spidermike007

Well that topic is all relative. I used to live on Samui and I loved it there too, but it became over developed, over crowded, the traffic was horrendous and the local populace was just not what it used to be. So I left, and I never looked back, and I'm thankful for the move. But God bless you if you still love the place. These are all just simple opinions being expressed so you don't have to take offense at them. This is NOT personal. And I travel a lot including Phuket, so I don't know where that statement came from. We have different points of view, that's all.

The whole make America great again and bring manufacturing back to the US is just another fake promise, another bald-faced lie from this absolute creep who will say or do anything for power. The New York Times editorial on globalization certainly schooled this ignoramus, who knows nothing about the topic.

Another fake promise, another bald-faced lie from this absolute creep who will say or do anything fro power. The New York Times editorial on globalization certainly schooled this ignoramus, who knows nothing about the topic.

A great essay from the NY Times. It cuts through alot of the nonsense, and reveals the stunning level of Trump's ignorance. It’s a total mess. As the Ford Motor chief executive Jim Farley courageously (compared to other chief executives) pointed out, “Let’s be real honest: Long term, a 25 percent tariff across the Mexico and Canada borders would blow a hole in the U.S. industry that we’ve never seen.” So, either Trump wants to blow that hole, or he’s bluffing, or he is clueless. If it is the latter, Trump is going to get a crash course in the hard realities of the global economy as it really is — not how he imagines it. Ecosystems? Listen a bit to Beinhocker, who is also the executive director of the Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School. In the real world, he argues, “There is no such thing as the American economy anymore that you can identify in any real, tangible way. There’s just this accounting fiction that we call U.S. G.D.P.” To be sure, he says, “There are American interests in the economy. There are American workers. There are American consumers. There are firms based in America. But there is no American economy in that isolated sense.” The old days, he added, “where you made wine and I made cheese, and you had everything you needed to make wine and I had everything I needed to make cheese and so we traded with each other — which made us both better off, as Adam Smith taught — those days are long gone.” Except in Trump’s head. Instead, there is a global web of commercial, manufacturing, services and trading “ecosystems,” explains Beinhocker. “There is an automobile ecosystem. There’s an A.I. ecosystem. There’s a smartphone ecosystem. There’s a drug development ecosystem. There is the chip-making ecosystem.” And the people, parts and knowledge that make up those ecosystems all move back and forth across many economies. As NPR noted in a recent story about the auto industry, “carmakers have built a vast, complicated supply chain that spans North America, with parts crossing back and forth across borders throughout the auto manufacturing process. … Some parts cross borders multiple times — like, say, a wire that is manufactured in the U.S., sent to Mexico to be bundled into a group of wires, and then back to the U.S. for installation into a bigger piece of a car, like a seat.” Trump just waves off all of this. He told reporters that the U.S. is not reliant on Canada. “We don’t need them to make our cars,” he said. Actually, we do. And thank goodness for that. It not only enables us to make cars cheaper, but also better. All that a Model T did was get you from point to point faster than a horse, but today’s cars offer you heating and cooling and entertainment from the internet and satellites. They will navigate for you and even drive for you — and they’re much safer. When we can combine more complex knowledge and complex parts to solve complex problems, our quality of life soars. But here’s the catch. You cannot make complex stuff alone anymore. It’s too complex. And if you are not part of these ecosystems, your country will not thrive.” And trust is the essential ingredient that makes these ecosystems work and grow, Beinhocker adds. Trust acts as both glue and grease. It glues together bonds of cooperation, while at the same time it greases the flows of people, products, capital and ideas from one country to the next. Remove trust and the ecosystems start to collapse. Trust, though, is built by good rules and healthy relationships, and Trump is trampling on both. The result: If he goes down this road, Trump will make America and the world poorer. Mr. President, do your homework.

