Purdey

Not sure why you are so angry with me. I happened to get the usufruct so I have the right to live here should my partner die before me. No lawyer can evict me as I have a legal contract issued by the Land Department. After I die, she will own it if she is still around, or her family will own it after we both die, in which case I don’t care.

I have a house under an usufruct so I can vouch for this. I suggest using the search function on this site using just one word, usufruct. I found 9 mentions. Try this first.

No mention of permanent residents, who do not need to transfer money from abroad. Readers may be interested to look into usafruct agreements if you have a Thai spouse. I read abou it on this site many years ago. Buy in his/her name, sign an usufruct agreement and have full rights to live in and use the property for the rest of your life. More reasonable, I think.

Airplanes contain pilots, cabin crew and passengers.

The BMA (and others) have been very duplicitous in their talk about waste separation. Talk is cheap. While plastic PET bottles are often separated as people know their value and there are many places to sell them, to be honest the BMA has been dumping everything else. They keep telling people they are "doing their best", but as someone pointed out earlier, most waste is not separated and goes into the same truck. It's all well and good to tell people to separate waste but when the bins and collection are ineffective and collection times are once a week (in the suburbs) then the issue isn't going to be solved. Three streets around my home, everyone dumps all waste at the junction as there is only one bin among fifty homes. If you want people to separate waste, teach them about what types of waste can be recycled. Make it a compulsory subject at schools and encourage university students to find ways to clear waste from waterways. As an aside, little old Wales is a world leader in separating and recycling waste. A 40 quid fine if you don't separate. Difficult in Thailand - who will collect fines that no one wants to pay? An interesting idea (not mine) is to bury certain types of waste that is non-toxic, e.g. paper that has had food in it and cannot be recycled. Once there is a managed and segregated waste dump, grass it over until a recycler with new tech says he will pay the BMA to dig it up and recycle the contents. Then put the park back together after. I really don't know how to solve the waste problem in Bangkok and it looks as though the BMA doesn't either. I hope the new governor will.

You are correct. It isn't that airplanes don't have good air filtration. They do. Yet, people were asking in 2019 how come a Chinese virus went to the UK. Ahem. ????

As this is a doctor, not a politician, I take it he might be professional. It’s a toss up with a small survey if he has a point. At least polite enough to share results. As I just had a member of staff informed that she caught Covid again while on holiday in S. Korea I guess it isn’t going away. As long as it is not severe, people can work from home so business doesn’t suffer. However, shutting down a company or business again will become an economic not a political problem that can only be solved with a vaccine that adapts the body to variants.

Why would he need to hide his exotic trips to ancient temples and shrines from his wife? Wouldn't she have understood his desire to see the hilltribes, temples, clean beaches and, well, temples?

Thanks. The link was in Italian but I found the English version eventually. It doesn't list 35 offences unfortunately. In general, anything that results in death seems to be the norm.

It is good to hear of these scams. Perhaps others in the forum could add more to create a list. I'll kick it off. Many places in Thailand will charge you more than locals for the same tourist site.

Can Thailand promise much to the USA? Thailand's geographical proximity to China means the country cannot take a side. Historically, trying to work both sides of the fence has worked and economic relations have been good. Not sure what the Americans want more than that. Can't be to sell submarines.

Another pointless list.

I would like to know the other 34 crimes that carry the death penalty. Presumably none have been used for a while.

I always wondered why the SRT left so many opportunities go to waste. It maybe be a lack of intelligence or funds. Using old carriages as coffee shops or restaurants would have attracted people but instead they dumped a few at the Railway Park north of the market and let them rot. Suan Rot Fai indeed. I used to take friends to the market who bought clothing and trinkets. They raved over the atmosphere and colour. Not sure that atmosphere can be imposed by gubernatorial will.

The government wants tourists to come whatever the number of cases. It isn't politics but economics. Let's see if the cases reported rises, then what happens to tourism. Personally, I believe the country needs to push industry and technology so that tourism becomes a smaller fraction of the economy. For that to happen, education needs to improve.

I find this Forbes list rather funny. When I worked for some of these billionaires we would get a call every year from Forbes and say we don't wish to comment. So, Forbes accesses only public information and you can assume these billionaires are a lot richer than Forbes calculates. Panama, BVI and Switzerland aren't there for nothing. In case you were wondering, their happiness often comes from helping their friends and families.

Well, I intend to post this news on social media so foreigners know they will be ripped off before they buy a ticket. Bad news travels fast.

Different numbers meaning vote for different political constituency and party groups? Sounds sensible, but it would be good if they didn't keep changing the election process so often.

Is it normal for "dirt poor" people to have CCTV at home? Sounds suspicious.

Not pretending to be an economist as I still don't understand why when the Baht was 25 to the buck Thailand was exporting well and there were no complaints like today (that I remember). Tourism was rising. When the Baht sank into the 50s people complained that such a weak currency was no good. I think it badly hurt those with dollar debt but it seemed to be "a bad thing". Then they said hallelujah they would export easier. I wish they would make up their minds now it is weakening again. If there is an economic expert in the forum, explain why a weaker baht is bad for an export-oriented country.

While there are a these cases in Thailand that make Anutin's call to overcharge - I mean not discounting - look like a waste of time, I still think that Thailand has the potential. Just needs more education.

Just to make it clear. 1. It was a request to do so by a concerned father and we knew it would reduce the risk of catching Covid (and thereafter passing it on). 2. We agreed to wear a mask as we had to walk through the restaurant. Kind of obvious I thought. 3. We all took tests beforehand to see that we were negative. While we would not give it to anyone, the real risk was catching it going through the restaurant unmasked. 4. Being in the open air, and the only table there, there was little to no risk of infection from other patrons. The waiter wore a mask. As you probably know, a cloth mask reduces the risk by 56%, respirators by a lot more. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7106e1.htm

You missed the part about eating outside (and sitting over a metre apart to boot). And the part about taking an ATK test beforehand. It wasn't me and the other person he was concerned about as we tested negative, it was the people in the restaurant as we walked through he was concerned about. I would have thought that was obvious but never mind.

Interesting as the UK must now kow tow to India and China following Brexit. Wanting to trade is normal and if you are not in a large trade union of states, sucking up to others will become the norm.

People who are not medical experts decrying masks are looking at their own selfish desires. Not unusual I suppose. Last night I had dinner with two friends, one of whom asked in advance if I could wear a mask and arrange a table outside the restaurant in the garden. He explained that his young son has a heart defect and catching Covid could be fatal. Of course I agreed and took an ATK test in the morning to lower the concern of the father. The point is, we don’t do these things for ourselves and our “freedumb” but for others who might catch it from us and die. Try thinking of others not yourselves.