PeterRS

And what, pray tell, is the problem with red wine? It can frequently be one of the world's great drinks which, in relative moderation, has absoutely nothing to do with "substance influences". I think you must be referring to Thai made spirits or some other ultra cheap booze. If you have never had even a glass of French Chateau Margaux, Haut Brion or Latour, you have missed out on some of the great enjoyments in life, (thanks to working with Rolex on some events I was treated to all three - wines that have forever been way above my pay grade), an Australian Bannockburn Burgundy, an italian Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, or rolled in your mouth a glass of the cherry, dried fig and cedar flavours of a fine Spanish Tempranillo or the meaty, robust richness of a Rhone Valley Chateuneuf du Pape, I feel slightly sorry for you. Even a cheap Valpolicella has certain redeeming features when accompanied by a pleasant Italian meal.

OMG! Another "Best of . . ." something or other. I am perfectly happy with a few of these lists when I know either who has done the selection or am aware that it has been made taking tens- if not hudreds - of thousands of views into consideration. CNN's latest list of The World's 50 Best Foods has Thai Massaman Curry as No. 1. But I was under the impression that this is primarily a Malaysian dish with part Indian ancestry! With Mexican Chocolate as #3 (huh? Very good but where is Belgian or Swiss chocolate?), German Hamburgers as #6 and Ice Cream, Global at #9 (and precisely what does that mean, i wonder? Is there no difference between a gorgeous Italian ice cream from Giolitti's in Rome and a diner in Wichita?) By this stage I was about to trash that list!, but that inglorious ending occurred at #14 United States Donuts! That list has so many errors it deserves to end up in the kitchen trash can. It lists Singaporean Chicken Rice at #45. It's not Singaporean. It's Hainan Chicken Rice that you get all over Asia. With Buttered Popcorn, Potato Chips and Ketchup as three separate items on the list, the introduction to CNN's list makes you want to hit the sick bucket fast - We’ve scoured the planet for what we think are 50 of the most delicious foods ever created. For now, feast your eyes and control your drooling, as we reveal some of the world’s best foods that can help inspire your travel plans: https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/world-best-food-dishes/index.html

I suggest this is not a good forum for gay nightlife entertainment in many regional cities, with possible exceptions of Taipei and occasionally Tokyo and Hong Kong. I suggest you read this one which has no less than 328 pages about Keybox sauna going back to 2009. So it's definitely not correct to suggest that all Singapore gay saunas have a short shelf life. https://www.blowingwind.io/forum/topic/13933-keybox-sauna-upp-circular-rd-no-ads-or-bitch-fight/page/328/ But please remember this is a forum that attracts a very large number of late teens, 20s and 30s Singaporeans. Not many of the individual posts are more than occasional sentences and there is more than a reasonable share of bitchiness. It is not similar to this forum. While you are at it, you may also want to have a look at that site's Travellers Hut forum. It occasionally throws up some interesting facts about other cities in Asia. https://www.blowingwind.io/forum/forum/30-travellers-hut/?/forum/30-travellers-hut/= You can see quite quickly that these Singapore guys are in general more interested in gay massage and masseurs than specifically in gay saunas and discos.

Since we're on a bit of tangent, Monty Python's songs were always fun. China is a bit far from Finland but as close as can be to Russia and so this may not be inappropriate. Their "I Like Chinese" song is quite amusing. Political correctness had resulted in some of the words being changed when they repeated the song in their O2 Arena concert in London some years ago (although what the Elvis figure is doing at the end beats me!) Their Mandarin near the end is pretty good. Here are the two versions with the later version first.

Inaccurate - as usual. Having closed all eight border crossings last month, Finland today is re-opening just two of them and only until January 14. This came with a warning that the crossings could be completely closed again at any time in the future. So much for "propagandistic political hysteria"!

Always ensure a taxi took me to the front door of the hotel where it was unlikely they would attempt any scam. This was the Hyatt and I am certain the staff at the door would be so well aware of this type of scam that taxi drivers would not even attempt it. The day after we were going to another hotel to have lunch with a friend when that taxi driver tried the same scam. We refused to get out of the cab until he dropped us at the front entrance! No probem getting the correct change. Generally, though, checking up on what types of scam were common wherever I travelled so that I could be aware of them in advance. That plus asking at hotel concierge desks what I should look out for.

Sounds like my first visit to Istanbul in 2000 when the rate was roughly 600,000 lira to US$1. I got conned by a taxi driver first time I returned to my hotel. I could see from the meter that the price was going to be in the region of 7 million and so I got out a 10 million note (took a good 10 seconds to check all the 0s). On arrival he did not take the small driveway to the front entrance but dropped us on the street. I guess that should have been a red flag. Anyway, I handed over the 10 million note. Quick as a flash and in an obviously practised manoeuvre, he turned around and said I had only given him 5 million, in the process showing me a 5 million note. I was sure I'd given 10 million but failed to notice that the 5 million note was in his left hand whereas I'd given him the 10 million note in his right hand. So I gave him an extra 2 million. Then I felt stupid a few minutes later even though he'd only conned me for around US8! But lesson learned!

