impulse

Seriously? You know who coined the term Fascism? Mussolini. He was the leader of the Fascist Party. Try again.

If you do pull out your int'l credit card at (for example) Bumrungrad, the next question will be "do you want to pay in THB or USD?" Ask me how I know that... I haven't a clue what the best answer is. Fortunately, I just pick up some scripts at Bumrungrad amounting to $400 USD or so. So I don't sweat the fees. But someone may want to chime in with the right answer.

"(which did not occur)" Is that anything like "(The laptop was Russian disinformation)". You're confusing "debunked" with "squelched". Of course there was mail in voter fraud. That's been proven. What we haven't seen litigated is whether it was sufficient to sway the election. Take this "debunking" by Politifact. https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2023/aug/14/gateway-pundit/suspected-voter-registration-irregularities-in-mic/ They have conceded that a lady, working for GBI which was hired by the Dems to get out the vote, dropped off between 8,000-10,000 suspicious ballot applications. Everyone's high-fiving each other, claiming those ballots didn't make it into the system. But what's getting lost in the celebration is that someone attempted to commit massive election fraud, and nothing happened to her, to the company that she worked for, or to the Dems who contracted with her company. Crickets, after almost 3 years. And the fact that the 8,000-10,000 that were rejected weren't all. There were other batches, and other GBI employees. Did they make it through? We don't know.

Someone help me out here. From the linked Irrawaddy article: The court suspended the sentences of all defendants except Punnaphat, who requested bail. TLHR later reported that Punnaphat was granted bail after posting 150,000 baht as security. Does that mean the sentence is suspended and they're free unless they do something wrong, or that they're released to get their affairs in order before they have to show up at the prison?

Republicans set to push mail ballots, voting methods they previously blasted as recipes for fraud What choice did they have? The problem is they're 2 election cycles behind on taking their learning lumps.

A cynical guy would also point out that more Democrats are likely to vote absentee, while Republicans are more likely to vote in person, on the day. So any excuse to increase the number of absentee votes favors one side over the other. Like a pandemic...

A little more from last year: https://thethaiger.com/news/world/asia/thai-visitors-to-japan-up-fourfold In 2019, specifically, 1.8 million Japanese visited Thailand with 1.3 million Thais going the other way. That's a lot of butts in seats. 6.2 million cheeks. Hopefully, they'll get up to pre-covid levels as the number of flights return to normal. Just out of curiosity, if 70% are Thai, and 30% are Japanese women, where do the Japanese men go?

My doctors, my nurses and the 3 papers I linked to refer to re- activating Herpes Zoster. Viruses that have been dormant since I recovered from chicken pox around 60 years ago, according to my own health care providers. I don't pretend to know how it works. That's why I learned absolutely nothing beyond what my doctors told me, by pulling up those 3 links (and dozens of similar papers) But it seems that's the requirement for acceptance here. A link to a reliable source. What happened to me personally, and what my health care providers told me, just isn't good enough for the forum. But I'm gonna believe my lying eyes anyway.

+1 feels more like a bunch of degenerates from 4chan have taken over. Gotta be honest. I didn't even look at the top to see that we're in the World News forum. Given the troll baiting nature of the OP, I assumed we were rolling around in the mud of The Pub section.

Because it's raining here and I got bored, here's 3 of the dozens I found in a quick search: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10413536/ The results of our proportion meta-analysis showed that the rate of VZV reactivation among those who received the COVID-19 vaccine was 14 persons per 1000 vaccinations (95% CI 2.97–32.80). Moreover, our meta-analysis for HSV reactivation showed the rate of 16 persons per 1000 vaccinations (95% CI 1.06–46.4). Furthermore, the evidence from case reports/series showed 149 cases of HHV reactivation. There were several vaccines that caused reactivation including BNT162b2 mRNA or Pfizer–BioNTech (n = 76) In any study of vaccines, 14-16 per 1000 doses would be a HUGE red flag. Certainly enough to qualify as a common side effect... https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9966113/ Bell's Palsy, anyone? https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8652627/ Recently, cases of herpes zoster (HZ) characterized by reactivation of varicella zoster virus (VZV) following COVID‐19 vaccines have been reported in the literature I had chicken pox as a kid, like most of us. That left DORMANT virus in my system for around 60 years. Probably would have stayed dormant until they throw dirt in my face. But noooo... I had to get the mRNA. I'd be an idiot to take another without a gun to my head.

