Autocan

Is it a problem if I am on Retirement Extension and not a tourist visa? Or do the VAT refund people not care as long as I have non-Thai passport?

I too had an account with a leading Thai paper where I was a prolific commenter. Then I had the same problem as you with signing in. I knew this meant trouble so I kept watch out of my window. Then I saw it one day. A black speck in the sky that grew bigger and longer as it approached. I did not wait. I had already packed so I raced out and fled to the airport. Now I am in Vientiane, Laos, presumably safe. But I am careful. I keep to myself and do not venture out after dark.

Scapho (Cosentyx) is available amongst other biologics, probably cheapest at about 13,000b for a 300mg shot, which is the usual monthly maintenance dose. Mind the price at government hospitals is discounted from what you would pay the distributor directly - e.g., Scapho from Novartis. If you want the full picture re biologics your best bet is to drop by the evening OD clinic at the Institute of Dermatology near Victory Monument and discuss with a doctor.

Less chemicals, pollutants, seed oils and more raw milk won't save us from smallpox, polio, measles, tetanus, mumps, and on and on. So I still insist that RFK Jr. is an idiot. Actually, I suspect he's more a cynical fraud. I am sure he has the IQ to know vaccines saved and continue to save millions. But he also knows that there's more money to be made in the fringe than the mainstream.

I am wishing, yes. And those that refuse vaccination are actually delivering it to those around them. You choose who's more disgusting.

RFK Jr.'s an idiot. He got the HHS job for delivering large numbers of like-minded idiots to Trump. Now I have no problem with unvaccinated dying in large numbers. That would be a good thing. Trouble is virus don't make IQ distinctions going from one body to another. So a lot of smart productive people will die simply from being in physical proximity to a nitwit. Already happening. See TX and NM measles outbreaks. And what will be embarrassing is when other countries require travelers who have been in the US to produce vaccine certificates or go into quarantine (like people from Benin and Burkina Faso and CAR).

Don't let him get the last word @SAFETY FIRST. Say something.

Yep Bkk Victory Monument area. Building shaking like crazy.

Victory Monument highrise. Felt like a giant was shaking the building. Scary as furk.

If they lift the 2-5pm alcohol ban then there will be a demand for shady massage parlors 6ish. It's all interconnected so I hope the authorities think this through.

Trump won't touch SS. In fact, he may reduce the tax on SS. Because it's a 70,000,000 voting bloc and Republicans obviously have plans for 28 (heck, according to the Cuomo-Bannon interview Trump may be in the running himself). As for SS staff cuts hurting services keep in mind Musk fired 80% of Twitter/X personnel and it's operating just fine. And that was a private firm. Imagine the bloat at a government org.

As of 1 January 2025, the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, ... from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Army#:~:text=* 73%2C847 regular forces personnel (January 2025),* 25%2C742 volunteer reserve personnel (January 2025) Apologies, I was off by 20k. But they would still fit into Wembley, just fewer WAGs.

No one, least of all the Russians, takes the UK armed forces seriously. The 50k active members will fit into Wembley stadium with room left over for WAGs, battleships mothballed for lack of sailors (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/01/04/royal-navy-few-sailors-decommission-ships-new-frigates/) and then they can't even get it up ( Of course, Russia will sail through the Channel pointing and laughing. Heck, if Singapore got a rush of blood to the head and took a fancy to Brighton the UK would be in trouble. But we have the clown Starmer preening and posturing on a daily basis. Jeez, it would be funny if it weren't sad.

First, USAID and NED, the regime change operations of the US Govt, now VOA, the propaganda wing. Looks like the US has come to Jesus. But for how long? The Zionists running the country aren't going anywhere.

The Kremlin must have had a laugh before responding to the losing side demanding a ceasefire on their terms. Witkoff will be on his knees in Moscow next week begging for a face-saving exit for Trump. But it's not clear if that's even possible given the momentum with which the Russians are pushing on all fronts. I fear for Little Marco though. He must be terrified of losing his head if he has to bear bad news to the WH.

If you want a carefully researched report of how the war started, read Scott Horton's Provoked: How Washington Started the New Cold War with Russia and the Catastrophe in Ukraine If you don't have time for a 700-page book, here's an entertaining 5-minute audio that tells you all you need to know about who's been running Ukraine since the Maidan coup of Feb. 2014: Nuland-Pyatt leaked phone conversation

Tulsi's a brilliant addition to Trump's team. Her refusal to subordinate herself to Hag Hillary and Dem neocon orthodoxy cost her her future in that party. But you can't keep a good person down. DNI needs a truth teller and that's what Tulsi is. Already you can see the effect of the right numbers getting through to the WH vs. the "happy" intelligence of Avril Haines in Trump/Vance calling out the Kiev Conman and telling him to his face what the score on the ground is.

Russians won't agree to a ceasefire. Hard truth is they are winning on the ground and have little incentive to stop till they have taken all land east of Dniepr and cut Ukraine off from the Black Sea. Think of it from their POV. A ceasefire now would help only Ukraine who would start rebuilding furiously a la Minsk 1 and 2. Trump? They work well with him but any guarantees he gives last till 2028, after which it's quite possible a neocon Admin comes back. No, Russia prefers to keep the war going till they have reduced Ukraine to a landlocked rump state, never again to be a threat. But I am cautiously pessimistic.

Time for the Kiev Conman to rev up his Bugatti. Well, the scene's likely going to be more like Ashraf Ghani's departure from Kabul in 2021 just ahead of the Taliban - a squadron of US planes carrying his stuff, gold and cash, from Kabul to Dubai, where he now lives a nice quiet life. I seriously doubt though that KC is going to have a quiet retirement. Too many loved ones of the million Ukrainians he sent to their death still around for that to happen.

European strategy till Jan. 20: Ukrainians in front to do the dying, Americans with our back to save us from dying. Then it all fell apart. This dude seems old enough to have fought with the French Army that valiantly resisted Hitler in WW2, ... wait a minute.

Will a YT video do:

As of Friday last week the Kiev Conman has become irrelevant. He'll go back to gigs playing the piano with his dingdong or retire with the millions he's stolen. Question is who Ukraine's "Kamala Harris" is to step up to the plate. Hopefully, not a harebrain like the original. Incidentally, here's an Austrian military guy explaining what Russia will take and what will be left: https://youtu.be/QTRI4MlCLrA?t=1835 Specifically, all territory east of the Dniepr, Odesa plus a land corridor to Transnistria, leaving Ukraine a tiny landlocked place. Trump understands this and will blow hot and cold till it's over. Ukraine was a neocon project, not his, so he gives a rat's about the shi*hole country as he called it his first term Meanwhile, there's money to made doing business with Russia, 11 time zones of mineral, gas, oil, farmlands and 150 million mid-income consumers.

Here's an Austrian military man explaining what Russia will take what will be left: https://youtu.be/QTRI4MlCLrA?t=1835

I've been following these and all I see is a lot of crossfire and different TRDs saying and doing things in ways that muddy the waters even further. I don't think anyone claims the expat taxing system in Thailand has been sorted out. I would wait.

To my mind safest is to sit on one's hands till the dust settles. I'll be happy to pay a few k b. in late penalty to wait to make sure that I understand all the regulations (as laid out in English) and file the right forms the right way. A bad filing (e.g., oversharing or undersharing) could ripple down the years. Incidentally, a big clue it's all up in the air is that there are no little-people services like Thaivisa advertising as yet to do expat taxes. You can bet that once rules are clear, like they are now with Imm services, there will be tax-filing services cropping up like weed.