Salerno

Indeed, as per my follow on post:

Now you've confused me, all these years I thought it was "female (no penis) she/her" ????

And just because you don't know a persons name doesn't mean they (it works in this context!) aren't famous.

Yeah, didn't recognise him at first on some talk show special from London I caught while flicking channels one night (a Brit host who's name escapes me, normally in the US, as funny as a heart attack IMO). He appeared to be in a fat phase on the show.

Damn it man, you do realise there are certain images that just can't be unseen - a warning next time please!

No.

It's fun and convenient ... until it's not! I still have mixed feelings of a journey pre nanny state riding in the back of a large open top truck, a bunch of us standing at the back of the cab enjoying the wind blowing us around. We spotted a swan or a goose on the road ahead in the opposite lane with an oncoming car heading towards it. As it just sat there we started to shout at it to move, as birds do, it took off at the last minute. Unfortunately, it picked the wrong direction, straight into the bonnet of our truck and we where splattered with feathers and gore. Of course being obnoxious little p....s we initially laughed. It was a good 10 minutes or so before we sat down out of the wind and a sombre mood fell. Unfortunately, a lot of kids don't have the luxury of having such memories - or any memories at all - when the adults lack driving skills and/or the roads aren't up to scratch.

Because too many people will be banging on about "human rights". Every country has it's percent of kiddy fiddlers, wannabe gangsters etc. If convicted, I'd like to see the penalty also include having their passports revoked for a given time on release, if released - don't let them export their "evil" and wash "our" hands of it. Other than being an obnoxious <deleted>, he's not guilty of anything, but yes he does, mummy didn't nor does his brother now.

IMO, hell no. But I would like to see countries taking responsibility for their own citizens and denying passports to certain individuals.

Rounding up and dropping a 0?

It's a generational thing and in this case, genre thing. How many millennials or Gen Z do you think would recognise Eddie Murphy? Or how many not into say, Goth or Emo would have a clue about Bauhaus (or even those that claim to be "Goth or "Emo")? As mentioned, IMO, he is a talented individual as his list of awards attest to (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_awards_and_nominations_received_by_Sam_Smith). Recognising talent of course doesn't necessarily mean you actually like it - personally I thought Eddie was extremely funny for his time but I can't stand Celine Dion, although I recognise she's a diva (in the true meaning of the word not the pain in the proverbial "diva").

On the plus side, they'll be more visible against the red paint on the crossing.

Indeed, which is why I posted that graph initially to counter the one showing western tourists spending more which doesn't give the full picture. On the one hand "we are so vital because we spend way more money" on the other it's "it sucks, the Chinese are buying up all the real estate, driving prices up and pricing us out of the market" 555

Also as mentioned on the site where the chart comes from, Asians spend less time per visit than those from the West hence per "tourist" figures will tend to show westerners spend more per capita - they're in Thailand longer to spend: " The average Asian person (including Chinese and Japanese visitors) spends about 2/3 of what a European spends while on holiday in Thailand. The latter as mentioned before stays longer in the country."

That explains it ????

The FITs (free and independent travellers) I'd agree with, but the tour groups, not so much. I've had the pleasure of being on a river dinner cruise with them in Bangkok, sad to say I witnessed the "stereotypical" videos of mainlanders at various buffets played out live in front of me (the Thai crew actually took pity on us and brought meals to our table so we didn't have to wade in). I also screwed up once and booked an unknown, to me at the time, hotel in Pattaya while driving back on the last leg of a road trip, four coaches in the parking lot didn't bode well and it's the only time in my life I've actually lost it and gone into the corridor shouting at them to shut the F up (after three hours of them running from room to room, slamming the doors and "talking" at a ludicrous decibel level). A few months later I read a report the hotel had been raided, Chinese owned incorrect licences from memory. They just need time to adjust to the social norms of the wider world. I have no doubt in a few years the stereotypes around them will fade into the history books as has, IMO, the "ugly American" stereotype. I've also been lucky enough to have met some very pleasant Chinese travellers be it singles, couples or small family groups, and enjoyed the time I had with them discovering new things.

As above ^ Perhaps the best option open to you for a favourable/speedy solution is bribery (or extortion depending on how you look at it) - how much will it cost for her to hand over the blue book and get it transferred into your name ????‍♂️

I find it ironic (or more accurately, hypocritical) that those loudest banging the keyboards about the illegal immigrants also tend to be the ones that are loudest about the "pathetic Thai IOs" picking up overstayers and appear to be quite happy about people circumventing the Thai laws when it suits them e.g. dodgy visas and using agents.

Yeah, I love all the fences and warning signs nowadays, I rember one fatality on the news about one of your frozen waterfalls I believe it was. I've got a picture from the early '90s sitting on the edge of a jutting out rock over a 100 m or so vertical drop in Oz (crapping myself but hiding it well, at least I hope I was 555) it's now got warning signs and fenced off (been a few deaths). If I'd have fallen that would have been down to my own stupidity, not the fault of the Government. Same deal here IMO. If he'd just leaned against the door and it flew open then fingers could possibly be pointed.

No comment on what passes as "news" nowadays ????

I'm not English either (shivers at the thought!) but look him up, seriously, I think you'll find he's actually talented.

What cave do you live in? Ignore the pronoun BS, he's a decent singer.

No personal responsibility nowadays? RIP to the poor sod and condolences to his family.

No worries, if you get it at the airport on the way out and you don't have photo and paperwork sorted beforehand add 200 Bht.

Which is one of the things stopping Chinese tourists e.g. who wants to use a big chunk of their time off in quarantine on return home. China is also slowly dropping it's restrictions on people leaving. "Online searches for flights abroad surged on the news, state media reported, with the travel platform Tongcheng seeing an 850% jump in searches and a tenfold rise in inquiries about visas." https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/dec/26/china-starts-to-drop-quarantine-requirement-for-overseas-passengers