Lacessit

Valid point. I wouldn't say I get the best food and services. I try to get the best value for money. I know good mechanics for my car and scooter, and where a good dentist is.

When I played golf in Port Hedland many moons ago, it was dirt fairways and oiled sand greens, with preferred lies. The Tom Price course was tee up, fairways were coarse gravel. Not a drop of water in sight. I agree most golf courses are overwatered. It would be better to allow native grasses to do their thing without water, and put some work into developing hybrids that are salt-tolerant. I started my golfing life at Royal Melbourne, as a caddie. In the fifties, only the greens were watered. The couch fairways flourished with any rain. When dry, divots turned to powder. That's what golf needs to get back to.

The life skills I have acquired in Thailand are: 1/ Being able to communicate in Thai when needed. 2/ Expecting to be lied to. 3/ Expecting to be told what someone thinks I want to hear. 4/ Keeping calm when a Thai person does something egregiously stupid. 5/ Drive in Thai traffic for 10 years successfully, touch wood. 6/ Assemble paperwork for Immigration in perfect order, and complete.

Kidneys, lungs and liver. Most elderly people die of kidney failure or pneumonia. The alcoholics usually die of liver disease.

I am still playing golf at age 79. It is good exercise. Golf does not have to be expensive here. I bought a 30 year membership at the military course in Chiang Rai, 35,000 baht. It can be sold on by my GF when I cark it. Nine holes of golf costs me 370 baht, including caddie and tip. If I want a more upmarket course for a change of scenery, it is usually about 1500 baht for 18 holes, including caddie, golf cart and tip. When people criticize golf as a sport, it is usually because they are incapable of playing it well.

China has no track record in terms of after-sales service, spares availability, and honoring warranty claims. It's great to buy a new vehicle that is priced competitively, and that's why the Chinese products are selling well in Thailand. The acid test will come when the vehicles are out of warranty. If something goes wrong and the brand decides to throw their customers under a bus to save money or make more, there is not much buyers can do.

Wheel bearings and transmission don't need lubricant maintenance? Brake linings and tires never need to be changed?

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.

I take Codiphen once a week for a good night's sleep. I take Finasteride daily for benign prostatic hyperplasia. In Chiang Mai, I buy Codiphen at an independent pharmacy for 50 baht a pack of ten. In Chiang Rai, one of the pharmacy chains sells the same pack for 130 baht. With Finasteride, the same pharmacy chain sells a 30-pill pack for 555 baht. An independent pharmacy sells the identical pack for 900 baht. I can accept a plus or minus price variation of 10% between pharmacies, but these differences are ridiculous. IMO it's too much to say bulk buying causes the discrepancies. Can anyone explain why?

It’s been a year like no other. The oil price went negative, airlines were grounded, some forever. A single meat market in Wuhan, specializing in exotic meats for conspicuous consumption by wealthy Chinese, generated a virus which spread like wildfire. Countries went into lockdown, some stringently, some half-heartedly. The results are there for everyone to see. Millions became employed overnight. Some countries responded with support, others opted for benign neglect. Vaccines were developed at unprecedented speed. A would-be tyrant was rejected at the polls. Most if not all of us will say goodbye and good riddance to 2020. I’m in Thailand by choice and some good luck. Two weeks later in February, and I would still be locked down in Australia, contemplating slashing my wrists. A much more enjoyable life for me here. Having said that, there are some things I miss about my home country. I miss the wind. In Thailand, it seems the wind can’t get much above a gentle zephyr. I would rug up with about four layers of clothing in winter, go down to Gunnamatta beach with an offshore wind of 50-60 km/hr, and watch 10 metre waves pound the coast. Nature at its most primeval. I miss the wineries that dot the Mornington Peninsula, where one could have a light lunch and a couple of glasses of the local product, which most of the time was very good. Apart from Thai wine quality, I don’t believe Thais know what a cellar door is, or what it’s for. I miss my 2004 Mitsubishi Magna AWD sedan, IMO one of the most underrated vehicles ever produced. Balanced like a cat on dirt roads and wet bitumen. About a third the new car price of a comparable Mercedes. My son has it now, still plugging along with 300,000 km on the odometer. I miss the golf competitions I used to play. Par, foursomes, match play, Canadian foursomes. Here, it’s just stroke and Stableford. Boring. I miss the camaraderie of the Wednesday Boys. 15 – 20 of us, some real characters and nicknames. The Poet, The Farmer, The Whippet, Pistol Pete, Triple Treat. Best net score got a two-dollar coin from every other player, with an appropriate obeisance. Some really acid sledging during play, one of the best at my expense. A day when I was spraying my tee shots all over the course, but making pars because I’m holing putts from everywhere on the greens. Our group gets to the seventeenth tee, par 3, and I’m fretting about club selection, is it a 6 or 7 iron? One of my mates says “ Why don’t you tee off with your putter? It’s the only club you’ve hit straight all day”. I miss a Gippsland eye fillet steak, medium, with a Warby Ranges Shiraz. Followed by a King Island blue brie on water crackers. I miss grilled flake and chips,with a pickled onion on the side. Flake is also known as shark to non-Australians, very sweet fish, and filling. All the best to everyone on TV over Christmas, and may 2021 be better. What do you miss?