mfd101

Pat answer but looking at a photo is subjective too. Same eyes, same brain as looking in a mirror. No, not the same eyes & not the same brain at all. The psychology of the two is quite different. The photo is still & frozen (at least in a pre-AI world). You have no control over it. It is at least potentially 'public' and it can be used against you. The mirror gives you control or the illusion of it. You can move & adjust to your heart's content. You can show off, adorn or hide whatever bits you like. And it is private, just between you and mirror mirror on the wall. It is 'yours'.

In short, a photo objectifies, a mirror subjectifies.

Yum, sounds very tempting. I shall read your description slowly to my b/f later when he gets home from the family farm ...

The Greens Party in Oz are an extremist Left party, adopting all sorts of lefty positions that have nothing to do with a 'green' agenda. Not at all like the sensible Greens Party in Germany for instance that positions itself in the political middle so it can deal equally with either a left-of-centre or a right-of-centre government. Unfortunately, in the current state of play in Oz, the Greens may well be in alliance with the Labor Party after the next federal election in early May as neither Labor nor the right-of-centre Coalition parties are likely to win an outright majority. This is what happens when your electorate is no longer made up of just 2 major competing parties, but has become a tripartite battle where the main 2 parties collect only 30-35% of the vote each and assorted extremists & individual opportunists get to call the tune.

They already have it. The Russian Orthodox Church under current leadership is right in Putin's pocket.

Wow! My b/f and I will have to add Macau to our list of upcoming travels.

Better late than never.

So the next time friends come from Oz or Hongkers to visit we'll have to be careful about posting photos of a civilised dinner - whether at home or in a restaurant - when we have each a glass of wine in front of us ... Funny how official announcements in this country almost NEVER get the details right.

Not obvious why the Macau operation would be after Thai workers ... Unless they're after a sizeable Thai customer base, but even then it doesn't really follow.

If Thailand lifted itself to First World standards of safety, health and rectitude, I couldn't afford to live here any more and would have to return to Oz. Which, at age 75, I have NO wish to do.

I read somewhere yesterday that if you rub the hair off the skin of a kiwi you can eat it whole.

He's a reactionary, in the literal sense of the word. He reacts. No strategy beyond the end of today.

Just part of the daily fun of life in Land of Smiles. Relax & enjoy.

Anyone with half a brain can work out the obvious action to take: (1) reduce Thai tariffs on US imports down to a sensible level (eg 10%), then (2) negotiate with Uncle Donald to reduce the US tariffs on Thai goods down to the same sensible level. But that might be too hard for the Thai government to work out.

It'll play out over much longer than that. By the time of the next Presidential election (if there is one) we should have an initial view of how the post-WTO world is going. But of course much that is economic depends also on other security-type issues such as Ukraine & Taiwan and the accompanying military expenditures ...

A fail-safe system.

I filled out the form a couple of hours ago. Generally OK, though easy to trip up. I nominated my b/f (40 years younger than me) as Head of Household and I nominated me as 'Wife or Husband'. When I mentioned all this to b/f a few minutes ago he just looked blank. No idea what I was talking about. (And I predict his view when properly explained will be that it should be ignored. None of their f/ing business. Sigh. No wonder this country is a mess. When 3 Immigration guys in uniform rang the bell down at the gate 2 or 3 weeks ago I traipsed down to find out what they wanted. Which was a new photo or 3 of me standing at the gate and beside the letterbox. So I headed back up the drive and put on a shirt, grabbed my p/p and headed back down for the photos. All fine. Anyway, when b/f got home from the family farm I was told how stupid I am to open the gate for complete strangers. I could be dead by now ... Sigh. I'm afraid Surin is not Canberra.)

In Bangkok you can watch people dropping rubbish on the footpath 2 metres from an empty rubbish bin.

I wonder who owns the company (substantially, as opposed to 'on paper') ...

Not obvious what his crime was. Unless it was about leaving rubbish lying around, which many Thais do every day of the year ...

I did say HEV not BEV, and for country driving in & around Surin.

We never drive in the cities. Just country driving here in Surin & Buriram. I still like the idea of an HEV. Conceptual transition in my old age.

Only after an 'event', not before.

Guaranteed to produce satisfactory outcomes ...

We plan to visit there next year to compare HEV SUVs (preferably non-plugin) - Toyota & Mazda particularly, and the Chinese competition (mostly BYD, I suspect). Problem with the Chinese models will be absence of servicing availability here in sth Surin ...