mfd101

Well, good for him. He's just risen in my estimation.

Given the relative numbers, that's not surprising! But in the present instance in any case it's not RICH Thais who are the (potential) problem.

In many countries (eg Oz) a growth rate of 0.6% would be ample ground for throwing the government out of power at the next election!

Last seen heading across the Cambodian border.

You'ld wonder what the point was ... Come to the tropical paradise but spend the whole time hiding under the bed.

In short, the usual semi-corrupt greatly incompetent Thai shambles, which never gets better. Complexity for the sake of complexity. We love it.

Nonsense, the lines were drawn as already but Israel keep stealing more land. I rest my case.

Yes, and - everywhere in the world - people are responsible for the governments they elect and tolerate.

Nothing to do with 'free trade'. That's about military security.

A two-state solution will never work because noone can work out where to draw the lines that everyone will agree on. In theory only a one-state solution can work. But not in our lifetime, though I do note that there are an awful lot of Palestinians who live pretty comfortably within the current State of Israel - working, educating their children, voting for Parliament, serving in the Israeli Army ... The other alternative is that the Palestinians leave to disperse amongst the Arab countries. But that'll never happen either - the Arabs actually can't stand them (not Arab enough) and the Arab states are in quiet league with Israel against the greater enemy Iran.

But surely arsonists deserve to have a regular supply of matches for their enjoyment?

Well, that's my loony news item for the day. Now what's happening in Ukraine?

Yes. If you don't know that you probably haven't lived amongst the millions of poor Thai peasants living in rural Thailand, poor as dormice.

Good in theory. The practice will be interesting to watch.

It's what happens when you 'revert to democracy' after a military dictatorship but you're still bound by the rules of the dictatorship. The thing about ruling classes is that THEY are good at thinking ahead ... Pathetic.

You can't win as a politician, least of all as a PM. If you stay at home, people will say you should be travelling to spread the word about the country's revolutionary new approach to life in the post-everything world. And if you travel to do just that, you get the comments above. ...

Fascinating how criminal investigations and judgments lumber on year after year, decade after decade, without any real conclusion as the political climate moves.

So it's clear where the ultimate power lies, and it's not with the government. Symbolism is VERY important in national life and administration.

So an experienced private citizen is not allowed to engage pro bono in assisting neighbours in negotiating their difficulties amongst themselves?

The obvious solution is - as I think suggested above - that she go to the BKK Bank office in UK & set up electronic transfers with their help, then does the transfer herself.

They both describe the same situation but the perspective is diffeent. The first considers sleep as an activity, the second as a state.

I am in the middle of updating my Oz will as my executors in Oz are similar age to me and I need a younger executor to look after my much younger Thai Khmer b/f who is illiterate in English and functionally illiterate in Thai. I entirely agree that, in principle, you need a will made in each country where you hold assets, but the NATURE of the assets held can change whether or not you need to make a will in this or that country. In my case I hold no assets in Thailand. The mansion + land + car are all in my b/f's name. No sweat. My only possessions here are 'personal' items - books, clothes, computer etc. Not worth worrying about. B/f will dispose of them as he sees fit at the time. My sole assets in Oz are 'liquid' ie income flows, which is what we live on. For that I need an Oz will & Oz executor with enduring power of attorney. The Oz will allows my executor to act swiftly after my death to ensure continuity of income flows to my b/f. The EPA is so the executor can also act in the event of my legal incapacity (eg I'm gaga or in hospital longterm or in prison but still alive).

He was talking about teaching students ... I'm rather old so probably out of touch but I had thought that speaking in English in class and reading English-language texts might have been part of the process ...

Play the piano, Play rugby, Play with my friend, Play with a toy ... These and many others are various uses of the verb 'play'. Look up the Oxford Dictionary of English (online) for many many examples. English verbs are complex and there's no easy way to explain them to foreigners. Only practice practice practice in reading and speaking will do the trick over time ... And playing around with simplistic and largely out-of-date concepts like 'transitive' and 'intransitive' will get you nowhere, whether for your own understanding or that of Thai kids.

Your very presence here changes things here willy-nilly.