Kinnock

Siam BTS Station is one of the few with a center platform, so regular commuters know that if you stand near the entrance door as you enter the carriage, you'll be standing on the side away from the door at (almost) every other station on your journey. It makes for a more comfortable journey and you'll not have to keep moving as people leave the train at the next stations. Normal people would just say 'excuse me' (which works in any language) and move into the train .... or wait for the next one in 3 minutes.

A woman. My woman. I moved to Thailand for a job posting 15 years ago, just another country in a long list of countries I've lived in for work. I planned to stay a year or two to set up a business for a US based employer. I thought Bangkok was fun, and daily life was easier than my previous posting in India, but preferred the buzz of Vietnam and the sophistication of Japan. Setting up a business can be demanding and I was making around 2 international flights most weeks, so simple daily tasks like bills, looking after the condo, arranging a housekeeper, shopping for essentials, etc was a nuisance. My team at work sorted all the business admin but I needed the equivalent for my private life, which was becoming chaotic. She spotted the opportunity and like an affectionate stray cat, she moved in and made herself a home. Suddenly everything 'domestic' was running like clockwork. Tasty food and drinks just appeared by magic. The fridge filled itself with fresh fruit and vegetables. Bills got paid on time, the condo was spotless. She even dropped me at the airport, then met me with an iced drink and a gorgeous smile when my flight returned .... at all times of day and night. And she was just wonderful to look at. Long dark hair, exotic eyes .... and those legs. My work was going well too. With no domestic issues to distract, the business was going well and growing fast, so it was almost time to move on. That's when I realised I couldn't live without her. I still prefer Vietnam, but I'd only move if she came with me.

Go Wholesale is similar pricing to Tops (they are both part of Central Group) but with a more limited range with fewer upmarket and imported products. Unlike Macro Go has more single packs, so it's not as focussed on business customers. I liked the wide aisles and the bakery, but with higher prices and fewer bulk packs it's not really in the same sector as Macro.

That's a scam call. They are saying you can make money by liking specific TikTok videos to improve their ranking .... then they ask for your bank details.

They should have listened to the old saying .... "if it's Boeing I ain't going".

All the SUV's based on trucks have compro.ised suspension and interior space compared to the car-based 'unibody' SUV's of similar size - but the latest crop of truck-based SUV's have narrowed the gap considerably compared to the older models (which were basically pick-up trucks with rear seats). I"ve driven most the current options either as hire cars or for test drives in friend's or dealer cars - and here's my personal view on ride comfort .... 1. Nissan Terra - smoothest ride of all of them, bur rolls a bit. 2. Ford Everest - slightly less smooth than the Terra, but better body control and quiet. 3. Mitsubishi Pajero Sport - getting a bit more truck like, but tolerable. 4. Toyota Fortuna - best seller and has serious fanboys who will claim it rides like a Rolls Royce, but it suffers from the rigid axle wobble and judder over rough roads like any truck. 5. Isuzu Mu-X - good handling .... for a truck. However, they all suffer from the high floor caused by the body sitting on a chassis, so your feet and legs are higher in relation to the seat than in a similar sized car-based SUV, and this will put more pressure on backside and lower back. So the sitting position in truck-based SUV"s is similar to a small car, even with seat raised, as your head is closer to the roof lining due to the chassis, so you can't raise the seat much unless you're Tom Cruise. Unibody SUV's such as the Honda CR-V, BMW X-3 and 5, Subaru Forrester, Mazda CX-7 and the old Nissan X-Trail have more interior space and a better seating position than the (externally) larger truck-based SUV's. They also have a better ride as the don't have riged rear axles and a bendy chassis. There's also the new Chinese SUV's like the Haval H6 ... they look nice and are well priced, but I've never driven one. Oh, and avoid the little 'cross-over' SUV's like the Honda HR-V (a Jazz on steroids) or the Toyota C-HR, Yaris Cross, Mitsu Expander etc .... they are very good small cars, but they have the semi-rigid rear suspension (and even torsion beams in some) of their small hatchback brothers .... so they ride like small hatchbacks, but with even more arthritic suspension to combat body roll from the higher roofline. In summary - I'd recommend the Honda CR-V or Subaru Forrester, or if you want a truck-based SUV - the Nissan Terra. (Anything German will cost you twice as much, and the ride will be quite firm as they are designed for smooth German autobahns). .... Que the 'confused' emoji's from the Fortuna crew and BMW fans ....

Electric .... makes sense for a bus on a short, circular route.

That's just nasty .... must never fly with those airlines.

Threads on AN about Thai women always seem to end up with posts containing the same recycled, second hand garbage about gold diggers, 'brothers' who are really their lovers, sick buffaloes, worthless houses, sponging families etc etc. Perhaps if your total experience of Thai women is abused Pattaya hookers, the old clichés may be relevant, but for the remaining 99% of Thai females these old drunks tales are just wrong. And generalising about the behaviour of 51% of the Thai population and referring to all women as 'they' is just nonesense.

