Sir Dude

Won't be long before the far-left in the UK manage to create the Islamic Caliphate of Britain anyhow... get out whilst you still can. The UK is shot on so many fronts and rapidly heading down the toilet... but hey, if you are a champagne socialist, who cares?

Well, that's going to go down like a lead balloon. I see that there doesn't seem to be much point having Gaza as it is, basically a huge open prison, where it is, and just going back into the previously done cycle of destroy-rebuild-destroy-rebuild-destroy again as these two simply are having too much of a hard time being neighbours. Something radical might have to be tried, like maybe just give them and equivalent sized piece of land ajacent to the West Bank and move them all there, plus give the West Bank government funding to build housing and infrastructure... but even then, it'll be a hard sell.

Russia, and its economy is in deep do-do. Russia's demographic situation is terrible, same problem in China, Japan and South korea etc. If you want to look into the falling population crisis in places like Russia, then go watch some of the geopolitical anaysis by Peter Zeihan on YouTube... very good stuff. As for Russia's economy, it's got to the point where it can't really afford to lose the war, or win it. If it loses the war, then it's done, if it wins the war, then it can't afford to rebuild the territory it has taken and its war economy will suddenly wind down creating havoc. Many observers are saying that Russia is suffering from what is known as "Dutch disease" (basically, the sudden rapid over-development and reliance on/of one sector of an economy, like natural resourses, at the decline of others... thus sparking lots of problems). There is also a problem of brain drain in Russia as all the well-educated scientists and engineers from the Soviet times and quality educational institutions from back in the day are dying out, and the Russian universities are not what they used to be. The economy is Putin's achillies heel because if the oligarths and elites aren't making money, then he's not upholding his end of the deal, which was that you can get rich and keep it if you stay out of politics. On top of that, it is the intelligence agencies like the FSB who decide what happens and who runs what (and Putin is from that group too). If the elites and intelligence agencies decide Putin is no longer their man... well, anything could happen. Russia's economy is overheating due the churning military producion industrial complex and inflation is way out of control, probably a lot worse than official figures say, and the currency is becoming worthless... with China and its Yuan that can only help so far as the Chinese are worried about secondary sanctions being placed on it. Russia is in big trouble and it is a vast country to hold together with so many minorities that are hardly in love with Moscow. Russia could easily fragment into like 30 countries if it goes properly south. However, this is all of Putin's own making due to him chasing the long held ambitions of previous rulers of Russia... all about securing the entry points to the vast open plains and steppes of central Russia. Russia has long sort natural barriers as protection from invasion, and during the Soviet Union's time they controlled all of them (think there are 7). This is why the Russians are so interested in the Caucuses as that is one, Moldova is another and that's on the other side of Ukraine, Poland and Estonia are another (think the Suwalki Gap to Kaliningrad etc.). It is these places Putin wants to control as it then makes invasion of the Russian interior almost impossible and this is what is fueling the Russian aggression... look what happened in Operation Barbarossa in WW2. Why now? Putin knows that time is running out and that the demographic and economic time bomb will mean that delay will equal they won't be able to do it later, it's try now or it will never happen. "Times they are a changin" and the newer generations aren't interest in imperial conquest so much... look how many young and talented Russians have fled as they have no interest in war. There are few things as dangerous as the nostalgia of old men.

Well, the idea of legalizing gambling so that it can be taxed etc. is all sound on paper, but you all know what the caveats are. It's also true that Thailand is losing potential tourist and gaming revenue to its neighbours as they all allow gambling to lesser or greater extents... so, in theory, good idea. Trouble is, as we all know, there will be massive abuse and shadowy criminality that surrounds such activities, especial in these countries round here, which the authorities simply won't be able to tackle other than on a superficial level with symbolic busts to show they are attempting to control it, but in reality it will be a feeding frenzy of financial crime, scamming, and slavery... plus the age-old problem of "corruption finds a way". As said, good idea in theory... but when that theory hits reality, then it will be a comical failureon most levels, but good for crime bosses and the rich, which is par-for-course in such places. Good luck with that.

Simple really, get a tax number, file a return that excludes what is covered by DTAs and see what happens... they will believe it or not. Not having a TIN and not filing a return may raise red flags, but filing one should let you fly low under the radar. It's very hard to monitor the millions of small transactions and ATM withdrawals that happen every day... and they have to monitor the Thais who these new rules are really for. If you want to bring in a large amount of money for something to purchase like a condo, big living money, or nice car etc., then just suck it up for one year and not be a tax resident, and bring it in during that year whilst visiting friends or family wherever/work in your home country, then become a tax resident the next year in Thailand and carry on as normal... ta-da, no tax on what you bring in.

