TallGuyJohninBKK

Ahh...the infamous source... "I read somewhere" so often used here. Industrial pollution and vehicle pollution are definitely part of the picture when it comes to smog in BKK.... But for the fall to spring period when the pollution levels are the highest in BKK and elsewhere around the country, it's the added seasonal impact of agricultural burning -- both in Thailand and in adjoining countries -- that put things over the top and into seriously unhealthy conditions.

So she's hanging out with Russian expats here... That shouldn't be much of a surprise!

In Windows 11, go into the main Settings menu, then Apps, then Default Apps... In that last screen is the ability to tell Windows what specific programs the user wants to use by default for all kinds of different purposes. And once a default app/program is selected there, opening any associated file types in the future will automatically launch that default program. So you can always get exactly the browser you want, exactly the email program you want, exactly the photo editor-viewer you want, etc etc.

I think living abroad contentedly or even happily takes a certain disposition and mindset -- including the willingness to break out of one's traditional routines and have new experiences, being able to adapt to changed environments and customs, and a willingness to interact with others who have different backgrounds from yourself. I'd never call people who make a different choice from the one I've made to live abroad as "stupid." But every time we make a choice to do something or not do something, there are consequences that may be good or bad in varying degrees. I think too many would-be western retirees never even consider or weigh the pros and cons of living abroad. It's an option that at least deserves informed consideration.

It's not like air pollution is constrained by urban vs rural or locations close to vs. far from roads. The pollution, once in the air, drifts wherever the prevailing winds take it, which can include distances of hundreds of kilometers.

Sakon Nakhon gets its share of bad air pollution days through the year.... This chart below is just a partial recap of earlier in 2023 (not sure why some periods are missing data), but it clearly shows a lot of bad/red pollution days earlier in the spring. https://aqicn.org/station/@375028

It's not "unseasonal" for Bangkok... If you look back at the air pollution records for Bangkok dating back to 2020, for example, you'll see that the bad air days really begin to increase typically during the month of October, and then get worse from there on... So we're actually right on schedule.

I wonder what division of the Thai police that many here are familiar with might be behind that one? 🙂

"Laos has had to make compromises, including on its own sovereignty, to appease Beijing and seek some financial forbearance, allowing Chinese security agents and police to operate in the country as Beijing extends its repression beyond its borders, according to human rights groups and Lao activists. The Laotian electrical grid is now partly controlled by China, in what analysts believe is a trade-off in lieu of debt repayments. A Chinese company provides security for the new train line." https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/interactive/2023/laos-debt-china-belt-road/

Maybe for China, but not so much for Laos: Laos debt at 'critical level' with China payments still opaque Economists say ASEAN nation obscuring true scale of crisis September 22, 2023 "Laos' public and publicly guaranteed debt stands at 123% of GDP as of 2023, according to the International Monetary Fund. More than half is owed to China, which has funded several large infrastructure projects in the country in recent years, a situation some economists have called "debt-trap diplomacy": As Laos struggles to pay, Chinese debt deferment is conducted with no transparency, obscuring the true scale of the crisis and raising fears around Beijing's growing sway over the country." https://asia.nikkei.com/Economy/Laos-debt-at-critical-level-with-China-payments-still-opaque China’s promise of prosperity brought Laos debt — and distress "Laos is also an economy in distress. Inflation rose to more than 41 percent at its peak this spring. The Laotian kip has depreciated more than 43 percent against the U.S. dollar. In a country where virtually everything is imported, the statistics translate into sacrifice: farmers who can no longer afford fertilizer, children who have dropped out of school to work and families cutting back on health care." https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/interactive/2023/laos-debt-china-belt-road/

Trying to decipher your comment above: Are you asking whether someone who's made a recent arrival into Thailand on a reentry permit and then soon after goes to BKK CW for their annual retirement extension of stay would NOT then be asked to show their most recent TM47 slip under those circumstances? If that's your underlying question, personally, I don't know the answer to that one...

