haybilly

Welcome to the outside world Aung San Suu Kyi, you truly are a giant among politicians.

Maybe Bangkok will go Gaga over a real Lady.

Thanks gregb for your post, especially

Quote

This is something I had not really thought of yet. Until now I still considered land more valuable than gold (can live on it, grow food) but it is true, unless you have a big family / clan to occupy it, work to grow food on it, defend it, however the circumstances, it might be difficult to get any more use out of it than out of gold, it is just a store of money. For those who have big families, clans, trusted people, land might be a bit more valuable than gold,
but it is also immovable (nuclear accident, climate changes or natural disasters, epidemics) and so there are still some good arguments for gold, even if you had to decide between land and gold.
Having both would be best.

geriatrickid, on 2012-05-12 12:40:20, said:

The problem with attitudes like this is timeframe. Minus a miracle energy technology or aliens landing to save us from the results of our bad decisions, there will be a prolonged, continued decline and collapse of global industrial civilization. In every country. Period. We are way past the time when collapse could be stopped. We might be able to mitigate it slightly (and we almost certainly will try), but that will only push out the time a small amount. With peak oil now in the rear view mirror and energy and resource depletion stretching in front of us for generations, economic growth is an anachronism. Declining oil production necessarily means declining economies. There is no way around that fundamental fact. Since modern fractional reserve banking absolutely requires economic growth to pay the interest on loans, it means that unless the energy crisis is solved, the government will need to print money to pay the interest on loans. It can not be earned.

Money printing necessarily means devaluation of the currency. Gold doesn't have to become more valuable. It simply needs to remain gold. All fiat currencies backed by collapsing economies will return to their intrinsic value of 0. And no, there won't be armeggedon. This is an exceedingly slow process, and none of us here are likely to be alive by the time the current global industrial economy has completely disappeared. That is something our great grandchildren might experience. But throughout this time, gold will remain the best store of value, for the same reasons it has always been throughout history, minus the last 2 centuries when the bonanza of oil production made us forget reality.

No, as economies bifurcate again into their historical norms with a small number of wealthy nobles and a massive number of poor peasants, healthcare will again become unaffordable to most. Diseases and plagues will rule. There will be wars over the remaining resources, squandering away the few remaining resources we have. This is not armegeddon. This is a reality that will play out over centuries, the way it always has throughout history when civilizations collapse. Sometime in a few centuries the earth will need to get back down to under a billion inhabitants where stability can once again be achieved. That means death on a scale we can't even contemplate today.

I highly suggest anyone who hasn't considered the physics behind what is happening in our world today to pick up a copy of Jared Diamond's book "Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed" so you can understand why we have chosen failure, and get a picture of what the future will look like by examining the past.

During this time, as economists try unsuccessfully over and over to apply the rules of economics they learned during growth years to a physical reality of decline and collapse, fiat money systems will be born and die in the throws of hyperinflation over and over. Gold however, will always be gold. It will always have trade value, as there will always be wealthy, and it is the one asset a wealthy person can always use. He may not be able to defend more lands, and food stores go bad over time, but gold is the perfect wealth. It costs almost nothing to hold.

I hold gold because it is obvious gold is the only thing you can count on during these times. There may be short periods of relative stability during our lives where the fiat currency of the empire de jure seems solid enough, but that is an illusion if you extend your horizon long enough.  So I will hold gold, and teach my children and grandchildren to hold gold, and hope for the best. As I need to use it, I will exchange it for whatever the currency is at the time and place I need it, secure in the knowledge that I will never go bankrupt if I have gold and defend it against theft. As I earn money in these fragile economies, I will buy gold and add to my wealth. I find it extremely unlikely in our lifetimes that gold will ever become a direct medium of exchange, but as industrialization fails, semiconductors fab lines become economically impractical, and computers and the trappings of modern life die away, then one of my descendants may eventually experience it.

Technological civilizations have died before in the past leading to agrarian lifestyles, and this looks to be in our far future as well.

geriatrickid, it was allowed to occur in Argentina ... I have lived there in 2003 / 2004 and I have seen the  heard about it from the people I met. The windows and doors of many banks were still barricaded and there was violence by people who have lost everything.

