spidermike007

This is an extraordinary thing. To hear a Thai in a position of influence say something like this is a giant step forward for society. This utter obsession with masks is quite something to witness. I am in the US now. No masking in the airport or on a flight from NY. I have not worn a mask in a month. So delightful. So human. So safe. Covid is endemic now. Let's get on with life.

The bottom line is that there is never any upside to engaging a Thai person, much less a group of them, in a fight. If you kick their ass, you lose. If they kick your ass, you lose. No upside to that formula. Best to just keep your cool, show respect, and avoid fights in public. Remember, this is a land of face. Even something as benign as a street race, can mean they end up losing face. Which for well developed, normal people is not a big deal. But for seriously immature men, or boys, it is.

Oh, please. He is a grandstanding, publicity hound. Don't believe the hype. He accomplishes nothing.

You cannot run over a person without knowing it. Even if you just knocked him down, you would have to be sleeping to be unaware of it. So, basically she fled from the scene of a murder she committed. Lock her up for her remaining years. And secondly, nobody should ever be doing this kind of work without cones around them, or an assistant. Safety is such a neglected part of life here. Poor guy. Mowed down by a cretin.

Well, I did not imply that those kinds of appearances do not have benefits. Many are impressed by displays of wealth. However, I still think those same displays reek of desperation to be accepted, admired and envied.

The police have been ordered to promote discipline among drivers. Ha! Best joke of the day so far. It is more likely that Thai teachers will start encouraging their students to ask questions and to challenge them when they are wrong, than the RTP engaging in any sort of traffic safety.

When you have untalented, under qualified ministers and people appointed to decision making positions, who were appointed based on cronyism, with not one second spent on the consideration of worthiness or merit, you end up with a society that flip flops, as the wind blows, continually makes ill informed, politically motivated decisions, and moves backwards from the once great tiger of SE Asia, to a whiny, sickly, anemic alley cat begging for crumbs.

If anyone was motivated to make the effort. Doubt that is the case here. Will this cretin spend any time in jail, or have his license revoked? Likely not. The wheel gets more grease.

And that defines the life of an impressively practical man, with good self esteem, and nothing to prove to a world that is unworthy of the effort.

Correct. It tends to be a reflection of some major self esteem issues. The over priced luxury car, the shiny, crazy expensive watches, the bling. With emotional maturity (perhaps what you meant by normal people) , self love and self respect, many of us just do not have much to prove, and do not need the envy and notice of friends and strangers.

I agree that inflation in Thailand is infinitely lower than in the US and Europe, where prices are skyrocketing. I find it alot less expensive. On so many levels.

In all the years of living here, I have never heard of anyone being charged for reckless driving, much less being pulled over for such. It just does not happen. Same applies to fleeing from the scene of a crime here.

We could debate those points all day long. We disagree. And Thailand gets no cut on personal effects brought into the country, like a new Prada handbag that cost $4,500 in London or Dubai, and around $11, 900 in Bangkok. The handbag pays for the trip! Only ridiculously desperate and overly rich people buy luxury goods and over priced luxury cars in Thailand.

Cha Cha, your insincerity is an astonishing thing to witness. You have spent 8 long years oppressing the youth. You have done nothing to improve their lot in life. Ever. Please. Nobody is buying your nonsense.

There are few things in life as tacky, and classless as a diamond encrusted watch. Yikes. It ranks right up there with a Bentley, in terms of desperation. Look at me. See me. Acknowledge me. Please. I am really somebody.

Asked about several empty wine bottles in his car he explained that was to do with a girlfriend of a friend who like the look of the empty bottles. Huh? While many men in Thailand, who have not been blessed with the ability to mature, as fully developed human beings, will make an excuse, and attempt to obfuscate the truth, this one is beyond believability, and completely lacks any possibility of being real or credible. It is bizarre, at best. He would have been better off just keeping his silly mouth shut.

