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Mavica

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Posts posted by Mavica

  1. Correct me if I'm mistaken, but my understanding is that expats residing in Thailand, no matter the visa category, are required to demonstrate economic solvency (i.e., verifiable monthly / annual income or other financial assets).  True?  If so, then the destitute expats being referred to would appear be in Thailand in violation of the law / regulations.

  2. I've frequently used Booking.com.  We are given choices to make:  accept a "no cancellation" option, which requires payment in advance; or, accept a slightly higher price with the right to cancel the reservation shortly prior to the arrival date.  This latter option requires no advance payment; you pay the lodging directly, upon arrival.  I've always chosen the option where I can cancel if necessary and have never been asked to pay in advance; I pay the hotel directly upon arrival.  Properties set the conditions of accepting reservations via Booking.com, and there are variances.  Because of my own experiences using Booking.com, I will continue to use the service.

  3. Ok.  I responded earlier today using my cellphone or my iPad and didn't receive the warning.  I returned home this evening and logged-on using Microsoft and the warning appeared - only for the forums section.  I'm using Microsoft Edge on my laptop in the USA.  I used Safari on my iPad.  At the Gay guides home page, no warning appears.  There is a place on the warning I received (More Information) to say the website isn't a scam, and I followed the instructions.  Others should do the same.  Someone or something has, IMO, reported the site as a scam and that's probably why the warnings appear.

  4. Cultural differences abound, worldwide.  I lived in a building the residents of which were predominantly Jewish - many Orthodox.  The families sit shiva at home (no body present).  Orthodox cover all mirrors.  Additionally, Ultra Orthodox remove all cushions from furniture.  At graveside, each mourner uses a shovel to toss dirt onto the casket, 3 times.  Irish would have the body in the home and waited a day or two before burial, because maybe the man was just drunk and passed out. Etc.

  5. 1 hour ago, forky123 said:

     

     

    image.png.623bb20dfe422011c7671049c1f37486.pngimage.png.7e41b12d0b206fea74c88191df33bee7.png

     

    What I believe is happening is that malware is likely attempting to attack your computer by luring you to click on commands, such as "Report' afrer which a virus will infect your computer.  The warnings make no sense for this particular site and appwar to me to be a hoax.  Don't click on any command.  I've never received a similar warning.

  6. I recall a prior discussion in which Old Daddy said he'd sucked-off and/or eaten the asses of 60 guys in 60 days.  Unless he's got a heck of a lot of money to spend, at that volume of sex he is compelled to find it for free.  

    But free or cheaper doesn't mean it's better.  Each of us is different, though, and, for some, quantity is more inportant than  quality. Then there are guys who want it all, for nothing ... who make a game out of being cheap, and the game becomes the priority ... not the sex. 

  7. Some popular uses of the air tags:  

    • Keep track of your car keys, wallet, purse, backpack, or other personal items.
    • Remember where you parked your car or track your luggage while traveling.
    • Track a runaway dog or cat, or find a lost child or elderly loved one.
    • Track your tools, instruments, or other valuable items that might remain in your vehicle or elsewhere.
  8. There's an improved vaccine expected to be available in the USA probably within the next 60 days.  

    Quote

    The currently-available vaccines are bivalent, meaning they target two strains of COVID-19—the original virus and the Omicron subvariants that dominated last winter. BA.4 and BA.5 have now faded into the background and the bivalent vaccines are not nearly as protective against new variants.

    FDA Panel Recommends Updating COVID-19 Vaccines to Match Current Variants (verywellhealth.com)

  9. 1 hour ago, forky123 said:

    2) Sometimes someone creates a lengthy post that has so little basis in fact or truth that a GIF is the only response it deserves. 

    Agreed.  The poster - any of us posting - has the right to post whatever he/we want in conformance with the terms of participation of the website owner.  Not everyone expresses themselves in the same way.  

  10. 4 hours ago, EmmetK said:

    Yet, despite all of those horrible Republican candidates, the worst of them, Donald Trump, is TIED with Joe Biden, according to the NY Times, a left-wing mouthpiece.

    Doesn't say much for Joe Biden when the best he can do is a tie. And if the NY Times has the race as a tie, Trump is probably in the lead by ten points.

    And it will only get worse for Biden in the next year and a half, as his dementia becomes more and more apparent.

    https://www.axios.com/2023/08/01/biden-trump-2024-poll-republican-primary

     

    Polls mean very little at this time, IMO.  Though the gaggle of GOP candidates have been on the campaign trail for months, the Biden campaign hasn't begun yet. 

    Typically, the Presidential primary campaigns don't start ot ramp-up until after Labor Day the year preceding the primaries.  Yes, the poll numbers don't look good for Biden, but they'll change.  The country will remain divided no matter who the General Election candidates are.

    Trump?  It's anyone's guess what will happen with him.  His trial on the  Federal indictments aren't likely to be decided before the election, which, if Trump is the GOP candidate, gives an advantage to Biden and/or the Dems.  If he's convicted in Georgia or NY, or both, all the better for the Dems.

    Biden?  I hope someone with influence is working on a Plan B, if he's out of the race.  VP Harris is an important running mate if only to help with the turn-out of black voters.

    It's a political lifetime between now and the General election.  Anything can happen, on short notice.

  11. 8 hours ago, Tomtravel said:

    The less educated or more traditional would not create a scene with a foreigner - this goes against the culture.

    In Mexico, I've observed / witnessed differently.  The less educated can be brutal in their condemnation of same sex relationships.  On many occasions I've observed where neighbors have spray-painted the home of gay couples, condemning their homosexuality resulting in the couple moving away.

