spidermike007

I have actually been directed to an agent by an official at immigration. That is how brazen they are. They feel entirely above the law, and they know the recent Big Joke crackdown was a nothing burger, and just for show.

So many scams in the US. Most of them are right out in the open, like $900 a nite for a room in a not so great Four Seasons property, or $3,800 a month for a 2 bedroom home rental in a not so great area of LA. Or $860 for a minor car repair. Or $580 for a speeding ticket. Or $160 for a plumber on a 35 minute visit. Or $80 for a steak dinner. I could go on.

Tried to get rid of those annoying bold letters, and it ended up getting posted twice. Sorry.

I just don't think about death much. When it comes it comes. For me, it is all about squeezing every day for what it is worth, and making sure that life is fulfilling. For me, it is. And I am grateful for that. I am also grateful that I don't have to live in the US anymore. My frequent visits are plenty. I do exercise, eat well, take alot of herbs and supplements, etc. Is that done to extend my life, or to try to ensure that the remaining years are as healthy as possible? I think, mostly the latter.

Maybe. Maybe not. I think it is a useful comparison, considering the fact that the PI is a rival spot for some expats.

I have not had that experience. The mods here seem to be quite open minded and reasonable, these days. I found it much worse back in the days of TV. It bordered on oppressive.

I agree with 1 and 2. Disagree with 3. The highways are utterly choked. Unless you fly, it is not easy to get around here. Thailand desperately needs transportation alternatives, and regional airports like Hua Hin should be built up and utilized more, in addition to more high speed ferries and rail like in Europe. I suppose if I had unlimited finances, I would probably only spend 2 months of the year here. I despise the government and immigration here, and it does feel like the nation is moving backwards. But, considering the fact that I do not have a fortune, I will stay. There are many issues to consider. Going back to the US is not an option. I would not want to live there now, unless I was being paid over a million dollars a year, and then I would only do it for 3 years, and then leave. For me, it is about quality of life, and my level of fulfillment on a daily basis, which I seem to have here in abundance. A big factor here, is the relatively light hearted attitude of the people. You just do not find that in the US, where most seem bitter, disenchanted, unfulfilled, and heavy hearted. This is an entirely subjective topic, of course. But some of us live very good lives here. Some of us have been fortunate enough to find an outstanding woman, who is delightful to be around, on a daily basis, always has our back, and is fun, smart, and lovely. For me, that likelihood of finding that back in the US, would be very low. So, that is a big factor for me. The second factor is just the quality of life. Sure, I miss alot of the culture back home. The theatre, independent film (which I can download here with no issues at all, and a super fast 1000 mb fiber optic connection, at under 700 baht per month!), stand up comedy, live jazz, etc. But I have a lovely home that I rent, for about 10% of what I would pay in California, I live very well on an income which is not huge, have access to great health care, at a tiny fraction of what it costs in the US, and do not have to put up with alot of the aggravation that I had to when I lived back there. I used to have more issues than I do now. I worked on my attitude, which was getting in the way of appreciating Thailand for what it is, and was clouding my experience here. Used to stress over stupid stuff, as you can see from some of my past posts. Used to allow the politics to make me angry. Now it is not something I take seriously, just something I comment on, without