PeterRS

Why? I have roughly 60 boarding passes on my phone. The phone automatically stores them and I can not be bothered deleting them! @Olddaddy I'm still waiting to hear why you spend 20,000 points for one night in a hotel that costs less than around Bt. 2,000? That seems a complete waste of points when less than 10 nights @ 20,000 miles ought to get you something like a free business class ticket from Sydney at least as far as Asia - if not Europe.

The full horror started the same day. On 17 April, the day the Khmer forces entered Phnom Penh, all givernment soldiers were rounded up, taken to the Olympic Stadium and immediately executed. I cannot find any evidence that the Khmer Rouge fighters were welcomed with flowers. Indeed, at 7:45 am on the same day the soldiers arrived, loudspeakers ordered everyone in the city to evacuate. The announcement made clear that "anyone who refused to move would be shot dead." The welcoming with flowers seems to have been a piece of propaganda.

Totally agree that Hopkins is one of the great actors. Of all his movies, I would pick one of the Merchant-Ivory classics "Remains of the Day" where he plays an emotionally and sexually repressed bulter opposite Emma Thomson' housekeeper. He plays the role to perfection. We should all be grateful that he moved to the USA. Before then he performed mostly on the British stage with such eminent companies as the National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company. Sadly, at that time, he was known to be a drunk and made life difficult for everyone. SInce 1975 he has been sober.

What to make a msall bet? That area will be being redeveloped by then!!!

I was and remain a member of the Foreign Correspondents' Club in Hong Kong. Hugh was a regular around the bar there and always maintained that the location of his photo of evacuees was not the American Embassy. He had been walking around Saigon taking photos of the chaos when he popped into the UPI office to develop some film. During the process a colleague shouted at him to come out with a telphoto lens on his camera. He managed to take 12 photos of the evacuation from that building. It was in fact the Pittman Apartment Building where many CIA and USAID families were housed. Also the date of the photo was April 29. It could not have been April 30 because President Ford had ordered a stop to all helicopter flights from around 4:00 am on the 30th when there would not have been enough light for photos. Someone at UPI then submitted the photo and incorrectly stated it was the Embassy building. Hugh's passion was photography. His only disappontment was that he received no royalties from that iconic photo. These went to UPI!

I believe the Khmer Rouge entered Phnom Penh on April 17 almost a couple of weeks before Vietnam celebrated its total independence on April 30.

Funny that the headline mentions overseas tourists but the study describes nothing about them. Only the sub-heading mentions a total estimated tourist spend. Before we get carried away, let's realise that that article is almost all specifically related to Thais. For example - 1. How many overseas couples would plan to have a wedding with between 50 and 100 guests in Thailand? A handful perhaps? 2. Annual travel budgets of Bt. 20,000 - 30,000? That wouldn't even get more than a tiny fraction of couples into the country let alone spending anything here. 3. Roughly 45% plan to buy houses. Foreigners cannot! 4. 86% will seek mortgages. Foreigners cannot! 5. Half plan to spend Bt. 20,000 - 30,000 on annual health insurance. Good luck on foreigners finding rates that low! 5. 77% of lesbians spend between Bt. 2,000 and 5,000 per month on dates. How many gay foreigners get away with anything like as low as that in a month? A couple of nights maybe!

US$50,000 for a wedding! Gulp!

That's a huge number of points for a hotel room that probably costs - what - less than Bt. 2,000 per night! I do not know what the conversion rates are on your particular mileage plan, but 10 nights at the Tarntawan at 200,000 points would get me a business class long haul flight from BKK to the USA on Cathay Pacific's Asia Miles. Looking briefly at the LH flight awards chart mentioned by @vinapu, just 7 nights at the Tarntawan would get you a business class return ticket between Bangkok and Europe!

