Lapun

If people keep repeating this quote, then it almost becomes a factual quote. However, according to the following web site, it may not be true. https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Talk:Ho_Chí_Minh This site says that it is disputed that he said that, & may have been fabricated by a French colonialist to justify their occupation in Vietnam. But why let that get in the way of a good story/quote.

He must have taken the long or scenic route. According to Google Maps, the distance, as the crow flies between the points (as nominated in the Thaiger article) is 5.67km. Still, well done. Very good effort to swim that far & raise so much money.

Pardon the length of this, but the history of the legalization or banning of both cannabis & alcohol is complex & varies from country to country & time to time. According to Wikipedia, Prohibition of alcohol in the US was ratified by the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, enabling national prohibition one year later on 17-01-1920. Prohibition was linked to the rise in gangland crime, particularly the Mafia. The 18th amendment became the only amendment to be repealed by the Twenty-first Amendment which was ratified in 1933 & it is the only amendment to have been ratified by state ratifying conventions. This meant that some states continued to have prohibition. By 1966, however, all states had repealed their statewide prohibition laws, with Mississippi the last state to do so. There are still some Dry States & Dry Counties in the USA today. It is said that the ending of Prohibition saw homicides drop dramatically, & the creation of half a million jobs. Cannabis (the hemp variety) was an important cash crop in the young USA. According to - https://www.cnbs.org/cannabis-101/cannabis-prohibition/ . . . King James I ordered that each colonist grow 100 hemp plants to be used for fiber exports. If a farmer refused to grow hemp, they could be fined or even jailed. Even George Washington, the very first U.S. president, was a hemp enthusiast, growing it at his plantation. Next to lumber and tobacco, hemp was the most popular cash crop in the U.S. Apparently, hemp posed a threat to the profits of paper, nylon & ethanol (oil) manufacturers. Cannabis (the drug variety) was then the subject of a "campaign against it, popularizing the Mexican Spanish name for the substance—“marihuana.” This painted cannabis as foreign and dangerously exotic, making it seem as though the criminalization of marijuana was necessary to keep the country safe. Further . . . Racist and fear-mongering views about marijuana weren’t limited to writing in local newspapers. One Texas senator said while speaking on the floor of the state Senate: “All Mexicans are crazy, and this stuff [marijuana] is what makes them crazy.” In time, marijuana had been inexorably linked with racial minorities, jazz and swing music, sexual debauchery, as well as unpredictable and violent behavior. By 1936, 48 states had passed regulations on marijuana. And the 1937 Marijuana Tax Act had a considerable financial impact on the manufacture & availability of cannabis-infused medications. This mean that doctors who had prescribed cannabis-infused medications for pain relief & other health issues, began prescribing other drugs. To fill the medicinal void, pharmaceutical companies developed drugs that worked very well to kill pain. Aspirin and opium-derived drugs such as morphine became the replacement for cannabis in patients who needed pain relief. So began the pharmaceutical industry’s war against cannabis. To date, they are among the top three industries that lobby against marijuana legalization in the U.S. The other two are the police/prison industry and alcohol manufacturers. From my perspective, politics, greed (profits) are behind many of the calls for bans on alcohol or cannabis, as well as the inevitable fear mongering & fake news. Used in moderation - if at all - both would seem to probably pose an acceptable risk. However, many people cannot use them in moderation. And a lot of people blame their crimes & mis-behaviour on alcohol & cannabis, not themselves. I thought a Buddhist country like Thailand might encourage education & moderation. After all, as far as I know, the Buddha is also known as the Middle Path – where one neither lives too extravagantly, nor too frugally. Extravagance implies selfishness and hedonism. And frugality leads to a short and useless life. In other words, Buddhism is about moderation. But what would I know. Again apologies for the length of this reply.

