up the fantasy that the lower classes can only live day to day and don’t spend anything during a holiday, either. It’s all part of the condescending only farang have money narrative of such constant comfort here on the forum. OK, knickers-soiling time for our TAT: TVF. Lower class Thais also have disposable income. They spend it on the relatively inexpensive things they usually spend it on, and a holiday affords them extra opportunity to do so, just as it does for the middle class. Often this is accomplished by pooling the family resources. Saw a number of families doing exactly that today at the beach. For example (one of countless), somebody in the extended family’s got an old truck and the rest pile in the back and they all take a trip to a park, lake, or beach and spread out a mat. Might do some splashing around, fishing or *ha hoi, looking for mussels. Meantime they buy drinks and Sang Som, *som tam, snacks, noodles, maybe some cheap toys at the destination for the kids. Sometimes there’s a richer family member or a village patron to help out. They may stay overnight with relatives near the tourist area, but merely visiting relatives also means spending and revenue generation. Quibbles: Oh, maybe it’s not a truck but an old motorbike to accommodate 5 Thais. Maybe they ride the bus. Maybe they bring in the food and drinks, but they had to have bought them or the ingredients for the trip. Maybe they just walk around in the mall and eat cheap in the food court, or just buy some sugary drinks or snacks. In short, commerce happens because of the holiday. A vast number of small businesses from food carts upward survive by catering to the needs of lower, working class Thais. Lots of these exist in tourist areas, including temples. Vendors near large, well-known, highly regarded wats get PLENTY of extra business during holidays. So, does spending by the lower classes also “help” the Thai tourist sector? Definitely that part catering to the millions of low income Thais. Is that good? Yes. Just gon’ have to suck it up. Seems we just aren't going to be able to find anything in the least unreasonable or misleading in the OP. Our ace Economists’ “debunking” is so far all just blowhard misreading and Whataboutism. The main problem is that we don't like the OP. That idea of "help" is just SO distressing. Why's that?

And need them to pay the vastly higher expenses to be incurred. Incommensurate economies. Point still holds. To summarize and dispose of the usual straw men by our TAT: TVF, the article does NOT say, or even imply, that domestic tourism will “save” Thailand (oh, it’s still doomed, Golden Egg Layers long departed); will replace the revenue generated by international tourism; must ensure ALL businesses catering to international tourists even survive (and, if not, domestic tourism is therefore of course pointless); means that ALL Thais can stay at 5-star hotels; always generates at least X amount of revenue irrespective of time and circumstance (the infamous TVF Mausoleum Principle); if promoted by the tourist board in Thailand means “desperation” but NOT if by all the tourist boards of other countries and localities (https://www.visitbrighton.com/) . Now the article did dare presume to come out that knickers-twisting “help survive.” But so domestic tourism has in fact, even for some farang-patronized businesses. The tourist industry encompasses a wide spectrum from a noodle cart parked in front of Jomtien Beach up to the Centara Grand Mirage, which looked packed out during Songkran. Really, I just don’t see how the “help” by the domestic tourists much threatens the Ultimate Certain Doom. We can fall back (and have in the thread already) to every rainbow has its rain, every rose its thorns, and our much-beloved one swallow does not make a summer. Inflation, worldwide recession, currency devaluation, consumer debt, nuclear war, insane rises in visa fees (2003, the last nail in the coffin!), and total Thailand economic collapse look just around the corner just as they always have, don’t they? Surely we can all just kick back with a Chang and a condescending lip curl over that innocuous little observation offered up in the OP. Mere blip on the screen, one of many.

