PeterRS

This reminds me of my first ever visit to Thailand more than 4 decades ago. I was staying far from Suriwong and given the times I was somewhat timid about exploring. Then a tout offered to take me to a gay gogo bar and for the only time in my life I took him up on the offer. A long tuk-tuk ride later, I was in the somewhat notorious Stockholm bar near the foot of Langsuan - long before that street moved very upmarket. It was a large bar in an old Thai building, hardly any other customers and about a dozen boys dressed in jeans. The mamasan soon sat next to me asking my choice. Jet-lagged and unsure of protocol I said i was still not sure. She recommended I take two upstairs and let them do a show for me. And that's what i did. For one whose only prior experience of sex clubs was a couple of visits to the Reeperbahn in Hamburg and the saunas in Amsterdam, I was somewhat nervous. But the boys were great. As they were performing, one suggested I move to sit on the bed. It was not long before I was invited to join in the action. Given my inexperience of Thai bars, I loved it and even today it remains clear in my memory.

I have worn masks and used hand sanitizers virtually all the time in Thailand. My concern recently has been primarily the number of tourists visiting Thailand and the consequent possibility of somehow getting infected despite having had 4 vaccinations. Just over 2 weeks ago I was in Hong Kong for 48 hours. Although all restrictions have been lifted, again I wore masks. I know that most masks are far from foolproof, but I feel better wearing them. Then about 4 or 5 days after my return I started to feel unwell. Thereafter I tested positive and underwent a really bad week. For almost 3 days I had a very high fever and various lesser ailments. Worse, I had absolutely no appetite. For a week I was able to eat only a small bowl of cereal and fruit in the morning. By mid-week, I tried to drink some clear soup. After three spoonfuls I felt sick. All I could do during that week was drink lots of water, sometimes with electrolyte powder. Oddly, the really sore throat I was told to expect never materialised. It took 8 days before I tested negative over 2 consecutive days. The one good thing - if there is anything good about getting covid - is that I was at home. Had I been on vacation, it would certainly have ruined most of it. Perhaps ironically, I had tried to get a booster prior to a trip to the UK in early March, but was told by all the hospitals i contacted they had no stocks of vaccine. I certainly recommend that anyone presently living in Thailand, especially of the older generation, get a booster shot if available.

This is correct. It seems they will be at the back of the cabin - but that's a guess. There will be 6 pods - 2 banks of 3. So those in the lowest pod will rather have to crawl in. They will be available for 4 hours with only one session per booked passenger. The crew will then clean, install new bedding and turn around each pod. Cost estimate is in the region of NZ$400 - $600 per 4-hour session = US$254 - $380. Expensive given that economy fares on long haul flights have risen a lot recently. But as the attached article points out, a great deal cheaper than a restricted business class return which presently costs in the region of NZ$8,700 for the 16-hour Auckland/New York return flights for autumn this year. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/may/11/snoring-is-perfectly-natural-testing-air-new-zealands-world-first-sleep-pods

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The operative phrase here is "in recent years." When launched during the first Thaksin years, the Elite visa was I believe the first attempt with benefits to lure the rich. For years very few purchased one, it lost a lot of money and there were strong rumours the Elite visa would be discontinued. Yet it is now extremely popular. I believe this is primarily for two reasons. (1) the draconian increase of the annual savings requirement for retirees to 800,000/400,000 has had an effect on the numbers taking this route, largely because many also do not have pensions generating 65,000 per month (I certainly don't); and (2) the pandemic. While 600,000 for 5 years is expensive, the more so when you get nothing back at the end of the term, the 20 year option for 1 million is much more reasonable.

Being across from Nature Boys this was probably the building to which Barbiery re-located when it moved away from Suriwong opposite Soi Twillight around 2000. Unfortunatey it also changed its business model and one of the finest of all Bangkok's gogo bars died within a year.

Sorry I can't help much. Since the covid restrictions ended, i have been there for only 3 nights in January and 2 at the end of April. Only had one free night when I met up with a lovely guy from Grindr with whom I still keep on touch. Have not been to a sauna for a good 5 years now. I ditched Blued some time ago but there were still hits on all three other apps. I just did not have time unfortunately. Years ago I used to enjoy CE provided I went at certain times - mostly week-ends and sometimes early weekday late afternoons before dinner. It used to attract a few high-end tourists from mainland China in HKG for long week-ends shopping and clubbing with a sauna trip thrown in. These guys were mostly tall, in shape and on the gorgeous end of the spectrum. No idea of the clientele now.

