gk10012001

I watched the movie "Ronald Reagan" last weekend on my plane flight. Being of age I joined the US Air Force during the Reagan era and also lived in California so I kind of liked the movie for some of its early history. I didn't think it was a particularly good movie, but I mention it here because Reagan was so convinced he and the USA with his policies could break the soviet union. Did he succeed? Well during his time in office, there were obviously many things that changed. The USA debt did tripe during his presidency. Yes the Soviet Union broke up, more or less. In the movie Reagan said the USA has deeper pockets than the soviets... Well, maybe true but was it worth tripling the USA debt?

I have not been in country since COVID but on all my many previous trips I always stopped into that bar that is on the right just as you walk on to walking street. That bar always had an Issan band playing there. I like that music.

My dad, aged 68 at the time, a long time chain smoker had some blood in his urine. He waited a few weeks before finally telling and letting me take him to the doctor. Turns out he had cancer of the bladder. Apparently it is one of the most aggressive cancers. Early treatment the following monday and they went up through his penis/urethra and were able to cut out the cancer. no long term effects. Dad stopped smoking that day. that to me was the miracle him stopping smoking. Now the good thing is, almost immediately after he stopped smoking, and he always was quite a foodie, having owned three restaurants, and he kept remarking how much more taste everything had. Well I am not surprised. Breathing in hot searing chemical smoke probably doesn't improve the taste buds!

bell was my go to bus for a long time. But then if starting from bkk you had to book and pay for a reservation on line in advance. You can't just walk to a counter and buy a ticket. I don't use my cards internationally so I switched to the other public bus company which was good enough for me. Similarly if starting in Pattaya, one had to book in advance which is ok because I can meander over to the Bell office at the north pattaya bus station and pay in person in advance there. Just my preference to not pay online. As everybody gets more digital and online almost exclusively I will just use one of my backup credit cards that are not tied to any of my regular accounts and book with that

Haha. That is a good one. It reminds me of an old Mad Magazine paperback story where they showed people at ball games but hanging a big picture behind them of a picture of their living room wall. Oh and cell tower data is just one of many ways to track a person's location. If they are on the internet, their computer IP address is available and the network drops and other information can reveal a great deal of information of where they are when they are logged on

Well a lot of people demand things of me , but most have no such authority to do so, and I just ignore them. Or there is no consequence if I ignore them. Musk is way out of line. Having been in the Air Force, and the Government and also worked for several Defense companies, the rules are very simple. You report to your manager(s). Note that many people work on proprietary things, classified things, compartmentallized things, etc. They can NOT send out any public information over any network or email server! Does Musk, the acknowledged cannabis user, have a security clearance or access to classified programs? Noforn, Secret, top secret, CNWDI, COMSEC, Yankee White, etc..?

Most of you have heard of Pavlov and his experiments and writings on how dogs responded to certain sounds or stimulus. I myself so love walking into a 7-11 and hearing that little door bell chime. Gosh it is ingrained in me. When I watch a video and I hear that, I am instantly mentally transported back to Thailand. Other sounds: Thai ladies speaking in descending tones. So soothing. I recently went to the Wat Thai in Dallas Texas several times. They have a pretty good sized outdoor food court with 7 or 8 food stalls. So great to hear the Thai ladies speak. Some chanting sounds. I swear I can smell the incense from here while 11,000 miles from Thailand. The sound of the PA system on the BTS announcing upcoming stops.

just reading those stop names brings back so many memories of all my trips from Pattaya to Bankgok. Using the buses, using the Bts, an occasional motorbike taxi or taxi itself. When one travels light as I did and do, and when one is on a long vacation or break from work and time is not an issue, I love the public transportation over there. Sit and look out the window and see things go by. Retirement is now 8 months away.

Yes as many foreigners that protested in Thailand found out.

well, if you post stuff online and you wanted an audience, you never know who may read it.

I used bangkok buddy twice about ten or 11 years ago. Border runs to cambodia, lunch at one of the casinos there. They were great. The office manager spoke very good english and I texted her a few times later as I asked for the thai words for a few things. I can't recall her name. No idea what is there now.

Technically they may be there on tourist visas but I am pretty sure many have low level jobs in many of the restaurants there and are working illegally. Yes there are many well off financially Indians, but I doubt these are them in the photos

My first visit in 2004. Pattaya beach road was beautiful. There were flower gardens, metal benches one could pause and sit on and of course so many more shade trees and palm trees.

