spidermike007

Israel is at great risk of becoming completely isolated from the rest of the world. Their remaining support seems to be waning by the day and for Nations like the US it's becoming harder and harder to support them, and more and more costly politically. Netanyahu's fealty to homicidal extremists (the utra orthodox) is not helping on any level.

Prior to my last trip late last year I hadn't been there in 10 years, and it really felt like it had declined significantly. Especially the nightlife which was utterly pathetic. There was really no appeal to the place other than the Andaman, which is fantastic, but it's just not enough. And now with the Russian takeover, it's just one more reason never to go again.

Phuket is a disaster, it is horrific at this point in time. I was just there several months ago and I couldn't wait to leave. If they keep going with the development Phuket's going to be another Bali within the next 10 years. Bali has become like Midtown Manhattan at rush hour, the whole Southeast third of the island is an absolute abomination.

I believe the Italian-Thai Development (ITD) Plc. is currently building the Rama 2 project leading out of Bangkok southbound. This overhead highway seems to have been under construction already for the last 10 or 15 years and considering that they're only a kilometer 36 it looks like they might have 10 to 30 years to go. So this company obviously needs help, they are moving very slowly, the project is a disaster with constant construction going on, both in and out of Bangkok. It's actually quite an abomination.

Xi is a modern day Mao, though at least he is not murdering his people by the millions, nor causing massive famines. The man is very dangerous, Chinese politics are super toxic and the last thing Thailand wants to do is being indebted to these guys, who appear to want to take over the entire Pacific region if not the world. The irony is that Thailand desperately needs help with its railways, as it's making very little progress and what progress it is making is taking forever. They spent 70 years ignoring the fact that the nation desperately needed rail transport for cargo and it has resulted in some of the most choked highways in Southeast Asia, with trucks of all sizes constantly clogging both lanes. Getting on the highway here is just no fun at all.

I made the mistake of getting out on the road the day before Songkran started and it was a nightmaret. There was a lot more traffic on the highways during the holidays, so of course there's going to be more accidents, of course there's going to be more fatalities. This isn't really news.

In most countries neither begging nor wanting to buy drugs is a criminal offense. Would they arrest a Thai for begging? This is pretty over the top. I can understand them maybe trying to clear him out, trying to find him a place to stay, but arresting him for begging this is just so inane, so silly, and such an overreaction. I wonder what's going on here right now, there really seems to be a a frenzy that's driving a lot of nonsense. The real truth of the matter is that Thailand no longer attracts the affluent nor the wealthy tourists, so you're getting more and more dregs in exchange for those wealthy tourists that used to come. They have a dozen different reasons to not come anymore.

He sure did spend money like a drunken sailor during covid. In late February, the Trump administration said it planned to spend $2.5 billion to fight the coronavirus. A month and a half later, President Trump signed off on spending almost a thousand times as much — $2.35 trillion. And that amount doesn’t include the Federal Reserve’s efforts, which are harder to measure but seem likely to blow past the $4 trillion mark. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/04/15/coronavirus-economy-6-trillion/

I use my bright lights and my horn on trucks, when they are hogging the fast lane on a major highway at 50kph. Usually it works. Sometimes they just ignore it and I have to use the slow lane to go around them. Using your horn with cars can be dangerous here. I do it rarely. Only when someone does something incredibly dumb and dangerous.

The nation has been ignoring the development of rail for cargo for 70 years now. This is a chief reason why the highways are so clogged with trucks of every size. The lack of vision and planning are an abomination and a huge deterrent to a higher quality of life for the people.

With the Russian takeover of the island, no idea why anyone would ever want to visit Phuket again. I was there last year, and never need to return. They make the Chinese look positively delightful.

No secret. It is very likely when the PT sold out to the Army, that was already agreed to. Now, the drama continues. Anything for power

I felt that ever since they became Asean now, the moderation was much better. Previously, people would get warned for the tiniest of infractions. Hopefully this lack of censorship will continue. Keep up the good work.

Hopefully they will find some of his ill gotten gains and convict him. Never bought his white knight nonsense. There are few straight RTP and certainly not at the highest levels. Lock up the joke.

