Moonlover

I mainly agree with what you say but would caution against exercising too close sleep time. (unless it's sex of course!) It can raise your energy levels and make sleep more difficult. Find a happy medium. I do not eat at all after 6pm and drink very little. And strictly no alcohol. I would also suggest that the O/P stay away from sleep medication. Here's a much better way to help you nod off. As Jim says, it might not work for you the first time, but persist. It works for me every time now.

@NorthernRyland 'AQI meters are rigged' Huh! This is a completely erroneous statement. I've been using test equipment in various guises throughout my long career and ever single one of them had an upper limit beyond which it will not go matter the input is. Clearly the upper limit on these particular monitors is 500. It's as simple as that.

It's easy to see that the power pole is planted firmly in, what many here regard as the 'motorcycle lane'. Yes, I agree with you there are many hazards here that make riding at night particularly dangerous and I would only do so as a last resort.

Once again that's speculation. To my mind a pointless exercise.

Grey is the hardest colour to make out in the dark and here we have a grey pole without any hazard highlighting stuck in the middle of a lane that is used by many motorcyclists because they unwisely think it's a safe place to ride. You can speculate as much as you like about the behaviour of the rider, but that pole is a major hazard, an accident waiting to happen.

All this needless and pointless speculation and yet not one poster has mentioned the power pole planted firmly in the middle of nearside lane. The one which many people consider to be the safe 'motorcycle lane'. (Not by me BTW)

The Collins Dictionary (as a quick search easily revealed to me) defines CCP as the Chinese Communist Party. I'll not argue with that. https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/ccp

This is what I call a circular argument, which ends with "I've never received an SMS from Wise in the 4 years that I've been using them'.

I recently bought a new computer. The 1st time I used it to log into my account they asked me confirm that it was really me via the app on my phone. I just had to tap a simple 'yes it's me'. No SMS involved. When I bought a new phone a while back, when I 1st used the app on it, once again I confirmed it was me via the app on the old, retiring phone. Once again no SMS involved.

A camera would not be necessary. The next person to use the machine after the depositor HAD to be the person who found the money and he would be traceable from the banks records. So Abdulrorsa was a wise man to hand it in. His name BTW would indicate the he is a Muslim and contrary to popular (usually ill-informed) opinion, Muslims are generally honest people.

CPC stands for Cost-Per-Click. CCP stands for Chinese Communist Party, so who's right here do you think? They do not hang criminals in China, nor do they use the bullet in the Head anymore. (mentioned earlier). It's death by lethal injection there now.

I don't think I've ever received an SMS from Wise in the 4 years that I've been using them.

I used StreamVPN (formally My Expat Network) when I was staying in China. You can't set up a Thailand/China link, but you can choose from a large choice of host countries through which you can route. They also have what they call a 'stealth mode' especially for use when accessing the world from China. Find them here. https://www.streamvpn.com

Wise precautions, especially as we age. I like to have an hour's walk every day, but I'm having to get out earlier each day as the heat rises. I'm looking forward to the rain!

I've only driven one car recently that had the idle/stop function, but if I recall correctly you put your foot on the brake and stop the car and then keep your foot on the brake until you're ready to move again. If you do anything else you will break the idle/stop sequence and have to do a full restart. Are you absolutely sure that you did this correctly @Alain Folly? It fooled me a few times until I got used to it.

I do my report on-line and I don't even print them off.

Then why didn't get himself set up with a legitimate extension? It isn't that difficult as most of know. And even if he didn't have the necessary financials, there's always the agents, as our 'use an agent' brigade are always quick to point out. Sorry, I've no sympathy for this guy.

Being married to the aunty of our village Phu Ya Ban, I have no difficulty in finding a 'person of good standing within the community' to sign for me. ????

Yes, you're right, the rule is 40k per month into your Thai account or a 'confirmation of income letter' from your embassy. (Presumably NZ) Not both. Someone down there has got themselves confused, possibly the young recruits who run the reception nowadays. Go and have a chat with them. They are very reasonable folks in the S. N. office. I'm sure they'll sort it out for you.

Muslims like beer too. Believe me, I've lived in the Arab world long enough to know.

What's happening in our respective regions isn't really the issue is it. The Rooster is speaking of Bangkok where some 22% of the Thai population live and his observations on which this thread is based. But for the record, I live near Sakon Nakhon where the the reported occurrence of Covid has been very low throughout and now it's not even worth bothering about. And yet the percentage of the population still wearing masks is still very high, probably in the order of 80% or more and yet there are no restrictions anywhere that I have so far encountered. We do not have poor air quality even in the 'burning season', so I can only put this down to compulsive behaviour. It's become a habit.

I did not dismiss the importance of the eyes at all. From where did you get that idea? But a smile, or any other facial expression is the sum total of the face, not just a part of it. I do not believe that mask wearing in Thailand is a personal choice at all. It's become a compulsive collective behaviour, much like the wearing of amulets.

Rubbish. As the Rooster said, we communicate not just with words but with facial expressions. Even dogs understand that! Thais are actually the masters of this. Thailand is called the 'Land of Smiles' not just as an expression of their happiness quotient, (or otherwise) but because they really do have no less than 13 different smiles through which they express themselves. Thais are robbing themselves of an important method of human interaction through this persistent and totally unnecessary mask wearing. I'm 100% behind you Rooster, get rid of the bloody masks, once and for all.

Yes, I've seen it many times and I'm minded to ask whether front and rear' markers' had been posted to warn approaching traffic of the slow moving parade. These kind of accidents rarely result from one factor alone.

'Smile and the whole world smiles with you'. You're obviously a very sad individual Bob Smith.