Ruthrieston

Sadly I think you are right TotallyOz. At least they haven't got the army out with their guns yet, but I think that is only a matter of time. Here we go again with the "Attitude Adjustment Camps" and protesters disappearing from the streets never to be seen again.

Below 44 again today....

I moved to live in Thailand almost twelve years ago, and have never regretted that decision. In September I shall travel back to the disUnited Kingdom for the first time since I moved, mainly to visit family and friends and visit the place I was born and grew up in Scotland. It is going to eat up half of my savings or more as the costs in the UK are astronomical. Afternoon Tea in my favourite Browns Hotel in London is now 90 quid a head (4,000 Baht)!!!

I use ttb (used to be TMB) for twelve years now, and I use internet banking on my laptop regularly.

It is an improvement, but still nothing like it was before the insane vote to leave the European Union. The day before that stupid vote I got 56 Baht to the pound, and the day after the rate fell to 36 Baht to the pound. That has really hurt my income for these years.

I love going to Railay Beach, the promontory walled off from Krab by mountains, which you can only reach by longtail boat. There are many Rasta bars with Thais wearing their hair in Bob Marley style. Many bars, restaurants and resorts, but no roads, no cars and very few motorbikes. A great place.

The day before the vote to leave the EU I got 56 Baht to the pound, the day after it fell to 36!! A big loss to my income, and now it is just up to 44.5 so still 25% down.

You have to feel sorry for the brown shirt mafia, they must have lost so much income during covid. Some of them even look quite slim these days.

With the world focused on the criminal attack on the Ukraine there is almost no mention of the appalling military junta which is massacring huge numbers of people in Myanmar. Yet more crimes against innocent people.

You are such a cynic Mr Vinapu, love can be real even between vastly wealthy 80 year olds and incredibly sexy 30 year olds, really, good for them and I wish them both great happiness.

Sadly the insanity in Pattaya lasts a full week so I have to hide in my condo for three days and then flee to Bangkok for four nights. Arriving in Bangkok on 16th the city is very quiet, recovering from three days of madness.

Annoyingly now that the tourists are back in numbers the taxi drivers are back to refusing to put on the meter and demanding 200 Baht for a 70 Baht trip, so annoying. It happened to me three times last week when I was in Bangkok. I simply get out and wait for the next one and try again. I always tip well so it is their loss.

I am definitely in the "staying home to chill" group. Pattaya is a mess over New Year and I just can't be bothered with all the chaos and outrageous prices for taxis etc. Happy 2023 to you all!

I really admire the work that Swing does for sex workers in Pattaya, at least those working in the gay sex industry. I don't know how they are funded, but I have heard that they receive government funding. If that is the case then I would be impressed. Anyone know any more?

The best English is spoken by the Scots, specifically in Inverness. 😁

Typical Thailand, all about the money honey. Who cares how many Ukrainian children the Russians have raped and murdered, how many hospitals have been bombed. Utterly disgraceful.

Watching the fireworks last night was a huge disappointment. The first two displays were great, but the huge cloud of black smoke then blocked most of the next displays. Very sad.

My sympathy goes to the gay community in Russia. When you see young gay Russian men in the Complex relaxing and enjoying themselves in a safe environment is a joy to behold.

Natan's, Au Bon Coin and Casa Pascal in that order for me!

Yes Tmax I also go to Kinokuniya bookshop in Siam Paragon in Bangkok to stock up on books, at a much cheaper price than Asia Books here in Pattaya. Years ago I bought a Kindle and a good friend downloaded hundreds of books for me for free, but I really like having a book in my hands.

