newnative

Yes, that's about all he accomplished while he was president--a big fat tax cut for himself. Everything else was just basically routine housekeeping--filling Supreme Court vacancies, the budget, etc. Although bragged about and promised numerous times, he never got around to that 'beautiful' health care plan he insisted would be much better than Obamacare.

Centara , already mentioned, is a terrific family resort. Amari would be another possibility for a hotel. The new addition they built is oriented towards families. Centre Point Space looks fun and very family-oriented. Plenty of family activities for a weekend in Pattaya. Nong Nooch Gardens is excellent, with several shows in addition to the extensive gardens. There are two new water parks to try, plus Underwater World and the Dolphinarium. Pattaya Floating Market. Harbor Land has opened at Terminal 21. Pattaya Beach and Jomtien Beach have both been widened. Have fun.

So, why was it only used once? Why tear it down?

Yaa!

I'm American and it might be my number 1 destination, too. Lived there for several years as a child and was back for a visit in a few years ago. Hope to go again sometime next year.

Yes, I read the news. What 'they want' is irrelevant. TAT and the tourist bureaucrats can come up with all sorts of wants and schemes to justify their jobs (look, we're working!!!) but people will travel where they want to travel, if travel is allowed--and lots of people like to travel to nearby places. USA get lots of Canadian visitors, Mexico gets lots of USA visitors. Same for Europe and Asia--lots of nearby travel. Thailand gets lots of nearby travel the same way Europe and North America does--it's just growing as people from nearby countries are increasingly able to afford to travel. Likely this will continue when economic conditions improve. The tourist bureaucrats may give lip service to wanting big spenders; they will welcome tourists of all economic strata, as they should. Anybody with a lick of sense knows Thailand needs a wide variety of tourists to fill the wide variety of hotel rooms being offered--from hostels to 5-star hotels and everything in-between. In December my partner and I will visit Spain and Portugal. Did we look at single thing by the Spain and Portugal travel departments? No. Is the Spain Tourist Board also looking for 'big spenders'? I have no idea and, like I said, not relevant.

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.