pomchop

by far most addictive and worst habit i ever had ....i seem to have dodged the cancer bullet and that is a semi miracle as i sure smoked a lot of them in my younger days. ..i am so happy to see that younger kids these days don't seem to smoke nearly to the degree that my generation did.... i grew up in north carolina tobacco road...RJ reynolds used to hire people to stand on corners near our high school lunch hangout and pass out those little 5 cig sample packs of winstons and salems to us kids...never seemed to care re our age goal was to get us hooked and for many many it worked...bastards...

I found that my booze was/is almost always at same time everyday....sunset when i love to have a few drinks...i had to break the time habit by going out at my normal drinking hour....5-6 pm...and do something like go for a walk or similar.. .i am a creature of habit and to break the sunset cocktail habit i have to substitute something else....not perfect and don't do it every day but the days i do by time i finish the walk i am ok to skip the cocktail part of sunset...maybe helpful for you to try....good luck, hang in there...it ain't easy but everyday it will get a tiny bit easier I think.... .i never thought i could give up cigs...tried moderation quit and started again over and over and over. etc ....didn't work...but eventually one day at a time i had gone a month then 3 months then a year to now over 20 years and never ever even think about cigs anymore except in idea that boy am i glad to be off those damn things..

As a daily walker I have had people coming directly towards me on a sidewalk looking at their phone or talking to each other... often walking two abreast taking the entire sidewalk and completely oblivious to what is around or right in front of them. I have come to a complete stop and had to yell HEY otherwise they would have walked right into me.......and that is in USA. Walking for me is suppose to be relaxing and I have no desire to get into some macho BS as to who can walk over the other person. Tons of oblivious people wandering around the world. I am often amazed that more of them don't get hit by cars / buses. That is a good reason when possible to walk out in the country where few people are around....but of course that is not so easy to do sometimes.

as the article says the rest arrived on cruise ships

A good old high school buddy and I decided to try and walk all 252 miles of the blue ridge parkway in the state of North Carolina at age 72. We walked ten miles a day and after about 26 days of walking (not consecutively but spread over 3 months) we reached milepost 469 near Cherokee NC . Looking back it was one of the best things ever. We had a great time rehashing lot of old high school memories, we enjoyed spectacular views, nature, a variety of weather, camping out etc...and in between various legs we plotted and planned the next legs. And yes we also enjoyed a few beers at night but felt we had "earned them". Bottom line is if you can break out of whatever rut you are in and do something that makes you happy and a bit healthier I think you will never ever look back and say "gee i wish i had not done that". Find some sort of adventure or goal whether it is learn Thai, do some volunteer work, play more golf or whatever.....the longest journey begins with the first step. Just take it.

5 big beefy looking "highly trained" cops could not constrain one skinny looking guy who is on the ground? Maybe they should handcuff or zip lock him or throw a net over him instead of pepper spray him in the face and later taser him. Incompetence on display. I mean look at the victim does he appear to be Rambo or something? And no reports of him having any weapons, Pitiful excuse for supposedly highly trained cops...but then again it appears their goal was not to constrain him but to use him as some sort of macho man punching bag. A jury is not going to look kindly on these cops and the city of Memphis is going to write some very large checks.

Laos?

2023 and still burning dead plants.... .while the entire planet offers multiple energy sources....enough sunshine on the planet to power the entire world if a small percentage is converted...wind power that blows and blows for centuries to turn turbines....waves crashing on shores worldwide with massive amounts of energy that can turn turbines...under sea currents like the gulf stream that can turn undersea turbines....geo thermal bubbling to surface for thousands of years releasing massive amounts of energy to be captured.....hyrogen, nuclear and who knows what other similar technologies and perhaps safer sources... is it simple? no Is it cheap? no but the returns are massive When the old peanut farmer (jimmy carter who was also a nuclear physist) begged america during the arab oil embargo in 1979 (44 years ago) to get off the oil nipple and invest in other sources if the usa had actually listened to him ...the USA would have likely long ago figured out sources and become the world leader in energy with technology that could/would have been sold worldwide for billions upon billions of $$. and untold jobs.....no oil nipple would not have required so many countries to suck up to the middle east , fight wars over oil, be held hostage by shxxthole countries who happen to sit on top of huge oil reserves...add in all the cost of climate change, bad air, health care, and it becomes apparent that it would have been one of the best decisions ever made... but instead carter got ridiculed...he installed solar panels on the white house to set an example...the very first thing Regan did when taking office was to remove the solar panels...imagine if congress had backed carter with a JFK style goal of going to the moon except applied to finding and developing clean renewable affordable energy....boggles the mind as to how different the world would/could be today. and here we go again in 2023 with many politicians taking big bucks from the oil guys to keep those dead plants burning....stupid is as stupid does... i suspect in 50 years that our grandkids will look back at our hundreds of years of burning oil and coal and be amazed at <deleted>.......you could send men to the moon and probes to mars, you created the internet, artificial intelligence, massive tech across hundreds of industries, but you couldn't figure out how to power your homes/industries/transport other than burning dead plants???

