tm_nyc

I am using Chrome with no problems but, yes, I tried using MS Edge & got the 'This site has been reported as unsafe' message.

I'm not getting it either.

Excellent post, thanks very much! Your experiences sound generally similar to my own. I find the guys at Natural Spa to be cute & appealing but none of the (maybe 3?) sessions I had there were totally satisfactory. As for S'Sense, sorry to say but I am not a fan of that place either.

The Mitrtown Samyan & the House Samyan cinema are great resources, walkable, as they are, from Silom. However, if I want to see a movie, I prefer to get the 'full Asian Mall Experience' of going to Central World or Siam Paragon. These days, (IMO) there don't seem to be a lot of films on view that appeal to older farang like myself. This website gives a good overview of what's showing: https://cinematic.asia/#filter=*

Agree. I was in Havana, back in May 2017. Beautiful weather & lots to see but the poverty, food shortages, etc were depressing. There was something oppressive about the police presence, too. There was a small hustler scene in the Parque Central & I would expect that it survives!

Are you expected to tip the boy over the minimum if the session is satisfactory?

Having a round-trip air ticket confirming that you will be leaving the Kingdom within 30 days is a good thing to have if the Immigration officer gets curious. Otherwise, I agree that there are no restrictions to a reasonablenumber of visits.

Only before 6 pm!

'Can't see that the numbers cited can possibly be correct. I googled & the high temp in BKK was 39° C on Sunday. Yes, that's really hot but I don't see the point of claiming it's much worse than it really is.

Many thanks to @macaroni21 for his very interesting posts on 5 massage venues in Saigon/HCMC! I also see that christianpfc has a recent post on his blog about his activities in Viet Nam. Both definitely worth a look!

You might be better off finding a hotel you like, at a price you are comfortable with, & booking that in advance. As @vinapu suggests, it's very hard to predict. You might end up paying more or staying in a less-than-ideal place if you leave it until the last minute. Hotel prices for low & medium range places in BKK are a bargain to begin with so you probably aren't going to save that much anyway. As for luxury hotels I can't comment on that either.

What I had in mind was the US carriers which received billions in Covid relief funds from the US government & still have been charging very high fares. I just don't know about airlines in other countries. I think that some received help from their governments but probably not all. So, point taken!

Sad to say but the current situation is a win-win for the airlines. They are flying fewer flights but are racking up record profits. Meanwhile, their customers are getting screwed. Hard to say when (or even if) things will return to a pre-Covid normal. Will that stop me from booking another flight to BKK? Absolutely not!

Very good idea as you can be sure the strength, dosage, etc of the Rx is correct. I take prescription meds for asthma/allergies. In Bangkok, I use the Chula Besaj pharmacy on Rama IV between Silom Rd & Surawong. It's a big, busy place & they have everything I need. Generally, no prescription required.

On a few occasions when I went to Prime recently, I also felt that the masseur was just a bit 'off', possibly due to overwork. I started booking one Prime masseur that I liked in advance, rather than trust in pot luck.

Totally agree! I wanted to leave a comment on his blog thanking him but there doesn't appear to be a way to do that.

Good news! I flew EVA 10 days ago & they still had the mask mandate.

Very good, detailed post, thanks! Looking forward to hearing about Gecko. I went there once back in November & thought that it was not great but OK.

Agreed! Definitely a lot of useful information for anyone interested in Bali.

Tourist visas applications are now all done online & they do require a copy of a round-trip ticket, at least for a multiple-entry visa.

I agree that it is not advisable to try to enter Thailand without an onward ticket. I have even heard stories about people with Multiple Entry Tourist Visas having problems with various airlines because their return date was beyond 60 days. But, it's not just Thailand. I stopped for a week in Vienna on my way to my current 5 month stay in Thailand & Cambodia. Maybe because I had tickets on 2 different airlines (Austrian & EVA), it was a hassle before Austrian would give me a boarding pass for the Vienna leg on the trip. In Austrian's computer, I was 'remaining' in Austria for 5 months, which was not legal. Ultimately, they typed my EVA flight info into their computer & I was allowed to go on my way but it was definitely a hassle.

I have flown JFK-VIE on Austrian Airlines in Premium Economy & I thought it was fine. When I bought the ticket last Summer, the biz class fares were crazy (as we all know) so PE turned out to be a much better value. Also, VIE is a relatively small airport so it did not have all the problems that Schiphol & Heathrow were having at that time.

'Haven't been either. Good location, near Chong Nonsi BTS station, walking distance to fun on (or around) Silom Road.

In New York City, the Metropolitan Museum currently charges $30 USD for an adult admission. But New York State residents have the option of paying whatever they choose for a ticket. I am not aware of any other NY museum with a similar policy.

I had to purchase insurance to get a 30-day e-visa for Cambodia back in October. This might have been a hangover from the Covid insurance requirements but it definitely was required.