[Return to Thailand]

4 hours ago, Riobard said:

I get on at one BTS by scanning my Mastercard. I get off at a distance that is mapped to a variable charge according to the number of stations travelled. I scan my Mastercard in the train so the door opens to allow me out. My credit card’s brain calculates and pays the charge? How does my credit card’s internal coding do that?! I would think that only a transit fare card can do that math. A credit card only functions by paying for a commodity whose value is established at checkout.

You scan your card to enter or leave the platform, not on the train.

The card enters a dialogue with the ticketing system, exchanging information at both ends of the trip. As a result of that exchange, the ticketing system calculates what to bill the card at the end of the trip.

5 hours ago, Riobard said:

I’m over 60. Isn’t it half price if you line up at the customer wicket? Can I not just buy a batch of single ride tickets in one fell swoop? Wouldn’t it be impossible to get half price from a machine that is clueless about your age? Wouldn’t, say, a handful of 20 tickets from the wicket be valid going forward over 2 weeks. One queue aggravation up front but obviated subsequently? Too simple? How does half price function given that distance dictates a single ride cost and scanning  is both entry and exit? Does this mean you can only buy one wicket ticket at a time because you tell the cashier your exit station? Just curious. 

It's only half price for over-60s on MRT. Not on BTS unless you're a Thai citizen.

Yes, you can buy multiple single ride tickets but as you say, you have to know your destination. Better to buy a stored-value (Rabbit or MRT) card at the kiosk and top it up occasionally. (although the Rabbit card doesn't work on MRT, MRT have their own stored-value card.)

MRT issue a different card (marked "elder") if you're over 60.

If I recall correctly you can tell the MRT ticket machines you're over 60 by pressing a button.

If you use a credit card instead of a ticket, yes, you will be billed at full price.

 

[Return to Thailand]

7 hours ago, ggobkk said:

 I continued to the taxi rank.  (VInapu, I couldn’t use the rail line as  my suitcase is one of the big ones - needed for brining tea to China).  Once in the taxi, the driver started negotiations.  We settled on 600 THB which covered the tolls.  
 

What, no meter? "Official" airport taxis (the ones allowed to use the taxi rank) are supposed to charge what's on the meter plus tolls plus 50B, which should be considerably less than 600.

[Banks want to charge more for taking your money]

Thailand is probably the only country in the world where someone could say "Thailand is the only country in the world that does not charge a fee for digital payments. " with a straight face .🤣

 

[Expats, tourists can get Covid boosters at two locations]

Code of Conduct:

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[Age yourself with a Video Game]

Yeah, right, "joywallet dot com" sounds entirely legit and I will trust them for money-making advice.

And this 🍆 is a gaming website 🤣

[Cruising areas]

1 hour ago, spoon said:

I guess back then, sex with minor is legal?

Still is, in many places. Laws are less than logical and age of consent doesn't always track age of majority.

[Heatstroke warning as mercury rises beyond 50ᵒC]

"western Mak province" ?

I suppose they mean Tak.

[Screwboys]

56 minutes ago, zoomomancs said:

The authorities have banned fuck shows in Bangkok for 6 months, so no.

Is that official, or just the BiB demanding too much tea money?

[Massage (sex) shops Bangkok with kuay photos online (to see size, beads etc etc)]

On 5/4/2023 at 7:01 AM, jeremy said:

 I'm fuzzy on the whole 52, 54, 56 - is it 52= small, 54=medium, 56=big ... whatever small, medium and big are...?

It's their preferred condom size, measured as flat width across the base in millimetres. Double it to get the girth.

[Expats, tourists can get Covid boosters at two locations]

Please don't feed the trolls.

[Best show in Silom]

The OP is asking for best shows, which might modify the answers somewhat.

[All in the family]

17 hours ago, Marc in Calif said:

Of course not totally free and open!

In Southeast Asia, Indonesia is #1 and the Philippines is very closely behind at #2 in terms of relative democratic societies.

Thailand and the others are far behind. 

Maybe, if that ranking is  based on some kind of simple "democracy" checklist (universal franchise, fair elections, representative government, freedom to form parties etc etc), but if you look at equally political issues like minority human rights or religious freedom I think the ranking would be quite different.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_Indonesia  for instance.

