Guderian

An odd combination. A relic of Australian colonial days (I mean the office of Governor General, not the guy himself, lol) visits a country so very proud of its history as the only nation in SE Asia never to have been colonised by the evil Europeans. (Well, apart from the Japanese in December 1941, of course, but that's OK as the Thai government "invited" them to stay and have a pleasant visit, so it wasn't an invasion at all. Honest!)

Between 2004 and 2011, I lived in Jomtien Complex Condo (JCC), the twin towers near the beach. When I first moved in, Jomtien Plaza Condo opposite it had been built, as had VT (View Talay) 1 and 2 up on Thappraya, and the smaller Grand and Jomtien Condos by the beach. While I was living there, they built VT 5c and 5d, and then VT 7 right in front of JCC. During much of this period, they were also widening Thappraya Road back to South Pattaya (I hate to think how much Pattaya dust I ate driving along there in those days), and creating the new Jomtien Second Road. I drove the bike along it all the way to Suk long before it opened, and the last stretch was just dirt at the time. Most of it went through farmland, it surprised me to see herds of cattle grazing not very far from Jomtien Beach. Nowadays, just 10 or 15 years later, it's mostly been built up along there, with plans for a new 66-storey condo. I used to shop out at Tesco Lotus on Suk and, to get there, the best route was to go via what's now the Rompho bar beer complex, though back then it was just jungle, and cut through the lake country which was one of the nicest drives on the Bright Side. All gone, now, of course, the lakes have all been filled in and new condos are being built on them. Then there was also one of the best property scams in the history of the city, the 90-storey Ocean 1 Tower I think it was called, to be built next door to Soi 5. You'll remember that one if you were around at the time. On a smaller scale, for many years my favourite bar was KR Bar, between JCC and the beach, spitting distance from the Dongtan Police Station. This was before smart phones robbed the bar beer business of its youngest and prettiest girls, and I had two gorgeous ladies aged 19 and 20 who ministered to me every day in exchange for a few drinks and some other occasional perks back in the condo, lol. Happy days. After KR Bar closed, we started drinking in Fantasy Bar within the commercial area behind JCC (now called Super Town or some such nonsense), owned by a Norwegian guy, which had the best selection of spirits I've seen anywhere. Then Lovejoys opened up on Thappraya selling beer at 30 Baht a bottle, and we were regulars while it lasted. Not long after that went belly-up, the first bars at Rompho opened and we started drinking out that way, and I still drink there quite often even now, though I long ago moved well away from the entertainment zone.

Of course, Yingluck's rice-pledging scam scheme was pure as the driven snow, even if it did come close to bankrupting the country. The fact that so many of the family's members, friends and allies who owned rice mills and storage warehouses were raking it in at the time was probably just down to lucky wins on the lottery. And perish the very thought that her angelic brother, stuck abroad in exile at the time, might have been clandestinely directing the whole rice-pledging circus. Why, that would be as ridiculous as suggesting that a convicted criminal, who is anyway supposed to be locked away securely in a police hospital, is telling people who the next Prime Minister should be! If you missed it, lol...

That's the pot calling the kettle black, lol. I don't know what brought on your little tantrum there, but if you bothered thinking about things a bit then you might have twigged that most foreigners are well-versed in both flying and alcohol, and do not generally suffer panic attacks during a routine take-off. Most foreigners, though, are not so used to the plethora of mind-altering drugs available in Thailand, both legally and illegally.

I have a suspicion that overindulgence in some form of mind-altering substance before the flight might have had something to do with this.

A dry run for the Chinese New Year firecrackers?

It will certainly boost it in nearby countries like the Philippines, as thousands of expats flee this extended water madness in Thailand.

Rather different treatment from just about anybody else suspected of committing lese majeste, they're usually locked away in the nearest prison as soon as the fuzz get their hands on them.

Lol, last night I booked a car with Bolt to get from my house (Thepprasit Soi 8 ) to Marco's on Thepprasit. The first guy accepted the fare, started moving, then sent me a message basically saying, "Fork this for a game of cards, I'd sooner take my girlfriend out for a meal. Please cancel." So I did but the next car got lost in the streets around here, the Bolt map was playing up and showing silly directions. I got the GF to talk to him and try to explain how to get here but he was just moaning and grizzling, so I pressed cancel again. The next driver accepted but, before he even got going, he sent a message saying, "Sod this for a game of cards, the money's not enough, I'm not coming." Heck, I don't set the prices and I always tip generously, like rounding up a 60 Baht fare to 100 Baht. Anyway, my fourth attempt succeeded in getting a local driver who ignored Bolt's dodgy app directions and came straight to the house. Based on this, I'd draw two conclusions: 1. Around half of Bolt drivers evidently don't think the money is worth the effort. 2. Few Thais seem able to read a map well and, combined with the app sometimes going doolally, I think it could be a pretty frustrating job.

