rickudon

Wet season in Udon Thani was a bit slow to start with between May and July, but plenty enough for rice. Last 2 months exceptionally wet - possibly most in the last 4 years. Roads in and out of the village have been flooded numerous times this last month. Should end soon, hopefully, then i can get the veggies growing.

What i would like to know, is what the GDP would be if we take out inflation. Surely if you measure GDP purely as the total value of production, it will go up when inflation is high. As can be seen in this link, UK is STILL below 2019 GDP. https://tradingeconomics.com/united-kingdom/gdp-per-capita-ppp#:~:text=GDP per Capita PPP in,of 30867.17 USD in 1991.

Unemployment - Nephew and his girlfriend both graduated from Rajahabat in last few years, supposedly with qualifications good for government jobs - jobs promised but never fulfilled. He now kills chickens and she is going to return to her home to work in family shop (he may follow if business can accommodate him). That's the problem, lack of good jobs. Many of the workers laid off from tourism during Covid came back home to Udon and set up small roadside businesses, most are still here. For many Thais, no future, just living from day to day, month to month. In our extended family, 3 retired, 2 teachers, 2 retail employees, 6 self employed in selling things in markets or home shops.

Actually, i think the issue with the Fukishima releases is more about Tritium. Most other radioactive elements can be removed using ion exchange filters, and i believe that has happened to most of the waste water. But tritium is just Hydrogen, so cannot be removed easily. Even so, you could probably dump the entire contents of all the reactors into the Pacific and after dilution would still be below danger levels.

For most of us, will not break the bank even if taxation applied to ALL income. I did the tax assessment on the link posted earlier, and on an income of 55,000 baht a month i would pay 19,000 a year. As most of my pension IS covered by the UK/Thailand taxation treaty (ex-government employee) probably very little or nothing. Being married with children helps a bit.....

Not as severe as Loei, but here just outside Udon Thani, for the first time in 2 weeks the garden is no longer flooded and only one of 3 routes out of the village is still under water. Ponds have been overflowing also. Overall, just as wet as last year (and maybe not finished yet). Meanwhile, in Central Thailand supposedly still suffering from a lack of water.... wish i owned a pipeline for exporting water!

Insects and other invertebrates are plentiful .... too plentiful in the case of mosquitos and ants. Quite a few reptiles, and lots of frogs. Birds = quite a lot, but more in the UK - may be more species here but numbers are low. Rural Thais still mist net and eat wild birds. Wild ducks rare. Wild mammals nearly non-existent. In 12 years at home, on the farm and out and about have only seen rats, white squirrels (dirty white) and .... a skull of a shrew. Everything else eaten long ago. There are a large variety of fish, but many are on the edge of extinction - again over exploitation. It is quite educational to see Thais during the dry season pump out small ponds and remove ALL the fish, larger bodies of water are netted. Also, in the last 10 years, variety of wildlife has diminished. Rarely see tokays now, or larger insects other than butterflies and dragonflies. Rice fields do not support much diversity.

You can buy dried haricot beans in Makro. However, even after soaking overnight and cooking for 45 minutes they were still like bullets...

Was taken there in 2021 - I know it was the pandemic but it was a boring sh*thole then and I was expected to pay for it. Most exciting thing was a fish swimming around.

There have been a whole spate of corruption cases in the news the last few days, a coincidence? Not sure if it is the old government letting these go forward so that Srettha cannot claim credit for prosecuting them, or if the prosecutors feel there is a chance that they will not be penalised for publicising them, now that the government has changed (a bit).

Sorry for those who are desperate for rain, we have had about 20cm this week alone in Udon Thani. Ponds overflowing, roads beginning to flood at low spots. At least as much as last year.

I only drive a car, and in over 12 years of driving in Thailand, have only ever had a few parking scrapes or wing mirror bumps (although 3 times the parking scrapes were Thais hitting my car!). In my Thai/UK family, during that time, motor bikes have caused :- 1. wife had one fall (mud) with daughter. Fortunately only scratches. 2. Son while holidaying here borrowed wife's bike to drive around the village; had helmet but wore flip flops. Fell off on bump and ended up with 27 stitches in his foot and could hardly walk for a month. 3. Nephew and Niece hit car while going to school, only minor injuries but had to pay the car driver.... 4. Above niece drove into a metal pole and broke leg. 5, Another Niece run down while turning right in traffic. Arm broken. 6. Another Nephew 2 accidents including a broken arm. Also, at least 3 people from the village have been killed by trucks on the main road only 500 metres away. You may be lucky, but riding bikes is dangerous. My rules for car driving:- 1. All other road users should be assumed to be out to get you. 2. Speed - drive in Kmph what you would in mph back home - gives you that extra bit of reaction time. 3. Assume that the person on your left side will be turning right, and vice versa. 4. At traffic lights, always allow space for motorcycles in front of you - they sort out the red light runners. 5. Never trust a turn signal on another vehicle until they actually turn. 6. And, of course, ALWAYS put that seat belt on before you reach the road (in UK definitely saved me from serious injury twice).

