PeterRS

Elections increasingly seem to mean little in Asia. Myanmar, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, The Philippines, Hong Kong (where they are now dead) and Japan are/were all answerable to a certain extent to an electorate. Much less so today. I venture to suggest that only Taiwan and South Korea have anything like true democracy, although South Korea is borderline.

Ill take a punt. A shoe shop - MIKE being a Thai rip off of NIKE.

And you would be happy with the cost of healthcare as in the United States?

Might this be the reason for Trump's reluctance to criticise Putin and his regime? Or just another KGB game to sow seeds of doubt? Journalist and author Craig Unger, who has written seven books including "House of Trump, House of Putin," has just published a new book "American Kompromat" whose primary source is a former KGB agent Yuri Shvets. Shvets claims Trump was recruited as a Russian agent 40 years ago. He compares Trump with the Cambridge Five in England. This group of Cambridge undergraduates, recruited in in the 1930s, were the sleeper spies Burgess, Maclean, Kim Philby, Sir Anthony Blunt who later held a position as Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures, and John Cairncross who had worked as a code breaker at Bletchley Park during World War 2 and fed secrets to the Soviets. Burgess and Maclean were discovered in 1951 and fled to Moscow. At the time there was talk for years of a 'Third Man". Philby, who for a time had been a member of Britain's Secret Service MI6 and then worked as a journalist, fled to Moscow in 1963. The following year Blunt was exposed, but his treachery was covered up and he was permitted to keep his knighthood and his position at Buckingham Palace. In 1979 Margaret Thatcher was forced to admit in parliament he had been the "Fourth Man". In 1964 Cairncross admitted he was the "Fifth Man" in return for immunity from prosecution. Cairncross had been recruited by Blunt. "Unger describes how Trump first appeared on the Russians’ radar in 1977 when he married his first wife, Ivana Zelnickova, a Czech model. Trump became the target of a spying operation overseen by Czechoslovakia’s intelligence service in cooperation with the KGB. "Three years later Trump opened his first big property development, the Grand Hyatt New York hotel near Grand Central station. Trump bought 200 television sets for the hotel from Semyon Kislin, a Soviet émigré who co-owned Joy-Lud electronics on Fifth Avenue. "According to Shvets, Joy-Lud was controlled by the KGB and Kislin worked as a so-called “spotter agent” who identified Trump, a young businessman on the rise, as a potential asset. Kislin denies that he had a relationship with the KGB. "Then, in 1987, Trump and Ivana visited Moscow and St Petersburg for the first time. Shvets said he was fed KGB talking points and flattered by KGB operatives who floated the idea that he should go into politics."

Take about mass stupidity. Two nights ago 109 party goers were arrested for taking part in an illegal party on Koh Phangan - 89 foreigners and 20 Thais. Also arrested were the bar owner and the party organiser. The police had been alerted as tickets were being sold on line. I hope the governor carries out his promise. https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2058119/party-goers-arrested-on-koh-phangan

Totally agree with Michael about the boys. The subway line to Catherine's Palace passes the Technology Institute. There were many young guys on the train and all looked very handsome. I thought one was looking at me - probably wishful thinking! We had booked our hotel in January for a visit in May and were really worried that hotels are generally quite expensive. Then we noticed that one of the travel sites had a 24-hour only special 60% discount including breakfast for the 5 star Corinthia Hotel on Nevsky Prospekt. We quickly snapped up a room on the Executive Floor. It was fabulous. The 18 year old student waiter in the Executive Lounge was strikingly handsome. This had nothing to do with the fact that his striped pants were slightly on the tight side and his back view was a joy to behold!

I suspect this was once one of the now defunct Orient Thai fleet. I remember seeing one stripped of its engines at I think Udon Thai airport. When it stopped operations it had a lot of old aircraft including -200 , -300 and -400 747s.