Thank you. Sounds a little like Hotmale 2 in Twight.

Then there is the "Jennifer Syndrome" where an older married man ditches his wife to hook up with a much younger lady. People may give such a couple a look but that's all because it is now relatively common.

Apologies for getting Matthew Shepard mixed up with Key West. Unforgivable mistake.

Never visited Cruise and with a few exceptions basically gave up the SIngapore sauna scene after Rairua closed. Keybox is definitely the most popular now with all nationalities. There are memberships but only for Singaporeans. Visitors must pay the S$22 entry every time. Shogun sauna iis cheaper but the age range of patrons seems generally much higher.

I find it extraordinary that travel insurance is not mandatory for genuine tourists and a basic health insurance mandatory for all expats. Why anyone would consider travelling anywhere without some form of health and accident insurance absolutely beats me.

Absolutely not. It's not as though my much younger partner and I hold hands while walking down the street (although I have no problem with those who do that) or French kiss while waiting at a Skytrain station (which I have seen gay farang tourists do!) In Thailand I have never once had any problems. When an earlier Thai partner and I visited Venice 20 years ago, he was a little surprised that some others in the breakfast lounge tended to look at us. I asked him at which tables, whereafter I started to spend time staring at the people sitting at those particular tables. They soon stopped! I am not on any social media platforms other than the gay apps. What people who read them think is their business. I could not be bothered in the slightest.

I read in one of the many reports that the pilot had refused to fly the helicopter into the Taiwan Strait. If the planned destination was in fact an aircraft carrier sailing through the Strait, the route hugging the coast northwest of Taipei is relatively unpopulated and northeast virtually unihabited due to large cliffs. So apart from the city of Keelung, such a flight might not have aroused much suspicion from the land. But there are many aircraft landing and taking off from both the international airport at Taoyuan and Songshan city airport in Taipei making navigation of an illegal flight far more likely to be spotted since virtually all the commercial aircraft will be a relatively low altitudes. According to the report, the pilot had discusssed changing the departure point to Kaohsiung in the south and arrival on a carrier not far away where there would be far less chance of its being spotted. But who knows? Stranger things have happened.

Many websites have reported today's devaluation as "more than 50%". Bloomberg states it is 54%. No doubt this will result in price rises. But perhaps not immediately. I recall the Asian Economic Crisis in 1997 which started when the speculators forced Thailand to abandon the Baht/US$ currency peg. The immediate result was a 10% drop in the Baht in 1 day. Thaland was not as used to devaluations as Argentina and the result was that many shop owners did not immediately raise prices. I recall a field day spending on all manner of goods in January 1998 when the Baht was down by 52%. Many major items were still at the pre-devaluation price.

No doubt these Japanese businessmen will all require letters from their companies to say what good chaps they are and how essential to new businesses they will be. And of course, the letters will all be in Japanese with the Thai elves and goblins in their attics (my new name coined a few posts ago which I rather like) reaching for their google translate apps.

Thanks @unicorn for that detailed explanation. Whatever happens with Trump - and hopefully he will be behind bars unless the conservative sex pests (two of them) on the Supreme Court weigh in to ensure that he can return to office and stay out of jail long enough to pardon himself and all his clan and cronies - I totally fail to understand why Biden is running again, unless he has a monster ego. I have written before that if the average working man has to retire beween 65 and 70, politicians, judges and their ilk should likewise have to step down at roughy the same age. Some people will argue that this could stop someone with a brilliant brain like a Warren Buffet (albeit he works in a different field), from being elected. So what? Aren't there ageing Presidential advisers by the hundreds? For the free world to have a leader taking office at the age of 82 should he be re-elected and continuing into the second half of his 80s, is in my view ridiculous. The chance of anyone that age having to step down if not dying in office must be pretty high. And that leaves the Vice-President to take charge with the ultra right-wing leader of the House next in line. With Kamala Harris virtually a non-starter on the world stage, the leaders of Russia and China must be as thrilled as anyone. How could the Democratic Party leaders not have planned for Biden as a one-term President and then prepared itself and the country for a confirmed next in line? Does Biden have the right to make all the major decisions? From what I have read, the anti-vaccination Robert Kennedy is a joke with all his conspiracy theories, whatever good he may have done in other areas. He's also been convicted of using heroin. From what you write about Ralph Nader in 2000, isn't that basically the problem with occasional individuals who decide it would be a nice idea to be President. Yet what would be wrong with a third and perhaps a fourth political party with different platforms, each fielding candidates iin most or many states? Yes, I know! It's money! The present system is so entrenched, the big money donors would never stand the establishment of other parties. And here again the Supreme Court weighed in to ensure that there was no stopping mega-donors. So is this not just one of many good reasons for having a Supreme Court that is not made up of political appointees? I wonder how many times Biden has regretted his railroading of Clarence Thomas on to the bench, especially when he refused to allow other witnesses to Thomas' sexual peccadilloes to testify. I always slightly cringe when I hear America's leaders of virtually all persuasions talk about democracy and how the US is the most democratic country in the world. In terms of the number of positions from President down to County Sheriff that have to be regularly elected, that may be true. But as an example of true democracy where the country's eaders are elected freely and fairly, the US is hardly in any position to lecture others. Being fair, neither is Britain; or France; or Italy; or Japan; or Singapore . . . the list goes on and on. There have been threads on this forum calling for a greater and more transparent democracy in Thailand. Under the present constitution, Thailand's democracy is rigged. But isn't the US Presidential election also rigged, only in a different way? Is there in fact any free and fair democracy anywhere in the world?

