jingjai9

How can they advocate for this yet threaten to put an end to legal cannabis? The cannabis industry can do for Thailand all of the things the casino industry can do? I am not saying cannabis revenue would surpass Legal casinos, but from the sounds of the proposal stated herein, I would think more revenue from the cannabis industry would stay in Thailand than that of the casino and gaming industry; especially if they allow foreign investors and partners to participate. Also, there are studies that have been conducted which suggest that areas with legalized gaming experience an uptick in crime such as prostitution, drug use and theft.

Dear Xenophobes, You can't have your cake and eat it too. You want the money foreigners bring yet you contine to isolate and brand those who put money in your pockets. "Thailand warmly welcomes visitors." In fact they do as long as you keep at an arm's length and do not stay too long. The mere suggestion that the government wants foreigners to wear masks only symbolizes this dichotomy of us and them. If you work in Thailand this separation of us and them is more evident. This is embedded in the culture much the same as racism has been embedded in western culture for centuries. It goes without saying that humans are flawed, but can't we do better than this??????????????

I say this with the upmost sincerity. It doesn't matter who you are - we all suffer. We are all in this together.

It is just a matter of a few more days and once the fun begins they will be complaining about how bad the foreigners are behaving and how they need to crack down some more on these rascals and we will hear how the police will be really serious this time patrolling party areas thoroughly in order to make sure everyone is safe, and meanwhile the drunk driving injuries and fatalities will rise as the groping of the young girls and boys mixes in with the party atmosphere and all other kinds of mean and nasty activities will unfold like fighting, leaps off balconies, gangs racing and doing battle . . . . need I go on? You could write the news stories now and simply plug in the names and locations just before press time. If you want to make big money from tourists, you gotta work for it - that' life.

TerraPower might produce energy at a lower cost for Gates and Company, but will this result in lower prices for the end consumers? Please consider Bill Gates' record when it comes to lower cost. Microsoft has maintained a monopoly on an operating system for nearly 90% of the world's computers for 30+ years. If Gates had even a little bit of heart, he could show it by reducing the cost of Windows or making it open source. This of course is my dream. Do any of you on this forum recall seeing Bill Gates at a Congressional hearing back in the 90s attempting to demonstrate that Windows Explorer could not be separated from the windows operating system? Do you smell another monopoly in the air? We will have to take this new Gates project with a grain of salt I guess.

Open Arms vs. Xenophobia Thailand has high hopes of receiving 36 - 40 millions visitors in the coming year. Some of them will be bad people. People who come to play and then get drunk and have melt downs. A handful will fall off the balcony and there will be some other bad boys and girls who draw the attention of the police. There is a small part of the tourist population that no doubt tacitly believe that since prostitution is so much in the open and road signs and regulations serve as no more than mere suggestions, there is really no need to respect the law in Thailand; therefore, some will be prone to act accordingly when they drive and when they party. If Thailand is going to extend its open arms even wider - be realistic. You can't have it both ways: More people mean more problems. Don't treat tourists like objects. You are inviting people here and giving them incentives to come. And it is often forgotten that tourists in general are not cognizant of Thai culture. What can you do about that? Running news stories day after day and week after week about tourists that run amuck seems to broadcast the notion that non Thais are somehow culturally inferior. This may or may not be the intention, but reading the forums on ASEAN.NOW, ii seems to me many of the forum readers interpret the publicity as treating westerners pejoratively. I do not see how the news stories educate people or serve as a way of improving relationships between tourists and non-Thais. If Thailand wants these tourists and their money, they are going to have to work for it and that includes being creative.

I am smart enough to know I am not smart.

I used an agent last year to do my marriage visa. This year I want to do it on my own as I have the necessary funds in the bank. Will I encounter any problems about my bank account balance? The agent withdrew the necessary funds from my account as soon as the visa paperwork was accepted and I had the necessary stamp in my passport (pending). When I apply for the visa in June, I will have had the required balance in the bank just a shade over three months. Therefore, my bank account will show a balance below 400,000 from June 2023 until March 2024. How will this look when the immigration sees my bank statement for the past 12 months? I will be using the same immigration office as I did with the agent.

