rickudon

Owl, if your good at fixing pumps we have one down on the farm not working. You are welcome to it next time you come to Udon. If you can fix it, you win. If not, well it was free.

Not sure what part of Udon you live but i have never experienced multiple days when the temperature stayed under 20, except in February about 10 years ago. Night time, OK, can get down to under 10. I have a maximum/minimum thermometer.

If Israel's bombing of Gaza is legitimate, then the USA after the twin towers attack could have legitimately committed genocide in Afghanistan? You cannot destroy Hamas by bombing civilians (unless you intend killing all Gaza residents). Israel admits it's invasion will take months - meanwhile Palestine civilians are being bombed, starved, are dying from lack of medical treatment and at risk of epidemics of water born disease. What aid is Israel providing? When this invasion is over, Gaza will be a wasteland. And will Israel accept responsibility for that? I doubt it. Probably expect the UN/USA/Europe to deal with it.

Except for all the dual carriageway bits - which means most of it. Between Udon and Nong Khai all dual carriageway, some 6 lanes. South of Udon, mainly dual carriageway, although haven't travelled that part much recently. Maybe they have grassed over a lane or two....

When i moved to Udon in 2010, you needed a duvet at night in cool season and a hot wife ..... In the mornings the locals would be shivering around wood fires at the side of the road, trying to warm up. Haven't seen that for years. Nights and early mornings are still cool, but hits 30 by 9 a.m. We did have a week in November in the high 20's, but that's it. This the first cool season when we still need air-conditioning to cool the bedroom at bed time nearly every day. Global average temperatures have broken monthly records for the last 6 months. 2023 will be the new warmest year. 2024? Wait and see. If ENSO persists, probably yet another record.

It is true that opening a bank account in Thailand can now be difficult. You used to be able to open an account on a visa exempt or a tourist visa years ago (i did in 2010) but the next time i tried it was a different story - and i had an annual Visa extension for marriage! took me 3 banks and 4 branches to do it, AND they asked for a Thai guarantor who was a house owner with a blue book (wife lives in family home, blue book not in her name, was not accepted). That was about 5 years ago. Last account (same bank) was a bit easier but not much in 2019. Also have heard that some bank managers do not want USA customers because of FATCA. Thai banks need to get their act together or retirees will get the message and choose another country to retire. In the UK, i can open a new account online in 5 minutes.

Reminds me of my USA B-in-L who decided to use an agent instead of getting a marriage extension -'less hassle' he said. Then he went to do his 90 day report and was told 'go to Jomtien'. In the end cost him 2,000 baht and a bottle of whisky! (back before the online reporting worked). Marriage extension only 2 days of hassle and about 2500 baht. I do use the 400,000 in the bank, but will run it down next year as i can use it for 8 months of the year, and i can get 5-8% interest in the UK. Did that a bit this year but had to top up again for extension next month.

The Tories will loose the next election because they have failed. They have failed to deal with immigration, they have failed to support the NHS, they have impoverished University students, hardly anyone below the age of 30 can afford to buy a house (now or in the future), and have to pay astronomically high prices to rent even a single room. Only the rich will vote for them. Starmer just has to do nothing to get elected.

West Bank Palestinians were not involved in the Hamas attack. Hasn't stopped them being killed, arrested, work permits revoked, houses bulldozed by Jewish settlers, prevented from working and kept under curfew, and prevented from tending to their farms (especially olive groves, which should be being harvested). Guilt by association. Is it any wonder that hatred of Israel is increasing on the west bank?

I was made redundant at 55 in the UK, worked part-time too pay the bills, but got work related injuries so fully retired at age 57, moved to Thailand a year later. i had about 40,000 baht a month (depended on exchange rate). Income mainly pension. First few years were great, but health issues started at 64. If i had waited until i was 65 to retire i would have missed those first few good years. No regrets about retiring, never really bored. Money was tight, so couldn't do everything i wanted, but if i had waited, would have missed the experience. Still hoping to make 80....

Typical time wasting .... Teachers Birthday - someone bought a cake, students ate it, teacher just told a story, no lesson today!

A friend of my ex-wife was in Amway, and convinced my wife to get involved. Went to one motivational presentation (expensive) and got a starter pack of cleaning products. I was very distrustful and worked out prices and tested products, in my opinion they were typically at least 25% more expensive to nearest equivalent. Sure, if you are a good sales person and con your friends and family into buying products, you might make some money, but to me it was a case of relying on the goodwill (or gullibility) of your customers to buy something which was cheaper in a supermarket. Ethically, that sickened me so refused to sell anything.

If i had been born the son of a nomadic cattle herder in Sudan, i would probably already be dead. Certainly not here in Thailand instead. I was lucky to be born in a country where medical treatment and schooling was a right; University was practically free (grant given), never had to fight in a war and during my life some of the difficult decisions were solved by procrastination, with good results! Life has not been perfect, but more good luck than bad.

