GarryP

9 minutes ago, transam said:

Reliability, longevity, few if any problems, it has got to be a Toyota....

I am looking in to buying an SUV when I finally sell my house in BKK. My shortlist is Ford Everest (not worried about resale), and Toyota Fortuner (not sure between Leader and Legender). I like that the specs for Ford are the same as in the west, unlike Toyota whose specs are much lower than in Europe for the same model.   

What about a Ford Everest Titanium 2.0 bi-turbo? There are both 4x2 and 4x4 models.  More fuel efficient than the 3.0. 

On 5/16/2024 at 8:19 AM, josephbloggs said:

Yeah, this changed recently. Annoyingly mine defaults to credit card and I don't even have a Bangkok bank credit card, so I have to change it to direct debit manually on each transaction. 

Exactly my problem too.

Many years ago I was staying on a raft/bungalow which was moored at the river bank and had it's electricity supplied from the owners house. It had been raining and as I walked around the raft and grabbed the corrugated roofing I got a massive shock which sent me flying for a short distance. Luckily, there was a fence around the raft which saved me from ending up in the river. I was stunned for quite a while.

Traditional (herbal) medicine for the treatment of period pain and irregular bleeding.  

43 minutes ago, sidneybear said:

When I check my ID on that NHSO website, I get the following - it lists my rights as:

 

ข้อมูลสิทธิ
สิทธิที่เข้ารับบริการ :
บุคคลต่างด้าว

 

It lists me as a permanent resident (dang dao), rather than a citizen. Do other naturalised Thai get this?

I just checked mine, and I am listed as below, but then I only retired a few days ago and haven't reported that to the Social Security Office yet, and in any case I will be covered for a further 6 months, before switching over to the 30 Baht scheme. It is strange though that you are still listed as an alien. You may need to update your information, but not sure how you would go about that.

สิทธิประกันสุขภาพทั้งหมดของท่าน :สิทธิประกันสังคม

สิทธิที่เข้ารับบริการ :สิทธิเบิกกองทุนประกันสังคม (ผู้ประกันตน)

The woosh you and Mildred heard was probably a rocket. Up to the end of June, there were still a few Bun Bangfai events (rocket festivals to bring on the rain) going on and kids were able to buy rockets.  

1 hour ago, JCauto said:

 

Always happy to engage in honest discussion.

 

It would have had both positive and negative impacts, depending on the way in which it was done. We've also had a lot of rubber plantation expansion in Laos where I work, and it was one of the main drivers of deforestation for example between 2005 and 2013. 

Positive impacts:

1. The rubber plantations usually are done with care to maximize yields and ease of collection and maintenance so they will often reduce soil erosion compared to previous land uses, particularly if they were using the land for swidden ("slash and burn") agriculture.

2. Rubber plantations keep the local area significantly cooler by providing dense canopy to absorb sunlight and heat compared to regular fallow.

3. Rubber plantations sequester carbon in their tree trunks and in the rubber sap, both of which are processed and used afterwards - this is good, but the ultimate cost is determined by how the product is used and disposed of. Rubber plantations are usually cut down after 25 years or so and replanted in order to improve efficiency. By its nature it will sequester carbon for a significant time because rubber wood is valuable so the old plantation is not simply burned down.

4. Well managed rubber plantations, especially those wishing to be compliant with the new EU Deforestation Regulations, will not be built on land that was previously forest, so contribute to carbon storage.

5. Rubber plantations can provide long-term income for smallholder farmers and laborers that is relatively low maintenance.

6. Rubber prices have been very good recently so farmers and plantation companies are making good money.

 

Negative impacts:

 

1. Rubber plantations act like forest in that they stabilize the ground and sequester carbon, reduce temperatures in the local areas etc. but they're NOT forest and don't have the diverse local flora and fauna that forest does. It further reduces habitat for wild creatures and plants.

2. Poorly managed rubber plantations often convert forest resulting in net negative carbon sequestered and biodiversity loss and dispossess villagers of their subsistence agricultural land and future land for their children which is often not secure.

3. Smallholders take big risks to plant rubber since it takes several years before producing yields and global price drops or local corruption skewing the market can result in economic losses to poor farmers.

4. Poorly managed rubber can result in increases in mosquitos and mosquito-borne diseases because the shells used to collect the sap store casual water that mozzies breed in.

 

So overall I would say it is a fairly neutral plantation crop compared to others such as cassava, corn, pasture, sugar, watermelon and other major cash plantation crops because it is more permanent, long-term and it does provide good cover so reduces soil erosion and heat absorption. Locally it would be better in those respects than land simply left for fallow to be reused at a later date as part of a rotational upland agriculture system. However it doesn't provide long-term permanent land cover and forest since it will eventually be cut down and replanted and causes local biodiversity loss compared to the existing swidden systems or leaving the land to regenerate natural forest cover. It is poor land use practice if the plantations replaced natural forest and the new EU regulation will penalize those operators as a result by restricting their market.

Interesting. Thanks. 

On 6/25/2024 at 11:16 AM, JCauto said:

 

1. Haven't figured out how to do it and can't be arsed.

2. I think it demonstrates an understanding of statistics. 

3. If that's your level of intellectual understanding, then you're not worth debating. However it's obvious that it's not, you're just trolling. Yawn. I described my work, that means I read quite a lot of studies relating to climate change, forestry and other relevant issues. To pretend one could read the entire corpus of climate change research is an absurdity as you're fully aware. Your point was a dumb one.

4. Which study? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_consensus_on_climate_change Tell me which of the references you are talking about and I'll respond.

