The Beer Bar

I've been tracking the airfares for an upcoming trip we're going to take to Vienna/Danube cruise in May, and was shocked to see the business class fare increase from $7000 per person to $16,300 per person! I called American Airlines and found out that, in addition to those changes, one can no longer upgrade with miles or systemwide upgrade certificates, but rather, one has to buy the ticket first, then get presented with $$ or miles offers to upgrade. I checked those offers on upcoming LAX to MIA flight, and they were sky-high in price for either miles or $$ (160,000 miles per couple just for the way over, and over 200,000 miles for the way back!!). As far as I can tell, …

There is an old proverb that starts "For the want of a nail the shoe was lost . . ." It is basically a reminder that seemingly unimportant acts can end up having grave consequences. If any family has learned a series of such lessons it is the British Royal Family. Virtually unreported internationally and but the stuff of gossip in Britain and through a series of youtube videos, in the last few weeks the royals have undergone an upheaval of seismic proportions. It is a highly complicated story and my sources may not have it all accurate. But enough seems to form the basic truth. The most amazing decision by King Charles is his announcement that Queen Camilla has from …

Björn Andrésen, the Swedish actor best known for his breakout role in the 1971 film Death in Venice, has died aged 70. At 15, Andrésen was cast in Italian director Luchino Visconti’s Death in Venice, based on Thomas Mann’s novella, in which he played Tadzio, a beautiful boy with whom an older man, played by Dirk Bogarde, becomes obsessed. Visconti called Andrésen “the most beautiful boy in the world” in the press, a title which stuck – much to the dismay of Andrésen, who would later speak of how his negative experience working with Visconti affected the rest of his life... https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/oct/27/bjorn-andresen-swedish-actor-dies-aged-70

In Kuala Lumpur this week, Trump co-signed what he termed "another peace deal", this time to solve the Thailand Cambodia border hostilities. Naturally Trump called it "a momemtous occasion" and claimed credit for having stopped the hostillities. Only, as the BBC correspondent notes, the deal does not solve the root of the century-old problem. It merely pushes a solution further down the road. As Thailand's Foreign Minister told the BBC, it is not a peace deal but "a pathway for peace." What the deal states is that both parties will withdraw their heavy armaments and permit an ASEAN observer team at the border. As importantly they agreed to coordinate in removing land…

Several days ago, we needed a Lyft from the rental car center at Providence's TF Green Airport. We picked an "XL" and were assigned a driver who, it was announced, was deaf, and it also sent a couple of sign language signs we could use. I previously had trouble communicating with another ride-share driver who was deaf, and this driver was 14 minutes away. Well, there was a Lyft Comfort driver who was 8 minutes away, so we switched, noting the long wait time. However, I feel that this is kind of a job in which ability to communicate with one's customers is important. Have you ever been assigned a deaf ride-share driver? How did you feel about the experience? Is it my duty …

I was not sure whether this should be under "Art" or here. But given the amount of PR the heist has achieved, I think it is appropriate here. As we know, thieves broke into the Louvre on Sunday and stole a fortune in jewellery. Not just any old pieces, either. These were to all intents and purposes the royal jewels of France. Just eight pieces, but of almost incalculable value. One crown is set with 2i2 pearls and 3,000 diamonds! The gallery from which the French crown jewels were stolen on Sunday The general public seems to love art heists. They are crimes that involve huge sums of money and usually no one gets hurt. There is a fascination about the lowly…

Her Majesty Queen Sirikit, the mother of Thailand's King and widow of the much loved monarch King Bhumibol Adulyadej passed away last night after a long illness. May her soul rest in peace.

