gejohesch

There could be some truth in this too!

... or have been promoted to fertiliser! 😆 Sorry, I should not laugh, they are human beings too... but WTF are they doing on the Russia-Ukraine front???

"Russia’s political figures are vocally criticising President Trump, accusing him of prolonging the conflict." Russia are concerned about the continuation of a conflict they started themselves???????? Russia has become the most despicable nation in the world, and their criminal aggression will never be forgiven nor forgotten.

The bottom line, just on from this probability pov is that : - it is extremely unlikely that a genuine bullet just happened to graze Trump's ear within a mm (no "hand of God" BS please!) - it is rather likely that the assassination attempt was staged (ear growing back? mistery around the would-be assassin? no clear and official medical report?)

Sure, but at the same time USA consumers will buy less goods coming from Thailand, since the price they have to pay has been jacked up, so Thailand sees its exports to the USA shrinking. Tariffs = pain on both sides At least in the near-medium term (ie several years) for the USA, if they manage to eventually replace the goods with home-manufactured / produced goods. Which leads to one caveat: imposing tariffs only make sense if there is concurrently a well-thought plan to build up one's manufacturing / producing base. Which I doubt very much is the case with Trump. And certainly, no plan can ever replace coffee or diamonds!

What is the probability that a bullet would come just that close to "pinge" on the ear, causing it to bleed, but not close enough to cause irreparable damage (and please, no BS about "ears frowing back"!). That must have been a matter of either 1 mm too far out, not touching and no blood, or 1 mm too far in and then irrepatable damage. That probability must be 1 out of millions!

I like your recommendation!

You summarised the Trump issue pretty well, and I agree with everything you said. Just a few things you left out : Trump is extremely ignorant of just about everything, and he is intellectually extremely lazy. Again, not what one wants to have in a leader!

Probably true, but then the dislike is at different levels! The Thais I know would certainly hold Swiss, Finns, Germans, .... hell even French! much higher than Indians.

I agree with you completely. One thing I know, having been around in Bangkok years ago (I lived there), is that most of the girls/women one meets in the bars are rather Lo-So. I appreciate that may not be everyone's concern, but I could not cope with the vulgarity and bad taste of most of them (eg when chosing clothes), if I had to end up making a longtime partner. And believe me, I'm not overly difficult! That's just one angle to the discussion.

Someone asked above what was typical Isaan food. Maybe P(l)a Râa (the "l" is not pronounced by Isaan people) is one of the most typical ingredients that come to mind?

Thanks! I know Pla Raa, of course, having been around Thailand for so many years. I just did not know "fermented" would be equated with "raw". Personally, I find it totally disgusting, especially the smell. I see everyone in the villages in Isan eating that stuff all the time (added to the food when cooking), but I have forbidden my wife to use it in any food she would cook for me. Reminds me a few years back, traveling around Sakhon Nakhon, we stopped by a market in the country side. People were selling a sauce from a drum that contained easily 50 litres of it: it looked like <deleted> mixed with vomit, smelled like it and probably tasted like it. That was probably a local version of Pla Raa. For the life of me, I cannot understand how people can like that thing in their food!

I'm puzzled by the recurring mention of "raw fish being eaten" in Thailand. I cannot remember ever seeing that, or is the meaning "poorly cooked fish"?

But they wear masks against COVID, 'cause everyone knows COVID is transmitted by mosquitoes and flies that could be swallowed up inadvertently by motorcycle riders if not protecting their mouths!

Good question. As Isan is where I spend my time when I'm in Thailand, and my wife is from there, I guess a lot of the food I see has got a typical Isan touch to it. To be clear, I lived a few years in Bangkok, years back, and I could not be too specific in what the differences are between Bangkok and Isan, whether street food or restaurant food. Then again, one has to realise that a good part of the food on offer in Bangkok is prepared by Isan people! One thing I have noticed : I have nearly never seen people in Isan making the famous Thai curries (gaeng khiao waan or gaeng masaman for example), not even in the restaurants (maybe upscale restaurants do them). I might be wrong, and also that maybe is not unique to Isan. As for food made in the houses themselves, what I have seen over many, many years now is that it is always the same few things. I do not see any interest whatsoever to look for new recipes (my wife being an exception). And I confess I end up being rather bored with it. I'm sure other participants in the discussion can add much more to this.