Climate change is not going to make Homo Sapiens extinct. But the competition for living space (home, food, survivable temperatures) will become intense and many will not survive. Unfortunately by the time the human population has culled a large percentage of it's members, we will have pretty much driven many species to extinction, and live in a devastated dystopia. Last 6 months have all seen the monthly global temperature record broken, and this year is already at 1.46 degrees Centigrade of warming. That 1.5 C target will probably be hit next year assuming the El Nino continues. One factor which has only become more obvious in the last few years is the risk of forest fires - they are rising exponentially, outdoing our tiny efforts to plant more trees and raising CO2 levels even more. Also, no-one seems to talk about methane hydrate on the ocean floor any more - warming of the deep ocean, especially in polar regions could cause catastrophic methane releases. Meanwhile Oil and coal companies are using the Ukraine war as an excuse to produce more - greed greed greed. If you thought migration was an issue, we haven't seen anything yet - in 30 years time, whole countries will be on the march, mainly northwards. We can get another 10-20 years of affluence followed by utter chaos, or tighten our belts NOW.

Obviously a 'not my job'. But In Udon, unlike Pattaya, roads have improved drastically in the last 10 years, with a few exceptions. In our village alone there have been 5 stretches of road resurfaced in the last 4 months, lots of it with nice smooth tarmac. And they no longer need repairing 12 months later! The ring road is now close to western motorway standard.

I was invited to loy kratong by the manager of a fishing park during my second visit to Thailand. We are now married 13 years ......

I know Truebrit, he is not a troll. He lives west of Udon, some way off. His situation is indeed difficult. Only suggestion i can add is find another expat, who maybe has spare accommodation, he could rent/share, and possibly help him with mobility. Not sure what friends he has, at his age most he had have probably passed on.

Aseannow up and running again. Weather was nice at the weekend up till Tuesday, max was 30 Centigrade. Last 2 days back to normal, 31 plus. I notice the difference - under 30 can work for hours, above 30 more like one hour at the most. Not young enough! We cut the rice field (about one rai) 10 days ago - usual miserable results - 3 bags. Paid for the combine harvester, but not the ploughing. I keep telling the wife that rice in that field is a waste of time. Soil is poor. Not much grows around the field, and what does is only half the size. Even bananas and mangoes struggle. I want to turn it back into a pond - after initial digging cost maintenance is a lot lower, and will get some fish to eat, even if they are also only half the size. Wife has just planted roses and African marigold. I predict all dead in 3 months. We need proper soil analysis to identify the problems, rather than me speculating.

Not stage 3, but 40 years ago had haemorrhoid problem, sore, itchy and regular blood loss. I cured it by going on high fibre - mainly wholemeal bread. Took about 5 years. Have occasional relapses if i get constipated, maybe a couple of times a year, but clears up within a few days. I also avoid chilies. 98% of the time no issues at all.

My main interest in this is how are they going to assess the amount of money you bring in to Thailand. In my case, most of it never sees a Thai bank account.

I'm on marriage, 400,000 in the bank. Originally i did a 12 month multi-entry every year. but they went and changed the requirements for that and i no longer qualified (yes, my income was insufficient). Since coming to Thailand 13 years ago, the visa/extension rules have changed on average every 2 years. So do not get complacent - the changes may not affect you next time - but they might. I could probably now do the 65,000 baht a month for the retirement, but exchange rates falling would be a problem - also i usually spend a few months a year back in the UK, and i am not going to send 65,000 baht to Thailand when i am not there to use it! Renewing involves about 2 days of effort a year. I was only home visited the first year. Use an agent? Why? I have better uses for 15,000 baht. I can use my money in the bank for 9 months of the year. and i earn a lot more from my remaining investments in the UK than i would if i kept it in a Thai bank. Also have heard from a friend that they are cracking down on agent applications - he had to attend in person, they do not trust agents anymore after another round of fake applications. If you are financially solid, do retirement by all means - legally.

Nikhil Arora may be the MD of GODaddy India, a large web hosting company... But maybe just same name.

Most younger people see little chance of achieving the things their parents did. I bought my first house at the age of 23, and paid off the mortgage 5 years later. Next house cost 4 times as much, so a mortgage again, but had the deposit from the sale of the first house. Also finished university with no debt in those days. My daughter in UK was able to buy a one bedroom apartment 10 years ago due to a well paid bank job, but it had plastic cladding like Grenfell tower (massive fire with many deaths) and now she cannot sell it. She is married now with 2 kids and a husband who still works in banking (very well paid) but they STILL cannot afford a house, they have to live in her M-in-L house along with brother of her husband. That is todays reality in the South-east of the UK. You either need rich parents, inheritance or a 50,000 GBP plus income to get on the housing ladder. Son also sees little prospect of ever owning a house until his mum dies. Also, for current genZ, university comes with a 50,000 GBP debt tag. Pay that off, buy a house, start a family, when? Renting also eats half your net income even for a single room in London. Easy to see why most see no future. The demographic implications are also massive, birth rates are plummeting.

At 600 baht a month, Old people are hardly a drain on government finances.

Hi Owl, glad to see you sorted out the Pickup Problem. could do with the AA here! Got my passport back today, total time was about 3 weeks. Dry season definitely here, all the yellow flower bushes have bloomed in the last week. My vegetable garden has dried out, time to start digging.