ceejay

This article is based on a report of Brazil;s own Senate
http://agenciabrasil.ebc.com.br/en/direitos-humanos/noticia/2017-12/forum-reports-black-genocide-brazil-un
On the general safety of Brazil, I too confess to never having been there. My opinion of safety there (or otherwise) is based on the experience of a former colleague of mine. He was English, his wife Brazilian.  He gave up a lifestyle in Brazil that included a large house and servants, for a poky semi in Hertfordshire because he and his wife decided that Brazil was too dangerous a place to bring up children.

At 6.30 "In general it's a lot of fear mongering turning people off"
Quite.

Every 5 years for me, but I am in a slightly higher risk group than average. Had the most recent done last month, as it happens. It found one non-malignant polyp. It was done at the Sriphat Medical Centre in Chiang Mai. The doctor who did it is a teacher at CMU Medical School, trained in the US and has recently spent 4 months in Japan learning advanced endoscopy techniques.
Total cost for initial consultation, special laxatives for preparation, the actual colonoscopy, biopsy on the polyp and follow up consultation with the doctor around 17,000 baht.

Divine, you continue to suffer from a desire to paint a beautiful picture of Thailand and its government.  You have blinded yourself if you believe that they are not trying to make it as difficult as they can for expats to remain here.  And, exactly what tax base is paying to the government hospitals here?  Certainly not the Thai people who go to these hospitals. I won't pretend to know where the money comes from to finance the Thai government but I do not believe it is from taxes. Also, for your divine information, I use a private hospital here because I don't want to sit for 8 hours waiting to see a doctor as most of the patients who are there have to do.
With regard to Thai culture, I firmly believe that it cripples this land.  The desire to never disagree with or tell someone they are wrong is ridiculous.  You try to make it appear that I am thoughtless and do not understand Thai people.  I have lived here 13 years and during that time I have met many Thais and have had many good times with them but their culture also makes them hypocrits and sometime liers.  There was an occasion when a group I was with, consisting of 5 people, 3 of which were Thai, were playing cards and talking.  One of the Thais was lying about some serious things he said and none of the Thais would challenge him.  Yes, this is a small example but I have seen it on many occasions.  It is the same thing with directions.  Thais will almost never tell you they don't know.  Better to give an incorrect answer than to say they don't know and, due to their culture, loose face.
I think that you love Thailand because of the sex available to you.  That is not bad but don't let it blind you to underlying facts about Thailand and its people.

That's nothing. In the Grand Place (main square) in Brussels they have a museum of beer - and almost next door a museum of chocolate. Who needs sex?

For the weekends, maybe the market at Koh Kret. I have been there and it's fun - and a chance to ride the river boats:
https://migrationology.com/koh-kret-day-trip-bangkok/
For an evening, maybe the Muay Thai at Rajadamnern or Lumpinee Stadum:
https://rajadamnern.com/
https://www.lumpineemuaythai.com/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMImN-dsKfe4wIVRXZgCh0NdwRAEAAYAiAAEgJWDPD_BwE
Believe me, seeing Muay Thai at a real, professional, stadium is nothing, nothing at all, like seeing it at one of the tourist oriented rings.
Bangkok Art and Cultural Centre and the Jim Thompson House are very close together
https://en.bacc.or.th/
http://www.jimthompsonhouse.com/
These last two may be of more interest to you than to your friend. Which brings me to a suggestion: offer him a day off to go off on his own and leave you to do the same. A whole week in Bangkok, and feeling obliged to keep you entertained may be quite stressful for him. Give him the chance of a break. On a similar note, do not assume that staying in a nice hotel and eating in good restaurants will be a treat for him. He may actually find that stressful as well, if he feels out of place there. Watch out for signs of that, and be kind. Let him choose where to eat sometimes and don't be surprised if it is a food court or street stall.

For the weekends, maybe the market at Koh Kret. I have been there and it's fun - and a chance to ride the river boats:
https://migrationology.com/koh-kret-day-trip-bangkok/
For an evening, maybe the Muay Thai at Rajadamnern or Lumpinee Stadum:
https://rajadamnern.com/
https://www.lumpineemuaythai.com/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMImN-dsKfe4wIVRXZgCh0NdwRAEAAYAiAAEgJWDPD_BwE
Believe me, seeing Muay Thai at a real, professional, stadium is nothing, nothing at all, like seeing it at one of the tourist oriented rings.
Bangkok Art and Cultural Centre and the Jim Thompson House are very close together
https://en.bacc.or.th/
http://www.jimthompsonhouse.com/
These last two may be of more interest to you than to your friend. Which brings me to a suggestion: offer him a day off to go off on his own and leave you to do the same. A whole week in Bangkok, and feeling obliged to keep you entertained may be quite stressful for him. Give him the chance of a break. On a similar note, do not assume that staying in a nice hotel and eating in good restaurants will be a treat for him. He may actually find that stressful as well, if he feels out of place there. Watch out for signs of that, and be kind. Let him choose where to eat sometimes and don't be surprised if it is a food court or street stall.

