Bob

Michael, I have a BC/BS plan (Michigan) and I asked them that question (any medical evacuation coverage?) a couple of years ago and was told "no." Regardless, my BC/BS coverage will reimburse me for covered medical expenses while I'm here in Thailand so long as I use one of their approved hospitals. Luckily, have never had to worry about asking for reimbursement. I also got a couple of online quotes for medical evacuation insurance and both quotes (for a 9-month time period) involved a premium of over $1,800.00. The hell with that, I'm not worrying about it. I'd note that the premium appears to be based on age and, given you (Michael) are still a puppy, perhaps they'll simply airmail you back for a few hundred baht?

I used to see an occasional balloon up here (mainly east of the Ping River) but, other than seeing several in the air this past November (must have been the festival noted), can't remember the last time I saw one. I was once interested in taking one of the flights until I understood the cost (don't remember how much but a bit more than I wanted to pay) and understood that they really don't go over the city. And I recommend you not bother from about mid-February to about May as you wouldn't see much with all the smog.

Luvthai, I can only say that you're taken it to a new art form! But thank god/buddha that you do take the family jewels with you....

I'm also anal enough to typically sort the bills in order of value but there are many times when you just don't have time at the moment to sit there and neatly arrange bills in your wallet (such as when you're paying at the grocery or 7/11 checkout and the 1000 people behind you really don't want to see some old codger fumbling around his wallet). Even if you're an "arranger" or a "neat freak", why not occasionally use the one tool that god/buddha gave you - your friggin' eyesight! And, if you can't easily read the numbers, you need to hire somebody to take care of you.

Seems to me that the only fair way is to make people who can't reasonably fit into one seat to purchase two seats. The only time I have any irritation toward the horizontally challenged is when their bulk extends into the seating area that I paid for and expected to occupy alone.

When I was worried several years ago about losing my Thai number (AIS - 1-2 Call), I ended up buying 1200 minutes for 1000 baht which were good for a year. After doing that one time, I really don't need to worry about it after that as all top-ups extend the length the expiration time. I recently added 500 minutes and the minutes I have remaining expire at the end of March, 2014. [i'm guessing....but don't know for sure.....that the 1200 minutes for 1000 baht deal is still available. Even if it isn't, Koko is probably correct that you can stop in one of the local offices and make some form of reasonable deal to extend the minutes out a fair length of time. Prior to signing up for an additional data service (mine is 150 baht per month), I rarely ever spent more than a couple hundred baht every 2-3 months and my expiration date has for years been 8-14 months into the future.]

Timing is a bit important here with the next general election - for all seats of parliament - occurring in 2015. The amendments (or at least the one allowing Aung San Suu Kyi to run) need to happen by the end of next year. If somehow they got rid of the "25% military hold" on both houses of parliament, it is more than likely that Suu Kyi's party, the NLD, would win 90%+ of the seats in both houses of parliaments - which is why I predict that this change won't come until much later. If/when it happens, it'll happen only because the military allowed it.

I'll start to believe the Burmese military thugs really mean to allow some reasonable level of democracy when the constitution is amended as follows: (1) First, to eliminate the provision that guarantees the military 25% of the seats in both the upper and lower houses of parliaments. (2) Second, to eliminate the provision they inserted solely for Aung San Suu Kyi that prevents anyone who's married a foreigner to become president/prime minister of the country. To make either change, some military votes will be required as they also provided that the constitution cannot be amended absent a vote in favor by more than 75% of the members of parliament.

Still, perchance, Manu (Manoo)?

Geez, Michael, you read the first 6 words of Z's report? Speaking of which, interesting report, Z. Never have been in that area of Laos but may have to give it a visit some day.

Eh?!? I have no clue what the Canadian rules might be.

I have no reason to believe you could buy the votes of any of the nine justices including the three that I almost always disagree with and personally dislike (Thomas, Scalia, and Alito). Michael, if you get a chance, ask your friend if he has any basis at all to believe Thomas might sell his vote. I can understand having a strong dislike of the guy (join the crowd!) but making that kind of comment seems to me to be way over the top.

The exact point I was making. And politics, demographics, or popular opinion should have no bearing at all. That's how the rule of law is supposed to work. Many of the hot-button issues over the last decade or two have indeed been decided by close votes. But the vast majority of their decisions (the ones that get little publicity) have not involved such close votes. We'll know the last few days of June how these two decisions will go.

Hmmm.....might change your name to Michael de Sade (i.e., I thought it was almost torture to try to watch that one all the way through...hehe).

