Dumbastheycome

3 minutes ago, mr mr said:

awfully quiet on the american politic forums at the moment. 

 

any reason why ? 

Maybe they are  busy  stacking ammunition and  toilet paper  down in the  fallout shelters ?

I wonder if this has/had something to do with the very frustrating problems using Lazada signed in or not ?

Seems to have stopped now.

 I have personally witnessed  such a sad situation. In a  small town I once lived in  the  local Undertaker's hearsehad stopped at the only set of  traffic lights in the   town. When he had the green  light to proceed as he moved on the rear hatch door of the old  but suitably  sombre  black Cadillac hearse raised and a  cardboard  coffin  on a stainless  steel tray rolled out the  back onto the  street, disintergrated and the deceased  sat exposed in the middle of the cross walk . It was only the  mixture of responses  that  made the  driver  aware which with  great embarrassment  got  him to  return and  with  public assistance slip the body back into the  hearse and with  no possible dignity pretended  for all involved  continue  his   journey. It was later learned  that  the driver was  not actually the Undertaker  but his  trainee assistant  who had forgotten to lock down the  casket and ensure the door  was  properly  closed. He subsequently  resigned  and left  town .

1 minute ago, Dumbastheycome said:

Ok.  IMO I genuinely appreciate the question and the detail of your  perspective.

Firstly I would deny I propose any "prediction" as such  but rather a speculative  expectation based on events ongoing primarily the  Covid-19 pandemic impact.

I would initially  refer you to the economic global exchange of currencies via tourism as a pertinent factor of that which  involves  Thailand  but  not in exclusion. In Thailand  it is currently accepted the negative impact is  near 20%. The UK ? 11% ! Neither is insignificant until if you  consider average income versus living costs and  cultural  survival capacity in distinctly different environmental situations.

Due to the  proliferate adoption of the concept of  disposable income that has progressively been disguised in the form of  credit which has  not only  enabled but  advanced public  debt into arenas  such as  mass tourism which naturally enough given the  naivety of the general public taking for  granted personal serviceability in the assumption of peace and tranquility in perpetual continuation of globalized accords, controls, etc with scant  regard to any  disturbances to the status quo of  the system that was introduced  since  around  1946  and  confirmed in the  70's .

To that end the  dissolution of the USSR's internal system and it's adoption into the  network of what in intent became a  global Corporate system with an almost  equivalent ideology has now been  seriously disturbed  by a component  that has the potential to culminate in one of two  outcomes.

In reference to the UK becoming an associate  member of the EU having  experimented in and via political decisions of the EC. Memory of that  seems to have been buried despite it being the  initial  vestiges  of  abandonment of  the  lauded  " Commonwealth" .

A conditional aspect of the UK  becoming a member of the EU  was a separation of the currency  which permitted the UK  to retain it's new -ly  " Pound".

The  Euro  was a poor cousin to that  and the $US and  many proclaimed the rapid  demise of the  Euro.

Overall the Euro has  defied  and in some instances of  preferred exchange  has been adopted in preference. 

Not initially  but  incrementally the UK  Pound  has devolved in attraction by  comparison.

The  saga of the  Brexit  impact initially and  ongoing to this day  has undeniably  demonstrated  no reason to seek it as a  reserve currency. Coupled  with  that is the  impact of the pandemic which although  not in isolation of  economic destruction in the  global sense  has not positioned it well at least  initially  or  if at all in the future of the resurection of global  economic recovery. 

By contrast  Asian economies which had been  rising rapidly  under the auspices of mutual greed encompassed in the  Corporate  model have retained the advantages of the infrastructure gifted to them by  virtue of  the capitalist  Corporate model. That  despite the pandemic that has  stricken the dependent suposed

benefactor superior nations  with  declining population growth and distributable  wealth.

The "West" has inflicted/applied  an economic platform that has left itself open to an implosion and degradation that will possibly  relegate itself to the same or less than the redeveloping "East" that it  was  callously  deriving it's false sense superiority .

Unreservedly  IMO.

