connda

They're trying hard. They want all the plebs to wear the "Nose-Bag-of-Social-Compliance." "Submit commoners." Yeah - when Hell freezes over.

Back to Chinese bashing again. Low-hanging fruit for discussion, 'eh?

Out here in the village most people don't mask-up, but head into the city and go to Big C and the vast majority of folks are masked.

I think it tends to be a rather Asian phenomenon. I know in Japan many people would mask-up for half the year pre-Covid. Post-Covid and it's all year. If you check out street-level web cams in places like Japan and China, there is still a fairly large percentage of people wearing masks as they do in Thailand. Example: Tokyo live https://www.skylinewebcams.com/en/webcam/japan/kanto/tokyo/shinjuku-street.html

What a way to start a post about masking ----> throw highly charged jingoistic (overtly racist) shade at Indians and Russians by insinuating that they all have hygiene problems and body odor. Your message the way I interpret it: ???? "I wear a mask because other ethnicities whom I personally dislike all stink and smell bad, except for my own superior ethnicity, all of whom are clean and pure as the wind driven snow." I'd say your perception of your personal ethnic superiority is a problem that has nothing to do with masks. Just a suggestion: Try jettisoning the racism and becoming part of the solution. You're definitely an outliers as most people I know who obsessively wear masks are scare out of their wits by all of the Covid fear-mongering broadcasted day and night by main-stream media and their government agencies since March 2020. They don't wear them because they are ethnically superior and can't stand the stench of other ethnicities they despise. Really, really pathetic. "I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers." -- Dr Martin Luther King ...and Indians, and Russians, and Pakistanis, and Africans, and Middle Easterns, and South Americans, and Europeans - hand in hand - accepting each other together as one - masked or otherwise.

The days of military coups in Thailand are gone : Sutin ...until they're not.

"A fool and his money are soon parted," as the old saying goes.

Cut internet access to Facebook and watch it plummet by another 50% or so.

However, a few tens of million p*ssed-off Thais, including my wife who live on Facebook, will be voting for Move Forward the next election.

Sadly? I agree with both you and your friend, especially as I was a kid in the 1950s and have a historical perspective to reflect and compare our current environment to. Our best years are definitely behind us, which bodes not well for our children and grand-children.

Given Thailand's criminal defamation laws - this should be entertaining.

I really feel sorry for you guys especially the elderly farangs who are fearful and don't have a clue as to how to get along with or interact with dogs. That's why I like guys like Cesar Millan (The Dog Whisperer). It's not about the dogs. Dogs are easy. They have personalities, but the behaviors are pretty easy to anticipate based on the dog's situation and breed. It's about humans who don't have a freaking clue about working with social pack animals, i.e., canines, i.e., dogs. Especially when the humans are fearful or threatening toward dogs or a pack of dogs, or just don't like dogs in general.. <---- Hint - that's how and why you get hurt. Off-leash/un-penned dogs are just a fact of life in Thailand. Make your life's easier and learn how to deal with dogs. If dogs scare you? Well, you're screwed right out of the gate.

No wonder your significant other is so well behaved!

Honestly - where? If you pay 20K THB for a rabies series you've been seriously ripped off. Heck, come to my house. I have rabies vaccinations in the refrigerator (I actually do). I'll give a 5 shot series for ???? how about only 5,000 THB. <laughs> A savings of 75%!!! ???? I work with stray animals in our village. We attempt to either neuter or give neutering shots to strays or puppies that show up/dropped off. Same with cats and kittens. The village gives all animals in the village rabies shots for free annually. Nips and bites happen. At my local hospital an individual rabies shot costs a couple hundred THB if that. Do the math for a 3 or 5 shot series. At most you're out a thousand baht.

One of the things I like about Thailand is that the government tends to stay out of everyone else's business.

I know most of the local dogs, none of whom bother me. I've crossed paths with packs on walks outside my village. Put some rocks in your pockets. If aggressive dogs come your way, sling a couple of rocks their way. Also, don't look weak or show fear. My guess? They look at you like fearful prey. You have access to a gun? You'll end up in prison on weapons charges. Then charges for killing the dogs will pale in comparison. And you'll lose the gun. Really - stupid idea.

Put in a fan. The insulation will work (we did it a few years back). Wayyyy cooler.

"Lawfare." Put it in your dictionary as it now the New Normal.

If you need masks, just buy them on Lazada or Shopee.

You're gonna die <period>. So why worry? Live in the moment and enjoy life. If you're @BritManToo tuck another wine cooler in the ice.

I think I'll check the odds with a bookie in the UK. My bet is that he'll get pardoned sooner than later and all those health issues will clear up as quick as you can say - "Bob's your uncle!!!" Or "Tony's your sugar-daddy."

Undifferentiated American English although I can switch to quite a few regional dialects if a feel like it (I've been around). And if I'm around Brits, I can flip a bastardized version of non-regional Brit. May have something to do with having spent my first three years of school in a post-WWII Brit school in Harrow.

Hey - they're going to give every Thai 10K for voting for the right parties. "Whoo Hoo" But of course, a month after they issue those funds to Thailand, inflation will explode 20% or more and it ain't ever coming back down. Then it's back to applying for more credit so Thais can afford to eat.

Every year we hear more about Thai "soaring" debt. And the banks keep extended credit. Just walk through the malls and hypermarts to see tables of bank reps soliciting unsecured debt to Thais. When are we going to get to the point where Thai banks can no longer service the debt that they have over-extended to Thais who have more debt than they can pay month-to-month. I know - go to the bank and take out another loan to pay off the credit card bills so you can fill them to the debt limit again. This is why you don't keep more then a million THB in a Thai bank account. When the Debt House Of Card folds in on itself, Thai banks will make themselves whole with the savings of their depositors. Keep your deposits below the Thai guaranteed deposit insurance level as it's just a matter of "When" and not "If" this ponzi-scheme explodes.

When you live in Chiang Mai, you don't have to consult your Android or Apple Poop-Map before walking down the street like you do in San Francisco.