Stevemercer

Skyscanner allows you to select/chose the currency for pricing and payment. Obviously it is best to pay in your 'home' currency, if possible, to avoid exchange rates.

Aged care is crying out for workers, mainly peple to visit the elderly at home and take them shopping etc. But I imagine you need to go through police checks/accreditation before you can work. You might be able to register and do everything necessary online while still in Thailand.

It's a strange world. NZ adds extra taxes to diesel while Thailand subsidises diesel!

Electricity is becoming a scarcer resource because governments and the public are baulking at new coal, gas or nuclear base-loading powere stations. Look at the resistance to Thailand trying to build new gas power plants. Renewables will keep adding peak power, but cannot supply more baseline power. As demand continues to rise, prices will continue to rise. All governments tax petrol/gas and the revenues are significant contributions to revenues spent on roads and [ublic infrastructure. This revenue stream will need to be replaced as electric vehicles become increasingly mainstream and demands on domestic electric grids increases. Governments can increase vehicle registration costs or add surcharge taxes to electricity to compensate. They will do both.

I agree the price of electric cars will go down. However, the price of electricity will go up astronomically. The money for roads maintenance has to come from somewhere (most countries add it as tax to the price of petrol) and will hike up the price of electricity as the uptake of electric cars surge. At the moment the running cost for electric is about half that of petrol. Expect comparative electricity prices to reach parity within 5 years and double within 10 years (when there will be more electric cars on the road than IC cars), Of course, governments will keep adding taxes to petrol to articifically maintain parity. The only way to really save money will be to have a household solar and battery array. Recharge the car overnight from the solar battery. Connect the car battery to the house to run the house when needed. When car batteries typically reach 100 kWh, I would think about buying an electric car. The range, in real world circumstances, would be 500 km and the battery would be big enough to be a useful supplement in a household solar system.

My ex-wife got the house back in Australia. When I retired I had to make the decision to start afresh in Australia or Thailand (with my new Thai wife). I had enough money to buy a house in one country or another, but not both. We chose Thailand and built a house. After 10 years here I sometimes wonder what would have happened if we had bought a house in Australia. I've no doubt it would have been a great investement and probably doubled in value over that time. On the other hand, our house/land in Thailand is probably worth similar to when we purchased it 10 years ago. Like most farang I did not fully appreciate why the cost of land/houses is so cheap over here. One of the reasons is that there is only a limited market for second hand properties out here in rural Thailand and it is easy to over-capitalise. Houses do not appreciate (it's like buying a new car with the value dropping off quickly) although the land will go up if the location is favourable. Similarly, Thailand is an aging country and the population has levelled off and will decline. There is no chance of massive migration to pump growth (unlike Australia which welcomes 500,000 new migrants each year). I don't regret our choices because it was a life-style thing.

We don't know the full circumstances. Finding the body in a car park is a question, as suicides are usually alone and unassisted. But presumably the police have the results of the autopsy, have traced his final movements (including CCTV if available) and have checked his finances and mobile phone over the last few weeks for any unusual transactions/interactions.

I think, in general, Thai woman fall in love easily. They are like teenagers. Mostly, they can fall out of love and move on.

Interesting thread...I always wondered about the different coloured pipes. I didn't realise you could buy different wall thicknesses of plastic pipe. I use one of the local hardware shops and we can usually figure out what I want or need, despit my lack of Thai. Back in Australia, you would always go to one of the big chain stores because they were cheaper than local hardwares (if any remain). That's not the case in Thailand. Often the smaller/local shop is cheaper, or the same price, and offers better service.

You need a Terbinafine anti-fingal cream. There seems to be some built-up resistance to other older antifungal creams in Thailand.

You shouldn't get flats if you buy new. If you do, and you are in an urban area, there is always a repair shop within 500 m. You can ride with a flat (if you have to) as long as you keep it slow and careful. Most often, you will have a slow leak, and you will only notice it in the morning when you go to ride and the tyre is flat. Have a pump handy at home so you can pump it and ride to the nearest bike repair place you trust close to where you live. They will normally fix it on the spot at minimal cost (maybe 200 Baht). I wouldn't worry about carrying any tools. Repair costs and transport for the bike (if needed) are ridiculously cheap). As I said above, find a bike shop close to where you live. They can probably organise just about anything you need (including picking up a dead bike). Most repairs that could strand you give plenty of warning if you listen to your bike (unfortunately us older and lazier riders do not listen and wait for the worse).

