mfd101

I always visit one or other of the Kinokuniyas when I'm in BKK and there are always Thais browsing there. But that's scarcely representative of the broader Thai population.

And then there are millions of mostly older Thais who have never read (or written) a single word in their lives (I live amongst them). And there are those - like one of my SILs - who can read fluently and has 'been to university' but there's not a single book in her little house. But of course her 2 children have mobile phones to which they are glued 24/7.

Yes, I agree with you. Not the fault of the individual soldier at the front. But the main point is that NZ, like Thailand & the Philippines, has no military capability to offer for a C21st stoush with bullyboy China. And Oz doesn't have much at this stage either, with little sign of anything real happening to lift its capabilities (as opposed to hot air).

Pot stirrer. I wonder what the (real) point is.

An example to us all.

Yes, you have confirmed by view of NZ as seen from Oz and elsewhere: A taker not a giver. The beg, borrow or steal bit is notorious in the Oz military.

Thailand, Philippines & Singapore have no military capability worth recruiting. And neither does NZ: It has been a taker not a giver since the 1960s (as any Oz soldier alongside them in V'nam can vouch). As to Japan it's currently being worked in to the AUKUS arrangement, which is much more relevant than NATO could be in the Indo-Pacific region.

Ground-to-air missiles? They may have some, likely stolen from the Myanmar regime. But making them work might be a different matter

The contrast between Thailand & Japan - on just about anything you can think of - is laughably huge.

So what will happen when a Mig strays across in to Thai airspace? F16s gonna shoot it down? force it down? I doubt it. But good exercise for the boys in any case.

Sadly, there's only one person who can stop all this nonsense ...

I wonder what the term 'partner' means here. If 'gays' were included - and with casual 3-minute or 5-minute or 10-minute contacts at gay baths - the numbers certainly in Western countries would be 50 or 100 times greater or more. I have 'gay' friends in Oz similar age to me (70s) or 30s/40s with numbers of 'sexual contacts' in the multiple hundreds and over 1000 ...

Conclusion: Some people in Thailand are corrupt, but not necessarily all. And some of the most corrupt may not be Thai.

Can't see anything in the photo, not even British humanoids.

Phew! I feel so much better! Phew! I feel so much better!

Governments have to deal with other governments. When the earth begins to move in a neighbouring country, then you have to prepare to shift ground yourself, but you don't want to make a premature, possibly bad judgment about the likely outcome next door. So you shuffle around and try to minimize the overflow. All perfectly normal behaviours everywhere in the world.

So the rebel forces clearly have staying power. And the regime forces beginning to melt away ... Lots of planes heading to Zurich, I guess.

Nice rain here in south Surin this morning (roughly 1 hour of medium rain), the first since November (apart from two barely noticeable little showers a week ago). More needed.

'Upkeep'? Wot dat?

But apart from that they're pretty good fellas?

Item no.1: How to do nothing while pretending to be worried by the upcoming collapse of our friendly neighbour's current regime? Item no.2: How to lift the number of Myanmar tourists visiting Thailand this year? Item no.3: Is it lawful to repaint military planes in tourist plane colours? Item no.4: What does Beijing think? Item no.5: What should we name the committee to be established to consider these urgent matters? Item no.6: How many sub-committees can we afford?

Do what the local peasants do: Up at 0500 for outside labour; 1000 brunch; light duties including sleep & chat till 1600; outside labour till 1800; 1800 dinner; 1830-1930 close down outside.

Depends largely on where you live (BKK/Pattaya/Phuket vs just about everywhere else), your personal circumstances (partner with or without English, children, wider family ... ), and your personal inclinations. I have several European languages and a strong inclination for learning thru reading. But my early efforts at Thai were miserable, not helped by a b/f who has no education and no ability or wish to help. If we were still in BKK I would (now) enroll in Thai language classes, but here in south Surin where people swap back & forth between heavily-accented Thai & northern Khmer it's a bit hopeless for me so I have resigned myself to being the 'rich' but silent 'learned man' (I wear glasses - a sure sign).

Yes, my b/f is Thai. And Yes we had all of that - my divorce papers etc etc. So? Why is all that going to be impossible for a gay couple at the local amphur? (Accepting that, here in south Surin, it may take a little time for the news to filter thru ... )

Why wouldn't it include that? Though the 'marriage conducted at an Amphur' will likely be just filling out a form with 2 photos and signing the form before a witness behind the desk. (Which is how it was in Canberra for my b/f & me in 2013 (pre-gay marriage in Oz) for a recognized partnership. Still valid & all we need in Oz.) What's the problem?