Walker88

I've eaten at Peppina. It's good, but Massilia and Vesuvio are superior. Vesuvio seems to be the pizza of choice among Italian expats in Bangkok, as I see groups of them eating there just about every time I visit. I assume they know good Napoli-style pizza. I visited Bangkok for many years before moving here. I looked for years to find good pizza, and tried just about everywhere. Nothing beats the two on which I've settled.

Otto is horrible. Chewy, soggy crust. Tried it once and won't do it again. I'll stick with nearby Vesuvio, which I've been eating at for 5 years. The two best real Italian-style pizza places in Bangkok and Pizza Massilia and Vesuvio.

I might be able to guess your country. Now some impoverished Thai women might resort to P4P, but unlike your country, they did not engage in years of wanton slaughter, torture and attempted genocide. So who are the more moral people, pound for pound?

Since you are so certain that all such women are seriously damaged goods, I have to assume you have done business with every single one of them. There is simply no other way you could be so certain of what you say.

Clearly, Doctor, you don't understand. Having sex when a woman is horny is moral and okay, but if a woman---who might have given birth at 15, was forced to drop out of school, doesn't even have a HS diploma that would allow her to work at Big C, but who must support the growing child---takes money for sex, then she is the most immoral being on the face of the Earth. Horny=OK Money=Immoral Plus, every Western man, had he experienced the same adolescence as the proverbial Isaan teen mother, would have been much more moral and never resorted to pay for play. See, Western men are infinitely superior to Thai women, and are entitled to pass judgement on the women who resorted to work the Western male would have been too moral to do.

All religion is mental illness. If a person hears voices or talks with someone who isn't there, and that 'other' is not an Officially Accepted Deity, the person is given therapy or drugs to combat the mental illness. OTOH, if a person hears voices or has conversation with someone who isn't there, but the 'other' is one of the Officially Accepted Deities, then that person is pious and spiritual.

The CO decision is fair and consistent with what the Founders and additional Amendments to the Constitution demand. It is an eligibility requirement, just like a POTUS candidate must be 35 years of age or older and must be a natural born US citizen. The 14th Amendment additionally required that a candidate cannot have engaged in insurrection. A CO judge, after hearing evidence, ruled that trump engaged in insurrection. The CO SC then ruled that trump violated a Constitutional eligibility requirement. Someone like Arnold can be Gov of CA, but he cannot run for POTUS, because he was not born in the US. Taylor Swift is wildly popular (and likely much richer than trump), but she cannot yet run for POTUS because she isn't 35 years old yet. trump was ruled off the CO primary ballot because he engaged in insurrection. He is ineligible.

Last night, the Bloated One, at a rally of his low IQ Goobers, barked incessantly about immigrants and how they 'are poisoning the blood of the country'. Lost in that racist, fascist vitriol, is the fact his dad was son of an immigrant, and his mom herself was an immigrant. In an interview years ago for the US magazine Vanity Fair, the traitor's first wife said that trump kept a collection of speeches of hitler on the nightstand next to the bed. The clown who claims proudly he has never read an entire book, selected that as his bedtime reading material. There seems little doubt from where trump pulls such phrases as 'poisoning the blood' and his earlier use of 'vermin' to describe migrants. Of course when his tikitorcher fans marched in Charlottesville a few years ago, chanting "Jews will not replace us!", the hitler fan said of them 'very fine people...on both sides'. In trumpistan, Jew haters are 'some very fine people'.

"Soros" One can always tell a lot about someone when that person invokes George. Oh, you have proof Soros funded CO judges? Sounds slanderous. Can chemtrails and FEMA Camps be far behind? And no Rothschilds? So CO judges, using the US Constitution (you know that one; it's the one trump hates) cannot 'subvert an election' (sic), but an obese traitor can do that by trying to stop a pro forma certification of election results, or being part of a plot to appoint fake electors, or pressuring a SecState of GA to 'just find me 11,780 votes'?

