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thaiophilus

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  1. Like
    thaiophilus reacted to Marc in Calif in Patpong comings and goings   
    In this case, it's not the museum owner who is describing himself and his religious identity. If DOA had really wanted to indicate that the owner was publicly "proud of being" Jewish, he would have written something like this:

    "The owner of the museum, who was publicly proud to identify as Jewish... " 
    But DOA didn't write it that way. This is a forum where very few people know much about the museum owner. DOA simply started his sentence with "The Jew" -- which sounds gratuitous, possibly malicious, and definitely anti-Semitic. 
    So until DoA answers the four questions that I posed above, I'll still have my original suspicions.
  2. Like
    thaiophilus got a reaction from Ruthrieston in First Came 'Love China'; Now It's 'Love Britain'   
    Not at all. Over here, billiards is perceived as a game for gentlemen, whereas snooker is something played by the lower classes (or even, shock horror, by professionals!)
    PS we generally refer to Ms Braverman as "Cruella".
  3. Like
    thaiophilus got a reaction from alvnv in Airlines flying at the ‘speed of sound’ right now   
    Maybe, but in most countries "transit" is not "entry", and passengers in transit to a third country are not required to go through immigration checks if they remain airside.  Certainly I have passed through airports in France, Germany, Italy, Dubai, Jordan, Abu Dhabi and Qatar, to name a few, without immigration checks. Only in the USA was it different.
  4. Haha
    thaiophilus reacted to vinapu in First Came 'Love China'; Now It's 'Love Britain'   
    and that gradually but surely HongKong become  just another Chinese  city with only difference being driving on wrong side of the road and using different currency, both easy to normalize. In case of traffic they should do what Sweden did in 60 ties and start with moving  trucks to drive on the right  first
  5. Like
    thaiophilus reacted to PeterRS in First Came 'Love China'; Now It's 'Love Britain'   
    Sorry, predictive spelling changed Suella to Stella and I did not notice!
    Don't know enough about the fine details of UK politics other than the present lot in power have made such a ghastly mess that hopefully they will be booted out and stay out for a long time. Just yesterday one of the tabloids claimed a Chairman of that Party accused his predecessor of covering up a serial rapist with up to 8 victims who remains a sitting MP. Not only did they do nothing about the MP, they paid for one of his victims to be treated at the Party's expense at a private hospital. 
    The vidictive Nadine Dorris, the former Culture Secretary (who seems to know nothing about arts and culture!) and who is mightily pissed off that the Peerage she felt she was entitled to (enabling her to call herself 'Dame') was not given to her, alleges in her new book that. among other unsavoury episodes, an MP had sex on a billiard table with four other MPs looking on and cheering (odd, surely, that the House of Commons would have a billiard table rather than a snooker table?), and another MP stored a laptop on behalf of a relative with indecent images of children!
    Mind you, "Culture" was a dead-end job despite around 4 million working in jobs specifically related to the work of that department, and Ms. Norris was the 10th to occupy that position in 10 years. The Guardian newspaper called her a "toxic disaster". Indeed her only claim to knowing anything about culture was taking part in an "I'm A Celebrity - Get Me Out Of Here" TV reality show. They did. She was the first voted off! 
    What a bunch of total incompetents! (Do I get a few marks for inserting the awful Ms. Norris into the discussion?) 
  6. Haha
    thaiophilus reacted to vinapu in Pattaya Massage shops review 2023   
    must be all those snow capped mountains
  7. Like
    thaiophilus reacted to forrestreid in Bangkok adventures, observations and dilemmas   
    Being your usual ray of sunshine on a thread, I see, scott456. 
    I should have added to my suggested itinerary that one should do start it sundown or later, to escape the worst of the heat.
    But to be a "flaneur" means that you are, of necessity, in a big vibrant city, so noise and air pollution, and facing chaos and crowds,are pretty unavoidable.
