connda

I'm one of those who believes that if you can't beat them, join them. My suggestion for those in the West who wish to 'take their wives home' would be to divorce them, finance your girl-friend's "migration" through the porous borders, hook up with an immigration attorney on the other side and go through all the ropes to get them admitted permanently, then remarry.

If you are fearful of contracting and dying of The Covid Plague - the I urge you - get your shots as frequently as Pfizer and Moderna release them to the public. "Safe and Effective!"

Losartan is widely available at any pharmacy. Hydrochlorothiazide should be OTC also.

Some people just need to live in fear. And then in order to find purpose in life they need to spread that fear. It sucks to be irrationally fearful. But heck. Look around. It's now almost 4 years since the WHO/CDC/Experts told us that we all are going to die from the Covid Plague, and still, the majority of Thais remain all masked up like obedient clones. Then on AN we still have a subset of true believers who proselytize to the masses that "Covid Is Gonna Get Ya This Time For Sure!" <head-shake>

If you are seriously body-building, then yeah, protein powder has its place in a body-builder's diet. If you are not a competition body-builder, then the protein you eat normally should suffice.

I've never shopped in one of these "duty free" shops other than walking through out of curiosity. Personally I didn't see much selection and I did see price tags for things that I know can be purchased much cheaper elsewhere. What (items) are you supposedly getting a "duty free" discount on? Who uses them and why?

Use a Neti Pot to rinse your nose and throat at least once a day with warm (not hot) saline. I just use sterile bottled saline from the pharmacy. That will loosen the mucus as well as to help clear infections. If I believe it is related to a minor infection, then I'll put a few drops of Betadine (Povidone-iodine). I recommend this pot as it's easy to obtain in a Thai pharmacy or online. If the mucus is thick then take N-acetylcysteine (NAC) which thins mucus. Pharmacies sell NAC in 600mg sachets (Mysoven) or you can buy 1000 mg tablets from iHerb (Lazada too but at a significant markup).

I've noticed that the Prikpot website is down with this message. Not sure if this is due to any recent government changes in the licensing and sale of cannabis? I wonder if this is the bleeding edge of new regulations about to take affect as they state they are down for "Administrative Purposes." Anyone hear anything in the grape-vine?

Nah. Dead is the ultimate relaxed state.

Actually it may become one of the most difficult things you've done. I suggest going to a place like Wat Umong Meditation Center (if they still exist) and spending 3 days there to figuratively 'get your feet wet.' If you can handle 3 days there then you may be able to handle 21 days elsewhere like the International Meditation Center at Wat Doi Suthep. Does it improve your ability to relax? Disconnect? Zone out or zone in? Does it improve your patience? Improve your ability to not care? That is quite literally impossible to answer. It may. It may not. But? Meditation is NOT about becoming distracted, or "zoned-out," or apathetic, or relaxed. Meditation IS about investigating the nature of "mind." Watching the process of mind fabricating what you consider to be 'reality.' That process can be relaxing. It can also drag up every fear and anxiety that you've ever had. Which is the point. The point is to watch without getting involved. The meditation technique can take you to a place where you CAN watch without getting involved. That's the essence of Vipassana. Insight into the illusory nature of mind. The only way you will know is to go do it. If you think that 21 days of meditation is going to change your life? It may if you maintain the meditation practice. It is NOT a quick fix. Want a quick fix? Ayahuasca.

Truth can be purchased for a price. TIT.

He'll milk this for everything its worth and he'll get away with it too. Guaranteed that as soon as he is released he'll be the epitome of good health.

Interesting though as in a Western country the owner of the utility would be on the hook via civil court to pay for the hospital. Here? "Hope you have insurance." That's sad.

I agree with a lot of what you say. I might counter you on the issue of "quality of tourists." From an economic stand-point, revenues can be derived from a wide mix of tourist from varying economic strata. Everyone fills a niche from the Cheapest Charlie swilling beer in front of a 7/11 to the George Soros types living, dining, and working well out of sight of the commoners and 'little people.' Exploiting economic niches requires understanding your customer-base and modifying prices to maximize revenues. Economics 101. So Thailand can cater to the "Well-Heeled Wealthy Foreigners Of Means" but that approach isn't going to stimulate the entire economy. In fact it will only stimulate a relatively small section of the economy which is already rich and wealthy to obscene levels. A truly effective strategy to maximize revenues generated by tourism will be to identify and cater to each economic niche and do so by manipulating the cost of goods and services to match means of all tourists visiting Thailand. What Thailand needs are individuals who are actually well-versed in marketing (and propaganda for that matter) and then appeal to each of those groups using different strategies. The problem for Thailand though is that it doesn't seem to have anyone who understands marketing and economics, and who is in a position to implement those strategies nationwide. The problem being, Thai like that don't exist. Thailand needs to seriously become less nationalistic, open up the country by easing visa requirements, and really welcome foreign businesses as well as those expats injecting a million or so into the Thai economy every year - like many expat retirees and guys like myself who have been married to a Thai national for the upside of two decades. This country should welcome guys like me who could open a small business and hire Thais if the bar for entrance into creating a small business wasn't set so high. Hell, a Thai with a green card in the US can open any business they wish. They can hire an all Thai staff if they wish. The same should apply here. What Thailand needs to allow economic growth that is created by foreigners seeking to leverage economic niches within Thailand that in turn focus on foreign tourists in a manner that nationalistic Thais with poor English-skills as well as marginal business skills. But? It ain't going to change. And tourism will continue it's downhill spiral. Look at COP28 in the UAE. A bevy of billionaire and their government apparatchiks flying their CO2 spewing private jets in order to get together and pave the way for laws to keep the rest of the planet's population from flying or driving. Neo-Feudalism in the name of "Boiling Oceans" and other BS tropes. Now, there's a boon for the future of tourism don't ya think?

