Walker88

Agree. Yes, smoking might cut a few years off the back end, but hacking and wheezing away for the smoker's last few years is worse than the last five years a non-smoker gets. Plus, smokers smell like (deleted) for their entire life. Similarly, someone who gets obese and loses a few years off the back end likely felt like crap for his last few years anyway, carrying around a bloated gut, having joint and back pain, maybe suffering Type II diabetes complications, and looking like a land whale. No thanks. Healthspan can be greatly extended if one wants to put in the work. Resistance training, good sleep, a decent diet of enjoyable foods...and a fifty year old can be in the shape of a 35 year old. A couple hours a week in the gym might add a decade or two of 'youth' in terms of fitness, mobility and overall health. Most people loved their younger years. Isn't it worth it to add another decade or two of youth? For some, maybe it's too much work. Some might argue, "Yea, but I could get hit by a bus tomorrow, so why sweat in a gym and avoid cheesecake?" As they say in Thailand: "Up to you" I prefer playing the odds. So far it has worked. Zero ailments, zero medications, no ED, agile and mobile, precious little fat, lots of muscular definition, and the libido of a teen. There's a commercial in the US for some supplement where the tagline is: "She'll like it, too". Well, hit the gym and she'll like it. For those so inclined, there might be many "shes" who like it. Life is good.

There are 3 kinds of people: 1) Those who hate anyone who is not like them 2) Those who hate themselves and instantly 'go local' 3) Those who (mostly) try to judge each person individually Even Cat 3 is prone to making generalizations, as that is human nature. Having resided in several countries with diverse cultures, I find that I often make generalizations, fair or not. I can do the same for my own country, where I find people increasingly willfully ignorant and morbidly obese. The willfully ignorant even have a champion, who is their new messiah. I guess I have some generalizations about Thailand, too. I do find people quite friendly, though I can see not all of it is real. There does seem to be a feeling among many that their Thailand is the center of the known Universe, though I cannot see why anyone would think that. It goes against what I have seen from the outside, where the average outsider, if asked what is Thailand, would say "spicy food, bargirls". Thailand occupies no significant place in human history, neither ancient nor modern. It sits 25th or so among 200+ nations in terms of population size, but an objective history of human civilization would not even devote a sentence to it. Something that has always struck me is what seems to be a total lack of curiosity. Few seem to have any interest in knowing about the outside world, about the nature of existence, about the evolution of our species, about physics or science in general, about the history of discovery and invention, about most anything other than things Thai. Maybe that is all that is required to live, but for someone who was raised in a place where curiosity was (perhaps not anymore) embedded in us, the total lack of wanting to know anything outside of one's daily life is odd. Thai people can still be, and mostly are, wonderful, but the cultural difference and how that manifests itself in interests and the thirst for knowledge is what would prevent me from ever considering a serious long term relationship with a Thai woman. Lovely as they are, I can see nothing but abject boredom over the long term.

Suddenly lots of 'new' members, spewing out baiting-style posts like diarrhea. How coincidental most of the newbies also write in a similar manner. Is it just one or two trolls, or is it fattening up the site 'hits' for a sale?

There are some former airline employees here who likely know better, but I recall reading an article that said US airlines assume an average weight of each customer plus baggage as 185 lbs (about 84kg). That, at least in the US, is fanciful now. Since 1993 the average American is 35 lbs heavier. That ain't genetics or evolution; it's sloth and gluttony. For large aircraft, I guess there would be fuel savings if passengers were distributed better, but there is less of a safety issue in terms of trim. On smaller aircraft it definitely is an issue, and there have been fatal crashes on commuter aircraft, due to obese passengers and bad distribution of weight.. So obese are many now that they must ask for a seat belt extension in order to get it around their fat. Flight attendants dip into a closet and take one out. I think they have a sizable inventory, as so many flying are obese. Clearly Economy Seats with the arm rests down cannot contain the overflow blubber of many. Some passengers cannot even fit into the bathroom, as the door doesn't open wide enough to allow their girth. One would think the physical discomfort of 'holding it in' on long haul flights would encourage the obese to better their lifestyle. Should there be an emergency and a need to rapidly evacuate, fat people will get in the way and likely be the cause of unnecessary deaths. There are many reasons why 'fat shaming' would be good for society, and this is one of them. Time to toss out the 'body positive' nonsense. Fat is not beautiful.