A great essay from the NY Times. It cuts through alot of the nonsense, and reveals the stunning level of Trump's ignorance. It’s a total mess. As the Ford Motor chief executive Jim Farley courageously (compared to other chief executives) pointed out, “Let’s be real honest: Long term, a 25 percent tariff across the Mexico and Canada borders would blow a hole in the U.S. industry that we’ve never seen.” So, either Trump wants to blow that hole, or he’s bluffing, or he is clueless. If it is the latter, Trump is going to get a crash course in the hard realities of the global economy as it really is — not how he imagines it. Ecosystems? Listen a bit to Beinhocker, who is also the executive director of the Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School. In the real world, he argues, “There is no such thing as the American economy anymore that you can identify in any real, tangible way. There’s just this accounting fiction that we call U.S. G.D.P.” To be sure, he says, “There are American interests in the economy. There are American workers. There are American consumers. There are firms based in America. But there is no American economy in that isolated sense.” The old days, he added, “where you made wine and I made cheese, and you had everything you needed to make wine and I had everything I needed to make cheese and so we traded with each other — which made us both better off, as Adam Smith taught — those days are long gone.” Except in Trump’s head. Instead, there is a global web of commercial, manufacturing, services and trading “ecosystems,” explains Beinhocker. “There is an automobile ecosystem. There’s an A.I. ecosystem. There’s a smartphone ecosystem. There’s a drug development ecosystem. There is the chip-making ecosystem.” And the people, parts and knowledge that make up those ecosystems all move back and forth across many economies. As NPR noted in a recent story about the auto industry, “carmakers have built a vast, complicated supply chain that spans North America, with parts crossing back and forth across borders throughout the auto manufacturing process. … Some parts cross borders multiple times — like, say, a wire that is manufactured in the U.S., sent to Mexico to be bundled into a group of wires, and then back to the U.S. for installation into a bigger piece of a car, like a seat.” Trump just waves off all of this. He told reporters that the U.S. is not reliant on Canada. “We don’t need them to make our cars,” he said. Actually, we do. And thank goodness for that. It not only enables us to make cars cheaper, but also better. All that a Model T did was get you from point to point faster than a horse, but today’s cars offer you heating and cooling and entertainment from the internet and satellites. They will navigate for you and even drive for you — and they’re much safer. When we can combine more complex knowledge and complex parts to solve complex problems, our quality of life soars. But here’s the catch. You cannot make complex stuff alone anymore. It’s too complex. And if you are not part of these ecosystems, your country will not thrive.” And trust is the essential ingredient that makes these ecosystems work and grow, Beinhocker adds. Trust acts as both glue and grease. It glues together bonds of cooperation, while at the same time it greases the flows of people, products, capital and ideas from one country to the next. Remove trust and the ecosystems start to collapse. Trust, though, is built by good rules and healthy relationships, and Trump is trampling on both. The result: If he goes down this road, Trump will make America and the world poorer. Mr. President, do your homework.

It makes sense that you would be seeing the Russians in the luxury stores, since Russian friends of mine tell me that the vast majority of Russians earning above 60,000 euros a year are involved in crime.

Sorry guy, girl, they, whatever you are, but very few people have sympathy for a homicidal vegan. Homicidal people in general curry very little favor with the general populace, but vegans are at the bottom of the list. It is a truly bizarre sense of entitlement to think that a prison is going to cater to a vegan, and is further evidence that this creep is completely detached from reality. Just apply the death penalty within the next 48 hours and be done with it.

Trump is an opportunistic liar, he does not have a genuine bone in his body and he tends to abandon allies and coddle dictators and serial killers. That's just who is and what he does. None of this should surprise us anymore, however he does continue to surprise and amaze with his ignorance and failings. He will pay the price for this and so will his supporters, it's just a matter of. Unfortunately the US is going to pay an enormous price for his policies and his other recklessness.

This is just one more reason to avoid Phuket, one of the most horrific destinations on the planet, and certainly the worst place to visit within Thailand for a dozen good reasons.

I'm sure that 100 baht per ton is going to make a huge difference to these farmers. Perhaps the moral to this story is don't grow rice! Find a 21st century alternative. All rice does is ensure a lifetime of poverty for the growers.

This is kind of a refreshing story in a sense that the shoe is finally on the other foot. We hear so many stories about foreigners being scammed by women who are opportunistic, perhaps the Thais can learn something from this episode. Compassion? Decency? Fairness? Honesty? Too much to ask?

