Asiantravel

there is actually an amusing variation of this theme in business establishments all over Cambodia- a nice little earner as Arthur Daley would say.

the exchange rate for 1 US dollar  is widely accepted as being 4000 Riel (so if you pay in  US dollars your change is given in Riel based on this exchange rate)

on the other hand if you pay in Riel for something which is priced  in US dollars, the exchange rate suddenly becomes 4200 -which means every time you want to get rid of their local currency which accumulates very quickly in your wallet (because it's worthless once you leave the country) you have to top up in extra Riel 

15 hours ago, timendres said:

Well, of course, you are absolutely correct. The transformation of society over the past 30 years is nothing short of biblical. On the other hand, the more those in power depend on those information sources, the easier it will be to blind them if need be.

 

However, on a personal level, you still have the option of freedom. Without question, it is far more difficult than it was in the past - the new mandatory health coverage law being the perfect example of assaulting our freedoms. But it is still possible. It is just that most people cannot imagine the cost of total freedom. Others of us attempt to achieve a level short of that ideal. Unfortunately, today's youth have never tasted the freedoms we enjoyed 50 years ago, so I am afraid they have no concept of what we have lost.

 

Powerful people at the top have always had power to influence and control. And the bell curve dictates that society will usually move as a herd. Hopefully wise voices and good leadership will arise, as they have in the past. Only time will tell.

 

Real issues are on the horizon. We will see how our fellow citizens respond to the times ahead. I still believe people have an inherent desire for freedom and fairness. Unfortunately, there are times when they are lulled to sleep. Hopefully they wake up before we pass the point of no return.

"  Hopefully they wake up before we pass the point of no return. "

but we have already -the classic frog in boiling water syndrome. I mean how can you be optimistic when there is such an undeniable trend? for example here are two articles just from today describing the state of affairs in 2 totally unrelated countries-Germany and India(and of course we are already at this stage here in Thailand).

Quote

 

Big Brother has truly arrived – in India of all places. As the Hindustan Times reports, India’s government inter alia brazenly asserts that “privacy is not a fundamental right”. The cards are mandatory for all citizens, and since almost everything has to be linked to them (including bank accounts), no-one can afford not to apply for a card. As the Hindustan Times correctly notes: “Aadhar marks a fundamental shift in citizen-state relations: from ‘We the People’ to ‘We the Government’. If the rampant misuse of electronic surveillance powers and willful ignorance of the law by the state is any precedent, the future looks bleak”. [PT]

 

http://www.acting-man.com/?p=49727

Gestapo is Back: German Homes Raided Over Facebook Posts

Quote

 

The German government has raided the homes of 36 people accused of hateful posting on social media.

With the internet, the government can simply hear and see for themselves what thought crimes are being committed, especially when people decide to post them on social media. But why shouldn’t people be allowed to be offensive on social media? Sometimes only by poking and prodding do we get to the crux of an issue. There is a place in society for all types of discourse, and when the government gets to define what constitutes “hate speech” they will simply label their enemies’ language as such.

 

http://www.thedailybell.com/news-analysis/gestapo-is-back-german-homes-raided-over-facebook-posts/

48 minutes ago, timendres said:

Capitalism is the natural result of personal freedom and private property.

It is the current debt-based monetary system, and it's mismanagement, that requires growth, not capitalism.

Whether or not capitalism is moral or amoral depends on it's participants, just like any organization of humans.

Personally, I have more faith in thousands of individual capitalist business owners than I will ever have in a few communist "leaders".

What we really need is a monetary system that serves it's true purpose, minimal government regulations that level the playing field and protect society's interests, and more leadership and social discussion about how to move towards a future that is sustainable.

In terms of sustainability, I have more faith in capitalism to deliver that than any other alternative.

Even if by some miracle  a new financial system abandoned the debt  based system entirely, I still simply don’t believe the level of freedom you refer to will ever be restored.  The surveillance society in which we now live and which has been slowly and meticulously assembled (while people slept through it all ) has gone much too far to be reversed.What incentive is there to abandon it now that it's been created?

You can choose any name you like for  any new  system  but those  in control of  information on our daily lives and follow every step we make as individuals  have the real power to herd  the sheeple.  A  small number of powerful people at the top  will always have the power to influence our actions and decisions  . I don’t consider that to be personal freedom.

