KhaoYai

I didn't say you did. If you are into to meeting old flabby, tired women, that's up to you. Women are no different to men in that respect and its one way to tell if your 'true love' is actually genuine. If you've let yourself go, your hygene standards are not what they used to be or you wear sandals and knee length socks, don't be surprised if it turns out your lady is more intersted in your wallet that your physical attributes. Its called attraction and it usually occurs between 2 people when they first meet. I have no problem with growing old with my wife and her aging too but I wouldn't be looking for a flabby unattractive woman at the outset.

So if a study is published that states a child does not achieve a balanced and proper upbringing at some point in the future, hypothetically, can I take it that you will accept such findings?

Where?

Industrial for one.

Very true - in the UK even British Citizens have to pay to speak or write to them!

I have conducted and co-authored several studies in my time - although only one was related to human activity but yes, I am conversant with the requirements. As a matter of fact, none of the items you have listed above are actual 'requirements'. To the best of my knowledge there are no legal requirements for a study. If you are referring to an Academic study that is to be accepted by a University or Government body, then some or all of those items may be required, it all depends on the country/body involved. That said, several 'studies', conducted by scholarly authors in the past have had their findings debunked later. I need to studies to advise me of what's wrong or right in regard to family life thank you.

Very happy - not sad. 1st class honours degree and a certificate in Social Science. Its a shame if the truth offends you.

Actually, I'd say your attitude is the sad one. Please show me where in my post I said that people 'venture to Thailand just for the girls'? Jumping the gun somewhat there but seeing as you raise the subject, I've noticed a shift in recent years with more families visiting but pre covid, there's a good chance that I make more trips to Thailand per year than most and still, the majority of seats on those flights are filled by males. Now you might believe they come for the temples or to study the culture and that's up to you - I have a different take on things. A hell of a lot of guys visit initially for the 'naughty nighlife' - in case you haven't heard, the country is famous for it. A lot of guys also visit to meet a girl they've met on the internet - that's much the same reason - females. Its called attraction and its the reason the human race continues. However many of those visitors, just like myself, go on to see other sides of the country and continue visiting - many settle. Once again, predominantly males. I'm honest enough to state the main reason I visited the country in the first place and you call that sad? Then be sad about it, I'm not. Bring on the posts from the vast hordes of temple visitors.

They prove nothing more than the author's opinion. I could write a dozen studies - all different and biased towards whichever viewpoint I wished.

The man is deluded! I did my Thailand Pass application over a week ago and it didn't seem that difficult - but I have a Thai wife and therefore a need to return. However, I've just been helping a friend who in turn is helping 2 elderly Brits obtain their passes for a forthcoming trip. Seeing it from a 'normal' touirsts point of view, putting togther all the necessary documents, converting them into an acceptable format etc. etc. made me realise how vastly different this is from simply making a phone call and booking a flight. And that's without considering the likelihood that much of the country will be closed when they arrive. My recommendation to anyone seeking a little sun this winter - the Canaries are looking good.

Does Thailand genuinely welcome Farang? A tough question and one that different people will have differing views on. Personally, I've always been made very welcome in Thailand. Yes, as many have, I've faced ridiculous bureaucracy but what many foreigner's don't appreciate is that Thai people also have to put up with it. I have no doubt there will be more accommodating places in which to settle but for me, your question would be easier to answer if you asked 'Why do Foreigners Choose Thailand'. In that case my answer would be easy - girls, girls and girls. When you're the wrong side of 40 and the hair starts growing out of your nose rather than on your head - those pretty little things that you are attracted to start becoming a part of your history not your future. If you had the choice would you buy a shiny new car or a rusty old one that's become saggy and tired? In our Western homelands we quite often don't have that choice. I began travelling to Thailand 20 years ago (yes, for the naughty business) following a very tough divorce. Like many after such an event, I thought my life was over - I thought I'd never be in a relationshiop again because I was simply not attracted to what was on offer in my age group. I've always kept myself in shape but Western women seem to have a problem (possibly genuine) doing the same. It wasn't an age thing really, I find well kept older women very attractive - there's just not many of them in the West. In Thailand it seemed, your age isn't a barrier to meeting attractive women. I wasn't ready (and I'm still not) for the pipe and slippers, I still ride my bike like a luntatic, still go clubbing and I'm still vertical when many younger guys fall over. Thailand it seemed, gave me the opportunity to continue doing what I liked doing for a while longer. Yes, there are many pitfalls and you have to be very careful about why that little Thai dolly bird wants to know you. Those pitfalls are common knowledge and I see no mileage is discussing them all over again, Perhaps just one event in my life in Thailand sums up why I chose to make the country my home (even though I still work abroad) - a few years ago I was sitting in a Kasikorn bank opening an account. The pretty young staff member going through my paperwork said "Oh, you are single, you don't have a wife Khun Philip?" to which I replied "No, no wife, I'm divorced". The reply? "I am 30 and have no boyfriend"..........I knew I was in heaven and it had nothing to do with the 3 million baht I'd put forward to open my account. I'm now married to a girl almost half my age and very happy when I'd previously thought that would be impossible. I'll be pushing up daisies before she becomes saggy and tired.

