simon43

"Yaxley-Lennon was jailed last October because he ignored an order not to repeat false allegations about a Syrian refugee who successfully sued him for libel. " I watched the film he made. It's actually a documentary and the videos and documents produced in that film confirm that he did not make false accusations against the Syrian 'bullying yob'. His accusations are true but don't really fit the pro-Islam narrative of many politicians in the UK nowadays.....

"You really need to get into radio astronomy, as well, since the cloud cover there where you are makes it impossible to do much else." I did do a little of this when I was in Laos a few years ago. I built a horn antenna to detect the Hydrogen line, the emission of radiation from hydrogen atoms in the stars, detectable at about 1420 MHz. By placing the antenna pointing straight up, and collecting signals over a 12 hour period, then superimposing it on a software creation of how the stars pass overhead (as the earth rotates), one can easily see that the level of hydrogen emission increases as the Milky Way passes over me. In this video, the star animation has my location on the right hand side, at the centre of the faint green lines. The stars and Milky way gradually pass over me. The picture-in-picture display shows the signal as a 'blip' around 1420 MHz, increasing and decreasing in amplitude as the Milky Way passes over me. The 'hash' to the right of the blip is probably interference from a nearby mobile phone tower. But after receiving the hydrogen line, there's not much more I can do. To receive emissions from carbon, oxygen, helium etc from space needs a much larger dish antenna... No idea why I hid my face in the photo of my horn antenna... Here's the 40 second video: HYDROGEN-LINE.mp4 Finally, the weather image for today from the Russian Meteor M2-3 bird. Clear in Bangkok, cloudy where I am in south Thailand...

So how does that work - does he live in a zoo?

That is something that I've personally experienced and I still can't figure out how...... 🙂 A few years ago, when I was staying at a hotel in Naypyitaw (Burma), there were 3 tookay living behind my wardrobe and making an awful noise during the night. I asked the hotel staff to remove them, thinking that since this is essentially a Buddhist country, the staff would catch the lizards and place them in the garden. Not a chance! 6 staff arrived and proceeded to chase the poor animals around my room until they (the lizards, not the staff!), were beaten to death with brooms..... Oh dear, not my plan at all 😞

At my condo building in Jomtien, the outside balcony is unusable because of the pungent smell of cannabis, night and day. The beach road (with families) also reeks of the stuff. I for one, would be quite happy for it to be banned...

Well, Trump is off the SA president's Christmas card list, that's for sure....

I forgot about the ants. They get killed because they will get inside food containers (even airtight containers!!)

Are you able to see bacteria or viruses? Of course not! So wearing a decent mask when close to others seems a good idea to me. You never know what nasty things they are breathing/coughing out... Alternatively, don't wear a mask when in crowds, and don't complain if you get Covid/flu/polio (unlikely!) or Chlamydia pneumoniae STI....

I'm not a Buddhist, but I don't like killing living things for no reason. My current home (like many previous homes) has many holes in the structure that allow animals to come in.... I kill mosquitoes because they are annoying! I kill large centipedes because their bite is very painful, (but I don't kill millipedes) I kill cockroaches because I hate them! I remove snakes, but I won't kill them, even if they are venomous I remove scorpions in case I accidentally step on them (I did that before and it hurt!) I remove tookay lizards because their poop is big and their voice is even bigger! I try to remove geckos because they poop everywhere I remove beetles, caterpillars etc, in case I squash them by accident I don't remove or kill spiders, especially the huge wolf spiders. They're cute. I remove any ladyboys or bar-girls, occasionally I kill them..... 🙂 How about you?

In order for a mask to be 'fit for purpose', such as protecting from smoke particles or from smaller micro-organisms or viruses, one does need to choose very carefully from the types of masks that are available. I'm 99% sure that most people who wear a mask to protect themselves from pollutants or pathogens, or to protect others from pathogens coughed/breathed out by themselves, have no clue what kind of mask to buy. I wouldn't expect the average IQ person to know about these things, and therefore it's up to the shop or manufacturer to ensure that masks on sale are correctly and clearly labelled for their intended purpose.

What I don't understand is - why are some people so worked up about others who wear a mask. Is it OCD or something? Would you get equally angry if you see people wearing yellow shirts on Monday? Are you going to call them 'sheep'? Live and let live. Those who rage at others are the first to die from heart attacks brought on by high blood pressure 🙂

Lol, this guy is a 100% troll. Don't waste any time with him. Bye troll....

The images obtained from the geostationary satellites, way out in space, often do show cyclones. This is an old image from the GK-2A satellite (South Korea), with cyclones brewing in the southern ocean. To get that image is rather difficult! Having settled into retirement in south Thailand, I've ordered a 2.2 metre parabolic dish to receive these beautiful images again.

