ChiFlyer

I rattled on about this once before, but the situation might be worth revisiting. Upon finishing my less than stellar college education, I rejoined my South Side of Chicago mates. We made a road trip run to Milwaukee to take in a "Humble Pie" October concert. "Humble Pie" opened with "30 Days in the Hole" and the crowd went nuts. I mean absolutely nuts. The beer tents were raided and the concert was declared a free beer concert in order to avoid riots. Me and my mates went absolutely delusional nuts after 3 days of alcohol and drug abuse. To this day I can not remember everything that happened. I do remember that at one point we stole a boat and I was driving it. One of our crew disappeared and was arrested 100 miles away for assaulting an underage girl. Good times. -> not so much. "Black Coffee" is my favorite "Humble Pie" song.

I initially posted this in a different thread, but it is a great song all by it's self. "Toad the Wet Sprocket" -> "When will we all fall down".

I am not at all certain, but it might well have been"Toad the Wet Sprocket". Or perhaps something by the "Meat Puppets".

I completely agree as well. I have only been using Maneerat for two years after receiving a recommendation from the late Striderman. Maneerat has their act together and are pleasant to deal with. I was even given a 1,000 discount on the initial Non-Im O application for having my paperwork all filled out and well organized. I had been on a Non-Im OA (long story), so I did a border run to kill the OA and then reapply for an O. The Mrs. went with me the last time that I went to renew my Extension of Stay and after viewing the available entertainment options on soi Post Office (13/2), gave me a suspicious look. 🙂

A Pattaya News article from November 2023 that speaks to financial benefits with regard to purchasing an EV. I am aware that as a Farang I may not qualify, but I intend to put the EV in the Mrs. name. https://thepattayanews.com/2023/11/17/thailand-embraces-electric-vehicle-surge-plans-for-increased-production-and-incentives-unveiled/

I found this to be a decent write-up of the BYD Dolphin. https://www.carmagazine.co.uk/car-reviews/byd/dolphin-ev/ Here is one for the MG5

Thanks for taking the time to write down the great info. This is a lot of help in getting a little focus on things. Looks like the MG is cheaper than the BYD. I am going to start looking around for where I can find showrooms in the general Pattaya area. I would like to do test drives at some point. I also need to reflect a bit on what really does matter to me. Like I said we are light weight mileage people for the most part (grocery shopping, out for dinner, ...). I doubt we drive 200 kms on an average week. The one longer trip we make once or twice a year is to visit the Mrs. family in Khon Kean. At 600 kms that is not going to work, plus Isan charging stations would likely be a challenge. Sounds like a good excuse to fly and rent a car for a week. I hate the drive in the first place. 🙂

For fans of "Sweet Tooth", Netflix has confirmed that S03 IMDB 7.7 will drop on June 6th, 2024. This will be the final season.

Link for best selling EVs in Thailland. https://carnewschina.com/2024/01/09/byd-is-bestselling-ev-brand-in-thailand-in-2023-neta-is-runner-up/ A link for info about EV cars in Thailand. https://www.scb.co.th/en/personal-banking/stories/home-car/buy-ev-car.html

Interesting thread. I have not had time to look through it in detail, but will do so over the coming week. I recently watched "An Optimist's Guide to the Planet" 2024 IMDB 8.7. This is an eco-travel documentary hosted by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jamie Lannister from GOT). The 6 episode documentary covers Climate Change actions that are being undertaken in a large number of countries by private citizens and startups. There is quite a lot in the TV series about EVs (including planes) and building better batteries. I noticed earlier in the thread that there was some criticism of battery material procurement of materials being unfair to African countries. There is an episode in the TV series that I have mentioned that debunks this. There are new Climate Change conscious companies in Kenya that are working on better batteries and providing much needed employment. These companies, although Euro funded, tend to be operated by Africans. I live in Thailand. We are getting nearer to the point where we need to replace our car. This is in the 2025 budget to say the least. I am starting to think seriously about going EV. We are not high mileage drivers and I think I could easily setup a charging station at my house. My other pipe dream is to convert or supplement the electric supply for our house to solar.

Sadly Dickie Betts is gone. It is interesting that one of his sons is named Duane. The dual guitars of Betts and Duane Allman were incredible. My favorite song remains "Whipping Post", which is probably more about the dual drummers, but still highlights the overall strengths of the band.

Been thinking a bit about the situation that @coxyhog posted about and I have a completely unsolicited and probably useless suggestion about this going forward. I am an American and I think you are a Brit, so maybe this affects things. Also, I live full time in Thailand on an O-NonIm retirement visa. Your situation may well be different. What I do: I have a Bangkok Bank account. I had the Mrs open an account with Bangkok Bank. My central funds are in the US with Charles Schwab. I send periodic wires from my Schwab Account to my Bangkok Bank Account. These cost $15. I can then transfer from my Bangkok Bank Account to the one that the Mrs has at no cost. I originally chose Bangkok Bank because one could route transfers through their NY branch at no cost as it was processed as a domestic transfer to the NY office. That ability was taken away a few years back. Still Bangkok Bank has pretty decent online services to enable the rest of my scheme, so I stay with them. Not at all sure, if there are any similar possibilities that might work for you from the UK, but thought I would mention this. It took me a few years to work out this cunning plan (Black Adder reference intended). btw - currently a transfer from Schwab to Bangkok Bank (at least for me) completes in less than two days. Are these two banks taking advantage of me with currency conversions? Most likely. I am wiling to put up with that in order to have a hassle free ongoing process.

A number of years ago (8 ?), before I had a Thai Bank Account, I would use XE to send a little cash to the lady who later became the Mrs. On one transaction XE held it and I had to call them. Some minor office clerk (probably a Magatard) had held the transaction because of the first name of the person I was sending a little money to. The Mrs has one of those Thai lady names that ends in "porn". This is not unusual. Anyway I get on the phone with this moron and she starts grilling me. I ask for her boss and she joins the call. At one point I hear the boss groan a little and mutter "are you trying to get us sued?". Finally I ask where their office is located and they say LA. I say "ok you probably have a person of Thai decent working in your office. Please ask them about the name". They call some guy and ask him to come to their meeting room. He verifies what I am saying and the transaction is released. I hear him chuckle a bit as he leaves the room. I never used XE again. I only put up with this in this case because the future Mrs was ill and I wanted to get her to a doctor.

Stephen Colbert Interviews Salman Rushdie - Interesting I thought Part 1 Colbert - Rushdie Part 2

What I find lost in historical accounts is the brave role the Canadian Merchant Marine provided in combating the Nazi Wolf Pack campaigns in the North Atlantic. They made a considerable amount of effort in bringing down the 3rd Reich at considerable cost to themselves. https://legionmagazine.com/the-wolf-pack-attacks-the-battle-for-one-world-war-two-convoy/ Thank you for your courage Canada.