richard_smith237

Are you going to accuse anyone who can write a coherent couple of paragraphs of using AI to do it for them? Is this some kind of reverse snobbery - where we now feel we have to dumb down our language and simplify our writing just to avoid our posts from being dismissed as “AI-generated” or “word salad”?

RIP Chuck Norris... Here is the Chuck Norris fact list: Chuck Norris doesn’t do push-ups - he pushes the Earth down. Chuck Norris counted to infinity… twice. Death once had a near-Chuck Norris experience. Chuck Norris doesn’t sleep - he waits. The boogeyman checks his closet for Chuck Norris. When Chuck Norris enters a room, darkness switches off. Time waits for no man… unless it’s Chuck Norris. Chuck Norris can hear sign language. Chuck Norris beat the sun in a staring contest. Chuck Norris can divide by zero. Chuck Norris can slam a revolving door. Chuck Norris can kill two stones with one bird. Chuck Norris can drown a fish. Chuck Norris once threw a grenade and killed 50 people - then it exploded. Chuck Norris can punch a cyclops between the eyes. Chuck Norris can win Connect 4 in 3 moves. Chuck Norris can unscramble an egg. Chuck Norris doesn’t lift weights - he lifts buildings. Chuck Norris can break a mirror… with his reflection. Chuck Norris can tear a page out of the internet. Chuck Norris can strangle you with a cordless phone. Chuck Norris can delete the Recycle Bin. Chuck Norris doesn’t read books - he stares them down until they confess. Chuck Norris doesn’t dial wrong numbers - you answer the wrong phone. Chuck Norris doesn’t get brain freeze - ice gets Chuck Norris freeze. Chuck Norris can clap with one hand. Chuck Norris can speak braille. Chuck Norris doesn’t miss - whatever he hits was in the wrong place. Chuck Norris doesn’t need Wi-Fi - the internet connects to him. Chuck Norris can charge his phone by holding it. Siri asks Chuck Norris for directions. Google searches for Chuck Norris. Chuck Norris doesn’t get spam emails - spammers beg for mercy. Chuck Norris doesn’t use passwords - systems let him in. Chuck Norris coded the internet… before computers existed. Chuck Norris doesn’t need updates - reality updates for him. Chuck Norris doesn’t use AI - AI trains on him. Chuck Norris downloaded RAM. Chuck Norris doesn’t do foreplay - time skips ahead. Chuck Norris doesn’t chase - attraction happens automatically. Chuck Norris doesn’t need protection - protection needs him. When Chuck Norris walks in, confidence enters the room first. Chuck Norris doesn’t flirt - reality flirts back. Chuck Norris can make onions cry. Chuck Norris can un-boil water. Chuck Norris can fold a fitted sheet. Chuck Norris can sneeze with his eyes open. Chuck Norris can blow bubbles with beef jerky. Chuck Norris can light a fire with ice. Chuck Norris can turn a shadow into light. Chuck Norris can run faster than his shadow. Chuck Norris doesn’t obey laws - laws obey him. Chuck Norris doesn’t wear a watch - he decides what time it is. Chuck Norris doesn’t need a map - places come to him. Chuck Norris can start a fire by rubbing two ice cubes together. Chuck Norris doesn’t do maths - numbers solve themselves. Chuck Norris once roundhouse-kicked someone so hard their descendants felt it. Chuck Norris doesn’t lose - winning just takes a break sometimes. Chuck Norris can stare at the sun… and the sun looks away. Chuck Norris can open a bag of chips silently. You don’t lose weight - Chuck Norris allows fat to leave. Your slow metabolism isn’t broken - it’s just waiting for permission. Your gym session doesn’t end - Chuck Norris dismisses it. Your cheat meal isn’t cheating - Chuck Norris approved it in advance. Ref: Gemini search - Chuck Norris facts.

