https://aseannow.com/rss/44-thailand-news.xml/National and regional news from all around ThailandenHad a hybrid solar system fitted mid April. 8×600W solar panels, 6kWh hybrid inverter, 10kWh battery, legally registered with the PEA, 150,000 baht. House is two bedroom with 12,000 and 9,000 btu AC units. I have an electric oven, electric showers and an electric well pump used for watering the garden. The last month was the first billing period for a full month of solar and the bill was 37 baht for 3 units. The way the inverter works uses about 0.1kWh of grid power per day. Max daily output I have achieved so far is 22kWh.Tue, 16 Jun 2026 04:37:00 +0000Let's try the sense of humor again, enjoy.Tue, 16 Jun 2026 04:36:56 +0000If you sat it at around 10 or 11 years old in the UK, the purpose was fairly simple. It helped determine whether you might be suited to a grammar school or a standard comprehensive. Education, particularly when freely available, has always been one of society's great levellers. Back then I was too busy d!cking about to have benefited from being sat alongside the brightest pupils. Equally, there was a reason comprehensive schools streamed pupils into different sets and that matter (to me at least a few years later). Teaching everyone at the pace of the slowest benefits nobody and slowed the rest of the class. Today there are far more ways to assess aptitude and cognitive ability. Employers commonly use tests such as the Wonderlic [https://wonderlictestpractice.com/] often alongside maths, English, verbal and non-verbal reasoning assessments. They are not perfect, but they do provide a reasonable measure of how quickly people can process information, recognise patterns and solve problems. I sometimes wonder how some of today's self-proclaimed "greatest generation of thinkers" would perform if presented with one of these tests. Not on social media. Not with Google, YouTube and a bunch if memes behind them. Just a timed assessment of reasoning and problem-solving. If you sat these types of tests at around 10 or 11 years old in the UK, they were largely used to determine educational pathways. Today, similar aptitude, reasoning and cognitive assessments are widely used by employers. They are not perfect, but they do provide a useful measure of how quickly people can process information, recognise patterns and solve problems. What interests me, however, is not the tests themselves, but the ongoing debate around who considers themselves a "free thinker" - or in this case "the last generation of thinkers". There seems to be a growing tendency for some people to define free thinking simply as rejecting mainstream views. If experts agree on something, the experts must be compromised. If a position is widely accepted, then it becomes suspect by virtue of being widely accepted. Consensus itself is treated as evidence of error. The paradox is that many of these self-appointed free thinkers will accuse others of being incapable of independent thought, while simultaneously dismissing any conclusion that aligns with evidence, scientific consensus, peer review or established expertise. In their view, arriving at a conclusion supported by decades of research cannot be free thinking because it happens to agree with the mainstream position. Yet arriving at the opposite conclusion, often on far less evidence, is automatically regarded as independent thought. That strikes me as an odd definition of free thinking. What I see instead is a growing intellectual reverse-snobbery, where informed opinion and careful reasoning are dismissed as establishment thinking, usually dismissed with a TLDR response, while ignorance wrapped in confidence is mistaken for insight. Lengthy discussion is replaced by slogans, evidence by memes, and critical thought by emotionally satisfying one-liners designed to trigger applause rather than reflection. Surely the question is not whether a conclusion is mainstream or fringe. The question is whether the reasoning behind it stands up to scrutiny - thats the only facet that truly matters. There is often an element of Dunning-Kruger involved here; enough knowledge to feel informed, but not always enough to appreciate the complexity of the subject. Cognitive dissonance then takes over. Once a belief becomes tied to a person's identity, challenges are no longer evaluated on their merits. Instead, disagreement becomes proof that others are brainwashed, while criticism becomes evidence that uncomfortable truths are being exposed. The genuinely independent thinkers I have encountered tend to be rather different. They are willing to change their minds, comfortable with uncertainty and capable of questioning their own assumptions - I see this is where the latest generation are starting to excel - the importance on questioning their own and pre-established assumptions and drawing a factually sound conclusion. Ironically, that last point is where the paradox becomes most obvious. Many of the people who accuse the mainstream of being unable to think independently will read this and immediately apply it to everyone except themselves. They will argue that those who trust evidence, scientific methodology and peer review are incapable of questioning their assumptions. In doing so, they often demonstrate the very behaviour they are criticising. The belief that they are among the