A few years ago i went to the gym in westgate, quite nice too bad there was no pool. Not a bad gym at all, a bit expensive but good. I like how they have things like prowler and other not so common things. 

 

Also when you sign up you can take as many classes as you want (or at least when I was there).

 

In the end went back to my own home gym because it was more convenient and faster. I did not need all the stuff they had there. I had all i needed at home and could exercise when I wanted.

This is easy to say when you have a world class gym at your home. I’ve seen your setup! Who goes to any club and pays money when you have what you have? :)

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I find this whole saga very interesting. The fact China, USA and E.U. all approved an aircraft they later determine unsafe gives me very little confidence in their procedures.


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Stop trying to romanticize the fact that you're addicted to alcohol... It won't work. Frankly I don't understand how people need to drink alcohol to relax or enjoy themselves. That's very sad. Been teetotal myself for 20 years and I'm only in my mid-40s now.

I have lived in Thailand for 32 years and Chiang Mai for 26.
 
I have travelled to more than 75 countries many of them for months and years.
 
Every country has its positives and negatives. Some places are great to travel and some places are great to live.
 
for me Chiang Mai has always been a great place to live where I can relax and enjoy a peaceful no stress life. Relatively free from all those Western rules regulation taxes etc.
 
It still has a magical charm if you know where to get it.
 
What brought me to Thailand is the charm of Thai people and the Lanna culture. Of course that is slowly disappearing as Thais become more westernized.
 
As a Westerner I have always had the philosophy that you cannot happily live in Thailand unless you leave the country once in a while. I leave Chiang Mai three times a year to travel to other places all over the world and make sure to leave during the smoke season.
 
Even now I'm always happy to come back. But that's because I have a nice home, car and enough retirement savings.
 
Also when I consider where in the world I could go now to get the same standard of living that I have now, I haven't found a comparable place yet.
 
If I was 27 again and starting all over again I completely agree with you and I would not settle down here.  Because there is a heavy investment in learning the language and culture. I don't think you can be as happy living in a country if you don't blend in, speak the language and understand the culture.
 
But that's just me. For people starting a family - wow don't do it. There are too many reasons against doing this I don't want to go into it now.
 
If you're retiring here in Chiang Mai I would not advise it. It's no longer a cheap destination and the investment required in learning the language is too great for what you get.
 
I came here when I was 27 which means I was able to adapt to the local conditions if you're coming here when you're 50 or 60 it's a lot harder to adapt to the thai way of doing things
 
So basically don't plan on living in Chiang Mai unless you're doing it on a part-time basis.
 
That's my view everybody is different.
 
.
 

Consider the potential pool of candidates for strongman leader in this country. Are you still optimistic?

Major study debunks myth that moderate drinking can be healthy

By Kate Kelland

 

FILE PHOTO: An employee pours whisky in a glass at a restaurant in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, October 18, 2018. REUTERS/Samrang Pring

 

LONDON (Reuters) - Blood pressure and stroke risk rise steadily the more alcohol people drink, and previous claims that one or two drinks a day might protect against stroke are not true, according to the results of a major genetic study.

 

The research, which used data from a 160,000-strong cohort of Chinese adults, many of whom are unable to drink alcohol due to genetic intolerance, found that people who drink moderately - consuming 10 to 20 grams of alcohol a day - raise their risk of stroke by 10 to 15 percent.

 

For heavy drinkers, consuming four or more drinks a day, blood pressure rises significantly and the risk of stroke increases by around 35 percent, the study found.

 

"The key message here is that, at least for stroke, there is no protective effect of moderate drinking," said Zhengming Chen, a professor at Oxford University's Nuffield Department of Population Health who co-led the research. "The genetic evidence shows the protective effect is not real."

 

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that around 2.3 billion people worldwide drink alcohol, with average per person daily consumption at 33 grams of pure alcohol a day. That is roughly equivalent to two 150 ml glasses of wine, a large (750 ml) bottle of beer or two 40 ml shots of spirits.

 

This latest study, published in The Lancet medical journal, focused on people of East Asian descent, many of whom have genetic variants that limit alcohol tolerance.

 

Because the variants have specific and large effects on alcohol, but do not effect other lifestyle factors such as diet, smoking, economic status or education, they can be used by scientists to nail down causal effects of alcohol intake.

 

"Using genetics is a novel way ... to sort out whether moderate drinking really is protective, or whether it's slightly harmful," said Iona Millwood, an epidemiologist at Oxford who co-led the study. "Our genetic analyses have helped us understand the cause-and-effect relationships."

