John Drake

Chy-nuh! Chy-nuh! Chy-nuh!

Yes, the medical "trust fund" has become a tourist industry slush fund.

Tofu building standards

Can't find that story anywhere, including the Bangkok Post.

And her husband had to be aware at the very least. Great advice there. Wonder if he and his US property are liable for a civil suit. She should contact the US Embassy and start the process of giving herself up of her own free will.

Who is the pitbull going to go to war against?

Per Time.

Seven very good recommendations here, especially the introduction of means testing as a way to limit benefits for high income individuals. https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/03/changes-americans-are-willing-to-make-to-fix-social-security.html

"Can." In fact, they rarely get above 38,000 because it is inefficient and dangerous in case of an emergency to do so.

I think the Chinese come here because it's not China. And it's nearby and cheap.

It's not about being "updated," it's about the use of a single anonymous source to launch a story. And that is what happened a couple of days ago, here, on this forum, which caused people to react so assuredly. A "single anonymous source" was all they needed then. Here are the pertinent parts of the story linked to in the original topic https://aseannow.com/topic/1285572-revealed-three-chinese-spy-balloons-infiltrated-the-us-during-trump-administration-but-he-never-shot-them-down-or-told-the-public-as-republicans-call-for-biden-to-resign-for-putting-americans-at-risk/ That launched a 10 page discussion, all based on a single anonymous source. It used to be in journalism that anonymous sources were only very rarely used (think Watergate). Nowadays, it has become something of a default. Why did this "senior official" need to "speak on background" for this story? It was either an identifiable fact or it wasn't.

It does look pathetic. "What did you do on your vacation, Huang?" "I watched a train run through a ghetto."

Wow! Big news!

And all of it benefitting a relatively select few. Should have kept the electricity subsidy for home users instead.

This is funny. Because it was only a couple of days ago that all those stories about balloons spying on the US during the Trump administration were being spilled all over this forum and they were sourced by a single anonymous official. I'm all for sabotaging, sanctioning, isolating, and confronting Russia/China. But to see the news media act as little more than an appendage to a particular political ideology and outlook is not only disturbing, it will eventually undermine and discredit the existing system of news gathering and trust.

Following this on Twitter, it looks like Trump's followers are all piling in with him on this. Because he is unelectable, it's clear they all intend to sink to the bottom with him. Trump simply is a degenerate person for whom this sort of <deleted> slinging is an integral part of his make up.

Because incredibly it seems most of the Western military and intelligence agencies either 1) cannot detect them or 2) sit around in their underwear and wonder "what's that?"

Because that's where the money is!

I think that is the point of any crackdown that might come. Since Chuwit exposed the extensiveness of Chinese triads operating in Bangkok and elsewhere, it's clear that a lot of immigration falsifying of documents is going on. I don't want triads or Russian gangsters here. Not only will they make things more dangerous in terms of violence and financial fraud, they'll destroy the price structure, especially for Thai people. I don't really think that the small fry will be caught up in this. But they might. The problem of a growing foreign criminal class, however, is a greater threat that needs some sort of resolution that gets them out of here.

They probably were good looking a year ago.

Stopped for lunch.

And this reminds me, whatever happened: 1) To the taxi driver who killed an American with a samurai sword over a fare dispute? 2) The Western tourist who was tracked down and arrested and made to make an apology for a critical post about a Thai resort? Will be interesting to see what happens in any altercation between a Westerner and a sacred Chinese tourist, won't it?

The price for durian is already sky high thanks. Now, you might not be able to get them at all as all the produce is directed towards China.

And watch the triads' cash filled suitcases walk right on in.

And there are many ways in which to help achieve this goal. According to Khaosod, starting today, and coinciding with the start of Chinese group tours, Immigration will no longer use baggage checks, requiring tourists to open their luggage. Just makes me wonder how many suitcases stuffed with cash from China on its way to triads in Bangkok will start going through today, too.