Foxx

I don't pretend to understand your technical terms. However, I'm pretty sure that the pilings for the house go down to the bedrock which is about 25 metres down. (The house has stayed in the same place, but the drive has collapsed, and been replaced twice. The kitchen extension subsided, but I had it micropiled to bring it up to the same level.) The actual base of the house appears rock solid. No significant cracks in wall or floor - just a few in the cement render on the outside of the house, which is inflexible anyway. Oh, and yes, column and beam construction. Thanks for the advice.

Thaksin's brilliance is wasted on a country like Thailand. He should go to the United States and help them eliminate their national debt. Should be trivial for him to get rid of the US$36 trillion the state owes.

I have absolutely no idea how the land was prepared. The house is part of a moobaan built by a well known developer. Every house in the development has the same issue.

I need a US will to cover my American assets. I approached law firms in Bangkok that claimed to have US expertise. However, only one gave me a quote which, at 96,300 baht (almost US$ 3,000) I think is outrageous. I then emailed three attorneys in the US who claimed to have expertise in wills and probate. That was a month ago. Not one replied. No idea why. Has anyone managed to set up a US will from Bangkok? And if so, how did you do it? Thanks p.s. I have looked into various will templates on the Internet. They aren’t a good fit with what I want to do.

My house has been built on sandy ground. The ground level has fallen 20-30 cm exposing the bases of the walls, and created cavities under the house, some of which are large enough to hide a dead body. A cobra has taken up residence in one, which is not ideal. Anyway, I was wondering what was the best way to deal with this problem. AFAIK, there are two approaches, (1) embedding vertical slabs around the edge of the house, and (2) injecting stabilising cement under the house. What are the pros and cons of each approach? Is there a better way to deal with the problem? Thanks

Stephff's take on this:

Irrelevant. See https://www.gov.uk/guidance/confirm-youre-free-to-get-married-in-thailand#:~:text=Same sex marriages,outlines the procedures. which explicitly states that the Embassy in Bangkok will currently *not* provide the necessary documentation. (I have also emailed them about this and they have confirmed they are refusing to facilitate provision of the affirmation.)

It currently refuses to issue the affirmation for gay individuals. It will issue it for straights.

The British Embassy in Bangkok will not register marriages at all. The paperwork is the "affirmation of freedom to marry" required to marry at a district office (after it's been translated into Thai and the translation has been affirmed by the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

I disagree. Thailand can offer luxury. There are plenty of 5* hotels which offer world quality service - not just in Bangkok (Mandarin Oriental, SIam Kempinski, Capella, Four Seasons, etc.), but also in Phuket (Anantara, Amanpuri), Phuket (Four Seasons), Hua Hin (Chivasom), Chiang Mai (Aleenta Retreat), Phang Nga (Six Senses), Samui (Banyan Tree). There are loads of others, but I hope I've made my point. As for fine dining restaurants, they most certainly aren't a joke. Last year I had excellent food and service at Blue, Le Normandie, IGNIV, Maison Dunand, Savelberg and Sühring. Some might say not cheap, but compared with similar quality establishments in the occident, they are great value for money too.

That would cause problems for all the missionaries who want to bring the "word of god" to benighted pagan communities. Surely it would be wrong to deprive the natives of the chance of eternal salvation.

Many have banned the use of animals for cosmetic testing, including the EU and the UK. However, experimentation to advance medical knowledge is practised in all developed countries AFAIK.

There is no requirement for Anutin to sign anything. The bill has received royal assent and has been published in the Gazette. It automatically passes into law after the appropriate waiting period.

Not true. Only some. The British Embassy is refusing to issue the necessary paperwork for British citizens to register their marriage. It's currently unclear when they will do so. It's an absolute disgrace.

Yes. 100%. Animal experiments are required to advance scientific knowledge, and animal testing is required to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of potential treatments. I don't regard human and rodent lives to be of equal value.

Humanity would also do well to reflect upon the amazing scientific advances that have come from such treatment.

This sort of report is usually very inaccurate. Whilst tests may have used "pigs, rabbits, monkeys, guinea pigs, and mice", almost all will have been done on cheaper animals. (Monkeys in particular are very expensive.) And why the fuss about mice dying when probably most people would be happy to lay a trap to kill mice invading their own house. Of course, if PETA objects so strongly, would their members be willing to be the subjects of this important research? I rather suspect not.

Stir frying or deep fat frying?

This is a parody of

Contact TM themselves. https://th.tm.org/ The normal process is to attend an information session first before being assigned a teacher. Beware, however, that TM is not non-religious. For example, the mantra one is assigned praises a Hindu deity. In my case, this was a variant of Lakshmi. You are not told this. The movement also has some ridiculous ideas, for example, by paying a lot of money you can learn to fly seated in the lotus position, or learn to become invisible (the so called "sidhis"). Finally, it's very expensive. In the end it's a mantra japa technique - nothing special. There's a website of old documents relating to TM created by people who've escaped the cult. It's probably worth a read if you're serious. https://minet.org/

Simply not true. For example, Jan 2000 - US$284 Jan 2010 - US$1078 (more than double) Jan 2020 - US$1580 (not down)

Under jackfruit trees, I presume. (The English subtitles are inaccurate.)

Was it really the case that King Power stopped selling alcohol on these days? And did the various lounges stop providing alcohol to business and first class passengers?

Stupid people. Don't they know that in Britain curtains go on the inside of the window - not the outside. Perhaps they're immigrants and not familiar with our traditions?

When I included a link to the Daily Telegraph in a post the link was stripped. Why? Are links to the Daily Telegraph banned? The original post is at https://aseannow.com/topic/1347173-the-unheeded-warnings-how-mass-immigration-is-reshaping-europe/#findComment-19472407