newnative

I don't think it's a case of favorites. It's just the way things have been the past five years or so. Tourist numbers from all countries were up in 2019 except for Singapore and Australia, down very slightly. The myth that western tourist numbers were declining in the years before covid is just that--a myth. Also a myth that most of the Chinese visitors were on low-budget package tours--the majority were independent travelers. Perception does not always equal reality. Numbers from some Asian countries, however, were increasing at a higher rate, and, in some cases such as China and India, a much higher rate as more Asian travelers could afford to travel and picked nearby Thailand to visit. It's true their spending per tourist was somewhat less but the numbers were more. Does a country with a big focus on tourism want just a few big spenders from the Middle East, who spent the most per visitor, or lots of tourists of all stripes from many countries to fill all the different types of hotel rooms?

I was just going to say the same thing! Get rid of them already!

Sorry, can't remember. What we looked at was an empty shell so it needed everything. I think this concept has become less popular with buyers--most of the new condos come fully fitted and some are fully furnished, as well.

I'm not sure why. I think some of the back units have been sold, here and there. When we lived there we saw air con units on some of the balconies. We looked at buying one of the floor-thru interior back units. If I remember, it was very long with a high kitchen window by the back entrance and a set of balcony doors at the front end looking towards the ocean. The space was large but we thought awkward and the lack of windows was a drawback for us.

He is extremely lazy, read only tweets if even that, has a very short attention span, thinks he knows everything while knowing very little about anything except swindles and tax avoidance . . .

Dismal. Thailand should be rightly embarrassed by the lowest of the low ranking. Seems to get worse each year instead of improving. Maybe this big black eye will spur some movement in English education but likely not. Instead, there will be a splashy announcement that Thailand is the new hub of something or other. But, not English learning.

Totally, totally agree. The smartest thing I ever did was to scrape together the money to buy my first condo years ago. Finally got out of the rent trap--throwing money out the window to the landlord every month. After that it was no looking back. Never lost money on any of the properties--here or in the US--and home ownership has been lots of fun. Usual disclaimer--nothing wrong with renting, especially in Thailand, if that's your preference.

That nursing home in OZ sounds nice. I don't think there's much like that in the US at a reasonable cost, although there may be government programs I am unaware of. My Mom was in a private room in a nursing home for the last 10 years of her life, fairly similar to what you describe. The cost for the 10 years was around $700,000, so $70,000 a year on average, although it was cheaper in the beginning years. Likely the current yearly expense is more than $70,000 since she died 3 years ago. If I went into her same place with my pension and SS I'd be running about a $20,000 a year deficit on that $70,000. I think I can do better here if the times comes when I may need home care. I'd prefer to stay in my own home and have live-in home care, which I think I could easily afford here but not in the US.

My partner and I owned there a number of years ago. Good location. We had a beautiful ocean and shore view from our high floor 48 sqm studio condo, which we divided and made into a junior 1 bedroom. Limited, reserved garage parking--we rented a space from someone that owned one of the garage spaces and wasn't using it. Very limited amenities. No gym, etc. The pool seemed too small for the number of units but fortunately the whole back of the building was mostly unsold when we were there. When we hit Pattaya in 2010 there were not that many seaview condo choices and View Talay was one of the big players. Plenty of choices these days.

My Dad lived to almost 95; my Mom to 101. He was sharp as a tack till the day he died, she had Alzheimers her last 10 years. You play the hand you're dealt. My parents stayed vital for as long as they could by having activities they enjoyed, by taking trips to places they hadn't been to, by volunteering for things like Meals on Wheels, and by staying engaged with current events and family. I'm trying to follow their good example. I have a decade to go before I hit 80 but I still feel, if not young, about the same as I did in my 50s. Hope that continues; I try to keep a positive, optimistic attitude. I'm quite enjoying living in Thailand with my Thai partner; the move here was a good decision for both of us. Just finished a nice morning swim. Life is good.

Against. I want the option to always use cash--my choice as to how I pay.

Welcome to Thailand.

'The people have spoken.' What a crock. The fanatical followers of Musk's twitter account have spoken. I have a twitter account but I am not on much and I was not even aware of the poll being taken before the results were posted and the decision made. Talk about rigging the outcome. Originally, Musk said a panel was going to decide if Trump was reinstated. What happened to that idea, I wonder.

Yes, let's see the dozen. I want to see solid, reputable, verified data that clearly shows the election was 'stolen' from Donald Trump in 2020. Have at it.

Do we reset the Lie-O-Meter to zero or just keep counting? Last time I checked the lie count was 30,573.

I've always enjoyed reading and that didn't change when I moved to Thailand. Still love to read--mostly novels, mysteries, detective series, etc. I like to read an actual paper book but lately I've been reading books I've downloaded on to my laptop. Recently finished the new Elizabeth George and an older Nelson DeMille novel I missed when it first came out.

Yes, why don't they get together and buy the rights and pay for it by selling advertising commercials. They could also promote their own products.

No, not a mess. Just the way elections have been evolving. With some states allowing mail-in ballots to be sent up to and including election day, there will always be a delay until they arrive and are counted. Delay doesn't equal mess. There's no need to be in a hurry; states realize the process will not be finished on election night. California, as one example, has until December 8 to certify its election results.

One of those no-win situations. It's taking longer because extra care is being taken in counting all the mailed-in ballots to ensure that no fraud occurs--which leads the election deniers to claim once again that the election is being 'stolen' because it is taking so long to count ballots. Many of the outstanding House races are in California, which allows mailed-in ballots to be mailed on election day and allows them to be received up to 7 days after the election. In close races, which the remaining ones are, they need to make sure all mailed ballots have been received and counted before a winner is declared. Alaska is a whole 'nother story with its ranked choice voting, which also takes time if no candidate initially wins more than 50% of the vote. With the shift of some states moving to mailed-in balloting, and more voters choosing to use mail-in ballots to vote, coupled with allowing the ballots to be mailed on election day, we're going to have to get used to waiting for complete election results for several weeks or more.

Which prompted Donald Trump to make his infamous statement regarding proposals to make voting easier: 'They had things, levels of voting that if you'd ever agree to it you'd never have a Republican elected in this country again.'. Republicans are still trying to suppress the vote with over 60 tactics that have been identified by the Voting Rights Alliance, an organization founded to protect voter rights.

Yes.

I missed that one. I'll have to check it out! Thanks!

One of my favorite authors with his Travis McGee series. I do remember reading Condominium when it came out all those years ago. And, here we go again.

The wait is due to American voting these days. What's taking so long is counting the large numbers of mailed-in ballots. You remember that dunce Trump thought he had won election night because he was ahead, in some cases, with election day voting. That was especially evident in Pennsylvania, which hadn't even started to count mailed-in votes, which heavily-favored Biden. Trump still lies that Pennsylvania was 'stolen' from him. The vote also takes longer because votes mailed-in on election day must also be counted in many places--so there is a wait for them to even be delivered. If a race is a blow-out a winner can be projected, knowing that the mailed-in ballots won't make a difference. This is not the case with races like the Nevada and Arizona Senate and a number of the House races. I've looked at a number of the undeclared House races and found leads of only a few thousand votes, sometimes only a few hundred. In those races, every absentee and mail-in vote does, indeed, need to be counted, which takes time.

SOP for the biggest grifter in the world.