moogradod

Try to compete with Edith Stern. She was a child genius and even before she turned one she could do calculations and speak complete sentences. She earned many graduate degrees before turning 18. With a lifetime achievement award in the field of engineering, she has over 128 US patents to her name. Her IQ score is 200+ and in certain IQ tests she has scored even more. Mary de vos Savant is the current record holder in the Guinness Book of World records with 227 measured at age 10. When you do a test the result will be age adjusted, as well for young and old people.

Nespresso has the ingenious practise to release a premium new product from time to time - only to take it out of its offering some time later, never to be seen again. This happened not so long ago with Blue Mountain Coffee. May I ask the coffee affectionados amongst you: Do you know of a decent coffee shop where one may order a proper cup of Blue Mountain Coffee ? Preferably in Pattaya, but if not there then at least in Bangkok. In Tokyo this would be a no brainer. There, every better coffee shop offers this coffee - regarded as one of the best in the world. And no, I do not want to grind the coffee myself and prepare it in a machine which processes freshly grinded coffee. Thanks for any hints.

Exactly what the situation of my wife and me is. Exept maybe for the street-smart. Instead her capability is to create an aura of happiness around her that seems almost magical. But because she is overly kind she is prone to (some) fraudulent actions and that counteracts the "street-smart" a bit. We know each other for more than 18 years, married over 16 years. We did not quarrel even once. Together we are the perfect team compensating the other partners deficiences.

From my point of view impossible to tell. You know only AFTER you have done it. My post was about the detail that they might like to see an official sticker with your name and birthday on it regardless of where you pass through. Just my experience.

Exactly. So this will again be the same once he would be elected again. He wont do nothing. This was my point.

A lot if one term becomes two.

When I brought a pack of Lexotane (Benzodiazepine) into Thailand a long time ago and proceeded through the red channel with a doctors prescription, the youngsters in charge of control were totally happy to see a sticker with my name on the pack - this somehow convinced them that it was for me regardless of the prescription and expicit letter of my family doctor. Just telling that this might be advantageous. Nowadays Lexotane is not allowed in to Thailand anymore and also not available at hospitals, although I consider it to be the best medicine in this category. A VERY long time time ago it was available even OTC and small pharmacies had very big glasses containing thousands of 3mg tablets sitting on the counter.

Agree. A taser would do it. I do not know what a bear spray is but if it is what I assume then the thing must be enormous. I just imagine running a bear towards you in the wild. I have heard that a bear is fast. So your bear spray need better be ready quickly and have a powerful spray jet. I guess you are either of Canadian or USA / Alaska provenience. In Switzerland pepper spray at least is legal but you need to be registered even for this one. But I could imagine if it were legally available in Thailand it would maybe lead to a lot of "accidents". I remember sitting in a restaurant in Switzerland when one of the customers did use one inside the room. The restaurant had to be evacuated immediately even if not everyone were sitting near the event.

We dont lock our doors (in the country that is) as well. In Pattaya we do close and lock the doors. How do we live ? Very peacefully. Not in fear at all. But it is a nice item for discussion. Anyway nobody cares much about it it seems. Nobody did respond / react to my well wishing and well founded post above. I was trained in self defense for decades and have acted as a teacher of Traditional Okinawan Martial Arts in 4 different Dojos and might well comment on the subject in particular and in general terms - but instead of profiting aseannow members seem not to be too interested. I noticed that increasing tendency as well for many other subjects. Even specific tips are not honored by even a small thank you. Difficult to maintain a helping contributing motivation. Not for this topic here, but just in general terms.

Miyamoto Musashi would say that the weapon and environment must match. Change the environment if you are confined to one weapon, adjust the weapon if you would know the place of the upcoming fight. In your case it seems to be for home defense so you must choose your weapon accordingly. That said, I believe the optimum for home defense would be (if allowed - of course it is not) to use a compact pump action shotgun with short barrel. Does not kill the intruder but has the needed impact to stop the adversary. May be placed right beneath your bed. A cross bow and a speargun has but one shot. Missing is probable. A knife is a shortest range weapon. I would suspect that a burglar here in Thailand would carry a handgun for they are very easily attainable. Experience to handle weapons properly is needed as well. Few people have that and it does take more than just a short training course. But maybe you have been playing baseball so a bat would really be legal and appropriate although you would loose against a handheld gun as well. Your advantage is that you know the environment very well and the intruder does not. You could for example sleep upstairs and prepare the stairs with a very thin string attached to a bell - removed in seconds during the day. I hope you never need it. Good luck.

