spidermike007

He could not possibly be more wrong. It rarely serves as a gateway drug. That is a meme that the fake purists use often. Alcohol is infinitely more dangerous and addictive.

That's funny. I called Musk the same thing recently.

This amateur would not know a populist policy if it bit her on the ankle.

Don't forget, us Democrats are responsible for all evils in the world, we are the ones who drink the blood of babies in the basements of pizza parlors, all serial killers are Democrats, most people who are serving life sentences in prison are Democrats. There are very few Republicans in this world that are bad people, all the problems are being caused by us, and don't forget the part about us being communist, anti-American, and traitors.

I often wonder why things like this are relevant in this day and age, why would I care about what the most popular dishes are? Why would I care about what the most frequently ordered dishes, why do I care about which song is number one? Why do I care about the 10 most popular TV shows? I often look at these lists and I just can't relate on any level, what most people think is great I don't necessarily think is interesting at all. These days if something is exceptionally popular I typically run for the hills! Yikes. Super popular? No thanks.

Prior to moving here I read several of the books that had been written about expats, and I must say that many of the stories were very helpful and very healthy warnings, and I likely avoided a lot of the traps that I've seen fellow expats get sucked in by, as a result of having prior knowledge of what she was going to say, and how she was going to say it, etc. etc. My grandmother is ill, the family buffalo is sick, I need to get a lot of dental work done, please help. Of course the list goes on and on. So go ahead and write your book, many of us would love to hear the stories. Fun fun.

Thank you, a very good point. Woke seems to be kind of a catch-all phrase these days. I don't enjoy the work agenda at all, but blaming something entirely unrelated on woke is a completely different thing.

This is a tragically terrible misinterpretation of the facts, this has absolutely nothing to do with woke. I despise woke, I despise PC, this is not what this is about. You know what this is about? This is about the middle class feeling disenfranchised and bitter, this is about people working their entire lives and having very little to show for it. This is about claims being denied that break families financially. This is about banks and lenders and rating agencies making terrible mistakes and guys like Tim Geithner, Blankenship, and Dimon, acting like vampires during a housing crisis. This is about subhuman beings like the Purdue family getting away with killing tens of thousands of people through the opioid crisis. And the Big Pharma mafia. And the predatory insurance industry denying absolutely reasonable claims and putting people in the poor house as a result. Corporations can continue to behave a irresponsibly, and price gouge all they want, but there has to be an understanding that there will eventually be a price to be paid. This is only the beginning, you watch, people are going to get more and more angry and these guys at the top of the totem pole do not have immunity. The average guy feels like a CEO has no right to earn 1,000 or 2,000 times more than he does, and the anger is just going to grow. This has nothing to do with woke, and this has everything to do with anger and resentment. Some people with frightfully conventional minds just cannot wrap their mediocre minds around the fact that there isn't more sympathy for this guy. Just because he's a dad we're supposed to feel bad? Please. What did he do for his community besides suck their blood?

This is an astonishing development, condoms were found in Pattaya, the sky is falling, morality is slipping, and it is possible that people might start thinking bad things about our city. We are a wholesome place, we are a family oriented town, and nothing bad happens here, no foul play, no craziness, no mischief, little crime, nothing illegal, so leave us alone and stop leaving your condoms here please!

I am the young PM. Yes it is broken, yes they are corrupt, and yes they don't have any idea what they're doing, and yes they have been an absolute vacuum on the treasury for decades, and in return we see very very little. But don't change anything, keep everything the same, do not allow progress, do not allow forward movement, we are the backwards people, we aim to make sure that Thailand continues to go in a backwards direction. That's just who I am and what we politicians are.

This is such a complicated formula, first of all the economy in America is not great, the stock market is high, and the real estate prices are high, but in general prices are very high, wages have stagnated, and 70% of the American population is having a very difficult time getting by. So even though my politics align with yours I did not like the Biden economic agenda. The second thing to consider is that even though Trump was a nightmare candidate the alternative was terrible, so the Dems are largely to blame for the loss. Harris was a terrible candidate, and she was a terrible selection, and the message was all wrong. Can Trump fix any of the issues that he's been discussing? I doubt it, he's not a very capable businessman, he's not particularly smart, and his tariff plan is dumber than dirt. We'll see. I'm hoping that I might be pleasantly surprised by something that he gets done, but I'm not expecting much. And I'm hoping that he's not as destructive as I think he might be.

