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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.

"COVID 'most likely' leaked from Wuhan lab, social distancing 'not based on science,' select committee finds". Sadly the article does not say who or what was on the committee, what scientists, researchers or whatever were involve, etc. https://www.yahoo.com/news/covid-most-likely-leaked-wuhan-191056945.html

I agree. Heis just trying to rationalize and justify his decision.

If that is all you get out of Thai culture and buddhism then you are probably in the wrong country or website.

Especially bad since a few months earlier Joe Biden said he would not pardon him. Nobody should be allowed to get an unconditional pardon before any court has even convicted or sentenced anybody. That is way to over reaching. Oh well. The old saying in the military was "RHIP" Rank has its privileges. Pretty disgusting behavior from the office of the president who at one time when I was active duty was my commander in chief. And I served under Three different presidents.

I never knew of this wayback machine website. I am working with it. It is already returning some of the data from the site I was looking for. One direction was to a .de domain blogspot which makes sense since I recall its origins having something to do with some german folks. Thank you

Not surprisingly the article does double speak. At first it clearly stated the fishing boats were operating in Thai waters. Then towards the end it mentions risks of disputed waters.

In retrospect had I known more about computers I guess at the time I could have downloaded the web page and all its links? No idea how much data bytes that would have been but I didn't.

The problem is who decides what is assessable? The Thai government may drag in anybody and demand details, proof, etc. Make you file and list everything etc. Maybe it will be determined one has no assessable income, but I have doubts that one can get away by doing nothing and saying nothing is going to happen.

There used to be a website that somebody put together that contained links and photos and information about hundred or more temples all across Thailand. The web site was chimburi dot com. The link no longer works. It was a fantastic collection of temples and was organized by region. My memory says it had some origins from a German author or traveler that had lots of help from some Thais. Anybody else ever seen this or know what happened to it? It is a shame if all those photos and the data in that website is lost. Maybe somebody had it on some archive or server somewhere?

Many closed or abandoned hotels in Pattaya. Eastiny Place on Soi 8. Was the first hotel I stayed at when I first visited Thailand inn September 2004. It was a fine middle level hotel. Not fancy but clean and well maintained.

Note that the text says they request it. While this email may be legitimate, and they may be trying to collect information, I don't see it as requiring anybody to do it, and the forms are very much USA based as those forms, the I9 and I8Ben are USA centric.

the end of the article says he got a 26 month sentence. By itself that is not the end of the world. Of course the criminal record may follow him around for a long time and cause all sorts of employment, living problems etc. But the risk reward seems ridiculous. He was only going to get 10,000? Goodness. Even a low paying entry level job could earn him that.

A USA FACTA form with Thai script on it? Don't USA citizens file FACTA online after registering and there is no form one can submit?

Yes. That tax thing is quite a large unknown. Even if the dollars and cents become not an issue, the alleged and possible need to report income, provide tax records, argue about capital losses or net gains, or deductions etc. will stop a lot of actions by many people. I know that when i retire in February of next year I will not be spending the 180 days in thailand. Not a big deal but it will require me to sort out my living here in the USA with any long term rental in Thailand differently than i was planning. I remember back in 2004 when I was so going to buy a condo in Pattaya. It would have been OK for about a dozen years but as my work and time habits changed, then COVID, and not to mention whatever problems might have cropped up such as crazy neighbors, condo maintenance not happening, immigration paperwork for my visa, etc.. I am glad I did not buy. So many less headaches.

Oh man I remember my first few trips starting back in 2004. Palm trees and shade trees were great. There were flower beds all along the walkway. There were metal benches one could sit on and relax and enjoy the sights. The walkway on the North end was still usable and you could walk to Won Amat beach area. It was such a pretty serene place.

Screen snapshot from youtube here in the USA. I currently prefer Firefox as my browser although of course youtube sign in is now part of google. No idea if other offers or discounts are available