PeterRS

This warning has been repeated over and over again, and thankfully most western tourists heed it. Three individuals were executed last week for drug offences which brings the total to 17 this year. A death sentence is automatic if you bring in more than 15g of diamorphine, 30g of cocaine, 250g of methamphetamine and 500g of cannabis. With cannabis still on sale in Bangkok, don't even think of trying to hide any in your luggage if Singapore is your next stop. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8dymv623q0o

The burger looks nice. I rarely visit one of the chain joints like McDonalds or Burger King, but in Paragon recently and hungry, despite the choice of many restaurants there I stopped at Burger King as they were offering Aberdeen Angus beef burgers - not the usual cardboard tasting meat. They're more expensive and I did find the burger far more satisfying than I expected. The meat was tasty and juicy, and the salad parts quite reasonable. Price for cheeseburger, coke and fries was Bt. 310. I was surprised - I enjoyed it.

FIrst time I've ever seen a martini as a Christmas drink LOL Mind you, the Father Christmas in the pic looks as though he's already imbibed far too many of them.

It's been showing for years, but especially in the last 2 years. Why he bothers when everyone else on the forum knowns his tactics for twisting facts and inventing new ones, I fail to understand. He's like a one man Trump!

One trait of @Moses which is abundantly clear from his posts, is that he is highly selective in what he posts and often fails to provide credible sources. He is now criticising the British admiistration of Hong Kong. He totally omits to mention that Hong Kong has more high rise residential buildings than any other city resulting in Hong Kong having more residents living at the 15th floor or above than any other world city. This gives it the world's tallest urban agglomeration. It also has some of the most stringent building construction safety codes and an excellent record when it comes to fire. How about Russia? Not quite as stringent codes it would seem. Naturally @Moses fails to mention the following urban fires - - the People's Friendship University of Russia Fire in 2003 which killed 44; - the Moscow hospital fire in 2006 which killed 45; - the Nursing Home fire in country's tenth largest city in 2007 which killed 63; - the Lame Horse fire in Perm in 2009 which killed 153; - the Moscow Market Fire in 2012 which killed 17; - the Luka Psychiatric Hospital fire in 2013 which killed 38; - the Kazan Shopping Centre Fire in 2015 which killed 17; - the Moscow Factory fire in 2016 which killed 12; - the Kemerovo Nursing Home Fire in 2022 which killed 22; - the fire at Fryazino office block in 2024 which killed 8; - just 5 days later the fire at a Moscow dormitory killed 5. No doubt @Moses will cry from the hilltops that this is western propaganda! It's fact!

Not merely desperate, I'd suggest - it's despicable!

Strange. I recharged my card at Siam BTS counter just a couple of weeks ago. Did not have to show anything. There should be no need unless your passport has changed since the original Rabbit did require a passport. The reason given when passports were required was "to prevent money laundering." Huh? When the maximum on a card was Bt 4,000. Thai logic once again totally failed me.

I guess the silver lining is that the solar flares had only affected one aircraft without any loss of life or loss of an aircraft, and Airbus took immediate action to resolve the issue.

Personally I loathe Christmas music being played and decorations put up more than about ten days before the 25th. We all know it is now purely a marketing gimmick to drive people into stores. One of the worst in my view is Starbucks. I have no idea who is in charge of music in their coffee shops but the Christmas music is almost all songs from the 1930s and 40s. Only once did I hear something different - a short piece of classical music which I recognised as part of the lovely Christmas Concerto by Arcangelo Corelli written in 1690. Since I have never heard it in other years, I guess the executive choosing the music must have been fired!

It's all getting earlier and earlier. Two weeks ago there were decorations and Christmas music almost everywhere in Taipei. And half the population seemed to be crowding around Chrismas trees to take selfies.

Do you think this might be because these individuals had failed to submit their arrival details online and just did not know about the regulation? I have twice returned to Thailand and was never asked at the departure airport for proof of having obtained the online approval QR code. Mind you, I was not asked for it either when I arrived, even though it was open and on my phone as I went through Immigration.

Thanks for the clarification. Certainly something has been done re changes to the interior since my last visit. Maybe since it was closed for two years during the early covid years they could have made some changes then. I still find it hard to believe that more than 200 people could be packed into that space, but then in the video they all seem pretty tightly packed. Some cute guys there, too!