Brunolem based on the contents  of your posts I have a strong feeling this book just released in May of  this year ( actually part of a  trilogy) could be of interest to you -if you haven't heard of it before

Quote

All content is Systematized by Cathal. All chapters were authored by numerous subject experts. For example, content pertaining to Nuclear destruction of Russia is authored by those with knowledge of such. The reader should understand content is not theoretical, actual power factions are presently and actively pursuing this proven solution, as they believe such a war is winnable. That also highlights the level of desperation at the Top.


You see, the alternative is The Reset which is just as dangerous. How to change the System Framework within which the economy operates, alongside operational and legal changes to ownership, without System and social disintegration? Think of all the dumbasses you know, and how they’ll react. The Reset is dangerous and that’s why ‘the can’ has been kicked for ten years. I’d like to personally thank the FED and other public officers for keeping the System stable for so long. It is popular to criticize such public servants, but as you’ll come to understand, such criticism is, at best, misdirected. Of course they're responsible for building the biggest Ponzi scam in human history which is on the brink of collapse; but as you'll see, they had no choice. Capitalism is a Usury driven system of growth which demands that future production is always greater than past production. If it isn't 'growth' must by synthesized by magic money; and before you complain contemplate the alternative: Collapse of the System which keeps you alive. It is assumed that the reader has read volume 1 and 2, without which, universal understanding is not possible.

https://www.amazon.com/Reset-Philosophy-Capitalism-3/dp/1546805605/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_3?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=1546805605&pd_rd_r=X29T5D01CEEV05D72ENP&pd_rd_w=R6daC&pd_rd_wg=XQRK9&psc=1&refRID=X29T5D01CEEV05D72ENP

4 minutes ago, perthperson said:

You may find a bank who will rent you a deposit box to store the gold. 

 

Forget about using a "gold deposit" in lieu of 800,000 Bht cash deposit! 

 yes you are right he can find that without any problems

SCB at Thappae Gate branch have them available

4 hours ago, Brunolem said:

They didn't expect, or imagine, that the ECB, the Japanese Central Bank and the Bank of England would immediately take over from the Fed and together create to the tune of 200 billion dollars a month...undefinitely...

In our "global" world, it doesn't matter much where the money is created, as long as it keeps on flowing.

On top of that, what they most probably didn't expect was the direct and massive intervention of central banks, especially the Japanese (again) and the Swiss (yes, the prudent Swiss) buying shares directly on the market with money they print at will!

When the game is rigged like that, no wonder that the markets are going higher.

Yet, one way or another, this will end, and this will end badly...otherwise it would be so easy...create wealth out of fake money...as if no one had thought about it before!

This kind of scheme can last for a few years, then the consecutive pain lasts for decades...actually, after Rome finished playing a similar game, the pain lasted for about a thousand years...they called it the Middle Age...

 

the stock market right now reminds me of this picture because it's all in the eye of the beholder (because fundamental  economic activity  certainly doesn't support current valuations ) 

my situation is similar to yours  but I have never even assumed immigration would accept a gold deposit in lieu of cash in a savings account.

On ‎26‎/‎06‎/‎2017 at 5:10 PM, Thaidream said:

I don't believe in conspiracy theories- but I do believe the super wealthy will resist any type of change that will redistribute wealth.  Their greed knows no bounds. At the moment- Trump plays directly into their hands and they would love to see him as President for 8 years so they can continue the assault against the other 99%.

 

The real problem in the World is what I call materialistic capitalism which espouses the 'greed is good' philosophy.   During the last 40 years- large corporations and banks have  created little real essential goods but many services and financial instruments that have no real value. Such things as derivatives and bundled mortgages simply push money around the World like a Ponzi scheme.

 

The average person simply wants to make a decent living; have a home and a car; send their children to a  safe and decent school ; be taken care of when ill; and hopefully retire with dignity.All of this is under assault by the materialistic capitalists that will continue to push for more wars; increased military spending; higher prices for medical care and life saving drugs; and higher costs for education. None of this is sustainable simply because what has taken place in the last 40 years has shown the inequality of such a program.

 

This will only end when a leader emerges that cannot be bought by either money or fame; and tells the populace the real truth and the real solutions that will  allow the 99% to regain control over their lives. The interesting thing is that the wealthy will still be rich even with a radical restructuring of the economy- they just won't be super rich. If the wealthy were smart- they would co-operate in the restructuring and support it because during a revolution they won't fare as well.

