smotherb

13 hours ago, mikecha said:

how do u run out of drinking water  

Yeah, just let him drink champagne!

I've lived in Southeast Asia, the Middle East and in Florida most of my life. Always loved a/c. I go riding my Harley in the countryside; surprising how cooling even a warm breeze is--towns are much too hot. I have mapped-out where all the a/c bars and restaurants are located. I spend time in the malls checking the scenery. And, I frequent a great massage parlor with a/c rooms and swimming pool. Of course, I have a/c in my home and it is never higher than 23C. Sorry, cannot help you if you are trying to stay cool on a budget.

1 hour ago, BritManToo said:

I have pork steaks 3-4 times a week @ 40bht/steak, usually with fried mushrooms and baked potato in onion gravy.

Not expensive.

Not sure I get your point; because you quoted my comment about pensioners living the high-life. Are you saying you're living the high-life on B40 pork steaks or trying to live like a Thai eating pork steak, baked potatoes, mushrooms and onion gravy?

However, it appears you misunderstood me. I was not talking about those B40 pork slices. I meant good beef; the last I got was about B1500/kilo. And, any decent wine costs; I am not talking about that boxed or fruit juice-ladened stuff. 

13 hours ago, madmen said:

You need to get out more. And in know way did I say all farang but the majority who are pensioners and surprise surprise I have not yet befriended them all LMAO!

You have no idea how much I get out.  And, in no way vs. "know way," did I say you said "all farang"

I disagree with you that the majority of pensioners are trying to live like Thai. I see few who live in cheap rooms existing on street food, drinking loa cao and smoking roll-your-own green cat. 

I have been a pensioner in Thailand for years; I know many other pensioners in Thailand. Some are barely squeaking by--and it may be fair to say they are trying to live like Thais.

However, I know many more enjoying an occasional Western delicacy and Tetleys--albeit asking for more hot water cream and sugar to re-use their teabag for free--drinking beer, smoking pseudo-Western filter cigarettes and paying for a live-in woman. 

I even know many pensioners who are living the high-life; living in quite nice homes, driving expensive vehicles, eating steaks and enjoying good wines.

On 3/23/2019 at 2:19 PM, madmen said:

OP is deluded. Lets face it majority are pensioners trying to scratch out a living and trying to live like a thai in cheap rooms and dining on street food.

Thailand gave you the above plus 50 baht happy hour beers and cheap happy endings

Be happy with that or go home and be stung by the real world. Up to you ! 

How sad. You believe the majority of expats here are pensioners trying to live like Thais living in cheap rooms and existing on street food. I have to admit, I do know some who are just existing in Thailand, but most of the people I know have decent incomes and live better than the average Thai. Maybe you should try to meet a better class of friends.

On 3/20/2019 at 8:13 PM, mokwit said:

Over time they learn how to pick your locks - which is not surprising considering that is their sole focus.

Again, use your brain. Have no locks to pick.  A good friend has lived in Bangkok for many years. He rents a fully furnished condo, has the numbers of several taxi drivers,  and has his monthly funds sent to his Thai bank account. His only valuable possessions are his laptop, his cell phone, his clothes and a couple of bottles of McCallum's he enjoys each month.  He pays all his bills, including his women from his monthly stipend. He does not use a card or checks; he goes to the bank and takes out the money he needs--just a few days at a time. If his femme de jour would totally rip him off, the most she could get would only be those few things and whatever change he had in his pockets.     

"The trick is, make sure it is not in their benefit to "off" you, before a certain date! 

Keep certain things in your name, and a very PUBLIC will, that gives all you own to charity, if you happen to die before a certain age."

Why go through all that? If you are in a financial relationship, with your woman:  Don't buy anything of value and don't give her access to anything except what you give her monthly. She will still want to keep you alive or she gets nothing. 

On 3/20/2019 at 6:15 AM, AlexRich said:

On Thai Visa the generic answer to all problems is simply to "grow a pair" ... and as that is an anatomical impossibility ... the advice is of no practical use to man nor beast. 

Then, use your brain--of course, that is of no practical use to far too many men.

I asked that very question in 2008, when my wife and I first received the retirement extension--she piggy-backing on my extension. We did the income letter, so it may be different than the B800k in the bank method. She is eligible to receive my retirement income upon my death. So, according to Songkhla immigration at the time; she had to get a non-O and income letter in her own name and reapply for a retirement extension. Which meant she would have had to go out of Thailand for the non-O and have the pension transferred to her name and then get the income statement during the validity of the non-O and apply for a retirement extension. 

Obviously, we never had to try it to see.

On 3/15/2019 at 1:54 PM, jvs said:

you never can tell what crazy people do,i know some one who married his own ex!!!

Yeah, I do too. My friend married his high school sweetheart. They divorced a few years later and she went on to marry a relatively wealthy guy. My friend came on hard times and went back home to live with his parents--when he was about 55 years old. His ex came back to visit her parents. They met, her husband had died; he now lives in their home on the water in Florida, and enjoys her deceased husband's collection of old cars and boats. Not a bad plan; if it would work

On 3/13/2019 at 6:17 PM, brokenbone said:

seem practical to me, i can get advanced info

without having to have anything to do with her beforehand

I don't think all women treat all men the same. 

7 minutes ago, dinsdale said:

Did you not see the laughing emoji? 

Yes, but it seems you use emojis with many of your posts. I saw a bit of jealousy/envy in your words, but if it were all in jest; fine. 