[Thailand’s problem with transgenders in the workplace]

Two observations.

1) "Woke", like "politically correct" before it, is only used non-ironically by Daily Mail readers (for non-British readers, insert the equivalent newspaper or "news" channel).

2) Biology is complicated, more complicated than most people can imagine or understand. If you think there are just "2 types" of anything in biology you aren't qualified to discuss it.

[A redundant topic ….]

1 hour ago, 18past19 said:

my concern was that most of the businesses wont open on Songkran. 

I found some clips on youtube that those exchange counters on basement level of the airport open from 5:30 till midnight.  i am not sure if it would change during the holidays. 

According to SuperRich's own website (scroll down to 'Find a store near you') the Suvarnabhumi branch is open daily 5.30 am - 11.30 pm. 

   No mention of Songkran closures but there's a contact form on the same page so you could use that to get confirmation.

[Michelangelo's David Deemed Pornographic in Florida]

It's not just Asian cultures, of course. The Romans had some interesting ideas about wind chimes...

[Michelangelo's David Deemed Pornographic in Florida]

Sadly for all my fellow phallophiles 🍆, some time after 2014 the shrine was moved to a smaller location in the hotel grounds and tidied up. (That photo is from 2008 and the wikipedia text hasn't been updated to reflect the move. ) This is how it looked 'before' in 2014 and 'after' in 2016. I only hope that since then people have been adding new content to restore it to something like its former glory :

2014:

2016:

[David Geffen Marries Hunk]

I think you're arguing across each other. The question turns on what Mavica meant by "publicly linked".

Linked in the eyes of the public, as in "everybody knows that..." or "formally linked (in marriage or similar) by a public ceremony"?

[‘Top 10 Bangkok’ guide …]

5 hours ago, Riobard said:

Now that’s more of an effort … troll-ish, mind you, abstruse, but at least a bit more stab at creativity. (If you’re into feedback. Not likely. It’s social media after all.) 

Word to the wise, though. Attempts at humorous zingers land better when the reader doesn’t need to web-search a cryptic obscure string of letters. Reads like a primary care practitioner consult on a Telemedicine platform at Target. I’d prefer to not have an ass dawn on me. That’s just how I roll. 

If you reach deep enough you might somehow reference something that actually happened. 

OK. Tell me your problems. Please terminate input with a period or a question mark.

[‘Top 10 Bangkok’ guide …]

ChatGPT on aisle 3 ?

[‘Top 10 Bangkok’ guide …]

Phone maps aren't always reliable, either.

I have in the past posted a couple of Google "reviews" which say "this restaurant doesn't exist".  Both of them had been mangled by transliteration of a Western name into Thai and back to the Latin alphabet to the extent that they were unrecognisable, and then misplaced on the ground by several blocks. 

[“Line” communication app …]

2 hours ago, Riobard said:

I’ve used WhatsApp for years. I thought the only signature was your phone number through the internet. If you change the SIM is your profile the same? How does the empty SIM slot transfer that data when a different chip is inserted? I thought it would be ground zero, unlike changing a social media handle on one’s account. Does the new SIM connect to your existing WhatsApp automatically? You don’t need to alert family/friends of the new number abroad in case they need to contact you on the platform? 

My understanding is that the phone number is only used once (to receive an SMS or missed call for 2-factor authentication) when you create the account. Once it's set up, WhatsApp uses that phone number only as an account identifier, not for making calls, and doesn't interact with any of your SIMs at all. The messaging is done via secure TCP/IP over WiFi or mobile data, not via SMS.

[Respect History: Chinese Names for Places Occupied by Russia]

Chinese directives can require all kinds of things - but enforcement is another matter. For example, the "Measures on the Management of the Reincarnation of Living Buddhas" require the Dalai Lama to reincarnate in Tibet according to Chinese law and some very Confucian bureaucracy when the time comes.

[Medicine ( when travelling for extended periods)]

There's lots of official NHS advice specifically for diabetes here: https://www.fitfortravel.nhs.uk/advice/general-travel-health-advice/diabetes

[Cialis ordered on line?]

Also UK: Doctor Fox. But I think they will only deliver to a UK address.

[What happens to your body on a long-haul flight]

For me the A380, preferably upstairs 😊.