Lacessit

This has always puzzled me about the police culture in Thailand. There are no fixed checkpoints in Australia; however, everyone is aware the police are out and about, and AFAIK all the speed cameras work. They also have mobile booze buses. And stiff penalties. Having fixed checkpoints that everyone knows seems to me to be a waste of time, one has to be really dumb to get nailed by one. I have never ever seen a police motorbike or car that has pulled someone over to give them a ticket. If they are only enforcing the road laws at checkpoints, how can they expect any change for the better?

Disagree, all they would have to do is pull over and stop while sending and receiving messages.

Studies in Australia have shown mobile phone use while driving has the same effect on reflexes and concentration as imbibing 2-3 full strength beers in an hour. Even assuming mobile phone use was banned, the fines would be the same slap on the wrist as for helmets. If the police started impounding bikes for non-compliance, the scofflaw culture would change very rapidly.

The consensus among 95% of the world's scientists is the current climate change is caused by human activity. The 5% who don't agree are linked to the fossil fuel industry in one way or another. Naturally, the fossil fuel industry is fighting a rearguard action to ensure their capital investment and profits are preserved. Think of what would happen to the Saudis if people stopped buying oil, they'd have to go back to bonking camels. It is doubtful mankind can control what is happening, all we can do is mitigate the worst effects. It's not helped by politicians and uneducated laypeople who don't want to know. Tell me, what do you think the odds are of effective government action to prevent Bangkok being underwater after 50 years, when they have already told the Dutch to go away? Or consider this. There are EV's on every major carmaker's product line, they also have behemoth SUV's and pickups with gas-guzzling ICE's. Who do you think are the biggest sellers?

When you can define for me the laws of thermodynamics, and also the role of albedo and clathrates in the climate change dynamic, I might give your views some thought. I suspect, like many others, you just don't want to know. It's not relevant to me, I'll be long dead before the worst effects arrive. Having said that, facts and evidence are casualties brought about by people who prefer to stick their heads in the sand, with the mantra it's just a natural cycle. It's not.

Try J&N Auto, owner speaks good English. https://www.facebook.com/jandnautoservice.net/

I would suggest boiling the water and tasting it after it cools. If the aftertaste is still there, it's metallic contamination. If it's not, most probably organic contaminants from the resin or carbon.

The difference is, the climate we have now is changing due to anthropomorphic emissions of carbon dioxide. Which have trended upwards ever since the Industrial Revolution. Fact. As less than 1% of the world's population has any education in thermodynamics, it is easy for climate deniers to push the false narrative of a natural cycle.

Likewise, getting to a toilet or having a walk to stretch my legs is easier. 95% of the time, there's nothing to see out of a plane window anyway.

Dear me, you have more questions than a butcher's dog has meat. If people are polite to me, I was brought up to be respectful in turn. Good manners go a long way with me, and I try to reciprocate. My heart rate is low because I exercise assiduously every day. OTOH, a naked woman can boost me up to 80 bpm. I started golf as a caddie, carrying two bags to double my income. Now, I have caddies much prettier than I ever was to carry my bag for me. No-one here needs to read my golf memoirs, suffice to say I broke my age on the golf course last February. Golf is a metaphor for life, it tests and teaches character, resolve, concentration and good manners. It is unique in being able to be played by all ages, and also in being the only sport I can think of that depends on individual honesty. I have only been in Thailand 10 years full time. If I had known what was here when I was in my thirties, rest assured I would have been here a lot sooner. Teaching sex in Thailand is a bit like selling refrigerators to Eskimos. Based on the women I have met here, there is nothing I could teach either gender. Yes, I am a WWII baby dinosaur, soon to be extinct. In some ways, I think I have lived in a golden age, which may never be repeated. As far as golf dress goes, I am a beige person. Most people who dress like black pimps on the golf course do so to direct attention away from their golfing incompetence. This guy is one exception:

I forget who said " Sex is the most beautiful, uplifting and pleasurable experience money can buy." I know it was Oscar Wilde who said " The expense is abominable, the position ridiculous, and the pleasure fleeting." Right now, I'm about halfway.

You raise a very good point, I sometimes wonder if a poster is a Walter Mitty clone.

