chalawaan

China Airlines (Taiwan) compete with Eva on the route, they are both good options. Go to the basement Foodcourt in Taipei if there's time, it's great Taiwanese Tucker, and cheap by airport standards. I'm not sure if there are still flights CNX to HKG. But I avoid HKG now because it's basically Mainland China in all but name and uniforms, with all their arbitrary weirdness, and I'm no fan of the CCP on many social media channels.

I suspect this is part of the reason masks just refuse to go away. They've been told it's safe, but encouraged to continue, which is confusing. And they were terrorised by stunts like shutting down an entire province when an infectious Egyptian airman visited a U Tapao mall on a military layover. And even then we already knew most healthy people survived Covid without a vaccine. So yeah, gullible.

They're a badly disguised proxy of the current state apparatus that sized power illegitimately in a 2014 coup then engineered the obliteration of a party that should have won in 2019, and that flim-flam took 45 days to push through. Why are people even thinking this outcome will be much different?

Terrible timing! Works for him, but it's really just going to stir the pot of an already fraught process, and the old buzzard isn't even a currently elected individual.

Medical records are requested after you make a claim. Both for the claim treatment, and historical from your doctor. Which is why it pays to be open and upfront on the questionnaire. Prior health events are usually grounds for an exclusion of cover related to that. For example, various Cancers. Your age and self declared history will impact your policy when it is offered. There's no one size fits all, I'm just reporting my experience with a serious but short illness well into my 50s. And yes, they paid out in full! $17,000.

No argument at all with this summary, I'm all for progress. But I'm not the establishment, who like it or not, still hold considerable sway over the population because they do! They may not have thier hearts and minds, but in many ways, they can make life utterly miserable for the masses, for generations. There's form all over the planet, not just next door. What I probably failed to convey in my post is that a can't see a velvet revolution here, I could be wrong, but find it more likely the status quo will persist. A "watermelon" faction of the army (Taksin Red on the inside) won't likely solve anything long term for progressive ambition as far as what Pita and his supporters want to achieve, which is radical. I hear from my politically engaged wife, that the message to the masses is repeatedly to keep calm and carry on. The idea is not to give the gammon an excuse to even consider military force. The plan is to just outlive the gammon. And try again in four more years.

I agree with your position, but unless we have massive North Sea windfarms, then we either need to choose nuclear or fossil. Most of the world are going to have to deal with Hobson's choice on energy, no matter how noble our (very late) green intentions are because solar and wind just don't cut it at scale in most locations. There's either not enough sun or not enough wind.

They are a dangerous, violent fringe mob, even though their heart's in the right place, they take it too far. I understand that we love our pets, I still grieve over a magnificent tomcat I lost in 2009. But there's something badly wrong when humans put animals ahead of other humans, all things being equal.

What if one or both cark it before the big day? If either wins they would both be the oldest POTUS in history. There needs to be an upper age limit on this job, the stakes are just too high to have enfeebled CinCs making global decisions.

Best deal Haier, not too shabby. I installed a new one and it's a like fridge! Quiet too. Best brand: Mitsubishi Industries, but pricey!

Cue the good Non-O residents of the Eastern Seaboard choking on their bacon and eggs at the prospect of the Han returning in their hundreds. Don't worry boys, the Middle Kingdom is in critical meltdown. There's been No post Covid recovery according to JPMorgan and many other experts. You may not see evidence of the crash in the local sycophant press, but the middle class are suffering from entire malls being deserted, just like post Covid commerce here, only worse, there's have been bank runs, overseas markets drying up, property crashing, sometimes literally! And fewer and fewer people even being allowed out. They finally reversed the child breeding restrictions only to find women don't even want to get married anymore! So what did they do? Made it harder to divorce! So the ladies, already in short supply, just doubled down on staying single. You can't make these blunders up! That's before we even get into the insanity of mass deforestation to grow rice "for war". They're just not coming back anywhere like the numbers they were in 2019. Ever.

Tim isn't here mate, it's just a video feed.

They're smart enough to know the lunatics can take over if they are too blasé like the Brits were about the Brexit poll, and then, the US becomes a giant Venezuela.

Having reviewed my own experiences here and overseas, New Zealand (one of the best in the world at zero Covid strategy until Omicron blew it all away) their unmasking did not cause a spike at all. I got a terrible head cold there, the worst in years, but no Covid, which I got here, I suspect from "dirty dancing" after being alone without cute company over there for a year! My other half permits the odd sideline as she's in her "golden" years, and knows it goes no further. I'm Quad vaxxed, every one a different brand! I've always washed my hands and insist intimate partners do it too, since forever. I maintained distance and followed the rules. I'm convinced masking was the least effective of every other strategy because it is fundamentally flawed. Why OK to take off a mask in a food court? But not a taxi? I always respected my driver's wishes, but it's just flawed Science in a non-clinical setting, and as such, the most pointless of all the precautions we had to take.

