Walker88

Of course we went to the moon, because it's so close. I once asked a Thai woman, "What's closer, the moon or Pattaya?" She thought for a moment and said, "The moon". I asked why. "Because I can see the moon from Bangkok, but I can't see Pattaya". So, for the Lunartics out there who think man never landed on the moon, it's probably only a 1500 baht taxi ride to the moon, because it's about 1700 to farther-away Pattaya. Just tell the taxi driver: "Sea of Tranquillity". He knows the best route.

Oh my! Just as Stanley Kubrick 'directed' the lunar landings, did Christopher Nolan travel back in time to make the films of Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Can you post links to your 'research'?

Maybe Thailand should take a page from 47's book and not only crack down hard on illegals and on those who abuse the system by using agents to pretend the illegal meets the requirements to stay in country, but also raise the bar so that fewer lowlifes settle in Thailand under retirement or marriage visas. Anyone who settles in Thailand, and is going to add value to the Kingdom, should certainly have much more money that a measly 800,000 baht or whatever the requirements are. Raising the standard to, say, 10-20,000,000 baht would draw a better class of individual, as well as provide a larger economic punch to the country. Anyone raised in the West, and of retirement age, who doesn't have that sort of money saved is kind of a failure and certainly Thailand doesn't need to pollute its culture with lowlifes. It would also seem that such individuals---most likely to be MAGAs---would be happier back home, closer to their love muffin in the White House, or else back home in other Western nations where they could go to work fixing the problems they constantly whine about in their native lands.

Just makes one prouder and prouder every day! /sarc ----A drunk and alleged wife beater, alleged rapist, accused of malfeasance and for using funds ostensibly raised for veterans, but instead for staff Christmas parties where he was drunk....in charge of an $840,000,000,000 entity employing 3,000,000 men and women ----A convicted felon, convicted charity fraudster, adjudicated sex offender, serial philanderer, pathological liar, obese, willfully ignorant, whining crybaby, vindictive clown as POTUS ---A former softcore porn model who allegedly lied on her "Einstein Visa" application, worked illegally while on a Tourist Visa as FLOTUS Yes, Madison, Jefferson, etc. are rolling over in their graves, while H.L. Mencken is saying, "I told you so".

If someone lied on their visa application, is that grounds for deportation? And if they used 'chain migration' to bring in others, should those people also be deported? Well, folks, just walk from the West Wing to the East Wing, and there's a woman there who lied about her education and somehow was granted an "Einstein Visa". Oh, her job at the time was as a softcore porn model. DEPORT THE LYING CRIMINAL!

The criminal felon 47 said something good about Obama and Biden? Do you have a LINK?

What a silly, juvenile post. One guy says something good about Biden and Obama, and that somehow implies all Dems are crime lovers and supporters? There is dumb, dumber, and then there's MAGA.

Goodness! He's acting like a Proud Boy or an Oath Keeper! Sorry, pardon me.

Goodness! I didn't think I had anything in common with GG, other than prolixity. Since the time I hit puberty I have been---as GG notes---'on the stick'. Good news, GG...the fragrance is still the same, and is quite popular with women, who note the subtle scent on the babe magnets who wear it. Like any applied fragrance, it mixes with our own natural scent to produce something unique to each of us, just as perfume does for women. (Side note...a few Thai females wearing Estee Lauder Beautiful or Dior j'Adore or Marc Jacobs Daisy can melt me, proving that the way to a man's heart is not through his stomach, but his nose.) The bad news is that I have never seen it on the shelves in Thailand, save for a shop on the ground floor of the Dusit Thani hotel on Silom and Rama IV. Sadly, that hotel is now gone. In fact, it is difficult to find any product that isn't an antiperspirant. I have found that the stick, which is a deodorant, not an antiperspirant, does not stain my shirts.....and I wear Stefano Ricci or Brioni shirts when I dress up, so I certainly prefer not to stain them. No worries. When I visit home---which I will not do again until at least 20 January 2029, owing to a vile stench in the WH---I usually pick up a half dozen sticks. I have a decent stash at present, and I will ask visiting friends to carry a few when they come to Thailand. The shelf life is quite long, if one leaves that clear plastic interior cap on. By the way, the only person who thinks he doesn't stink and doesn't need deodorant is the one who goes without it. Guys in Chang wifebeaters are the worst, but since I have a nose as sensitive as a Thai female, even the guy in the fancy suit near me on the BTS could have used a swipe or two. No matter how often one bathes, one will exude a scent. It might be subtle if one hasn't eaten peanuts, red onions, or other foods guaranteed to manifest themselves at the first sign of underarm perspiration, but best not to offend, so stick'em up.