Because horsepower is a gimmick to sell cars. It's a scam. What is a "sports car"? Has to have high horsepower or no one will buy it. But Formula 1 drivers are on a track, not in traffic. There is no such thing as a "sports car". Driving in traffic is not a sport. Or shouldn't be. Apart from those autobahns in Germany where there is no speed limit, maybe. Ours is not a sports car - far from it... Its a bog-standard family SUV. Valid point on the Autobahn - but is that why cars can do 185 kmh ?? - as you point out, its just about sales & marketing and there's really no need for a car that does 0-100 kmh in 6 seconds and 185 kmh. That said - its quite nice being able to squeeze the throttle to ease out into the next lane on the expressway - but - its safer being able to 'get up to speed' with the other traffic more quickly.

Yet seemingly without knowing it - you frame your comments in the very same antagonistic manner to which you so frequently object and become fragile about.

Valid point - and the same can be argued of cars. I don't need a car that does 0-100kmh in 6 seconds - but our car does. I don't need a car that does 188 kmh - but our car does. The reality is I can do 120 kmh on my scooter down Sukhumvit rd if I wanted to - it just takes 9 seconds to get there instead of 3.2 seconds - I'd likely wipe out, but exceeding safe speeds is already easy enough on a scooter - fools will always ride / drive dangerously. The issue here - IMO - is not the actual bikes - but the level of experience and mentality of the riders these machines are being rented out to [and I'm still guessing this was a rental].

I actually have one of those cushions from back when 'when working from home' was a thing.... Breaking one out of a flight though - I'm just not there yet - not matter how much I want to take one on a flight with me !!!...

When they do - suggest enforcement of existing laws not to rent out motorcycles to non-licenced people. Someone earlier mentioned {bets on whether the bike driver is Indian?} which IMO is a bit odd... But... bets on whether the bike was a rental ??? and the rider was unlicensed...

& wear flight socks (calf compressions) - risk of DVT while highly know for some reason is still widely ignored. DVT risk while travelling and immobile is very very real. As silly as the imagery of someone taking their own 'asspillow' on a flight is - it makes more sense to me than a neck pillow - a lot more sense !!! 100% agree - I never figured out how to get comfortable with a neck pillow.

Did bro enjoy it as much as you ?? (I know - serious topic - sorry). 2mg Clonozapam - '60% of the time, it works all of the time'... Be careful - mg dosages are not comparable....

I was ready to call BS because that seem just outrageous... ... then I checked before commenting !!... thats jeffin' outrageous - Aussie's should be spittin their VB at that... A$611 for a renewal passport is disgusting... If I were an Aussie I'd be tempted to return back to Greece or a UK prison.... Seriously though - A$611 really is a pish-take.

Never thought about that - but after 6 hrs on a economy seat - my backside aches !!.. Its one of the reasons try to layover and over night midway - flying is too boring, too painful, I'm not in a hurry - stop off, have a beer and a meal, a good nights sleep half way through (IMO). On Business class flights - great - the sleeping tablets to a cracking job of taking the edge off the disruptions - drugged up, I've slept very well on flights lying flat - in Eco - it just take the edge of being pished off that the comfort sucks. Load up on a good series and 'try' to get locked into it before the flight - watch it on your own tablet with good headphones - IMO, other than lying flat and dropping a roofie - its the best time killer. 100% - Sony WH-1000XM's (over ear) + backup in ear noise cancellers.

... then you started off in the wrong direction !!!.... Edit: BKK to AMS is now 13 hrs !!! - is that re-routing... Its been a while since I had a direct flight BKK to Europe - but I recall AMS to SIN being about 11-12 hrs back in the day.

you're a golfer? too hot to play golf in thailand. No, I'm definitely not a golfer - next hole I'm trying to bend the shaft of my driver ! (DLWO)

You could’ve just given him a thumbs-down emoji - he seems to collect them. But more to the point: even with all the disagreements on here, there’s a nuance that often gets lost. Very few people are so objectionable that their company would genuinely be unwelcome. Most of us - and I mean all [edit] most (I forgot about harrisfan) of us on the forum - are pretty normal. The difference is, written exchanges stretch things out. What would be a few minutes of back-and-forth in person becomes hours or days online. In real life, a wry smile softens a piss-take, and a serious point lands more cleanly. You disagree, shrug it off, and have a beer. Online, it turns into “right, let’s argue.” SF clearly has solid mates. I’d bet he comes across quite differently in person than he does here. This version - the forum version - isn’t the full picture for many of us - most of us, even all of us I imagine.

