chalawaan

Fraud victim blaming is never a wise or upstanding position. There's a sophisticated scam out there being tailor made to snare you brother. Bank on it.

Most immigration officers I've encountered are fairly intelligent, they must have all come up from junior ranks at some point, so why do they seem to make it more tedious, more backwards, more idiotic! With every passing year? I know here the boss is never questioned, but why do the bosses themselves not at least drop the photocopy BS? We show up, they see the originals, and at any time, they can summon us to return and provide the same originals in the event there's a glitch. The photocopies cost pennies, so there's no profit there, so, just why? In the name of sanity and logic, why make it worse for everyone involved, every year? ????

I have this fight with my Thai missus all the time. She's a lawn lover. I have nothing against lawns, but they belong in geographical zones where they can thrive organically. I would love to have a tropical ground cover, but here we are trying to replicate New Zealand in the Golden Triangle. ????

Last month, there was the Typhoon across the North that never happened. The weathermen should stop getting their forecasts from the same fortune teller as the Tourist Authority.

I'm politically centre left, an alien of the US, but follow it's politics somewhat. I believe reasonable people everywhere have a duty to justice before their political allegiances, and if Biden or Trump or Bojo, or Sturgeon or anyone else commits crimes, then they must fall. Who agrees?

I will at least concede the Thais still run a clean election at the polls. There are many in the region so bent they may as well not waste the money on having a polling day pantomime. Hun Sen, the former Khmer Rouge cadre, and China's little bed-warmer, is the best in the game around these parts.

My missus, now of the post 50 generation, and her neighbour, a lifelong government worker, are excitedly choosing shades of Orange to wear when Pita arrives in Chiang Mai soon. They're like girls going to see Korean boy band BTS. The point of this anecdote is that neither woman were political beasts a few years ago, now my wife has political talk shows going on her device all day long. The dinosaurs have no idea just how much the lower, and lower-middle class of Thai society has moved against them since the Shinawatra years. This place is going to explode soon.

In reality, Thailand is not the paradise it pretends to be, full stop.

That's entertainment! They're determined to silence that Tucker. But he don't give a Fox.

I must confess I was in fact inspired by the poetic obits of one EJ Thribb 13½ ????????????

Lie with dogs, die like dogs. Long live the fleas!

It's already at rock bottom. Now they're starting to dig!

Watch Thai Time with Paddee on YouTube, every Thai he interviews, without fail, want to get the hell out of Dodge, even though they admit they'd be homesick as a parrot. It's a great place with naturally happy people ground down by aloof corrupt obscenely wealthy elites who are mostly ethnically not even originally Thai. No prizes for guessing where the Motherland for them once was.

And the winners are.... Prayuth, Smith, and Wesson.

That was Thailand's fault, ALL the Embassies got tired of their petty BS paperwork for confirming something clearly obvious by other means taking up valuable resources, and just said "enough!" in a diplomatic way. The annual extension circus and 90 day non-sense here is the one thing I really hate with a passion.

Lots of trigger happy Thais this week! I did a global comparison recently of gun crime after a particularly bloody week in the US, and was surprised to learn Thailand is about two slots below the USA on the global gun violence leaderboard. Also, in the 1970s there were sub-machine guns, among other hardware, for sale at Robinsons! All that heat is still out there in some local psychos hands to this day!

It's also relatively unsafe compared to Thailand. The nightlife is amazing, as are the BEEF restaurants, but I can't say I wanted to stay more than I had to for work. And I'm too old for the club scene now, by a generation or two. I've heard great things about Uruguay, just across the Rio De La Plata, but never heard of anyone getting a retirement residency there.

Been there done that. I like here better. I was physically menaced twice in Mexico, in CDMX on the metro, and in Leon, by a pair of juveniles. Both never came to anything because I ignored them like they were invisible, and it worked! The interstates are designed worse than Thailand. If you are on them at night, you're likely going to be robbed or worse. I value safety, street crime against sober foriegners here is still rare. Plus side is it's like living in America, in terms of cheap abundance in the malls. If you come from a moderately violent US City, you'll probably be happier in Mexico, non US citizens I'd recommend stick to Asia, Portugal etc. The Mexico Residence visa is easy to get, and there's no BS like here, it's done once, and done for life. But it has changed, you MUST apply from your home nation, that includes Americans now.

This war remains the only modern insurgency that failed for the insurgents. Of course many on the losing side were Chinese easybeats, they also had their butts handed to them by both the Vietnamese and Cambodian Communists as well.

Old Siam adopted British Royal customs right down to the governess teacher, the guards tunics, and even standing in cinemas. It's no surprise the colonial aspects were adopted too. Britain has since moved on, and yes, modern Thailand need to imitate that as well.

Thank you for this report and the others who added their thoughts. My first ever 90 day dash is coming up soon (Visit Thai Family Visa multi entry) and I'll be driving myself from Chiang Mai. I like this visa because I dislike the marriage and/or retirement extensions increasing tyranny, but it's a pain to get it renewed in Savannakhet (though highly recommended!) because of the long road trip, the expense of that, and a mandatory overnight, although I liked Savannakhet more than I thought I would. There's great local coffee to be enjoyed -and brought back home! Seventy plus years after the French left, traces of their charming architecture and culture remain.

I got served at Serenade with my Thai missus, who is a regular old Isaan gal. No offence, but if you rolled in channeling "poor-white chic" you would deffo be given the bums rush. Farangs ignore this golden rule from back in the Lonely Planet days: "If you want respect in Thailand, look respectable" Some pressed chinos, subdued sneakers, a clean polo shirt and a decent haircut are not much to ask. Especially at Immigration. It gets s**t done!

Just sell the damn thing now, leave the cash to her, and rent something better, on the ground near a quiet beach, like Steve Rosse. You're only leaving her a massive headache, and they'll probably find a way to disqualify her.

Arrivederci, Silvio B. Grande Capo of TV! You bunga bunga'd with the best And always seemed to dodge arrest. You came back thrice, and ruled nine years. That would have ground Benito's gears! You lived life long, played many parts. And wore more make-up than your tarts...

Who you call "the left" are mostly Democrats. When they protest outside the Governor's mansion, armed, with Commie flags flying, then you can call them the left, because that's how you're mentally framing Democrats, and it's dangerously misguided. This is how the real Communists in Russia and China, pull America down from the inside... Time some of you took time to deeply reflect on who your real enemy is.