JimHuaHin

Good reason to be concerned. A recent report from the US' NBR highlights several cases of overseas Chinese nationals working in foreign educational/health institutions stealing personal genetic, health and medical data.

Thailand is slowly falling behind the times, sinking further back in time, and soon maybe at the bottom of many rankings in ASEAN. Move forward into the future Thailand, or sink back into the dark ages.

How about substantially reducing corruption, that would be more help to the failing Thai economy.

"... 1,500 respondents from across Thailand a simple but telling question: “Who do you think deserves to be honoured as the Politician of the Year 2024?” ... PM Paetongtarn left her competition in the dust with an impressive 15.4% of the vote ..." Only 1,500 respondents and she received 15.4% of the vote? Certainly not vox populi and certainly not a majority.

Taksin always has "plans" to extend the power and wealth of his family.

Xin Ke Yuan Steel Co., Ltd., a highly respected Thai company?

Short answer - yes. Day-to-day spending less - cutting back on "expensive" food items and eating out. Reduced travelling out of town, unless necessary. Was planning on purchasing a new motor car (current vehicle is 11 years old), but postponed that until there is more clarity on taxation, eg the actually Royal Decree and published TRD guidelines.

Yes, Prime Minister.

Clearly Forbes Magazine has not done any research .... she has no power, she is daddy's puppet.

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.