PeterRS

This is an interesting article about the background to the particular form of circumcision in The Philippines. Apparently there is a circumcision season! Perhaps this should be obvious as it is during a school holiday break and the boys would have to heal before term started again. And one reason for almost every boy wishing the procedure done is to avoid what is usually considerable ridicule from their peers. Other reasons are more debatable - as in it helps ensure penile hygene and reduces the risk of urinary infections! Against that, one midwife points out that the foreskin is far from useless as it contributes to "lubrication during intercourse, safeguards the glass from abrasions and infections, and enhances pleasure for both partners." Not that these issues are likely to change anyone's mind in that country. Although the article does not make this point, despite the government making circumcision free, in the countryside it is often a mass circumcision ceremony by an unqualified or less than qualified medical expert. https://www.rappler.com/life-and-style/arts-culture/filipino-male-circumcision-practice-medical-procedure-tradition-stands-strong/

From the Bangkok Post - Authorities on Koh Samui have ramped up security measures, inspecting all vehicles and individuals arriving on the island following the discovery of several suspected explosive devices in the southern tourist provinces of Phuket and Krabi . . . The heightened security comes in response to a series of incidents in Phuket and Krabi, many of which appeared to be connected and part of a broader attempt to destabilise southern provinces, authorities said. More at https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/3059848/security-tightened-on-koh-samui-after-phuket-incidents https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/3058642/bomb-squads-destroy-more-devices-in-phuket-and-krabi

Or take a trip to Khao Lak - you won't find many people there 🤣. But it's pricey!

I am sure there are areas nearby his present location. The late and much lamented restaurant La Table de Tee off Saladaeng (about 2/3rds along) may not have been a gay restaurant but many gay guys dined there and the maitre d' was gay. As long as it is relatively close to the present location I believe it is likely to draw in roughly the same crowd. Although not a gay restaurant, one example could be the French restaurant Le Bouchon which for decades was a fixture in Patpong 2. 3 or 4 years or so ago it moved quite far into the original Babylon sauna building off Sathorn Soi 1. It has since expanded and business is booming.

September in Thailand is generally regarded as in the low season. That's partly due to its still being in the rainy season. October is also usually bad for rain but for some reason many hoteliers now push it as the start of the high season.

Are you not talking about something that happened in Belgium 5 years ago? If so, what has that to do with Budapest Pride 2025? If not, then please provide more detail.

Hard to believe that nearly 20 years have passed since this iconic movie hit theatres around the world starting in December 2005. It was re-released in certain territories last week. Less hard to believe even today are the difficulties the film makers endured in getting Annie Proulx's short novel on to the screen. Director Ang Lee was on board from the start. The story about ordinary American cowboys who fall in love despite the serious reservations of one of the pair, however, was not popular with studios or with certain well known actors. Jake Gyllenhaal liked the script immediately. Other actors were approached about the role of Ennis, some even accepting. But all eventually turned down the role. The late Heath Ledger was initially thought to be not macho enough, but got the part because he had appeared in an earlier gay movie. Nominated for Best Picture at the 2006 Oscars, the movie lost out to what was politely called a piece of cheap trash titled Crash. Several critics derided the selection and called out the Academy for being homophobic. Hardly surprising as there had been many instances of Hollywood actually being homophobic. But the movie was a popular hit grossing US$176 million worldwide on a budget of around $14 million - and that was before DVD sales which totalled one million in the first week of sales in the USA.

