Lacessit

If I had 1000 baht for every time I was held up at a checkout by someone faffing about on their phones to pay, I'd be driving the latest Beemer.

Good grief. IIRC, the last time I paid for anything with a cheque in Australia was 2014. Cheque books there are about as up-to-date as bustles and button-up boots. I suppose America is consistent, they still have gallons and pounds. Hey fellas, the rest of the world has gone metric. I can't see this working in rural areas, cash will still be king for a long time to come. Although the poorest villagers still manage to scrape together enough for a smartphone. It's the wet dream of governments to have every transaction digital and hence traceable. I have news for them, criminals have probably worked out how to get around traceability already.

With that amount of word salad, perhaps you should try Vietnamese kopi luwak. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kopi_luwak

All of Italy is obsessed with fashion statements, I'm not. Gucci, Versace, Prada, Zegna, Ferrari - need I go on? Black coffee + milk = flat white as far as I am concerned. Frothing and pouring does nothing to change the taste, ask any flavor chemist. It's just visual flim-flam.

Unless frothing and pouring performs some miracle of transmutation, milk is still milk, its composition is unchanged. I think what you mean is a BS ritual invented by Australian baristas to make the customer think they are getting something special.

Enlighten me, please.

They don't need to know what a flat white means. I ask for a hot Americano with milk on the side. To me, that's a flat white. In Chiang Rai, I occasionally have a spinach and mushroom omelet with salad on the side. 90 baht. At the same place, the ham, cheese, tomato, onion and lettuce roll ( fresh-baked bread ) is 80 baht, the mango smoothie 70 baht. Fills me up nicely. I'm sure Bangkok, Pattaya etc. those dishes would be much more expensive. And the coffee.

You're probably right as far as an American website goes. Oysters are capable of bio-accumulating far higher amounts of organo-mercury compounds if they are present. It depends on where they came from, and how strict or lax the food standards are. Just ask a Minamata Bay survivor. Many years ago, I worked as a consultant in the industrial area of Map Ta Phut, near Rayong. In auditing the water treatment systems, I found the most common solution to pollution was dilution. I doubt much has changed.

I recommend the OP installs DUO. Better picture quality, does not drop out like LINE. Linked to email addresses. It does seem to be a recent trend for companies to dispense with call centres as a cost-cutting measure. I've had the same experience with iHerb. They don't seem to realize the money they save is less than the cost of the customers they lose.

Oysters also accumulate heavy metals such as mercury. Come to think of it, that may explain your frenetic posting.

I guess you believe in their aphrodisiac properties. Enjoy.

IIRC, you were saying yuck to a pork tenderloin, mustard and cheese sandwich I posted on another thread. What the hell is that, chicken livers?

One can buy almost any type of air weapon in the Mae Sai markets.

I don't disagree electricity is cheaper than jet fuel, although it's worth noting electricity costs are going through the roof in Australia too. As Australia is still 70% reliant on fossil fuel, the pollution is simply being transferred somewhere else. Economy of scale is the problem. The cheapest one-way fare Melbourne to Sydney is currently $70. A conventional jet carrying 300 passengers makes $21,000 on the flight, out of which fuel, pilot wages, ground staff and airport fees have to be paid. Nine passengers would bring in $630. The two pilots alone would cost the airline about $200. There's no room left to make a profit on those numbers, unless the airline is charging a much higher ticket price for the privilege of flying electric. IMO, competing with regional aircraft carrying a similar amount of passengers would be much more viable. The flight from Moorabbin to King Island would be ideal.

Lake was anti-abortion, anti-gun laws, and an election denier. I am willing to bet there were plenty of Republican women voters who held their noses and voted Democrat, mostly over Roe vs Wade. People are not stupid, they can connect the dots. When Trump ensured the Supreme Court would have a preponderance of anti-abortionists, he also sowed the seeds for his current humiliation. He'll take none of the blame for that, he has said so. It's one of the very few times I believe what he says.

It would just make Melbourne to Sydney, or Auckland to Wellington. Melbourne to Perth, no. Air travel is all about bums on seats, I doubt nine passengers would be viable in terms of return on capital.

I think it's called having a bet each way.

You could do that, but my guess would be you would have a very noisy roof due to expansion and contraction of the metal. Less noise when it rains. Going through the tiles also means longer screws, and a bit of hit and miss unless you are doing it yourself. I'm not sure what it would do in terms of corrosion, scratching a galvanized or a zinc-aluminium coating by contact with rough cement tiles might do nothing, or it could be catastrophic.

CM, condo with swimming pool AUD 70,000. CR, condo with swimming pool AUD 45,000. 2 bedroom condo AUD 150,000.

We are just like everyone else, only better.

You think I am so skint I live in Chiang Rai to save 10 baht on coffee? Each to his own. Having a holiday in Pattaya or Phuket for a week is enough for me. As for Bangkok, I would sooner chew razor blades, than be there for more than a day passing through. A dirty, expensive s##thole, with too many people and year-round air pollution. A lot of tourists pass on Chiang Rai, which is fine with me. It's the starting point for a lot of unusual and beautiful places the average tourist never sees.

AS I understand it, if a foreigner rents a house or condo in Indonesia for a year, they pay the full year's rental up front. If the maid gets pregnant while employed by the foreigner, more money to be paid as well. Doesn't matter who the father is.

Chiang Rai has plenty of coffee shops in the 30 - 50 baht range. The places you mention are tourist traps, with prices adjusted accordingly.

Wicked.

Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar?