impulse

So what you're saying is that she's pretty much immune to inflation, high gas prices, crime outside of her bodyguards' security perimeter, competition for jobs and depressed wages due to immigrants, and... and... Hell, I may vote for 4 more years of chaos if I could buy my own island when SHTF, and if all that angst didn't need a distraction, like going to one of my concerts. (And listening to me sing about my poor choices when it comes to men).

That's interesting... Especially in light of that tax thingy going on.

And I would remind everyone that they don't make bells out of wood, for a reason.

Would these meet the OP's needs? https://www.lazada.co.th/products/orz-rosewood-walnut-black-surround-sound-speaker-bookshelf-stand-i3117076396.html https://www.lazada.co.th/products/qbag-rosewood-black-walnut-surround-sound-speaker-bookshelf-stand-i246816447.html Otherwise, I'd head over to Ban Mo. Edit: In case you have F..Me money, I did a sort from high price to low and found these: https://www.lazada.co.th/products/klipsch-ks-24-bookshelf-i4837603550.html Several other redonculous prices with a Lazada search for "speaker stands"

I can't imagine how pissed off Tulsi Gabbard is that she was on the terror watchlist, and this guy apparently wasn't.

If you mean the Florida Bureau of Investigation, they will get the receipts... As long as the DOJ's FBI doesn't beat them to them. In that case, we won't know anything for 50 years, much less before the election.

I used to know... But that was years ago. The landscape has changed. Better to confess ignorance than throw out a number and have that become the topic.

They got elected. By voters. Not that I think Swift couldn't win in California. She may be able to beat Newsom. But she couldn't afford the pay cut, and hasn't the stomach for the criticism. So she won't run.

I don't suppose anyone's given thought to the possibility that the best thing for Ukraine right now would be a cease fire, even with the current lines intact. That would allow them years to rebuild their capabilities and go after Russia when they're ready. Of course, they may also look at what happened to Germany when they came back after the Armistice and after they had rebuilt...

They didn't need to hit him. Especially with pistols at any real distance. They just had to scare him into dropping his weapon and running. In fact, it's better that they have him in custody so we may find out why. Plus, if they had killed him, they could have wiped his social media before they announced his name. Like they did with Crooks. This guy's an open book...

I agree with you there. But that's a valid complaint about VAT, the upcoming income tax, and the existing taxes on flights. A lot of the money's going to feed corruption. TIT. What I don't believe is that an $8.50 increase in the cost of a $2,000 holiday is a deal killer for 99.+% of tourists. That's less than half a percent. Or that it can't be collected transparently without causing queues and inconvenience. Those are straw man arguments by people who just don't like tax increases. Who does like them? It'll just be another line on your airline ticket. They'd be better off to just implement it quietly, and I doubt that any would have even noticed the difference.

I think that's what torpedoed it. They claimed (correctly) that Thailand paid out 400 million baht for treatment of foreigners who couldn't pay their hospitals bills. But they forgot everyone with a smartphone carries a calculator around with them, and can multiply 300 baht x 40 million arrivals. BTW, that was about the 3rd time they ran the 300 baht tax up the flagpole, just since I arrived in 2011.

The OP and some of the responses reminded me of Al Franken's Stuart Smalley. 'You're Good Enough, You're Smart Enough And Doggone it, People Like You.' But in reverse...

All golfers look for some variety. Playing the same course all the time is like banging the same hooker, day in and day out. My 2 brothers are golf course superintendents. They get comped on any course within 30 miles. And they're nobodies. Trump can play for free all over Florida. And it's not like he couldn't afford to pay if he had to. Bottom line, unless he had some leaked info on Trump's plans that day, there was a miniscule chance that he was in the right place. Leading me to wonder if there were others, camped out waiting for Trump in other places.

I fly in from China. Typical $250-350 R/T. I don't know what a business ticket from Europe costs, but I imagine it's around $5K R/T. Post Covid, the airfares from China are half what they were. The downside is limited flight selection and no non-stops from my town. I've slept in a few airports when there was no transit hotel.

Not a problem. Stick 10 ATM looking machines by the luggage carousels. Scan your Int'l boarding pass and the machine spits out 300 baht. The QR code on the boarding pass tells them who it is, and whether they qualify for the tax rebate.

About the same as one business class ticket from Europe.

2 comment to that. 1) The airlines don't dictate Thai tax policy or law. They'll either comply, or they lose their Thai landing rights. No airline is going to leave Thailand for $9 a ticket and a simple system adjustment. Countries change their tourism tax rates all the time. 2) There's no reason they'd need to discriminate by nationality. They could charge everyone the same tax and Thailand could refund the tax to the citizens, at an airport kiosk or on their tax return. Just show your Int'l boarding pass.

They already collect a tax. It'll take a staffer all of 5 minutes to change in the system the amount they collect, and another staffer 5 minutes a month to make sure it goes out to the right department of the gub'ment.

Holey moley. So it's not just a UFO, it's a fold in the time space continuum.

Still, I would contend there's a lot more downside than upside to stepping outside what she knows.

What we don't know, and never will, is whether she'd be at $3 billion if she hadn't involved herself. Edit: We also don't know if her next foray into the political side will be the one that tanks her career. It's happened before to celebrities.

It's been years since I was in the mode, but we used to deliberately go to places where we knew we'd get to watch a dust up. Of course, that was before YouBoob. Nowadays, you don't even need to leave home to see 1000 dust-ups. Kids today don't know how easy they have it.

He has his choice of a hundred golf courses. The wingnut in me says they should look at CCTV and cell phone pings from the other 99 courses to see if anyone else was camped out all day waiting. That's why I'm happy to hear Florida is doing their own investigation. Because the FBI and USSS don't want the public to know. At least not before Nov 6.

Wake up, indeed. Is it 1100B or 900B? Last time I looked at the details of my US-TH airplane ticket, the vast majority of the taxes went to the US side. Admittedly, that was awhile ago. I didn't miss any points. Thailand is awash in low budget tourists. There's nothing wrong with that if that's the best they can attract. Some of us think they could attract higher dollar tourists if the crowds would thin out and nature had a chance to heal up. I'd rather see 10 million tourists spending $5000 each than 50 million spending $1000 each. The money's the same and it's easier to clean up and recover from the wear and tear after 10 million than 50 million. So I welcome the 300 baht increase and will happily pay it. If it ever comes to pass.