Stevemercer

Yeah, Coke in Thailand is now of the 'lower sugar' type although you can still get the old stuff in 6/12 packs. The new stuff tastes terrible. I'm sure people would still buy the classic Coke even if it costs more than other similar beverages.

Thai people I know all say they love trees and nature, but as soon as they buy a property the first thing to go is all the trees. Someone once offered 75,000 Baht to cut down and take all the trees on our property. My wife was dead keen. She can't see the point of plants unless you can eat them, or their fruit, or they have beautiful flowers.

It seems clear enough to me. If she had turned up at the airport with her ticket, gone to the immigration desk and paid her 20,000 Baht fine she would have been allowed to depart. But if she just tried to catch her flight (because she did bot have 20,000 Baht and/or was unaware of the self-reporting requirement) she would have been stopped and detained at Border Cotrol

What is the difference between the recent American (tariff) versus Australian (devalue currency) approaches to boost their economies. Tarrifs are meant to discourage imports and (hopefully) boost the domestic economy. Australia takes the approach of pushing down the Australian dollar to acheive the same outcome (e.g. make imports more expensive, boost the domestic economy and give a competitive advantage to what Australia does best). Which approach actually works? The Australia approach centres the pain on everyday Australians through lower living standards. The American approach tries to transfer the pain to America's importers, but can backfire by making America's competitors even more competitive and ultimately making Americans worse off.

The Baht is still very strong. I think most Australian tourists, if value for money is the key criteria, will keep going to Bali. Even Thai people can have a cheaper holiday in Bali, than domestically, because of the strong Baht.

What I liked about Cambodia was no dogs all over the place. The few I did see were skinny, starved and cancerous looking. The little kids tend to swarm all over you at tourism places. The beggars won't take Riel, American dollars only. The women are fantastic. I have to say the most memorable massages I have ever had were in Sien Reap from women just in from the countryside. But the infrastructure is poor. Driving back into Thailand and Thailand looks so modern, prosperous and clean. Similar jump in standrds as going from Thailand to a modern western country.

I knew of a case of a Thai woman convicted for the same offence back in 2010. She got 10 years jail followed by deportation. The 'victim' came willingly to Australia to work the sex trade (the 'sponsor' paid her airfares, arranged her tourist visa and accomodation). But she got caught working on a tourist visa. She was interned in Villawood awaiting deportation, but volunteered evidence against her 'sponsor'. In return for her testimony (and noting the trial might take years) she was released back into the community, under police sponsoship, and given a visa leading to residency in return for her testimony. I'm not saying who is right or wrong, but the accused doesn't deserve the death penalty devil.

I hope the brave man recovers, but his brain may have been without oxygen for too long. I guess the lesson is to always have 2 or 3 people when tacking a big python like that.

Hmm. not really news. I think every expat in Thailand (those who knew Warney's reputation) was speculating this drug contributed to his death at the time. We would have all assumed he was in Thailand mainly for the girls.

I give my wife half my income. Share and share alike. Isn't marriage a partnership?

Happiness is just a state of mind. It is not a thing, person or place. Having said that, I understand what the OP means. I sometimes despair that it is impossible to sleep with all the available women in Thailand. There are just too many. You are really only limited by your lust or money (in that order). So many beautiful women everywhere.

I am lucky becasue my Thai wife is ex-public servant and I am covered by her Thai social security. For me, the Thai system is much faster, more efficient and cheaper than the Australian national Medicare system. In Australia there are all sorts of co-payments, payments for prescription medicines etc. In Thailand it is all completely free (so far) and probably saves me in the order of 40,000 Baht per year for my day to day medical needs. I also have private insurance (50,000 Baht at age 66), but am yet to use. To be honest, the Thai medical system is a big plus for me to stay in Thailand. I'm a bit nervous about throwing myself back into the system if I moved back to Australia.

I try to avoid the sun and wear long trousers, shirt and hat outside. I put sunscreen on any exposed skin. I guess coming from Australia, where skin cancer is common, is behind this. I'm always surprised to see foreigners wandering around in shorts and lying in the sun. I assume they are from colder European countries where sunlight is a treat.

What would happen is someone tattoed a likeness of The Prophet on their arm?

I miss Rooster and sometimes wonder what happened to him. Did he ever write his book?

Yes, I have to agree the charging infrastructre is much better in Thailand. Every village on a highway seems to have chargers, on top of those in service centres etc. Our small town has half a dozen located off the main road. I've never seen them used, but they are there. The owners offer a service whereby you can drop off your car at their secure charging facility, they will give you a lift home and message/take you back to your car when it is fully recharged (100 Baht for this extra service).

Ha ha. I was talking about hardware upgrades. Try replacing/upgrading the hardware on a Chinese brand EV in 5 years to take advantage of new tech for recharging or simply to keep all the high tech functions running. In my opinion, technology still has a way to go on EVs. Each year, EVs will have more range, faster charging and greater efficiencies. You will need need to upgrade every 4 or 5 years if you want to keep up.

Drive Australia recently did a comparison driving identical BMWs from Melbourne to Sydney (900 km) One was electric and one was petrol. Apart from that, the cars were identical. Surprisingly (?) the petrol car was 20% cheaper than the electric on fuel costs and made the journey 3 hours quicker. EVs are, of course, cheaper if you can charge at home and take advantage of cheaper tarrifs. They make sense around the city. But for longer driving, they don't make so much sense. Fast chargers can be relatively expensive and often seem to be broken adding time and uncertainty to a long drive.

Unfortunately, modern EVs are high tech and, with the technology increasing every year, are disposal. Figure on an average life span of 5 years. So, yes, it is true, the battery will probably outlast most modern EVs. The supporting electronics will die first and won't be worth replacing. It's like computers back in the late 1990s. You bought the best and most up to date you could afford, but knowing full well you will need to upgrade key components within a couple of years, and replace the computer after about 5 years if you want to keep up with the latest hardware/software.

If it had been a wild tiger it would would have been hunted and shot as a danger to the community. A dog kills someone, and is a danger to the community, but it seems to be tolerated.

I've seen the photos showing North Korean and Russian POWs in their cells in Ukraine. Even POWs get better treatment..

Yes, last January had the odd cold day, but was pretty balmy. The month was slightly above the long term average.

We are heading for the coldest January in over 10 years. But, of course, it doesn't fit the narrative of climate change and won't be of news interest anywhere (we only ever hear when things are hotter than normal).

It works both ways. I've met many Thai woman who have been lied to, scammed and dudded by their foreign bofriend.

Having to go barefoot into the dentist (and many doctors too). While I'm all for bare feet, it seems strange wearing no shoes in a surgery where there could be chemical spills, blood/human wastes, needles or other hazards.