blazes

Exactly how is Israel an "apartheid" state?

Oh goody. My shares in Raytheon and Northrop Grumman are going to zoom upwards. Thanks, Joe.

Enjoyed many trans-pacific flights on Eva Air. Still used for cargo, aren't they?

"Biggly" : the only other human being I ever heard converting "big" into an even greater adverb "biggly" was Donald J. Trump.....

Sorry, off topic, but this does remind me of an Eton report card about Anthony Armstrong Jones, later Lord Snowdon, and a little bit later, husband of Princess Margaret. The form master wrote: "He may be good at some subject, but it is not a subject we teach here."

This thread is largely a waste of space, since there is zero probability that Putin's invasion depended, for good or ill, on a conversation with the former Mayor of London. What the thread is omitting is Biden's (rather dementia-inspired) remark about an "incursion" being acceptable (with, presumably, the unspoken thought that maybe an "invasion" might be a missile or two too far).

From the headline I thought it was Putin threatening Johnson personally. Which might have been a useful contribution to the re-building of Britain....

A game which, obviously, you yourself are playing.....

Al-lested? How long will he have to stay in his new little loom?

Nice clean beach he found. Anyone know where? Or is that classified information?

Why all the frenetic toing and froing in and out of the country? Is there a lovely hotty involved somewhere in your plans?

Yes, I too had to take a second look, but then I realised I had missed that the "woman" is Canadian. Say no more.....

Must be the only guy in Thailand who wears a collar and tie....but maybe he wears the tie for the sake of his old mum back home?

Complaint about "cheap jibes" followed by cheap pun. Beam and mote come to mind....

What a stupendously lonely life, Willy or no willy.

Just returned from an expensive border bounce (by air) from Penang. So now I have a second 45+30 at my disposal. But it cost me far in excess of the 1900 baht for a VE extension. All that excess money spent in a foreign country, thus denying Thailand of a little extra business. I would have been quite happy to pay 3800 baht (twice the extension fee) in order not to go to the bother of flying in and out of this country for no gainful purpose whatsoever. (Maybe put a limit on the number of times one could do this, but....) Or why not do what Malaysia does: 90 days Visa Exempt. That's it! Or Mexico: 6 months, no questions asked as long as you don't have a Colombia stamp in your passport

Flight from where, though? Moscow? Los Angeles? Delhi? or just Beijing?

Anantasila is the most relaxing hotel in Kao Takiab. Dining there is superb and the ambience, right on the beach, is top class. Also great for children. You can of course stay somewhere else in Kao Takiab but dine out at Anantasila. Blue Wave is a bit tired. Elevator can take a lifetime to arrive.

Amusing (in a macabre way) to see that Mexico occupies second place, when only last week the arrest of El Chapo's son prompted a vast and bloody and incendiary shoot-out by the mafia in Mazatlan, a fairly popular tourist destination. https://nationalpost.com/pmn/news-pmn/canada-news-pmn/mazatlan-mayor-reassures-canadians-and-other-visitors-following-cartel-violence https://nationalpost.com/pmn/news-pmn/canada-news-pmn/have-your-wits-about-you-travel-advice-for-canadians-visiting-mexico

A trifle naïve: since when has a dictatorship had to worry about an upcoming "election"?

This is correct, but let's not forget that the only reason we poochai can do that is the extreme poverty of most women here. I am daily disgusted by the CHEAPNESS of farang here. I go to half-decent restaurants, frequented by European couples, and can't help noticing how often they will leave a tip of 20 BAHT after a meal that probably cost 300 baht. Do these people have ANY idea how little 20 baht will buy for a poor Thai worker???? It's like leaving 50 cents after a $12 meal.....

Hold it, Mike: are you seriously calling Joe Biden and Fauci morons??? Better hope the FBI are not listening (or reading). It's simply not allowed these days to question the actions of our ruling classes. (Sorry, Mike, I apologise if you are not American; I made that assumption too quickly.)

I wonder what the wives gossip about in this kind of get-together? Maybe "loss of face" possibilities keep the conversation on the positive side.....

Quite frankly, it's not the discrepancy in prices that alarms me, but the kind of diet some of our expat friends are existing on....