The Apocalypse must be upon us, as I see myself in agreement with bignok. Most of us, while we have fun in life, are pretty meaningless in the overall scheme of things. There are some few people, however, who make a huge difference to the human condition. None of these achievers is perfect, whether it is Newton, James Clerk Maxwell, MLK, Enrico Fermi or Steven Jobs, but what they leave behind betters the lives of billions. Individually, we all have the chance to make some difference, but precious few have the skill, brains or charisma to make a difference on a grand scale. It's okay to salute those who do. Jobs was instrumental in pushing for the wide adoption of computers for all, something that now gives every human being on the planet access to information long available only to the few. Yes, he did not do it alone, nor did the PC alone lead to the widest dissemination of knowledge in history, but Jobs was an integral part. The PC is Gutenberg's printing press turbocharged. In terms of thinking about mortality, I don't need any religious 'expert' to tell or teach me anything. I have zero respect for any 'man of the cloth', ancient or modern, simply because of their title, because none tells us anything we wouldn't know by the time we reach adulthood. No morality, no life lessons, nothing of value comes from any religious figure. Humans collectively developed all the rules anyone needs simply when humans decided to become 'civilized' and live among each other. Unless one is a psychopath, one knows how to live a moral life. Religious figures too often add drivel into their 'teachings', such as tales of some afterlife or reincarnation or similar nonsense. This is it, right here, right now. One life, with a definite beginning and a definite final ending. Entropy is going to win in the end, but for this brief moment, we get to experience the wonder of existence, find joys, test our abilities, and choose how we interact with those who share time and space with us.. Jobs might have had some beliefs, but in this speech at my alma mater, he just advised people to become the best they can be and reach whatever level of greatness they can.

There are echoes of folks I hear when dining out al fresco, where sound travels well from table to table. The speakers fit a profile. They go apoplectic about very minor issues like wokeism. Invariably these are guys who came to Thailand to 'live the dream', but soon found out paltry savings and a meager pension, along with a bloated waist from years of neglect and sloth, don't exactly scream 'babe magnet'. Some added a flame tattoo or a Maori Warrior tatt, thinking that might help, but it just looked silly when paired with a 100cm waist. Heaven forbid they'd cut back on the booze or hit the weight room. Their own abject failure in life, plus all the problems of the world, are others' fault. Politically they turn to trump, because his utterly transparent facade, that tries to mask his woeful insecurity, fools them. They see a 'tough guy' who 'tells it like it is', when in point of fact he's a bloated coward. He gives them someone to blame, so they never have to take stock and admit their own inadequacies. They long for a world of minimal competition, where 'women knew their place' and the white man still carried his Kipling-esque burden. It attacks their sense of self when women or minorities have infinitely more talents, plus a relentless ambition that leaves the wannabe babe magnets in the dust.

