SpaceKadet

"Hey Joe, where you going with that gun in your hand?"

I think it's the environment you're you're in that let's you be more fluent in the local language, or not. I spent over 30 years of my life in the Middle East, on and off, but because everybody in the company I was working for spoke fluent English, and the fact that all merchants you had to deal with also spoke fluent English makes you less prone to have a need to pick up a local lingo. In retrospect, I wish I had more that just very basic knowledge of Arabic. Would perhaps make it easier in those few tight spots I found myself in. The same goes for Thailand. Wife speaks fluent English, her family doesn't, but we don't socialize that much. I don't socialize at all with other Thais, apart from the necessary interactions like hospitals and merchant interaction where I can use my limited Thai. If I was living alone, perhaps in a larger city I would have no choice but to pick up more Thai. Don't socialize with western expats either. What I have seen, they like to group together in their little social expat ghettos, and have no need to learn local language.

OK, 21 but still...

So it takes 6 policemen to handle 19 year old girl...

Perfect case for varifocals! I don't carry the computer glasses with me. Just switch to the them when I am going to work on the computer for longer. Varifocals are fine for occasional use on laptop and phone.

Progressive or varifocal lenses are absolutely the best and worth its higher price. It takes a little time to get to used to them though. I still use separate glasses for the computer. They have a shorter focus.

Not in the McKinsey report you're linking. But many other sources talk of using nuclear exclusively in the future hydrogen production. In fact, the stigma of using nuclear power is slowly fading and we see more acceptance for nuclear from the general public. The biggest obstacle to a larger deployment of nuclear is, IMO, current legislation, which centers on dinosaur size NPPs with capacities of several TWe, building cycles of 20-30 years, billions of $ in cost, and high maintenance in it's relatively short lifespan. Not to mention costs associated with waste storage.

Electrolysis is a very inefficient way to produce hydrogen. Nuclear hydrogen generators use thermochemical technologies, which only requires heat, or hybrid technologies such as the high temperature steam electrolysis (HTSE) and hybrid thermochemical cycles, which require both heat and electricity.. And the nuclear reactors, especially Gen IV, generate that in abundance.

Japan seems to be inversing heavily into hydrogen. https://apnews.com/article/japan-energy-hydrogen-climate-carbon-emission-7f5552cc387d7ad395980bc9bd5a934c I will agree though that the biggest impact of hydrogen would be in transport sector and heavy industries. We are far off seeing private cars powered by fuel cells or other types of hydrogen engines.

Nuclear. Almost all Gen IV reactors and especially SMR's have have provisioning for hydrogen generators to be attached, as well as desalination units. The hydrogen problem is more about safe storage and distribution. And yes, I will agree that hydrogen technology is still lagging behind other energy and propulsion tech, but I think that once the distribution on a larger scale can be implemented, it will be solved. All it needs is a $$ injection and some research tech. C'mon Nissan, Toyota and Mitsu.... you can do it After all, what can be better when you're burning fuel with only water vapor as a byproduct.

Being smart, and if really needing an SMR, I would just contract the digging of the hole to a company with proper equipment for that task. 😎

Didn't the Chinese government already agree to swap the sub deal to a frigate and 2 patrol boats? It's amazing how they change the story every couple of days.

Yes, next year! To give an example; Toshiba 4S with the capacity of up to 50MWe needs a 30m deep by 4m wide hole in the ground to house the complete reactor and some small(ish) external building to house the electric generators and any other equipment you might want, like water desalination and hydrogen generator. Passive safety, no maintenance, no operators. Lifespan; 30 years. Don't tell me you can't dig a 30m hole in one year... https://newenergyandfuel.com/http:/newenergyandfuel/com/2009/11/05/here-come-the-japanese-nuclear-reactors/

I don't think many here watched the video before posting. Thailand is talking of deploying SMR's, which are typically 10-100 MVe, not some huge TWe monstrosity that takes 20 years to build. SMR's can be deployed in a standard size container. They are fully build at a factory, and after deployment do not require maintenance or re-fueling for 20-30 years, also have much lower security requirements. Once the fuel is spent, they can just be replaced with another unit, and the old one goes back to the factory to be rebuilt. IMO, SMR is the way to go with nuclear deployment. Currently, there is much scaremongering by the green/leftists about the nuclear power. Most of it from people that do not even know how to spell "nuclear".

China is making it's own reactors.

Doesn't scare me more than knowing that Russia is running NPP's

Well, for starters, JAS39 is currently absolutely the best Gen4 multirole fighter jet. The jet turn around time, fully refueled and rearmed is under 15 minutes. Compare that with over 2 hours for F-16, which also requires proper airfields and highly trained technical staff. And I have no doubt that the Swedish defense industry will last, even with NATO membership, just like German, French and UK, just to mention a few. The biggest obstacle is the Swedish government, which need to approve every wartech export. In fact, just look at what Swedish wartech offerings are, just state of the art stuff!!! And, BTW, that Swedish sub did "sink" USS Ronald Regan three times during naval war games. https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/tiny-swedish-sub-took-down-an-entire-us-aircraft-carrier Also, F-35 is just overblown piece of donkeys droppings. USAF should have kept F-22, as they should have kept Comanche helicopter.

I really hope they don't sell them any subs. Really wouldn't want advanced Swedish wartech that "sunk" US' latest and greatest aircraft carrier three times without being found to go to China.

Didn't give to me, now twice. Should be automatic, I shouldn't have to ask.

Only 200 baht! Hua Hin charges 500, no receipt.

The IO office I go to for my 90 day, Dan Singkorn, is almost always empty, no appointment necessary. Generally, I'm in and out in less than 5 minutes. And, like I mentioned, no form needed, only passport.

That probably depends on which Immigration Office you're you're going to. For me, I need only my passport, the rest they have on their computer. That's in PKK Immigration (not Hua Hin!)

Last I looked, Caucasus was in Iran, no?

Yeah, so it's just like breweries.

Why would Iranians get a mention?