Riobard
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Posts posted by Riobard
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First time this week that real time busyness data is pinging beyond rock bottom, in fact ‘’more busy than usual’ 21:00-21:45. These aggregate anonymized signals are not always completely reliable but it’s something. Maybe even a large protest or prayer meeting, candlelight vigil etc close enough to register. 😉
Oops, then dropped to “less busy”. Management could be communicating better on media for its fan base but has never been particularly regular. Sometimes it’s due to staff turnover without password succession.
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I have seen no mention of the entrance-inclusive masked dance performance privilege, initiated 2018, most afternoons at Sala Chalermkrung Royal Theatre. It has a separate perforation on the ticket and the small print reveals it is valid for a single entry within 7 days. Look up the afternoon days of the week the show runs; on the display board at the palace or I think they are printed on the ticket as well. Or see attachment that indicates Mon-Fri 13:00, 14:30, 16:00, each a half-hour performance.
My sense is that most visitors take it in via crowded afternoon shuttle from the north palace compound entrance (across road on north side from where morning entrance queue exists), which could be energy-sapping following the mobbed morning palace and temple sights (no shorts allowed as mentioned; apparently capri length OK if you wish to display calf development but long pants or Thai PJ bottoms aka bohemian harem trousers recommended), though theatre nicely AC’d. Instead, I simply kept the ticket and attended on a separate afternoon getting there by Metro instead of shuttle aggravation. There was plenty of seating.
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Foreign tourists are VAT-exempt for hotels, in fact for many goods and services, but sometimes the booking system adds it assuming you are a national or dual citizen. I only detected it on a one-night stay in 2023 and flagged it on check-in, as it was itemized in the 3rd party system. Hence, I always checked final receipts because a mistake could have amounted to 3-digit figures for long durations. Nobody could be “accidentally ” charged for it from mid-2020 to end of 2022 because hotel VAT was waived even for nationals over that period.
The problem is if you pay the hotel bill upfront through a 3rd party booking system; good luck reversing it because the hotel would likely need to pay it back to you through its coffers and seek reimbursement from the booking company. If you pay directly via a card hold upon check-in the hotel will waive it on the final tally.
There is an onerous procedure for applying for VAT reimbursement at the airport upon leaving. As I understand it, goods merchants, say for example you purchase a watch, cannot waive the VAT. This way the country can calculate the ratio of obligatory sales tax to exempt tax by tracking departure reimbursement claims, though I expect most people go through the bother only for larger expenditures or longstay accumulation.
- macdaddi and floridarob
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I saw this today and it seems very comprehensive and current. I’m not going to search whether it’s been previously posted.
If you go to the main menu you can link to Pattaya, Chiang Mai, or Phuket.
https://gayandasia.com/en/bangkok
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13 hours ago, Riobard said:
36 in January, 721 total since initial case. The concern would be not so much the volume of new cases but that the ongoing rate of incidence has yet to level off. For example, Canada’s population is a little over half that of Thailand but no new cases in January, 1 in December likely acquired abroad. In contrast, Thailand reports 65 cases over the same period.
Actually, new case incidence very low first 3 weeks February, so appears under better control, fortunately. Unclear whether a factor in Tawan but it is closest to brothel model of entertainment and majority of cases are MSM.
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1 hour ago, a-447 said:
Like Covid, Mpox is still with us.
Yet nobody talks about it. Out of sight, out of mind.
Over 700 cases in January - probably most of these in Bangkok - is scary indeed.
36 in January, 721 total since initial case. The concern would be not so much the volume of new cases but that the ongoing rate of incidence has yet to level off. For example, Canada’s population is a little over half that of Thailand but no new cases in January, 1 in December likely acquired abroad. In contrast, Thailand reports 65 cases over the same period.
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Seems could be supernova not eclipse.
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Is it possible they flaunted Buddhist Day Feb 24th? Is it obligatory to shut down and maybe they opened, being a Saturday?
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Bear in mind that MPOX daily incidence peaked about a year later compared to the western world, national cumulative incidence has nevertheless doubled as it is not trending to negligible as would be hoped, and it’s a (the?) Patpong venue reportedly (and personally experientially) known for explicit MSM stage interaction and private offerings on site upstairs. Might be a factor, albeit a superficial measure and arguably a wake-up call for other clubs and massage spas. Just saying. I realize no such measure was invoked last summer. However, one among hundreds of diagnosed cases may have mentioned the place when triaged or interviewed for contact tracing; such events can have a cascade effect including isolated venue closure with minimal inpact on general society while public health claims a win. I neglected to ask my one major contact at the club about MVA-BN vaccination uptake among the hosts.