The public protests have started. Yesterday evening a crowd estimated at 10,000 or more congregated at Victory Monument to hear a number of speeches, the main topic being that the Prime Minister must go. As reported in today's Bangkok Post, while veteran protest leader Sondhi Limthongkul said - "he doesn’t want to see the situation deteriorate to the point where another coup happens, 'I won’t object if the military does something.'" Worse was to come for the Shinawatra clan. Once the darling of masses of Thais, Thaksin Shinawatra has become part of the dialogue and it will not be what he wants to hear. "Saturday’s rally concluded with a pledge by Jatuporn Prompan, a former red shirt leader who is now an outspoken critic of former PM Thaksin Shinawatra, that there would be more to come if Thaksin’s daughter clings to power." Dr Warong Dechgitvigrom, the royalist leader of the Thai Pakdee Party, mentioned past political movements that led to the removal of Thaksin, Somchai Wongsawat (Thaksin’s brother-in-law) and Yingluck Shinawatra. He warned that Ms Paetongtarn was on a similar path. “She should be alarmed seeing the crowds here today. If she doesn’t change course, she has no choice but to step down,” he said. “We are facing a prime minister with the DNA of a traitor, while our soldiers protect national sovereignty.” Protestors also turned their anger on any party which supports the Prime Minister. "In earlier speeches amid intermittent heavy rain at Victory Monument, other protest leaders said that not only Ms Paetongtarn, but any parties that support the coalition government, must go." https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/3059860/protest-leader-we-dont-want-a-coup-but-…

The K-Pop industry is so isolated and very much a closed community. In the last couple of years it has been known, very sadly, for the suicides of a few top young stars. Most suspect that a few or more of the boys in the boy bands must be gay, but maybe that was just a fantasy. Now one of its stars has openly come out as gay. Halfway through his band's last concert in Los Angeles in April, the end of a major world tour, 24-year old singer Bain of the group Just B told thousands of fans, "Before I start the next song, I want to share something with you guys. I'm proud to be part of the LGBTQ community." It was the most public outing of any K-Pop star. He told the BBC that he was not nervous. He had known since the age of 12 that he was gay. When he joined the K-Pop trainee studio, he thought none of the others were gay. As he reached his 20s, he felt so conflicted about his sexuality. The one person he told was, rather surprisngly given the conservative nature of Korean society, his mother. She was initially sad but promised to support his choice, as did his fellow band members who had come to know. Since the announcement, Bain has become the new face of the Korean LGBTQ community. photo: BBC Korean/Jungmin Choi https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn5kx7wn1nzo

Great idea and great photo. This is another amazing photo of the crowds attending the march crossing Budapest's Elisabeth Bridge. Estimates of attendance vary between 180,000 and 200,000. Photo: Rudolf Karancsi/AP

There used to be a couple of guys who lived in the large apartment next to mine (they left aout 8 years ago). One was a regular at Telephone/Circus bar in the evenings meeting up with farang friends. The other cruised frequently in Silom Complex at Saladaeng BTS Station. He was quite a bit older than @Olddaddy is now (I believe) and I do not know how he was successful, but I would sometimes see him coming back in the lift with quite handsome guys.

TG has a dreadful reputation for the manner in which it purchased too many different types of aircraft and then pulling them out of service relatively quickly. Their 10 A340s purchased primarily for the American routes have not been operating since 2015. As the first only entered service in 2005, they should have been sold as quickly as possible for whatever the market would bear. Instead, with one exception, they remained rotting at various domestic airports. In 2022 The Nation reported that five were sold for a relative pittance, but even these aircraft remain stuck in Thailand! Three are on the tarmac at Don Mueang; six at U-tapao. Similarly with the six A380s. Instead of just keeping them maintained when pulled out of service at the start of covid, they have been left basically to rot at BKK. Even with other carriers putting some back into service, TG cannot because it will cost far too much just to get them properly maintained. I read somewhere that to make these aircraft airworthy will cost an absolute minimum of US$30 million - each! They are on the market in an 'as is, where is' condition and worth a small fraction of what TG paid for them.

