PeterRS

Id love to go there to see Everest. Not sure Id like to be stuck overnight if all the hotels or hostels were full! The landing must have been something very special.

Whoa! With sglad getting worked up I have no intention of writing more except to note theres a Sugargrandpa member here. Is that odd? Everything I wrote is based exclusively on written posts I found on Sawadee. Theyre quire easy to find. I will post them if members want or anyone can pm me for the links and judge for themselvse. If what was written was wrong in any way it is only right that sglad responds. But Im sure this forum does not like pissing contests particularly when they relate to another forum. Much better he takes these issues up with the Sawadee owner.

If a poster is banned from one forum I do not believe that is reason to ban him from another, unless he breaks rules. Its probably some sort of badge of honour to be banned from a board like Sawatdee! As one of its regular posters recently wrote, theres a nest of vipers over there. But its always interesting to know why someone might be banned. In the case of sglad this is not so easy to find out because he is no longer a member. But his supposed alter ego Sugargrandpa is. A quick check on his posts leads to one thread which leads to another. From these its pretty sure sglad has spouted a bunch of at best untruths in post #6 of this thread. The poster he says was stalking him goes by the name of Fountainhall. I know he has posted quite a bit for many years. If anyone knows him personally they can verify the facts at first hand if they want. He does appear to have long experience of Asia and knowledge of the region. What Im not sure is why he and sglad got into a pissing contest. There are some posts from Fountainhall welcoming him. But one thing becomes clear. Sglad soon blasted his comments about Chinese attitudes and customs with very rude, snide references to his being just a colonial type who knew little about the Chinese. There is more but thats irrelevant here. Then Fountainhall wrote he was surprised a young gay Singaporean would be interested in a Thai chat room inhabited by posters way older than him. The more so when there is a Singapore based gay chat room with many more much younger members as well as threads including extensive information about Thailand. He then said he felt sglad was just blowing wind. Sglad failed to respond. Busy with his studies? Fountainhall repeated the post. No response. Eventually sglad’s hydra Sugargrandpa made one of his rare posts. So Sugargrandpa for one cannot be Asian and cannot be Singaporean. Therefore sglad cannot be Singaporean Chinese. The trick Fountainhall played and later revealed was that “Blowing Wind” is the name of that Singapore chat forum. Every young gay university student there at least knows about it even if not a member. That much is easily checked. So sglad, welcome to this more friendly and gentlemanly forum. But as a447a has said above, best to forget the lies about being a 24 yr old Singapore exchange student and about being stalked. Anyone can go to Sawadee to check. If you want to be believed, just start over with a new identity.

I thought thats what the airlines already have! They estimate over booking on specific flights on specific routes based I assume on historical precedence. But then everyone gets screwed when bad weather, computer glitches or technical problems ground flights. I cannot see any possibility of a perfect solution. So the obvious course of action is as Steve suggests. Each airline has an overbooking reserve in its budget and when seats are required its used to hold an auction. Having a maximum limit per passenger bumped seems somewhat crazy especially on the first or last flights of the day when most passengers will probably want to take the flight whatever. So if $1,350 won't do it, probably $2000 will. Another issue with the feeder airlines as Dalewood mentions is connecting international flights. If you fly from Bangkok to Taipei to Chicago and then your connection on to Louisville is overbooked, the chances are youll not give up your booked seat unless the cash + local transport + hotel + meals offer is a good deal higher than for someone who could pick up a hire car with some of his compensation and just drive there.

There was a time when Vassa was recommended by quite a number of posters. Is this just another example of the the slow downward spiral of gogo bars?

I wonder why anyone would want to know. How two guys develop and maintain their relationship is surely their own affair. We all know that many gay relationships have a tendency to develop into open relationships over a period of time. But thats not the business of anyone else.

A lot of other guys have heard that story before. What is so surprising is that he is using the same "name" and the gist of much of what he writes is the same. He sure is no student and it was proved he doesnt come from anywhere remotely near Singapore. The owner of SGT Surfcrest banned him on February 20 advising members

I have no doubt its a question that has been asked since gogo bars first opened and it will continue to be asked until the last one finally shuts up shop. Tourists with oodles of cash have a tendency to spend it. So if they decide they want a suite in a 5 star hotel and a good time with a bar boy they take a fancy to the last thing they are likely to do is think about is how much to tip. Chances are it will be a lot more than any of us here might pay. Thats just life. Happens everywhere. Moaning about it wont change it. Trying to come up with a formula which brings tips in line with wage rates in any economy is a total waste of mental energy in my view. Far more important is that the boys are treated with respect and a greater degree of dignity than some who off them seem to exhibit. They are not a commodity purchased at a 7 11. They are human beings like the rest of us and they do a job which for much of the time must feel pretty loathsome. But it pays their bills. Supply and demand. Lots more girlie bars, Lots more customers. Gay bars are a tiny niche market and I suspect they operate more on the fringe of the law. Its also a declining market. This gives the owners carte blanche to charge whatever customer will pay.

