spidermike007

If you must, carry pepper spray, or a can of insect spray. Nearly all creatures hate insect spray, as they cannot handle the smell. A long strong bamboo staff also helps. If nothing else works, culling is a good practice. I have done it a few times. I do not want a lecture about animal cruelty. They simply need start a nationwide culling program. Most soi dogs are a nuisance. Most are mangy, some are disease ridden, many are hungry, tired, and lead terrible lives of desperation. Some attack people, some terrorize neighborhoods. Many harass the domestic dogs, and cause them to bark all night long, like in my neighborhood. Nobody wants to do anything about it. Culling is the answer. If they found a budget for it, they could do it Western style. Round up the dogs, clean them up, vaccinate them, and put them up for adoption. The ones who are not adopted after 60 days are simply put down. Nothing cruel about it. Not doing something like this, is both cruel to the dogs and to the neighborhoods they infest. There is no merit in feeding them. The average dog bite cost alot money. A series of rabies shots, etc. And that is assuming someone was not hurt badly, like a small child. So, we should prioritize the health of mangy, miserable soi dogs over the well being of the human population? And the cost of treatment is up to 20,000 baht for a series of rabies shots. And that assumes it was a light bite and no other injuries occurred. Many of these soi dogs are insane and true desperados. The real solution is massive, nationwide culling. These are mangy creatures, leading desperate lives. Show some nerve and compassion and take them out of the misery. Clean up the streets! People get so sensitive about soi dogs, yet they do not hesitate to encourage the killing of pigs, cows and other animals for their own enjoyment and consumption. Isn't there a bit of hypocrisy there? If you eat animals, you are responsible for their slaughter. At least one can make an argument that the animals they eat serve a function. That argument cannot be made about the mangy, diseased, pestilent, sad, forlorn, abandoned soi dogs. They lead lives of desperation. If you love them show some commitment and adopt a few. Otherwise, let's get rid of them. Rabies is an epidemic here. They shut down the economy for covid. They don't shut down the highways due to traffic deaths, and they don't do anything about the soi dog tragedy and dangers.

Thank you! Been to India many times, the first trip back in 1975! Calcutta in 75 was a thing to behold! Been many times since. Likely that, and the study of Hinduism has been a big part of my intrigue with reincarnation, and the degree to which I consider it to be a reality. India is fascinating, and very deep nation, full of contrasts, mysteries, and ancient sights, sounds, culture, smells, and wisdom. It is only for the strong, but well worth a visit, for those who are open minded, and very hardy. Also, I had the very good fortune of being able to meet Mother Theresa, and a couple of other saints, in my travels there. And in regard to LSD my 100+ trips between the age of 14 and 16 changed my life forever. Really opened up my mind and heart. Never had anything even bordering on a bad trip. Nothing but amazing, every time.

Just be very careful when riding one. I have a friend who rides one daily. With a helmet and protective gear. He was riding recently, and drove around a speed bump. While trying to avoid the bump his bike slipped and he ended up being propelled off the bike onto the pavement. Due to the speed, he suffered multiple broken ribs, a broken arm, collar bone, a couple of the ribs punctured a few organs. The doctor say he was very close to death. After multiple operations,together with steel plates on his ribs, he is now recovering but we don't know if his life will ever be quite the same.

There is no doubt the US is losing it's influence daily, and the remaining influence largely is due to the size of the economy (China remains a distant second), and the military (China may have a technically larger navy, but it lacks long range vessels and deep sea ports). However, it does scare me to think of which nation may take it's place, when the time comes. It definitely will not be Russia (they are relatively insignificant economically), and I sure hope it will not be China, as they are not exactly a beacon of morality, and have been substantially more of a bully on the world stage, and do not wear their power lightly. Also, in my opinion, the government there is significantly more morally bankrupt than the US. And that is saying alot.