Christianpfc is very much the expert when it comes to cruising and he has several times mentioned this area. Posts in recent years, though, have highlighted the decline of the area and that it is very much AYOR.

Lufthansa is a bit slow off the blocks. Many other airlines have already put some A380s back into service, some last year. SIA, ANA, Korean, BA, Qantas and Asiana are some of the others. Qatar has had a daily A380 to BKK for many months. And I don't think Emirates ever had a day flying during the pandemic without some of its A380 fleet in operation. Funny how most of these airlines announced with great fanfare they were basically taking their A380s completely out of service. How times change!

From what i have read in these columns, Boyztown is showing a few signs of some life, Sunee remains all but dead, the beach entertainment died years ago and I cannot imagine yet another beer bar opening in Jomtien Complex is going to arouse much interest. Interesting that two other chat sites which are much more Pattaya-centric have also seen a major drop in posting traffic recently.

Leaving Hong Kong last month, every check entering security and then immigration is now done by facial recognition. So simple and so fast!

OMG! If that's the case, let's hope he is not starting a trend!

Highly unlikely! What makes you think that? Even if he were, he clearly has no interest in Mae Sot now or he would have responded to recent posts.

Simple. guestbijbg ceased being a member ages ago!

Barring once again the importance of sufficient insurance, I'd have thought if the reports are true the police should be searching for the SUV driver as he/she is likely to be responsible for the medical costs. Another issue is: surely this is a case of Personal Accident Insurance rather than medical insurance. Yet another is that if you have a rare blood group, you need to ensure there are supplies of that group should you need them. Not sure how to achieve that, though.

Many years ago some short-time hotels had round beds with ceiling mirrors. They were fun as long as you were not short-sighted and needed to wear spectacles, though1

I agree with you. But when many thousands of travellers are arriving in the space of, say, 30 minutes at a peak time,and maybe 4 or 5 passengers are trying to use a cc that is not accepted and may not have another card and will object to having to get out of line and re-queue for a cash dispenser, you have a recipe for a lot of bad feeling bordering on anger. But then I am more of a glass half empty kind of person and our dear @vinapu is very much glass half full. But do remember that even in its last year prior to the opening of BKK, DMK had just 16 million passengers of whom 13.5 million were on domestic flights. By 2019 Suvarnabhumi was handling 53.5 million passengers. Quite a difference!

A further thought. Many countries have a form of tourism tax, Hong Kong for one. But that tax is usually levied by hotels and guest houses. This ensures that those who actually live in the cities/countries do not pay the tax. Admittedly some tourists escape paying it by staying with relatives. But generally it works very well and is easily accountable.

Well, I assumed in my earlier post that the snooker match fixing investigations involving 10 Chinese players would have been concluded long before now. Wrong! The formal deliberations only started this week, all the players having been denied for months any chance of playing professionally should they happen to be found innocent and/or not subject to bans. A year ago we were all marvelling at 25-year old Zhau Xin-tong's debut at the World Championships and how he would one day become world champion. Now he may be banned for a period of years. But in the meantime an even more talented and younger Chinese 20-year old has both stunned and thrilled exhilarated audiences at this year's World Championships. Making his debut at these Championships and with little success so far in his career (apart from beating a few established professionals), Si Jia-hui from a city just south of Hangzhou has had audiences, commentators and the sports' greats running out of superlatives. Many top commentators had never heard of him, let alone seen him play. He entered the Championships as a wild card who had played and beaten three other players in long matches in order to enter the Championships. As he himself said in an interview, he didn't expect to do well and only wanted to savour the atmosphere in the regular Championship venue, Sheffield's Crucible Theatre. Ranked only #80 in the world, so far he has beaten three highly established professionals (#4, #14 and #21) to reach his first semi-final ever. Over the last two weeks his sensational potting ability, his cool demeanour and maturity well beyond his years has been spectacular to watch. In his 33 frame semi-final which ends tonight Bangkok time, he is presently leading world #10 Luca Brecel by 14-10. At one time he was 14-6 ahead. If he keeps his cool and plays his natural game, he should win the 3 frames to make him the first Chinese to reach the 35- frame Final (played on Sunday and Monday). Like many Chinese professional snooker players, he moved to Sheffield aged 16 to practice and be looked after at Victoria's Snooker Academy. Victoria Shi was a journalist until she decided to open the Academy mostly for young Chinese players. With the young players unable to return to China during nearly three years of covid, she has acted as a mother figure as well as their manager. She has spoken highly of Zhau who she says is a "nice kid". Unlike the others, he has stayed in England since the ban, learning more English and practising daily. Perhaps he may end up being lucky. In the meantime it is Si who has the snooker world raving. Whether he wins the World Championship or not, he is now guaranteed huge endorsement deals in China. But no doubt it is that trophy he values most. https://metro.co.uk/2023/04/14/victoria-shi-on-match-fixing-suspensions-of-young-and-stupid-academy-stars-18610772/