I have just come across this thread and have to add I am more than a little confused. My fault, I'm sure, as I have not read every single post in detail, so apologies for that in advance. I had never heard the name Austin Wolf until I read this thread. I have never seen any video involving him. No doubt that's because I'm only interested in Asian guys. That he might - stress might - have made the vdo being discussed or just had it in his possession I find utterly disgusting. My reason for posting now is twofold. First, I noted this in a post by @Riobard on July 22 2024 - "Wasn’t there a poster here a while back that arrogantly disparaged layperson jury trials?" I do not recall that post but for clarification I did make one post myself on another thread regarding a programme made on British television in which a made-up case was tried before two juries of 12 men and women. The cameras took viewers into the jury rooms to hear the deliberations. The interesting point was that one jury found the 'accused' guilty and the other 'innocent'. It merely raised the issue of whether trial by jury is the most ideal form of obtaining justice. But the second point I want to make is that the sort of videos being discussed used to be quite common in Thailand. I cannot pinpoint dates but I guess until about 25 years ago there were porn vdo sellers who used to roam the gay beach in Pattaya. Among these were vdos clearly made in Thailand of older men with quite obviously considerably underage participants. I found one in a batch of vdos I had bought and it sickened me, just as I literally felt like being sick when around the same time I wandered into a Sunee Plaza bar where the boys sitting around the stage were definitely more than a little underage. Thankfully, I believe this form of disgusting exploitation has stopped - at least in tourist areas.

It's been known for years that one who has coveted the role of PM for some years is the former Deputy PM and one-time Minister of Health, Anutin Charnvirakul - never a fan of western foreigners living in Thailand. Even though he led his Bhumjaithai Party out of the government last week over the Cambodia situation, the likelihood is that he will be hatching some plot in the background.

Hun Sen is now turning his ire on the Shinawatra clan. He has accused the PM's father of feigning the illness that kept him out of prison, something most Thais had probably assumed. "Hun Sen claimed that Thaksin was not genuinely ill, accusing him of pretending to suffer from symptoms such as chills, shivering and other exaggerated signs — like being chills in a tractor, chills in a car, chills while eating and chills while performing — all staged to avoid court proceedings in multiple legal cases. "Hun Sen recounted that when he visited Thaksin on Feb 21, 2024, Thaksin showed no signs of illness. However, when taking photos together, Thaksin wore medical equipment typically used by patients, allegedly to deceive the public and Thai officials." Of the preent situation, "He claimed he had 'lost patience' with the Thai prime minister due to repeated insults, describing her comments to the Second Army Region commander as rebellious. He also expressed readiness for Cambodia to take military action if necessary. " More at - https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/politics/3059273/hun-sen-says-thailand-owes-him-gratitude-threatens-to-expose-shinawatras

It is definitely a cultural practice and in the countryside often badly done. It's more a rite of passage performed just before boys reach their teens. Something like 92% of Filipino's have this done and from reports it is extremely painful.

I was at BNH last week for a bad bronchial cough. I was rather surprised that one of the tests they did was for covid.

It's the plane that was just supposed to die after the pandemic. Now dozens are back in the air with probably more to come as a result of the even further delays to the Boeing 777X aircraft. Only posting this vdo because I like it! Just as I really like another with three of the same types of aircraft landing, only that time I was rather sad. It was three Concordes landing at Heathrow for the last time. One was the regular flight from New York; the other two special charters. But it was the end of an era and the last time we saw that miraculous Delta-wing shape in the air. Much of the discussion is by John Hutchison who was a senior Concorde pilot for many years.

Taking up @joizy's comment about boys being clingy and @Olddaddy's comment about giving out emails, I once had a dreadful experience when working in Tokyo - and it was entirely my fault. I was in the original 24 Kaikan in Asakusa and met a lovely young guy. As we were cuddling after finishing, I semi-whispered in his ear that I would love to see him again. No reaction. So I repeated it. Then it dawned on me that he was actually deaf. We went down to the bar where I got us beers. He understood some English and wrote that he'd like to meet me again. This was in the days when emails were just becoming popular but I was not very used to them. With utter stupidity I handed him my business card. Not hearing from him for weeks, it all went out of my mind. Until . . . The company i worked for had offices in about 45 cities around the world. Incoming emails were sorted and every fax for each department was then clipped together and handed to the head of each local department. Another copy of each batch was then sent to the office of the Chairman in the USA. Why this waste of trees, I have absolutely no idea, but it was company policy. The Tokyo office worked a 5-day week, but as I was travelling so frequently, I would sometimes go in on a Saturday to catch up on correspondence. On this particular Saturday, having gone through the batches of faxs on my desk, I have no idea what made me decide to go downstairs to the fax machine to see if any fax had come in for me that I could attend to immediately. I was then horrified to see that my friend from 24 Kaikan had faxed me a handwritten note saying he had enjoyed sex with me and when could we meet again? Had I not decided to check the faxs that morning, even the Chairman would have received a copy of that fax! I quickly took it out of the pile, checked there was only one, and wrote back to the guy never to use the company fax again. It was a lesson well learned about giving guys contact details!

