mfd101

Fairly soon - as its population begins to shrink - Thailand (its people as a whole, led by an enlightened government) is going to have to transform its whole approach to life. Living behind high cultural, linguistic and legal barriers, shut off from the outside world, will no longer work. Change is already happening but very slowly and without explicit acknowledgement because of the dinosaur social arrangements. What Thais - and other Third World countries - will have to construct is immigration policies similar to those of 'Western' countries: importing skilled & high-tech workers to become citizens and drive a new economy with new population & cultural structures that reward work skills not birthright. But none of this can happen in a corrupt feudal state that regards all non-Thais as outsiders to be treated with suspicion and complex bureaucratic barriers.

Firing squad at dawn would be more effective.

BKK is famous for - or is becoming famous for - inferior infrastructure (roads, footpaths, personal safety ... ).

Farage is more interesting & amusing. And at least he's part of the C21st. R-M is just a ridiculous anachronism.

I see Rees-Mogg lost his seat. Oh dear! I am so sad. And Liz Ms Trust. Ha ha.

Mmmmm, well clearly the Tories deserved to lose. The future is yet to be revealed.

Have you ever observed the workers on roads & footpaths in Thailand? I doubt they have ever driven a motor vehicle in their lives. And, as I rediscover regularly with my peasant family here, lack of education of any kind does not help in imagining yourself in someone else's shoes.

Yes, and I must say - as a non-Usofan watching from afar - that Kamala's performance in the vid above looks pretty good: fluent, confident, capable. Compared to Biden's performance a few days ago, she looks like a serious contender for the top job, and possibly unbeatable if she's already the new President in situ come November.

Yes, like redoing the roads in rural Thailand, every year, after the monsoon has washed bits away. The annual funds to be shared out between bureaucrats & contractors ...

Oh dear! So how are we to organize and run our huge and hugely complex societies?

So why wasn't he tracked & extradited from wherever he's been hanging out (UK?) for the last 7 years? Seems that, as long as you have half a brain and never return to Thailand, you can get away with just about anything. Or perhaps the actual gravity of the crime didn't meet whatever the minimal level for extradition requires? or perhaps it just wasn't worth the (yawn) effort?

I suspect we won't know the answer till after the second 'debate' in September. But by then time will be running out for a new team.

Cheap. Good food at mind-bogglingly low prices in the rural provinces (2 nice brunches for 120฿ - would be at least 10 times more than that in Oz). Owning & running a motor vehicle 60% of Oz costs. Lots of nice people in the rural provinces. Different culture - slow, collectively organised at extended family level so keeps the problem individuals under control (mostly). Traditional, old-fashioned courtesy including to well-behaved Falangs. Kind & generous to people in trouble, including the dying. A feeling of continuity, away from the disruption & stress of the Western world's modernity. To spend my last years - leading, as my Oz friends laughingly tell me, a First World existence in the midst of the Third World - is a privilege I value greatly. No wish to return to Oz or even visit there any more.

Noone - including the individual concerned - can predict how anyone will perform in the top job in any organisation, large or small, public or private. The timid pussy of a deputy turns in to a raging tiger. The raging tiger of a career aspirant turns in to a timid incompetent ... We can all think of examples. Always fun to watch, but only from afar.

Noted, thanks. I agree. The key point is that the Oz federal government CSS issue is DIFFERENT from age pension matters. It is a particular issue arising from the long-closed superannuation CSS which was not taxed going in, so is now taxed coming out. And now complicated for me as a 'non-resident for tax purposes' in Oz. Which doesn't mean that I'm not taxed there; it means I'm taxed at a higher rate (32.5%) than age pensioners. There's also the difficulty that arises from first reading of article 19 of the DTA ['Government Service'] which seems to have a bob each way. Careful reading & rereading clarifies this: My CSS super is taxable ONLY in Oz [at the confiscatory rate of 32.5%] and will continue to be so & there's nothing I can do about it. I will nevertheless follow up with my Canberra accountants when I'm preparing inputs to my 23/24 tax return.

Yes, a classic problem for all governments in democracies: The People are nearsighted. (And - because of the constant need to get reelected - so, mostly, are their governments.)

Seems like a sensible ruling. The lower courts will work out over time the details of what's 'official' and what isn't. The world changes, events happen, and the law evolves. Just as it should.

The only times I ever had tummy upsets was when we lived in BKK for a year or so a decade ago. With the sewers you can smell just a metre beneath the street, and occasional large rats scurrying around, I eventually made the connection and stopped eating street food in Bangers. Never had a problem since then, including with street food here in Isaan.

Thanks for that. I will take it on board as I head towards taking out a Thai TIN in January next. Meantime I will talk to my current (Canberra) accountants re the DTA - it may be news to them(!).

I hope someone somewhere is actually thinking about Usofa's future and its place in the world ...

OK. That's not an unreasonable list.

The obvious question (but it may be a silly one in the Thai context) is: Where does Anutin sit on the political spectrum of Left to Right? reform to dinosaur? Or does he belong only on the spectrum of self-interest?

And your favoured military dictatorship was any different?

Yes, looking grim I'm afraid. Unless one or more of the potentially high-quality alternative contenders have enough guts to organize an alternative course. I wonder where Jill Biden is in all of this. Noone must be more aware of the stress on her husband than she is. You might think that an approach thru her would be the way to go ...

Shapiro is impressive in the Pakman extracts above. So the Democrats' problem isn't a lack of talent (and I suspect that that's not the Republicans' problem either) ...