TroubleandGrumpy

I am not betting the house on it either. More hope than plan. I agree with your comment about MSoft drive towards all encompassing one drive. That is their plan - and although people can opt out now, there is no guarantee they will be able to do so in the future. We use iPhones and iPads - they are all linked together and they all sync using iCloud. The problem was random slow downs and network issues. After doing a bit of research I found that if we disconnect iCloud the phones and pads worked much better. So now we only 'login' when wanting a new App, or to backup the phones/pads, or to update - and then we turn off iCloud again and log out. But in the future I am sure Apple will force sign-in to use the phones/pads and iCloud will be mandated - for 'security' of course - if they can get away with it. But the real reason MSoft and Apple and Google are moving this way is to be able to sell our collective information. MSoft and Apple are way behind Google in terms of making money from 'marketing information' and they are desperate to catch up and get their share.

ROFLOL - mate - you have completely misread the statement - because it hit a nerve me thinks. Bloke said 'they dont tolerate gays' - referring to the Muslims. I said 'The Thai military and many Royalists also dont tolerate them too." Yes - Overall the Thai Military do not tolerate gays. Yes - many Royalists do not tolerate gays. MANY ROYLISTS does not mean what you think was my CONCEPT. It means the extremely conservative pro-Monarchy people. BUT - perhaps I used the word tolerate in a manner that was not what you think. I meant tolerate as in being OK to have it happen, but not happy about it - like when tolerating' something that is annoying and unacceptable - not as in being accepting, open and welcoming.

Settings - Windows Update - look for advice if compatible with Win11 or option to test. I am going to wait and see if MSoft is pushed to back down on forcing millions of people to buy a new device because they decided to remove Win10 updates only 5 years after terminating Win7. What is next - we will have to buy a new laptop every 2-3 years?? I dont use my 'main' laptop for anything dubious - it is purely for only banking buying and emails etc. I have a second laptop on Win7 which I use for all other stuff and I dont give a rat's rear if it gets 'poisoned'. I can wipe the PC and then reinstall Win7 - have I have been doing that for many years - and have only had to do it once. By the way - when that happened I tested every virus scanner and software available - got the business to pay for them all. The only scanning software that detected and removed the virus was ......... believe it or not ............... Microsoft. The whole industry is a bit of a scam - that want people scared so they will buy their products and services. These days it is businesses/departments and phones that are the target for hackers trying to steal money or force ransoms. Much easier to steal or hack a phone or convince someone to click a link on a phone in social media and emails.

Nothing can do that mate - they are 'lost in the woods' with people like Greta and Harris - and will soon be like Biden.

I am going to wait and see what happens. I believe that almost 40% of computers have Win10 and a large number of them are not compatible with Win11 (like mine). I think consumer regulation organisations will push for MSoft to be stopped in forcing Users to either buy a new computer or pay a fee for security upgrades. Whilst they were able to do this for Win7, the reality is that they canned Win7 only 5 years ago, and less than 7% of Users still used that OS. I think they will be forced to either lower their annual fee drastically, or make it free for 5 years - which means it will be 10 years since Win7 was canned (2020). I dont think they will be allowed to force customers to buy a new OS and/or Computer every 5 years.

Back up again now - severe 'technical problem'. Might have been an attack?

From what I have seen and read, he was THE main reason the boys were able to be rescued. Both due to his knowledge of the caves, and his willingness to get in there and help, but also by convincing the Thai Authorities to bring in the British Cave Divers. Sad that the Thai authorities still tried to do it themselves anyway, and got one of their own killed. As we all know Thais in authority do not easily accept being told what to do - especially by a non-Thai. That Vernon was able to get that done is the main reason the boys and coach were able to get out alive. True Hero. As is the men who went in there in the last stage and brought them all out alive. The World was watching and 100s of millions of people were aware of what was happening - it was a great day for all mankind when they got out.

Here we go - TAT is already polishing the t*rd as the inevitable high season starts. Recently there has been Chinese holidays, and a major Indian religious festival as well. But we all know the truth - the visa free entry has attracted the short stay charlie cheapies - the 'high value' 'western' tourists (includes Japan, Korea) are just not coming as much as they did. The High Baht and Poor Safety and The Scams and Poor Infrastructure have all combined to make Thailand a less desirable place to visit. When you add all the bureaucratic BS like 90 days and the threat of income taxes, with SFA in the way of benefits like Residency, Thailand is also not the desirable location for 'western' Retirees anymore either. From USA it is not even in the Top 10 anymore.