anger or an emotional investment. Now, I just tend to laugh it off. Spent some real time back in the US recently, and it allowed some clarity and perspective, that I am very grateful for. Now, I just chuckle at most of the nonsense. Water off a duck's back, so to speak. Inflation in the US. I am in the US right now, and the prices and inflation are mind blowing. The cheapest lunch we have found was $30 for two. For 2 sandwiches. That is 1,000 baht, anytime you want something basic. A bag of groceries is 3,000 baht. A friend of mine is looking for an apartment to move to in LA, and really small, simple places are 70,000 baht per month. Nice two bedrooms are closer to 100,000 baht. Decent homes start at 125,000 baht per month. The cost of nearly everything has gone up dramatically. Runaway inflation? I would peg real inflation in the US at 22%. Thailand is still reasonable. It used to be cheap. Has not been cheap for a long time. But, it 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? $3000 to 4500 a month. That is 140,000 baht! A newly upholstered motorbike seat recently redone on my scooter. 400 baht. A friend of mine had similar work done in the US. $275. I recently had a guy come over and insulate my ceiling. I bought the insulation and paid him 2000 baht for labor. In the US? $500 and up. I recently had an electrician do some work on the house. Nearly a full day of work. Paid him 1000 baht. In the US? $500 and up. An oil change for my scooter costs me 200 baht, with Castrol oil. In the US? $75. When I travel here I stay in nice four star hotels in Bangkok. Usually 1800 to 2500 baht. In the US? $150 for a crappy motel. $200 to $300 and up for a nice room. I eat well here. In a smaller town you can get a three course meal for 150-250 baht. In the US? 2000 baht and up, plus tax and a nearly mandatory 15% tip. I order from FoodPanda alot. In a smaller town it is 250 baht for 3 dishes, including delivery. In the US it is $40 for 2 dishes, plus $19 in delivery frees and taxes. That is stupid. I visit the emergency room here to visit a specialist, and with x-rays I am out the door for 2000 baht, at a private hospital. In the US? $300 at a clinic and $2000 and up at a hospital, if you don't have health insurance. An anecdote on this subject. A good friend of mine got in a bad motorcycle accident some time ago. He almost lost his leg. He got his first of 11 operations at Bangkok Hospital Samui. It costs him over a million baht. They wanted to do a second procedure. They quoted him 1,400,000 baht. He decided to transfer to Bangkok. He was quoted 460,000 baht for the same procedure, at a top private hospital there. The surgeon told him that he worked at a public hospital too, and could do the same operation there, for alot less money. He told him he would get him a quote. In the interim, my friend called a good friend of his, in San Diego, who is an orthopedic surgeon. Since my friend is a retired chiropractor, he knew all the terminology, and explained what he needed, and asked for the best price. His friend called him back the next day, and quoted him $960,000, with cash discounts! The local surgeon here got back to him, and told him he could do it for 46,000 baht. He transferred, and they did all the rest of his procedures. So, 1,400,000 at Bangkok Hospital, 460,000 at Vejthani Hospital, and 46,000 at the public hospital, with an excellent surgeon. VS. 31,000,000 baht in the US. Again, no complaints from this peanut gallery. Friends of mine, who are single, enjoy the company of a young, beautiful woman for a couple of hours, for 2500 baht. In the US? $800 an hour now for a beauty, with alot of attitude. I could go on and on, all day long. I live at a level here, that I would never be able to live at, in the US, in most of Europe, in Oz, or Canada. Yes, the higher baht is an annoyance. And yes things are more expensive than they used to be. But, it is very relative.