Apologies, transiting between the village and condo. "Keeping up" is for insecure people. We are not at it like rabbits, just when we are in the right mood. As far as health goes, with normal blood pressure and a resting pulse rate of 51 bpm, I have no concerns. I can think of much worse ways to die anyway. "In my own bed, at the age of 80, with a bellyful of wine and a girl's mouth around my c#ck". Bonus points and a Hoppy badge if you can tell me who said that. My son is very happy to have me in Thailand. He approves of my choice of GF, I should have listened to him with the former defacto in Australia. That's because he has to care for his mother, who has advanced Alzheimer's, and he does not need me on his plate as well.

Careless of you, it's billabong. Admittedly we are only 27 million people. However, history shows we punch well above our weight in fields such as sport and medical science. Kindly note, it is an Aussie who has just beaten America's best golfers to claim the British Open at the home of golf, St. Andrews. The first antibiotic, penicillin, was developed by an Australian after its discoverer, Alexander Fleming, discarded it as of no medical significance. My reasons for preferring Thailand are not hard to understand. I live as I want to here, in Australia more than 50% of my income would be going in rent. I also have a Thai GF who is 23 years younger than me, not feasible in Australia unless I was a multi-millionaire. I am not yet ready to embrace celibacy. Yes, I could easily get bored in Australia, as I have been over most parts of it. Here, every day is a new adventure for me. The world may be passing me by, a lot of it is welcome to do so.

Try listening to a Kiwi, they interchange vowels far more than we do. I don't know what a real Englishman is, what with Saxon, Norman, Scots and Welsh in the mix. That's just on the Caucasian end. Not to mention the 30 - odd accents and dialects you guys use. I still remember our Latin teacher, who hailed from Northumberland. He sounded like he was talking with a mouthful of butter, took us a few months to understand what the hell he was saying.

Not being an astrophysicist, I would not know. I do know what was deemed impossible 100 years ago is now commonplace in our lives, and we probably have not changed our mindset. I understand Dyson is a manufacturer of vacuum cleaners and dryers.

I don't see any reason to hide my Australian nationality on this forum. I've read literature from all over the world, although translations probably detract from the impact and subtleties of a book in the original language. Having said that, most non-Australian posters have probably never heard of authors such as Henry Lawson, Arthur Upfield, Henry Handel Richardson, Dal Stivens, Marcus Clarke, or John O'Grady. I suppose Edward Dyson's " The Golden Shanty" would not be published nowadays, being racist in some eyes.

Perhaps you have forgotten I put you on ignore. Nicky woop.

I still have a good store of Strine aphorisms, don't come the raw prawn is one of them. DEFCON is an invention of your Joint Chiefs of Staff. Some of us do keep track. I cannot claim to be a former member of the SAS, Marines, Delta Force, Sayeret, French Foreign Legion etc. as so many posters on ASEAN do. I have been tempted to post I was a former Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopaznosti agent, just to see the reaction.

I already have one, behind my eyes. It goes to DEFCON 2 with Americans, and DEFCON 1 with women.

Americans do some things very well, in others most Australians think they are bats##t crazy. As do many other nations. I suppose we do admire the American ability to maintain the greenback as the world's reserve currency, when the US debt level is reaching to the moon. A triumph of marketing, advertising, or public relations. As someone who last owed anybody money back in 1974, it's quite bewildering. The Australian aphorism is BS baffles brains.

You have dogs that speak English? What a pity the only circuses in Thailand reside in government.

My Thai GF speaks to me in English, I speak to her in Thai. She has not said she wants me to use English. It's not essential to be able to speak Thai to professionals such as dentists and doctors, IME they speak better English than I do Thai. OTOH, if I had a car breakdown in the boondocks, or a cardiac arrest on the golf course, I should imagine being able to speak Thai to someone with zero English would be very useful. Can't say endearing myself to the locals was an objective of mine, although they appear to enjoy some of the lame jokes I make.

For me, the problem with COD is I have to be around to receive the goods, with prepayment I don't. I don't buy expensive stuff on Lazada, I think the most I have paid is 1200 baht. Only had one problem with a seller, which they rectified without Lazada input. If I am buying more expensive things, I want to see a brick and mortar shop behind the sale.

Another Trump bankruptcy, what a surprise.