Of course. trump called all his Goobers to DC for the 6th (via Twitter, now X..."It'll be WILD"), and then held his rally where he told them to "march to the Capitol" and "You'll never take your country back by being weak", because they were having a sale of trump Presidency-related souvenirs at the Capitol Gift Shop. Well.....maybe not. His comments about "If Mike Pence does the right thing" kind of hint---to all but the most clueless, low IQ, Birth Lottery Loser morons---what the Bloated One's intent was. Personally, I'm still waiting for SC Smith to add "Sedition" (10 U.S. Code § 894 - Art. 94. Mutiny or sedition) to the charges against trump, because it's a capital offense carrying the death penalty. Wouldn't THAT be a sight...watching the adipose-rich traitor sizzle like Sunday morning bacon on Sparky!

Don't know what they are all doing, but last week on Tuesday one of them stabbed a few people at Nana Plaza and then another out on Soi 4 near Hooters. Apparently he was miffed that a woman he tried to barfine in Nana refused him. He remains in custody in Bangkok.

I guess some people just have a fondness for democracy, as well as having the brains to see a guy who is a liar, clown, thief. totally self-serving and corrupt. It amazes them that too many others are too friggin naive or simply too ignorant to see reality. If it hurts your delicate sensibilities, block me or don't read my posts. Live your delusion if it pleases you.

Yes, there seems to be a big difference between statin use for folks with CAD and those without. Coincidentally I just watched a YouTube video where Dr Andrew Huberman chats with Dr Robert Lustig. At one point Lustig says that studies show the average life expectancy increase for those without CAD who use statins vs those who don't is.......4 days. Seems hardly worth it, except for shareholders of Big Pharma stocks. So much research has been done in the last few years about cholesterol, and the 'accepted wisdom' has been turned on its head. Very little cholesterol results from diet, and most results from genetics. Also, there's no 'good' and 'bad' cholesterol, at least along the lines of the simple LDL/VLDL/HDL measures usually reported in typical bloodwork. It's ApoB that is key. There also seems to be a negative correlation between very low cholesterol and cancer. Plus, most people do not know what cholesterol does and might be surprised to know both its function and that absent cholesterol, life expectancy is a billionth of a second (or less).

Last week another crazy russki went on a stabbing spree at Nana Plaza. He ended up being disarmed and arrested out in front of Hooters on Soi 4.

Sort of, kind of, maybe. Whether you can keep coming and going is not of my concern. Since I do enjoy living in Thailand, I understand why you like being here. Because the system exists as it does, you are not breaking any rules, though maybe, sort of, kind of abusing what's there. Still, it's up to Thailand if they don't like what you are doing. I suspect things will change and become more difficult to come and go as you do. The main reason is probably not that Thailand doesn't want you (TAT probably LOVES you long time, because each entry is another notch on TAT's Tourist Numbers Bedpost), but rather that Immigration guys have authority, and damn if they don't want to use it. Best you spend some time thinking of alternative ways to be here. That's advice, not criticism. Over the years I've visited Thailand many times. I came just before Covid on a 30-day Tourists Visa, then got stranded. I enjoyed the amnesty, and then decided I wanted to stay longer term, so I bought a business and switched to a Non-B Business Visa. Because of Covid, I was able to switch Tourist to Non-B without ever leaving the country. Not sure if one can still do that. If you're under 50 (no Retirement Visa), but have some cash, why not buy something here? It's always a good idea to have a challenge, as too many who retire young end up glued to a barstool for what becomes a shorter lifespan. Then you have the challenge of running something, deepening the relationship with your GF, and enjoying Thailand for as long as you want.