My father was born during WW1 in Egypt, was trilingual in English, Arabic and French (the only decent school in Alexandria was French). During WW2 he was a coder/radio guy in the middle of the jungle in west Africa. He was present at Nurenberg, responsible for sending coded reports back to Churchill. After the war, he was a university languages professor. During my childhood, I recall being warned by my mum not to enter his study room at home when he was working, less he erupted at his offspring for having his concentration disturbed. He wrote many academic papers and books, and in fact dropped dead at 89 years old as he was in the middle of editing an academic paper. He taught me to always be honest, no matter how much it upset the other party. He also taught me never to break a promise, and never to 'leech' off the state. Somewhat a distant person, but I respected his POV from his generation. Thinking about it, he was born only 15 years after the first plane flight..... amazing

I realise that this is an 'advertorial' and Cigna has a good reputation. My concern with private medical insurance (based on my well-documented problems with another company), is whether or not they will pay up if a claim is made. I do have private medical insurance, and I hope that I never have to use it. In order to minimise the chance of a claim being refused, in the application I documented every accident and ailment that I had since the age of 5 years old!! (mumps, a minor motorbike accident, a minor cosmetic surgery etc). The insurer must have laughed at my documents, but at least they can't refuse claim on the basis of a pre-existing condition, (I only have 1 condition excluded, and that is BPH and associated problems - UTIs etc), but prostate cancer is covered. Medical insurance can also be very expensive for older folk with pre-existing conditions. Of course, an insurer would not want to insure someone with a heart condition against heart problems! But for example, high blood pressure seems to be a catch-all for refusing a claim (well, perhaps not for a broken leg!).

20th May 2025: For today's weather map, I grabbed the image from NOAA-19 that shows the rain intensity (darker color means more intense rain). So no rain over Thailand, but some intense rain storms in the sea east of Vietnam.

Well, trying to keep this thread on an interesting topic - (the health of young Thais): My niece died a couple of years ago from TB at 18 years old My hotel cook died at 28 years old from Aids My hotel odd-job guy died at 18 years old after his GF's secret boyfriend shot him... Nowadays most young Thais (men and women) seem to be obese How much are they concerned by their health? The Thai government provides 30 baht treatment when you get sick - my ex-wife got TB but luckily was diagnosed and received free medication for about a year until she was clean from this illness. Is it all about karma (if you get sick and die, that's because you were meant to get sick and die, because you're a bad person...) ??

Hey! I wear a mask most days. I have a lung illness and need to protect my lungs from the polluted air. Many Thais also want to protect their lungs from the air pollution, or when riding a motorbike etc. I have lived here for more than 23 years and mask-wearing to protect one's lungs from air pollution is almost the norm - it has nothing to do with sheep, vaccinations, brain-washing etc. It's simply common sense! You simply have no idea of what you're talking about. PS - why do you keep calling a face mask a 'muzzle'. Your whole attitude is tin-hat delusion.

I reported this a few days ago, but wasn't able to get email confirmation from a close friend of his. So I asked the Mods to lock the topic until I had more news, (which as yet I don't - whether good or bad 'cos I'm still waiting on the email...)

"Severe allergic reactions following vaccination are rare..." .. and that sums it up for most vaccinations. For the vast majority of people who are vaccinated, there is no severe allergic reaction. Unfortunately, no vaccination is 100% safe - there will always be a small % of people who will have an adverse reaction.

18th May 2025: Weather image received from Russian satellite Meteor M2-3, as it passed over south-east Asia just now: Hazy clouds over north Thailand, south Thailand looks nice clear weather 🙂

Cock-a-doodle-DOOOOOOOO!

"Local authorities have pledged to take additional steps to ensure the safety of residents. " It's not the residents that need to be concerned...

^^^ Lol, how can someone give a thumbs-down emoji to a visa question, especially since there are not even any answers or follow-ups from me! 🙂 Weird!

I have an O visa in Thailand, extended for retirement. I maintain this visa, although I make regular trips by air from Bangkok to/from Burma (Yangon, Mandalay etc), obtaining a re-entry permit when leaving Bangkok Airport. Years ago, I would visit Kawtaung and stay a few days to help at the orphanage. I would stamp out at Ranong Fish Bridge immigration, take a small boat across the river, leave my passport at Kawtaung immigration (as required), be issued with a short-stay permit paper, and stay at a hotel on the hill that had a licence to accommodate foreigners. This all worked fine. Now that I will start to receive my UK state pension, I will have enough income not to require an employment teaching income (I have an online income). Therefore, I have plans to return to Burma to teach as a volunteer. Obviously, the requirements/paperwork in Burma to do this legally is my responsibility 🙂 I can't return to Mandalay/Yangon because the polluted air is not good for my lungs, and teaching again in those cities would be a liability/risk. I need clean, sea air, exactly what I have now at my rented home in south Thailand. So it occurred to me that I could teach as a volunteer in Kawtaung, returning back to Thailand every few weeks. So... my question is: Does anyone know if Ranong immigration will allow me to stamp out (with a re-entry permit), and then return perhaps 1 week later?