bkk_mike

It used to be the case that some embassies would just sign whatever income statement their citizen gave them, with no checks that it was actually true. Thailand asked the embassies to actually check, which is when letters from the UK, for example, stopped. But actually checking has a cost in staff time, and it's, as Norway has stated, not really the reason they have an embassy...

Rich Thais tend to stick their kids into International schools. It means they have good enough English to go to Universities in the UK, USA or Australia. It also means they have qualifications to enter without having to do a foundation year (required for students with a Thai education). Admittedly, it often means their Thai isn't always up to the standard required for the better Thai universities.

At least he's going to jail. Certain people in other countries get found guilty, then sentencing gets delayed until they're elected to a position where the Supreme Court says they can't be jailed.

Between? I've used Wise to transfer money TO Thailand (from UK and Hong Kong), but I don't think it lets you transfer FROM Thailand. As everyone else is saying... Small amounts, you use Wise as it's costs are based on the amount being transferred. For large amounts (somewhere north of $10K) it can be worth checking if Swift is cheaper, but you have to make 100% sure your home country bank doesn't do the FX conversion to Thai Baht. One thing, if you're transferring money to buy property, I think you have to use Swift, AND it has to enter Thailand in the foreign currency. Because you need the bank to sign off that the money was transferred from abroad.

No problem entering the UK. One thing nobody has mentioned... If you're on a non-direct flight double-check the rules of any place you're transiting through. (You're probably fine to transit with the Thai passport, but it might mean a stopover isn't allowed.) Remember not to apply before you land in the UK. You don't want the passport flagged in the computer system as surrendered when you're checking in.

Tourism to the US is getting killed off by the current administration. And even before that, there's overcapacity over the Pacific, so Thai adding a flight would just increase that overcapacity, so they'd lose money, just like every other time Thai have tried direct flights to the US.

Only cruel people (or idiots) actually test against placebos. (Unless there's no existing treatment). You test against the current normal protocol, to see if a new protocol is better than what you're already doing. Testing against a placebo is comparing treatment against, effectively, the total absence of treatment. And that has ethical issues if you're not treating people where there is a known treatment. I.e. you test a new measles vaccine alongside the existing measle vaccine to see if it's better. A placebo would mean people don't get vaccinated at all. Which is sheer idiocy, unless you actively want the return of polio, smallpox, measles (which is already returning and killing people with stupid parents.)

It's still a bit of an embarrassment to be selling land that was originally gifted to the UK for building an embassy on. It wouldn't have been gifted to us if they'd known we were going to turn around and sell it for a profit.

Japan is getting rid of their instant tax rebates and switching back to having to get the tax back at the airport. That would suggest there has been some fraud. Presumably either individuals approaching tourists to buy something tax-free, or shops using the tax free forms with locals rather than just with tourists.

Doge stopped publishing what the savings were, i.e. stopped linking to the project that the saving was from. Because it made it too easy to look at the project, and realise that the project ended already, so there was no spending left to save. Or that they triple-counted the same saving... And overestimated it before triple-counting it. But we'll maybe see the real numbers. It depends if anyone able to audit the numbers hasn't been fired.

Have done it once when my wife was in London and I was in Thailand. It is a bit of a pain. Wife had to do the forms at the embassy which needed to be submitted to the passport office. But it was literally 20 years ago. I took my daughter to the passport office first and got a reference number for my wife to use at the embassy, but I can't remember if that was just something obvious like my daughter's ID number.

As opposed to the good old-fashioned fascists like Trump. And with Trump's 76% tariff on Thai goods, getting the Thai population pissed off with foreigners is bad for all of us, not just you Americans.

The markets are down 10% in a week. The Nasdaq is down more than 20% from it's high which means it's officially a bear market. People are losing money, including people that supported Trump. And even if you only get your news from Fox News, they can't logically explain his tariff rates. The drop in the markets will be a problem for anyone getting close to retirement. Because their pension will mostly be invested in the stock market. The idea that Trump is remaining popular is bull<deleted>. His popularity was dropping almost as quickly as Elon Musk's before "liberation day" hit the markets.

GM pulled out of Thailand a few years ago. They sold their factory to GWM (Great Wall Motors). They pulled out of all right-hand drive markets globally. I think the only US brands for sale are Tesla and Ford. People do like the look of the Ford pickups... Unsure about Jeep. Not seen someone I know driving one in Thailand in years. Tesla were doing OK. But I don't know if they're going to get the same anti-Musk backlash that they're getting in Europe and Canada.

Chinese hybrids will be restricted to the companies that have factories in Thailand (GWM's Haval, BYD, Geely, etc.) This is because only full EVs avoid the import duty if built in China. Personally, I think hybrids are a stopgap if you drive a lot in cities, but drive long range often enough in a country with a bad charging network, that you can't go fully electric. Because you get increased complexity and higher servicing costs than regular diesel, but only better mileage in stop-start driving in cities. If you drive in the city all the time, and can charge at home, fully electric is a no-brainer. If you never drive in cities you might as well just get a regular diesel.