atpeace

And you get YouTube music thrown in which is good as Spotify. Still adds though because they embed them in the videos.

He is joking. yes?

I enjoy drunks and rarely fear them. I rarely get out late at night these days living in the sticks but do miss foolish drunks and the city fun. For me, part of fulfilling life is taking risks but I can respect getting your kicks while not risking potential dangerous situations. In the end - just be happy.

Poster should only be allowed to use the word "troll" or that matter "deflection" twice a month. it is sign of intellectual weakness. As for your fighting abilities, good for you. better to be able to defend yourself than not. Also great activity to stay fit.

sorry but nope

In a prefect world you could have turned the other cheek and walked away as gracefully as possible. In this world acting( literally ) brave and deal with the consequences seems to be the best option. Most the time it ends with the aggressor backing down for numerous reasons. You do have to pick your battles though and avoid being beat down hard. At MC D's s I would have made my stand for better or worse because of video cameras and other people around.

That stinks! What happens in a few years? I returned to the USA in 2002 and made the best of it until my return to Thailand in 2008. I got lucky and made enough money to retire here at 41 and haven't regretted the move other than possibly working a few more years. I don't need much money in the USA and even less here which simplifies things.

Why 4 kids? I sensed at 25 that kids would be a huge impediment for my life style. I assume you made the leap before you matured mentally. If had 4 kids , can't imagine living in Thailand now. Congrats on figuring out how to move on assuming you are happy now.

I enjoy your threads. Keep them coming. What happened to you partner in crime Bignok? The complainers seem to quick to bash and that tells more about them than you. Back on topic. My bridges were never burned but their weight capacity has been drastically reduced. Not sure if it would be wise to cross them anymore.

Really? That is a new spin. What are the numbers? Before the popular response was low spending Chinese tourists. Thai tourism has been out of control since 2002 (minus Covid era) and where it ends is scary. 60 million?

Agreed, but the landlord is replaced with neighbors which are much more complicated to deal with because you can't just move. Also had a beautiful view at my condo I owned but a developer paid off someone important and an illegal 30 story building ( 7 floors were the max allowed) was build that blocked much of the view. I gave the condo to my ex in the divorce at the purchase price 🙂

You might be right. I feel their desire to be healthy and the pain it must cause for some. I don't agree with their choices. I think that is empathy and like yourself, I'm not being snarky. Is that empathy?

I can empathize but at the same time realize they eat too much or have a terrible diet. There are exceptions but they are extremely rare. A drastically slower metabolism for example is rare but even if true is not an excuse to be fat. You simply eat less than the next person. Fat is a choice. It may even bring greater joy than being fit for some. My only issue is I have to pay for unhealthy peoples' lifestyles which is a bummer every time I pay my health insurance. Also flying long haul economy next to a person that is using a third of my seat is no fun.

There have been research showing high cholesterol foods are not an issue and others that it is. It makes one dizzy trying to keep up with all the opinions. As for me( off the charts low triglyceride of 44), I eat low cholesterol, mostly highly processes foods that are high in protein generally. My friends that eat similar to me(healthy) are also healthy and the ones with a high cholesterol diet are unhealthy. Sometimes things are much more simple than the the diet experts make them out to be.

Strange. My rating is excellent. I've been suspended multiple time the last year and assume that was because many disliked my comments. Does anyone have a less than excellent rating?

This is over my head. How does bashing people before everybody sleeps help their reptation count? I just saw the reputation count a couple days ago and don't have a clue how it is determined.

Once the filtration begins it might end an undesirable place. For example, Youtube filtered out all baseball content and I just learned that my favorite team is in the World serries. Odd, how we have access to so much information today but at the same time we are missing so much we would have read/seen pre-internet. Some think that alternative views are from the fringe because they are bombarded by youtube, X, etc with material that matches their believes.

There are levels to disagreeable posters here. Thaibeachlover can be quite offensive to some posters( I'm not one of them ) . I did have one disagreement with him and had to ask if he had mistaken me for someone else. He was extremely aggressive. Most his posts are not an issue and the ones that are can easily skimmed. My point is that Onemorefarang doesn't have many haters and not the case for him and possibly me. As you, I don't need to see their name and think it helps diminish the herd that used to group up on certain posters. They lost interest when they couldn't high-five with others in the herd.

How would that work? blocking would make your post invisible to them? I haven't ignored anyone because I find aggressive posters interesting but some are becoming a bore so might try ignoring someone today. I assume you can always unignore. I worry that I would only see posts I agree with in the same manner all social media creates blind spots.

^^^^Agree. Lots of great info on this site. If I need anything Thailand information I add Asean Now to my google search as a starting point. As for debating here, it became nearly impossible for some but now conversations like this one are allowed. Big improvement and as of yet the posters that constantly bombarded mods demanding posts be removed and members banned are not here on this thread. Are they embarrassed?

You seem like a good person and would be interesting to have a coffee and conversation. Moderation is slippery slope IMO. I've had my heart torn to shreds in the past on a couple of occasions in real life. I dusted myself off and put my mental state back together. Online insults aren't life changing events for me. I reflect on some and ignore some. Some people are simply extremely opinionated and can be much more offensive than I would like. Hard for these type and maybe some non-expressed empathy is the correct response. Nice to have the option to choose a response.

I'm not asking the moderators to be perfect. I know they are as imperfect as the rest of us. I'm saying we don't need moderators 99.9% of the time. learning how to communicate with others should be an individual journey and not taught by moderators. As far as I know moderators aren't any more intelligent or socially in the know than the rest of us. They are good people but IMO need to let disagreements play out. Sometimes it will end badly but life isn't perfect.

One of us has blinders on (me?) and is only capable of seeing what fits their story. I see that you feel moderation is beneficial and I disagree minus only rare exceptions. This is a civil conversation and I'm open to you being correct. If you start throwing insults at me, I can choose to ignore or respond. I don't need protection from insults and in most cases the offensive insulter is exposed to be a fool. I know because I've been that fool in the past. I, on many occasions have admitted wrong and don't need anyone to moderate my opinions. People have to get over themselves and get on with living with people that might be offensive.

I wonder what my count is at? I think I was banned once for stating the Covid "might" have originated in a lab at the beginning of the Covid era. Think I deserve 11.

I agree but we all aren't perfect. Also what you consider disagreeable, I might find interesting. It is simply too subjective to judge the agreeability of an argument. We are left with trying to communicate rationally or relying on the conversations to be policed. The latter is fraught with inconsistencies.