JamesPhuket10

I find that houses and the land they sit on Thailand do not increase that much in compared to the UK for example. I know the asking prices rise but not much seems to get sold, some parcels of land are on the market for years and the Thais do not seem to realise it is because the asking prices are too high, they try and sell it for what they want for it and not at what the market value is. It is different in say Phuket, two detached houses I know of in my housing estate sold for 6 million baht each recently and were bought about fifteen years ago for about 4.2 million which is around a 45% increase. But we farangs can not own land which for me would be a worry and so in my case my Thai partner owns houses and land in Thailand which she bought and rents out and I have mine in the UK and rent them out which keep her and I on good terms as we are financially independent. I have heard too many horror stories first hand of how things were great for years where farangs had houses and land in their partner/wife's name and then later things went South leaving the farangs broke.

That is because the F16 is a better aircraft so more of them were made and sold around the world, not many Gripen's were sold I think. The A10 Tank-Busting Warthog was fun to work on, it consisted of a heavily armoured slow moving aeroplane containing a Gatling gun the size of a car, I think it fired 3000 rounds of armour piecing bullets per minute. I saw the videos taken from the pilots point of view during tests, tanks were obliterated in three seconds. The F16's speed is about twice the speed of sound, the A10 is about half the speed of sound, both doing different types of missions. So if any American asks me if I have ever served my country (the Brits never asked each other this question) I say no but I saved your arse if you were in the military by helping to develop the F16 and the A10 with my work on the head up display software which enabled the pilot to fly and direct the weapons, which I am sure were used to clear any tanks etc in your path. 😃

Yes it is true, the first generation was developed in the 1980's, I actually wrote some of the software in the UK for the head up display system while at Marconi Avionics, Kent. Also for the A10 Warthog. See the following article re the first use of the aircraft as an atack aircraft by Thailand. https://www.eurasiantimes.com/swedens-jas-39-gripen-makes-combat-debu/#:~:text=A Fighter Without a War,Sweden's air force in 1996.

True in general, but a lot of people on this blog just moan about everything relating Thailand, their comments are not constructive criticism but just a chance to moan, it makes me wonder whey they live here, the truth is probably they have burned their bridges and can not afford to go back to their own countries due to living costs so they have to blame Thailand and not themselves. I have seen the same people in real life in Thailand, I escape their company as soon as possible.

Go business class, I recommend Eva Air, the chair in your own cube levels out into a 2 meter long bed, better than socks. If people say it is expensive then we have to decide how much health is worth.

Can I make a suggestion on your last comment "This thread is basically for xpats to have another moan. " i should like to ament that to "This thread is basically for many but not all xpats to have another moan. "

Yes, the moaners think the immigration office should be run for free because all of the immigration officers work for free and all of the computer systems cost nothing to run and maintain. 😃

Twice? Well normally you would apply for the visa extension, you pick the passport up the next day, you take your re-entry forms to another department and queue etc. That is twice in a queue. With the 'special' 700 baht service charge you give the visa extension forms and the re-entry forms to the person in the immigration office at the same time, you pick it up the next day with both things already done. So the only extra cost is 700 baht.

You wrote: "This thread is certainly bringing out the bashers." Yep, this blog is full of them, they seem to have nothing else better to do. I did pay a 700 baht 'service charge' earlier this year when I extended my visa and at the same time applied for a multiple re-entry visa, it meant I only had to to to the immigration office once and not go twice with two lots of queues to join. A bargain I thought. When I get back to Phuket in a month or two more I will have to do the 90 reporting in person at the appropriate date and can not do it online as is the standard, I will have to drive to the drive-through 90 day reporting area, hand over my passport only and they do the 90 report online for me, it takes at least five minutes, oh my there is nothing to moan about there, and it is free. 😃

If you did have any intelligence you would realise AI does not actually exist, but companies hype it to sell products and others learn about what it is supposed to be via social media So it is a case of the blind leading the blind.