I too am convinced this life is far more than meets the eye. Not a religious thing for me, but perhaps more of a spiritual thing. Or intuitive. Many people cannot conceive or embrace anything they cannot see, touch, feel, hear or smell, nor anything that has not been proven. Yet, there are countless examples of science, biology, and humanity that were once thought to be heresy, or bizarre, and have now been proven. I am ok having faith in a belief of something that cannot be proven. I have studied Hinduism extensively, and their teachings on reincarnation make alot of sense to me. I am considered by many to be eccentric. I love the mysteries of the universe, and am capable of taking leaps of faith, so to speak. For many that makes one a fool, or a nutter. I take that as a badge of honor. The last thing in the world I want to be is considered "normal", and not be full of curiousity and questions about this rather amazing life of ours. I find the study of, and belief in reincarnation to be fascinating, and I believe in it, with every molecule of my being. This life just does not make sense to me, otherwise. There is so much we do not know. Of this I am certain. There are multiple mentions of reincarnation in the bible, but most Christians choose to ignore all of it. The doctrine that human beings, compelled by the law of evolution, incarnate repeatedly in progressively higher lives — retarded by wrong actions and desires, and advanced by spiritual endeavours — until Self-realization and God-union are attained. Having thus transcended the limitations and imperfections of mortal consciousness, the soul is forever freed from compulsory reincarnation. “Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out” (Revelation 3:12). One interpretation of the process of reincarnation: Some rather profound quotes on reincarnation, from Hindu based spiritual masters. Man lives in one body and with one name only once. He never reincarnates again with the same form and identity. A person may wear a garment for some time and then discard it, never to use it again. Similarly, the soul wears a different body in each of many lifetimes until, through reincarnation and spiritual evolution, it ascends back to Spirit. Thus you live only once as any particular person, but the soul, the eternal you, lives through numerous reincarnations, carrying with it the cumulative personality and karmic tendencies of its past existences. -- Read more: http://yogananda.com.au/gurus/yoganandaquotes06b.html Hindu texts strongly encourage individuals to spend their human births endeavoring to make spiritual progress. Though not impossible to achieve moksha in other incarnations, Hindu sages have long insisted that this is far easier done in a human birth. The whole of material creation can be likened to a rehabilitation center meant for helping a soul to rediscover its Divine nature. One of creation’s mechanisms to help facilitate a soul’s spiritual development is karma, the concept that every thought and action has a corresponding reaction. Through karma, selfless actions uplift a soul, while selfish actions degrade it. The results of both selfless and selfish actions are experienced over a series of lives, as a soul comes to understand how its actions affect those and the world around it. Karma is thus the ultimate teacher of empathy. Theoretically speaking, if one takes its karmic lessons seriously, and strives to act selflessly, one can continuously elevate its status of existence. If, however, a person chooses to commit one selfish act after another, spiritual progress is not made and in extreme cases what progress has already been made can be squandered. https://www.hinduamerican.org/blog/5-things-to-know-about-karma-and-reincarnation Not only is there scientific evidence to support the Buddhist belief in rebirth, it is the only after-life theory that has any evidence to support it. There is not a scrap of evidence to prove the existence of heaven and of course evidence of annihilation at death must be lacking. But during the last 30 years parapsychologists have been studying reports that some people have vivid memories of their former lives. For example, in England, a 5 year-old girl said she could remember her "other mother and father" and she talked vividly about what sounded like the events in the life of another person. Parapsychologists were called in and they asked her hundreds of questions to which she gave answers. She spoke of living in a particular village in what appeared to be Spain, she gave the name of the village, the name of the street she lived in, her neighbors' names and details about her everyday life there. She also fearfully spoke of how she had been struck by a car and died of her injuries two days later. When these details were checked, they were found to be accurate. There was a village in Spain with the name the five-year-old girl had given. There was a house of the type she had described in the street she had named. What is more, it was found that a 23-year-old woman living in the house had been killed in a car accident five years before. Now how is it possible for a five year- old girl living in England and who had never been to Spain to know all these details? And of course, this is not the only case of this type. Professor Ian Stevenson of the University of Virginia's Department of Psychology has described dozens of cases of this type in his books. He is an accredited scientist whose 25 year study of people who remember former lives is very strong evidence for the Buddhist teaching of rebirth. http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/qanda05.htm I particularly like this one, as I do not believe in luck, nor chance. Nor do I believe a great talent is fully learned. It may have been brought over, from another lifetime. People born with special talents aren’t a coincidence, but were brought down from their past lives. Life’s unexplained rewards and punishments, such as winning the lottery are results of reincarnation. There is no luck, you deserved whatever you got. Near Death Experiences (NDE’s) prove that the five senses are not dead after death of the physical body has taken place. People who have been dead for ten to fifteen minutes have been brought back to life and been able to describe what they experienced during their moments of death. https://aaari.info/03-01-10naval/ The Bhagavad-gita (15.8) explains that the souls who transmigrate from one body to the next carry with them their conceptions of life, which can be correlated with the mental and moral characteristics. When children are born from parents, their physical bodies come from their parents and so they resemble their parents’ physically, whereas their mental and moral characteristics come from their own past lives and so these characteristics differ from their parents’. Applying the Gita understanding to geniuses, those souls who have in earlier lives cultivated the self-conceptions of being artists carry to their next bodies that conception along with its associated talents – and so appear precociously talented. Thus, the reincarnation theory doesn’t contradict genetics, but supplements it by explaining much that genetics can’t explain. https://iskconnews.org/does-genetics-disprove-reincarnation/

