rabang

It has somewhat cooler nights in winter and lower daytime highs than during the hot season that is right now. In the north it can even get a bit cold. Besides the weather in places like Canada and most of Europe in December and January is mostly s**t so it is still better in TH, if only for a few months.

I am not British but I made a visit to Thailand again after a long pandemic break. Issues that come to my mind, many that have been mentioned several times in the previous posts: - Stifling hot weather, getting hotter each year. I argued some time ago that the climate simply is prohibitively hot for many activities and was told there is nothing wrong about it. I would like to have same stuff as those people. - Massive pollution, (plastic) trash, grime everywhere, lack of appealing architecture, grey, ugly concrete behind every corner. Most of Bangkok is simply a dump, there is no way escaping that. Some cities slightly better than others but not by a wide margin. - Dangerous and stressful, clogged traffic both intercity and urban. Deficient or missing walk paths. Extremely bad for children and disabled. Claiming Bangkok is a world class city or has wordclass infrastructure is laughable. - Too many Chinese, apparently also too many Russians in certain cities that I wouldn't visit. - Nature is ok but has nothing particularly impressive and is overdeveloped compared to rest of the world. - Not cheap anymore. If it was dirt cheap some of the faults could be overlooked but there are more affordable countries even in Europe nowadays with more things to see and do. Thailand might be cheap compared to Californias, New Yorks, Tokyos and Londons of this world but overall still offers poor value for money. - Personally it bothers me to see armies of people working some menial jobs that pay next to nothing as it shows how little the nation is progressing, instead preferring to maintain a population of servants. The only two saving graces of Thailand that I can think of are that it has its best weather during the coldest months of Northern Hemisphere and the availability of women. I don't think I will be in a hurry to return soon.

No, it is precisely the world outside of Thailand that has stopped wearing them a long time ago. You can of course wear one until the end of time.

I don't go anywhere that has large concentrations of them anymore. I'd prefer to avoid even individual Russians. Of course I can not know everyone's view but too many are at least passive supporters of the war and Russian imperialism.

This is the future. Expect more 40+ degree periods during the hot season.

November to February is roughly the period I would recommend in Thailand. Other than that it is too hot or rains and is too humid.

Healthy people wearing masks everywhere in 2024 is insane.

There is a reason why Russia is so large but not strong enough to have military bases all over the world. So that is why they need to bully their neighbours. A classic whataboutist argument but American imperialism doesn't make Russian imperialism any more acceptable.

There is a reason why Russia is so large but not strong enough to have military bases all over the world. So that is why they need to bully their neighbours. A classic whataboutist argument but American imperialism doesn't make Russian imperialism any more acceptable.

Of course, Russia has been an expansionist empire for centuries. Without communism there might be some sort of democracy and civil society though.

Bolshevism and the 3/4 century of communism that followed destroyed the morale of Russia. It would perhaps not be a dream nation today but it could have evolved into something better than the modern day dictatorship under Putin who is a great admirer and a result of Stalinism, CCCP and KGB.

I was surprised to know Thailand has a conscription service.

How many children choose to use a mask and how many are told to do so by their parents? Are there employers who require mask wearing? It looks quite bizarre arriving in Thailand seeing how many still use them, I wonder how long will it last.

I use my balcony (in my home country BTW, not in TH) mainly as a storage space. In winter it is too cold and in summer it is often too hot. Even in the lower 20s it gets a bit too warm in the afternoon sunshine, in the upper 20s it starts to resemble a sauna. I agree that most balconies are very underused considering how much importance people place on them.

No mention at all that the most important thing by far in these aircraft is the completely modernized design and electronic systems that are like a revolution compared to earlier models from a pilot's point of view. Touch screens are just a minor detail.

The likes of Turkey and Middle East are upping their tourism game with the profit from oil and gas being projected to decrease in the future. Even Saudi Arabia is planning to build tourist enclaves on their coast line. They are targeting mainly European customers who would find these destinations much closer to home than the South East Asia which would find more competition for Western tourists.

^Not directed at you personally.

Pay enough money and you will get people to work in agriculture. Oh, you don't want to pay too much for food? Do you prefer to throw away massive amounts of food, as is common almost everywhere nowadays? The problem with Thai pickers was they were not guaranteed a pay to cover their expenses so many went into debt for travel and visa costs etc. On a good year they could make more than an annual salary in the Thai countryside.

I will never get a covid booster. As a matter of fact I regret taking the first two shots as well.

I swear in the west covid is not appearing in the news almost at all anymore. Yet in the Bangkok newspaper we can not make links to at this forum there is still a section for it and at least a couple recent (from past month) articles with photos of very small schoolchildren all masked up. Go figure.

I often wondered when living in Bangkok about what is Thailand really like as a place to retire due to being seemingly such a difficult place for anyone with limited mobility.

Not my thought process and this interpretation tells more about your way of thinking. I think masks are mostly just security theater and usseless in any circumstances but I can in principle understand the need to avoid saliva getting into for example food or blocking the humidity from a person's mouth in a close contact work. I have sometimes seen clockmakers using a mask while working on an expensive watch, though it is probably quite rare.

Apples and oranges (no pun intended).

It is not common sense to keep wearing a mask ad infinitum. It is like clinging to a teddy bear when you are past your childhood. You won't see almost any masks anymore outside of a small number of countries in Asia, ever wonder why?

But it is you who is defining what basic measures should be. The world has moved on from wearing masks everywhere, if Thailand remains the only refuge for people like you, just stay there please.