Gary

I don't do anything techy with Open Office. I have never used macros or the spreadsheet. I use the word processor and once in a while someone sends me a picture presentation. It always opens them with no problems. I heartily recommend it. It reads Word documents and can save documents in that format.

I still remember the Jomtien Palm Beach hotel fire. I think about a hundred people died in that fire. Yes, it was steel and concrete construction.

A friend of mine lived, I think on the 17th floor of a Jomtien high rise condo. Out on his balcony he had a huge coil of rope. It was about an inch in diameter and about every two feet, he had knots tied. No way could I have been able to climb down 17 floors on that rope. It must have taken him several days to tie all those knots. I asked him if the rope would reach the ground. He looked at me and asked if I thought he was stupid.

If you're living with a Thai lady, you will need a separate bedroom so she can watch Thai TV in one room and you can watch English TV in the other room. My condo bedroom is also my computer room. My condo is 60 square meters and that is about the right size for me. It has plenty of built in storage so it is not cluttered.

I would have thought that the IRS would have notified me about this requirement. I would have known nothing about it not for my accountant. Not every expat has an accountant.

I too have problems with long dark narrow hallways and I don't like to be up high because of fire danger. My condo building is only 5 stories high and I am on the third floor. I normally walk up even though there is an elevator. The building is a rectangular shape and is open in the center. The center is planted and landscaped. You can find non claustrophobic places if you look long enough. I did live in a gated community house when I lived in Bangkok. My house was broken into twice.

All I know about it is that big brother is antagonizing foreign banks and being a pain in the ass for expats. I'd rather see the government investigate the IRS's political agenda. Of course the democrat powers that be will do whatever they can to sweep this under the rug.

As a matter of fact, Bank of America sent me a new Visa card in February. It looks the same as the expired card so I don't know about a chip. I don't use the credit card except for online purchases. BoA has a feature called Shop Safe. You put the maximum amount and get a one time use number. It's easy to use and works great. Before they offered that, they had refused a number of purchases I had made. Now they go straight through. I have notified BoA that I will have no purchases that were not made using Shop Safe.

I could easily give a US address but my permanent address is in Thailand and this is where I live. I absolutely refuse to use a phony US address. I have discovered that US banks are NOT friendly to expats. I have been a Citibank customer for a lot of years and they saw fit to cancel my Visa card because I don't have a US address. Bank of America has no problem servicing my Visa card.

Apple makes the phone bigger and makes the SIM smaller. WHY? I thought it was stupid for any phone to use the micro SIM. Pain in the ass! Unfortunately my Samsung S3 uses the micro SIM. Stupid!

It's not really a big deal if I sell the car or not. It's a lot more comfortable driving the car down to Jomtien than driving my pickup. Up here out in the Boonies, I'd rather drive the truck but my wife farms and she always needs the truck for something. I have a friend who I like to visit and his road is so bad that I have to take the motorbike or the truck. The car just sits too low.

When I knew that I would be retiring in Thailand, I notified Scottrade for an address change. They immediately told me that I couldn't have a Scottrade account without a US residence. It was a poor time to get out of the market but I sold out. It ended up being a nightmare. I found an accountant who also represents LPL. I hired him to take care of my 401K account and to do my tax returns from over here. Scottrade caused me a lot of problems and the IRS told me I owed more than $10,000 in taxes. Scottrade was absolutely no help but my accountant finally got everything straightened out. He did notify me last year that if I had more than $10,000 in a Thai bank, that this year we would have to declare it. If he has any questions, he asks me for the answers, other than that we have very little dealings. I usually get a refund every year that is several times more than what he charges me. I file a joint return.

I have been using this accountant for more than 15 years and have had no problems. My view is better safe than sorry. I have been living her for a damn sight more than 339 days and he has been doing my tax returns every year since I have been here.

A few years ago the expired license was a fact. In the past couple of years they did change that silly rule. I do have a five year license now.

My US accountant wanted the names and account numbers of my Thai banks as well as the amounts over $10,000 in each account. Yes, I gave him the information. A democrat controlled IRS is a scary thing.

You have to have an expired one year license before they will give you a five year license. I don't know if your visa is important or not.

That's the reason I emailed them. Their application needs a US address and the site rejected the application when I wasn't able to provide a US address.

Just FYI, I had emailed Fidelity and told them that I am a US citizen and wanted to open an account with them. I also told them that I did NOT have a residence in the US. They didn't see fit to even answer my email.

Seems like a shame to have a holiday in Pattaya and then stay trapped inside your room for a week or more.

The Thais are a lot like lemmings. They form their opinions and all follow together. Concerning cars, if it is not a Toyota or Honda, it is no good. Trucks are the same. When Fords and Mazda were coming out of the same factory, Mazda was good and Ford was bad. When Chevy and Isuzu were made in the same factory, Isuzu was number one and Chevy was no good. If you try to explain that those trucks were the same mechanically and used the same parts, they will absolutely NOT believe you. I know this for a fact, my Thai wife knows EVERYTHING and another Thai told her so knows that she is right. Having had no problems with the car since it was new has not convinced her that it is a good car.

This is the top of the line Ghia model with an automatic transmission. I paid 939,000 baht for it new from Loei Ford. It is a 1.8 liter engine and it uses E20 fuel. It is loaded with many standard, normally options on cheaper models, and automatic temperature control. That means it has a heater and windshield defroster. It is a beige color with a matching beige leather interior. The rear seats fold forward to make a huge storage area. I have lowered the price to a firm 300,000 baht. It has 42,000 kilometers on it and most of that was put on with trips back and forth from Loei to Jomtien. Never any accidents except the front spoiler that totally spoiled a dog's day. That damage has been repaired. I'll be in Jomtien the first week of May if anyone is interested in seeing it and test driving the car. I need a truck much more than I need a car. It is a four door sedan.

Actually I wouldn't call filet mignon steak. Yes it is tender but lacks the steak flavor. A good steak needs some fat to have the best flavor. I would prefer a prime chuck steak, which is the cheapest cut, over a filet. My last trip to the US, I went shopping for a family BBQ and had sticker shock at the meat counter. Decent T Bones were about $9.95 a pound, pound, not kilo. I'm actually happier with the chuck steak than the T Bones. That big bone is a waste besides being a pain to eat around.

Maybe because the Thai government has a LOT of rice to get rid of ??

I wouldn't consider any condo that is not finished. If I can't put the key in the lock and walk in to see that everything works, forget it. I don't trust any of the developers. It has to be able to be in my name. I want to know the monthly maintenance fees and want to know how healthy the fund is. I also want make sure the electric bill comes from the electric company with no add on from the condo management. The maintenance fee is 10 baht per square meter per month. Mine is 600 baht per month. Security is great, swimming pools are pristine and the grounds are very well kept. The last time I went to a yearly meeting, each owner each got 2,000 baht because the the fund was too fat. I give the office girls money to pay my electric and water bills. They treat me great.

On the dark side, there are quite a few guesthouse and small apartments available for 3,000 baht per month. Transportation is a problem and I wouldn't consider living in such a poor location. The added cost of transportation would quickly eat up any savings.