I have a 2 bedroom, two story townhouse. I run air in the bedrooms at night, air in the living area in the day, air in the kitchen in the evening, 2 shower water heaters, water pump, washer, computer, TV, water kettle, rice cooker, microwave, toaster, and a porch light on at night. I pay direct to the municipality. My bill runs between 4,000 and 5,000 baht a month. Before I insulated the upstairs area, my bill was 6,000 to 7,000. I paid 10,000 baht for the 6" foil wrapped insulation, 50 sq meters at Thai Watsadu. My expense return was less than a year.

I have a 300 sq meter open concept cabin i rent at the beach. I spend less than 10 days a month there. Air and water heater, plus lights run 2,000 baht a month. I get a copy of pictures of my meter from my Thai landlady and get the local rate of around 4 baht per kilowatt. I'm considering insulation. But it has a metal roof, it is on stilts and the 2"X6" floor boards have hairline cracks between them, and no wall insulation.

I'd probably come out ahead by buying a lot and building a properly insulated house, 555.

Those who depend on agencies to slide their discrepancies through the system have a rude awakening coming.

Immigration is training all new college grads by the book to take over supervision positions. Greasing the wheel will be a thing of the past for all immigration offices in the very near future.

I have already seen it in Samut Prakan. By the book. Every detail verified and checked twice. It will catch agencies helping you when you're short on your bank account or don't have a good address or whatever discrepancies you might have. They checked my balance weekly for the year. I had to make sure I deposited the 65,000 baht a month for income, as I was unable to get the certified letter like I used originally 3 years ago, from Social Security. The previous 2 years I made the deposits regularly knowing I couldn't get the letter.

It supposedly is going to clean up some of the foreigner rift raft.

Thailand is know for implementing changes and then backing down. I think this change is going to stick.

Good luck if you're unable to dot all of your i's and cross all of your t's. Because the young lady supervisor my window immigration agent had to prove everything to wore an extremely tight belt last month. I had never seen so much highlighting of dates, dollar amounts, etc... Even my original application to Thai immigration in Washington DC in America went smoother.

I will say, I have handled all of my immigration paperwork all alone. It's a jailable offense to lie on your application.

I've never been to jail. And I damn sure don't want to start in Thailand.

@Cassius *********

my Thai wife was having similar issues. I told her it was all in her mind. Either she will not discuss it anymore with me, which would be normal Thai, or she is no longer experiencing them.

Several people have told me they just can't get past it. I remind them, your destiny is already determined. Don't let this ruin what's left of your life.

For the most part, syndromes can be worked out in your head.

Good luck with it.

Because it probably would allow you to be more free and have a lot less bank and government fees, 555.

@Max *********

some people can't concentrate long enough to get past the 1st sentence. It wasn't for them, lol.

Thanks for acknowledging the fact that I have made it to the status of grandpa. Most young people of today will never get there. Especially if they rent a motorcycle in Thailand.

This was my 3rd annual extension.

Last year after my approval my retirement was late getting to the bank one month after my extension started. I didn't check my account, and I withdrew spending money. My account dipped to 790,000. This year, the same office in Samut Prakan said I had to apply again fresh. I was told to make a border run. So I drove to Cambodia. They failed to tell me I had to spend the night. I argued and got back across the same day with the temporary stamp. I then had to get all the paperwork fresh. Then I got a call from immigration police. They wanted to check my residence. This was a 1st. The bank letter failed because it didn't show the balance as of signature date on the signed document. They had the annual bank report and my updated bank book. But that wasn't enough. You'd have thought the bank would have been use to making the proper letter. Now that's done,and they said they would call me in 2 weeks to tell me the results. I won't go through this twice. I have a small house in my name in Puerto Vallarta Mexico. It's easier to visit Texas from there anyway. Without all the BS. I bought a citizenship there around 5 years ago.

An acquaintance from America has used a company to handle his visa for many years here in Thailand. He's never had the reqired money in the bank nor the proper income. Last month he was deported. The company he used is now under investigation, as well as the immigration office in Map Ta Phut.

The rules are being enforced stringently now. One officer said it was the Chinese & the Russians that have really stirred this up.

I will soon start the process of getting my fiance approved for Mexico just in case.

As for you, you probably didn't help matters, so I hope they burn your ass.