And I'd rather not have testicles

bangkokbruce, on 2012-05-13 11:28:36, said:

A more accurate statement is rarely ever uttered. "Lerm" (the Thai word for a herpes outbreak) is a parasite. He is one of the most heinous men in thailand. For this insect to be lecturing Burma (I refuse to salute the generals by using the term Myanmar) is ridiculous. He is devoid or morality or ethics, and his background attests to the lack or ethics over, and over again. He has no soapbox for that reason. He needs to be laughed out of office. How this insect was ever appointed to this office is beyond the rational mind to figure out. Let us know go after Mr. Toxic, nor any of the other hundreds of government officials, military leaders, and businessmen, who engage in daily corruption, and commit crimes on a mind boggling level. Since as a nation we are determined to ignore all forms of corruption, let us focus on a Burmese general.

Johnniey, on 2012-05-11 18:19:59, said:

I would bet money she didn't have one that symbolized racial hatred.

Semper, on 2012-05-11 09:58:14, said:

Over the past few years, I have seen the numbers increasing of young(er), under-the-influence hot heads making their way to Isaan, starting problems and then complaining when problems are resolved Thai-style (no, there are no rules of combat or diplomatic resolution) when it comes to hot headed Farangs mouthing off and swinging their arms in bars and restaurants.

I am pretty sure he (Peter) is the co-owner of the bar, legal under the Thai system - Thai Co-owner also works in the bar.

The deceased is a loosely connected friend of mine, it turns out, that I knew under a different name (her English name). We (along with a larger group of friends who get together when I am in Udon) used to play snooker together with other friends at Phon Tattoo bar, in one of the Sois near to the night market. A popular place where teachers, night people, and married couples come to relax and shoot a few 8 balls and sink a few brews. "Solicitation" is banned at this bar, and the owner is the only woman who works at the bar, with her husband, an exceptional tattooist.

To those that are critical of the lifestyle that the deceased lived, please understand you should walk a path and understand that not everyone has choices, before you judge her. In Udon, this lifestyle is not a contract to earn as it may be in other areas, many girls do this because they cannot get work anywhere else.. Isaan does is not exactly short of low skilled workers.

I ask, Mr. Michael made the choice to give her money - correct? Most men coming to these parts know that women working in bars can almost never be taken for their word, she took his money, he took her life. Friendship, and above all trust-relationships, are built over long periods of time between Thais, not in minutes as it may be in the clubs of the west. Which is the greater loss? His money or her life?

RIP Nat.

newermonkey, on 2012-05-11 12:06:41, said:

I feel sorry for you. By definition how could a prostitute be accused of cheating?! By definition a prostitute has to see other men to work...

You are clearly a total nob jockey yourself, so I wouldn't be too quick to judge others...

unanimosity, on 2012-05-11 11:23:40, said:

Thanks for the lesson in Thai culture, because although I am female and don't think with my trousers, I have given many things to poorer Thai people hoping it would be taken as a sign of concern and generosity, but instead they seemed to have taken it for granted and showed less respect than before. I must exclude the Gypsy Sea Village in Rawai from that generalization, they are truly grateful and I have so much respect for them.

Rainmon, on 2012-05-11 11:24:51, said:

... or keep it turned on an put it in someone else's pocket ;-)

LennyW, on 2012-05-11 09:49:19, said:

Cell phone companies can approximate your cell phone location by "pinging" it. When cell phones are turned on, they emit a signal. Cell phone companies can "ping" or contact the cell phone and discover the nearest tower the signal is coming from. Police and law enforcement use this method regularly to track down missing persons. So for future reference, if you're on the run, turn off your cell phone and take out the battery...

haybilly, on 2012-05-11 10:35:05, said:

Selective reporting indeed.   Selective for the English language newspaper to include the details of monies given to the Thai GF. Hardly relevant to the murder.   I guess that was included in the Pattaya News because the thought of a Thai GF ripping off farangs is what gets ex pats reading newspapers in Pattaya.

People like this give Germans a bad name..  I guess I once thought german people were like that till I went to Germany and Austria and found most were some of the nicest people I have met.

hellodolly, on 2011-11-19 09:53:12, said:

Me 2

haybilly, on 2012-04-15 14:28:06, said:

Well, someone likely got a kick-back form the sign maker.  and.. some signs made nice souvenirs or photo ops.  



And that's about it, really.