Coss

As I get closer to moving to Laos, I'm re-examining the situation, vis a vis NZ Superannuation. I understand that what I want to do, is eminently possible. So I'll remain a Kiwi and technically, travel a lot. Doing "visa runs" to LOS and other countries periodically, to keep my Lao visa, stable. Are there any Kiwis on the board, getting NZ Super in LOS or similar countries? If there's any comment, I'd be very interested. Cheers Coss

Police seized the passport and blocked the departure of a Chinese journalist arrested for allegedly demanding a multi-million-baht bribe from a suspected Chinese gangster to arrange for charges against her to be dropped. Deputy national police chief Pol Gen Surachate Hakparn said on Sunday police had turned down Guo Rui aka Gegee's request to leave the country "to attend a meeting" in Hong Kong. Police prohibited the woman from leaving Thailand because she was a suspect and her passport had to be seized, Pol Gen Surachate said. Ms Gegee, who is also a businesswoman, was detained on Friday for allegedly demanding 33 million baht in exchange for arranging the dropping of charges against another Chinese woman whose Thai name was Navaporn Phakiatsakul. Ms Navaporn is an alleged leader of a criminal syndicate involved in fraud, surrogacy and human trafficking. She reportedly paid 14 million baht to Gegee. Ms Gegee, 44, has reportedly lived in Thailand for decades. She used to be a reporter and work as an interpreter facilitating communications for police and Chinese businesspeople in the country. Pol Gen Surachate said interrogators had temporarily released Ms Gegee on bail of 3.5 million baht because she had not been arrested, but only called to acknowledge charges. The deputy national police chief said Ms Gegee had worked for police as an interpreter since he was the tourist police commander. Her service included working on Ms Navaporn's case. He said police had evidence to prove that Ms Gegee received 14 million baht in cash from Ms Navaporn in March when Ms Navaporn had not been in jail. Pol Gen Surachate said he learned that Ms Gegee had used her close connection with him to demand bribes on mulitiple occasions, but police had strong evidence only in Ms Navaporn's case. He said Ms Gegee's husband was also involved. He said Ms Gegee met him at 10am on Sunday to discuss her case and he had police interrogators record her account. https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2580190/police-bar-chinese-bribe-suspect-from-leaving-thailand

I'll wager a beer, when I'm there, (~end of 2025)

I'm backing this one, as the most likely outcome, with the odds, 3:1 as in 3=coup, 1=status quo.

A large cobra was found in a house in Thailand‘s northern Phayao province, resulting in local disaster prevention officers quickly arriving to capture and release it. Meanwhile, residents rushed to buy lottery tickets featuring the house number, hoping for good fortune in the upcoming draw today. Officers from the Phayao Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department were alerted by Thanita Chaisukkoson, who discovered the large cobra slithering into her home in the Wiang district of Phayao province. The officers, equipped with the necessary tools, arrived at Thanita’s residence to capture the snake. The cobra, which measured approximately 1.5 metres in length, was eventually caught after a long struggle involving ropes and sticks. It was placed in a fertiliser bag before being released back into the wild. The homeowner said she saw the venomous snake while doing household chores and was startled by its presence. She quickly alerted her family and called the Disaster Prevention officers to help catch the cobra and return it to nature. Following the successful capture and release, both the homeowner and neighbours believed that the snake’s presence brings good luck, and with the lottery draw approaching, they decided to try their luck by purchasing tickets with the house number 111. In such situations, residents often associate a snake’s entry into their home with good fortune, particularly when the lottery is nearing. When such an incident occurs close to the date of the draw, they take the opportunity to place their bets on the relevant house number in the hope of winning big. Yesterday, it was reported that villagers in the northeast Surin province were buying lottery tickets with numbers based on a dream that one villager had. The villager’s husband caught a rare albino turtle the night after she dreamed of old 10 baht coins with holes in them. In Thailand’s northeast Nakhon Ratchasima province, residents have been flocking to make offerings and buy beauty products for the Ta Kiean Thong Spirits at a famed temple in Korat after numerous lottery wins. The five Ta Kiean Thong sisters are believed to favour those who adorn them, with many paying respects at the Wat Samanmit temple. https://thethaiger.com/news/northern-thailand/massive-venomous-snake-invades-home-residents-rush-to-buy-lottery-tickets-2 I can't wait to see, in the future, a person trying to catch a snake with ropes...

