Enzian

Can anyone explain what this "economic index" refers to and where it comes from? I just haven't heard of it.

Also, the Kasikorn group's idea that the economy is "slowly regenerating" seems counter to other predictions out there.

49 minutes ago, bbabythai said:

<deleted>.... 10km walking is heaps of exercise. What are you talking about

Of course, half of it is that you're just not sitting.

56 minutes ago, Surelynot said:

When you consider that the US and UK might be considered sophisticated, educated and well-read voters and they still vote the way they do.........it is no great shock that Thais vote as they do, especially if they are given a few thousand Baht.

Winston Churchill is reputed to have said something to the effect that the best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with an average voter.

A lot is genes. My mother died 89, my father smoked for 40 years (quit at 60) never exercised, was overweight all the time after 40, and lived to 93. But his quality of life the last few years was terrible, and that is a big reason to exercise; it may or may not make you live longer, but there's less chance of spending your final years as a zombie.

I'm 80 now and I do think if one is going to be outside one's home country it is best to have a live-in woman at this age. My previous bee-ach didn't work out, but Fortune threw a new one at me right away, and while I don't feel very romantic about her, there is lots of mutual respect so it works. And this one spends much less, a plus.

I have a friend 77 living alone, almost unable to walk, I visit 2 times a week. I can't fix him, but I can be there. He has a fall almost every week, alone, so it's a constant object lesson.

6 hours ago, OJAS said:

Yep, let's just chill out and relax by simply going on overstay once our Thai bank has wobbled and our permission to stay has expired, right?

 

Right! I've been on the straight and narrow for so many decades that I've been itching to live a life of crime one more time before I reincarnate into a buffalo. Look, ma, I'm an outlaw! I'll find out how long I can evade the immigration police before they exile me to the miseries of Marin CA. What an adventure!

Since the experience of 2014 I have felt that this country considered as its "people" is ungovernable. Certainly not self-governable. Anything resembling an attempt at pure democracy would soon devolve again into chaos and anarchy, and I suggest this as one who has the greatest respect for the aims and intentions the pro-democracy leaders. 

I don't believe there is a "political crisis" going on, except in the minds of academics, and news agencies looking for copy. Someone show me evidence that the majority of Thais think there is a present political crisis. 

At the same time there is so much room for improving the status quo and the attitudes and behavior at the top that I would hardly know where to begin in detailing it.

To me the quick release of the protest leaders is a sign that the last thing the government wants is a repeat of Hong Kong. Someone may actually be listening, and I honestly think the signs are improving. 

My owner landlady on Sukhumvit 13 has now agreed, after the initial 3 month lease, to go "month to month", and though I'm still paying the old average for the building, it's nice to be this flexible. And I don't think things around here have yet really adjusted down to where they are headed.

I'm in the middle of reading Machiavelli's Discourses On Livy, which is much more wide-ranging than The Prince, and is giving me some ideas about Thailand: for one thing, he points out that a people that have never been really free have a very hard time starting from scratch to rule themselves. He also points out that many apparent democracies are in reality de facto oligarchies, either because that's what works, or because the elites can so easily rig the game. And so on.

I don't know if these guys obstructed traffic as charged, and I don't if know if I'm for or against them (who am I to have an opinion?), but why why why do protestors think that obstructing traffic will help their cause? Because someone who never thought about it before will now think about it and agree? 

6 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Name one?

Massage girls.

1 hour ago, thaibeachlovers said:

I understood that the money has to be in a baht account.

Does not. I do my renewal at Chaeng Wattana with a FCD account in US$, a friend does it with UK pounds. Now, Immigration Offices may vary.

Florida is the gift that keeps on giving. Years ago Dr Drew had a regular segment on his radio show with Adam Carola where some bizarre event would be described and listeners would be invited to guess if it happened "in Germany or Florida", it was always one or the other.

I just started a rereading of Machiavelli's The Prince, and he points out, among a million other things, that it is almost impossible for a people that have never been free to suddenly be on their own and trying to govern themselves. This is a way of understanding the difficulties in the historic push toward western style democracy in countries like Thailand. Remember that before 1932 no one here was "free" in the way we think of it in the west. I've thought for a long time that this country seems ungovernable, in that the people on their own (wherein there are plenty of crooks) never seem able to get it together, leaving the army to step in and restore some semblance of "order", even if it is their own definition. Having said this, I wish I could see a way out, but at this point I don't.