I have bought a few lady drinks over the years. I don't recall a 50% mark up on them. Sure they were either watered down or just juice or non alcoholic but I knew that in advance. I have rung the bell once or twice. I remember in super baby I think it was, three or four girls on stage were doing a nice little issan dance, with traditional moves. Nothing fancy or gross. And the song was a traditional one. rang that bell and chatted. Simpler times

I first went to Pattaya in 2004. I have been 15 times but not since COVID. I so loved the baht buses. They fit me perfectly. I don't drive over there. Don't trust it. I love walking. I love the convenience of getting on and getting off just about anywhere I need or want to go for every day normal usage. I was always there on vacation and rarely was in a great hurry and didn't mind waiting a few minutes for a baht bus to show up. Moto taxi now and then if I want door to door quick service. Uber and Lyft and Ride and those things were not there before. Sad if the baht buses really get totally pushed out.

Why some countries and not others? Especially why the difference between the Philippines and Thailand? What did the UK legal beagles list as the discriminating factors to allow one to give increases but not the other?

This is why I have never paid in advance for a room. Things happen, sometimes even true unexpected issues and not scams and rooms are not available. Granted some sites such as Agoda seem very reliable and I have used them once here in the USA, I still on all my 15 trips to Thailand have always physically seen the room first before paying. Rarely did I get charged significantly more than any on line discount although there seem to be more discounts on line these days.

I truly believe the big push was from the big pharmacy companies that loved the idea of this DNA and RNA technology. It would allow them to make vats and tons of viral treatments very cheaply and quickly, which would lead to huge profits. It was an interesting technology as compared to say the current and common chick egg flu vaccine culture method. That takes months to start in advance of a season and they have to guess what strains to breed in advance which guarantees they won't breed the final versions needed, nor does that guarantee effectiveness. Neglecting possible or unknown negative effects of the manufactured DNA RNA vacccines, studies do admit that while they do stimulate some of the immune system, they do not do everything the other vaccine types do, either the weakened viruses or the dead virus vaccine methods.

Good bad or indifferent the shutdowns and curfews greatly hurt many USA cities (San Francisco) for example, caused thousands of small businesses to go under, jobs lost, houses lost, apartment evictions, and many other long lasting financials issues. So were curfews and shutdowns effective?

One of the posted video links clearly showed the starboard engine spitting out flames as it flew overhead. So that and the verbal calls about bird strike seem to line up. Plane may have been then leaking fuel and the pilot decided to get on the ground rather quickly. Reports seem to say the pilot did one go around which seems reasonable as he tries to sort things out. Not sure why gear didn't come down. Maybe pilot decided not to lower the gear because of fear it would cause too much drag and with only one engine he preferred to try and maintain speed and less drag. And it does look like the plane did not go out of its way to touchdown as early as possible on the runway. But that is probably normal behavior as the pilots nominally wait until they cross the touchdown threshold. So looks like a confluence of bad things happened. I still don't like the VOR or VORTAC or whatever part of the ILS was so close to the end of the runway. I would think modern avionics could could process the offset if the thing was moved out of the way a bit. Some parts of the 737 are composite non metallic and may make the plane a bit more slippery on the ground whereas aluminum might splinter, dig into the runway etc..?

Well it has not directly affected my spending yet, but it has slowed down my retirement plans for going to Thailand. Unless I see some concrete examples soon, that demonstrate no additional paperwork or sword of Damocles awaiting out there for long term stays, there is no way I will be spending 180 days or more in Thailand a year as I always had planned as I am semi retired now.

Not wearing a helmet as were a large number of motorcycle drivers and riders that go by that are not wearing a helmet and are not stopped.

They got too many passes and special treatment starting many years ago when Thailand gave them all sort of special visa treatment. remember all the russian ladies on walking street handing out fliers for various gogos? No work permits of course. yet I often read of some western bar owners getting punished fined or deported for washing some glasses, sweeping a floor etc. Similar thing now when you go to an Indian little hole in the wall. Many have Indian waiters. If a brit runs a restaurant he has to hire like 5 Thai waitresses or waiters. Never mind all the Russian tour guides that flooded Pattaya. On the whole I would say the Russians are not very caring about other country customs. They have lived under such repression that they don't have any clue maybe how to act. I have seen some nice young couples with some children and I wish them well. But there was so much russian mafia money in Pattaya it is hard not to generalize against the bad

I never said they would target them. I said they may have the ability to pursue all their financial transactions if they decided to. Your speculation and assumption is ...

I do not know the details of the UK legal system, but I suspect that if that law passes and is enacted, then it will come with carte blanche subpoena powers and the government can check where the pension funds are first sent, and then if it is a UK bank they can summon the transaction records of where the funds are then transferred to, etc.. So just depositing the pension in a UK bank and on the surface thinking things pass muster, you might be surprised.