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39 minutes ago, xpaulo said:
That's really interesting, because it's getting lost that usually does me in and then I have to turn on the cellular data. I've tried lots of things... taking screen shots of google street maps ahead of time, etc... but something unexpected often defeats me. I'll try it without roaming sometime.
Experiment at home. I just noticed a ‘limited data’ prompt but a coffee search offline when out shopping just now produced a yield, and the blue dot situates me correctly, though of course I have the option of cellular data in my local package. I forgot to check to see if the location dot moves block to block according to my trajectory, but I do distinctly recall it did when offline abroad this winter … most of the time when desired.
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Thank you for the reprise of Penile Code section 69, subsections 11, 117, 202, 555.
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On 2/25/2024 at 6:32 PM, xpaulo said:
The main issue was there is and was a $16 daily charge even if I had to flip over to make a single phone call. This was an unexpected financial thing that came up that had to dealt with. And I'm not sure that anybody who hasn't lived in Canada can truly appreciate how badly we're ripped off by a handful of big corporations that control the communications and banking industries.
+1
I obtained a local SIM, in 2016 in Porto Alegre. Just the once since travelling with a mobile phone became the norm. I don’t recall using my phone very much beyond where local wifi such as lodgings was accessible, or tapping into restaurant or sauna or bar wifi where available. It’s usually a question of dark mode a few hours at a time.
Obviously, Google translate functions in ‘roaming off’ mode.
$18.40 for the Canada plan 00.00-23.59ET. Alexander Graham did not anticipate sales tax.
Post-pandemic I have undertaken the ‘Airplane mode’ challenge fairly successfully as I had at times previously accepted the full Bell communications tasting menu with post travel blues then augmented by seeing the racking up of telecommunications racket charges for the sake of usually very minimal use out and about. This winter so far I have managed to slay it over a cumulative period total of 6 weeks abroad.
Just one $18.40 charge in all that time because I needed a final WhatsApp exchange out on the street for an appointment with a guy who I realize had given me an incomplete buzzer code, not matching the buzzer building panel, when I looked at the array of specific apartment codes and I did not want to press the wrong one of three selections that it could have been. This delivery man of donations always rings once. In this case the Bell fee turned out to be well worth it. A wise decision as he later demonstrated his understandable sensitivity about drawing neighbours’ attention to guest traffic.
Surprisingly, I found that Google Maps showed my exact location most of the time without local SIM or activated roaming in cases where I wanted to check I was walking to a destination in the correct direction. Usually having a few map screenshots in my Photos file was sufficient for guidance.
Yet my strategies did little to reduce the sneering of a wealthy but frugal friend in my age group who does not possess a cell phone and travels abroad successfully. He may have to break down one day and sacrifice the final word.
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It’s an example of analysis paralysis, an oversimplified and indolent way of getting off a seemingly endless and irreconcilable hamster wheel of disagreement about who owns history, the narrative of the past, how and where to display it and its tangible physical representations.
In a way, not unlike the construction and attempted implementation of law related to the oldest profession. Never to be settled.
Perhaps the intent is to lay down the foundation of a reset, yet it doesn’t have the feel of a new day a new dawn, that very much in terms of productive next steps will unfold other than a pattern of certain objects trickling back to origins in some fashion. How do you re-curate all the vast collections spanning millenia?
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1 hour ago, xpaulo said:
I was at St Moritz last month on a busy Sunday afternoon and they had a sex show with a hot Venezuelan top and another working guy. Volunteer clients could also join in. I guess sponsoring isn't a big stretch from that. Out of curiosity, each of the four times I went to St Moritz in the afternoons there were quite a few guys going up to the third floor... is there another type of business up there?
Gigolo Erotic House; stripper/gogo/dancers with some small private lap dance areas, usually an overlap with the masseur trade downstairs; I believe same management. Hit and miss. The hottest guy from a year ago graduated up to Theatron.
Recent example of lineup:
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On 2/22/2024 at 3:26 PM, vinapu said:
600 a year ! It's half of my recent airfare to BKK. I wouldn't call it small change
Now that’s raisin awareness to new heights. I’m a fruit that would have had to start very young and break the piggy bank, but there is the advantage of priority boarding access if aged whining finely enough.
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He is not currently explicitly available through the usual ad site routes. Was in London. Not my cuppa. Tipping him on Onlyfans may get his attention.
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Dribs and drabs of ambiguous reporting suggest grievous sexual assault injuries sustained over a day or more following nuptials (akin to “gang rape”), hospital admission, and death by septicaemia (the word “infection” is employed by hospital staff; distinct from context of husband’s assertion of diseased damaged goods) a few days later.
