PeterRS

With the military 'occupation' of Myanmar now making up most comments in the new media, the desperate problems of the Rohingya seem to have been forgotten. Let's not forget that the military expelled in a disgraceful manner with so many human rights violations they bordered on genocide up to 1 million Rohingya. One of the world's poorest nations, Bangladesh, took most of them in while others like Thailand and Malaysia turned boat people back.

I undersand your view and am as pissed off as others. But I think the comment is hardly accurate given the massive losses airlines have suffered over the last three covid years. Somehow they have got to try and recover these and have little option but put fares up. We just have to find the best deals we can.

If Van Goch Alive is as good as the two Exhibitions I have previously visited - the Caravaggio Exhibition at the Bangkok Art & Culture Centre and the Da Vinci Exhibition at River City - it will be excellent.

Fares from the LOS have also risen dramatically. Economy fares from Bangkok to Hong Kong have risen more than 50% in three months despite many more flights now. Biz fares on Emirates from BKK to HKG which used to be 14,000 baht for at least 3 years pre covid are now 26,000.

Another perceptive and enlightening post. Thank you. And I do not think you have hijacked the thread. it is after all about banning something. A Supreme Court that approves extending gun rights is just nuts in my view. Everyone can see that the US Supreme Court is totally fucked up. A Supreme Court that is appointed by politicians and is essentially a political instrument - and increasingly political from what I see at a distance - ignores what the founding fathers intended, again in my view.

Like TMax I always keep some cash for the next visit. I used to travel to so many places I keep the left over cash in an old free standing Korean medicine chest with 30+ drawers. Some of course I will never use but in general it is a great way to keep lots of currencies separate in deally sized drawers. I hate to arrive in a country and then the first thing I have to do is change cash.

Firstly thank you for your excellent, thought-provoking post. I think all sane people surely agree with you - "Wish I did have an answer." Never having been married I do not have grandchildren but my brother and sister each have two children and four grandkids between them. My sister now lives in Scotland not far from where the massacre of school kids took place in Dunblane in 1996. That shooter killed 16 young children, a teacher and injured 15 others. As so often in these ghastly events, he ended up by taking his own life. That massacre of young lives led directly to a tightening of gun legislation and a banning of the private ownership of most guns in the UK. With more guns in the USA than people, that is never going to happen there. But what I find most strange is the fascination many Americans have with guns in this day and age. @KYTOP refers to it in his post. Why is it necessary for an individual to own several guns - and take pride in them? They are instruments of death in the wrong hands. Yes, I know knives, cars and blunt instruments can and do also cause death. But it seems to me that 99.9% of guns require the deliberate action of an individual. Whenever kids and others are murdered, the right led by the NRA - and I guess some on the left as well - keep harping on about mental health being one of the main causes rather than the ownership of or access to a gun. From what we learn, I suspect this is partly true - but how you describe someone who shoots his former work colleagues only because he got in his view unfairly fired as being mentally unsound to me stretches the limit of what is "mental health". And as I have written on a simiar subject before, how on God's good earth do you run checks on the mental health of all citizens? They may be perfectly sane prior to the purchase of a gun, and then go to pieces afterwards. There is absolutely no way you can keep tabs on the mental health of the vast majority of gun owners. Then there is the issue of weapons designed for use on the battlefield being all but freely available for purchase in the USA. For what reason are these frightful instruments of death permitted on American streets? Those who shout Second Amendment will no doubt be aware that there is considerable and continuing controversy about the precise meaning of the wording of that Clause. Those that framed it had never heard of high capacity automatic and semi-automatic guns designed specifically to kill large numbers of people. The Constitution of a country cannot be set in stone. As a huge array of technological and other advances occur over time, so a Constitution needs to be sufficiently flexible to take them into account. But I am not an American citizen and that is an issue for them.

I think we should recall - unfortunately - that it was the not Repulicans who insisted on covering up the male penis. As Michelangelo, Donatello and CellinI were creating their magnificent nudes, if I recall correctly it was the rigidly austere Pope Paul IV in the mid-1550s who decided that such statues in Catholic Churches might corrupt those who happened to see them. This decrepit, rigidly austere Pope elected when he was 79 decided that anything imoral had to go. Called by all who encountered him as "God's wrath incarnate," Paul was universally loathed. In his book "Vicars of Christ: The Dark Side of the Papacy", Peter de Rosa, an alumnus of the Gregorian University in Rome, says of Paul IV - "His massive head was shaped like Vesuvius in whose shaodow he was born. He, too, erupted without warning, spewing out destruction and death. His shaggy beard and craggy brow gave him a savage look; his cratered eyes, red and blotchy, shone like burning lava. His cracked voice, seldom free from catarrh, rolled and thundered, demanding instant, blind obedience." (Shades of Trump perhaps?) Paul in his dotage decided that dicks on male nudes in the Vatican were out and concrete fig leaves were in. Not to be too hard (oops) on the male figures, his decision quickly spread to all genitalia, buttocks and womens' breatsts - all the fun bits as one wag remarked. Paul's edict was eventually formalised at the Council of Trent's 1563 decree banning all "lasciviousness" in religious imagery, although I'm not sure how women's breasts evaded the ban. Popes who followed him were equally anti-dick. Fortunately Michelangelo's nudes in the Sistine Chapel's magnificent frescoes were not regarded as statues.

The OP also tried his luck on the sawatdee forum - and failed to find a hotel. Apart from my personal utter dislike of what he hoped to achieve, what hotel would permit doors to remain open for anyone to enter to participate in this kind of activity - even if they got past reception? Having endless young men register for the same room would surely alert security to something idiotic going on.

