Drumbuie

"ad-libs" is a kind way of saying "rambles like a confused old person". As his own niece says, dementia runs in the Trump family and it's pretty clear the Donald is in its clutches. Faced with an intelligent ( you don't get two university degrees, let alone to be AG of CA if you're not bright), effective, younger female opponent, Trump, who got where he is with inherited money ( most of which he's lost - the Trump 'empire' is in serious financial difficulties) and the backing of people-hating eugenicists like Peter Thiel, is floundering. And now Walz, who didn't have bone spurs, and is a family man - just the one wife, who isn't an Eastern European 'model', and was that embodiment of Middle America, a football coach, is on the Harris ticket. While Trump chose creepy stalker JD Vance who hates women. No wonder Harris/Walz is enthusing younger Americans and getting out the vote. Who needs another geriatric?

As many others have said already, yes, just pop into your bank and update the passport number. But I'd add that it never hurts to keep a photo of both your old passport and your new passport on your phone, plus all pages with relevant stamps. Costs nothing - you never know when it might come in handy. (You have of course at least a 6 digit lock code on your phone and 2FA on all your accounts).

If you live in BKK, download the BKK Rail app, Viabus for (duh) buses, learn where the canal boat bus piers are, and hook up a Grab account to your Thai bank account. Use the trains whenever you can ( you need a Rabbit card, an MRT card and an ARL card, then load them up) and a Grab when you can't. And the canal boats when you have time - 20 baht maximum fare :)) You'll see much more of Bangkok and its people, and possibly breathe less diesel fumes. Plus you'll get a little exercise. A lot of shops deliver ( Villa, Makro) or you can use GrabMart for bulky stuff. Your kids will enjoy travel much more than being stuck in the back of a car in an almost permanent traffic jam, glued to an iPad.

Evidently you haven't seen the refugee camps by the Myanmar border and can't distinguish people from Myanmar from Thais. My maid is a refugee from Myanmar. So are the three manicurists at the end of the road, and their brother, and most of the people who sweep the streets in this mu baan. The difference is that Thailand lets them in with very little fuss and allows them to work.

What complete and utter b*ll*cks. The reason men are having to look beyond their own backyards is the changed gender balance in society. Historically there tended to be a surplus of women due to the effects of war, disease and the inherent weakness of male infants. Thanks to improvement in ante and postnatal care of infants and the automation of warfare, there now is a surplus of males in most age groups in US and European societies. So men, not women, have to compete for available females, and women can pick and choose.

Predictable response by most posters so far. You don't live in the UK any more but you believe all the racist trash the Murdoch press and the Mail are shovelling out, following the Josef Goebbels playbook. This time it's Muslims, not Jews, that's the only difference. It's not Muslims who increased homelessness and unemployment, it's the greed of venture capitalism, enabled by 14 years of toxic Tories.

Could this be an example of media astroturfing? To put it mildly, it lacks the cold clear ring of truth.

People, we are all immigrants in this country - and judging by posts I've read here over the last few years, many if you are "economic migrants" taking advantage of the lower cost of living. Check out how your own country treats immigrants and, in particular , economic migrants, before complaining about Thailand.

And you don't know how to spell English, let alone the finer points of constitutional politics.

It was life in Oldham.

30th on a list of 60 means (ha!) that Bangkok is at the median point, but not necessarily average.

https://www.globalcitizensolutions.com/vanuatu-passport/ Yes it does. But you have to invest $130,000.

I think everyone was already aware of the possibility of cyber warfare, actually ...

All train-related questions can be answered by consulting either Richard Barrow's ThaiTrainGuide.com ( and he has an Asian Train Guide too) or TheManInSeat61.com Train travel in Thailand takes a lot longer but the experience is unforgettable ( ....as the actress said to the bishop)

For those of us who like the adventure of train travel, speed is not the thing at all. You can drive from Bangkok to Ayutthaya in an hour and It's meh, just another hour in a car - but the train journey, which takes ages, is unforgettable.

You guys who've never found yourself pregnant, have never given birth to a baby, alive or dead, have never endured a miscarriage - you have no idea what that poor girl has just been through - so stfu, please.

And the Russian dude's surprisingly relaxed body language tends to suggest this isn't the first time he's had a gun pointed at him at very close range.

He destroyed his credibility years ago by a) appearing on reality TV and b) doing so in a pink catsuit. ( My eyes! My eyes! )

As an elderly woman, I can assure you they absolutely wouldn't, though they might laugh. However, flashers are *not* a joke. Today's flasher is often tomorrow's rapist or even murderer. https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/195-flashers-went-rape-pervs-25452058

I'm relatively new around here but the thought strikes me that Immigration's digitisation process, now pretty advanced at CW, must be freeing up staff time....so now they can turn their attention to other things. Like making sure people really are financially sound and not just using a dodgy visa agent?

...and those who have no understanding of probabilities. Once, long ago, I ran a flower stall in Covent Garden ( Eliza Doolittle in reverse) next to a betting shop. It didn't take long to realise that the only person who left with a cheery smile on his face every single day was the owner. The house always wins. Gambling is a mug's game.

Engage your brain and read it again. The *caption* not the photo.

I'm guessing you have first hand experience .....but not recent. These days in the UK, prisons are overcrowded, staff numbers are low and prisoners may be locked in 24 hrs a day. https://news.sky.com/story/emergency-measure-triggered-to-deal-with-prison-overcrowding-in-england-13136155

In a year, the duty free shops allegedly sold goods worth 3 billion baht. The duty on those goods would have been less than 3 billion even if they were all luxury items with 30% duty plus 7% VAT. Are there no actual journalists left?

Golly, when's the last time you travelled with a woman? In my family that would only count as a medium-sized suitcase.