In this case 30K is a joke, I agree. And their accessories are overpriced. But to state that all Apple products are not recommended is simply not true. I had an old iPhone 7 which fell down from 1m to the floor probably 50 times. Without doing any harm to the phone.. I killed it when I went to the beach, forgot that I had the phone in my pocket and then entered the water. This was it. Since then I am using the old Samsung from my wife and she got the latest model instead.

I have seen something similar in the Philippines, although I am not sure about the 8000 volt. But high walls with barbed wire and spotlights in every corner. Looked like a prison wall. I know one house in Hua Hin with extremely high walls (sure 4m) around. This setting might be enhanced by putting something nasty on your own ground just near the walls when someone tries to climb and jump. As it is on your plot a lot of things might be permitted - just let your imagination run wild.

Correction. It is called "ARLO" and not "ALDO". Aldo is a shop where my wife buys occasionally bags and shoes.

I understand your reaction and I agree, this IS crazy. But nevertheless there are more guns carried around in cars that you might think. I did not count them personally but this is what I hear and many times it is in the news as well.

Obviously could become handy if carried in the car. My wife tells me horror stories of people being shot because of a refusal of right of way. Just ask around - you might be surprized.

For our country side home inhabited by about 10 people: Really unnecessary - 1. because there is nothing to steal 2. because 11 dogs (number varies because of new births and accidents) are providing instant alarm. For our condo in Pattaya: Also none required actually although the door to the condo entrance is a joke. 60 year old technology. A professional burglar could open the door in seconds in various ways. But the problem is different: What is difficult is to get to the door. Dozens of Cameras, Security Personnel, Badges and additional locked doors in the lobby and the higher floor are not inviting for any burglar. After all you need to transport any stolen items to the ground again. Apart from that any burglar being still successful (with the help of some dishonest personnel for example) awaits a surprize inside. He would be recorded by two strategically placed very small video cameras and the video would be sent abroad to a server before the burglar could detect that this had happened to prevent that a local recording could be destroyed. The system used is called "ALDO" and we brought it from Switzerland but it is sold here as well I think (invadeIT ?) After we came here initially and I saw the door and lock I immediately wanted to conclude a home appliance insurance. But this turned out to be even more of a joke than the technology of the door. I would love to have a pepper spray for my wife and me. We each did have a professional one in Switzerland. But very unfortunately that is not allowed here as is a gun or shot gun. Could my wife as a Thai apply officially for a weapon to carry around in the car ? I think not.

As well from personal experience although ages ago: I would not try to self medicate here. Reasons: 1. There are a number of similar medicaments in this category - you need to try out which one does you good and which one not which I would only do under supervision. The most famous at the time had been Prozac. 2. It takes a considerable time (about 4 weeks) before you can feel a difference 3. For me they had the side effect to make me more aggressive, again supervison is recommended There are alternatives to medicaments, after all this is never a physical thing in the end. It is never your stomach that gets anxious or your nose or some other part of the body. But those methods need even more sophisticated supervision because they must be tailored to you individually. Bottom line: Go see a professional, but try to discuss several different approaches or a combination of them. I wish you all the best.

I am most of the time overdressed, at least at upscale eateries where I mostly regard jacket and tie as appropriate (at least tie and long sleeve shirt). I also dress nice for Immigration (although no tie). It never did me any harm so far apart from feeling a bit silly at times when the neighboring table wears short pants or below casual attire (even in more upscale venues). The biggest affront I ever made was to sit down in the Elizabethan Grillroom in the Raffles Singapore which is a VERY elegant "eatery" wearing but a training suit. A very long time ago though. As I was a hotel guest this time this was generously ignored in a good old british colonial fashion. "Do you like to try from our Roast beef, Sir ?". Maybe double pricing comes as well in another though not widly recognized form. Maybe the (s) and (l) that occur some time after the prices do not mean "small" and "large", but "sage" (for the Thais) and "lowlife" (for the rest, like me). Just check your bill carefully ????

