impulse

Looking just at the trade imbalance and the fact that I can't buy a new ZR1 Corvette in Thailand for anywhere near 125% of what it would cost me in the USA, Thailand is right to be nervous. It's time for reciprocal tariffs and a level playing field for US manufacturers. Not that I'm in the market for a ZR1, but if the doctors gave me a year to live, I'd like that option.

If you netted it all out, I wonder if more Filipinos died, or more were saved by his policies? Never mind that I suspect it was the bad guys dying.

Out of curiosity, I looked up the bicycle deaths back home in the USA. In 2022, there were 1084 bicycle deaths from vehicular accidents. (iihs.org) That's something to keep in mind before bashing Thailand for their bicycle safety stats. With about 1/5 of the population of the US, I'd expect over 200 bicycle road deaths in Thailand to be on the same level of risk, assuming bicycle km per capita is about the same. My best friend from high school just got killed in Phoenix last month when a lady opened her car door without looking and forced him to swerve into traffic where he was hit by another car. So it's not just Thai drivers.

Negotiation. Russia could take a lot more of Ukraine than Putin said he wanted, right up front. Surrender would mean losing Kiev. and Odessa. Ukraine may be able to keep those. BTW, I hear Zelensky is taking foreign volunteers if you really mean it.

Another good reason to come to the table. With reasonable demands. Russia can attack and kill Ukrainians at will, and they don't. They're being very strategic, fighting with one hand tied behind their back. Ukrainians depend on western (mostly US) money and arms to put up what little defense they can. They can't win. All they can do is hold onto what they haven't already lost. It's over, except for futile dying. I, for one, would prefer that we quit spending my kids' money and futures for an unwinnable war on another continent that seems to thrive on wars throughout history. Not to mention all the Ukrainians who are dying, even if you don't care about Russki kids.

That was worse than weak fecklessness. That was evil war mongering. That a weak and feckless president (and a corrupt VP) got snookered into.

That's going to be debated ad nauseum for decades. But it's beside the point. Ukraine is in an unwinnable situation, throwing lives away like they're meaningless. No amount of money is going to change that, only foreign boots on the ground. Which means WW3 and the risk of Armageddon. It's time to stop the killing, and start the rebuilding. The lines haven't moved meaningfully in over 2 years (key word being "meaningfully"). More dead kids isn't going to change that, and it's time to pull US funding to force negotiation.

As I recall, the voting in Crimea preceded the guns and tanks. Massively leaning toward being in Russia.

You missed irony classes back in school, eh? There were a few other deliberate errors in my reply that you missed.

Gory as they may be, I think a proper hanging and the guillotine are the least likely to inflict pain. Or a bullet to the head, as opposed to the heart. But they don't play well for the public. BTW, by proper hanging, I mean from a height that guarantees a snapped neck, even if that means decapitation, too. Gory and ugly, but pretty fast and compassionate.

He's not. He's talking about whether the USA is going to continue spending our tax dollars on a lost war that's an ocean away. Ukraine can keep fighting until the last one is dead if they want. But that would be a tragedy of epic scale. And we won't be paying for it.

Are they talking about crimes in real life, or just in the ether? I'd suggest they focus their efforts on the former.

I want to meet the genius who came up with the name "Sniffies". Well, not really. But the name should say it all. Grindr was funny enough.

Which lands to which ones? Should he give it back to the Lakota, or to the Apache that they stole it from, or the other tribes they stole it from? And what of the lands we bought from the French, the Spanish and the Russkies? Shouldn't they be the ones paying reparations? Good luck with that... It's not as if they'd be living their warlike utopia (where they were killing the heck out of each other for centuries) had the USA never even been formed. Some other power with western tech would be calling the shots.

Are you claiming that they weren't so feckless and weak that they emboldened Putin? You're blaming Trump because you don't like the way he's cleaning up their mess. Better to just say thanks for stopping the killing and walking the world back from Armageddon that their disastrous policies allowed to start.

Doesn't maritime law allow anyone to board and then own an unmanned ship on the high seas?

'Specially when the "leaders" are making noises about putting boots on the ground in an already long lost cause to their east. Reasonable people call them "cannon fodder".

Had Obama and Biden not been so feckless and weak, Putin may not have even taken Crimea. How much did he take under Trump's watch?

I would neither go, nor stay away for the ducks. They may want to mention something about the food. That's why I'd go or stay away.

Anyone who thinks this is a Thai only thing (and wants to truly despair of the state of western civilization) should watch a series called "Fear Thy Neighbor". It's one of those crappy reality shows from when all the new cable networks had nothing to fill their hours so they were trying anything, the strategy apparently being to make their viewers feel better than someone (anyone) so they'd tune in. It's all stories about characters who bludgeon, shoot, poison and run their neighbors over with cars as a result of spats that started over trivial things like gardens. Not a single Thai story. All English speaking countries. And truly sad. Or open a newspaper and read about the gangs of tweenies hunting down people who give them the stink eye, or just walk down "their street". (Tweenies being kids between 10 and 14 who won't be prosecuted as adults.) I may have led a sheltered time in Thailand, but I never encountered a situation like the OP, working in Bangkok for 6+ years. Give me Thailand any day of the week. The caveat being that I tried to blend in to the community and treat people according to the Golden Rule.

Other than RO and chemical filters, is any filter going to remove dissolved solids? Suspended solids (including bugs), sure. If the particle size is big enough. But dissolved solids are just one molecule big. City water systems add chemicals that cause the dissolved solids to flocculate, then they can filter them out. But that's a lot of technology and monitoring for a home unit. If I drilled a water well (or drank from one) in Thailand, I'd get the water tested once a year (or so) to make sure there isn't any arsenic or other heavy metals (or any toxins). And keep in mind that subsurface water changes in different seasons and over time as it moves through the aquifer. There's a zillion cases around the world where agricultural and industrial contamination has ruined aquifers for potable water, often over years. Better safe than sorry.

Thx! I'll look into that.

What I was trying to say (poorly) is that the west side of the island is a lot more developed than the east side. I loved the east side, where it was miles between resorts. But I also drove the west side just to see what's there. It looked a lot more developed. And being in Thailand, I figured that development was funded by sin and debauchery. Still, looked like gorgeous beaches and a lot of fun. Depending on what the original OP wants to do on Koh Chang, he can hang a left or a right out of the ferry terminal. I liked the left turn, but I am pretty boring since I took the oath in 1988. More into relaxing, kayaking and nature than parties.

Thanks. That one advertises LTE and GPS. If I can get my Lazada account straightened out (long boring story), I'll order one a few days before I fly to BKK, to be shipped to my hotel. (Not so) strangely, the ad is almost exactly the same as the cheap one I just ordered from Amazon. Same specs. Same graphics. Basically the same ad with a different company name. Muchas gracias.

The OP needs to specify his/her interest. I loved the quiet side of the island, making a left out of the ferry terminal instead of a right. But I was looking for peace, quiet, scenery and kayaking. Taking a right leads to excitement, fun and debauchery if that's in your plans.