newnative

This seems to be getting out of hand. A bigger police presence is needed and these Kuwaiti troublemakers need to be deported already.

True. My sister-in-law has a problem with that in Bangkok. Spouse and I are in an ok area in Pattaya near Lake Mabprachan.

Cracks me up that there are some who still believe this nonsense. Let me get an application to The Flat Earth Society in the mail to you. No, he lost badly, by over 7 million votes. He lost both the popular vote and the Electoral College. Also lost the popular vote in 2016, by 2.8 million, but was appointed president by the EC, over the wishes of the voters. Note, Trump didn't dispute that election, even though he lost the popular vote. The few cases of election fraud I have seen reported have involved Republicans, not Democrats. Someone voting his dead wife, etc. Of course, the biggest offender is Trump, himself, trying to coerce votes in Georgia, among other offenses.

That's exactly what he did in the first 'debate' with Biden. Note his non-answer to the child care question, and many others. You're so right that there needs to be strong moderators--otherwise the 'debate' is just a farce, another campaign stop for Donald to spew his lies, insults, and other assorted nonsense, no matter what the debate question is. Should he do the same in the debate with Harris, she needs to call him out every single time and be on the offensive from the get-go, rather than defensive. Fight fire with fire and attack what he says first, regardless if it's the debate question. Start her answer with, "I'll answer that question if there's time but first I can't ignore the lie that the worst president in history just told. Here's the truth . . ." .

Not sure what you mean by your comment but the Darkside is booming, with new housing estates all over the place, new restaurants, and a big hospital soon to be finished. Lots of choice with housing in about all price points. Also lots of year-round residents, so not sure 'this time of year' applies. It was interesting that during covid, a number of 7-11s in town temporarily closed but I don't think a single one of them closed on the Darkside, and, in fact, more were opening.

There are plenty of quiet areas in Pattaya. Pattaya has a number of distinct neighborhoods and there are quiet areas in most of them. For example, my spouse and I had a condo right on the beach in Wongamat, which was a quiet area in the part where we were. We also lived in a quiet area of south Jomtien, away from the bars and nightlife. Now, we have a home in a housing project on the Darkside, also in a quiet area well off one of the main roads, which can be noisy with traffic. Although it's quiet, we can easily jump on the Motorway and be at Terminal 21, Index, the hospital, Tesco Lotus, Home Pro, etc. in 15 minutes or so. There are quiet areas, you just need to look a bit.

Seems like a lot of work for such a tiny payoff.

Poorly paid, actually. State job. But, you could retire with a pension once you reached 30 years of service, which I did at age 53. Virginia had a rather innovative pension option at the time, which I used, where you could opt for a larger pension in your first years of retirement, which reduced somewhat once you qualified for Social Security. But, you still got COLAs every year, so the pension was increasing each year. I worked another 5 years part-time at the same job to supplement the pension, while also flipping condos, then moved to Thailand. Took Social Security early, at age 62, which some say not to do, but, in my case, I think it was the best option and absolutely no regrets on that. The library job involved a lot of different duties, none of which was to 'read books all day'. And, thank goodness--even though I like to read, that would soon get boring.

Don't stop there.

Not a mention that I could see as to whether he liked his job or not. That was super important to me when I was working. I really liked my job and my co-workers. If not, I would have looked for something else. With my government job, and likely this person's, the pay was less but the benefits were better--including a good pension plan with COLAs. I have Thai inlaws who work in the private sector. At 60, they are required to retire, with a one-time lump sum payment that has to last them the rest of their lives. I'd rather earn somewhat less but have a guaranteed pension when I retire--I'd hate being tasked to make a one-time payment last me the rest of my life.

It's not racism, it's nationalism. Nationalism can be seen as discrimination by some but it's not racial discrimination, as it does not target a specific race or ethnicity, just non-Thai citizens.

I think anyone moving to Thailand from a 1st world country realizes they are moving to a country that in various ways is not yet at that stage. Nevertheless, Thailand is making progress. More liberal political parties are becoming more popular, especially with the younger citizens--that is likely to just get stronger. Gay marriage is about to be passed. Thailand has a universal health care system. While woefully inadequate, Thailand has made a start on a social security system. Certainly there is much more to do, but that is true for most 2nd and 3rd tier countries, and 1st tier countries, as well, with some things.

I don't agree that Thailand is a right-wing country. As for why there are more expats here of a liberal nature, I believe it is because liberals are just more open to new things, new ideas, new ways of doing things, new ways of thinking. Gay marriage? Yes. Trans rights? Yes. Social programs and safety nets? Yes. Environmental protection? Yes. Health care for everyone and not just those who can afford it? Yes. Liberals are just more open to change. Period. And, what could be a bigger change than picking up stakes and moving to a different country on the other side of the world?

Texas averages at least 1,300 murders a year. In 2020 there were over 1,900. So, from your 2011 to 2023, at least 15,000 murders. According to you, 1,000 were done by illegal aliens. That leaves 14,000 murders by upstanding US citizens. Great work, Americans.

U.S. citizens most likely to be arrested for violent crime Nick Smith, Cassie Buchman Updated: FEB 17, 2022 / 10:53 AM CST (NewsNation Now) — United States-born citizens are more likely to contribute to crime rates than undocumented immigrants, according to Texas Criminal Justice System data. U.S. citizens were more than two times more likely to be arrested for a violent crime than an undocumented immigrant, this data showed, and are more likely to engage in every type of felony crime except traffic violations. Traffic violations were the only crime most likely to be committed by legal immigrants. In general, legal immigrants are about two times more likely to commit a crime than those who are undocumented overall. About 800 out of every 100,000 legal immigrants were found to commit a crime, compared to 400 per 100,000 undocumented immigrants.

Looks absolutely horrible from the photo--a sea of ugly pillars. Please don't build it.

I spent my career working in a community college library. Liked my job and my co-workers, and the mix of students. If given a do-over, I might choose a career in interior design, instead. But, I've sort of had a second career doing just that after my retirement in my early 50s and it has been very satisfying. One of the best things I ever did was buying my first condo in my 30s, after too many years of renting. Certainly, it was the smartest thing I ever did. I would be in semi-deep kimchi right about now had I rented all my life.

No, just like 2020.

Why not 49 days? Or, 60 days? What's the big deal when you vote? The idea is to get as many registered voters as possible to exercise their right to vote. Which, I know, is anathema to Republicans, who try to suppress the vote as much as possible, by making voting as difficult and/or intimidating as possible. The opposite should be what is wanted, regardless of party--safe and convenient voting by a variety of methods, including by mail and in-person voting.

Great!

Good news!

Thank you!

Had no idea they were still in business in the US. We had a rather tired outlet years ago where I lived.

Spouse and I are building a new house and we have installed an EV charger. We are waiting to see the new BYD Seal U suv and hope there will be a plug-in hybrid version. We think our next car will either be a plug-in hybrid as our only car or we keep the CR-V we have and buy a small all-electric for mostly around town use. Plug-in hybrids seem to be limited in choice at the moment here in Thailand. Hopefully, there will be some models from Honda and Toyota soon.

Good for her campaign. It's not an insignificant number to gain the support of. Gallup puts the USA LGBTQ+ population at 7.6%. That's more than Asians, at 7%. With Trump/Vance as a big threat to their rights, hopefully this group will be actively volunteering to assist the Harris campaign and enthuastically voting for her.