Do Not rely on the generals. The recent Ukrainian drone attack on a Russian airbase 700 km from Ukraine, made Shoigu convinced that it was a NATO attack, and wanted to retaliate. Putin had to talk him out of it. There is mad, and stupid, which is worse....

Never found an actual Thai news channel in English. If they had an actual brief news in English slot i never found it. (PSI). Since internet got to the village gave up looking - we now have AIS that does include a number of International News channels. If i want Thai news in English, i use ASeannow.....

If Thailand can win 17 awards, it tells you that other ASEAN countries are doing nothing.

India's ban on exporting rice and the Ukraine war affecting grain prices, means rice is selling for more on international market. Hence more is being exported.

Heavy overnight rain in Udon. All ponds overflowing and wife's shop flooded, which is a first. Fortunately water levels in the village have fallen today as rice fields were not full before the rain.

Sorry to hear about Owls and Andrews experiences of CKD. Maybe more common than i thought. I do have a cousin with it, soon to go on dialysis. he is a bit low, as also his wife has Alzheimers and is now in a hospice. Spent a day and a half at Nong Prajak Public hospital last week, for tests, more tests, and a couple of consultations. I had blood tests, urine tests, Prostate tests, ultrasound twice, an Xray and a CKG. Also gave a bag of medicines for blood pressure, cholesterol and bladder function. Was a bit exhausting being sent from one room to another (every test and consultation was at a different place) and the lack of English in the signs doesn't help you get to the right room/desk. I went via the foreigners office, which i am sure gets you bumped up the priority list as never had to wait more than 20 minutes ( i guess that is because you are paying.....). Took the wife second day which helped. All told cost about 6,000 baht, which is a lot cheaper than Bangkok hospital. Apart from the CKD and an enlarged prostate, all was good.

Sorry to hear about Owls and Andrews experiences of CKD. Maybe more common than i thought. I do have a cousin with it, soon to go on dialysis. he is a bit low, as also his wife has Alzheimers and is now in a hospice. Spent a day and a half at Nong Prajak Public hospital last week, for tests, more tests, and a couple of consultations. I had blood tests, urine tests, Prostate tests, ultrasound twice, an Xray and a CKG. Also gave a bag of medicines for blood pressure, cholesterol and bladder function. Was a bit exhausting being sent from one room to another (every test and consultation was at a different place) and the lack of English in the signs doesn't help you get to the right room/desk. I went via the foreigners office, which i am sure gets you bumped up the priority list as never had to wait more than 20 minutes ( i guess that is because you are paying.....). Took the wife second day which helped. All told cost about 6,000 baht, which is a lot cheaper than Bangkok hospital. Apart from the CKD and an enlarged prostate, all was good.

Since middle of June plenty of rain in Udon Thani. Maybe slightly less than normal, but rare to get 3 days without rain. Our rice field is full and ponds close to full already.

Ideally, but plenty of people live on the streets. Housing in Thailand is a separate issue, but still a lot simpler and affordable than say in the UK. That is one of the main issues that sees me in Thailand. UK state pension doesn't cover housing either

You cannot live on 600 baht a month. Totally agree that 3,000 baht is a more sensible pension.

In the UK, most ATM's are built into walls for safety. Doesn't help. Favourite method of theft is first steal a JCB digger from a building site and use it to demolish the wall and carry away the ATM machine for leisurely dismantling. Takes less than 5 minutes. near my old home a string of thefts over a one month period removed all but one ATM machine in a 5 mile radius, very hard to get cash.

WE have 3 Haier AC's, first recommended by installer/repairman about 3 years ago. Work fine - last 2 both installed this year during the heatwave, so cannot say about how long they will last.

Plenty of rain in Udon Thani. Veg garden still flooded.