scorecard

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.

Just waiting to see which shin ends up in the pm chair.

Agree to some extent. I'm rather selective as to which foreigners I might approach (never met before) and it's not very many, and who I respond to. Too many negative experiences, mostly the 'I need 10,000Baht now' types. I just ignore and keep walking.

"This poster" is over 80 years old with very serious extremely painful lower back and knee damage, caused by combat incidents in the Vietnam war. Also serious chest / lung issues, from my Vn service with recurring non-repairable very painful chest pain which is much worse if I engage in any strenuous actiity. I live with my Thai son and his Thai wife and 4 kids who give me a lot of care and support and love every day. Adding a 'lady' to the house is not going to fix anything and is not on my agenda. And the last thing I need is to upset the good harmony we have in the house which is of great benefit to me.

Flew once HK to New Delhi on Air India, Full flight 99.9% of the passengers Indian. yelling and screaming all the way. At one point an Indian man marched down the aisle, grabbed a hostess by her neck and dragged her back to where his family were seated.

Agree!

Thanks for your polite answer.

Who agrees he will actually get a shoy at a third? Why?

How quaint.

I flew Chiang Mai direct to KL to Sydney about 5 years ago. Aircraft was different in that it was in zones: - Economy - Premium economy - Quite zone - No kids zone All wprked well. I was using a wheelchair, snr AirAsia lady at CM airport spotted me and five minutes late I was at a different check-in point and all checked in. She had called a young support staff member, a CM uni engineering student, very polite and pleasant, he was focused, he spoke English. He put me in an Airsia wheelchair. He spoke to my Thai son and me and asked my Thai adult son if I wanted to do any shopping or go direct to the aircraft. I voted for go to the aircraft. He took me to the aircraft door and then to my seat and ensured the cabin crew staff were well aware. He took a new water bottle from his back pack, broke the seal and put the bootle on the side of the aircraft seat then gave me an AirAsia bag with several snacks. He checked if I needed anythng more. I said I'm not sure what happens on arrival at KL. Response 'let me check', he called his supervisor and got some answers and relayed them to me. On arrval at their KL centre an attendant waiting with another AA wheelchair, took me to the AA lounge, pleasant staff, great coffee, good sandwiches. They asked if I wanted to buy additioanal packed meals / sandwiches, which I did. Evening flight, several times the crew checked i was comfortable, breakfast was great, good coffee. On srrival at Sydney International 2 AA staff slid through the aircarft door as soon as it was opened and found me. They politely explained the procedure. They got a call to inform them another staff member was outside the aircraft door (in the air bridge area) unpacking my wheelchair. Ten minutes later the 2 support staff had me at passport, all pocessed quickly (no stamp) one girl had taken a photo of my boaring pass, 2 minutes after passport she was waiting wth my 2 suitcases. They then mentioned the flight had landed quite early, then asked what transport plan I had (if any) to get to my final destination. I had a phone number of the car driver, they called and the driver said I'm going to be 10 minutes late bad accident. AA staff then took me to a coffee shop in the airport and we had coffee and snacks. Both of these girls gave me their mobile numbers and said 'if any problems ask the car driver to call us'. This was obviosly well organized and it worked well. I would certainly recommend AA.

It seems that changes / improvements / non-controversial / balanced chaanges are needed. The reality is that many other countries have / use balanced / non contoversial election systems which work. Further, it seems tht the candidate with the most money / can generate massive funds is quite likely the winner. The Australian election system operates under strong controls: - Funding for election campaignin comes from the public purse (taxation funds) equal for all candidates and is capped at a quite low level. Candidates cannot accept extra funding from any source. - Voting is compulsory. - There's no such thing as an electroral college o anything remotely like it - The winner is determined by most votes. - There's strong controls and monitoring of actual voting and of counting. Many other countries have systems which are balanced, ethical and work.

I suggest it starts with the Thai public who should be telling their elected reps what they want from their army, the boundaries, ethics and morals. And that includes the personal health and saftey of new recruits / all soldiers. Plus guaranteed long-term benefits.

Got it, thanks.

Musk announced details of his new party yesterday.

Rabid left?

No.

No, I'm not American, just an observer.

First time I saw vance on tv I disliked him. Second time he was in the oval office (as VP's are expected to be with foreign visitors in the room. But protocol says that VPs in this circumstance don't speak). Vance quicklyspoke at length and became quite rude and abusive to Salensky. Vance would never get my vote.