Just a thought. Since I do quite a lot of research, this has meant looking at photos of gravestones to double check dates of birth and death. I remember my father telling me of once seeing a gravestone with the comment after the lady's name "Lord, she was Thin." Thinking this odd, he looked further round and noticed that the stonemason had run out of space for one letter was on the side. He had tried and failed to fit in "Lord, she was Thine." I plan to be cremated and will probably just try to have my name and dates added to my parents' gravestone. Not that I particularly want that, but perhaps some future generations will seek out the family history. But I do not want any description. If I did, it would probably be something innocuous like "He Did His Best" which of course covers a multitude of good deeds as well as an even greater multitude of sins. If you wish to have a gravestone and have a maximum of six words, I wonder what you would write. I'm particularly interested in @Olddaddy's thoughts LOL

Remember Shakespeare in Love, a movie full of wonderfully dazzling wit and charm? Its writer, Sir Tom Stoppard sadly died yesterday aged 88. I can recall seeing his very first play Rosenkrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, an amazingly brilliant concept of what goes on offstage during a performance of Hamlet. It has one near iconic line, "Look on every exit as being an entrance somewhere else." He had first tried his hand at journalism and then theatre criticism before turning to writing. His body of work for film, TV and radio was hugely impressive. He won an Oscar for Shakespeare in Love, as well as five Tony Awards in the USA and three Olivier Award in the UK. Other screenplays included John Le Carre's The Russia House and Terry Gilliam's Brazil. He also assisted other writers of screenplays by adding sparkle to their scripts, often without acknowledgement. These included Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and the Star Wars episode Revenge of the Sith. Steven Spielberg even consulted him on Schindler's List. His writing was witty and playful, he took ideas seriously and delighted in philsophical and political argument. Among those who mourn his passing is Sir Mick Jagger who wrote on X hat he was "a giant of the theatre. He leaves us with a majestic body of intellectual and amusing work. I will always miss him." Lyricist Sir Tim Rice wrote he "is in awe of nearly everything" Sir Tom did, adding "He's written at least half a dozen, probably twice that, plays that will live for a long, long time – however brilliant plays are, a lot of them don't last long beyond their era, but I think Tom Stoppard's will, no question." The National Theatre called his contribution to British Theatre "simply immense". Born in Czechosolvakia, he was Jewish and fled to the uK after the Nazi invasion. All four of his grandparents died in the holocaust. London's West End Theatres will dim their lights for two minutes at 7:00pm on December 2 as a mark of respect. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c74xe49q7vlo

If you are flying on an Airbus A319, A320, A321 you may need to be prepared for a slight delay in departure. On October 30 a JetBlue A320 from Cancun to Newark experienced a sudden uncontrolled dive. The pilots made a safe landing in Florida. The cause of the dive was discovered to be intense solar flares which may corrupt data critical to the functioning of the flight controls. Although it is believed to be the first time this problem has been discovered in the long history of the Airbus fleet, immediately a notice went out that 6,000 aircraft have to be quickly modified. For over 5,000 of the aircraft, the fix is simple and takes only two hours maintenance time. For roughly 900 older aircraft, new hardware is required and the fix will take longer. An EU Air Worthiness Directive mandated that all affected Airbus planes must be fixed before they can carry passengers again. So far, most airlines have already fixed most of their aircraft which are already flying again. American completed all but 4 of its 209 Airbus planes by Saturday morning. Delta also expected all its Airbus planes to have been fixed by yesterday. In the Asia-Pacific region, it seems only Jetstar has been experiencing major delays with the airline having cancelled 90 flights. The airline expects the required fix to be completed on its aircraft by today. https://edition.cnn.com/2025/11/28/us/a320-series-fixes

The average elevation of Hat Yai is 47 meters. But that no doubt means some parts are closer to sea level. On the other hand, few cities anywhere can withstand 335 mms of rain in a single day, the more so when it comes on top of continuous rain over several previous days when the ground was already saturated. Total rainfall over the three days culminating in the worst rainfall amounted to 630mm (25 inches). Water flowing down from nearby saturated hills made everything worse. Even in Bangkok drainage in certain parts of the city cannot handle anything that amount of rainfall. It would result in major flooding. 33,000 homes, 5 hospitals, 58 schools and 700 kms of road have been damaged according to Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/weve-lost-everything-how-floods-devastated-one-thailands-largest-cities-2025-11-28/#:~:text="It was all caused by,years%2C resulting in catastrophic floods.

As all reports have indicated, with Hong Kong having so many skyscrapers mostly in very densely populated areas, Hong Kong has some of the toughest building codes in the world. Your post should have been directed at contractors who deliberately (I assume) decided to cut corners by not following the codes. Why do you think 11 senior staff from the contractors and their consultants have now been arrested and some likely to be charged with manslaughter? Since you know so much about building codes and Hong Kong, have they changed since the Chinese assumed control of Hong Kong in 1997?

Always difficult to believe what one picks up from the media, but the facebook comments addressed in @mauRICE's post about the raided venue having been open "for the past eight months" certainly do not fit with Otot Otot which has been open in that same location at the end of the row of shop fronts for 30 years. I wonder if those African biggot preachers have only recently appeared in KL and made life difficult for those visiting Otot Otot, if indeed it was that sauna. But I still believe it must have undergone considerable expansion as even with 100 in the space I last visited it would have been almost packed. And not only the sauna's own website but visitor reviews mention nothing about its having a swmming pool, for the simple reason it doesn't have one. Facebook has an entry 21 hours ago from someone who says the raided sauna has been raided several times before and always reopens. I have never heard of previous raids at Otot Otot. I wonder if @mauRICE has as he is closer to the 'action' there.

