Bruce Mangosteen

^Oopsie! 😬

What the OP is looking for is either called a "pocket wifi" device, or a "mobile hotspot". "Pocket wifi" seems to be a Thai or Asian reference. For example, here's Netgear's page on these gadgets: https://www.netgear.com/home/mobile-wifi/hotspots/ ...or: https://www.netgear.com/on-the-go/hotspots/ Look for a device that's either certified for the Thai network you want to use, or more generally an "international" unit, certainly one that's unlocked. Some but not all support esim. If buying in Thailand you should be able to find these either in Tuc Com or a phone shop. I'd look in your preferred carrier's shop. Prices range widely.

You'll need a reentry permit I'd imagine.

Yes, agree. I was also thinking that the parent company might want to recoup their investment in the drivers' licenses etc. All in all a very good business move on their part it looks like.

Nice. Glad they managed to maintain the service level despite the challenges. Good company methinks.

Very glad the company was able to weather this. Did you notice any increase in fares?

Submitted the application for retirement benefits online today. Interestingly, they allowed me to select December 2025 as the start date of benefits, which would mean I'll get a check next month. Fingers crossed!

Been there, great show. Hope to catch another one soon, maybe next year.

Thanks for the great pics. Hopefully this upcoming Christmas season will be the last one I spend anywhere but Thailand.

I had to (past tense, did it yesterday) do this because somehow my birth hospital didn't notify the SSA of my birth. That's usually done automatically, accounting for why most people aren't aware that it happens. Interestingly, I found out about this when I tried to make a login for the "my SS" online service a few years ago. I could get to a certain point in the process but no farther. Called the office and the guy said, "Oh, that's because you don't exist!", and fixed it. He told me at the time that all my benefits were secure and there was no problem, but that I'd have to present a BC before I could apply for anything, in office or otherwise. I confirmed that by calling again some months later and talking to someone else. They also take the application by phone, and I made an appointment. What I figure is that I'll attempt to make the application online and, if the software blows chow for any reason, I'll already have the appointment to talk to them about it.

My wife likes the attached wat, and we went/will go there occasionally when we live(d) there.

Yep. I remember people getting hassled for visa violations while doing volunteer relief work after the tsunami! They don't futz around there concerning work permits.

It happens everywhere for reasons we can't control. Whatever you may have, and whatever you may have achieved, was probably not taken away from someone else. You worked for it and earned it fairly, so it needs no other justification. If you were some sort of thief or conman, the foregoing does not apply to you. There are already established, bona fide charities in Thailand. Giving to those will avoid any problems you may have with the authorities, e.g. working without a permit, and will ensure that the aid goes to people who really need it vs. scammers and low lifes, both farang and Thai. Also, giving things like foodstuffs and clothes avoids people skimming or misdirecting money. I have given to the Father Ray Foundation several times. In each case, a Thai person organized it and did the purchasing based on donations they collected, usually to make merit on a birthday. They are very grateful for any and all gifts, and it is very gratifying to spend time with the children you have helped. https://www.fr-ray.org/pattaya-redemptorist-school-for-the-blind-under-the-royal-patronage-of-her-royal-highness-prince-chakri-sirindhorn/ So, consider arranging a gift, possibly with the help of a Thai person you trust. Contact the charity or organization, and ask what specific sorts of donations they're looking for (e.g. school supplies, warm clothes for children because of the coming cold season). Then, you could work your contacts to solicit donations. Again, my advice would be to stay away from monetary donations, and only accept food, clothing, electronics (e.g. tablets), and other tangible goods. Good luck.

Thanks for the tip.

Well, considering the unfortunate state of our recent interactions, I'm relieved this is the extent of what you were thinking! Thanks for this and also to @forcebwithu for these posts. Just as a quick update, planning for my upcoming retirement has accelerated. I've changed to a different financial advisor who was recommended by a friend as good with retirement money management. I've begun the process of claiming my Social Security retirement benefit, which will require me to turn up at the local office to let them copy my birth certificate (I have the original!). I've also informed my supervisor of my tentative date, and offered to stay an additional month or two if it would help with what will be going on at that time. We should be living in Thailand one year from today. Should...

This thread has given me a lot of useful input so far, thanks to all who have contributed. Just please keep it in mind, and hit me up with some updates. Cheers!

Agree with the consensus. Go for the non-O/retirement and don't tell anyone your affairs. I also don't see how dabbling in the stock market is any more of a "business" than any other online gambling.

Go on! It's not like you have to tell anybody! IMHO Sunday roast and breakfast are two things the Brits have gotten 100% right. God forbid this should devolve into a "Where's the best full English?" thread though!

What sort of shirts? The t-shirts there are often synthetic and don't wick sweat well. Fortunately I have a butt-ton of them I've bought here.

I'd be interested in how the taste of these compares to, say, B&M.

I encourage you to try their version of we think of as baked beans, made by Heinz. The beans are bigger than baked beans, and come in a sweet tomato sauce without the molasses so the flavor is not similar, but they are very nice nonetheless. It sounds funny to American ears, but those beans, on toast, is a really nice snack. I used to buy them at Jules Sportarama Bar and restaurant in View Talay 1A, and he had a large assortment of flavors at the time. What are we payin' for Heinz beans these days?

Looks like the authorities have turned their gaze onto the magic boxes, streaming services, and other extralegal means that expats are getting their TV. https://www.pattayamail.com/latestnews/news/subscribers-to-illegal-streaming-services-warned-after-raids-521702 "Thailand’s Department of Special Investigation (DSI) police have warned streaming users in Thailand that they risk punishment if downloading pirated movies or sports events, including premium football. This follows a series of raids in Nonthaburi and Bangkok across six major locations which have closed the notorious INWIPTV network. Eleven staff have been arrested, according to a police source. [...] Sompan Charumilinda, executive vice chairman of True Visions which has campaigning for the raids, said content piracy was costing the country many millions if baht through copyright breaches and unauthorized content copying. Amongst others losing legitimate income were Amazon, Netflix, Apple TV, Sony Pictures, Universal Studios, Walt Disney Studios, Warner Bros and Discovery." More at link. Not to be too much of a cynic, but I suspect that if the elite families who own services like True Visions were convinced that online piracy was not costing them anything, they wouldn't be losing much sleep about the harm being done to Amazon and Walt Dizzy.

Well hallelujah, the buildings and bridges and airplanes they use will crumble down or fall out of the sky without them having to expend any mental effort. Utopia at last.

Yep, as I said, AI is only as good as the data it's trained on, which in turn is only as good as the people who are feeding it the data. That is, if anybody is responsible for curating what these models are learning, as opposed to them simply scraping the internet without direction. If you "train" "AI" on the "data" from random idiots and lunatics on the internet, the result will be Artificial Idiocy or Artificial Insanity. Which appears to be what you discovered.

But you had to read it first. Not with AI. But the point was to learn the method, which you need to do with your particular example, unless you find an exact duplicate online, the chances of which are nil. Not with AI, you give it your particular example, and it spits out the equations, so you learn nothing. Which is why AI is so dangerous, that and it CAN spit out "solutions" to problems, which might not be correct or even VALID. And why AI must be kept out of schools: So that we're not graduating students who know how to do nothing but feed AI robots their assignments, then turn them in. In my opinion, AI will be dangerous as long as it's an imperfect simulation of human intelligence. After that, it will be even more dangerous. The challenge is and will always be how to harness AI in a way where the dangers can be controlled. Simply turning it loose on a world full of random quarter-wits and evil fucktards doesn't seem to be a good way to do that, at least so far.