Stevemercer

The original post is easy enough to understand. No wonder so many Thai students seem shy and reluctant to try and talk English with a farang. They are worried they will get it all wrong and the farang will just laugh at them or ignore them. From the number of replies attacking the original poster's English they have good reason to be shy! I think it is a common problem with your Thai-in-laws. They don't really know how to interact with you. So it is easiest to just ignore you. Your wife is torn between supporting you or her Thai family. Don't push it, or force her to choose, because it will end badly. Just get on with your life and accept the way it is.

Are you going to build your own house on your girlfriends land? In that case you will have a contract with the builder and pay them in installments as building milestones are met

People who say they don't get bored tend to have little or no imagination. They certainly aren't very good company for us types that suffer from occasional boredom, particularly when we are actually in a bored state.

Retirement is a huge step. Whether you retire in your home country, Thailand or elsewhere, it's a big physical and mental adjustment, particularly living on a fixed income. For many people it's a challenging time and being in a foreign country might make the adjustment harder.

Best wishes and safe travels. I'm sure you'll find plenty to amuse yourself in Japan,

Sure, some bald men look good, but they started off exceptionally handsome when they had hair. If you are just starting to go bald, finasteride will stop any more loss.

I often use the handicapped toilet at service centres and malls, particularly for dumps. They are usually in better repair becasue they get less use. I always put on a limp for the benefit of anyone watching.

Living in the tropics certainly ages a person quicker. All that extra sun, insect bites, humidity and associated fungi/bacteria etc. etc. take their toll.

We never got the 'construction' meter replaced once our house was built and paid the construction tariff (double the normal domestic rate) for nearly 5 years before finally querying it. PEA helpfully worked out that we had paid an extra 75,000 Baht over the 5 year period. I think we had to pay a 'bribe' of 5000 Baht to get the new meter installed in a timely way (they said it would take 6 months).

Best wishes for a speedy recovery. Like others have said, I hope you can take it easy for a few months. I've had a few mates damaged in accidents who have quickly gotten back to their normal life-styles, only to suffer a heart attack or stroke from a blood clot that took time to work loose.

Our kitchen sink started draining slowly this year (despite periodic cleaning of the U-Bend under the sink). The problem ended up being a blockage in the drain pipe before it entered the concrete drainage pit. After digging everything up (as the OP has done) I could see that no water was flowing into the cement bore when the kitchen tap was on. I suggest doing something similar while you have the pipes all exposed to see where everything is going (or not going). Because of several 90 degree bends, I ended up cutting the drainage pipe in two places until I could get the hose in, clear the blockage, and get the water flowing back into the cement bore. I then had to use plastic sleeves to reconnect the pipe. Messy looking, but it is all buried again now. Another issue was flooding caused by the neighbours infilling at least a metre higher than us causing water to infiltrate through the top of the cement bores during heavy rain. I ended up digging a drain along our fence to keep most of the excess water away. Our house has three bathrooms and 6 of those buried bottomless concrete bore things (3 septic and 3 grey water), plus a kitchen sink and washing machine discharge. Unfortunately the kitchen sink and washing machine both flow into the grey water tank for the busiest bathroom. This tank is at the lowest end of our property and cops the most flood water as well. Meaning it is nearly always full during the rainy season and the surrounding ground boggy. The overflow now leaks out the top of the cement tank into the drainage channel I dug along the fence. Luckily there is enough gradient to take the worst of the overflow away from the house and into a depression.

Yes, Hamas knew the writing was on the wall following the 2020 Abrahams Accord when the United Arabs Emirate, Bahrain, Sudan and Morroca recognised Israel and normalised relations. Saudi Arabia is the next cab off the rank expressing willingness to normalise relations (pushed by the USA). Such recognition would doom Hamas to being a bit player as other Aran nations followed suite. Saudi recognition of Israel would be a game changer for the whole Middle East. Hamas is willing to sacrifice Arab lives to ensure Saudi Arabia doesn't recognise Israel and to keep the status quo.

I guess Hamas felt they had no choice as more and more Arab countries establish diplomatic relations with Israel and seek to normalise relations. Once Saudi Arabia is onboard, Hamas will be effectively cutt off from funding and negotiations. By striking Israel, and inviting massive retaliation, Hamas expects that Saudi Arabia and the remaining Arab countries will pause diplomatic negotiations (the Israel retaliation is bound to result in atrocities) leaving Hamas in the driving seat.

Maybe I am taking the question too literally. I am 64 now, in 2023, so naturally I don't want to give up 6 years to become 70 in the same year. Would I want to be 17 again in 2023, and gain 57 years? I guess so. But wait, if I was 17 again would I retain all my memories and experiences gained in 64 years? Or would I be starting again as a fresh-faced (more likely pimply) teenager who is a blank sheet? If the later, obviously the year 2023 holds no special significance because I won't have recollections or experience of past decades for comparison. So I'll make my own future with none of the expectations or prejudices I might have now. If the former, I'm not sure I want to live my life again. Of course, it would be a different life because external factors are so different now. If the question was would I like to go back in time to when I was 17 (with all the experiences and memories I have now), then the answer would be no. Sure, I could make my life different, and I would have an additional 57 years of life, but I already know the story and don't want to do it all again. I certainly don't want to go through all the same old externalhistory. But I would like to see the future and how things turn out. I don't place any particular significance on 2023 in comparison to 1970, 1999 or 2010. I would like to see a manned mission on Mars, flying cars for everyone, personal robots, genetically modified pets, maybe even clone myelf. So, yes, I would be 17 again in 2023. But I don't want to live my life again.

