smotherb

1 hour ago, thaibeachlovers said:

I'm pretty sure I said elsewhere that I expect it to continue. I guess I'm just holding out hope of common sense breaking through, but where politics is concerned, there is little or no common sense involved, IMO.

Then why the lament of the downtrodden--oh why, oh why, don't they stop?  When a dog has another dog cornered; do they stop before the beta dog yields to the alpha?

That was unfair; I should not just conclude Trump is the beta dog in this situation; we need to see the end of the investigation to clear Trump's good name.

On 2/8/2019 at 5:58 AM, elmrfudd said:

crimes that are invented after an interview, yeah. and yet a myriad of govt officials get off scott free for the same

thing....amazing isn't it? I am sure it is just a coincidence.

Oh yes, that's right, the US Justice Department and US Courts system is known for its partisan behavior, especially when inventing crimes--just under Trump, of course.

8 hours ago, bankruatsteve said:

I am constantly amazed at how some threads just seem to take a life of their own.  Well, of folks that seem to have the need to post whether adding to the content or just to post.  That's TV I suppose.

Yeah, it's almost as if several TVers took time-off from their beer-guzzling and fornicating to actually have some experience with shower heaters.  

14 hours ago, Pilotman said:

we have a shower water heater in each of our bathrooms, they are rarely used.  We all just use the mains filtered water at whatever temperature it comes out at, usually comfortably warm, as the tank the water is drawn from is in the sun all day.   It s always enough and in winter can be quite stimulating in the early morning,  for the first few seconds. 

I suppose you would rarely use the a/c too; a fan is good enough. 

Not so sure about dating sites for meeting girls. I have always wanted to touch them, hear them, and see them in-person. And, I don't mind shopping around to find them--it is far too easy to misrepresent oneself online. There are always places to go for immediate gratification--bars, massage parlors, booking joints . . .  

If you prefer women with marketable skills other than leg-spreading; try the places where they work--hospitals, banks, government offices--met a very nice young lady at immigration; introduced her to my son. She came with perks for both of us.   

8 hours ago, NCC1701A said:

The most beautiful girl in Hua Hin is a man. I am not kidding you will see her on Badoo, WeChat, Thai Friendly and Tinder.

 

Every time I see her from a distance around town I am like OMG thank the lord and then I see who it is and I am like let me out of this place.

 

Hua Hin is like that.

 

Don't forget to go to Cha Am for one evening. I did meet a very beautiful girl there ONCE two years ago during an blue moon eclipse. She went to Pattaya after that.

 

go to Hut bar on Soi 80. This is the most aggressive bar in town. Fan out from there. Paragon bar. Monkey bar. 

Aladdin Bar in Bintabaht near the Hilton.

Hilton dance floor after 11:30pm

Cat bar next door after 1am

and next to Cat Bar go to the Polo bar after 2am

Pats massage on Soi 94 ask for Da. Not much too look at but very talented.

 

Make sure you tell the girls you are not married or have a girlfriend or they will drop you like a rock cause in HH they are all trying to marry old farangs as fast as possible.

 

make sure your second week's reservations are refundable if cancelled. because five days is a life time in HH unless you get lucky and have a romance.   

 

 

 

 

You say, "Make sure you tell the girls you are not married or have a girlfriend or they will drop you like a rock cause in HH they are all trying to marry old farangs as fast as possible."

So, the Hua Hin Thai-hooker local has been organized to the point that all of them want marriage and will not take money from a married man?  My, my.

17 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Hey it's not all bad, instead of drinking a cup of hot cocoa and sleeping with a 60yo Brit woman, I've been forced to drink beer Chang and sleep with an assortment of 30 year old Thai ladies.

Yeah, that is the bright side. I lost over half my retirement too. However, I can blame no one but myself.  So, I live with it and enjoy myself.  

12 minutes ago, Corruption 101 said:

What of those with health crisis and other life disruptions.

