spidermike007

Likely closer to 97%. Nobody I have asked in the past few years like him. Nobody. And some of that was before covid, and the Prayuth Decimation of the economy, and the great sabotage of the tourism industry. Cha Cha. Moving Thailand backwards. Erasing decades of progress.

Most of the world has moved on. I was recently in Los Angeles. Went to a Dodgers game. Of 45,000 or so in attendance, I counted 5 people who were wearing masks. Same with a concert at the Hollywood bowl. Maybe 5 masks. Please. Let's move on. 20220814_192857.heic 20220809_211929.heic

Many of us have the extremely good fortune of NOT being famous. In this day and age, it would be a horrible fate. If I was in that position, I would completely ignore all social media. None of it is particularly productive anyway. We could all live without it. Present forum excluded. I am referring more to the likes of Instagram, Tik tok, and Twitter. I do not think they represent a step forward for humanity. And as far as Nat goes, she must be doing something right. She looks amazing for 37. Kudos to her.

Totally disagree about tattoos. Some are downright beautiful. And by "bad girl", are you referring to a woman in the industry, or just a bad girl? I would say one who has little respect for others. One who is overly self absorbed. One who has a sense of self entitlement. And one who does not have a great attitude, and is not alot of fun to be around! Or one who takes over 200 selfies a day!

It is just a moron, being idiotic. That is what morons do. So, the question is, do you want to work with morons? The world is full of thin skinned people these days. There is so much offense being taken by this, and that. Thicker skin is needed. Why is everything so personal all of a sudden?

A man like Kittipraphat has no credibility. None. Zero. He is a leader within the RTP. This disqualifies him from even speaking about traffic safety. The RTP concerns itself not one iota with traffic safety, yet if a simple gesture is interpreted as being "anti government", then they make a big deal about it. Kudos to the youth. They are the future of this nation, and their future is being stolen from them. They have every right in the world to be indignant and dissatisfied. Express it. Demonstrate it. Out with the dinosaurs, and in with the youth. They are this nation's only hope.

The 4 notable truths of Prayuth. 1. He has always been an incapable leader. He does not inspire men. He oppresses his people. 2. He does not have a clue how to run the economy. He has made a total mess of things. While many economies around the world are booming, Thailand is barely selling any new cars, barely selling any real estate, barely getting by. Millions are still out of work, due to the Prayuth Decimation. He is moving the nation backwards. 3. He has destroyed tourism. It will likely never recover to a meaningful extent. So many mistakes have been made, so much timidity was shown, and so much sabotage has laid the industry to waste. 4. He is not liked by many. His popularity rating is likely under 5%. He would never be re-elected in a free and fair election. He is a dinosaur, lacking any creative juice, and selects only bottom of the barrel men for positions of leadership.

I spoke to a realtor about a lot that was just off Suk, many years ago. Was curious about what the land was worth. Turned out it was around 10X the going rate of prime property in the center of the commercial district, in Beverly Hills. What can one say? Alot of the money we see in Thailand these days is from land bought 50 to 100 years ago, for a hundred baht a rai, which is now worth billions of baht.

Get her on some meds, quickly. She pulled a Mike. She should be locked up for awhile. Would like to see what happens to her, if she tried that one in prison.

Cute. It was the air force base, Wing Five, that they targeted. If memory serves me correct, over 40 Thai pilots were lost in a matter of a few hours.

I have a great Samsung refrigerator with a vacation mode. It stays at 14 all the time. Ideal for wine. And herbs. And tea, etc.

They come for many reasons. The culture is just one element. Many barely visit a temple. Many just don't find them interesting. What other aspects of the culture? Puppet shows? Muay Thai? More like street food, bars, restaurants, malls, and the people. And yes, the beaches.

Very few people seem to know the allies conducted bombing raids on Bangkok. They still find unexploded ordinance here and there. The battle of Prachuap lasted only a few hours, then Thailand agreed to be occupied by Japan.

All good white and red wines need to be refrigerated. Especially here. I have 20 bottles in a refrigerator on vacation mode. Stays at 57 degrees. Otherwise within a couple of months they have lost alot of character. Don't worry about the junk wines. Only the higher quality wines deteriorate and need protection.

Never rely on a dinosaur for information about tourism habits! Wonder when was the last time he was at a club? Not exactly what one would refer to as an authority. Maybe he should stick to medicine. I doubt if the 4am closing time would have much effect on tourism. No doubt desperation is setting in, as they have fully reopened, and the numbers are far lower than expected. This is more about being too late to the game, not having used the time during the shutdown to make any improvements, never addressing any pre-covid issues, and the refusal to make any sacrifices. The TCKU (Thailand is the center of the known universe) consciousness continues. Nothing has been learned by the Dino crew. They don't seem capable of progress.

There is no need for a sublaw. But, there is a dire need to get police to do their jobs, deal with traffic safety, and show some concern for the well being of the public. Even the highway patrol refuse to patrol the highways, never, ever pull anyone over for reckless driving, and are nearly useless in preventing bad driving, and only seem to appear after an accident happens.

