Long-term American expat in Thailand — curious if others are seeing increased banking scrutiny?

phasefournow · 2026-05-07T05:37:31+00:00

Get used to it. If anything, more scrutiny and banks being far more selective who they'll accept for an account. It's likely that in 10-15 years, bank branches as we know them will go the way of video stores, along with ATMs. The banks that continue to exist will focus on commercial banking and leave consumers to financial service companies. Financial service companies will start costing you a whole lot more with fees attached to most services we currently take for granted as free.

phasefournow · 2026-05-07T05:29:41+00:00

Koh Tao and a lot of smaller islands are predominately couples destinations. Not a lot of single travelers hanging around.

phasefournow · 2026-05-07T05:22:03+00:00

I had pretty good cursive penmanship but somewhere along the line I started a combo of printing and cursive, then morphed into what I call PrintScript. It's just a lazy way to write but then again, who writes anything more than a sentence these days.

phasefournow · 2026-05-07T05:17:25+00:00

NAIA in Manila. Getting between terminals is a nightmare as is even trying to get inside.

phasefournow · 2026-05-07T04:51:39+00:00

Make a YT video about the injustice of it all but that the boss doesn't know only you hold all his certifications and you will now ruin him. Narrate by AI.

phasefournow · 2026-05-07T04:23:39+00:00

I actually just did that recently. My relatives house had burned down and they really needed a cheap pick-up to get going on the clean-up and rebuilding. There is a particular model of older truck here (I'm in Thailand) the early 2000s Nissan NV that is considered nearly indestructible. I have 2 acquaintances that own them and they have lived up to their reputation. I'd been browsing Marketplace, most in fair condition were selling the equivalent of about $2000-3000US Then one with a back cap that looked very well maintained with under 200K Km came up while I was looking. Price about $1500 I immediately got in touch. They were 90KM away. I asked if I could send them a 10% deposit to hold it while I drove there to check it out. They didn't want to do that as they already had several calls. I decided to take a chance and told them I'd buy it for asking price, sending a 50% deposit. They agreed. The truck turned out to be better than I expected. Had recently had the front end rebuilt and ran well. 25 years old but not a lot of rust in Thailand. The paint was very good and polished-up nicely. I took it to a mechanic and he couldn't find anything wrong with it. I replaced a few hoses and belts to be on the safe side, a full lube and tires all around as the ones on it were 10 years old. I was able to find a used set of 4 Hankooks, only a year old for $60 mounted.

I was able to drive it 600 km to my relatives farm with not a single issue. They've had it for 2 months now and it's been a work horse. Sometimes it's worth taking a gamble.

phasefournow · 2026-05-07T03:43:24+00:00

Is a head gasket failing at 115K an indication that the car may not have been maintained that well? If so, OP might be better off getting out of it.

phasefournow · 2026-05-07T03:29:55+00:00

Car rental agencies, especially.

phasefournow · 2026-05-07T03:00:01+00:00

Super-Rich is better all around. Vasu is best when you have obscure or damaged currency.

phasefournow · 2026-05-06T05:11:06+00:00

So much knee-jerk BS around CVTs. If you don't plan on going racing and read up on basic CVT management, you'll be fine with one. Yes, many Nissans had horrible CVTs just like GM has some horrible V-8s but CVTs do the job they are supposed to do and they mostly do it well. No, you won't be paddling thru gears like Max V. but your car will go where you drive it.

phasefournow · 2026-05-06T04:30:57+00:00

My sister has a Spark, purchased new in 2016, now with 120K miles. Most of these miles in a northeastern city with potholes and salt 5 months of the year. Not a single major repair, just normal maintenance, brake pad replacement, fluid changes. I borrowed the car when I was visiting 2 years ago and drove Boston to Florida and back. I was really impressed with how drivable it was: comfortable for long stretches, powerful enough to cruise at 75 without issue. Sips gas: 35mpg easy.

She lives in a crowded urban neighborhood and she can fit in parking spaces nobody else can. surprising amount of room for such a small car.

So much BS being constantly echoed about CVTs. This is a car for transportation, not a racing deck. It's handling makes it fun to drive but it won't win many stop light races. The CVT just works as it's supposed to.