What you are saying is simple truth. But remember, his camp coined the phrase "truth is not truth". Deception, deflection, untruth, lies, innuendo, mockery, juvenile taunts, and doing everything in his power to avoid paying for any of it, is the M.O. of this charlatan. And unfortunately, many of his devotees buy into this. I am planning a trip to Europe next year, with some family for a family wedding. My sister and brother in law (who are conservatives) told me them are not going to spend as much time there as they had originally planned. When I asked why, she said Europe is just not important to us. I think that was simply a reflection of how much Trump has belittled Europe over the years, somehow getting into their heads. I did not even know how to respond.

This is not the solution. It is a backwards concept, to shut down social media. Only a simpleton would conceive of something like this. It is far better to educate people about how to avoid scammers. Do not coddle people. Educate them. Alot of people just do not understand how corrosive, damaging, degrading and nasty social media can be. There are an infinite number of scammers, predators and fraudsters out there. Most of us have the good sense to avoid them, and not get taken in by their unwillingness to do actual work for a living. It boggles the mind, to consider the number of people who fall for these scams. Someone calls you, or contacts you online, and you send them money? Someone you have never met? Someone you have not researched? What gives? Where are the survival instincts? How is a youngster supposed to have the wisdom to know? Granted being asked to send naked pics to a stranger is a bit much. But, I am sure it happens all the time. There is little chance of these people getting apprehended. Very little. And it is a strong indication of just how bent, warped and misguided contemporary culture and society is, that someone can be considered an idol or celebrity just because they have alot of followers on Tik tok, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Personally, I consider social media to be the most corrosive and degenerate force in culture today, and they can be downright dangerous, on multiple levels. Some people I know seem to like to "collect friends". Like is it some kind of badge of honor, to have over 1,000 "friends". I have seen some accounts with 5,000 friends. Nobody has 5,000 relationships with people. It is just another bizarre aspect of modern, contemporary popular culture, something I just cannot relate to. However, I am not a big social media guy. I consider twitter, instagram, and especially tiktok, to be highly corrosive and part of the reason for the decline of culture and modern civilization. Facebook does not seem as toxic. But, collecting friends is just bizarre, regardless. The worst thing in the world anyone can do, when they have been scammed for a large amount of money, is to just let it go. There are a dozen alternatives to classic revenge. There are so many ways to go after a bad actor these days. Shame, online humiliation, direct access to family members, etc. The list is endless. It just encourages the criminal. I would devote my life to finding him, pursue him to the ends of the earth, and make his life a living hell.

