Cameroni

Let's say the agent goes under, I guess I could just use one of the other agents if I had to extend/renew? I am in Chiang Mai but I applied in Pattaya.

In Chiang Mai if you crave Western bread, ie French Baguette, you are blessed with "L'Opera". They have bread better than in France. If you crave Burgers, "Rock Me Burger" has burgers better than America. Mix Restaurant next to One Nimman has awesome steak, but it costs of course. For quality Chinese Tolou delivers like in the West. At San Kamphaeng walking street on Saturday's you'll get a quality Chicken Doner from a Halal Muslim guy for 60 Baht. Churros too. Why Ribs make superb ribs in Chiang Mai. Rimping Chiang Mai sells good fresh Bagels if you get there on time. Mega Bangna in Bangkok has Shakeshack. Basically you can get anything in Thailand. Just a question of price.

So I followed the advice of the resident visa guru here and obtained a retirement visa. My initial euphoria was that everything was now sorted out. But is this really the case, what problems have you encountered with the retirement visa? I understand it has to be renewed, you have to do 90 days reporting and you need permission to leave and re-enter. I am also concerned if the agency I used goes under or disappears how that will affect things. Anyway, have you found any problems that surprised you with the retirement visa?

By all accounts many Greenlanders are welcoming their new American overlords already.

There would not be any fighting to speak of. Like in WWII Denmark would roll over with minimal resist ance, they surrendered in less than 6 hours then to the Germans. Against the US military the Danes would most likely not even put up any fight. The US already has a military base in Greenland, it just needs to enlarge its presence. There is nothing anyone could do to stop it. You seriously believing that Britain or France would fire missiles into the White House and thereby risk the total destruction of their countries to aid Denmark shows your brain is terminally divorced from reality. What did Britain and France do in the Ukraine war? Go in blazing on the Kremlin did they? No, they understood, as indeed did the US, that it is prudent not to risk your own nuclear destruction. As for your nonsense that imperialism is dead in 2025, maybe ask the people of the Donbass, Palestine, South Sudan or Muslim Mindanao what they think about that.

Actually that's exactly what happened with DeepSeek. It may be the case it has managed to cut costs and compute, but we do know that it is built at least in part on the shoulders of the giants: it uses Nvidia chips – albeit older, cheaper versions - and utilises Meta's open-source Llama architecture, as well as AliBaba's equivalent Qwen. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2jxvn0r51o They copied Meta's open source. And by all accounts DeepSeek is not as good as the US competition, for instance you can't ask it questions about Tiannamen Square. It censors itself when it comes to Chinese topics.

They need the resources as well of course. Also once the ice melts the US will have a better passage to Europe and Asia via this region, so there are plenty of reasons why the US would want this territory. It is clearly part of America if one looks at the map.

It's the path through Iceland and the UK, which the Russians could use to infiltrate the Atlantic. That's why the US has to control this pathway into the Atlantic.

The Chinese market has collapsed, Porsche has announced a 28% drop in sales in China.

Yes it was. Yah, we pretend Denmark, Luxembourg, Cayman Islands or Netherlands are countries on paper, but we all know they are not. Just tiny, insignificant provinces that failed to become real countries. It's best to ignore them really.

Because by size alone the US is a real country, add in the economic and military influence, there can be doubt that the US is a significant country. The same does not apply to Denmark.

It's just a way to get around. It's hardly space exploration, is it? It's basically the equivalent to making horse carriages in 1810.

A late comer, admittedly, and culturally somewhat deficient, however, one could hardly doubt the economic and military importance, size or influence of the USA. The USA is a real country. The same does not apply to Denmark, Montenegro or Luxembourg.

That would not work as well, as Britain is a dwarf economy compared to the US. It just does not have the clout of the US economy. And France does not depend on the UK market in the same way as Colombia depends on the US.

You forgot Cayman Islands, also a non-country. But basically yes, none of these are European countries. Examples of European countries would include: France Germany Spain Italy

Maybe not, like I said, Trump is being too soft. Talk about buying Greenland? Why? Just take it. America already has a military base in Greenland. Just enlarge it and make Greenland a defacto dependent state of the US. Denmark has nothing to say there anyway.

No, what I am saying is that to be a European country, the territory in question has to be of a certain size and economic importance. Denmark does not qualify. It is at best a quirky little Lego themepark, much like the Netherlands, Montenegro or Luxembourg. None of these are real countries. They are historical accidents. Provinces that didn't make it.

Indeed the US has outsourced its menial tasks to other nations, for instance making cars. The Germans have to make the cars for the US, and they know they need the US market. Without the US market Mercedes, Porsche, BMW and Volkswagen would go bankrupt tomorrow. The US can do this because the rest of the world is financing its economy with loans. The US benefits from the trade deficits and European nations being addicted to US debt papers. Why Do Europeans buy American IOUs? Because of the interest rate that is guaranteed as America is the last rock solid economy on earth. The power of the US economy is awesome in the truest sense of the word. Hence, Trump could just influence Denmark into doing whatever the US wants with tariffs.

Firstly Denmark is not a European "country". It's a non-country. A province of Northern Germany really. Denrmark is not a real country. Much like a Falabella pony is not really a horse. It has no army to speak of and could resist America about as much Chanthaburi province. America should just take Greenland outright.

The US already has military bases in Greenland and de-facto control of Greenland. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwy3y8l8nwlo It's unlikely the US would need to invade formally. Trump could just impose massive tariffs on Danish and other European products, so Denmark would effectively give Trump an excuse to do what he wanted to do anyway, As Trump knows, a large number of Danish and EU companies have already started building factories in the US, precisely to pre-empt penalties as a result of massive US tariffs. More jobs for Americans. Trump really is an utter genius.

It's not Thailand according to this article. https://medium.com/@the_scrapbookers/the-reality-of-burning-season-in-thailand-laos-and-the-rest-of-south-east-asia-217c9bc3dacf

The continued burning in Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia would indeed continue to degrade air quality during burning season. So given the fact that Thailand's enforcement would be expensive, but would not result in the removal of the burning season issue by any stretch of the imagination it is in fact rational for Thailand to minimise the cost of enforcement. Why waste resources on a problem which Thailand cannot solve alone? It would be stupid for Thais to expend great cost in eliminating burning on their territory whilst Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar merrily burn away, and continue to cause the issue we have every year.

The United States is richer than God. It can not only sustain a military operation, it has done so dozens of times in the past and continued to prosper. To defeat a tiny province like Denmark would be almost negligible in terms of cost. In fact much like in WWII Denmark would probably roll over without a fight,. Mexico has a rich culture which does not fit the American mould, Greenland has none of that. It would be a perfect territory to annex. You don't seriously believe Britain or France would oppose the US, neither of those countries would risk nuclear destruction over Denmark. Denmark would make America bleed? Maybe like a mosquito makes you bleed. The US should just take Greenland. Why not do it?

He does not. The US do not need to pay Denmark a penny. The US can simply take Greenland by military force. Nothing could stop the US from doing so, certainly not a non-country like Denmark, a German province at best. Why anyone should pander to the sensibilities of Danes is anyone's guess. Trump is being far too soft, he should just annex Greenland by military force. Why squander money on Denmark?

Why get upset about it? Even if Thailand had 100% enforcement, the burning from Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar would still ensure the burning season would make the air quality worse. Thailand cannot stop the burning issue alone.