Just… different. Two small stories that amuse me... I’m on the putting green, and a mate is bending his putter over his knee. I ask him - with some colourful launguage - what on earth he’s doing. He says, completely straight-faced, “My putts keep going left… I’m fixing it” It made me pause. Is that “Indian logic”? Or just his logic? Culture, upbringing, personality - who knows. But it stuck with me. Then, more recently, in a hotel after a very late night. “Do Not Disturb” light on. Normally, they’d just slide a card underneath and leave it at that. No.... I get a call from reception: “Sir, your room has the Do Not Disturb sign on… would you like it cleaned? The staff are waiting.” Completely defeats the point - yet I'm left admiring the commitment. To balance it out - two of the smartest people I’ve ever worked with were Indian. Brilliant, humble, genuinely great to be around. And yet… when needed, they could drop a total sh!t-bomb on people below them - a level of directness that can feel brutal if you’re not used to it. I suppose that’s the thing - you get warmth, sharpness, logic, contradiction… all in the same package. Just different, not better or worse. And that brings my point back full circle to this topic - consideration - is it cultural or personal ? Sometimes I think we may see more than is there - if we don't step back our confirmation bias fills the gaps.

Fair enough - that’s a more balanced take. Yes, I’m in Bangkok. If I were in Pattaya or Patong, my views might be a bit more jaded too - though that probably depends on how often I’m exposed to that kind of behaviour. I’m never quite sure whether certain places attract more pillocks, create them, or simply give already-existing pillocks the freedom to show their true colours. SF - I can take a reasonable guess at what you do and where you do it. A confined, structured environment, dealing with a mix of cultures, attitudes and behaviours - sounds like a ship, rig, or platform. That’s why your tone sometimes surprises me. Perhaps you’re more tolerant in person and just use the keyboard as a bit of a pressure valve. That said, your last comment shows a balance I don’t often see from you. The truth is, most foreigners are courteous and respectful - that’s the vast majority of people around us. The real idiots are few and far between. They just happen to be the loudest, attract attention, and end up shaping perception - whether in Bangkok or Pattaya.

Absolutely love Indians - but I truly find their behavior a complete enigma !!! Impossible to generalise of course - particularly across 1.5 billion people within India and a wider heritage of an additional 54 million.... But dumbing down and simplifying things - Indian's have a very special skill for accidentally, inadvertently, innocently pushing buttons to drive another person insane with fury yet unable to react because intent was nothing other than positive. A truly lovely people, and that holds for the most part of all Indian's I've met - perhaps the nicest race of people on the planet while somehow inexplicably being the most infuriating at the same time !!!

I quite agree - you are not sitting on anything - but you have amassed a significant degree of anti-foreigner sentiment - that mass is sitting on both of your shoulders and you've just highlighted that its fuelled by an anti-farang echo-chamber - everyone sending everyone else daily videos of offensive foreigners... After being here for nearly 30 years, working throughout Thailand and internationally - mixing with people from all over the world, including many Thai's - Golf, football, work, social groups - no one seems to have this bias you so overtly present. I don't get it - perhaps its a Pattaya expat thing because there are more foreign fouktards there ?.. In BKK - I just don't meet people who dwell on the tw^ttery of other foreigners...

When you say 'smashing that in no time'... is you a chubby chaser init ?

Jeffin ek - a few thoughts, because there’s a lot going on there… First - how many of these clips are you sitting on, finger hovering over “post,” just waiting for the next example of foreigners behaving badly? It’s less coincidence and more curated archive... Second - that woman was an absolute pest. I struggle to wrap my head around that kind of behaviour. Even factoring in drink, there’s something deeply off about going out of your way to provoke like that - it defo hints at a volatile streak - also hints at a huge degree of stupidity to be so situationally unaware (*on this point at the end of this comment) Third - the tipping point is predictable from both parties. That push to the face - line crossed in an instant. One second the LB is defensive, backing away, not wanting to escalate… the next, well, it would take a better character than most to not react. The visuals very clear - flip-flops off, switch flicked, and suddenly it’s game on. Without the voices I can imagine the tone shift from "girl voice - leave me alone" to baritone "you is gone done it, you is foooked now" !! And finally - the trigger finger speed of those LB's on the sideline... Reflexes you’d expect from professional athletes - waiting for that one trigger to go from onlookers to kicking someone in the face - deep underling aggression just waiting for the snap. (*down in Pats with friends, one of them new to Thailand - a good lad but after some booze he was behaving like bit of a twit - I warned him that if he carries on he's attracting trouble - he was situationally unaware but at least listened to advice even when pished up because he wasn't / isn't a total tool).

