Lacessit

Agree. There are people in my condo who come in drunk as lords at 2 am, along with noise. 4 am would be even worse. An extra 2 hours of ingesting alcohol means even more impairment of driving ability, as any police officer doing traffic duty will tell you. How much public transport is there at 4 am? The three factors in the vast majority of road accidents are speed, alcohol, and fatigue. Extending hours means at least two out of three, contrary to Meat Loaf's ( RIP ) assertion, that is bad.

You are allowed up to 80,000 baht of personal effects duty-free entering Thailand, I don't know where gold fits in the classification of "personal effects." Leaving Thailand, as much as you can carry undetected. One can sell gold anywhere. Thai gold would be discounted in price in most other countries, as it is 96.5%, compared to 99.9% for gold bullion.

You like lotteries? Welcome to aged care in Oz. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-26/aged-care-food-and-government-funding-concerns/101692350

IMO everyone is good at something, some people just never get to find out what it is. I sometimes wonder if the process of dying for some, is when the number of aches and pains, and their severity, overwhelm any respite.

In Australia, I would use paywave aka touch and go almost 100% in the 'burbs. Somewhere like Nymagee or Cobar, I might need cash, but most businesses even there will be equipped for debit cards. The cashless trend in Thailand seems to favor phones over a touch and go system, which I daresay is much easier to use. However, as long as day markets still exist in Thailand in the rural areas, IMO there will always be cash.

Good point, at my age I find oral sex is much easier for me than full-on humpy -rumpy.

About four years ago, I thought I was having a heart attack. It turned out to be gall bladder sludge in the bile duct, referred pain to my stomach. Resolved with 5 mg of Endone. Ultrasound did not indicate the presence of gallstones. In the OP's case, I suppose it depends on whether he has gallstones, and their size. To reduce the demands on my gall bladder, I avoid fats, and opt for cheese and yoghurt as more digestible.

IMO the silver price is well out of kilter with the gold price, which is why I keep adding to my holding when I can. I am anticipating a considerable increase over the next 1-2 years. I have a dumbphone and a smartphone. I use the former as you do, for texts and calls. I use the smartphone for taking photos and videos, reading books, and playing music via Bluetooth to earbuds. I also use it for talking visually with my family via LINE and DUO. It has an Australian SIM card for the occasions I am in Australia. It also serves as a diary of appointments, and a calculator. I do not use it as a payment device, for security reasons. Cash and a debit card is all I want or need.

I see no reason to pull the plug if I continue to have quality of life. In more enlightened countries, assisted dying is an option. Sometimes we don't get the option, e.g. someone who has a stroke. The best I can do ( 79 yo ) is work on my physical and mental health in a disciplined way.

Strictly speaking, these are therapies, not medications. The problem with many medications is an organo-chlorine complex tucked away somewhere in the chemical formula. Organo-chlorines love accumulating in body fat. Just ask anyone who was exposed to Agent Orange. Combining exposure to imbibed alcohol and inhaled chlorinated solvents is usually fatal, as it destroys the liver and kidneys.

Any number of electric knife sharpeners on Lazada, no talent needed. Or acquire talent by watching YouTube videos.

Actually, I have found I am better off without modern medicines unless absolutely necessary. Many are quite toxic to the kidneys and liver.

I still set myself targets, whether it is learning to read and write Thai, or breaking my age at golf. Creating new dishes in the kitchen. Omphaloskepsis is not for me, I might cark it tomorrow, or be on deck for another 10 years. No point to worrying about it.

I buy my gold and silver in ounces.

The phones are smart, it's the customer that is dumb.

Central Bangkok is about as representative of Thailand as a whole, as Vaucluse is of representing Australia.

Checkout is a breeze when I am not waiting behind some person whose memory bank is 0.1% of what their smartphone has. IMO most successful criminals have already figured out how to get around the roadblocks in the digital world.

IME it is usually less busy in the afternoon. Most traders seem to be doing the cash deposit transactions up until lunchtime.

I carry copies of my passport on my smartphone, have paper copies in my car and scooter. I've been here 12 years, and not once have I been asked for my passport by the police. Different banks have different rules, some accept photos on the phone, others want the original passport.

Why would I care about that? It's not a cost I incur. I haven't seen any examples of being charged more because I am paying in cash.

As I said in a previous post, it doesn't save me time when I am stuck behind some f***wit who ends up needing the checkout chick to help them complete the transaction. It does remind me of the time an Egyptian managed to roll a Land Rover at the mine site I was working, a considerable feat of incompetent driving. As a Scottish engineer and myself surveyed the wreckage, he turned to me and said " I've always thought it's a mistake to give them cars, when we have only just finished teaching them how to ride bicycles."

Take a walk through the day markets of Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai, none of the market stalls have QR codes. Half the time it's foodstuffs sitting on a tarpaulin on the ground.

Take a walk through any day market in Thailand, and you will realize how out of touch with reality your post is. Everyone pays cash. In places such as Big C and Central Festival, my guess would be 80% cashless, 20% cash, so you are closer to the mark there. My GF's relatives in the village have bank accounts and cards, invariably they use the cards to access cash from a local ATM.

What real world? I get along fine with a bank passbook and cash. My debit cards only get used for buying on Lazada. I don't understand what you mean by the costs of money transmission, I don't get charged anything to deposit or withdraw cash here. OTOH, I do get charged a service fee of 300 baht/year for the debit cards. If you are referring to international money transfers, AFAIK there are none that are free. There is always a cost somewhere in the chain.

How's the headache this morning?