    However, I dont think you will get another tropical or subtropical city anywhere in the world that combines Bangkok for the variety of street and bar life combined with the relative safety of your person. Singapore felt very pleasant and safe to stroll around in the evenings,but it was of less fascination.
    I haven't been to Jakarta or Manila (or indeed Rio or Bogota) but I suspect the feeling of safety there would be quite a bit lower.
  8. Like
    thaiophilus reacted to PeterRS in Bangkok adventures, observations and dilemmas   
    @scott456 should try Jakarta, Manila, Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong for starters. All have either more or most of the same problems but without the gorgeous temples, the variety of street food, the river life (Hong Kong's harbour is nothing similar) and the beguiling Thai smiles.
  9. Like
    thaiophilus reacted to reader in Bangkok adventures, observations and dilemmas   
    And you don’t in any other East Asian metropolis? 
     
  10. Thanks
    thaiophilus got a reaction from Marc in Calif in Being Gay in the Thirties in London   
    Not "homosexuals"; that word couldn't stand on its own. It was always "practising homosexuals", "predatory homosexuals", "avowed homosexuals" or some such Homeric epithet 🙄. And they never had friends, only "rings" .
  11. Thanks
    thaiophilus got a reaction from Marc in Calif in Airlines flying at the ‘speed of sound’ right now   
    Not that it matters, but that's incorrect. There's a big difference between true air speed and indicated air speed.
    True air speed (TAS) is the actual speed relative to the surrounding air. Indicated air speed IAS is (by definition 🙂) the speed indicated by the air speed indicator (ASI), which derives a speed from the pressure at the pitot tube, assuming sea-level air density.  At altitude the density is lower and so the IAS reads (a lot) lower than TAS.
    Sorry, CNN.
  12. Thanks
    thaiophilus got a reaction from reader in Airlines flying at the ‘speed of sound’ right now   
    Not that it matters, but that's incorrect. There's a big difference between true air speed and indicated air speed.
    True air speed (TAS) is the actual speed relative to the surrounding air. Indicated air speed IAS is (by definition 🙂) the speed indicated by the air speed indicator (ASI), which derives a speed from the pressure at the pitot tube, assuming sea-level air density.  At altitude the density is lower and so the IAS reads (a lot) lower than TAS.
    Sorry, CNN.
  13. Like
    thaiophilus got a reaction from vinapu in Being Gay in the Thirties in London   
    Not "homosexuals"; that word couldn't stand on its own. It was always "practising homosexuals", "predatory homosexuals", "avowed homosexuals" or some such Homeric epithet 🙄. And they never had friends, only "rings" .
  14. Thanks
    thaiophilus reacted to forrestreid in Bangkok adventures, observations and dilemmas   
    That's a little harsh Marc.
    According to Wikipedia a flâneur "is an ambivalent figure of urban affluence and modernity, representing the ability to wander detached from society with no other purpose than to be an acute observer of industrialized, contemporary life."
    Perhaps associated with people who have an interest in art or architecture, but not essential. Historically a flâneur (usually seen as a male figure) was somebody who had a fascination in the "demi-monde", and was particularly interested in wandering about red light districts in Pars and other European cities.
    A suggested Itinerary
    But if you want to spread your wings Flaneur, here is an itinerary that enables you to indulge your penchant for being a flaneur, and starts and ends within ten minutes journey from Saladaeng  station.
    Get a Sky train to Siam Station. Have a wander in Siam Square. In the late afternoon/early evening, it should be full of young Thai people shopping and eating. Walk up along the skywalk eastwards, up Rama 1 road, passing the Siam Paragon and Central World Shopping Centre. Pause at the Erawon shrine and watch the crowds making merit. Admire the model elephants many leave.
    Then continue past Chit Lom skytrain station toward the beginning of Sukhumvit Road. Plenty of vendors to observe and you will start to notice more and more middle-aged western guys in the crowd.
