KhunLA

Both brothers, Ray & Dave are, 79/76. Nice thread, as I almost forgot how good Dave was on guitar. Quick Google and Ian Gibbons died in 2019, and Mick Avory is still kickin'.

Also a Kinks fan, and saw them a couple times. Later on in career. Soap Opera release & Tour 1975/76 Excellent, and again later on.

Except for back up/emergency, that's what I used them for. Bought a car to resell from GSA/DEA repo auction. But drove it too much & liked it. Dumb A$$ ... ended up giving it to GF, moving out of state, as she needed a dependable car. Another time, a house, OK, fixer upper, but a little sweat equity, quick loan to pay off CC, and rented, then finally sold it.

How about a best Massaman & Roti map.

A few hrs from Bangkok ... ???? ... go much more than 1.5 hours and you're out Thai airspace. And that's if you head N or S.

PMs aren't elected, by the populous.

Did you plan the next 30+ yrs on company & govt pensions, or your brokerage account balance ?

That will never happen. Much improved since 2000, but constant widening & maintenance is never ending. To / from, Fri-Sat / Sun, Bkk-HH-Bkk, to be avoided, along with driving in town weekends. Gridlock, parking - nil, thanks to taxis. Thankfully, 'downtown' is small enough that most things are within walking distance. Really don't need a car. And taxis are silly priced. Decent baht bus service for exploring a bit N or S of 'town'. Good place to chill for the a short week or long weekend. Once is enough for most folks, if even bothering. Nice base to explore the province, as would be Pranburi. Surf looks nice at times, but forget swimming in it. mid Nov - mid May can be a smoggy.

Thailand ... ... a 3rd World country with many modern things.

I did retire at 45 ... there's that ????

Should be, though haven't been in awhile. Mid-Eastern/Indian enclave of food, or use to be pre-covid. Use to pop in for my Shawarma when knocking around the area. shawarma

Krung Thep, Suk soi 3 & 5

Might want to ring these folks up, and they are on FB:

Agree ... don't let it build up. Simple solutions to simple problems.

And yet ... failed to materialize. In the 2+ decades I've been here, and as stated, every year, and a new push, a new airline, a new upgrade every so many years, and all the same results. Failure to operate after 1 high season, usually. Hua Hin compared to Samui ... yikes. Who flies around the world to go to HH. If not for Krung Thep weekenders, it would be back to it's sleepy surfside town, and simply the commerce hub that it always has been.

Never got into the long term/hold 'em mentality, as 5-10% over 5-10-20 yrs never interested me. Too impatient, too greedy. After rolling over RE equity into the market, played the Y2K scam till just before it crashed ???? Then Bush 2 became elected president, and the obvious, oil. For me, high risk/high gain, speculative oil stock, pennies actually. Actually my best returns on investing. Too moral to go into defense contractor, though I do think I regret that, with President Cheney at the helm. Those profits are a given. Wee bit of inside trading, day trading, and oil stock pay offs, and the rest is history. It does take work/research, and paying attention, along with knowing the scam of the markets, the trends and having software to point out the scams. Funds are good, but run in 2-3-5 yr cycles. Municipality and utilities stocks/funds, along with dividend stocks, which TBH, never really played with. Steady gains, but to low & slow for me. No real work/research involved though. Options are great, but you have to really know what you're doing. Good if inside trading, and yes, it's real, and so many do it. Straight out inside trading, or simply implied buy / sell. Ex: "We have some exciting news coming next week" in direct conversation, not news-blips. If waiting for news, you're too late already. Happy Trading. Do it right, and you can retire in less than 5 yrs. Turn $50k into 1M. Work smarter, not harder.

Stepping up ... ... Red Flags out, what else can be done ? If people are that stupid, maybe a good thing they no longer walk among us, or drive vehicles among us. You'll never fix stupid.

Just shut the airport down. Even another super mall would be better use of the land. Decades of wasted taxes, and yet to have 1 carrier make a profit, or break even apparently. No market, and quite understandable.

If you put garden plastic down first, then stone, they won't return, or at least, very minimal and easy to manage. Photo of our soi, between house and garden area, using plastic with stone, coming up on 1 yr, and minimal weeds.

Putin has no interest in the rest of Europe. His objective was to help Russians, and take away UA military capabilities. Which without regime change from outside sources, and if NATO kept it's word about neutral border states, none of it would have been necessary. I think that objective has been almost met, but the west doesn't want peace ... again, not profitable. And Off Topic ... with more than a few threads going to debate that subject on. The world is safe from a nuke war, as it simply isn't a win win for anyone. Although, in the end, it would solve the problem of too many people on this rock, trashing the place. Hard choice, trash or nuke residue for a century ... hmm. I'd go with nuke residue myself. Those countries that aren't self sufficient ... oh well, problem solved.

CH, RU, Trump ... seriously ... it would have to be an LTD official involved at one point or another. You can hack & change info in the data system, but how do you change the #s on the vehicle to match original registration book. Fine if vehicle is never inspected or transferred.

Average ... ... I'm so happy I've never been 'average'

Lets try getting all those wires & cables underground without killing people before trying to send more junk up over our heads. Only been pure dumb luck we haven't had a major oops yet with tons of crap falling to earth.

Two thoughts ... ... people simply don't learn from history ... unless it's profitable, it's not going happen All ... All countries are too intertwined economically to ever let some idiot push that button. Makes good headlines, and keeps people scared, and the defense contractors laugh all the way to the bank. Ignorance is Bliss

In the past, yes, what they require now, TBH, I haven't a clue. If needed, get one, but use only IF required. Never carry a balance or pay interest. It's a fool's game, wasted funds, bank wins. I use to have a bunch, CC & unsecured lines of credit, but, used for investing only, or emergency. Last time I rented a car, probably 2000/2001, and debit card was fine. Same with hotels currently and online purchases, though I usually go COD or cash when arriving at hotel. If any vendor requires a CC, I'd simply use a different vendor. If it's common place now to require a CC, I'd have one, for convenience, but as stated, only use when required. People get caught up with that revolving credit, and forget... ... "the man in the suit has just bought a new car on profit he made on your dreams" - Traffic/Steve Winwood/Jim Capaldi (Low Spark of High Heeled Boys)