beautifulthailand99

There is a top brass official army mor-dhu (clairvoyant) that lives in a state funded palace and is used by the Generals to help with their decision-making processes. https://www.voanews.com/a/thai-politics-challenges-fortune-tellers/1939913.html

I couldn't see that in the post. The Buddha wrote this about violence. These duelling monks like many Thais are not true Buddhists just superstutious humans beleiveing in anything that rocks their boats. "Monks, even if bandits were to carve you up savagely, limb by limb, with a two-handled saw, he among you who let his heart get angered even at that would not be doing my bidding. Even then you should train yourselves: 'Our minds will be unaffected and we will say no evil words. We will remain sympathetic, with a mind of good will, and with no inner hate. We will keep pervading these people with an awareness imbued with good will and, beginning with them, we will keep pervading the all-encompassing world with an awareness imbued with good will — abundant, expansive, immeasurable, free from hostility, free from ill will.'

You really don't know and have lived there for years - no wonder you want to leave it must all be a confusing mystery with "fit birds" !

Probably these one week monks to show off the photos and pretend they are anything other than they are not. The Abott if he had any scruples should have kicked them out there and then.

It's called diplomatic immunity and Cameron may have a diplomatic passport. https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2024-01-09/debates/24010944000008/DiplomaticPassportPolicy

You're right, in my mind I must have knighted him as he truly deserved to be. Every Friday he invited Embassy staff both serving and retired to dine at his table in the Residence with his wife for lunch so he could meet everybody in person. You got one invite, and it included cleaning staff, gardeners and the like. A few of the Thai locally engaged staff were really put out that he would invite what to their mind were 'the lower orders". He just saw people, not positions or titles. Just looked him up, he got a CMG.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/03/15/ukraine-village-mobilized-men-war/ https://archive.is/yJlbf MAKIV, Ukraine — Few men of fighting age are left in this village in southwest Ukraine, and those who remain fear they will be drafted at any moment. Their neighbors are already hundreds of miles east in trenches on the front lines. Some have been killed or wounded. Several are missing. Others from this rural area — about 45 miles from the borders of Romania and Moldova — have fled abroad or found ways to avoid the war, either with legitimate exemptions or by hiding. “It’s just a fact,” said Larysa Bodna, deputy director of the local school, which keeps a database of students whose parents are deployed. “Most of them are gone.”

The situation at the front "is worse" than reported and more Ukrainian soldiers are losing their lives - including those from the US and Europe fighting in the international legion. The US Congress, for more than half a year, has refused to pass funding to support Ukraine in its existential fight against Russian aggression. Ariah Ben-Yehudah has been serving in the International Legion since the start of the war. Now after two full years of storming Russian points, Ben-Yehudah is injured a fourth time - forcing him to call it quits. He opens-up about how things are really at the front and how abysmally under armed Ukraine is in combat with the Russians. https://www.kyivpost.com/videos/29771

That Newsweek is simply wrong - this poll aggregator has them all. Look for yourself and if Biden is piling up votes in Dem states which he will get anyway but not the swing one's he's a gonna anyway. https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/president-general/

Do you actually know any women to ask that question ! It's all women btw not just Asian ones.

As for Putin all available research says you are plain wrong. Many Ukrainians commentators lament how popular he is with the "Orcs" and use that fact for a blanket Russian condemnation. https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/12/europe/russian-support-putin-election-intl-cmd/index.html The latest polling, from the respected Levada Center in Moscow, puts public trust in Putin at an astonishing 86%. Of course, in a country where critics are routinely jailed, exiled or killed, public opinion polls are flawed. Another factor is the constant pro-Kremlin propaganda pumped out on state-controlled media, where most Russians get their news. But as this election approaches, you can’t discount what so many ordinary Russians tell you, face to face.

The concept of a cruise/ferry/travel choice maybe be one that works, so it is a bit of everything. Starts in Bangkok goes to Sattahip then Samui and terminated at Songkhla. But this is Thailand with endless vested interests to keep happy. Good luck - we wanted to use it this year but sadly you have paused the service.

Exactly non are trafficked they pull that ruse when they are busted to then try and stay here.

It is probably the best review I've seen to date. Ozimoron posted the full link before he flounced off. There are no winners in this war - both sides have lost heavily and for decades to come.

If they do lose Zelenskiy will be the fall guy - both internally, particularly amongst the fight to eternity ultranationalists and the west saying that his sacking of Zalunhyi was a strategic misstep, that and corruption that mislaid vast amounts of support provided. Why an actor/comedian should know more than a seasoned battle hardened General universally loved by his troops is mystery to me.

Momentum Shifts Toward Russia in Ukraine War, US Spies Warn - BLOOMBERG I think Ukraine is making a grave mistake relying on the "West" for long-term support. By the very definition of democracy, the country does what the majority of its people want. And after 2 years of fighting to an eroding stalemate, the majority of people in some countries might start to think it would be maybe better to build a new hospital, instead of providing another Patriot system to Ukraine. Government changes, and whatever promises were made before are forgotten. On the other hand, if you make a deal with N. Korea, Iran or China, you can be damn sure they will deliver unless there is some kind of major revolution. This is the sad reality Ukraine has to fight with on top of everything else. And then there's the Trump threat - not a penny more lurking in the wings. The Pope wasn't wrong that the best option Ukraine has is to negotiate as soon as possible. Over time, they only get weaker, their future is further crippled, their leverage worsens. The longer this drags on , the worse it will be for them. It is a choice between lose softer now and lose much harder later. An authoritarian parallel economic universe is being born, one that is immune to sanctions and benefits the players at the expense of the US dollar hegemon. For better or worse, the American century is coming to an end and it's naive to think that the old orthodoxies still hold true. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-03-11/momentum-shifting-toward-russia-in-ukraine-war-us-spies-warn?leadSource=reddit_wall Moscow has made continual, incremental battlefield gains since late 2023 and benefits from uncertainties about the future of military assistance from the US and allies, the top intelligence officials told members of the Senate Intelligence Committee in their annual presentation on the biggest “worldwide threats” facing the US. “This deadlock plays to Russia’s strategic military advantages and is increasingly shifting the momentum in Moscow’s favor,” they said. Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns testified that “the Ukrainians are not running out of courage and tenacity. They’re running out of ammunition, and we’re running out of time to help them.” FULL REPORT https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/sites/default/files/hearings/unclassified_2024_ata_report_0.pdf