I agree with 1 and 2. Disagree with 3. The highways are utterly choked. Unless you fly, it is not easy to get around here. Thailand desperately needs transportation alternatives, and regional airports like Hua Hin should be built up and utilized more, in addition to more high speed ferries and rail like in Europe. I suppose if I had unlimited finances, I would probably only spend 2 months of the year here. I despise the government and immigration here, and it does feel like the nation is moving backwards. But, considering the fact that I do not have a fortune, I will stay. There are many issues to consider. Going back to the US is not an option. I would not want to live there now, unless I was being paid over a million dollars a year, and then I would only do it for 3 years, and then leave. For me, it is about quality of life, and my level of fulfillment on a daily basis, which I seem to have here in abundance. A big factor here, is the relatively light hearted attitude of the people. You just do not find that in the US, where most seem bitter, disenchanted, unfulfilled, and heavy hearted. This is an entirely subjective topic, of course. But some of us live very good lives here. Some of us have been fortunate enough to find an outstanding woman, who is delightful to be around, on a daily basis, always has our back, and is fun, smart, and lovely. For me, that likelihood of finding that back in the US, would be very low. So, that is a big factor for me. The second factor is just the quality of life. Sure, I miss alot of the culture back home. The theatre, independent film (which I can download here with no issues at all, and a super fast 1000 mb fiber optic connection, at under 700 baht per month!), stand up comedy, live jazz, etc. But I have a lovely home that I rent, for about 10% of what I would pay in California, I live very well on an income which is not huge, have access to great health care, at a tiny fraction of what it costs in the US, and do not have to put up with alot of the aggravation that I had to when I lived back there. I used to have more issues than I do now. I worked on my attitude, which was getting in the way of appreciating Thailand for what it is, and was clouding my experience here. Used to stress over stupid stuff, as you can see from some of my past posts. Used to allow the politics to make me angry. Now it is not something I take seriously, just something I comment on, without anger or an emotional investment. Now, I just tend to laugh it off. Spent some real time back in the US recently, and it allowed some clarity and perspective, that I am very grateful for. Now, I just chuckle at most of the nonsense. Water off a duck's back, so to speak. Inflation in the US. I am in the US right now, and the prices and inflation are mind blowing. The cheapest lunch we have found was $30 for two. For 2 sandwiches. That is 1,000 baht, anytime you want something basic. A bag of groceries is 3,000 baht. A friend of mine is looking for an apartment to move to in LA, and really small, simple places are 70,000 baht per month. Nice two bedrooms are closer to 100,000 baht. Decent homes start at 125,000 baht per month. The cost of nearly everything has gone up dramatically. Runaway inflation? I would peg real inflation in the US at 22%. Thailand is still reasonable. It used to be cheap. Has not been cheap for a long time. But, it 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? $3000 to 4500 a month. That is 140,000 baht! A newly upholstered motorbike seat recently redone on my scooter. 400 baht. A friend of mine had similar work done in the US. $275. I recently had a guy come over and insulate my ceiling. I bought the insulation and paid him 2000 baht for labor. In the US? $500 and up. I recently had an electrician do some work on the house. Nearly a full day of work. Paid him 1000 baht. In the US? $500 and up. An oil change for my scooter costs me 200 baht, with Castrol oil. In the US? $75. When I travel here I stay in nice four star hotels in Bangkok. Usually 1800 to 2500 baht. In the US? $150 for a crappy motel. $200 to $300 and up for a nice room. I eat well here. In a smaller town you can get a three course meal for 150-250 baht. In the US? 2000 baht and up, plus tax and a nearly mandatory 15% tip. I order from FoodPanda alot. In a smaller town it is 250 baht for 3 dishes, including delivery. In the US it is $40 for 2 dishes, plus $19 in delivery frees and taxes. That is stupid. I visit the emergency room here to visit a specialist, and with x-rays I am out the door for 2000 baht, at a private hospital. In the US? $300 at a clinic and $2000 and up at a hospital, if you don't have health insurance. An anecdote on this subject. A good friend of mine got in a bad motorcycle accident some time ago. He almost lost his leg. He got his first of 11 operations at Bangkok Hospital Samui. It costs him over a million baht. They wanted to do a second procedure. They quoted him 1,400,000 baht. He decided to transfer to Bangkok. He was quoted 460,000 baht for the same procedure, at a top private hospital there. The surgeon told him that he worked at a public hospital too, and could do the same operation there, for alot less money. He told him he would get him a quote. In the interim, my friend called a good friend of his, in San Diego, who is an orthopedic surgeon. Since my friend is a retired chiropractor, he knew all the terminology, and explained what he needed, and asked for the best price. His friend called him back the next day, and quoted him $960,000, with cash discounts! The local surgeon here got back to him, and told him he could do it for 46,000 baht. He transferred, and they did all the rest of his procedures. So, 1,400,000 at Bangkok Hospital, 460,000 at Vejthani Hospital, and 46,000 at the public hospital, with an excellent surgeon. VS. 31,000,000 baht in the US. Again, no complaints from this peanut gallery. Friends of mine, who are single, enjoy the company of a young, beautiful woman for a couple of hours, for 2500 baht. In the US? $800 an hour now for a beauty, with alot of attitude. I could go on and on, all day long. I live at a level here, that I would never be able to live at, in the US, in most of Europe, in Oz, or Canada. Yes, the higher baht is an annoyance. And yes things are more expensive than they used to be. But, it is very relative.