Try https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/font-rendering-enhancer/hmbmmdjlcdediglgfcdkhinjdelkiock

As you can see from the responses here, it’s always an astounding earth-shattering conclusion to our forum members, no matter how many times they hear it. Genius and insight are relative, so here, being so unfathomable, it counts, even from a gov't official. Notice the article didn’t say “save”: that’s the typical straw man argument here. Only the great Golden Egg Layers, who built the entire Thai economy out of the jungles, could possible “save” Thailand. It says “help.” Does it help? Yup. TAT: TVF (AN) has always refused to recognize domestic tourism in Thailand, though members do of course in their own countries. There for example even Londoner day-trippers to Brighton are considered domestic tourists and are in fact counted in the official domestic tourism figures. In Brighton they buy a lot of the same goods they could buy in the same shops in London. Understandable, but we hold that THAIS can’t do that, would never do that--except that they really do, of course. No one doubts the economic benefits there, but—not here. Goods and services are produced and sold, hotels and restos occupied, and people employed who otherwise wouldn’t be. So we may attribute the reluctance here to admit the economic benefits of domestic tourism in Thailand to the usual ubiquitous bigotry, nanny-state economic ignorance, selective perception (Thai blindness?), and simple envy of the Thai middle class, who may stay in the better hotels or their houses & condos, including with extended family members, when they stay overnight, not in one of those farang fleabags around Soi Buakhao with the Golden Egg Layers. It's comforting to pretend they don't exist, even as they occupy the restos and spend in the mall shops on the weekends and holidays.

I think you can't be really sure until you go to a shop and check, maybe on your way to a food court. Be sure to ask about ordering if your size isn't in stock. Another point is that alterations are amazingly cheap in Thailand. The sewing lady near the market will fix you right up. No. Levis come in various weights, and the company really, really did take the Thai climate into consideration. Summers in many locations in the USA can be as hot and humid as in Thailand, BTW. But a lot of tourists from more northern climes buy Levis while vacationing in Thailand, including SHOCK! Chinese and Russians. Noticed Russians in the T21 shop pre-COVID, in fact. Sorry if this revelation causes widespread knickers-soiling here on the forum. The company never even conceived of that, of course. Can our Economists all agree now Levis are doomed to disappear from the Thai market soon after the 100 stores are opened and always empty? Another expensive disaster looming! Copy jeans: tried 'em, often wore them when I first moved to Thailand. How wonderful: Levis for B200! No more. Zippers, pockets, buttonholes soon wear out, stiff, seams irregular, age poorly, never as comfortable as the real thing. I've still got an old pair or two rotting in the closet, but I just never reach for them in preference to my authentic Levis or Wranglers. The best of the Thai brands like Mc Jeans aren't bad but don't seem to fit quite as well and, if not on sale, aren't that much less than Levis.

Anyone reading that article should also read the comments, such as Funded by an organization with an aggressive agenda for plant based food coupled with an aggressive agenda against consumption of animals, written by a member of that same organization, and actually just an agenda driven review of literature hand picked and then written/crafted to support the same agenda. One of the authors and researchers whom the article references even weighs in with Please note that these authors have never conducted research on low carbohydrate, ketogenic diets, and in my view have done a very poor job in giving a balanced review. The work Dr. Yancy and I have done on low carb diets is presented in an unfair, biased manner.

