scorecard

"Forget about Epstein, like the boss said". Why?

They aren't blacked out on many social media sites including home grown Thai social media sites, and this is where many Thais get their news. My Thai son used to watch mainstream Thai news programs on TV. Then he mentiond how much is poorly, totall inaccurately reported plus it's so biased, plus watch 2 channels re the same story and get a very differet report. He nows scans a small number of social media sites where he's willing to listen to what's been said, but he doesn't rush to believe.

..."a lot of investigation into" Really...

Agree, I'm waiting for 2 objectives to be completed: 1- All wires underground and in proper underground containers. 2- New much better methods of laying footpaths so that they do't fall apart in 5 minutes, and water from rain is better managed. And of course theres' more...

Why be surprised about the pipe being used? There's plenty of graphc photo on TV news and even more so on social media displaying knives, guns. pipes etc used in fights etc.

That's a big assumption.

Has he ever been to Thiland, or travelled anywhere, before?

FROM ABOVE: "Self schooling totally here in a foreign country would meant that these children might miss a lot of the social interactings which all the world learned about during the COVID pandemic when all were shuttered." And the kids especially need toal interaction, all day, with Thai kids to help them / give them the knowledge of local behaviors / local language needed to asimilate.

Most folks who say 'we will homechool them' don't realize to do it properly: - The classes (at home) take 4 to 6 hours per day? - Must have a specific room and must be away from outside noise with no interference from other family members. - Mum should teach 2 or 3 specific subjects and dad 2 or 3 specific subjects and not mixed. - Regular testing is critical but often doesn't happen at all. - Preparation for 'next day' takes hours. Lots of content on the internet but still needs to be found and 'packaged' ready for the next day, time consuming. - Critical that the kids (and adults) learn to read and write and convese in Thai - how will that be handled?

But maybe there's microplastics in loose tea?

Do your own research.

How long is a piece of string? I worked for some time in a multinational which was making a small profit in Thailand. The CEO retired and the owner deliberaely brought in a new CEO (rather than promote from within). At the first snr. m'ment meting the new CEO was quite vocal about the small levels of revenue, small total number of products which had been sold etc. But he wasn't rude or abusive. This is a company which has a large marketing and sales dept,, however the manager of every department has a revenue goal. New CEO put up some powerpoint slides showing departments, their revenue, % rise in reveue in revenue in last 5 years (dismal to none). Then he changed the slde to a list of all departments / sub-depatments with new revenue goals 12 months hence (up 25% from current achievements) and 24 months (up a further 35% from the new 12 months goals. Then a slide showing a long list of potential clients who needed our products but had never bought anything. This was in sectors: local, Asean, global, type of products. Then new CEO said '"any questions". Nobody spoke. Then new CEO said "we will have an all day meeting one week from today and you will all present your new marketing plan with very specific mention / details of how you will achieve the new 12 and 24 month revenue goals and what % of global market share that will achieve. Within 24 hrs 3 snr. managers had handed in instant resignations. From there until the 1 week hence rocky road but then the CEO announced he had hired 3 very experienced marketing consultants, all of whom would teach all the managers (no exceptions - 'too busy' unacceptable) how to inf and study data / what data, and search out potential clients, they were to arrive the next day. CEO, never strong or rude also said all of you will continuously seek out their guidance and advice. Within another 60 days revenues were growing nicely. At the 60 days the new CEO still not happy (he had goals too), he announced early retirement for 50% of the managers and had already selected new outside managers all of whom were product specialists and had an impresssive sales record. From there high and higher performance.

And that's where some countries will shine. Some have the ability to quickly find new markets perhaps in completey different countries / different parts of the world. I'm aware that the Singapore government has a very clever / active team always looking for / creating opportunities with other countries, often for the first time or to create much bigger trade. Other countries very probably lack such abailitie and will remain stuck with trumps assigned %.

Good point. Perhaps not widely known is that boys are not circumcized at birth in the Philippines, but they are circumcized at about 20 years old (not 10 years old) and the circumcision is very often performed by totally unqualified / untrained people (99% women). Often an old 'aunty' from the local community using basic knives, sewing scissors etc. There is no legal requirement for the 'cutter' to be qualified or registered. The result is often ugly, often leaving large floppy areas of flesh mid way long the penis shaft.

Interesting but I wonder if Sretta would be interested considring that He was basically thrown out like a stale beer. Plus his performance when he was in the PM chair was way less than remarkable.

Was it an actual list? Or was it a very big box of individul documents / emails etc?

Fourteen years back, at K Bank, Chiang Mai, I opened a joint savings account with my Thai adult son either party can sign / operate the account. I put my foreign pasport on the service clerks desk and my son put his Thai ID card alongside it. Very cursory very quik examination of both documents, only one question, addresssed to both of us 'do you want a debit card?' Son replied No. All done and out the door in 10 minutes.

Nice points but the old style Thai politicians see another world where they are beholden to nobody and don't have to comply with any laws let alons Thai laws.

There's more re the royal Jomtien fire. Investigtion indicated that the fire was caused by a fire in the gas tanks area which supplied gas to the kitchen. A couple of junior kitchen staff were then accused of doing something wrong with the gas tanks and they were the scapegoats, they got severl years in jail.

There's 2 subjects entangled so far? 1. If an Aust. citizen is appoved for the OAP, can they receive the 4 weekty payments (full OAP entitlement and OAP supplement) in Thailand on a very long-term basis (lifetime)? The basic answer is yes if that person is entitled to 'portability'. But when abroad the pensioner is not entitled to the energy allowance or rent ssistance. If paid abroad the payments change from fortnightly to 4 weekly ( 2 fortnights). Transeffered by international bank transfer from Service Autralia (Centrelink) to the bank account of the recipient in the country abroad. e.g. K Bank of BBL, or.... The bank fees ae tiny and the transfer is very fast. The name of the bank account to receive the funds must include the name of the persioner, but it can be a joint savings account, the pensioner and one more person. Centrelink prefer that the second name on the bank account to be a family member but that's not compulsory. Cenrelink is not interested in any details re who must sign for withrawal in the other country. Can be the pensioner alone, or the second account owner alone or both parties. Up to you. Mine is a K Bank joint savings account, myself and my Thai son (I was not asked for any proof he is my son). As soon as the funds are deposited I get an instantaneous e.mailed 'Credit Advice' from K Bank in English and in Thai. I had to request this facility, took 5 minutes, it's not free, from memory 200Baht per year. 2. Australian taxation implications when the OAP is being received abroad - already much written in these threads on that point. And difficult to find a clear answer. If the OAP is the only income then it's likely there's no tax implications.

No doubt thaksin will decide who will be next PM and no doubt he would like the person to be a shin family member. But the only thaksin child not yet held the PM chair is the son. But he has behavioral baggage, he's been involved in collusion (advertising contracts for MRT trains / stations and more), he got dismissed for cheating in exams at 2 Thai unis, and he's not that bright. But can't help but wonder if Thaksin would now go for an inexperienced nephew or niece for the PM position. We wait and see.

What about the language script on the keyboard?

Why the thumbs down emoji?

"...spoke to the co-owner." 7/11 is a franchise operation. The only 'owner' of 7/11 is the parent company in Japan.

Well said. I discssed your second paragraph with my son's Thai wife (educated, teacher, balanced, good communicator. She thouht about it and then called her sister, a Thai bank manager. Their conclusion; most pretties would be looking for a mid 20s to mid 30s wealthy handsome well built young Thai man, with house and car(s) and there's plenty of them.