mfd101

2 comments from my experience: (1) When we lived in The Trendy a few years ago, if there was a female of about 30 years up in the lift with me, I would politely gesture for her to walk out of the lift ahead of me. Almost invariably she would look surprised unless she was of similar age to me (then in my 60s). I think this was a 'males first' Thai issue, not a falang issue; (2) I notice with the slightly more 'outer' members of my b/f's extensive family that the women are always more approachable than the males. Women happy & cheerful, men serious & surly. One BIL is a retired police lieutenant so high in prestige in the village, nice guy, about 10 years younger than me. He will always avoid eye contact with me and won't wai me unless I wai him first (in which case he looks surprised). So issues of status plus the Thai habit of avoiding eye contact with strangers in case of inadvertent loss of face one way or the other.

Mmmmm, along with a 40-year program to restructure a feudal society and its apology for an 'education system' ...

Psychological prison, permanently. He might as well have stayed in Dubai.

Not sure that comes under the heading 'multiculti'. Perhaps more 'self-help'.

Multiculturalism has worked extremely well in Australia for many years. It's all about how you go about it ie carefully. Plus being an island helps (though not very well in the case of the UK).

Wow! The Rainmaking Department has clearly been at work.

We can all dream.

How sweet he looks. How touching.

A more accurate description might be: Weak autocracy.

A translinguistic pun: état/state (of being). And the irony was at Thaksin's expense (sigh).

I have lots of dreams. One is to live healthily for at least another 20 years (I'll be approaching 95 then) so I can continue to look after my b/f (approaching 55 then) and his benighted family. Another is to win the lottery so I can buy a decent SUV able to withstand the Thai rural roads and my b/f's driving (unlike our little Mazda 3, approaching 8 years old, which was not designed for either). And I would love to take my b/f to see Europe for the first time - take him to all my memories of Paris where I lived for 2 years, and to Spain & Portugal, and places I've never been in Central Europe & the Balkans (up the Rhine & down the Danube) ...

Actually a coup d'état is when the military usurp power and take over from the elected government in power as happened in 2006 to Thaksin. It also happened to his sister, Yingluck in 2014. Another term that could be used in place of a coup d'état is treason against the state. Never heard of irony? Never heard of puns?

Ditto re house burglary. But they became extra cheerful when my b/f happened to mention in passing that he had just paid a tidy little sum in to the police Knees Up fund.

It's what's called a coup d'état: his state of being has had a sudden buck up.

You may need to keep your pants in a fitting state ... My b/f & I will certainly be there to do the deed (but not in the first 5 minutes) when/if the legislation passes. I do imagine that the news might travel rather slowly to the provinces.

A more appropriate call for the GG than his one on the PM the day before. Similar status in each country.

There's only 1 above him and he beat him to the top job only a few weeks ago.

And whos going to do that?

Here in Surin I've never been asked for map or photo of me at the gate, but I have both with me each time just in case. The one time several years ago they came calling the first we knew was the head woman of the village down the way a bit phoning and asking us to go down to her place where 3 Immig officers were waiting for us. I can only guess they were intimidated by the big white fence all round & the 2-storeyed house. Never had a visit since.

Day begins with double espresso each for b/f & me. Then 2 or 3 times a week for brunch to PTT here in Prasat where my favourite is beef laab with papaya salad & mint & kale. I have that almost every time, but varied in the few days of 'cold' weather when I have a large soup. Also occasionally I need to have beef, rice & 2 eggs at the stall next door to keep the lady there happy. When going to BKK Bank we eat next door, usually noodles with beef etc + 2 scrambled eggs. If I'm preparing brunch only for me at home it'll be Western-style healthy - lots of blueberries, strawberries, poached eggs on rye toast ... Always followed by single espresso for b/f & me. Once a month when we go to the outskirts of Surin city for Tops and coffee beans, we brunch at a variety of Thai & Chinese restaurants. Yesterday we did a large pizza - or rather I did & b/f ate more or less à la thalandaise. Evenings I cook for myself - Western-style healthy with plenty of vegs, & salmon a favourite. B/f eats at the family farm where he cooks for his aged parents before returning home for our 3rd espresso of the day.

With great difficulty. But treating the symptoms won't help either.

Current Senate's life expectancy is only a few weeks at this stage ...

As an aside, I note that Greece - a highly socially conservative, Greek Orthodox country - passed legislation yesterday to allow same-sex marriage.

Today's 'Australian' has a review of the MG4 electric hatch. Remarkably good (not perfect) and very reasonable price.

In politics as in government, individuals come and go. Problems remain - addressed, unaddressed, solved, insoluble.