AIrports in Asia routinely used to collect departure taxes in cash on check in. But for around 20 years or so these were eventually added to the ticket price along with a host of other additions and paid for along with the ticket. If a machine based system is reintroduced for entry, even of there were 50 of them can you imagine the length of the queues at peak time? And what of those who have no baht with them? WIll there be a similar number of currency exchange booths? Even then, what rates would they offer and who would want to exchange a small amount of baht just to cover, say, their first 24 hours? Then, would the machines offer change from 500 or 1,000 baht notes? If so, I'll place a bet that they'd run out of notes/coins long before the time came for them to be refilled. It would be a recipe for massive chaos. The problem here concerns "major credit cards". My Thai bank VISA credit card is frequently denied when travelling overseas. So I also carry two from international banks. But what about the mass of possible future tourists from countries like China, Russia, India and others who might not have acceptable credit cards? Does the AU Small Finance Bank in Jaipur offer acceptable credit cards - or even any credit card? Ethiopian Airlines flies into BKK. Does the Bunna International Bank have acceptable credit cards? So many problem issues! QR codes might be a better idea but, again, what about the time taken at check-in for the assistants to check that a work visa for a foreigner is actually a work visa? I know people with Thai Elite visas in their passports who have had difficulty checking in because the automatic check-in machines do not recognise them! Sometimes airline staff do not recognise them!

I believe poppers are illegal in Thailand. Not that this prevents some people sellng them, but can you be sure they are the genuine article or just a rip off? And if they are mailed to you, how do you prevent the possibility of the package being opened if the mail/courier company is suspicious of the content?

The Thai government is clearly in a real bind over how this tax is to be paid and there seems to me to be no even reasonable solution that will avoid a humungous mess. Understandably airlines and travel agents don't want near it because they'd have huge difficulty working out who need not pay. And what about those many millions of us who book online? Cash on arrival is a recipe for utter disaster at the country's main gateway airports. This is all so typical of Thai governments making decisions without first giving any thought to the consequences. In principle I'm not against some way of taxing those who arrive in Thailand having deciding they do won't need travel insurance and then leave hospitals with large unpaid bills. But then I wonder why I as one who lives in Thailand, is fully insured with a Thai insurer and travels about 15 times a year should have to cough up 4,500 baht. Better surely to make it mandatory that incoming travellers are fully covered by travel insurance - although I have no idea how this can be chacked in advance.

In many trips around Asia, I have almost always booked in advance, especially if I have made my plans some months in advance. As @vinapu mentions, a site like Agoda will typically have very good rates but it does not take much time to check a variety of booking sites. Recently I only once booked ahead and then discovered that rates had fallen. This was partly a result of opening up after covid and a special offer to boost occupancy. I contacted the hotel, made a bit of a fuss and they reduced the rate I had paid. Over the years I have asked some hotels about their walk in rates. If it's peak season, advance reservation has always been less expensive. With tourism in Thailand still way short of its pre-covid level, many hotels only have some of their floors open. And I read there are still shortages of staff which were laid off and have since found other employment. So I suggest it is best for now to book early.

I sugest you may be thinking of the 11 ASEAN countries. Here are a few maps. But this is a small issue and I am happy hereafter to withdraw.

After more than 4 decades in South East Asia, I have always heard of Taiwan and Hong Kong as being part of South East Asia! If you wish to be pendantic, The Philippines is further East than Hong Kong and roughly 90% of it is further east than Taiwan! Look up any map of South East Asia and you'll see both HKG and Taiwan as part of it!