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My personal journey working towards a more "Balanced Life"..... Focusing on the (5) pillars of Personal Balance....Health, Finance, Relationships, Intellect, and Spiritual........ A ship in harbor is safe, but that's not what ships are built for......... Kaizen..... Namste
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Gas Crisis - Florida Rumors hike prices
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September 2008 - Rome to Ft. Lauderdale Cruise
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Thailand Trip - November 2008
The present Thailand political situation is nothing new and there have been 18 virtually bloodless coups since WW2 nothing really changes here. Thai democracy is in its infancy and when you consider democracy started in England in 1295 though King Edward I, it took the English 700 years to get it right!
The present squabble between different Thai parties and factions will be sorted soon with probably another coalition government with or without present prime minister Samak Sundaravej and the state of emergency in Bangkok lifted. In 3 months it will all be forgotten.This sums up Thai politics which is a bit like Italy which has had 60 governments since democracy started in 1946 and politically no one can ever agree on anything.
As expats living here, you will not find anyone who is really concerned with the present situation and it effecting their lives. When things get messy the King intervenes and normality returns until the next time.
The world is in a mess but Thailand is the second largest economy in SE Asia and 4th richest nation per capita in SE Asia and continues to prosper even with a shaky government. Capital controls have finally been lifted, exports are up 32% over 2007, GDP is expected to be in the range of 4-5% in 2008 although inflation was at 9% in July but should come down significantly with oil prices falling back to under $100 USD a barrel, so all said and done not too shabby!
Property is 40-50% cheaper than UK and Europe and cost of living is at least 33% less.
You have to live here to really begin to understand Thai democracy and the worlds media have alot to answer for in their reporting on Thailand. The Tsunami was a case in point. It was reported that Phuket was devastated showing reporters outside their Phuket 5 star hotels and the TV showing devastating Tsunami pictures of Acheh in Indonesia which gave the impression it was Phuket! We as a property broker did not lose ONE property (Phuket is a mountainous island and beach side property is all hotels/resorts). Only the west coast and in particular Patong,Kamala,Bangtao beaches were really affected with the main damage happening in Khao Lak on the mainland 1 hour north of Phuket.
The current reporting on the political situation in Bangkok is very much overplayed by the media and you would not know there was any problem if you go to Bangkok. As for other locations such as Pattaya, Hua Hin, Samui, Phuket life goes on and if you did not watch or listen to the news you would not know there was a problem.
So please take the media reports with a pinch of salt as they make their money from sensationalism!
Thursday, September 11, 2008
All this nonsense.....we need leadership!
from Andrew Tobias blog.............
Only Sarah Palin - who lobbied for the Bridge to Nowhere, and raised taxes in Wasilla, and left her tiny town, which had been debt-free, $22 million in hock, and says she got a D in macro-economics at the University of Idaho - only she has what it takes to cope with our country's enormous economic challenges and regain the respect of the world. She and her running mate, the hot-tempered "maverick," fifth from the bottom of his class of 899, whose campaign is run by lobbyists and who voted 95% of the time with George W. Bush.
To augment her prayer and facilitate the pipeline, Governor Palin has sued to strip the polar bear of its Threatened Species status (tell thatto your 10-year-old and ask her how she wants you to vote in November), ignoring the scientists (here we go again) - or worse. "Essentially, she lied," said
Both she and Senator McCain are fine Americans and remarkable people. But they are running this campaign out of the same mocking, dishonest Republican playbook (Obama is ready to lower almost everyone's taxes, not raise them), in the urgent Republican hope of getting four more years.