PeterRS

Small gifts for the family members will certainly be welcome and a mark of respect. This includes for children as well as parents, aunts and uncles. You will no doubt need Cam's advice on this in terms of the nature of the gifts. He may suggest they are not necessary but I think as with Thai families they'll certainly help get a relationship off to a solid footing.

I think Thailand may be somewhat different to some from other countries and using non cash. This country has stated that funds brought into the Thailand by foreign residents who stay for more than half a year will be taxed. (I realise this government statement was made almost two years ago and still there is no word about rates of taxation and whether or not tax will actually be liable - but I have one friend who has a large expensive apartment here who is making sure he is out of the country for half the year as any taxation levied here might cost him quite a lot.) All residents were advised to register with some group so that they would eventually appear on a list for taxation. I live in Bangkok full time. I own my own apartment, have no overseas income apart from money from a very small pension and slightly larger savings pot, and have no intention of paying tax. We do not even know if pensions will be taxed although I understand residents of countries with reciprocal tax treaties may not incur Thai income tax. However, I am taking no chances. Since I worked in Hong Kong for more than half my life, most of my cash is in a bank there and when I visit I take out enough to cover expenses for about three months. For major expenses I use my Hong Kong based credit card (even though that adds 3% or so to the cost, I reckon it will take Thai civil servants many years before they work out how these payments might be taxed.) Given the uncertainty about possible taxation, I object to using my Thai bank credit card even when using the subway or Starbucks since there will always be ways in which these amounts can be checked through pressure on the banks.

Five years ago I had to have an abdominal CT scan done. The doctor informed me a cyst had been discovered on the surface of the pancreas. Whereas a cyst of 5 mm or less is usually of little concern, mine was just over 6. She told me she needed to see underneath the cyst to make sure there was nothing more serious lurking there. So she had me do an MRI. This requires no invasive procedure, merely around 70 minutes or so lying flat in a tube that makes funny noises. That showed a negative result, but she added to make sure I should have five annual MRIs. The last one is due later this year. I understand anyone can avail themselves of them (although they are not cheap). I assume her advice was correct.

Certainly true, but you may need more than just help as you age. Alzheimers and Dementia have already been mentioned. If you have not had your heart checked with reasonable regularilty, a serious heart attack may not be far away. Strokes can occur at any time and I am not sure what preventative measures can be taken. Perhaps @unicorn can advise. I had an old school friend die on the golf course aged 27, the result of a stroke. Another, a very dear Chinese friend in Hong Kong died of a brain aneurism aged just 28. Then there are the less obvious ilnesses like pancreatic cancer, one of those cancers it is extremely difficult to spot early on when it can be treatable, but not beyond that early stage when it mostly becomes deadly. And according to reports I have read, the age at which one should be checked for pancreatic cancer is reducing. Finally, just to remind readers that whereas public hospitals used to offer expatriates the same rates as Thais, in Bangkok at least that is no longer the case. Whereas a doctor's visit used to cost Bt.200, the standard rate has been hiked now to Bt. 800. And that is just a little below the doctor's fee for some private hospitals.

The NHS may function but try care homes. I have a friend sadly suffering from Alzheimers. He has a good pension from his company. But it would in no way cover the cost of elder care facilities - that is if there is a place available. The problem is that care homes in the UK are now enormously expensive! He and his partner moved to Chiang Mai! I'd be interested to note what the visa situation is now in Vietnam. It used to be possible to get a one year visa and I know an Australian who sold up in Thailand and moved to a villa by the beach in Danang. Then the maximum visa was changed to three months after which a visa run is required.

Until today, Qatar has a special offer of 20% off all fares to Toronto. These are from Bangkok and not sure if they operate on the return. Economy is Bt. 35,509. But today is the last day.

An excellent restaurant in both locations. How very sad that the patron will no longer be there. Let us hope there is another staff member who can keep it operating at the same level even though it will never quite be the same.

I was there 3 weeks ago and met up with two guys I had met on a previous visit from an app - I think Grindr. Had I had time I would have visied my usual bar - Backstage Bar in Chinatown. The staff and crowd were always friendly. It's very close to Tantric Bar which I believe is the most popular. In my clubbing days I always used to go to Zouk which, although for a mixed crowd, always had a gay section. Haven't been for at least ten years but believe it is still one if the 'in' places. However, I hear it had been closed for a few months for major renovations and will not reopen till next month.

I only just came across this thread and did not realise the funds were for a funeral. The tradition in Thailand I have witnessed at three funerals is that money is passed to the senior relative at one of the funeral ceremonies (which is often not the funeral itself) but always in an unmarked envelope. This helps defray costs without the relative knowing who gave which amount. This may explain the young man's unwillingness to respond to an offer of cash.

The Sukhothai used to be cruise central for gays. Plonk yourself on a lounger by the pool and the eye candy was always great. Clearly no longer.

I watched Close last week and loved the movie. The two amateurs playing the boys were magnificent. How the director got them to appear so amazingly natural was superb. I think Eden Dambrine as Leo, the boy with the fair hair, performs that role better than Timothee Chalamet had played his role in Call Me By Your Name. Why he failed to win an Oscar nomination as Best Actor beats me. Three shots more or less just with Leo's face and his large eyes made one realise exactly what he was thinking. When his friend Remi is performing his oboe with the ensemble those eyes showed how much he loved his friend. On the bus coming back from the school trip and his mother tells him that Remi is no longer with us, that look of sharp disbelief tells us he knows what has happened. And then then scene at the very end. Whereas at the start we had seen Leo and Remi running and laughing through fields of flowers, a year later we see Leo in the same fields but he stops and turns around. He has started to mature in the intervening year but those eyes tell us he still misses Remi. Pre-pubesent male friendships is an unusual subject for a movie. At the Cannes Film Festival, after the ten-minute standing ovation from the audience, the director takes a microphone and explains why he made it. It is a very short moving speech. You can see it in this longer vdo. Start at 10:00 minutes in. It lasts only 1 minute 26 seconds.

Which makes me wonder: why is it that events limited to a tiny part of the planet have so influenced vast numbers today?

You are correct. The point of the thread is that the ¥ has been losing value again.

I rarely pick up a bible and don't recall the Noah story well. Did the Lord above warn him of a flood that would cover the whole earth? That is massively unlikely as in those days the earth was surely regarded by those living in it merely as a tiny area of our planet. A flood, if one happened, no doubt covered just that minute area and not the far larger regions about whom those living in the time of Genesis had not the slightest clue.

As well as a lot of politicians using their corruption gains to buy them.