mcl2504
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Posts posted by mcl2504
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15 minutes ago, Lacessit said:
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You mean the women get to compare the contestants' todgers? I live a sheltered life.
I don't know how the show managed to get on the air. It's a UK show. A "contestant" chooses someone to go on a date with based on their looks. There are 6 or 7 people (I've only seen a couple of episodes, so I'm not entirely sure) totally naked behind a door, which reveals each person from the bottom up. So yes, the host and contestant discuss the relative merits of what they're seeing as the door stops midway and then just below the head. The sex of the people behind the doors depends on the preference of the contestant. Usually, half the show is a woman choosing a man and the other half is a man choosing a woman. But there have been women choosing women, men choosing men, and a contestant having people of both sexes to choose from.
The idea of choosing a date based on their genitalia seems extraordinarily bizarre to me. On the positive side, I personally think that destigmatizing the human body is a good thing. If more people knew what other regular, normal people look like, there would be fewer body image issues. Well, in my opinion. Or not. I only have an opinion. No facts at all . . .
As far as entertainment goes, in my opinion, your life may be sheltered, but you're not missing much.
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5 minutes ago, Lacessit said:
I can see the genesis of a new talent show in your post, I even have the name. "Crown jewels".
I think the show already exists: Naked Attraction.
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5 hours ago, KhunLA said:
Just an observation, but seems more than a few AN members think about other folks' penis a bit too much. Wonder why that is ?
Note to self: wait to get home or back to the room, before using public restroom.
I will concur with the many posts saying Thais have smaller penises than most Westerners. Based on personal observation. And (although this will make me vulnerable to ridicule, I'm sure) I actively try to look at as many penises as possible.
Which leads me to a question no one can answer (maybe because I can't figure out who I could ask!):
I used to live in Hong Kong. Chinese men, in general, are about as open as can be in public restrooms. You can usually see whatever there is to see. They also don't consider it odd to select the urinal right next to a person even if there are many other options. My hypothesis is that there are so many Chinese in such compact places that they're just used to have no privacy. So why do Thai men practically hug the urinals and desperately try to make sure nothing is visible? First of all, how do they prevent splashing their clothes with urine? And secondly, why so conscious about what's visible? I figure if someone wants to look, let them look. And if nobody wants to look, it doesn't matter what I do. Admittedly, I say this as a person who *would* prefer to look . . .
So there it is. Or rather, usually there it *isn't.*
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18 hours ago, TooBigToFit said:
Finally Thailand is morally smaller when it comes to human rights and a lot of things. It could be bigger and better but again it's trapped in apathy from leadership.
My Thai tutor gave me such a good lesson on Thai culture regarding this exact issue. Thailand is rightfully proud never to have been colonized. But that also meant that Thailand missed out on Western values being forced onto the country. My tutor says that Thais (and other southeast asians) are both traditionally and currently very laissez-faire about everything to do with sex. It's a live-and-let-live attitude. *But* the last time the country eagerly looked to the West for an example was during the Victorian times. So the rich and the powerful adopted Victorian attitudes, which have never been, perhaps I could say, updated. There's a big disconnect, she says, between the rigid intolerance of the elite and the far more progressive attitude of most of the population.
Of course, sexual rights are only a small subset of the larger moral picture, and I don't have any insights on the other issues involved.
Just thought I'd share the views of my tutor, a well educated Thai whom I respect very much.
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My wife makes tapioca and rice puddings just on a stove. Easy-peasy. It's more like the pudding consistency (cornstart [or cornflour, depending on where you're from]-thickened) of what you buy in a can and less like the custard consistency (egg-thickened) you get when you have an egg-based recipe that bakes in the oven. Some recipes rely on the starch from the rice to thicken it, but I think it's more foolproof to have the cornstarch. Although my wife doesn't do it this way, you could use Bird's Custard Mix (available in Thailand, at least in Chiang Mai) to make it even more like what you find in the can. Here's a recipe you could start with: https://tschips.ca/our-recipes/grandmas-rice-pudding/
Hope this helps and brings a touch of nostalgia back into your life!
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If you think this is the right place to seek legal advice, I predict trouble ahead for you. Talking to a (practicing, Thai) lawyer makes much more sense.
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On 6/30/2020 at 5:51 PM, david2923 said:
What is the logic for this?
The problem is with the receiving country, not where the letter originates. I've received air mail from the US because Thailand allows it to come in. But I still can't send an air mail to the US because the US does not accept it. Again, the issue is the country in question allowing air mail in, not Thailand being willing or not willing to ship the letter.