Now even this thread is turning into an argument about vaccines - I don't understand why so many men are scrared of having a little p rick.

Yes, this back-filling or raising can cause so many problems - my wife's neighbour (her sister!!!) raised the land at the back of her house to build a new house on. Now, when there's heavy rain, my wife's house floods!! Fortunately there's a pond (also in family ownership) within 30 meters of both properties so I'm going to have to put a drain in next year to solve the problem - something her sister could have done in the first place instead of raising the land. The OP hasn't said whether this wall is a boundary wall or not. If the wall in question is part of his house as it sounds to be then it was a mistake to build it right up to and forming the boundary - if that is the case. Without seeing plans and photos to understand the exact location, it may well be that the only permanent solution is to drop the wall completely and move it back. He could have an understanding neighbour that grades the land back and solves the problem but what happens if the neighbour sells the house - could the problem return? The rules that blackcab refers to later in his post exist to prevent these kind of problems, I wasn't aware that they exist in Thailand but they are common in many countries. Many older houses are built in this way to utilise limited space - especially in urban areas, they are often the source of problems and disputes - hence the rules. Problems can be even worse in 'terraced' properties where dividing walls belong to both properties - party walls. In the UK we have an entire act - The Party Wall Act that attempts to deal with the issues raised by shared ownership.

Unsure, could have been 7 - pretty sure it was 10. The reason was she had her second vaccine in the UK less than 2 weeks before she travelled. Edit: It was 7 days. She originally booked for 10 then the rules changed and she was only required to stay 7. I would like to say I got a refund but for some reason, that only my wife knows, I didn't ????. Take that as, she did!

You fail to comprehend that it is not uncommon for members of any species to engage in deviant activity. Some may call it unnatural behaviour, some may say abnormal - how ever its labelled it is certainly not as nature intended. Before you misquote me yet again I will repeat, I do not consider homosexual humans as lesser beings and I do agree that there should be no impediment to them getting married. However homosexuality is not the norm and their sexual behaviour could never be considered as normal. I've had this argument with my gay brother on several occasions - he claims he is normal. According to the Oxford dictionary, he is not. 1. conforming to a standard; usual, typical, or expected. "it's quite normal for puppies to bolt their food" https://languages.oup.com/google-dictionary-en/ I don't understand why gay people have this problem with being called abnormal - its almost always taken in a derogatory sense when that is quite often not the case. If I was born with 3 eyes I would not consider that to be normal - even though I might be able to see perfectly well. If I believed that Vladimir Putin was a saint, would that be considered normal? Your constant references to the animal kingdom holds no weight whatsoever - yes, deviant behaviour goes on in other species - that does not make it normal. I believe that children have a right to be bought up in a 'normal' relationship, given normal balanced values that in my opinion can only be achieved by having both parents. Single parents may well bring their children up well, as may gay couples and both may give them all the love in the world. But have they had all the learnings of life that they could or should have? Will love alone equip them with all they need to go out into the world? I don't think so. Do they get taunted and bullied because they have gay parents - I know very well they do, despite what was previously claimed by another poster. He may not have experienced it but I personally know someone who suffered that. I myself have experienced taunting because of my brother's sexuality - there are bad people out there you know? Away from the dingly dell where everything's perfect, there is a real world with dangers everywhere. I had to teach my son to fight - much to his mother's annoyance. Women are more placid and many don't believe in violence, even as a defence but they don't live in the male world where quite often, if you don't stand up for yourself you can suffer consequences - would a lesbian mother teach her son to fight? Whether you like it or not, homosexual behaviour is not normal - it is however accepted in many cultures and in quite a lot of ways, gays are moving towards equality - as they should. But children have rights too and a fundemental right of any child is to have normal parentage. You can quote your 'studies' 'vast majorities' and 'overwhelming facts' all you like - it won't change my views. Natural is natural and deviance is deviance. What nature intended however, is not always what happens - people are born with all sorts of differences, things go wrong but there is a norm. Will more and more gay couples be allowed to adopt children? Almost certainly - we live in a rapidly liberalising society and one day we may learn that we've been too liberal. I consider this topic played out.

