Lacessit

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?

"After this, therefore because of this" is not necessarily true. The woman in question has multiple tattoos, how could anyone know one of those did not cause her current ailments?

Nurse Ratched, you have an admirer.

The Kia Stinger kills the MB equivalent.

When did paying more if one used cash happen? IME, laying down cash 5-10% less than the price asked on the table was quite a successful strategy when buying something.

If push came to shove, I would prefer a card over a smartphone. Mainly because, provided one uses a Faraday cage, it's hard to skim a card. IMO anything goes with a phone, can you imagine how many hackers are out there trying to break in? Cash will always be king for me, out of the reach of nosy governments. One can only lose as much cash as they are carrying.

MB has a long record of throwing its customers under a bus, just another example of the bean counters ruling the roost. BMW has a much better reputation in the German makes. The only reason people buy these brands is for the cachet of ownership, the Japanese and Koreans can make autos just as good.

Cheerful chap, aren't you? First it was the AUD crashing, now a change in the 800K. Excuse me if I take your predictions with a pinch of salt. https://www.xe.com/currencyconverter/convert/?Amount=1&From=AUD&To=THB

I get rather fed up waiting at checkouts while people faff about on their smart?phones, when I get change in about 30 seconds flat for my cash. The Romans said it first. "Sed quis custodiet ipsos custodes?" Who shall guard the guardians? IMO anyone who trusts any government not to use the data of a cashless society, in ways never anticipated by a participant, is a complete moron.