Stygge

Same same but different. Western food more available. Vegetables more available in Thailand. Taste is like an <deleted>, everyone has one. The myth is that Thai food is more healthy. That was long time ago. You have to visit grandma in the province to get old style healthy and tasty thaifood.

Well, there shall always be a thread like this going so you can always start a new one of an old subject. As I see it the two main contenders of the westernes interest are Thailand and the Philippines with Vietnam as a coming runner up. Since this is a thai forum most posters here favor Thailand. The pros and cons have been extensively listed and then it´s a personal preference of what has the highest weight for the individual expat. I stay mostly in Thailand, because of the ease of flying there and the better infrastructure making a short holiday easier. But in the long run I prefer the Philippines. The most weight for me in the long run is the language. Even if the english language understanding is exaggerated in the far out provinces it´s still so much better than in thailand. I also experience the filipinos so much more curios and inquisitive about the world than the thais. For me it´s decisive in the long run. I find the island country the Philippines far less insular than Thailand. I also think the Philippines in the long run has better prospects than Thailand, mainlu because it´s much younger population. It´s going to make all the difference in the future. The food is a minor problem for mie since I think food in Thailand generally has deteriorated the latest decade. Heavy on sugar, salt and glutamat it has certainly changed for the worse. Most of us come for the temples and beautiful churches and other cultural activities of course, but a small, deprived minority comes to find women. If I, reluctantly, put their glasses on, I can say there is not much difference between Thailand and the Philippines, but maybe the age difference in their respective populations makes the number of younger girls more protruding in the Philippines. If this is a pro or a con I wouldn´t know. Most expats maybe seeking more age appropriate 50 year old ladies and then I definitely recommend Thailand. Otherwiise both are south east asian countries and the similarites are predominant.

Ok, poked the hornets nest I can see. Of course you are mainly right, and I like Australia, especially since you decided to stop being the chinese door mat. I try to simplify. You elaborate. And simply; of course the entire landmass of Australia belongs to Australia and counts. But it´s like a small dog hiding in a big dogs doghouse. Looks impressive from the outside until you hear the shrill bark and the echo it makes in the oversized doghouse.. And even if the Koala disappears there is comfort in knowing that recently imported cane toads and rabbits thrive.

Right now is cash king. No matter inflation will take a bite of it.

I think it´s a matter of definition. Maybe 70 % is the core of the land uninhabitable by humans, which also is my definition of a wasteland. I don´t mean small groups of native population. 90% of the population live in 10 % of the land area. Where you have more very poisonous reptiles than humans. Where the only viable and useful natural resource is coal which Australia burn and pollute not only Australia but the world. Which in it´s turn regularly turn big part of the fertile Australia on fire. Which in it´s turn threaten one of the most iconic Australian animals, the Koala, with extinction.

Of which 90 % is desert or wasteland

I don´t think Sweden would sell anymore Gripen to Thailand. The biggest difference between the 4th och the 5th generation fighters is the stealth capability. The Gripens design give it a very low radar profile so it was not considered necessary to redesign the plane for this, since stealth design also have disadvantages. Most tests give Gripen capabilities better than updated F16. In simulations it´s a match for F 35, mainly because of maneuveribility and weaponsystem. It´s designed to take down the newest russian fighters and do so in simulations. The Gripens now used by the Thais don´t have much resemblance to the new updated version. Gripen usually end up as number two in biddings because purchasing military aircrafts is so much more than aircraft capabilities. It´s politics, and you can´t beat a global superpower in that. Still Gripen has been sold to countries like Brazil, Hungary, South Africa, Thailand etc. It´s very much capable technology for the buck and you can buy more of them and fly more hours on the same budget then for example F 35. And if you would encounter two Gripen any other military aircraft made today would be toast.

The big producers doesn´t randomly pick the bugs from the fields. They grow them in controlled environments to prevent harmful content. So it´s quiet safe. But buying them from a street stand in Pattaya is another matter. They probably come from a pesticide ridden ricefield in Issan.

China, in the big cities, are really into electronic money. Authoritarian China love it because it make tracking your citizens so much easier. But - it´s not crypto, it´s yen.. Crypto currency is forbidden in China.

Yes, when it comes to dark net child porn or drug deals or oligarchs hiding fiat money from sanctions I´m a proud luddite.

A guy tried to explain crypto currencies with an example. There is a village in India with lots of monkeys living around. A stranger comes to the village and bids 10 $ for every monkey brought to him. The villagers eagerly delivered lot´s of monkeys and got duly paid. Soon the monkeys got scarce and the stranger rised his bid to 20 $ a monkey. The villagers searched harder and delivered some more. The strangers now raised the bid to 50 $ but said he had to go to the neighbor city and get more money from the bank. He would leave his associate to attend to the monkeys. When the associate was alone with the villagers he said, "I don´t like that guy so here is what we can do. You buy all these monkeys from me for 35 $ and when he comes back you can sell them back to him for 50 $ and make a nice profit." The villagers jumped at the chance and bought every single monkey back and waited with anticipation for the stranger to come back. The associate disappeared. The stranger never returned.

No, of course not. It´s also used for dark net shady affairs and by criminals washing stolen real money white. So there will always be a demand for crypto.

Putin made a friendly, special military operation on Ukraine. The dollar made a special economical operation on the ruble. When the dollar is finished operating on the ruble the ruble will be changed to kopek for exchange purposes me thinks.

When I see your point I get the visual image of Bagdad Bob falling from the top of a high rise building and cheerfully calling out that everything is fine while passing the second floor.

I think the definition of a superpower is one that inserts overwhelming economical, cultural and military power globally. Only US qualifies on all three. But most people just seem to consider military power and then China is still just a regional player. Sure, with the clear ambition to grow fast, but still. Taiwan is essential for China to have a free way to the high sea. Culturally it´s still just a regional power, mainly south east asia. Economically i would say China is a superpower though, and this factor is the most important factor to grow military in the future. The future of it´s economical growth is uncertain though. Population decline, ageing population, bad covid strategies, great and costly pollution problems, high debt problem, especially on real estate making up for almost a third of it´s economy, and trade wars with the west will hamper economical growth considerably in the future. The only power that can take the hegemony away from the US in the near future is US itself (Trump division, less democracy and self chosen withdrawel from the world scene.) But there is enough countries in the world with authoritarian leadership (Thailand) that are more comfortable with trading with other authoritarian countries to ensure China´s future trade. No pesky questions of democracy and human rights asked.