Balance

The only way the land question can be explained is it was a condo, which can be owned, and there were gardening plots allocated by condo unit. If this is the case, the bloody management could have straightened it out with the police. All in all, the story, as reported, does not make any sense.

It would be better if "Israeli," the nationality, and "Semitic," the religion, would not get conflated.

If he was diving off a PADI-certified boat and there were PADI instructors in the water with him, and he was diving with a "buddy," then he should not have died while diving, barring, of course, that he did not have a congenital heart condition or another catastrophic issue lying in wait. Perhaps the details will surface someday.

When I was a 14 (1955) kid in what was known as Middle School, between Grammar and High School, the only person who could legally use corporal punishment was the Vice Principal. The reasons were disruption of the classroom, not obeying the teacher, fighting in the classroom or outside, harassment of girls by boys, boys bullying boys, and smoking cigarettes, among others. The wall behind the VP's desk was covered with paddles. You were told to pick the paddle you wanted applied to your butt. This seemed to have the psychological effect of connecting the punishment to themselves and the responsibility for their behavior.

I think the motive for charging more is simply collecting more, and money from foreign tourists is low-hanging fruit. Westerners tend to want to know where the money is going—to more tea money, to needed projects, or to invest in projects to increase attendance, for example. When a museum in America wants to add more space to display new art, it advertises the project, gets media attention, and generally builds a Buy-In for people to donate. People with extra money who can afford to donate to a project can also be recognized. Projects do not have to be big; improving or building new trails, building new restrooms, and renovation projects, for example.

I believe that most of the smoke is due to the surreptitious (at night) starting of fires in the forests to coax the shy mushrooms to the surface.

As I read through this, it occurred to me that Tea Money is likely the largest source of earnings in the country.

The part about solving the income inequality problem will begin with the completion of a mandatory hypocrisy class.

If you and your partner are in a monogamous and honest relationship then both can be tested. This was common as the AIDS epidemic was winding down.

Your post points directly to part of the problem at TA; there is no training. Assuming that the seats were not broken and that the controls were confusing, there should have been one or more people among the cabin crew who knew how the controls worked and were able to walk over and show the passengers how to work them.

The last sentence gets to what should be creating the real prospect that there will not be a Thai National Carrier in a couple of years and that the reputation of Thailand will continue to decline. I stopped flying with Thai Airlines when the U.S. banned the carrier from landing at any U.S. Airport. The reason: nonexistent or incomplete maintenance records combined with a demonstrated lack of training and inability to perform the work. The issue has been around for at least 15 years, but it seems that has been done about it and/or nothing can be done about it due to a lack of will to make individual people responsible for doing their jobs correctly and firing them.

My takeaway: I'll never do business with Booking.com again

How about declaring a medical emergency in the North and getting rid of the smoke? Then, it's off to the moon, or Uranus.

Of course, there can be no declaration of a health emergency because it could hurt tourism. So, let them come, then wander about for a few days, deal with burning eyes and coughing. A few photos will go viral worldwide, and tourism will take a steep and long-lived decline; think of COVID. Someone recently posted that the Canadians design and manufacture planes to put out forest fires. These planes can be leased when needed, delivered, and then picked up. It would be nice to see them here next year.

It depends on what kind of visa you want/need. Marriage (and, I believe, retirement) visas are not issued anywhere in the United States. It seems that as rules and regulations change in Thailand, this is not communicated to the consulates or is misinterpreted. If you are a U.S. citizen, come into the country without a visa. You will be issued a 30-stay visia. If you want another kind of visa, begin the process immediately. When I first came to Thailand in 2011, I was going to apply for a retirement visa in the U.S., before I left. After lots of calls to the embassy in Washington D.C., no one could answer any questions. Finally, I saw and ad for Siam Legal and sent them an email. They confirmed that you can't do a retirement visa in a foreign country. They secured a 90 business visa for me, and helped me with the retirement visa once I got to Chiang Mai. I believe their bill was just under $5,000. Help with visas has gone up, but the process at immigration has improved considerably. Good luck

When we applied for a Marriage extension a few months ago, my wife was told that there would be no home visits for ongoing marriage extensions in Chiang Mai. For us, this turned out to be true; we were never contacted to do a home visit.

How in the hell do you run into the back of a 22-wheel tractor-trailer rig? Oh, I forgot, TIT; answer: 1. Fell asleep; 2. Watching something else on the opposite side of the road; 3. Texting on cell phone; 4. Having a fight with wife on the phone; 5. On drugs. I remember also reading an article years ago about another similar pile-up. The driver lived and later told police that he was told by the company owner that he would be fired if he did not take the run, and this was after he had just finished a several-hour trip. The bottom line is that there are no regulations, no REAL investigations, and no punishment for violations. What is not understood is that social media will finish the demise of the Thai economy.

Setting aside the details for a moment, it is true that there can never be any justice if there is no film and the abbot keeps doing it.

If there were 40 people on the balcony (the dimensions were not included in the article), it certainly needed structural support timbers extending to the ground and anchored in concrete. Then, the bolt anchors would have held.

It looks like it was stapled to the facia board. I hope the resort and the contracting company have good insurance.

The Japanese have a unique DIY building block that you might want to look at. I looked for the URL in my saved bookmarks but could not find it. They are expanded polystyrene and about 12" thick and go together in a dome configuration. The walls are the insulation. Good data on the homes built in Japan and elsewhere. https://images.app.goo.gl/iwFMrLz2V9924Jhc6 Good luck

It seems to me that TAT could prepare a one-page notice to arriving Tourists about how to take care of their money; what to do, and what not to do. One thing NOT to do is carry a lot of money a lot of money with you in the first place. A Foreign Debit Card would be much safer, in their wallet and ON THEIR PERSON, not in the overhead bin.

Thailand is betting that the hoped-for Tourists will come back, and spend some money. Russia and China don't have any money, and they are losing jobs among those who could afford a vacation. Phuket is busy creating a crime-free detention arena. But what happens when they want to explore the rest of Phuket? Lots more bad press? What happened to rice exports and the car industry? Did the government rescind the decision a few years ago that the private data of foreign companies would be subject to government review? One or more of the large American companies went public, saying they were moving to another country. Immigration continues to say that they will make it easier for ex-pats and retirees to negotiate the bureaucracy, but until the rules are the same throughout Thailand it is still bad press. There are many foreigners who work throughout Asia and beyond but live in Thailand, many supporting Thai families. If the Government goes ahead with taxing foreign earnings after they have already been taxed in their home countries, you will see a large-scale permanent exit to other countries in SE Asia and many more if extended to retirement pensions. Foreigners living in Thailand and contributing to the Thai economy, often where it is needed the most with small businesses and in rural areas, want to feel secure here and not have to guess about the new schemes that pop up on a weekly basis. 90-day visas is the latest that has been put forward, but several countries around Thailand have already matched it. Thailand lacks comprehensive long-term economic policies that don't change when a new Minister is installed.

The educational system will not be improved until the country returns to a democratic path. Educated people have more sources of information. They can google, USING ENGLISH, what is happening in other countries, and they quickly learn that knowledge is power. I have spoken to several students in private schools who are headed for a university. When I ask them what they want to do after finishing, they often tell me they will move to another country to work. When I ask why, they respond that there are no opportunities in Thailand, adding that it depends on what family you come from.

Sorry, the SPL meter suggestion was intended to let you know how much you will have to spend on foam to get to where you want to go.