Many people said AN is the most popular forum because it is the only one (really). It looks like the Thaiger Talk Expat Forum has been closed - 404 for last 12 hours. But perhaps it is just a fault/crash - no statements made by Thaiger. Google AI states that closure was being considered recently due to low engagement - and the fact that they own AN. But no definitive statements or news stories (yet?).

Tooke me 2 minutes - lots more I recall in the media. LGBTQ rights in Thailand - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBTQ_rights_in_Thailand

Touchy Touchy me thinks. I never said that - read posts again mate.

I think he was detained because he was at the airport and when he presented his Passport the 'notice' was triggered. Perhaps it was because he was going to China - maybe if he was going to Australia he would have been 'let go'.

Unfortunately you are correct. The remaining left wing woke Governments world wide are doubling down on shutting down People who do not accept their 'directives' or beliefs. But the political pendulum will swing back - like in USA Argentina and many other countries - and these draconian (na*i like) measures they are implementing will only make the backlash at the polls even stronger.

Silly monkeys never listen - they dont have the ability.

The Thai military and many Royalists also dont tolerate them too.

Well said mate - nail on the head hit. IMO a major part of what happened is because of what happened following the MERS and SARS outbreaks. After those two virus outbreaks, the USA and most countries worked with the UN (WHO) to implement a series of international protocols to deal with what would happen if/when a MERS or SARS outbreak occurred on a global scale. The death rate of MERS and SARS, the previous coronavirus outbreaks, was between 20-40%. But those outbreaks were isolated geographically because if did not spread easily. When Covid first hit it was identified as a Coronavirus and they panicked and declared a Pandemic and implemented all those protocols. Part of those protocols was the shut down of any 'disinformation' that would stop People from following the Government's directives. That was the beginning of the problems - first that they developed a global protocol - and second that they pressed the panic button. Once that button was pressed, things were implemented under those protocols. Of note was that even when it became clear that the mortality rate was nowhere near SARS or MERS, they refused to stop. Bureaucracies never easily give up power and control in doing what they are doing - so they continued to plough on forward despite the growing concerns being raised - shutting them down as 'disinformation'. In hindsight it is clear fairly quickly that it was not a MERS/SARS type virus that was going to kill 50-100 million people. Because it was 'made' (or evolved if you think that) using the standard a bad flu structures as a base, it did what was flu viruses do - mutated and weakened its mortality rate so that it can spread far and wide. MERS and SARS did not do that - they either killed or made the hosts very sick, and they were not very contagious (unlike a flu), and therefore they died out. IMO all the things done wrong, were directly because of the UN (WHO) International Protocols that were signed on to by most countries. Trump withdrew from the WHO in 2020 because of what happened, and as of this date the USA is not a member of WHO. IMO every country should make their own plans and implement them themselves for any serious disease or epidemic. There is no way the UN should be telling countries how to deal with any such outbreak - there is no 'one size fits all' solution to anything.

That wins the award for the silliest post on this issue - and the most ignorant. Did you know that Semmelweis, Wegener, Halley, Newton and Einstein (and a lot more people in history) were all rubbished and attacked for their proposals - because they went against the 'official narrative' of the day. Have you been so deluded by your 'schooling' that you think that we all of a sudden know and understand everything. Do you not realise that not anything the Government and Authorities state is true? The truth is quite the opposite in the majority of cases - especially these days with all the vested interests involved - but over time they will change and the truth will out. Newton was eventually accepted over Plato/Socrates/Euclid etc. and was then seen as the correct 'science' for almost 200 years - and that is why the establishment were locked into believing them - and why they later denied Einstein's theories. But over time Newton was proven to be correct, and since then Einstein has been proven to be correct again and again. Einstein's theories will remain the 'correct science' until another set of theories and science changes that - which will be denied and attacked at first of course. When the Government gets involved in deciding what is correct science and what is not - they inevitably support the status quo - even more so when the status quo has them under their 'influence'. Of note on this subject is that Newton wrote a lot more about Christianity and God than he did about Science. In fact he was severely attacked by the Catholic Churches of Europe for proposing that the Trinity was a corrupted addition to the original Christian Bible - and if he was not living in England he would have been arrested and put on trial. His theory that the Earth's rotation was not 'perfect', and that many of the other beliefs of the Church were false, made him some very powerful enemies who saw such revelations as weakening their cause and influence. The Church is not as powerful as it once was - they have been replaced under Democracy by the Government Bureaucracies (CDC, FDA, etc) and Mandarins (like Fauci). Just like the Church, they believe that what they think and believe is correct (according to their teachings and scriptures) and that the People must be forced to accept and comply. Is this ringing any bells??

