Rogie

Something has changed quite dramatically within the past year. Seeing the thread Myanmar Update languishing at the bottom of the RHS list of recent topics, I took a look at it to remind me what it was all about. In a nutshell, very little. There is just the OP, no further posts added to it, but what was impressive was the number of views . . . no less than 4,590! I then suffered a severe bout of deflation after a simple comparison. A thread I had started Report: May 2012 which I had spent a lot of time getting together, and in addition has received 11 replies, has managed to date a meagre total of 1,213 views. To compound my perplexity, the Report: May 2012 thread was submitted in May 2012. The Myanmar Update was nearly a year later in April this year. So, despite having a head start of a full year, the older thread has had less a than a quarter of the number of views. I am sorry to say, my conclusion is that some time within the past year the number of views for new topics has somehow been massively bumped in comparison to that prevailing before. I'd love to know what's going on here.

I've stayed at the Privacy place a couple of times in high season when the Malaysia was full. Decent value and quiet. They like the money 'up front', unlike the Malaysia where you can pay on check out. Personally I do not like places that insist on paying as soon as you agree to take the room, but I can understand why they do it! If it's a cheapo place fair enough, but not otherwise IMO. http://www.soidb.com/bangkok/hotel/tungmahamek-privacy-hotel.html The S1 Hostel is the old Honey House 'done up'. . . I'd stayed there before, but it was a bit of a dump and badly needed sprucing up.

Why China loves to build copycat towns http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23067082

A tale of two cities:

I know I said in the Starbuck's thread I seldom drink coffee and that was largely true. . . .until recently; however my father bought a Nespresso machine and now every time I visit him almost the first thing I do is rush into the kitchen and set up a brew. He's just gone away on holiday and guess what? I've pinched it for my own use in his absence!

Do you have a photo of this bike? I assume it is a bicycle rather than a motorbike. Why is it so special to you? I (my bold) That ever happened to anyone reading this!? I'd love to know what's meant by 'or worse'!

"Hey guys, lookee here, caught this geezer from coach sneaking into our lavatory. Cheeky monkey! He won't do that again, guess that'll learn him!"

Really? You obvioulsy didn't get the message when I wrote: ". . . I don't generally encounter young falungs (but) I have encountered many young Thais, but apart from the odd argument, I haven't heard them swear" Must be my understated British humour!

Is Dan camp? Seriously, do you think he'd care two hoots? Again I say I don't know this man, nor the history behind his opposition, but people who take an extreme high profile stance on anything to do with sex, immigration, politics or religion will have a hide the envy of many a rhinoceros.

Assuming you regard them as 'bad', is a mouthful of profanities the same as reading them in print or on your computer screen? Personally, if a person I was chatting to littered his speech with 'bad' words I'd soon make my excuses and leave. I was brought up to avoid that kind of language, so for someone to use it in my presence is an insult to my intelligence (never mind what I may think about his!). I don't have any friends who use 'bad' language either, and I wouldn't want any. Maybe younger people speak differently, I don't know, as apart from my nephews and nieces, I don't generally encounter young falungs. I have encountered many young Thais, but apart from the odd argument, I haven't heard them swear (at least in English, and as a non-Thai speaker I don't know any Thai swear words!). In print I'm not to bothered quite frankly. As Michael says we're all adults. Where I would draw a distinction is between its occasional use and its frequent use. One or two unfortunate chaps on the bitch board seem to have an anatomical anomaly: where a normal chap has his rectum they have (very) vocal chords - where a normal chap has ... well I'm sure you get the general idea.

I've never 'taken' a cruise, and have no immediate intention of boarding, but if every morning you could wake up to something as wonderful as Venice I'd soon change my tune.

Yes, of course powerful people have spin in their armoury. They'd feel naked without it. Not much likelihood of transparency 'for all to see'. Those who are inarticulate or who can't afford to have their own spin-doctor, flock together for mutual protection just like the proverbial birds. As for the press, it's either going to be subject to severe restrictions on what it can and cannot do and say, or we go for the 'untrammelled' kind. The latter will encompass the sort of low-life that hacked into people's mobile phones and the case of the undercover coppers (one woman who was involved with one had this to say "I feel like my body's been hacked") and many others. You can call them fanatics if you like. I certainly won't dispute that. They are desperate people, working for desperate bosses - I don't need to mention them, there's a long-running thread in the Beer Bar. I'd prefer to take our chances and stick to the untrammelled version, despite the price that has to be paid for press freedom, namely the risks. Bad apples exist in every barrel of fermenting farmyard scrumpy (cider) but the result is usually pleasantly drinkable. Put 'vetted' apples in stainless steel vats in a modern cider factory ruled by computers and nerds with clipboards and all you get is a bland 'samey' beverage.