A crocodile farmer was torn to pieces by 40 of his reptiles after falling into their enclosure. The president of the local crocodile association was trying to move one animal out of its cage when it grabbed the stick he was using as a goad with its jaws and pulled him in. Luan Nam, 72, was set upon by the crocodiles in Siem Reap, Cambodia, where the reptiles are farmed for their eggs, skin and meat. Nam’s body was recovered from the cage, where the crocodile had laid eggs, but his arm was torn off and eaten by animals. His corpse was covered in bite marks, police said after the accident. He fell from one of the walkways positioned over the animals’ enclosure, which was left soaked in blood. “While he was chasing a crocodile out of an egg-laying cage, the crocodile attacked the stick, causing him to fall into the enclosure,” Mey Savry, police chief of Siem Reap commune, told AFP. “Then other crocodiles pounced, attacking him until he was dead,” he said.... https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/asia/300890594/crocodile-farmer-torn-to-pieces-by-40-of-his-own-reptiles I wasn't there, but I can see, 72 yr old, refusing to let go of his favourite stick.

Still too grammatical.

The first and second posts were obviously not you, both were longer than your attention span. Thank you for your third post, I thought we'd lost you.

If I were a med student and I had sketch to a heart as part of an anatomy exam, but I was allowed to google an image and use that, then I'd would hope, that that I tendered an image of a real human heart. If I was a, less than clever dude, I'd just as likely tender an image of a valentine heart. If Ai is also doing the marking of papers, it might pass. I was responsible - I used Google. I've had teenagers say that to me, why learn when you've got google? This was 10 years ago. They prolly say today, why bother when you've got Ai? Click like/repost/tweak/lick/suck/emoiji thing.

A noodle vendor in Vietnam famous for imitating celebrity chef “Salt Bae” to allegedly mock a top government official was sentenced to five and a half years in prison on Thursday, police said, after a court found him guilty of anti-state propaganda. The conviction is the latest in what rights groups say is the government’s wide-ranging attempt to silence voices critical of the ruling Vietnamese Communist Party. A video of Bui Tuan Lam, 39, went viral in November 2021 when it was posted days after a top Vietnamese official was caught on camera eating gold-encrusted steak at the London restaurant of the Turkish chef whose real name is Nusret Gökçe........... https://edition.cnn.com/2023/05/25/asia/vietnam-salt-bae-noodle-vendor-jailed-intl/index.html In reference to the Salt Bae character, if I got salt on my food from a dodgy wanker fashion licker, I'd shoot him in thread.

and Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes sentenced to 18 years for Capitol riot - BBC

I can see people using it, to transmogrify grammer, spelwing and punktueashun . The problem with that approach, is that possibly, context and comprehension, is lacking in the, grammar, spelling and punctuation - challenged folk. If this is also "fixed" along the way, and the original user could be unaware, of any changes in such. Rendering the output use different, from the intended use for such output. I'd be particularly beware, of its use in a medical diagnosis, for example, wherein such words as, sentinel, deposits, re-staging and axillary, have specific meanings that could be seriously misunderstood if used in the wrong context. There was the joke that, caffeine will kill, if you feed too much of it, to your rats. The humour being that, we've not tested caffeine in similar dosages, on humans. Excepting me on a bad day. I reckon, Ai is the machine learning result, of trawling the internet, ergo the vast majority of the data from which it sources it's learning, is angst ridden teenagers, malcontents drumming up a revolution by numbers and the, hidden in plain sight, giant - advertising. There was the idea, in the last part, of the most recent century, aliens could learn all they needed to know about humans, from the TV broadcasts. Now they'd just have to get a chatGPT account anonymously and they'd get the modern equivalent. sigh...

