CygnusX1

I’d guess that most farang living here for most of the year would still be using the passport of their country of origin, not many would have a Thai passport, for which you’d need Thai citizenship? So this would severely undercount the number of farang effectively living here, though maybe not technically expats.

How do you define “part of year”? For each year, I’m planning on spending 6 months in Thailand (just under 180 days!), 3 months in Australia and 3 months in Europe (just under 90 days). Does that mean I’m a perpetual tourist everywhere for the whole year?

No, not heard of it. Seems to be like Chat GPT? I’ve heard that the problem with Chat GPT is that it confabulates if it doesn’t know the answer to something, instead of just admitting that it doesn’t know. I’d assume that Google have taken steps to ensure that Gimini can’t be used to spout abusive material - are you saying they’ve failed in that regard?

I partly agree, but am extremely reluctant to employ censorship, except for existing laws on defamation etc. Your suggestion of a warning is a lot better - feel free to post that the moon landings were faked in a Hollywood studio, but expect to have a comment added by a fact checker. Who these fact checkers would be is the issue of course. It’s worth noting that the idea that the COVID virus was accidentally released from a lab was flagged by many experts as disinformation, but is now regarded as a real possibility, though still unproven.

Maybe he’s a seriously competitive participant in a competition to see who can invent the most outrageous troll post, in which case respect - there’s no way I could have ever thought up something so utterly insane.

Not my Jomtien condo (VT5) - maybe a bit too expensive for the average Russian tourist? Not that I’d mind if my condo was filled with Russians. Jomtien beach does seem to be heavily Russian, but I have no problems with them at all, they’re a great deal more respectable than many tourists here from Western countries, just ordinary people. Not their fault their president’s one of the most evil, murderous psychopaths on the planet. There seems to be a lot more women than men - single women, small groups of women, the occasional single woman with a kid. Maybe wives of men serving in the army being rewarded with a subsidised holiday?

Could see 6 islands from my balcony in Jomtien this afternoon, including the top of Ko Phai, the island behind Ko Lan. Makes such a difference, but all except for Ko Lan will disappear as soon as the wind shifts back to the NE, and on really bad days no more Ko Lan either.

If you do a web search you’ll find references to a reputable study that indicates that Viagra may reduce the chances of Alzheimer’s disease.

26.5 degrees all day and night, except for 24 when playing Beat Saber. Sleep under single sheet. Those hotel duvets are a nightmare, choice of either sweating beneath a layer of insulation suitable for a Chicago winter, or freezing with no cover at all. I always now take a small sheet and light blanket whenever I travel.

I like (Australian) Chinese food, but I just rarely eat out at restaurants, even when I’m travelling, unless I can’t find an open supermarket. Not really interested in food generally, prefer to save money for other things, and food I make myself is healthier. Subway in Thailand’s an exception, because it’s healthy enough by my standards, and cheap, half the Australian or European price.

Almost never, except when dining with a friend or relative, and chicken fried rice in that case. Subway once or twice a week (I can say “everything except cucumber” in Thai!). As an extra special treat once every couple of months, dinner at Pizza Company (pan fried super deluxe). Otherwise, everything made at home.

At least in Pattaya (Jomtien) today, the wind changed from the north east to the south, which has improved the AQI from unhealthy to moderate, probably about the best we can expect for this time of year. I can fairly reliably guess the wind direction from my place even without opening the balcony doors - if the island of Koh Larn’s barely visible or invisible, there’s no wind or wind from NE, if the outline of the island’s well defined, the wind’s more from the south. Still by no means clean air - even on better days, I’ve not seen the sun set beneath the waves for a month, it just disappears into the murk.

So what should Biden have said to Putin to dissuade him from attacking Ukraine?

So, a long way of saying that Ukraine should surrender. So if Putin decides to invade Lithuania next year, the Lithuanians should just surrender to avoid so much death and destruction? Where do you stop? Ukraine’s leaders were anything but perfect, and there was much corruption, but you can’t even compare them with Putin’s evil.

True, but still nowhere near Putin’s level of evil.

Xi is not a pleasant character, but so far only threatened to kill and maim hundreds of thousands or millions in an invasion of Taiwan. Not as bad as actually starting a war, if we rank him against Putin on a scale of evil.

I have no idea, but not relevant to my assessment of Putin’s character.

I agree with your assessment of poor Biden, but your reply is a non sequitur to my post.

You have a touching faith in the word of a murderous psychopath, one of the most evil men on the planet, directly responsible for killing and maiming hundreds of thousands.

I don’t think even the world’s most towering intellect could manage to work out a solution over the phone, let alone poor Joe Biden.

I’m certainly not OK with Putin’s horrendous war. What would you do - have Ukraine surrender? War is appalling, but sometimes necessary if we’re not all going to live under tyrannical regimes.

I’d argue that it’s the other way around. If you’re retired, the older you are, the less savings you need, as there won’t be as many years in which to spend it all.

Yes, I think Trump defies classification.

For a country that’s spent trillions of dollars on defense against the great enemy of Russia, that 60 billion a year is a spectacular bargain. A country fighting Russia with not only bravery but great intelligence, and zero American lives lost. Bit like being offered a new Ferrari for $99 and complaining about the price. Strange that Trump seems to be in total agreement with Leftists, who’ve continually attacked the US for involvement in foreign wars.

OK, so if my flight out of Thailand is at 2am and I’m through Immigration before midnight, then I’m not in Thailand on the new day.