Gary

They love members with multiple memberships. That increases their membership numbers. Good for selling advertising. I would never give them the satisfaction. Even if they must remove your personal data they keep your membership to keep up their numbers.

The Thai economy seems to be doing pretty well, so I would guess that the baht will likely appreciate. Since the US economy is also doing well, I think the dollar will remain around 30 or 31 to the dollar. Who knows?

I discovered something else. Once you are a member, you are a member forever. I tried to have my membership removed and that was not possible. I think they do that to keep up huge membership numbers to promote the advertising. I would guess that many members wanted to quit when they were no longer able to use an adblocker.

Thai Visa has a member with the handle Mentally Disturbed. I made a post saying that I realize that you are mentally disturbed................ Bang, I got what they call a "vacation". I was told that I would have to acknowledge my violation before being allowed back in. I hope they were not holding their breath because that will never happen. AND, yes, that mod is a homosexual just like the rest of the Thai Visa ruling clan.

I bought a top of the line Samsung S5. About as soon as it was out of warranty, it died. Samsung wanted 8,000 baht to replace the mainboard. I declined. I found a shop in Bangkok, I think it is called Dr. Smartphone or something close to that name. I sent the phone to them and they wanted 4,000 baht to replace the mainboard. I transferred the money to them. I got the phone back and it worked for less than a week. I sent it back to them and they replaced the mainboard again. The 30 day warranty expired and the phone died again. I should add that that mainboard was Russian. The phone was put in a drawer for more than a year. I took a trip down to Jomtien and took the phone with me. A trip to Tuk Com and a small shop said they would try to repair it. That cost me 500 baht. It worked for just a few hours so I took it back to that shop. They did refund my 500 baht and told me the phone was not worth repairing. Being stubborn, I took it to another shop. I think it is called We Fixit or something like that. They replaced the mainboard for 2,500 baht with a 30 day warranty. It has been working fine for a couple months now. Since I had paid more than 20,000 baht for the phone, I was loath to throw it away. My backup phone is now a Xiaomi Mi A1. It was my daily driver and has never had a problem. The Xiaomi is much faster and I think it is a better phone. The camera is capable of taking good pictures, BUT, not every time. That sucks. The S5 camera is great and I think the Samsung call quality is also a little better. The battery life sucked but I found that the Ultra battery saver option gives me about a week of light use. When the Samsung dies again, I will bounce it off the wall so I won't be tempted to repair it again. I'm now a fan of Chinese phones. Half the price and better quality. I also have a 8.6 inch screen Huawei tablet and it is also much faster with great top and bottom speakers for listening to audio books. It can also make phone calls. It has replaced my slower heavy laptop for traveling. The laptop speakers suck. No more expensive Samsungs or Apple products.

https://freshbangkok.com/new-thai-rental-laws-expect/

If the new renters protection laws are upheld, decent rentals will be far more difficult to find. You will need references from someone the owner knows and trusts. Renters should be protected from asshole owners but maybe these new laws have gone too far. Even as things were, my condo is empty 95 percent of the time. I seldom use it and prefer to leave it empty because good renters are few and far between. If a renter destroys your condo, steals things and leaves, you are simply screwed. Hotels usually give good long term rates and since they are usually serviced quite often, the hotel knows if the tenant is abusing or taking decent care of the room. That is the best way to go for both parties.

Maybe a setup but a great idea.

you have to remember that you CANNOT own land in Thailand. Regardless of what the property developers tell you, there are no 99 year leases and nominee companies are illegal. The only thing you can own is a condo in YOUR name. You will need a verification letter from the condo association stating that the condo you want to buy is within the 49 percent of allowed farang ownership. Don't believe the person telling you that you can have the unit in your name without proof.

The bottom line is that I don't think a condo is a wise investment. It is a good investment if you plan on living there. My condo is like a security blanket, I will always have a roof over my head and a place to go. The maintenance charge is 10 baht per square meter or 600 baht a month for mine. Electric and water are very small costs since I'm seldom there. I did have to spend some money the last few trips. A new desktop computer and new TV plus a new air conditioner for the bedroom. I also replaced the old refrigerator. The old one worked OK but defrosting it was a pain. The main thing is to choose carefully. You should really like the location and the unit. If you have any doubts, you should keep looking. You'll know when you find the right one. Yes, my complex has several swimming pools, an exercise room and a tennis court. I use the pool once in a while but have never used the tennis court or the exercise room. There is a 7-11 at the front of the complex that is handy and a small restaurant in the complex directly across the street from my condo. Some guys pay a huge premium for an ocean view but regardless of the view, you will eventually get tired of it. I would pay more for a larger more comfortable unit. Saving money is a poor tactic when looking for a place to live. I did seriously look at an ocean view unit but was put off by all the metal things being corroded and rusty vehicles. Salt air is hard on many things especially electronics.

