Acharn

She works in a bar, for heaven's sake. Of course she found someone better. Probably found someone worse, too. Obviously, he's in love.

I saw a urologist three years ago, and he used an ultrasound to chedk my prostate. Much cheaper than MRI. He decided it wasn't enlarged enough to treat and prescribed something to increase my bill. Six months ago I found it was a urinary infection. My doctor (a pulmonary specialist) gave me an antibiotic and it was gone in five days. I still wake up two or three times a night and have to urinate, but it's much better. The urologist never thought to check for infection.

Wow, I don't remember it getting that high. That sure would be great for me.

You need to read Parkinson/s Law. Work expands to meet the time available. Which is a very obscure way of saying, every bureaucracy grows (including private businesses). Once upon a time, some Thai Immigration officer realized he could increase the number of people working for him (increase his status) by creating a new immigration requirement. By creating the requirement for re-entry permits he not only increased the number of officers required to process paperwork, he also created a (smal) income stream for the government.

AI is not sustainable. It's going to collapse in a year or two, and we're going to have a repeat of the Great Depression. The stock market is way overvalued now, and it's being held up by half a dozen AI companies buying chips from Nvidia. Eventually they're going to complete their huge data centers and stop buying chips.

And a couple of years ago it was around 28.5. If you're not prepared to withstand big variations in the dollar/baht ratio you're going to suffer. Sure was nice when it was in the high 34s, though.

No, ngok means miserly. khi ngok means cheapskate (habitually miserly). In the bars that's what they are referring to because many foreigners can't afford high prices. I was confused, too, until I hung out at one beer bar for a long time and practiced speaking Thai there. It's hard for Americans to hear the difference from khi nok, or bird <deleted>.

Oh, you're right. I wasn't paying attention. My extension expires on 10 May 2026, which answers my question. Sorry.

My passport expires 10 May 2026. My extension of stay expires 13 July 2026 (I just renewed it). When I go to transfer stamps in May (or earlier) will I have to renew my extension at that time? My memory is that I did the last time, but it was much closer to the end of the previous extension, and my memory is not very good anyway.

Yeah, it doesn't matter how old the photo you put on your application is. Nobody ever looks at it. They take your picture when they process the application. At least, they do here in Nakhorn Sawan.

Yesterday (Tuesday) was a government holiday, but I would have expected the transfer to have arrived on Monday. When I transfer funds from the U.S. "for long term stay in Thailand" it arrives at 2:00PM that day. If I transfer funds for any other reason it takes seconds.

On our way to my monthly appointment at the hospital, I noticed my niece was driving 30 kilometers per hour (kph). 30 kph = 18 mph, a speed so slow I've never seen it in America. It was actually nice. We were moving at a comfortable pace and I didn't feel any impatience. No stress. We were keeping up with traffic and few cars were passing us.

My mask doesn't limit my air supply, thank you.

Portugal seems to have found a workable program. It's hard to tell, because the American media never cover it.

Well, in the U.S. over 1 million died before they stopped keeping statistics. Granted, that was three years ago, and we don't know how many Covid has killed since then. There's also Long Covid, of course, and I don't know if that's a problem in Thailand, but assume it is. I'm 87 years old, so I take it pretty seriously. I also get a flu shot every year.

You need a step-down transformer to change the 220V Thai current to 110V US current. They used to be common here fifty years ago, but so many brands started making 220V appliances (what all the rest of the world uses) I don't know where you'd go looking for one now. I don't know why you'd want a surge protector anyway. A full Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) is only about ฿900 ($27) anyway, and includes surge protection.

If ฿30K is not a burden for you, go for it. That's a pretty good monthly income for an upcountry Thai family, especially if they're farmers. If it is a burden try to talk it over with her. After all, if you marry her you'll have to send her family something to make up for the loss of her income. Or not, if you're a cheap, hard-hearted bastard.

Yes.

Oh, I don't know. I rather liked the one that happened in October, 1973. Unfortunately that led to the Counter Revolution in 1976, which the Thai don't like to talk about, but which eventually led to Prem's appointment as Prime Minister. And Anand was a very good Prime Minister.

I don't know the current situation, so I probably shouldn't comment, but 15 years ago a friend of mine, who worked in Bangkok but was married to a Vietnamese woman, told me that his trips to visit his wife were OK, but Vietnam had more stress, was more competitive, than Thailand. I think most expats here will stay. Unless Vietnam offers foreigners free medical care. No, even then I have Thai family I wouldn't want to leave.

I met my first wife at the NCO Club at the Army base in Sattahip, in 1971.

Last time I spoke to a foreigner was about four and a half years ago. It was the last time I spoke English, too. I live outside Nakhor Sawan, if it matters.

I live outside Nakhorn Sawan. Everyone here seems to have tattoos, especially religious in nature. It's an ancient tradition in Thailand, maybe because the government used to tattoo people to show their citizenship (for taxation purposes).

It all depends on China. If the Chinese let Trump back down, the shortages and recession will be comparatively brief. If they maintain their tariffs and export restrictions for long, the US is probably going to be in a Depression in 2028. Before 2001 I would have expected that to be good, but given the state of the Democratic Party now the future does not look good.

Oh, yes, I'm from the U.S. I spent twenty years in the Army, half of it overseas. I was in high school during The McCarthy Years, and things have been that crazy since 2016. Maybe since 2001. I've mostly lived away from farang areas, among lower-/middle-class Thais.