Guderian

You could also try taking something over-the-counter to reduce the acid reflux, as it's a very common problem. The original medicine for this decades ago was Zantac (Ranitidine), but things have moved on and PPI's are widely used now, like Lansoprazole. They're not completely risk-free, so maybe talk to a doctor first, or at least to the pharmacist (some of them here seem smarter than some of the doctors, lol).

He's a typical politician, same as in the West. They live in their own cosy little bubble where everyone agrees with everything they say, so they know they must be right about everything, yet in reality they have no idea how ordinary people feel and think about most topics. Why bother when all their friends and colleagues tell them they're right?

It's kind of typical of Thailand that a story about why parking is not allowed on the beach side uses a photo as illustration showing four vehicles happily parked on the beach side! 🤣

Very sad for the country. Back in the early 90's Tiger phase, annual growth of 7% or more was normal. It's the magic number, and if a country can sustain it for a decade then it's economy doubles in size. For a developing economy like Thailand's, 2.5% or 3% is almost like standing still in the race to achieve First World levels of wealth. And worse, much of that limited growth will end up in the pockets of a small number of wealthy people, rather than benefitting the masses of poor Thais earning the minimum wage - or less.

A Singaporean friend was the head of a major international oilfield services company in Russia for some years. He was based in Moscow but his job took him wherever oil and gas were to be found, plus the centres of power. He got to know some extremely rich and powerful Russians, and his verdict was that while they were incredibly wealthy, educated and cultured, they always longed for a strongman to rule over them and tell them what to do. He couldn't say why they had this national trait, but it helps explain a lot of Russian history.

I wonder when the Thais will decide that it's time to scale back the low-margin mass-tourism industry and start thinking of better ways to make a living?

The first as in it was the first bar you came to when you entered Soi Diamond from Second Road. <rolleyes>

Wasn't it only a week ago they were going to plaster all cans and bottles of booze with pictures of liver cirrhosis and throat cancer to put people off drinking? It's like there are two different governments announcing policies here sometimes. Or have the politicians all been hitting the bottle a bit too hard and forgot what yesterday's policies were? lol.

Reminds me of when I had a small Gogo bar in Soi Diamond. The first Gogo bar in the street at that time (about 17 years ago), on the corner with second road, was owned by a senior cop. It was annoying having to fork out thousands of Baht every month to the cops to leave your bar alone, or give you warning when there'd be a raid, and I don't suppose the cop was ever bothered by such matters. Then when there was a Buddha holiday and alcohol sales were banned, the only Gogo bar open in that area was the cop one, as nobody was going to raid it. Hard to compete against that, I can tell you.

Thaksin's influence spreads ever further. This reminds me of his 30-Baht medical treatment revolution 20-odd years ago. Announce a scheme that will be very popular indeed with the poorer voters, but fail to put aside any money to pay for it, or explain where the money will come from. The digital wallet looks to be of the same pedigree. If only Western policymakers could get away with this sleight of hand without the markets going crazy, poor Liz Truss, lol.

I'm not surprised with the amount of money they've spent over the last 3 years digging up all the roads and laying new drains. I'm guessing massive road and drain contracts come with more scope for skimming funds off than repairing a few undersized wind turbines.

Bad karma? So the next time they find a foreigner tied up with his throat cut, hanging from a tree, instead of saying it was 'suicide', they'll now just blame it on his 'bad karma'?

Great, Jomtien gets a mega-casino complex, but still doesn't have a proper supermarket! (With apologies to Foodmart, but it really is a very small and limited shop.)

There's no problem with that, the trouble comes when you decide to let in all the cheap and nasty scum on the planet visa-free. TAT may be a completely imbecilic organisation, yet their long-standing but fruitless quest for more 'quality tourists' was on the right track. Attracting enough better quality tourists, though, would mean cleaning the country up, and not just the pollution and rubbish and black smoke-belching vehicles, but ending the scams, and making the RTP a force that genuinely acted in the public interest. Yeah, good luck with that, lol. It's much easier in the end to just adopt the 'give me your poor, huddled masses' approach and let anyone in.

...with getting an oil painting done from a print or poster in one of the art shops in Pattaya? I know there are lots of places that will do it for a fee, but I'm specifically asking for personal experiences and recommendations from anyone who has actually had it done in the last year or so. The print I want to get an oil painting made from is a 17th century oil-on-board landscape, so I'm after the closest and best possible reproduction of the print, which itself is very close to the actual size of the original paining in the Museum of Wales. I've tried to make it as easy as possible to make a faithful copy of the original, but now I need to find a good artist to do the job.

A good idea as long as they don't just shunt them across to inactive posts costing the same money from a different budget.

Never been there myself, but I've read about a cafe somewhere out in the sticks that's butterfly-themed. I think this might be the place... https://www.wongnai.com/attractions/428470bL-the-butterfly-corner-pattaya

Yes, but it means there's never a queue in a Shell station, unlike at PTT. My time is worth more than a few extra Baht on the petrol bill, so I happily use Shell.

They agreed to refund me 3,000 Baht for a seat reservation from DOH to BKK which was cancelled by them when they changed the aircraft from a 777 to an A380. Three months later and still nothing has appeared in my bank account.

Ten days? That's longer than Pattaya. I hope this doesn't become an inter-city competition to see who can hold the longest water throwing festival.

So a 500 Baht fine probably? No, wait! That's the going rate for a Russian assaulting a pregnant Thai lady. Since they're not evil farangs, this little charge sheet probably only merits a 200 Baht fine.

No joking, but apparently Kyiv is the best place to go nowadays for top quality and reasonably-priced dental work. There are Ukrainian refugees living in Britain who fly back home just to visit the dentist, as the dentists in the UK are so expensive and difficult to get to see. Matthew Parris went there for dental work a month or two back and wrote an interesting article for The Times about it. It's behind a paywall so I can't add a link. Have a look at this, it quotes an implant as costing between $500 and $1,000. https://www.kyivpost.com/post/7109

This is all a bit overblown. Didn't any of these silly Thai women ever hear of Nyotaimori? Stir fried noodles, for goodness sake! lol

It seems that Thaksin is back, only his War on Drugs last time has morphed into a War on Farangs.

PM Srettha stunned by giant White Elephant in the room, lol.....