It appears to have been a meaningless gesture, as there are national, provincial and local taxes, in addition to vat and other forms of taxes, they total 360%, so a small reduction is not going to affect the retail price. We've seen the wine prices have not come down at all and it's still virtually impossible to get an excellent bottle of wine here at a decent price. Single Vineyard Sonoma Pinots that I pay $50 to $60 for in the US can't be found here, and if they were available they would be 10,000 baht. Thailand has deliberately sabotaged their wine market with stunning ignorance, and have suppressed what could potentially be a multi-billion dollar industry and an outstanding way to attract the affluent tourists, as always very backward thinking on the part of the government.

Thailand has established an OLOA (open legs, open arms) policy with regard to Russians and as a result they have invited in tlsoke of the lowest quality tourists on the planet, in addition to a percentage of Bratva and criminals. This kind of thing is to be expected, it's also very possible that Putin has cleared out the insane asylums and sent those people to Thailand. It would be very much like him to do something like that.

We know the degree of reckless driving here on the highways, so it's not fair to blame this guy on any level until we know the facts. For all we know some numbskull did something incredibly dumb and caused this guy great harm. I wish him well, he sounds like a decent guy.

Fantastic news. This is not a great time to be bringing children into the world, and people are wising up. I don't think they're going to be able to reverse that trend. And it's a good thing overall, though some pain will be felt, no doubt. World population needs to drop. What might appear to be an empty lifestyle to some, is bordering on paradise to many millions of us. Though I like kids, I've never had the desire to own any. One hour with one is plenty. It's a personal choice, we all have to make these kind of decisions. 98% choose to go the conventional route and have children. For me children were never an option. And I'm infinitely thankful for that. The best thing that's happening to the world right now is countries like China, Thailand, Japan and many others are just saying no to children. I do not think children are that special, they're not really needed, they are way over rated, and thankfully it's a choice these days and not compulsory. A lot of people are saying no, I don't need the headaches, I don't need the nonsense, I don't need the expense, I don't need the responsibility, and the planet does not need any other kid. Nah, I choose to have a great life, I don't need kids. I did that and it was the wisest and smartest decision of this lifetime. I don't miss not having kids for a nanosecond. The declining birth rates are simply symptomatic of intelligent people looking at life in this day and age, looking at their financial situation, looking at the lack of state support, and just simply deciding that having children it's just not some place they need to go. If they're going to have children, many are limiting it to one child.

I think Bangla road is a mistake, it's something that was somehow never meant to be, or certainly never meant to be this bad! I remember it 10 years ago and there was still some excitement to be had, and there were still some pretty hot girls. Now it's a blemish on the planet, a lot of old, unattractive, or fat girls, and just a few cute ones quoting absolutely silly prices. And the crowd, I have never seen such a low end crowd before.

I, like many others on this forum and I'm wondering how the new tax laws are going to impact me, and I'm wondering if anybody knows about a good accounting firm in the Hua Hin, Phetchaburi area. I don't want or need a top firm, I just need good advice from someone with expertise in this area. If I have to I will travel to Bangkok for a consult.

You are certainly welcome to rebut the claims that I've made, they're all factual and they're all verified. I do realize that his followers do not like hearing this kind of stuff about him, and many seem to be actively engaging in revisionist history, but you just can't change the past. A bum will always be a bum.

It's a fascinating topic and I'm sure the variety of answers is going to be quite vast. Personally I get a lot of fulfillment and satisfaction out of a woman that I have been with for a long time, who I trust and who I can depend on, and who always seems to have my back, and vice versa. Granted after a certain period of time the sex is not all that, but there are some very creative workarounds to that situation here in Thailand. I know that at this stage of my life if things were to go south in my current relationship, I would stay single the rest of my life. And I would likely do short-term girlfriends, or short time massage or bar girls, or freelancers. That likely ends up being a lot cheaper In the long run.