Thanks, although this would be for my "Travel" folder. We stay in Pattaya. Accidentally we have planned a one week restaurant tour in Bangkok shortly. I believe it does occur - who told you I do not ? But rarely in the restaurants we will visit in Bangkok for if we go there only to eat then these will be high priced venues which cannot afford to loose their reputation (Michelin star category). For Phuket I believe it right away for many of the restaurants. Phuket used to be a nice place. Last time I have been there before the tsunami and from the stories I have heard we would rather refrain from going there ever again. Same for Koh Samui. In Pattaya they might do it as well but I dont know where. There are as well many restaurants where the items are described both in Thai and English on the same menu. Then there is no danger of double pricing (or is it ?) I will do a search on aseannow as well as you suggested.

My Thai wife and me are living in Pattaya and I am not aware of any resturant here doing this. I suspect this is because I do not know and not because they dont do it. Do you mind PM me a short list of venues where this has to be taken into account according to your experience ?. Easy for us to have a Thai menu only. Thank you very much - this will help to teach them to do it properly if we ask for the Thai version once presented with an English menu.

OK, I have to revise one of my previous statements. Actually I never would like to live in the US. I would not even put a foot on US soil unless someone would kidnap me. Prejudice ? Maybe. Just dont wont to be shot for example. Thailand has not been on discussion and I will refrain from doing so now. To live in China - no way. I know some Chinese and they have a special character. Many of you might have had contact with some Chinese tourists here, too. They are different a bit - I think you acknowledge this. As is the real Chinese food. I have never been there but I have seen documentations. I recall a story that someone wanted to travel to China and he was recommended to bring with him a considerable number of fruit bars in order not to starve in an emergency. He returned and could only confirm. Westernized Chinese food however is delicious. A Peking Duck or Gyoza for example. On the other hand I know Japan very well and this would be a country to live in. They also have cheap Toyotas in abundance.

OK, makes me thinking about it. I would still rather stay in a country under UK, NATO or even US governance than under Chinese governance. Why would I make this choice ? Maybe because they are all the same (bad) and it would not matter ? Somehow ? But it does not feel right. Maybe my moral compass needs adjustment. Or what would you prefer ?

IMHO this is not true. They will export ideology sooner as you wish them to do. That is the whole point. It would be nice to see the Chinese could be regarded as a simple economic competitor.

Maybe this is a misunderstanding. I did not mean the cooperation between the US and the EU, but the idea of similiarities within each of these blocks. Of course you cannot expect for every country to have exactly the same agenda and this is always an issue when the EU is discussed. But even if you take countries like Hungary with a more than questionable leadership, then the similiarities betweeen all EU countries outweight their disagreements. That is why it is not that easy to participate. To illustrate that clearly imagine the values of Iran or Irak or Afghanistan. It is obvious that those countries would not match the EU scheme. Therefore it can be said that the EU is at least trying to form a uniform block (as much as possible) of both economical and social mutual beliefs. I do not know very much about the US. It is a country which is deeply divided. This is really common knowlege. If I would denominate the 2 blocks how I perceive it it would expose me to life threats from one of the block members. Lets say they are different and leave it at that. In the end you have always as many opinions as there are even individuals, let alone whole countries. But to say that the EU is something that has some logical coherence to a certain degree as has the US or at least trying to have - which is different from other regions of the world, like Russia, China, Islamic countries etc. is not that far fetched. By forming the existing structures a long complicated process was involved from the stoneage to today. A lot of history for both the US and even more for the EU. That does not need to be mentioned.

Even beyond that. The difference, however is that the US and EU are formed by consensus to work together and share the same values, not by conquest. At least not during the last 200 years or so. Theoretically it would be the nicest thing to have one single world (see John Lennon) or like in Starship Enterprise. But would you like to live in a complete surveillance state giving you social points based on your obedience to the rules to determine what you can do and what you cannot do like the Chinese are actually planning just right now and have partially implemented ?