impulse

Thanks for your detailed info. I think a lot of the folks tuned in here don't understand that if needing 100K baht to start, difficult access to small loans, needing a dedicated paperwork shuffler, and spending $10K USD a year to stay in compliance are barriers to entry, their business is probably not the BOI's target demographic. It's sad for someone who wants to bootstrap. But BOI isn't for bootstraps, though it can be doable. On the topic of Thai employees, most of ours (BOI Corporation) were extremely competent. So we paid them enough that the key people rarely left. Even if they looked around, they'd find out that our competition wouldn't match what we were paying. And if one did leave, we always had plenty of candidates hoping for a slot with us. Personally, I think Bangkok could be an International hub with a little tweaking. Especially when you consider the virtual collapse of some US cities like New York, San Francisco, Portland, etc. And Europe doesn't seem too far behind with all the immigration strife. My first suggestion would be to turn the BOI and the One Stop's focus from compliance to advocacy. Instead of forcing the companies to dot the I's and cross the T's, (sending them away if every page in that huge folder is not spot-on) why not have people on staff to actually help them?

Is it so hard to believe that, in a country that's probably more diverse than all of Europe combined, there are some factions that want us to give up our cars, open up our extra rooms to homeless strangers, and eat bugs? And other factions that are not going to let that happen... May as well say, "So, Europe, the enemy is..... Europeans".

US workers probably owe their 40 hour workweek, paid holidays, and collective bargaining rights to the 2nd Amendment. Had workers not been armed when management (and gub'ment) sent in the goons to break them up, the strikes would have been over toot sweet. https://www.history.com/news/strikes-labor-movement To anyone who claims that an armed populace can't defeat the military, you're right. Nor does anyone want to. We just want them to think twice about the consequences before slapping on the cuffs and dragging the workers out.

Xiamen Air, mostly.

If I called the police on a murder in my neighborhood, they'd descend on the location in droves. In about 15-20 minutes. I trust our police. I actually like our town's police. But they're generally nowhere near us. They can't be. There's not enough of them. What I don't trust is that the people who commit crimes will be punished when they're caught, or isolated from polite society when they're caught again and again. And I also don't trust the statistics about how many crimes (including murder) are stopped by a good guy with a gun. Partly because the crime that didn't happen rarely makes the news, and partly because there's an agenda on the left to take away our ability to protect ourselves. Edit: And the politicians who want to take guns away always seem to have their own private, well armed security.

Stop with the coup rubbish. I don't know. Maybe he should have just said "rinse and repeat". It's worked so well, so many times.

Never gonna fly because there's no place to build a Central Mall (and parking) under the ground.

Yeah, but that's just one of many dots. Taken individually, they could all probably be explained away. But in totality, they paint a pretty crooked picture. The one incident that's going to hang him is bragging about using a $ billion in tax money to get a prosecutor fired. The one that was investigating the company paying his son a $ million a year. Followed by an FD-1023 alleging he and Hunter each took away a cool $5MM, from the CEO of Hunter's employer who was being investigated by the fired prosecutor. Add that to Hunter's email to his sister complaining about having to give Pops 50% of his income, and you don't need anything else to prove Joe was up to his eyeballs in corruption. With that e-mail, he provided the direct link implicating his father. Even if Joe declined to be "The Big Guy", of course he doesn't want a paper trail when he's already getting the benefit from his kid. Obama was right about Joe's ability to goober things up. He certainly doesn't know how to keep his mouth shut. Which has nothing to do with anything. But I still bet Joe doesn't make it to November, 2024. He's going to have an "episode" to make the impeachment go away. And part of the deal will be a pardon for Hunter.

On a per km basis, studies in Aus and the USA say you're 20-40 times (2,000-4,000%) as likely to be killed on a scooter than riding in a 4 wheel vehicle. Those same studies indicate that helmets reduce motorcycle deaths by 40%. So you really cross the safety Rubicon when you throw your leg over a bike instead of fastening your seatbelt, safely ensconced in 4 wheels, doors and a roof. Given, of course that's even an option based on economic factors.

+1. For the past few years, conspiracy wingnuts seem to be getting it right a lot more often than the so called fact checkers. But the lefties keep confusing "debunked" with "squelched"

One of the reasons I'm grateful for the right wing coconut telegraph is that, even if they occasionally botch up connecting the dots, they publish the dots. The "dots" being the evidence. Like bank records. https://dailycaller.com/2023/08/09/house-oversight-hunter-biden-millions-russian-ukrainian-oligarchs/

Maybe it's me being pedantic, but there's a huge difference between free visa and visa free. I wonder which one they're actually proposing?

Before I worked in Thailand, I used to go to Seoul or Hong Kong. And I loved it. But now I have friends to visit in Thailand. Costs more, and the flights are longer, but so far it's worth it. I am open the the possibility I may get tired of it and go back to Seoul. Or Hong Kong.

I've been flying to Thailand from China once a month since April. On Chinese airlines. I'm in that rare group of people who go to Thailand for a monthly visa run. I have another flight booked next week.

That's not meant to be punishment. That's so they're not around to cover their tracks and interfere with any investigation.

Remind me, how much Ukrainian territory did Russia take on Obama's (D) watch, how much did they take on Trump's (R) watch, and how much have they taken so far under Biden's (D) watch?

Reminds me of a Tom Scott video from years and years ago, of a mine (quarry?) in the UK that uses a cable trolley (for lack of a better word) to haul rocks down a mountain. No outside power required. They load the rocks into the cars at the top and the weight of the rocks going downhill is sufficient to pull the empty cars back up the hill. I'd post a link, but YouTube is blocked at my current location. Tom Scott. One of the best story tellers on YouTube.

I don't think Biden would take any such deal without including a pardon for Hunter. I think he's been a disaster for the USA, but he does love his son. And Kamala wants it so bad, she'd agree.

What's going to fry him is the video.... And I don't think it's kidnapping if she was a willing participant. Even if her parents didn't consent.

According to the article, the charge was: "taking a minor who is over 15 years old but not exceeding 18 years old away from their parents, guardian, or caretaker without reasonable cause, willingly and intentionally." Sounds to me like sex wasn't even required to hit him with that charge. Details matter...

Once again, it's illegal to engage in illicit sexual conduct. If she's of legal age, is it illicit? Seems like he was banged up for "taking a minor who is over 15 years old but not exceeding 18 years old away from their parents, guardian, or caretaker without reasonable cause, willingly and intentionally." Don't get me wrong, I think the guy's an idiot, and wouldn't have objected to the family taking him out back and dispensing some justice. But whether he'll be prosecuted "back home" isn't so sure. Unless Thailand actually charges him with a sex crime.

Jeez. Every American high school student on an overseas summer holiday could be prosecuted under that law. Whether they get any or not, I guaranty you that every one of them has the intent...

The right wing coconut telegraph is forecasting that, once the impeachment starts, he'll have an off-camera health "incident" and Dr. Jill will announce that he cannot continue as president. That will negate the need for the impeachment, and Kackling Kamala will pardon both Joe and Hunter in a pre-arranged deal, because it's "better for the country to move on". Anyone wanna bet? Even odds...

Florida (and my home state of Texas) are very friendly to those certain people. Except the tiny percentage that try to indoctrinate our kids.

One more data point. The wee hours are for sleeping.