5. I know many who believe otherwise, they post about it on ASEAN Now every time there's a climate thread. This is just disingenuous. Why don't you argue your points with facts? It's so easy to disprove this, it's not even worth the clicks. Check this thread for instance.
6. Just go to the source.  https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/

7. By no means do I take an article at face value. I explained to you already that I'm an engineer and data scientist. Why do you keep trying to mischaracterize what I say and do?
 

Are you trained in engineering or science, or are you self-taught? Did you work as a scientist or technical person in those fields?

Honest question for you here. Many years ago there were very few rubber plantations in the northeast in Thailand, but that started changing in the late seventies and eighties, until by 2015 the number of plantations in this area had increased considerably. They were not only replacing existing forests, but also barren land and agricultural land. Has this had a positive impact on the local climate? Certainly had a severe impact on mosquito infestation, but that is a separate issue.  

When my wife was sick, she went to her home hospital upcountry and got a referral to a hospital in Bangkok due to her living in Bangkok. After that first referral, there were no issues and she did not need to change her house registration from upcountry to Bangkok. This is going back about 13 years ago.  

5 hours ago, dinsdale said:

Maybe you can explain how reducing the hours of a school day equals to taking money out of the education system to be used elsewhere. Not mentioned in the article but I would think a reduction in the time of one study period from one hour to forty five minutes may be one thing they are considering or a reduction from six in class hours a day to five or maybe both. How on earth does this equate to taking money away from the budget.

Save on electricity. 😉

19 hours ago, GarryP said:

Big Joke has got too much dirt on "people of influence". 

Well that didn't last long. He's been kicked out by a vote of 12 to 0. Hope he shares all his deep dark secrets now. 

Big Joke has got too much dirt on "people of influence". 

19 hours ago, HighPriority said:

Love your work Owl 👍🏼

That grass herb looks suspiciously like Lemon grass.

 

Over here in Kalasin, I have seen many people use lemon grass instead of vetiver grass to stop soil/land erosion. Probably because it is cheaper and easier to source. 

6 hours ago, lomtalay said:

Do you happen to know how to find out which health center serves your area?

The National Health Security Office website provides all the information you will need about this scheme and avenues to register. But you'll need to use the Thai language version as the English version is very limited in the information it provides. (https://www.nhso.go.th/home)

3 hours ago, connda said:

Not the same criteria as a foreign woman married to a Thai guy.  The marriage alone is the criteria.

3 hours ago, connda said:

Ya'll do know what I'm talking about.  Let's not play word-games like you both have just done.  Ya'll know I'm talking about a path to citizenship based on the marriage being the only criteria.

With a foreign woman married to a Thai guy - the marriage itself IS the only criteria needed.  And if a foreign woman has a Thai guy's kid, the marriage plus the child give her an accelerated path to apply after one year.

There is nothing similar for foreign guys married to a Thai woman or a Thai woman who has had his child.  The criteria for citizenship is the same as for any other person seeking citizenship - with the exception of a foreign woman (better - with the guy's kid).  She has an accelerated path based on the marriage (child) alone.  All I want is the same path based on my marriage as a foreign woman. 

Word games? Really? You stated "Ok - so what about the Immigration laws that allow a foreign woman married to a Thai man to have a path to citizenship but not a foreign man married to a Thai woman? ". You made no mention of marriage being the sole criteria so how the hell were we supposed to interpret your post in the way you have just clarified.

1 hour ago, sidneybear said:

Have you done it yourself? Registered and used local healthcare? I was hoping for a more detailed reply on the step by step process of how you yourself did it.

Take your ID card and House Registration to the hospital which serves your area and register. Going forward, you will only need to present your ID card. If you are living in Bangkok, you can check the health center which serves your address (it may not necessarily be a "hospital"). For example, the health center serving Sukhumvit 101 was the Wat Thathong Health Center near Ekamai. Up country it is a bit easier as it is going to be pretty much always the nearest government hospital or health center (mine is about 500 meters from my home). 

You cannot just walk in to any gov't hospital for care unless it is an emergency such as an accident. If you have a serious issue that your health center can't help with, they will give you a referral to the nearest gov't center that can provide the required treatment. You should not just turn up at a government hospital of "your" choice for the treatment you want, unless you are willing to pay. You should obtain the necessary referral first.    

13 minutes ago, Marcati said:

Afternoon all,

 

Extremely happy to report I finally got my Thai ID card yesterday. Took 2 1/2 hours. Can't believe all the paperwork that needed to be processed and signed 😂 Felt like applying for my Citizenship again.

 

Ironically, ran over to MBK to get my passport and the registration took only 10 min and the passport is coming today!

 

Time to celebrate 🎉 🎊 🥳

Congratulations.

23 minutes ago, connda said:

Ok - so what about the Immigration laws that allow a foreign woman married to a Thai man to have a path to citizenship but not a foreign man married to a Thai woman? 

This is gender discrimination too.

Funny that. Foreign men can apply for Thai citizenship based on marriage to Thai women, provided they are employed and meet other criteria. The law changed in 2008. 

12 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

 

Farage has tons of charisma and tells it like it is.

 

Sunak is clueless and Sir Keir is quite clearly the product of a tool maker. Both are devoid of personality and principles. 

 

The fact that the MSM are excluding Farage from debates shows they are worried.  

Farage is a self serving dick who'd say anything if it would help line his pockets. Having said that, he'd whup Starmer and Sunak in a debate. I agree with many of the items in the Reform manifesto, just wish the party wasn't associated with this bell-end.