Jump to content

Dustdevil

Advanced Member
  • Posts

    1485
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by Dustdevil

  1. 2 hours ago, Pattaya Spotter said:

    Isn't James Clapper's claim to fame "testilying" to Congress when he said the CIA/NSA didn't collect the private personal information of American citizens ???? Not really someone I would quote as an example of personal integrity or trust in government.

     

    James Clapper, the former director of national intelligence, denied Tuesday that he lied to Congress when he falsely testified during the Obama administration that the government does “not wittingly” collect the telephone records of millions of Americans. 

     

    https://apnews.com/article/business-33a88feb083ea35515de3c73e3d854ad

    I believe him where, in that article, he says he had misunderstood the question. In any case I would have at least hemmed and hawed, because the CIA and NSA are not allowed to collect the personal phone numbers of US citizens resident in the U.S.

  2. On 11/30/2022 at 7:13 PM, Mansell said:

    Very good write up of your observations of the place. The Souk sounds interesting, but your comment on all the big buildings making the place soulless is perfect. Much how I feel about New York City……not a pleasant place. At least London has some soul.

    As an American I'm not fond of NYC either, although Brooklyn and parts of Queens have some character. In fact Brooklyn is well known and sought after by the more discerning European tourists. The thing about the US is, there are so many large cities and different climates to choose from--but then, we weren't comparing countries but rather cities. In the US I like Miami and Seattle best.

  3. 16 hours ago, Andrew65 said:

    I spent 3 years in Saudi, 6 months in Oman, was on a training course for a few days in Dubai, but never really worked in the Emirates. Many say Dubai is 'soul-less'. I think many Brits and Europeans go there thinking it's like the Spanish costas, which it most certainly isn't (besides the weather and the sea).

    Absolutely agree. And the weather isn't compatible with walking around during the hot months, hence the popularity of malls. I think it's more soulless now than when I worked there from 1997 to 2002. Too many toll highways and overpasses and elevated train lines and fancy skyscrapers that are fun to look at but are really irrelevant to most people's lives. The old part of Dubai, the Souk on one side and Bur Dubai on the other side is the original "downtown" or city center even though the government markets the skyscrapers as "downtown." It still has character, with dhows loading and plying the Arabian Sea and the old architecture and minarets remind you of the Ottoman Empire even though the latter didn't quite reach the Dubai area. Arabs from all over the Middle East as well as westerners crawl all over the malls. Basically Dubai is like a city being designed by 14-year-old boys who want the tallest and biggest of everything. but that biggest mall is just extra real estate of a boring mall.

     

  4. 14 hours ago, HaoleBoy said:

    And what is your point?  You are talking about taxing profits on your investment - long-term vs short-term.  

     

    Long-term capital gains (held longer than 1 yr) profits being taxed at 15% (assuming you make > $45k per year)  and goes up based on your taxable income.

    There's also short-term capital gains (profits) are taxed at your taxable income level.

     

    I was talking about taxing transactions for short-term holdings.  Not profits.

    My point was simply that the tax on profits is enough already. We don't don't want even more taxes on trades, now, do we.

    • Haha 1
  5. 3 hours ago, HaoleBoy said:

    Should be taxed only for short-term trades (364 days or less) and nothing for long-term sale of stocks.  The day traders are the ones not paying any tax here.

    They are, at least Americans are, when they redeem a profit over a certain amount. Capital gains tax, it's called. It's up to 15%, but that's on a fairly large amount for those of us who aren't millionaires. Smaller profits are taxed modestly or not at all. I owned shares in a US-based Thailand fund once, but I wouldn't invest in anything within Thailand.

  6. 5 hours ago, Classic Ray said:

    Since the trading is really legalised gambling, this is really a gambling tax, can’t argue with that. 
     

    it’s become very popular in this era of low interest rates discouraging saving as investment, and opening up of trading to the public.

    I can't completely agree. Serious day traders, including individuals on their home computer, get up early every day (depending on where they live and which markets they trade in) and read the financial news in-depth for three hours before starting their trading day. I already pay a 15% federal gains tax on realized profit I redeem over a certain reasonable amount. Therefore I would be extremely unhappy with a 0.1% tax just for trading, even at a trade loss! That's outrageous. 

    • Like 1
  7. I've lived both in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and the last time I visited Dubai was in 2015. Was working in Abu Dhabi 2002-2004. I don't think they belong anywhere near the top 10. Well at least at that time it was nothing but a hick town with no interesting or fun places--you know you're in purgatory if the best thing in town is a mall--and it was difficult to get a drink. You really had to get a liquor license, and it wasn't all that easy.

     

    I'm sure it's better now. But to be in the top ten in the world? I'll tell you why foreigners rate it highly, because these are highly paid executives and professionals, their salaries are tax-free, and they get amazing free housing. Even I, as a lowly Petroleum Institute English lecturer, got an apartment that must have been 2,000 sq ft (181 sq m). But unlike in Dubai, where all apartment buildingshad to have underground parking, it's not (or wasn't) required in Abu Dhabi, and a LOT of apartment buildings are still there with outside parking lots. People don't know how to drive anywhere in the Middle East, and my car was scraped, keyed and smashed three times in two years just sitting in the parking lot. My wife's car, too, although that was in Dubai while she had it parked above-ground. I saw some Emirati lady bump into it. And there were no other cars around, either. They just can't drive.

     

    And nobody likes the hot months. Dubai used to be a half-decent place, and is probably the best city in the Middle East, but mind your Ps and Qs, it's not as free as Thailand.

    • Thumbs Up 1
  8. 46 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

    I love Bangkok, but I would never want to live there. However, I find the people to be quite warm and easy, for big city people. Bangkok is fairly reasonable to visit.

     

    Funny they mentioned Valencia. I have a friend who has been living there. He said the people are not a big plus. Grouchy, and not friendly. 

    I much prefer Chiang Mai, my favorite Asian city.

    • Like 1
  9. On 11/22/2022 at 6:25 PM, Gottfrid said:

    So, you have a problem with that the victim name is withheld? Really! What about the foreign abuser? I would like to have a picture of that mistake for a man, his name and nationality. The police should press charges and deport his sorry excuse for a human.

    Of course the foreign abuser's name should be reported, even if alleged but not yet convicted.

  10. 1 hour ago, Hanuman2547 said:

    "Dr Philip Leong and a Mr Gerber from the university's justice faculty wanted to know how Thailand handles human trafficking and illegal fishing."

     

    I'm assuming that Thailand handles it very differently than they do in the US.  Perhaps Pol Gen Surachate Hakpan can explain the use of brown paper envelopes. 

    Brown, are they? That looks too suspicious. Watch The Sopranos and you'll see that goombas use the smaller, ordinary-looking white envelopes.

    • Like 1
  11. 2 hours ago, brianthainess said:

    Innocent until proved guilty, being charged does not make you guilty.

    That doesn't entirely make sense when applied to heinous crimes. In the case of a first-degree murder charge, for example, bail should be set very high if the subject is deemed a flight risk. Rape charges are often mishandled in practically any country. In this case he was not charged as a serial rapist, which is worse than a single incident.

    • Thumbs Up 1
×
×
  • Create New...