thaibook

14 hours ago, baboon said:

A genuine question to American posters: If any state(s) decided they had had enough of the Union, could they secede from the United States? Realistically, that is?

some states tried it in the past and were coerced back into the union.  Seceeding unilaterally is not allowed.  It is now a federation of states rather than a confederation.

Furthermore, while each state has its own national guard with the same weaponry as national forces theoretically to defend itself including against the Federal government the national guards are now integrated into the federal military command structure and governors would find it very difficult to direct their forces independently.

1 hour ago, internationalism said:

so the scandal broke 5.5 years ago and only now anti-corruption commission gave it's verdict.

High profile cases, like that, should be speed up, given priority. The RR had admitted to given bribes, so the case is clear.

If those 2 do appeal, in 3 years case against them will be dropped, as would pass 20 years from crime.

And why not recover bribe money, as well as damages they all made to state funds. Freeze all their assets 

do you realy mean you expect people to live on their official income?  Next you will be saying you expect people to work.

On 7/25/2022 at 11:10 AM, worgeordie said:

Don't buy riverside property ,you'll lose it all .

regards Worgeordie

many years ago we bought a piece of land beside the Ping river north of Chieng Mai;  the land actually grew larger and according to Thai law the extra land was ours.  Did not help much as we had bought at the peek of the land buying frenzy.

I assume the indigenous people will be apologising for the scalping and other forms of murder committed on missionaries and immigrants as surely everyone is in favour of unrestricted immigration.

This is the man who grovels in front of the Chinese Communist party allowing them to choose bishops, banning religious education, and imposing "hymns" to the greatness of the emperor, Mao and the CCP in churches.  This is the man who bans traditional Latin Mass but apologises to cannibals and lauds people who practiced slavery and human sacrifices on a massive scale.  What a man.  Pray for him.

bear in mind that if you are tax resident in Thailand your UK state pension will not be increased; it will be frozen at its current leve.  UK state pension increases are only given to those in the UK and those in a country with a social security agreement with the UK - Thailand does not have one.

If you are not UK resident for tax purposes you only pay tax in the UK for income earned in the UK.  So if you have investments in the UK or are paid a pension from a UK company you will likely have to pay UK tax on these.  Also as a non-resident you have to complete the residency form (SA09) on the annual tax return and this is only available on paper.  It can be downloaded but not sent in as a scanned document.  Also you will not be exempt from completing a tax retur each year.

Unless you are paying tax on foreign income in the UK, or only have the state pension, it may not be worth th eadditional administrative hassle and the loss of pension increases. 

the important part of teh pbs origina article is that the penalty for corruption is a prison sentance (unlikely to be demanded for such old and honourable men) or a fine of 2,000 - 40,000 Baht.  Yes, tht is the trade off - earn hindreds of millions and face the prospect fo a maximum fine of 40,000! 

On 7/23/2022 at 5:53 AM, wombat said:

Now now...the Gulf of Siam may be too shallow for a sub but it can park up engine less at the sub base China has built in Cambodia.

and as an apology the Chinese may give the Thai Navy a discount ont eh parking fees

simply ask how much they want

2 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

Surely yhr obvious

Can someone explain to me how you can be locked up for two years on evidence 'found' with fake bomb detectors ? Sure if they are fake they do not pick up anything ? And if they did, they work.

 

And if they were locked up on evidence found at their houses after they found fake evidence, should that really matter ? 

Human rights activist is a euphenism for someone with a militant, usually radical, political view on the issue at hand.  If the first human right is the right to life, as opposed tot eh right to kill, then these activists should be keen on finding bombs and not supporting bombers. 

On 7/15/2022 at 1:02 PM, LivingNThailand said:

I just "fake" booked a trip from Bangkok to San Francisco on an  Asian airlines and the website did not ask me my nationality or passport information.  Unless they ask after you give them the credit card information...which I didn't give them, of course.

 

Then I "fake" booked a trip from Bangkok to New York on an US Airlines and the website did not ask me my nationality or passport information.

 

So I don't see how this is going to work.  Either everyone pays the 300 baht or they will have to collect as we are getting off the plane going through immigration.  ????  And I don't think immigration is going to want to do that, maybe.????

The system is not yet up and running.  Once it is passport details will have to be given at booking with no option to do so at checkin.

1 hour ago, ourmanflint said:

All these reports seem to infer that tourism *is* quite important to Thailands economy after many years of politicians telling everyone it is not

Of course it is, otherwise how could it be claimed that increasing hotel prices for tourists will solve the national economic crisis?

5 hours ago, Moon6966 said:

When i left Thailand and landed in Bahrain it was like leaving 1 planet and arriving in another on my transfer 

No masks not even the official people 

Not in the duty free 

I really try to look between passengers and workers and uniform personnel 

But nobody was wearing masks hardly anyway 

And on the next flight same the air host workers on the plane no mask 

Arrived in my country no mask either 

Thailand live in the past 

what is an air host worker?  Do you mean hostess and steward or is it an immigrant who spends all his time in the air?

Will Bangkok be the same without the cables?  Apparently in Japan there is a small eatery called Bangkok with decor to remind visitors of the city including of course a jumble of overhead cables.

