MarkyM3

The 5% growth figure is a manufactured illusion. It's nearer to 2% of real growth in reality, if that, and China has major structural and demographic issues plus stagnant wages and a slump in consumer spending. Anyone who has invested there (that includes me, sadly!) will be aware of this. Financial markets are in a long term bear situation in the absence of any convincing government support, not the piecemeal measures that have been taken thus far. There's also a looming trade war with the US and the huge export surplus China has relied upon can't be expected to continue. So I wouldn't expect China to provide loads of tourists in future until they get sorted. That is not going to be any time soon.

Are you on a wind up?! Yoon may be a fool but Kim is an irrational dictator. Hardly smart, just has a brainwashed population to oversee.

Thought it was Koh Mak for a moment when I saw the headline (that one being near Koh Chang). I got attacked by a pack of dogs there in 2022 when walking up the beach. I got chased into the sea and my feet brushed a sea urchin in the process which is bl**dy painful (tried avoiding it but there are loads of them in the shallow waters there). The pack was wise to pretend rock throwing etc. and came right into the water. Only way to get away was to float on my back further down the beach until they lost interest! A funny story but it could have been more serious but the locals seemed mainly indifferent to the menace of these things, despite staying in a high end place. There were lots of strays all over the island full stop, presumably the lack of cars helping in that respect. The only saving grace was I didn't get bitten and need rabies shots. I'm investing in a retractable baton in future.

Outsider looking in (and I see loads of US comments on politics outside their own country inc. on this forum so....) Seems to me that Presidential pardons should be scrapped entirely. They are clearly open to abuse by both sides, as seen here with Biden doing a rapid about-turn. Obama gave plenty out and on the Trump side, he gave loads too e.g. Jared Kushners's father, who is being lined up as prospective US Ambassador to France. In my home country (UK), the various honours lists inc. those of departing PM's in particular are not a lot better except convicted criminals generally don't get them and they can be rescinded e.g. Fred Goodwin, Conrad Black. They are still a joke though.

Sausagemeat with high pork content (85% minimum), salt and pepper is all u need for a basic sausage but you need proper sausage skins. Loads of recipes on YouTube, they should be easy to make if you can get the raw materials. FWIW I've not had any decent restaurant-served sausages in Thailand versus what I'd cook myself in the UK (I don't buy the Richmond/Walls ones that KannikaP rightly derided and seems to be the usual standard or worse seen in Thailand). I'm sure they are out there. but if u can make your own they will be better. I cook my sausages in the oven btw rather than frying. Makes skins crispier and sausages less fatty. Grilling or frying are the alternatives.

I'll need it for a mixture of remote working, plus getting access to things like BBC iPlayer, Amazon Prime etc. Consistent service is the key. I see stuff like ExpressVPN, NordVPN mentioned but I'm most interested in real-life user estimonials, not from websites with a potential interest in promoting certain providers offering referral fees. Cheers 🙂

No fan of the Shins (or Prayuth's associates) whatsoever but a top MILF imo . Current PM is no slouch in the looks dept either but Yingluck wins out 😋

Get back to your floors/arm wrestling 😄

Glad you like Lamai, you're lucky to be living there! I first pitched up there in January 2005 in my backpacking days, having arrived via Surat Thani to NaThon on a glorified fishing boat with 2 travelling companions. This was a little bit before the time of planning things via the internet so we got picked up on the pier by touts and piled into a minivan. Everyone else was being encouraged to go to Chaweng but we'd already decided we didn't want to follow the crowd so told the driver to let us out in Lamai. They weren't too happy because no kickbacks were being paid, but very glad we took that option - I much prefer it to Chaweng which I virtually never go to. I've been back to Lamai many times in the last 20 years and while it's changed it still retains its quieter charms. The A-frames I mentioned are the New Hut, btw, as you probably guessed 😄 We didn't actually stay there but I still use the restaurant if I'm taking a walk down the beach. Good, cheap and great location. Pension uprating - agreed, you have to pay contributions to get it so I fail to see how it's fair to freeze just because the recipient isn't in the UK anymore. It. But as I read somewhere else, the last time a new country was added to the list was in 1981 so it ain't happening. I agree 100% on your points about the waste of money elsewhere. That plus the huge C19 debts and Ukraine war spend means uprating will never happen, if anything the qualification age will be delayed in future.