I can only think that ending the Federal Reserve of  America would be a step in the right direction

The Federal Reserve Is A Saboteur - And The "Experts" Are Oblivious

Quote

 

Back in 2015, when I predicted that the central bankers would shift gears dramatically into a program of consistent interest rate hikes and that they would begin cutting off stimulus to the U.S. financial sector and more specifically stock markets, almost no one wanted to hear it. The crowd-think at that time was that the Fed would inevitably move to negative interest rates, and that raising rates was simply "impossible."

Many analysts, even in the liberty movement, quickly adopted this theory without question. Why? Because of a core assumption that is simply false; the assumption that the Federal Reserve's goal is to maintain the U.S. economy at all costs or at least maintain the illusion that the economy is stable.

They assume that the U.S. economy is indispensable to the globalists and that the U.S. dollar is an unassailable tool in their arsenal. Therefore, the Fed would never deliberately undermine the American fiscal structure because without it "they lose their golden goose."

.....................................The Fed is also responsible for almost every single major economic downturn since it was established. As I have noted in the past, Ben Bernanke openly admitted that the Fed was the root cause of the prolonged economic carnage during the Great Depression on Nov. 8, 2002, in a speech given at "A Conference to Honor Milton Friedman ... On the Occasion of His 90th Birthday:"

 

http://www.alt-market.com/articles/3221-the-federal-reserve-is-a-saboteur-and-the-qexpertsq-are-oblivious

49 minutes ago, carlyai said:

My point had nothing to do with the drunk driver. It had to do with 'what's wrong with this country'. Seems there is a comparison being made between some country and this country.
In context, this is a fudal, agricultural country, with some parts leaping ahead of the rural parts. I see nothing wrong with this country.




Sent from my SM-J700F using Tapatalk
 

now there is a confessionso it's only a feudal agricultural country when it comes to explaining away its deficiencies but it can do anything and everything when it comes to wanting to be the hub of everything on earth

4 hours ago, Brunolem said:

Not so...Gaddafi was removed because he planned to launch a new currency, an African Dinar, backed by gold, a very big red line for the US!

One can't threaten the almighty dollar and its offshots such as the petrodollar.

And yes there is a bunch of so-called neocons, mostly infesting the US administration, that are hell bent on starting a big war, convinced that it will be easily won, even though the US army has repeatedly proven itself unable to win any war since 1945!

Their objectives are not military at all, but rather to profit from the turmoil that will ensue.

Reality is not about being optimistic or pessimistic, but rather...realistic...

 this kind of thing shows how desperate they are.

it's coming as sure as night follows day...............................................

Evidence that the White House is baiting ISIS into making a chemical weapons attack

Quote

 

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley in a tweet added that Assad’s allies would be responsible too.

 

“Any further attacks done to the people of Syria will be blamed on Assad, but also on Russia & Iran who support him killing his own people,” she tweeted. (CNS News)

 

Quote

Look at the all the rest of what the US ambassador said! She stated outright — no holds barred — that both Russia and Iran will also be held directly responsible for “ANY” attack that the US sees happen. This is a pledge to ISIS that, if they can pull this off, the US will also strongly attack their other greatest enemies, Iran and Russia!

 

 

http://thegreatrecession.info/blog/us-baits-isis-stage-false-flag-chemical-attack-justify-greater-us-attack-syria/

3 minutes ago, suzannegoh said:

 

 

Willful ignorance then. Doesn't the sheer incorrectness if your advice ever give you pause? You've been deriding people for investing in stocks since the DOW was at 8000. That's not a great track record.

 

ha ha  

and let's see what happens now they're taking the stimulus away

26 minutes ago, suzannegoh said:

I didn’t express an opinion.  It’s a fact that many people invest by taken out of their pay of their salary and having it automatically invested in stocks at current market prices.  And since it’s an automated thing, it requires no skill and no market timing.  Not sure why you wouldn’t be aware of that.  Even if you’ve never worked for a company that offers a 401k plan, given your keen interest in investing I would have thought that you would have at least read about how companies like Vanguard, Fidelity, and Betterment advocate that people invest for retirement.

Quite frankly I don’t pay any attention or have any interest in the activities or promises made by pension companies anymore after reading about one of the largest pension funds in USA (Teamsters union) returning minus 0.81% followed by cutting its benefits and projecting it will be officially insolvent by 2025

19 hours ago, gr8fldanielle said:

Kill three people while driving drunk and get two years in prison, Get caught without a work permit and get 5 years?

Am I missing something here?

If a "foreigner" kills three Thai people while driving drunk, would it also just only be two years as well? Is there a book somewhere that houses these penalties or is it a case by case kind of thing, depends on who you are I guess.

