spidermike007

Bamboo diplomacy,’ or a foreign policy marked by pragmatism and flexibility that balances competing geopolitical interests and ‘bends with the wind.’ In other words, never criticize a despot neighbor like Burma or Cambodia, regardless of what they are doing. Forsake the moral high ground, and always consider the money, not the benefits for the people. And bow down to the Master, China, while remaining neutral towards sinister aggressors, like Russia. One needs not antagonize, after all.

And prices seem to be going up. Granted, we enjoyed some real bargains during covid, on travel. Hotel prices seem to be on the rise. I question if demand will be high enough to sustain the increases. Let's see come April and the low season.

42 million baht. Who are these people? Where is their sense of discrimination, and their ability to survive in this world? Why are some people so reckless with their money? What gives? Who transfers large sums of money without doing some diligence work first? 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.

Haha. If they look very young, some wise men will ask to see ID. Most are not prepared for that. I do agree with your sentiment, though. Hua Hin has alot of older, fatter, and less appealing gals these days. But the same could be said about Samui (even worse) and Bangkok. Not sure about Phuket or Pattaya, as I have been in some time.

I am so thrilled to NOT be in Phuket or Pattaya right now. I have friends who know younger Russians. And they say they are kind, friendly and progressive. I have no idea what percentage of the population these younger people represent, nor how representative they are of the Russian population. I have rarely met any friendly Russians. I can only speak from my experience. Have run into alot of Russians both in the US, and on Phuket and Samui, 98% of them seem to be grumpy, unfriendly and gruff. Some of them are downright hostile. So, perhaps it is not a coincidence that the world is not standing up to support them and show them kindness? Just an observation. Of course, having a serial killing dictator who likes to prey on women and children does not help their cause.

Technically it is 15 years old. But, that applies to Thais only. I know as an American, I am subject to US laws, and an American can be prosecuted for statutory rape overseas, for anyone under 18. And the Feds do come after Americans. They are absolutely zealous about this kind of stuff, and will throw $5 million or more, at your prosecution, and you will likely serve 5-10 years in a federal prison. So, why take that kind of risk?

Criminality in Washington is expected. However, few presidents in history have committed as many crimes prior to becoming president. From tax fraud, to bank fraud to stiffing hundreds upon hundreds of small, honest, hard working contractors out of billions of Dollars, Trump again is #1.

Find him and lock him up. There is never an excuse for underage sex. It only appeals to the twisted and perverted amongst us. An 18 year old is plenty sexy. Why rob the cradle and risk everything, and prey on kids?

Lock him up. It is long overdue. He has spent his entire career earning that result. Crime is crime. He belongs in prison.

That applies to the entire web. One needs to exercise discrimination and use their judgment. One has to assume much of which we read online is not accurate, is expressed with an agenda, has political bias, or is plain disinformation. So, we talk all of it with a grain of salt.

Dismiss them. My wife and I have thrown countless tickets into the bin. Never had an issue with renewing drivers licenses, or registrations. Doubt they will ever develop a centralized system, in our lifetimes. Defy nonsense. A low speed limit does not save lives. Everyone ignores it.

Rather close to the sentiment of my suggestion. The law is hopeless. The system is rotten to the core. Only the people can reform this mess.

Is it just me, or are the extent and frequency of the pop up ads on this forum increasing? Sometimes there is barely enough room on the screen to write a reply, if using a smartphone. Not sure if they are aware of the difficulty they are causing. Or, are we supposed to be quiet about this kind of observation?

Thank you. Other than the race angle, that movie was an abomination, and one of very minor importance. I think she grossly overestimated what the movie was, and got caught up in the recognition given to the cartoon, which was likely about woke politics to begin with.

All of this reminds one of 15th century England. Imagine how hard it must have been to accuse someone like Thomas Stanley, in the court of Henry VII? Upakit and these judges are about as untouchable as the most powerful men of the House of Tudor, York, and the House of Lancaster. Another solution is required, to arrest the rot in the system. One which is beyond the law.

Notice the key word here, transferred. The RTP at it's inception seems to have been created with a status quo from the government. We will NOT pay you a living wage, but you have a franchise, and the limit of your income is based solely on your own creativity and initiative, and you will always be protected. Is that not the case? Are they patrolling the highways to find reckless drivers? No. Why? Because they do not care one iota about traffic safety. It is all lip service. The RTP are a blight on the nation.

I have spoken to countless Thais over the past 8 years, including some who are government workers, and I have not been able to find a single one who likes this guy, or his hapless administration. Not one. And covid did not help. I doubt if he will get many votes, which are not bought and paid for. This guy needs to be put out to pasture, charged with crimes, and locked up, or deported, not made to serve even longer. Get out now.

As a cinephile, watching the oscars recently, I was struck by the mediocrity of the host, Jimmy Kimmel, and the bizarre selection of oscar winners. I could not even get through Everything, everywhere all at once. I found it convoluted, dizzying and incoherent. And I felt Jamie Lee Curtis put in a very annoying performance, nor worthy of an oscar. Also, the Banshees and Elvis were nominated for how many oscars, and won zero? And the in memoriam section left out some very good actors, including Paul Sorvino, Anne Heche, Tom Sizemore, Fred Ward, and included some very obscure ones. Who are the producers, and why are they involved? Anyone else agree?

No. In the US both Peets and Coffee Bean and Tea leaf have far superior products. For both coffee and tea drinkers. Starbucks is highly over rated and over priced, and very corporate and generic. I try to avoid them, whenever possible.

There are certainly worse accusations in life. Some guys like us, simply prefer younger women. Not kids, but women who are 5, 10, 15, even 20 or 25 years younger than us. For a dozen very valid reasons. I could break them down, but why bother? The PC crew will jump on this and say it is not right. You should not be able to have this kind of life, without jumping over ridiculous hurdles! Means nothing to me. I do not do PC. The other wonderful aspect of a younger woman, is her open mind. Alot of women here, who are over 40, tend to be highly conventional and conservative, stubborn and strong willed, and NOT open minded. Not open to spontaneous ideas, or changing the routine. They have done it their own way for so long, and it works for them. Why would you even hope any of that rigidity would change now? Why be with a woman our age, if we do not need to? Nothing wrong with it, if it works for you. But It is virtually impossible for a 60 year old man in the US, to hook up with a 35 year old woman, unless she is very fat or very ugly, or he is a centimillionaire, or is famous. Period. It just does not happen in this day and age.

Putin has been a serial killer for a long time now. And he has stolen and extorted tens of billions. Now, he is slaughtering women and children. So, yes he is a felon, and has been for a long time, it just took awhile for the international community to label him as such. The world would be a far better place without this monster.

1. Giving BA a monopoly on the island, was always going to limit the number of people willing to pay those high prices to get there. 2. Lower hotel prices. Oh my God. What a concept. You mean make a sacrifice to attract tourism? Wow.

Nobody is mentioning the elephant in the room. Why is the Hua Hin airport the least utilized airport in the nation, and possibly SE Asia?

Perspective is a good thing to have. When my mom passed at a relatively young age, I started counting the remainder of my life in months, rather than years. As in, perhaps I have 300 months to go. It is far too vague to think of it in terms of years. It just does not mean much. 300 months means I do not have enough time remaining to wait in line at a parking garage, a post office, or a restaurant. Nor, do I have time to tolerate much in the way of nonsense.

The pathological desire to get attention on social media these days is so great, many seem willing to risk harming themselves, or getting arrested, to garner some attention. Might be more practical to get some psychological help, to get to the root of the issue.