Christian your basic argument is correct. But you forget one thing. Airlines permit those prepared to pay much higher prices to switch to a different flight at no cost and to obtain a full refund if they dont fly. This is especially true of biz class passengers and elite members of many frequent flyer programs. It is also true of some economy fares. I know in my business that some execs are never quite sure when a business meeting in somewhere like the east coast will end. Since they are in biz class they will try and book 2 or even 3 flights to their home on the west coast to ensure they will guaranteed one and be home for dinner. They can then get a refund on the unused tickets. As for overbooking or overselling I think I am right that although the percentage varies from flight to flight in accordance with previous history, the average is much closer to 5%-7% than just 1%. Of course as we now know in this particular incident the flight was neither overbooked or oversold.

I once said you have too many negative thoughts. You denied it. Now you write a post about yet more negative thoughts. I am roughly a couple of decades older than you. I can tell you that age has never concerned me in the slightest- except once. I remember was terrified of being 40. So starting at 37 I slowly became something of a mental wreck as I could not get 40 out of my mind. No idea why I did not have that feeling at either 30 or 50. Then suddenly it was my 40th birthday. All the worry disappeared almost overnight and I reckon my 40s turned out to be the best decade in my life. As someone once said, there are no certainties in life except death and taxes. So better get used to the fact that death will hit you and all of us sometime. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe next week. Or maybe well all live to 85 and more. I have had friends die in their 20s (1 had a heart attack, the other a cerebral aneurism), 30s (AIDS), 40s (heart) and 50s (cancer). Any one of them could have been me. So I am thrilled to be around and still enjoying life. I plan to continue doing that for many years more.

jfarmer017 bases his assertion very much on the terms in the Uniteds Conditions of Carriage. Not so according to legal website Dorf on Law. The reason? Those exact same terms of the airlines conditions of carriage. Inexplicably, it seems that nowhere in the COC is there a definition of “boarding”. Consequently the term must therefore be given its ordinarily accepted meaning in the active tense of “get on to the aircraft.” Dr. Dao was clearly already on the aircraft and in his seat. http://www.dorfonlaw.org/2017/04/united-airlines-own-contract-denied-it.htm

Clearly you dont care making wrong statements about other guys posts and then not withdrawing them. This is from the statement by the United Airlines Pilots Association And that was my point all along. Sorry but I was not wrong (twice!)

It really does make a difference. You have twice said I am wrong. But in no way have you explained why I am wrong nor how it is that United would suddenly realise they had to eject 4 passengers AFTER all had boarded and were seated. Yes I understand about weight, especially cabin baggage on these commuter flights. But weight was not the issue in this case. Lack of available seats was. So if they needed the seats, it is impossible to believe they only had a few minutes notice. Otherwise they would have denied boarding and done it before the passengers boarded.

I appreciate your experience firecat69, but you say I am wrong. In what way am I wrong in suggesting that United must have known before all the passengers were seated that they needed four seats for crew? And why did they not stop four at the gate?

In what way am I wrong? If the airline KNEW it needed the seats, why did it fill the plane chock full of passengers and then only minutes before taking off decide it suddenly needed to get four of them off? That makes no sense at all! You say they "knew" they needed the seats. I find that quite impossible to believe. If they did know that, they would have kept 4 seats free and bumped passengers before they were able to check in. Minimum domestic check in at ORD with a checked bag is 45 minutes. Even in the unlikely event that all passengers had checked in using mobile phones, why werent four stopped at the gate? It is unbelievable that United only realised it needed 4 crew seats less than 15 - 30 minutes prior to departure?

I think most of us realise that. What I for one totally fail to realise is why United in this case decided at just minutes notice after all the passengers were seated awaiting take off that suddenly they needed 4 crew seats? Crew movements are planned much further ahead of time and its common that some seats are deliberately blocked for that very reason. Theres a lot of talk about a business model on this thread. That is no way to run a business!

A nuanced view? I find that view utterly objectionable. You still idiotically maintain the 69 year old doctor was partly to blame. That is just nuts! "He knew the risks of such behavior!" How on earth do you know that. Have you evidence that he had experience of that before? Fact is you dont. Did the gate agent when offering the compensation for volunteers tell all the passengers some would forcibly be removed if four could not be found? I have no idea but I absolutely doubt it. At the very least it seems he was not provided with the mandatory written statement of instructions and that is against the law. At least you agree the way he was so forcibly removed was "a grievous error". But it happened and you cannot divorce the two situations. Where in any airline contract does it unequivocally state a peaceful passenger who is causing no disturbance in any way, no harm, who is buckled in his seat awaiting take-off, who is not even suspected of carrying illegal substances or whatever, may be removed by such violent means that he broke his nose, two teeth, sinus issues and concussion? Ill bet you cant find it because its not there. And my understanding is that airlines cannot bump passengers who have a specific urgent reason for arriving at the destination by a certain time. A doctor caring for patients would seem to be a lot more urgent than the reasons of at last some others on that flight. As I pointed out in an earlier post and as the lawyer stated unequivocally in the media conference last night, the legal arbiter of what went on on that plane was the captain. His word was law. Period. He had the legal right to order the bullies off his plane and/or to temper their behaviour. Where was he? Nowhere but locked in his cockpit it would seem. Why did the flight attendants not warn him what was happening as I assume they can not have done? Te end result is that high powered lawyer yesterday made it totally clear that the law suit which will definitely come (a point he finally agreed) will either have to be settled with a huge out of court settlement or to go to trial with the airline and the city of Chicago as the primary defenders. He must be loving every minute of this because as again stated he knows the flying public is totally pissed off with the way they are treated by airlines. Im prepared to put a few bucks on the table that if it does get to court, the defenders will be faced with with multi million dollar awards against them. My guess is the doctor will end up with a 7 figure sum for the actions on that aircraft and aggravated damages that could stretch as far as a 9 figure amount. And all because the airline would not offer a few hundred more in cash to find a volunteer. The fault is the airlines. No question.