Sorry, but that too is another problem. Just because something happens you did not foresee, does not make it Thailand's problem to lower their financial requirements for you.  Expecting everything to go well and nothing to go wrong is fool's play at best.

Just now, BritManToo said:

I did all that, but at retirement my wife divorced me, getting my 500,000 pound house outright, and 50% of my company pension.

There's not much planning I could do to offset that.

Ah yes, another sad, but all too frequently occurring tale. Sorry, but that again is another problem. Perhaps you should have been a better husband or made a better choice of wife. 

4 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Average retirement income in the UK is 500 pounds a week of which 100 pounds is earnings and 40 pounds is benefits.

I doubt many are living well.

 

Yeah, the UK has the worst state pensions in the developed world--https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/12/05/uk-state-pensions-ranked-worst-developed-world/ 

However, that is another problem. If you are a Brit and did not know that; well, shame on you. The point is you need to have money to ensure a decent retirement; so you need to save and/or invest during your working years. If you have not done that; well, shame on you again. I know many retirees who blew what they made and saved little or nothing their entire lives. Too bad, but whose fault is that? 

On 2/7/2019 at 7:06 AM, ChipButty said:

Thai ladies no like Pakistanis  

Oh my, you are naive. Do you really believe there are no Thai ladies who will have sex with anyone for money?

13 hours ago, possum1931 said:

What a ridiculous post, none of us retirees could seriously agree with this poster.

Well, I really hate to say it, but you are wrong. I am a retiree and I agree with what murraynz says.

I doubt many posters could argue with the fact that at retirement you need to have some cash as well as some income. B800k is not a great amount--< USD26k, <GBP20k. Anyone retiring in their home-countries with only that piddling amount would hardly be living well. 

However, I do understand that some retirees simply do not have the required income or the ready cash to satisfy Thai retirement laws. If that is the case; you really need to start considering another place to live. 

26 minutes ago, Kim J said:

Utter crap. The people concerned were European. They would not get away with being so inconsiderate and ignorant in their own country. Smoking in public buildings within the EU has been banned and enforced for years. Why do they think their ignorance is acceptable in Thailand, other than a total lack of brains and manners.

It is up to proprietors of restaurants and the authorities to tackle those breaking the law on their premises. Not their decent law abiding and considerate customers.

Well, gee whiz, golly gee. Utter crap you speak? 

Did you not read where I said most smokers simply comply with my request? Perhaps they are aware of the home-country laws of which you speak and realize they are offending non-smokers as well as violating the law.

I see more crap in your plan to leave it up to owners and police to enforce.  Owners may not necessarily share your feelings about smoking and may not want to get smoking customers angry; especially when they know the police may not strictly enforce unpopular laws.

However, my suggestion, when successful, offers immediate remedy, does not ruin my meal, and may make the smokers more aware of their offending habit. Your suggestion offers a pig in a poke which only makes bacon if the owners/police do something right now. Something tomorrow leaves you a timid victim with a ruined meal. 

10 hours ago, Kim J said:

I sincerely hope this is enforced fully and across the board. Yesterday myself and Mrs Kim were sat at a restaurant eating breakfast, half way through our meal two ignorant people sat right next to us and immediately lit up cigarettes. Totally ignorant behaviour and inconsiderate to others.

The breakfast was really quite nice, but shall not be returning. Smokers now being a small minority of society need to book up their ideas, and businesses alike. How many other customers is this restaurant losing by allowing smoking at their tables?

Why didn't you say something to these smokers? I imagine some smoking offenders are simply unaware that their habit bothers others or is illegal there; while other smokers simply do not care. In either event, I would say something. I have voiced my objections before and most of the time the smokers were accommodating and simply put-out their smokes or moved to another area. 

14 hours ago, mcambl61 said:

so there is no evidence, so he'll just keep making it up. this would never be allowed in any other legal setting

Oh, and what are your legal credentials?

15 hours ago, Boon Mee said:

These people who are out to get Trump won't give up even though there isn't a smidgen of evidence that any malfeasance has been committed. 

