js007

I saw an article this morning about some sort of worldwide Internet stoppage that affected a lot of things for a while. That happened yesterday, I guess. I also read something about Google server problems.

Strong dollars are great if you have dollars, but the powers that be in the USA are always doing pretty much everything in their power to keep it weak. That makes US exports more competitive and that’s their main priority. Big corporations. They don’t care about savers. It’s all a great game.

I’m in Jomtien, and this week there seems to be a large increase in Thais on vacation. I asked someone and they said a lot of people were off fo.r a week right now.

Am I wrong, or is the primary problem simply a design defect? The engines were placed in a way that the plane might be hard to control. Hence the software fix and the resulting crashes.

I'm not sure if it's true, but at one point I read that the engine sitting there was not even the same type of engine used on that particular aircraft.

The “flight” that supposedly hit the Pentagon didn’t even leave any wing marks on the building. There was just a hole.

Of course, some people think that there was no flight 93 crash. What happened to the wreckage?

It happened to me again last night. I got to Bangkok, but my luggage didn’t. They’re supposed to deliver it to Pattaya today. In fairness, it wasn’t really lost. My plane from Detroit to Seoul, South Korea was delayed, circling the airport. As a result, I missed my connecting flight. They put me on the next flight to Bangkok, but my luggage didn’t make that flight.

Even in the USA I don’t really use them much except for some online shopping at places like Amazon. Otherwise, I just pull cash from the ATM when I need it.

Usually, I'm not brave enough to try to use credit cards in Thailand. Too much of a chance of fraud and the ensuing hassle. Once in the US I used one of my credit cards to buy something over the internet from Canada. Within 20 minutes my credit card company was contacting me, wanting to know if I was charging things down in Miami Beach. Expensive purses, sunglasses, etc. They had to cancel the card, reverse the charges, and send me a new card with a new number. Anyway, my usual mode of operation is to take cash out of the ATM every so often and just use cash.

It wouldn’t be horrible if I had to pay $2.50 to withdraw 20,000 baht. What’s annoying are the fees charged by the big banks.

As for them “tracking” things. One article I read said that if you have your phone with you and you use that company’s app and allow the phone to follow your location, the bank will be able to see that your card and your phone are in the same location. Another app I found is called Chime. A banking app with no foreign transaction fees.

Sounds like I should take a look at Schwab. I'll report back in a week or so on the Capital One 360 ATM fees. I guess if I use it in Thailand I might be stuck with the Thai 200 baht ATM fee, per withdrawal. Another question for anyone who knows: I tried to notify a few of my credit card companies about my travel plans, and some of them say this is no longer necessary because of the new technology in the cards. Sounds good, but I wonder.

Since I’ll be in Thailand by this time next week, I’m trying to figure out the smart way to handle banking issues. Apparently, many US banks are now very much unfriendly towards expats. US accounts are sometimes closed for “excessive overseas wire transfers” and other such nonsense. And that was my plan. Just wire some money once in a while, including enough to meet the 800,000 baht retirement criteria. But I’d rather not be in Thailand and be cut off from my money because some bank decided to close my account. Anyway, one day for the heck of it I opened A Capital One 360 checking account

I was having trouble earlier today and yesterday logging on. But just a minute ago, it worked. Maybe the site goes down for maintenance once in a while?

Cuba sandwich for the better part of $10 US? I'm Sorry, but it just doesn't look like that's a good deal. I'm in the USA and I can buy a Cuban sandwich cheaper than that. Anyway, it looks like about 60 baht.

Apparently, Australia has now grounded the planes. Of course, the USA says they are "safe." I wouldn't count on that.

After this latest crash, I double checked my ticket to see what planes I was scheduled on. No 737Max, fortunately. For most of my flight I'm on an Airbus 350-900 for 15 hours or so, then on a Boeing of some sort for the final leg to Bangkok from Seoul.

I don't know about DTAC, but at AIS, it used to depend on the particular plan you were using. Some plans may require topping up on a monthly basis, others less frequently. Maybe that's not such a big deal, so long as you can top up online from anywhere.

That pretty much sums it up. On balance, they're more trouble than they're worth.

Those are some good prices. I'm getting ready to buy a ticket, but I'm leaning towards a Premium Economy seat. Unfortunately, prices for those aren't cheap. Around $2000, although I haven't done much of a search.

What's the name of the big buildings being built behind Soi LK Metro (visible in one of the pics)?

I think the earliest LK Metro pictures I had were from late 2006. So that would be 121/2 years ago. I’m not sure if I remember a Devil’s Den back then. It may have come later.

OK, I'll try to attach a few: From the early days of Soi LK Metro. The others just from around the area.

In America, the “fake news” media has convinced people that Russians are “the enemy.” And so many people believe that. In reality, it’s just a bunch of brain dead Democrats desperately seeking a reason for Hillary ‘s defeat.