mfd101

It's only 102 years since we realized that the Milky Way is not The Universe, just one teensy weensy bit (though gigantic for humans). Most people haven't moved on from before that: Earth the God-given centre of everything. As serious evidence of extraterrestrials & their interest in Earth slowly increases, there's a great psycho-sociological revolution in the making. I hope to be alive to see it. It will be fascinating.

If we look at things on a global/international level, it seems to me difficult for those of us who grew up in The West's golden years (say, 1960-2010) to complain too much. What we are living now is The West's struggle to maintain itself as the Second World moves vigorously up the ladder (China obviously, but also now India & Vietnam & Brazil and even Black Africa... all gathering speed). The West mostly built itself over the last 200 years on the backs of Third World slave labour. So, suck it up, Fellas.

How about MUKWA - Make United Kingdom Worse Allover? Mmmmm. Bugger!

My FIL (3 years older than me) ties a piece of string around my wrist each time I visit the family farm for a special occasion (eg New Year celebration). I am not Buddhist but I appreciate many positive concepts in its teachings (as described for instance by jts-khorat above). I appreciate my FIL's gesture and treat him & it with respect.

Good initiative. I had never been on or driven a motorcycle in my life till I met my b/f in my 60s and we lived in BKK for a year or 2. Driving down a main road holding a suitcase with traffic whizzing past inches away on both sides was an entirely new experience ... These days we take the skytrain or a taxi car.

So how are these barcodes etc different - in principle - from the electronic voting procedures (press a button, pull a handle) used in some 'Western' countries?

Dear Thailand, Welcome to the C21st! Yours ever hopeful

Death (at least on Planet Earth) is a certainty. The timing of death is about probability. The timing of any individual death is unknown to anyone in advance. My best friend used to say: 'Noone knows when they're going to die'. He died by drowning 3 years ago at age 62. Keeping yourself physically & mentally healthy is not hard to do. It's about exercise + what goes in to your mouth. Being - as I am - physically & mentally healthy at age 76 is not a guarantee but a reasonable indication of future expectations. I have carefully ensured I own nothing here in Thailand other than my personal things (basically clothes & an embarrassingly large print library which I can't take with me). The land & mansion are deliberately in my b/f's name only (age 36). So all I have to worry about is the - surprisingly complicated - process of leaving my Oz estate (just cash flow) to my b/f. All done & dusted but it won't be easy for him as, while his spoken English is OK, his written is - despite my efforts when we lived years ago for some 18 months in Canberra - practically nil. So he'll be relying on electronic translation plus my Oz power of attorney. Then there's the question of his prior death (not impossible given his driving skills) ...

... but there were at least some 200 of them. Says it all.

Good. Thanks. At my age one isn't always clear what later generations of experts are talking about ...

Because my 2-year-old iMac is away being repaired (flickering screen - a common problem for that model, I gather), I'm currently using my ancient MacBook Air of 2015 (MacOS Monterey 12.7.6) which won't allow me to update it any more. Will that be a problem from tomorrow? I do all my banking with it. Hopefully my iMac will be back some time next week.

I've never visited the Caucasus (tho I have been to Stalingrad) so I'm not sure I would know a Caucasian if I sat next to him or her.

Sure, but the numbers are such that they can always organize themselves to do what's required. And there are increasing numbers of teenagers & young adults capable of giving a hand. Our monthly lawn-mowing exercise here some 30 minutes drive away from the farm never lacks for assistants to the oldest brother who does the mowing - kids & teenagers & 1 mother with brooms & wheelbarrow etc etc. They get fed & watered twice a day & paid as well, and a pickup laden with fresh grass for the cattle back at the farm. No shortage of volunteers. And they're all well aware of where the money has streamed in from since mid-2012 when I first arrived on the scene - one new pickup, 3 new houses, earthworks to provide fish ponds & more farmland beside the large lake, and recent acquisition of some government land up in the hills now just beginning to produce ...

All of which begs the question: How do these percentages compare with ethnic percentages (however defined) across the whole British population?

3 older brothers, 2 of them married, & 1 brother-in-law, all of them living on the family farm. 3 older sisters, 2 living at the farm with 1 brother-in-law. I have seen how they behave when there is need, as with the elderly father & mother (ages 79 & c83). Given the numbers to choose from, there's never a problem about accompanying anyone to doctor or hospital (including staying overnight beside the sick person's bed). And I have seen it operating recently when my partner had to go in for a colonoscopy. Close cousin slept beside him in the same hospital bed. When I had a colonoscopy a couple of years ago and, it being a private hospital (ie money money money), I was there for 3 days/2 nights and my partner slept on the couch in my private room. All perfectly normal as far as my family's concerned. Others can speak for themselves.

Just look at the video above!

Given that PP collected all seats in BKK & CM, I suspect it's a matter of overkill in its subset of seats. If its appeal had been wider (eg in Isaan) & less intense with the big city middle class, they might have picked up more seats overall. (Just a thought.)

That happens only when the election results come out 'wrong'. But that doesn't mean that members of 'wrong' parties aren't about to feel the lash.

Fat chance. Those with 'voiding power' will be well-satisfied with the results of the election.

I can't speak for others but in my case my b/f will continue to get ⅔ of my (Oz government) superannuation inflation-adjusted twice yearly for the rest of his life (and he's 40 years younger than me).

It's not for nothing that Thailand's middle classes - ie BKK & CM - voted solidly for PP ie for change.

No. PP won every seat in & around BKK, which means they got about 95% of Thailand's middle classes. They also did well in CM which used to be the HQ for PT. The waves PP would make if they ever actually managed to get in to power would be for the rich élites, NOT the middle classes whom they clearly represent.

In Thailand all bad things come down from heaven.

eg Representing the UK on foreign visits, which Andrew has been reported as doing on many occasions including as some kind of trade ambassador ...

Well, Vietnam may have a 'Communist' government but you'ld barely notice. On the economic front Thailand could certainly learn a thing or three.