How small is a smidgen in your mind? And, what if he were only a smidgen involved with the Russians in trying to influence the 2016 elections? 

21 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

What a difference a House majority makes.

 

 

Duh

10 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Women always marry up, if you want a rich woman, you would need to be richer.

In your case the 'up' was a US passport.

Not exactly, BritManToo. It appears you think she married-up by getting a US passport; maybe she did.  

My Vietnamese wife traveled frequently as part of her job at the embassy. She was in the US a couple of times a year on business. So, she had no problems getting to the US, or other places on earth.  She was from a wealthy Vietnamese family who had both business and political ties with the French; so, she could also have qualified for French Citizenship, as some of her siblings did. She was a political-economist at the Embassy in Saigon, so when the war ended badly, she would have qualified as a political refugee in the US and citizenship would have followed.  And, of course, since she was intelligent, good-looking and capable; there were other interested suitors--those who may have had the same passport, but who were at higher positions and pay grades than I.

So, yes, she chose me to escape her dead-end life. I prefer to think it was because of the wonderfulness of myself.

15 hours ago, Lacessit said:

I would agree with this analysis IF that is the intention of the Thai authorities. They are not given to transparency or explaining their motives. Having said that, there are probably quite a few retirees who would be happy to see the issue of medical insurance put to bed if that in fact is how the Thai government intends to deal with it. I for one would be unable to get medical insurance due to age and pre-existing conditions.

Having drawn those funds down to meet an emergency, the expat would either have to import more funds from overseas, or leave. Fair enough. Although the system could be a bit fairer if a grace period was given so as to not jeopardise the next extension.

As you say, the income method is more problematic as there are no cash reserves in Thailand to cope with an emergency. Perhaps the next step is a smaller deposit of funds for those using the 65K route; however, that's pure speculation.

I am not asking for any agreement, I have simply said what I think.  I do not know the impetus behind this new policy and I have not suggested this would solve any medical insurance problems.

Medical fees can exceed B800k and the retiree funds would not cover all such expenses. In my posit, medical debts were only part of the equation. I concluded the Thais could impound the retiree funds they mandate be kept in Thai banks if the foreigner legally owed money in Thailand for any reason.

I do not know the next step the Thais will make in the income extension for retirees, but I'd wager it will be one which involves more funds in Thai banks. The problem I see is many retirees do not have any substantive savings because they have a guaranteed monthly income; so requiring them to cough-up several hundred thousand baht may be difficult.  

I do not understand what you  mean by being a bit fairer by giving a grace period. 

4 hours ago, spetersen said:

I don't understand, What about a letter from your bank proving foreign deposits , of 65000 THB every month or more, together with income affidavit from your Embassy or consulate. Does it also need 800K/400K sitting in a Thai bank for months ? The vast majority are still Issue them with the exception of four countries.

I think that is exactly the point. The Thais want you to keep the required money in Thailand. So, aside from the banking perspective; if you break a Thai law, cause monetary damage to a Thai, or have to use Thai resources, such as a hospital, they will have the ability to garnishee from each foreigner B800k for five months of the year and B400k for the remaining seven months of the year. 

Considering all the deadbeat foreigners in Thailand, having this ready stash of cash is quite logical from the Thai point of view--I am somewhat impressed.

However, the Thais probably see the monthly income of B65k being somewhat of a problem. There is no back-up stash of cash for those people; the Thais can only get a maximum of B65k at any one time. So, I am looking forward to the next Thai retirement funding evolution of how to get more out of the monthly income types.

15 hours ago, Boon Mee said:

One of his nicknames when attending VMI (Virginia Military Institute) was "Coonman" 

it seems he liked putting on Blackface and winning dance contests imitating Michael Jackson's 'Moon Walk' 

At any rate, this guy is obviously not being truthful regaging his memory of the events that need to get him out of office 

well, so a politician who lies while in office needs to resign eh?