And what on earth has that to do with the discussion. Absolutely nothing! My first home for 11 years was on the 25th floor of a complex of 44 skyscrapers named Baguio Villa on the Island's west coast all completed by 1981. For your information the governor at that time was the excellent and much admired Sir Murray MacLehose. I suspect the building codes were much the same as in the early 1980s.

It was a joke!

In the midst of this horrific tragedy it is heartwarmng to see so many people turning up to help in some way. A large community effort has been mobilised to help firefighters and other first responders as well as those with no homes. Separate supply stations for food, clothes and household goods have been set up in a square not far from the tower blocks. So much has been donated that calls have been put out on social media for no more donations for the time being. As one city councillor said, such communiy efforts have become a well oiled machine, ironically as a result of the weeks and months of protests in 2014 and 2019.

I am one of the original members of Otot Otot sauna from the time in the early to mid 1990s when I would often fly to KL for long week-ends with friends. I have never heard of its being raided before. From the Straits Times I see that 201 people were detained. Frankly I can not believe Otot Otot can accommodate such a large number unless it has been very substantially expanded since I last visited about 7 years ago. Another reason for thinking it must have been another place is that the raided venue opened from 5:00 pm until late. I always thought Otot Otot opened earlier in the afternoon. Further, the article states that the venue had been under surveillance for two weeks following public complaints. Personally I cannot believe that Otot Otot had suddently had complaints after being in business for 30 years! In any case, the article adds it had only been open for "the past eight months". Lastly, the report states the venue had a swimming pool. There has never been one at Otot Otot to my knowledge. So it must have been somewhere else. Yes, technically they are illegal as Malaysia is a Muslim country. But it has a lot of laws that are only for Muslim citizens and roughly 23% of citizens are Chinese. I have never had any issue on the apps, for example, finding Chinese gay guys. Also in Penang I have been in massage spas where the masseurs were all from mainland China and extra services were available. I have always found KL cruisy. https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/caught-with-their-pants-down-prosecutor-surgeon-among-201-detained-at-men-only-vice-raid-in-kl

Not quite the same. Decades ago I once met a young man at a party. He was cute and said he was a singer. I checked and found that he was on the 2nd or 3rd rung of success. I invited him for dinner one evening, he came and then we repaired to my apartment. He came round a few times after that but the chemistry was not great. Many years later after he had become one of Hong Kong's top stars, I bumped into him near the city centre. I was surprised he recognised me, but we chatted and then went to a coffee shop. I knew by that stage that he had come 'out' as gay but still had a very lage following. But that was the last time I saw him in Hong Kong. I did once, though, see him when he was part of the entertainment at the end of the Taipei Gay Pride Parade.

Faberge Eggs are once again in the news, but only because one of three known to be in private hands is coming up for auction. The exquisite Winter Egg was a gift from the Tsar in 1913. Made from clear quartz, a very notoriously material to carve I believe, like all Faberge's eggs it has something inside - in this case a hanging basket with wood anemones, usually the first of the Spring flowers to bloom after Russia's winters. One expert has claimed the Winter Egg is the greatest of all the 50 made by Faberge's workshops for the Tsars. Like many of Russia's treasures, the Winter Egg was sold off after the Revolution for £450 - approx. US$30,000 in today's money. In 2002 it was sold by Christie's for $9.6 million. The estimate of what it will fetch at Christie's Tuesday auction is $25 million. But that is likely to be low compared to what it will really fetch. In the art market, scarcity is all. https://edition.cnn.com/2025/11/27/style/faberges-winter-egg-christies-auction

Two other issues concern me. The passages within each tower block were narrow. One or two people with difficulty moving could hold up untold others. The second is that when some felt the fire - apparently it is now known that none of the fire alarms were working - they immeditely took the lifts to safety. With fire of such intensity, the chance of electricity failing is very high. The last place I'd want to get stuck in would be a lift between floors. When I lived in Hong Kong for 20 years, I was in two high rise blocks - the first 25 floors up, the second 34 floors up. Views were naturally spectacular. With 4 and 8 apartments per floor respectively, there were two quite generously sized stair exits per floor all well located in the heart of the buildings. But as these were privately constructed high rises, they were not low cost like those in Wang Fuk Court, and so not many older people - at least that I was aware of. When I stay in an hotel, the first thing I do is check the location of the fire stairs and count the number of doors I'll need to pass till I reach them. Once I was involved in a three-day event in Hong Kong's Ritz Carlton hotel located at the top of the tallest building and my room was on floor 117. I rather hoped they had parachutes in each room! Here in Bangkok I live on the top floor of an eight-story building. There are smoke detectors in each unit and fire hoses and extingiushers on each floor but no sprinkler system. The main open staircase is wide but a perfect funnel for fire. When I moved in, a second staircase at the back did not even have doors. I led a campaign to convert those stairs into a fire escape. Now we have occasional fire drills and biennial demonstrations from the fire department on how to use the fire prevention equipment. Now it feels a lot safer.