spidermike007

While I certainly agree with most of what you just said, when and how do you think the authorities are going to all of a sudden start acting responsibly, caring, shedding themselves of extreme apathy and extreme disregard for the general public, and performing their tasks with the level of pride that one might expect? When do you think the police are going to actually engage in law enforcement rather than behave as personal franchisees? When do you think the highway patrol is actually going to start patrolling the highway and pulling over people who are driving recklessly and showing total disregard on the road before a tragedy actually happens? In this lifetime? By the year 2100?

I think the entire world is cascading towards a major correction. The economy and real estate market worldwide are so overblown, so over inflated. Just wait. It is going to be quite a ride.

Advise the government to make some sacrifices and improvements. Wanting something is alot different than earning something.

It really has nothing to do with religion, religion is simply used as a pretext by very small, and very cowardly men to wreak havoc, violence, rape and destruction upon the planet, all in the name of Allah. However Allah does not even know their first name, these guys are invisible to any sort of Divine being. They are less than insects. Same applies to the mindless, Israeli extremists at the far right wing of the Knesset. Thr settlements are an abomination, that few seem interested in discussing.

This is not news. This is not even close to being news. People lose their minds everyday, all over the world for tiny things. This is NOT news.

Impressive numbers. What kind of car is it?

This seems very appropriate for the ongoing political circus, that is Thailand. Sretta is showing us day by day what an extraordinary genius he is. Such visionary ideas! Such leadership.

You missed the vegemite "sandwich". Big mistake. That would likely have been the highlight of your trip. Forget the temples. My first trip to Thailand I spent a week in Phuket in 1976, there were only a few $3 a night resorts on the West Coast, and land was 1,000 Baht per rai, oceanfront. Nobody wanted it. Those were the days. Thailand was very funky and undeveloped.

Squeeze every bit of juice out of every single day as if it was your last day on earth, and do that all the time.

Yes, I think he just might be giving government employees, and the government a bit too much credit! Working tirelessly? The saints serving mankind.

I just can't imagine Thailand ever having a sufficient infrastructure network to support charging cars on the road, I just can't see it. Does anybody feel differently? So, that means you have to use them only around town, or on short trips. Quite a limitation. Hybrids makes alot more sense in a place like this.

Never a good idea to get involved with a bar girl, for more than a few nites. And if you are going to get involved with the bar girl, the only way is if you know positively that she's just gotten started in the business, and the only way to know that is to hire a private detective. So, really just not a good idea, especially for a good looking guy in his thirties. That's verging on insanity. Or desperation.

Many Americans have never had a passport, much less have ever left the country.

True. Many of us prefer Thai women, some of whom are just stunning. And though some are getting bigger than in the past, there are still plenty under 50kg., thankfully.

This seems to be the only course of action they know, violence and a campaign of death seems to be their only path. Israel is now controlled by the extremists on the right and Netanyahu does not seem to have a choice but to obey their every whim. Peace is not an option, negotiations are not an option. A two-state solution does not seem to be an option anymore, and the warmongers are in control. Another example of the severe decline of modern civilization.

It is far easier to discern horrific and ignorant foreign policy from a distance than it is when you're at home. Alot of Americans that I talk to in the US don't really have a clue, they don't see how ridiculously expensive things are, they don't see how the quality of life is declining, they're really blind to a lot of that, but once you get away from it and you see what life is like elsewhere, you perceive the truth and it's pretty easy to be critical at that point. America is broken.

Mexico, and many other places are far more welcoming and far more gracious with retirees, than Thailand is. Their governments have enough vision to see the value, and are infinitely less arrogant, myopic and xenophobic.

Total hogwash. If they were the slightest bit serious, the government would offer incentives, for the farmers to switch crops. This is 2023. Rice and sugar worked in previous centuries. Now, they do not make any sense. Too labor intensive, too much degradation of the land, water, air, roads, and resources. Let's get with the times. Let us move forward. They shut down the economy due to covid. But, burning cane is ok. Can't they see the effect it is having on the air? Do they care one iota? Don't the leaders live here too? Why are they MIA? Why don't the "do nothing guys" do something for a change? When the crop burning starts to kill the population, and lowers the quality of life for those of us who don't die, isn't it time to take action? We just don't need the sugar. Shut down this toxic, heinous industry. Lock up the farmers. Sieze their land. Do whatever it takes. The problem is not only the politicians, but also the people, a large part of the population, which does not care: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/4/12/how-chiang-mai-became-the-worlds-most-polluted-city Great article. At least they state the truth. It is field burning and predatory agricultural practices, more than wildfires, that is to blame. And the army and the govt. won't touch the giant growers. Perhaps a more creative and far more drastic approach would work? The smoke will die down when the dinosaurs are replaced with young and progressive leaders, who care about the health, welfare and well being of the nation, and the environment. The current crop do not have any initiative, nor any ideas. Dinosaurs are cursed with small brains.

Such fealty. I guess one could have expected Sretta to bow down to big business. China is NOT the one you want to get closer to. The CCP are nothing but trouble, their intentions are heinous, and they do not wear their power with a shred of grace. Sretta is too worried about being loyal to his masters.

If only the drought wiped out the entire sugar cane industry. It is a plague. Such a horrific crop. The burning causes countless hospitalizations, lung disease and horrific air for months on end. The trucks result in the local roads getting torn up each year. Thailand would be better off without this horrendous industry, and farmers should be assisted and encouraged to switch to crops that are less heinous. As far as the corporations who create the sugar, who cares?

Don't get me started on the future. Frankly, it doesn't look good for the next Gen.

I used to really love Mexico, but it's not cheap anymore and you're always having to look over your shoulders. In addition to that you really can't do much traveling on the road because you're then subject to the whims of the cartels, which is not a position I would want to be in.

He had alot of talent worked hard, played very well, and is beloved by many. Did he waste some of that talent? Maybe. I think the real question is how would most of us handle that kind of intense scrutiny? The constant paparazzi, the need to always be up and chipper and ready for the cameras, the mobs of fans, the women throwing themselves at you. For me fortune would be fun, but fame would be a huge burden, quite horrific and not something I would deal with well, most likely.

Yikes. And it will be over in a flash. And what did he have to say for it? Why not seek out a far more fulfilling and adventurous life? Thailand ticks many of the boxes for me. Is it perfect? No. Do I have some complaints? Yes. Am I fulfilled? Absolutely. I love the life and feel very blessed to have had the courage to make the move away from the US. The land of the bitter, unfulfilled, malcontent, humorless, violent and social misfits.

My friend of mine who was recently visiting from India constantly was remarking on how good the roads were here especially the highways (not really taking into account the congestion or the traffic), it was the quality of the infrastructure. Pattaya, Samui, and some other towns and areas in particular have the unique problem of a mayor who resembles a Hoover vacuum, with local funds.