stevomaui

No need to spot forest fires in northern Thailand , just look up at the mountain from your window, its on fire everywhere 

Just received approval email from Thai Pass after 5 days wait . No snafoo's in the filling out of the forms as I took note from some of the issues other appliers on Asean Now posted . All documents were jpeg , single page and followed Thaipass guide lines . Took about three hours in the morning . No refusals , blocks or second attempts needed . Maybe the bugs were picked out . Looking forward to enjoying Thailand without all of the tourist entertainment / vices taking away from the real Thai lifestyle . Expect the covid jump to occur when the bars open up and the parties start .........

I guess it's back to the backpackers where it all started 

I met Mr. Eco , a Karen hilltribe elder , when he "sold" me an abandoned rice field tucked in a mountain valley 3 hrs north of Chiang Mai on a highway to nowhere . He raised 5 children on those rice fields , never had a "job" , spoke little Thai , one pair of shoes , worlds biggest smile but fewest teeth and built his home  from bamboo and mud from the field that fed his family . We didn't share many words between us but I was always invited to sit and have a cup of herbal tea with him and his chickens when I walked past his empire .. At 84 he still had the habit of picking up a hoe and head to the rice field " just to tidy things up ". I believe this man was the most content person I have yet to meet and as far as being happy , that sparkle in his eye revealed a life lived fully , even though that life was contained on 15 rai  . I do hope someday I will be brave enough to trust my hands and wit and the abundance of the land to meet my needs not how much money I have in the

bank .

If they really want to catch this murderer maybe round up all the officers in his department and have them try on a few plastic bags  . The one who first gives the correct answer gets the lambo. The rest of the estate goes to the dealers family . No need to deals drugs anymore .......

Makes perfect sense to me sitting in a canal watching the water coming and going and pondering where your life's choices are taking you . This covid wake up call is a good time to reevaluate the path we all have been taking , one that has set the stage for the  perfect storm which we find ourselves in .Maybe back to the farm and a life more rooted in the real world instead of trying to place our card in the house of which we have all been making . Everything is falling apart because of this almost invisible half life . Who's at the top of the food chain now ??

Like I said , one in a million

First posting for me , and not one normally seen on this site . I have a Thai girlfriend who I have been seeing on a regular basis ( every 4 months for a 3 month visit ) for the last ten years . I've been using a tourist visa with a 30 extension to cover my stay  .I myself am 63 years young and live the rest of the time in Hawaii where my business ( farm and guesthouse ) is located . The knees are saying its time to retire and I'm hoping to give the farm to my only son who will carry on the day to day of running the place . My Thai GF is a general practice M.D. and has been waiting for that day to come and is willing to foot the bill of me retiring in Thailand . Meaning I can give the farm to my son along with the income it generates . My question is , if I have to open an account of 800,000 bhat in a bank my GF is willing to transfer the money from her one of many savings accounts . Do I have to show the transfer originating from an bank outside of the country ? As far as trusting my GF , she is one in a million and I would trust her with my soul......