    Pass under the motorway overpass and you are on Sukhumvit. Wonder up Soi 3 and the Little Arabia” zone, area full of Arabs smoking Shishas and nice Lebanese food, and go as far as a soi 7 and 11 - you will be in the centre of the straight  expat and sexpat area with plenty of interesting bars and life to see. Cross the road at Nana station and stroll down Soi 4 (Soi Nana itself) as far as Nana Plaza.  Observe the sign under the entrance that proclaims Nana Plaza as as “the worlds largest adult playground.” Go in and see if you agree.
    Perhaps go to the top level and into one of the ladyboy bars. I’m not interested in ladyboys sexually but they can be fun to talk to, and a lot of them have a very good English.
    That’s what I call a good evening of playing the flaneur, and at the end of it you can jump on the skytrain at Nana station, and be back in Saladaeng within 10 minutes (don’t forget to change trains at Siam).
  15. Haha
    thaiophilus reacted to reader in Massage shops on Sutthisan Winitchai Rd.   
    One Spa is offering a package of 50, one hour massages for 10,000 baht with no expiration date. That’s an average of 200 per session, half regular rate.
    Management claims it can be shared with friends but doesn’t comment if your estate can inherit unused sessions should you succumb to exhaustion.
  16. Downvote
    thaiophilus reacted to gayinpattaya in Rescued cave "Wild Boars" boy dies in accident at 17   
    He should have stayed in Thailand. It's really very sad. 
    Thai parents should learn not to send their kids to Islamic, non democratic shitholes, full of terrorists boated in daily. 
  17. Haha
    thaiophilus got a reaction from Marc in Calif in How do Thais View the Chinese?   
    You are staying in a traditional Chinese hotel with rooms around a courtyard. Your friend's room is on the other side of the building but you want to talk to him. Do you:
    Walk round to his room? Use the room phone kindly provided by the management to call him? Yell across the courtyard?
  18. Like
    thaiophilus got a reaction from Phoenixblue in Can We Ever Really Understand Thais?   
    (ความ)กตัญญู. The nearest English word is "gratitude" but that lacks the Thai cultural nuance. My Google search on "katanyu" turned up a Bangkok Post article about it entitled Katanyu Complex
  19. Thanks
    thaiophilus got a reaction from vinapu in Gay Orgy Scandal Rocks Catholic Church   
    Try a different browser?  I got the same with Firefox but Chrome displayed an animated GIF.
  20. Like
    thaiophilus got a reaction from CurtisD in Can We Ever Really Understand Thais?   
    (ความ)กตัญญู. The nearest English word is "gratitude" but that lacks the Thai cultural nuance. My Google search on "katanyu" turned up a Bangkok Post article about it entitled Katanyu Complex
  21. Haha
    thaiophilus reacted to billyhouston in How do Thais View the Chinese?   
    I would never have imagined that it was possible to shout from one end of a 737 to the other. Chinese passengers demonstrated that it was.
  22. Haha
    thaiophilus reacted to vinapu in How do Thais View the Chinese?   
    of course I'd yell, walking is tiring and technology mysterious
  23. Thanks
    thaiophilus got a reaction from 10tazione in Can We Ever Really Understand Thais?   
    (ความ)กตัญญู. The nearest English word is "gratitude" but that lacks the Thai cultural nuance. My Google search on "katanyu" turned up a Bangkok Post article about it entitled Katanyu Complex
  24. Thanks
    thaiophilus got a reaction from omega in Can We Ever Really Understand Thais?   
    (ความ)กตัญญู. The nearest English word is "gratitude" but that lacks the Thai cultural nuance. My Google search on "katanyu" turned up a Bangkok Post article about it entitled Katanyu Complex
  25. Like
    thaiophilus got a reaction from vinapu in Cambodia’s newest and biggest airport opens in Siem Reap   
    The official TFL site quotes taxi fares £56.00 - £105.00 (plus Heathrow surcharge £3.60) for a black cab from Heathrow to Paddington. That's about 15 miles.
    By Elizabeth Line train it's £12.30, by Heathrow Express £25.
    Stansted to Paddington is nearer 50 miles and minicab websites quote around £100. The train fare is £25.10.
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