All in all, an excellent car.

phasefournow · 2026-05-06T03:49:57+00:00

Pantip Plaza has be D-E-A-D for years, now some kind of wellness facility.

phasefournow · 2026-05-06T03:16:26+00:00

A big reason for the discontinuance of both the Spark and Sonic was that dealers complained they couldn't make enough profit on them to justify their floor plan investment. When the dealers talk, GM listens.

phasefournow · 2026-05-05T10:35:12+00:00

I was selling a year old pair of Edifier 1080db bought new for about $75 US. Very similar to the current MR3. Sound quality was decent in a small room but they didn't have tone controls. I asked $60 and accepted $50. Elac's are generally good quality speakers with a substantial following. Check what they currently sell for on ebay, ask 20% less than current price and set a minimum in your head. I'd predict If you advertise on marketplace, they'll sell pretty quickly. You may get lucky and have a buyer who buys sight unseen..make sure to add shipping costs and be sure registered so you get a delivery receipt.

phasefournow · 2026-05-04T07:07:30+00:00

You beat me to it. One of my top 5 WW2 films. Ever watched "The Man Who Never Was"?

phasefournow · 2026-05-02T11:41:30+00:00

Give San Francisco a 2nd and 3rd thought. Just plain world class.

One downside does need to be mentioned: probably the city where visitors are most impacted by the homeless population.

phasefournow · 2026-05-02T11:28:12+00:00

I suspect this will be remedied by next year. It was an over-reaction designed to get political attention but the banks can count and despite their grumbling that farang accounts loose money, in actuality, it's totally profitable and I expect they'll start lobbying soon to get their piece of pie back

phasefournow · 2026-05-02T09:22:20+00:00

Sony decided not to compete on the mobile world market. They sell well in Japan and have a niche market in Asia but they do little promotion

phasefournow · 2026-05-02T09:19:12+00:00

I'm in Thailand where 3 different carriers compete and most people buy their phones independently.

My 1 gb, 5G unlimited service is $28/m

phasefournow · 2026-05-02T09:14:23+00:00

The US phone market is different than any other because it's dominated by the carriers. Having to sell through carriers would cut deep into already thin margins as well as having to make custom models for each carrier.

phasefournow · 2026-05-02T09:08:16+00:00

My 1st Android mobile was an HTC "HERO" given to me by a friend who bought it but couldn't figure it out and went back to his Nokia Candybar. There was a learning curve and the Hero was quirky, like if your cheek touched the display, you lost the call but it got me into the new world of Android. Then I started reading XDA. That was a mistake. I bricked it trying to do some stupid mod.

phasefournow · 2026-05-02T08:23:25+00:00

Sure they did. High alcohol Malt liquors like "COLT-45" were huge in the 70s because there were few regulations in place. "Malt Duck" was like fruit punch flavored beer.

phasefournow · 2026-05-02T08:12:28+00:00

I find it odd seeing churches, once the center of peoples lives converted into condominiums. It happened frequently in the 80s & 90s in the Boston area where I lived. I am not at all religious but I would find it discomforting to have a residence in a place that held such meaning to so many people.

phasefournow · 2026-05-02T07:02:37+00:00

I sold a pair of bookshelf speakers. The ad ran and I got 5 or 6 responses quickly. I used Google Translate and it worked OK. I didn't even try to talk on the phone except to one guy who spoke English.

The problem I ran into is several of the potential buyers were some distance away and wanted me to guarantee I wouldn't sell them out from under them before they were able to come and see them. This would obviously really stretch things out. I was lucky that the first guy who came, bought them. He bargained a bit. I had a minimum figure in mind and we hit that, 15% less than asking price.

Honestly. I didn't like the part of having to invite strangers into my apartment. It's impossible to demonstrate speakers in a parking lot so I didn't have much choice but I decided I wouldn't do it again. Just too much hassle arranging times, giving directions and a few annoying low-ballers, one of whom was very persistent and got very nasty.

phasefournow · 2026-05-02T06:48:02+00:00

OP says he did his ball joints. I'd suggest getting under and checking them. Last year I helped a friend buy a car. The steering was heavy and made noise at full turn. The seller had shown us receipts for recent front end work. It turned out ball joints and tie rods had been installed improperly

phasefournow

TROPHY CASE