Most of us grew up with it. For some it had been a long drawn out ghastly struggle. For many it would result in even longer bitter memories of the death of colleagues and loved ones. For others it was a mere tangent to history in a part of the world we knew precious little about. For 3 million Vietnamese, they had died where they fought or lived, victims of an illegal war waged as we now know on the mere pretence of enemy action against a US warship. Although the Vietnam War officially ended with a Peace Deal between Vietnam and the USA in January 1973, one party broke the deal. North Vietnam kept up its activities in the South until it fully united the country. Liberation Day was April 30 1975. For Americans it had all started in 1954 with the humiliating defeat of the France colonial army at Điện Biên Phủ. The French general in charge committed suicide and France finally pulled out of its Indo-Chinese colonies quickly thereafter. President Truman had tried to stop the French from returning after WWII only to be met with a firm "Non!" by French leader General De Gaulle. De Gaulle then tried to persuade America to enter the war on its side. This time it was President Eisenhower who said "No". On April 27 he wrote to his good friend Edward ‘Swede’ Hazlett, “Any nation that intervenes in a civil war can scarcely expect to win unless the side in whose favor it intervenes possesses a high morale based upon a war purpose or cause in which it believes. The French have used weasel words in promising independence and through this one reason, as much as anything else, have suffered reverses that have been really inexcusable.” Yet despite Eisenhower's reluctance, with the French finally out of South East Asia the spectre of the "domino theory" had started to raise its ugly head in the corridors of Washington. At the end of his administration in January 1961, Eisenhower’s thoughts about Vietnam being a "civil war" had evaporated and the "domino theory" had gained the upper hand. By this time the United States was providing unwavering support and power to the unstable, utterly corrupt and unpredictable anti-communist government of South Vietnam led by the President Ngô Đình Diệm. Virtually no-one in the USA voiced any criticism of the incompetence of the cigar-chomping Diệm. A staunch Catholic, he promoted Catholic values and permitted that Church exemptions in property acquisition. When in protest Buddhist monks started self-immolating the the streets, Diệm's wife virtually encouraged this by saying, "If Budhists want to have another barbecue, I will be gad to supply the gasoline!" By this time, though, he United States had begun its long effort to prop up the south by financing an increase in the South Vietnam army by over 150,000 troops. Following a coup on November 1 that year, Diệm was deposed. On the following day he was assassinated. The coup had been backed by America’s CIA, the first of the CIA’s many actions during the ensuing Vietnam War, although far from the first of such operations in the region - as the peoples of Laos were well aware. What happened thereafter is less important for we now know so many of the facts. None have been more revealing than those written by Robert McNamara, the former US Secretary of Defense and one of the primary architects of the Vietnam War. In 1995 he wrote an astonishing mea culpa in his book "In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam." He writes, " We of the Kennedy and Johnson administrations who participated on the decisions on Vietnam acted according to what we thought were the principles and traditions of this nation We made our decisions in the light of those values. Yet we were wrong, terribly wrong. We owe it to future generations to explain why."

As I have got older, that's another issue that bugs me about paid sex - getting your money's worth. Yes, I know it's a transaction and there should be rules. But now I find when it comes to sex, I hate being limited by "rules of engagement" which I guess they might be termed. I no longer like it being a one-sided arrangement - although, once again, I accept that the boy gets his cash. I also like to take time both before and after. I'd hate it if I had to say to someone, "I paid for an hour and there are 30 minutes left!" Worse would be the boy saying "You've had your hour and I have another customer waiting." But these are merely my views.

That certainly was Lee's view, Additonally he wanted to ensure the very best talent entered government service rather than being wooed away by business corporations. And to a very large extent I believe in Singapore's circumstances he was correct. But there are virtually no other democracies in the world prepared to accept such a very high level of salaries paid to members of parliament, government ministers and top civil servants. The electorates just would not stand for it. As Lee was to all intents and purposes a dictator - a benevolent one in the view of many - he did what he wanted. He brooked no opposition in parliament and routinely jailed the one or two elected opposition members, often on trumped up charges. Besides, paying such high salaries did not root out corruption. It still exsts in Singapore - as witness the mega 1MDB Malaysian financial scandal. Massive amounts of cash were laundered through banks in various countries, including SIngapore. The Monetary Authority of Singapore even went to the extent of withdrawing BSI's status as a merchant bank. Other SIngapore banks involved were the mighty DBS, UBS of Switzerland, Standard Chartered and Falcon PBS. A total of eight other banks were penaised for involvement in the fraudulent 1MDB scheme. More than a dozen individuals were also charged and penalised. In 2024 a former Minister of Transport, S. Iswaran, was sentenced to a year in jail for obtaining gifts of around US$310,000. As Minister, he had been receiving a salary and official benefits of US$50,000. Yet he was not charged with corruption. To be corrupt in Singapore the prosecution has to prove that the accused not only accepted gratification, but also that these bribes affected their judgment. Many minor officials have been convicted of what to all intents and purposes is corruption.

That's precisely what the funds for the Trust set up by his siser is set up to do. The money is all to be given away. I have absoutely no idea! But we should not forget that he is essentially the Chief Executive of one of the world's largest wealthy organsations and has to work really hard virtually every day. He basically rules over 1.4 billion people. Should he be paid so much less than Mark Zukerberg, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates or other top businessmen all of whom also have a host of additiona perks? After his retirement when all his Board and lodgings were covered by the Vatican, Benedict XVI was on a pension of US$2,500 per month. He was something of a bon viveur and was frequently seen dining at a nice restaurant close to the Vatican walls. How do you compare? The Prime Minster of Singapore who rules over less than 7 million has a salary of US$2.2 million. The Prime Minister of Thailand earns about US$27,000 in a country more than ten times the size - both presumably also have perks. Who is worth what amount?