So funny all the comments about 'woke-ism' here. Does it really affect your lives so much, or do you just need to complain about something to fill your curmudgeonly days? It's not hard to ignore, especially in Thailand. I'm happy to call a katoey 'her' and a Tom 'him' if it makes them happy. No skin off my teeth. As for the question: I absolutely love women, but damn if I would ever want to be one anywhere anytime. Being a male is infinitely easier, physically and in society at large. I'm not a believer, but if I was, I would expect any and all deities to be male, as they have played a cruel trick on females. Since the sole purpose of life is more life, doing the needful in the most pleasurable and efficient way possible is the way to go. My contribution to propagating my gene pool is a joyous act, one that I'm happy to practice as much as possible. Even if I succeed in getting sperm and egg together (I have no desire to do so), I'm effectively done at that point, unless I'm moral and responsible (which I hope I would be). The recipient of my fluid, however, is going to have her body out of control and irreparably damaged over the next 9 months, and the only saving grace is that her 'monthly visitor' goes on a hiatus for a while. Yes, her instincts are going to convince her it's a beautiful thing, and the little bundle of crying, pooping, peeing, vomiting, sleeping 'skills' is a wonder and supposedly lovable, which will help her get over post-partum depression....maybe. Also, she is shut out of the mating game at a still young age. Few studly men want to bed a woman age 50 or more, unless it was 50 year old Sophia Loren, Raquel Welch or J Lo. That's a small universe of lucky women. I can go out for a short walk in Bangkok and see dozens of 50+ men as lucky, walking hand-in-hand with a lovely 20-something Thai female. Nothing in this Universe is so unfair as biology. If offered a billion dollars to become a female and endure pregnancy, I would say ABSOLUTELY NOT.....and I do like money. As for the 2 country choices---since male is a given---I'm not sure. Bangladesh is not so special, but fortunes change and maybe, at some point, Bangladesh will be on the rise. The UK seems to be in a death spiral and in decline, perhaps more than any other 'developed' nation. Historically, many nations have had their day, and then they faded into something between also ran and historical footnote. Greece, Portugal and Spain spring to mind. None is a bad place, but nobody would look at any of them and say "THAT is the place to make a run at success". Retirement, maybe, but not a springboard to major wealth and success. Sadly, the UK wouldn't even appeal as a retirement option.

LIke Deir Yassin? The King David Hotel? One of the murderers went on to be Israel's Prime Minister. That kind of 'consequence'? It's always the innocents, on both sides, who suffer. The bad guys become leaders.

Anybody's god is worse. It almost makes you want to be a believer in deity superstitions, because it can make you feel better about humanity in a relative sense.. We're bad, but not as bad as a god.

The 'true nature of humanity' has always been there. Today is no different; it only seems different because the media keeps it in your face. Since Oldavai Gorge it's always been 'my gene pool is better than your gene pool'. We're driven by our biology, or for the religious out there, we're 'made in god's image', and it's the Old Testament god, who is as evil and vindictive as the worst of us. At any point in history, save for all-too brief periods of peace, or at minimum slaughter that occurred away from cameras, humans have been slaughtering other humans for not being 'one of us'. From slavery to the Sea Peoples to Alexander to the Visigoths to the Vandals to the Vikings to Genghis Khan to Tamerlane to the 'colonization' of the Americas to Napoleon to Australia to Colonialism and Imperialism to the Inquisitions to the Armenian Genocide to WWI to Stalin to WWII to the Holocaust to the Cultural Revolution to Kampuchea to Vietnam to Lebanon to Yugoslavia to Rwanda to Iraq to Ukraine to Gaza-Israel...this is what humans do and have always done. We're animals who behave like animals, with pack leaders fighting for authority or pack vs pack or clan vs clan. We all have the potential for violence, either when threatened, or when our gene pool is threatened, or even when we feel slighted or disrespected. You feel saddened because you were reminded of what we have always been.....and always will be. You think you take the high road because you have been able to control yourself, but only because you've avoided the horrors or slights that would bring out the real 'humanity' in you. Even Gandhi approved of violence during the worst of Partition.

Wow, this one got much more press than the special Hamas 90-day visa free entry! I did think the paraglider lessons in Pattaya was a nice touch for the Hamas shebabs, but I'm not sure they believe that the Thai govt can supply them with 72 virgins. Certainly not in Pattaya. I understand Kim Jong-un, anxious for his own Thai get-away, is considering invading the south, as that seems to be the calculus to win the favor of this new Thai govt.

"others" can do nothing about it? What % is "others"? Funny how those 'genetics' really only started to be expressed in the last few decades.

Yes. Many here hate folks who are what they are by accidents of birth. I like to point out that other people might find fault with people who are 100% responsible for their sad state. WHile some katoeys might engage in crime, not all do. See? If it's fair to dislike someone for an accident of birth, surely it would be okay to dislike someone for willful neglect and laziness. In other words, I was trying to make a point. Fatties, clean up your own act before you diss on others.