I think the lawmakers are out of touch with reality. People use cannabis for medicine and recreationally because they like it. It is quite appealing to be able to use cannabis in the privacy of your room and then go and hang out at the beach, etc. Tourists like this and to think that the restrictions on cannabis will not affect tourism is a prime example of taking something you believe and then converting it into facts simply because you have thick skin and power. At the risk of continuing a tiresome argument comparing alcohol and cannabis, all the criticisms lodged against the dangers of cannabis can easily be applied to alcohol. However, it is doubtful alcohol has any real health benefits. So here we go again, the uncles in the military and government have decided cannabis is no good so the public is forced to comply. This seems to be one more iteration in a process that covers most legislation, mandate, edict or whatever the word of the week is.

I want to use a webcam on my PC to take a photo. However, the photos are not clear. Does anyone know how to improve the quality of photos using a webcam. I have two webcams - a Microsoft webcam and General Webcam (that is all it says on the product's box). Is there any software available to aid with the quality of PC webcams? There are settings on the webcam application, but they do not really improve the quality. Is there a particular way to hold the webcam or an optimal distance? I am trying to photograph documents like passports, driving licenses, etc. My own personal documents.

Don't you think Edward Snowden is America's Navalny? America did not have Snowden killed, but he is in exile and skillfully marginalized by the US Mainstream Press.

The first mistake is to think that FB cares. They know how to cover themselves and they make sure their lobbyists are in the right places. Check C-SPAN ( a cable TV sponsored channel covering the US Congress) archives and you can see the hearings that have been conducted in the past accusing FB of anti-competitive measures, hosting content that is adverse to young people and teens. The Congress makes a good show, but in the end it is business as usual. The US Congress is beholden to the members of the donor class who support their campaigns.

"His opinions are soaked up, verbatim, without any filtering, by his tribe.... They will all go to their graves with supercilious smiles that even the most skilled undertaker will be unable to remove from their sour pusses." You are correct about Maher being an Pseudo-intellectual. Just check on the Maher archives for his interviews with Matt Taibbi and Glenn Greenwald. You may not be a fan of either of the two, but they are experienced, award winning journalists and they research their subjects. Whereas Maher's research is superficial at best. Bill Maher is more of a gatekeeper for the status quo than a true social critic. I do think he is funny at times, but he is a hollow liberal. The excerpt of Maher on this post is a classic example of the "Ugly American" profile many host countries draw of American tourists.

That bird is so loud in the morning that I cannot hear the TV. One day I wanted to see it as it was unusually loud. As I approached the tree where it was perched it quickly flew off. I was surprised it left so quickly. When will it go away, next month? This was a good post, appreciated the pictures and explanations.

It is all right with me.

Post like these make the forum here invaluable. Thanks

Does anyone use Super Kamagra?

You are doing people a noble service by reporting how you were violated when using FB. It helps to raise awareness on just how unreliable FB is as time goes by. The FB website is getting to be like a dangerous neighborhood with thieves, blackmailers and bullies running amuck and endangering what at one time was a relaxed community where you could catch up with family and friends. The sad thing is that FB seems to be aloof when people report issues. When FB does respond to a complaint, users are most often not satisfied. Thanks to international mega corporations like FB it is virtually impossible to call a tech business and report a complaint. Do you know anyone who has read the FB user's agreement from beginning to end? I listened to an interview with consumer advocate/lawyer, Ralph Nader who opined that once you check "I agree" on the FB user agreement you are actually surrendering some of your rights as a consumer. Why is the FB user agreement so long and difficult to read? How many of your friends on FB report being hacked and how often do you get a friend request from someone who has been your friend for years? I had a colleague in tears last week because she had built up a small business with 11,000 followers only to find out she had been hacked. All of her data had been stolen and was being held for ransom. When she opened the page for her FB business, it was occupied by people unknown to her. I have reported adverts to FB that were sexually suggestive as well as jobs that were not really jobs. I have read articles recently citing FB as a conduit for pedophile communities and so forth and so on. Many of us who use social media and rely on sites such as FB to stay in contact with our families in other countries need to find a new web site as FB is too big, too rich and too powerful to really care about the regular folks. They are there to collect our data and induce us to stay on their website for as long as possible. The social critic who said, "FB is free and you, the user are the product," was quite articulate I would say.

Feels like losing a friend.

Excuse me but does anyone know what happened to Ubon Joe?

I think it will do more harm to reduce the tax making wine more affordable than to keep the current status of cannabis. There is no doubt much more research on the negative effects of alcohol than there is research on the negative effects of cannabis. The problem most likely wrests with old politicians possessing old values while wielding power in the 2020s.

