Acharn

Yeah, that's what my hospital in Nakhon Sawan charges me every September.

I used to know an American guy. Don't know how old he was when he arrived here, but he was living in Thailand as a teenager. I knew him in his late twenties and early thirties. He was involved in movie making in southern Thailand back in 2010 when I lost touch with him. As far as I know he's doing all right financially. Of course he won't have American Social Security, but he might have Thai citizenship and get theirs. Hard to say. We don't get what we deserve, we get what we get.

I suppose others before me have recommended this. Try Melatonin, 3 mg. I bought mine from Lazada, but any pharmacy/drug store should have them. It's a supplement, not a sleeping pill. Your body makes it naturally, but makes less as you grow older. Tourists use it to reset their body clocks after travelling across several time zones. I haven't used it in a couple of years. It helped my body adapt to the new level.

OK, I did a quick search on Duck Duck Go, and all I get are headlines about his appointment. How/where do I find out who his brother is? I'm pretty sure it's not Thaksin or Prayut.

Seen some good advice in this thread. For me, the thing that convinced me I was an alcoholic (besides health problems) was a test from Alcoholics Anonymous. It takes a lot of self-discipline. For ninety days, depending on how much you normally drink, every day drink two of your favorite drinks. No more, but no less, either. If you don't feel like a drink, you have to force yourself to drink two. If you can do that for ninety days, you're not an alcoholic. If at some point you drink more, you are. I was able to see, without trying it, that nobody could possibly pass that test. Of course, I was wrong.

Yeah, I'd say three to four small beers a day, with an occasional blow-out, is moderate drinking. If you never get in trouble because of your drinking you're not an alcoholic. If you're an alcoholic, eventually you'll know it. One symptom is blacking out -- continuing to drink and interact with people, but not remembering it the next day. In my case, in thirty years of drinking I never remembered going home. Sometimes worse.

Errr... Russia has not been Communist for over thirty years. China's Communism is not for export, and I'm not sure I would even call them left wing any more. The U.S. Dollar is doing fine for now, but I remember just a couple of years ago when it was ฿28.5 to the Dollar. I'll be glad if the baht stays at this price for a couple of months (or more), but I expect it'll soon return to 32.

As to why people buy books, it's partly because Amazon can't flip a switch and take it away from you. Some people find reading an electronic book less pleasant than reading a book made from dead trees.

Thanks. I've expected for several years to build a kitchen with a bread oven, other accessories, a sink, and counters. It now looks like it will be several more years until I have the money for it, and by then I'll be too old. I'll check breadmakers at Lazada.

Without an oven?

How do I print out the TM30? Mine was printed out from the Immigration Office computer and I don't have a copy of the original form or the computer file. I live in Nakhon Sawan. It's stapled in the back of my passport.

Thanks for the very helpful post. It's beginning to look like Thai politics will become interesting again. Over the last nine years Thai politics became utterly boring, which was what Prayut and a lot of people wanted. I absolutely do not want to go back to the Red Shirts and Yellow Shirts rioting in the streets, but it will be good to see the backbiting and betrayals in Parliament again. And some colorful political actors, too.

Throughout Thai history, every incoming king has tried to reform the government and courts. It's always worked for a while, and then human nature exerts itself.

Well, I'm an alcoholic but retired from the Army as an E-7, so don't think of myself as a loser. One thing I have noticed, though. I served 18 months in Vietnam while America was still there. I was a personnel sergeant, which means, basically, office worker. I had a friend here who was stationed in the Delta as an avionics repairmen. I've met an uncountable number of guys who were Special Forces, Marine LRRPs, Rangers, Delta Force, or other exotic combat types, although I know that at least 70% of American soldiers are support people, not grunts. I even met one guy who bragged about being assigned to Operation Phoenix, not realizing he was confessing to being a serial murderer. I've sometimes wondered why that was, but I don't live in Bangkok any more so no longer run into those kinds of guys.

Well, I haven't driven since 1989, but before that I found Thai drivers to be no worse than drivers in California or Washington, D.C. Of course, before I moved to Thailand in 1982 I made up my mind that I was the one who would need to change my opinions and attitude, not the Thais.

I don't understand how a commodity "backs" a currency. So there's inflation and I take my currency to the banks and ask to exchange it for the commodity. They give me the commodity. Now what? What do I do with it? Perhaps back in the 1890s you could take gold dust to a grocery and exchange it for food. I don't think so, but perhaps. I think you had to take the gold dust to an assay office (government office) and exchange it for currency. By the way, you say "many" nations have had their currencies "evaporate." I won't ask you to name them, but how many in the last twenty years? The last fifty? The last two hundred?

Thais are getting fatter, or maybe I should say more Thais are getting fat. The ones who are still slim eat a lot less sugar than Americans (and, I guess, British and Israelis). I first came to Thailand in 1971. It's changed. Actually, it's changed a lot since Thaksin was first chosen Prime Minister.

All well and good, but you don't say where you get these supplements. Is it from a clinic, a hospital, a local pharmacist? What are their brand names?

Yes, and with the first ever (the only ever?) majority party in Parliament. For good reasons. I don't know why so many posters here dislike him so much, but he did a lot for the people of Thailand. I remember what Thailand was like before he was elected the first time, and I've seen it change since then.

The overall trend of the price of gold is up, but there have been times when it went down, too. Or stayed the same for long periods of time while inflation continued. I'm not preaching against buying gold, but don't think that it's going to make you a profit or protect your wealth. Gold is a commodity, like oil or wheat.

Well, yeah, but you have to take it to a specialized enterprise to exchange it for the currency of the country you're in. In the U.S. you can go to most jewellers, or pawn shops. What you can't do with gold is take it to your neighborhood 7-11 and buy a six-pack of beer. In Thailand, and, I suppose, India, you can get a publicly announced price that is the same at every gold store and pawn shop. In most other countries you can't. Gold is not money, and it has disadvantages when used as the "backing" for money.

Well, what I mean is that it's not a requirement for legal marriage, but it is for traditional marriage. Certainly people who marry both ways (a subset of all Thais) use sin sod. I suppose there may be people who marry only according to the legal form who might use sin sod. I just don't know any.

No. Sinsod is part of traditional marriage, not legal marriage. The state doesn't recognize traditional marriages, only the paperwork at the amphoe.

I'm a different poster, but, yes, sleeping (sic) with a married woman is OK with me. Of course I'm not a Christian, Jew, or Muslim. I guess if your invisible sky god tells you it's wrong you shouldn't do it. I march to a different drummer. Quite a few years ago I "slept" with a large numbers of Thai ladies. A few had boyfriends, many had husbands and children. The husbands were OK with their wives working. Some of them had ordered their wives to go out and find some money. Some had left abusive husbands but had children to feed. I never met a "trafficked" one. I suppose there are some. I remember a case down in Rayong back when Prem was Prime Minister. A brothel burned down, and when going through the ruins the fire police found the burned corpse of a woman chained to a bed. Prem said he had no interest in the problems of a prostitute and the matter was forgotten. I mean that was on the news! Otherwise I've seen too many of these people pushing trafficking stories turn out to be grifters.

Pfui. Pure bull****. These people make a fortune from donations to "help rescue" these poor enslaved women and children. All lies.