It's disturbing any way you look at it.

and what about somebody who says or writes something you shouldn't and get sent away for decades?

20 hours ago, carlyai said:

"Kills 3 people through her recklessness, and only gets 2 years.
What the hell is wrong with this country??"
Great. You don't drink and drive. Never?
There's nothing wrong with the country that you criticize.


Sent from my SM-J700F using Tapatalk
 

she was above the limit.. So what's your point exactly?

4 minutes ago, Naam said:

these kind of ridiculous claims are the reason why i refuse to waste my time with gloomers like you.

they're not so ridiculous when you learn the REAL reason why Saddam Hussein and Gaddafi were murdered

1 hour ago, Cadbury said:

No troubles in Vietnam I am told. Easy come easy go and no visa or work permit difficulties. They now have 12 month, no strings, multiple entry visas for about US$350 with no reporting or proof of money. 5 year Marriage Visas for US$10 with first report at the local office after 6 months and thereafter every 12 months. No home visits by immigration. No bank account problems. I understand it is a completely different hassle free immigration world to Thailand. 

 " They now have 12 month, no strings, multiple entry visas for about US$350 with no reporting or proof of money "

that's great news!

it's this a relatively new development because I wasn't aware of this during my visit last February?

Nha Trang as a Beach resort is so less polluted than Pattaya

3 hours ago, Naam said:

...because it's a waste of precious time to debate the issue with hardcore gloom&doomers who are spreading their lopsided gospel since decades. yes there'll be more crises like 2008. some perhaps even more severe. and only the super rich will get through them unscathed. 

If 1% were that confident about their ability to protect their wealth, why then almost on a weekly basis are they trying to start off nuclear world War 3 somewhere on the globe? And even if they plan to escape to their luxuryunderground bunkers the world will not be  a  nice place to live for a very long time after the event.

The End of the (Petro)Dollar: What the Federal Reserve Doesn’t Want You to Know
 

Quote

 

Despite the mainstream narrative, there are several other reasons why Qatar is in the crosshairs. Over the past two years, it conducted over $86 billion worth of transactions in Chinese yuan and has signed other agreements with China that encourage further economic cooperation. Qatar also shares the world’s largest natural gas field with Iran, giving the two countries significant regional influence to expand their own trade deals.

 

http://theantimedia.org/end-of-petrodollar/

12 hours ago, suzannegoh said:

It doesn't take skills to invest like that, quite the opposite. Dollar cost averaging is how many working people invest in IRAs and 401k's and the Japan experience is a common argument against that style of investing.

I guess it's your opinion at the end of the day .

Anyway I've been reading more than just a few people who claim there isn't even a real market anymore because it's ultimately ruled by bots

http://time.com/money/4668059/why-dollar-cost-averaging-is-a-lousy-retirement-investing-strategy/

2 hours ago, suzannegoh said:

 

Obviously it would have been a big loss if someone invested once and once only in Japanese stocks and they made that investment in 1989, but have you ever run the math on what rate of return a Japanese salaryman would have achieved if he dollar-cost-averaged into Japanese stocks starting in the mid 80's and put X% if his salary into Japanese stocks each month at whatever the prevailing price of stocks was at the end of that month? In that scenario, he would have done a lot of buying when prices were depressed and achieved a much higher ROI than someone who made a single investment at the market peak in 1989.

 

but timing would have been essential and how many Japanese salarymen would have had such skills?  

anyway that  graph was only used to illustrate what happens when a bubble economy collapses

3 hours ago, rickudon said:

As world population growth slows (yes, it will, look at fertility rates, only above 3 in Africa) so will the possibility of ever expanding growth. We are entering the stable/stagnation era, Japan got there first and Europe is following. The automation issue will just compound this - capacity may increase, but if half the world isn't working who can buy this stuff?

 

I think we will eventually transform to a stable/zero growth economy, but there will be a lot of ups and downs before we get there.

it is very hard to  imagine any peace or stability with a zero growth environment even with just our existing 7.5 billion population

6 minutes ago, Thaidream said:

There is no doubt that a population decline will affect growth- however countries that allow Immigration will survive with excellent growth  (that being 3%). You will notice that Japan has had little or no growth simply because it has an aging populace and little immigration.