Recently I had a new member on here private message me to stop using the word "boys" in my posts. He said it conveys to the general public reading the forum that it could give mixed messages . I must say I sort of agree with that to a certain extent because society has changed where everyone is classified as a pedophile because their partners are younger . Do you personally think we stop using the word "boys " I mean in the Gay World the word "boys" is common and doesn't mean the same meaning as some people think in their minds

Earlier today I attended a lecture on headaches delivered by a strikingly handsome professor from a nearby university. His lecture was strangely monotone, and delivered in such a dry manner that I suspected he's neurodivergent (on the spectrum). (I talked with others who attended the lecture, and they agreed that his lecture was flat). I looked him up online, and was surprised to see an arrest record for someone with his name, and approximately the same age, about 10 years ago. Do you think this is the same man? https://www.pri-med.com/globals/faculty/g/galicaandrewm https://www.hngnews.com/sun_prairie_star/news/man-accused-of-stealing-900-of-liquor…

I was blown away by Boots, a story based off the autobiography of a gay marine titled "The Pink Marine". The story takes more than a few liberties to make a better story, but it is, I think, an incredible piece of work. I was particularly blown away by Max Parker's performance as Sgt. Sullivan, a closeted gay Marine in a time before the policy Don't Ask, Don't Tell was implemented. I would encourage folks to check it out. And yes, there is some eye candy, and Max Parker is a very handsome man who happens to be gay and married. In fact, all the gay characters are played by gay actors. I hope it does very well so that more things like it get made. (Incl…

It's been barely over a century since 10% of childbirths ended up with the mother dying. Because it's so rare these days, some seem quite unaware how dangerous it used to be to give birth naturally. 😪 https://www.huffpost.com/entry/food-influencer-stacey-hatfield-dies_n_68f7a0cfe4b0dbac45910c1b?fbclid=IwY2xjawNmUxVleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFKbEFZUGtaWWlqTG05ZEdrAR6t37pgMqAvhOOwuhySw3LQLyG_Steo4TUGcAeFygKZcKNXml_nGW63cuD8kA_aem_enI77E6npsgggIdqjMvWug "An Australian food influencer has died after giving birth to her first son at home. Stacey Hatfield’s husband, Nathan Warnecke, announced in a touching tribute on Instagram Monday that she died on Sept. 29. “Its with h…

There was a thread quite recently about scam centres largely in Myanmar. According to AFP and other media outlets, Thailand, China and Myanmar had promised to crackdown on these earlier in the year after it came to light that a popular Chinese TV star had been trafficked to work in one. That crackdown quickly fizzled out and the number of scam centres is rapidly increasing. Most tend to use Elon Musk's Starlink satellite service. Although warned by California prosecutors last year, the company's parent SpaceX did not even reply. Now a joint Committee of the US Congress has finally got its act together and is calling Musk to give testimony with a view to taking action. Thi…

It looks like Stickman is retiring from the Stickman Bangkok website, with his final weekly update scheduled for the end of the year. It feels like the end of an era. For those unfamiliar, Stickman Bangkok has long chronicled the straight bar scene in Thailand. (If you Google “Stickman Bangkok,” you’ll find it.) He has published a weekly column every Sunday morning for the past 25 years. But with readership declining—especially among younger visitors, many of whom are, according to him, Indian or East Asian and don’t follow his column—he’s decided to retire. I’ll be sorry to see it go. While his focus was squarely on the straight nightlife scene, he occasio…

Hong Kong's International Airport was built by vastly expanding a small island to the north of the largest island of Lantau. It has been virtually accident-free apart from one incident during the start of a mild typhoon in August 1999 when a China Airlines MD11 crashed on landing after a wing tip touched the ground and the aircraft turned 180 degrees and slid on its back. Despite the small fire which broke out and most passengers being stuck upside down by their seat belts, as a result of the heavy rain and quick response of emergency teams everyone except for three passengers got out of that wreck alive. That evening I happened to be in the Cathay Pacific lounge as I was…

He was posting here as williewillie when I joined in and I always held him in high esteem since he was member who first welcomed me to the forum and encouraged to keep posting. I met him several times when in Pattaya, he was always willing to crack latest news over coffee or beer. He was also member of other forums under different nicks Rest in peace Marc

Article titled " An Asian model " in the last issue of that respected magazine is pretty long and is nothing but praise. It actually concludes " Thai health care may continue to be a model for the world". It also points that this is one aspect of Thai governance which flourishes, shining among instability. Few statistics - average lifespan is 80, 1 year more than America and Europe and 7 years more than SE Asia average. 99.5 % of population is covered by health insurance in country with income per person 1/11 of that of USA. Even in middle of pandemic public health bill was 6% of GDP compered with 11% in EU and 17% in USA. And this in country which run th…

