JimHuaHin

Please continue on to Moscow, and have a chat with your friend Putin, and then go advise the Russian soldiers on the Russian front. Return only after Russia is victorious.

Many many decades ago, at my Catholic primary school, I was taught that Christmas was about celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. But now .... most Christmas activities seem to be antithesis of Christ's teachings.

Interesting. I have a related, but slightly different problem - which may help explain the original post. About 2 weeks ago, I checked the Mor Prom App to see when I had had my last COVID booster - in was it early August. A few days ago, I tried logging in again to check the exact date of the last booster, but I could not get into the App. A message on the screen said "data loading .." I waited for about 10 minutes, no change. I thought maybe the MPOH server was down. I tried again the next day, and yesterday, same problem. I thought that maybe tehre a problem with the Mor Prom App, so went to an app store to downlaod the app again. Found the app, but also a message to the effect that the new version of the app is not supported on my phone (an Oppo A37 which I purchased about 1.5 years ago). Any comments?

Read Thai Visa ????

Is not "Tackling narcotics" a prime concern of ISOC, General Prayut?

True = CP = ???

What about locations other than Bangkok? I know that Hua Hin Hospital is still giving free vaccinations every Tuesday.

Read the heading, read the article, 200 million domestic Thai travellers, not tourists! When you consider the number of Thais who commute between towns/cities to work each day, the figure is not unreasonable.

Thailand - international hub of international hubs.

Can you please define the term/phrase "Traditional Thai culture"? Thailand only came into existance after the 1932 revolution. Tai people (note the spelling), only appeared in what is now Thailand about 1,000 years ago, emigrating from South West China. What today is called "Thai culture" is heavily influenced by the older Khmer and Mon empires/cultures. For what it is worth, from my experience, most lower and lower middle class Thai couples live togther and have not been formally married; while middle and upper class Thais (especially those with university education) will have a (big) formal wedding ceremony as a show of "status" and "face". On the other hand, in Thai-foreign relationships, Thai females maybe under pressure to formally get married, just in case the foreign male dies "in testate", ie without a formal will, as under Thai law de facto or cohabitation relationships are not recognised, and thus the female partner is not entitled to any of her departed partner's estate.

Similar to Hua Hin - mainly young men, a small proportion of families (young and old) and some older men.

I have just finished reading a book edited by Michael K. Connors and Ukrist Pathmanand "Thai Politics in Translation" (NIASPress, Cophenhagen, 2021) and am now reading Puangthong Pawakapam's "Infilitrating Society: The Thai Military's Internal Security Affairs" (ISEAS, Singapore, 2021). What is clear is that the Thai (read Bangkok) power elite do not want change, as the status quo benefits them. Creating positive mythologies about the great wisdow and morality of ruling family, and mythologies of ignorance and stupidity of the working classes (read the peoples of Issan, Lanna and Pattani) making them unfit to participate in "democracy" (read decision-making), as well as mythologies of government officials as the moral agents enforcing the will of the ruling family justifies the status quo. The military, especially through ISOC (which has been around since the mid 1960s and founded, under US military advice, to supress communism) seeks to mould the thinking of Thai people (ISOC officials visiting all rural schools to teach Thai children right thinking and behaviour) and to respect the moral authority of the (Bangkok) ruling elite. Of course, now the super rich (Chinese-) Thai business families have a marriage of convenience with senior Thai military personalities (from different factions - thus hedging their "bets") for mutual benefit (of course, similar "marriages of convenience" date back to the times of Rama 4 and Rama 5). The "system" will not change unless this "married couple" will gain mutual advantage from the changes. These traditional elites are using successful old-and-tried methods to maintain thier control and wealth; but in the age of modern technology, these methods are starting to fail, as the old military leaders cannot adequately adept to the age of "5G". The Thai economy needs to adapt, increase productivity, increase innovating, and encourage the people to work for a great goal that benefits all. But for many youth, the establishment's "killing" of Future Foward Party destroyed hope fo a better future; so why should I work hard for a future that does not exist and an establishment that enslaves me?

Why all ADM deposits? The aim is to stop money laundering, right? So why not set a limit on deposits before the new procedures are required? For example - depositing Baht under Baht 10,000 - use the existing system. Once you want to deposit Baht 10,000+ you use the new system.

