Andrew65

What credible external threats does Thailand really have?

The UK gvt did this recently, by 5p/litre. That saves me about £2,50 off an £80 diesel bill, so, not a big deal (in the UK around 60% of fuel cost is tax). In the few days before this happened the price had risen by 6p/litre at a station that I drive by every day, , so you could see no benefit at all.

Not that uncommon in Thailand????

When I got my Bangkok Bank account 20 years ago, the only big deal was getting stuff from the British Embassy, but it was still a pain in the a*s. I haven't lived in Thailand for 3 years now, but will always have that account, to save possibly going through that hassle again

Probably 7 years ago a old friend said that many girls got men on the internet/chat etc, rather than in bars or walking the streets. He's a very wealthy guy who used to have girls a couple of times a day, so he was 'experienced' in such things.

Maybe playing with her phone meant filming her whilst she drowned? Seeing how some people are with mobile phones, not beyond the realms of possibility?!

Hitler just knew what most other politicians know!????

"investment middleman" AKA a financial adviser,

To one expert, the fact that Bernie Madoff was guaranteeing 12% was obviously a scam.

I've known that for a very long time (duh). I learnt about such things when working in Saudi Arabia. 'Bad' alcohol = methanol 'Good' alcohol = ethanol There's a flame test for it. As I learnt in chemistry at school, a yellow flame is a 'dirty' flame, a blue flame is a 'clean' flame.

Yes, it can turn into methanol (toxic) rather than ethanol when making spirits (the blue flame test).

Lets see how long it takes before someone goes blind or dies from drinking bad home made alcohol!?

Probably another man who ALWAYS causes problems when he drinks. I had an old friend in Thailand with whom another mutual friend would refuse to go drinking with, for that reason. Mind you, the mutual friend would become seriously obnoxious if he got drunk, but only when drunk on whisky, any other alcohol he was ok.

I'm suspecting "pilot-intervention" as the cause. There's a very good/interesting documentary about Egyptair 990.

"If the crash doesn't kill the pilot, the inquiry will".

We had/have similar rules on alcohol advertising in the UK. No one under 25 can be shown to be drinking. There was a voluntary ban on advertising spirits for many years.

If you keep a bank account in the UK you also have some credit towards your credit-worthiness (overseas accounts don't count). If you have lived overseas for more than 5 years and have not had car insurance, UK car insurance can cost up to 3 times more. Things I learnt 3 years ago when I returned to the UK after 18 years in Thailand.

"...poor, badly dressed families possibly" Sounds much like the average falang!????

I remember reading many years ago, maybe in The Economist, that Russians hold around 60% of their savings in US$. (Much of it probably 'under the mattress'!).

"return happiness to (rich) Thai people".

I thought it was in April. Anyway, Klopp's still moaning.

Irreversible, less chance of a "balls-up"????

Liverpool are my team. However, this season I've quite often heard Herr Klopp, our manager, bemoaning the amount of games they have to play in a short space of time ('fixture-congestion'). Next thing, they're gonna fly 6,000 miles to play in a totally pointless game, well before the end of the season.

"There is also a retro theme for this year’s celebrations with people who attend invited to wear retro style clothing". Lots of wizened old expats'll just show up in their usual attire then!???? (And 70's mullet hairdos!).

Many years ago they clamped-down on Songkhran "water-activities" in Bangkok, it had become a real pain in the a*se. An old Thai guy (now late 70's) told me how when he was a kid Songkhran was 1 day, and sprinkles of water, rather than buckets of ice cold water over a 3 or 4 day period, as it had become.