8 hours ago, StayinThailand2much said:

I lived for a while in China, and I've been a number of times in Hong Kong. I agree with you in this regard. Strange thing is, the mainland Chinese know of their bad reputation of being outright rude and inconsiderate, but many of them just don't care. The 

Chinese from Hong Kong or Taiwan are very different from these mainland Chinese.

Of course, they have some education and culture.  The Han in China are just either CCP apparatchiks or egotists who will cheat and poison their way to making money.  Among those who are able to move out, many simply think they are less likely to be caught in countries where one can claim the right to everything and a few actually would prefer a life with people who are decent and polite.

Thank you all.  The bank app that stopped working was the deposit cheque function of Schwab Bank.  It would no longer allow me to deposite cheques by sending a picture.  

I ended up buying a Samsung A22 5G, for 7,740 and will get a 500 VAT refund too.  I took into account comments that whil 5G may not be very commo now it will gradually spread.  Thank you for the warning that I may only be able to download 3 OS upgrades.

12 minutes ago, it is what it is said:

They are not quite all the same.  Some, such as sports betting are "pure" in the sense that each event is independent, the outcome is not affected by the amounts gambled or by whom,

 

that doesn't sound right, i don't know much about betting, but basic economics would suggest the more money based an outcome would affect the odds, the taker of the bets needs to manage their exposure

the bookie indeed needs to manage his exposure, but the amount bet does not affect the outcome of the dog race.  I doubt the dogs know how much is being but.  On the other hand when betting on a stock or crypto the amount bet influences other peoples' decisions and so changes the odds. 

11 hours ago, mrwebb8825 said:

Also not quite accurate - the guy who bet $1,000 that the Astroes would win the pennant at the beginning of the season got better odds than someone making that bet today or will in the playoffs.

Odds vary but that is because the bookies base their odds on the weight of bets rather than purely on the probability of the event.

I need to buy a new smartphone.  My bank app to be able to deposit cheques says the version of IO on my telephone needs updating and the hardware will not allow it.

What is the benefit of 5G and in particular might 5G provide coverage where 4G does not?  I assume all 5G 'phones will receive 4G and lower.   I do not play games or watch films or sports on the telephone.

If capabilities and price are relevant, I was thinking of Samsung A22, A22G, or A23.  I do not want a phone with direct link to the CCP.

30 minutes ago, Whale said:

I agree with you as well. 99% of them are ruses/cons or will die through attrition. But the betting is that some will survive and go on to become very important. If you are happy gambling on gold then good for you,  whatever we gamble on be it stocks, fiat, crypto, horses, football, gold, silver, whatever - by buying/saving them we are all taking a punt on future value or trying to beat inflation.

They are not quite all the same.  Some, such as sports betting are "pure" in the sense that each event is independent, the outcome is not affected by the amounts gambled or by whom, and to a large extent it is theoretically possible to calculate the outcome (allowing for luck).  Stocks, currencies, crypto on the other hand are driven to a greater or lesser extent by other users - hence for example a momentum bet in the stock market has a higher chance of being successful than in dog racing.

Denials of this type, without willingness to be open and transparent, simply increases lack of trust in anything the Royal Thai Police.  Remember, the RTP was set up specifically to spread corruption and not allow one minister or group hog more than his share. 

so two got away. other side starts shooting, loses 8 dead and inflicts no casualties - seems as if Thai forces were prepared.  in any case, good shooting.

3 hours ago, ikke1959 said:

That is shameful too... when a novice goes to temple he throws away the money because in Buddhism you don't need it. The people will help you for food and the things you need... But nowadays monks seems to have a lot of money...I could agree with it if the all the money was for the temple and the temple did good deeds with it, but apparently a lot of monks have money and they keep it....

Strictly speaking, a monk should not touch money.  

How do you tell the difference between a "real" monk and a novice - someone who is at a temple for a short while?  Some sartorial differentiation would allow to distinguish when behaviour is poor. 

On 4/29/2022 at 6:50 AM, RichardColeman said:

Thai holidays between now and the end of August.

1st May Labour Day
2nd May Labour Day Holiday
4th May Coronation of King Vajiralongkorn
13 May Royal Ploughing Day
15 May Viskha Bucha Day
16th May Viskha Bucha Day holiday
3rd June Queen Suthida’s Birthday
13 July Asahna Bucha Day
14 July Khao Phansa Day
28 July King Vajiralongkorn’s birthday
12th August Her Majesty the Queen Mother’s birthday

 

I make that that Thais will not be working 15% (allowing for a current 6 days week) of the working time from 1st May to 12th August.  5 day working week, and Thais working days in the period drops by 18% at work - sheer lunacy.

 

They need to work after a pandemic shutdown, not be drowned in public holiday spending !

You don't want them to get too tired.  Then their immune system may be compromise and the risk of catching covid increases dramatically.  Public holidays are the latest, if unstated, approach to keep covid at bay.

"Prawit said today (Tuesday) that granting bail for a criminal suspect is beyond his authority and that the matter concerns the court, adding that Lt Gen Manas was not bailed, was convicted and died while serving his prison term."

Although he denies the accusation he does not provide any plausible evidence.  It is beyond his authority - does not mean he did not try to influence the investigator.  Similarly, that Lt Gen Manas was not bailed does not mean watchman did not try.  The question is, if he tried to get him bail and did not succeed, does this mean his power is slipping or he did not really try hard, just for the form?