jts-khorat

My experience with many oldtimers I knew in Thailand was: first, big talk about how they will end it, have their machines shut down when the time comes or even swim out into the bay. The all, to the last man, fought to the last second of breath, literally whatever the cost. It is a human instinct. Just to have the peace of mind now to know that indeed I can decide myself when I am switched off, instead of my wife doing so because I ran out of money -- or even before! 😛 -- is well worth the money spent. To all those people who are saying, that they are saving their money up: good on you, if you have the discipline. A surprising large number of adults don't have it and rather drink all the money away than keep to their health. For those, especially, health insurance is a must.

The issue as I see it: Israel has done very, very little to try to integrate the Arab population; and looking at how settlers can behave in the present, it is really not on their list. Which is weird, learning from history and all that, what friction can be created by having two parallel societies living in large part side by side, culturally unmixed, maybe even for hundreds of years (yes, I am still talking about Germany and what transpired during Nazi times). Integration is a very difficult process, which needs major financial and social investments, as we in Germany know (having opted to integrate a large number of Afghans, Syrians, etc -- falafel is now as German a food as Pizza or Döner are). It is an investment that is well worthwile, because -- at least I believe so -- those people who put in the effort to come this far to build a better life, are actually wanting to build a better life. I believe, if they feel enfranchised, they will put in a tremendous effort (statistically speaking). How to enfranchise a people that have been segregated against for 80 years? A more difficult task, true. But looking at how South Africa ended Apartheid, or the Civil Rights movement in the US, it is not without precedence.

Indeed we were; and paid back every penny of it, because to this day we believe in rules and promises. But the true price, up to this day, is a permanent military occupation force by the Americans, and they behave as one. I remember American jets flying so low over our village when I was a kid, that you could see them from above when just walking in the hills; airplanes starting from Ramstein in a 10 minute rythm made the window panes in my sisters apartment shudder; and EUCOM is just a few kilometers from where I live, making sure I will be in the nuclear burn cone when the Americans finally start a war with the wrong people. As I am sure they will, righteous and pure as they are.

We are penalized, and fairly so. What was done in the 1930s and 40s was beyond horrific and should be remembered as such. As, I am sure, those who are about to take control over Gaza will be remembered for their endless barbarism for the next decades to come. Looking at the picture in the OP, it reminds me of a certain city quarter of Warsaw, where Germans built a wall around it. It was the same mindset, as bombing a whole city of 2 million people into total ruins and starving those that have survived -- purely for being of another ethnicity and religion -- with the final target of taking their 'Lebensraum' to build nice resorts over the rubble...

"Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity." But are Americans really this uneducated and dumb...??!

This is not just grumpiness. The symptoms as @georgegeorgia describe them are very very often a sign of developing Frontotemporal dementia (FTD), leading often in the beginning stages to social disinhibition, impulsivity and loss of empathy. Not something to be proud of, but a warning sign to see a doctor,as it it leads to severe, progressive decline over time.

This one can indeed by a nasty virus. What I take away from this: don't nibble on fruits that a bat has shat on. Don't go around kissing Indian men. Seems not too difficult.

Indeed, in all this "great" proposals I have seen indicate nothing, on how Trump and his cronies will acquire the land needed; although most is covered in rubble, I am sure the concept of private ownership exists in Gaza, so each little parcel belongs to somebody. I would take the wild guess that the housing shown in the slides is not built to be given away for free to the previous inhabitants. Building a resort or even housing over everything is otherwise nothing more than theft. As many people in Nazi Germany learned: buying up distressed Jewish properties lead only to those illegally bought possessions given back to the rightful heirs after the second world war. I would not want to be in "investor" in a Gaza resort where this could happen at any point in time, even decades into the future.

You really enjoy it? Tell us more!

Time then to remove the American presence from Greenland and replace the soldiers stationed there with a 'Coalition of the willing'. I bet, Finnish soldiers would be delighted to be stationed there for some training -- being the true winter soldiers -- and teaching their European partners on how to fight off invaders (Americans included) in icy conditions. Maybe toughen up some of those Rheinmetall military vehicles in the process. I would be very happily spending a few of my German tax Euros on that!

Well, here we go. For once, we Europeans seem to have found our dangling bits and stand up to the bullying. Enough is enough! And as a good side effect, fasten decoupling from the sinking American economy, as fast as we can manage. From the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2026/jan/17/hands-off-greenland-protests-denmark-us-donald-trump-europe-latest-news-updates The plug is expected to be pulled on Donald Trump’s tariff deal with the EU by the European parliament on Wednesday after the two biggest blocs of MEPs said they would halt the legal ratification process in response the US president’s latest threats. Manfred Weber, the head of the European People’s Party, the largest voting bloc in the institute, said “approval is not possible” in light of the latest events. The remarks were backed by the second biggest voting bloc, the Socialists and Democrats (S&Ds). Kathleen Van Brempt, vice president for trade for the S&Ds, said there could be “no trade deal under given circumstances”. Together they represent 324 of the 720 seats in the parliament and are expected to be backed by the Greens and other groups. “The EPP is in favour of the EU–U.S. trade deal, but given Donald Trump’s threats regarding Greenland, approval is not possible at this stage. The 0% tariffs on U.S. products must be put on hold,” Weber said. The deal entered into force last year in the US with tariffs of 15% being imposed on imports from the EU. But much to the annoyance of Trump, it has yet to be ratified by the European Parliament, which was already seeking amendments. German MEP Bernd Lange, who chairs the EU’s influential trade parliamentary committee, said: “In view of the threat of imposing an additional 10% tariff from 1 February, I cannot imagine that we will continue business as usual and I assume that we will suspend our continued work.” He continued: “For me, there is no question that this is another new step with which the US side does not comply with the Scotland deal. “We have already discussed intensively in a parliament about our obligation under the deal and were skeptical as to whether we can make US products duty-free if there is no reliability at all on the other side of the Atlantic that the deal will be adhered to. We will discuss this question again with the political groups on Wednesday.”

