rickudon

1, Worst advice - "invest in stocks and funds" from a financial advisor of what to do with my redundancy money in 2007. I decided he was an idiot, and was proved right. 2. Best advice - Always have a backup plan. 3. What i will be remembered for, and what i would like to be remembered for, are totally different (and depends on who you ask, one relative called me "The black sheep of the family")

In the cars. There talking about petrol, diesel, LPG. As for in houses, you would be surprised. In our village, hardly any air conditioners 12 years ago, now in about 30% of houses. And it is not a rich village.

Knowledge of History, Geography and even Science is sadly lacking. Very few people comprehend that the world as we know it today was shaped by events of the past - that famous quote "those who do not know history are destined to repeat it". Unfortunately even in the west people make bad decisions because they have little understanding of WHY and WHAT motivates people in other countries. In Thailand, my F-in-L has a wealth of skills and local knowledge, he knows many herbs etc. Unfortunately it is all learnt by watching others - not necessarily from those who were actually good themselves. As a result poor quality is perpetuated. My personal experience here - i was trained in freshwater biology and some aquaculture. But when it comes to managing, stocking ponds with fish, the Thai family know best - so we get abysmal growth rates due to overstocking, never make a profit. I stock the right amount of fish, of the right types, 1 week later the wife puts in 3 times as many - but often will not tell me, so i have no idea what fish are in the water until i see/catch some..... I have largely given up after wasting thousands of baht. Just let them grow by themselves, get enough to feed family only.

3% increase in fuel consumption more likely to be because the air-conditioning has been turned up higher in the cars due to the extremely hot weather.....

Cheese in Makro went up by over 10% last week. I know, probably not in the Thai CPI. Main problem is shrinking packet sizes, e.g. 85g instead of 100g, same price. Bet that isn't accounted for.

It does amaze me how many empty properties there are in Thailand (and i am not counting old derelict farm houses). Just 2 cases - 1. I drive past a small block of condos every day on the school run, in 6 years i have never seen a sign of any occupant - guess just for money laundering. 2. A whole row of about 10 shophouses was built on the ring road here in Udon about 8 years ago, rent was quite high i heard (about 14,000 baht a month, back then). They stayed empty for about 2 years, last time i drove past i had a good look and only about 3 appear to be occupied. Just doesn't seem to make financial sense.

Thailand has become a middle income country. Thirty years ago, most of the rural population didn't buy much food, they depended on growing or catching it - all of which required effort, and a lot of the time you were under nourished. Hence many were slim, and also short. Now better nourished and taller. Yes, obesity is becoming an issue, and lack of exercise more so. But still more slim people than fat. Beauty - not any different, just average age is older! The availability of instant, delivered food also a factor in weight gain. Baby steps have been made towards improving Junk food, as in sugar levels in drinks, but still 20 years behind the west. The problems are made worse by the climate - exercise is not only uncomfortable, but actually dangerous if you over exert yourself. Thais need better cooking facilities and appropriate exercise opportunities; but many have limited time (working hours can be long).

This is farcical. Thai population is only 70 million (about) so there are less than 11 million under the age of 15, students, housewives, disabled people and 'others' (presumably including old age pensioners?). Very dubious.

Had a similar issue many years ago, recurring urethritis. In the end the doctor asked ME what i thought would work. The best result previously had been one large dose of penicillin, and i assumed that the antibiotic had knocked out most of the bacteria, but left a few semi-resistant ones behind. So i suggested 2 large doses, taken a week apart. It worked. I would say that taking low doses of antibiotics for a prolonged period is dangerous, as it could result in antibiotic resistance occurring

Been a while since i looked at the thread. Mainly because once my daughters passport arrived the family trip to the UK went into full swing - and the problems. Tickets were expensive and some flights had already been fully booked, business class only! So had to book the tickets early, best deal was Emirates. But .... the wife had given a different date to the visa agency (i told her we had to go earlier). Her visa arrived - not valid until 22nd April. <deleted>. Had to change tickets, another 300 GBP down the drain. Also, real reason for wife's sudden enthusiasm, it is because her sister in the UK is getting married. More expense, lots of new clothes, hotel bookings, and the 2 weeks with my UK kids now shrinks to one. I just have that feeling that it will all go terribly wrong, and the cost has really depleted my savings. Finally (I think) everything is in order. Just wish we could have gone for more than 20 days. Now busy trying to get farm tidy etc. before leaving. The brutal weather is not helping. No rain since November, and average temperature this month has been about 39 C. , half the days over 40 C. Fortunately fish ponds not dry yet, as deeper since dug out 5 years ago, but lowest yet. The pet fish in bowls at the house struggling, M-in-L steals water from them to water her veg, do not hold much hope for their survival in this heat once we leave. Goldfish will probably end up in the plaa raa. But cannot wait to get out from this heat. Still 34 C at 11 p.m. outdoors. Driest and hottest year so far in my experience - didn't even get my jacket out once in the 'winter'. Hope Owl gets some rain for his ponds. Last day tomorrow, then we are off.

