soalbundy

Since a few months now I have found that reading the news is depressing, it's so corrupt, so mundane, so violent, the political stupidity makes me wince, the arrogant self importance is amazing, there is no honesty anymore, I have the feeling that only my two dogs are sane in a world turned on its head.

My Thai/British son (17) is fluent in both languages but says he prefers English as it's an easier language, this is reflected in his school marks which are only sufficient for Thai but top marks for English, This isn't surprising as his English teacher has given over the English lessons to my son to teach, I feel sorry for his students as my son has no patience.

Obviously a lesbian with a dick. Any man who truly identifies as a woman should have the 'operation' before his mental illness can be taken seriously.

any side that's free

He looks like a nice boy

Not so bad, he is an experience richer and that's what holidays are about.

He looks like a nice boy

He looks like a nice boy

If Xi says no then it wont happen.

Islam with a touch of Jesus? Blessed are the peacemakers pastor....Musk will hang himself as acting president, Trump wants that job.

4 more years....you think he's going to last that long?

High personal debt, lower living standards, increasing homelessness, rising unemployment, poverty on the rise, the collapsing American empire causing an egoic loss of being number one in the world (see 'make America great again') Trump promises to turn the clock back, this simplistic message was easy to understand and found favour with a large portion of the populace whose earlier high standard of living (the American dream) was fueled by having the world's reserve currency allowing their standard of living to be paid for by the rest of the world. The rise of Europe, China, India, the formation of BRICS and the exporting of American production to S.E. Asia is a harbinger of Americas downfall, the continuation of rolling over its huge debt to the rest of the world is being called into question. Nobody takes American bullying seriously anymore. A good example of how poorly thought out Trumps 'imperialist' tariffs are is China now banning exports of tungsten to the USA as an answer to Trumps tariffs on China, China produces 90% of the worlds tungsten, America produces none, tungsten is needed in a myriad of industries from metal to electronics. Canada sells vast amounts of LNG cheaply to the US which then gets sold on for a higher price to Europe and Japan, Canada now, due to America's bellicose statements (51st state) and sanctions, realizes it can sell directly to Europe and Japan for a higher price than to America but still cheaper than America can supply to the world. These are just two examples of how America is shooting it's feet off. USAID reduction now allows China to woo African and Asian countries into its sphere of influence. Trump is accelerating America's demise.

It's up to the British people to ignore the fad, they can't arrest us all. The waste of money concerning gay and trans promotion should be a matter for the courts, the opposition isn't working well, possibly because they have their own ideological skeletons packed away from view. The crazy ideology being pushed forward by intellectuals doesn't concern the vast majority of the public although it should do. The British way of dealing with such travesties of common sense was to use humour and hold it up to ridicule but the powerful vocal view have managed to curtail freedom of speech to the extent that only giants of comedy like Ricky Gervaise can risk attacking this dangerous movement. Fortunately stupidity doesn't have much staying power, there is no public consensus and the backlash will eventually come.

They all say they're Irish from waaaaay back but then something unpleasant happened to them.

They'll be getting their just deserts now. They even look wicked.

He died at the right place.

The tourists will be a bit disappointed if they don't get to see any wild roaming dinosaurs.

Can't be high enough for my liking.

'Phineas Float' sounds like a name Rowling could have used in the ministry of magic.

That's very true, I can read and write Thai fluently but I cant follow a Thai television program but I am comfortable reading a Thai book, I taught myself Thai by reading all the Harry Potter books in Thai. I speak English with my Thai/British son, and Thai with the wife, stepdaughters and grand kids. I will never be as fluent in Thai as I am in English and German.

what is in a word? tourist, foreigner, alien, khon dang chard, they all mean the same thing, permanent residency doesn't change that, it's just a glorified visa extension with bells on, I lived and worked in Germany for over 35 years, was married to a German, had a German child, owned my own house but I was still an Ausländer, what difference does it make?

That's true, one has to be a bit of a philosopher and a meditater, I'm one of those weirdos that likes it here. I've lived for months by the sea as well but in the end everything becomes a routine where ever you are and whatever you are doing. You are the observer and experiencer, each experience has a quality of its own and is impermanent, yesterday is just a memory no matter how exciting it was (and it often isn't even particularly interesting), most activities are simply time filling, the latest bar girl, the new restaurant at the beach, the late night bar with music, the boat trip......been there, done that, now what, the search for something else. The villages offer the simple 'ease of being' and the chance for introspection.....not something for randy 50 year olds admittedly but ideal for a 76 year old bear who has eaten his honey.

I've found the IO in my district to be friendly and polite.

In my village everybody calls me by my name, even those I don't know, since I am the only westerner here since 19 years I suppose it's easier to remember one name.

Actually I believe it's chiefly in Bangkok that the 'r' is generally pronounced as an 'l', in Isaan they pronounce it correctly.It only sounds like an 'ung' to you because the 'a' is pronounced 'ar' but I'm not going to argue the toss as this is obviously very important to you.