JensenZ

Why do some people who are happily retired in Australia spend any time perusing an SE Asian expat forum and asking silly questions? The answer is probably because they are bored with their "no problems" lives in their countries of birth. We don't retire in Thailand to "have no problems". We retired here to enjoy life in a way that is impossible to enjoy back at home. I'm sure you can figure it out if you try hard enough. I have "no problems" in Thailand and had no problems before I came here, back in Australia. That's a low bar to judge a lifestyle by.

Yeah, the main contributors have been constantly whining about him for 10 years since he came down the escalator in June 2015, with another 4 to go. What a waste of the retirement golden years.

We get the same nonsense every year. I can't get any stats later than 2021 on road deaths in Thailand. Here's what I found from WHO: 2021 Death Rate: 25.4 deaths per 100,000 population. Estimated Deaths: 18,218. Average Daily Deaths: 50. Most Affected: Motorcyclists (83.8% of deaths) and those aged 15-29. This would mean the first 2 days of Songkran resulted in under the average daily death rate in Thailand.

You need a new map. India is nearly 7 times larger than Thailand "as a landmass". 513,000 km2 vs 3.287,000 km2. India is the 7th largest country in the world, compared to Thailand, 49th.

Speak for yourself. My girlfriend is half my age, and I have nothing to whinge about. Life is good.

Did you not read my post? I've seen your list, of course - who hasn't? I said it depends on who is making the calculations. As you didn't look at the link I provided, I will quote the main information about how they calculate the GDP and why: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- World Economics estimates Russia's 2024 GDP at $7.582 trillion in PPP terms (Purchasing Power Parity) and an initial estimate of $7.688 trillion for 2025. This figure is 26% higher than the official estimate published by the World Bank. World Economics' methodology incorporates crucial factors often overlooked in official estimates, such as: The size of the informal economy: It is estimated that 26% of Russia's economic activity occurs outside the formal sector. Outdated GDP base year data: Many countries use outdated base years for their GDP calculations, leading to an underestimation of economic growth. Russia uses a chain-weighted GDP base year. By adjusting for these factors where required, World Economics provides a more accurate picture of Russia's true economic size and potential. For reference, offical data reported Russia's GDP as $1.582 trillion in 2015 constant prices and $2.098 trillion in current prices for 2024.

You throw these figures out like they are a fact. It depends on who is making the calculations. Here's a different way of calculating the size of nations' economies: https://www.worldeconomics.com/GDP/Russia.aspx

OK, granted, if you want to single out Vietnam as an example that tariff adjustments won't make US-made cars affordable for 20 years in Vietnam, yes, I agree. I don't think Vietnam is a target destination for US-made cars and is a fringe market at best. I don't even know if US-made cars would be of much interest to the Vietnamese market even if they were affordable. "Negative spin" is about you taking everything people say and putting a negative spin on it. What else could it mean? Your agenda in these threads is quite clear - whinge about anything and everything that Trump does or has done in the past.

Not happening overnight is not 20 years, and "long term" was not mentioned in my post. Stop exaggerating. Is it your job here to create a negative spin and everything people say?

And who would have expected the car market to change overnight? Duh!

Well, there are 195 countries in the world right now, so that's a fair chunk of them. Eliminate island nations and the very poor countries in Africa, and that would include a big percentage of the countries that count.

So keep paying excessive tariffs forever because you're too chicken<deleted> to take stern measures to force longer term benefits? Other presidents were too concerned about re-elections and legacy to take a gamble on taking complex measures. No one knows how this will turn out.

This is nonsense and a poor effort to bash Trump. You can pick other topics (to bash Trump) if you must, but you can't use the USD strength/weakness at this point. That's not to say it might not still tank, but it is not currently tanking. No one knows for certain what is going to happen in the market. I would suggest you start thinking for yourself instead of reading so many left-leaning fearmongering editorials. The most reliable barometer of US dollar strength (or weakness) is the US dollar Index or DXY. Just briefly, the US dollar index is a measure of the value of the dollar against a basket of 6 foreign currencies, namely the Euro, Swiss Franc, JPY, CAD, GBP and Swedish Krona. It has a base of 100, and values are interpreted relative to this base. The value of the index is a fair indication of the dollar's value in global markets. It has been used since 1973, when gold ceased to be the basis for the US dollar. Let's take a look at the US dollar index chart for the last 5 years. There is no "tanking" taking place. The value is merely at a typical price point in the constant ebb and flow of the USD. It has declined from a high of 108 in January, but that's a correction or retracement from a high point, which is expected in a normal market environment.

It's a technicality. Have you ever had an iPhone? The iPhone, with over half the US Smartphone market share, is manufactured and assembled in over a dozen countries, including components made in the US. There's a lot of stuff I would like to buy from the US, but import duties and shipping are prohibitive. I have exercise equipment imported from the US, but likely many components are made elsewhere.

You really should provide your sources. At least one paragraph is a word-for-word copy from The New York Times article: 'Is the Destruction the Point?': Three Opinion Writers on Trump's first 50 Days. Maybe you lifted everything from there or from other left-leaning, anti-Trump publications.

https://mythailand.blog/2017/02/24/thailand-topless-women/ And guess who started the puritanical disgust of women's bare chests in Thailand? From the article above. I won't show the photos so as not to upset anyone. "That’s not to say all women went topless in public in Old Siam. But 125 years ago, a woman at the market baring her breasts was not the moral showstopper it would be today. Things started changing around the mid-19th Century. That’s when White colonialists from England, Holland, and France starting showing up in the Siamese Kingdom. These Europeans would be entertained at the Royal Siamese Court and shown around early Bangkok. Most Thai women went topless back then, including the consorts of the Royal Court. The expressions on these White, puritanical faces must have been priceless when they were confronted with a half-naked Thai woman in public. These men came from horridly repressed cultures about sex. (“Blow out the candles”! Even during sex the naked body shouldn’t be viewed.) Such displeasure and discomfort did not escape the notice of the Siamese rulers. They wanted Europeans to respect them. They had to make deals with these colonialists and didn’t want their culture to be judged immoral. And so beginning in the mid-19th Century, the Siamese Royal Court began to encourage women to cover their breasts, at least in public. It took decades to accomplish this fashion change as women in rural Thailand persisted in going topless in public even as late as the 1920’s-1930’s."

Talk about a busybody. I hope she told you to mind your own f***ing business.

Trump won because the Democrats were all of the above. They lost the unlosable election twice, if not three times. That's the height of stupidity. You couldn't be much dumber than that...

Didn't they win the election? Trump is the biggest winner ever and pulled off historic victories no one thought was possible. You guys complaining about him are the biggest losers. Nothing you say is worth reading. How can you sleep at night? It must be tough.

I didn't get a TM6 form to fill out last September when I arrived. I thought they had scraped it years ago.

Musk's US companies employ roughly 125,000 people who might not be so happy about it. He's also the biggest taxpayer in US history, and he has more right to help reduce government waste than any other person in the US.

Don't be ridiculous! The only reason Ukraine held out more than a few weeks is due to Europe, and mainly your countries' military aid.

Agree. It's the most ridiculous poll I've ever seen. Are members getting bored?

No imagination is required - I know how bad this is going to be - it's total destruction, and everyone except a few lucky people has perished in the rubble.

Not at all; the building disintegrated into a large pile of rubble. No one survived that, and a lot of anonymous people have lost their lives. RIP to all who passed today.