Acharn

I love Chalerm Yubamrung. This guy makes Thai politics fun. Of course, he's corrupt as hell, but he's still fun if you're not one of his victims.

You look both ways before crossing the sidewalk.

If you're lucky, one day you're going to need help eating, you'll be drooling on your flannel shirt, and changing your Pampers a couple times a day. As far as I know they don't have old people's homes for farangs in Thailand. If you're still young enough to have all your faculties, it's kind of nice to have somebody to talk with, or even make love with.

I don't understand why the teacher took her students to a discussion with the tailor about modifying a dress. If she didn't like the price he demanded, why didn't she just leave? I agree he shouldn't have slapped her, but there's something strange about this story. ETA: Oops! The story says repeatedly that it was her children with her, not her students. Sorry, don't know why I read it the other way. I still don't understand why she didn't simply walk away when she didn't like the price. Also don't understand why she didn't accept the police recommendation. It sounds like she provoked the assault and is trying to force criminal charges against this guy.

I'm glad you're feeling comfortable here. I like it. But I've lived in several places in Thailand for 42 years and have never felt like a local. Bad headline writing. I've got Thai family I've lived with for years, they are loyal and I trust them to take care of me after I start wearing diapers, but I am not a Thai, will never be a Thai, and will never be "accepted" as a Thai.

No.

When I was stationed in Sattahip, in the Army in 1973, the kingdom was like the American frontier. Everybody was confident, optimistic, free. Lots of land was available, as the Thai Army deforested the Northeast. The country still dominated the culture. At least half the people in Bangkok only stayed there for three months at a time. Thaksin did a lot of good stuff around 2000. His sister did a lot of good stuff. Now we're just a couple of years out from a repressive coup/military dictatorship under a humorless, fun-hating man. People haven't had time to adjust. I like it almost as well now as I did in 1973.

Good news indeed, although thank goodness it doesn't apply to anyone in my family (anymore).

Are you sure about this? It used to be you had to go first, with the owner of the housebook and the housebook, to the amphur where you were registered and submit a request to be removed from that housebook, then go to the new amphur, with the owner and the housebook, and submit a request to be added to the housebook.

Not since the Democratic Leadership Council and Bill Clinton, anyway. I'd say the party leadership is mostly neoconservative now.

But when they have trouble they call the police anyway. Why is that?

This is the way Thai politics used to be. I very much miss Police Captain Chalerm and his threats to expose corruption.

I've known two guys who naturalized to Thai citizenship. Both had started companies that employed Thais and made a fair amount of money. This was some years ago, so things may have changed.

If they're richer than you they may have very powerful friends. It's not a matter of democracy, it's a matter of having bad things happen to you. I remember a case at an international school, many years ago. One girl (from a very rich family) threatened to kill another girl student (from a less rich family). After a few days of discussion and thought, the threatened girl left the school. Because the danger was real. Very few farangs are likely to run into this problem, but it is foolish to talk about "putting your head in the sand."

No, it was a few years later, after Vietnam ended. I'd guess during the '90s, but the World Bank study recommending they take advantage of the sex trade to lure tourists was back in the '50s. It didn't really take off until after the GIs left. I guess they spread the word.

Fifteen years. I'm surprised he still has such powerful enemies.

This is the request for verification. Somebody tried to log in to his account and had the correct password (or at least one that the operating system recognized). It's called two-stage verification. After they received the log-in they sent a request for verification to him. Since he didn't log in, the one time password (otp) is of no use to him, but the person trying to log in will be unsuccessful, too, because they won't have the otp. The op is confused, though. This can't be about his gmail account, because that's administered by Google. Whatever account this is, he should change his password immediately. Don't you have any accounts with two stage verification?

Just so. They may become Thai citizens, but they will never be Thai. Maybe their kids will be.

The Old Thermae closed (and was torn down) after the Flood of -- was it '92? Anyway, they tried to stay open for a while, but the place developed fungus and stank pretty badly. The New Thermae opened a couple of doors down Sukhumwit in the basement of a hotel whose name I can never remember. Most people started going in the front door, and you didn't have the stairway going down. Damn, I just realized I haven't been there for twenty years.

I remember reading an article about the subsidence problem at least 50 years ago. Nothing has been done about it since.

Go to a government hospital, not a private one. Foreigners are charged the same as locals, except we don't get the "one disease, 30 baht" deal. Of course, you'll wait a long time, but it's cheap.

So?

Nobody deserves a tip. The practice of tipping is a pernicious innovation by American rent-seekers, who refuse to pay their workers a living wage. Some workers become so desperate for food they accept work that pays too little, but they don't deserve my money. They deserve a raise.

Good grief, that was more than twenty years ago. I don't even remember what year it was. Was it after they caught the truck full of fertilizer with the dead body rotting in it, or after the threat to bomb the American embassy. Lasted for about two weeks, IIRC.

Probably because the court did not confiscate his passport. The American courts are very busy places, badly overworked. If you go to trial you might have to wait two or three years for your case to start. We have the most prisoners of any country on the planet (including China), but Congress does not want to increase taxes to pay for their War on Drugs. Most Americans, including judges, never think about overseas travel, so I can see how it could be overlooked.