Bobthegimp

https://news.gallup.com/poll/642851/cannabis-greatest-among-lower-income-less-educated.aspx Those busy beavers over at Gallup have been at it again. Maybe this is why the Thai government wants to re-criminalize dope.

What's this "we" business? Unless you're Thai you are just sitting at the back of the short bus. Pipe down and enjoy the ride. Foreigners should cheer this on as it will weaken the baht.

I don't want to wish ill on the man, but being tolerant of drugs is what made Vancouver the mess it is today. Maybe they could let him stay if he agreed to receive electric shocks to his genitals and ample bosom

I've got to agree. The working classes are in deep trouble. A few more years of this and there could be a revolt.

You're one angry cupcake! Run along and get your booster. And don't forget your mask.

It's good to have one if you plan to keep visiting or retire here. The minimum balance to keep it open is low, perhaps 500 baht or so (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong). You can use Wise to transfer money to that account and make no fee withdrawals in Pattaya. I got a bank account through an agent with my first visa extension back in 2022. It was 3500 baht of the 27k baht fee for the 90 day plus 1 year extension.

Is that where the Mrs. buys the pangolins and bat soup? Sorry, I couldn't resist. Battery back ups are dirt cheap to keep charged and store a considerable amount of power for their size. More young Thais speak English. I've had nice conversations with young Thais all over the country. Today it was 2 women with a Hilux full of durian at a red light in Chantaburi. They rolled down their window and asked where I'm from. I tour on a Honda Click and wear one of those 200 baht brain buckets, so it's easy to see that I'm a farang, and a friendly one at that. Lovely young women who were happy to practice their English.

One night back in the mid 80's there were 2 couples who came in for dinner at the restaurant (a steakhouse) I worked in. Each sat across from the other's gf/bf and conversations flowed across the table, as would be expected. One of the women thought her man was paying too much attention to the other girl and raged on her bf. She suddenly grabbed her steak knife and drove it into her bf's forearm. The guy wailed in pain and pulled the knife out, stood up, and knocked her across the table with a wicked backhand. Most of the staff in the restaurant restrained the couple before the stabbing victim got carried away with the woman beating. The party of 4 was ushered out- but not before the bill was settled and a 25 percent tip added for the trouble they caused. Back then we got "dine and dashes" every couple of weeks. The waiters always managed to catch the culprits: usually males. The waiters would extract the money and tip from the bas tard and give him a hell of a beating for putting them through such a hassle. If the dasher didn't have money he was beaten and turned over to the cops, who actually did their job back then. Heady times.

He'd have to be a real Tom Sawyer to support himself with 2 pills and some powder residue on a bag .

She's one of the progressives' beloved Ukrainians. Who also appears to have a nice shape. I'd happily let her wander around my room; just make sure the sharp objects are locked away.

Not at all, and it's disgraceful to virtue signal like I did. Time for some fresh(555) air and a walk.

" two ecstasy pills, and 0.30 grams of cocaine (including packaging)" Two pills and less than a 1/3 of a gram of coke, the weight of which includes the packaging? In other words, residue. The police wasted their resources on this? It's like catching a minnow and posing for a picture with it.

Sorry to pick apart your post. Most of the rest of it rings true for most people except this bit. I do care about other people. Each tip is given with good intent. I tip, often excessively, because I do care.

I've got a friend who in the early 90's let his gf stay in his condo while he was working abroad for a month. He returned to find the lock changed on the condo and his Mercedes. The "gf" directed him to her lawyer. He paid 30 grand to get his condo and car back. What amazed me was his gratitude for the experience. He kept the woman as a close friend, but never let another woman stay in his home for more than a night. He went on to rent out that condo, bought another rental unit, and a beautiful house for himself, none of which would have been possible with a blood sucker attached to him. The man worked insane hours to build his fortune and women don't endure being left alone, no matter how comfortable the lifestyle. Ask a gardener. The gentleman semi retired a few years ago and found a good woman to enjoy his life with. She's a few years younger, attractive, and a good companion. He happily flies her around the world and pays the bills yet has managed to shield his wealth from being taken by the family court system. Quite an interesting man.

Fake news. They had me until they accused him of holding down a job.

You'd love my ex wife. Women built like that can tie themselves into shapes like a human pretzel.

Your child needs a better education if you're grateful that she's learning English from an ESL student.

Hmm, and where would one find such ladies?

Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way. The material needs to be removed and properly composted or it lignifies and causes the soil to become hydrophobic. One has to wonder if the old fella was into the whiskey before this most unfortunate incident. He would have learned a thing or two during a lifetime of farming, one of which would have been how to judge wind speed and direction. Perhaps it wasn't an accident. Some old people get tired of life and long for relief from chronic pain and suffering.

You're correct, and illustrated my point very well. My former employment brought me into contact with all kinds of people. Drug addicts were the least human, by far, always scheming, lying and trying to manipulate people into giving them money for drugs. That, and looking for things to steal. Gamblers aren't much better. An establishment in Jomtien had a trusted long term employee steal 200k baht not too long ago. Rumour has it that gambling debts were the root of the theft.

My first jobs were in the restaurant industry and tipping became ingrained to me. Service has to be very bad for me to "stiff" (not tip) the server. That doesn't mean making mistakes, it usually means ignoring the customer and being lazy with their approach to service. I've only felt that way once in recent memory. You mentioned Cheap Charlie's. I tip 40 to 50 baht when I eat there and the servers are shocked and grateful for it. That small amount of money doesn't change either of our lives but it does show appreciation and respect for their job. Intent still matters here, and a much smaller tip goes a long way. There's a whole mindset that goes with not leaving a tip, and I avoid people infected with that mindset like the plague. I don't feel compelled to tip like we are back home, where a 20 percent tip on a $150 bill isn't even acknowledged.

And the fools who married the gambler or were born to them. Then there are the friends and family members who bailed out the gambler and were never repaid, the people who had things stolen and pawned for gambling money, or the employer who had funds embezzled to cover gambling debts. As flawless and magnificent as you so obviously are, we don't exist in a vacuum. The odds of everyone around you also being perfect are very slim. Their flaws cause ripples across the pond.

You're correct, but there's also another aspect to the miracle of plastic bottles. Plastic bottles are lighter, so much so that the amount of fuel required to transport them was significantly reduced. Plastic bottles don't break when they fall off of a shelf or are knocked over. This reduced product loss and improved profits. Recycling is inefficient at best. The amount of energy required to gather, transport, and melt everything down exceeds the value of the end product. Then there's the question of how the required energy is produced. Is it from burning coal or natural gas? Those inputs have to be included as well.

I love it here and feel like I'm treated well. The income tax business might be a challenge or nothing at all, but so far, so good. Have you been maltreated here?

I've seen a great improvement in the quality of British tourists since the bad old days of the 70 baht £. Aside from the headlines about minor incidents like the fecal shower boy, most of it is pretty pedestrian stuff. One New Year's Eve circa '07 a Brit went on a rampage in the lobby of the Honey Hotel, attacking people and smashing things up - with a claw hammer! The Brits were quite violent back then. When I heard a certain accent in a bar I knew the beer was too cheap, so I would pay my bin and move to where the beer was a few baht more per bottle and the problem disappeared.