The Fugitive

Thanks for your info. Very good price. Would most definitely go for same myself if I could convince my Mrs! We are out most days from 7am until 9pm hence, without batteries, the array would only run two fridge/freezers, water coolers and CCTV. Nevertheless, good to have.

Agree. Airport check-in can (and do) ask for; sight of return/onward ticket or 'some sort' of visa.

Classic indications of presenile dementia.

Thank you for all the time, thought and effort involved in writing this. Much appreciated!

I like Laos. My Mrs thinks it's too rough! The border is 240 km away and $52 USD Lao eVisa fee is also a consideration.

Any bets this will be resolved with the lads accepting settlement of an 'undisclosed sum?'.

We call them; '4 wheeled Christians' in UK. Four wheels on your pram, your wedding car and your hearse.

I hope you don't throw it away because it's grown mould?

I live in Thailand most of the time. Recently asked Cigna Global for a quote (there is no age limit on their international plans). My previous diagnosed conditions were disregarded (no exclusions apply) because they are regarded as 'resolved' and I'm not receiving any current medication. Monthly premium for their silver plan is $565.48 USD.

Of course I don’t know what; ‘people like me’ means in your particular case. However, I can only relate my own early experiences in Thailand when living in ‘low rent’ apartments which may explain why some have the opinions that they do of ‘border runners’. A guy I was friendly with ‘lived on his wits’, because, as he admitted; ‘You’ll run out of money at some point’. Border runs were a source of worry for him because he never could get together 20,000 baht to show if ever asked. He rented a scooter (think 2,000 baht per month). The apartment owner engaged a lot with his tenants and we heard many stories from him. One day my friend ‘vanished’. The owner told us that, despite many warnings and much leniency, he hadn’t paid his rent and enough was enough. With some strong-arm help the owner had packed up what little belongings he had and took them, together with my friend to ‘somewhere’ and dumped him. With zero cash, I did wonder what the guy would’ve done in case of a moto accident or illness?

Well thought out improvements for minimal cost! A zero cost improvement would be to replace Windows with a lightweight Linux distro. I don't believe it's all that difficult to make the transition, especially if you have another device upon which to look up how to do things.

OK thanks. It was, coincidentally, the same price. I would buy from my Advice shop again. They seem to have a good enough selection.

Agree. My family still insist upon buying those 110 track MP3 Thai music disks whenever they see them on sale.

Is this the model you intend to buy? ASUS Vivobook 15 (X1502). Anyway, I bought mine from my local Advice shop. Easier to take it in if there's any problem as they have a resident English speaking and friendly tech guy.

For the up-to-date version; https://www.thailandtrains.com/trains-from-bangkok-to-vientiane/

Interesting to hear different points of view and actual experiences instead of just theories. Being from U.K. I was brought up to believe that police carrying guns indicates a 'broken' society and somewhere to be avoided. U.K. police have consistently voted not to be armed. From what I've been told by retired police officers with whom I've worked, they are also opposed to long(er) prison sentences. They believe that the longer the possible sentence, the harder a criminal will fight to avoid arrest, which is dangerous for themselves and the public.

Great information thanks Burma Bill!

First thing I did with my new Windows 11 laptop was to wipe it and install MX Linux instead.

Recent incident in my small UK town. Single crewed (meaning driver only) police patrol spotted a van outside a small factory in the middle of the night. He pulled up behind the van. Two guys got out armed with 'baseball bats' and smashed his windscreen. They then drove away. Can't blame the policeman for not tackling two men who've done that. In fact, the Chief Constable commended his actions in issuing a warning via his radio for other police patrols not to approach the van.

U.K. police weren't sure about the legality of my seaman's knife (stamped 'Admiralty' plus the year of manufacture). That caused me to look up 'flick knives'. Apparently, only legal to possess if manufactured prior to being banned in 1959 and also need to be kept at home.

You use the term; 'Profession'. Hence you are not a basic user. The gist of this thread was; 'I'm using Windows 10, will it be difficult switching to Windows 11?'. I believe that a basic user would manage just fine with Linux and thereafter wonder why they ever used Windows?

I find configuration can be laborious and troublesome if trying to instal/use an application on Linux for which the developers haven't provided a GUI. Otherwise, I believe what I have read that the only reason a basic user needs Windows is for playing games.

There are a couple of teams of guys who deliver in our area. Old, battered flatbed waggons. No names on vehicles or on the bottles. I suspect they fill them from the mains water supply. That's why I thought it would be interesting to get a test done!

Government and private hospitals are both obliged to provide emergency treatment. However, it is not provided free by either. In reality, Government Hospitals are more likely to provide it initially for free then request payment for the work done afterwards (assuming the patient survives of course). Private hospitals are reluctant to provide anything without prior payment. Private hospitals have been known to refuse emergency admissions, the casualty being redirected to a Government hospital but, unfortunately, dying before they got there. Treatment going forward has to be paid for in advance (unless the patient holds health insurance and the hospital agrees to accept direct payment from their insurance company). Inability to pay (Government or private hospital) will result in treatment being discontinued. Care only would continue until the patient died of their condition or pneumonia through immobility etc.

Thanks for your info! We buy small bottles to keep in the fridge for drinking. For making tea/coffee and cooking we get the large 5 US gallon (18.9 litres) bottles delivered for 12 baht each. It would be interesting to get a test done on one of these!