What a moron this man is; has he not understood, that with trade with the EU, there is no "single country" he can put tariffs on? How would you decide if a car that was produced in factories in Czech Republic, Spain, France, Poland and Germany -- as many cars are right now -- is actually a car from any specific country? By the port that it is shipped out? By the headquarter location of the company (who will have dozens of national subisdiaries)? By the percentage of parts (whose sub-parts themselves will be sourced internationally)? There are enough Americans on this forum jeering this idiot on. Which makes me wonder: is it right to be in an "alliance" with such people, or should we not leave the Americans alone, to stew in their own pot of war with the Chinese (which they will bring upon all of us within the decade, I am sure). Don't come calling then...

Wow, at least you do not hide that you are a racist. Of course, that makes you pure trash.

... yet. There, fixed it for you.

I would posit, it was never such a great country to begin with; now, just the mask has fully fallen off, so everbody can see. To recap, the USA was built on genocide and stealing land, only one bunch of the thieves thought they are better than anybody else and since that date can tell everybody else how to behave "free". Maybe the reason they also have the biggest weapons cache of the planet, so they are "believed".

Indeed, the same thing could happen anywhere, I agree; and medical service in Thailand has often also been excellent. For example, I had an episode of severe lower back pain and the doctor -- his clinic little more than a desk in a room open to a side road in some Isaan village -- described a combination of pills (white and green ones, of course he did not write it on the little plastic bag and I forgot to ask) that helped basically immediately -- something a German doctor could so far not replicate. I have kept two of the pills and will ask next year, when I pass thzorugh this place again. But, all my experiences with the Thai medical system have been about non-lifethreatening issues. So, if I get to a doctor who thinks Paracetamol is a magic cure for everything, I will catch it out quickly by myself. And this has happened to me several times, too, where the medication did not even remotely make any sense with regard to the symptoms. In case of something serious and complicated, I would therefore never trust only the opinion of one doctor.

It is possible to get very, very good service at a local hopsital, but frankly it is a bit of Russian roulette -- maybe the same is true for the big private hospitals. You can get a doctor that had afirst-rate international education; or a guy who arguably knows less about health care than I. Example in case: the uncle of my wife went to hospital with pretty clear symptoms of a large intestinal tumor. The first doctor could feel it, but said, it can be operated. The second opened him up, but then did not remove the tumor or even make a biopsy, because "this is not cancer" -- of course he was happy and did not even think to question this analysis. After symptoms got worse rapidly, the third doctor determined, that he was already that weakened by the senseless operation that he would not survive any additional intervention and that the tumor was so large that it was late stage 4 anyway. Mai bpen rai then. The last doctor was, unluckily, right, he died days later due to sepsis from the first operaton, after bleeding from the intestines into the body never stopped. The hospital, of course, racked up a rather largish bill and he was sent home so late, that he was already unable to communicate at that stage. So, if in doubt, at least get a second opinion if it is something important.

If you go through the massive trouble of boiling and filtering your tap water before drinking it, as your article advises, you might as well drink store-bought water in a glass bottle right away.

As the two posters above me allude, she should have both passports renewed and use them appropriately. As a 16-year old she would also likely need a Parental Consent letter, signed by all/both legal guardians. My son was asked, weirdly enough, only around half of the time for it, when he travelled as an unaccompanied non-adult. What I do not know is, if she would need a proof of residence/guarantee letter when going to Sweden when travelling on a UK passport, surely somebody else knoweldgeable can comment on that.

The only thing I got as takeaway from this article is: don't inhale smoke, don't overeat candies and brush your teeth once in a while. Absolutely nothing of this is directly related to cannabis use -- when taken as an edible.

Over decades Americans have proven, that they are in general entitled, uneducated morons. I would not attribute malice, where pure stupidity explains it all already...

When in Rome do as the Romans do... with regard to potential parasite infections, whenever I have been staying in the village in Isaan for a longer time, a dose of Fugacar is obligatory, maybe every three months. So far I had never symptoms of parasites, but with general food hygiene as it is (especially undercooked/undergrilled meat and potentially unwashed fingers in the shared food) one needs to be careful. So far I never had side effects from this treatment, so I would recommend it as the way to go in general.

Why not simply declaring all US government officials persona non grata in the US and finally be rid of all of them? As one of the US mouthpieces above said: the US is not sharing the European ideals of free speech and freedom in general, they are proto-fascist entity now (while the US is not even able to get dictatorship right, due to their dementia-ridden system of presidency). Why they are not ashamed is anybodies guess. Close the door, take the pain of breaking off all trade and wait three years. My guess is, the US economy will have imploded by then, the US will break up into small statelets within the next decade, so finally good riddance.

In case you would have travelled extensively in the wet tropics, this is what you get: faster turnaround of organic decay, organic life in general. Heat and high humidity concentrates odour more -- then you often have the ocean nearby, its own major source of smells. And then, of course, open markets and food stalls along every roadside, gifting us with a nice smell of their wares on offer. Whenever I leave the airplane and get the first whiff of the "Thailand-smell", I stop for a moment to enjoy the realization of being home once more.

Great then that Donald just signed a law forbidding all and any control of generative AI. "You live by the sword, you die by the sword."