Seems the Boeing 737 Max just cannot stay out of the nes. The BBC website has an article today with two respected airline experts claiming it is "too early" for the aircraft to be cleared to fly again. Ed Pierson worked on the aircraft production for four years. He gave evidence against Boeing at the Congressional hearings. During those years he claims the factory in Renton outside Seattle was in a "chaotic" and "dysfunctional" state. He believes the not all the fault issues have been addressed in clearing the aircraft to fly again. His concerns are backed up by Captain Chesley Sullenberger (the Miracle on the Hudson pilot). He believes the Max modifications do not go far enough. In particular he believes changes are needed to warning systems which were carried over from an earlier version of the 737 and "are not up to modern standards." I have no idea who is correct. I don't even care. I will just never fly a 737 Max. Period.

One reason why the US Electoral College is a vastly out of date anti democratic anachronism.

When Larry King was on CNN, I watched his show quite regularly. I admired the way he got some interesting and fascinating guests and gently probed them into revealing quite a lot about themselves. The guest I found most illuminating was, of all people, Ross Perot. I had little interest in American politics until then and initially thought Perot a charlatan. But he then started taking graphs into the studio to illustrate the points he was making. Suddenly all the political talking of other politicians seemed silly. Why talk when one graph illustrates everything very succinctly? I have no idea how accurate those graphs were, but since then I have always wondered why politicians everywhere spend so much time spouting hot air when they could save so much time with easy to comprehend visual materials.

In my bar hopping days, I was more of a butterfly. For massage, though, I always preferred the same guy. Soon after Albury opened in the mid 1990s, I noticed a great looking guy -not as well built as some of the boys but with the sweetest face. He gave a great massage and the afters were as good as I had ever experienced. On regular visits to Bangkok over several yers I always returned to him and he just seemed to get better. He was definitely boyfriend material. Unfortunately I learned he already had an American boyfriend and after a few years he gave up the business and they moved to Chiang Mai.

I am sure you are correct in raising the issue of profit. It is no longer a surprise that prior to the government announcing contracts for projects requiring land purchase, that land has always just recently been purchased by the crony capitalists. And for the same reason - so more can gain from the outsize profits - transport infrastructure like expressways and MRT lines are carved up with bits going to different bidders rather than just one. For an inter Bangkok expressway trip to require three tolls is just nonsense.

Years ago there were pleas that at least one extra car be added to the Skytrain and MRT. There is plenty of room on the platforms for at least 2 or 3 more. Yet even though many additional stations have since been added and yet more are about to come on line, there are still no extra cars. Once the tourists return, travelling at any time of day will feel like the sardines on Japan's commuter system.

We should be very thankful that he took on all the tasks of keeping gaythailand going and ensuring it was the most active and varied of the various Thai chat rooms. It is inevitably part of the job that the owner of a site will occasionally receive some flak from time to time. With his passing, our gratitude along with Michael's comments is surely all that needs be said.

This seems another typically ill thought through policy by administrators who have little clue about insurance. What about those who are fully insured with travel policies or home insurance policies with worldwide cover? Or farang who live here and already have local cover? As z909 points out, 34 baht per person is peanuts. It certainly does not cover even one doctor's visit in a public hospital. When tourism gets back to the 30 million plus level, I assume - although that is always a dangerous thought process in Thailand - this is for those not covered by their own policies. We know from newspaper reports about a year or so ago that tourists' unpaid medical bills accounted for quite a substantial sum. A lump sum of 1 billion baht in a tourist medical account would probably go a long way to cover these. Then there is the matter of how this 300 baht will be paid. Will every tourist be expected to bring $10 in cash? I doubt if that amount in Brazilian real will find much favour. Having to queue to pay it at a special counter prior to Immigration will just add to the existing chaos of getting into the country.

That's a lovely story but I expect it is more fanciful than reality. I remember seeing that movie on television some time in the 1980s. It featured a number of the great older generation of British character actors like James Robertson Justice, Gordon Jackson, Duncan Macrae and the husky voiced Joan Greenwood.

Gogo gone?

