mfd101

Seen from outside, Usofa looks less and less like a functioning modern democracy. Too many fruitcakes of all varieties, each of them intolerant of all the other varieties.

Thanks for that. I think on that basis we'll sit tight for a while on the vaccines, perhaps follow up as you suggest towards the end of this year. Meantime we'll start wearing masks again whenever in an enclosed space (eg shopping at Lotus), though recognizing that masks are more about 'offence' than 'defence'.

So what's the current availability in Thailand (and Isaan/Surin in particular) of shots for the latest variant(s) of covid? (I'm 75 & had 2 shots in middle of the first round of variants. Have had covid twice - 1st very mild, over in 3 days; 2nd more notable - coughing & tired - over 2 weeks. My b/f age 35 had similar experience both times.)

Mind-boggling. There is no end to opportunity-to-make-money machinations in this country. My b/f was theoretically on his 3rd year of conscription when we met in BKK (he on stage in a gay pickup joint). He made a mint in that task. But couldn't get enough to eat in the barracks so climbed out over the wall every night in search of money, food and adventure. Apart from that, the corporal or sergeant used to organize the boys for profit-making visits to assorted hotels. His main activity in the barracks was looking after the colonel's dog, cutting the platoon's hair and serving canapés to VERY high people in the evenings. I paid a considerable sum to get him permanently out of the barracks, at least until graduation day at the end of the year when he had to dress up again for the collective photo and prize giving.

Lots of ginger in your cooking, every day. Powerful anti-inflammatory.

I haven't filled out a TM30 since we moved to our permanent residence in Surin in March 2017. And that includes trips to & from BKK and to & from other countries ... Strikes me - from others' reports - that the main difficulty arises from using the digital reporting mechanism.

Same as entry to Oz (and I think EC). Thais never look at their own (collective) behaviours to explain their cross-border difficulties.

A casino-led economic recovery! Once again Thailand leads the way!

If Srettha is not removed, MFP is not dissolved and Thaksin does not raise his ugly mug by bringing Yingluk back, then nothing will change and Thailand will still be the laughing stock of Asia. Investment from overseas is already going to other nations.

Precisely. In my family here, ploughing in is the modus operandi but they have to pay a contractor to come and do it. And guess who gets to pay the contractor ...

If you want change, you have to offer practical alternatives ... in this case, alternatives that poor and uneducated people can adopt easily.

Perhaps you - or the Thai guvamint - might be able to offer poor Thai peasants some doable and cost-free alternatives to their traditional agricultural practices?

And the 280,000 'specially-skilled workers' will be specially skilled by whom?

Interesting. Counter to the general image of male homosexuals as wandering sex-obsessed rats and lesbians as fairly stable and stay-at-home. My personal observation - off a small statistical base in Oz & NZ - is in line with the quoted stats.

Complexity produces confusion, out of which the 'correct' results can be squeezed.

Not sure I understand why Malaysian Muslim men have to come to Thailand to have a polygamous marriage. Does this mean that Muslim Malaysia doesn't allow polygamy? If so, a hangover from British colonialism?

My b/f and I (already civil partnered in Oz) plan to marry here in Nov/Dec when Oz friends are visiting. Main advantage for us - apart from symbolism - is enhanced protection for me (inheritance & property rights) in the event that my partner predeceases me.

'Justice'? The CC & the ridiculous LM provisions?

The subset of H. sapiens that drinks cows' milk is the only animal species that drinks the milk of another species. Which is peculiar and bad for your health.

The video is very funny. And not just La Meloni who is beautifully demonstrative with her eyes, but the whole stupid business of kiss-hands, embrace, shake hands etc etc.

So, the haters out in force yet again ... Ever occur to them to attack the appalling judicial system that is used by the dinosaurs to trip up anyone at all who represents a threat to the reign of the dinosaurs?

How is this different from 'straight' experiences & relationships? For what it's worth, I met my b/f 'commercially' in late 2011, we were together longterm by mid 2012 including first visit to The Family here in Surin, followed by a village marriage ceremony mid-2013 and a year together in BKK, followed by a year together & 'partnership' in Oz in 2014-15, followed by definitive removal to Thailand in late 2015, happily settled here ever since.

I assume you're referring to having a civil partnership or marriage in your home country for this purpose. Which means of course that you don't need to wait for the Thai government to do anything. In my case our Canberra civil certificate means that my Thai b/f will be entitled to 66% of my Oz federal government superannuation for life after I'm dead. Same (I think) for OAPs.

Thai peasants. For brunch & supper.

Mmmmm, very interesting and thanks to the various airworthy sleuths. We shall have to keep our eyes open for interesting people popping up suddenly in Thailand 'out of the blue' (literally) in the next few days and weeks. There's probably any number of possibilities. But I wouldn't want to indulge in conspiracy theories or scaremongering.