The more people don't mask, the more people won't mask. My Thai half and I haven't for most of 2023. I have worn masks prior to Covid, but since learned it's pointless for self protection, which was the reason, after being stuck on a packed Hong Kong bus with some vile brute hacking down my neck all the way to the border! It's pretty farcical here now, but, I can still remember how "naked" it felt the day after they were abolished in New Zealand last year. I think many Asian people are psychologically wed to them now, sort of like a Stockholm Syndrome security blanket. But I'm a libertarian at heart, do what I want, but I'm mindful not to impact others, so long as socially adopted ideas like masks remain RATIONAL and I don't whine (too much) about other people's habits, quirks, sexuality or hobbies so long as they don't impact me. Seems to work.

I'm not going to take a side in this as I don't know enough about Sturgeon one way or the other. Tho I'm in disagreement with Littlejohn. We don't need to hate being British, but I think Scotland could be sovereign, including it's fishing and oil fields, and contribute to the defence of the region, remaining a part of the British military services under the NATO pact, the way Poland fought in the Battle of Britain, this is important, as allegiance to the Crown would be out, but an oath to protect all peoples of Britain, fitting. Anyhoo, sad side note to hear of Eric Cullen passing by way of this debate. I had no idea that was in back in 1996, and just read about his horrific private life. Amazing that he achieved so much beyond just acting with that load to bear. Gregor Fisher is one of Scotland's great comics, Rab Nesbitt and his pals were so on point, and all the funnier for it.

The third gun related "crime of passion" since Monday! Why are flak jackets illegal for civilians here? (We know why, but moving on...) I am not going to step onto Loi Kroh Road without one anymore. PS The facts will emerge in full, but regardless of whether her story is true, brandishing a loaded firearm during any non-life threatening scenario, too often leads to these avoidable and tragic outcomes. Two young lives ruined, when all they had to do is break up and move on...

So being a Thai now absolves him of idiotic behaviour just because it's the norm here that many think they know it all? Like how everyone just "learns" to ride a scooter, and look at the death toll! Would he be an idiot in the west? Yes, he would! There is a reason beekeepers wear full protection, and they don't dangle from trees unless they have a specific reason to do that to locate a queen and move the hive. Furthermore, I'm not bagging Thai people, but when I am unsure of any task, I go online and LEARN. I encourage my wife to do this also, but no, she loves doing things her "quaint" local way! That would be fine if I don't have to fix the mess, or pay up because she destroyed something by ignoring the instructions. In any country, unless you're a trained apiarist, or a lifelong hunter gatherer, which modern Thais are not, then buy your honey at Lotus's. It's not rocket science, and he would still be around.

Time for some rich cultural carpetbagging? I wonder who'll get the contract for the Trillionteenth Bahts worth of Golden Garuda roof guttering.

Ain't that the truth. Not a day goes by when something new surprising happens. Be it the news, the missus, pythons on the evening stroll... As Sade sang "Every day is Christmas and every night is new years eve" though we don't get around as much these days. It's all part of what I love about life here.

Where's my kangaroo steaks? Nice if you can handle meat seared "blue". Any more and it's like eating leather. ????

Just saying "not guilty" in a courtroom (who ever isn't!) And absurd claims that boxes of evidence from the scene of the crime is fake/false is just delusional. Nobody goes to trial at this level unless there is some truth to it, any two-bit bum can be framed by the cops, an ex POTUS is a whole other level. It's not happening unless the evidence is rock solid! Can you set out a basic argument beyond your belief that it's all fake? Your denial is at the intellectual level of a five year old. "Oh yes he did!" "Oh no he didn't!" and on and on, just a refusal to even consider reality, that 45 is in a courtroom for reasons other than a "witch hunt" come on, due process is why it's taken this long! And it is tragic to see adults choose this level of denial, especially over something as important as your own future. Keep on doing China's dirty work for them! If you can't see that, then there's not much hope your kids and grandkids will enjoy a future that your American ancestors went to great pains and sacrifice to build and maintain.

Tiffany has allegedly long rolled-over on Daddy dearest to save her perfumed tush from wearing Orange. But this case isn't about that, I'm just observing that's why the family may have not wanted to appear, they all have seperate legal woes, the case that Tiffany has to answer, leading to more trouble for Trump himself, is still ahead. I'm surprised the stress of all this hasn't killed him. I don't think I could cope in his position at his age.

Nothing good happens after midnight. Especially in "nightlife" areas. Bed is the place to be, almost everything you can do in bed after midnight is a safer bet. Except smoking.

Russian drivers and Thai traffic are a perfect storm! There's entire channels just dedicated to Russian dashcam footage, and while it's true idiots in cars are found everywhere, it's insane how these guys almost seem to be on a Kamikaze mission. The fact this guy is reportedly still wedged on the bike in death sounds like it's a particularly horrific ending.