No doubt. A decade+ ago, I had an account at Bangkok Bank (opened up with only the 30-day visa deal) and later, when I asked about using their online banking, my particular BB branch told me I couldn't do that because I didn't have a work permit. So, I then went and opened up an account (again, only had the 30-day exemption visa at the time) at SCB and got my ATM and internet access the same day. If somebody wants to open up a Thai bank account and wants to use that bank's online services, it can be done as just about every falang I know in Thailand has done it. But maybe some particular branch of any given bank on any given day might say "no"; if so, keep going to other branches until you get what you want.

I don't agree that demographics or popular opinion ought to have anything to do with how the Supreme Court rules on the issues before it. Their job is to determine if a given law violates that constitution (as it is, not as we wish it would be) and basing a decision at all on either a shift in popular opinion or a shift of demographics would essentially be a violation of their sworn duties (let alone somewhat totally ignoring the notion of "rule of law."). I support full repeal of DOMA and any other law that discriminates based on sex, gender, lifestyle, etc.; however, I also believe it would be very dangerous (and legally wrong) for the Supreme Court to stick their finger up in the air to test the political waters before doing the job they were sworn to do. Their job is not to pontificate as to how life should be. Changes in demographics and popular opinion ought to effect change under a democratic system in the way it was designed - via the ballot box.

Supplementing GB's comments: (1) If your total foreign financial (bank, stock, etc.) accounts (those in Thailand and elsewhere) exceed $10,000 in value at any one moment during the tax year, you need to file the FBAR report with the US Treasury (not with your tax return) by June 30th following the involved tax year. (2) If your total foreign financial accounts exceed $50,000 in value (although I've heard this number may be changed) at any moment during the tax year, you do need to file another form with your income tax return. If your total foreign financial accounts never get to the point of being worth $10,000 during the tax year, you need to report nothing; however, you are obviously required to report interest income on your tax return.

Only one of "kee's" (falling tone) meanings. As Christian has noted, another definition at time (often when it's paired with an adjective) could be described as "prone or inclined to be ________. "Kee - giat" means to be lazy, kee-mao means to be drunk, kee-glua means to be fearful/afraid, etc. But, as you note, it often means some form of shit or an excretion much of the time. "Kee-ja-mook" (ja-mook meaning "nose") is how they say "snot." And you've all eaten "prik kee nuu" with your Thai foods, right? Literally, that's rat shit peppers/chilies (because they are about the same size and form as rat shit!).

Or, as many have said, just go to another branch. I've had an SCB account and online privileges for 8-9 years with SCB and I never had a work permit. In fact, opened both of my SCB accounts while on vacation here with the free 30-day visa you get upon entry.

I presume Ms. Knox won't voluntarily go back to Italy for a re-trial and that Italy will formally request her presence under the extradition treaty Italy and the US have signed. And that will be fairly interesting how that all works out. I've read already that the argument (faulty as it may be) is that the US won't extradite her as doing so would violate our constitutional provision of double jeopardy; however, that's legally illogical for multiple reasons (the main one being is that "double jeopardy" would only attach to prevent a second trial if a defendant was found "not guilty"). As for Mr. Polansky, I firmly believe that somebody paid somebody off to prevent his extradition as there was no legal basis to deny it. He got a light sentence for molesting a kid in the first place and I've been rather disappointed that the French (and others) embraced him rather than giving him the shunning that he deserved.

Hmmm.....I failed too (but knew 3 and 1/2 - the "half" as there are two answers to one of them).

I can get a new passbook at any SCB branch but they send me to the original branch for either an ATM card replacement or the retirement visa letter. It's not any huge deal - no more than once a year - but I have to trudge "downtown" on the east side to do that rather than go to either SCB branch that's within easy walking distance to where I live now (west side of Chiangmai).

I have mixed feelings on the subject as I sometimes believe that playing the internet thing is about as healthy as watching too much television (i.e., somewhat interferes with "normal" life). Some day I'll shoot my computer but, pending that, I typically spend an hour or two a day checking and writing email, checking the news and business reports, checking some message boards, and whatever. The last many months, I've often spent another 2-3 hours a day translating silly Thai stories and I often use Google Translate as a last resort to translate a problematic phrase. And, since I'm sitting at my desk and the computer's on, I often take a break and check out the boards, news, or whatever. Probably too much.

You're either a cat person or you're not. I'm not. And you have to be careful what you say around the rabid cat lovers as, if you cross the line, they'll just sit around looking smug and superior, won't fetch a damn thing for you, and ultimately scratch your friggin' eyes out! My guess is it's learned behavior....

I've had no problems at all with my SCB accounts (years ago Bangkok Bank wouldn't let me do the online banking part so I switched to SCB without a problem). But my guess is just about any bank will offer about the same services these days. But I do advise you choosing a location that is convenient for you as, if you ever have to replace an ATM card or, as another example, have to get a "bank letter" to obtain or renew a retirement visa, you typically have to go back to the very same bank where you opened the account (other branches of the same bank typically won't do this for you).