rickudon

19 million dollars is a big incentive to lie. Is there any evidence other than her claims?

Good to see that police and immigration authorities were doing their job well. Plus one respect.

The impact of this climate change is creeping up slowly. the deniers will always be able to quote some historical climate event that was worse, but the reality is that give it another 10 years and many people will be impacted by some event (whether it be heat wave, forest fires, droughts, floods or unusual storms) nearly every year. Maybe not many deaths, but the financial costs will make many countries, and families, poorer - a bit like wars. Prevention is better than doing continuous repairs.

Torching ambulances is a poor choice of targets to show your displeasure at Israel's wars. Plenty of other targets which are more relevant, just needs a bit of research and planning.

Israel started this war as soon as Oman announced Iran's agreement to give up their 60% enriched Uranium - Israel wants to destroy Iran, the Uranium is an excuse. Killing Iran's leaders just ensures the war wouldn't end quickly. Israel is now busy trying to destroy Iran's infrastructure, they want a dysfunctional state like in Syria and Lebanon (also Israel's doing). Israel has a long history of assassinating any of their enemies who try to make peace deals with the USA. Total Middle-east hegemony is Israel's aim.

Not all, there are fee free cards, like Halifax Clarity. The only 'fee' is the Mastercard currency exchange rate. Typically, this gives me about 0.7 baht less per GBP than the midmarket rate; usually slightly better than Wise. Obviously, you still have to pay interest on the debt, so payoff as soon as the transaction is posted on your card account.

Trump will look for an exit. Probably Cuba. Trump has rally been sucker punched by Israel. Regime change was unlikely, and as soon as Oman announced that Iran had agreed to give up there 60% uranium, Israel attacked, as the last thing they wanted was an Iran which had averted the war. Israel took out the Iranian leaders AND any moderate leaders who might do a deal with the USA. Result - the hard-liners are now in charge who have no interest in ANY deal. That suits Israel, who will enjoy destroying Iranian infrastructure until it is too weak to present any threat. Also, Turkey is next apparently. Iran signed a deal with the USA and major European countries to stop enriching Uranium above commercial levels, and the IAEA found no evidence of any transgressions. Trump scrapped that deal in 2018. Iran was only enriching the Uranium to pressurise for a new deal. Khamanei had issued a fatwa banning nuclear weapons. It would be an offence against god to do so while that fatwa was in place. Iran is a technologically advanced country, if Pakistan could develop nuclear weapons, Iran could have done so years ago. Israel has one aim - hegemony over the whole middle-east. From resolution 181, pushed by the USA (which allocated 56% of Palestine to Jews, even though Arabs made up 60% of the population) to the present day, Israel has ignored all that the UN has stood for with full support of the USA and the acquiescence of most Western states; Israel developed nuclear weapons but it is Iran that is being punished for supposedly wanting them, not Israel. One fact that most do not realise - where are Israeli nuclear missiles aimed at? Not just other Middle-eastern nations, but Europe as well. Ignore the Israeli propaganda. Israel is the real cancer.

In Udon Thani diesel is mainly sold out. No problem with 91 and 95, although some petrol stations limiting sales to 500 or 1,000 baht. No big queues. I filled up last week, and as schools on holiday, have enough until May. Wife has electric bike for short haul.

Today 2 reports in Udon of fuel rationing at the pumps....

Netanyahu led Trump by the nose into this war. When AIPAC saw that a deal was getting close, Israel decided what the USA would do. Everyone else in the world (apart from Putin) suffers the consequences. Israel doesn't care if USA gets bogged down in a never ending war, they got what they wanted; massive chaos in Iran (and the rest of the Middle-East); they want weak neighbours.

12 years on marriage and only home visit was the one 12 years ago. But then i'm not a yank, so not at risk...

No. The land was stolen from the previous occupants. That was a done thing in the past, but not acceptable in the last 100 years or so.

I use Krungsri bank to do a counter withdrawal at least once a month using my credit card. No fees (it is a Mastercard). Other banks have declined to do so or want to charge a fee. I usually take 50,000 baht a time. Never tried for more.

Last 20 years have seen more problems than solutions. Sliding into Dystopia - think Trump, more wars, degrading environment.

If not in Udon for 15 years, the road infrastructure is vastly improved. Also UDtown created which is a large open air shopping area and entertainment/ food area, next to railway station.

We got 6 hours of rain in Udon Thani Tuesday night, at least 10 cm. First rain in 3 months

I am off in a hour or so to Pick up my marriage extension in Udon. Only issue i had was it took 2 MONTHS to approve (approval is done in Khon Kaen). Was also a bit late last year. Now i can buy my ticket to visit kids in UK.

