19 hours ago, JeffersLos said:

19 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

I wasn't aware that we had to explain our views here?

Maybe he was reaching out to someone that is feeling down. 

No, I was indicating that I thought his comment was "sad".  I'm happy, all the time.  

4 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

I'm happy, all the time.  

Nobody is happy all the time. You are masking your sadness. 

16 hours ago, Ralf001 said:

me too, Except electric and water

 

 

Thank you for reminding me.

 

The lady with the water bill comes around once a month and I pay her in cash and she gives me a receipt. There is a guy from the tessaban who comes around every 3 months and collects 30 baht a month in cash for the weekly trash collection.

 

The trash men are great and take away everything I throw out and salvage the good bits elsewhere.

1 minute ago, billd766 said:

Thank you for reminding me.

 

The lady with the water bill comes around once a month and I pay her in cash and she gives me a receipt. There is a guy from the tessaban who comes around every 3 months and collects 30 baht a month in cash for the weekly trash collection.

 

The trash men are great and take away everything I throw out and salvage the good bits elsewhere.

Yeah life can be easy if you want it to be.... not sure why people go out of their way to bring grief upon themselves.

 

The 2 yearly visit to immigration and labour dept is enough exposure to all the Thai malarkey for me !!

5 minutes ago, Ralf001 said:

Yeah life can be easy if you want it to be.... not sure why people go out of their way to bring grief upon themselves.

 

The 2 yearly visit to immigration and labour dept is enough exposure to all the Thai malarkey for me !!

I do my 90 day report 4 times a year and my marriage extension twice. The first time is so that the IO lady can check it for mistakes and missing bits, and the second time for real. I usually fit them in on the same day that I do my monthly bulk shop as the IO office is 65km away.

This post is a bit ironic because it seems to me from afar everything in US in broken. Politicians doing a smash and grab on the public Treasury, bureaucrats public and private about as productive as they are here in Thailand.

 

My amphor is pretty speedy. Given the volume of people and level of intelligence on both sides CW immigration is ok (the idiotic nitpicking aside). The DLT has always been a disaster for me. Simple banking at teller tedious but middling. Calling a bank especially Bangkok Bank ugh. Setting up a bank account ugh. Anything mobile phone related with AIS pretty fast. Getting something resolved with a Bangkok airline office take your pick - mixed. Hospital checkups are fast. Paying at hospitals painfully slow. Buying bus tickets are easy. Other than air tickets and cc chargebacks refunds are better than US.

 

Things here for me are generally more simple, less complicated, less expensive and I've always been pleased about that. Oh and pay CASH.

 

Definitely not a lot of initiative here but is it really better back home????????

On 5/27/2022 at 12:28 PM, worgeordie said:

He forgot to mention Immigration problems , no problem at

all for me, but for many it seems

regards worgeordie

yes same here immigration is something we all dislike but it  is part of the deal..eh 

90 day check in...yearly payment 1900 baht job done no probs

 

 

On 5/27/2022 at 5:54 AM, ezzra said:

Someone long, long ago coined the phrase TIT.. this is not for us to ask why, it's either adapt and play by their rules OR NOT... changes will come only if and when Thai people will complain, we as non Thai, don't count...

I have always looked at the average Thai as being non confrontational. Why do the put up with this unelected PM? Oh! I know! Soldiers and guns.

Nostalgia  ain't what it used to be!

2 hours ago, possum1931 said:

I have always looked at the average Thai as being non confrontational. Why do the put up with this unelected PM? Oh! I know! Soldiers and guns.

Thais are non-confrontational because that is their culture - nothing to do with soldiers and guns.

 

They have a social contract which says: "I won't complain about your failings if you don't complain about mine." Getting angry is seen as a sign of poor character.

 

So the best thing to do in the face of bureaucratic idiocy is to keep smiling, keep your temper, never give up, approach the situation from another angle, speak Thai if you can, offer more documents and persevere.

 

Officials always want you to go away quickly , but if you stick around, they may have to begin to think and work properly for a bit to get rid of you, usually to your advantage.

On 5/27/2022 at 2:38 PM, MadMuhammad said:

I had to call my bank in Aus as they blocked my account for fraud. I actually spoke to a real person for a grand total of 11mins first call, 8mins second call. 
 

It’s not just Thailand I’m afraid……

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On 5/27/2022 at 2:38 PM, MadMuhammad said:

I had to call my bank in Aus as they blocked my account for fraud. I actually spoke to a real person for a grand total of 11mins first call, 8mins second call. 
 

It’s not just Thailand I’m afraid……

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On 5/27/2022 at 2:38 PM, MadMuhammad said:

I had to call my bank in Aus as they blocked my account for fraud. I actually spoke to a real person for a grand total of 11mins first call, 8mins second call. 
 

It’s not just Thailand I’m afraid……

 

 

 

 

 

 

Try Viber Out; you can call land lines & it's very cheap. I just spent an hour talking to my bank in Australia & it cost about 25 B

On 5/27/2022 at 2:40 PM, AgMech Cowboy said:

And many of the people in Western democracies and republics keeping voting for bigger government and more elitist control. 

Who else but government  give  tax breaks, concession and grants to the wealthy? Such as during the recent covid  problem. Big business  was supported  by big government! And big businesses  such as rifle  manufacturers donate to big government.

16 hours ago, Eano said:

 

It's not Thailand at all if you are referring  to bank services which are far easier  to access and get support  than the UK. Same with visiting the  local branch. Everything is easier  here. In the UK service has disappeared and we consumers are supposed to do everything ourselves on line. Many services don't answer anymore.  It was c*** before covid now it's

s***e.

Broken Britain  is a cracked crock of **** compared to Thailand for getting things done and services in general.

16 hours ago, The Hammer2021 said:

It's not Thailand at all if you are referring  to bank services which are far easier  to access and get support  than the UK. Same with visiting the  local branch. Everything is easier  here. In the UK service has disappeared and we consumers are supposed to do everything ourselves on line. Many services don't answer anymore.  It was c*** before covid now it's

s***e.

Broken Britain  is a cracked crock of **** compared to Thailand for getting things done and services in general.

Broken western world IMHO.

There is definitely a cultural divide here. 

I have had some vociferous discussions ( to my shame) with my wife about the requirement to have some documents notarized for her US visa application. It is not a Thai "thing" (Thailand is not signatory to the relevant international convention). Very hard to get the concept across.

I expect similar problems in many other "East v West" transactions. What seems as obvious to us as the nose on your face elicits an Asean "what nose?" response.