"... should he go straight to the airport buy a ticket pay the fine and go. He has been advised by an immigration volunteer that that he cannot do this and must surrender himself to the local immigration officer ( Pai ) , he is unable to make a decision. The immigration office have been aware of him for at least a year without making a direct approach , except through the volunteer." Clearly the IO is aware of him and his situation, and have been unwilling to act until now. Has your friend asked the volunteer what will happen to him after he surrenders to the IO and what his options are? If your friend has more information on what the IO plan do do with him, it will help him make a decision. You friend may also want to inform the volunteer of his full situation. For example, I am elderly and have health issues, but I have been able to continue to annually extend my "retirement visa". I have no family in Australia, no relatives with whom I have been in contact with over the past 50-odd years, and all my friends In Australia are either dead or 85+ years old. I am not eligible for any Australian government pension or assistance (to my knowledge). I have no need or desire to return to Australia, and wish to die here. Maybe if your friend is in a similar situation, his local IO maybe "persuaded" to work out a solution in his favour. Good luck.

So, basically, what happens in Thailand if there is large nuclear war in the northern hemisphere? The Thai economy will all but collpase (especially as the Thai economy is heavily dependent upon China, which will be impacted, especially with its high energy dependency on Russia). No monies will be able to be transferred to Thailand from those countries "destroyed". How fast and how much the nuclear fall-out will impact Thailand will depend on what types of nukes were used (dirty or "clean"), how many were used and were they detonated on land or in the air. The nuclear fall-out will enter the atmosphere and will spread - how far and how fast will depend on prevailing weather and wind patterns. Eventually, some fall-out will impact Thailand; how much and how severe, see the above paragraph. If interested, consult Richard Wolfson and Ferenc Dalnoki-Veress "Nuclear Choice for the Twenty-First Century", MIT Press, 2021.

Ummm ... the only hope is a foreign CEO.

As I used to tell my students, when they came across the concept of "the traditional family" in a textbook they were required to read - "tradition" or "traditional" referes to what era; 100 years ago, 1,000 years ago, 10,000 years ago, etc.? What counts as "tradition" changes as time progresses; and there is rarely such a concept as "a/the national tradition", as not all groups in a community or society have the same beliefs.

April 1 already?

I cannot but agree with BostonJoe, with respect to some sites. About 3 years ago I was looking for a new house to rent. I found an ideal house on a real estate site (business owned and run by a Thai man). The pictures on his web page showed a new well furnished house. He took me to view the house. Shock horror. The house apeared to be 10-15 years old. The owner of the house was there, using a water house to clean the inside of the house!! The inside the house was very dirty, in disrepair, and had zero resemblance to the pictues on the web site, apart from the shape of the rooms. The beautiful gardens and swimming poor where not there on inspection - all the plants, shrubs and grass were dead, and the pool resembled an algae haven. Some other houses I visited at the time with some other real estate agents were not as bad, but clearly the pictures on their web sites were out of date by several years. As for dating sites/apps - photoshop, or some similar age reversing and/or beautification apps, are extensively used.

"Hence my advice to high-risk persons is to get a booster after six months." - I thought it was 4 months (eg Hua Hin Hospital, amongst other medical groups, guidelines when I received a booster last month)?

I wonder how many, or what proportion, of Hua Hin's residents would be happy if there were no international flights into Hua Hin?

Then there are other media reports of the billions of investment Baht that have left Thailand this year - thus the question is - what is the nett level of foreign investment in Thailand this year?

Kenny202 - from my reading you are asking 3 sets of questions. Firstly, can you get Australian super while in Thailand. Answer - yes, but it may depend on your fund. About 9 years ago my fund could only pay into an Australia-based bank; now international deposits can be made into banks in most countries. I prefer my pension to be paid into a bank in Australia - higher interest rates, and I can choose when to transfer money here when the exchange rate is "good". Secondly, can arrangements be made to get your pension while OS . Answer - yes, but it may depend on your fund. I was able to do it 9 years ago just via email. Thirdly, lump sum, pension, draw down, and taxation. These all really depends on your financial circumstances, whether you have paid tax on your contributions when they went in (rather than when you withdraw), etc., etc., etc. If your fund cannot answer these questions, then you need to get documentation from your fund about your entitlements, and seek advice from an Australian financial adviser (you can ask family/friend in Australia to do the latter on your behalf). Personally, I paid tax on my contributions as they went in, so I would not have to pay tax on the pension after I reached 60 years old. I took a pension, rather than lump sum, as I calculated that I would be better off over the long-term. 10 years later, I have no regrets with my decision. Good luck.

A zoo? A high priority item? Where is the benefit to the imprisoned animals, unemployed Thais, underskilled Thais, an over-stressed public health care system, .....?

No U-turn? What about a flip-flop?