John Drake

Well, this will shut down Boots almost immediately.

Wouldn't want to be the person who ratted out people in the village. Life might get a lot tougher.

You left pensions off your list.

BOE announcing intervention in the bond market. UK Pound is about to become the Turkish Lira. https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/news/2022/september/bank-of-england-announces-gilt-market-operation?sf170940617=1

And the winner is: China.

Bugs.

Baht's fall against the US dollar is paying off. Keep it up--or down, as the case may be.

And the question is: how full are the dams?

Don't forget Sea Hags.

A new president and direction for West Taiwan. About time.

They act like a horde of Blutos.

Early on, I was told that Thai and Asian standards of beauty sought a heart-shaped face. So, why are all these halfs with elongated horse faces the standard of late?

Diamond Jim!

And Russian gangsters.

Seems the only way out at this point.

You have more faith in Russians than I do. A quick google of "what percentage of Russians back Putin in Ukraine," shows considerable support for him. I still see only two possibilities. Either Putin backs down from his nuclear threat or Biden/nato let him go ahead. This is the same scenario Kennedy/Khrushchev backed themselves into over Cuba. Khrushchev backed down and was dethroned as a result.

Where? The current rump Ukraine? Occupied Ukraine? Occupied Crimea? Russia itself? Look, I don't know. I'm just asking questions. Where does all this lead? Personally, I have no idea.

Okay, Ukraine is now winning the war. And they will keep fighting to regain the territory Russia invaded and occupied. They likely can capture it. To stop that, Putin says he'll use nuclear weapons. If he does, what does Ukraine do? They cannot retaliate with their own nuclear weapons--they haven't any. What do Biden and Nato do? Use nuclear weapons in the Russian occupied territories? How does this end? You tell me.

It's bizarre in its way. The one country Thailand has not targeted with a tourism campaign is the US. In the past seven or eight months, they've announced campaigns to bring the British, the Scandinavians, the Germans, South Americans, Malays, the Indians, the Chinese, and now the Russians (again). And as you say, the Russians are about to be penned up. They Chinese already have been penned up with no sign they'll be let loose any time soon. But that is who Thailand targets. One of the fastest ways to turn around that dollar/baht exchange rate would be to get American tourists buying baht with their dollars. But Thailand clearly doesn't want Americans to come here.

Everybody is in a box. Putin cannot back down. Neither can nato. Whomever does so would be finished, their credibility destroyed. Putin appears to be playing for all the marbles. What do you think will happen if nato retaliates with nuclear weapons. And if Putin does in fact "face the consequences" with his own people, please note that a solid number, perhaps the majority, behind the scenes think Putin is a "dangerous compromiser." They want a harder line.

How does he do that? If he does, he'll be torn to pieces. What's his personal incentive to do so?

It should be made clear to China (and India) that they will not escape the consequences of their Russian ally's actions. They should know now they will not be able to pick up the pieces and enrich themselves. One side, here, will need to back down and lose face. If Putin does, he's likely out. And then what happens when we find out that all the time Putin really was the moderate voice of Russia and what is there now is even worse. If Biden and Nato back down, then the door is open for Russia to repeat the very same scenario all the way to Berlin in the West and Afghanistan in the south.

You might get both.

Maybe they'll get around to being more serious about life when Putin drops a couple of H-bombs on them.

Or Thailand could promote this exchange rate with American tourists. Oops. Forgot. They want to focus on Russians instead.