xeniv23

What you did there.....I saw it.....555555555

In the words of the immortal Lou Reed....."Hey babe, take a walk on the wild side....."

Living on the south end of Phuket for the last couple of years. For the sea kayaking and kayak sailing and there never seems to be snow in the forecast. I do miss harassing trout with a fly so I may head back to jump in the Westy and head up through the Rockies and into coastal BC. for a while. Living back in the USA is somewhere around Plan Zed so I have a lot of options before I would consider that again.

Collapsing real estate investments/ripoffs, huge budget shortfalls among county and city governments and increasing unemployment or non-paid work. There is a good chance that the Chinese economy is about to fall off the edge. Chinese tourists swooping in to save TAT projections is highly unlikely.

Not much new here. More or less this way all over the world. I'm trying to put myself into the place of the elite and understand the stress that they must experience. I mean: What is the point of owning everything and everyone, especially in the government, and someone comes along and tells you that you can't do that? What was the purpose of all the trouble I, and my ancestors, went to and all that money we have invested over the years? Try to have some compassion and see it from their point of view. It's gotta be tough.

Patongrad lies in Western Phuket Oblast. North of Rawiyvka.

Got hit with a very brief one minute shower this morning walking along Chalong Bay/Palai Pier. Otherwise a sunny breezy day. Nothing on the radar. ??

When does it not rain in Chumpon?

This is really just a "zero dollar tour". At ports of call you will be conducted to shops which pay kickbacks for purchases to the tour company. You will be pressured to buy this, that and the other thing...... Tips, food, drinks, laundry...... I'd be very surprised if you got away with spending less than 60k per year or more. They have already had one ship pull out. Ships take maintenance. What are you going to do when they are in dry dock? What about some sort of ship fault at sea? What if the ship becomes unable to continue? What if the tour company goes broke and you are way out past Arsebite Island and they say "Well, we are sorry, but you all have to go home now." Think you are going to get transport home or a refund. This whole idea smells like dead fish.

I lived in Ukraine for some years. I drove a Ford Fiesta all over the country and loved it. Super fun driving the old highway between Yalta and Simferopol. Standard transmission, front wheel drive. Zippy, economical and surprisingly able to carry an expedition folding kayak and all the gear. 5 people if they were small.....

I'm an expat living here about three years now. Been fortunate to make some good Thai friends. One thing I have noticed and puzzled about is how Thai employers and business owners, in at least some instances, are very exploitative toward their workers; the people who actually make their wealth possible. I don't understand that entitled mindset, no matter the country.

Could be. I spent 45 years flying helicopters before retiring. One thing that people don't talk about much is Missionitis. Pressure to impress your boss or superiors by completing the mission and maybe doing it with a bit of style and flair.... You know: that high speed low level and very tight turn just before coming to a hover over your intended touchdown point. Throw in a little LTE (loss of tail rotor effectiveness) and maybe a little Ring Vortex State (falling through) in close proximity to the planet and you end up with a picture just like the one in the article. Given how young people seem to drive here I'm not surprised that there might be a bit of carry over to aviation. Could be as simple as a downwind approach with a high sink rate. Pulling pitch to slow your descent often makes it breathtakingly faster with no room to recover. Thing is, when you go flying a helicopter there are lots of opportunities to break things.

Retired fire fighting helicopter pilot here. A couple of observations about using air assets to control or stop fires. Generally you can't. It's often possible to slow things down a bit if there are sufficient crew on the ground to direct attack/dig fire line right up to the edge of the fire if it's been cooled off enough. If there are no crew/no plan then as soon as the helicopter goes to refuel/hit another hot spot or is grounded due to smoke or wind the fire will heat back up again and keep on runnin'. If it's a big complex fire with lots of fuel, wind and steep ground all you can really do is stay out of the way or herd it around a little bit while you wait for seasonal change to put it out.

Sorry for the soldier and his family. I just had family visit and the first thing I told them upon entering my home is to be very careful with wet tile. Slip and fall is easy to do. One relative was 83 and has a hard time with her balance. Non slip mats everywhere were the only thing I could think of and it worked. Been in many hotels in the LOS and encountered wet bathroom tile that was just plain scary.

The natural wonders of Thorassic Park. ????

A visiting friend and I took one of the boat tours offered to the islands from the east shore of Phuket. We left in a group of 3 boats from the same company at 08:00. Phang Nga was as smooth as glass as the wind had not yet risen and there was no swell. You would imagine it would be a smooth ride. You would imagine wrong. The three boats, all doing around 50 kilometers per hour, performed an elaborate weave around one another such that the boats were continually crossing each others wakes. I'm not sure what the thinking is here: To offer the rubes a thrill or what? I just kept thinking that there are three high speed boats here maneuvering in very close proximity and that this would be a fine way to go swimming or worse. I've been on a boat in the bay in 3-5 swell/chop and the ride was not as bad. Won't do it again.

I sea kayak to most of the islands around Phuket and quite a few along the southern coast south of Krabi. Oft times the beaches are well sprinkled with trash, sometimes not. I have been fooled though with what looked like a pristine beach as I went back into the tree line to look for a hammock spot. Like camping in a landfill.

Nonthaburi. My first visit with them. Friendly, efficient. I miss 'em. "I'm here on an O-A based on retirement. I went and got a residency certificate and bought a vehicle six weeks after arriving in country. January 2021."

I'm here on an O-A based on retirement. I went and got a residency certificate and bought a vehicle six weeks after arriving in country. January 2021.