I love the idea of an intelligent woman as president but not Harris. she's a terrible VP and she would be an even worse president. I say that as a lifelong Democrat, there are a dozen things about her that are beyond horrific. Have you looked at her record as district attorney in San Francisco or as Attorney General in California? Have you studied what she's done and who she is? I would vote for Biden again, but he's losing millions of votes by maintaining Harris on the ticket. There are millions of women and millions of black folks who do not like her, for a very good reasons. Hopefully Trump will continue to lose his momentum, as another term under him would be quite horrific. I consider him to be perhaps the most dangerous man in the world. I also considered him to be the 44th worst president in history behind Buchanan, and not deserving of another term. The man cannot negotiate his way out of a paper bag and was bested by nearly everybody he negotiated with as President.

My wife always warns me not to honk the horn. These days the reality is that this could happen anywhere in the world. Anytime you honk your horn, make a gesture to another driver, or show aggression of any sort all bets are off. I still believe that as a foreigner here in Thailand we are considerably safer than in most parts of the world, and in a major city in the US you would have a much greater chance of a violent confrontation than here. But mankind is getting increasingly more insane by the day and it reinforces my notion that civilization is not moving forward at this point in time. I think as a society and as a civilization we are moving backwards.

And I believe that time will bear out the fact that I have a good argument now too.

Good point. I would add don't assume that you know anything about their nature. They come from such convoluted history and such a bizarre environment, that there is a good reason why they're making such incredibly minor contributions to humanity over the past few decades. Russians are not exactly the best of what the world has to offer right now.

The Eagerly Awaited Solid-State Battery (in 2027) Beyond that, Toyota confirms plans to introduce solid-state batteries as soon as 2027, although we note that the date has already slipped from the 2025 that was being quoted last year. Solid-state batteries use solid rather than liquid electrolytes, allowing for a greater tolerance of high voltages and temperatures and improving energy density and reducing weight. The challenges are complexity, cost, and the difficulty in delivering long-term durability. Toyota says its first-gen solid-state packs are targeting about 520 miles of range, with a 10-minute 10-to-80 charge capability, but also says that subsequent evolution will likely move peak range up to 630 miles. That figure that would surely be enough to persuade even the most determined EV doubter that long journeys can be accomplished electrically. Moving beyond lithium will be the ultimate next step. https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a45942785/toyota-future-ev-battery-plans/

Right now hybrids are still the most relevant technology. EV's will not become widespread until the next generation of batteries are available. I hear they're working on a new generation of batteries that will double or triple the driving distance, and dramatically reduce the charging time. That is when EV's will become truly relevant. The other issue is charging stations, Thailand is way behind the curve when it comes to charging stations and right now there are a few people that want to stop for a few hours to charge the car. The technology simply has to improve, and likely will.

Gen Z is the weakest generation in the history of mankind, they would spend all day crying if they were denied their carrot juice. Can you imagine them facing war or famine? Mass suicide would be likely.

Back in the days of Stalin if you protested anything the government did you were either executed or locked up in a gulag for a decade or two. It's not much different now that Russia is enduring Putinism. This desperate zealot is terrorizing his own people.

Absolutely not, the leadership of Israel may be ignorant but they're certainly not stupid. They know that one nuclear weapon and they would be erased from the map permanently. It wouldn't take much, Israel is not that large, and it doesn't have a lot of main cities.

This is exactly the narrative that he's trying to perpetrate, don't forget this man has an extensive and likely very expensive PR machine, and has done an incredibly good job of self-promotion throughout his career. I've never bought it for a nanosecond, many on this form have never bought it, the vast majority of Thai people that I talk to never bought it. But apparently you do. The one thing that you're not taking into account is that there is not a single very important person in Thailand who truly cares about the progress of the nation, and who truly wants to get rid of corruption, not a single person. 8 years ago I would have said there was, but not now.

No I think trials are a necessary thing, unless the crime is of a heinous nature and there are multiple witnesses. In which case I don't think a trial is required, just a three judge tribunal pronouncing sentence, which is carried out within 30 days. And in the case of serial killing or heinous murder and rape, the death penalty is the most appropriate sentence. There are certain lines that one crosses in this life which amount to a self-revocation of the right to consume oxygen. Of course we're getting off track here I'm not referring to Trump, but hopefully his crimes will be sufficient to lock him up for the rest of his sorry life.