Where is the deterrent? Are these guys afraid of losing their license? No. Are they afraid of having their cars confiscated? No. What are they afraid of? Certainly not the weak, corrupt and feeble army. Certainly not the transportation dept. Maybe a small fine? When there is no moral authority, and no deterrent the taxi mafia knows they are above the law. The miracle here, is that there is not more crime. With the administration being so weak, and the police bring so feeble, it shows you the generally good nature of the public, that there is not utter mayhem every day!

The fact that many countries are experiencing declining birth rates is a very good thing for the planet. Recent estimates cite a strong possibility that the earth's population will actually start declining by 2050. Wouldn't that be wonderful? Improvements in access to modern contraception and the education of girls and women are generating widespread, sustained declines in fertility, and world population will likely peak in 2064 at around 9.7 billion, and then decline to about 8.8 billion by 2100 -- about 2 billion lower than some previous estimates, according to a new study published in The Lancet. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200715150444.htm

I am not. Death is death, to a loved one. But, Thailand averages about 550,000 deaths per year. From something. We simply don't have enough information, to determine if the several people who die of covid here have co-morbitities, other complications, major issues, or if they are in their 80's or 90's. We do know the rate of fatalities from covid is way, way down, worldwide, due to the relatively weak, Omi and other recent mutations.

OK. I get the point. You are better informed than I am.

Yes. When the overall numbers are that small, and the total cases prior to this spike were so low. It is not an alarming stat, on any level. Sure, if the numbers continued to climb, it would be. But, I will bet you they don't. I am not worried. Why are you so worried?

Here we go. In the US the numbers continue to decrease, week to week. Very little information seems to be available here. I have a friend who is a surgical nurse at a major hospital, and she says she cannot even remember the last time they have seen a covid patient. Some just don't want to let it go. As of April 12, 2023, the current 7-day average of weekly new cases (14,491) decreased 17.3% compared with the previous 7-day average (17,519). A total of 104,348,746 COVID-19 cases have been reported in the United States as of April 12, 2023. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/covid-data/covidview/index.html As of Jan 31st, Thailand stopped reporting the number of covid cases per day. But, at they time daily cases were down to 431 nationwide. Since then, based on all the sources I can find, it has continued to drop. There may be a tiny songkran related spike. https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/thailand/

The vast majority died from earlier strains. Very few are dying from omicron. And those who are, likely had alot of other issues.

In the US the numbers continue to decrease, week to week.

I caught it. I have had colds and flus that were far worse. Omi is a big nothing.

False. The number of infected would be tiny. Covid has waned. It is a nothing burger now. Stop spreading disinformation, and stop the panic. What you are right about is how benign and weak Omicron is, and how masks are not needed anymore.

I am in Bangkok now, and was on the BTS today. I would estimate about 85 to 90% of Thais are still masked up on the BTS, and at least 80% on the streets. Only 10% or so, of the foreigners are wearing masks. I let covid go a long time ago. 62 cases a day nationwide is not a health emergency, and the numbers continue to drop. Don't believe this alarmist nonsense. Covid is basically gone.

It is a shame that people have to be more careful wearing gold, jewelry and expensive watches these days. But, I think we have to accept the reality that 8 years of the PED (Prayuth economic decimation) has caused more desperation, more poverty, and more crime. At least we know who to blame for this recent trend.

Seatran is a competing company and seems to keep their ferries clean and well maintained. The same cannot be said about Raja. Many of their ferries are older. I used to take those ferries alot, and I never trusted Raja.

Seems that the most shocking part of this, is that blazing idiots, like Phuket governor Narong Woonciew are actually in positions of power, and don't have PR people who vet the ignorant and uneducated things they say. Woe is Thailand. It would appear that selecting leaders from the bottom of the barrel, without qualifications, is a sport here. Very good article on biomass and other forms of pollution Thailand cannot seem to control. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844023014688

Nothing wrong with being armed. I am not against guns. I am very against one person possessing 10-100 of them.

You forget one very salient aspect of that. Moral authority. That was then. This is now. Big difference.

The next time an American politician says time for prayers, he should be taken down. Something needs to be done. American politicians are very weak and in constant fear of fighting a constitutional amendment that was written at a time when militias were needed and guns were manual and fairly primitive. Everything has changed, and the amendment does not have the same meaning, nor should it. Violence is out of control, yet they do next to nothing about it. America seems to adore it's violence. According to the Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit that tracks shootings in the US, there have been 214 mass shootings in 2022 alone. And nearly that amount so far in 2023. That is a cry for help. That is a spectacularly sad statement about cultural and moral decline. The United States has far more lax firearm laws and policies compared to other countries — the federal right to own a firearm is even baked into the United States' constitution via the Second Amendment. https://www.insider.com/number-of-mass-shootingsin-america-this-year-2022-5