#185 Update From Thailand
I have been in Pattaya, Thailand for almost a month now. Waiting to get my retirement visa. [Just got it yesterday - 27 days from the day I walked in the door of the travel agency - Spent less than 3 hours involved in the process] I have not fully adjusted, but I do love it here. Yes, there are problems in Thailand. However, living here, with a little bit of money, and just enjoying the lifestyle, I find it hard to have a problem with that. The weather has been beautiful, hot and sunny mixed with gray, stormy weather. I love it.
I had another back episode yesterday, and I love that the clinic where I do my treatments is just 100 meters down the road from my hotel and I was able to walk in without an appointment and have my therapist work on my back. When I have a problem in the Philippines, it's almost impossible to find any therapist that can see me within any reasonable time frame. My sole recourse is to be injected with anti-inflammatories and painkillers.
I am very seriously considering moving to live here next year. I am conflicted about this to some extent. Well, the truth is I am worried about speaking with my friends in the Philippines about moving. I have lived in the Philippines for over 20 years. I think if it was just up to me, and I had no other people to consider, I would move immediately. I would go back and start to close things up so that I could move over the next year. It wouldn't take much. I am not overly attached to the contents of my house in the Philippines. I love the house, but I can create something identical here in a matter of months. Well built, spacious condos at a reasonable price are very easy to find here.
I went to look at a very good furniture store and I was amazed at the breadth, quality, and price of the products that were available. Head and shoulders above the Philippines. Leading the minimalist lifestyle that I do, I could probably outfit my household here for less than $5000. Most condominiums that you buy or rent are already furnished to a large extent, usually with fairly high quality appliances and furniture. I am speaking of office furniture, new mattress, bedding, printer, and probably a vault.
I would buy a car. I might even consider buying a scooter for riding around the local neighborhood. I’m still waffling about that though. I’m quite capable of riding a scooter of course but I am worried about the safety aspect.
I have about 80% decided I will do this. I will see after I get back to the Philippines and talk to my friends.
Some photos from my stay …
And now for something completely different … I've been watching a series called FBI on Paramount+ on Amazon Prime. I am about to drop it. It has been irritating me.
Almost any crime or legal show has this basic assumption that the ‘law’ is correct. My problem is that I believe that the law is NOT correct. I believe there are things that are obviously crimes, but when I see the agents going by the letter of the law instead of examining the circumstances in which the so-called laws were broken, I seldom agree.
In addition, philosophically, I didn't vote for the people that created these laws, I don't believe in the people that created these laws, and I certainly don't trust the government in any shape form or fashion to interpret and enforce the laws. This applies not only to the west in general but also most other countries. The so called ‘justice’ system in countries like the Philippines is little more than a mechanism for the extortion of money.
I don't know what the answer is although I do believe unreservedly that a very excellent start would be to simplify and remove and streamline the existing laws that are on the books. I imagine that you could probably remove at least 50% of the laws that are on the books in any country and the only thing that would happen is things would become more efficient But – the system that is in place will never do that. For politicians, bureaucrats and lawyers, a plethora of laws and regulations is job security. Why would they ever want to simplify it? The lawyers and the legal system thrive on having a morass of contradictory regulations and laws. That's how they make their money.
And there is the whole thing about the adversarial court system. Unless I am totally out of line, the court system is a farce. The people involved, especially from the prosecutorial side, are incentivized by numbers. Judging whether somebody is guilty or not guilty should not be in any way connected to performance numbers. Based on a cursory examination it seems that the system is more about who wins and loses than about getting to the truth of the matter. That's the most insane thing I've ever heard. If anybody who knows different, I would love to hear from you.
I have always been amused by the concept of a jury of my ‘peers’. Good luck finding 12 people like me (Multi-lingual atheists with a Master’s level education who have lived in over 20 countries and spent 80% of their lives outside the country of their birth) to judge me in the case of a trial.
And as a final note, the idea that ‘technicalities’ can allow the guilty to go free or the innocent to be incarcerated seems singularly stupid.
OK … rant done. 😊