I don't know this guy, nor had I ever heard of the chicken restaurant chain he runs, so I won't comment. Hopefully a dose of wacky humour will calm you down Michael!

Oh! you business class types. What a lark!

There was a fairly recent 'lighthearted' thread in the Beer Bar. http://www.gaythailand.com/forums/topic/8856-arriving-in-thailand-by-sea/#

Welcome back to Thailand Michael. Everywhere on planet Earth has its own particular feel, especially those you are familiar with from earlier visits, be that the climate, the infrastructure, your memories of the place and many others. Last but not least is the people. So in Thailand that would be local Thais and other falungs; ex-pats and those on holiday. So I can understand if a particular 'fixture' has altered or in some cases gone altogether, it'll change the way you feel about that place. But I would guess that feeling will soon pass and you'll rapidly acclimatise to the new order of things. I'm not going to say anything about LMTU as I didn't know him, but good for you for being so honest. Telling others how you feel about another person, especially a controversial one, is a brave thing to do. Except I don't think LMTU is controversial any longer. He's dead and as you rightly say 'RiP' Who knows, some of my posts are (mildly) controversial - insofar as posting on this message board is concerned, maybe I can help to fill the void!

In an excellent comment piece in Britain's Telegraph newspaper yesterday (which coincidentally just got around to reading this morning before catching up on this thread), Allison Pearson in an article headed . . . Can the state be trusted to do anything right? . . . ah, the dreaded 'state'! . . .in a week that has already been a bad one for Britain's much-cherished health service, she goes on to lambast the police. She goes on to further cite Orwell: More Orwellian stuff: And a reminder of how the media, and in particular certain elements in the press, really cocked things up, but also a plea for the 'media' not to let us down: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/10143713/Can-the-state-be-trusted-to-do-anything-right.html (*) Stephen Lawrence: see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Stephen_Lawrence (**) Mid Staffordshire: see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stafford_Hospital_scandal

'Getting to call foul' is certainly plausible. Is the world more sceptical? Quite possibly, and building on my comments about doubt, probably a good and healthy thing. To take politics as an example, at least in the UK (I don't know enough about the history of American or Australian politics to extrapolate to them). Political parties in the UK were traditionally 'left wing' and 'right wing'. They each had their own dyed-in-the-wool committed groups of voters. Over the past 20 years the two largest political parties have come a lot closer together - squabbling over each other in their attempt to claim the centre ground. That's largely because the voting public in Britain are sick and tired of extremist politics. Most voters now are very sceptical. I think that extends to religion and almost everything else. Here, in addition to politicians, we may as well trot out the usual whipping boys . . . bankers, the food industry, Big Pharma, lawyers, solicitors, estate agents, the travel industry, etc. To a large extend religion has 'gone quiet' in Britain (as FH says the 'troubles' in Northern Ireland weren't an old-fashioned religious war). That extends to all religions practiced in Britain - Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists just get along fine with each other, or did until the almighty shock of the news that some of 'our people' were religious fanatics. The fight back will come from people shunning anything perceived as extremist / fundamentalist. Unfortunately that may mean political parties that appeal to people's sense of grievance will capitalise on that, so in Britain at least, the necessity for a political party to capture the centre ground may itself be on shaky ground - a worrying thought!

Yes, that's the 'we' I meant.

