jts-khorat

This actually happened for many years: a pickup truck from Laos would scoop up street dogs in Isaan, or get them from their owner (because they might have bitten someone or killed a chicken) in exchange for simple kitchen items. This whole trade has largely stopped -- due to Western pressure by animal protection NGOs. It still is not difficult to get dog meat in Isaan, but the trade mainly has gone underground.

Contrary to crocodile, which indeed is delicious and tastes not all that different from chicken indeed, the meat of monitor lizards does not taste good, it has a very nasty aftertaste. I am talking from a personal sample of one, so others might have different experiences.

I think this is the most important consideration; will moving back actually improve anything? You do have insurance, so finding out if it would pay in Thailand for your condition would be an essential first step before any decision. I had to, after 15 years in Thailand, move back to Germany for work reasons, and as others have reported, the reverse culture shock was very severe. I also moved into a region far away from mountains, large lakes or the ocean, so it made it very difficult for me at first to find good hobbies outside. In my case it was necessary and unavoidable, but I would give my right arm to be back in Thailand if I could simply choose and not need to care about my dependents. You seem to have that covered, but I would at least as a thought experiment widen the potential places to "go back" to: does it really have to be the UK, or is another place nearby not also possible, which has benefitial weather for your sickness while at the same time offering a quality of life not much different to Thailand (Cyprus, Malta?). And maybe you do not even need to go that far; I lived in Phuket, as you did before as well, and never even noticed burning season; so maybe Laos climate is not good for you, but moving back to Phuket or Krabi might just do the trick, if even just for a few more years (close to hostitals, air not as bad). In the end it is necessary to have a well-thought out Plan B, so moving back before becoming immobile or too frail to handle the stress of resettlement, but from all your posts I have read, this seems not quite the age or state you are in yet. You seem however, just my impression, to be in a financial situation that reversing your decision might be difficult, so I would not hasten any decision unduly, until you are really 100% sure it is the right step. Edit: @simon reading further down the thread, of course you came to much the same wisdom as I; still, I ölet the post stand as is, because you might not be the only one in a similar istuation.

You do realize that he is part of the billionaire group, and of similar mind as them? The cognitive dissonance is mind-boggling.

It is quite often that Thais have the attention span of a fly, especially if the problemas are not directly their own, or you start coming around with numbers and facts. I do not even mean this derogatory or desparaging, it is just a simple fact of life here. I would simply remind her calmly, what you told her previously. If she is a scammer, she will start a fight, if she is just "confused" and inattentive she will back down. In the end you need to know how much to invest in Thailand -- namely exactly what you can walk away from at any time of your choosing (and this is not just good advice about relationships, but having a business here in general).

I sincerely do hope death was not more than once or twice the reason for your bad dream... 😆

How could this post have gotten a downvote? Somebody knows better than the natives? What is wrong with the "German meal" in the picture: Mystery ham (instead of real cooked one showing lumps of meat), a laughable mini-Schnitzel with bad crust (not welling and the meat obviously not hammered), nasty mashed potatoes (not creamy), lumpy home fries with some mystery green which has been cooked with them (instead of the potatoes being evenly thick slices, so they brown properly without some being just cooked), a mini meatball (you can see it even in the photo that it is of too hard consistence) and a red sausage (instead of a white Bratwurst), all mixed in some mystery red oily liquid on the bottom of the plate. I have written in parenthesis, what I as a German would think about the individual components on this plate. That they would never be eaten in such an ensemble in germany is, I hope, self-explanatory. It is not often that I have seen such an abhorrend mockery of a restaurant dish, it seems an intentionally disgusting assortment of food.

Even cheaper, drive a sea mine on a pickup truck to the beach, let it into the water and go with the current. Repeat a thousand times. This is really low-tech asymmetric warfare, and extremely effective -- you do not even need a ship to hit one of those mines, only the insurance premiums going through the roof! This is a kind of warfare you can do nothing against with jets in the air or a aircraft carrier around, this needs boots on the ground to control. Welcome Americans to your next Afghanistan (or something even more costly)... you seemingly voted for it.

Let me tell you as a native German... this is NOT a German breakfast. Disgusting! The only warm thing in a German breakfast might be boiled eggs. Sliced bread and butter, more likely marmelade or honey than cold ham or salami to put on it. Croissants or other similar pastries. Definitely a can of coffee. Nobody in Germany would ever eat such a thing as in the photo, but of course, tourists don't know.

You mean Germany, the economic superpower and second-biggest weapons exporter on the planet? Let's hope that Iran is not similarly boxed in, as learning Farsi for doing business is not an easy language...

Only minutes after I wrote this, Trump's most-beloved friends in Russia have this to say: "The enrichment of nuclear material — and, now we can say it outright, the future production of nuclear weapons — will continue," Dmitry Medvedev, now the deputy chairman of the Security Council of Russia, said in a Sunday X post. "A number of countries are ready to directly supply Iran with their own nuclear warheads," Medvedev said. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/russian-leader-claims-multiple-countries-prepped-provide-iran-nuclear-weapons-following-us-strikes Oops!

It would be not a very surprising occurance to me, if Iran and Russia would start exchanging more than drone technology. The material needed to build a nuke is not more than a shipping container full, and the regime in Tehran knows now for certain that it is a question of literal survival to get a nuke as fast as possible and at any price. War as the only "diplomatic" tool is a very short-sighted and limited tool and both the Iran and the USA have put themselves into the same primitive corner.

It actually only has two...

This is, if more than one bomb can be put exactly in the hole the first bomb opened. More critical: the bomb needs to actually work as advertised. It would not be the first time, that an aggressive regime like the US believed in their own propaganda a bit too much. Wars are really expensive. If the tariffs will not already crack the US economy, this one surely will.

Where is the confused emoji?! Bring it back!!