Well I guess if SaraConor is human then we'll soon know.

Actually I'm wondering if this recent, tiny spate of Ai postings, is one of us, for whom the travails of age, or other misfortune, has left the writer unable, to complete or compose a post, in the traditional manner and is using snippets of Ai, to fill the content so as not to post incompletely. e.g. "I just wanna (insert Ai copy here) can say that (insert Ai copy here) high temperatures (insert Ai copy here) not plastic, real "

Almost passable Ai , this ... Or a member with an Ai button at their disposal... Try referencing something we recognise as anasibrahim being a human we know or a genuine person... "during my online browsing adventures" - advice: this is akin to saying "when I use a computer to surf the internet and type with both of my human hands", it's extraneous, we know you're on the net.

Referencing a familiar state in the states, Thai laws, Almost passable Ai , this ... Or a member with an Ai button at their disposal... Try referencing something we recognise as SaraConor being a human we know or a genuine person...

After years of desultory security measures, that always see me, nearly signing up for a VPN, but always failing the test of, "Stuck in an airport lounge, with 2 minutes til boarding closes, I'll do it another time...". I'm considering my future, Lao/NZ/travel needs. https://brave.com/firewall-vpn/ Looks hassle free. Any comments ?

Trump makes video appearance in New York criminal case, trial date tentatively set for late March Yahoo so it's true. I wonder when (if he hasn't already), he'll think that appearing by video will be advantageous, for all his legal troubles and that these appearances, could be from Riyadh or Moscow. This would be convenient, because then he doesn't have to run, when presented with Jail time, he'll already be there. also https://wisevoter.com/country-rankings/countries-without-extradition/

There's a book in that - "Associations with a few Burmese Maids".

UN expert says Myanmar imported $1 billion in arms since coup, much of it from Russia and China https://news.yahoo.com/un-expert-says-myanmar-imported-123953551.html $ 1 billion / Population 54 million = $18.51 per head. How much does a bullet cost? (Ammunition prices range from $0.08 for a 22LR round to $3 for a .50 caliber round.) Maybe they've got enough killing power now? I'lll admit to not knowing much about Burma, having been there once and not thinking much of it, and seeing bad things happen there in the media.

Renfield (2023) Dracula's sidekick, played by Nicholas Hoult. Nicolas Cage shines as Dracula, I keep thinking that a whole new movie, for Cage's Dracula, perhaps written my Mel Brookes, is in order. An actress whose voice is riveting, is the amazing Shohreh Aghdashloo. Plenty of Kung Fu kicks and blood exploding (some really good ones) will keep the young watching. Overall a good movie, but a must see, for Cage as The Count.

At this time I'm finding that ether AirNZ/Viet or Singapore, at about September, is a sweet spot for some good deals, mind you, some of the cheaper options won't check bags all the way through. Also an extra suitcase is in the order of $60~80 NZD which will be handy for my computer gear.

Quite right and there's been a shooting like this about every other day in 'America. I refrain from commenting because, despite the nice Americans I know, from this board and elsewhere, when they start shooting each other, I just don't care anymore, because - 2nd amendment! https://abcnews.go.com/US/mass-shootings-days-2023-database-shows/story?id=96609874 https://www.gunviolencearchive.org/query/0484b316-f676-44bc-97ed-ecefeabae077/map Kong 'll like this https://www.gunviolencearchive.org

yup Move Forward Party lottery numbers sell out in Thailand After the progressive Move Forward Party (MFP) won the most seats in Thailand’s elections on Sunday, lottery tickets associated with the party have sold out ahead of this afternoon’s national lottery draw... https://thethaiger.com/news/national/move-forward-party-lottery-numbers-sell-out-in-thailand