That there are already 6,000 Japanese businesses operating in Thailand, the new visa measure makes a great deal of sense. The surprise is it was not enacted earlier.

If China was not spying on Taiwan and attempting to do little things like stealing a helicopter would be the real surprise! All countries spy on others.

As for "scattershot", I certainly can not agree. In most cases they broaden the discussion which can create longer and often more interesting threads. Not always, but on a good few occasions. And as for "contempt", if anyone suggests in their wording contempt, even if that is not quite what they mean, this is surely understandable given cultural and historical precedence. Think back only a few decades and the prevalence of words like prostitute, faggot, queer, poof, fairy, fruitcake, nancy boy . . . these and many other descriptions were both widely held and frequently used. My father was a very understanding and compassionate doctor, but even he referred to one of the middle-aged men who worked in the local pharmacy as "one of those!" In 1979 Tenessee Williams was attacked by a gang of 5 teenagers in Key West following remarks in an anti-gay newspaper run by a Baptist minister. In 1998 Matthew West was brutally murdered coming out of a gay bar. In Sydney 88 men were murdered for being gay by anti-gay youth gangs in Sydney between 1970 and 2010. Some of the perpetrators were as young as 12. The stigma that gay sex bore for generations can not be wiped out in a year or two. And the additional stigma borne by those who ran gay establishments and in essence were "pimps" is even harder to change. But then I do agree that in a forum such as this, every poster should make every effort not to go by historical precedence.

Thanks for correcting me. One thing has always nagged at me - and it affects other countries as well. Why just a 2-party system? In my lifetime I can only remember one third party candidate having any major effect in the USA - Ross Perot in 1992 when he gained nearly 19 milion votes. Was there ever a time when there was a credible third party? I know at one time Britain did have a credible third party in first the Liberal Party and its later incarnation in the 1980s as the Liberal Democrats. After initial enthusiasm it basically died. The Liberal Party had been a major political player in the 19th and early 20th centuries but then became merely a rump of about a dozen parliamentarians. Its leader had been a man obviously very full of his own importance, Jeremy Thorpe, who had married the divorced wife of a cousin of the Queen despite being homosexual - and well known as such in parliamentary circles. Thorpe had been in a longish relationship with a riding instructor and part time model named Norman Scott whom he had met when Scott was 20. For 14 years this on-again off-again relationship continued until Thorpe decided it had to end to ensure survival of his political career. He persuaded friends to murder Scott. It was a hugely bungled affair which led only to the killing of Scott's dog! The trial of Thorpe and his co-conspirators took place on 1979. The judge was very obviously totally biased, callng Scott "a fraud, a sponger, a whiner, a parasite," and another of Thorpe's accusers "a humbug!" To all that he reminded the jury to pay attention to Thorpe's distinguished record of public service. Thorpe was acquitted despite 99% of the public certain he was guilty. It was the end of Thorpe's career. The affair was made into a rather good BBC series A Very English Scandal. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OK-1hwEmA8&t=2s

One of the joys of walking along a beach in the evenings is the peace and calm, the gentle lapping of the waves and the lack of crowds in the relative darkness. This nonsense about "pleasing beachgoers" is another of those mad ideas thought up by the elves and goblins. I have such happy memories of my time working in Tokyo when groups of Japanese would place tarpaulins on the ground, eat, drink and enjoy themselves under the sakura on the few days it was in bloom. All the light they needed were parafin lamps with their pleasing glow. I remember, too, lovely evenings dining at The Boathouse in Phuket before it was virtually destroyed by the 2004 tsumani and rebuilt as a much more modern establishment. The dining room had full length windows all open to the beach with the water merely meters away. It was a particularly good restaurant with both western and Thai menus and allegedly the finest wine cellar on the island - not that I was ever able to afford more than the cheapest bottle. But dining without even gentle music in the background - merely waves lapping on the sand - was almost idyllic.

Relationship I'm delighted to say! As I have reported I am a free agent when I travel but I have never hired merely because there are many guys around who seem to want to spend time with me. 😁

This might perhaps have just been natural modesty, a quality of quite a few Thais and some other Asians.

Unfortunately it is not actually in either of the two Immigration Halls. It is between the two.