mfd101

From an historical point of view your sensitivity is anachronistic. The matter-of-fact disposal of the body is and always has been the norm everywhere in the world where families are large. They used to be 100 years ago in The West too. My father was the eldest of 9 children, my mother one of the youngest of 7. Babies were born and died easily. The great change in life expectancy throughout The West over the last hundred years is mostly the product of the virtual elimination of childhood mortality. That change has produced changes in how we process death. But not amongst the poor people of Thailand or anywhere else.

Warm-to-hot here in south Surin. Getting steadily hotter. No wind you'ld notice.

It felt extremely tangible the day many years ago I was walking up Sukhumvit soi 13 to the Trendy when a stupid woman from one of the shops came up behind me, grabbed my belt and poured a bucket full of water down my pants.

I'm always puzzled by these events (accident or suicide?). I realize that the Thais carefully design their buildings with very low 'guard rails' but anyone who goes out on their verandah can see that for themselves ...

T Thanks. Phew.

Could someone remind me what plane it is we take 2 or 3 times a year with Air Asia from Buriram to Don Muaeng and back? Should we be reverting to the 9-hour bus trek from Surin which we used to take years ago and loved so much?

Basic principle: You can be subject to extortion only if you have been involved yourself in criminal activity.

Me Me Me! I want more of Me Me Me!

Russians making even the Brits look good ...

So we're not actually talking about someone seeking to open a bank account 'as a tourist', but rather as a potential temporary resident. So that at least clarifies the start point. And the issue there is the difficulty of meeting at the same time both the (now) bank requirements and the Immigration requirements. [It was not always thus. In 2013 I opened an account at BKB Asoke while renting an apartment nearby and travelling back & forth to Oz every 3 months for a week. But that was all done - and remains now 11 years later - on an OA visa. Not sure if that's where the difference lies. I do recall getting strange looks at Immigration a couple of times when arriving back at Suwanna after a week in Oz. I was in those days completing ignorant of the potential complexities involved - a sweet innocent - and after some eye rolling they always let me back in.]

An obvious question (that an elderly non-tourist like me might ask) is: Why would a tourist want to open a bank account in a country he or she was visiting? Clearly the BKK Bank shares my puzzlement.

Ha ha, and probably none of them are Jewish. (cf Australia where it's very easy to become an Oz citizen if you're both Chinese and rich.)

Having to choose between a Crazy and a pre-dementia Ol' Man who can't remember which day of the week it is says nothing good about the Greatest Country in the World. There must be 1001 people who would be 'better qualified' than either, though the Usofan system is geared to appoint new Presidents from a list of people noone ever heard of before. Being 'qualified' gets you appointed to the Cabinet, not as President. The Crazy is clearly high risk, domestically though not necessarily internationally. He at least frightens the Chinese, which can't be a bad thing. He also frightens the Europeans, which is entertaining. The Ol' Man gets by as long as he has good people around him. But I guess that applies to most 'leaders' everywhere. Who should I follow this week? Thank goodness I'm not Usofan.

Well, there are 2 ways to do it. The first is at the point of a gun. Lots of them. And unfortunately - think Cuba 1958 - taking power with guns generally leads nowhere good. The alternative is millions of Thai people in the streets of BKK. For weeks on end or however long it takes, with the army changing sides as the conscripts and corporals abandon ship. I live for the day.

From our experience I would suggest good-quality heavy curtains on the windows/doors where the sun shines in. As to a/cs, bigger run at moderate speed is going to last longer than smaller run at faster speed. Daikin are good. Regular cleaning and maintenance essential.

And the wunnerful Sanctuary of Truth even gets a mention. Thai baroque gone mad. I visited it in 2011 when it was fairly new. Can't believe it could have become more truthful since then.

Read the whole article for the meat of the matter. Perfectly sensible.

One day their world will come crashing down, taking them with it. Can't wait.

They'll feel at home in Israel. Some 4% of Israelis are Jews of Russian origin and it used to be said (perhaps still is, for ought I know) that the internal language of Mossad was Russian.

Every inch forward is better than no inch forward.

To a layman that looks like gobbledegook for: Let's all pretend we've solved the problem.

Would need at least 1000 farmers and truck drivers/owners and bus drivers/owners to be arrested and imprisoned for 2 years before anything will change. Therefore nothing will change.

We used to say: Opposites attract but experience shows that people of similar backgrounds and expectations stay together. In my Thai Khmer family however they say exactly the opposite of that. But my b/f and I - happily together now almost 12 years - are about as different in personality & background as it's possible to be, which seems to break both views!

I think there's an age aspect to that too: People under about 50 or maybe 60 and not much education use the word 'peasant' as a term of abuse ...

Oxford English Dictionary: peasant - "A poor smallholder or agricultural labourer of low social status (chiefly in historical use or with reference to subsistence farming in poorer countries)". Which well describes over 50% of Thailand's population, including the people amongst whom I live here in south Surin.