PeterRS

In Bangkok Silom Soi 4 seems to be thriving.

Cathay Pacific has the same problems as many of the older established carriers in Asia. Like SIA it built its long-haul international reputation by offering far better service and plane interiors when it entered into competition on routes previously served by airlines like BA, UA and Northwest. With lower costs it had lower fares. As one of its former Chairmen lamented some years ago, it was making such good profits it overdid its in flight offerings for example giving business class passengers wines that it cannot now afford to offer in first. Despite reining in costs regularly as Hong Kong became a far more expensive base from which to operate, it has never been able to generate anywhere like the profits of the 1980s and 90s. So just as Cathay was once the upstart cheaper competitor, now it is the Gulf and Chinese airlines with their lower cost base that can offer much cheaper fares. The business class offerings on the Gulf carriers seem unbeatable. Over the Pacific few Chinese carriers can yet compete on service, seating and journey length. But when the business fare difference is less than half, many companies now insist their executives take the longer journey. And it was at the front of the planes that Cathay used to make most of its profits.

Welcome back. Always nice to see a Singaporean here.

Excellent report. Very many thanks. Just one question. On some on the list you mention an HJ . With some spas you mention a higher tip for extra services after. Is it reasonable to assume that where you dont mention this, extra services beyond an HJ are indeed available? Thanks again.

I fail to understand how 10 bidders can voluntarily pull out of a tender leaving just one to get the contract. Naturally it is a Chinese company! In answer to NIrishguys question, perhaps 489 is a lucky number in Chinese thinking!

Baseball has actually had a few very fine Japanese baseball players. The Seattle Mariners signed "Ichiro" Suzuki when he was a sensation in Japan around 2000. He was also extremely good looking and featured at least once on a Time magazine cover. Pity the looks have gone! He remained with the Mariners until about 4 years ago. Then there was the pitcher Hideo Nomo who I think was the first of the Japanese contingent to have a full contract in the USA. He did not have Ichiros looks but I remember his pitching a no hitter for the LA Dodgers around 20 years ago at Denvers Coors Field, a ground notoriously difficult for pitchers. Totally agree. Some of the Chinese divers and Japanese skaters (Yuzuru Hanyu who won gold at the last Winter Olympics is aggressively cute) and gymnasts are amongst the best looking of them all.

Form my limited experience, I dont think the boys who work at these Japanese Kids host bars are masseurs. They are joints to pick up boys for sex. If you are interested in one from the long photo page, make sure you book him in advance because the chances are that hell have been taken off before you get there. This guy seems to offer professional massage at his place near Haneda. The site makes it clear the massage offers HEs but not more. Also he needs to be booked a week in advance. Prices are clearly stated. https://bangkok787.jimdo.com/english-guide/

Only six boys there around 9:30 on a Friday evening. All had pants underneath except one who frankly did not have much to hide! I agree with z909. Having underwear on underneath the towels is just plain stupid. Why two levels of protection?? Three other customers when I arrived, one playing with a willing boy under his towel. I was then alone for about 20 minutes before two more arrived. They left after ten minutes. After all the initial enthusiasm about this bar, I found little to interest me, let alone excite me. Cant recall the drink prices but they were certainly reasonable. It was the entertainment on offer that needed a bit of spicing up - correction, a lot of spicing up.

If you have much ass left by that time! LOL

So as a tourist you happily and frequently complain about the government of Thailand and its laws. I assume therefore you have equally criticised in similar vein the government of Singapore? There is after all a Singapore section in this forum. Funny I cant find your criticisms there. Just a post about the delights of gay sex in Singapore saunas. How about that other single party state that is a dictatorship in all but name with even greater restrictions on civil liberties - Malaysia? Theres also a Malaysia forum in case you forgot! As a tourist in Singapore and Malaysia, Ill bet you have never once gone up to a mosque or a Hindu Temple or Christian Church or a Chinese Temple, dropped your pants, taken a photo and left behind (sic) a group of amazed and shocked locals. Do correct me if I am wrong. But I reckon Im right because you would have faced much harsher penalties than those levied on those moron tourists in Thailand.

Did anyone attend the movie? Is the mystery of Jim Thomsons disappearance now solved?