few capable of independent thought becomes evidence that they are independent thinkers. Any challenge to that belief merely reinforces it. Different tribes, different slogans, different authorities perhaps, but often the same human tendency towards confirmation bias, group identity and certainty. To my mind, genuine free thinking is not measured by how often you disagree with the mainstream. It is measured by your willingness to follow the evidence wherever it leads, including when it leads somewhere you did not expect, or perhaps did not want, to go. That, for me, is where the real irony lies - this is where 'The last Generation of (self appointed) thinkers' fall flat on their face - they are unfamiliar with that with which they are unfamiliar and just see a kid with an iPad in a restaurant, or a back-packer with elephant pants and start making sweeping generalisations because they believe they were / are better without any genuine comparison.Tue, 16 Jun 2026 04:36:22 +0000https://www.youtube.com/shorts/47_dki2ndMo Looks like a classy event. Just two good ole boys fighting over whose turn it was with their cousin.Tue, 16 Jun 2026 04:35:45 +0000Tue, 16 Jun 2026 04:35:11 +0000Tue, 16 Jun 2026 04:34:55 +0000Tue, 16 Jun 2026 04:34:36 +0000They do not say the same thing. The legal definition doesn’t mention violence, your bastion doesn’t mention the public. These are significant differences.Tue, 16 Jun 2026 04:34:21 +0000Tue, 16 Jun 2026 04:34:21 +0000Upside down and warped. Liberals are a bunch of pathetic sore losers. Cry baby cry.Tue, 16 Jun 2026 04:33:18 +0000Brits in the news today, multiple times and for all the wrong reasons. Getting worse than Indians.Tue, 16 Jun 2026 04:31:57 +0000They both said the same thing . Can you explain the difference between . "Terrorism is when a group uses violence and intimidation to try to influence an elected Governments policies ." And The UK legal definition of terrorism is: “Under UK law, specifically the Terrorism Act 2000, terrorism is defined as the use or threat of action designed to influence a government, intimidate the public, or disrupt an electronic system, aimed at advancing a political, religious, racial, or ideological cause“ I used the word "violence" , you used the words threat of action . But the core meaning is exactly the sameTue, 16 Jun 2026 04:31:03 +0000Wokeness and DEI are history. It has lost it appeal to conservatives and will lead to the mid-term downfall.Tue, 16 Jun 2026 04:30:52 +0000The suspicious part of the story...Tue, 16 Jun 2026 04:30:30 +0000Nothing whatsoever to do with an opinion that I don’t like to hear; you stated that the issue would go to the UK Supreme Court, and I had to correct you and inform you that it is discretionary, so that it may not necessarily got to the SC. Nothing to do with an opinion, just you not having the requisite knowledge about the UK’s Judiciary system before commenting … you’re welcome.Tue, 16 Jun 2026 04:30:06 +0000The international lefts go to when they have been exposed , skin color politics! No mention of skin color ,only cultural Marxist agenda in my commentary .Tue, 16 Jun 2026 04:29:20 +0000Defelection !!! this MAGA can not see what is infront of him America got its arse kicked AGAIN !!!Tue, 16 Jun 2026 04:29:11 +0000Thai wife diagnosed with Stage 2 Grade 3 Invasive Ductal Carcinoma in September 2024. Successfully treated by Lumpectomy, Chemo and radiotherapy. Taking Tamoxifen for eight years. Recently suspected endometrial disease. Results at Regional Hospital yesterday; 'PI: P2 Last 27 years. MP pap semi. Result; Normal. Case CA Lt. Breast. AUB S/P EB 5/5/69. No abnormal vaginal bleeding. No abdominal pain. Medical History; Hypertension/Drystoplasmosis, breast cancer. Menstrual history; Menopause. History of diabetes in direct relatives; YES. History of hypertension in direct relatives; YES. Mrs told no action necessary and further appointment made at Gynaecological dept in 12 months. My question is can we trust this result? I know about false cancer negative results from when my now deceased mother had her investigations.Tue, 16 Jun 2026 04:28:57 +0000I don’t recall, maybe you could find the answer on one of those black and white movies that for many pass for history,Tue, 16 Jun 2026 04:27:42 +0000Yes cowards you fool. And another thing is that Trump is an insult to you and that makes my day!Tue, 16 Jun 2026 04:27:40 +0000Personally haven't read a report of someone bank account being closed due to change of status from non immigrant to tourist. That aside if your friend plans to continue ongoing stays (5months/year) in Thailand then best option IMO is to continue with annual extensions as he has been doing in the past. He would obviously buy a multi reentry permit. In that way he could visit Thailand as offer as he wants.Tue, 16 Jun 2026 04:26:53 +0000Awfully light sentence for two rapes and other offenses.Tue, 16 Jun 2026 04:26:52 +0000Can see you are also living the fairy tale...sad for you.🥹Tue, 16 Jun 2026 04:26:52 +0000Weak !! they kicked Americas arse ! you yanks will be funding a terroist country with your tax dollarsTue, 16 Jun 2026 04:26:42 +0000No he blocked it at every turn saying it wasn't necessary and previous reviews were sufficient - until he was forced into a corner and had no choice politically but to back down. The coward.Tue, 16 Jun 2026 04:26:34 +0000