Speedhump

On 12/2/2022 at 1:16 PM, Don Chance said:

If you are offended by babies crying, dogs barking or a rooster cucking. You haven't lived  enough on this planet yet.

If I was as old as the vampire Lestat I'd still want to suck them all dry if they disturb my sleep. That's why I don't live in a Thai village. 

2 hours ago, jacko45k said:

Not sure your suggestion that such actions are a local custom doesn't do that.

Honesty should not be called out as being divisive, although yes I was being ironic. I know many more Thai women who have been beaten or otherwise assaulted by men than Western women back home. And that's just in 6 years living here. I feel sometimes that it seems almost accepted. 

Come on, he was only following local custom. What on earth difference does it make to label him foreigner in the headline other than to further ingrain divisions? 

25 minutes ago, placeholder said:

What percentage of citizens of most nations are expats? That's a pretty low percentage. And what percentage of those expats earn their pay in the currency of their homeland as opposed to where they work? Most expats are actually migrant workers or undocumented aliens, and they earn their pay in the country they labor in.

I don't know why, but you're ignoring the fact that my comment was about foreign exchange. I'm not going chew over expats statistics. Crypto is a currency, as I said I won't go down a rabbit hole with you. Thanks. 

16 minutes ago, placeholder said:

A real currency, when used in the country that issues it, doesn't fluctuate in purchasing power like crypto does wherever it is used. So for Americans, the purchasing power of a dollar spent  in the United States is not utterly dependent on its exchange value. Same goes for the Euro, the Yuan, the Yen, etc.. But wherever cryptocurrency is used its purchasing power is calibrated by its value in a genuine currency. The only time a genuine currency can technically be said to have its value calibrated by a cryptocurrency is when it's used to purchase that currency. And that's a very minor case that has nothing to do with the economic lives just about everyone on planet earth.

And I was talking about international purchases, which very many people now make, especially expats. I started at the very outset by talking about exchange. Not using the currency in the country in which it is issued. That was clear. 

3 hours ago, placeholder said:

But for most people and businesses, the fact remains that currency is not an asset that depends only or largely on how it's performing on the forex exchanges. Whereas crypto's purchasing power depends entirely on its price relative to genuine currencies.

Items can more and more be bought over the Internet with crypto. Generally speaking, if you are buying something priced in a currency (say USD) not your own  the amount you pay online in another currency (Sterling, crypto, whatever) varies against  the current value of crypto, Sterling or whatever to the exchange rate  ruling on the day (fiat) , or the price at which you bought your crypto (just like using cash USD while on foreign vacation).  Just because the SEC says crypto is not a currency doesn't make that so for consumer purposes. 

3 hours ago, placeholder said:

But foreign exchange only matters when you are trading it against other currencies. For most Americans, say, a 10% drop in the value of the dollar in respect to a basket of world currencies, doesn't mean a 10% drop in its purchasing power. But if that same American is holding bitcoin and it drops 10% in value, then it has also lost 10% of its purchasing power.

Except when you start talking about currency or crypto value 'in the markets' as you did  you aren't talking about purchasing power on the high street. Anyway, I was only pointing out the similarities, which do exist. 

21 hours ago, placeholder said:

That's a fair point. But it does not function like a currency. And its purchasing power depends entirely on the price it commands in the markets. So it is in no meaningful way a currency.

Didn't you just describe foreign exchange? ????

19 hours ago, Neeranam said:

No, DeFi will stick it to the bankers

No. Banks already make use of blockchain, and they will adopt/assimilate crypto after their own fashion. Crypto is NOT going away. I'm not a crypto investor m, so have no dog in this fight, just watching. 

On 11/10/2022 at 2:27 PM, Sparktrader said:

Many cant tell the difference.

Because most don't care but still want to run their mouths.... 

10 hours ago, VinnieK said:

Sheeple cannot handle freedom (or the truth)

Need to be micro-managed by the nanny state.

Just an observation..

You can only learn how to behave after you've been given the chance. Mistakes will be made. Correct? 

22 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

With less respect than elderly Thais.

I find I get plenty of smiles and respect, and I certainly don't go out of my way to demand it. There again I do walk around with a friendly face all the time, life is good. 

1 hour ago, In the jungle said:

I have heard it called many things but that is a new one to me.

If you know your rhyming slang, buffalo do 'grumble and grunt' . 

9 hours ago, Mac Mickmanus said:

Issan has a reputation for being undeveloped and primitive , rather like a tourist going to the USA and telling the taxi driver " I am going to the Mid West and staying in a trailer park for two weeks ,my friends got a lovely six wheeler that I bought for her and I will be staying with her* 

"She said she needed me to come and play with her buffalo". 

