thaiophilus

Hmm. You may be right about the bureaucratic nightmare, but thanks to Hotelling's Law, Britain hasn't had a socialist government in the last 40 years.

Erawan Museum and Muang Boran are two of Khun Lek Viriyaphan's legacies, the third being the Sanctuary of Truth at Pattaya. All are sui generis and well worth a visit, though IMO the S of T is overpriced. BACC (National Stadium) has interesting free exhibitions though some are perhaps a bit predictable. As for "beyond the main tourist destinations", I bet some of the regular posters could recommend many more, but the margin of this post is not big enough to contain them . Here are a few from my eclectic collection: There are other preserved/restored old houses in Bkk: MR Kukrit's house in Sathon, the Siam Society's Kamthien House on Sukhumwit, Suan Pakkad Palce in Pathumwan, the Bangkokian Museum on Charoen Krung 43. For an inexpensive day out take the Chao Phraya Express to Nonthaburi and lunch at a riverside seafood restaurant. Or take the Mahachai Shortline from Wong Wiang Yai to Samut Sakhon. For a night or two away from the crowds, stay at the Bangkok Tree House in Bang Krachao (short taxi ride from BTS Bang Na.) Looking for a peaceful green oasis in the middle of Sathon? visit the Teochew cemetery. Interested in bronze statues? have a wander down Captain Bush Lane. And if you want to visit somewhere really obscure with a view, how about the Chee Chin Khor Moral Up-Lifting for Benefiction Foundation [sic]? You've probably seen it from the river, but few people get close enough on foot to enjoy the view from the top. Or, heading east, the eccentric edifice of Wat Dhammamongkol off Sukhumwit 102?

Found it, though the map wasn't obvious. Many thanks. I was expecting the map to be a separate web page with a link from one of the tabs, but instead you have to open the "powered by issuu" viewer in the middle of the page, make it full-screen then scroll through to page 38 or so. Couldn't find any way of downloading it, though. "Save as" just saves the web page, not the magazine. Following the "share" link to the original at issu.com it has a "download" option but it's disabled. Still, a PNG screen grab is OK.

and what do you tell them?

Is there anything online showing even a halfway up to date map of bar locations? The exodus from Twilight means that none of the older maps I have downloaded over the years from Nicky, dreadedned etc. are useful any more, and neither of those sites is maintained.

They seem to. There's usually a good atmosphere on stage, with plenty of interaction between the boys and with the customers, not just glumly staring at their phones like in some other places. Whether the boys themselve are to your taste, you will (as ever) have to discover for yourself, but a visit is recommended even if you don't off anyone. Oh, and for just B300 you too can sponsor your very own chuck-wow contest

There are taxis everywhere. Just be sure they turn the meter on. Erawan Museum is between Pu Chao and Chang Erawan BTS stations. It's probably best to get off at Pu Chao, so the taxi will be on the correct side of the road to drop you at the gate. (if you get a taxi at Erawan he will probably have to drive back to Pu Chao to make a U-turn ) Wat Asok and Ancient City are easily reachable from Kheha station. The signs and announcements may not make it clear, but for all these stations on the new part of the BTS Sukhumwit line you will need to change trains at Samrong. Just walk across to the other platform and take tne next train.

Note that on older ID cards his date of birth will be shown in Buddhist Era, not AD/CE so you will need to subtract 543 from the year. You might want to memorise the relevant number before setting off for the bar Also, the name on the card may be only in Thai script, but whether it is or not, you won't recognise it. In most situations Thais use and are known by a short nickname, which is usually unrelated to the formal name on their ID.

or 3x100 for prize money

In gogo bars they generally aren't wearing enough to conceal the loot and in host bars, as others have said, this isn't usually a problem. You are more likely to lose money through confusing red 100 and purple 500 baht notes in a dimly-lit bar, or even by forgetting you gave 1000 and receiving change for 500 - which is why waiters often make a point of telling you what you handed over, to avoid arguments later.

No, nothing like that. The atmosphere in Nature Boy is a little less formal than the Twilight (now Patpong) style bars. There was a conversation (paraphrased) (I have already invited near-naked boy over from stage and bought him a drink) Me: you sa-moke me? Boy: Here? Me: Here. Boy: OK but you pay bar same same we go room. (All this was of course in the interest of trying everything once. So now when anyone says "have you no shame?" I can truthfully answer "no" )

That doesn't follow . At Nature Boy a few years ago, you had to pay the bar the equivalent of an off fee if anything more than mild groping took place on the premises. Also, the bar gets the money for the boy-drink, and the boy is only unavailable to serve other customers for a relatively short time.

