Lacessit

On 11/26/2016 at 1:55 PM, TGIR said:

I'm confused about this situation.  Keeping interest rates low takes away what has always been a conservative investment option.  Bonds and other interest bearing choices were always a portion of my portfolio both in business and personally.  Essentially, governments across the world have done away with the ability to put funds in a safe place for current needs, or as a safe haven for investors who don't want all their money tied up in property or subject to the whims of the stock market.

 

How does eliminating interest rate arbitrage help the economy?  It seems to me that it would depress economies in the long term, but at my age (72)  I don't have enough brain cells or education to see a way out of this conundrum.  

 

Some discussion technically of how interest fits into the big picture would be appreciated.

 

 

There are official interest rates, and there are real interest rates. Official low interest rates are designed to stimulate economies.

Real interest rates are what one sees on credit cards, business loans, personal loans, car and home loans. Some of these are the exclusive preserve of the banks. Others are funded by the growing industry of peer-to-peer lending. Some come from loans by or for governments to fund infrastructure projects.

Real interest rates are priced according to the level of risk attached to the loan. Official interest rates are arbitrarily priced by reserve banks around the world, with the USA as the main trendsetter as the world reserve currency. That position is currently under attack by the Chinese.

Sharemarkets boom when interest rates are low, and bust when interest rates are high, OR a crisis in confidence occurs, as witness the 2008 GFC.

I would suggest starting with a reasonably-priced studio unit at 8000 - 12000 baht per month, then work your way up or down from there. Bear in mind prices come down with the longer-term rentals; however, you don't want to get stuck with somewhere noisy or inaccessible, so you need to assess carefully. Further out in San Kamphaeng, plenty of rooms for 4000 baht a month.

There was a guy running a guide service some years ago. He was mainly interested in hooking me up with someone from his stable of Thai girls.

Songtaews and tuk-tuks should be used initially. Never get into one until the price is agreed.

 Try to learn as much Thai as you can. It makes life a lot easier. The most effective way to do it is to acquire a Thai girlfriend; however, bear in mind it's like marriage - a lot easier to get into than get out of. Women working in coffee shops, legitimate Thai massage shops and nurses from hospitals are sometimes interested in falangs.

I'd suggest getting a Thai driving licence for a scooter or car before taking the step to your own transport. Scooters are more useful in the congested areas, but also more risky. You can hire a scooter for about 2500 baht a month, car for 800 baht a day.

Good luck, and be careful.

21 hours ago, David Walden said:

Perhaps going into the details of why it is almost?  impossible for a man to get aids whilst in a  loving relationship with a female  positive sufferer of Aids maybe too much for the moderators of this site to permit... I rest my case. No further comment from me...thank you.

Resting your case is not the same as proving it - more than somewhat difficult to prove a negative. No further comment from me either.

Noise is a fact of life in Thailand. The best way to deal with it is to develop counter-strategies, such as Bluetooth-enabled headphones for the TV, or earplugs.

Most village noise is usually finished by midnight, apart from roosters and geckos. In the city, noise can be going until 4 am.

50 minutes ago, marioc said:

 

S.K. Sakol Money Exchange

Agree. Good rates and lowest spread I have seen. Other side of the Iron Bridge from Rimping,  Charoen Prathet Road nearly opposite the end of Loi Kroh Road.

The probability of the police or immigration visiting a Thai village is quite low. As long as the poo yai is onside with it, there should not be a problem. And once it is done, who is going to say who did it?

3 hours ago, David Walden said:

It is almost impossible for a male to contact HIV when having sex with a loving, fully committed passionate gentle HIV positive female partner.  HIV is mostly transmitted by rough sex which is often the case with homosexual men who sometimes experience damage to their bodies and cause fluid exchange etc. etc.

You need to research more thoroughly. The risk for males is about 0.07% per sexual intercourse with a female HIV positive partner. Of course, if she is loving, fully committed, passionate and gentle one would expect sexual intercourse to occur more than once, thus multiplying the risk.  Or she may accede to intercourse while menstruating, which increases the risk again.

Almost impossible? Permit me to doubt.

The Green Bus from CM or CR to Mae Sai is a safer option. From the bus station in Mae Sai, a songtaew to the border is about 20 baht from memory.

Khunnam Rimtarn is not far from Mae Sai on the Thailand side. Comfortable beds, not Thai hard. About 600 baht again from memory.

Try Agoda if you are determined to stay in Tatchilek. If that website doesn't have it, it's probably not worth staying there.

3 hours ago, JLCrab said:

Yes. Colin rides in a wheelchair for sure. Your singing ain't for sure.

I understand people have been moved to tears when Trans sings.

