mfd101

And health statistics tell us that obesity and its effects on people's health is killing increasing numbers of people in Usofa, Oz & UK ...

Will their 'criminal record' be wiped clean? Good luck with that.

Gross.

Every day is an adventure in Thailand ...

Quick! We need some F35s or even F22s to meet all contingencies!

Brave man. Wise man? We'll have a fair idea in 3 or 4 years.

Then there's the question of whose 'tax year' we're talking - theirs or ours? In Oz the tax year is from 1July year X to 30 June year X+1 ... The complexity of the issues is never-ending. As a federal superannuant living on taxed income derived from the Oz federal budget each year + taxed earnings from investments derived from my federal retirement lump sum, I intend to do nothing. When or if asked (and I suspect I never will be), I will have photocopies ready of all the Oz tax I pay each year. After that, mmmm.

Yes, which means that - mostly - it should set out broad principles, not the masses of itsy-bitsy detail that encumber the current document and render it practically incomprehensible (which no doubt suits those who use it to trip up anyone they disagree with on any subject at all).

Optimism is the father of action. Too much optimism is a sign of incompetence.

Whoopee! Down to Lotus, everyone, to boost the economy.

Oh dear! The world (at least as we have known it) is coming to an end.

Just for comparison here in the provinces: I had a combined colonoscopy & gastroscopy done here last week at private hospital in Surin city. Unlike 'in The West' I was expected to stay in the hospital for the long 'cleaning' process (they obviously don't trust Thais to follow the instructions). Result: over 2 days + 2 nights in the hospital, polyp removed & pathology awaiting. All-up price: 50000 baht.

Of course.

Never heard of irony?

Send in a member of your Thai family to do the price negotiation. I am forbidden by my b/f to buy anything that's negotiable. So we browse 'independently' then, after conferring, he reenters the shop & does the deal.

Yes. Apple cider vinegar is often recommended by the experts. 1 tablespoon + water before each meal.

Bananas are (relatively) high in sugar. Better would be an apple and berries of all kinds (blueberries particularly good, also strawberries). Avocados & kiwi fruit are good.

Thai man. Sushi. Iceland. Multiculturalism at its best.

Not sure how that sentence makes any sense. If you have 'fears of economic insecurity' you would presumably work longer?

Yes. The problem is that everything is connected to everything else. Poor management at every level results from corruption and lack of education & training which results from lack of understanding and leadership which results from corruption and hierarchy and cynicism which results from ... If you were new in government and tasked with 'fixing Thailand', where would you start? You've got only 4 or 5 years at most to 'make a difference', for tasks that will take half a century to fix (but only 30 years if you were in South Korea or Taiwan). To make major changes quickly you have to use strong-arm methods, but - as we hope the military might almost now understand - such methods are in the long run self-defeating. But producing fundamental change within a democratic system is almost impossible except in unusual (eg post-war) circumstances. Just ask any Western political leader.

Empty words. Don't pay attention to the detail - there isn't any. The main thing is peace & goodwill, which is what such occasions are for. Symbolism is important in national & international affairs. Get used to it.

Well we can all be cynical, an essentially negative substitute for activity. Politics is about symbolism. When politicians make the right symbolic gestures, things can change and improve. Make the wrong gestures - those of passivity & cynicism - and nothing ever changes.

There is a reason why many many Thais don't pay income tax: As in my extensive Khmer family, many many Thais don't have an income at all. Or they have one that is invisibly small or one that is short-term or erratic and unpredictable ....

What is the real deal? Noone knows, least of all the government. But the likelihood of it affecting genuine old-age pensioners living in Thailand is small indeed.

There has been a view (since May) that the time for military coups has passed, a younger generation simply won't put up with the b/s any longer etc etc. We shall see but - for our own (powerless) sakes & mental health - we should remain optimistic.