1. Wealthy people have very little interest in living or working in Thailand, (or even visiting as tourists) with very few exceptions. 2. The fools coming up with these plans, have no connection to reality, little skill or smarts, and have obviously done very little traveling outside Thailand. Either that, or their heads are swelled up so large, they should be in an emergency room, instead of an office. 3. Thailand is once again, vastly over estimating it's appeal, it's ability to attract the rich, and it's place in the world, which is diminishing by the day. 4. If these goons were to have any success at attracting rich expats, some major sacrifices would have to be made. Lowering luxury, imported car, and wine taxes would be a good place to start. Then, clean up the air, water and land. Then pay some attention to traffic safety. In other words, wake up. 5. The economy here is decimated. Few even want to invest here. Real estate is very risky now, unless you are buying at 45% off. And local buying power is limited. 6. Thailand desperately needs new leadership. Yesterday.

If the hurdles were not so high, it would be appealing. Thailand greatly over estimates it's own appeal to the wealthy. They have too many other options, which offer law and order, a lack of kangaroo courts, traffic safety, reasonably priced wine imported cars, and luxury goods, better transportation options such as helicopters and private jets, and so much more. Let's face it. How many of us would be living in Thailand, if it were not so reasonable, cost wise? It is likely there will be under 10 applicants.

Exactly. HH could be a great option for a regional airport. They sunk alot of money into the airport. It is easy to get to and from. Rail link, minivans, etc. Makes absolutely no sense that it is not highly utilized. Singapore, KL, Vientiane, Ho Chi Minh, Phnom Penh, Jakarta, Tokyo, Taipei, and even Bkk. Not to mention 20 or so spots within Thailand. Anyone have an explanation? It has nothing to do with demand. I remember a few years ago Air Asia signed a commitment to fly 30 plus flights a day in and out of HH. The Thai authorities reneged.

Many 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 1 GB 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. 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. That is 1,000 baht, anytime you want something basic. A bag of groceries is 3,000 baht and up. Was in Whole Foods the other say, and the guy in front of me paid $396 for 2 bags of food. Did not look like much. I pay $120 at Makro for bags and bags of food here. 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? 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? $2000-3800 a month. That is 120,000 baht! I had my 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 1800-2000 baht. During Covid, great hotels for 1,000 baht. In the US? $130 for a motel. $200 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. Panda cost me 300 baht for 3 or 4 dishes with delivery. In the US it is $40 for 2 dishes, and $19 for delivery fees and taxes! 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? $300-2000. 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.

Anutin and Prayuth. The one step forward, three steps backwards goons. They are the very definition of regressive leadership. They define why Thailand is not moving forward in the world today. They are a toxic force and Thailand needs to get rid of this kind of rot and incapable and corrupt leadership.

True. But there are many reasons why the super rich are attracted to Florida, and very, very few reasons why they would be interested in coming here. They tend to be attracted to progress. Not prehistoric regression.

I am afraid you may be right. With the current goons in power and no sign of a capable and youthful opposition party taking over, there is little hope for the future. You add in a highly dysfunctional educational system, which denies the youth the ability to question anything, and stifles their creativity, and where is the hope? Thailand does feel like it is moving backwards. Alot of potential, that is being squashed by the few.

You don't need anything to get into the country. We are fully re-opened. Now, you need a covid test and health insurance. Maybe you don't need a covid test anymore. Ok, you definitely don't need a covid test. But we are not sure about the insurance. Huh? 344,090 tickets were canceled? Huh? Um, Um, OK, you don't need health insurance. But, you should have health insurance, anyway. Has Thawida ever spent an hour in the sun? Is he actually a ghost?

This is good news. Starve out the madman dictator. He deserves that. He earned that. Make him a pariah. Serial killing and genocide of women and children is simply not acceptable bahabior, for a simple print nation that wants to consider itself part of the work community, but in reality is perilously close to being a developing nation, or 3rd world, as they used to day.