I had some good experiences using Thai Friendly. Of course there were some undesirables, but I also met some nice women. Some of these women were working in Bangkok or Chonburi and wanted to save money to one day return to their home province and build a house and some had small businesses. I was looking for a good relationship so I just weeded out those who wanted quick money out of me. I did this by taking it slow. I made it clear I was not looking for nude videos or a quick face to face meeting. If they talked to me frequently and seemed interested in learning more, I continued communication. There were some who wanted English lessons. I talked to maybe 20 over the course of weeks and maybe 8 for more than two months. I also kept most of my communication limited to women living within a reasonable distance from my home. If they talked about finances or I thought they might be men posing as women I did not continue. I also looked on the profiles for women with an education and used a series of chats to verify if the education was a selling point or it is was in fact genuine. Also I was careful not to talk about sex or personal things. I know women with an education can be gold diggers, but I felt education was a good yardstick for beginning. After one year, I met my current wife and I have never regretted it. I want to add I had a paid membership which was better for communication. Also, I am only mentioning in detail the positive things, there were of course many negatives. The negative things I think have been covered quite thoroughly in this forum. Thai Friendly may have drastically changed since I used it as it has been nearly four years now.

Within the last few months it seems construction has picked up in Udon and many businesses that closed during COVID once again have tenants. A new Makro just opened up on December 27th on the Ring Road not too far from the sports college and it looks like a fresh market next door to Makro will be opening soon. There are a few new bars opening on and around Soi Samphang. There is the new Library Bar near Dawan Daeng that looks to be a notch or two above the small bars on Samphang. Udon is steadily growing and because of this traffic congestion and dirty air of course increase. Udon will probably continue to grow steadily in the next couple of years. The big boost will come when the rail system which is slated to go from Singapore to China and pass through Khon Kaen, Udon and Nong Khai and then on to Laos is completed. This should bring much prosperity to Isaan. I am not sure how close the rail system will come to Udon. If the rail system runs through or near Amphur Muang,Udon, I would think the city will grow by leaps and bounds by the late 2020s. Udon lacks a tourist destination. Since there are no beaches or mountains to rival Phuket or Chiang Mai, this limits the number of tourists. The Central Plaza area picks up a few tourists who will spend a day or two in Udon on their way to Laos, but nothing significant. If you are in Udon on a daily basis you have to really look around to spot tourists under 30 years of age and you will rarely see western women on a typical day out. I have heard rumors about the building of an Isaan cultural center in the Udon area, but who knows whether or not the rumors contain a kernel of truth. I have lived and worked in the Muang district on and off for nearly 20 years. Udon attracts me as it is not too big or small of a city. It has many farang amenities, is relatively safe, not overly expensive and you can have a good night out if that is what you choose. There is an ex-pat community rooted here that dates back some 40-odd years. At one time Udon province's VFW chapter had nearly 100 members, but many of them have died in recent years. It is not as exciting as Pattaya or Phuket might be on a night out, but then it does not have the problems that come along with thousands of tourists hanging around. The people in this area have a reputation for being friendly. That is my take on Udon. Others I hope will have more to add.

There is little or no hope for a decrease in traffic fatalities, fender benders or pedestrian safety as long as Thailand introduces thousands of cars and motorcycles to the highways around the country each week and the road infrastructure is not updated.. The thoroughfares are not wide enough in most places to even accommodate the status quo. The biggest problem with traffic safety is the mix of motorcycles and cars trying to move up and down the highways simultaneously navigating traffic. Allowing motorcycles to weave in and out between cars or creep up the center or curbside lanes to approach the front of the queue awaiting the traffic light is asking for trouble. The only solution I can think of to combat congestion is to restrict curbside parking in cities. If empty lots could be converted into carparks with a nominal fee charged to owners of vehicles in order to pay for security personnel to manage the lots, this may be a start. If successful, perhaps multistory carparks could be built for profit as we have in many western cities. Dangerous roads along with corruption and pollution will no doubt haunt Thailand for many years to come.

I understand Hotels can remain open as per this article: The new regulations, which permit some nighttime entertainment venues to remain open until 4am, came into effect last Friday. These rules apply to venues in Bangkok, Phuket, Chon Buri, Chiang Mai, Koh Samui in Surat Thani and bars registered within hotels across the country, reported Bangkok Post. Does anyone on the forum know of any hotels in Udon Thani staying open until 4:00?