It is unclear whether pills were conventional PDE-5 inhibitor drug, “uppers” (not trying to be funny) intended to enhance general energy, or some local home remedy that would be unrelated to a predilection for violent behaviour.
There was some immediate dust-up about ownership for treatment payment. Hard to say whether there are unfortunate ‘cart-horse’ health system dynamics that undermine urgent care, though appears her brother was prepared to undertake the required costs, private hospital, etc.
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20 minutes ago, macaroni21 said:
Sadly, @Riobard is referring to the tops of the beer bottles. The boys' tops (Tshirts) often stay on.
Remind me again - why are we paying money?
I don’t have a little head for figures.
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23 hours ago, Keithambrose said:
Only just!
22 hours ago, macaroni21 said:IMHO not at all, but the only choice we have is either to enter+pay or not step foot in a bar at all.
However, to be fair, 500 is not the price of the beer. It is a combo price for the following:
1. The beer.
2. The waiter's effort bringing it to you …
Including that the first swig accompanies entry charge and the top comes offed, unscrewed.
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Sinophobic discourse is a thread running through all western regions tending towards “othering”. Of course this trend surfaced more this decade, as exemplified by pandemic finger-pointing and driven by political ideology, including Brazil (see appended), yet one hopes this surge is well behind us.
However, being an east Asian tourist won’t be a problem for you. It’s all the other cautionary stuff.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/376727804_Made_in_China_disinformation_and_Sinophobia_on_Facebook_during_the_Covid-19_pandemic_in_Brazil/fulltext/65857f490bb2c7472b01570e/Made-in-China-disinformation-and-Sinophobia-on-Facebook-during-the-Covid-19-pandemic-in-Brazil.pdf?origin=publication_detail&_tp=eyJjb250ZXh0Ijp7ImZpcnN0UGFnZSI6InB1YmxpY2F0aW9uIiwicGFnZSI6InB1YmxpY2F0aW9uRG93bmxvYWQiLCJwcmV2aW91c1BhZ2UiOiJwdWJsaWNhdGlvbiJ9fQ -
1 hour ago, aaroninatl said:
I have been lucky w the Airbnb I've used too. But keep in mind in Chapinero there are at least a dozen love motels. They're cheap and add a little fun to the experience.
Agree. There is no reason to panic about having assignations thwarted. The motel I have used also didn’t unlock the reception exit unless I ushered my ‘guest’ out in person after the session. The room was modern and very nice.
I disagree that one cannot determine Airbnb guest policy ahead of booking. They are written or absent. I do agree that it is wise to communicate intent to host a friend for quiet drinks/dinner but not “party” events and that you wish to view any guest policy prior to booking, not be presented with new regulations at the point (usually 24-48 hrs) detailed check-in instructions are released. This inquiry may raise eyebrows but may help you to disqualify the more rigid host. The majority of hosts recognize we don’t live in a social vacuum. Nationals using the platform would, in fact, be expected to host friends because that would be the primary reason for renting the place. Hosts just don’t want noise complaints or damaging wear and tear.
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I think the jury was presented with the notion of culpable homicide, intentional and negligent without regard for serious risk of harm. What could qualify it as murder would be the position that while pursuing an unlawful goal the accused causes death that they know could conceivably occur notwithstanding a preference for not causing bodily harm or death. Not premeditated or planned but intentional, hence the default of 2nd degree.
An adult would be expected to know that striking a child at a crosswalk at the accused’s gratuitous pursuit of unlawful pedal to the metal speed behind the wheel of a death machine and flinging him 250 feet away would extinguish him; that is almost the distance of a 100 metre athletics race and probably as fast. Naturally, she would be hoping for no such obstruction while behaving recklessly and selfishly.
That said, holding to the lesser charges of manslaughter would not seem outrageous and one wonders if any single juror may have objected in his or her mind yet wished to circumvent a ‘hung jury’ stalemate. It’s not a stretch to assume that the case dynamics would downregulate any dissenting juror’s confidence in certitude regarding what may have seemed like splitting hairs. My sense is that the jury is instructed to transcend consideration of sentencing and obviously cannot influence or forecast satisfaction with the justice of a manslaughter penalty.
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1 hour ago, Keithambrose said:
Understood. I have a Michelin Star restaurant near me in Hertfordshire, and I go there occasionally. The 5 course lunch tasting menu is usually enough! In the evening it's 7 courses. I have to stay near the bottom of the wine list!
Otherwise lose your bearings on the unchaperoned walk home from Meryton.
Tawan Bar in Bangkok Closed: Police Raid Reported
in Gay Thailand
Posted
Cute.