I realise that everyone will have different likes, but shouldn't Taipei be included, given that Taiwan was the first Asian country to legalise gay marriage? St. Petersburg also is fascinating for the traveller as well as being an easy city for reaching Helsinki by fast train and Estonia

I assume that some of the new readers will be wanting to consider Thailand as a destination, assuming life does get back to normal and prices are not too much higher. If the new readership is primarily US based (my guess), since the trip to Asia is a major expense I expect some might wish to take in another country. My view would therefore be to look firstly at one neighbouring country and then at the hub airports where there will be plane changes and perhaps the opportunity of a few days stop over. As z909 points out, Phnom Penh/Siem Reap seems the obvious neighbour since it combines a flourishing gay scene with a bit of culture. Telling relatives and friends that the aim of the long trip is to see Angkor Wat rather than the fleshpots of Pattaya might go down well! back home For hubs Tokyo, Beijing and Taipei are the first that come to mind. Tokyo should not be difficult to write about since the gay area is basically focused in the Shinjuku Ni-chome area and a mention of the various host boy bars (great pics). Taipei should also not be difficult and there is always the hook of the huge Gay Pride Parades there at the end of October each year (more great pics) plus an increasing number of gay venues. Not sure about Beijing but have heard about Destination as being one of the gayest clubs in the region. https://www.tripsavvy.com/destination-gay-bar-beijing-1417633 A lot of original pics of three of the cities have been posted here by members. I am sure they would grant approval for use on the new site to avoid the need for yet more expense. I have some I will happily donate - although they may not be completely up to date.

No twitter, no facebook, no instagram, no youtube, residents near Mar a Lago fighting to prevent him from living there after next week, no PGA golf major at his Bedminster golf course, no British Open golf even considered for this Ayrshire course, Deutsche Bank finally pulling the plug as the Trump organisations's last banker in the USA (although Russian and Chinese banks are probably lining up), Forbes magazine warning all former Trumpers it will automatically assume what they say in their new employment is a lie, Giuliani facing disbarment, a host of major corporations halting donations to Republican campaigns . . . The future for Trump must seem a great deal less rosy than it did 5 years ago. One thing he might look forward to, though. The sun shining through the bars of his cell as he spends the rest of his life in jail!

I have accounts with three banks in three countries. I have used internet banking for some years. Now all three are pushing me to switch to their phone apps.

i had no idea that the Cities section was all Michael's work. Congratulations, because some are a fascinating read. I thought most cities had probably just been moved over from the boytoy site. As z909 rightly points out, just describing the experience of visiting a new city is ambitious. Adding in the gay venues is even more so. I wonder if there could be a small panel of readers in the four listed Thai cities who could help by feeding in updated information from time to time.

News today that one of New Zealand's Central Bank data systems has been hacked. Sensitive personal and commercial information may have been affected. No doubt there will be more and more major organisations around the world hacked. It seems to have been going on for at leats a decade and it doesn't matter how big the company is. Nearly 1 billion accounts at Facebook hacked. 200 million Instagram accounts. 500 million at Marriott Hotels, 500 million at Yahoo, 510,000 at Citigroup - and the list goes on. According to wikipedia, in 2019 a collection of 2.7 billion identity records including 774 unique email addresses and 21 million unique passwords was posted for sale on the internet! I do not know if it helps but I refuse to do any telephone banking. Yet almost all banks are pushing clients to change to this form of banking. And many banks have themselves been hacked! https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/zealand-central-bank-data-system-hacked-75160221

I have never been a Schwarzeneggar fan. Certainly not as a politician. Even as an actor there seemed something slightly fake about him. Maybe it was the accent, I just don't know. But he has uploaded a speech on the internet about the riot in Washington last week. I admire him for making it and I admire him more for what he says. Do watch it.

I can assure you the concern is no longer underage sex. The elites loathe the idea that the country is still called the sex capital of Asia and they want rid of it. This is not new. I believe it was started by the first Thaksin regime 20 years ago with the Social Order campaigns. Poll after poll found these were very popular in both the cities and the countryside. As you suggest, what rich Thai guy wants quizzical looks when he is shopping in Paris or New York? The irony is that behind closed doors the Thais are as randy as everyone everywhere and have opportunities for sexual adventures that are probably more adventurous than those available for foreigners.. They just object very strongly to the label.