Lorry

I had to watch a tiktok today, a cat dressed up as Krahang, with rice-basket wings. O tempora, o mores

That's the one in Wat Mahabut, mentioned in the OP. It is on Khlong Phrakhanong, most recent arrivals (Thais or foreigners) nowadays call the area Onnut (it's not near BTS Phrakhanong). The shrine of "Mae Nak Phrakhanong" is even on Google maps.

You farang, you not understand. Thai can do.

That's a good one. But isn't that more a custom of Israelis, Palestinians, and Americans?

If a local tax office says, you don't need a TIN, they are right, of course.. As of Oct 31, 2024, you don't need one. Bureaucrats are not in the business of divining the future. They follow the regulations they have right now. Example: when some important social security rules in my home country changed, it was all over the news, and everybody who would read a newspaper knew the starting date. I called SS - they had heard things would change, they weren't sure about the starting date (bureaucrats don't read newspapers, they read official bulletins), and told everybody to wait until they would receive the new regulations. It might take up to 6 months after the starting date, but they would then apply them retroactively. (It took 9 months) BTW right know, the tax situation there is like here - everybody knows rules have changed, everybody would like to know the exact new rules, tax office is in no hurry. But once they have made up their mind, they expect payment within 2 weeks. Having said all this, many people DID easily get a TIN.

Nowadays, it's called ฤดูฝุ่น Ruedu fun - smog season. Characterized by burning fields and burning eyes, fire engines spraying Silom Rd and politicians promising improvements.

In a moving object time passes slower according to Einstein's theory of relativity, that's why the plane could fly 45 minutes with only 30 minutes of fuel.

Many private hospitals work for SS, too. You will get a different (not necessarily worse) treatment from a privately insured patient.

No, some (few) other posters have pointed this out, too. This may change in 2025. But that's really just guessing. Nobody knows.

Shocking to read how, in 2024, "educated" farang mostly look for excuses to justify drunk driving. Are these the same posters that regularly call Thais bad drivers? And these posters still have the chutzpah to say, even when drunk they drive more safely than a Thai.

For years I have been seeing with dismay, supermarkets here full with agricultural products from temperate climates - apples, grapes, cabbages, peas. It's rarely stated where these things come from - of course, they all come from China. I never put something from China in my mouth. China is the country where they sold Melamin as baby formula, and where they use gutter oil, the examples are endless. Chinese who can afford it do like I do. They only use imported food, especially for their babies.

Same my little local khlong, never seen the level so low (central Bangkok)

I gave examples for places without a legal system and without law enforcement. Go visit there and compare to Thailand.

Filmed in Thailand.

I remember reading some do...

There are commercial beggars, often from Cambodia, and often using kids, organized in gangs that keep the money. They occupy the best spots, especially in tourist areas. The goverment discourages Thai people to give to beggars. I don't give to anyone who uses kids. That's child work. On the other hand, begging in a market in a god-forsaken place like Bang Phli, that's not a money- making enterprise. I will usually give them something.

Are there any snakes in Thailand that would follow you? Been there, done that, ages ago. I may need a refresher, thanks for reminding me.

They all are written very similar, containing the letters a, i, n. They all speak unintelligible languages. They all ate peace-loving countries, who have never bombed another country. Really indistinguishable.

Interesting. And you may be right. But it would add "Do not try this at home" More interesting for me: if I run away, will the cobra follow me?

Could you tell us how you know this?

It's the normal way, even the international hospitals may insist on one if they feel you shouldn't be left alone in your room (they can usually organize one, at a cost)

I agree, and make that 99-99.5%.

The main benefit all foreigners here enjoy, and that's based on taxes: you live in a more or less functioning country, with infrastructure including a legal system (laws and law enforcement) There are roads, you don't get robbed if you go out without your gun, there are doctors and hospitals, there is a usable currency and there are banks, and and and... there even is a weather forecast. There are plenty of places in the world where you don't have to file taxes: Haiti, Somalia, the highlands of Papua, Western Sudan, Antarctica, international waters... Even Cambodia doesn't force you to pay taxes. But only one member actually moved there. He writes he is happy there. Most of the others prefer to stay in Thailand and complain. (BTW half of Cambodia's formal GDP is the scam industry, based on kidnapped and trafficked foreign slaves) https://www.usip.org/publications/2024/05/transnational-crime-southeast-asia-growing-threat-global-peace-and-security

You can find this kind of attitude not only in Thailand. Thais deal with it by agreeing completely to the doctor, and, once out of the door, ignoring his advice if they don't like it. BTW the amount of nonsense a doctor hears from patients in his lifetime is quite amazing, and tiring. A guy I know stated on a questionnaire that he was completely healthy. He had no legs, they had been amputated in the Amazon because of sepsis. He also had exactly 26 other diagnoses. He honestly didn't think that he wasn't completely truthful.

So, should oneput a 10B stamp on thd self addressed return envelope or better 40 ?