JCauto

Billy didn't commit felonies did he? He was just trying to graft a legit business for being in proximity to his famous bro. Billy Beer!

Or January 6.

Just wanted to note that the best prevention for dengue fever is also the simplest - don't get bit. How can you do this though? First, removing areas where mozzies breed or fogging is utterly useless, especially in a wet season as moist as this one. They're going to find an infinite number of places to breed. My advice based on 30+ years of residence and 0 times contracting dengue is quite simple - wear socks, long pants and long-sleeved shirts in the late afternoon and early evening. If you really can't stand the heat (and loose-fitting clothes aren't hot), then at least wear the socks. The ankles are where these little bastards love to bite and they WILL get you if you've no socks on.

True other than that last bit - the only places where malarial mosquitoes live is deep forest, no worries for anyone in any city, town or district where there's no protected areas.

The mathematics dictate that something like what happened in Samoa could happen again, hence they're being more cautious. In addition, there's no doubt some hay to be made by increasing the amount of freight cargo based on the results. They ought to ask for weight during booking.

LOL - I at least know how to get a visa and a train ticket! Speaking Lao helps, perhaps you ought to try that next time you grace us with your omniscient presence....

Oh dear. I seem to have offended you somehow, I assure you that wasn't my intention. However, I do happen to live in Vientiane so perhaps may be better informed? If you'd like the number of a visa agent in Vientiane, why not ask? I'd happily give you two immediately - both of whom run quite successful businesses here providing services including running visas for expatriates (business, retirement, long-term residence) and also buying and delivering train tickets. That you are unaware of this and willing to state unequivocally that there are no such people in existence or that it could not possibly be viable given the market makes me think you're perhaps not as well informed as you claim to be. I haven't asked whether they do Thai visas, probably I should think. One travel agent in town to help you book the train - again, LOL. I'll give you three others if you like. "VT is seriously shut down" - what does this mean? Are the restaurants and bars I frequent figments of my imagination? As I noted, there's no real girly bar scene here, is that what you mean? Is your claim that mosquito abatement is 100% effective and stops Dengue Fever in its tracks? They do it in Cambodia too, probably helps, doesn't completely eliminate it ever. Best is to avoid being bit, and the mozzie that transmits dengue is the black-and-white striped one that is active between around 4-7pm, hence my clothing suggestions. Seems to me that according to WHO Thailand is more problematic for dengue... https://www.who.int/southeastasia/health-topics/dengue-and-severe-dengue

Oh look at you! What a marvelous person you are! You can tell by the way you look down on other people and brag about buying breakfast at some NGO project restaurant - no doubt you carefully inspected the books to ensure your dollars were completely helping the poor, not some scam. And the depth of your research speaks for itself - the words of the social scientists were written on the restaurant wall! Around 98% of statistics randomly written down as graffiti are completely made up including this! I'd make a bet with you that despite all of the lentils you've weaved into handicrafts to warm old Khmer grannies during the cold season that this fellow would contribute more to the economy in one season than you would in several years. So what does this fellow's pool villa have to do with the kids' education?

You can get superb French and Italian food in Vientiane for a ridiculously cheap price. Lao food can be good, although lacking in comparison to the neighbours. But there's all sorts of restaurants that cater to all sorts of tastes, eating here is a delight.

Vientiane's status as a capital city and at the same time a ghost town is part of its charm of course. I didn't get the impression though that this fellow was out in the clubs until late in the evening, so they might find the laid back lifestyle there perfect when raising a family of small kids. Tax- and bureaucracy-wise, you'll find it easy to deal with since you can simply pay an agent or company to do all the necessary things for you. Taxes aren't particularly high, and they have zero ability to deal with your income outside of Laos, so you won't be bothered unless you actually open a business here, in which case you will be bothered, but not unduly as in Cambodia for example. There are decent international schools and lots of available teachers for tutoring, nannies, etc. Mozzies? Yeah, they exist pretty much everywhere, the countries that do mosquito abatement also still have dengue outbreaks. I've been living in Southeast Asia for over 30 years without dengue, wear socks, pants and a long-sleeve shirt towards the end of afternoon until around 7pm and you're good to go. I should think Laos would be a quite pleasant place to retire to and raise your kids, good crowd of expat folks here without a lot of the sexpat crowd, and the lack of the bargirl scene will likely keep them away indefinitely. Don't find a lot of scammers and other lowlife who are trying to maintain their sad existences at the expense of other expat suckers.