Five , count them, big beefy cops can't subdue one skinny guy without beating him to death? Appears to me he is laying on ground being held down by several of them then for some reason is pepper sprayed in face at which point the guy figures i better get the hell out of here before these guys kill me and manages to escape the grasp of 5 cops?.....geez can't they throw a big net over him or duct tape his arms and legs together...it's not like he has a gun or knife pointed at the cops. Whether macho, hate, or incompetence when five big guys can't subdue a guy like this somebody needs to take a long hard look at what the heck is the problem here? People, yes many of them Blacks have been saying for decades this kind of stuff goes on all the time....now that we have cameras it would appear they are correct. If these cops did this knowing full well it was all on video try and imagine what they might have done down some dark country road with no cameras.

You visit an immigration office and watch as agent after agent get preferential treatment by giving out some "gifts" to the staff. You listen to farangs talk about how for a thousand $$ or so they don't have to follow the rules to get long visas. You get Japanese tourist being offered fast lane and a police escort to Pattaya all advertised online for a fee. You get Mr Red Bull who kills a cop while speeding and jacked up on cocaine who for some hefty gifts is able to avoid any pretense of justice. You get elected leaders being ousted by illegal coups with no repercussions. As to what corruption and demands many everyday Thai businessess fork over to get permits etc who knows but it is just a cost of doing business for many. You get Thais who become very wealthy with fancy cars and rolexs and homes all on a meager salary. Is it any big mystery why a poorly paid cop would conclude that the entire bunch is corrupt so why should i not get in on the action. Maybe if i am corrupt enough I can amass enough money to move to the juicer end of the trough

I have a camper van in usa that i use often.. BUT as said already by many Thailand is really not a good place for a campervan....you will need a/c as often mosquitoes will eat you alive if camping out in boonies and outside the cool season it will be like sleeping in a sauna. As far as I know any rv type parks with hookups are basically non existent... you would likely be much better to stay in cheapie hotels which are vey easy to find especially out in the boonies....if u are intent on camping i would buy a regular car or tuck and a tent and maybe camp out some in the cooler months but of course that is when the thai campers will be doing the same and camping areas can get crowded with tent campers...if you camp out up north in cool season you will also find that it gets darn cold many nights and you would need some serious sleeping bags/blankets etc....so too hot half the year and pretty cold a few months...

So this will play well on youtube. Police admit extortion after calling Taiwan gal a liar but say it was all a big misunderstanding .that she was indeed extorted, and they would like to show you the videos but unfortunately it was all erased so just trust us it was really not our fault and if the gal had not made a big stink about it all then nobody would have known and we would not lose face. Therefore after careful investigation all the way to the highest ranks we have determined that it was all the gals fault. We will however return 500 baht to the girl as a show of good faith. We will also transfer the officers to continue to enjoy a paid leave for a few months to give our new recruits an opportunity to become more adept and practice more forms of extortion. Darn people. Why don't they just give us what we demand and keep their mouths shut. Always causing problems. Next thing you know the PM will talk about cleaning up corruption again but that is not a major concern...unlike a vape pen talk is cheap. After all we have badges aka a license to steal. (take that James Bond).

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Yes i am pretty good at reading. I remember reading all your posts over past few days that appear to have been proven wrong.

by bad i thought he was pattaya...

some people spend the night at the jometiemthani hotel near immigration and i unerstand they give you a tm30....pain in butt and another expense but i guess it works for some...

