impulse

Maybe 1% of tourists become expats. (to use your own number for passport bro's) Tourists aren't committing anything beyond a week or 3, before sleeping back in their own bed in their own country. That's a very different decision from picking up your entire life and moving it to a different country.

Lost in the clutter is the HUGE difference between tourists and expats.

Gosh. Who would have thought that they'd discourage firing up "skunkweed" in common areas? At least, that's what we used to call it. My guess is that someone did complain.

My forecast: The next generation of expats will be even fatter. And more American men will become passport bro's. Saw an article the other day that Korean Air will be weighing passengers for a couple of weeks to rejigger the country's weight and balance tables for airline safety. The most disturbing paragraph was the last one that said the average American woman weighs 170 lb. That's truly scary. The article was on RT and I'm not going to provide a link because I suspect it's frowned on as a source. Easy to find, though. And CDC data matches pretty closely...

There's really no indication the the guy misbehaved in Thailand. Perhaps the reason Germans get more attention than Brits is because Germany's more diligent about extraditing their wanted?

Would have been nice to see some before and after photos...

Late to the discussion, I know. But I wanted to relay my experience hauling my 2 kayaks on top of my pickup. I was pulled over several times and asked to leave to motorway by police pointing out that hauling stuff on top my pickup wasn't allowed on the motorway. I was also denied entry to the BKK-Pattaya motorway and had to turn around at an entry tollgate. Getting to Pattaya without using the motorway was impractical so I did something different that weekend... I was also pulled over at a police checkpoint on my way back from Kanchanaburi, told by the cop to exit the expressway because cartopping a kayak wasn't allowed. (Edit: My kayaks were securely tied down to a proper roof rack, not flopping in the breeze) Never had a problem on any sideroads, but that rules out a lot of Thailand. YMMV, but a nice inflatable is how I'd go. I ended up buying a 14' KaBoat skinny inflatable and powered it with a 5 HP Yamaha. Worked great. I tried a 15 HP Yamaha clone and scared the crap out of myself on the River Kwai.

Why waste their time when they don't have enough votes to override the inevitable veto?

We'll never know. (Unless he foolishly pops up somewhere) Even with fingerprints and DNA, we'd be depending on some gub'ment entity for the identification. One with a dog in the fight...

Usually refers to .45 ACP = 11.4mm

Did you hear that? The collective tightening of thousands of sphincters when they read this and realized that they weren't out of the woods hiding in Thailand. That's why these articles are valid. Cautionary tales... Great if it stops a few of them for buying a ticket to hide out and continue their antics in Thailand.

If you'd actually read the article, they're already at 454,000 HK arrivals for the first 7 months of 2023, anticipating a full year at 700K. Not too much of a stretch to believe they can get to 1,000,000 with some targeted marketing and cajoling the airlines to offer up more seats. They mention a limited flight schedule coming back from Covid as a hurdle. Once the flights resume a full schedule, I hope they get there. Anyone know if HK is visa exempt or visa on arrival?

Looking at the photos, the custom cabinetry missing, the wood doors swapped out for cheap plastic, and all the other damage, I'd be surprised if $20,000 USD would cover it.

If the first plane was a decoy and he was on the 2nd one, he knows the lengths someone will go to to kill him and he'd be a fool to show his face anywhere in the world. And I don't think he's a fool. It'll be interesting to follow whether it was a missile, a bomb or just bad luck that took down the plane. So far, all I'm seeing is speculation. But I'm limited to English language sources on the interweb, and not all of those since I'm currently in China. So please keep posting any updates.

The Op photo shows calm seas. Happens all the time in calm water. Has to do with the center of gravity vs the center of buoyancy. You can also throw in fancy terms like metacentric height. Some boats sink upright, others capsize. If there's enough air trapped under a capsized boat, it'll float indefinitely. That's why you'll see hundreds of YouTubes with people clinging to their capsized boats when rescue crews arrive. Regarding the terminology, we just called it "taking on water". What happens eventually is anyone's guess.

How much ya figure you'd have to pay a Russian morgue attendant to say "you can quit trying to kill him, he's dead". Thanks for the post and the update, but I'm not convinced. Of course, I still think Epstein may be on a beach somewhere with Ken Lay. I still think the first plane may have been a decoy.

Look at a map. What city is north of Richmond? Can you see why normal people are a little less than pleased that people go to DC to get rich sucking the gub'ment teat? Has nothing to do with the Confederacy.

What is it with Thai women's toes?

Oh, I forgot my other favorite, though it's not as relevant for Uni Girls... The best paying, most secure and longest lasting job available to many Thai women is "mother of some foreigner's kid" Wear your wubbies. Check them for holes. On a more complex note, there are a lot of great Thai women and there are some idiots. The problem is cutting through the cultural differences to figure out if that's the source of friction, or whether she's just an idiot. That goes both ways, too.

Reports are that 2 Wagner owned aircraft took off. One crashed and the other one turned around and landed in Moscow. If I were cynical, I'd suspect the first plane was a decoy. If that is the case, we probably won't know for awhile.

You mean he was not on the plane? And they killed 10 just for appearance? I'd say he's dead, thank the gods and might this bring some light at the end of the tunnel in the Russia-Ukraine-USA-NATO madness. I wouldn't be surprised if that plane was a decoy and he was on the second plane that turned around and landed back in Moscow. Not saying that's the way it happened, but...

Apologies that I don't have more specific guidance like brands, but I'd just get on Lazada and search for "guitar hooks" and "screw anchors" or "concrete screw anchors". Even if you don't buy from Lazada, you can print pictures of what you want to wander around and search locally. That's the kind of project for which I used to love scrounging around Chinatown's hardware sections. Blocks and blocks of hardware. Edit: If you do buy from Lazada, make sure your purchase will be sourced locally and not "overseas" or you may be waiting awhile. Not too long, but awhile.

Advice? Don't take relationship advice from reprobates.

Please, please, please. Post back with the solution you find. Don't be one of the guys who leave us hanging when we do a search in a few years on the topic.

I was very happy with several Maktec tools. Makita's lower end brand. Much cheaper on average than Makita Brand, and generally easier to find locally and online.