Yes, I had the same problem. I rang up the SCB help line and got an operator (in English) to walk me through the process to change the settings through my SCB application. Now my SCB ATM card works for international transactions

I'm not sure a usufruct (if possible) will help your situation because it would normally expire on your death. I would have thought that wills leaving the property to an orphanage may be contestable by the family. You would obviously need to appoint an Executor you trust to arrange the sale and finance transfers. However, this would be a long time in the future and circumstances may change. I wouldn't feel 100% secure that the family would still end up not getting the home. As another poster has suggested, one possible option would be to sell the house/land in the near future and move elsewhere. This would be a big decision for your wife because her family would see it as a snub (which it is). Besides, apart from the inheritance problem, you may both be happy in your current home and situation. I guess it boils down whether, in time, the knowledge that your in-laws may get the house/land starts to outweigh the happiness you have in owning and living in your current home. Maybe you should, quietly, start putting out feelers about selling and moving on in a few years time.

I would have to agree. The beaches at Phuket are cleaner and there are even a few waves. Swimming in the Gulf is like taking a tepid bath.

As Dr Sheryl says 'Metformin is dirt cheap and has an excellent safety profile'. There is some evidence that Metformin is a 'wonder drug' that may have the potential to prolong life, not just for mild diabetics. It might be worthwhile researching a bit more to see if it might benefit you in the long term. If your grandfather lived to be over 100, you might have good genetics. It would be good to do everything in your power now so as to improve your quality of life in the future. Taking Metformin, under a doctor's supervision, would be something that is cheap, easy and effective.

I just glanced at this. As others have said, block her and do not respond to her. She just wants money. She will not contact the police or immigration. If she tried she would be ignored. You will not be blacklisted. It is ancient history in everyone's mind except yours. Learn from your experience. When you next return to Thailand do not share contact details unless it is more than a one night stand.

The new PM has shown the colours of the new government - they will side with the establishment. If the PM had a reform agenda to try and end corruption, he would have gone for 'Big Joke'. Instead, the PM has gone for more of the same. He continues the tradition of appointing deputies as chief who are in their last year before retirement. The establishment wins all around. The new chief will get a boost to his pension and CV for appointment to prestigious government positions post-retirement. The new Chief of Police will not rock the boat, and will not make any changes to the system, given he will be retiring in a year and has too much to lose. 'Big Joke' is probably the least corrupt in the current line-up and, in my view, genuinely wants to reform the police force for the benefit of Thailand, rather than his own benefit. If the Move Forward Party had been allowed to form government there is no doubt whom they would have picked.

It's just a tit for tat. 'Big Joke'was investigating the fatal shooting of the police officer by a village head and the subsequent cover-up by police present. The officer's supervisor committed suicide a few days later. The supervisor was a mate of the other leading contender for the police chief job who has taken personal umbrage at 'Big Jokes's' relentless pursuit of the truth in that corruption case (and that may have pressured the supervisor into suicide over his subordinate's murder.

The MRI/CT report will be in English, written by the chief radiologist (doctor). Most hospitals will give you the actual scan on a CD if you ask them. However, this is of limited use because each hospital in Thailand seems to use a different propriety software. Maybe there is an international standard you can ask for. The average public hospital will have a 3 - 4 week waiting list for a MRI. Of course, if you go to a private hospital they will organise it within a few days, depending upon any fasting requirements for the mandatory blood tests prior to the scan. A private hospital may want to work you up a bit. For example, they may set up an apointment with one of their gut doctors who will want a blood test and X-ray first. Depending on the abdominal complaint they may recommend a CT in preference to a MRI. Finally, the doctor will want to discuss the outcomes of the MRI/CT with you before handing over the written radiology report (normally one page).

Dear placeholder We will have to agree to disagree. Renewables don't make the cut for baseloading power (60%) because the wind does not always blow, the sun does not always shine, rivers do not always flow, hydro dams sometimes freeze or are drought affected etc. Renewables will always be used for peak loading (40%) where they will also command the highest return on electricity prices.

I'm not arguing about the huge advances in energy storage. I also think it is a good idea to avoid new power stations using fossil fuels. What I am saying is that there are no commensurate advances in the cost of generating the power to be stored. The world has been dependent on fossil fuels for nearly a century and governments won't give up the associated taxes and revenue streams. Consumers of electricity will have to pay their fair share. Fuel excises were worth $3.77 billion in 2022/23 revenue to the Australian government, charged at about 48 cents per litre of petrol. Nearly half is spent on road infrastructure and the rest goes to consolidated revenue. The average cost to each household is about $1210. To replace this revenue, an additional $1210 per year could be placed on individual car registrations. Of course, this could be done gradually as electric car uptake increases and should also apply to IC cars. Alternatively, governments could collect from electricity providers who will add a tarrif to electricity charges. In reality, governments will do both. They are not going to forgo revenue just because it is good for the environment.