Waste of time. I bought one when i first retired here (limited income, as pensions not all taken yet) 11 years ago, about 2000 baht, took water and a little ice. Not effective. Once i took a thermometer to the inlet and outlet to see how much cooler the air was - answer 0.5 C! Got a better effect from a bowl of ice and a fan, and cheaper too..... Next year bought a second hand air-conditioner.

I make little attempt to hide my identity (KhunLA knows who i am, but i doubt many others do), but i am not afraid to leave clues, as i do not troll. Would probably post a photo if necessary. Someone said you would be surprised how much data about you is on the internet, and you should google your name. Long time since i did that, so did again. I have an uncommon name, but google gave me more than 10 pages of links - none of which was me! The sheer quantity of data out there means most of your data/activity is very hard to retrieve.

My experience is SCB will either refuse or add a substantial fee. Never go near them now.

The joys of living in an Isaan Backwater. No hordes of Tourists doing extensions, i rarely have to wait more than 30 minutes for an extension of stay and a 90 day report often done in 90 seconds!

The joys of living in an Isaan Backwater. No hordes of Tourists doing extensions, i rarely have to wait more than 30 minutes for an extension of stay and a 90 day report often done in 90 seconds!

I do cash advances via fee free credit card at Krungsri. No fees applied by Krungsri. First attempt at a mall branch was refused, but most branches OK. I generally get a very slightly better result than using Wise.

Never, but i was once arrested in Libya. detained and questioned for 2 hours. When i got back to the office, they asked where i had been, they asked me to describe the officers uniform - they then told me i was being questioned by the secret police! They said i was lucky to be alive..... many detainees end up somewhere in the desert. Cemeteries - I used to live in a small village in Hampshire, and the local church had a substantial number of war graves. Their used to be a military hospital during WW1 nearby, and over a 100 patients ended up there. Good for a quiet period of reflection. I have also visited the only war cemetery (so i was told) from WW2 in Australia. Holds people who were killed in Darwin from Japanese bombing.

Which is one of the advantages of the marriage visa.

I Have never had a Thai bank account which didn't pay interest. Currently I get about 1%, but will do a review later this year to see if i can get more on another account, now that rates are raising. But a year ago that was better than most UK banks. As for time/hassle versus money for an agent, Udon Thani immigration is just a 15-20 minute ride away, and doing my Marriage extension usually takes only one hour. My 400,000 baht in the bank is available to use for 9 months a year. I also do my 90 day reports at immigration, usually takes 2 minutes..... (rarely a queue in the afternoon). See no need for an agent, although for SOME people it makes sense.

The long wait times where a feature of everyone renewing their passports as the pandemic flying issues abated. I applied for a passport for my daughter in February this year at Trendy house and it only took 3 weeks to get the passport. So, unless the strike is prolonged i would not be unduly worried about timing. Always pays to assume it will take 3 months.

Also depends what area you live in. Some are a lot more tolerant than others. Here in Udon there was a farang who sold burgers from a cart at the roadside (maybe still does). I understand he was questioned by Immigration but they decided to turn a blind eye to it as he was doing it to support his half thai son (no mother around).

Air pollution in Bangkok is normal. I spend as little time in Bangkok as possible (measured in hours per year!). Any one who is worried about the air quality in Bangkok should move to somewhere safer.

Proper toilet paper shouldn't be an issue, although might fill up the tank a little bit faster. It should disintegrate but not actually break down quickly. DO NOT put kitchen towel down as that is far more robust and could cause a blockage; also wet wipes do not decompose. But yes, bum gun best.

The responses to this pandemic were rather a mixed bag. Unfortunately, different advisors suggest different responses based on their area of expertise. Health specialists will try to minimise deaths and impacts on other health care, regardless of cost, economists worry about the economic impact (as do businesses) and politicians listen to what they think will keep them in power. What you get is a mixture of all three. Initially, too much complacency led to the virus getting a foothold in too many places, by the end of January 2020 it was already to late to contain it, as was successfully done with SARS. UK, USA were to focused on the economy until the true impact was realised, and as a result suffered some of the highest death tolls. It was followed by an over reaction to try and cut deaths. The rapid development of vaccines helped cut the death rate, even though they were not completely effective. Although the lockdowns did cause economic damage, it slowed the spread of the early, more fatal variants, and without it the death toll would have undoubtedly been higher. We will probably never know the complete global death toll, but at least 7 million. By the end of January 2020 I already knew Covid was serious and had taken steps to lessen my risk. Although not a medical professional I did train as a biologist and had worked on the BSE response and the 2001 Foot and Mouth epidemic in the UK, although not in a scientific capacity. With both, I saw the economy put before epidemiology ( I had already banned beef in my household before the first cases of BSE were identified in humans, due to my knowledge of Kuru, a similar prion disease from New Guinea). The way to deal with any new, potentially fatal infectious disease is to contain it and eliminate if possible at all costs. The cost of doing so will probably be far less than 'better late than never' endeavours.

20 years is hardly something to be proud of. Solution may work now, but for how long? They have just diverted the problem and treatment is still limited. Thai sewage treatment infrastructure is notorious for being poorly maintained, wait for the pumps to fail or pipes/khlongs to become blocked with rubbish. I do wish them well, but time will tell.