I cannot believe that comment. You have paid for your ticket. You have checked in. You have been given your boarding pass. You have gone through security. You have boarded the plane and you are sitting in your seat. You see a gate agent board. You hear him asking for volunteers. You have no intention of volunteering because of your job. You stay seated. You are then treated like an escaped prisoner. And you consider this passenger had part of the blame? That is ridiculous! If it was me, I would have held my ground and done precisely the same. To suggest that the doctor bore some of the blame for throwing a tantrum in such circumstances is ... sorry, but ridiculous.

Had two flights in to Moscow in 2011. Long immigration queues but no problem whatever with customs. Just walked through.

And that jfarmer017 is pure bullshit! Ive flown Chicago to Louisville at least a couple of dozen times, sometimes on the earliest flight and sometimes on the last. If it is 10pm on a Sunday and you have appointments at 9am the next morning, do you seriously believe any passenger on that flight would agree to leave voluntarily, get off the plane, wait for his bag to get off (on these small planes carry on is kept at the back), get back to the terminal, hope you can find a car hire company that is open and has an available car for a one-way hire (how much does that cost at the last minute?), then drive through the night to get to Louisville at dawn and still be fully capable of carrying out your work that day? Come one! Remember that louisville is one hour ahead of Chicago. What if he had been a surgeon? Would you be happy to go under the knife knowing your surgeon had had no sleep the night before? Even if the airline offered to drive me in a chauffeured limousine Id have turned it down. The only reason 4 passengers were asked to leave was because the airline decided at the last minute it needed to get 4 flight attendants to Louisville. It must have been very last minute or it would have bumped the passengers at check in and probably been perfectly within its rights to do so. Airlines routinely have to fly crew to other ports. However such crew movements are always planned well ahead and seats held back for them. If passengers could be expected to drive through the night, why not those flight attendants? I know this was not technically United but it carried Uniteds brand name. And it was not United that ejected the passenger in such a criminal way. (I really wonder where the captain was as all this was happening. It was his flight and on board his word is law.) But it is United that is now in disastrous PR shit and no doubt facing a multi million dollar law suit to boot. And it could all have been solved without any fuss with just a few hundred extra dollars being offered.

From reading other posts on some of the forums, its clear that Taipei may not be to everyones taste and expectations. But some posters really seem to like it a lot and find plenty of sex there. I dont read Chinese but when in China I find a decent map and a little time just looking at the characters means I can usually locate a building as long as I am in the right area. If in the wrong area then I am totally screwed LOL I find it strange that because you assumed there was a lot of barebacking going on in Kuala Lumpur where gay sex is illegal you just assumed that this is also true in Taipei where there isn such law. You may be right but surely you should have checked before making the assumption? Obviously it was a pity that you could not access the smartphone apps. Im actually surprised anyone travels without them nowadays. Again reading from the other reports, these seem to be particularly active in Taiwan and it would be nice to have had more confirmation. I wonder if you also tried the male only hot springs?

Holy brother Abidismaili on the march

How can your life be wrecked by not having a naked massage with a 17 year old clothed youth? I dont like the sound of that.

Agree with traveller123 on both recommendations. Vertigo at the Banyan Tree is definitely expensive but worth it for the view. Your only problem is the time of year. If it starts to rain just after your drinks have arrived you have to move down a floor. Have also eaten several times at Table de Tee. The cuisine is French nouvel cuisine type fusion with some Thai flavourings. Last time I was there the cost was around 1,350 Baht per head plus service. Its a fixed price menu with 5 courses. Three courses have a choice of two dishes. The other two have no choice. Chef Tee trained at a top restaurant in London. Its in a little dead end sub soi about half way along Saladaeng. http://www.latabledetee.com With a similar fusion theme, even better is Le Du very close to Chongnonsi BTS station. The two Thai chefs here trained in New York and then worked in top US restaurants. Its more expensive than Tabble de Tee but the quality is higher. The flavours in each dish just explode in your mouth. There is a tasting menu but be careful for some of the dishes require an extra supplement. http://www.ledubkk.com

You think life is fair? You think we live in a free society? Waken up! All societies have rules. They form the backbone of all societies and communities. If you dont like those rules, break them and then you take the consequences. But dont keep moaning on about them.