For the weekends, maybe the market at Koh Kret. I have been there and it's fun - and a chance to ride the river boats:
https://migrationology.com/koh-kret-day-trip-bangkok/
For an evening, maybe the Muay Thai at Rajadamnern or Lumpinee Stadum:
https://rajadamnern.com/
https://www.lumpineemuaythai.com/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMImN-dsKfe4wIVRXZgCh0NdwRAEAAYAiAAEgJWDPD_BwE
Believe me, seeing Muay Thai at a real, professional, stadium is nothing, nothing at all, like seeing it at one of the tourist oriented rings.
Bangkok Art and Cultural Centre and the Jim Thompson House are very close together
https://en.bacc.or.th/
http://www.jimthompsonhouse.com/
These last two may be of more interest to you than to your friend. Which brings me to a suggestion: offer him a day off to go off on his own and leave you to do the same. A whole week in Bangkok, and feeling obliged to keep you entertained may be quite stressful for him. Give him the chance of a break. On a similar note, do not assume that staying in a nice hotel and eating in good restaurants will be a treat for him. He may actually find that stressful as well, if he feels out of place there. Watch out for signs of that, and be kind. Let him choose where to eat sometimes and don't be surprised if it is a food court or street stall.

A boy I met in 2010 or 11 told me: "My friend has (I can't make out the word)". Your friend has what? "My friend has (I can't make out the word)".
Then I asked him to write the word on my phone: pormbel. I understand written, even if mangled, much better than spoken and instantly understood: problem.

And "cucumber" is, indeed, what it was. He must have heard the word from another Thai and spelt it phonetically, as he had heard it.

There is, I believe, a collection company in Thailand which collects royalties from public venues playing music copyrighted outside Thailand. They sell what are, in effect, public performance licences and distribute the revenues among their clients. The equivalent organisation in the UK is the Performing Rights Society.
One of the reasons you hear western music in these venues is that there is just one such company so licencing is simple. For Thai music there are more than 20 and it is easy not to have the right licences and too costly to have them all.
Castro and the Venue probably do have the right licences. The licence companies do inspect and do prosecute. If you were a barber's shop in Nakhon Nowhere you could probably get away with not having one, but an entertainment venue in a tourist district? I doubt it.
 

I'm not surprised you have problems. If you have free encounters, as you put it, then it is a personal relationship between equals. They are not employees, available at your pleasure and if you treat them as such, which you seem to do, you  are asking for trouble. It would seem you sometimes get it.

Maybe the girlie bars in Patpong were unwilling to sublet free space to competition. Gay bars aren't competition for what they have to offer.

You'll have more fun lying down.

I have no accumulated stuff. When I made the permanent move to Thailand, I sold, gave away or threw away everything I owned, bar the contents of 1 suitcase, which was all I took with me. It was liberating.
As far as gifts go, have you and Christian never heard the expression "it's the thought that counts"?. Sometimes it requires greater graciousness and generosity of spirit to receive than it does to give. Perhaps if you were to reflect on the thoughtfulness, care and wish to do something nice for you that has gone into a gift, rather than how much use it is to you, you might feel better about receiving it?
That goes double if it is one of your friends (paid or otherwise) in Thailand. You are probably dealing with people who are, financially, much worse off than you. The cost of a plate of rice and curry is a lot of money to someone who has to live on plates of rice and curry. Then the gift to you actually serves two purposes. The first, as before, is to do something nice for you. The second is to make the boy feel better about himself  as not being totally dependent on you and not being in a relationship that is just about your money.
Be gracious. Be grateful - the rewards will not be material, but they will be far beyond the material value of a few baht's worth of food.
 

You'll have more fun lying down.

I have no accumulated stuff. When I made the permanent move to Thailand, I sold, gave away or threw away everything I owned, bar the contents of 1 suitcase, which was all I took with me. It was liberating.
As far as gifts go, have you and Christian never heard the expression "it's the thought that counts"?. Sometimes it requires greater graciousness and generosity of spirit to receive than it does to give. Perhaps if you were to reflect on the thoughtfulness, care and wish to do something nice for you that has gone into a gift, rather than how much use it is to you, you might feel better about receiving it?
That goes double if it is one of your friends (paid or otherwise) in Thailand. You are probably dealing with people who are, financially, much worse off than you. The cost of a plate of rice and curry is a lot of money to someone who has to live on plates of rice and curry. Then the gift to you actually serves two purposes. The first, as before, is to do something nice for you. The second is to make the boy feel better about himself  as not being totally dependent on you and not being in a relationship that is just about your money.
Be gracious. Be grateful - the rewards will not be material, but they will be far beyond the material value of a few baht's worth of food.
 

