Damrongsak

Well, they could send people on board when the plane lands and go up and down the aisles with a collection basket. They have long handled ones that work for wide body aircraft. (Photo courtesy of Tonini Church Supply Co)

I had no problems with the charges at Loei hospital a few months ago. ER, one night stay, X-rays and a CT scan. It was about 16K Baht but most was the CT scan. All the other charges were cheap as chips. I was told the CT scan was pricey and OK'd it. I don't know what they charged for the bowl of jok and the hard boiled egg in the morning.

"... There are concerns that the fund may be used to support large, established businesses, rather than providing support to those most in need. ..." Fewer but fatter brown envelopes is more environmentally sound than a whole bunch of little ones.

It's not proof, merely an indicator in some instances. A name like NAJI SAMI BOUAKKAZ is probably a bit odd in thailand. This found at random on a Google search: "How Common Is The Last Name Bouakkaz? The surname Bouakkaz is the 69,057th most prevalent surname on earth, borne by around 1 in 1,014,272 people. This surname occurs mostly in Africa, where 99 percent of Bouakkaz are found; 99 percent are found in North Africa and 99 percent are found in Mahgreb." I have no proof of this, but you have to start somewhere.

Other than the minerals in the bird <deleted> on the roof.

No. Joe Cummings. One of Tony's first hired hands. Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones once contacted Joe when a concert was canceled due to airplane problems. Joe personally showed Mick around BKK and nearby. They had fun. Joe and I were in the same Peace Corps group 58 in Thailand 1977-79. We all went through language training together. a little blurb: https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/joe-cummings-lonely-planet-thailand/index.html

Was it a Harley Hog?

I have a buddy who traveled extensively years ago. He didn't know where he was going to stay or even exactly where he was going. There were times when there was no hotel, so he'd sleep on the floor in a Wat. He then wrote the original Lonely Planet Thailand guidebook and several more editions.

I stayed at our house in Loei, which is nowhere.

Just a mix of regular small ones.

Poorly written article. "The arrest followed an incident ..." Followed an incident 15years ago!

Yeah, how do I know where I'll be when relatives and friends drag us around to see the scenes? If they want to know my exact whereabouts, why don't they supply an electronic tracking butt-plug? And I didn't "move into" a residence, I stayed at our house for about 45 days. Went to Vietnam for 10 days, then BKK at a relative's house for 5 days on the way out. Catch me if you can.

So, I visited our owned house in Loei for 2 months last fall. I told Immigration where I was staying on the visa application and even had to have an invitation from my wife with a copy of her Thai ID card and the Tabien Ban. And she still needed to report me? (She didn't and to hell with it.) If the authorities had come by to see if I was staying there the whole time, I would have introduced them to my wife's pet bantam chickens. They took a liking to me after a couple months. They knew I was there.

Put a new piston in my KTM - 350cc.

Just like Dulles airport outside Washington, D.C. They have about 25 counters that I could see. Came back from BKK in November and about 4 were open - only 1 for citizens and permanent residents! Took me well over 2 hours to get in, as there were hundreds of us in that one line.

"... He said that the Hmong man had postponed the payment until all the crops were harvested. ..." Maybe he didn't have enough money until the crop was harvested and sold to a middleman. But if he was paying piece rate, he should have paid daily or weekly. What a tragedy.

Some background on the Uber exit: The Real Story Behind Uber’s Exit from Southeast Asia https://knowledge.insead.edu/entrepreneurship/real-story-behind-ubers-exit-southeast-asia

Do an image search on "disc brake anti-rattle clip" or "brake pad retaining clip".

Oh for gosh sake, everything is "racisim" these days! I hate that word as it's so misused. In this case the cops may be using favoritism. I'm glad I grew up when there were only 3 races - black, white and yellow. And there were a few red ones that may have been yellow ones who got too much sun. (Look at migration patterns.) If we regard every ethnic group or tribe or local culture as a distinct "Race" then the word has little meaning. Some countries have 20 - 30 - 40 of these groups.

Years back I had a motorcycle endorsement on my Virginia, USA license, but lost it due to moving states and expiration. On a trip to Thailand last fall, I got an IDP to drive a car if I wanted. I told the issuer (AAA) that I had a Thai motorbike license, so they checked that box as well. No proof required. But I did carry my 45 year old Thai motorcycle license ("motor bicycle"). I paid about 100 Baht extra for a lifetime license. I toyed with the idea of going to the DLT to get an updated plastic license with a more modern picture, just didn't get around to it. I ended up letting my wife ride with me on the back, and I think she doesn't have a valid license. ????

I put labels on my passports to remind me of which agency I'm working for on a particular trip. ????

Yes, getting it jump started right here and right now. I was not a party to the politics, just a guy on the ground. I hope I behaved well and some of those folks appreciated it. That's all.

Back around 1969 (in the USA) we kids occasionally made pipe bombs. Maybe a little homemade black powder juiced up with flash powder squeezed out of regular firecrackers. Good thing we were careful, as a ragged piece of copper pipe at high velocity could have taken someone out. Circe 1990 a kid blew up my above ground pool with a substantial pipe bomb on Halloween night. He did prison time. Ping Pong ball explosives don't take much powder but can be very loud. But you don't want to be holding one when it goes off. As for Ping Pong shows, a tout at Patpong tried to get us interested (circa 1978). I said I wanted to see an elephant show, and the guy got really ticked off at me, LOL.

Print Mo' Money. What's all this "I", "I", "I" stuff? I dislike politicians. Now, if I was Emperor ...