sidneybear

She's being shaped into Thailand's version of Jacinda Ardern. Young female leaders are favoured by the western media.

Probably not in your local pharmacy. Sodium cyanide is an industrial chemical, so not hard to get hold of.

You're confusing liberalism with conservatism.

In Eastern England, I used to live not far from Sizewell, and several US air bases which were targets in the Cold War, and was never worried. Our chances of dying in other ways are so very much higher. The prices of building and operating them are coming down too, with modern modular designs. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_modular_reactor#:~:text=Small modular reactors (SMRs) are,operated at a separate site.

I'm not sure that's still the case, looking at some of the western millennial loafers.

Right. Many are up to their eyeballs in debt. Mind you, easy credit has been a problem globally for the past few years.

That's true in some cases, particularly for westernised Bangkok middle class. I still know of a lot of young folk who live with their relatives though, and outside Bangkok it's widespread.

Thaksin's clique remind me of the Clintons: nepotism at its most extreme. Thaksin knows he won't have long, so he'll surround himself with people who will do his bidding, i.e., raking in as much as possible, rather than offering different views and insights that might benefit the country. I suppose he's a businessman first and foremost, so we shouldn't be surprised. While we're on the Clintons, many of Thaksin's supporters remind me of Hillary Clinton: those many who disagree or hold alternative views on what might be best for Thailand are jeered at as if they were "a basket of deplorables". Politics is so very divisive these days. I can see why people like Thaksin - I used to myself because I looked at him through the lens of my western culture. But then I realised what a degenerate, soulless, and culturally barren dump the west had become, so I concluded that Thailand's conservative approach to keeping its house in order is actually a superior one.

I couldn't have put it better myself. A lot of people here seem to believe that Thai society has radically changed, but I think they'll be disappointed. The Charter Court has fired the first shot, in a process that's been well rehearsed in the past. The military and judiciary, as usual, are holding all the aces and will play them one after the other.

You've got me there, but I imagine it's crude ????

Fuel is usually bought on futures contract, meaning that falls in price may take a while to filter through the system. Of course, energy companies apply price increases faster than they apply reductions, a practice that shouldn't be allowed.

We're supposed to think what the corporate media tells us to think. Groupthink is the order of the day.

Each to his own, I reckon. Some people like a quiet life, others need change.

She looks a bit scary, if you ask me. I like finer features.

It's the same everywhere. As it says in the article, the Ukraine war has caused large increases in fuel prices, which are set internationally. Perhaps Thailand should build nuclear power stations? ????

People (myself included) have been saying through the years that governments will never be ejected again, and it's different this time, so I wouldn't bet on that. Already, there has been a complaint raised against Thaksin's lot in the constitutional court, so as I've said elsewhere, stock up on popcorn. This movie does have rather a predictable happy ending though.

It all comes down to either: skills, which get you a work permit and a path to PR and citizenship, or wedge, which gets you visa renewals for marriage, family or retirement. Lots of wedge gets you an elite visa for very long stays.

You EV riders surely are the only grown ups around, that's for sure. You're virtuous folks, righteously saving the planet, suffering as you are with all that inconvenience waiting hours for a recharge, so you rightly expect that we should love you for that. We'll done.

And what mobile washing machine could ever beat this:

Yes, well, you were boasting about performance a while back my friend, saying that your horsepowers were bigger than mine, and all that bravado. Have you ever experienced the raw joy of a screaming 165 hp 1100 cc ICE mounted on a 250 kg motorcycle? Have you ever heard that whine of an inline four at low revs transform into a gutteral roar as you watch everything disappear in your rear view mirrors, dancing in and out of the traffic? Those lumbering and overweight EVs do sound totally pedestrian when we compare, but please do enjoy that boring washing machine hum in the meantime. For a car, 270 hp is plenty. Cars are utilitarian, keeping the rain off and transporting the family. It's nice to have one that got reasonable performance like mine has, but no need for anything more. https://youtu.be/vkVLD1Zgg4w

People aren't buying into the con. Come back in 20 years, once battery technology has caught up with practicality. Those damn laws of physics (electrochemistry department) might get in the way though: https://thebulletin.org/2009/01/the-limits-of-energy-storage-technology/ Meanwhile, there's always petrol, packed with 46 Megajoules of energy per kilogram. Lithium batteries? A measly 2MJ/kg, even the best ones, which is why EVs are soo heavy and dangerous in an accident.

A friend of mine was fired by BUPA when he turned 70. They also had the cheek to offer his younger wife a renewal. Self insurance is the only sure fire way. Glitzy hospitals are worth avoiding for the reason you mentioned, and make sure you get second opinions and quotes on anything substantial.

Solar? Doesn't the sun's energy only amount to 1200 Watts per square metre of the earth's surface, in clear skies, when it's directly overhead? Solar panels aren't 100% efficient, and the sun is seldom overhead because trigonometry comes into play. How many years do your batteries take to charge?

I did have an Honda Blackbird CBR 1100 XX bike a few years ago that would leave that behind. The roar of its engine. Ahhhh, bliss. It could do walking pace to 200 kmh in the same gear and topped put at close to 300 kmh. People I know with EVs like them, but only as a second car to their ICE one. That kind of tells me something.

Well at least I've still got my licence. Anyway, I love the sound of a piston engine. Mobile washing machines that leave you stranded don't match up. Oh, and don't turn the aircon up too much or you'll lose that vital percentage of range that would have got you to the next broken charging station.