I'm looking for a new 4x4 SUV, and the Thai built Forrester looks good value at 1.1M to 1.4M THB depending on spec. There's a new model due in 2025, but it will be imported from Japan, as Subaru are stopping production in Thailand- and so the new model may cost over 2M THB. I can't decide if that means the current Forrester is a bargain, or to be avoided?

Excellent post. I'm sure there was a little more to the wife selection process than that, but I like the principle.

Your viewpoint makes perfect sense if you view women as a disposable commodity. But if you see the relationship as a partnership where you are fully committed to supporting each other, then it's very different. However, this approach requires finding Miss Right ..... and conversely she needs to find Mr Right. I know the ideal partner for a long term relationship does exists, but if you're lucky enough to find one, she will expect the commitment to be two-way.

Yeah .... left Bangkok in a speedboat, arrived in Phuket 15 minutes later 😀. I stayed in the hotel used for the speedboat arrival scene, the manager told me they had several goes at the run up the beach .... those speedboats must be quite tough.

Unless you're paying for a woman to be with you, a relationship is a two-way partnership. If you're not committed, what are you bringing to the table except your wallet? Marriage is just a formal confirmation of your commitment to support each other, and most women who don't only want your cash will expect this level of commitment. If all you require from a woman is sex, with no emotional bond, no real caring or passion, then just pay. If you want more, you need to invest more than cash.

Recommend you try several cameras in the shop, as the controls and handling are very different. I'm not keen on the Sony A7 controls, as I was used to film cameras .... they are also quite heavy and lenses are expensive .... but the image quality is excellent. For 'full frame' sensor I prefer Lumix S series over Sony myself. Although the Fuji X-T series suits me better - APS-C so bodies and lenses are a bit smaller, manual controls very much like film camera. Latest X-T have IBIS and improved auto focus. Only issue with Fuji is the mobile phone App, which is unreliable. Micro 4/3 is even smaller and lighter, but image quality in low light not quite as good, and if you like the nice blurred background in portraits, Micro 4/3 is not ideal as you need special (very wide aperture) lenses to get the effect. You need to like the way it handles and understand the interface clearly, so try in the shop before buying.

Avoid Carrier ..... they stink, literally. A house and a 2 bed condo fitted with new Carrier X Inverters 2-3 years ago, and more than half of them have a bad 'swamp gas' smell on start up. The contractor who fitted them came back three times to check them and clean them, I've had them cleaned 4 times since then - and they still stink. Was told it's due to the 'catalytic self cleaning coating' but that may be bull.

Lack of investment in sports facilities at ground level - so Thailand's success is by the elite wealthy with the minor exception of sports supported by gambling money.

Holding tight to the bike is the problem. When riding a bike as a rider or passenger, you're supposed to use your natural balance, relax and let the bike move with the road. It's easy if you don't hold tight. Grab the bike in the two-hands-behind-your-back holding the hand rail death grip like most falangs I see on motorcycle taxis, and you become a dead weight being thrown around by every bump in the road and resisting the breaking and acceleration by gripping even tighter and tensing your upper body. It's also horrible for the rider when you do this .... it's like strapping a fridge on the back of your bike. Just relax .... the little bikes used as taxis don't have the power to throw you off the back. I just have one hand lightly resting on the handrail so I can hold it if the rider brakes suddenly, and by relaxing you don't get that 'being thrown around' feeling that makes you hold tighter.

Agree .... but only if you're writing in your own language. I needed to write an email to our local 'Tessabahn' about a serious issue, but my written Thai is weak. I wrote in English, then asked Chat GPT 4.0 to translate to polite yet precise Thai in the style of an official government memo. I sent it to a Thai friend for review - and she thought it was good enough to send.

...... AW - Artificial Woke.

I'm sure AI has a valuable place in our lives, and I use it at work for data analysis, but what is mentioned in the OP is the large language models (LLM) that utilise the web plus the ability to construct sentences to create human sounding phrases. If you can write coherently in the required language, and are knowledgeable on the subject, LLM's add little value. If you know nothing and can't string a sentence together, they are helpful. Personally, I'd rather read something written by HI (Human intelligence) that computer generated bull &#!£.

I don't know if it was a real case or not .... but all these so-called 'under-cover investigations' and secret recordings have an element of fakery about them. They all need some preparation and setting up, and the media is only interested in coverage and entertainment, so I never take political stories at face value. The online arguments are just people coming from their opposing preconceptions, but we'll know the truth in a few weeks .... which will be post the election anyway.

Some posts really earn the 'Confused' emoji ..... such as repeatedly refusing to accept the basic science of fuel combustion and carbon dioxide production despite several detailed explanations, or posts linking every single thread to Trump.

I'd say Thailand taxis and ride hailing is not as risky as Mexico or India but not as safe as Singapore ..... so probably similar to your home country. Our 'work night out routine' is to either travel in pairs, or for someone to walk with any solo females to the car, and that person photographs the car and plate as she takes the ride. Grab is preferable to Bolt. There's also the newer taxis with (allegedly) CCTV and the panic alarm button (over the left rear door). They have a green rather than the usual red light in the windscreen.