GarryP

It is not uncommon for ganja to be added to food such as noodles, and other broth based meals as it supposedly enhances the taste. Not at levels which will make you high though. This has been going on for decades if not longer.

I'd give up my British citizenship if I had to choose between Thai and British. In the UK I only have my father, step-mother and half sister. Having lived here for 40 years, I have no ties to the UK other than that. It's a no brainer really. Obviously, I won't be proactive in surrendering my British citizenship though.

I would be very hesitant to sell up. I have heard some horror stories and know a couple of families who sold up their land thinking they would be able to have a better future with money to buy this and that and invest in stuff. It didn't work out. There were no plans for a sustainable lifestyle, it was just the feeling of having a load of cash in hand. The money was gone very quickly and they were then worse off than before they sold the land. One family ended up renting land for farming to make a living, but at least they now have a house and a pickup truck. Sad, but not uncommon. Money management skills, or rather lack thereof, seems to be a major problem in Thailand and is not taught by parents or in schools. As a result there is a massive personal loan and credit card debt problem here and just about every civil servant is in debt. Crazy situation. Hold on to the farm Owl. It is also a great place for you to spend time with Mildred, feeding fish, planting this and that, teaching her about wildlife, plants, farming etc. and generally enjoying each others company outdoors.

I don't know, but perhaps many of the refugees already speak English to a reasonable standard, whereas they may not speak French at all. In such a case, surely it makes sense to try to get in to the UK rather than staying in France and having trouble communicating. On the other hand, for those that already speak French, why would they still wish to enter the UK?

Nah, France will start having trouble with Brits in dingies seeking asylum.

It is now 18 days shy of a year since I had the Rezum treatment. I am happy with the results but could be happier. I visited the doctor in July for a follow up appointment on my treatment. The flow was better than pre-treatment and there was no retention post urination. However, the doctor said he had expected the flow to be a little bit higher than it was. Urination is totally pain free and I am not taking any meds for BPH. As to night time, I am getting up to the toilet twice a night (most nights) but as mentioned earlier in the thread, there is no struggle to get started. So visits to the bathrooom are very short and I am back to sleep very quickly. No doubt about it that this outcome has proven really beneficial, although I would prefer to limit my night visits to the toilet to once a night. During my last visit, the doctor did mention that about 5 of his 200+ patients suffered from retrograde ejaculation post treatment. These were patients with large prostates who required more steam injections than the four I had. So while the incidence is quite low, you do need to be aware that this is a possible outcome. I must admit that I was surprised as I didn't recall coming across any incidences of this in the materials I studied pre treatment.

Yeah, gingers always cause trouble.????

An absolute wind up. ???? Either that or you should chill before putting fingers to keyboard. Perhaps a nice spliff on your balcony would be in order.

At least he's served time for one of his crimes, if only 11 months or so. Suthep and Chalerm haven't served any time and are much worse than Chuwit.

And a guy smoking a cigar. Based on what we claim to have seen, is it any wonder that people claim to have seen the Abominable Snowman or Bigfoot? ????

I can see a couple of ghost dogs too.

It was an accident. It just slipped in while we were talking.

That only averages out at Baht 190,000 a month. So no big deal. Plenty of people in Thailand in management positions earn that or more. And senior lawyers are earning well in excess of Baht 300,000/month with bonus on top.

I think you will find that the vast majority of crime is committed by whites by a mile, purely due to demographics (87% white, 7% Asian and 3% black). However, what does stand out is that when one considers the black and asian populations, a higher percentage thereof commit crime, when compared to the percentage of the white population that commit crime (0.096% of the white ppopulation are in prison, 0.14% of the Asian and 0.49% of the black population).

I think you'll find that immigration back in the 50's and 60's in Yorkshire and Lancashire was supported/promoted by the government to provide workers for the mills and factories. It was not about immigrants trying to sneak in illegally. Bradford and Saltaire among a number of cities in the north are what they are now due to government policy and not because of "leeching". Now whether that policy was right or wrong, I have no idea, but you should not blame the people.

Next time that happens and you are with your Thai wife/gf, get your wife/gf to tell the waitress that you are making the order in Thai language. Then place the order. They will understand everything you have said if you speak decent enough Thai. Many seem to switch off when they see a farang doing the ordering. As has been said before, they have told themselves that you are speaking English, which they don't understand, so they are tuned out of everything you say.

Totally agree. My wife's family speak to me in their local form of Issan and I respond to them in central Thai. No problems at all. We understand each other fine. The exception might be in Surin and a few other provinces where the local language would be Khmer. In such a case I'd be screwed. They'd understand me but I wouldn't understand a word they said.

Surely it should be learning the language before getting citizenship?

In the past one of the main ways for ethnic Thais to get on the power ladder was through the military. It was like a split between money power in Chinese-Thai hands and military in Thai hands. But even that has changed.

Yes, mainly second and third generation immigrants.

Grindhouse will always help you grind one out!

I shall murder the person that missed out us crows!

I do not link my credit cards to any accounts, be that Lazada, shopee or others. Last time it happened to me, it was after I made a purchase at Central Ploenchit (men's shoes department). That evening there were a couple of small purchases, i.e. below Baht 500 so I did not receive a notification on card use, but then the purchase of an airline ticket for which I was notified. I immediately contacted the credit card company and the matter was sorted within a few days. As to ATMs, like another poster posted, I always try to use the ATM of the bank that issued my card, ie BBL ATMs, but have found that upcountry in many of the small towns there very often are only a few ATMs and they are usually Government Savings Bank, Krungthai and SCB.

Foreigners can use the services of Thai public hospitals. They are not restricted to Thais.

Damn, you beat me to it.