Deleted

I recall at the start of the 'troubles' in Northern Ireland in the early 1980s ten alleged members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) went on hunger strike in prison. The British government allowed all to die. I personally cannot see the point of hunger strikes unless the result is almost certain to be a favourable outcome for the striker. The man in the OP is already suffering medical issues, hardly beneficial to a body builder even if his strike succeeds. A quick glance at the history of hunger strikes seems to show that only in the case of mass hunger strike protests are they likely to achieve anything like their desired result. But most such mass strikes are said at the outset to be of limited duration - not until death.

Well, not quite! He's 99 tomorrow and I hope he not only makes it but several more birthdays in future. I'll always remember one of his funniest jokes, but cannot recall where or when I heard it! He had proposed to the lovely actor Anne Bancroft who had said "Yes!" He then had to tell his very Jewish mother he would be marrying a Roman Catholic. She accepted the news, at first seeming to give him her blessing. She then added, "Have her come round for lunch on Sunday. I'll be in the kitchen - with my head in the oven!"

There's definitely Only Fans content on quite a number of porn sites, several featuring Asian guys.

As Thailand seeks to increase its revenues by attracting more and more of the richer expats as retirees, it might begin to consider what has happened in another popular destination, Portugal. For those living in Europe - or even further afield but anxious to consider retirement in Europe - Portugal became so popular it was top of most lists for quite a few years. Retirement visas were cheap, regulations relatively easy and the possibility of citizenship and free healthcare after 5 years very enticing for some. Those now considering a European country best forget about Portugal. It has become so popular that Lisbon, once the most affordable capital in Europe, is now its most expensive. Foreigners have snapped up so many apartments, many merely as second homes, that prices have gone through the roof and Portuguese cannot afford to live there. This is a country where 60% of the population earns less than US$1,000 a month. Finding even an affordable 20 sq. m room is now difficult. Near most of Lisbon's tourist destinations, short term rentals now account for 70% of all accommodation. The number of hotels has tripled. Naturally parts of the country remain much less expensive. But the retirees want to be based mostly in the bigger cities of Lisbon and Porto. Being far larger than Portugal, Thailand is unlikely to find itself in such a drastic situation as Portugal. But as the government tries to find more cash, the danger is it will either make life more difficult for some Thais - or drive exiesting retirees elsewhere. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jun/25/lisbon-europe-portugal-golden-visa-capital-investors-short-term-rentals

That was also basically my experience when I lived there. From my apartment, I can't recall it ever being difficult to stop a taxi with the red 'available' light on - and I used them a lot as I did a lot of traveling and had to get to a main station regularly. On more recent visits I have found walking, JR trains and the metro work OK for me. In fact, I can count the times I have used a taxi on one hand. When I need a taxi either I can usually hail one on the street or, if I can't find one, I head for the nearest hotel. I have never used a taxi app but I know that there are at least 3 with English service. The big problem is, as @joizy points out, when it is pissing with rain. I have lost count of the number of times I could not get a taxi even with the 'available' sign lit. I wonder if it is a bit like Bangkok where at certain times of day taxis only want long trips and will not accept passengers if their destination is nearby. Here I have got used to available taxis just passing me by without even stopping. It seems senseless, but TIT.