fedssocr

I think you can get by in Bangkok without speaking Thai. I follow Global Travel Mate on Youtube. He is Dutch and has been in Bangkok for something like a decade. He speaks almost no Thai. But apparently he has a successful real estate business. Not exactly sure how such a business qualifies for a business visa but I guess it does.

it will be interesting to see if they manage to get much done. Seems like a fairly unwieldy coalition but I guess they only need 251 votes to do things in the House.

Interesting report about the lack of out gay male players in Australian football

I used to always say I never wanted to take a cruise, but I did take a Med cruise on Virgin Voyages last autumn. The ship was quite nice. I enjoyed the ports. Their ships are more mid-sized than this and don't have all of the outdoor entertainment things like waterslides and go kart tracks. But they are "adults only" so they don't put a lot of those things that would cater more to kids and families. I was traveling solo and I am pretty introverted so I didn't do much socializing. But I think if I had gone with a group of friends I would have enjoyed it more.

Loneliness is a problem all over the world these days for people of all ages. But certainly culture and language issues exacerbate the isolation.

I think that lays out the issues pretty well. Personally I would just rent. Furnished rentals seem to be in abundance in the main areas of the country (and probably most of the rest as well). I like the idea of showing up with my luggage and moving in without having to do anything more. No worries about the market. And if you decide you don't like the place anymore or want to move someplace else it's easy. But I also don't have any plans to retire there full time and own my own place in the US. So I think your own financial situation is probably a really big factor.

The pardon has to come from above. So removing the one party that threatens (however little) that institution was likely the condition.

they were talking about some sort of hospital confinement. I presume his pardon is tied up with throwing MFP out of the coalition

Obviously the Vietnamese have plenty of historical and current day beefs with China. So the enemy of my enemy...

I was there the first week of April this year and even though things were past peak bloom in Tokyo there were still plenty of blossoms to see. The big park in Shinjuku was magical. I've been toying with going back at the end of November for autumn leaves, but flights are crazy expensive and no mileage seats seem to be available. I still have a pile of cash from my trip because I got covid which killed the last several days of my time in April and didn't get around to visiting any of the brothels

probably because many older guys wouldn't want to have sex with themselves. But it's clear that there are as many different tastes out there as there are people.

a total coincidence!

Definitely a much more mature vibe - sort of like the ThaiBL version of Skins. Sort of like that one with the super hot motorcycle-riding architect and his cute protege. GMM sure has a lot of pretty boys in their stable. I think the genre really needs some more variety. I watched this video running down all of the things that are out now or will be soon. The glut of shows is back again

I just saw a piece on BBC World that the barge holding refugees has been listed on booking.com It's very weird. They really need to get their act together

I think there's probably a lot of psychology. The younger generation in Western countries seem to be much more likely to be on the medications and they are more sexually active generally. Those of us in older generations may not be as likely to be on those drugs or to be sexually active except when we're in Thailand. How well is SWING able to advertise their services in the bars and spas to the boys who work there? Is there any barrier with respect to the many boys who are not Thai that work in the business?

Seems like there have been lots of stories of young Kuwaiti men racing motorbikes around Pattaya lately.

it's easy enough to report it so YT will take it down

I stayed at View Talay 6 last time I was in Pattaya. It was a few years ago now. There were several real estate agencies on the first floor so it took me a while to find the correct one. I had a big corner apartment. It's right next to the Central Festival mall and the Hilton hotel. So it's a short-ish walk to Boystown. If you want to go to Jomtien you'd have to jump on a baht bus. Overall I liked the location because I enjoy killing time at the mall during the day so it was convenient for that and if you like to walk along the beach it's right across Beach Road. The apartment building was OK but a little dated. It's quite big, so sometimes it took a little while to get a lift. I wouldn't call it quiet as it's pretty much right in town and there was often music playing from the surrounding bars and other venues.

booking.com and agoda have apartment listings. The place I stayed when I was last in Pattaya was managed by a real estate company but booked via booking.com. I was only there for a short time but I would guess that longer term rentals could be done through a real estate agency. They would likely require at least a 6 month lease though in that case.

I agree. A very interesting place to visit.

Fish Upon the Sky

I have used Klook for tours and bought my Japan Rail pass via them several months ago. Legit company for sure. I am sad to hear this news about Booking. I didn't realize all of those other companies were part of them. I wonder why. I suppose they all had some name recognition from before Booking took them over. Generally I like to book directly with the hotel but if the rate is a lot cheaper at Agoda I will use them instead.

Not sure why those first videos from Al Jazeera were removed. But this story seems to be making a lot of waves. Josh Gates' Discovery Channel show Expedition Unknown had a several part series on it. And here's one from ABC Australia

probably depends on your budget. I stayed at the Sedona Suites. Beautiful apartment on something like the 40th floor. Short walk to the pedestrian plaza which was nice in the evenings. On top of a shipping mall with food options and a grocery. I also walked from there to the city museum which wasn't too far.

apparently the place in Osaka closed