I do think that not accepting the status quo is not the same as not liking one's own country, which seems a better description of what's going on than that of the general. We know the difference, because in the US genuinely and deeply not liking one's country seems almost a requirement in some circles; I know because many of my friends are of that camp.

At the beginning of March I was in Vietnam as a tourist. I had an evisa and a March 11 return flight paid for. Around the 8th or 9th I started getting nervous, but my return was coming right up so I decided not to try to make it sooner. All went OK, but then around the 25th (correct me if I'm wrong) Thailand closed off. With that experience, and reading the sad posts in this thread, I feel extremely lucky to be here, and doubly lucky to be where the virus is not spreading. Everything else in my life (including that it would be impractical and dangerous to travel to my beloved Italy or to CA where there's family) is just details. Good luck to those being kept away.

16 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

I am not sure if I should mention Nit or Noi in my application. Or maybe Lek? I love them all, an hour at a time.

Hey, Nit is my girlfriend (now). There's only one, right? (Not a joke, unfortunately, just lockdown reality.)

The reason I read a thread like this is to get an idea when I might be able to get back in this country in the event I leave for any reason and then want to return on my retirement visa with multi-entry permit. And this is not looking good. I own an apt in CA but my son gutted it to rebuild it "better", but for now we don't have the funds to do so. So Sukhumvit is the only home I have. I'm insanely glad to be here but I live to travel; that, however, is over until sometime next year at the soonest. But another random plus is that it is a better than ever time to be a renter here; I've never wanted to buy.

I'm not religious, but all of us who are here in LOS and healthy, let's give thanks. The rest is just details. And good luck to those who want to return.

1 hour ago, puipuitom said:

There is no Italy.

Only a Nothern ( Lombardia, + former Austrian provinces), a middle ( Katholic state) and a southern ( in fact Greek) federation. Ask "Mr Selfini", when he was only "preaching" for Liga Nord.

Italy as country, which has been a problem since the state was founded in 1861. The poor, corrupt south versus the prosperous, industrialized north, connected in the middle former Katholic State. By merging the northern areas under Austrian influence with the Ecclesiastical State and the Kingdom of both Sicilies, a country was created that never became a unity. From day one, the cultural and economic differences between the north and the south hampered Italy's development.
All attempts in the last 160 years to reduce the differences between north and south have, on balance, yielded nothing. The south has remained poor and corrupt. Crime syndicates have penetrated into all sections of society and appear to be controlling healthcare. More public money to the south means more income for the mafia, the camorra and the 'ndrangheta.

You've certainly got a grip on the history. The north really is the legacy of the barbarian kingdoms of the 5th to 9th centuries. Lazio and the center is what is left of the Papal States, and the south still exudes the spirit of Magna Graecia, but with a level of corruption that goes beyond anything Greece was noted for. I spent a lot of time in the south last year, and there has been a lot of modernization, but it's true that industrialization seems forever beyond its grasp. But as a selfish visitor I hope the south doesn't change, there is nothing like it in the world. But at the same time I want the country to pull through. And I like Salvini, whatever that makes me.

Pretty good article. The old bridge looked unreal, like an accident waiting to happen, and it was. I'd like to see the new one in person. But with Covid, Italy's public debt has gone from about 132% of annual GDP, to around 160%. And the political system just doesn't make sense in a modern democracy. I guess they will get by, but there is going to be a lot of drama to come, as always in Italy.

I'd like to move into the 25K and over 1-bedroom range when the bang-for-the-buck value becomes irresistible, but I'm guessing that hasn't quite happened yet. I'm only in this studio because it was convenient after a breakup. Of course if I could resume spending 3 months a year in Europe and a month in CA like pre-Covid, I'd be smarter keeping this studio, but that may not happen till the end of 2021 if we're lucky.

People mention disabled is a reason to hire an agent, and I'll just throw in my two cents: a friend of mine's spine and legs are so gone he can hardly walk across a room by himself. So in Chaeng Wattana they loan you a wheelchair (leave an ID for security) and I pushed him around. When the top lady in the area we were sent to saw him in the chair she expedited the process and we were in at 10 and on the way out at 1:15. And none of his 90 day reports had been done for a year and they ignored that. It did help that he's been here for 20 or so years and knew the drill, and has the money in a bank.

Not always safe. I almost got rushed by a bull buffalo once when I came to close to his harem. He stepped forward and glared right at us, we beat a hasty retreat and he stayed.