The convicted felon (CF) in the Oval Office is already a disaster, though the effects haven't become as apparent as they will be. And MAGAs, please don't whine about "nobody could have seen this", because every rational person knows the guy will ruin the economy, the environment, and American society. He is the epitome of incompetent, besides being willfully ignorant, vindictive, and a whining little baby. ---His choice to head the VA as well as the drunk wife beater (per 1st wife) he nominated to be SecDef both want to shutter the Veterans Administration (which I think has existed since 1790) and privatize it, because somebody can then make money off of veterans. Heaven forbid the nation that sent them into harm's way should care for them. This resulted already in an order to lay off the 300,000 people who work VA hospitals and other services. Folks immediately complained, so the order was temporarily rescinded. Of course we all know the CF in the WH considers veterans "suckers and losers", so it's no surprise he couldn't care about their well being. ---He ordered the Centers for Disease Control to halt its weekly bulletin, which it sends to hospitals and scientists regarding whatever diseases/bacteria/viruses have come to its attention. This is at a time when 130,000,000 birds have been culled because of Bird Flu and the virus has spread to cows and is present in raw milk. CDC bulletins would go to hospitals so that is someone comes in with flu symptoms, the CDC would advise what tests to perform to determine what type of flu and thus what treatment, such as effective drugs, should be followed. One size doesn't fit all, so the treatment for the common flu would be different than that for Bird Flu or Swine Flu. Expect the price of eggs---high BECAUSE of Bird Flu---to keep rising. ---Already one of the released Jan 6 terrorists has been arrested for a new crime, one day after his release. Obviously the convicted felon in the Oval Office couldn't care less about law enforcement officers. ---On 1 Feb, the 25% tariffs go into effect for imports from Canada and Mexico, as well as the---at least 10%---tariff to be placed on Chinese imports. Can you say "INFLATION", MAGAs? Of course the felon is trying to line his own pockets by signing a vague support of cryptocurrency, just days after both he and the former softcore porn model married to him issued their own meme coins. Oh, and despite the best efforts of lapdog Sean Hannity of Fox, the felon showed his true intentions in an interview on Wednesday. He spoke of going after Biden, calling Biden stupid for "not pardoning himself". Hannity tried to get him to move on to other topics, but was rebuked. Hannity said, "I want to get you to talk about what you will do with the economy", to which the felon replied, "I don't care about that", and then went back to calling Biden stupid for not pardoning himself. Lost in his rant, however, was the recent Supreme Court decision regarding Presidential immunity.

Frontier justice is coming. Law enforcement officers upset that scum like the 6 Jan terrorists were pardoned, despite injuring 140 police and looking for the Vice President to hang him for doing his Constitutional duty, will take matters into their own hands and do the needful, eradicating as many of the lowlifes as possible. We should see some obituaries in the near future, as cops make the world a better place.

Like their messiah, MAGAs don't read books. Green eggs and Ham scared the bejesus out of them, and since then, it's only been comic books. The quintessential character trait of a MAGA is willful ignorance. Somebody has to be way to the left of the mean on the IQ Bell Curve, and it's MAGAs. The OP was a truck driver. I'm just going to guess he wasn't in my class at either Harvard or Stanford.