No question, with the exception of some infrastructure, Thailand has been moving backwards for the past decade. On nearly every level. It did have a good run. Those days are behind it. So much self sabotage has been inflicted on this rather resilient nation, it would be a near impossibility for it to pull itself out of the abyss, shake off the molasses, and move forward. A very dynamic leader like Thanathorn would at least give the nation a chance at having a future. The current creeps do not. Japanese companies are relocating. Despite the.constant lies, foreign investment is way down. Tourism is all but finished. I understand why nearly a million youth are on FB, trying to figure out a way out. The future must look very bleak to them. For many of us, who are fortunate enough to not have a business here, things are simpler, and less complicated. All we have to do is deal with the continuous daily drivel of these goons in charge. This will likely be a five year shake out. The financial devastation to the economy here is far worse than the 1997 crash. And it will be sustained. Massive unemployment. Millions are out of work. With Cha Cha moving the nation backwards, we seem to be moving in the opposite direction of progressive and innovative. Regressive, is more like it. As much as the sabateurs talk about wanting the tourists back, they are not offering much in the way of concessions or sacrifices to get them. Tourism will never be the same again here. My heart goes out to those dependent on the industry.

Note to Cha Cha. You are incorrect, and misstating the facts, for the 1900th time. The emergency decree is still a necessity to combat resistance, to repress the show of dissent, and to prevent 97% of the population from showing their extreme level of disapproval of your staggering incompetence, your stunning failures, and your destruction of the economy. That is all the decree is about.

Have you been able to find a source for good quality pinot noir here? I have not. In California I get very good quality single vineyard Sonoma wines for $50. Here? Difficult to find, and way, way overpriced.

I do not even think this information is close to being correct. If there was a 60% tax in wine, it would be reasonable here. I was told by reliable sources, that is is 360%. Wine prices here are downright stupid, for high quality wine. It is just one of the many, many sacrifices the goon squad needs to make, if there is any chance of attracting affluent tourists. When components of the intermediate inputs and the finished good are at different tariff rates, the effective rate of protection (Ep) is actually different than the advertised rate. This creates a non-transparent environment. Table I Thai wine imports A CIF (per bottle) 6.89 8.09 B Tarrif: A x 60% 0.00 4.85 C Excise Tax: (A+B+C+D) x 60% or 1.7647059(A+B) 12.16 22.84 D Municipal Tax: C x 10% 1.22 2.28 E Health Tax: C x 2% 0.24 0.46 F VAT (A+B+C+D+E) x 7% 1.44 2.70 Total After Tax Cost (A+B+C+D+E+F) 21.94 41.22 Effective Tax Burden 218% 410% https://www.econ.chula.ac.th/public/publication/journal/2015/Jordan French.PDF

One of the most wonderful things about Thailand, is that the judgment level of couples with signifiant differences in age, is not as harsh, as in the west. My wife is quite a bit younger than me too. It works really well for us. When I dated women close to my age back in the US, it rarely ever worked out. Most were very rigid, closed minded, and set in their ways. Plus, many liked to go to bed very early, and behaved as if they were 20 years older than they were. That was not fun. I find younger women to be far more vital, more vigorous, and if you are fortunate to find one, far more open minded and adventurous. I find when we are out in public many men stare at her, as she is still very attractive and fit, and look at me with envy. Women here seem to be fairly neutral. In the US we get some attention. She gets alot of looks, and the guys look at me like they presume I am a centi-millionaire. The gals look at me like I a felon, and have committed a major crime, by refusing to jump over the hurdles prescribed by them, and taking a shortcut to heaven. That is so much fun. It is a wonderful feeling to watch the Western women squirm and to witness their confusion and disapproval.

I think it is safe to say, that a man with self esteem, who feels good about himself, is going to look for the exception, rather than the rule. Sure, there are alot of mediocre women out there, who do not have much in the way of perspective, but is that what we want? I see alot of guys with women who are not very nice to them, or are downright abusive. Why on earth would anyone let themselves get involved with someone like that, when there are so many good options out there? 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. I was fortunate to find a good woman, but I really took my time getting to know her. 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. I think finding a good woman requires a proper qualification process. Taking a long time to make a determination to see if she is worthy of your time, and devotion, is always a good idea. See what she is made of. See what kind of heart and soul she has. Many women like to push the timetable. It is up to us to push back. There are plenty of very good women here. Take your time finding one, and keep your standards high. You owe that to yourself.

I understand the wearing of a mask in crowded places. But, in areas that are not crowded, on the beach, on your motorbike, while out on your bicycle it serves no function. Nothing. So, let us be reasonable about this. Also, they cannot be sure of the numbers they are quoting, as many predictions have been wrong in the past. And covid seem to be getting milder and milder. I recently got it while in the US. Had the kind of weakness one would associate with a flu for two days, then nasal congestion and a cough for two days, and had my energy back. Then it was gone. I have had worse flus before.

It seems the youth in Japan have many other pursuits in life besides getting sloppy drunk. Perhaps witnessing a generation or two of boring and realtovely unfulfilled salarymen has taught them something about the meaning of life? Kudos to them. Kudos to the youth.

There is nothing surprising about this. They need all the PR they can get. Prayuth has been a horrendous failure, is moving Thailand backwards, has decimated the economy, nearly destroyed tourism and the nightlife and destroyed countless livelihoods. He is despised like never before. His approval rating is likely under 5%. Yet, he hangs on as if his life depended upon it. It is actually a pathetic thing to witness.