King Kung

Europeans have been sissified for decades. Their prepackaged answers to anything is always ... what is America doing? Putin is not stupid. He sees America being led by someone equally as weak as the Europeans. The world is Putin's oyster and there's not a damn thing anyone in Europe will do about it. Rumsfeld had it right, NATO has outlived its usefulness.

Zeig heil, Europa! Back to your old tricks.

And not too many years before that it was 25.

It's a ponzi scheme wrapped up to look like a gift from the gods. Having said that, I'm not sure SS has failed any of its investors, yet. But they continue to crank up the eligibility age. I doubt the revolving door politics in Thailand would be responsible stewards of a farmer's welfare. Most politicians can scarcely contain their absolute contempt for the little people. They will do nothing unless there's something in it for themselves. Call me cynical.

I wouldn't trust a Thai government with 3 percent of my annual pay for 30 or 40 years. I also wouldn't trust the government to make promised contributions. Four thousand baht a month is not worth it. Bad idea in my opinion. It'll probably be mandatory.

The Thai government likely approved of the monitoring if some of the information was shared with them. Same in Germany. They have their own spy network and many spy networks work for both countries. Short of whispering in someone's ear, all communication is vulnerable. There is no such thing as privacy.

A lot of cozy pretend marriages will have to get legitimate pretty swiftly. The scramble is on.

Corruption is a multi-generational fix. It will take centuries. It is so deeply ingrained in every aspect of life here, that it is accepted everywhere as inevitable. Schools, hospitals, highways, love, justice, the ice cream man, kids' homework, restaurants, car dealers, land and home purchase, jobs, benefits, monks, laws -- all fraught with corruption. Many accept it as normal way of doing things. It will not be corrected in one human lifetime. Who benefits most from corrupt societies? Those in charge. Does anyone know of such benevolence here that they might forsake that tidy little earner for the benefit of a better nation?

^ Very astute. Take the next logical step. Business, politics and military are each kept off balance intentionally (and unable to provide stability or longevity) by a higher power -- ensuring there is never, ever, any question who is in charge. I find it bizarre that generals are running many of Thailand's most important industries. Hospitals, transportation, land management, banks ... as others have noted, these are not businessmen -- and their track record often reflects that. A patronage society yields strange bedfellows.

Laws are merely suggestions unless you're an easy target. It's become old.

When I first came to Thailand, I thought it was refreshing to live in a place that was a little lawless and little wild wild west. That curiosity wore off fairly fast when I realized very few of the loopholes or ignored laws applied to easy-target foreigners. When I stop for people in a crosswalk, they look bemused at the novelty. I miss an organized society that respects the rule of law where actions have consequences. I'm pro-coup for the moment.

I thought Uncle Bambam wuz gonna fix all that. Free fer evabody's and a popsicle cell cure! Hasn't happened? Damn Bush. Sorry, back to Vietnam. Sounds hauntingly similar to what Dulles told Johnson in 1964. If Vietnam didn't "win" the war, they might be more like Germany, Japan and South Korea today. Congratulations!

^^ No. Put the clippers on #1. It doesn't cut/shave the hair right down to the nub, but leaves some. Much cooler. Have you noticed the natives don't have much body hair?

Cool as a kung today. I feel liberated. Maybe I'll take the clippers to the old rastaman tomorrow.

I'm kind of hairy. Every Jul-Aug I get miserably hot. Yesterday, I shaved my arms and my wife shaved my back and I now look like a hairless monkey. I am 100% cooler today, I'm not kidding. Hairy Europeans/N Americans suffer more than they should because of the body hair. Just shave it off and see how much better you feel. I might go for a naked stroll, if it weren't raining.

Those Americans sure seem to get around. What a well traveled bunch.

He's not the president. Obama has borrowed more than all presidents in the history of the country combined. He doubled the national debt and the US is still adrift economically. He couldn't have done worse if he tried.

Salon.com: Self-loathing liberal hogwash. There's not another country even close.

Good point pasathai1, but there's a propensity for some in this world to blame their own government for any eventuality if no warning is offered.

Perhaps the good monks should consult their shaman who might shake his bag of chicken bones, and drink blood from a tookay's spleen to reveal, while in a delirious tantric spell, where these scoundrels and deviants are laid up. Imagine the cheek of these kids, playing Harry Potter.

Excellent observation. I like that. Thais are fat now owing more to their lifestyle than their diet. Eating once or twice a month in any restaurant isn't going to make anyone fat. Even *gasp* McDonalds. They have no problems trolling a parking lot for an extra 30 minutes to get a slot 20 places closer to the front door. Thai kids get almost no exercise. When is the last time you saw a child mowing a lawn or washing a car? They laze about with their nose stuffed in their phones getting the elderly to do all the outside, manual labor, hard work things they should be doing. Obesity, especially among Thai children, will rise at a much faster rate than it did in the west. They will be "caught up" within a decade.

Long enough to come up with a pseudonym. Alix Tichelman ... good one.

And to make it a fair fight, you'd have to tie one arm behind the back of every Thai soldier. Fairness is key these days. If Thailand went in and thumped them, like they should, there would be a billion bleeding heart liberals around the world sobbing for the innocent Muslim civilians. Instead two young nurse trainees get gunned down for nothing. And so it goes.

When I was born there were two world superpowers. Now there is one. I feel pretty darn good about that. And praise Jesus (H.) Christ Almighty and all those sexy little Angels up in heaven for acknowledging American exceptionalism. Life is good.

Fifty pizzas at about eight bucks each. That's $400 well spent. Probably better than any other $400 advertising Frontier Airlines has ever spent -- all in response to a negative event (flight delay).