Enzian

Maybe I've had too much Chang tonight, but this has to be the greatest TV headline of the month.

The way it's raining in places they will soon have a use for these submarines in the provinces.

1 hour ago, Dap said:

"Revered"?

I served 6 years without pay as the director of a non-profit and at the end of that time it was in far better condition than it was when I started, when it was in trouble. The books and taxes were straight from beginning to end. I left my ego out of it and let the results speak for themselves. When I meet people from that era I still get a certain feeling. It's ok if you feel the word is too strong, maybe it is.

2 minutes ago, PremiumLane said:

so he is still useless and has no morals ???? 

That's what I mean. You have your opinion. I might end up agreeing with you, but probably will not. The game's not over till it's over.

So many people insist that their political opponents (or the opponents of their masters) ought to be totally honest, truth-telling, decent persons, yet completely overlook the lies and deceptions on their own side. Politics and business are dirty businesses, and good guys seldom finish first. Life is complicated and everyone has their own interpretation. I've done things I'm glad the statute of limitations has run out, yet for the past 30 years it's safe to say I've been revered and respected by all my 100s of contacts. Look for results, not words.

"...high capital adequacy ratios at 19.2%..."

Can anyone explain what this refers to, or means? The banks have capital, equity, stock market valuation if they're listed, yes. But 19.2% of what? Thanks.

I've been reading Machiavelli's Discourses on Livy, and a theme he keeps returning to is his belief that men do almost nothing of good, be it providing for the common good and defense, innovating, solving problems, refraining from abusing their neighbors, obeying the laws, planning for the future-almost nothing-except from necessity. So, don't enforce the laws, this is what you get.

21 hours ago, userabcd said:

Observing many foreigners now walking around without masks, it would be better to keep some of them out.

I suggest the readers of this forum should pay attention to the issue thus raised. It's like the obvious consideration that if you don't want your social group or "race" (if such exists) to be viewed in a negative light, then it's in your power not to commit crimes of person or property. I try to put on my mask around Thais, because too many of them are already suspicious of us, even though after 89 days of no officially reported cases, my strong gut feeling is that it's not necessary.

I thought it was the girls of Thermae who were taking the push of Japanese pork.

When I was in Berkeley in the 60s some psychology teacher became known for suggesting that the students were mainly engaging in a sort of Oedipal rebellion against their father/authority figures; that didn't go over too well either.

Socrates, ordered to drink poison for "corrupting the youth", would understand this perfectly. Maybe he was the internet of his day.

I will never get on one of those things in this country. In 10 years I have only done it twice, when a friend said it was the only way to get to another friend's house. Then I started walking or taking real cars. And in the states I owned at least 6 motorcycles over time.

16 hours ago, bannork said:

Does Liz Truss realise that after Jan 1st 2021 UK companies lose their EU protected designated of origin (PDO) status, and from that date on any country in the world can produce Scottish whisky?

But will they be able to call it Scotch? Japan and others produce good to very good equivalent whisky, but they don't call it Scotch.

1 hour ago, Katipo said:

The US has never been completely free trade. This is in spite of extolling its virtues. The cheaper prices are more to do with bulk buying, fixed duration contracts covering minimum quantities, and trade agreements with specific products. Also, many countries apply large "sin" taxes on alcohol (which is not an import tax), plus you've got the level of VAT/GST.

And this reminds me that in the US we don't think sometimes of the almost 10% CA sales tax as part of the cost, because it's not included on the shelf price the way the VAT etc. is in Europe, but of course it is part of the cost.

This needs more detail or even a long article. Is the problem with single malt or with blended and single grain Scotch as well? One of my hobbies this horrible year has been learning about Scotch; it started when traveling around the world I realized the deals I could sometimes get at airport duty free stores. 90% of the Scotch sold world-wide is blended, so part of the higher price for single malts is the lower production as well as the snob value. I've had to continue the hobby here in LOS where the prices are driven up (probably more than in the US) by the import taxes, though the rates seem less than with foreign wine. It would be interesting to know how the rates are calculated here for different things. Thailand has various low cost domestic whiskys (leaving out the things which are actually rum) "in the Scottish style" though I don't know of any with a reputation for quality. 

I always thought the US has some of the lowest import taxes in the world. I can buy Italian wines at TJs for little more than they cost at the supermarkets in Italy. And hard liquor of all sorts seems insanely cheap in the US compared to here in Bangkok.

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.