You know 47 is all about "America First". We don't need any foreign criminals. That's a job for 'Merikans, dammit. Since he closed the southern border, he probably and irrationally fears a crime gap (migrants, even illegal ones, are involved in far less crime than native born), so releasing those miscreant lowlife felons means good old domestic-driven crime.

You really live in an alternate reality. Is that lifelong, or is it a function of advanced age and declining cognition and rationality? The guy stole classified documents and put US nat sec at risk. He called his goobers to DC for 6 Jan 2021 Tweeting "It'll be WILD!", and then used "fight" 37 times in his rant on the Mall (but "march peacefuly"l just once), and they beat 140 cops, <deleted> on the floor, and searched for the VP to hang him on the gallows they set up. He was directly involved in the Fake Elector scheme. He pressured the GA SecState to "just find me...11,780 votes". Going after ACTUAL crime is not "weaponization", except in the fever swamps of MAGAstan and the brain addled fanboy cultists who try to live vicariously through 47.

In the old days, Bangkok had far more agency guys than now (as noted in another post, there's only two ex-spooks now, so rest assured nobody who saddled up to you in a bar and claimed he was agency is telling you the truth, unless maybe he worked in the Credit Union or 1st floor gift shop). I have been told by the old guys, before they passed, that the hangout used to be Mississippi Queen in Patpong. There were ops officers, Phoenix Program guys, Air America pilots, and liaison who worked together with the Free Thai movement (remember the Domino Effect was big back then, so the Thai Army had groups geared specifically to keep Thailand from falling). Bangkok was an R&R spot not only for mil, but also agency folks. Some of the old guys ended up being used as extras when The Deer Hunter was filmed, in the scene when Christopher Walken goes out drinking.

Well, then the President either was mistaken or he simply lied again in his silly Inaugural speech where he made some bogus claim of some deity saving him so he could save 'Merika. He's only stuck at 34 felony convictions because of the pity-appointment of Garland as AG. I also think it's kind of dishonest when he claims crime was up under Biden when 47 and his terrorist goobers almost single-handedly account for all the crimes.

Are you talking about the President? You left out misogynist, willfully ignorant, corrupt, a convicted felon, civilly convicted se offender, Narcissist, brain-addled, psychopath, and obese. Hey, but he's not all bad...he's helping keep the makeup industry in the black with all the goop he lathers on his face every day. I'm kind of surprised he hasn't yet tried to schlepp a foundation in Mar-a-Lagorange shade, or given rumors about a certain former softcore porn model and the poolboy, Cuck l'Orange. Always happy to help!

As part of his "America First" policy, the new President has closed the southern border, "to prevent those rapists, murderers, and criminals from coming into the US of A". He also pardoned 1500 convicted insurrectionists and terrorists for their violent actions on 6 January 2021. "We don't need any foreign criminals coming into our country; we have plenty of our own American criminals right here. I won't let foreigners into to country to steal American jobs! And NOBODY knows more about crime than me. Heck, I've got 34 felony convictions AND a civil conviction for sexual assault." /sarc

Energy Emergency? The US under Biden produced more energy than it used, and had 9000 approved drilling leases that nobody saw fit to take and begin drilling. Do try to keep up.

