Guderian

Looks like Thaksin and his mates have already managed to snaffle 200 billion Baht out of the scheme! lol

In six months' time, say, I'd love to see some accident statistics before and after the 'improvements'. I've lived on Soi 8 for over 12 years and turning right onto Thepprasit is a lot more dangerous than it was before. You've got the through traffic, which of course has the right of way, and then cars on Thepprasit travelling both east and west that want to turn right, and some of them also want to do a U-turn. Then you have the traffic from Soi 8, the busiest of all the side-roads on Thepprasit, wanting to turn right, with the usual 1,001 motorbikes zipping in and out. At least before, traffic could turn right wherever they wanted, which may have inconvenienced drivers who don't know the road but hardly affected those who know it and are prepared. Now, instead, all those vehicles wanting to turn right are funnelled into a few U-turn locations with the resulting predictable bedlam. I don't know a single local resident, Thai or foreign, who thinks this is an improvement.

Poor old Srettha, he's more or less been dumped already, lol.

Yeah, that'll be popular with the tens of thousands of residents who specifically want to live outside the noisy, crowded entertainment zones.

Friendship and Siamburi's both stock frozen cod fillets, and I've seen haddock on occasion in Siamburi's. They also have pollack fillets which are excellent if you like a nice, firm fish.

This evening's meal - we're out of khao horm malee, so would you khao horm diesen or khao horm yang?

Here's a cultural commentary on the situation, lol... They seek him here, they seek him there, Those Thais they seek him everywhere. Is he in heaven? Or is he in hell? That damned elusive Thaksin! Sorry about the last line, I couldn't find anything in his name that rhymed with Hades

Plenty of time to stock up then.

Many people in the UK are getting what seems to be a cold but then it lingers for weeks afterwards, with runny nose, coughing and a sore throat, though not all three in all cases. My brother got it three weeks before Christmas and still has a blocked nose. The government doesn't seem very concerned as it's evidently not killing many people, but there's a lot of speculation that it's actually the Janus variant of Covid that's causing these problems, not a cold. Nobody even knows if the LFT's are able to detect Janus.

So they're just going to have a gander at what the staff do in their daily jobs, on a completely different floor from where Thaksin is supposedly being held? Hercules Poirot these guys are not, lol!

I assume by this fuel tariff they refer to the Ft addition on your bill? If so, last month the Ft shown on my bill was 20.48 satang per unit. Any explanations?

That's not as interesting as I'd hoped when I saw this in my inbox. I thought the two headlines might be related, lol...

You evidently never heard of Viagra and Cialis, lol.

An exciting day trip in one of the numerous Pattaya submarines should fit the bill, lol.

Right, well that should be about as difficult to get as a health certificate from a doctor to apply for a driving licence.

So now that it's January, this muppet PM is moaning about a BoT base rate increase that happened last September? Has it taken him four months to decide that he doesn't really agree with it, or has his Master quaffing Cristal in hospital only now given him permission to say something on the matter?

This begs a question. Since when did the cool, dry season have seasonal rains, lol?

Don't forget that the supermarkets and wine shops have already paid the ridiculous duty on their stock, so they'll have to sell that lot first before they dare to put out any wine bought under these new tariffs. That could take a long time.

Probably just got his call-up papers from Mad Vlad, that would be enough to send anybody up the wall, lol.

Well, it took 3 years to complete the new Thepprasit drains, so this 'temporary' one-way system is going to be a fixed part of Jomtien Beach life for a long time.

What does 2024 have in store? The same as every other year, endless corruption and incompetence. :(

So 19 people searched for Thailand instead of the usual 10? lol

Congratulations, 200 pages! Has anyone actually visited their local tax office and asked a tax inspector, or someone in a senior position, for clarification?

I was in the same situation but, at least in the Jomtien Immigration Office, you won't get a Residence Certificate nowadays without having done a valid TM30. (Exactly what constitutes 'valid' is a matter of debate, and individual interpretation by the IO's, it seems.) You need a Residence Certificate, of course, to buy a car or motorbike, but also to renew your driving licence, unless you have a yellow book or some other proof of address that will satisfy the DLT. Other Immigration Offices may be more relaxed about the TM30 than Jomtien is, perhaps you're lucky in that respect.