superal

More than 36500 Iranians were killed by security forces during the January 8-9 crackdown on nationwide protests . Iran is a country where the Muslim leaders have threatened death to all non-Muslims . Women have very few human rights .Many Iranian people are hoping for help from the West in order to have a reasonable existence . Iran has/had a nuclear development facility deep underground to protect it from rocket fire . Iran has vowed to attack the Western world . Without the U.S.A. / Israel invasion , who knows what could happen .

A Google search says , balcony heights in Thailand have to be a minimum of 90 cm and not more than 110 cm. In Thailand, as of 2022, balcony handrail regulations are guided by the Building Control Act B.E. 2522 (1979) and related ministerial regulations regarding safety and construction standards.

I totally agree but I believe that the main reason for hitting Iran was the threat of their advanced production of nuclear weapons that are / were being manufactured in well hidden , deep underground facilities . For that reason alone Trump should be thanked . Sadly there are opinions that suggest that Trump is seeking to control the worlds oil reserves with Iran , Venezuela , Cuba and Greenland his targets which yield about 42% of the global oil reserves plus the oil that America itself has

That is the ideal scenario but the Iranian government would not hesitate to kill any protesters again as they have already done before .

I agree there are many who use wheelchairs and the same goes for Indians/ Pakistanis etc who are often overweight and/or lazy . Medical cert; not needed to use a wheelchair in airports and that is often abused .

Out of curiosity I just looked at one way flights from Bangkok to London . Most cheaper flights have a stop in the middle east and doubtful if they will fly but direct flights with Thai Air are sold out until the 21 of March and then they are 63,750 Baht one way , that's over £1500 . Also there was Norse air at over £5000 . Talk about a rip-off and jumping on the band wagon . How can they justify such massive increases ? Pure profiteering because of supply and demand and taking advantage of peoples predicaments . As far as I am aware they are not incurring too many additional expenses . Shameful in my opinion .

Thanks Carlyai . I was hoping to not spend a lot by using an inline filter . Your set up looks good but must have cost you a fair price . Where can I get my well water analysed .

Can anyone recommend a water filter for either the whole house or just a single bathroom ? The situation is that my bathroom accumulates a brown coloured scale which I have been told is caused by the iron , manganese and maybe sulfur content from the deep well water. A basic economy filter system is preferred if possible .

Was the ahead intended ?

Possible inside job ?

I have seen some high rise condos in Bangkok that have balconies that are totally enclosed by floor to ceiling railings which allow the air in to help the washed clothes to dry . Now that is fool proof

If any well known Western company , with a good H&S record were asked to tender for the contract and to employ the local labour , I doubt if there would be any that would be interested , for fear of the lack of safe working practices used by the local labour .

Its most likely that the stringent H&S laws and practices in Western countries are known by Asian countries but are ignored to a large extent as they hinder profits .

There is no way that the height of the railings can be judged by looking at the photo . I have stayed in many Thai hotels and I have yet to see railings more than 90 cms to 1 meter high on balconies . I do not think that the 86 year old man who was being cared for , was capable of climbing over the railings . Indeed there are too many cases of people falling from Thai balconies and they cannot all be suicides .

Indeed , the second accident incident would not have happened if an inquiry had been made on the first crane collapse and all work halted until the findings of the inquiry . That would be the case in the Western world but Thailand are light years behind in Health & Safety at work . I think that ITD will be finished as a contractor or should be but this is Thailand .

If any consolation , you are not alone in being ripped off . Has happened to me twice . One time in Koh Samui when I ordered a small beer and gave a 1000baht note to pay and got change from 100 baht . An argument ensued between me and the barman and then 3 Thai heavies suddenly appeared , so I put it down to experience . Next occasion was in Sukumvit , soi 4 , when after drinking 2 small beers at 120 baht each , the bill was 305 baht . When I challenged the bill they said it was a service charge and v.a.t. We went back to our hotel where it was 90 baht .

Strange but true . I have just insured my car with Roojai insurance and there is one option in the levels of insurance that you opt for and that is , to be insured for drink driving .

The tentative ceasefire , according to a BBC correspondent , will not last . Even when the signing of the agreement there were bitter remarks from both parties . I will not be surprised if fighting starts at the end of the 72 hour truce . As far as the re-opening of the borders go , that's anyone's guess . Thailand's military have inflicted a lot of damage to Cambodian buildings both military and businesses as far as 50 miles inside Cambodia and includes tourist areas of Siem Reap . Cambodian army are aggrieved at their losses and Hun Sen may well have a plan of retaliation because he does not care about his armies fatalities . At the moment it is still possible to fly from Bangkok to Cambodia but for how much longer ?

I was a Skype user for 15 years but when Microsoft changed it to Teams I left because you have to choose a monthly subscription that has to be paid every month whether you use it or not . Teams is really aimed at businesses for virtual conferences . It is free for the private use , providing that you are contacting another Team member ( I believe ) . For just making general calls to contacts who are not using Whats-app / Line etc I can thoroughly recommend MYTELLO . To call the UK from Thailand on a mobile phone it is 1.5 baht a minute . Using a landline it is o.3 baht a minute .

Indeed Lex will not deliver to my house in Prasat . You would think that if its Lazada who choose which courier to deliver your goods , they would make sure that the courier will deliver within a 50 km of the Cambodian border . Its not rocket science . The vendors who have wrapped up the article for delivery must be getting very annoyed because the article is picked up from the vendor and is delivered to a sorting station to await its final leg of delivery but instead is returned to the vendor .

My private pension gets paid in to my bank at the end of the month . I maintain a minimum level of funds in my bank account and do not fall below that . The " paid in " from my PP will ensure that and enable further withdrawals .

Yes and me too today but I am also thinking about the days between Xmas and the 2nd Jan 2026

Does anyone know if there will be delays in transferring money from the UK to Thai banks over the festive period I.e. today 22/12/2025 to 02/01/2026 using Wise

I have had 2 orders cancelled by Lazada because of " failed delivery " . I called Lazada who explained that some of their couriers have stopped delivering to parts of Issan , namely Ampere Prasat or other locations within 40 km of the Cambodian border , because of the fighting . However it is not all couriers because other family members have received deliveries from Lazada . You would think that the seller or Lazada would select a courier that will deliver it to Issan . Anyone else having the same experience ?

The Thai government approved varied price charging for patients in government hospitals in 2019 . However when it comes to national parks or entertainment venues I cannot find any legislation . So racial discrimination is accepted by the authorities . Part of the attraction of living in Thailand is the lower cost of living but that appears to be getting diluted in many areas accept of course in e.g. supermarkets , flights and buses etc . Many a Thai will try to charge a farang more than the going price . That's why I always send my lady to do the buying . All because " money number one " in Thailand . Just got to be street wise