Lacessit

This is a 36 sqm guest unit, built about 5 years ago. Local builder, 15 crew, Chiang Rai area. Only power tool was a welder for the roof frames, everything else by hand. Total cost 350,000 baht, can't buy a new car that cheap.

My GF does not understand why I crack up, when she starts talking about elections.

The other interpretation is one of attention span. I can watch a one-hour TV series. I've given up on most full-length films, too long.

Yes. Somewhat spartan though.

I did 14 days quarantine in Phan Hospital after being diagnosed COVID-positive with a nasal swab. I was not really sick, just a sore throat and runny nose for 2-3 days. Double vaccinated beforehand. I did not get the option of isolating at home, I was the captive of a bureaucracy. Although that may have been due to my age, being in the highest risk group. My GF and I were asked to isolate at home for 5 days after leaving quarantine, which was free. When someone is sick with gastro or the flu, no-one asks them to quarantine at home. Severely ill patients go to hospital. Some people die there. AFAIK there are no self-test kits for either ailment. Perhaps when the hysteria over COVID dies down, it will simply become a matter of staying at home if you diagnose positive with a swab, or going to hospital if you have severe symptoms. It makes sense in terms of the strain on hospital resources.

https://www.theage.com.au/world/asia/north-korean-hackers-stole-over-half-a-billion-dollars-in-crypto-in-2021-report-20220114-p59oc5.html

IMO the only time I have negative thoughts about Thailand is about two weeks before November 3, when I am applying for my retirement extension. I can't help thinking my application in perfect order will be rejected by an IO with an upset stomach.

You have now. Fact.

Do you know how those village girls finance their education? Some of them are "sideline girls". They advertise quite openly for what would be known in the West as sugar daddies. Or they become freelancers. Most village girls have zero chance of getting through university without their own income from somewhere, their parents can't afford it. The 7/11's don't pay enough.

Try reading what's under my nom-de-plume. Three days ago, there was a small truckload of soil from the rice fields that needed distributing over my GF's garden. Her nephew came and did it, about 4 hours' hard work. Gave him 200 baht, he thought it was Christmas.

Still is.

Go back to the adjective I used: AVERAGE . When villagers are working in the rice fields, they get 300 baht a day. Or 250 baht/day if they are women. The rice doesn't need tending every day. Perhaps you have only seen it on a supermarket floor.

I can still remember being told by a lawyer when I was drawing up my will " Money brings out the worst in people".

I don't know what circles you move in; however, the average income in my GF's village is 2500 - 3000 baht/month, and the vehicles there are usually bought on finance. My GF's father has never owned more than a bicycle. Until I came along with four wheels, he had never been outside the village and surrounding rice fields.

I'm not sure graduating from university here makes a person smart. Rote learning, and obedience to authority. Plenty of freelancers in Pattaya claiming to have Ph. D's. My Thai GF cannot read a map. OTOH, she is street smart, which to me is more important.

I don't care if I am accepted or not, I tread my own path. When I am in the village, I keep to myself most of the time. My GF and her grand-daughter are sufficient company. When I am at the condo, the Thais there treat me with respect. I can't say I have the same respect for some farangs there who behave like prats.

You buy a lot of flour?

I'm of the opinion that the person who has accumulated the money retains control of it. Given the last time I owed anybody anything was 1974, I think I can claim I have more competence than many people of either gender. Given the "modern" family law systems in Western countries, and their forcible division of assets on a one size fits all basis, in that respect the Middle Ages sound quite appealing.

Older Thai women make good wives, I don't know that a mix of a 60 yo farang and a teenager is going to be invariably successful. When they have some life experience, yes. I've met quite a few Isaan women, they seem to be hard-working. One I met in Chiang Rai was the most organized in terms of paperwork I've ever seen. If I was to give my GF control of my finances, she would immediately spend them on buying land. I think she has a few Chinese genes. We'd be asset rich and cash poor, at my stage of life I prefer to be the other way around. My GF is well taken care of after I die. I don't see any need to do more than that.

European languages are vastly different to Thai and other tonal Asian languages. Thai has complex vowels, and the subtlety of tone is incredible. The Thai word "tong" can mean stomach, gold or a flag. The only way to really tell the difference is seeing the Thai script. OTOH, Thais do struggle with the complex consonants common in English. Ask a Thai to pronounce words such as paint or refrigerator. My GF and I trade words almost daily, it's one way for us both to improve.

I was introduced to the beauty of Thai women back in the eighties. I had flown in from Australia as a scientific consultant to a business in Map Ta Phut. Wat was tiny, could not have been more than 35 kg. Slender, every movement was graceful. Gorgeous face, framed by short lustrous black hair. We worked together in the laboratory for a week. At that stage, I spoke no Thai. She managed to communicate to me she had a boyfriend who had broken her heart. I made no moves on her, it would not have been appropriate. Much as I was tempted. A day before I was due to leave, she showed me a health certificate. I didn't twig to the fact that was her signal she wanted a relationship. When I came back to Thailand six months later, she was gone. I hope she found happiness.

I started learning Thai when I was 67, 11 years ago. I'm still learning, IMO it's a good antidote for senility. I'll probably never be fluent in Thai. I can make myself understood in most situations. My smartphone has Google Translate on it, so if I want a word outside my normal vocabulary ( e.g. screwdriver ) it's just a matter of showing the Thai person I am talking to, the Thai script on the screen. I do recommend learning Thai, it does make life easier. And I feel quite chuffed when I can have a conversation with a Thai entirely in their language without a word of English spoken. That feeling makes my day.

I stand corrected, I should have said not available over the counter. I've been using antihistamine for sleep for several years. As I only take them once or twice a week, perhaps I have not acquired tolerance. AFAIK, the original mickey finn used to shanghai sailors is chloral hydrate.

It would set some kind of medical record for a 25-30 yo to develop dementia or Alzheimer's. 5% of people develop dementia in their 70's, rising to 37% in their 90's. Overall average is 14%, which is hardly all of us. People with those afflictions forget a lot of things; however, they don't usually forget to clothe themselves. Alcohol removes inhibitions, the most probable explanation for her naked condition.

I think you'll find the charging rate from one of those is very slow. It's a bit like trying to fill a fuel tank with a pipette. While I am sure EV's will probably supplant the ICE eventually, there are still quite a few issues to be dealt with. It won't affect me, my current ICE vehicle may well last longer than I do. On YouTube, there's a couple of videos by a guy called John Cadogan discussing various aspects of EV's.