I had to think where to post this. I was looking for a members only forum, but couldn't find a fitting place. Admin feel free to move it where you see fit. The video is in Dutch only, but I added an article link that I translated to English below the video. https://www-rtl-nl.translate.goog/nieuws/buitenland/artikel/5531387/nederlander-opgepakt-voor-ronselen-kinderen-thailand-na?_x_tr_sl=nl&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=nl&_x_tr_pto=wapp I would say that I have not seen this for many years. We all know how it used to be. People who might think that this is still at every street corner because of this video are mislead.

I'll first put my cards on the table. I dislike American Football, even though American friends seem to regard it as a kind of religion. Equally I used to dislike rugby which was played at my school. Thankfully my eyesight was found not to be perfect and I was prevented from playing. When I now very occasionally see on television UFC events which take place in an octagon and seem to me much more like the Roman gladiator fights of olden times, I am appalled. Grown men often with one on the ground being hammered in the head with massively strong elbow butts leave me cold. What will happen to the brains of these athletes in mid-life, I hate to think. But I know some people, …

We'd have to be deaf, dumb and blind not to have noticed that President Donald J. Trump has been actively campaigning for a Nobel Peace Prize. It just dawned on me why the hard push on Israel and Hamas to announce a deal during the coming week. In remarks today he said such a deal would be the most significant peace accord in the region in the past 3,000 years. Not a word about the ongoing genocide or starvation of non-combatant Gaza residents. The President isn't known for exaggerating, is he? Well, I just read a notice saying the Nobel Committee is scheduled to announce the 2025 Peace Price honoree - October 10th. Ok, a real deal, the type that has eluded the Presid…

I have a specific question about the meme below. This meme has been floating around since the MAGA crowd has voiced anger that Bad Bunny will perform during halftime of the Super Bowl, the championship game of American NFL football. It says, "if it hurts you that I will play at the Super Bowl, put Vicks on and that's it" or something like that. I have a hunch where it is the meme refers one might plop a dollop of Vicks. 😃 Does anyone else know? Any Vicks experts here? 😉

Not I think a well known fact. 60% of all the hotels in the United States are owned by Indians or those of Indian ancestry. This includes humble motels right up to a 41% holding in the luxury market including the Four Seasons chain. In just five years that percentage has risen from 50%! The owners represent the largest single force in the American hospitality business. https://avanacapital.com/general-info/indian-hoteliers-and-their-role-in-the-hospitality-landscape-in-the-usa/#:~:text=They have a big say,of all U.S. hotels then

Yet another drug mule has been discovered and arrested in Bangkok. A 23-year old man from the UK was discovered to have 9.1kg of crystal meth wrapped up in foil bags to look like tea in his hotel room. According to Khaosod English, the man was staying at a hotel on Sukhumvit 11. The packages were already in his suitcase when police arrived. The authorities had acted on a tip off about a "narcotics handover in a hotel." Allegedly the man had been given the bag to look after by another British man whose name he only knew as "Snoopy". He was to hand the 'tea' over to customers on September 30 and had been paid 20,000 baht. Judging by the number of officers present in the hot…

Friends and I were discussing this over dinner earlier in the week. In our much younger days, politicians in the UK, especially more senior ones, would be treated with a deference that today would be described as toadyism, the act of flattering and taking answers as fact whether they were or not. The media in the UK treated virtually as fact Prime Minister Harold Wilson's 1967 comment on the devaluation of sterling when he said words to the effect, "There will be no change to the pound in your pocket." It was blatently untrue but he was never drawn on expanding that statement. Nowadays, the media can say almost what they like about polliticians, their programmes and …

To some, this will seem a somewhat petty reason to engage in a global conflict. But this involves NATO. All countries that signed up for NATO membership agree on Article 5. This is a core principle of NATO membership and it involves collective defence. It states quite simply “The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all and consequently they agree that, if such an armed attack occurs, each of them, in exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defence recognized by Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, will assist the Party or Parties so attacked by …