I can't imagine the company that manufactures the cards will be too pleased by this loss of revenue...

The UK is not united (now there's a surprise) on this topic. In England you get the cheap & cheerful postal occult-blood screening test (non-invasive, you take samples over three days, scrape on a special card, seal the envelope well , post back to the lab) starting at 60 and every two years thereafter. In Scotland I believe screening starts at 50, for Wales and N. Ireland I have no idea. It's only a screening test and only detects blood, but that's what screening is about - low-cost, low-risk, imprecise, but if it catches even a fraction of potential cancers early it will save lives. Of course the literature that comes with the kit includes advice about seeing your doctor if you have any other symptoms that might indicate cancer.

Definitely a bad idea. But there are any number of good reasons why someone might be interested in these things. Not pollution, not worries, knowledge! It might be an interest in the history of "our" community. It might be curiosity about changes of bar style or policy. It might be any number of things. And there's an old saying about those who don't study history...

oops, somehow the last message was posted twice. Please don't think I think my words are so important they need repetition

I wouldn't think so. A friend of mine (British, white, male, 50s) was seriously hassled by Canadian immigration a couple of years ago, basically because he had (in their view) too many Thai stamps in his passport. And he was only proposing to spend one night there between flights.

I wouldn't think so. A friend of mine (British, white, male, 50s) was seriously hassled by Canadian immigration a couple of years ago, basically because he had (in their view) too many Thai stamps in his passport. And he was only proposing to spend one night there between flights.

Same name, or a new venture? I remember its previous incarnation as the "Cocobanana", in tribute(?) to the Copacabana (as it then was) down the soi.

Others have answered the rest of this, seriously and otherwise, but here are several possible answers, also of varying degrees of seriousness, depending on nation, culture and century: 1) Mail was not delivered, people collected it from the post office. See "Poste Restante". 2) In smaller communities, the postman knew where everyone lived (not the address as such, just how to get to the house in question). 3) Only the rich could afford the post, and everyone knew where they lived. 4) In feudally-structured societies, the overlord extracted taxes and raised armies from his underlings in exchange for not killing them. His tax-gatherers knew exactly where they lived. There was no "government" or "citizen" and hence no need for them to communicate.

That's what was confusing me. I wouldn't have thought of the Malaysia's "superior" (that's the lowest grade) rooms as "VERY small". Their website claims 22 square metres (which I believe) and they have enough space for two beds (one double, one single), bedside table, desk, chairs, TV, refrigerator, plus a separate bathroom. The pictures here give a fair idea: http://www.malaysiahotelbkk.com/superior-room.html I recall in the distant past they used to have a few "standard" rooms which were smaller and cheaper, but those are long gone. And on one occasion they messed up my booking and I spent a night in a very small room in the "Malaysia Guest House" which used to be opposite what is now the Lido restaurant off Soi Sri Bamphen.

Which hotel? the conversation in this thread has jumped around several countries ... (hint: click on "Quote" below a post to supply context )

You can always email them (despite the websites I've never booked them any other way): info (at) malaysiahotelbkk.com should get a reply within a day.

Historically I think their prices were considered low for what they offered, so maybe there has been some catching up in recent years. As for refitting, not in January - they had freshened the paintwork, but nothing you'd call a major refit of the "superior" (meaning standard) rooms. But if I try to book via their own website for 25-26 December (representative of high season), it's offering a "flash sale" superior room for only B800, or 900 with breakfast. If you assume the "sale" is an early-booking discount of 20%, the price is no different from a year ago.

Ah. Yes, I see the difference. The OYO branding is new. It's difficult to determine the real room prices now, with so many booking site "special deals", but when I stayed there in January 2019 the rate was B1090 for a "single superior" room. Rates I have paid (for early January of the year noted): 2007: B688 2008: B708 2009-2012: B808 2014-2016: B868 2017-2018: B950 2019: B1090 I don't seem to have records for 1996-2006, when my bookings were probably made by fax (and there were real multipart airline tickets!).