xylophone

That's about the best post on here, whereas some others mention the word "greed" as the driver for going to work in another country, however I look at it differently: – if a supposedly genuine Thai woman offers a job overseas with good money and conditions, why wouldn't they consider it? After all wanting a better income rather than the paltry sum they are probably getting at the moment, can in my opinion, never be construed as "greed", just looking for a better situation in life, however many of them are gullible and believe what they are told and I feel for those poor girls. In fact I worry about a lady friend of mine whose daughter was recruited to go to Myanmar to work near the casino, and I wonder if she is amongst the poor girls who are caught in this trap. A sad situation indeed.

That has to be the understatement of the year for that particular poster, because he is an out and out trump supporter and in his eyes, trump can do no wrong. I would like to be able to classify his response as "confirmation bias" but it doesn't fit into that category, just plain brainwashed or stupidity, take your pick.

Yep, sure does, so time to round up more buffoons to believe in Humpty Trumpty and his pleas of innocence – – yeah right! Time to nail the grifter!!

An update on my penultimate post, inasmuch as what was once "Canada house", then a "Gentleman's Club" has been sold (re-leased) to Thai folk, however I've no idea what it is going to become, but one would hope that they would remove the ridiculous façade and turn it back into a cheap guesthouse, which it was originally, with of course the obligatory small bar at the entrance. Time will tell. I also noticed that much farther south on Nanai, a long-standing bar called, "Ting Tong Bar" has almost ceased to exist whilst undergoing some pretty radical restructuring, and I've no idea what it is going to be, but it was supposedly famous for its fish and chips, as well as being a bar. Unfortunately it adjoins another bar, the resurrected "Island Bar" so I'm sure that hasn't done much for its business! Nothing is happening as regards the "555" café/restaurant which has been closed for some while now even though there is a sign outside indicating that it is an Italian restaurant, but nothing has happened on that score for more than a year or two? And to add to the woes of Nanai Road, a couple of small guesthouses/hotels which are located a few metres south of the entrance to Soi Banzaan and were closed for a while and then opened again, have now closed again. One can only assume lack of business? Unfortunately I can foresee the same thing happening to a bar and café/restaurant at the very south end of Nanai, which adjoins a massage shop, neither of which do much in the way of business. There are other empty shops around the place, so perhaps the joys surrounding the resurrection of Patong have been short lived??

I watched the movie "Gold" last night as I had never seen it before although it was released about seven years ago, and was amazed at how much weight Matthew McConaughey had put on for the role in the film. It was a very enjoyable and centred around a mining scandal which occurred in the 1990s and which I remember reading about at the time. Some of the characters in the film were actually an amalgam of two or three actual folk in the scandal, and the ending is doctored to make it a little more enjoyable, but the film is loosely based on the mining scandal and is worth a watch IMO.

No he didn't although he did try to claim that he had a hand in it. This from Reuters: As for Geller leading the US to the whereabouts of Saddam: “At the time of his capture, U.S. commanders said a source close to the fugitive had given him up under interrogation”.

A good ol song from Kiwi Shona Laing!

Talking of bloated politicians..................

Thanks for understanding my point of view, but "cos I can't see it it don't exist" isn't what I was saying, because I can't see electricity but I know it exists. Another poster was saying about how many billions of people in the world today believe in the afterlife/reincarnation, so if you take that over the many centuries we have been here, there would be trillions upon trillions of people who believe in this stuff, going back to the ancient Egyptians and beyond, yet not one of these trillions of people have been able to give us any proof.

I don't see many posts talking about a "universal fear that something may happen after our bodies go kaput" – – that's just your take on what you would like to believe. A bit like trying to have a discussion about how many fairies can fit on a pinhead....

Possible Doctor, now where's Mr Anderson?

That "sixth sense" is obviously that of a conman.

My birth was something which was seen and witnessed and actually took place, hence here I am, so not a fairytale, just an actual event. If the same could be said for "reincarnation" then I might just become a believer, as "The Monkees" sang. And as for our origins, well I'll leave that up to others to discuss on another thread perhaps?

Well I'll grant you that atheism is also a belief system, and one of course that I believe in. Whilst I can't help the fact that there are a lot of people out there (4 billion you say) who believe in reincarnation, much as the ancient Egyptians did, which is why they buried various artefacts with their dead, in order to help them in their "Afterlife", I'm a great believer in facts and when someone can prove that there is an afterlife, or come back from the dead, then maybe I'll change my stance. Despite what you think I'm not closed minded and I'm always open to discussion on subjects which can be proven, one way or another, not "fairytales" which have no basis in reality, just in someone's mind. Thank you for your advice about "try to look at what it is in fact that you are scared of when looking at afterlife", but I will forego that advice, because I'm not scared of dying (or the supposed afterlife) and I certainly know that I won't be back after that, or in fact living high and wide in my afterlife! Your responses remind me very much of the few times that I have been accosted by Mormons over the years, and I remember saying to a couple of them after they had said, "have you found Jesus"?, To which I replied, "I didn't know he was missing". Which didn't go down too well.

I don't really see that it will make any difference, but I don't really have a belief system, inasmuch as I am an atheist to all intents and purposes, and don't believe in an afterlife or any other such claptrap – – when you die, you decompose and no longer exist, simple as that. Although, religions, charlatans, hustlers and cults have made a lot of money out of getting people to believe otherwise. There you go........

Belief systems of some folk!!

Thanks to you I managed to watch the Rolf Harris doco via my Nord VPN and found it interesting, though not riveting (don't ask me why). It appears the main accuser was his daughter's best friend, and although there were other accusations of groping and the like, that was the most serious. It was suggested that he was a paedophile, but he had a liking for females in general, and also for groping them one way and another – – a creepy man, a pervert and a paedophile and I just can't understand how someone like that can get away with it for so long, especially when there were rumours circulating in the entertainment industry about his unsavoury behaviours.

It's a confusing picture according to the latest reports I've read, because the dam was built in the 1950s and there have been recent reports that it was in a "dangerous condition". In addition, water would readily flow over the dam when the reservoir was full, which wouldn't help the structural side of things one iota, and coupled with the fact that a while ago the reservoir was very low, so damage could also have occurred then. Meanwhile the blame game goes on...........

I bet you believe in Father Christmas too. Lol!!

Don't hold back......speak your mind!!! Lol

Didn't realise that that he died here, so just looked it up.........thanks.

I think I met one in Patong once, but then again.....................

Ah so, Grasshopper................

That applies to both me and Bangla, just to avoid any confusion!!

I wonder if it will be as successful as the Catholic Church hiding the information on their paedophile priests, because more and more of them are being found out!