 

The research team - including scientists from Oxford and Peking universities and the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, said it would be impossible to do a study of this kind in Western populations, since almost no-one there has the relevant alcohol-intolerance gene variants.

 

But the findings about the biological effects of alcohol should be the same for all people worldwide, they said.

 

Europe has the highest per person alcohol consumption in the world, even though it has dropped by around 10 percent since 2010, the WHO says, and current trends point to a global rise in per capita consumption in the next 10 years.

 

(Reporting by Kate Kelland; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

 

-- [emoji767] Copyright Reuters 2019-04-05

Sorry, but I’ll keep my eternal beer goggles. Better than the ulcer that comes with accepting the current state of the world.

The averages are alarming though. since many drinkers just drink socially, who are the outliers that drink 2+ glasses of wine daily ritually? Those folks must be covered in liver spots.

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Every Songkran.... there is a galatically idiotic and ridiculous statement made by someone in a position of power Banning something or other... 
 
.... this year it's foam parties... As if anyone at all is going to take any notice whatsoever. 
 
 
Just another announcement in the perpetual contribution to the farcical imagine portrayed - its a shame, they could do so much better with just a little bit of common sense. 
 
 
 
 

They should just ban everything on Songkran.


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Democracy was on life support in Thailand. It fought for its life, but alas it never had a chance. Without the rule of law and freedom of the press, democracy has no chance. The whole world is heading back to the natural state of humanity, feudalism, dictatorship and unending wars.

I am in Fukuoka right now and I am amazed that a big city this size has pure air. Even downtown in the middle of the traffic.
It goes to show you how incompetent the Thai government is running things.

A boring city with crippling pollution. What are the benefits to Chaing Mai? can a stalwart CM expat explain?


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As I said in my earlier post - the Thais have been well and truly terrorised since then. 
As you yourself say, Bannork, one cannot wholly blame them - in view of what their 'masters' are prepared to do to them.
But if things continue as they are, the situation will remain hopeless.
 
And yet - against all rationality and logic - I still have a glimmer of hope. I somehow (foolishly, perhaps) believe that one day in years to come, somehow, Thanathorn will emerge as Prime Minister - a Prime Minister whom the Thai people can be proud of ...
 
 

Would give a visit to a farang owned business if I was in town. Cheers!


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Lord bless Daily News for continuing to bring us the hard to swallow numbers.


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Really ha ha troll lol

Is it trolling to mention mueller also worked to exonerate the Clintons from embezzlement and abuse of office?

Is it trolling to note that many head “investigators” had a predisposed position to prove, and they were rabidly anti trump long before said investigation or bringing into the special counsels team?

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Just goes to show you should always just say Mai and walk away from insane Thai. 100 baht, 10000 baht, this is not worth your life.

I’ll also mention in the thousands of rides I’ve taken, I’ve never had anything representing hostility. Maybe because I’m personable and know not to start fights or continue such instances. I am a guest here, the same way I act in other nations. This does not justify any actions.

But, preservation in the LOS is both a numbers game and an act of ensuring that you can save face for others. The insane screaming over a certain simple instance proved this much to me, despite being the smiley happy farang. I for one consider myself lucky if the taxi or moto doesn’t have a mechanical issue while using. I set my goals low.

Be careful out there and know your life is forfeit if a Thai decides so.

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But he knows the horrors of our president's wrongdoing. Would he (Mr. Mueller) not be obligated to warn the people, that our president is an agent of Russia. 

Beautiful Woman ???? She's heavily made up and still not managed to hide her shnoz... which is like a proboscis monkey's !!!! 

 

There are some rather funny responses... on this thread so far, but the most outstanding one has to be the 'toxic-feminist' response of FarangDoingHisThing69 in post 12....  

 

How he managed to make that leap is astonishing....  thats someone with some serious issues !

 

When you smell smoke, it tends to be very good form to say there’s a fire. This entire article reeks of “men, do not do things unless women approve”

I do agree about the exaggeration of this woman’s beauty, though. I also stand by my point that this girl has nothing to say about Nana or cowboy. Something that actually exploits women. But, I assume she hawks her goods in the same areas to pay for her boyfriends habits.

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I think just about the only thing that would get them to streets would be shutting down the internet. Otherwise they'll just vent here like we all do, no action.

If there was no Facebook.. all the lovely workers at family mart or 7/11 may have to actually work...

Can’t count the times a guy was playing a game on his phone when I wander in at 3 am.

WITH boxes all around, signifying they got their daily shipment, but maybe the morning-morning shift handles stocking. Maybe I’m ignorant of Thai work division.

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