JimHuaHin

Pattaya .... Thailand's safe tourism hub.

It never ends - breasts, butt, eyes, chin, face, ... repeat... repeat. Fake, false, artificial, superficial, .... Certainly not Buddhist.

The "new" Embassy sucks, in my opinion. Not very user friendly if one has mobility issues and it is raining.

Happened to me about 20 years ago. A Category 5 cyclone hit Cairns, Australia where I was living. Electricity was restored to parts of the CBD area, where the cities 2 hospitals were located, within 24 hours. Some facilities, such as the hospitals and some local radio stations, had emergency generators. It took 3 days for the suburb I was living in to get electricity, and other parts of the city about a week. Nearby areas (outer suburbs) 2-3 weeks; some rural areas 2-3 months. No electricity = no gas/petrol pumps, no wifi, no water pumps, no mobile/cell services. I had to turn on my car radio to get news updates.

As a smoker, I understand your position. When I came to Thailand almost 15 years ago to assess retirement options - live which city/town, which part thereof, and rent or buy house/apartment/condo, etc. - the majority of expats I spoke with advised renting, and provided reasons why; with problematic neighbours being the main "issue". In a country where laws, regulations and rules are all too often not enforced or enforceable, even in "gated communities", renting is an advisable option. Thus, if you are subjected to very annoying neighbours, who are not going to change their behaviour, and do not care about others, you are free to seek alternative accommodation. Good luck.

Pattaya's image? A used condom, the perfect representation.

Agreed. But what if the patient was acting violently and threatening other patients? What actions should the orderlies have taken? Nevertheless, it does appear that excessive force was used.

A major fuss over an insignificant event - did it make the front page of Thai newspapers and the first item on the nightly TV news? Infantile obsession.

There have been several recent reports on the ABC and articles in the Australian media suggesting issues such as the housing supply crisis, declining GDP growth (most of the recent GDP growth has been due to unsustainable government spending; but per capita GDP has been declining since COVID), stagnant productivity, economic decline in China, and more recently Trump's win in the USA. To which I would add the recent storms/flooding in eastern Australia and the potential for a very active cyclone seasons due to high sea water temperatures, may also be contributing factors. I suspect that unless the Christmas - New Year retail sales are not exceptionally good, the decline in the A$ will continue into at least the first quarter of 2025. Unless, of course, the Thai Baht crashes.

Thailand is safe?

Antisemitism or anti-genocide/ethnocide?

Major problems? What will be the "problem" when the planet's human population reaches 10-12 billion people? Population decline is a minor problem which can be addressed via the use of innovative technology - as contemporary history has shown - population increase places non-sustainable demands on the planet. The only group that wants more people are big businesses seeking more customers.

I await the day, many decades (at least) from now, when electricity will be available 24/7/52 without any disruption and computer systems will function 27/7/52 without any disruption and Andriods/iPhones will never breakdown - then I shall agree to go cashless. Until that time, I shall always carry cash and use it for most face-to-face purchases.

I had a number of similar types of exclusions, ranging from 1 to 3 years, for memory, when I first took out Pacific Cross health insurance almost 6 years ago. When it came to policy renewal time and I applied for an extension of the policy, I attached the medical reports from my 6-monthly comprehensive health check-ups. Over time, most of the exclusions have been removed. As I am rapidly approaching 70, I have also increased the "deductibles" limit to reduce the premium costs. I have not complaints about Pacific Cross.

Putin itching for WWIII?

So, what cannot Thai customs officials stop this Chinese produce at the boarder? (Brown envelopes?) Who is importing all this Chinese produce? Certainly not Chinese-Thai businesses? Obviously all the boxes of fresh and frozen China-manufactured fruit and vegetables I see in my local supermarket are fake, ie incorrectly labelled; as are all the "Made in China" labels on many clothing items.

You can add Petchaburi/Prachuap Khiri Khan to the list - current reading in Hua Hin is 123 µg/m³; down from 156 yesterday.

Chiang Mai - lots of aid, because that is where Taksin lived. Southern Thailand - no aid, they did not vote for daddy.

Sad, but accurate.

The answer to your first question, is, in addition to your possible responses in the second paragraph, two-fold - status and citizenship. Sending your kids to an overseas (elite) university gives the family a lot of status in Thai society. Back in the mid 1970s, while I was studying at university in Australia, I had many Asian friends Some told me straight out that one of the main reason that they were in Australia was to get Australian citizenship, and then possibly return back home. (Remember 1975, and Cambodia, Laos and Viet Nam became communist.) At that time, one university friend from a prominent Chinese-Thai business family old me her father had sent her elder brother to Taiwan to study, her older sister to New Zealand, and herself to Australia. They all obtained citizenship in those countries, and eventually returned to Thailand to work (in the family business) and live. More recently, about a decade ago, I met a son of a senior Thai Army General who was studying at a top Thai university. He told me his father wanted him to go to study for a Masters degree in Japan, and for a PhD in the USA; which he eventually did. His younger sister followed a similar course, by in mathematics. The young man received his "Green Card", I do not know about his sister.

In my case, on an OA (Retirement) - yes, has always been enforced since it became policy.

A proposed nuclear power plant and high speed rains, what could possibly go wrong?

Since Thailand is such an innovative technological hub, it amazes me that it is not possible for the Immigration people to produce a table of, say, (1) exactly how many people arrived in Thailand on day x from country y under visa z, or (2) as of day z, how many long-stay foreigners were in Thailand yesterday under visa x from country y?

The problem of misdiagnosis happens in most, if not every, country. On the other hand, many public hospitals in Thailand are understaffed, and medical staff are under a lot of pressure. I generally go to my local government hospital. On my last visit to the hospital's general outpatients clinic, a staff member told me that there was going to be about 50 patients to be seen by one doctor over the 3-4 hours that the clinic was open. Ever 5 months I have an appointment to see a specialist at one of the specialist clinics. To avoid waiting for 5-6+ hours to see the doctor, I usually arrive at the hospital at about 1500, go to the clinic to get into the queue, go and have my blood tests, then back to the clinic and wait. Usually my queue number is around 160-180; in other words, the doctor has to see around 160-180 patients over about a 9 hour period.

5 months, 5 years, 50 years, or just in time to be covered by the ocean?