What does Zuckerberg know that we don't (didn't)? Answer: How to monetize Narcissism. OTOH, some know how to monetize billionaire fear; thus, bunkers and bugout estates. As for what Zuck is preparing for, it's the same thing religious zealots have been preparing for since around 300AD, which is The Second Coming, the arrival of Godot, Hell freezing over, (insert-your-own Apocalyptic scenario). The End is Near, anytime now, really, believe me...things have never been so bad*....(*except a few hundred other times in human history, when things were much worse). Zuck is just playing long odds, and using funds that are maybe a rounding error of his net worth. Essentially he is buying asteroid insurance....an unlikely event that would have a huge payoff if it actually happened. He's throwing chump change at a Fat Tail. Besides their companies (I don't have FB, but I do buy off another billionaire's online shopping smi-monopoly), something that these "I want to outlive my money" guys have done is fund real research into longevity and maximizing healthspan. ALL OF US benefit. The former nerdy weeny Zuckerberg is now sculpted and a Black Belt. All these guys now know the benefits of weight training and fitness, taking the right kind of supplements (e.g., creatine, magnesium, Omega-3), minimizing stress, and getting solid sleep. Rather than worry about zombies, people would be far better served by hitting the gym, tossing the cigarettes and candy, chilling out and getting sleep, and breathing clean air. Of course, most people won't do that. Instead they will buy guns or freeze-dried turkey tetrazinni or trump NFTs......waiting....waiting.....waiting, like refugees in the movie Casablanca, for TEOTWAWKI.

It's trump's fetish.

The silliest game I see is what we call soccer. The entire game could be condensed into five seconds of meaningful action. Yes, I'm well aware it's wildly popular, but I still think the entire world is playing a joke on us, and if we ever say we like it, they will tell us they punked us, and admit it is the most boring thing on the planet. In American football, which I played all through school, even a short play can have beauty. Search on YouTube for Gale Sayers or Barry Sanders. Sayers is one of the most graceful athletes ever. As for golf, if done properly, it can be both fun and give one a workout. I had access to some courses in Japan where I could play 2 rounds each Saturday and 2 rounds each Sunday, walking the entire hilly course and carrying my own bag. Definitely burned some calories. I even played in winter, when if I got there early, I could sometimes drive a Par 5 (because the ground was still frozen from the overnight chill). Twelve putts later on an icy green and I could mark my 13 on the scorecard.

Perhaps you are unaware of US law. ---Attempting to overthrow democracy is at least Insurrection, and more likely the capital crime of Sedition: Fry trump on Sparky ---Attempting to force an official to alter the vote violates State RICO statutes in Georgia..."just find me...11,780 votes" ---Theft of highly classified documents, carrying headings like TS, SCI, Codeword, HCS and RD is bad enough; lying about returning them all adds yet more felony charges The bloated orange traitor, convicted sex offender, convicted charity fraudster, convicted bank and insurance fraudster:: 1) Called his goobers to DC for 6 January for no other reason than to try to overturn the election where trump soundly had his fat butt beaten silly 2) Held his clownish Mall rally and told his goobers to 'march to the Capitol" not to buy souvenirs, but to disrupt the peaceful, pro forma certification process; idiots that they are, they are paying the price for trump's pitiful personal insecurity of being a LOSER 3) Got intimately involved with the Fake Elector scheme trying to overturn the election results 4) Called GA SecState for no reason other than to force Raffenperger to engage in voter fraud 5) Stole classified docs, lied about 'declassifying with his mind', lied about returning them, and most likely intended to monetize them, as they would yield more than silly NFT cards containing pieces of the suit he wore when arrested and booked in Georgia To think anything other than this is to live in a world more fantastical than Alice in Wonderland, or perhaps the result of having injected oneself with Lysol to stave off Covid.