Sorry, should include amperage drop as well. I'm no electrician, but I think that amperage fluctuations will harm appliances more than voltage fluctuations - but who knows what you get in Thailand? Voltage and amperage are two measures of electrical current or flow of electrons. Voltage is a measure of the pressure that allows electrons to flow, while amperage is a measure of the volume of electrons. An electrical current at 1,000 volts is no more deadly than a current at 100 volts, but tiny changes in amperage can mean the difference between life and death when a person receives an electrical shock.

A "Blackout" is when you lose all power. A "Brownout" is when the voltage drops & depending on the drop, causes some appliances to stop & others to work, albeit in a reduced capacity. Depending on the appliance electronics, voltage fluctuations can have a negligible, minor or major (the unit dies) outcome. Thailand & many other countries have both. Rural districts are probably more affected by Brownouts - but I have no irrefutable evidence of this statement.

Couldn't be bothered reading 4 pages of some agitated opinions & I may have missed it if anyone pointed it out, but on the https://ddc.moph.go.th/covid19-dashboard/?dashboard=main they state quite clearly at the bottom (if you bother to scroll down that far), that for a total at 08:00am on 16-04-22 of 18,892 PCR positive test & 8,858 ATK positive tests ** ** Infected with a network (ATK) : does not count towards the total number of new infections. So all the Thai Covid figures (and most probably all the other countries in the world) are, as the Orange Man said - FAKE NEWS. I stand to be corrected by someone with irrefutable evidence - not a biased opinion. Happy Songkran.

Covid numbers, Songkran (in general all) road fatalities, tourist numbers, the number of poverty stricken people, the number of Hi-Sos, the number of Generals in Thailand & how much they earn, the Russian reported civilian deaths in Ukraine, the number of parties Boris went to . . . . . . <deleted>? All complete & utter BS. Oh & I don't believe in the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus & the Tooth Fairy (but I wouldn't mind an Easter egg today).

For those looking for statistics & citations, try - https://extranet.who.int/roadsafety/death-on-the-roads/#deaths https://extranet.who.int/roadsafety/death-on-the-roads/#country_or_area/THA It only took 15 seconds on Google to find this. So you can all see for yourselves - but just remember, in all probability, the numbers are skewed like they are with Covid deaths. And I haven't seen anything about not counting road fatalities if they die in hospital. A link showing this would be appreciated by me & my geriatric falangs when we are discussing Thai Songkran road fatalities at our weekly (daily?) debates on the state of the World & Ukraine & Covid (over a coffee or water or soda or beer).

If you look at Appendix 2 of the Report "Statistical Appendix for Happiness, benevolence, and trust during COVID-19 and beyond, Chapter 2 of World Happiness Report 2022" it is 56 pages long and looks at many measures. Whether or not these measures are actually relevant is debatable, but they seem to have made a reasonable attempt. And no, I haven't read the report & don't intend to. But then as you say, it is very subjective. I sometimes measure my happiness on how well my football team is going.

The wall has the compressor of a split cycle a-c system mounted on it indicating that this is the outside of the restaurant, with the cooling a-c unit on the inside of the restaurant.

Maybe 2022 will also have a King Taksin Day?

Don't forget the 4 additional holidays approved by cabinet & announced on 05 Nov 2021 https://thainews.prd.go.th/en/news/detail/TCATG211105001025819 These are all on Fridays to create extra long weekends to stimulate the economy: 15 July, 29 July, 14 October, and 31 December (31-Dec has already been listed). Additionally, the reports states - The Cabinet has also declared 28 December the eastern region’s 2021 regional holiday, celebrating King Taksin Day. This holiday will be observed in 8 eastern provinces, namely Chachoengsao, Chon Buri, Rayong, Chanthaburi, Trat, Nakhon Nayok, Prachin Buri, and Sa Kaeo.

The Mayo Clinic (https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/bird-flu/symptoms-causes/syc-20368455) says - Although bird flu may kill more than half the people it infects, the number of fatalities is still low because so few people have had bird flu. Fewer than 500 bird flu deaths have been reported to the World Health Organization since 1997. In contrast, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that seasonal influenza is responsible for thousands of deaths each year in the United States alone.