And what is wrong with you people not reading my replies regarding the right to NHS treatment, what you have said about it is in practice not true. I sold my house in 2021, stayed in Thailand until March this year, came back to buy a property to rent out which I did, but before I bought the property I had treatment at an NHS hospital, they just needed my NHS number which is never taken away from us. When was the last time you went to a hospital in the UK and they asked you if you had been out of the UK for a certain period of time, erm the answer is never. Thanks for you stating no more conversations as you are probably sulking in the corner anyway but have a good day no matter what. 🙂

I don't understand why someone would want to give me a thumbs down due to the fact I feed a certain type of food to a cat. 😃

That is one of the reasons I stay away from uneducated people in backward villages, all the ones with brains would have already left for a better life, the dumb ones stay. I have had first hand experience of it in the past, but luckily for only a few days at a time while on visits.

This is one of the reasons I keep my passport near and a few thousand pounds in cash and tens of thousands limit on credit cards handy, plus ATM cash in my bank accounts. We farangs seem to forget we are only temporary visitors to Thailand as seen when we get out year by year non-immigration O visas extended, things can change at any time, we need to be in a position where we can escape at the drop of a hat. I feel sorry for the Cambodian guy, he is just a poor worker not a politician.

True, I got two thumbs down for my comment on feeding the fish to the cats, I wonder why, maybe the cats somehow managed to do it as they want a change to their menu. 😃

But it is still the safest form of transport in the world. Mode of Transport Fatalities per Billion Miles Safety Rank Air (commercial) ~0.07 🥇 Safest Train ~0.43 🥈 Very Safe Bus ~0.11 🥈 Very Safe Car ~7.0 ❌ Least Safe

I buy boxes of 30 of those from Makro, about 120 baht for the box. I feed the stray cats which live around the house with it.

I like something just as simple. Buy a whole filleted salmon from Makro, around 1300 baht, cut it into 12 portions and freeze them individually, they are then available at anytime. When I am feeling lazy, take a piece and put it in a microwave for three minute or in the hot air frier. Add lemon, cucumber and you end up with a much healthier but just as easy meal.

You have obviously not seen the Terminator series which as we know was a scientific explanation of what is definitely going to happen. It is visionary. 🤣

Not at all true in any respect of what you have said. I made it clear above how it happens.

That applies to so many things. Nuclear power, machinery, knives, fuel. But as yet no AI exists yet so it is not a threat.

You will probably find the Joe Public or even casual users for example the processing of the two dogs in the picture which were changed into a cartoon by the ChatGPT, people will think it is dangerous, politicians will say it is dangerous as will film makers, newspapers etc as they are trying to make a profit out of the info for themselves. The people who use it, software engineers like myself know it does not actually exist, they are machine learning tools connected to logic and databases with high bandwidth systems and are super fast. No AI. I use ChatGPT on a daily basis for my software development, it takes out some of the tedious stuff like finding a particular protocol or system implementation, a bit like an accountant with an accounts clerk. They do save time but any engineering company of any worth know they are tools and will continue to treat them like so. Have all the buildings in the word fallen down since we started using AutoCad to design them 30 years ago, erm no, so why should it with this so called 'AI' ? Ask ChatGPT it if is an AI machine and it will tell you no, they do not exist. I have to double check and correct it on a daily basis and rewrite some stuff. All engineers will take that approach. So no panic unless we are watching a film starring Arnold but do not realise it is fiction, but of course the public will panic and believe all of the hype they are being told.

You stated your location is khon kaen, I doubt if they want to go to the poorer parts of Thailand, Phuket and the other rich areas will suit their lifestyle better. There are some very exclusive shops in the Central Shopping centre near Kathu, Phuket, staff on the door only let two or three customers into the shops at a time, when I pass the long queue as I walk past most people are speaking Russian. E.g. : Louis Vuitton bags at £3000 each or more. They could probably buy a house in khon kaen for that price. 😃

I read it, it is a bit simplistic and interwoven. But it is about voluntary servitude, are prisoners in a jail in such a state? Is a Russian with the threat of death to him and his family in such a state of voluntary servitude. I don't think so, it is easy to write such things but to do what he suggests is another thing eg rebel against it.

The reason many people demonstrate about freedom, anti war, the environment in the West is easy as there are no consequences, so the opportunity to look at themselves in the mirror is easy. I bet a Russian with a wife and children do not demonstrate as they will be dead alongside his family. The UK only produces 1% of CO2, yet lots of people demonstrate about how bad that is in the UK, they try and block airports and motorways etc. I laugh as they should be demonstrating against China in China as they are opening one electric generating coal power station per week and have been doing so for years. Why don't they do it, well it would take a lot more guts to do it there than in the soft West.