That perfectly illustrates the structural fragility of Thailand’s economy. Tourism isn’t just a sector here - it’s a lifeline. When anything disrupts inbound travel, the effects are immediate and very personal for people working in the tourism and service industry. It doesn’t take a global crisis either - currency swings, pandemics, spikes in airfare, or even a bit of geopolitical noise amplified by international media can all thin out visitor numbers almost overnight - look at the impact the reduction in numbers from China had. When the tourists stop, the income stops - there’s very little buffer. What often gets overlooked is how thin the margins are at the bottom end. Someone earning 150 baht per hour, with fixed overheads like rent and utilities, has almost no resilience. One bad month forces a complete reset of someones livelihood - thats why Thailand is still a developing nation - there just isn't the safety net, added to which the pension system, at 600 baht a month, is frankly symbolic rather than functional. Perhaps its time to get an EV !!! (just for the golf game !). On the fuel side, I’d say this is less about actual scarcity and more about how badly the situation has been handled. Yes, global supply chains are under pressure and the Gulf situation plays a role, but the immediate shortages we’re seeing in Thailand is largely self-inflicted. Poorly timed announcements, mixed messaging, chest-beating and posturing from officials trying to look decisive triggered panic buying. Once people believe there’s a shortage, they create one. Then capping fuel purchases only poured petrol on the fire (excuse pun), encouraging hoarding behaviour and repeated trips to fill up - a vicious cycle was created artificially. Thailand isn’t running dry - not yet anyway - but distribution and demand spikes have made it look that way. A more measured, transparent communication strategy might have prevented half of this chaos. Instead, we’ve got a situation where perception drove behaviour more than actual supply constraints. Regarding my EV comment (above) made in jest, but with an element of reality; when the weekly routine starts depending on volatile fuel pricing and availability - perhaps relying on electricity (and EV) which is primarily supported by locally sourced energy resources is a viable option.

Irrelevant - folk who are have already paid tax on income, then double pay when transfering it to Thailand. Calling it 'income' is false in many cases - its savings - so really its not a tax on overseas income - its a tax on transfers from overseas - which IMO is quite unfair. That said - there are ways around it - i.e. gifting money to the wife - but then there are nuances regarding how that is spent. Another option - transfer in via crypto - though I'm not sure how that can be checked these days.

That ship has sailed - data is all already online. Explains your power issues - a rather dumb response. OAP Boomer response - you are on an electronic device now - its not that hard. I assume you use google maps instead of a paper map when you need directions. I assume you look up businesses on a search engine rather than the yellow-pages (business directory) equivalent... Again - records are all online anyway - the point is moot. No one cares - thats just sentiment and irrelevant - I have all my old passports but could just as easily shred and bin them. I used to go through a 48 page passport every 2 years - now I don't fill them. My travel has not decreased - fewer countries are using so many stamps - that change is already occurring and its more convenient than having to replace passports frequently. I've just carried out an extension of my visa (overseas country) - online it took 5mins. No need for stamps in a passport - system is all digital and tied to and 'entry visa' which was also applied for online thats it. I can log in and check the permission of stay any time I want. I'm sure people would prefer that than having to attend Immigration and get visa stickers etc. In summary - you have not offered any solid reasoning other than your passport has sentimental value.

In that case - Canada is the most desirable.

You forget how long you can stay for ? thought you had superior intelligence GG. A lot of countries no longer put the permission until stamp in your entry stamp in your passport these days. Nearly every country has this information digitised and you can access it online - logging in with your passport details - extensions can be applied for online etc. So - its not a huge leap forwards to go fully digital - systems are already most of the way there. Power cuts - IF its that 'critical' to your permission date and cant wait to find out the following day - you are already cutting it too fine.