Acharn

Errr... the children in Thailand seem to be able to cross the roads safely. If you don't have the trick of it, Thailand is probably not a good place for you to be.

This is absurd. It seems to have been adopted from Parsi "fereng" around 1500, and specifically refers to people of European extraction. Since the Vietnam War, most Thais also apply it to American blacks. It's not derogatory at all. You must be paranoid to think it is.

Because you didn't catch measles, because most of the kids around you were vaccinated.

No, the military equipment is all junk too. There are six huge contractors who do 95% of DoD's work. At outrageous prices. Elon is on the wrong track. He'll never save any money firing govenrment employees. According to Dean Baker their salaries make up only 5% of government spending. He could save more by requiring the DoD fire all their consultants. All of them. And at least half their contractors. Make the government employees and soldiers to the work like they used to. Cut the Army back to the size it was in 1933. Fire 90% of the generals, 50% of the Colonels, and a third of the Majors. There's a lot the military could save, but they like their little taste.

You don't know very much about Thailand, do you? Most tattoos in Thailand are for religious purposes or magic than to look good.

Sorry, 26th Century. The years from 0 -100 count as the first century, the years fron 101-200 are the second, etc.

If you live upcountry it takes about 5 minutes. At least here in Nakhon Sawan. When I go in it's usually empty, or has maybe one other customer waiting. I hand my passport to the lady, go to a seat, and before I've read three pages in my book I'm done.

I imagine because their finances are like mine. They don't have any reserve for emergencies/accidents. No airline or shipping agency is going to transport his corpse for free. They need to find money somewhere to pay for it.

I agree. It dates back to the 1976 counter-revolution. From the reports about people overstaying 1, 2, 5 years the police don't make use of it anyway. I'm sure some bright young bureaucrat got a promotion from suggesting it, but practice shows it doesn't have any value. I don't mind doing it too much, it keeps the Immigration office people familiar with my face, but it takes a couple of liters of gasohol to go and come back.

No, Permanent Residency is far too expensive for me. I used to feel some regret that I didn't get Thai citizenship back in 1982, when I first returned to Thailand (retired from the Army), and it was easy and cheap.

I use Asepso, it never gets soft.

I send $2,400 every month to Bangkok Bank. I make the transfer in the morning and they credit my account at 2:00 PM. That's because I'm using "long term stay in Thailand" for my reason, and BKK bank only processes the transfers at 2:00 every weekday afternoon. When I send smaller amounts it's always a few seconds. I've never sent as much as $1,000 between beginnings of the month. I suggest he check his Wise account for messages/notifications. I suffered delays of two or three days when they changed their app to access my account and I had to re-register the account.

When I used to hang out in the Thermae, most Americans I met claimed to have been Delta Force, LRRP (U.S. Marine Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol), Seal Team 6 or Special Forces. One guy even claimed to have served in the Phoenix Program, apparently thinking killing a lot of innocent people was a good thing. My good friend and I were the only two I knew who were normal; he was an avionics repairman in the Delta and I was a personnel sergeant in III Corps.

Well, the average daily temperature is already 1.8° above pre-industrial average, so the Paris Accord is meaningless anyway. They aimed to prevent reaching 1.5° above pre-industrial average. We might as well leave. It was ineffective, anyway. I don't have any evidence, and I'm not a scientist, but I think we'll hit 3.0° above by 2030. Hot season in Thailand will be unlivable for humans. India will be worse. And winters will be colder.

American airbase? Good Lord, that was 50 years ago, man.

Ah, you're a <removed> sufferer. Well, what is Trump supposed to do? He's not the President (yet). He's the leader of the opposition party. Of course he's going to use the fires to criticize the President and Governor, although I don't see how it's the President's fault. Burea of Land Management? Or do you want him to promise to spend all his own money to help the thousands (it sounds like) who will have lost their homes and all their possessions? I don't expect the Republicans to be very generous after he becomes President, but then Biden and the Democrats haven't been, either. He still owes me $600.

It depends on how well you speak Thai. If there are no tourists, the locals have no reason to learn English. Of course they have lessons in school, but most of them don't learn to speak English. Of course, if you speak Thai well, there are lots of places in Bangkok -- just look around. If you don't like Bangkok, go to any town in Thailand and you'll find at least one brothel.

You should get out more. I see it the other way around -- nowadays fewer men get tattooed, but more women, and they're less religious in nature. In the book Khun Chang, Khun Paen, a monk warns Khun Chang that if he lives in a town they will put a tattoo on him and he will be treated like a dog (i.e., a citrizen).

Thai culture has a long history of tattoos. Almost every Thai guy I know is like a billboard, tattoos on back and chest. Often they are long religious texts or prayers. Some kinds are against disease. In Ayutthaya, they were used to prove citizenship -- and prevent people from evading taxes.

I seem to recall I had a "check-up" once back when I still lived in Bangkok. I think it was when visa extensions were still done at Soi Suan Phlu, so that was, what, 20 years ago? The physician just signed a form, nothing was really checked and I paid a couple hundred baht. I had a physical exam five or six years ago, but it had nothing to do with my extensions. I've decided there's no reason for me to get physical check-ups. If I'm not sick enough to be in the hospital, I would just incur more expenses.

It would be helpful if you would follow the Thai language and refer to the drug as ya baa, or yaa baa, or ya ba. To the OP, it sounds like you need to talk to your phu yai baan about rehabilitation programs. Are there any in your province? Yaa Baa is not ruining Thai culture. It's been part of Thai culture for over 50 years. It is a burden on the Thai people, but it's up to them to find a solution. Their current solution is to throw into prison anyone caught using it. Not much success so far, as your son-in-law demonstrates.

Do you live in Thailand? I kind of look forward to Patel jailing, or at least firing, a whole lot of high-ranking FBI people.

I think the only reason police don't arrest more prostitutes is that it is very hard to prove that a sex act (as defined in the law) actually took place. If they have the management open the door while the act might be taking place, and they find the couple fully clothed, they are liable for damages, so they are reluctant to do that. In Bangkok the cops know very well where the prostitutes work, and often abuse them too, but shutting the industry down would cause complete chaos politically. Up-country everyone knows where the prostitutes are. Also, many women from up-country consider it just another way to pick up a little extra money during the slow season. A lot of young girls look forward to reaching the age of 18 so they can "go to work," and some don't wait. Before 1996 (when the current prostitution law was passed) it was routine to see 14 year old girls already with a couple months experience. Some of them go back home after a few years. Others don't.

I would guess a bad heart resulting from Long Covid. In the U.S. something like 10,000 people a day are catching Covid, and about 3 percent of them develop Long Covid.

There are thousands of hardened criminals currently being processed by the courts. Why should I be interested in this guy?