“Lord our Father, our young patriots, idols of our hearts, go forth into battle—be Thou near them! With them—in spirit—we also go forth from the sweet peace of our beloved firesides to smite the foe. O Lord our God, help us tear their soldiers to bloody shreds with our shells; help us to cover their smiling fields with the pale forms of their patriot dead; help us to drown the thunder of the guns with the shrieks of their wounded, writhing in pain; help us to lay waste their humble homes with a hurricane of fire; help us to wring the hearts of their unoffending widows with unavailing grief; help us to turn them out roofless with their little children to wander unfriended in the wastes of their desolated land in rags and hunger and thirst, sports of the sun flames in summer and the icy winds of winter, broken in spirit, worn with travail, imploring thee for the refuge of the grave and denied it— For our sakes who adore Thee, Lord, blast their hopes, blight their lives, protract their bitter pilgrimmage, make heavy their steps, water their way with their tears, stain the white snow with the blood of their wounded feet! We ask it, in the spirit of love, of Him Who is the Source of Love, and Who is the ever-faithful refuge and friend of all that are sore beset and seek His aid with humble and contrite hearts. Amen. -The War Prayer, Mark Twain

Have fun living here on your 186,000 Thai Baht.

Jealous? No. I find it fascinating to watch how people p*ss their hard-earned money away as opposed to making it work for them. There is a huge difference between needs and wants. People who understand the difference can live very fulfilling lives. But in my experience those who cannot differentiate between a true "need" and their endless "wants" tend to end up brash, cynical, and at the end, bankrupted. But! He who has the most toys and power when they die - WINS!!! Most recent Grand-winner? Henry Kissinger. Good luck taking all that power and money with ya Henry ol' chap. Same for all those here who believe their poo smells like roses as they shake a handful of cash at other members here and indulge us with endless stories of their excesses and riches. Want to see truly wealthy foreigners? Try Singapore.

They are not "rich." They are in debt in order to drive around a status symbol that makes them look wealthy. It's amazing how many people, especially Thais, who will place themselves into crippling debt in order to appear as they have wealth. But all that is is a BS illusion. Your friends paying 86K/month for a car payment are stupid. A rich person can buy their car with cash unless there is a business reason or tax advantage to financing. Debt doesn't make you rich, does it @bob smith? Debt may be useful in creating revenue and profits. it has it's place. Financing your status-symbol on four wheels with debt ain't one of them. Just saying.....

$5000/month in the US and most of the West is barely a middle-class existence any longer. That amount of money in almost any other third-world/developing country makes you pretty well off. I have a suggestion. You need a 70K THB / month residence like you need a hole in the head. You can find very nice accommodations for under 20K (much less actually). Instead of p*ssing your money away here in Thailand on over-priced rentals and bling (or whatever third-world country you decide to reside in), find a modest residence and then save and invest your savings. Becoming an expat gives you financial opportunity most people can no longer afford in their Western "home countries." So look to this as an opportunity. You can live a good life here and still be able to save and invest as least 1/2 of your monthly income if not more. Then like bob smith stated elsewhere (to paraphrase), "When the economy tanks, the New Wealthy Class will be those sitting on cash and liquid investments and buying as everyone else is selling."

My favorite political cartoonist, Bob Moran, pretty well sums it up universally: "It's Raining!"

Anyone who "Trusts The Experts" already have a load of experience bending over and grabbing their ankles. If you drop you soap in a shower full of experts? It's best to kick it to the other side of the room before picking it back up. In the meanwhile, real consumer inflation vs government manipulated tosh. Government: "Well, instead of using toothpaste you can use baking soda and salt which are cheap. So now that you're using baking soda instead of toothpaste, the price of toothpaste shows negative inflation. in fact, the price of toothpaste is so depressed that we need to inject a few trillion USD into the economy to stimulate growth!" Lie and lie and lie and lie and lie as average people are ravaged by unrelenting inflation in goods, services, and housing.

The world economies most of which are fueled on debt are all on the cusp of "Economic Crisis." When i first arrived here, the price of gold was 12K THB / baht-weight. It will be 36K (if not more) by the end of 2024 (maybe the end of March 2024). Current value of 23 karat Thai gold per baht-weight is 33.5K THB which is up 1000 THB over the last month. Gold is up from 29.2K THB over the last year. Does this mean that the value of gold has tripled? Nope. It means the value of Thailand fiat money has been discounted by 65+% relative to gold, and you CAN see this in the inflation of prices over the last 15 years. The value of gold move inversely to the value of debased national fiat currencies. Governments lie about the real value of their debased currencies and real inflation. The value of gold relative to currencies does not lie. The debt bubble will blow - not "If" but "When." Highly leveraged and indebted nations will fall. Read history. The Depression, and its effect on the global economy. And when the banks and the economy collapse? Well, read up on one of the most recent collapses in Argentina 1998 to 2001. Find some first hand accounts. It's not pretty, especially when a nation and a people are forced down to the bottom of the Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. What's at the end of the line? World War, imho, that will support Neo-Totalitarianism in most countries and the rise of Neo-Fascism in many of what are currently referred to as "liberal democracies."

Another "Look How Much Money i Make...Do You Think I Can Scratch Out A Living In Thailand?," post. Go get drunk with Bob and he'll show you the ropes.

Now that's more like the 'real' reason.

Where in Thailand can you erect a stage and put on a performance that isn't within some invisible, morality-dripping, boundary that abhors 'scantily dressed performers?' Put a stage up in a Thai village - there is a Buddhist temple. Put a stage up in any Khet in a major or minor city, and there is/are a Buddhist temple(s). This is a nothing burger. Average people don't care.