I guess we all have things we don't like. I have more sympathy for someone who thinks they're in the wrong type of body than I do for, say, fat people. The brain is a wildly complex organ, and depending on what happens during development in the womb, perhaps the diet of the mom, or just random gene expression, someone can emerge with a mind that thinks 'female', but in a body that says 'male'. It is not a choice. I feel fortunate---because it makes life a heck of a lot easier---that I am a 100% hetero male in a male body. Now fat people are fat because they lack discipline and self-control. Fat is 100% the fat person's fault. They are lazy, slovenly and gluttonous. They should be ashamed. The world needs to stop indulging this fantasy of 'body positive'. Nothing positive or attractive about it. Fat people also cost non-fatties money. Hospital costs are higher because many fatties have ailments and cannot pay. Insurance companies assume a certain % of people are fat, so charge premiums accordingly, which means I have to pay despite the fact I am disciplined, hit the gym, and have very low body fat. I look around and it seems maybe 1% of people are trans. Maybe about 5% are gay or lesbian, and another 5% bisexual. I really don't know the percentages. None of them chose to be those things. I also look around and see maybe 50% of people---especially Westerners---are fatties, and maybe another 35% overweight. They chose to be fat. It's 100% their own fault. I might not know 'gay' or 'lesbian' or even 'trans' when I see one, but I absolutely know fatty when I see one. So go ahead and have at trans people or any other of the alphabet types that you don't like. I reserve my scorn for the lazy fatties.

Plenty of the wealthy come to Thailand, though not as many as russians escaping conscription. The Oriental's top suites go for ~550,000 baht/night during the high season, and tend to be booked most nights. Plenty of better restaurants serve expensive wines such as Solaia or Sassicaia, or even a top French burgandy such as La Romanee Monopole. The FBO at Don Mueang will take care of the Gulfstream while the visitors enjoy high tea at the Authors Lounge. Those guests are not backpackers or budget travelers. Everybody comes to Thailand at least once. Some stay....discreetly.

Not sure if you've ever studied history, but 'destroying the environment' is hardly an invention of Boomers. Ever wonder what London air quality was 200 years ago? Were Thailand's tropical hardwood forests all cut down by Boomers? As for 'feudalistic oligarchic state', if I can guess what you mean by that, I suggest you look at other history going back to, say, Oldavai Gorge. NOBODY and NO GENERATION since humans walked upright has ever wanted to cede power nor wealth. I can see that being even stronger today, since so many young people have delusions of grandeur and think five minutes in a job means they're ready to be CEO or President.

I don't know what 'mainstream' means or how that excuses anything, but the leader of the Irgun was Menachem Begin, who went on to become Prime Minister, despite his hand in the slaughter at Deir Yassin. Prime Minister sounds pretty mainstream, and sadly, Deir Yassin was just about the first terrorist act on that land, which has subsequently led to almost 8 decades of terrorism and reprisals. Both sides gravitate toward leaders who are always ready to draw swords. Until that changes on both sides, the slaughter will continue.

I do not see there is any solution to this ongoing mess. Not now, not ever. From the time of the Lehi (Stern Gang) and Irgun, and their massacres such as Deir Yassin and the King David Hotel, to this most recent heinous barbarism by Hamas, there are no winners and lots of innocent deaths on both sides. Sadly, Hamas just created more militants on the Israeli side, and the IDF in its reprisals, which always kill innocents, will create a new generation of militants on the Palestinian side. All will exact their pound of flesh. Even two days ago some Israeli settlers murdered 4 Palestinians simply because they were Palestinians. There's never going to be turning the other cheek, only an eye for an eye. Years ago I worked the "Middle East Issue" in a foreign policy arm of the USG. The elders at that time were so cynical, they advised us youngsters, "Work this issue and you'll never be out of a job". Having dealt with both sides, I quickly realized how true that advice was, as the two sides---or their leaders, who ALL had terrorist backgrounds whether named Begin or Arafat---were incapable of ever finding a workable solution. The innocents, on both sides, will always pay the harshest price.

Those Taliban jihadis, once trump released them, went on to overthrow the Afghan govt, and they now run it. They also engineered the airport attack that left many US Marines dead. "The great dealmaker"....only if you're on the other side.

