PeterRS

It does not need to be "highly likely" or anything at all. The two GRU officers who made that two-day trip to poison the Skripals appeared on Russian TV - in Russia, that is - and stated, admittedly somewhat childishly, that their only purpose - stress "only purpose" - for making the trip was to see the wonderful Salisbury Cathedral. You would at least think that seasoned GRU officers and their superiors could have come up with some more believable excuse.

I suppose there is only so much you can counter facts by spouting Russian propaganda when much of that itself is nonsense. I note @Moses did not attempt to defend the two GRU officers who tried to poison the Skripals in Salisbury. That's no doubt because it is indefensible. The two Russians appeared on a Russian tv programme and had actually admitted to the Russian public the only reason they had decided to make a 2-day visit to the UK was because they wanted to see the famous Salisbury Cathedral. Naturally they did not say they had been ordered do so in order to murder the Skripals, but that is perfectly obvious to everyone.

Tip him Bt. 300 and give him your etiquette book on how to make good money as a bar boy.

You list nine Nazis and state nobody likes Nazis here! Odd how that photo you posted has at least 40 carrying Nazi flags. What happened to them? "Accidentlly died", just like Putin critics Navalny, Lesin, Nemtsov, Berezovsky, Magnitsky, Markelov, Baburova, Estemirova, Politkovskaya, Shchekochikhin and others including the attempted assassination at Salisbury in England of the Soviet dissidents Sergei and Julia Skripal using the Novichok nerve agent. The BBC traced the poisoners directly to a flat in Moscow where the door was slammed in their face. They had arrived in England at Gatwick Airport for just two days. In Moscow they later admitted the only place they wanted to visit during that time was Salisbury where the Skripals lived. No other sightseing? Why? Because, they said, it had a beautiful cathedral. Funny, surely, that there is the equally beautiful Winchester Cathedral just 40 kms away but it was of no intrest! That the poisoners did not wish to see anything else on their trip was a total joke! The Skripals were under medical care for months but both lived.The secret unit 29155 of the Rusian GRU under the command of General Andei Averyanov had organised the botched killing.

1) Can not agree with you more, as I have written here probably too many times! 2) Soi13 is well worth a visit. At certain times it can be completely packed with mostly young cute Taiwanese. Just be aware that foreigners now pay a much higher entry price than Taiwanese. I hear it may be as much as NT$1,000 (US$33) compared to NT$300 for locals. When I was there last it was NT$800. An alternative where the guys are generally a bit older, although some younger students also go there, is Hans Mens Sauna. This is a large new facility close to the Red House and it charges NT$400 for everyone. It is much larger than the old Hans and only about 200 meters up the road. Remember too that Commander D has a completely dark room (pitch black!) and so make sure you do not take anything valuable in there. Not that I have heard of anyone being robbed (apart from their virginity ) but better to be safe. I will be back in Taipei in early November and the hot spring Huang Tsu (card photo below) is always on my list. I believe it still attracts the gayest crowd in the area but as @hojacat points out in a recent post there is another hot spring named Shan Yue attracting gay guys. I will try to investigate. 3) Agree about Ximending and the Red House area. Great for cruising but most people seem to go there in groups to eat and drink. Not easy for spotting anyone looking for a meet up.

What exchange rate do you get for converting A$ into Baht? I know in the UK it is not good. After UK trips I usually bring £s cash as the rate at a couple of the Thai money exchanges is considerably better.

A fascinating BBC article with parts of the history not generally known in Thailand. I had no idea that the Thais had allowed the French to draw up the boundary map without once challenging the result for over half a century. Ironically it was French designs in Burma in the early 19th century that led the British to invade that country from India. The resultant colonisaton by the British resulted in the country basically being torn apart. The French have a lot to answer for! Having lost the argument at the International Court of Justice, even lthough this body is not recognised by Thailand, it does seem that Thailand has been on the back foot every time the border issue comes to the fore, as the BBC article suggests. Hun Sen appears to hold all the aces and can say what he likes, whenever he likes without Thailand being able to come up with an effective counter strategy. This makes Paetongtarn Shinawatra's phone conversation with him even more uttery stupid and she surely deserves whatever punishment is coming her way. Sadly it seems the article is correct: any progress on the border dispute is unlikely.

Zelensky has 4% popularity???? What planet are you living on @Moses? The latest Forbes poll about the next election in Uraine shows that Zelensky has 44% popularity compared to his nearest challenger who has 21%. In a survey conducted between February 25 and 27 (which did not include those in Russian occupied Ukrainian territory) showed that Zelensky had a 52% favourable opinion. In that same poll only 17% had a favourable opinion of Trump! 4%??? Laughable! https://www.forbes.com/sites/bowmanmarsico/2025/03/03/how-popular-is-zelensky-in-ukraine-what-the-polls-show/

Poor @Moses totally fails to realise that it is far too easy to be selective when it comes to posting photographs. From the same batch recently in Washington are these. Funny isn't it how they present a totally different series of images! All smiles and laughter! Even little Marco cannot stop smiling! All images from an AP website

It is one bedroom - not a studio. But I fear probably too far for you - about 3.5 kms. I do happen to have a long sheepskin jacket. It has come in very handy when visiting the Harbin Ice and Snow Scupture Festival and seeing the Northrn Lights beyond the Arctic Circle when temperatures were around -25C. But unfortunately I cannot get my air conditioning anywhere as low as that and I'd be sweating like a pig. Mind you I could be naked underneath and that would make it easy to join the bedroom festivities 🤣 🤣

What did I write just a fw moments ago? @Moses continues to make a total mockery of the truth.