Re phenylephrine: Drug retailers, makers face mounting litigation over decongestant products "CVS’s decision to pull oral medications that contain the controversial decongestant phenylephrine comes as it and several other leading OTC drugmakers and retailers face a growing number of lawsuits related to the drug’s effectiveness. ... Last month, two consumers in California filed a lawsuit in the US District Court in Sacramento against makers and retailers of phenylephrine medications alleging that the companies made millions selling products that they knew didn’t work. The plaintiffs, who are asking the court to certify their case as a class-action suit, are seeking compensation for consumers in California and throughout the US, according to The Mercury News." (more) https://seekingalpha.com/news/4022283-drug-retailers-makers-face-mounting-litigation-over-decongestant-products

Rain is only a temporary remedy for PM2.5 pollution. Here's Bangkok today: http://aqicn.org/station/@419425

Perhaps that was the point at the time....

Really... dunno what would make anyone think that Trump would have any interest in Russian women.... After all..... --Melania Trump grew up in Slovenia (then part of Yugoslavia) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melania_Trump --Ivana Marie Trump Citizenship - Czechoslovakia Czech Republic (from 1993) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivana_Trump Seems very improbable to me... even though he does seem to have a broader Eastern European thing going... ????

Enquiring minds certainly have long wondered... what exactly might Putin have on Trump... to make the latter his fawning lackey. ‘I like that he said that’: Trump revels in praise from Putin 09/17/2023 "Trump drew criticism for sometimes siding with Putin during his presidency. At a summit in Helsinki in 2018, Trump said he believed Putin over U.S. intelligence agencies when he [Putin] said Russia had not meddled in American elections. “President Putin says it’s not Russia. I don’t see any reason why it would be,” he [Trump] said." https://www.politico.com/news/2023/09/17/donald-trump-vladimir-putin-praise-00116414

I thought Trump was both a] running low on money to deal with his myriad of legal cases, most of which involve him as the defendant, and b] running out of legitimate lawyers willing to work for him for obvious reasons. But if his UK case does ever proceed, I'd sure be interested to read what the discovery documents pertinent to the allegations will show? ????

I've never heard of any Thai health insurers who will write NEW policies for foreigners in the age 70s or 80s age groups.... There may be some international insurers who will write such policies providing coverage in Thailand.

Yeah, the guys in the photo above don't exactly look like IT types.

Just curious, if anyone knows.... What kind of jobs are all these Thai guys like those shown in the OP photo typically doing in Israel? Agricultural workers? Before this recent outbreak of violence, I had no idea there were so many Thais working in Israel... many thousands is the number reported elsewhere?

BTW, thanks for the reminder about the State Dept traveler registration system. I got a new U.S. passport last year, and hadn't remembered to update my new passport number into the State Dept. system, until I checked my profile info there today after reading your reminder about it!!!

I think she's worried somewhere in the back of her mind that if I kick the bucket someday before her, that she'll go to the U.S. Consulate with just our Thai marriage certificate (like to get the EN confirmation of a death of American abroad certifs) and they'll ignore her..... ????

So in other words, you had the MFA certify an EN translation of your Thai marriage certificate... But never did anything further with getting the MFA doc certified by the U.S. Consulate?

Lopburi, do you know, is there any practical need for most married Americans here to have their Thai marriage certificate certified thru MFA and then the Consulate... My wife periodically bugs me claiming we need to "register" our Thai marriage with the Consulate, for example, if anything were ever to happen with me... But I've never really been clear on just who or where the English "certification" of a Thai marriage certificate is going to be requested by...either in Thailand or the U.S.? What about in dealing with Social Security and/or in the future applying for a U.S. spousal visa to relocate back to the U.S.?

Curious that the OP article here goes on and on with the unsubstantiated, uncorroborated claims of the attorney representing the accused officer. And for some reason, not a peep from anyone representing the officer's wife / accuser. And then the BiB do their usual routine, by claiming ahead of the hearing that they'll object to bail being granted, and then at the hearing, according to the OP, they suddenly don't object anymore.