JonnyF

You keep talking about damage, but when presented with the economic facts about the performance of the UK economy (and that of Europe) you just start gaslighting again. The UK is doing very well considering the impacts of Covid and the war in Ukraine (which has also impacted the EU greatly). All that stuff about the UK being the only country in the G7 not to reach pre-pandemic levels turned out to be a lie as well. https://www.investorschronicle.co.uk/news/2023/09/12/the-uk-economy-is-no-longer-the-sick-man-of-the-g7/ As for the football, probably for the best as a Scot...

Wonderful. Marvelous. Such meaningless platitudes are completely irrelevant of course when you're slipping into recession. https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/euro-zone-slips-into-recession-after-german-revision-2023-06-08/

Self harming you say? Unfortunately for you, the news (that you kept quoting) about the UK being the only country not to reach pre-pandemic levels turned out to be a lie. Much like Project Fear. What a surprise. https://www.investorschronicle.co.uk/news/2023/09/12/the-uk-economy-is-no-longer-the-sick-man-of-the-g7/ Read it and weep. The truth always surfaces in the end.

Oh really? Back to some facts after some gaslighting. https://www.rte.ie/news/business/2023/0811/1399212-uk-economys-surprisingly-good-performance-in-june/ Bad luck in the game last night BTW. But you did better than I expected. https://www.eurosport.com/football/international-friendlies/2023/scotland-england-live_sto9792037/story.shtml

It's become very clear that winning elections and being allowed to run the country are 2 very different things in Thailand.

Yes, these sad little flag wavers can wave their EU flags for the next 50 years for all I care. We've left. ????

Yes. Germany was top and UK was second. Now, Germany is in decline and the UK has gone. Tell me how that works out for the EU.

Yes, contributed. I see you can read. Well done. So you should also be able to read this from 2018 (I didn't use 2023 figures because the UK has left the EU in case you hadn't read that). https://www.statista.com/chart/18135/member-state-contributions-to-eu-budget/

Silly leftists trying to make it all about them. No wonder The Guardian was so quick to report on it, the BBC probably tipped them off before it even happened. Maybe the 2 organizations went 50/50 on the flags and the paid stooges? ???? Seven years since the vote and they still cannot accept the will of the people. Sad little flag wavers. Meanwhile, more evidence of incorrect predictions and reporting of gloom and doom in the UK economy. I wonder how that could possibly have happened???? ???? https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/after-big-gdp-revision-uk-statisticians-seek-faster-data-access-2023-09-06/

Dear oh dear Chomps. I was showing how much the UK and Germany contributed before the UK left and Germany declined. The whole point was to show how well the EU was doing in 2017 compared to now (I even mentioned the "6 short years" in the post and linked to an article just 2 days old for a comparison). Come on Chomps, you're better than that.

Well, the EU is hardly going from strength to strength is it? Germany's reliance on car manufacturing will hit it hard long term as the Chinese begin to dominate the market, especially the EV market. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-09-11/euro-zone-outlook-cut-by-eu-shows-germany-sinking-deeper-in-mire in a few short years the top 2 has taken a hit. The UK gone altogether, Germany in decline. It's all gone a bit Pete Tong for the corrupt federalist project. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-eurostat-news/-/DDN-20180511-1

True. But as you can see from my post, many of them were not involved in the sex industry. Not all transgenders are sex workers you know?

I'm sorry to hear that. Although such a situation would have been difficult in any decade.

I've been here 17 years so I've come across quite a few. Some I worked with (manufacturing), some were friends of friends, some serve me in restaurants/711, some in the bar areas. Why?

When I said "large" I actually meant "fat". I was doing my best to be PC but unfortunately that leads to having to use inaccurate language. I don't think we can really conclude his reasons, only he knows that. Maybe a combination of a few things, although having had a few conversations with Thai ladyboys I don't believe it's beyond the realms of possibility that they "may" have been less than polite/discreet in their request for him to stop talking.

Either way, it is relevant to the story and therefore correct that it was mentioned. Actually from the picture it looks like a Tom and her girlfriend, but the potential mis-reporting is another subject.

No, but let's say the story was that 2 very large foreign females (named Skylar and Tanner) from Nashville USA who were heavily tattooed had asked him to be quiet, I would want to know that information because it gives me some insight into the reaction of the Thai guy. It doesn't mean I blame them. I just think it's relevant to the story. It adds perspective compared to if it was a local Thai woman. Of course it "shouldn't" change his reaction, but it would be quite possible that it did.

I'm not so sure. Trans Women in Thailand (Ladyboys) do tend to have a certain "way" about them, especially when there is more than one of them together. It is quite possible that the way they asked the guy to be quiet was different to the way a biological female might ask them. It also may have affected the way he reacted to them compared to let's say a young pretty biological female doing the same thing. I think it's relevant to the story, it certainly gives me a better idea of what happened.

I think it's just for accuracy. If the report just said "women" the reader would assume they were biological women, which they were not. Same as if the "women" were foreign it would have been mentioned because it adds a layer to the story which anyone who has lived here for any period of time would know may have had an impact on the guy's reaction to them.

While I live in BKK for my work, I also run a fully organic farm in Issan, on which I have planted over 300 trees and grow many types of fruit and veg which I sell or donate locally. Ignorance - the practice of talking nonsense despite a lack of knowledge or information.

Exactly. If you really wanted to save the planet, you'd buy a second hand Honda Wave for 20,000 Baht and save the planet from the harm of manufacturing yet another vehicle and the mining of Lithium and Cobalt. Plus you'd save yourself over 250,000 Baht in the process and you wouldn't look like a complete tool while riding around looking for a charging station every 60km. Superbike? ????

I was too young to remember much of the 70's but the family pics are hilarious. The 80's were great. BMXing, skateboarding, playing football (jumpers for goalposts) in the local park and going home for dinner when the street lights came on. Watching 80's TV, ET, Star Wars, Ferris Bueller etc. while playing Scalextric and gaming on the Spectrum 48 and Commodore 64/Amiga. Then the 90's came with the illegal raves taking pills to dance music in farmer's fields, then off to Uni to get wasted for 3 years during the Oasis Britpop scene before backpacking around the world with my hot blonde 21 year old girlfriend. Then came the noughties ????. The slide started with Blair and then 9/11. Then we were treated to social media and the rise of the smartphone. Political correctness, the precursor to the scourge of Wokeness etc. Fortunately I still have a great time as I moved to Thailand in 2006 and laugh at much of the nonsense in the West but I am very happy to have grown up when I did.

I doubt the Democrats would remove Biden because MAGA fans dislike him. Besides, they have nobody to replace him with. The party is devoid of talent.

I don't claim to speak for Republicans but I fail to see how denigrating Biden and hoping he is the final candidate are mutually exclusive.

Clutching at straws. He was clearly pausing for effect. A well known technique during public speaking. Seems the crowd loved it. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiq6eWN76OBAxUI2DgGHbAaBXAQFnoECBMQAw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.publicspeakingclasses.com%2Fblog%2Fthe-power-of-the-pause%2F&usg=AOvVaw335QysXNoNRyKykHRrWA1N&opi=89978449