zackxx

Lao khao เหล้าขาว (Thai) or ເຫຼົ້າຂາວ (Laotian) translated into English is "white spirit" and distilling in Thailand must be licensed under the Criminal Activities Act which was introduced in the 1950s. This regulation was passed after a spate of lao khao of poor quality being produced, which resulted in methanol related poisoning. The methanol was produced as a by-product of the spirits reacting with tin and aluminium stills used. The metals were switched out with stainless steel when the Thai government took over all distilleries by 1960. Not sure what the story is in Lao.

Probably miscommunication. Did the Arabs know they had to vacate the court if they lost or was it just assumed they understood the Thai team's rules? And what team were using the court first? If the Arab team then why follow the "rules" of the Thai team that came later? I doubt both teams arrived at the same time.

No you don't actually need a Pink ID card but it can be helpful. How? 1. You can get the cheaper Thai price at some establishments. 2. Use the Pink ID card as ID for your Thai bank accounts as the this ID is valid for 10 years whereas your passport (and passport number) change when your passport is full and you get a new one. Saves the hassle of keeping all your old passports for use as ID when dealing with a Thai bank in which you opened an account with years ago with an old passport. As for the Thai Social Security for those that paid into the system when they worked here, you elected what public hospital annually you would prefer to be treated by for "free" if something happened to you. Upon retirement in Thailand you can elect to A) receive a Thai pension paid monthly or, B) retain all the hospital benefits that you had when you worked in Thailand by paying only THB432/month. Hospitalization is also "free". So it serves as very cheap health insurance. Note that it will be a Thai public hospital and not a private one.

Or a skydiver could fall into an airborne hot air balloon basket? The skydivers will hit the ground before their plane does, even if it does run out of fuel. Planes can glide right? So when the skydivers hit the ground, aka the value of these fiat currencies becomes valueless, the value of gold will skyrocket up.

Yes physical gold is money (also physical silver) whereas all those fiat currencies you mention (and all fiat currencies used in the world) are just that: 'fake money", currencies (not money). The rising "price" of gold in a fiat currency, like in your chart, just shows the value of that fiat losing value, or purchasing power, over time rather than the gold increasing in "value". Never save in a currency, but in real money. A simple analogy is a plane full of skydivers: the skydivers represent currencies that bob up and down relative to one another after they jump out of the plane. Gold on the other hand is the plane that follows a level course. Eventually all the skydivers reach the ground, like currencies with a value of zero.

Countries all around the world are doing this to reduce their costs and increase their tax take. Counties like New Zealand are incrementally increasing the number of years one must live in NZ before being able to retire at 65 and get superannuation. It was just 10 years since one turned 20 years old and will be the same for those born on or before 30 June 1959. But if born from 1 July 1959 - 30 June 1961 now it's 11 years, from 1 July 1961 - 30 June 1963: 12 years, 1 July 1963 - 30 June 1965: 13 years, etc. They should do an incremental increase in Thailand too so that those at 54 years old, thinking they are turning into the current Thailand retirement age of 55 are not suddenly told you have to work another 10 years.

Partly correct. As a disabled person living in BKK I can't cross streets that quickly and cars will often stop for me when they see me waiting at a pedestrian crossing. The trouble is, as I'm crossing the street on the pedestrian crossing, a motorcycle will zip between the stopped cars and miss me by inches even when I have my wits about me!

Except that nowadays many countries, including Thailand, have automatic departure passport control lanes like at Suvarnabhumi where Immigration Inspections will be accessible to visitors with foreign passports and you don't actually meet with an immigration official who puts a stamp in your passport. This has become an issue for countries like Lao and Cambodia who use to always check arriving passengers for the departure stamp in their passport of the country they just left.

Exactly! But the THB10,000 giveaway is the cheese used to lure unwary and poor people into the trap. It's a step towards a CBDC that banks (and governments) around the world are pushing us toward. With a central database it's much easier to control people. https://www.ft.com/content/9194ca11-7788-4a1d-a6cc-cffea18d0c9d

Just to clarify, I needed to be on a Non-Immigrant Visa (any category) before I could apply for an extension of stay. In my case I had been working in Thailand for 25 years on a Non-Immigrant B (business) visa and wished to extend my stay here after I retired (aged over 50 years) so needed to apply for a Non-Immigrant Retirement visa. The attachment I post below shows that I am now legally in Thailand on a Non-Immigrant Retirement visa.

My condo is very close the Phayathai BTS where many Chinese transfer to/from the ARL coming or going to the airport. As I use this BTS station often, I have noticed many Chinese travelers here. Inevitably they are with suitcases so they prefer to use the lift to/from the BTS platform instead of the stairs. There is a sign in Thai & English next to the doors of the lift (at all BTS stations) to give priority to disabled, aged, pregnant women and children. Let these disadvantaged people use the lift first. Do you think many Chinese travelers adhere to this common decency if they want to use the lift? Do you think many Chinese travelers offer their seat on the BTS to these priority people despite clear signs on the trains above certain seats to do so? Not to disparage only mainland Chinese but many farang/non-Thais visitors are guilty also. The behavior of Thai people to offer their seat is consistently good however, that is if they are not too engrossed playing on their mobile phone to notice the person standing right in front of them that needs a seat more than they do. With more and more Chinese tourists entering Thailand I can only see this situation getting worse, but hey, they bring in money so we'll have to put up with it.

Well they might start with making it easier for expats to send THB to overseas accounts (Paywise?) and allowing us to trade on Thai based crypto exchanges like Bitkub.

We saw with the "scamdemic" the extent pharmaceutical companies will go to, most notably paying kickbacks to medical professionals and advertising revenue to mass media outlets, to push their so-called "vaccine" onto the world's population. Millions have either died or been injured by this "medical procedure". Turn now to the historical use (notible in Thailand going back 100s of years) of cannabis as a cheap and proven treatment for all sorts of ailments, something pharmaceutical don't like because they want you to spend your money on their expensive drugs. My initial thoughts when Thailand first legalized cannibis use was great- finally a government giving a middle finger to the pharmaceutical industry. This latest development is a disappointment. Maybe the excuse to reclassify cannabis and hemp as illegal narcotics because of "recreational use" is just that: an excuse. I do wonder if any politicians who support this reclassification are also getting kickbacks from the pharmaceutical industry.

My work colleague, an American farang, had a white-coloured Thailand Certificate of Residence book that he would show Thai Immigration whenever he was exiting or entering Thailand. Our business travel was extensive and we would often travel together but I only had a one year Business Visa, extended annually. One would think that my colleague would pass through Thai immigration much quicker than I but the opposite was true. Why? Because Thai immigration officers were so unfamiliar with the "white book" that my colleague had and so were not quite sure what to do. Typically they had to call for their superior to come sort it out. This hassle put me off for applying for Thai residency.

"Dr Sopon emphasised that vaccination is pivotal..." Well after Covid we (well those up with the data) know all about these "vaccinations" don't we. Another Big Pharma bought and sold medical "professional"?