Fat is a type of crazy

26 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

Gold is never an investment, it is a currency hedge. Investments make income in dividends or interest, gold only makes money if one buys for less than they sell it.

An investment isn't defined by whether it is income earning - just as something that may be profitable in the future. Vacant land, memorabilia, a GT Ford Falcon or gold can all be good investments.

22 minutes ago, moontang said:

I disagree, they have been much more clear about being a custodian of your assets than anything any digital nomad ever thought up.  I wouldn't be sitting in a commercial space at a trading station, though.. and being a  broker or a financial advisor is clearly forbidden, and would require a WP, as well as registration with SEC.  There are some guys doing it, and even drumming up local business.. I wouldn't go near them.  I have been trading electronically since DOS and Compuserve.. Also, most of the FX trading systems are scams, so don't fall for that.  Look up Alan Hall, former president of CMEC.  He was recruiting members and pushing them into a fund, where he got a 20% commission up front.  The fund went to zero, he did a runner. 

I am not talking about being a broker. I am differentiating between just an investor and a share trader - both involve you buying and selling shares but there is a line, in countries like Australia, where if you invest significant amounts, and buy and sell regularly,  it stops simply being treated as an investment and becomes a business.  If it is done in a  commercial space it might be a further indication of a business but it is not a key factor as to if it is a business.  Share investors and traders are taxed differently. In Thailand though, as I said, I am not sure if there are similar rules or whether for his visa  it matters if he runs a business or not. 

Working from home.. when you work in a government job having less bureaucracy and wasting time is definitely a good thing. You can do stuff at the same time during phone meetings  .. meetings by WebEx you can just chuck on a shirt and there it is. Hopefully it can continue into 2021.

35 minutes ago, Nout said:

Late? NL? Getting all the likes? So much I don't understand in the above post.

I think the gist of it is that when he is available to post, the news stories have been up or a while. So on a Trump story someone might write on page 1 'Yeah Trump sucks' and get 30 trophies, 30 love hearts and 30 smiley faces whereas he might write some thoughtful illuminating dissertation on page 26 and get 1 love heart if he's lucky. That's because fewer people read page 26.  I could be wrong though.

The only point I would make, which may be irrelevant to your situation in Thailand, is that tax law often differentiates between share investor and share trader. A share investor is someone who tends to buys shares and leave them and maybe buy and sell some from time to time. It is passive income. This may be subject to capital gains tax. It is not a business.

If you actively manage a significant amount of shares, making regular buys and sales, you may be a share trader and this means you are in business. The shares are just like apples to a fruit seller - they are trading stock.

So if you are a share trader it may affect you if there are rules about whether you can be in business. I know nothing though about how the Thai law looks at this.

32 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

Henry van der Sluys, stage name Roy Rene Mo, was virtually unknown outside Australia, and a household name in it. A master of ribald, lewd, larrikin and innuendo, he used makeup to accent a Jewish appearance. His radio serial McCackie Mansions was obligatory listening for my mother and father. He only made one B&W film, Strike Me Lucky.

Dame Sybil Thorndike and Jack Benny tried to convince him to go to the UK and America respectively. He declined, saying his type of humor was only relevant in Australian culture.

 

Don't forget Stiffy his sidekick

29 minutes ago, Pilotman said:

true but it doesn't make him funny, just a good business man.  Heard from a mate who was in Vietnam in 1969 that when Bob Hope appeared one Christmas, with his travelling show,  he was arrogant and stand offish, unless you were a high ranking officer. Its not the first time I have heard and read that about him.  Lots of indications that the man was a bit of a fraud and not as saintly as he was always portrayed. 

Much of the old comedy becomes horribly dated but I think he is still amusing in some of the old movies. He delivered a line well.  W C Fields is a comedian who is still funny today. Many of the British comedians  of the 60's and 70's stand up OK. Carry on, Frankie Howard, Cook and Moore, Monty Python of course,  the old sitcoms are OK. Personal taste I suppose or lack thereof.