I have no accumulated stuff. When I made the permanent move to Thailand, I sold, gave away or threw away everything I owned, bar the contents of 1 suitcase, which was all I took with me. It was liberating.
As far as gifts go, have you and Christian never heard the expression "it's the thought that counts"?. Sometimes it requires greater graciousness and generosity of spirit to receive than it does to give. Perhaps if you were to reflect on the thoughtfulness, care and wish to do something nice for you that has gone into a gift, rather than how much use it is to you, you might feel better about receiving it?
That goes double if it is one of your friends (paid or otherwise) in Thailand. You are probably dealing with people who are, financially, much worse off than you. The cost of a plate of rice and curry is a lot of money to someone who has to live on plates of rice and curry. Then the gift to you actually serves two purposes. The first, as before, is to do something nice for you. The second is to make the boy feel better about himself  as not being totally dependent on you and not being in a relationship that is just about your money.
Be gracious. Be grateful - the rewards will not be material, but they will be far beyond the material value of a few baht's worth of food.
 

You'll have more fun lying down.

I have no accumulated stuff. When I made the permanent move to Thailand, I sold, gave away or threw away everything I owned, bar the contents of 1 suitcase, which was all I took with me. It was liberating.
As far as gifts go, have you and Christian never heard the expression "it's the thought that counts"?. Sometimes it requires greater graciousness and generosity of spirit to receive than it does to give. Perhaps if you were to reflect on the thoughtfulness, care and wish to do something nice for you that has gone into a gift, rather than how much use it is to you, you might feel better about receiving it?
That goes double if it is one of your friends (paid or otherwise) in Thailand. You are probably dealing with people who are, financially, much worse off than you. The cost of a plate of rice and curry is a lot of money to someone who has to live on plates of rice and curry. Then the gift to you actually serves two purposes. The first, as before, is to do something nice for you. The second is to make the boy feel better about himself  as not being totally dependent on you and not being in a relationship that is just about your money.
Be gracious. Be grateful - the rewards will not be material, but they will be far beyond the material value of a few baht's worth of food.
 

I have no accumulated stuff. When I made the permanent move to Thailand, I sold, gave away or threw away everything I owned, bar the contents of 1 suitcase, which was all I took with me. It was liberating.
As far as gifts go, have you and Christian never heard the expression "it's the thought that counts"?. Sometimes it requires greater graciousness and generosity of spirit to receive than it does to give. Perhaps if you were to reflect on the thoughtfulness, care and wish to do something nice for you that has gone into a gift, rather than how much use it is to you, you might feel better about receiving it?
That goes double if it is one of your friends (paid or otherwise) in Thailand. You are probably dealing with people who are, financially, much worse off than you. The cost of a plate of rice and curry is a lot of money to someone who has to live on plates of rice and curry. Then the gift to you actually serves two purposes. The first, as before, is to do something nice for you. The second is to make the boy feel better about himself  as not being totally dependent on you and not being in a relationship that is just about your money.
Be gracious. Be grateful - the rewards will not be material, but they will be far beyond the material value of a few baht's worth of food.
 

I have no accumulated stuff. When I made the permanent move to Thailand, I sold, gave away or threw away everything I owned, bar the contents of 1 suitcase, which was all I took with me. It was liberating.
As far as gifts go, have you and Christian never heard the expression "it's the thought that counts"?. Sometimes it requires greater graciousness and generosity of spirit to receive than it does to give. Perhaps if you were to reflect on the thoughtfulness, care and wish to do something nice for you that has gone into a gift, rather than how much use it is to you, you might feel better about receiving it?
That goes double if it is one of your friends (paid or otherwise) in Thailand. You are probably dealing with people who are, financially, much worse off than you. The cost of a plate of rice and curry is a lot of money to someone who has to live on plates of rice and curry. Then the gift to you actually serves two purposes. The first, as before, is to do something nice for you. The second is to make the boy feel better about himself  as not being totally dependent on you and not being in a relationship that is just about your money.
Be gracious. Be grateful - the rewards will not be material, but they will be far beyond the material value of a few baht's worth of food.
 

Google translate is OK but, in part because of the different structures of English and Thai, not always reliable.
For anything important I do a back translation (translating English to Thai and back to English again.) If the back translation is not satisfactory, change the wording in the original until you are happy with it.
Keep it as simple as you possibly can.

I don't know about Vietnam, but in Thailand it is the Thai authorities. Without that, no funeral is possible. The body stays in the morgue.
Unless you have made a Thai will nominating an executor with the specific power to make funeral arrangements (as I have, with my boyfriend as executor)
It's as much for the benefit of my next of kin in England as for any other reason. Without it, they would have the task of negotiating Thai bureaucracy and arranging a funeral from several  thousand miles away.

They may already know. I did not come out to friends and family until my youth was long gone.
Almost all said something along the lines of "what kept you? We knew that for years". Turns out that what I had not spoken of out of delicacy for their feelings, they had not spoken of out of delicacy for mine. So it goes.