Years ago I owned a Florida condo. When I moved over here, I had it rented out. To make a long story short, that was the worst thing I could have done. There are many deadbeats and even decent renters who pay the rent often do not take care of the property. In the US, try getting a deadbeat renter out of your property. I eventually sold the then distressed condo and took a beating. Fortunately it was paid for and I felt good getting rid of the headache even after losing money.

I have always considered paying rent as throwing your money down the toilet. As far as a condo, I hate high rises. Long dark narrow hallways and worries about fires was always on my mind. It took me a while to find a place that suited me but I did find what I wanted. the buildings where I bought are five stories high and are built in a rectangle open in the center with trees and plants in that open area. I also have no problem buying second hand. Buying off plan may be good but you risk a lot of hassle and delays. That's IF the project does get finished, some don't. I actually like second hand because you can see exactly what you are getting. The key unlocks the door, the lights turn on and the toilet flushes. The grounds should be clean and neat and the swimming pools pristine.

My advise is to NOT buy a shoe box. Make sure it has a separate bedroom. If you ever have a room mate she will want to watch Thai TV and you will want English TV. My condo is 60 square meters with a large bedroom. I have a TV in the bedroom, a computer desk and a desk top computer. It is also good to have plenty of built in storage. If you live there, you will also want a washing machine and a patio big enough for drying your clothes. ADDED - Make sure the electricity is billed directly from the electric company and be careful with the maintenance fees. Some management companies are a rip off. My condo association is made up of owners and the fee is 10 baht per square meter. A new condo will likely be higher than that but not some crazy figure. A gated complex with good security is also good.

Just call me a Luddite. I am of the opinion that nothing comes from nothing. This is not like owning a mountain or stream that may contain gold, diamonds or other valuable minerals. I'm sorry but I simply can't wrap my mind around a system that gets wealth out of thin air. Someone gives you a check made out to cash. Sometimes it is good and sometimes it is no good. I believe it is good when I have the cash in my hand.

Since I have been grabbing at straws trying to view my D-Link camera system recorder, I decided to try Pale Moon. Eureka! That is the only browser that works for D-Link crap software. Samsonite, thanks for the link. I actually uninstalled Chrome. Now it is Pale Moon for default and Opera for browsing.

Two posts would have avoided any confusion.

A weak dollar may be good for the country but obviously it sucks for us expats.

Sometime back he said the dollar was too strong and he wanted it weakened to help US exports. If that was true, he is getting his wish.

I have been watching the dollar baht exchange rate carefully. I don't like what the dollar is doing so I took a chance a few days ago and wire transfered $30,000 to my Siam Bank. I got 31.75 baht to a dollar. The dollar has gone lower than that since so maybe I was lucky. A year ago I got 35.2. In any case, I'm all set for another year. ADDED - That $30,000 transfer from Citibank cost me $45. I looked at TransferWise and the fee was $299.

I think you have answered the wrong post. I have no mining rig and no bit-coins. I just happened to view a video showing a large Chinese operation that occupies a large building and generates their own electricity.

If you look at the Chinese Bit-coin mining complexes, you wouldn't bother with such a small system. They apparently take massive amounts of power so the Chinese locate these mining factories in areas like fast flowing streams to generate their own electricity.

I too avoid swimming in the Gulf. There are plenty of pristine swimming pools to get your exercise. The sea is pretty good at cleaning itself but the Pattaya and Jomtien areas have overwhelmed mother nature.

Maybe I give up too easy. I have uninstalled Firefox and am using Chrome and Opera. This combination is working very well for me. I am using a D-Link WiFi camera with Chrome. The camera doesn't work with Firefox,Safari, Edge or Opera. (D-Link hardware sucks). I have Chrome as default and use Opera for all my surfing. I also have a D-Link DNR 202L. It is supposed to work with an external hard drive and it does record. The problem is that I can't view the .DB files. I get the message the DNR not compatible with Firefox, Chrome, IE Edge, Safari or Opera. That recorder is a piece of shit and the camera isn't that good either.

Modern diesels are actually pretty clean as far as pollution. Probably at least 30 percent more efficient as far as fuel economy. Unfortunately the greenies don't like diesels. My 3 liter Isuzu has loads of power and gets 35 miles per gallon. My wife's anemic little Ford Eco Sport gets about 25 miles per gallon. That's using E85. My Isuzu is bigger, heavier and has much more power.

One of my favorites for breakfast is called kai yut sai. At least the Thais recognize those words. It is an omelet and stuffed with minced pork and a sauce like tomato sauce or maybe partly ketchup with bits of chopped vegetables.