It's actually pretty simple if you want to bring in money, just not be a tax resident for a year, bring in what you want... then become one (tax resident) next year, then ta-da and everything is okay. Rinse and repeat every time you need to bring in large amounts of cash. Problem is, this stupid policy will catch all the normal people like teachers/retirees etc. that it was not designed to catch... and the rich will be able to avoid it. Once again, an ill thought out policy that will backfire... morons.

All a load of hysteria... yes, get TIN but the chances of you being investigatate are tiny. All you do is submit a return and they believe it or they don't... I can't believe they have the resourses to investigate every foreign national on this, no way.

He will have time to mullet over during his eight weeks in jail.

Starmer won't let there be an inquiry because he was in charge of the CPS at the time (Saville problem too), and if the truth comes out, then he would clearly have to resign... that's why they won't let justice prevail and the truth come out. Rotten to the core, and Starmer is incompetent plus an accessory to these crimes through his inaction.

Well, surprise surpise, the usual demographic perp... toss the key away.

If the current Labour government had its way, it would be more like Soviet Union than democracy... and resurect the NVKD under Beria.

There are many anti-Trump folks on here that do not live here in Thailand and actually know Sweet FA about things... also lots of rabid socialists trying to influence the narrative. However, many of them have failed to realise how far south the world has gone under the current lefty watch. Once you go too far to either side then you end up facilitating the rise of the opposite, and history bears this out. The answers are to be found in the middle... scientists call it the " Goldilocks Zone". In the 20th century, many countries went too far right, which we needed rescued from, and that gave rise to the left in the late 20th century.... but we are in danger of going too far left now, which will give rise to the right, and it's already happening. The ansers are in the middle, like with most things.. sad that so many have lost sight of this and believe their personal intolerance is the way forward. Not a good prognosis for the future IMO.

Those that disagree are taking part in the warm colitas rising throught he air... haha.

Starmer loves the EU... but the EU is like "Hotel California" ... can never really leave.

Theft and looting etc. are serious offences, and I'll tell you why. The right to property and the protection of it is one of the fundamental rights that holds society together, and has done for a very long time... without it naturally comes banditry, lawlessness and a breakdown of society and its norms. What is the point of working to better your and your family's lives in the future and have things, paying taxes, saving money for retirement, doing the right thing, trying to do business and creating jobs, playing the game in all sorts of way so that there is a future for law-abiding people if some braindead oxygen thief can just turn up anytime they like and take it away using violence with no consequences? None at all. Theft should have a standard jail term of 1 year. This is why the West is decaying, because it is weak and society has lost its way. Most of the rest of the world take theft very seriously for the exact reason I've outlined, as its a huge threat to the health of society and culture... it wasn't so long ago that looting would elicit a very harsh sentence, even being sometimes summarily shot, and there was far less theft than now.

The number of deaths and accidents obviously gets most of the attention, but it always sounds just insane when they annouce that over, say a week, that something like 70k drivers couldn't produce a valid drivers license when stopped... guess a license is optional and just downright incoinvenient for many.

Thaksin needs to be impeached and dealt with, as he is a huge negative on Thaland and it's politics.

Thaksin is pulling the strings like a puppeteer with a marionette, can't believe the locals are swallowing it and think it's okay... what a load of BS. Well, I guess countries get the governments they deserve.... sheep-pleople

Agree too, despite our slight differences... there is much common ground on some things. o7

I attempted to address your concerns to my last post with you as best I can... but I stand by my assertion that going completely cashless is folly for so many reasons. I was distracted by someone else... but what I posted on the topic still stands for me.

I can probably last about a week with normal stuff, as keep enough food and water for 7 days all the time... I also like the outdoors and get into the countryside, so have military MREs with FRHs ordered from Shopee that could last another week too... yeah, outdoor nerd here, I know. And, on top of that, you could stretch that out to more than 3-4 weeks by fasting and only eating once a day and getting your body to survival mode... so it would be possible. Although, as you say, in freezing cold countries, you would be further challenged by the temperature... but here in Thailand, good to go.

Whilst true what you say, you also missed the word "barring". If the electricity/internet goes out for a week or two, then cash would be it.