As others have said, it's a mixed bag. On the one hand, most of the larger/edible wildlife have been shot/eaten and you won't find much except in the protected national parks. On the other hand, Thailand is a tropical country so vegetation is rampant and there is life aplenty during thewet season. But it is mainly aquatic, amphibious, reptilian or invertebrate. If you live in south Thailand, adjacent to a national park, no doubt youwould see plenty of wildlife. I've rehabilitated about one hectare of previous waste land. You can grow just about anything in the tropical climate (assuming you have access to water during the dry season) but most of the attracted wildlife will be cryptic or those species that can survive alongside rural farming. It's not like Australia where you can stop for a picnic just about anywhere and attract a bevy of wildlife. I'm amazed at all the lakes, swamps and wetlands around Thailand, most of which are devoid of waterbirds. Having said that, Thai rice farmers are getting better educated and waterbirds seem to be making a comeback in many areas (where they were previously shot out). One good thing about Thailand is that the import controls are pretty slack and you can buy all sorts of exotic species at pet markets. For example, coming from Australia I was deprived of land tortoises and iguanas, which you can easily buy here. You can get all sorts of exotic fish to stock your ponds, some of them true river monsters. I used to have iguanas living in the trees and swimming across the pond to sit on the verandah waiting on a feed. Unfortunately the neighbours killed and ate them when we were away for a few weeks. I'm sure they would have gotten my Asian Tortoise as well, but it weighs about 30 kg and resents being 'manhandled' (he prefers to be moved around in the wheelbarrow). So you can get just about any exotic pet you want which, in my view, helps make up for the lack of local wildlife.

I think there would be more options and opportunities for them if they were educated in the west. Whether they are happy or not is another question. But I don't think we can make the judgement that they will be happier having a lesser education and not knowing so much about the troubles of the world.

I reckon it's because Thailand is (relatively) cheap meaning an average working bloke can pull the birds and live like a rock star. Try living a similar life-style in a western country. You can't do it without being rich, famous, young and/or handsome.

My wife, an Isan Thai, will not eat Japanese food because it may contain raw fish. However, she happily devours Isan delicacies such as raw prawns, crabs, beef and pork, along with sauces made with raw freshwater scaled fish (source of liver flukes).

I like the wet season in Thailand best (June - September). I love the cooling wind that comes with storms and seeing the torrential rain filling up my ponds. It's a lot of work for me, cleaning out the gutters, digging out the drainage lines, tidying up torn down trees etc. But everything is grren and alive. Having said that, this wet season has been a bust with rainfall <50% average. I don't mind 'winter' (October - January) although it only gets really cool for 3 or 4 weeks after Christmas. However, the humidity is normally gone. The 'build up' to the wet season (February - May) is, of course, often unbearably hot and humid punctuated by the odd wild storm. It's at this time of year I start to think maybe I should be elsewhere.

It's good that he was allowed to keep enough money in his pockets to catch a taxi. Although he could have just done a runner, I guess.

I hate it when you complain the food is too salty. They take it back to the kitchen and add sugar until it no longer tastes salty. So now you have a double dose - salt and sugar.

Naah...this one

I've got a Silver Machine.

Thailand is a good place for the elderly because of the general cultural respect for age and wisdom. It is not a barrier here. Not having moey is probably the only real barrier in Thailand. In my view, most western cultures/countries are for the young. There is a place for the elderly, but it is generally out of sight/out of mind.

Do you have an ATM card from one of the big banks? Most include accident insurance that will help pay for this sort of thing.

Western banks were like this in the 1970s, but were forced to become more customer orientated when Governments started to allow competition from building societies etc. Thai banks are still pretty much protected from new start-ups/competition by Government regulations.

Cooling fans, drip trays? Am I missing something here? Do people in Thailand still have working refrigerators from the 1960s?

Naah. I regret they are not co-ed. Melbourne Uni for me.