Lacessit

Those are 4-5 star hotel prices. I could do a full laundry basket for 40 baht in Chiang Rai if I needed to.

You are making the assumption she will be giving the vehicle the same level of maintenance as you do. IME many Thais don't.

Or not good at getting women interested.

I average 55,000 baht per month, that's living as I want to. I could probably pull it back to 30-35K a month without a GF. She's not a big spender, but it all adds up. The Australian pension is about 48,000 /month on current exchange rates, I don't have much slack to pick up with investment income. IMO life would a lot more expensive in Pattaya and Bangok, Chiang Rai is cheaper on a number of fronts.

Another poster who does not understand Bezos and Ellison do not have their fortunes linked to any political leader, whereas the oligarchs who exist at Putin's gift certainly do.

You may be right. However, the Ukrainians already know Putin cannot be relied on to stick to a deal. In return for giving up its nuclear arsenal, Russia guaranteed Ukrainian sovereignty. Then invaded Crimea in 2014. No doubt Putin wants the Donbas as one of the most productive parts of Ukraine. Whether the Ukrainians will agree to that is a different question, they seem to be quite content with killing Russians.

If there is a point to your post, it escapes me. The lesson for both countries is when you mess with an indigenous population, it can turn out badly. Just like Russia is re-acquainting itself with the lessons of Afghanistan. Unless Russia can conquer the whole of Ukraine, it is screwed. Because the Ukrainians will be a bleeding sore on the Russian flank, depleting their armory and killing their soldiers.

I guess that's why Russia had a 50 km long column of tanks heading towards Kyiv. Until it got mauled rather badly.

The oligarchs that surround Putin are part of his coterie of supporters. They are tied to him because he demanded 50% of their assets to stay oligarchs. Those who did not comply were jailed, became refugees, or disappeared. They have benefited just as much as Putin has from the corruption in Russia. AFAIK American billionaires such as Bezos, Musk, Gates and Buffett never had any ties with politicians, which makes your post a false equivalence. Sanctions are supposed to work by punishing all the citizens in a country, based on the proposition angry people can bring about regime change.

The Boeing 707 first went into service in 1958. I agree in the time frame you mention Airbus has a better safety record, and the present time frame is probably more appropriate for comparison. Having said that, I think it is safe to say Boeing's decline started when the aircraft engineers were sidelined, and four-eyed laptop-toting bean counters started calling the shots.

I wouldn't worry about replacing consumables, such as light bulbs, or fixing a leaking tap. If it's a major repair, or something that needs to be fixed immediately as essential, it's the landlord's problem. I've never had an issue with any landlord, as I look after their property as if it is my own. I suppose my luck will run out one day. I do read the fine print of every contract I sign.

Most humor nowadays seems to be ridicule and putdowns. They can be funny if they are imaginatively crafted; however, most are so crass it's embarrassing. There are some really funny Australian films, such as "Malcolm" and "Kenny". However, the humor does not travel well. I get my enjoyment out of my daily routines, physical and mental exercise.

When comparing Airbus and Boeing accident data, it's important to remember Boeing has been around for a fair bit longer than Airbus, and with more aircraft. It's probably line ball as to which brand is safer. No argument air travel is quicker, once one gets airborne. There's a fair bit of faffing around at the airports.

For me, it resulted in mental confusion and memory loss. Scared the hell out of me. Example, I go to a nearby 7/11, get a basket for some items. I'm going through the condo gate when I realize I have the shopping in a bag in one hand, and the empty 7/11 basket in the other. The security guy nearly wet himself laughing. I'm not saying that will happen to everyone, we all are different.

The dice are loaded against men in Western family courts. I used to know a guy who had 80% of his take-home pay garnisheed for the ex-wife and kids. Then people wonder why there are so many instances of domestic violence.

AFAIK Siam Legal has a good reputation in Thailand. Not cheap. You have my sympathy, after losing houses to two women in Australia i know how you feel. Maybe out in left field, but I would suggest engaging a private investigator in the UK to see if there are any grounds to get her out of the UK.

You're telling me CEO's of corporations can't make dumb mistakes, or background data can't be fabricated. That's just as fanciful. McKinsey is in the job of selling their wares, which are promises of cost savings. I've given you one example of why some of the cost savings are imaginary. If you care to look up the history of the HBI project in Port Hedland, you'll find it took BHP's board about four years to wake up to the fact site management was actually keeping two sets of accounts.

True. However, it's not difficult if one listens to their speech. The only problem I have is distinguishing Canadians from Americans.

Unless you have actually experienced the process, you have no idea what you are talking about. The company I referred to had two CEO's that nearly sent it broke with their stupidity, on a couple of gee-whiz deals which even a lowly peon like myself could tell were doomed to failure. One of the CEO's issued an edict there was going to be quarterly performance reviews. Don't tell me they can't be as dumb as a can of soup.

You mean the Russians that were shifted into those regions by Stalin after he had starved to death about 6 million Ukrainians, of course. The same ones who shot down MH17.

McKinsey survives because, as I said, no one goes back and checks. They also do highly convincing presentations, who wouldn't be dazzled by someone with an international reputation promising you cost savings of $100 million for a measly fee of $10 million? I had the misfortune to be nominated as one of the leaders of their cost-cutting program in the company I worked for. The most barren 6 months of my working life. I'll give just one example, I have others. In the restrooms, there were paper towels. The proposition was to install hot air dryers instead, as a cost saving. I can't remember the amount of the cost saving, but it was blown out of the water by two events. The electricity contract was renegotiated shortly afterwards, with an increased tariff. Plus the breakdowns on the dryers was costing more in maintenance than the cost saving. We went back to paper towels about a year later. None of this filters back up to the senior executives engaged in an orgy of self-congratulation about their improved bottom line, and their end of year bonuses. If I was the owner of a business, and one of my managers came to me wanting to bring ANY management consultant in, I would fire that manager on the spot. Because I hired said manager to manage, not bring in someone to tell him/her how to do it.

I'm a pleb, I buy Nescafe tins, 15 baht, put the coffee in a cup, microwave for 1 minute. Thai brewed coffee is OK, but one has to go to Vietnam for the really good stuff.

It's far more likely Russia is going to be the failed state. America nearly sent itself broke with Vietnam, and they had a much larger economy. You do seem to be obsessed with hedonistic and effete Westerners, Fact: The military arms of Western countries are professional soldiers, not the poorly-trained conscripts Russia is putting into the battlefield to be slaughtered. IMO no Western leaders will be going to Moscow to beg for gas, because they realize Putin can't be allowed to get away with flouting international norms, and committing war crimes. It's Iraq invading Kuwait all over again, on a larger scale. When Putin says he wants to restore the USSR to its former glory, everyone is now taking him seriously "What makes them want to be part of "the west"?." Are you serious? When Stalin orchestrated a famine in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions which killed about 6 million Ukrainians, you think they will just say let bygones be bygones? Ukraine, Poland, Hungary etc. have had their taste of living under the Russian jackboot, no desire to repeat the experience. Fact again: The linguistic links with Russia are enforced teaching of Russian in Ukrainian schools. Ukrainian itself is a separate language, with a different alphabet. There are two excellent books on Russia I recommend you read. Old, but they still ring as true as when they were written: "Journey Into Russia" by Sir Laurens van der Post. " The Future is ours, Comrade" by Joseph Novak. They give pretty good insights of what it is like to live in a Soviet-style system, and that's where Putin is taking Russia.

Your post made my day, ROFL.

Noted your location is Bangkok, perhaps the balance of "better doctors" and prevailing pharmacists is different to up north.