Lacessit

Fair enough, you were in the middle of it. Living as I did in Chiang Mai, there was nothing to see. Thanathorn is a good example of what happens to politicians here when they want to reform systems. The votes he was getting from the young really spooked the junta.

I'm not saying Thaksin is my hero, perish the thought. I'm recounting what northern Thais have told me.

What you are saying in effect is you prefer the bunch of crooks in Bangkok to Thaksin. That's like saying you prefer Stalin over Hitler. Every Thai I have met in northern Thailand thinks Prayut and the junta are criminals. OTOH, rural Thais think Thaksin is a hero, as he has done more to benefit them. Northern Thailand was formerly the Lanna kingdom, the divide between them and southern Thailand still exists. Tell me, when the red shirts and yellow shirts were going at each other, how did it personally affect you? Didn't make a jot or tittle of difference to me.

The OP did say his fuel is diesel.

Hell, where do I start? * Rent * Building costs * Restaurants * Massage * Food * Women * Car and scooter registration * Car and scooter mechanics * Dentists Most of what I have listed are 4 - 8 times as expensive in Australia.

IMO you are probably driving too fast. I would score about one evasive action in a month, because I drive slowly and defensively. My system has worked for me in Thailand for about the last ten years. I rely on threat assessment. In front and behind. At 0.42 seconds, my reaction time is way too slow to rely on reflexes alone.

I don't fear death. I fear a prolonged and painful one. I suppose my biggest concerns are being incapacitated to the point I can't jump through the Immigration hoops any more, or that the goal posts are moved. My other concern is medical, being unable to get back to Australia where I come under the two umbrellas of Medicare and private health insurance. Here, I have to fund myself as no health insurer would accept me. I don't worry about Thai politics or world events, although I do wish someone would give Putin the same poisons he dishes out to opponents.

Tell me a major bank in Australia that doesn't screw customers on a range of services. It's why I have banked with a credit union for more than 30 years.

Jeans are jeans, designer jeans are verging on an oxymoron. The best pair I ever had were not designer, made with double thickness twill at the front, for durability with work such as herding sheep or chainsawing firewood. I don't give a fig for fashion, comfortable, value for money, and long-lasting is what I look for.

1983 was when I quit. I guess it's why I'm still here.

You may be right, it was quite some time ago I looked at WISE's fees. Perhaps they dropped them in the interim.

How sweet it must be, as a Russian in Crimea eligible to be conscripted. The military commanders are leaving, presumably you will get a new general from Moscow who knows nothing of local conditions, and whose only skill is kissing Putin's backside. Said general will then send you into battle untrained, with inferior equipment, and most likely your supply lines cut off. With General Winter at the front into the bargain. It would be smarter to defect to the Ukrainians.

When I checked out WISE, from memory it was the fees charged up front that killed the deal for me. IIRC, it's a commission, the more that is transferred, the bigger the commission. "After all fees" is the critical phrase. Not much point to getting a better exchange rate if the fees are in excess of that.

500 mg consumed at once would be enough to send anyone into orbit around Mars. Or into the earth's core. Mg is a unit of mass, mL is a unit of volume. 1000 mg is approximately equivalent to 1 mL of a substance if said substance is close to the specific gravity of water. The mL measurement would be used with something like CBD oil, the content would be measured as mg/mL. For a cookie, it might be a statement of total mg in the cookie, or mg of active CBD or THC per gram of cookie.

I am not doing the TT directly, it's a form on the website of my credit union. When I've filled out the form, I email it to the credit union, and confirm by phone. They then send it to ANZ.

I'm willing to spend money on good golf clothing. For everyday use, secondhand is all I need. I sometimes get designer brands from a secondhand shop, discarded by someone with more money than sense after one or two outings. What really amuses me is the designer jeans with arty-farty rips and tears in them, IMO anyone spending money on those is as dumb as a can of soup.

I don't know if this helps. I transfer AUD by telegraphic transfer, get charged $30 by ANZ irrespective of amount. Bangkok Bank gives me the baht equivalent about 0.5 baht below the cross rate shown on sites such as xe.com, i.e if the cross rate is 24.8 baht for one AUD, I'll get 24.3. Do not transfer with what is called dynamic currency conversion, it's highway robbery. I would suggest transferring a smaller amount first, to see what conversion rate you get.

Shop around, that sounds very expensive. I have a friend who has one, gets the battery changed about every 7 years. I'm pretty sure his was nothing like that. Of course, that was some years ago.

STD is an acronym for Sexually Transmitted Diseases, such as herpes, syphilis, gonorrhea and HIV. I should imagine there is more than one STD clinic in Pattaya.

It's moot whether Crimea can be regarded as part of Russia, as it was invaded and annexed by Russia in 2014. The annexation AFAIK has never been internationally ratified. No doubt Zelensky would be asking the stipulation on arms to not apply there. Putin is not going anywhere except friendly countries, IMO he would risk being arrested as a war criminal if he did. The oil China and India are buying is a drop in the bucket, compared to the loss of the markets for gas and oil, mostly in Europe. Getting Russia's oil to those countries needs shipping, because Russia does not have the now-shut pipelines to Europe. Ships are in short supply. The link is to a guy who irritates me, by doing voiceovers on text. That assumes his audience can't read. Having said that, his material is from Kremlin advisers who are saying Russia is going to be in deep doo-doo economically, for a number of reasons. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sL3EysuSniQ

Very gentle cycling was recommended for me after tearing a knee meniscus, and having surgery. Stop if there is any pain. If you don't feel tired after swimming, you are either not swimming fast enough, or long enough.

Pathology labs will do the testing, the OP can go to a doctor armed with the data.

Antibiotics weaken the immune system, especially with prolonged use. They are also ineffective against viruses, so relying on any to prevent HIV is not a good idea.

There may be a tiny morsel of truth in what is otherwise nonsense, when they claim the Ukrainians are getting drugs. Both the Allies and Germany gave out methamphetamines quite freely during WWII, the Germans called it fliegeschokolade.

I eliminated my need for blood pressure meds with exercise. As other posters have said, see a doctor. Staying on a diastole of less than 60 may cause permanent damage. Be aware taking Viagra or Apcalis can lower BP quite drastically.