Excellent work, judge. His campaign should not be taken into account, on any level. He is a criminal, facing criminal charges. Hopefully he will be convicted, like any other felon, and be locked up. It could not happen soon enough. He has been working hard to earn this jail time, for nearly 50 years now, with his embezzlement, tax evasion, bank fraud, grifting, stealing from small contractors, stealing from his campaign supporters, etc. etc. Just lock him up already. He has spent his lifetime making a mockery of the judicial system. Perhaps that is about to change.

Yes. Any and all drugs should be legalized. The war on drugs has been going on for decades now. More than 1.5 million people were arrested in 2019 for drug offenses, more than any other crime category, accounting for 1 in 10 arrests nationwide. Not sure how much research has been done here, but it likely the number are just as shameful. Legalize drugs. Now. All drugs. Prior research has found that no relationship exists between state drug imprisonment rates and drug use or drug overdose deaths and that, from 2009 to 2019, past-year illicit drug use among Americans 12 or older increased from 15% to nearly 21% and the overdose death rate more than tripled. https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/issue-briefs/2022/02/drug-arrests-stayed-high-even-as-imprisonment-fell-from-2009-to-2019

When I see a Thai watching that garbage, I cringe. They are obsessed with those zany stories. Not much being taught in the way of morality.

I am not interested in addressing any of the problems that existed long before Covid, nor finding solutions to the reasons why tourism is down, nor why tourism appears to have been willfully sabotaged by the army. I am just asking you to maybe lower airfares a little bit, so we can attract some of those millions of lost tourists. Very few Europeans and Americans are coming, and we seem to be attracting only Malaysians, some Chinese, Arabs, Indians and Russians. That is limited. So, can you lower fares from Europe? OK? Will you think about that? Pretty please. Do it for me, ok?

I do not even know what to say. Very tragic. Very bizarre. Two Thai friends of mine, recently paid 80,000 baht each to an agency, for overseas work. They went to Bangkok, to take an english language proficiency test, then never heard back. Later, they found out they were scammed, along with 100 others. My question to them was, what kind of due diligence work did you do? Did you ask for references from people who had already worked overseas, under that program? They claimed it was a govt. program, administered under the department of labor. Did you ever call the department of labor to inquire? Did you ask to see the license, or the contracts first? Why was the money sent by wire transfer? Why was it sent to an individual, rather than an official agency. There were red flags everywhere you looked, yet they were continued to believe, and ended up totally duped. There is a whole subculture in this world, who absolutely refuse to work for a living, and instead like to prey on those who are vulnerable, naive, dumb, and easy victims. It is our responsibility to be careful, prudent, willing to do some vetting, some research, some due diligence, anytime we part with cash. Especially online. Dealing with Ebay, Lazada, Amazon is one thing. You have recourse. But, dealing with Facebook vendors, Instagram, Youtube, dating sites, or any other social media, the scammers outweigh the real deals. People get taken every day. I get junk emails offering me at least $100 million a month. These people are parasites, they barely deserve the oxygen they consume, and we must do everything in our power to deny the online worms.

Goodbye Cha Cha. You will not be missed for a nanosecond. The nation celebrates your dismissal. You failed miserably. Now, leave and let us hope we never, ever hear from you again.

So called netizens are very easily outraged, and one could even argue they live for the next outrage. What, a sexy show in Pattaya? What has the town become? Why such depravity? How can such moral degradation be tolerated, in a land where most are so pure, honest, righteous, eager to take responsibility for their actions, and never, ever letting something like the practice of face, get in the way of doing the right thing? No, say it ain't so!

He is an idealist, for sure. But, perhaps we need some of that. Perhaps he sees a window into a rosier future. Perhaps he sees a time when the land will be free of rabid dinosaurs, perhaps he sees a time when man is motivated by more than just an accumulation of cold cash.

As another Yank, who travels back there two or three times a year, I totally agree. I feel far safer here. And it is a real pleasure to be this far away from the extremists of each party, be they republican, or democrat.