Out of curiosity, what is the name of the View Talay complex of low rise buildings just off Thappraya Road begfore it turns down to the beach, each with its own pool and a wall around it. These seem rather nice, but I expect considerably more pricey. Perfect for Olddaddy's birthday party with lots of hanky panky around and in the pool. 🤣

What a load of utter rubbish! It was Ukrainians who launched the revolution which finally got rid of the President Viktor Yanukovych in 2014 after months of protests against him. Funny, surely, that when he first won the Presidency in 2004, he was declared the winner. But following widespread protests within the country about voter intimidation and electoral fraud, the vote was rerun and Yanukovych lost. His second election in 2010 seemed to observers more free and fair. In that election he stood for greater ties with the European Union and a non-aligned military. But he did not fulfil these promises. His reign resulted in massive corruption, an increase in cronyism, the jailing of his opponent in that election. Although the Ukrainian parliament had approved greater union with the EU by a massive majority, he withdrew his approval. This sparked major protests against his governing and he turned the troops on the demonstrators, killing 100 of them. He then secretly fled to Russia with, as admitted by Putin, the help of the Russian President. His house in Moscow cost US$52 million. In the meantime parliament voted 320-0 to remove him and hold new elections. His own party disowned him. An arrest warrant was put out for him and he was sentenced in absentia to 13 years in jail for treason. Pollng since then has put Yanukovych as one of the country's worst Presidents! After he fled, his mansion was opened. For a man who had never earned more than US$2,000 per month, people were aghast at the $100,000 each of the chandeliers had cost and the extre lavishness of his "palace". Documents uncovered in the Palace showed that close to $42 million had been spent on light fittings alone. His successor Poroshenko was considerably more popular but he failed in many of his promises. In the 2019 elections he was dogged by a major scandal involving cronies organising the sale of Russian components to Ukrainian Defence factories at vastly inflated prices. He had also been discovered in the Paradise Papers as having opened an offshore account in the British Virgin Islands. At the election Zelensky was elected President with 73.32% of the vote - the highest ever for any Ukrainian President in history. Yanukovich had never received more than 49%. Thus @Moses continues to make a total mockery of the truth in his posts!

I did mention in an earlier post that I do not have a spare bedroom. When I purchased the apartment, I knocked down a wall to allow for a much larger living/dining space. But you can have a hammock on the little balcony. Just make sure you bring lots of mosquito spray As for the party location, if I move some furniture around, i reckon I can accommodate about 25. But with no public transport nearby, you'll have to get your guests to take taxis or you hire a bus for them. Just for your information, as the party will be taking place in my home, I reserve all rights to photos and videos (of which I will of course provide you with copies). The videos in the bedroom with the nice large bed might make interesting viewing especially if you have some nice cute twinks! Can I post them here later? 🤣

Have you started getting the pre-nup in place?

As I believe many people are aware, the annual Edinburgh Festival now underway is not only an occasion for the high arts. There is at virtually the same time a Fringe Festival which attracts thousands of performers presenting all manner of shows and events. Last year there were 51,446 performances of 3,745 events from 60 different countries. The satirical evening "Beyond The Fringe" presented in 1960 launched the careers of Dudley Moore, Peter Cook, Alan Bennett and Jonathan Miller when all were recent University graduates. It started the satire boom in the UK and was way ahead of its time. It then went on to long runs in both London and New York. Although it was in fact part of the official Festival programme, it was devised to attract attention to the existence of the Fringe, which has never looked back. Among those who started their careers with shows on the Fringe include Sir Billy Connelly, Rowan Atkinson, Sir Stephen Fry and Sir Derek Jacobi. I mention this because one show this year has gathered considerable attention and seems destined to go on to performances in more major theatrical centres. The Alpaqa Theatre Collective from Peru's new musical with a Latin twist "Jeezus!" portrays Jesus as the son of Maria and Jose. Jose is deeply religious and homophobic but when Jesus sees presentations of the mosty naked Christ on the cross in his local church, he is both confused and aroused. He has a sexual awakening. The musical only has two characters, one playing Jesus and the other all the other parts. It is set in the time of Peru's strongman leader Alberto Fujimori. As The Guardian's review today reports, in one of the songs Fujimori's followers sing "We will suck your massive dic . . . tatorship." Erotic overtones and religious imagery are explored in many of the songs. The reviewer writes, "Jeezus! lightly explores the grip of religious patriarchy and the potential salvation of embracing love with no limits, in a sweet and smutty hour of uplifting musical comedy." At the end, the two characters sing "If love is a mortal sin, let's burn in hell." Summing it up, a reviewer in WhatsOnStage writes, "The score fizzes with variety, shifting from Lloyd Webber-esque ballads to Peruvian folk melodies . . . the production crackles with electricity, the pace never flagging. It’s a set-up that promises unaltered blasphemous satire, but writer Sergio Antonio Maggiolo sidesteps the easy route: Jeezus! is not about renouncing faith, but about finding a way to reconcile it with queer love." https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/aug/20/jeezus-review-underbelly-cowgate-edinburgh https://www.whatsonstage.com/news/jeezus-at-underbelly-cowgate-edinburgh-fringe-review_1691217/