On 9/21/2017 at 11:41 AM, Thian said:

And i don't see the problem, better sell them instead of dumping it...

 

I'm always amazed how many travellers are arguing with the security about liquids found in their hand luggage.  Almost non-stop there are liquids found by the scanners and mostly it's from ladies who want to bring make-up stuff onboard.

It's a racket. It shows how idiotic the rules are when liquids are restricted in carry-on luggage, and it's open slather on hold luggage.

Recently, I had to surrender two mosquito racquets in my hold luggage because of the batteries. How many battery-powered laptops and smart phones go on board the average flight?

AND nothing at all was said about the 3 bottles of whisky I had in my suitcase, although they must have shown up on the scanner.

As they say, you can't fix stupid.

On 8/27/2017 at 5:02 PM, Spock said:

You can buy booze duty free for Australia but it needs to be delivered to you at the gate. You also need to allow at least an hour for delivery. I asked 2 days ago at duty free and was also told it is cheaper to buy in Australia duty free on arrival, which is probably true.

It's far cheaper to buy whisky in any liquor store in Thailand, package it properly and put it in your hold luggage. Bells Scotch in Thailand currently AUD 14 for a 700 ml bottle. Comparable brand in Aldi in Australia >AUD 30.

I understand the only items subject to quarantine are meat products. As another poster has said, it's sometimes considerably cheaper to fly in with a favorite foodstuff.

Easier to do without if it's not available, although Rimping has a huge range of imported foods.

Just bear in mind Thai roads are now rated the most deadly in the world, particularly for motorbike riders. Odds can be improved by hiring a car instead.

For me, it's more of an aesthetics question. I have no problem with a guy who has a six-pack of abs and built like a Greek god going shirtless, or  women with cute butts wearing short shorts.

It's when I see a man of any nationality parading around with a belly bigger than his chest shirtless, or women with thighs like tree trunks complete with cellulite trying to wear shorts two sizes too small,  that I have to think they are totally unaware of how unappealing they look.

On 10/28/2017 at 9:27 PM, MaeJoMTB said:

Or they're on Yabba ............... it ain't dancing that keeps the go-go girls skinny.

Yet to see a skinny one in CM - must be going to the wrong places.

5 hours ago, alanrchase said:

I remember reading that some websites will use your computer to mine bit coin. Could that be your problem? 

Apparently streaming sites such as Pirate Bay are hiring out to cryptohackers in lieu of advertising revenue. We think these sites are free, but you pay one way or the other.

He should be grateful for the extra protein.

1 hour ago, canuckamuck said:

Not so easy for methane to spontaneously combust. Where's the ignition point?

Static electricity is not unknown in nature, and produces nice sparks.

On 12/18/2017 at 11:21 AM, MaeJoMTB said:

I'll leave that game to you.

Not interested. Perhaps you have missed the point.

If she's a bar girl, wants money, is she likely to tell you? You won't know until too late, unless you are doing a taste test.

17 minutes ago, MaeJoMTB said:

1. Don't believe I can catch HIV as a heterosexual male (* CDC agrees, but you feel free to believe different).

2. I seem to be immune to herpes (only known 1 guy badly affected by it and that was really nasty)

 

* https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/risk/estimates/riskbehaviors.html

Possibly you haven't met the right ( wrong ) girl yet. I agree HIV transmission risk for a heterosexual male ( vaginal ) sex is very low; however, it is not zero. For example, unprotected sex with a woman who is menstruating.

The point I was making is antibiotics only work against bacterial infections. They do diddly squat against a viral infection.

20 minutes ago, MaeJoMTB said:

Never caught nuffin that didn't go away with 50bht of antibiotics.

Less trouble than a cold IMHO.

Er - HIV doesn't go away with 50 baht of antibiotics. Neither does genital herpes.

5 hours ago, KhaoNiaw said:

That's really the only serious theory but the arguments for it don't pass scientific analysis or explain why they occur at a specific and predictable time each year. 

There's a Thai film called ๑๕ ค่ำ เดือน ๑๑ which puts it down to a monks at a local temple, setting the fireballs in the river. A good film actually and worth watching whether you're interested in the fireballs or not. 

The arguments for it don't pass scientific analysis? What scientific analysis has been done?

The ecology/biology of the river where they occur could well explain why events take place at a predictable time. Just as mass migrations of birds and animals can be explained. It's just a matter of finding the right data.

1 hour ago, Samui Bodoh said:

I have to agree with the poster above: this is a badly worded question.

 

I am a social liberal and an economic conservative.

 

How am I supposed to vote?

Vote twice. Seems to happen quite a lot in some countries.

Most probably ignition of bubbles of methane from rotting organic matter on the riverbed. Apologies for spoiling the conspiracy theories.