Some good shows not mentioned I think

Key and Peale 

Tim and Eric - Awesome Show Great Job

Check it out with Steve Brule

The last two may seem a bit odd at first but were fairly original at the time. 

Recently finished a show called Holmes which is a fictionalised account of Pete Holmes attempt to enter the world of stand up. Not amazing but good fun and lots of comedic cameos.

Politics

Bill Maher

Stephen Colbert sometimes

Saturday Night Live sometimes

Jon Stewart 

Women

Amy Schumer

Tina Fey at her peak. 

Here's 2 more old or dead white guys from the UK. People may be just think of them as pop stars but I think they were good.

Marc Bolan of TRex  - Elemental Child about 2 minutes in shows his talent

Andy Scott - the whole band of Sweet was talented beyond their bubble gum hits

18 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

When I arrived in Thailand my idea was to be an immigrant. And I am still living in Thailand.

But I gave up the idea about full integration a long time ago. I think we will always be farang, even after 50 years in Thailand.

But that's not always bad. Because there are different rules for farangs and one of those rules is that we can ignore many of the Thais hacking order rules. Thais can't avoid being somewhere in that hacking order. I am happy I am not.

Do you mean pecking order

I think you need to sometimes think of the staff. I can recall at this hotel seeing staff at dinner that had been their at breakfast. They are probably tired and want to go home. It's a three star hotel. 

If I was at an expensive restaurant somewhere I might have an issue but in this case I would just let it be. You are correct to want good service but in this context, being the last customer at the end of the night, getting the staff in trouble over this was a bit over the top.

6 hours ago, Pattaya Spotter said:

This looks like a very nice property...so many good recommendations from fellow forum members.

Ramayana is just so so in my opinion. It is owned by the same people as Dewa so when I stayed you could get free transfers there and could use the pool and sit at the beach. Nice but felt like a second class citizen.  The pool at the hotel is small. Rooms were not too bad but a bit dingy and dark. Not near shops. Not near beach.

I get why people may like it if they have a car as it has nice gardens and the rooms are nice otherwise and the price can be good. It had a nice breakfast and the restaurant was OK with fair prices. Just not my cup of tea. 

On 12/14/2020 at 12:04 AM, camble said:

I’ve stayed at the Emerald Cove 20 times since it opened in 2004, last time was last month.  I’ve always had an enjoyable stay there.  Mostly Thais were there for the weekend, it emptied out on Sunday and the resort gave me a premium sea view upgrade at no cost.  Otherwise, the rooms are the same so I always book the cheapest.  They have a Happy hour at the pool bar and I really like their seafood pizza.  Huge pool and you’ll want to swim in the sea on the south side of the property to avoid the rocks. The Dewa two doors down is also very good and their pool is even larger (slightly). I stayed at the Sea View once and never went back, who wants to climb a hill to use the pool?

There are two pools at Sea View. One is on the beach. 

2 hours ago, FarFlungFalang said:

Australia and New Zealand two frightened rabbits frozen stiff in the middle of the road praying for herd immunity rescue from a passing vaccine.Don't forget the rest of the disaster countries like Sweden's neighbour Belgium with nearly twice the deaths per million of population numbers could be perceived to be the worse possible scenario.Why don't you pick on Belgium?I notice you've dragged the rotted carcass of Sweden's herd immunity argument well doesn't smell as bad as Belgium's disastrous attempt's to slay the covid dragon.Why don't you pick on Belgium they did twice as bad as Sweden.

Australia and New Zealand took action. They are about to open to each other and our economy is bouncing back fast. I live freely. Something worked. Masks, lockdown, whatever. Yes it had a price but what an outcome with a vaccine not far away. Frightened rabbits? No. Fearless leaders using science as a guide and getting the people on side for a successful outcome. 

I don't know about Belgium but it appears it has a divided government, no consensus and they have avoided lockdowns. OK I just read that somewhere. Doesn't help being in an area of Europe with many coming and going.  The fact is if they copied Australia and New Zealand they would surely have to have the same outcome. 

