[NATO should recruit Thailand, Singapore, Philippines, Japan, and more, ex-commander says]

1 hour ago, eisfeld said:

You are confusing cause and reaction. The US isn't putting troups somewhere because they think it's funny. They put them in response to a threat. China has threatened Taiwan before the US ever helped Taiwan. The origin is the Chinese civil war which made the old Chinese government flee to what is now Taiwan. The US has an agreemend to defend Taiwan. Nobody is threatening or thinking about invading China. China is on the other hand threatening Taiwan with invasion and recently has several times violated Taiwans sovereignty regarding their airspace.

So you would found it perfectly acceptable for the Soviet Union to station troops and missiles in Cuba?

 

Why is it ok in China's backyard but not in the US's?

[NATO should recruit Thailand, Singapore, Philippines, Japan, and more, ex-commander says]

2 hours ago, Gweiloman said:

Correct me if I’m wrong but NATO was created to contain the Soviet Union. Soviet Union is no more so NATO’s raison d’etre is also no more. However the generals are greedy to continue the grift for obvious reasons. 

The two main objective of any bureaucratic organisation such as NATO:

 

1. The survival of the organisation

2. To extend the power and therefore the budget of the organisation.

 

Makes perfect sense to me.

 

[The Gold enigma.]

On 4/1/2024 at 12:49 AM, swissie said:

I remain: The central banks are gobbeling up Gold massively. At the same time Private Investors get rid of their Gold holdings.

There is a good reason I called this thread as "the Gold Enigma".

 

There's a good reason private investors are know as "dumb money".

[Colonoscopy]

2 hours ago, Roo Island said:

I had a great experience at Samitivej Sukhumvit 49.

+1

[My first experience using WISE - seriously impressed]

High street banks are dead in the water. Closing branches everywhere, online apps nowhere near as good as Wise. The future is Wise!

[Best place in S.E.Asia to open a £ stirling bank account..]

48 minutes ago, noobexpat said:

 

Why not just use any investment platform that you already have?

This is for noobs who've never invested before and just see 4.67%

Its not slightly, the fund costs 0.1% and wise takes 0.46%

 

I'm not looking to invest in gilts. I can do that through my investment portfolio. This is a current account to park spare cash and earn a decent rate of interest.

[Best place in S.E.Asia to open a £ stirling bank account..]

1 hour ago, noobexpat said:

 

Here lies the problem. I suspect you don’t understand this is actually an overpriced gilt investment fund.

 

I understand perfectly. I'm happy to pay slightly over the odds for a gilt fund that pays me a better rate on my cash than UK bank deposits and allows me to access my funds immediately at any time.

[Best place in S.E.Asia to open a £ stirling bank account..]

49 minutes ago, noobexpat said:

 

They don't offer interest bearing deposit accounts though, only their fixed interest funds through blackrock(?) ...which are overpriced anyway.

GBP 4.67% instant access. Not too shabby.

[Best place in S.E.Asia to open a £ stirling bank account..]

-

[Best place in S.E.Asia to open a £ stirling bank account..]

Wise beats all the traditional offshore banks in terms of ease of opening accounts and convenience.

[UK and Thailand unveil 15.3 billion baht science fund]

1 hour ago, proton said:

How much would it cost to upgrade our pensions?

I suspect rather less than the £5 million a day being spent to house illegal immigrants.

[UK and Thailand unveil 15.3 billion baht science fund]

21 minutes ago, mrfill said:

Except, of course, the story is a bit short on detail. Like the fact that the fund was set up in December 2022 with £119m being allocated and the additional £237m was added in December 2023. It is a fund to be used globally, not just in Thailand and so far Egypt, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, Philippines, Turkey and Vietnam have shown interest in the fund. Grants of up to £100,000 can be awarded to UK institutions to collaborate in research.

 

Not quite the magic money pit it is being puffed up as being.

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/international-science-partnerships-fund-ispf/international-science-partnerships-fund-ispf

 

https://opportunities-insight.britishcouncil.org/news/opportunities/grants-international-research-collaborations

Thanks for the clarification. There's usually more to these stories than meets the eye. Very lazy 'copy & paste' journalism.

[Thai police officers face bankruptcy with debt over 300 billion baht]

3 hours ago, stoner said:

 

no bother just keep raising the debt ceiling. which has almost doubled in the last 10 years. funny that. 

At some point reality kicks in. Think Wily Coyote.

[UK and Thailand unveil 15.3 billion baht science fund]

That kind of money should produce plenty of studies with the results the Western governments have ordered funded.

[Thailand govenment raises sugar cane price, stirs industry buzz]

Why is the government setting prices for sugar? That should be the job of the market according to supply and demand.

[Why release of Thaksin could be a tipping point for Thai politics]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

“This case could harm the justice system’s reputation"

[Ed Sheeran concert uproar prompts Paetongtarn to deny VIP noise]

Did I read this correctly? Thais complaining about noise?

[Thai astronomers unearth 13 ancient galaxies, smaller than a speck in the universe]

There's a decent Planetarium on Sukhumvit near Ekamai bus station. A bit run down but worth a visit, certainly for kids.

[Do ==You== Miss the Zombie Life of Your Youth?]

Zombies were a band from St Albans, England. Still around, they played in the cathedral recently.

[German President Praises Thailand's Democratic Progress]

15 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

President Steinmeier is obviously a man possessing a spectacular level of ignorance. Did he even pay attention to the most recent elections which were stolen by PT and the army? Does he know anything about the bought and paid for senators? Is this guy paying attention at all or is he simply sleep walking through life? It appears that he would say or do anything and it also appears that this clown is not a man possessing a shred of integrity. Exactly the same as the Thai Army and PT. 

Integrity? He's a politician FFS......and a diplomat. A diplomat's job is to lie for his country.

[Vietnam retirement]

58 minutes ago, John49 said:

 

Nobody above has mentioned it but I read that one major point about Vietnam was, the people in the South are friendly, and the people in the North are unfriendly.

 

I've found the opposite. Northerners are much more friendly....and nobody mentions the war.

[Vietnam retirement]

9 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

Why even bother? I've been to Vietnam three times and I walked away terribly unimpressed. I find most people in Vietnam to be very distant, some of them as cold as fish. No thanks, I'll stick with Thailand, I like my friends they're fun to be around and they're very light-hearted. 

You must have met the wrong people. Most of the Vietnamese that I know are delightful, friendly and welcoming people, but it takes all sorts to make a world.

[Vietnam retirement]

4 hours ago, BE88 said:

 

He is not talking about the photo but about the cities Sapa, Hanoi and Hoi An

Irony obviously lost on you.

[Bangkok Bank statement doesn't show correct description for Wise transfers]

3 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

Yes.

Referred to as "credit advice" 

Not sure why some transfers were not shown as FTT.

Perhaps was done as internal transfer from another bank. 

In any event go to BB and they will advise course of action. 

 

Very long thread here and about 5th post explains what Bangkok Bank did for customer to satisfy immigration. (WISE transfer)

 

https://aseannow.com/topic/1234763-wise-transfers-not-being-processed-as-international-specifically-bangkok-bank/

 

https://aseannow.com/topic/1221420-bank-transfers-bangkok-bank/

Thanks Dr Jack, much appreciated.

[Bangkok Bank statement doesn't show correct description for Wise transfers]

36 minutes ago, OJAS said:

 

This is the crucial point, I think. Not a particularly good idea to leave all such checkings until just before your next extension of stay application is due, as appears to have been the case here!

Point taken. Good advice.