The extraordinary journey of Pope Francis continues as his final will has become public. This man who gave up his US$32,000 per month salary and all other manner of perks made arrangements for the funds to go into a Trust. That trust was given to his younger sister after his death. This equally modest woman had never once played up her connection to the Pope. Equally neither brother nor sister had forgotten the other as they corresponded weekly. He asked her not to attend his coronation so as not to draw the media sttention away from his Church. She never flew to be with him in Rome and he never visited her in Argentina. Yet their bond was unbreakable. When she saw how much he had left her to head up a Trust made up of other good men and women she cried. This was not money for a statue, a church or some other tangible symbol of his position as Pope. It asked her to continue his mission by spending the money on the poor, the homeless, education and other issues close to his heart. Money from many other sources is now flowing into that Trust. I beieve this has made Pope Francis unique. His life was one of simplicity, generosity of spirit, kindness, love. Now in death his legacy will ensure that his life's work continues.

For a dozen years I would blow miles on a biz class round trip to spend Christmas or New Year with friends in Sydney. Every year I tried Qantas months in an advance and could never once get a seat. Thankfully BA then had a flight to BKK that went on to Sydney and I was always able to get a seat on that carrier.

When I first flew on Qatar in 2009 to LGW I had completely forgotten to fill out the loyalty club application. I did so on the final leg back to Bangkok, enclosed the four boarding passes, sealed it and sent it off. QR received it for they gave me a loyalty club number but they said they never received the boarding passes. I offered to send them the baggage tags which quite clearly mentioned my name, flights and date. These were not acceptable although QR never explained why. So I decided not to put mileage on to QR instead sticking with CX's Asia Miles. But I now get endless QR emails to loyalty club members but have never accrued any mileage on the airline!

Wonderful film with as @BjornAgain points out amazing acting from Hopkins and Coleman. Hopkins was the oldest to win the Best Actor Oscar in the year everyone thought it would go to the late Chadwick Boseman. But also more than a little frightening. It reminded me of the Judi Dench movie "Iris" where she pays the novelist Iris Murdoch as she first realises she has dementia and follows her through that horrible journey. Jim Broadbent, so good in so many movies, plays her husband determined not to leave her in an institution, the role which won him a Best Supporting Actor Oscar. Masterfully directed by Richard Eyre.

Returning to @bkkmfj2648's point, Japan has a huge sex industry. I recall reading somewhere that it contributes somewhere between 3% and 5% to GDP. Of course, most of this is for local consumption but anyone who has been to the foreigner-welcome bars and the main saunas will know that there is a large number of tourists and foreign residents. And the gay scene covers many of the country's cities. Yet, few consider Japan a sex haven. That is the sort of image Thailand's elite want. Keep the sex if you must but keep it well away from the front pages.

On one occasion I was surprised when I looked at my mileage statement - but for very different reason. There seemed to be too many miles! I was on one of those really useful round-the-world tickets. When I got to London I was asked by a client to meet up in Palm Springs. Since I still had some spare coupons, before flying to the US I went to BA at Heathrow and had return flights from LAX to Palm Springs on AA added. No problem. In any case it's less than 200 kms between the airports. Arriving back at LAX I was flying up to San Jose where AA had recently started a non-stop flight to Taipei. I then ended up with a stop-over in Hong Kong before getting home to Bangkok. The airport code for Palm Spring is PPS. For some reason, AA had inserted into the mileage computer the outward ticket as LAX to DPS. Why no one wondered that the next flight was PPS back to LAX I have not the faintest idea. But did I care? DPS is Denpasar, Bali. So I gained 4,000 miles.

Thanks for the information.

Great to see comments. but please remember I asked for just one sentence to explain the reason for your preferring a particular movie. It concentrates the mind on why you really like it!

Not necessarily. It's a reason those who pay have decided to pay. if there are your type of guys willing and able to fulfil your desires just to fulfil their own, why pay? Again I disagree. It's a common argument, I admit, but I do not agree that it is valid in many cases.

The Tourism Authority may be keen on doing something but the government definitely will not. There are still far too many in the elite who loathe - loathe - Bangkok being called the sex capital of Asia. And by Bangkok they mean the country as a whole. As Alex Kerr wrote 20 years ago in his perceptive book "Bangkok Found", the elite want sex out of the picture. Gay Pride marches and international World Pride events are great for image and they will go along with that. Promoting gay gogo bars are no-nos for them.

This was basically an English language remake of the Hong Kong movie "Internal Affairs". It won a ton of awards at the Hong Kong Film Festival, just as "The Departed" won top awards at the Oscars.

Using scissors? To reach the heart, he'd have to break through the rib cage. That's hard enough with surgical instruments. How do you manage that with scissors?