Furioso

When I got to Thailand I was pretty happy they made me go through a pretty rigorous process to get a motobike license. The 50 question test was a little challenging, a couple of people I knew didn't pass it the first time. And then, once I got my motorbike license I find out that the police are nowhere to be found. They DO NOT enforce the rules no wonder everybody breaks every rule. What's the pushishment for driving down the wrong lane? What's the punishment for swiping your mirror? What's the punishment for not even wearing a helmet? It's a dang white line nightmare!

Yes the seed oil is pretty bad but my god just go to the grocery stores. They can't stack enough sugary junk whether it's cola's, cookies, cakes, confections, cereals, chocolates, candies, creams, chocolate chips, cans of crap, etc.

I'm currently in Da Nang, Vietnam until mid June then back to Thailand. There's a lot less fat/obese people here in Da Nang. However, I can see the Vietnamese are starting to eat the same sugary junk that Thailand stocks in their stores(to the ceiling). I count about 1 in 20 Vietnamese being obese when I'm back in Bangkok or Pattaya I'll go to a store like 7/11 or Big C and usually 8-10 out of 20 are obese. Literally every day gets worse and worse.

I wish him well

There's currently a large scale effort to knock down the people who have been in power for the entirety of human history. Introducing gay/trans stuff is part of this hostile takeover and it's working.

Pattaya is no longer known for its sandy beaches, but for blood on its streets!

Razor blades?: I upgraded from regular Gillette Mach 3 to Gillette Mach 3 Sensitive as they are the best blades I've ever used. Not cheap, I usually buy through Lazada. Shaving cream?: Usually Gillette Foamy or Gel Sensitive.

Trump wants a new Air Force One NOW so this works out perfectly. God knows he deserves it.

Well, we're living in a world with over 8 billion people, adding 70 or 80 million people each year. It's possible the only driving force into the worlds future will be chaos and disaster.

That's what they want you to believe but the truth is American's let it happen without fighting back. Brits let it happen without fighting back. Germans let it happen without fighting back. Of course the corporations will pay the politicians to allow them to do their evil bidding the citizens should have risen up and stopped it but they became too complacent and weak.

Yes, I've said many times the 2008 housing crime was the official end of the U.S. and everything after is just people fighting over table scraps. But 2008 was the chickens coming home to roost. The U.S. was in decline for decades but the average citizen had no idea. A few people did have the foresight, like Carl Sagan(he nailed it) and comedian George Carlin(he was disgusted). There was a scene in the 1981 movie "My Dinner with Andre" when one guy gives a great speech that was very prescient about America and the rest of the world's decline. Check out "My Dinner With Andre: We Are Bored" clip on Youtube.

America has been on the decline since the 60's, which was the U.S's last great decade. And there's lot's of reasons, 10? 20? literally dozens and dozens. What's sad is the entire west is crumbling as well. Did the other western countries copy America's template for failure? It sure looks like it. Germany is taking the whole Eurozone down. London isn't even London anymore. Maybe countries like France, Spain, and Portugal are doing good idk. We're lucky the rest of the world is a mess, the next 10-20 years are going to be unprecedented in history and I have a prediction that the world population will go from 8 billion down to 3 or 4 billion by the end of the century. Heck, we might actually be in the best of times right now. The future might literally be hell on earth.

My right knee was giving me trouble for over a year PLUS I often had gout flareups in my big toe and my uric acid levels very high. Finally I completely cut chicken(high purine food)out of my diet and my knee problem went away. My point is diet can make a huge difference in your joints. Besides cutting out high purine foods maybe try intermittent fasting to see if the inflammation goes down. It's also not a bad idea to get a blood test to see if your uric acid levels are too high. Good luck!

Well, he either gets stuck in Thai prison or sent back to Darwin. Either way he loses.

My home base is in Thailand, this last week I flew to Da Nang for a 46 day visit. Da Nang is a few degrees cooler so that's a nice break all its own. It's true about no fake smiles. It does seem at least 20% cheaper. Much wider roads, less traffic, similar pollution. The beach walk in Da Nang is way bigger, better. It took awhile(last trip in March) but I found several nice restaurants that serve italian, greek, uzbek, western, etc. and the service is excellent. It's great to go back and forth between Thailand and Vietnam as each one has it's benefits/drawbacks. I recommend Bali as well to get away from the pollution.

Dusk.

Late night after 11PM: How about immediately after the last world cup on Soi Buakhao? Anybody remember that one?

I'm a night owl but in Thailand I feel it's a little too dangerous to be out past 11:00 PM.

Tats = Trash

I would eat at McDonalds but man I'm just grappling with uncertainty right now...and have been for over 15 years. Okay, I did eat some McnNuggets and fries on Sukhumvit a couple of years ago but I was drunk and hadn't eaten much that day. Other than that McNADA!

You're right there's a lot of tourism here in Vietnam nowadays, Viet probably 15-20 million compared to Thailand's 35-40 million. I've been here on short visits before but now I'm here on a 7 week rehab the weekends are pretty crowded/noisy but the rest of the week is pretty laid back. It will be interesting to see how crowded Thailand is when I get back in June, when I left last week it was still pretty packed.

Bingo, were not surrounded by a healthy bunch of well adjusted winners.

I can understand the Thais have been overwhelmed by too many millions of tourists. I think it's called "overshoot". I now see these huge mega condo buildings being built Im thinking it's going to get much worse. It's Asia, it's crowded at least there's a pulse of life instead of the soulless west but I think I can only do 4 - 5 months a year from here on out.

Yes I agree with you 100%. I used to visit Pattaya many times between 2007-2010 you could walk many of the main streets at night there would be just a handful of people probably 1/5 or 1/10 the amount of tourists there are now. no wonder the locals are testy. You're also right about Bangkok being much more than just a tourist destination. They at least have a lot of normal people with normal lives there.

I just arrived in Da Nang(my 3rd trip) from Bangkok a couple hours ago. I can see a big difference. It's not nearly as crowded nor overwhelming. The roads and side walks are wider and much easier to get around. Weather about six degrees cooler (for now) and it doesn't seem to have as much air pollution but maybe it's a different type, maybe worse. Da Nang is much more laid back, not amped up to 15 on a 10 scale. There are many tourists here but just the right amount so they're not completely overworked and jaded. In short it looks like moderation wins again.