There are 2 relevant links https://www.tatnews.org/2022/01/thailand-steps-up-covid-19-curbs-nationwide-from-9-january-2022/ This gives you the Provinces & Blue Tourist Areas. Below is my summary of it. The other link is - https://www.thaipbsworld.com/what-does-new-level-4-alert-mean-for-thailand/ Note that this article does say . . . "Though the Level 4 alarm bell has been sounded, the CCSA has not yet declared any province as a Red or Dark Red zone, preferring to adopt a wait-and-see policy." So the CCSA have said Level 4 Alert, which theoretically means a Red Zone, but they have classed all 69 Provinces as Orange Zones. So who is more confused - us or them?

Pardon me if I missed it in the 7 pages of replies/comments to this article, but according to the first sentence in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostitution_in_Thailand Downloaded: 27-12-2021 Prostitution in Thailand is not in itself illegal, but many of the activities associated with it are illegal. Because of police corruption and an economic reliance spanning from the Vietnam War, prostitution remains a significant presence in the country.They usually come from the results of poverty, low levels of education, lack of local hiring, rural backgrounds and mostly from Isaan/the northeast, from ethnic minorities or from neighbouring countries, especially Myanmar and Laos. UNAIDS in 2019 estimated the total population of sex workers in Thailand to be 43,000. ???? However, they go on to say - The precise number of prostitutes in Thailand is difficult to assess. Estimates vary widely and are subject to national and international controversy. No Thai government has ever conducted a formal survey. Another source quotes different figures. https://thegeminiweb.com/thai-hooker-in-thailand/ Last Updated on: December 19, 2021 by Allen Gray | Fact Checked If you take the time to look up prostitution in Thailand you will read that it was Legal till 1767. In addition to this, this market made a total of 6.4 Billion US dollars annually. The probable reason behind the government and police not taking a step against this can be that despite being illegal about 500,000 sex workers are estimated to work with as freelancers and hired professionals. So whichever way you look at it, because of the covid lockdowns & the govt not compensating those in that particular "entertainment" industry, many of whom have gone back to their villages, that's a lot of brown envelopes missing from the pre-covid RTP income. Could this be a desperate attempt to rectify that problem? But maybe I'm just being unfair to the RTP?

Well Anutin had better hurry up. The 7 Day Moving Average has been on the rise since mid-June. In the North East Region, they brought theirs down in two months quite dramatically. And of course the Central Region was also brought down being the elite & financial hub of Thailand. They have done nothing to date in the South. The following graphs are from CCSA figures. Don't know if you can read them. In the first graph, Thailand Total in red & Central Region in blue. In the 2nd graph, the South in Red, East in orange, North East in yellow, West in green, North in grey & Prisons in pink. The bars are Thailand's 7 day Moving Average of Deaths. Everything except for the South is going down. Anutin better pull his magic wand out of somewhere, as it keeps getting worse in the South.

The Covid figures for Phuket according to the CCSA are as follows: I don't know the breakdown between tourists & locals, but I don't think they have it under control at all.

According to Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regions_of_Thailand) there are number of different sets of regions grouping provinces together for different purposes & by different organizations. The three main ones they look at are - What could be more simpler than that?

In Tha Yang (Phetchaburi) IO, they accepted a bank statement & bank letter which I got from Bangkok Bank the day before, ONLY AFTER I went to the local BKK Bank, made a transaction & brought back my updated bank book that day. For my last extension, I got a bank letter & statement on the day I applied for the extension & I did not have to make a transaction at the local branch that day. In both cases, it was only after the above, that they gave me the "Under Consideration" stamp. So do not touch your money until after you get that stamp. You should also be aware that, as I understand it, you should keep the THB400k in your bank - > for two months PRIOR to the application > for one month AFTER the application (although I have not had my bank account checked by the IO for this, unless they do it through the banks - but I doubt this.)