simon43

Hmm, I never have a problem with fake smiles. I bought my breakfast in 7/11 and the serving staff joked with me about always buying the same food. I chatted with the hotel staff about my plans for the day, smiles all round. I called up the post office to track down a missing parcel and they were polite and helpful and found the parcel and arranged to send it on to me, free of charge. Later, my shower broke and the hotel repair guy came round and I explained how the bathroom was flooded because I couldn't turn off the shower! Laughter all round 🙂 The common denominator in all these friendly conversations? They were all Thai people, and I only spoke with them in Thai language. I know that you can get friendly smiles all round when you meet strangers in a foreign country and you have no common language. But imagine that you are Thai, perhaps with basic education, and having to speak in English every day with foreigners who can't be bothered to learn your language. I imagine that it's easier to chat and joke in your mother tongue, rather than a foreign language. "What I miss most is intelligent conversation...." It's entirely possible when you speak in Thai. Why should you expect Thais to speak fluent English? I'm not saying that you need to be fluent in Thai. But get a teacher, learn to read and write basic Thai, only speak Thai with your Thai friends, even if they speak English or German. It's always easier to make friends when you have a common language 🙂

Wall of text? I see plenty of paragraphs, correct punctuation etc, very easy to read. Perhaps you are showing up your own lack of education or ability to read English text 🙂

Personally, I find Rolex watches to be ugly and smacks of east-end lads got rich.... I have an antique half-hunter pocket watch. About $20,000 and wearing such a pocket watch states my character > titled ancestry, educated, well-spoken, quiet confidence 🙂

Last time I went to Patpong, I was wearing brand new Calvin Klein undies, and they were ripped right off me!

Well, let's just do away with all human posters on this forum and give the AI bots an online wallet to purchase anything 'they' want from the click-through adverts 🙂

Is that long-range wi-fi antenna disguised as a banana tree?

When you say he has a 30-year lease, does this mean that he has paid 'upfront' for the 30 years? (as opposed to say leasing a plot of land for 30 years and paying each month/quarter). If the former, then IMHO he has a lot to lose. Thai law says (as has been pointed out), that a lease is invalid if it's more than 3 years and is not registered. Therefore his lease is invalid and the owner could possibly kick him out. Good luck to him in getting the 30 years of upfront lease payments back! It seems (horse bolted etc situation) that the leasee did not do his homework when originally taking out the lease and checking if a mortgage had been taken out by the owner.

Absolute stitch-up! Here is an actor who is naturally well-spoken, but turns up as a volunteer canvasser for Reform and speaking from the start with his 'rough' acting voice. How coincidental that this actor turns up being filmed by Channel 4. If anything, it demonstrates how all parties should do background checks on volunteers (just as is done for teachers for a different reason). Too many wolves in sheep's clothing around, but I doubt that this stitch-up will diminish the growing support for Farage and Reform!

AS has been posted, your friend doesn't have a lease. His lease is invalid and his right to occupy the place is at risk. He needs to sign a new lease with the new owner and get this registered at the Land Office. The rent fee is up to discussion...

Many years ago when I was a TPV in Phuket I had to call 1669 on a couple of occasions when a member of the public had a motorbike accident etc. On both occasions, the person who answered the phone did not speak English. Luckily I can speak Thai, so no problems. Moral of the story - Learn to speak Thai!!

20 years ago, someone wrote an AI program that allowed users to chat with a computer, fooling the end-user into thinking that they were chatting with a real person. The BBC stated that this program (called Natachata) "...the best candidate for passing the Turing test". The Turing test, in case you don't know, is named after the mathematician Alan Turing, as a test of a computer/ computer program which can fool people into thinking that they are chatting with an unseen but real person. BBC link to this report is here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/3503465.stm Well, 20 years later, it seems that this is exactly what is happening here in the community pub forum. People are being fooled by an AI application. In many cases, they are not conversing with another forum poster - they are conversing with AI, and being taken for fools! Of course, if you're happy to chat with a 'machine', then up to you, as they say in Thailand. By the way, the person who wrote that AI program 20 years ago was none other than myself 🙂

Yep - the poster is clearly not the typical AN poster, more like a ChatGPT poster 🙂

You would deny that an elephant is an elephant even if it sat on your face! 🙂 The facts about this person are coming out and it's very clear that he was some sort of plant to discredit Reform. Quite honestly, it shows how scared the mainstream parties are. They will do anything to discredit Reform.