MY original was a 60 day tourist visa which i had extended one time for 30 days and had the tm30 form ok....then went to cambodia to get 45 more days...when that was expiring went back to jomtiem immigration about ten days ago...Same tm30 form was still stapled into passport and nothing had changed... had not moved from same condo and had all receipts showing paid up BUT they said no good....have to go get a new tm30 and come back next day....no fine, no can we call the rental agent, no discussion...so went back to property manager and they gave me another tm30 which was accepted...at least on second visit i did not have to go to the end of the line but was put in the line of people who were also there day before and were back again...which was a LOT of people but not as bad as go back to end of line square one.... short answer to OP question? Best to have a new tm30 even if old one appears perfectly good...so go see landlord or property manager and get one to avoid an extra trip ...enen if landlord says no need as it is the immigration person that decides not the landlord....

according to todays reports the officers admitted to extortion...now why would they admit that if they did not do it? also the reports indicate that checkpoint and cops helmet cameras had been wiped clean....now why would they do that as surely the video would prove their innocence? dimwits?

Yeah boy Trump sure did provide a perfect role model for the nations children. I really want him to decide what children should be allowed to read or be taught....Favorite classes? 1. Just grab em by the pxxxxy 2. How to make fun of handicapped people 3. 100 lies in 20 days: How to Lie like a pro 4. How to hire a porn star. 5. How to use a Bible for a political prop 6. How to avoid the military with fake bone spurs. 7. How to declare bankruptcy and stick workers with your bills. 8. How to act like you know more than experts 9. How to keep the uneducated drinking kool aide 10 How to throw your friends, famiy, staff under the bus, 11. How to cheat on your wives 12. How to lust after your own daughter and seem normal. 13. How to use racist slurs effectively 14. How to praise neo Nazis 15. How to steal classified documents 16. How to raise money for a cause and spend it on yourself 17. How to encourage violence, murder and mayhem 18. How to have more golden idols than carter had peanuts 19. How to make fools of people who worship you 20. How to run a fake university and make millions. 21. How to engage in tax fraud for decades 22. How to know less history than a 5th grader. 23. How to cure diseases by drinking bleach 24. How to take from the poor and give to the rich. 25. How to match your fake tan with orange jumpsuits.

If you want to ban a book that is full of sex, murder, violence and fairy tales start with the Bible.

and who exactly gets to decide what books are allowed and what are banned....a bunch of politicians or political appointees? Bring in the bible beaters, the flat earth bunch and the conspiracy theory lunatics? Don't forget the election deniers, the anti vax, the anti science, the anti global warming bunch cause they no doubt want the kids to be dumbed down to their levels. How about have a national standard where any book proposed as inappropriate is reviewed by a board of education professionals selected by a large group of teachers who actually have some knowledge of schools, libraries, school kids, etc..who can discuss after actually reading the books in question and make appropriate recommendations? I don't need or want some right wing bible beating moron like desantis or one of his bat sxxt crazy political appointee deciding what is appropriate. What's next revive the Salem witch trials?

EV just like most every other vehicle from cars to planes to motocycless to bikes to tanks to ships continue to improve with new technology....the first gas cars are a far cry from what they have evolved to....EV and others that use something other than dead plants to propel them will also evolve and in the future people will look back and say how primitive that we burned dead plants to power our transport.

In a strange way I want trump to get the nomination as he has proven he is a loser. If he does not get the nomination then look for a 3rd party MAGA run (assuming his incompetent crew can file the paperwork)....which would split the vote and also insure a dem win. Of course T then can raise millions more from his delusional MAGA base and claim that he and he alone brought down the republican party. That would be the best case scenario for trump...he can sit in mar largo with millions of MAGA dollars to pxss away as he pleases all the while whining about how unfair it all has been and how great the world would be if only they would listen to the Biggest Loser. He is not now and never has been nor never will be a gracious loser or even admit when he loses. That will not change. The odds of him yielding to a Desantis type are slim to none. He will burn it all down before he supports anyone but himself. Repubs best chance is for him to be in jail. If they have half a brain they will be cheering for an indictment and felony convictions.

another farang who knows better than the thai people who actually voted for the Shin gang in a landslide ....but of course their votes don't count because they don't have their hearts in it....and the powers that be can overthrow the will of the people with a nice illegal coup.... it is so simple...let the thai people vote for who they want to and then honor the results of their vote without a bunch of jacked up charges pursued by a bunch of generals and their wealthy backers who themselves illegally seized power.

never had that problem at all....