 

 

 

 

 

12 hours ago, KhaoYai said:

The OP is asking about future likelihoods - not historical so I presume your answer is a prediction. Now, I am no currency dealer, I'm just a guy who changes pounds to baht regularly but Brexit happened over 4 years ago. I sat with my head in my hands watching the £ drop as the votes came in.  Just as we got used to circa 50 baht to the pound when the world wide recession hit and the dust settled, we've reluctantly got used circa 40 baht to the pound following the Brexit vote.

 

Not so long ago there were people on here (claiming to be knowledgeable) who confidently predicted the baht/£ would fall to the mid 20's - it never happened.  Since shortly after the Brexit fall, the rate has hovered around 40 (41 at the moment).

 

Granted, nothing seems to be able to depreciate the baht - most countries that have a coup find their currency is worth less than toilet paper - the baht seems to be like Trump - Teflon but economies all over the world are suffering from the effects of Covid 19 - not only the UK.  Thailand's economy is not in good shape and once again there is political turmoil in the country - what are the gounds for your apparent prediction of the £ falling further against the baht?

 

There may be some short term falls or gains when Britain finally goes it alone, trade deal or not but surely there are too many variables at the moment to make predictions with any sort of confidence? Apart from some possible short term fluctuations, I really can't see much changing for quite some time.

 

If I wanted to place a bet (not a big one), I would actually wager that the baht might start to fall.  The country is heavily reliant on tourism and unless they find a way of getting that back up and running, I think there could be further financial problems ahead.  There have been several crazy visa schemes they dreamt up to try and tempt tourists back but even if some of the latest ones work, they won't even begin to scratch the surface of the tourist industy's defecit - they just don't seem to get it......... people get a limited amount of holiday time, they ain't going to spend it in quarantine, they'll go elsewhere. The numbers that want/can stay longer are relatively low. 

 

Things ain't going to change anytime soon - expect major bankruptcies and closures if they don't get tourists back for the coming high season - hence my (small) bet - the one of a normal citizen not a currency dealer, is that the £/baht will actually rise a little - say 42-43.

Ok.  IMO I genuinely appreciate the question and the detail of your  perspective.

Firstly I would deny I propose any "prediction" as such  but rather a speculative  expectation based on events ongoing primarily the  Covid-19 pandemic impact.

I would initially  refer you to the economic global exchange of currencies via tourism as a pertinent factor of that which  involves  Thailand  but  not in exclusion. In Thailand  it is currently accepted the negative impact is  near 20%. The UK ? 11% ! Neither is insignificant until if you  consider average income versus living costs and  cultural  survival capacity in distinctly different environmental situations.

Due to the  proliferate adoption of the concept of  disposable income that has progressively been disguised in the form of  credit which has  not only  enabled but  advanced public  debt into arenas  such as  mass tourism which naturally enough given the  naivety of the general public taking for  granted personal serviceability in the assumption of peace and tranquility in perpetual continuation of globalized accords, controls, etc with cant  regard to any  disturbances to the status quo of  the system that was introduced  since  around  1946  and  confirmed in the  70's .

To that end the  dissolution of the USSR's internal system and it's adoption into the  network of what in intent became a  global Corporate system with an almost  equivalent ideology has now been  seriously disturbed  by a component  that has the potential to culminate in one of two  outcomes.

In reference to the UK becoming an associate  member of the EU having  experimented in and via political decisions of the EC. Memory of that  seems to have been buried despite it being the  initial  vestiges  of  abandonment of  the  lauded  " Commonwealth" .

A conditional aspect of the UK  becoming a member of the EU  was a separation of the currency  which permitted the UK  to retain it's new -ly  " Pound".

The  Euro  was a poor cousin to that  and the $US and  many proclaimed the rapid  demise of the  Euro.

Overall the Euro has  defied  and in some instances of  preferred exchange  has been adopted in preference. 

Not initially  but  incrementally the UK  Pound  has devolved in attraction by  comparison.