15 minutes ago, dinsdale said:

Wow! Good comment. What does it mean? Maybe you could elaborate (that would be the verb not the adjective).????

Not sure what he meant, but I wondered why you would want to apply since you say, "This country is f#####d to teach in. Way too many hoops to jump through set up by a ministry of education with the collective IQ of a newt. "  

2 hours ago, dotpoom said:

I could live like 5 Kings on 80,000 Bt. a month.

Hmm, a king living on B16k/mo. King of what? 

11 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

The Israelis would disagree.

Far as I know Hadrian's wall and the great wall of China worked as intended. Wikipedia does not support the theory that they did not work. 

 

I got so excited with the Israelis that I skipped over your comment about Hadrian's and China's Walls.  Nevertheless; the Manchus blew through the Great Wall of China and replaced the builders, the Ming dynasty. Hadrian's wall lasted less than 40 years and the barbarians were all over the Romans. 

19 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

So, Trump did what he said he would do and vetoed it. Unlikely to the max that the senate will over rule the veto, so looks like it will head to the SCOTUS and we'll have to wait and see what they say. I'm not sure how they will rule, so not guessing.

So far Trump is achieving at least some of his election promises, 2 conservatives on the SCOTUS, cancelled TPPT ( That made me happy ), and seen to be doing what he can to build the wall. His base should be happy, and it's looking good for 2020.

Conservatives putting conservatives on the court and liberal putting liberals on the court is more an ideological necessity.

4 hours ago, heybruce said:

You apparently are not aware that the US Constitution gives the power of the purse to Congress.  This emergency decree will undoubtedly be challenged in court and wind its way up to the Supreme Court.  Hopefully even a Republican packed court will decide that Trump can't take away Congress's power of the purse by issuing emergency decrees.

How did you reach the conclusion that I was not aware Congress has financial authority?  It may go to the Supreme Court, if it cannot be stopped in the Senate,  However, with both being Republican dominated, I see little hope. Remember, the 2000 election when even Florida's Supreme Court ordered the recount--a recount of a State's rights issue--the Republican dominated Federal Supreme Court overruled it to put yet another Republican president in office who did not win the popular vote.  

4 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

The Israelis would disagree.

Far as I know Hadrian's wall and the great wall of China worked as intended. Wikipedia does not support the theory that they did not work. 

 

The Israelis shoot the trespassers--we could too, but then imagine the outcry

40 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Agree.

Seems there are a lot of people out there that think "democracy" applies only when they agree with the action, and that people that don't agree with them are <deleted> or <deleted>.

Oh for sure; most people see only what they want to see and cannot or do not view the situation with an open mind. Fear and ignorance runs rampant. Politicians, and Trump is a politician, play that card on the unknowing masses; so they will follow like good little sheep. 

20 hours ago, Puchaiyank said:

No kidding, Mr. Barr!  The veto is clearly constitutional, as any American schoolchild should know.  But, as the chief law enforcement officer, do you think it is truly such a national emergency.

 

So you are saying you approve of the illegal entry of thousands of immigrants above the President's responsibility to secure the borders?  

I think you, like most Trumpeters, miss the point. This is about declaring a national emergency to help fulfill Trump's signature campaign pledge, to build a wall.

Most Americans--including enough Republicans in Congress to stifle Trump's efforts to build the wall, even when Republicans enjoyed the majority in both houses--do not believe the wall is the answer to illegal immigration. Walls simply do not work--Hadrian's, Berlin's, China's ad infinitum--walls can be circumvented (over, under, around and through).

Any number of legitimate sources will tell you the brunt of illegal aliens, drugs, terrorists come into the US through legal points of entry. Most of the 750 miles +/- of the land border--GT 650 miles--is already blocked by physical obstruction; yet illegal immigration persists in those areas.  The other 1250 miles +/- is already obstructed by the Rio Grande river--I can imagine all those Texas riverfront land owners wanting a wall, can't you?

We have poor border security because it has been poorly managed; like so many other government managed fiascoes.  We have the technology to know when anyone approaches any part of our border. However, like so many other issues which should be logically and methodically achieved, like healthcare and education; we fail to do so. So, our primal instincts take over, and we hit it with a hammer.  We haven't come far from the cave, have we?   

14 hours ago, Sir Swagman said:

To me this means a complete rejection of democracy by this play acting president. The elected representatives say ‘no’, a voice arguably numbering as the large majority of the electorate - yet this wannabe dictator ignores it. 

 

You apparently are not aware of the President's Constitutional Right to veto a Congressional act. However, Congress can reject the President's veto with a 2/3 majority of both houses. That process is part of the US system of checks and balances. So, you can make up your mind what you think constitutes democracy, but  . . . .

7 hours ago, watcharacters said:

 

Many thanks  to all for the replies and suggestions.

 

I have some researching to do now to check  the suggestions given.

 

The Mrs. likes to drive so the boring aspect can be dealt with by my riding shotgun and reading on the Kindle app.

 

 

 

 

I used to have a gf who liked to drive. She took a girlfriend along for one trip and I joined her in the back seat. Who knew that would be out of the question. 

“It is a criminal offense, which every police officer must enforce by arresting the suspect. They can perform any such arrests as soon as they learn of the where the suspect is staying.”
Read more at https://www.thephuketnews.com/after-two-months-british-man-remains-barricaded-in-phuket-town-condo-70717.php#wkyrejEAMicJpsSM.99

Gee, and here I was thinking the police knew where he was.