Sorry. I found some of the posts confusing

Start time is 7:00pm. The FCCT is right by Chidlom BTS station. https://www.fccthai.com/items/2333.html

That's just nonsense unless you are looking at one of those hand-out tourist maps that distort everything. A walk from the Malaysia Hotel to Babylon is shorter than a walk from the hotel to the Sathorn/Rama 4 junction. Add another 400 - 500 meters to get to the top of Silom. Want to get to Soi 4? Add another 400 meters or so. Next time I suggest you let you r feet do the judging.

Obviously that is not the view of those who buy such products. What is wrong with anyone buying any beauty product which makes them feel better? Why restrict yourself to south east Asians? If you looked in the personal stores in north Asia, Australia, Europe and the Americas, these products are all widely available. Whitening products are no different from tanning products, as another poster has pointed out, or from eyeliners, lipsticks and goodness knows what else people buy. This is not all down to marketing. Personal choice, peer pressure and other factors come into play.

Good for you Steveboy. You live where you want to live. Great! Im sure were all happy for you. As for your examples and conclusions, I take exception. Those idiots dropping their pants was just that - senseless idiots with no idea of Thai culture and sensibilities. As one poster said, try that stunt and be caught in Singapore and they will definitely be sentenced to caning. Is Singapore a repressive regime? The cause of the dreadful death of that military cadet has not yet been determined by either the military doctors or the private doctors hired by the family. So drawing conclusions is a bit early. From what I read there seems to have been some form of extreme hazing involved. If so I abhor it. It is easy to forget that it is not so long ago that this practice allegedly was finally stopped at US military academies. But that has not stopped US cadets killing themselves. 2 West Point cadets killed themselves in early 2010 and hazing was believed to be one of the reasons. Odd too that 128 American cadets killed themselves in calendar 2008. To suggest that hazing is the result of a repressive regime is frankly nuts! http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/29/AR2009012904135.html As for the organs of the deceased being withheld, I agree. The family should definitely have been informed. On the other hand, the internal organs are necessary for an autopsy. Why the family was not informed we do not yet know. Since you don't like repressive regimes, no doubt North Korea and Thailand have been struck off your future holiday list. How about Singapore?

Its the MRT that gives all over-65s the 50% discount card. The rechargeable ones mean you only have to go to the window once to show your passport. How this will work with the new Mangmoom card when the BTS charges full rates I have zero idea.

Can someone please translate the above?

I have not been to Chiang Mai for quite some time. But it seems that as a destination for the tourist looking for a decent number of sex encounters along with the usual tourism bit, Chiang Mai is dying. Adams Apple and some commercial massage spas are still obviously ticking along, but many appear to have closed. I wonder if someone who lives there could perhaps indicate if this is likely due to commercial forces like higher rents etc or to reduced demand from the tourist trade. Has the influx of so many Chinese tour groups had an effect?

Given all the references it seems that saga continues back for quite a long time. Reminiscent of a certain Beachlover whose fairy tale stories of life as a mid-20s successful Asian entrepreneur based in Sydney haunted all the Boards for a couple of years or so until his constant withering barbs aimed at anyone who suggested he was the fake that he really was got him successively banned.

As with any medical condition, go and see a doctor. Would you consider making specific investments on the basis of financial advice from forum posters? I think unlikely. The same should go for medical advice.

I have lost count of the number of times posters have been requested not to pay more than X or Y for short time or long time because doing so will only encourage the rate of tips to rise. Frankly I dont believe it ever works. There are far too many non readers of gaythailand who tip what they feel is right. Nothing other than an outright ban on offing boys will work. Market forces,

Sauna Mania is more Asian for Asian tho most will be Thais. Even with naked nights, Thais will usually cover their assets with their hands except in the dark areas. If you are youngish and in good shape you are likely to get some attention and have a good time. Older and out of shape, you will usually be a wallflower. Better to stick with Babylon.

If I remember correctly from one of my tours of the house, he initially gave employment to a lot of the Muslim community just across the klong to make his silks.

I will be interested to watch the movie but I think the "revelation" about new evidence is hardly likely. So much has been written about Thompson over the years the chances are that one of the old theories is likely to be the correct one. In May 1984 Life Magazine printed a very extensive 8 page article suggesting he was on a CIA mission to meet with the Head of the Malayan Communist guerillas. The Life article fails to mention that few knew more than Hughes about the murky world of spies and spymasters in the Far East of the time. The disappearance was not just at the height of the Cold War but also of the Vietnam War. Surely interesting that the Life article available on the web is a sanitised version approved by the CIA! https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP90-01208R000100100104-7.pdf