I actually wasn't being facetious and asked how you would do it, as TAT doesn't seem to know. They merely make pronouncements, not actual plans. Also, full hotels during your trip doesn't mean anything, as how filled were they with Thais in 2019? 2018? The same? Before I moved to Thailand I regularly came as a tourist and traveled everywhere. Hotels were generally pretty full with Thai people in places like Korat, Lampang, Maesai, Nong Khai, even Pattaya on weekends. Rooms were dear. I assume that was factored into that 8%, so I really don't know how it could jump to 12% as well as replace the (likely higher) spending of int'l tourists. The fact that Thailand is looking for ways to juice the economy (tourism being one way) suggests to me that many Thais are not doing well financially (by definition not everyone can do well in a weak economy), so increasing domestic tourim numbers over what happened in pre-Covid years---when the economy was better---is not an easy task.

I understand the desire to live life and experience all it has to offer, but unless one is content to live a very spartan and simple lifestyle---and do it for decades---100K baht a month from age 40 onward is going to be both a financial and mental challenge, not even factoring in inflation. If you can answer "Yes" to these 5 questions, then maybe you're okay: 1) Are you sure you can live a spartan lifestyle for the next 30-40 years? 2) Will you take good enough care of yourself---gym, diet, etc.---so that health issues won't wipe you out and wipe out your cash? 3) Are you sure Thailand is the place for you, until death do you part, because you are unlikely to have enough money to move someplace else? 4) Are you confident Thailand will not change the rules re what it takes in earnings/bank balance to stay? 5) Are you resourceful enough to occupy your time and avoid boredom and loneliness? I did 'retire' quite young, but I had two things working greatly in my favor. One is that I am endlessly curious, so do not get bored. The other is that I had made a bundle and was never going to have to worry about money and could pursue any dream that arose. Lacking either of the two, I couldn't have done it. Maybe some people can, but not me. If the OP is sure he can, more power to him. Sure, you'd be playing the odds. It's possible you could choose continued work, but get hit by a bus tomorrow. Of course if you did, you wouldn't know, and any 'regret' for not having sowed your wild oats would only be something those who know your story might feel via empathy. You'd be dead, so feel nothing.

Really? How? I doubt TAT knows, so they would likely welcome your input on How To. Let's say that domestic tourist isn't among the cash strapped, high Household Debt demographic, but is true Thai Middle Class. What is Thai Middle Class income relative to a European, American, Japanese, etc.? A reversal will make up for the loss of those with much higher average income? Is Phitsanulok more of a draw for a vacationing Middle Class Thai than Vietnam, KL or Hong Kong?

I don't have any answer to how the Household Debt is spread across levels of society, but two things lead me to believe the high debt officially reported is Middle Class, not rural poor. Rural poor are more likely (in my experience chatting with Thais) to use loan sharks, as banks are not wont to lend to rural poor. The second thing is the record number of car repossessions, which says many who are able to get traditional financing are still strapped. The staff in my company are from 'rural poor' families, and I know from talking to them, their family's debts are loan shark, not bank-related. Their families survive via transfers from their offspring working in Bangkok. My staffers even put their excess cash into "loan pools" that lend at usurious rates and promise investors 10%+ per month. That's all outside the official numbers, but the booming business suggests to me many people are strapped and not about to take a weekend trip to Maesai.

I'm going to guess that the Household Debt figure is spread pretty evenly over all Thai society, save for the truly hi-so types. I don't think it's the rural poor driving all of those Mercs, BMWs and Audis. Repossession numbers are at record levels.

Is it those domestic tourists who now are burdened with record levels of Household Debt that are going to drive the revival? I might have left some out, but since Covid, TAT and other officials have announced these plans for tourism: 1) It will be the IT Center of SE Asia 2) It will be the Hollywood/Bollywood of SE Asia 3) It will entice digital nomads 4) Visa free and extended stay visas will bring in free-spending Indians, Chinese & Russians in droves (when instead it's brought in lots of fake watch sellers, TikTokers and mafia/triads) 5) Thailand will draw 'quality tourists', whatever that means today 6) Thailand will attract snowbirds 7) Thailand will allow casinos, making it the Las Vegas of SE Asia 8) Letting bars and clubs to stay open until 4am will (somehow) increase revenue by 30-50%