Reading and thinking about the Crusades, all Christians should feel ashamed. Yes, memories are long and I am sure many devout Muslims who study that time in history will shake their heads in disbelief too. I also wonder how Muslims, unaware of that shameful episode in the history of their faith, feel when they learn about it for the first time on television? Then look around and, perhaps if they are living in Britain or another nominally Christian country, begin to feel differently to their non-Muslim neighbours when before they never gave it a thought. Maybe it's no wonder some go down the fundamentalist route - maybe influenced by a zealous cleric, maybe their thoughts of their own making. On the other hand, I doubt few intelligent non-Muslim 'native inhabitants' Christian or atheist or whatever, feel threatened by a Muslim in their midst because they practice their faith quietly and don't in any way interfere adversely in an orderly multicultural and multi-faith society. Unfortunately, there's always somebody has to ruin things, and take things too far. Whereas there are extremists in every faith, in Christianity an example being the Exodus group I referred to earlier, not many advocate or encourage violence. Violence was part and parcel of life at one time and was seldom a respecter of another person's religious beliefs. In the 21st century we like to think all that's behind us and that these days we're civilised. We've still got a long way to go. That brings me back to 'doubt. I'm in no doubt doubt's a good thing, on balance. I wonder how many of those Crusaders doubted they were 'in the right'? I would imagine many did, although the mind can play cruel tricks so that you can be convinced it's a legitimate means to an end. It doesn't have to involve religion - did those Japanese soldiers doubt the so-called Rape of Nanking was a necessary means to an end? I have no idea, it seems they had been brain-washed into regarding those they slaughtered as being less than human. Perhaps the Crusaders thought likewise. It's a terrible thing to ponder - sometimes I despair at mankind. We are born with wondeful brains, but so many times that brain is contaminated by evil and malign influences. The term free-thinker comes to mind. It ought to be easier to be one in 2013 than in 1213, but how many of us are the true article?

Agnostics are lucky! A believer can only doubt so much, question so much, before his head goes into a spin and he either falls to the ground stronger and more convinced about his faith, or he disengages and maybe slowly but surely senses his faith slipping away. (I do not refer here to a practicing individual who's a member of what one might call an extremist sect or fundamentalist religious faith. . .if he 'sees the light' it is most likely any intelligent outsider, agnostic or whatever, could have seen it straightaway, but the believer had been blinded by the overall folly). Such an individual may well fit the penis quote above. He's quite happy with his faith and isn't in any way evangelical about it, although he's in no way ashamed or secretive and when questioned will readily account for his faith. So yes, probably proud as well. Sometimes doubts and questioning can have dramatic repercussions: The recent instance of the group called Exodus International comes to mind. Exodus Presdient Alan Chambers posted an apology on their website “for the harm that he had caused LGBT people and their families in his quest to make them match an anti-gay view of God.” http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2013/06/20/exodus_international_an_ex_gay_ministry_apologizes_for_the_harm_it_s_done.html I read recently that many Thai families with gay sons pack them off to a monastery. Some may genuinely believe it is for the benefit of the boy but others are simply unhappy to have a gay son and 'exiling' to a monastery is their way of washing their hands of him. As an outsider looking in, whatever the motives and whatever the sincerity or otherwise of the boy's parents, this to me is a recipe for disaster, or at the very least confusion and unhappiness on the part of the boy. But then Thailand's like that, many things Thais do or say don't make sense to outsiders/non-Thais. It seems to me, religion in general is somewhat similar, an atheist or agnostic looking in will feel bemusement and be tempted to scoff - the object of their scorn will carry on regardless quite unpeturbed, unless he's already harbouring any of those nasty doubts . . .

No need. An interesting post which hopefully will provoke a healthy response, albeit I doubt anyone would swallow all this hook line and sinker. Unfortunately I am very poorly versed in Islam - perhaps like many I have harboured noble ideas of rectifying my ignorance over the years but done nothing about it. I did buy a paperback Koran a very long time ago, so my intentions were good but my resolve proved of little worth. Taken from the concluding paragraph of Bkk Guy's third link in his post: That's certainly something that I can't fathom, why so much rhetoric, why so much violence. Why so little sympathy for those of a different belief or persuasion ( Including sexual orientation )?

Thanks for that report Anonone. Would I be right in thinking each airline can specify the cabin layout to suit its own purposes? If so, some economy cabins may be better . . .

Not me, but having read both your posts and now aware that in the event of an on-board fire the oxygen masks can't be used, it would definitely be interesting to know more, especially having followed this Dreamliner thread. Just as a reminder, here's a quote from post #2:

The legend of the Golem http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golem