connda

Kaow Pansa - Beginning of the rain retreats.

Yep - government jobs and loaded onto the government gravy-train.

The difference between dirt poor and so-called 'wealth' is the amount of unsecured debt that Thai banks and financial institutions are willing to extend. Honestly - a truly poor but debt free person is probably better off in the long-run. Maybe. Or the entire financial infrastructure could collapse under the weight of bad debt and - TaDa!!! - Jubilee! at which point those with the most 'written off' debt win.

Extra-long weekend in Thailand: here’s what you need to know Go shopping today and stock up (we just got back from an early morning shopping excursion) and then, like Songkran, hunker down for the next 7 days. Drunks and the terminally aggressive drivers will be out in force on the road just like Songkran, but without the Songkran police blockades. Traffic fatality stats should be interesting to see a week from now.

"Fake News" is a euphemism for any information that is counter to the officially endorsed narrative provide by government and corporate entities. So-called "Fake News" very often, over time (weeks or months or years later) proves to be factual news, much to the chagrin of those seeking to to keep the lid on facts. The recent revelations of "The Twitter Files" regarding governments working hand-in-hand with Twitter to actively censor factual information (and calling it mal-information, mis-information, and the like) is a prime example. "Fake news" I'm afraid is all too often suppressed factual information that stakeholders of "public-private partnerships" wish to censor in order to advance there own narratives. Matt Taibbi, Lee Fang, Bari Weiss, and Micheal Shellenberger revelations from "The Twitter Files" shows a direct efforts to censor factual information an forms the basis for Shellenberger's term, The International Censorship Industrial Complex, a very apt term. Censorship, imho, is anathema to a functional democracy. Censorship is the hallmark of totalitarian states, not true democracies.

No. But for any expat planning to move here or retire here? They should know what to expect and then plan accordingly. That's why we comment on the discriminatory practices. Not for us? We know......but for those reading these forums and considering moving to Thailand to work or retire. Forwarded in forearmed. Based on what I know today? I doubt I'd be living here had I known it 16 years ago. I would have visited, but not gotten involved with a female Thai citizen no less marrying one, and moved on to a country that isn't overtly racist and discriminatory toward individuals who are not their own ethnicity and nationality. There are countries like that. Where foreigners are encouraged to settle and marry into the native population. Thailand isn't one of those countries! Just saying. It's da*m sad imho.

No they don't. Speaking from experience as opposed to what I've heard on AN.

That's good to hear. I lost two of my dogs to kidney disease and vomiting is a symptom.

Exactly. Or charge you extra based on your skin color as "farang" means person from European decent. Show me one Western country where the foreign spouse of a citizen is charged extra based on their ethnicity and nationality, especially if like myself, they have lived in-country for 16 years and married for well over 15. There are none. Westerners, especially those on the Left would scream 'racism' at loud as they can. And legitimately. I would too. How is this discrimination even considered moral by any civilized, modern standards?

Sorry to hear that. Have your vet check your dog's kidneys.

Nope. Thais get unsecured credit extended to them. Heck, I see tables in malls and Big C hypermarts where unsecured credit is being not only offered but actively pimped to Thais. Your statement should read, "To get a Thai bank credit card I thought Foreigners had to have money in the bank to cover the use of the credit card." That's an accurate statement for most rank and file expats.

It should read, "Predatory Thai lending institutions prey on Thai citizenry." Credit should not legally be extended to those who are going to be unable to repay. This is what non-existence regulators are for - to stop institutional predation by banks, corporations, and financial institutions.

If you donate your body for the med school, they pay for a nice send off after they are done slicing and dicing.

I'll have to check how much it cost to fricassée a farang over a gas grill here in the village. I'll ask my wife tonight. My guess is cheap, sure not 2-3K AUD. Probably enough to cover the cost of the natural gas and a days wage for those who help, like about 5 to 7 people at 600 THB a day. The monks chant for what we give them, but being Buddhist, we tend to be generous to the temple monks.