Why don't you go ahead and point out something....anything....positive about trump. -He tried to overthrow US democracy -He stole highly classified documents and then lied about it -He is a convicted sex offender -He is a convicted charity fraudster -He withheld already-approved aid to Ukraine expecting Zelenskyy to make up lies about Biden -He is a convicted fraudster (for his silly "university") -In a partial summary judgement, he was found to have committed bank and insurance fraud -He ordered his bag man to pay off a pornstar with whom he had an affair, watched the bagman convicted for the crime and sentenced to jail...all so Stormy would say again, "not quite freakishly small by well below average" -He uses tactics taught him by Roy Cohn to elicit violence from his Goobers...anyone who argues otherwise is either a liar of an idiot...trump is more transparent than a stripper's nighty -He tried to pressure the Georgia SecState to commit fraud and 'just find me 11,780 votes' -Such a child is trump that he threw a hissy fit when Forbes removed him from its 400 list, tossing out the usual "failing publication" argument...yet he demands to be on that 'failing publication's' money list -Oh, the the self-proclaimed real estate genius claimed his 10,997 sf NYC apartment was 33,000 sf

While we do get taxed on overseas' earnings, the first $120,000 is exempt from US tax.

I'm a "whatsoever". How about you? Just stayed because of your wife, eh? Didn't come for the temples? You were off to a good start with your mention of the ubiquitous bogeyman George Soros, and THE WORLD ELITE, but you had me hoping for chemtrails, Bilderbergers, Bohemian Grove and the rogue planet Nibiru. Too late to edit?

Same problem, though I was stuck between North Korea and Somalia. If I was short in stature...easy...St Helena, where I could live out my 'complex'.

Okay. I read the whole thing. It wasn't what I expected. Thailand does make it difficult to spend money, but not so much in 7-11 or Siam Paragon. Where it makes it difficult, in my opinion, are: 1) Limits on RE purchases by foreigners 2) An extremely complicated and bureaucratic process when one wants to buy/establish a business I have heard the argument about buying RE, but the reality is foreigners would not drive up prices anymore, nor put prices out of reach of the average Thai. Chinese buy plenty of property, because they find loopholes that are not available to everyone. More importantly, Thailand's 1% control 75% of all assets in Thailand. THEY are the ones keeping property out of reach of the average Thai, save for in rural areas. Regarding doing business, only Americans---via the Treaty of Amity---are allowed 100% ownership of a Thai business. Other foreigners are limited to 49%, and must find a trustworthy Thai partner. That is not always easy, especially for someone relatively new to the market. Reporting is somewhat onerous, and there are folks in positions of authority who expect tributes. A second issue is the visa bureaucracy. I know some members here are business owners, but most are retirees, married, digital nomads, or scamming the visa system. My Non-B Business Visa is now a 170 page application, done yearly, and redundant (as little has changed since the last renewal). It could be 20,000 pages and the officer would find something missing, even without looking at the tome. Whatever is missing---apparently officers can request whatever additional documents they want, such as one's 2nd grade report card---can generally be fixed instantly, albeit for a fee. That is irritating. The renewal usually costs somewhere between 50,000 and 100,000 baht. Granted that isn't make-or-break money, but the nonsense is off-putting. Things will be made worse if Thailand imposes the tax on cash inflows for those staying more than 180 days in country. Funds sent to Thailand are not necessary current income. It may well be savings from many years in the past, which has already been taxed by a home country government. Proving that is just additional expense and bureaucracy.

Besides the fact trump eff'd up Covid by denying its existence and doing nothing (such as banning flights from China, ramping up PPE production) until it has taken firm hold in the US, his economy was nothing special BEFORE Covid, as his GDP growth ranked in the bottom 30% going back to WWII. He also began running up record deficits even before Covid, and ended up adding almost $8 trillion in all before getting his butt kicked in 2020. THAT $8 trillion is what caused the subsequent inflation. Obama's job growth dwarfed his, and Biden's job growth also beat trump. Obama's stock market was far superior to trump, too. Because I call out your messiah doesn't make it nonsense. Nonsense is that trump ever did anything beneficial since his mother squirted him out.