Lacessit

I think it's also fair to say America has more than its fair share of gun owners who think having 10 or 20 firearms in their household is quite normal.

I read recently about a farm in Australia, running merino sheep. According to the owners, wool production has increased significantly since a solar farm was installed on the property. Can only speculate as to the mechanism. Sheep insulate themselves with their wool, believe it or not. While we use wool clothes to keep warm, the skin temperature of a sheep is a fair bit lower than the surface of the wool. There is a $30 billion project called the Sun Cable which is connecting solar farms in the Northern Territory of Australia to Singapore, so some fairly wealthy people do not share your skepticism.

I understand some EV purchasers in Thailand are putting solar panels on their houses to supplement commercial charging stations, I don't know how widespread that is. IMO a smart move, as the commercial stations may be non-functioning or occupied. Chiang Mai, Lamphun and Lampang's electricity comes from possibly the dirtiest generator on the planet, the lignite mine at Mae Moh. Still a lot of it in the ground, don't see that power station closing any time soon.

Civilian Americans own 46% of the entire gun population of the world, some 393 million firearms. Excluding suicides, there were 20,000 murders using guns in America in 2021. Australia had 35 in the same year. Population 23 million. Is the proposition less guns = less murders too complex for you? As for the other guns, they are probably waiting for a child to find them.

IMO Thailand has not changed much in terms of warming. I suggest the sceptics should visit the Larsen Ice Shelf ( while it is still there ), Iceland ( glaciers disappearing ) and the Australian centre, where they can fry eggs on any surface exposed to sunlight. Then perhaps a stint in thermodynamics class, where they can learn about real science, not the BS posted on social media by their ilk to comfort their confirmation bias.

You haven't had your morning coffee yet?

If it's a Thai-sized condom, I am sorry for your loss.

I wear a mask out of courtesy to others, it does not worry me if other people do not. Three vaxxes plus having had a mild three-day bout of COVID, IMO a repeat infection is only going to boost my immune system. I do not wear a mask when I am exercising, that's stupid. It will be interesting to see how the percentages shake out after June 1, both in terms of mask observance, and COVID infections. My guess is most COVID-infected people are self-testing and self-isolating, the only ones visible are those presenting at hospitals.

You're making sense, just don't expect it to take hold on this thread.

You were definitely asleep in maths class when ratio was explained. It doesn't matter what the relative populations are, it's the gun deaths PER 100,000 PEOPLE that matters.

Australia still has 14 guns per 100 civilians. Confiscation would mean zero guns per 100 civilians, perhaps you were asleep in English class. When I owned guns in Australia after Port Arthur, I had up to four of them, all legal. I'm just wondering when Americans will stop lying to themselves about the purpose of semi-automatic assault rifles, because it certainly isn't hunting or target practice.

Australian gun laws obviously work, the country sits near the bottom of the chart with one death per 100,000 population. The USA is twelve times higher. https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/gun-deaths-by-country Australia has 14 firearms per 100 people, the US is top of the tree with 120. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estimated_number_of_civilian_guns_per_capita_by_country The math and probability calculations don't need an Einstein.

Please tell me how training children in shooter drills in schools helps them understand trust, love and care.

The blame belongs squarely with a culture that feeds on paranoia and fear. Families break down all over the world. That's a classic look over there argument. If America wants to do something, it must eliminate the semi-automatic weapons available. Australia has done it, the UK has done it, and when was the last mass school shooting in either country? I once was talking to a guy as we drove through Philadelphia. His household contained 19 firearms. When I asked why he needed so many, it was to protect his family from criminals, and fight the Communists when they invaded. They are taking their time coming. Face facts, most gun owners have guns because they like guns. It gives them a sense of power. The statistics are households that have guns are much more likely to have suicides, accidental gun-related deaths, or be killed in a robbery. Burglars don't want to kill you, they just want to steal your stuff and get the hell out. That's what home insurance policies are for. The pitiful excuses I see posted on this thread makes me think there are many Americans who just refuse to grow up.

AFAIK it was only closed for a few months in 2020.

We all have different ways of looking after our Thai partners. My GF will be the wealthiest woman in her village after I cark it, although she does have very good reason to keep me alive for as long as possible.

I sometimes wonder if there is any motivation to close a sale, aren't the salespeople on commission? Our washing machine carked it, we go looking for a new one and knew what we wanted. Go to first store, model we want is on the shop floor. Guy keeps trying to upsell us, no, that's the model we want. Can't sell it to you, why not? We don't have any in stock. It'll take a month to get new stock. So what's the point of having something on your shop floor if you can't sell it? At this juncture, my GF loses patience and walks out. Not often I've seen a Thai do that. Next store we go to, a saleswoman convinces my Thai GF the different brand she is pushing is cheaper, bigger, and with a longer warranty. Delivered to the house that afternoon.

I might be able to live on 13,000 baht/month if I bought no luxuries, played no golf, and did not shop in Big C. I would have to stop supporting my GF, and sell my car. I might be able to keep my scooter. In the last years of my life, I fail to see why I should deny myself anything within reason, or save money so my heirs can spend it instead. That would be stupid squared. I suppose I could feel good by posting on ASEAN about how thrifty I am.

All that BS for 650 baht?

What am I missing? If I have a current "O" retirement visa/extension, a re-entry permit, and a MOPH vaccination certificate, why do I need a Thailand Pass? Or a Certificate of Entry? Seems to me it's just another bureaucratic layer, what purpose does it serve?

I have not heard of too many foreigners who are living here on 13K baht per month, most IME are in the 50K-100K baht/month area, except the real skinflints. Thailand has a long way to go before it gets to be as expensive as Australia. Show me a condo apartment in Australia, with condo swimming pool, that I can buy for AUD 40,000.

I would prefer to look at the Hawke government as a better example. Traditionally. Labor governments have always been reforming, and Liberal governments dedicated to the preservation of the status quo. The only meaningful reform of the Howard government was gun control. Privatisation of aged care facilities in Australia has been a disaster for the elderly and their families, all the owner operators care about is their bottom line. IMO with Dutton at the helm of the Liberals, they will spend a long time in the political wilderness, unless he undergoes a road to Damascus conversion. That gives Albanese a lot more leeway. Getting back to Thailand, I've just bought a takeaway chicken biryani dinner. The shop/restaurant is run by a couple in their seventies, the guy speaks good English and we occasionally have a discussion. He has been outside Thailand. I asked him when he planned to retire. He said they will keep the shop open for as long as they can, they have no savings to retire with. He and his wife get the government pension, which does not even cover the shop rent. Village Thais can manage quite well on 2500 - 3000 baht/month income, 600 baht/month once they hit 60 is an insult.

It depends on whether Albanese sheds the small target body armor he took into the election. Mention socialism to an American, and most start frothing at the mouth.

True enough, a fair bit of bartering goes on in my GF's village. Having said that, there are bills such as electricity that can't be paid for with chickens.

*Deleted post edited out* Why is it so hard for you to understand Sandy Hook, Uvalde and all the rest of the mass shootings in America result from the ready availability of semi-automatic weapons such as AR15's to all and sundry? How many children would have been killed if a shooter had only a bolt-action weapon with a five-shot magazine? Sorry, I'm tired of looking at BS excuses.