What the government should be doing instead is sponsoring a program to encourage rice farmers to replant more progressive and more sustainable crops. The only thing rice farming is good for is to make sure that a relatively poor family stays poor for the rest of their lives. It's a crop that has not made sense for at least half a century and it's horrific for the environment, if burning is involved. Same applies to sugar.

Does anybody know of a reasonably priced and dependable accounting firm in the Hua Hin/Phetchaburi area for advice on these matters? I am assuming that likely makes more sense than a law firm?

I do have an annual subscription and it allows me to call the US unlimited for $30 a year, that's a pretty good deal. I believe that I also have to pay for the number on an annual basis too, but I use it a lot, so it's worth it. I haven't found any viable alternatives to it that make more sense financially. The only downside to a Skype in number is the lack of a voicemail, that was a boneheaded decision. I have no idea why they did that. Fanytel is also a decent way to make and receive calls. But I only use that for business related stuff as nearly all my personal calls are done on WhatsApp, Line, or Facebook Messenger

Well I'm in agreement with you from a moral point of view, but you just have to ask yourself what is the breaking point for the average person? How much abuse will people tolerate? Will there be blowback from extreme corporate greed and generational gouging, that we saw during covid. I think there will be, and I think the sympathy is going to be minimal.

Thank you. And that does not include this list: 17 of his businesses have failed in the past few decades. Some at huge losses. Trump Steaks, Trump Shuttle Airline ($120 million in losses between 1988 and 1990), GoTrump, Trump Vodka, Trump Mortgage, Trump University, Trump Ice, The New Jersey Generals, Tour de Trump, Trump Network, Trump Magazine, Trumped!. Many businesses that licensed his name went bankrupt, or went out of business. And he had between four and six major bankruptcies (depending on the source), including the Trump Taj Mahal (which he spent $1.2 billion building, and was $3 billion in debt within a year of opening), Trump's Castle, Trump Place Hotel (which was very successful prior to Trump buying it in 1988, and he managed to put it into $550 million in debt by 1992!), Trump Hotels and Casinos Resorts ($1.8 billion in debt by 2004, bankrupt in 2009) , and Trump Entertainment Resorts. There are likely others. And this does not take into account the 3,600 lawsuits he was involved in as of the time he took office, the vast majority of which were filed by small contractors against his companies for non payment, or total default. Many of these contractors were crushed. It is part of his M.O. Promises made but never kept: Every voter needs to be reminded of Trump's promises last time he was running: There is very little that comes out of Donald's mouth that is the truth..... He promised to unveil a new healthcare plan. It didn't exist. He promised a middle-class tax cut. He cut taxes for the rich. The middle class is paying for it. He said he wouldn't play golf as President. He made 250 visits (way more than Obama) to his own golf clubs. It cost taxpayers $150 million. He said he'd increase economic growth by 4%. Nope. Biden did. He promised an infrastructure plan. He had none. President Biden signed a massive one. He promised to hire "the best people." He fired 3/4 of them and then said they were the worst ever, and they said HE was in fact the worst ever. He promised to bring down the price of prescription drugs. He didn't: Biden did. He promised a Hillary lock-up. Nope. Promised we'd win the trade war with China. Nope, It cost about 250,000 jobs and hurt Americans, not help them. He promised his corporate tax cuts would help and benefit workers, and corporations would use that money to invest in American workers. They didn't, they used that money to buy back stocks. He promised to revive the coal industry. Never happened: more coal jobs were lost during his presidency. I could go on.

I suspect his killing is just the beginning of middle class people who are incredibly frustrated with their lives, going out and deciding enough is enough. It just doesn't make sense when a CEO makes 6,000 times more than I do, and gets a $70 million golden parachute when he's fired. I suspect this will extend to healthcare, big pharma, insurance and banking in particular, all of which are perceived to be mafias. Are we noticing how little sympathy this guy is getting? They're trying to drum up sympathy by saying he's a father of two young boys. Who cares? What does that mean? Absolutely nothing. What kind of devastation did he preside over? How many claims did he deny? How many claims were denied during his leadership? How many people were sent at the poor house over his decisions?