daydreamer

I was in Hua Hin about 1.5 years ago. I had a boy from Bangkok with me, so I can't I don't know about the scene in Hua Hin. On the beach anything goes, with horses and three wheeled motocy vendor carts riding on the sand. Here's a couple photos from January 2024.

Everyone has their own priorities in life. When you look back, you will likely only regret the things you didn't do, not the things you did. A remodeled bathroom versus not traveling overseas? I'm guessing a very select few in their final years will regret not remodeling their bathroom versus not going on holidays to Thailand. Just make sure you're not saving money and depriving yourself of fun. As the years go by, many people's health declines, and long trips overseas become more difficult, or sometimes impossible, due to physical constraints. Put time on one side of a balance scale, and money on the other side. Don't deprive yourself of pleasure by saving money that you may never be able to spend.

Three members of the Shinawatra family have served as Prime Minister, but if in-laws of Thaksin are included, that would make four members of Thaksin's family. Somchai Wongsawat served as Prime Minister in 2008, and is Thaksin Shinawatra’s brother-in-law, being married to Thaksin's sister Yaowapha. From Today's Bangkok Post: https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/politics/3061352/thaksin-attends-criminal-court-for-lese-majeste-hearing

That's why I said current death rate. That was the most recent comparable data I could find from June 2025.

It seems AI may be an educated fool, in that it knows many things, but it lacks common sense. In the example above, duck.ai (GPT-4o) is comparing apples to oranges, and coming up with a mistaken conclusion. It has taken the total (cumulative) deaths from Thailand (since COVID-19 began), and compared them to one week of recent UK deaths. The Thailand number of COVID-19 deaths reported to WHO for the 7 days to 8 June 2025 was 43. For the same reporting period, the UK shows no data on the WHO site. However, for the week ending 6 June 2025, the UK's Office for National Statistics reported 77 deaths from COVID-19. Given that the population of Thailand is larger than that of the UK, I would venture to challenge the above conclusion by duck.ai (GPT-4o), and determine that the current death rate from COVID-19 in the UK is higher than the current death rate from COVID-19 in Thailand. https://data.who.int/dashboards/covid19/deaths?m49=001&n=c https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/deathsregisteredweeklyinenglandandwalesprovisional/weekending6june2025 https://globalstatcompare.com/compare?countries[]=THA&countries[]=GBR

I visited Bagan in January 2010. Below is a photo I took in a covered archway of one of the temples in 2010. Directly below it is a current photo taken in nearly the exact same spot, showing the roof in the foreground has collapsed, where I was standing when I took the 2010 photo. From what I have read, most of the original ancient structures remain intact. Much of the recent damage was to modern restorations, that was not of the highest quality. Also, I found a photo (below) of another temple, taken during the violent shaking.

Certainly many new innovations and inventions have been pioneered by the military. But these are the result of extensive research and development efforts, in specialized labs and proving grounds, not by common infantry troops. In military combat units, it would be detrimental to the mission of the unit to question orders or attempt to re-invent the plan of attack that superiors have directed.

I'm not answering for @reader, but this video from The Nation Thailand is about the new Lao museum.

I concur with the comments written above by @PeterRS and @a-447 regarding the lack of independent thinking and the absolute avoidance of challenging superiors in Japan. I lived in Japan for nearly a decade, and I observed numerous examples of this behavior at work amongst Japanese co-workers over the years, during my time in Japan. And, as @bkkmfj2648 said, this behavior extends to some other countries in Asia as well. A stark example of the consequences of this mindset can be seen in the findings of the Korean Airlines B-747 aircraft that crashed into Nimitz Hill on Guam in 1997, on final approach, killing 228 people on board. The captain of the B-747 made some critical errors, and the two junior flight officers in the cockpit failed to challenge and overrule the captain's flawed decisions, leading to the airliner crashing into the mountain, within sight of the airport. If the First Officer and Flight Engineer had challenged and overruled the Captain, a horrific loss of lives could possibly have been prevented. Below are three key paragraphs from the findings section of the 226 page Aircraft Accident Report from the NTSB: 11. As a result of his confusion and preoccupation with the status of the glideslope, failure to properly cross-check the airplane’s position and altitude with the information on the approach chart, and continuing expectation of a visual approach, the captain lost awareness of flight 801’s position on the instrument landing system localizer-only approach to runway 6L at Guam International Airport and improperly descended below the intermediate approach altitudes of 2,000 and 1,440 feet, which was causal to the accident. 12. The first officer and flight engineer noted the ground proximity warning system (GPWS) callouts and the first officer properly called for a missed approach, but the captain’s failure to react properly to the GPWS minimums callout and the direct challenge from the first officer precluded action that might have prevented the accident. 13. The first officer and flight engineer failed to properly monitor and/or challenge the captain’s performance, which was causal to the accident. https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/accidentreports/reports/aar0001.pdf National Transportation Safety Board. 2000. Controlled Flight Into Terrain, Korean Air Flight 801, Boeing 747-300, HL7468, Nimitz Hill, Guam, August 6, 1997. Aircraft Accident Report NTSB/AAR-00/01. Washington, DC

Sir Ian McKellen has appeared on the US comedy show Saturday Night Live many times. The short video below featuring Ian appearing as Dame Maggie Smith is one of the most memorable and priceless.

The photo from Google maps I posted is time-stamped 2021, during the pandemic. At the time, customers were not allowed inside the store. Orders were placed outside, and the items were delivered to tables placed on the sidewalk. As for the monk, I don't know what he was buying, but his saffron satchel is loaded with something.......

Yes, Chula MD pharmacy has a queue system. You take a number, order, and then pay at a different counter, just a few feet away. This is the old Thai-Chinese style, where only family members handle the money, and other employees wait on customers. The shop is busy with Thai customers, as @macaroni21 says, but I see that as a good thing. Also, in a pharmacy with many customers, items don't sit on the shelf for long, ensuring a fresh stock of medicines, due to rapid turnover.

The Thailand GPO (Gov't Pharmaceutical Org) produces a version of sildenafil marketed under the name Sidegra. It is a generic version of Viagra, with the same ingredients. It is available in 50 and 100 mg tablets. The official government price for a box of 4 - 100mg tablets is 180 baht. This being Thailand, many drug stores charge as much as they can for Sidegra. If you are in Silom, a store that sells it for the correct price of 180 baht is the Chula MD Pharmacy, on Rama IV, between Silom and Suriwong. If you are coming from the Silom / Rama IV intersection, pass the Crowne Plaza Hotel on your left, and soon you will see the Chula MD Pharmacy. I have attached a photo of the shop front below from Google maps. If you buy Sidegra from Chula MD Pharmacy, you know it's the genuine item, not a questionable counterfeit drug. The Thai government began making Sidegra more than 10 years ago, and selling it for a low price to stamp out counterfeit brands of Viagra that were being sold at higher prices.

You should see an ophthalmologist as soon as possible. An ophthalmologist will check to make sure there is no damage to the retina. You should make this your priority, to rule out problems that left unchecked, can lead to vision loss. You may have a common condition called Posterior Vitreous Detachment. I am not dispensing medical advice, however this condition affects well over half the population, usually beginning in their mid-sixties, as they age. There are many ophthalmologists in Pattaya. I would see the first one available. Here's a good explanation from the Cleveland Clinic: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/14413-posterior-vitreous-detachment

Karma achieved. At his trial, the police chief admitted that he tortured the 24 year old suspect, by placing a plastic bag over his head, while trying to extort 2 million baht from him.