There was another thread about just this topic the other day.

Mentally, probably about right. Peter Pan syndrome. Treating women as commodities for pleasure not humans for companionship. Let's try to guess where his political proclivities lie, no prizes unfortunately.

That's it! Disqualify him from future elections. For...I dunno, find something.

Having lived and worked in all countries mentioned other than the Philippines, I'd say this is a reasonable take for older Thai-based expats. Cambodia is basically coming on like gangbusters and Phnom Penh is starting to resemble a "mini-Bangkok" but will obviously have quite a ways to go to get to the level of the "Big Mango" if that is your ideal. On the other hand, the food there is becoming good and diverse and there's tons of high-end spots to party at to go along with the usual low-end dive and girly bars. It is definitely more expensive than Thailand on a day-to-day basis, and always has been. No 800K issue or likelihood of someone deciding to turn the screws on the expats. Health care getting better, but the best plan is to get on a plane to Bangkok if seriously ill or in an accident. Siem Reap is becoming a nice little enclave a la Chiang Mai, but has a ways to go to get there. The other towns like Battambang and Kampong Cham would be similar to living in Isaan. The beach is there for the modern age hippies in Kampot and the Chinese in Sihanoukville, but it's second-rate compared to Thailand. Laos is like living in Isaan when I arrived there over 30 years ago. There's quite a bit of charm to that, but I understand this is mostly not what the older and better-heeled expat crowd are looking for. There's great food also in Vientiane; it's the cheapest and best place for high quality European food in the region in my opinion. Rent is cheap, living can be cheap, beer is less expensive than soda and the people are laid back and pleasant. Countryside is spectacularly beautiful so hikers, bikers and nature lovers will enjoy it immensely. Working here is a source of frustration for most due to the lack of industriousness prevalent in Lao society. This again can be more of a positive than a negative depending on your perspective. Health care is located in Thailand, if you are in peril here you're in trouble. So probably not the best place for most older people (I'm over 60 and I love it, but not the norm). Also no girly bar and other action sufficient for the many sexpats on TV considering a move. Lao currency is volatile and not convertible and the government has put themselves in rather a bit of bother financially, so there are concerns it could all blow up at some point. But probably not, this is after all Laos. They just float on by. Vietnam is a place I've worked a number of times and always enjoyed the work - but I wouldn't want to live there. There's a fundamental difference between the Theravada Buddhist countries and the Confucian ones, and the former are quite a lot warmer than the latter in terms of human interaction and general attitude. Vietnam is also a more insular place and one where there's a longstanding tension between actual communist bureaucrats and the private sector and between the North and the South. Can't really comment on the costs or pros/cons of living there since I haven't spent long periods. Food is okay, but overrated in my opinion. Provincial food gets pretty similar and pretty old pretty quickly. Love the vibe of Hanoi, but again, not a place I'm keen to live especially given its awful weather. Saigon just doesn't do much for me. Myanmar was a fascinating place, but until they get rid of the Junta, it's going to be one for development aid workers and adventurous travelers, not expats. China...no. Philippines has little interest for me due to terrible food and an ersatz culture with disaster management being the default government mode. I'm also happily married so have no interest in the bar scene other than non-girly bars. Malaysia is probably the most similar to and likeliest bolthole for the better-off expats, they offer a lot better deals for long-term residence and have all the modern conveniences in KL and Georgetown. Their government is pretty stable and unlikely to collapse or suddenly take away the privileges of the expat community. There's no problem drinking and the food is good and can be great. Singvegas is like someone dropped a Western city into the tropics. Better have a lot of dough and if that's your style, why did you move here anyway?

That's considerate of you to let us know you have no actual intention to debate and that you've no actual basis in your arguments but that was actually already understood and obvious. However, whenever one of you shows some consideration, it should be acknowledged. Not that it will become a regular feature or anything, but I will keep it in mind for the future.