Blimey, the Baht must have taken a right old tanking overnight, that's an exchange rate of 35,616 THB/USD! I'm off to Wise to transfer $50 here, that should be enough Baht to buy a new Fortuner! lol

Yes, that's what concerns me, nobody wants to waste half a day on paperwork at the local Land Transport Office if you can possibly avoid it. OTOH, I have photos on the old and new passports on my phone, so in the event of something bad happening I could provide a complete "trail of evidence". Unless it's one of those things that carries an odd Thai penalty, like a fine of 5,000 Baht and/or 6 years in prison. <rolleyes>

That was my initial thought, but with over 5 years left to run on it I'm wondering what the possible downsides or penalties might be if it became an issue.

I got a new passport while in the UK last September. As soon as I arrived back to Pattaya in October I got the visas transferred from the old one and the new passport into the Immigration system. I also got it into the SCB banking system, and thought that was probably it. Now, though, someone has pointed out that both my driving licences have my old passport number on them and I should get it changed and new licences issued. There's still over 5 years validity left on the licences, so a long time to get caught out. What is recommended, to update the licences with the new passport number or ignore it and hope nobody queries it? I must admit, in almost 20 years of driving here I don't recall the cops ever checking my licence with my passport details. Is it something important or is it just a cosmetic matter? If I change it, I assume they'll charge me the usual amount for replacement licences, are there any other costs for the service? Thanks for any insights.

I wonder what the topic of the seminar was, maybe Safety Standards in the Thai Construction Industry? lol

It seems like bad news to me. Section 40 appears to class pensions and overseas investment income as assessable for Thai tax, which probably means the entire income of many pensioners living here. https://sherrings.com/personal-income-tax-in-thailand.html

Meanwhile, the sixteen cannabis cafes on the street were doing a roaring trade, lol.

Much as I sympathise with your situation vis-a-vis Thailand's daft defamation law, I just hope you realise that it's illegal to let a property for less than a month via Airbnb in Thailand? In the village where I live, we've occasionally had cases with people letting out their houses via Airbnb for short stays and the guests causing problems for permanent residents due to inconsiderate parking and making excessive noise at night. We've taken the owners responsible to court several times now and we always win as the law is clear, though as usual in Thailand getting people to enforce and respect it is a different matter.

Before getting worked up about the diesel standard or emissions from new cars they need to tell the testing centres that any vehicle failing to meet the required standard will not be passed and unable to renew its road tax and compulsory insurance. I've seen old trucks being tested and emitting clouds of black smoke, but they just end up being waved through, so what was the point of the testing? Start enforcing the existing rules properly before you make new ones.

Make things simple and change the headline to tell the truth, lol: Massive extortion network within the govt itself now probed by massive extortion network

I should have thought the only two viable industries Russia has left by now are oil and armaments, neither of which is one of Thailand's strong points. Probably just hoping they can persuade Mad Vlad to take some of their unsold rice harvest in exchange for some oil, discreetly delivered in an unmarked tanker with its transponder switched off, of course.

Thanks, that's what I'll do.

Is this north or south of Bangkok Hospital? I've got an appointment on Wednesday and if it's south of the hospital then it will be easier for me to use Third Road and Soi Photisan rather than Sukhumvit.

It's what the Cornish call tourists, basically ants. Much the same thing as people in East Anglia calling them grockles.

Lol, funnily enough I went for a walk along Dongtan Beach yesterday afternoon for the first time this high season. This is what I wrote to my brother back in the UK in my daily missive: "It was a nice, warm sunny afternoon, though a bit sticky, and the emmets were out in force down Jomtien way. My goodness, but there are some strange looking people around. The next time they want to film one of those post-apocalyptic films with lots of bizarre mutants all they need to do is go to Dongtan Beach during high season, no need for any special effects."

The last time I looked, the Thai government deposit insurance runs to a measly one million Baht per account. So to be safe, just make sure none of your accounts has over a million in it and, in theory at least, you can't lose a satang. Of course, a run on a major bank here would probably trigger a currency crisis, and your safe stash of Baht would then be worth a lot less in USD terms. Swings and roundabouts...