Hyperbole is lost on you...

Did you even read it?

As if you or I are qualified to look at an epidemiological study, evaluate the results and how they compare and conflict with the dozens of other studies on the topic. But there are people who do that for a living. We call them doctors and nurses.

3 of my doctors and a couple of my nurses. Why do you figure they'd lie to me?

Good info. Was that while you were employed, or after your employment and you were paying into the program?

Was that in Thailand, or back home?

To the OP... Please do a lot of us a favor, post back and close the loop once you figure out your answer. Several years ago there was news that moonlighting was okay as long as you had a valid WP. But I'm not going to claim to know the details and whether that's worked for anyone, much less in your particular situation. Then I guess there's the question of how (if?) you paid tax on your side gig, and whether that will figure in the case in front of you. In any case, please follow up. No guesses, please.

The real benefit of paying in is the Gub'ment health insurance, which you can keep as long as you keep paying in a few bucks a month. Probably not as good as a $500 a month plan with a Euro health insurance company, but good to have if you need it.

If you're in Bangkok, get off the MRT at the Wat Mankon (sp?) stop in Chinatown and walk down the spooky alley across the street from the MRT station and you'll find dozens of kiosks, each with a dozen or so different green teas. Some in bulk out of burlap sacks, some pre-packed in vacuum sealed bags. Wat Mankon is the first stop after Hua Lampong. That entire neighborhood is fascinating for the food you can find. Also, about halfway down that same alley, there's an amazing spices shop, famous throughout Thailand. Hundreds, perhaps thousands of different spices at very reasonable prices. Stuff I never found anywhere else, and with English on the labels along with the Thai. I bought the ingredients for my home- made Italian and Cumberland sausages from there and they turned out amazing.

Just in time to send millions of ballots to dead people so they don't have to expose themselves to to Covid in order to vote blue. They're going to have to hold a gun to my head if they want me to get another jab. 2-1/2 years later, I still haven't recovered feeling on the left side of my face, my balance or my energy that I lost a couple of days after my 2nd Pfizer. When I first presented, the doctors said they didn't know what caused it, but it definitely wasn't the jab. 2 years later, they finally admitted it's a commonly reported side effect.

It's not just the baggage claim delays. On some flights, the cost of checking an additional bag can almost double the cost of a ticket.

Don't know. Wasn't there. And the videos (if there are any) never start until after SHTF. So we rarely know what really caused the kerfuffle. Edit: And to answer your question, I've helped many shorter people stow and retrieve their overhead bags.

Personal circumstances have sent me on over 20 flights this last 6 months, most of them between Thailand, Singapore and China. I can't think of a single time that someone else's excess cabin baggage has had a deleterious effect on the quality of my life. And when I do find myself irritated by that lady with 6 bags, that knot is in my stomach, not hers. I've actually been over the weight limit myself now that all battery operated equipment is banned from checked bags. Between a higher end (heavy) laptop, a tablet, a power brick, bluetooth speaker, etc, I'm close to the weight limit even with a backpack that weighs less than a pound.

Health care and/or insurance costs for the aged. Euro's and American and Canuck retirees have gub'ment paid health care (even if it sucks). My friends in their 70's are paying $1000 USD a month just to get insurance cover in Thailand. If they can get it at all, given pre-existing conditions. That may be the single factor that keeps me from retiring to Thailand, since I have some pre-existing conditions. During my prime earning years, there was no such thing as a digital nomad or an influencer, or working from home in a corporate environment. I think the interweb and AI are going to play a huge role in shaping the next generation of expats. Thailand can either capitalize on it. Or not.

Much more dated than that. Closer to 45 years.