Saturday Night Strip

Dissolving Illusions

Excuse my absence of late but it does seem that the old world is dissolving in front of my eyes. I’ve oddly been resurrecting my life stories and writing new ones but have been reluctant to share them as of yet.

The last week has been a whirlwind. I was finally able to schedule my husband Ka’s nonimmigrant/family visitor visa interview for late June. Prediction of his likelihood of being approved or denied is literally impossible in this situation: he underwent a visa waiver (for refusal of vaccines) on his ongoing application for an immigrant visa (the fee on that one alone was $1050). Then Trump suspended immigrant visas from Thailand and 74 other countries in January. Meanwhile another law called Section 214 (B) assumes that the temporary visa applicant is planning to immigrate to the USA unless they can prove otherwise, so they are often denied and told to make an immigrant visa instead, which is already obviously in process. But that has been suspended.

Even the illusion of the rule of law is basically gone here. The law is tripping over all the other sections of the law that have been implemented over the years and decades.

We’ve been here before. In late 2023 we had a long delay because Ka was required to have at least one Covid vaccine before attending his medical check for his immigrant visa, even though I’d told them all vaccines were being refused and requested both medical and religious exemptions. Everyone passed the message back and forth like a toxic football: I had to ask the US Embassy, who said I had to ask the panel physician, who said I had to ask the US Embassy. I regret that I didn’t know who to bribe properly, nor do I even know how to bribe people. I just didn’t know who to pay or how to pay them.

But did you think this was about public health?

Now I don’t know if this latest “ceasefire” is just more of the same, but I did note that Iran seemed to agree with it independently. What was this war all about anyways?

Apparently the US government stops tracking CPI during shutdowns. That’s good to know.

Apparently the Prime Minister of Canada said that most can get by with an $800 grocery bill per month. The Random Archivist breaks that down:

Let Them Eat Normandy Butter Cups

Consider that most of the assumptions above are insane: everything is cooked at home, no processed food, no waste, nothing but water to drink (presumably free). Have you ever lived with a real family?

Meanwhile Super Sally noted the increase in deaths and the decrease in births in Taiwan.

Taiwan 2026 Births to May are 15.9% Lower than same period 2025, which are 13.2% lower than 2024. 46.6% Drop in births since 2019! 345,482 Population Loss (migration & natural) since 2020!

Charts like this are playing out all over the world, though in some places births still outnumber deaths.

Yes, I do think the Covid “vaccine” very much played into this, but I don’t think it is the only thing at this point especially with low continued uptake among adults of childbirth age in the past few years.

I think part of it, maybe the major part, is the economy.

Let’s start with the fact that AI is certainly disrupting the environment. These corporations are universally looking to A: Increase profits for shareholders, which involves B: Reducing labor costs.

I’ve had a lot of job offers as a prompt engineer lately. I seem institutionally incapable of getting past the C++ training manual.

The problem I see with Trump’s posts about bombing Iran back to the Stone Age is that that might have been a good time for them…

Of course my husband’s visa interview in a few short weeks prompted immediate questions. Should we stay in Isaan? Should you stay in Isaan if they say no? Should we go back to Phuket? Is there anything we need in Phuket?

This literally exists on a bizarre dual timeline where visa refusal is practically expected, as it’s been the norm after some 7 years. But at the same time you pack your bags and hope for the best.

“I don’t really want to live in Isaan!” My daughter Eliza chimed in. “Like maybe I’d go there for a week or two but I want to live in Bangkok!”

“Bangkok.” It’s like the city where I’ve been mugged and scammed for money and assaulted most commonly, mostly but not always by government officials.

“You know Thais don’t even call the city Bangkok.” I told my mom, who I was able to talk to because Mary was on Facebook messenger and gave her the phone

“What do they call it?”

“It’s Krunthep.”

“When did they change the name?”

“That’s a great question.”

So getting back to how the past week has gone down and brains breaking, as it were, I never heard back from the Land Office regarding what would be a proper Isaan house. So I asked questions regarding getting a housing permit and then a tambian baan (house registration) on it. I also mentioned that as a farang I understood that I was not eligible for traditional loans and that Ka’s work is sporadic he probably wouldn’t be qualified either. So I was asking about a payment plan.

The message I got back, in English, was rather bizarre. This lady (and yes I do know it was a lady) basically said that because me and Ka were same same the homeless, nobody wanted us around much. Then she said that a temporary structure would be okay but as far as getting a loan for anything “permanent”, as we were both unemployed, no. She implied I should divorce my husband and wait until my daughter ( a dual US-Thai citizen) turns 18 to do anything.

Well, shit. I’ve got a few other people telling me how I’m the worst person in the world. Mostly Uncle Scott for me supporting Mary (not financially just in a I love her and her kids way). Technically, on visa exempt in Thailand, I am not even allowed to be “employed.” The whole exchange had the kind of mean girl vibes of the worst gossipy chicks in high school, and it occured to me that a lot of government jobs were like that: they attract the worst people and the worst in people.

It wasn’t a universal shunning, just one lady from a government office. Mother Phorkwang was an absolute doll who was constantly urging us to eat five times a day at least. Uncle Sukwan was posting his feeds with us on them. We weren’t homeless anymore than a person staying with a relative who does not legally own the house is homeless. I actually don’t know how you could be homeless in an openly sleeping on the street way least of all in Isaan and least of all as a farang. That issue has been cropping up in Bangkok though.

I was able to get the idea that they didn’t want to lay the cement until after some rain had flattened the ground, so they didn’t want to do anything proper until after September or so. I’d already downloaded some official government “proper” housing plans, which yes, involve all of the same commodified materials you might expect. That said some of their lowest cost budget plans even for “approved” housing were not ridiculous, some in the $10-12K US range. I know I’m just getting off a bankruptcy but I get mailings to the Las Vegas house which say I’m pre approved for up to $40K for an electric vehicle. I wasn’t asking about a Thai loan from a Thai bank as much as I was asking about logistics of transferring money from a US bank.

Brains are breaking. Did I disrespect this lady? In a way I certainly did as my energy of “I think of bureaucrats as paper pushers” probably bled right through. Civil servant is one of the most respected jobs in Thailand for putting money on the table. What would happen if AI went after that?

So the last several days have involved a series of busses and trains back to Phuket. I wondered why the Thai flag was half staff at the train station in Bangkok. Apparently Ong Bha, Princess Bajrakitiyabha, has passed away after three years in a coma. I covered the story of her collapse in 2022. They felt it was the time to officially bury her. May she RIP.

After a few dozen people welcoming us back to Phuket with open arms, though, I am glad to be back. We even had a job offer of sorts but I think 20million baht per rai of land on Maikhao beach is a steep ask. Then again the area is booming.

Take me to the beach indeed. Apparently I’m officially a hobojournalist. Even the Thais know it.

Buy me a ko-fi