I have always found that one of the great joys of travel is you can step out of your comfort zone and nobody cares. You are usually well away from your home environment. All it takes is the willpower to see new places and try new things. Not everything will be to your liking but you will be surprised how much will satisfy your desires. Try lots of new experiences and enjoy your October/November trip.

Add to that bankrupting and closing a university he started up, the textbook of lies he told and has never fulfilled in order to build a golf course in Scotland north of Aberdeen, and a subject surely closer to @Moses heart, starting a hugely unsuccessful brand of vodka that quickly died after five years. Or at least died everywhere except, some internet sources suggest, in Israel where some is still sold! That's because it was kosher vodka for Passover! Only as the Jerusalem Post discovered, it has a non-kosher ingredient. When asked about this, the Trump Organisation refused to comment! Given that the vodka was actually produced in the Netherlands, were it available today I presume it would be subject to sanctions!

I'm sorry but I find that comment uncalled for. There are many issues re my own nationality that I would object to if I found them included in an ad. The Swatch executives who approved that ad were negligent and stupid! And that's the end of the story!

With respect I think that comment is unfair. May I remind you that I was responding to @khaolakguy's point in his post above that this poster has asked before over several years for information about travelling to gay Thailand and never wrote trip reports. @khaolakguy made the negative comment, not me! Please read my first post in this thread when I pointed out that there have been many changes since that member's last post in 2017. After @khaolakguy responded, I wanted to satisfy myself that his is an accurate comment. It is. And I suggest if someone seeks information on this Board and as a result several members take the time to provide information based on their own experiences, I think a simple thank you is pure courtesy. Not to comment after receiving responses to specific questions is, frankly, bad manners, and I am sure you must agree.

That's a fair point. I have been through all his earlier posts - all 21 prior to the 2 in this thread since 2013 - and there were quite a few other questions he sked on a number of issues, but when other members have posted replies to these and the travel queries, he never responds with even a "thanks".

Surely there is absolutely no doubt in this case it was Swatch. With 27% of your profits coming from the Chinese market, no company should have considered using an ad like that. It was demeaning and insulting.

Again that's funny in a sort of weird way. Do you have your own DC3 that requires refuelling? Because Qantas says the flight time is 3 hrs. 20 mins. Now that fits almost exactly with @Kiwi306's estimate of 3 hrs. 30 mins.

You are funny! You want to get back on to the toic of Bangkok and Chiang Mai, and yet your "on topic" post is all about Australia. 🤣

There is a whole host of reasons why sanctions don't work. When I was in Iran, despite sanctions there were cans of Coca Cola everywhere and bottles of Heinz tomato ketchup freely available. Korean cars were everywhere. I could go on, but the point is I was informed that many of the consumer goods had come in from Malaysia via Dubai. Here in Bangkok there are branches of many Myanmar companies solely to get round the sanctions on these same companies' head offices based in Myanmar. Several major counties have banned the sale of arms to Myanmar. Russia freely sells arms to successive juntas which have committed horrendous atrocities on its people over decades. Through the Russian State Atomic Energy Company, Russia signed a nuclear pact with Myanmar in July 2023, ostensibly to build reactors but no one knows the real reason. In January, a member of the Japanese yakuza pleaded guilty to attempting to steal weapons grade plutonium and other nuclear materials from Myanmar for sale to Iran. Although the amounts were small, could they have originated in Russia? China sells arms to the military junta but also to the rebel militias. More than most countries it has an interest in seeing an outcome of the civil war favourable to itself. The last thing it wants is a western-style democracy beholden to America on its border. Not that that is likely to happen given the USA's persistent lack of interest in helping any group in Myanmar. The BURMA Act that provided for aid to the rebel militias saiied through the divided Congress in April 2022. In the Senate, Republican members repeatedly complained about its cost and it was rejected by the Foreign Affairs Sub-Committee. It then died. Trump's actions have een worse. So governments know perfectly well that santions are not only a relatively ineffective economic tool, they can not infrequently have unintended negative consequences.