You're sure (the BOLD text)? Are you Edgar Case? I suspect if someone made a similar assumption about Thailand, you would take exception. As for bribes, 2024 was the first year I wasn't hit up for a "fee" that would clear up an "issue" with my 150+ page Business Visa renewal, a tome the IO doesn't even look at, but just "knows" there's a problem. I know other business owners also have the same experience. We come to accept it's just a cost of doing business. In that section of Imm, I don't know for sure, and would need "Bob" to educate me, but I think those might be real Rolexes on the wrists. The highest I had to pay to "expedite" an issue, "which otherwise might take a month to clear up", was 85,000 baht. They size up the applicant, look at paid-in capital plus P&L of the business, and seemingly decide how far they can go. On the plus side, which the OP noted in detail, Thailand has fully and usually quite competently embraced all of the new technologies the outside world has developed, from wifi to cell signals to medical care (at least in major hospitals) to payment systems (these are actually kind of slow everywhere in the world, as residents here would know if standing behind someone at 7-11 trying to use their phone to pay...cash is much faster.) The banking system is mostly secure, and I make most all payments---staff and suppliers---via a combo of laptop and phone (to receive a OTP). Electricity in generally good, and tends to survive thunderstorms (unlike a residence I have in a European country, where I receive an alert on my phone during storms to unplug my wifi and TV boxes, lest they blow out). When the power does go out in my BKK area, I'm impressed technicians can go through the rat's nest of wires at every junction and determine where the fault lies. I've lived in many countries, and have chosen Thailand for the time being to be my port of call. I am well aware every nation has its particular issues, and I simply accept what they have here. All in all Thailand works quite well, and its pluses outweigh the minuses for me.

The US Taxpayer had to pick up all of those bankruptcies, as stiffed junk bondholders used the losses against other gains. Some loans from NY banks, on other properties, had personal guarantees. He had a payment due on one which he couldn't pay, so his daddy walked into one of his NJ casinos and bought $3.2 million in chips and walked out. The cash was then used to service the NY loan. (MAGA fanboys can Google that.) "Self made man" LOL The only things self made about the clown are his giant belly and butt.

Should have babbittized every last one of those terrorists. No mercy. The treasonous repubs like Boebert are offering to give them guided tours of the Capitol, including those who beat cops and wanted to hang the VP, Republicans are the enemy of law enforcement. We used to get authority to take out jihadis in the tribal regions of Pakistan---this was done under 45, too---who represented far less of a threat to the homeland. I suspect some patriotic law enforcement officers are going to hunt down the scum after the convicted felon pardoned them, and sent them to hell.

Actually, it is Dems and Libs who accept democracy. It was the far right, plus their boys clubs like Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, who---along with their messiah---refused to accept the will of the people. 45 still claims he won, though privately he said many times he knows he lost. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I did not see any Dem groups storming the Capitol, beating and bear spraying cops, <deleted>ting on the Capitol floor and rubbing their feces on the walls, nor erecting gallows to hang the Vice President. Neither did I see 148 Dem House members voting not to certify the election results of 2024. So it seems Dems believe in and accept democracy, unlike the far right. One of the beauties of the US is that we are not required to like whom the people have chosen, and so far the US lacks lese majeste laws, so we can call a spade a spade. I am of the view 47 is a self-serving clown, willfully ignorant, he could no longer care less about the common folk whose votes he needed, and he will manufacture an abject disaster, even worse than last time, when he left a Recession and 6.8% UE. Oh, and if the CA fires are Biden's fault, as 47 said Monday, then the bungling of Covid is his fault. And while I accept the result, I am reminded of H. L. Menckens quote from 100 years ago: "On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron." As for Musk, he's just weird. Oddly, he is given credit for being an expert on everything, when that is hardly the case. He hires well, that's for sure, but why anyone thinks he should know how to run a government bureaucracy is beyond me. Should we also ask him for a beef bourguignon recipe and how to do the Japanese Tea Ceremony? The guy shifts with the wind, and if 47 begins to fail---as he most assuredly will---Musk will start courting Democrats for the midterms and beyond.

Two kinds of people in the US.... 1) Traitors who think it's okay to beat and bear spray cops, plus try to find the Vice President to hang him And.... 2) Patriots who think all the pardoned terrorists should be doxxed, their names and addresses posted online, so that real Americans and angry law enforcement officers can go pay them a 'visit'.

You have to learn to "think" like a MAGA....and I use the term think generously. Look at it like the Wave-Particle Duality in Quantum Mechanics. For example, in the stolen documents case, the FBI planted them AND 45 had every right to take them, because he had declassified them with his mind (a lie corroborated by soon-to-be Himmler-wannabe Kash Patel). So it's simple re the 6 January terrorists...they're true patriots AND Antifa.