 

The greatest danger- in my opinion- is the disproportionate share of created wealth which makes the 99% of  population poorer while 1 % get richer and their share of the wealth is completely out of synch  with  positive growth and a positive society.  This problem is severe in the West and has contributed in America to the election of Donald Trump and in Europe to Brexit and right wing parties in other countries.. There is an inordinate section of the population that is desperate or becoming desperate. They lack hope as prices rise beyond their reach while income stays flat.  Greedy corporations; banks; and other financial institutions have been aided by incompetent governments which allow this massive maldistribution of wealth. A Donald Trump will contribute to this decline as he increases military spending; pushes a decline in Immigration; refuses to go to a single payer healthcare system and instead continues to reward for profit hospitals and Big Pharma; and refuses to promulgate a real tax reform that allows redistribution of wealth.

 

What does all this portend for the future- massive instability and potential revolution. There's many more poor than there is rich and at some point they are going to realize they have had enough of the utter BS that politicians exist on.

some on the Internet write that they believe the "Elites " in America (if you believe there are puppet masters above Trump such as George Soros and even Henry Kissinger i.e. The New World order supporters) are deliberately engineering all this including the revolution you refer to so they can crash the US dollar and then introduce a new single world currency- possibly totally digitised and at that point we we'll be in a horrible  new  totalitarian world.

16 hours ago, swissie said:

The "overcapacity" problem is only part of it. Yes, woldwide we have reached production-capacity levels of goods in an unprecedented way. So, despite the world being awash in "Fiat-Money" = no inflation.

A bigger problem is on the horizon:
Central Banks are trying to carefully tip-toe out of the "Quantitative Easing" programs, enabeling interest rates to rise (no more "Free Money").
Will be interesting to see, how the World Economy (addicted to "Free Money" by now), will digest this. Holds tremendeous deflationary potential.
That's why the central-banks are so hesitant and nervous about this. More hesitant and nervous than a country-girl before her first date.
Interestig times ahead.
Cheers.

Plus  the credit dynamo behind global growth has not only stopped, but is now fully in reverse mode. 

The second derivative of credit growth and arguably the biggest driver behind economic growth and world GDP has now abruptly stalled, as a result of a sudden and unexpected collapse in the said impulse.

From peak to trough the deceleration in global credit growth is now approaching that during the global financial crisis (-6% of global GDP)

They have to be the grumpiest group of staff I have ever encountered.

I asked to get some coffee ground and I was simply pointing to the setting on the dial and the girl who was one of the most miserable people I've ever met hit my are out of the way. I've never been back since

Supachai Panitchpakdi the former head of the World Trade Organisation is inferring the truth is not being told about the state of the property sector in Thailand

Supachai worried about Thailand’s economy,  urges government to tell people the truth

Quote

 

He also expressed concern about a potential bubble in the property sector. When the private sector invests too much in only one sector there could be the risk of a bubble as residential units are oversupplied, he warned.

 

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/news/business/30315478

1 hour ago, Grumpy Duck said:

I am by no means a financial expert, however I have done university level research papers on the US Great Depression. Some of the big contributors were labor unrest, corporations buying each other out, large inventory surpluses in warehouses and a stock market rapidly growing on inflated values. Conservative government supporting the wealthy and corporations. The great depression was preceeded by a couple of recessions and never really recovered. The American workforce could not afford to buy items they made. Also there was a devastating drought destroying many farms. Sweden was the first nation to recover from the depression, they did it using Kenesian economics. Created good paying jobs, which created tax revenue and people spent money buying things. FDR's New Deal created jobs which created tax revenue as well as spending, He also was labor friendly, backing unions, as did Truman and Eisenhower. As I recall Ike raised taxes on the wealthy to 90%. In the late 1940's thru the 1960's & early 70's  the US middle class was born, Nixon and then Reagan started the war on the working class and Reagan gave the wealthy record tax cuts at our expense example, increasing the FICA tax by trillions of dollars to "save" social security. Instead it financed his tax breaks for the rich. Bush cut taxes turning a huge surplus into debt, as well as starting 2 unfunded wars one based on lies. We. now have an unstable inexperienced idiot in the whitehouse, again planning more tax cuts, cuts to social security. Again the banks have even more power, the stock market is at record highs based on false statistics made by corporations to impress stock holders (and gain record paychecks). The next depression will make the great depression seem mild. 

 

the Japanese stock market has been in a bear market for nearly 30 years and during three decades has never recovered even 50% of the losses that those people incurred when the market first fell in 1989. Why isn't it possible that following the next correction the rest of the world will suffer similar conditions?in other words this is as good as it ever gets?