Bassosa

And they certainly don't become a civil servant. That's like giving up on life.

I'm not a visitor. I pay tax here. Plus I get asked for bribes all the time by these scum civil servants.

I am knocking it. Thailand's bloated and ineffective civil sector is bringing the country down. Plus civil servants in Thailand are lazy and have a chip on their shoulder. If you have the ambition to become a civil servant you've basically given up on life.

You're recommending her to be a civil servant for the rest of her life....in Thailand of all places. That's the sad part of this story to be honest.

It will be Anutin

I went for the most sophisticated vehicle available in Thailand. Isuzu D-Max

I prefer Grab. I didn't like Foodpanda getting political and pandering to the junta a few years back and I deleted the app in response. Lack of quality translation is a problem in Grab however. In that regard I would use Foodpanda if they weren't a bunch of spineless suckups.

That sucks. Don't want Russians to get priced out and spread to other parts of Thailand. We need them contained like that and ideally in a place which I'd never consider visiting, ie. Phuket.

That's because you get sued if you report the truth. Or offered money. Or offered something much worse.

Yes also the place that "orphaned" a baby elephant, that was in reality procured from very far away. Gotta have baby elephant$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

In the end its about the money, not the elephants, although its often cleverly disguised. As we've seen during covid, if the elephants don't meet their targets in terms of ROI, they're chucked out.

"Sanctuary" is just the latest buzzword to make serious $$$ off of elephants. 9 out of 10 "sanctuaries" should be boycotted to be honest. I looked into the whole trade a few years ago and spoke to a few insiders. It's like Netflix's Tiger Kingdom but with elephants.

Geography is not America's strong suit

At least it's on full display for the world to see. I mean Thailand's faux democracy of course.

You weren't "picking up girls". You were soliciting prostitution. Get it right.

Something you have to live with if you drive or ride in Thailand. You may get killed. Lots of cars being made in Thailand. It would be a shame if you could't sell them. You need lots of "licensed" drivers to shift many, many vehicles.

I do too but the 1* review remains (on Google). We've applied and gotten a hotel license so the fact that you can't smoke is clearly displayed pretty much everywhere (otherwise you won't get the license) but we have blokes that proclaim they were allowed to smoke in their room because they had a belly ache (!). Manchildren.

Truth is you can. I have a small hotel and we occasionally get bad reviews, usually when guests with Chinese heritage smoke in our non-smoking rooms and get pulled up on that. We then get 1* revenge reviews and there isn't a damn thing we can do about it.

Then you might as well grab a bicycle. In any case, your world will become rather small if you only travel on byroads

Nah, that's not really a solution. Riding a motorcycle is extremely hazardous because of other people's terrible driving/riding standards. I would never consider it, even though I'm quite competent on a scooter.

It's June?July almost. How could Blackpool possibly be a good place to go right now? Haven't they jacked up their prices because its high season?

I briefly used to work on a private yacht (Below Deck style) whose owner loved to dive, sometimes 3 times a day. What I saw in Indonesia and particularly Thailand was mind blowing. Thai diving boats crowded around a particular diving spot, backing up and dumping dozens of Chinese divers in a white water of spinning props. It was carnage. Somehow I needed to look after my 2-3 guests who threw themselves into this cauldron, possibly loathing it as much as me. Insanity. In other words, this doesn't surprise me at all. Did give me a taster of what Thai greed looks like, especially in combination with Chinese tourisms. Pack 'm in like sardines, steam to the diving spot, chuck them overboard on top of the diving spot and let them destroy whatever is in arm's reach. Next day, rinse repeat. Sad to see that nothing's changed.

Chiang Mai has had rain the last few days. Mostly cloudy days. Temperatures way down into the low 30's. Its been nice.

Would it be possible to filter out coarse materials before the water enters the tanks or is that less than ideal? Does filtering before the water enters the house not affect water pressure?

8 years in CM and I'm looking for a way out. I came to realise that I don't want to live in a car-centric society anymore even though I do own a vehicle. Luckily I still have a base in the Netherlands, in a small village surrounded by forest. Blissfully quiet, super boring, average age of inhabitants about 77, but glorious air quality year round. You can literally smell the pine trees. Can use bicycle to get around, or even walk without being mowed down. Added bonus: no souped up D-Maxes ripping up and down the street.