Well, yes state pensions aren't great but if you look at Europe, people are obliged to pay a lot more in to the state system than in the UK. Private provision is supposed to be more of a feature in the UK. But yeah, I won't disagree necessarily on that point, the main issue I feel is the frozen pension which is entirely unfair. Tbh, as someone who stayed in KSR in my backpacking days (2005-8) and revisited a few times since (twice during the pandemic when it was utterly dead, my ex gf liked a restaurant nearby, and once more in Jan 2024), most of the clientele are middle class kids on gap years before or after Uni, people on career breaks/sabbaticals (like I was) and older hippy types. You'd be surprised at how many of them do have money....most are probably financed by mum and dad, or used savings if they work. They tend to be on trips of several months (except perhaps for the older hippy types). One reason KSR is struggling is it has tried to go upmarket and it isn't good value for money, as my post higher up mentioned. Why pay £70 for a crappy room there in a "boutique hotel" which in reality is rubbish when you can stay elsewhere on a similar budget and get so much more for your money. Along with the fact people are trying out new places. Last time I went to KSR in Jan this year it was doing fine. But it is still grubby as hell so again, the prices don't match the reality really. You can stay in Lamai, Koh Samui on the beach in an A-frame hut for a few hundred baht a night still - that's real backpacking, not the facsimile that KSR is.

Every EVA flight I've been on for many years is sold out without fail. Every time. And that's despite premium economy and business fares going up by >2/3 in the last 5 years. There's still plenty of money floating around in the UK tbh and I live there most of the year - for the time being at least. Unemployment is still near a record low level and I think people are still prioritising having a holiday. I totally agree with you on the cost of living but most backpackers have barely started working, or are on career breaks/sabbaticals and they are the meat and potatoes of KSR's tourist trade. Also, the UK is only one component of it. So I think your points are more applicable to tourist trade elsewhere - whether in other parts of Thailand or other countries. High executive pay is hardly a new thing and I don't think has much to do with whether backpackers are coming to KSR. The price of oil also determines BP profits, executive pay is a small element in it. Oil prices have dropped right back lately, as has the BP share price. Not saying I agree with excessive pay at all btw - a lot of execs are unjustifiably rewarded for poor performance - but by Western standards the UK is actually relatively moderate.

Absolutely zilch to do with the Ukraine War. Clutching at straws there (great Marillion album btw 😄 ) I went down there earlier this year. 300 baht for a "jug" of beer everywhere so it ain't that cheap. A friend of mine who still likes to backpack and wanted to revisit the places we stayed in 20 years ago when we first visited Asia inc. KSR paid £70/night for a room around there and it wasn't much cop by the sounds of it. Residences in Sukhumvit/Asoke for an average £100/night (will be more now due to exchange rate dipping) are in a completely different league. I also suspect people are moving on. The internet and social media/blogging has made information so much more accessible and quicker to disseminate and booking places is completely different to how it was when I did it 20 years back. Then, people were mainly still carrying Lonely Planet or Rough Guide around and being able to book online or see a website was still in its infancy. KSR was still full of internet cafes at the time! Laos is obviously going to have some issues with their backpacker demand after the alcohol poisoning issues but that will probably be short lived.

The person who started this thread (Chris Daley) made some rather nasty comments about your friend, if you care to look through your own thread. Hence I wanted to point out what he's really about in the context of having started this thread. He posts a lot of trolling type stuff like that. Pls feel free ask the moderators to remove my post cross-referencing to your own thread if you wish. Don't think anyone made the connection anyways. Not quite sure how you found this thread btw because it has been dead for a week and only had me vs "Donnie Peverley" in it. As usual, Chris Daley slunk off after 1 post.

What a charming comment to make about 6 dead people who were at their beginning of their adult lives and fulfilling their travel dreams. What a laugh that is...not

Hopefully Bangkok Airways do something about the tired-looking interiors of their aircraft. Considering the prices they charge, they looked pretty sorry on the flights I took with them in June.