The  saga of the  Brexit  impact initially and  ongoing to this day  has undeniably  demonstrated  no reason to seek it as a  reserve currency. Coupled  with  that is the  impact of the pandemic which although  not in isolation of  economic destruction in the  global sense  has not positioned it well at least  initially  or  if at all in the future of the resurection of global  economic recovery. 

By contrast  Asian economies which had been  rising rapidly  under the auspices of mutual greed encompassed in the  Corporate  model have retained the advantages of the infrastructure gifted to them by  virtue of  the capitalist  Corporate model. That  despite the pandemic that has  stricken the dependent suposed

benefactor superior nations  with  declining population growth and distributable  wealth.

The "West" has inflicted/applied  an economic platform that has left itself open to an implosion and degradation that will possibly  relegate itself to the same or less than the redeveloping "East" that it  was  callously  deriving it's false sense superiority .

Unreservedly  IMO.

My guess is the "difficulties" in getting  access to the area outside the 7/11's at the prominent Fuel stops. A conflict of business interests? But unlikely to ever have considered the street side shops.

3 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

Just a guess.

And probably more than 50% true.

Who is to know how many times a messenger  has no message other than one they invented or copied to justify personal identification in an effort to deliver ?

It appears the desperation level for Trump's supporters has started to result in red neck intimidation encouraged by Don Junior !

The ultimate disgrace the USA might yet suffer is a resumption of  Civil War in the midst of a pandemic !

That in itself means  keeping an eye on players who  might take advantage of the distraction . Not a lot of  winning  in the wind !

There may have been a genuine reduction as of the end of 2019 but to make  claim in light of what damage will result from events 2020 and ongoing seems rather meaningless.

Under the path or not when it comes to rain it looks to be very widespread.

If moisture is the enemy of Covid-19 then this part of Asia should be squeaky clean !

1 hour ago, hotchilli said:

If the police are appealing for witnesses or cam footage of the accident to help them find out what happened then how do they know the driver has left Bangkok?

ERm....Bangkok area Policeman left dead  by hit and run driver.....?

1 hour ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Which is why it's important to have a living will, so the Drs can't keep one alive through medical means. Of course being starved to death because that's the only option available to one is not a desirable situation.

 

I agree.  However I put  my question while considering what limits there need be in terms of legislation to avoid abuses of intent. Limiting  legislation to terminal disease in the context of "assisted death" is a different issue to the ethical debate around withdrawal of life support. I recall the  agonizing and legal challenges in the Karen Quinlan case where the debate centered on her lack of cognitive competency. A Living Will would  probably settled that (if it had been accepted ! )

8 minutes ago, CygnusX1 said:

The article states that it will only apply to people who’ve been diagnosed with a terminal condition and who have less than 6 months to live. That excludes people who for example might be in an immense amount of pain from a non terminal condition, or who may have been rendered totally immobile or blind, etc, and who wish to die. That of course in no way implies that many or most quadriplegics and blind people can’t have enjoyable and fulfilling lives, just would give them the choice.

There are instances involving individuals I have  personally been involved with occupationally who  have been rendered permanently almost  100% immobile but due to  medical intervention have  "survived" and despite desperately  managed communicating  a desire to discontinue "living" have been denied the option.

Sad as that is survival in that context  may be dependent  on  continued  support and involves  a whole other question about such intervention but there is  no predictable expectation in future  point of termination as there is with  terminal disease conditions.

In your reference to quads and or the blind  being provided  the "choice" could also be considered  crossing  the boundary of any ethical limits in terms of  "assisted" death because it does not  necessarily involve a specified terminal expectation of  death as a direct result of physical state. Especially in the affliction of  being blinded by accident or disease. A psychological state requesting death need  be removed from any question of assistance in provision  if it does  not involve any physical justification because of the danger of inducement .

Suicide of the  physically healthy is an indictment of social influences and expectations  far in excess of the cause of   identifiable "disease" .

Or  should we return to adopt the practices of the ancient Greeks who are considered an historic advanced  civilization and under compulsory social by the "ruling  class"  edict  caste  all "defectives" over a cliff into the sea as  "special " offerings to the  Gods?