I assume you mean she told you to watch your cholesterol levels, not cholesterol intake. Sugar intake, of course, but then she advised eating more fruits. You don't say what guidance exactly she gave about that. Her take on cholesterol is surely outdated. You might take a look at a recent very readable book by Malcolm Kendrick, a Brit, and therefore totally credible. He speaks at length in a podcast here. The triglyceride/HDL ratio is one of the best indicators, and low carb diets are particularly effective in keeping it low--far as diets go. You'll get the same standard advice from any doc untrained in the subject. Losing 13 kilos was all very much to the good. But that mild fatty buildup in some tissue, whatever that means, had around 60 years to build up and very few have managed to avoid any by that age. Before you lost the 13 kilos, might that have been strong fatty buildup in more than some tissues? I dunno where she got that age limit, haven't seen that urged by all the usual enemies. Surely some of the many docs supporting Low Carb Down Under are over 60 themselves. I'm well over that and been following low carb for a couple of decades, been great, kept me healthy and off all meds. And I dunno, nor did she, probably, exactly what you were eating. Now I'm not going to get drawn into a useless discussion here with the mighty TVF Starve 'n' Sweat Chorus. Only a very few here know anything about low carb/keto; most have a lot of misconceptions. But, to focus, all fruits and veggies aren't the same. Low carb/keto merely restricts you to low carb fruits and veggies. I mostly stick with berries, have some daily.???? Frozen, from Makro, are cheap. It'll be argued that blood glucose spikes aren't an issue in healthy people. But everyone started off in life pretty healthy. Now, in the USA, 88% aren't in optimal metabolic health and 50% have prediabetes or diabetes. You've enjoyed lots & lots of spikes already. And you've been significantly overweight, suggesting some degree of insulin resistance. Better to stick w/ low glycemic foods, which happen to be low carb as well. But only if you're serious. I'd hate to diminish anyone's love of just being themselves. And if you're serious and consistent, fats are quite OK. Me, I'm having fine pork chop tonight, with veggies of course. And low carb has always recommended "whole foods," long before formal whole food diets and the Whole Grains Council recommended whole foods--which no one dares call fad diets.???? Fiber is another non-issue arising in recent attacks. Add in a few tablespoons of ground flaxseed if that worries you for some reason. I've never followed keto or had any reason to. Seems like too much work anyway. But I can highly recommend low carb as part of a healthy lifestyle.

I’m all for contributing to the welfare of impecunious Thais, but for me this method would mean extra time wasted in a relatively uncomfortable environment. I filled in the forms years ago on my computer, so they’re all neatly typed. Can’t believe people sit down and fill them out w/ a pen year after year. No wonder the whinging. I even include the Overstay Penalties and Acknowledgment of Terms and Conditions. All neatly typed with my phone number added. Once a year it takes me less than 30 min to scan a couple pages of the bankbook then run off a new set of the forms and the passport file also containing a copy of my pink card; fill in the dates; and sign. I spend another 20-30 min at the bank updating the last page of my bankbook and getting the bank letter. Pro tip: ask the bank lady to make you a copy of the last page of the bankbook showing that last transaction on the day. She’ll do it and it’s free. Save your ink: sign it right then with the bank's pen.???? And this pile, all in order, stapled, paper clipped, is always quickly accepted by Immigration with nothing to add. Should be, nothing’s changed but the dates and the bankbook transactions. Good, may that continue, but the IO does in fact check. See @chilly07's experience below. Refund not mentioned.

Went for another retirement extension today. Relatively short queue today at 1 PM. Waited 10 min in the queue and once inside I waited 10 min at Desk 8 for my number. Besides the two usual IOs, man and woman, an additional young guy was working Desk 8. He was similarly thorough, pleasant, and professional. Took him little more than 5 min to check my papers, pport, and bankbook, take my pic, and give me the ticket to pick up the pport on Friday. He didn't give me that annoying notice to return to show my bankbook again after 90 days. In fact, I’d included the notice signed already w/ my papers, but the IO took it out and handed it back. I dunno if that's a break extended to everyone or just the cool people, but it was welcome. The extra day for processing surprised me. Must be all that back office work processing agents’ submissions. Didn’t bother me. On the way out, the queue outside was empty. Not that many people waiting in the 90-day report area, either. All in all, another perfectly satisfactory experience, very smooth. Stopped by the TQ on the back for a cold one, a ritual I can recommend after any visit to Immigration, and found business surprisingly good given the situation. I think it’s gonna make it.

You had mentioned it earlier in a thread quite some time ago in which someone asked about getting a treadmill or somesuch. No doubt you were joking about the clothes hanger bit.???? Which was useful. Still, there's a point here, as you know. We don't need no qualifications here, of course. We all born knowing.???? In fact, should someone foolishly mention any qualification, it will often lead to a round of sneers. You may, however, check the qualifications in the sources I gave you. They look pretty sound to me. Suppose they're only 80% correct. Good 'nuff?