Isn't this 30 year lease for land to live on fantasy? I thought it was 10 years only, with two ten year extensions written in (note: fees to be negotiated each time), and landowner expected not to refuse to agree the extensions.... 

On 10/27/2022 at 4:07 PM, SizzzzStudent said:

Great advice! I was lucky this time and only had to confirm my house number with the driver via text - I put a note in the delivery directions that I can't speak Thai well so he messaged me in English, so I think that is another option for non-Thai speakers (might not work every time though).

All in all, pretty easy after getting past the initial ordering anxiety! And I can finally enjoy some spaghetti without having to take a taxi ride to the nearest western-food restaurant ????  

One thing I dont think others commented on. Delivery people still need to make money in the rain, don't let rain stop you ordering. Bike riders in Thailand must take riding in heavy rain as part of daily life in the wet season. If they decide to work on a wet day, please support them. 

On 10/27/2022 at 2:07 PM, lopburi3 said:

I do not use Grab food delivery - I use Tops Supermarket delivery who contract with Grab.  And no we do not tip delivery drivers.  Nor do anyone else we know.  

You are one of the founder member of The Mean Society? 

9 hours ago, GammaGlobulin said:

I read your one-sentence comment here...several times.

 

Sorry to know this has happened to you, even though I do not know you.

 

I think that, once one reaches a fairly ripe old age, one might wish to have cancer oneself rather than to see one's loved one stricken with cancer.

 

I do know that I would.

 

In such case, when cancer strikes a loved one, then one does not consider much of a "life" beyond the life together one is sharing, at the present moment.  In such case, the future seems of not much importance, at all.

 

Cancer can come when least expected, even though we know we really should expect it, the longer we live.

 

When cancer happens, especially to someone we love, we realize that we are powerless.

Nothing we might do or say makes much meaningful difference.

Words no longer have much power.

Even words are powerless in the face of cancer.

 

F  Cancer.

 

 

Thank you, that's perfectly state. Carer, but actually powerless, wishing it were you instead, frustration with wary insurance companies, the realisation that after 45 years together nothing else is important at all other than just being together. Happily we have had a lot of years with me working from home, and then 6-7 years retirement, and we've always just enjoyed lazy time together. Many people aren't as lucky. Thanks again, your post was really appreciated. ????????

On 10/22/2022 at 10:25 AM, hotandsticky said:

If I had 6 months to live (and was active) the budget would be irrelevant. 

 

 

I would spend whatever was necessary to maximise the enjoyment from those last 6 month.

 

 

The reality is that (as I am content)  life might not be too much different from what I have now.........just a few more extras here and there.

A lucky man. My wife and and I are the same. But aggressive cancer has reared its ugly head. 

1 hour ago, CharlieH said:

Bought in Makro or Via MakroClick ?

Hm, yes Makro, not click. I replied as have most here, with stories about their customer service in store. I see the difference though. 

As usual with these stories, my experience was different. I took a rubber gas hose with regulator for return and refund with the receipt, but slightly out of the return period (I had been away from home due to wife's illness). I'd bought the wrong one, my fault. I was refunded in cash there and then. Had to wait 4 or 5 minutes for the girl to check with her superior. I was told in future they would not refund outside the return period and I said OK and thank you very much. Maybe I just have a friendly face.... 

11 hours ago, Enoon said:

Perhaps the driver had unwisely used his horn to encourage the Thai (who was meandering along the road very slowly) to move over so that he could pass?

 

Mr Thai, in typical fashion then brake-checked the Porsche, got off his contraption and started to vent his rage at the driver for having the temerity to use the klaxon.......they do that so I've heard.

 

Driver gets out to remonstrate, Thai starts swinging and ends up in IC.

 

(Nice to see the Gallophobes, not yourself, out in their all too predictable, knuckle dragging, dribbling masses, as per usual on these pages)

 

 

Why not, might balance out the all-too-predictable Anglophobes ("anyone except England", right?). Let's be even handed about this.... ????

5 hours ago, heybuz said:

No,weve enough of our own to whinge about at home ,from real ale to can't get good curry even though the curry comes from an indian restaurant and nobody has ever explained to me what the magic ingredient is in real ale.[my old man was a pom transported by his family in 1925 for being a naughty boy called in those days a "remittance man" as the family sent money for support, at the age of 16.

I'm a Londoner 18 years away from home. I think Brits have a lot to whinge about now judging by the news I read. I don't see me going back. My best friend went to Oz in the mid 60s when we were about 7 or 8, when his mum and dad 'took the shilling', I hope they had a good life. I've liked most Aussies I've ever met, except when they try to brag about sport. ????