Sure, TIT. I was looking at costs in the USA, so makes sense that they'd be about 40% of that.

Some people are unable to understand that issues are highly complex and open fora tend towards wide-ranging discussions that expand the original thought based on points raised. At some point, "impulse" posted that he'd never seen a gas station in a condo/apartment complex, hence we posted reasons why. So this response was pertinent to the discussion. I find it amusing that you believe one can dictate the scope of a discussion on an open forum and that it should somehow naturally be restricted to those responding. Can you show me an example of such an Eden of fora that isn't at the same time so highly restricted that it has managed to achieve popularity? This is a problem worldwide since moderation requires so much effort and no websites seem profitable enough or interested in paying for said tasks.

Can you think of a reason why? C'mon, you can do it! Why would one not put a reservoir full of fuel within a condo/apartment building complex? Any ideas? Did you know that you could install a charging station for as little as $500 for a single car in your own garage? How much do you reckon your own personal gas station would cost? Oh, and that cost comes with hardly any long-term environmental costs, no risk of leakage into groundwater or other contamination, no remediation costs once you close the site.

Good news then! https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/lithium-deposit-found-us-may-be-among-worlds-largest-study-finds

My interlocutor requested evidence of affordable, acceptable interventions from Government that worked. That they are affordable is self-evident - I suspect even you would scoff at anyone attempting to blame US Government debt on carbon credits. That it is acceptable is similarly self-evident - the markets have now risen to the point where carbon is viable, meaning that the corporate world has accepted them as a worthwhile investment in the future. The question is whether the reduction of carbon in the atmosphere will work. Given that the models that were used to make the case for the carbon markets appear to have significantly UNDER-ESTIMATED the impacts of anthropogenic global warming and severe weather impacts are upon us already, there really isn't a case for "laissez faire" or "status quo" economics.

Really? What could be easier? Have you observed how renewable energy has taken over that market for example? That's basically the result of government intervention funding the research and startups and putting priority on development of alternative non-fossil fuel energy. Have you observed the carbon markets? For the first time they're now becoming economically viable in terms of the market price providing sufficient incentive and funding. That's again the result of government intervention then the markets realizing that this is a worthwhile investment and taking it on.

If we're going to go down the path of "find the farthest Left/Right example and put that up as an exemplar" then there's not really much point in discussion. Do you think it likely I could find the opposite example in some podunk county or state? Of course I could, but it doesn't advance the discussions. https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/3815311-wyoming-lawmakers-propose-ban-on-electric-vehicle-sales/ I have addressed your points, howsabout you address mine? This is always the way debate goes in TV, someone on the Right makes a point, we on the Left rebut it and ask a pertinent question, the person on the Right ignores that and pursues the next line of "whataboutism" or some other deflection. Proper debate proceeds more like a tennis match, whereas the posters on the Right proceed as if it is golf, where two different players are at the same place but playing on different holes without reference to each other.

So no rebuttal to the factual points made about Republican Party policy? The Democrats are not trying to "ban" gas cars, they're offering incentives for people to switch to more climate-friendly alternatives. You know, like the way Western Government policies offer companies massive incentives to continue to produce fossil fuels. Notice the difference? The Right try to prop up fossil fuels despite the obvious damage they cause to society (first observed accurately in the studies of those same fossil fuel companies in the 70's) and their method to provide incentives is to provide free money to companies. How much free money is being provided to prop up the fossil fuel industry? Oh, a MERE 7 TRILLION DOLLARS OR 7% OF GLOBAL GDP IN 2022!!!!!!!!!!! How's that square with your ideas? https://www.imf.org/en/Topics/climate-change/energy-subsidies As to "ban gas appliances", let's stick to the facts, shall we? https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2023/06/13/war-gas-stoves-house-gop-ban/70297193007/

Because it's a core principle of conservative economics to try to overcome market forces with legislation! Because businesses need intervention from the government to function efficiently and correctly! LOL. Sad how lost the Right has become. There is no more "policy", just slavish devotion to a Cult of Personality.

Par for the course. Remember those Saudi jewels?