Fair enough - up to you. But my experience visiting there some years ago was that it was very good and I was treated well. Mind you I was not starving and trying to get some food in a Mosque. They are not as friendly and open minded as Thais - but I was not living there full-time. However, I note that the story is about tourists and the attractions of visiting - not about living there full-time. I chose to retire to Thailand - not Malaysia - but as a place to visit it is just fine (and better today I am led to believe).

What a total and utter load of khrapp - From the John Hopkins website - QUOTE A typical vaccine development timeline takes 5 to 10 years, and sometimes longer, to assess whether the vaccine is safe and efficacious in clinical trials, complete the regulatory approval processes, and manufacture sufficient quantity of vaccine doses for widespread distribution. Vaccine Research & Development - Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/vaccines/timeline From another website - QUOTE The average length of clinical trials for vaccines is five to ten years, enabling the study to go through all of the clinical trial phases. This allows time for scientists to determine whether the vaccine is safe and effective, gain regulatory approval, and manufacture the vaccine for distribution. How Long Are Clinical Trials For Vaccines? https://www.allclinicaltrials.com/blog/how-long-are-vaccine-clinical-trials The TRUTH is that the Covid vaccines were 'tested' over 4-6 months - they were technically tested - but they were NOT tested thoroughly as in all previous vaccines. There one clinical trial and no one immediately died or showed severe negative responses. Because of the declared pandemic AND no other approved treatment, Pharma was approved to go ahead and manufacture the new Covid vaccines. When a new vaccine is developed from a lab (which often takes years) it then must go through multiple rounds of testing - animal testing, followed by many rounds of clinical trials to ensure the vaccine is both safe and effective. This DID NOT happen for Covid vaccines - especially the new mRNA ones. If you want to know the truth, you need to look beyond the BS. Read this website below and you will see the truth about how new vaccines are developed and tested - it is very complex and takes years. Phases Of Clinical Trials: Clinical Trial Phases Explained https://www.allclinicaltrials.com/blog/phases-of-clinical-trials While some people are claiming they were not tested, that is not true. But they were NOT subjected to the same level of testing and clinical trials that all previous vaccines underwent. It was rushed and clearly not done properly - and Pharma was given legal protections to do it. IMO it is not Pharma that people should be chasing - it is the Government Authorities that pushed them to do it, and who approved them to do it, and who then commenced a propaganda campaign of fear and BS, and enacted Laws and Rules to try and force people to take those vaccines. They are all running and hiding because they know those decisions were NOT based on 'real' science - 4-6 months of rushed and BS trials was not an acceptable method for approval. And there was no efficacy testing - that was done during the rollout - and the results were not that good - the vaccines did not stop transmission or infection or re-infection.

I agree that would be the best outcome - deported back to Australia where 'media' laws permit people to make such negative comments freely. If he is released, then other non-Citizens of Thailand committing a breach of Malaysia's defamation laws, will claim 'transnational repression' and get to stay in Thailand. Then Thailand will not be able expect other SEAsian countries to enforce their warrants for same reasons. Malaysia followed their Laws - he was tried in absentia and found guilty and an arrest 'warrant' issued. Thailand complied with that warrant/arrest order. IMO if he still has his Passport and can leave, then he should do so and return to Australia where the warrant/arrest order would be ignored. He should not expect to be able to break the Laws of an ASEAN country and be 'immune' in Thailand.

5 times actually - but they are not 'Arabic Muslims'. Just like the Muslims in Thailand, the vast majority are peaceful and friendly, and they tolerate western people a lot better than they do in most Arabic countries. Many easily accessible Bars and Bars Girls? Not.

Whatever happens going forward, I will never have another MRNA vaccine - never. It is my view that proven vaccines made using proven and safe techniques are OK - Pathogen based vaccines like used for small pox and rabies. I would also be happy to take Viral Vector vaccines which have been around since 1970s and have a proven history of efficacy and safety - but they are complex and expensive to make. MRNA are a cheaper and quicker way to make vaccines - hence their use for Covid - but they are IMO unproven for safety or efficacy.

And we all never will know. The legal immunities that Pharma were given to side-step the standard vaccine testing and approval processes (for safety and efficacy) ensure that Pharma is 'protected' and such information is neither investigated nor reported. Putting politics aside, Trump's Office has been trying to get this all done and the information provided to the Public, but they are being 'blocked' in many ways - and I doubt they or anyone else can make it happen.

Yes I would accept that there are a few who live full time as a retiree in Phuket - not so much someone in Pattaya claiming to be one, and who knows little about financial management issues and how the rules vary from country to country.

You jumped on to a question I asked of someone else not you. Unlike some others (and like some you are overreacting to my negative reasons why I am not applying for an LTR at this time.