My approach would be to avoid antibiotics if I don't need them but if I had any sort of invasive surgery such as you are talking about then I would totally follow doctor's instructions.

Especially in a foreign country in a tropical climate. They aren't likely to be telling you to do so to sell a few extra cheap antibiotics. Just not worth the risk of infection.

If you are concerned maybe just visit a second doctor to see if the first doctor is overdoing it.

The potential upside way outweighs the downside. 

7 minutes ago, CorpusChristie said:

 

  No one is suggesting or expecting there to be a new cold war between the UK and the E.U.

There wont be another Iron Curtain going up 

This is my first post on the topic but it doesn't take an iron curtain to affect trade. Just a 10 per cent tariff can distort trade decisions and make something that was previously profitable become unprofitable. 

So many decisions the EU have made have distorted trade to the point where it was cheaper for Africans to buy canned tomatoes from Italy when, if there was free trade, they would make there own and be exporting to Europe. But that's a different topic.

32 minutes ago, johnnybangkok said:

I’m sorry but I don’t think he deserves any credit. It’s the equivalent of a serial killer, after killing 20 people letting the cops know where the bodies are buried for the sole purpose of not going to the chair. 
This man has systematically and willfully enabled Trump to undermine the rule of law, has got him off his impeachment (remember all the redactions) and flaunt the constitution. 
He deserves to be banned from practicing law ever again. 

You could be right. He has done some appalling things. Had he dropped the news though about the Hunter Biden tax probe a week before the election it could have been Clinton emails 2 and a different president.  He could have probably got away with it. Even if his motives had been self serving he did the fair thing. 

From personal experience Centrepoint ferry is terrible. Often delayed, infrequent service,  and the ferry itself is slow.   Au Sapparot ferry much better. Never had an issue. 

30 minutes ago, Jeffr2 said:

My friend recommended we stay at the Centara a months ago.  Based on his impressions from many years ago.  Well...I wasn't impressed.  The beach out front is filled with rocks making it hard to swim.  The lagoon is nearby, but I didn't notice a smell.  The walk on the beach is OK.  The rooms are quite a bit back from the beach, with none on the beach.  The property is in desperate need of a renovation.

 

I prefer this place or the one next door.  Individual bungalows right on the sand for about the same price as the Centara.  A pretty nice beach with fewer rocks.  KB resort next door is very nice and the restaurant/beach bar are great.

https://g.page/Kohchangkaibae?share

Funny..in 2019 I was staying at Sea View and I had messed up the dates and I had one free night so I stayed at the Kae Bae Beach resort which is just down the road. The mistake I made was that because we were just staying one night I got the cheap room at the back and it was a small and crappy. Pools small too.  I looked at those new large looking beachfront rooms at the front though and I thought how nice it looked right on the beach.

There were some rocks there though and for me the best beaches are White Sand and parts of Khlong Prou near Paradise Resort and near Santhiya Tree. 

19 hours ago, Pattaya Spotter said:

As the Centara, where I plan to stay, is in Kai Bae, any restaurant reccos...especially Thai and Italian.

I can recommend Kati which is close to your hotel. Good quality food and nice feel. There are quite a  few restaurants in that strip that are fine.

My only concern about Centara is it is near the lagoon which can be a bit smelly but I haven't seen people complain. It's kind of a boring hotel I think. The Emerald Cove nearby is impressive with it's huge pool and gardens and not too expensive at the moment.

People making jokes about Seaview and  the reaction to bad reviews but it is a stunning hotel set in the forest. I would book ahead at any hotel as often the rate at the door is a lot higher at the nicer hotels  but maybe different given the current situation.

My girlfriend is nervous to take the motorbike for reasons people have mentioned but I think a car would be fine if you just be a bit cautious on the hilly bits. In wet season the rain can cause cause chaos fast but it should be fine now.