LALes

How would you know if Democracy is the best for SE Asia? It's never been tried. No evidence to go on. Of course, you must be assuming the American model, where 2 goofball candidates approved by the Wall St. Lords of Finance sling mud at each other in a vain attempt at "looking Presidential".

Too bad. I liked their chicken tenders. Another US enterprise packs it in. A & W, Carl's Jr., now Texas. This is a tough market.

And this boob has 20 million followers. A real influenza.

I like real shirts and I always do my own ironing. Never found anyone who could do it right. Retired and single, I've got plenty of time. Not a problem.

How did this family even get back in power??? Oh well, they'll be gone by XMAS. What's the Vegas line on that?

Somebody needs to get transfered to an inactive post.

I had 2 MRIs in BKK last winter, both at Prachachuen Imaging Center. THey have a number of offices in BKK. 9,000 each MRI. That's for a specific area. I had one on the spine and one on the ankle. BNH Hospital sent me there so that's a good recommendation. It would have cost 15,000 each at the hospital. 02-953-9469 is their phone #.

Had Japan won WWII, the "occupation" would have morphed into full-on colonial status.

The Skytrain is the best thing to happen to Bangkok in the last 25 years. I would never have thought about retiring there if I had to drive. Bangkok is so much easier to negotiate with BTS and MRT. My mantra is, "if it ain't Skytrain accessibe, I ain't going". Occasionally, I do find myself in that eternal Bangkok traffic jam inside a taxi and I swear I will never take one again.

You couldn't be more wrong. Any country with a large export economy has a vested interest in who controls the world's shipping lanes. If Thailand moves closer to China, you will see that manifest itself here in the good, old LOS.

Check out Real Me from China. A relatively new brand that offers a lot of bang for your buck. I bought their earbuds a few years ago and was very impressed with their sound quality for only a thousand baht. Last year, my pricey Microsoft Surface laptop bit the dust and I found a good replacement in the first line of Real Me laptops. Only available at IT City in Tukcom. 16,000 baht for a good looking machine with a lot of the features you need. 512 GB, too. This is not Red Mi. That is totally different. My friend just bought the new Real Me phone at Banana. Again, nice phone at a great price.

Controlling the world's 7 Seas, ie: the world's shipping lanes, is vital to US hegemony. That includes such "minor" seas as the South China Sea and the Bay of Bengal. America can't do much about China's Belt & Road overland trade route but it will do its damndest to prevent any upstart from getting too powerful on the sea lanes.

Democracy is a term that is bandied about by people who don't know or don't care what it is. It sounds good and is useful to their agenda. There are countless, tin-horn dictatoships around the world that the US is totally unconcerned about. Couldn't care less. These "sh*tholes", as Trump called them, exist solely because they have no strategic benefit for the US or they have no resources worth a damn. Whatever you feel about our little, SE Asian, provincial backwater, it is STRATEGIC. Sitting on two bodies of water necessary to China's aim to break out of the US Containment Policy, Thailand will always be of interest to the US. Just look at what happened in Bangladesh last week. Did Thailand take notice when they decided to change the PM? Will Daughter of Toxinstein be more of a US or China ally? Moving away from US to China can be detrimental to your health.

I just completed this quiz. My Score 60/100 My Time 211 seconds  

Wally Cox.

Awesome, bloodless coup for the military. One week's work got rid of MFP and the PM. No tanks necessary.

More like designed to deter. Case in point, the new tax law for farangs. These people are dreaming.

Is that you, Gamma?

Not much better in Jomtien. Tour busses parked all over Thappraya Rd. More monster condos coming on line in the next few years. Second Rd. will be a disaster. Its already started. Getting into Pattaya becoming a real drag.

The truth is that the Democrats had planned to throw Biden under the bus as early as 2022. They saw the cognitive decline. Hell, I saw it as early as 2020. They knew. This whole dog and pony show was choreographed down to the last detail. Watching the CNN and MSDNC crew falling all over themselves to express their amazement at how Biden had declined was disgusting. Anyone anywhere close to him knew it. If I could see it on TV, the people close to him knew it all along. The interesting part is how will they get rid of the dunce who couldn't even win her own state in the 2020 primary. Leave it to the un-Democratic Party to find a way. They rigged 3 straight primaries and I'm sure this upcoming Convention will be full of shenanigans that will include everything but a vote by the electorate. How democratic.

Spoken like a true, Democrat cultist.

I'm 75 and I don't take any boner pills. The urge only strikes once a week. When it does, I go down to one of my "mechanics" for a lube and oil change. In and out in about an hour and I go on with my day. I am a "firm" supporter of the local Crankyankers Union.

I love these Buddhist holidays. 2 days of peace and quiet instead of the usual loudmouth yammering coming from all the bars around my condo.

30 years ago, I did it. Train to Surat Thani, stayed overnight in a flophouse near the train station and took a bus for 6 hours the next day to Phuket. Never again!! The bus was the worst part. Its a very mountainous route with a lot of twists and turns. Depending on your driver, it can be quite an adventure-and I don't mean that in a good way.

I knew it was you, Gamma. As soon as I read the headline.