Warning! Possibly this will be a long, boring story so read at your peril! I was brought up in Scotland attending the local Presbyterian Church of Scotland until at the age of twelve the Minister visited my home to say that because I had not been baptised I must now be baptised otherwise I would not be allowed to attend Bible Class. This was the first I had heard of it, my older brother had been baptised as a baby but my mother had refused to have me baptised, and said I should be allowed to choose for myself. For the next year or so, with the assistance of my Religious Studies teacher at my school I visited many different religious groups, the ones I liked most being the Quakers for the silent meetings, and the High Anglicans for all the bells and smells (incense and flashy garb worn by the priests and assistants). The place that brought me closest to where I wanted to be was the Roman Catholic Church where I was counselled by a Benedictine monk for months and finally I was baptised and then confirmed, to the horror of my parents. On leaving school at 17 I entered an enclosed, silent Benedictine monastery, the Abbey was built in the year 1230 and was semi-ruined and being restored. The community chanted the Office seven times a day and the Mass in Latin, Gregorian plainchant. I had been visiting the monastery on retreat each year since I was 14, and the community had watched me grow up, and when I asked to be admitted as a Postulant the Abbot looked at me and said "Well we have been waiting for you, get on with it." As a teenager I had tried to commit suicide three times because I could not cope with being gay. Converting to the Catholic Church gave me a focus and a community who welcomed me. I am quite sure the community was aware that I was gay, but nothing was ever said. And there was no mucking about, this was a good community of dedicated monks. After time as a Postulant, then a Novice, I asked to be allowed to take my first vows, called Simple Profession, the vows lasting three years, and then you would make Solemn Profession, vows for life. As the Bendictine Rule required, I was presented to the community by the Novice Master, then left as they debated my fitness to be allowed to remain and take my vows, then a secret vote is taken, each monk holding a white ball and a black ball and putting their hands into a wooden box so their vote is hidden from view. You need a two thirds plus one vote to be allowed to take your vows. When I was summoned to the Abbot's study, kneeling on the stone floor, I was convinced that I would have to leave, but after a long silence the Abbot said I had received the vote to stay and that as it was the 1500th centenary of St Benedict's birth I would be given the name Benedict. Then after an even longer silence the Abbot looked at me and said, "We never discuss the vote, but you need to hear this, your vote was unanimous." I was stunned, and that was the moment in my life that I finally realised there was nothing wrong with me, if these good, holy men could welcome me into their community then I could accept myself. I stayed for another three years to get the courage to leave and start to live my life. On leaving I continued to have a deep faith, attending Mass every day and praying daily. I chose to train to be a nurse, and after three years when I qualified there were no jobs in my home town and I ended up moving to London and working in Charing Cross Hospital and then moving to St Stephen's Hospital in Fulham to work in one of the largest HIV/AIDS wards. This was 1987 when thigs were really bad. Every day we saw half our patients die, nine or ten mostly young gay men in their teens and early twenties. Many of their families disowned them, though many others came to support them. After a couple of years of this, losing friends and colleagues to AIDS, too many to count, my faith finally died. I tried really hard to hold on to may faith in God, but so matter how hard I tried my faith was gone. To this day I miss my faith, but it is gone.

I locked myself up in my condo for months on end. I remember when the 9pm curfew was in place I would stand on my balcony amazed at the resounding silence descending over Pattaya. I haven't had an intimate encounter with a young gentleman in over two years, and I think my loss of interest is something to do with the if you are not getting any, you don't want any. I really hope to get back in the saddle one of these days.

Watching those parades of handsome, sexy young gentlemen I can't wait to make a trip to Bangkok and just sit there and gaze at them, trying not to let the saliva dribble down my chin...

The Bolt app in Pattaya has been wonderful for me. Basically I now pay the same amount that I used to pay for a motorbike taxi, only I travel in an airconditioned car! While I used to rent a car once a month to do my big shopping, now I just use Bolt taxi. Excellent service at a very reasonable price, and of course I always tip them too. I almost feel embarrassed when I walk past the local motorbike taxi people I had used for the past eleven years.

I remember a few years ago going to Viewtalay 6, next to Central Festival, for drinks in a friend's condo, only to be stopped by police as we tried to drive into the car park, only to see a Sawangboriboon Foundation ambulance leaving. We drove in to see blood all over the ground. It was apparently a young farang who asked an agent to let him look around a couple of the condos on his own only to go to the highest one and jump off. I think he was only in his early thirties. Then only a few weeks later another young farang jumped off the top floor inside Central Festival, narrowly missing a baby in a pram as he hit the ground floor. So sad. Clearly not thinking clearly when he put others at risk when jumping inside such a busy shopping centre.