In your opinion.

Yes

My policy covers it - provided I am ordered to quarantine by a health professional or the authorities. The cover for that is limited to £2000 so it would probably cover a hotel but not a hospital. See above about the car.

Update: My hotel have confirmed that they will send a private car to the airport for me - I won't be expected to share. I'm staying at The Grace Hotel on Sukhumvit Soi 3. In normal times I would avoid that hotel like the plague but its just for a few hours and the cost is 3900- all in. My Mrs, booked The Grace on her return last month and said it looked like all the rooms have recently been refurbished - she was there for 10 days and had no problems - for anyone staying there on full quarantine - they do allow an hour's exercise by the pool each day after your first negative test result..

The question is, who owns the wall? If I understand you correctly its part of your house and therefore its yours. So legally your neighbour is responsible but as has been suggested, there are ways of dealing with it that will avoid conflict. As you will know - discussing it with a smile is one of those ways. Your neighbour probably has no idea that placing soil as they have would cause this problem - many don't. Any plastic barrier would need to go down beyond the depth of the wall by the way. A much better solution, if at all possible is for the soil to be graded back - sloping down towards the wall.

I would suggest your brother gets a quote from All Clear Insurance. I have a pre-existing condition and with normal Health Insurance, the cost makes it out of the question (even though they exclude anything connected to me pre-existing condition - something I'll never understand) and I just presumed travel insurance would be the same. For that reason I've been travelling to Thailand 6 to 7 times a year (pre-covid) for the last 6 years, uninsured. Because of the insurance requirement for a Thailand Pass I contacted a few companies in the UK and got 12 months multi-trip travel insurance for £144. I declined the cancellation cover which would have cost an extra £40 - £50. I read their policy booklet before confirming the insurance and noted that a lot of matters related to what most of use think of as cancellation, were actually covered by other parts of the policy. The cancellation clauses seemed to be more aimed at if I cancelled my trip through unforeseen circumstances. Single trip insurance was, from memory, only £20 - £30 cheaper.

Ridiculous claims are met with ridiculous answers and I'm quite calm thank you.

I believe the key with any insurance policy is to read the terms and conditions very carefully and make sure you comply with them - that may not be possible with a Thai policy that is not fully translated into English. I think my UK travel policy is superior to that which is being offered in Thailand to satisfy the Thailand Pass requirements but it does contain some points that I may not have thought of should a claim arise. For example, I am covered (limited amount) for additional accommodation costs if I am ordered to quarantine by a medical professional or the Thai authorities. I may well have had the presence of thought to get the bill for such accommodation but I doubt I would have asked for the order to quarantine to be put in writing. Note the word 'additional' in such clauses - if you are ordered to quarantine in a hotel, the insurers probably wouldn't pay out unless you can show that you wouldn't have been staying at a hotel in normal circumstances. If you had been staying at a hotel and were ordered to quarantine in a hospital - the insurers would probably only pay the difference between a hotel and a hospital. Without reading all 55 pages of the policy again I also noted that there were other matters which, if I presented them in the right way would form a valid claim. Before contacting your insurers you need to thoroughly read the relevant section, make sure you collect the correct evidence and go on to present your claim in a way that will result in getting paid. For example, some matters in my policy would require me to have to be hospitalised - I'm pretty sure that a Thai hospital would happily 'hospitalise' me for a night or two if I suggested it may be better. Other parts of my medical cover state that I should contact a handling company in the UK and seek authority before agreeing to any emergency costs - quite how I would do that if I'd been smashed to bits in a motorbike accident, I don't know - I'm writing to my insurers to ask about that point. On non medical matters such as theft - always get a police report and in Thailand, note that a police report is only available from the area in which the loss occured. If you have your laptop stolen on Koh Samui, its no use trying to get a police report in Bangkok on your way home.

If you want to take it to ridiculous levels - OK then, can same sex parenting take place without components from both sexes? Do you have evidence of male eggs or female sperm?

I've never denied that other species engage in homosexual activity. Humans steal and engage in violent behaviour and so do Apes so using your theory its acceptable for humans to steal and hurt others because it goes on in nature? Genetic or biological faults occur in all species. The purpose of having male and female sexes in our species is re-production - do you know of any primates where 2 of the same sex can reproduce? Relating this issue to other species that exhibit the same abnormal behaviour is irrelavent.