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the old town of LP is a UNESCO World Heritage site and thus cannot really change much. The changes would likely be on the other sides of the rivers from the town itself.

The whole country is just waiting to be discovered. I took a fantastic trip there several years ago now. Started with my second visit to LP and then flew down to Pakse from which I boarded the Vat Phou Mekong River cruise which was excellent. Then I spent a couple of days with a guide and driver visiting various places around central Laos. Beautiful waterfalls. It could be a great ecotourism destination if it had a little more tourism infrastructure in place. It's probably better now than it was 8 years ago. And I'll put in a plug for Big Brother Mouse which is based in LP. They publish books in Lao and some tribal languages to help kids learn to read. And they have opened several schools that offer a much richer education than the regulat state-run schools. www.bigbrothermouse.com If you're in the US they have a 501c3 arm here that makes your donations tax deductible. You can sponsor a book that is ready to be published or just general help.

I know this story is several months old. So we may have already discussed it here. But apparently penises have been getting bigger over the last 30 years. I wonder if there's an element of women choosing bigger guys to reproduce with. https://www.iflscience.com/human-penises-are-getting-bigger-at-a-fast-rate-but-that-might-not-be-a-good-thing-67566

Yes, I like to use the Google flights calendar for this purpose

It's always interesting to see how things go up and down quickly. I was poking around looking at December and saw some options for flights in and out of Toronto to BKK around US$3600 in business. But now they're back up closer to $5K

I guess he can get parole in a couple of months. So he might just stay in the cushy hospital until then

It does seem notable that the PM is doing these appearances to try and win people over. No VIP treatment boarding the plane in Phuket. Visiting the market to talk to the merchants and find out what their issues are. Riding the MRT with commuters. They know that they look terrible right now. I guess it seems inevitable that they will find some way to try and get rid of MFP. The people running the show are short-term thinkers. MFP need to be recruiting and identifying the next crop of leaders. The push for a citizen-led charter rewrite is worth watching. Clearly that's the last thing the generals and powers that be want to happen.

Lufthansa is reactivating all 8 of their A380s and will base them at Munich. BKK is among the destination they'll be using the aircraft for. In a search of flights last night I did note an A380 LH flight to BKK in December. Their reasoning is the travel recovery and the further delays to the B777X program https://onemileatatime.com/news/lufthansa-airbus-a380/

You can use the Rabbit card at some stores. I believe including 7/11. And if you started eating KFC you could use it there as well. And yes, many Asian cities allow you to use their IC cards in convenience stores and restaurants. MRT's implementation of contactless payment should also be possible to implement on the others. That is spreading to systems all over the world.

I think Singapore's status as a business hub has helped them be that connection just like HKG. Certainly they've also got better management - TG has been mismanaged for a long time. TG never was able to make USA flights work since it's seen as a leisure destination and they are long flights. You can get people willing to pay more for those long flights to SIN but not to BKK. I wonder how Air Canada is doing with their BKK-YVR route

while people in our age bracket may be there mainly for young locals, some people might be flattered to be approached by a handsome man even if he's not the sort of guy they are usually looking for. Surely some are there to discuss their stamp collections and world events

Emirates will probably scoop them up if they can rehab them. Given the pilot shortage I think there's still a place for them

looks like there are lots of new "luxury" buildings that have gone up over there since I was last in town. This channel has lots of tours

I'm sure all of those fuel subsidies encourage driving as well. But at least the public transit networks keep expanding. Compared to my first visit 17 years ago the network is huge and getting huger

capping fares at 20 baht might get some vehicles off the road, but they probably need to add some capacity as well since things are so crowded at peak times already

you're right about airfares... I have been keeping an eye on things too. And no frequent flyer awards in my required class of service. I guess high season might be quite busy - or there aren't enough flights. Thanks for your report. I always enjoy reading about your escapades

how big of a cut do they take from their content creators?

just get one of those free abandoned houses

The new PM is talking about allowing everyone with a visa exemption to stay 90 days instead of 30 in an effort to boost tourism. I don't know how many tourists are able to even stay for 30 days let alone 90, but for retirees who want to stay for longer periods it would be good depending on how often you can do it

obviously this is an issue in dozens of countries, so it's not unique to Thailand. Maybe they'll need to figure out ways to integrate more immigrants

they're probably conditioned by jealous farang asking a lot of questions

I have lots of IHG points and some free night certificates which really can make it more affordable.

Did you ask at the front desk? They could probably provide one for you. I stayed at this place several times in the past. I really like the feeling of having a full apartment and they always had good deals. And even after the first time they welcomed me back. I presume they have a good database that alerts them to return guests. But I don't know how the change of brand may have changed things. But eventually I switched to the Crowne Plaza because of its better location and IHG affiliation even though it's not apartments.

Yes, you may claim Social Security at 62 but at a reduced amount compared to full retirement age which currently ranges from 65 to 67 depending on the year of your birth. For me (born in 1967) full retirement age is 67. If I claim it at 62 it is reduced by a certain percentage per year. So I could claim it any time between 62 and full retirement age with a partial reduction. If you wait until after full retirement age (up to age 70 I believe) you get a supplemental amount. So if you wait until 70 I think it's an 8% bonus currently. And the amount of your benefit is based on a number of factors including years of work and amount paid in to the system.

he wouldn't have come back if he expected to spend much time in prison. Surely this was all worked out in advance. He'll probably be on the tennis court tomorrow