  12. 5 hours ago, reader said:

    Rats are commonplace in cities worldwide whenever major construction projects are under way--a condition that certainly describes what's going on around Silom. As the critters are displaced by the demolition, they scurry about in search of food  and new quarters.

    Where I live in Florida there are many mobile home parks, and some are being cleared for construction of new rental apartment or condo construction.  Last year, one such redevelopment took place and hundreds of rats ran for cover ... onto the properties of $300,000 homes a short distance away.  I laughed, but affected homeowners didn't.

  13. 2 hours ago, reader said:

    The point I was trying to make is that the majority members of this forum are here because of their interest in Thailand as a place to visit or live. That's why "Gay Thailand" forum draws so many hits.

    The most popular posts within the forum invariably relate to trip reports and venue reports. Readers have also displayed a taste for controversy, Take this thread, for example. Although it was started only a few months ago, it's attracted 5.3k views and received 132 replies. (And those numbers only count views by logged on members; not the many many non-members who view the site).

    But returning to the discussion of the top locations that attract gay visitors (and their pink dollars), Out Traveler came up with this list for 2023:

    https://www.outtraveler.com/print-issue/best-places-for-lgbt-travelers#rebelltitem3

    ================

    InterNation, a site dedicated to expat living and working, came up with this list of the The Top 10 Destinations for Expats in 2023 (this is not an exclusively gay list):

    1 | Mexico

    2 | Spain

    3 | Panama

    4 | Malaysia

    5 | Taiwan

    6 | Thailand

    7 | Costa Rica

    8 | Philippines 

    9 | Bahrain

    10 | Portugal

     

    Traveling someplace for a month vs. living at the same destination full-time are apples-to-oranges comparisons.  Tourists vs. Expats.  Expat priorities are oftentimes very different from those of tourists ... as many of us have experienced.

    Preference lists, as provided by reader, above, interesting as they are, IMO, mean very little to a tourist or expat. For the expat the criteria is oftentimes "Which place is the least expensive to live and has better weather?"  Geographical proximity to one's country of origin is another important factor.

    The number of 'hits', 'clicks' a forum or discussion gets doesn't mean the destination that forum focuses on is or would translate to the interpretation that it's the most favored to visit by a majority of this site' members + non-member readers.

    We're fortunate, though, to have so many members who share our travel and life experiences ... and opinoons ... about the worldwide destinations we have an intetest in.  Diversity and inclusion. No absolute 'right' or 'wrong' choices.

  14. 7 hours ago, Boy69 said:

    I was in Colombia last November-December and to tell the truth didn't see any gay foreigners hung out with local boys , In the clubs saw gays from South American nearby countries but non Americans or Europeans , Only at the biggest club in Bogota 'Theatron' saw very few young gay foreigners mainly dancing and having fun but not with local guys.

    Some reaction to your comments:

    In Colombia, though, gay tourism is different ... isn't it? 

    Yes, in Bangkok and Pattaya you'll see gay foreigners hanging out with Thai's.  But isn't what you see mostly at venues where moneyboys are available to off?  Are you seeing an appreciable number of gay foreigners socializing with Thai's throughout?

    Not yet having been to Colombia, and reading the discussions here for that destination ... there doesn't seem to be a gay culture including the degree / network of venues with dancers and moneyboy-types as is found in Thailand.  Pay for play relationships are arrainged for differently in a not so defined way as we see in Thailand.

    My impression is that USA gays visiting Thailand, frequenting the sex venues, are older than gays traveling to Colombia and South America. 

    In Thailand, it's almost certainly easier to spot a North American (i.e., Canada and USA) visitor than it is in most or much of South America.  Example: a now deceased friend of mine would travel with me at times and in Mexico and Brazil locals would mistake him for one of their own ... until he spoke.  He was of Irish and German heritage.  But in Thailand, nobody we met was mistaken about his not being Thai.  So, in Colombia the younger gays from the USA may blend-in easier.

  15. 1 hour ago, reader said:

    I would think that accurately describes the majority of members.

     

    I don't know if that's accurate. 

    Certainly, some guys who frequently participate on the various forums here visit or have visited Thailand (and live there, too).  Some of the same individuals visit and have enjoyed destinations elsewhere, too. 

    Without knowing the total number of registered members there are here, I sense Thailand will not be the preferred destination of a majority - nor of the non-registerd who actively read the discussions but don't join. 

    As I view it, a large number of posts to a particular forum by a handful of a destination's admirers who are vocal doesn't necessarily equate to a destination being the overall favorite of the registered members.

    Geographical home of members and the ethnicity and body types of moneyboys / GP weigh heavily when we speak of our preferences.  They're factors I consider.

    For gay retirees living in the US, I don't suspect Thailand/ SE Asia is considered a or the preferred playground and I wouldn't expect to see increasing numbers of the group - newbies - arriving there going forward.

  16. Many single gays do have greater disposable income than married straight guys ... but I haven't seen reliable and comparable statistics.

    Yahoo Finance is featuring an online article today which reports, for the USA:  ONLY 35% of the population aged 35 > 64 have 401(k) or IRA pension/retirement accounts.  Further, the median retirement account balances for 55 > 64 year-olds.  Unpreparedness for retirement is a serious problem.

    The average US Social Security monthly payment in 2023 (government retirement fund) is reported to be $1,790.

    Yes, there are many US retirees who have supplemental investment / stock accounts but I haven't seen statistics regarding the demographics.

    When we read the travel reports posted amongst the forums on this website it's obvious there's a lot of disposable income to spend on Moneyboys, GP, etc. 😁

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