We are very luck indeed. Or very fortunate. Which seems less accidental than lucky. Some of us are enjoying the great fortune of being with a very good woman. Every day with mine is a very good day. She is the same lovely woman from one day to the next. She has a smile on her face when she wakes up in the morning. Never experienced that in the states. Some Thais manifest that unbearable lightness of being, that is so delightful to be around. I cannot really get enough of that spirit, and feel so blessed to be around that, and to have found such a well adjusted and delightful creature. Many of us have been fortunate to find very good women, who brings alot to the table, and has a sense of appreciation, gratitude, and is not too arrogant to say thank you. And visa versa. I never hesitate to praise my gal, and thank her for her kindness, a lovely meal, and other things she does to improve my life. And then there is the standard of living. Thailand is still reasonable. I know people who pay 10,000 baht a month for newer 3 bedroom houses in nice towns. In major cities in the US? $2000-3800 a month. That is 120,000 baht! And anything labor related here is still cheap. Food is a bargain at many restaurants. Good 4 star hotels in major cities like Bangkok for 2,000 to 2,500 baht a night. And for single friends, who like renting a gal, that is still reasonable too! Yes, we have it very good here.

Tobacco has been known to be highly toxic for decades now. This is not new news. So is inhaling huge amounts of smoke, of any kind. So, this is no surprise. The only ones who are surprised are the very lenient parents, and those who are uninformed.

Really? Do you have a clear understanding of what they are? Pathogens are defined as microscopic organisms, including viruses, bacteria, fungi, and parasites that can cause diseases in humans, animals, and plants. These invisible agents can cause a wide range of infections, from mild illnesses like the common cold to severe and potentially life-threatening diseases like COVID-19, Smallpox, Ebola, and HIV. They are also referred to as infectious agents or germs. You don't believe in any of that? Were all those diseases fabricated? Flat earth too? Fake moon mission?

I think many don't want to let it go. There are huge incentives for the CDC, the FDA, the WHO, the medical industry, and Big Pharma. Zero worries on my part. I am far more concerned about catching a flu. The numbers might be ticking up a bit, but they are still very low. And the mortality rates continue to drop, with each subsequent variant. In both percentage change and raw terms, hospitalizations remain far below their pandemic-era peak. Nationally, hospitalizations are down 82% year over year. The CDC reports 10,320 overall hospital admissions in the week between July 30-Aug. 5, compared to more than 150,000 in one week in January 2022. https://www.axios.com/2023/08/17/covid-19-cases-2023-uptick-where-why

I was there recently. Saw a few hot babes on Bangla. Not many. And barely any freelancers. Also, elsewhere in Patong, Kata and Karon the massage and bar scene was worse than Samui. It has diminished into nearly a big zero. Been diminishing for years, but I had heard it was rocking. Not the case. It was boring and bereft. And as always, overpriced. Don't need to ever visit Phuket again. Though I do love the Andaman. It is gorgeous and Phuket is a beautiful island.

India is an enormous country, with all types, demographics, and levels of society. I have an Indian friend who is staying in Phuket for a 3 week trip. He is staying at a 5 star hotel, in one of the best rooms. He eats out at good restaurants and bar fines hot girls. I would estimate his budget for the 3 weeks is around 200,000 to 275,000 baht. Generalizations are boring and are usually wrong.

Yes. Since the new regs came into place. I don't think it is real. Have not had any issues.

Your claim may or may not be true. Being poor does not mean you are without talent, nor bright, though many Westerners and conservatives would make that claim. Many immigrants are talented mechanics, landscapers, framers, carpenters, roofers, cooks, designers, musicians, etc, etc. Many are very hard workers and work far harder than their counterparts in the nations they settle in. Many pay taxes and make substantial contributions to society. They contribute alot more than you give them credit for. For example, where would the Thai construction industry be without the excellent Burmese carpenters?

Without immigrants in the US, the country would be lazy, unproductive and a pale shadow of the nation it became. Very few Americans are willing to do the work many immigrants will do, and if anything, the quota system needs to be increased to allow more highly talented people to live and work there. One of the reasons the system is broken, is the lack of reform and the very old quota system. The best and the brightest from around the world get a degree at MIT, then can't work in the US, because of the broken system. So, where do they go? Brazil, Germany, and other nations civilized enough to know their value.