Just say no! Like I stated above. If CM University doesn't take our bodies, then we'll be held in state for a day at the house - immediate family only - pay for monks to chant, get placed in one of the wat's cheap 1000 THB coffins, and then off to the crematorium for cremation. Ashes and ground bone will be tossed into the nearby river and we're done with it. It's only a village affair if you make it a village affair.

200K THB. Most villages have a 'death fund' which villagers pay into most of their lives and then they receive about that much for the purposes of offsetting funeral costs. However..... Nobody said you have to have a fancy funeral. If my wife kicks before me, she'll either go to CM University to be a medical student project, or if they refuse the body, my son and I will have her boxed up, have a family only ceremony with chanting monks, then off to the crematorium. We're not feeding the village. Same goes for me. The 200K THB will go to my son Anyway - approximate cost will be about 200K THB.

If you are doing online 90 day reports you don't need your passport. If online doesn't work? The worst case scenario would be that you'll need to pay a 2000 THB late fee. Not the end of the world. For your extension? I don't have a clue. But there is a lesson here. Get your passport renewals done wayyyyy before you need it for processing your extension.

I see Move Forward is moving forward. Good choice. Pita will no doubt have his day. Just not this year.

We rewired the structures on our property a few years back and put all the wiring through PVC wiring conduit.

"Anutin for PM!" ????

"In a storm the mighty oak tree breaks and cracks, but the supple sapling bends and bounces back." Unfortunately for Pita, if his stance remains rigid like "the mighty oak?" Well...... The young Pita should emulate the supple sapling in his affairs. If he does, perhaps he will weather the storm.

Ok. I value everyone's opinion whether I agree with them or not. I'm not out to change your mind. Cheers!

Speaking of "meddling in the goings on of other countries?" The figure that the US government has around 750 bases in 80 countries is a estimate that can be corroborated from multiple sources on the Internet. I like graphics. Source: Aljazeera Do I think Russia and China are "bad?" I believe that Russia and China are just like Henry Kissinger's quote regarding the Untied States. “America has no permanent friends or enemies, only interests” I'd posit that Russia and China work primarily in their own interests. So I could change Kissinger's quote as such to fit this looming multi-polar world: "Large, nuclear-capable nations are neither good nor bad, but only a reflection of their own global interests." That applies to the US, Russia, China, and EU post-colonial states. The only difference? The Sun is setting in the West and rising in the East. Like it or not. Good or bad? <shrugs> It depends on the color of your personal "reality goggles" I guess. I see war, economic and kinetic, as bad. I see international cooperation and trade as good. That's how my personal "reality goggles" are focused.

"Conspiracy Theory" is a pejorative used by individuals who don't have the necessary acumen to form a counter argument worthy of debate. You fling the term 'conspiracy theory' at another forum member and smugly pat yourself on the back and congratulate yourself for being somehow an intellectual powerhouse. You took my statement out of context and turned it into an ad-hominid attack, sir. That sucks. Attacking someone's character as opposed to the debating the merits of the subject at hand is - well, lazy and disingenuous. For your edification and to support my contention that you have just disrespected me personally - for no good reason - here is complete paragraph with the key concepts highlighted: That IS what I actually said. ???? I never stated that "Pita is a Western asset and a Trojan Horse." That's a huge difference. I have a pretty good grip on Thai defamation laws, so I wouldn't make a statement like that. Thai prison doesn't appeal to me. I personally consider your statement to be a troll as you misconstrued what I actually stated and then labelled me a 'conspiracy theorist.' I'll give you the benefit of the doubt that you did so in the passion of the moment and it was not deliberate. Here's your chance to atone for the disrespectful comment: Why don't you come up with a counter argument as to why a Western educated, wealthy Thai would never, ever work in the interests of Western stakeholders at the expense of the Thai public? In 'a very general sort of way' that is devoid of personal character attacks? Can you articulate your position in a civil manner? A debate!

Read guys like Brzezinski, Kissinger, and McKindred and then you'll have a better understanding. Start here: https://sci-hub.hkvisa.net/10.2307/20048199