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I have felt similar. Seek medical help. At its worst, depression is a brain chemical issue and can be helped. Sometimes you need the medication to help you make the behavioral changes that help you overcome depression. Remember, you've endured trials and difficulties before in your life. You'll be able to handle this too. You will feel better at some point. But seek medical help now. It can be a life-saver.
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Born in Canada and considering myself to be Canadian, I've found this whole thread enlightening, as the national/geographic distinctions of the UK/Britain have not always been clear to me. In some ways, it reminds me of my pet peeve when people from the US call themselves "Americans," as if they own the whole continent. Not even "North Americans"; they take the whole land mass as their own! (For full disclosure, I have to say I left Canada when I was 17 and then spent about 30 years living in the US before moving to Asia.) Mind you, "United Stateser" doesn't sound very good, does it? I always call them "people from the US" or "citizens of the US." Mind you, on the wide spectrum of problems in the world, my little pet peeve rates pretty low, I'll admit.
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I've spent many more hours trying to get the online system to work than it's taken to just go to the Chiang Mai office and do it in person. I'll probably give it another go next time, but CM is such an efficient and easy office for me to get to that I need to remind myself not to waste an entire day trying different ways to get the online system to work for me.
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16 hours ago, Pib said:
Any idea why the interest rate is lower for larger deposits? A person can get 1.3% if they open online with less than ฿100,000, but if the person tries to park the ฿800,000 they need for certain visa situations, they only get 1%? I've never been a banker, but that doesn't make much sense to me. I'm curious if anyone knows why it works this way.
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I have 3 masters degrees and have worked in academic publishing for more than 20 years. I can't find a job teaching ESL despite having TESL certificate--not even an interview. I don't want to sound negative, but I'm not sure why young Thais who don't speak English as their first language are preferred over native speakers who don't necessarily care about the salary. As far as I can tell, the only thing Thailand wants out of me is my money. But on the other hand, despite being interested and willing to make a difference where I can, the only real thing I want out of Thailand is a fun, pleasant, cheap place to live. I guess we're both using each other.
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I was in the same situation, in Chiang Mai, and eventually just bought from invadeit.co.th. Their service has been exceptional. But obviously I can't touch anything before buying. But if you can't wait, I can recommend them without reservation.
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I'm totally jealous of those for whom this works. I've tried (today) Chrome, Firefox, Brave, and Vivaldi. I've had the VPN on, VPN disconnected, and VPN connected to a Thailand server. I can always get to the first screen where I accept the terms, then I fill out the next page. No matter what combination of variables of browser or VPN, I *always* get the message "For further information regarding The 90-day Notification Report Service, please contact the Immigration Branch Office in your residence area" and then the opportunity to re-enter the verification Captcha number so I can get that message again. It never, ever goes further. For me in Chiang Mai, it seems much easier to take an hour and zip to the immigration office and hand in my form and passport. <<sigh>>
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In fact I just did an experiment earlier this week using my Hong Kong card taking money out of my Hong Kong account in THB. I did 2 transactions for the exact same amount but used the no conversion option once and the offered conversion the other time. Using the ATM's offered conversion rate was 5.28% more expensive than using the no conversion option and leaving the conversion to my Hong Kong bank. I suspect this would apply to all currencies, but I only have experience with HKD.
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I personally would not rent a unit with a door, no matter how secure, that leads into someone else's unit, especially the owner's. Maybe if it were a different market people would take it, but I thought right now it's a renter's market, so someone can pretty much get whatever they want—or turn down a place for almost no reason. If you want to buy it, I'd do it simply for the luxury of expanding into that third unit. Just my two cents.
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4 hours ago, darrendsd said:
Confirmed here and I have also just spoken to a friend who is a employee of Thailand Post who confirmed also
I went to the Hang Dong post office this morning where I was trying to send a letter express mail to the US. I was shown an English version of this same chart and told that the only way to send a letter to the US was by surface mail and that it would arrive in 2 months. I was too stunned to look at any of the other restrictions, but I thought the clerk was saying that there was no express mail going to any country. I can't swear to that last one, but I do know that the only option for letters to the US right now is surface mail.
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On 2/23/2020 at 11:35 AM, Sambotte said:
you will not spend the money for something else, since it's STUCK IN BANK AS LONG AS YOU NEED EXTENSION.