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-03-11/momentum-shifting-toward-russia-in-ukraine-war-us-spies-warn?leadSource=reddit_wall Hamas’s Persistence Their joint report warned of the risk of regional escalation in the Israel-Hamas war. It said armed resistance to Israel by Hamas is likely to continue for years and “it is likely that the Gaza conflict will have a generational impact on terrorism,” they said. It was an implicit rejection of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s pledge that Israel’s current offensive will wipe out the group that’s considered a terrorist organization by the US and European Union. The report said US spy agencies assess that “Iranian leaders did not orchestrate nor had foreknowledge of the Hamas attack against Israel” on Oct. 7 that sparked months of fighting.

That ship like the Russian navy has long since been sunk. There won't be amity between Ukraine and Russia probably in my lifetime, but there could be a messy peace and secure redefined borders and a frozen conflict. The battlefield is deciding that not diplomacy and sadly for Ukraine they are losing that. Russia's never coming back to the West now it's thrown in its lot with China in a "partnership without limits" and this and other nefarious partners and the global south/BRICS will determine the arc of that trajectory, not what we would like or wish for. Winston Churchill in 1939: “I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia. It is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma; but perhaps there is a key. That key is Russian national interest.” (Source: Churchill Society) "Russia is never as strong as she looks; Russia is never as weak as she looks." (Attributed to multiple individuals, including Winston Churchill.)

If Putin goes there won't be an effortless road to democratic liberalism, far from it -what the last 2 years has shown us is the Putin is in total control and the siloviki will no doubt uphold legitimacy of that of his successor should there ever be one, who the current Kremlin watching consensus seems to favour Nikolai Patrushev, who is believed to be even more authoritarian than Putin. They all know that should they collectively falter and lose their grip rather like Prizoghin they lose their lives in short order. The Russian people are not a factor in this calculation - they will keep their heads down and their views in check. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolai_Patrushev https://theweek.com/feature/briefing/1024619/putins-potential-successors The 71-year-old has known Putin since they worked together in the KGB, and was a major strategist in both the 2014 and 2022 invasions of Ukraine. Last year Tatiana Stanovaya told The Washington Post that "His ideas form the foundations of decisions taken by Putin. He is one of the few figures Putin listens to." In a March 2023 interview with Rossiskaya Gazetta, Petrushev said that "Washington and London are again conniving with Nazism and fascism. They have no qualms about using Ukraine to set Europe or the entire world ablaze in a belief that they can get away with anything." Over the past year, Petrushev has traveled widely seeking to shore up Russia's diplomatic position, and has played a critical role in managing the alliance with China. Petrushev's 45-year-old son Dmitry, currently the agriculture minister, has also been a rumored Putin successor. https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/odr/russia-security-services-siloviki-putin-regime/ Who supports this system, who protects it? The so-called security forces, known in Russia as siloviki, are the core and backbone of Vladimir Putin’s regime. Today, there are as many as five million people in the siloviki, including employees of the country’s state security, the police, the investigative committee (which is supposedly akin to the FBI in the US) and numerous other agencies, such as the National Guard, which employs more than 300,000 people and is only really tasked with dispersing protests. Russia’s siloviki have long lived by their own rules. Very often, these rules are inaccessible and incomprehensible for both people outside the country and residents of Russia.

There are lots of fatal accidents between people who know each other with guns in Thailand, sadly. RIP

And you've left the country but still want to opine from afar about how we have gone to the dogs - hence the bitterness !

They have forced her out to be papped. Assuming this photo is true of course. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13183233/Kate-leaving-Windsor-Castle-Prince-William-Westminster-Abbey.html

Rumours are William is off with his significant other and wants out and there is an epic battle going on behind the scenes, but the heir is being protected so she is being thrown to the wolves. The best take I have read on it is this from the Buzz Feed royal reporter of 11 years standing now freelance who makes sense of the drama. NiemanLab is an elite finishing school for talented journalists at Harvard. Nieman Fellows have collectively won 101 Pulitzer Prizes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nieman_Foundation_for_Journalism “This is just weird”: BuzzFeed News’ former royals reporter on Kate Middleton, Palace PR, and distrust in the media “I cannot emphasize enough how out of character it is that a royal press team went on the record in response to what is essentially gossip.” https://www.niemanlab.org/2024/03/this-is-just-weird-buzzfeed-news-former-royals-reporter-on-kate-middleton-palace-press-and-distrust-in-the-media/

About 20 years ago I was walking outside the Siam Centre when I saw a homeless man lying on a bench with his todger out knocking one off watching the office girls going by. People clocked him but pretended to studiously ignored him. But that was before camera phones and social media and the resultant outcry.

It is indeed but hard hitting nevertheless with a lot of interviews with senior Israeli politicians that feel a lot of this is on Netanyahu - including his divide and rile and pay Hamas strategy. He is destroying Israel in the same way Trump will destroy the US.