I initially came for the fishing; women were a lesser consideration. But quickly got hooked up on my second visit to my Thai wife. If not for her and daughter maybe wouldn't have stayed,

15 years ago, i survived hot season in April without air-conditioning. During the day, sat in front of a fan. Uncomfortable, but survivable. At night, lay naked on a bed in front of a fan with a wet towel and a bowl of ice and water to hand. Next year, put a AC in the bedroom. 2 years later. put one in my day room for the afternoons. I am older now and would struggle to survive without aircon in afternoons and night time. Aircon goes on when temperature hits 32 Centigrade indoors in the day, evenings and night set to 28. if less than 28, no aircon. When i lived in Australia 45 years ago, 32 C was a cold day in Northern Territory!

A hundred years ago Israel didn't exist. Palestine was an administrative region from Roman times, through the Byzantine period and later the Ottoman empire. , Prior to the Romans a large percentage of the population of the area were Jews, but they were just one of many ethnic groups. Partially due to Roman expulsions after the Jewish revolts few Jews lived in Palestine thereafter. By 1800 only 3% of the population were Jewish, the rest Muslim and Christian Arabs. By 1914 the Zionist nationalist movement who wanted a Jewish homeland saw the Jewish population grow to about 14%. After WW1, the Balfour declaration and the start of the British mandate, Jewish migration continued to slowly grow. However conflicts over land grew, as wealthy Jewish migrants bought up Land, causing Arab revolts. to stop this, The British capped Jewish migration. WW2 and Hitler resulted in a massive inflow of migrants, so by 1947 Jews made up 30% of the population. Irreconcilable conflicts between Jews and Arabs resulted in The British terminating their mandate and the future of Palestine was referred to the newly formed UN. However they decided to partition Palestine giving 50% of the land (including the most fertile) to the minority Jewish population. This totally unfair division led to war as soon as the Jewish state of Israel was created. Since then, continued Jewish migration has led to the gradual expulsion of Arabs from the parts of Palestine that Israel controlled. Over the last 75 years, the rights of Arabs have been restricted, Arab economic growth strangled, and laws became more oppressive. This has led to near constant state of war between Jews and Arabs, which has spilled over into Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. Israel is now de facto trying to annexe the West bank, which has already seen 50% of its land seized by Israeli settlers. Wherever settlers establish themselves, Arabs are forced out. Israel is a cancer, and if you feed it, it grows. We all know what you have to do to a cancer to survive.

I agree that keeping more than one bank account is sensible. Personally i do not use Thai Banking apps or internet banking, I just use the banks to keep money for immigration purposes. All my accounts do not require an annual fee; only a fee for a new ATM card which is not every year (and was only 200 baht last time i did this). I use my home country credit card to make cash withdrawals when required, at the bank counter, again no fee required or charged by home bank (also saves on Thai ATM fees and avoids getting card eaten by ATM). Thai ATM cards only used as last resort. The bulk of my money is kept in home country banks at much higher interest rates than any Thai bank gives. I also maintain several Home country accounts as some banks have been known to close accounts if they know you no longer are resident in home country. It is not just Thailand getting harder to open bank accounts as a foreigner. My wife couldn't get one in UK when i tried 2 years ago.

The exporters do not pay the tariffs, the importers do. And where does the money come from? Higher prices from the consumer - Yanks pay!

The 2 children were his wife's, not his. As a Brit, I have to admit that I have met more British criminals in Thailand than I ever did in UK. Still the minority, but it does affect our reputation. I guess that when life in the UK throws up problems, a new start seems like a good idea. Unfortunately many of us do not leave their problems behind. And Thailand causes a lot more!

The rest of the world is busy making trade deals with one another, as US market is deemed 'unreliable'. Long negotiated trade deals that have been discussed for years are being signed - UK and India, EU with Mercosur and India; also Canada and UK have had fruitful negotiations with China, relations warming. So soon trade with US will be waning. The empire will crumble. Amazing what one man can achieve in one year! China is very happy to be the new boss.

Brexit was a idea, but totally lacking a plan for it. And no-one has ever explained how it could work. There was an assumption that the EU would surrender everything UK asked for. When negotiations started, David Davies turned up with about 4 pages of items to be discussed; Barnier had a couple of heavy volumes of issues. Absolutely abysmal planning. But that was Brexit, everything you ever wanted, but no plan and no understanding of the implications of leaving the EU would mean.