On 2/23/2020 at 11:23 AM, Bob12345 said:- go under 400k: just put it in a bank account (plus a few k extra) and dont use that account. Bank book + atm card in a drawer and no internet banking for that account. Surprise: a year later your money is still there minus a few hundred baht of cost deductions
Stick your money in a fixed term deposit. Mine is making a higher rate of interest than I can get in the US or Hong Kong, even after taxes. It's a rational part of an overall portfolio strategy. My money is both guaranteeing the ability to live in Thailand and earning money for me. I fail to see the problem.
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On 2/21/2020 at 9:00 AM, fordguy61mi said:
Differing opinions. I think it’s foolish to buy anything in Thailand since renting is so cheap and you can move in an instant. You never know how the government will change and you might have to get out fast. We don’t live here. We’re merely guests.
I'm neither a lawyer nor an accountant. Take this for what it's worth.
* A Thai lawyer can help you set up a company that can legally buy land+house. Some consider this a dodgy practice; others consider it perfectly normal. There are some risks involved.
* If you buy a house and sell after a period of time, even if you take a loss, the loss (+ expenses of buying and selling) almost never equal or exceed the cost of renting the same property. Buying is almost always the better financial choice.
* Flexibility is also a consideration. However, with flexibility comes insecurity. You may be able to leave when you want, but your landlord can also kick you out when he or she wants.
* Every individual is going to have different priorities, so the right solution for one person may well not be the right solution for another.
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On 2/15/2020 at 3:52 PM, lopburi3 said:
You do not have an O-A - you hired person to do what you could easily have done yourself and that was to convert tourist visa entry to a 90 day non immigrant O visa entry (cost 2,000 baht) and then extend that non immigrant O visa entry for one year (cost 1,900 baht). You are now on an extension of stay for retirement. You are not subject to the O-A requirement for medical insurance.
That O visa can be issued for many reasons, including retirement (at Consulates that do not issue O-A visas) - you just extend stay inside Thailand as you did above without the need for the 2,000 baht conversion step.
Looking at my passport again, I believe you are exactly correct. Although I agree that the *doing* would have been easy, *knowing* what to do would have been almost impossible. Here I am, having gone through the process and still pretty oblivious to what my status is! The attorney was well worth the money to me. And I know what to do moving forward.
This raises an almost idle question . . . the O-A and O seem to be exactly the same thing. I've been following the thread and noting some disagreements. Can anyone explain how these two retirement, one-year visas differ, if at all? Is it mostly just a question of geography—where one applies? Enter Thailand on an O-A or extend one visa type to the O inside Thailand?
I'm grateful to people's patience in pointing out and documenting my misunderstandings.
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1 hour ago, Kelsall said:
My understanding is that they now want the 12 month statement when using the 800k method to verify that you met the 800k/400k minimums from the previous extension. I agree with you that it seems they want us to use agents.
In my experience, they don't want a "statement" in the US meaning of the word. They want a very specific letter prepared by the bank about the account. It's a very specific form. Bangkok Bank charges me 100B to prepare it, and that's what verifies the 800,000B I have in a fixed deposit. Immigration has never asked for anything else other than that specific letter (which I'm guessing they called a statement?).
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I'd be happy to recommend an attorney in Chiang Mai who will get you in and out without any problems or waiting. The last time I was there, she badgered them on the phone until they escorted me to the back room where they had all the passports waiting and fished mine out for me to process away from everyone else. This because my attorney was annoyed they kept me waiting longer than 30 minutes past when they told her I was supposed to arrive. In my experience, when Thais deal with Thais, things go very smoothly.
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4 minutes ago, wealthychef said:
I have a non-immigrant retirement "O" visa so you are just incorrect. http://www.thaiembassy.org/hague/th/services/76474-Non-Immigrant-Visa-O-(others).html See part 4
Well, I stand corrected. But this option is not listed in the Los Angeles website you posted. I wonder why you had to go to a Netherlands Thai consulate page to find a description of it? Is it on any Thailand immigration site? Any other North American site? Just curious. It does not seem like a normal, run-of-the-mill option, but rather something fairly obscure.
Having dared to dip my toe into the water and had it promptly shot off, I'll go back to blissfully letting my attorney handled the details of my situation and keep my opinions to myself.
Chiang Mai lawyer required
in Chiang Mai
Posted
Yapa (Bee) Nantarattapant
CNX Legal and Accounting
[email protected]
090-4514544
085-5996363
Meechok Plaza (3d floor)
Chiang Mai-Mae Jo Road
Law degree from Melbourne; Thai native. Can do everything in both Thai and English. I've used her for all sorts of things since before moving to Thailand, and I have never been disappointed. I can't recommend her highly enough.