Going completely cashless is supremely dumb for so many reasons, let's have a look at some: 1. The first and most obvious reason for not doing it is that we, the public, are handing far too much power over to banks, corporations, and governments... and we all know what a bunch of bankers they all are. I'm uncomfortable with the bank and government knowing every tiny little thing I spend money on... might lead to social scoring (even secretive) like in China where if you spend too much, in their eyes, on say beer or something, you lose points and become less socially viable. That is a dangerous and dystopian road. 2. It is good that there are different ways to pay for things as some are more appropriate for some things than for others. It's called choice, and anything that takes away choice from you is taking away your freedom... the more choice you have, the freer you are. 3. There needs to be a currency that can be used in troubled times, barring complete and utter collapse of society and it's instituations... cash is it. What will you do if the internet goes out? How about no electricity? 4. Satellites can go down and malfunction, bad actors can cut internet cables under the sea, unleach EMP weapons etc. etc. How about if there is a huge solar storm or coronal mass ejection that hits the earth just right.... only a matter of time, remember the Carrington Event? When that happened we were lucky we were only using telegraph, as it would be very distructive if it happened again. People talk about "hardening the grid" but an estimate of how much it would cost to just harden the US grid would be $25 billion or more, plus take a massive amount of time... not sure if there is the political will for that. 5. If there is only one way to pay, then if it goes down, society will implode much faster than if people have access to cash as a stopgap until things normalize. 6. People say it will cut down on criminality, but in all honesty, the more we digitize everything, the more fraud, hacking, and online scamming is happening... so the criminality would simply shift online, not go away. 7. The removal of the right to privacy, which some might argue has already vanished... would be undoubably gone, period, but I kind of covered that a little in number 1. I still use cash as much as possible as I dislike, and don't trust, the authorities and banks not to use the information for some end, or just sell it whilst they build up a financial profile of everyone. Look what an information treasure trove the cash handout apps are or the Covid app was... can find out almost anything out about everyone. Bet the intellignece agencies were have a party when you combine those with all the data people freely share about themselves on social media too... facepalm. Think I'm paranoid? Think of all the corporate data centers that are being set up everywhere, and all the intelligence agencies around love data and info because, well, you know the old phrase "Knowledge is power". I bet most people would be astonished if they knew how many corporate and government agencies knew so much about their lives in tiny details.

Collasping demographics are happening almost everywhere, probably for similar reasons, which I'll mention a few below: 1. To encourage families to have more children, and women in particular, you need to have decent family-friendly government policies... it needs to be worth it and for people to know they will get quality support from the authorities. 2. Families used to have large numbers of children because some wouldn't survive, the ones that did were free labour on the family farm/land... and maybe one might make it and do well, thus helping the rest in the future. Once you have everyone moving to cities and living in apartments or smaller areas, lots of kids are just problems and mouths to feed. 3. To have children, most people need to feel confident about the future and what it might hold. Without this positive sentiment, then many people simply don't think bringing children into a tough and unprosperous world, where it's almost impossible to progress well and the middle classes are fast shrinking, isn't such a great idea. 4. Women want careers and to earn money and may well put-off having children until they are financially secure. 5. Lots of men available simply aren't good father material and many women are catching on the the scoundrel "shoot and scoot" MO of your average oxygen thief in most places. 6. Having children and bring them up so that they are healthy and educated now costs a fortune... along with all the things Gen z and younger feel entitled to. For example, the wife's niece is like 12 years-old and is pestering her father for an Apple Ipad. 7. The direction the world is going in has taken a sharply negative curve in the last 15 years... so not sure having kids is such a great idea at the moment. There will be more, but that's just a few obvious one. However, a smaller world population may not be such a bad thing from an environmental persective. Governments panic about it because you now have too many older people and not enough younger people to work and pay taxes, so worry about how to pay for everything... the old "Aged society" thing, but they should have seen this coming long ago and done something about it. Basically, countries that have this problem (and that inclusdes Japan, China, South Korea, North Korea, Russia, Thailand and many more etc.) have two choices: Either, 1. Allow mass migration like Europe and the US has done to make up the numbers... but look what a mess of problems that has caused. If you do this option, then it has to done correctly, i.e. only allowing people in that have skills and something to offer, can work, pay taxes, and not commit crime or relentlessly remit all they earn abroad. Europe is in a mess because it has completely ballzed this up. 2. Ecourage your native people to get married and have kids through very generous and family-friendly policies (such as free government-funded childcare etc.) that make it benefitial to have kids in society, rather like it used to be. Neither option is easy to do, and can cost a lot of money, but many countries are heading down this difficult road which ends with some very hard choices to be made, and kicking the can down the road just inevitably makes the decision more painful the longer you leave it (got to get their heads out of the sand). This demograhics problem will only worsen as time goes on, and I read a detailed report about by the late 21st century, only subsaharan Africa will have healthy demographics... for example, there were more children born in Ethiopia last year than the entire EU. Certainly food for thought. Okay, I've rambled on longer enough already... good day to you all.