I don't expect to die for many years, but I've made early preparations by being sh*t-poor 🙂

Hi ChatGPT, you're having a busy time recently on this forum 🙂

As an update, I moved from smoky Laos to temporarily stay in Pattaya while I sort out a few admin things (update bank card etc). The offer from my wife is still on, but I have had another offer to rent a detached house on Koh Lanta for 6,000 baht. Weighing up the 2 houses, the Lanta one is preferred because it has a garden for my radio antennas. I also have a 6,000 house in Khanom right near to the beach. My suitcases are in Khanom right now and the beach is lovely, but I'd like to do some snorkelling/coral reef visits in my dotage and Khanom beach has none of that. Coral reefs are more accessible from Ao Nang and Lanta. Anyway, since moving south from Laos to be by the sea, my bronchitis has gone, my coughing and phlegm have gone and I have no need for daily anti-hystamine and mucus thinner medicines :). Pattaya is not a preferred long-term base for me (cheap condos, hanging 10 meter antenna poles out of the windows upsets the locals!).

Bet his guide/seeing eye dog notices the Westerners 🙂

Prior to Lasik surgery some 20 years ago, I wore glasses and then contact lenses for almost 40 years to correct my short-sightedness - I'm well-used to hard, gas-permeable, soft etc contact lenses. Due to my age (eye muscles getting weaker), I am now moderately short-sighted again, about -2.5 and wear reading glasses. But I also have an issue with far-vision, and have driving glasses to enable me to drive without causing road accidents. So I switch between wearing reading glasses and driving glasses. I wanted to simplify this situation by replacing my reading glasses with a contact lens in my non-dominant eye, (ie monovision). I understand that my brain will 'sort out' the resulting images and provide me with clear vision for both reading and driving. So I purchased soft contact lenses with the same prescription as my glasses (-2.5). I only used one lens and placed that in my right (non-dominant) eye. The results were blurry and have remained blurry. I'm not sure that my brain is 'getting the message' about monovision!! I do read that if the prescription is less than -3.5, then one can use the same prescription of your glasses for the contact lens. Should I keep wearing the single 'reading' contact lens and hope that my brain will eventually sort things out? Advice requested 🙂

So.... one of the most important life-savers for foreigners is to learn to speak Thai! 🙂

[quote] ... Go into Petcharat Pharmacy near Siriraj Hospital and they are always stunned to see me there because no other Westerner comes in ... [/quote] You should try travelling in north Burma - the locals are so surprised to see a white foreigner - it's as if an alien has landed! (but a friendly alien...)

I checked and there are very good reviews and very bad reviews. I have never had a problem with LifeCare and would recommend them.

It seems that as regards this situation, you are between a rock and a hard place. How much is your insurance likely to increase over the next few years? For me, although my insurance premiums are well within my finances right now, that might not be the case in the future. Such is life! 🙂

[quote] ... I own a Ford Raptor ... [/quote] And with that off-the-cuff phrase, I recognise immediately the real purpose of your posts (as a long-time forum lurker of course). Listen, I have been a forum member for more than 20 years! I know what's going on. It's very similar to spam emails that I get about investments. Almost every email signs off with 'Get back to me'. It's a standard phrase used by scammers. So I for one won't be providing you with advice about getting a younger, 'real' girlfriend.

Jeez, bring me a sick bucket...... this poster surely can't be an adult...

Nowadays, I'm not so sure about that! 🙂