WDSmart

Tipping in Thailand used not to be expected. Now, especially in fancy restaurants in large cities, it probably is. I usually tip. When I do, I leave between 10% and 20%.

I do this for my Thai wife, even though my bank account is only in my name, which Immigration requires to use it to get one-year stay extensions. I give her the right to withdraw money from it over the counter at the bank. To do this, you have to have their signature recorded on your account. At least this works for my savings account at Krungthai (Ayudhya) Bank.

The right, which is indeed "anti-woke," has no principles. The only thing they care about is ME, ME, ME. 😞

None. Life has no purpose, nor does anything else. Any purpose we assign to anything is just a product of our intellect, not something innate.

This is, of course, extremely regrettable. Going backwards always is. My home country, the USA, is doing this also. I hope it's just a temporary adverse reaction to change, in this case, being "woke," a positive change.

If what you say above is true, where, then do men go to find changing rooms or toilets? 😮

Good! That's what I thought I said in my original post on this forum. When you say refer to "rules" above, I assume you're only referring to the rules of the London Marathon, right?

Did you even read the headline of the story ? Did you not read it or did you read it and not understand it ? I did read the headline but not the entire article. I thought I understood it. I thought it meant that the London Marathon will admit trans people in spite of a recent UK Supreme Court Ruling declaring there on only two, distinct genders: male and female. Is my understanding wrong on either of these?

Actually, did she bring the snake treatment? I'm not sure what you're asking above. Did you mean "...bring the snake in FOR treatment"? Or did you mean "...did she bring the snake in to assist in her own treatment?" Either way, she killed the snake, so she was the more deadly of the two.

Woke

Good! I'm glad to see this. It's time we started including trans people in our activities. This doesn't mean we have to include trans women or trans men in women's or men's sports. What I mean it quit denying that these people exist, or have the right to exist.

I like this a lot better than sending satellites out into space. Radio waves are not litter.

No, now in the UK, the legal definition of a woman/man is NOT based on "biological sex." It's based on a legal mandate. My prediction is that the legal definition will be changed in the future. Some people are not born primarily male or female. Some have mixed chromosomes, will later develop mixed hormones, and a very few are even born with mixed genitalia. Trans people do not flip back and forth between claiming to be male and then female. They think long and hard about this before they come to a conclusion. They know how controversial (and dangerous!) such a declaration will be. I'm not suggesting trans females should be allowed to participate in women's sports, or trans males in men's sports. What I'm suggesting is that trans people should not be ignored and treated as if it's just some whim of theirs. Many of them have a very solid BIOLOGICAL basis for their claims, even if now, in the UK, they have no LEGAL basis.

Yes! It's been very hot the last several days up here near Phetabun. I play golf twice a week, and yesterday it was a very, very hot walk. Even the Thai women caddies kept remarking on how hot it was! (Wanted higher tips? 😄 )

So, who was more deadly, the Thai woman or the snake? 😞

I've very rarely heard any Thais making a joke, but I don't know if that's because they have no sense of humor or if it's because either they aren't confident of the English they speak, or they aren't confident of my ability to understand their Thai.

Of course, I'm in favor of Harvard, but it's good to hear they tried to reach some kind of compromise before they completely rejected his demands. That's the way these things should work: not rejecting proposals out of hand or immediately giving in to them.

A "bar brawl" in Pattaya? Who would have thought? 😮

The UK Supreme Court's ruling that "...the legal definition of a woman is based on biological sex" is incorrect. Biological sex is not just two distinct genders; it is a range of gender qualities. Their ruling should be labeled as based on "legislatively defined sex." 🤨

I'm against any efforts like this. But if the UK does do this, they should make sure that whatever they do affects only the UK, not the rest of the world. They have no right to affect the sunlight in other countries. 😡

I'm not a constitutional lawyer, but I would think closing a border would have to be done by an act of Congress, not the President. I could believe the President could close a border temporarily in an emergency, but I think it would have to be an emergency like a military invasion or a health crisis. I hope this doesn't last very long, or the price of a lot of agricultural items, like fruits and vegetables, will skyrocket without the help of low-cost workers.

"Thais use the word “farang” to describe or reference white-skinned foreigners. In Thai the word is spelt ฝรั่ง. It is a contraction of the Thai word for French/France, ‘ farangset ‘, which dates back to French Indochina in the 17th Century." Source: What Does 'Farang' Mean in Thai & Should I Be Offended?

In this case, "resident" is an official designation, not just a term for where you usually live. If Thailand is your country of residency, then you are here on a resident visa or are a citizen of Thailand. If you are not a citizen of Thailand and are here on a non-resident visa, then your residency is somewhere else.

Good for them! I heartedly approve and hope more universities and businesses will join them.

I wasn't able to post on the forum regarding the Pope's death. It had been closed to comments by the time I saw it. If I had, I'd have posted something like this: In accordance with DEI, when electing a new pope, serious consideration should be given to female and Black candidates. And, if the cardinals really wanted to include DEI, they could even consider a trans woman! 😮