mfd101

Come to Thailand and meet tourists! You'll be amazed.

Clearly the Thai economy is moving up to First World capability.

Here in south Surin we had our first rain last night since early December. A beautiful heavyish downpour that lasted about 15-20 minutes ... some 4 hours after I had carefully watered the shrubs. Everything sparkling and looking very cheerful this morning. The barren lawns turning greenish before our eyes ...

... and greedy.

I guess from Hang Dong to Ban Rim wouldn't get you far?

So I take it that the sale and the possession of is not currently legal? Which, if true, casts an interesting light on the multiple shops selling pot around Asoke when I was there 3 weeks ago for my first visit to Bangers in 3 years. Including one large and very fine-looking shop advertising seeds, flowers & medicinal ...

Even if the RTAF could afford them, even if the US were stupid enough to supply them, even if RTAF pilots could qualify to fly them, what on earth does the RTAF think it's going to do or achieve with just 2 of them? Well, apart from looking lovely at the end of the runway ...

Not sure what 'rectification' might consist of. The Europeans won't have a bar of Britain for at least a couple of decades, possibly much more. Very educational I should imagine for the average Brit punter.

So much for his former devotion to the monkhood!

Can't help noticing the number of pot shops here in Bangers (where we're visiting from Surin for the first time in 3 years). 3 shops - one large & glamorous - just in the 100 metres between our hotel and Asoke. The only thing that rivals new pot shops both here & in Silom is the number of money exchanges. And I can't help noticing - perhaps it was always like that when we lived in BKK but I'm certainly noticing them now after 3 years away - the number of Westerners on the streets, 95% male, many single, quite a few elderly and some who should be in an ol' pipple's home.

Currently here in south Surin 17C 'real feel 16'. And windy. I have on shirt & jeans instead of my usual shorts-only. Didn't make it across the 8 metres to the gym this morning. Snuggles time. Hot soup for brunch from PTT later this morning.

A strange poll. Saying which party you think will win the next election isn't the same thing as saying: I will vote for that party.

My experience of hotels in countries where gay sex is banned or really really not approved of is amusing. In Singapore (where gay sex has just been made legal a couple of weeks ago) I approach the front desk with our booking details, my Thai Khmer partner lurking behind. The polite young man behind the desk smiles politely and looks fixedly at his computer. After a couple of coughs he asks: "Will that be one bed or two, sir?" I reply: "One bed. Kingsize as booked." "Very well, sir". And off we go.

I had assumed (silly me) that Denmark was on Euros.

Rhubarb rhubarb (yawn). Oz shoring up the gaping holes in the boundary fence as the Chinese thug loiters ever closer.

In any case it'll all take for ever. In the land of lady boys and sexual promiscuity of all kinds, hypocrisy rules the roost. And particularly in regard to foreigners.

It's a stepping stone on the way, as it was in many/most Western countries. My Thai partner & I were civil-partnered in Oz in 2012, which takes care of practical (financial) matters there. By the time 'gay marriage' arrived a few years later we were living permanently in Thailand so there was no point in doing the deed in Oz. There will be however once Thailand comes up to speed ...

Clearly our Nigerian friend (now, as I understand it, under arrest/'in isolation' in Cambodia) was and perhaps is a busy boy.

I notice there's no H for 'Homosexual'. At my age I don't feel Gay, and indeed never have done. Perhaps UGBH might do the job (UnGay But Homosexual).

The nice thing about Portugal is it's beautiful, historic, and handy to the rest of Europe awa nth Africa for visits. And you can actually read the language even if you can't speak it (not to be sneezed at for longterm stay).

So, Taiwan OK till the pre-invasion bombardment starts. Mexico has 7 of the 10 most-violent cities in the world. Costa Rica good & safe. Malaysia Portugal excellent. NZ boring but safe. Oz nice but expensive (across NSW, not just Sinnee, average house price is AUD 1,100,000). Ecuador mmmm till the next upheaval. Canada nice, chilly & expensive. Veetnaam splendid to visit but crime rates are high ... And then there's Surin. Ah Surin, nice one minute, boring the next, but safe except for the tropical diseases & the burglars.

Based on the above account, I don't think I'll be traveling outside Thailand perhaps ever, at least until death do us part. Never mind. Travel is best in the mind.

Public executions could be effective: of (1) incompetent & lazy officials at all levels, and (2) the burners (mostly farmers/peasants). Nothing like a lineup at dawn to produce results.

As usual the news arrives in Thailand a couple of months after it trickled out to the rest of the world ...

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/world/the-times/world-has-stockpiled-more-covid19-jabs-than-it-can-use/news-story/6ec3a7e9dee4fc318f8092f1c435ef7c