No  longer available to ask but  perhaps  Stephen Hawkins  could  have had an interesting  opinion on the subject.

5 minutes ago, DrDave said:

What a deal! That 100K baht doesn't include any taxes, airport fees and so on, which can amount to as much as 50% of a ticket's cost. Oh, and an extra 7K baht for VAT.

IMO it would be  ridiculous  to suggest Thai Airways  was  not badly  managed  but  now in an attempt  to salvage some hope to survive it has provided some avenues for people to extract a path for departure with  at least some dignity attached.

Many times " National  Carriers"  around the world  have suffered times of commercial insolvency for  various reasons. Many survived and  became viable pre-pandemic through  recognition of need for  restructuring and infusions of substantial funds both  public and private.

It might be vogue  for those with a  vindictive  mentality  to happily  dismiss Thai Air to the rubbish bin while pretending to sympathize with the more direct masses involved  with the cessation of mass  tourism but the  many people involved  as employees of Thai Air  number among the same !

Perhaps "Collectors" of  emblems for National air carriers  need seek items of memorabilia other than Thai Air including of their own ? Even if only  to dance on it and then  burn it ! Like a  MAGA  cap !????

Sorry  Greta! I jest. But what better to do with a cheap Chinese  made item littering the USA  ?

46 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

I voted for on both, but the euthanasia bill doesn't go far enough for me, though it's a start.

I think many voted against the mj on the basis it wouldn't stop the gangs being involved. It's already easy to get as much as wanted, or so I'm told, and the cops won't arrest anyone with small amount. They've better things to do with their time.

I am genuinely curious  to know why  you  say "does not  go far  enough ".

5 minutes ago, garzhe said:

The sickness of religions  

No argument  from me !

2 minutes ago, Ganesh108 said:

 

I would dispute that there's any illegitimate manipulation. How many times does the 'prophet' speak of killing infidels? 100 or so?

I think it is meant in the context of "defending the right" as opposed to inflicting the  belief. I am no scholar of the Koran but I seem to recall the Bible contains a similar claim.

1 hour ago, Ganesh108 said:

Islam and dictatorship go hand in hand. Islam is fascism. 

I have  many friends  who are Muslim and in open discussion of the radical acts  not one of them has expressed anything less than disgust and genuine horror for what they see as illegitimate manipulation of the words in the Koran.

They are also saddened and resentful of the fact that all Muslim are generally perceived as militant radical potential  terrorists which too often is encouraged  for political reason while the base cause for the influx of refugees is due to the interference and conflict exacerbated by Western nations.

The accepted incubation period of 5<14 days has been shown not be 100% valid. That it has been claimed her infection was not related to others identified in same quarantine location may be based on a differentiation in the strain of virus which  does  vary geographically. Such  details are not convenient to successful headlines !

Proposals about reducing quarantine to 10 days remain only that so far and likely aimed at "testing the wind of opinion" from official agencies  and the wider public.

The uptick of infection in most global locations which ordinarily would be a major source of tourism on any level should put paid to it becoming a reality if  common sense prevails.

Having come this  far along in minimizing the health impact at the inevitable cost to the significant tourism sector how clever would it be to invite the high probability of destroying that success?

The Thai Govt. has  enough internal issues without risking public backlash over new imported covid-19 in the  community.

If the "Authorities" desire better international PR they would do better to firstly accommodate those foreigners  who already have financial investments and assets in Thailand that they are currently effectively locked  away from while offering preferential enticements  to reluctant visitors.

There seems to be a relentless  march of the  typhoons/storms this year .

For those who take notice  even in Australia they are constantly eying the sky never knowing if there is a need  to  duck  or not!

44 minutes ago, polpott said:

 

Errr.....I'll take your word for it. 555

lol.  Of  course . You are  a wonderful  example  of  just  what is  required . Many  thanks. ????

At the  11th  hour  McConnell plays  his card! To the  detriment  of ?

Chinless  wonders   exist in the  playground  they never wish  to  escape from until they  find  retribution .

How  ironic they are the  product  of that which they prefer  to perpetuate !