Roo Island

Who would have guessed. Trump, the convicted criminal.

Just flew TG. Economy seats are terrible.

https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2024/05/29/thailand-finds-itself-downgraded-by-the-world-economic-forums-tourism-index-in-its-latest-report/ Thailand’s tourism industry has taken a hit, falling behind Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia in the latest World Economic Forum report. Industry leaders demand urgent action from the government calling for a comprehensive development plan.

Some smaller cities are ok with a car. Get an older car and it's not that expensive. Pahrump was an ok city. Cheap. Relatively good weather. Close to Vegas for shopping. I'm sure there are similar places. Still. After visiting almost 150 countries over 20 years. Thailand is number 1

Lived in Grand Rapids also. Too bloocold! Like your thoughts about New Mexico.

Fantastic music and dancing

Went to college there. Bloody cold!

Kalamazoo is bloody cold. My friends in Kentucky are getting tired of all the rednecks. They moved from Pahrump, NV there. LOL I've got some friends who just moved to Mesquite. Got a nice home overlooking the golf course.

These guys are pretty good. I hate YouTube videos saying that you can live somewhere for $400 a month. BS. Unless you live like a local, which isn't very fun. Their videos cover lots of countries. And their advice has helped me a bunch. Been online friends with them for a long time. I'm looking at the French VLS-TS visa. A bit of a pain, but means you don't have to do the schengen shuffle. Or deal with the ridiculous tax residency rules in Portugal or Spain. Hoping to be in Albania early October or so. Again.

One of the biggest problems in Thailand is the lack of a decent tax system. This is what funds lots of different types of infrastructure. The top 1% control about 50% of the countries wealth. Including property of which most isn't taxed. Just plant a few banana trees and you pay very little tax. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/305083101_Concentration_of_Land_and_Other_Wealth_in_Thailand The fifth quintile holds 325.73 times the land of the first quintile. The inequality of asset holdings is higher than the inequality of income. The value of the stocks held by the top 10 stock holders is more than one hundred billion baht in 2010 and 2011. A wealth tax (such as property tax and capital gains tax) would thus be a good fiscal instrument to redistribute wealth in Thai society. The government can use the tax revenues to provide public goods and services to the needy, which would result in wealth being distributed in society more equally.

Just spent a few months there deciding if it was a good place to live. I've been many times before but not with an eye towards living there. Lamai beach has serious problems with tar balls. A walk on the beach and the bottom of your feet are black. We also had no water in the hotel several times and when we did it was brackish. Horrible. Traffic is crazy. They drive like maniacs and the smaller roads are terrible. Decided not a place to live full time. Too many infrastructure problems and too expensive. But still a great place for a short beach holiday.

NY Post is a click bait rag

And back to the topic. Some rental car companies require it. Some countries require it. Do the research before heading out. Not worth the ris

She's a disgusting individual.

I remember the president never wearing a mask and saying it would magically disappear by Easter. Trump is a horrible leader. Back to topic. Early polls mean nothing

For those who think that the justice system is rigged, you're right. Time to take politics out of the selection of judges. https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-flag-stop-steal-alito-trump-9a32d658f5c5baa2bacba25bce7c48cd Justice Alito’s home flew flag upside down after Trump’s ‘Stop the Steal’ claims, report says https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-clarence-thomas-motorcoach-loan-ethics-afed2073e0d7cf4a994256ce35d5063f A series of reports from the investigative news site ProPublica revealed that Thomas has for years accepted, but not disclosed, luxury trips and other hospitality from Republican megadonor Harlan Crow. Crow also purchased the house in Georgia where Thomas’s mother continues to live and paid for two years of private school tuition for a child raised by the Thomases. Earlier this year, Thomas did report three private trips he took at Crow’s expense in 2022, after the federal judiciary changed its guidelines for reporting travel. He did not report travel from earlier years.

Guaranteed that the Chinese are to blame. One way or another. Biden’s hands were tied due to the misinformation spewed by Trump and the dodgy right wing media outlets. And. It was a once in a lifetime pandemic, hopefully. In the end, the US performed the worst globally.

Trump supporters have a hard time with the truth. They love alternative facts.

And when did covid start? Who said it would magically disappear by Easter? Or you could stick something up your bum to stop it? Biden inherited a mess Trump started. No denying that

One reason Cohen went to jail is because of his lies about Trump's involvement with Russia. Hopefully Dozer will end up in an orange suit. It will match his makeup! https://www.politico.com/story/2018/11/29/michael-cohen-making-surprise-court-appearance-in-new-york-1026107 Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s former lawyer, made a surprise appearance before a federal judge in New York on Thursday to plead guilty to lying to Congress about work he did on an aborted project to build a Trump Tower in Russia. Flanked by his lawyers, Cohen admitted making false statements in 2017 to the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence about the project. Cohen told the judge he lied about the timing of the negotiations and other details to be consistent with Trump’s “political message.”

Trump did far worse. Ask the friends and families of the 400,000 Americans who died under Trump’s watch....Biden’s a saint compared to Dozer.

You've got TDS bad....

An opinion piece from the dodgy NY Post. Right...

Why anyone would vote for a liar and criminal is beyond me.

Many here seem to think with Trump in power Putin won't attack any other country. Trump's a useful idiot to Putin. Polling is about all the candidates. Not just one. They impact each other. And yes, both are terrible candidates. But Trump's worse.