I agree AI is absolutely horrific. I'm told by friends in the military that they have regenerative AI which is on a completely different level and is infinitely more intelligent than the kind of AI that we have access to. And that scares me, and should scare most. It is nothing like the AI we see, which is spectacularly dumb.

No matter how much money I had and no matter how much money I was willing to blow on five star resorts, I would not want to be surrounded by all those unpleasant Russians. We all pick our spots in this life, mine is not there!

Those two are real bottom of the barrel Americans. Very little talent or skill. Just how Trump seems to like them.

Not may start, but will start. Only a matter of time now.

And that right there tells you how little regarding the creep has for the average American person.

Most of what I state on this forum are opinions, but what I was stating there were absolute facts, verifiable facts, just look at their resumes. Just look at Hegseth and Vance overseas, they embarrassed the nation to no end. Trump seems to love picking from the bottom of the barrel, I have no idea why but that's just who he is.

Spent some on Phuket a few years back. Was first there in 1976. No resorts. A few bungalows on the beaches. Beachfront land was 1,000 baht a rai. They could not give it away. Thailand was a very different world back then. Very quaint. Quite poor. Very 3rd world. Went back in 1986. Phuket and Samui. Had developed alot. Still very nice. Again in 1993. Far more development. Still amazing. Azure seas. Spectacular women everywhere. Great food. Did not return until around 2008. It was degraded, for the most part. But, still decent. The nightlife and the selection of women was still outstanding. Again back to Phuket last year. No need to ever return. The charm is lost. The over development is stunning. The prices were crazy. I still enjoy visiting Samui, as it's a beautiful Island and as long as you're on the beaches or up in the mountains it's quite lovely. But only for a visit, used to live there, but thrilled to death that I left. The bottom line is that the entire world has changed so dramatically, even in just the last five years, so we adapt or we die. Or we live our lives in the state of misery.

The world has changed, everything has changed, we have changed along with it, we simply have to adapt. As different as things are, I still love it here.

It is unrecognizable from what it was on my first trip here nearly 50 years ago, but such is life.

Spent some on Phuket a few years back. Was first there in 1976. No resorts. A few bungalows on the beaches. Beachfront land was 1,000 baht a rai. They could not give it away. Thailand was a very different world back then. Very quaint. Quite poor. Very 3rd world. Went back in 1986. Phuket and Samui. Had developed alot. Still very nice. Again in 1993. Far more development. Still amazing. Azure seas. Spectacular women everywhere. Great food. Did not return until around 2008. It was degraded, for the most part. But, still decent. The nightlife and the selection of women was still outstanding. Again back to Phuket last year. No need to ever return. The charm is lost. The over development is stunning. The prices were crazy. I still enjoy visiting Samui, as it's a beautiful Island and as long as you're on the beaches or up in the mountains it's quite lovely. But only for a visit, used to live there, but thrilled to death that I left. The bottom line is that the entire world has changed so dramatically, even in just the last five years, so we adapt or we die. Or we live our lives in the state of misery.

And perhaps that is okay, all empires must come to an end, and the US is certainly a greatly diminished version of itself. The arrogance the US has displayed will likely disappear along with its influence, and that may be a good thing for the planet. The simpletons and the ones displaying the greatest level of fealty to the new king will accuse me of hating the US, and being unpatriotic for speaking truth as an American.

Absolutely correct, delusion is something that exists within the minds of a lot of people, but Trump redefines that, and he simply doesn't understand that the US cannot exist without Mexico, Canada and China, much less Europe. US influence is diminishing by the day, and both Trump and his supporters dramatically overestimate the importance of the US to the world.

All of us on this forum are expressing our own opinions. I have never stated that my opinions are fact. I have never stated that I'm talking for the majority. It is you, within the confines of your small mind, that takes offense to other people's opinions, rather than being open-minded and weighing a multiplicity of factors.

With many people, once they got attached to a theory, it was hard to get them detached. They’d screen out unhelpful facts, invent favorable ones, and ignore contradictions in their own claims. Look at those Sandy Hook, multiple fraud convictions, and Jan. 6th truthers, babbling about false flags and crisis actors and all the rest. When people were motivated enough to believe something, they were going to believe it no matter what. There was no such thing as a bridge too far.