Perhaps this is because the phallus plays such a prominent part in most Asian cultures and has done so throughout millennia. In Japan one of the most famous matsuri (local festivals) is that at Kawasaki and its Kanamara Phallus Festival. It draws massive crowds each year. In India and Nepal sexual couplings are far from unusual decoration at temples. These were among 100 or more I saw in the town of Patan in the Katmandu Valley. In India there are erotic carvings in many cities, notably in Khajuraho. The erotic wood print and other carvings and paintings from Japan, Korea and China had better not be shown to religious Americans who clearly might end up with serious mental issues!! 🤣

As a bit of fun in what is clearly a serious subject, I visited the Meissen Factory and Museum near Dresden a few years back. In addition to examples of great Meissen porcelain throughout history, on the top floor there is a special gallery for porcelain crafted by young people relatively new to the art. In the centre there is a quite lovely gazebo with 17th century ladies and gentlemen clearly enjoying some form of afternoon refreshment. Take a closer look, though. I'll let the photos do the talking. All the visitors in my group, young and older, found it immensely amusing. Pornographic? Just fun!

You will no doubt have noted that the source I quoted was from the BBC website. Never infalllible, it is in most cases usually pretty accurate. As it stated - "A principal of a Florida school has been forced to resign after a parent complained that sixth-grade students were exposed to pornography." And if you check the internet, this is the reason given on most sites. I did indeed look before I took the leap! Further, the "other side of the indcident" that you suggest, is for exactly the same "faults". It remains a ridiculous and pathetic joke. If serious art is to be considered pornography, then much of our history can only be regarded as truly decadent. WHat's next? Block out the tits of women in art because they should not be shown to children? Odd that since most kids spent much of their first year or so sucking from them! This from The Insider – "Bishop told the paper that the school had "several issues" with Carrasquilla in the past, including that she did not notify parents that their children would be shown Michelangelo's famous sculpture. "Carrasquilla's husband, Victor Carrasquilla, told the paper that his wife is a "strong evangelical Christian" and said the board should not have forced her to resign." Bishop is the Chair of the School Board and Carrasquilla is the teacher. https://www.insider.com/florida-principal-forced-resign-parents-simpsons-michelangelo-david-statue-2023-3 The Lord help those teachers if they also start examining the art of the Romans. There they might be exposed (horror of horrors) to dozens of other examples of the male nude - on frescos in Pompeii and dozens of depictions of the God Pan. Better still, a good idea if students and their ridiculous parents are banned from travel to Italy and all art galleries and museums! The purity of their simple minds might thus be preserved. LOL

As widely reported, the head teacher of a Florida School has resigned after sixth-grade students were shown images of arguably one of the greatest statues ever created - that of Michelangelo's David in the Accademia in Florence.The students were being given a lesson on Renaissance art. A copy of the statue stands proudly for all to see, adults and children alike, in Florence's main square. All because one parent deemed the statue pornographic and two others felt they should have been told about the 'reveal' beforehand. All this for a figure who features prominently in the Bible which presumably all these holier-than-thou people worship weekly if not daily! What is this ridiculous world coming to - or more specifically all these utterly bigoted, stupid idiots? https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65071989

I watched this on tv last night. I have never bungee jumped in my life and, despite the obvious thrill participants get, I will not do so in future. Imagine if that cord had snapped higher in the jump, or if the terra firma below had been other than water. I guess the park would also have paid to scrape the poor man's remains off the ground! 🤔

Great when awake but I find even the ear buds inconvenient when sleeping on my side. On the other hand, I do find the orange waxy earplugs the airlines give out very good at blocking most sounds. I do not insert them as they come from the packet. Rather I fold them in two, squash them into a smallish ball and then virtually screw them into the ear. Sounds odd but for me it works well. I've known about the prevalence of an aircraft to pitch up slightly during flight for a long time. But surely that should aid the lie flat position. It it were pitch down. my inch up would be more understandable. For me i think it is the fact that whereas a normal mattress will give a little for pelvic bones at the centre of the body, on a lie flat seat there is no such 'give'. It is all dead 'flat'.

Accepting that we are all different, I do find that placing the flat bad seat an inch or so off dead flat helps greatly. My body feels better and sleep seems easier.

These sleep pods look great but as the article points out there are only six in each long haul aircraft. You rent them at an extra fee for a few hours after which they are prepared for another passenger. I think this clearly depends on the airline - and passengers with kids, of course. In my view small kids should be banned from long haul business class! My sister recently took a long haul United flight from the UK to the US in biz class and thought it a total waste of money. On the other hand, I have just completed 4 biz class flights on Qatar to the UK from BKK on a variety of aircraft - an A380, 2 x 787s and one 777 with the Q Suites. The Q Suites are wonderful for peace and space. The other aircraft had the herring bone configuration and were perfectly good for sleeping. Qatar provides a matress to go over the seat since many seats can be quite hard in the flat position and the blanket is large, luxurious and thick. Food and wines for those with an appetite are the best I have ever tasted in any biz class. Meals are also served when you want them. Mind you, there can be times when it would be nice if there were no doors to the Suites. Returning to Bangkok across the aisle there was the cutest Thai guy travelling with his mother. I would happily have spent more time gazing at him!!

I just returned from a fortnight in the UK. Since my 50-page passport had only 3 pages but 18 months left, before the news of 5 weeks of industrial action I decided to renew it as fast as I could. That posed a problem as I had heard about renewals from Thailand taking up to 10 weeks or so. With my travel schedule that would impose major difficulties with work. Although the strike action will mean even lengthier delays than usual (presumably getting lengthier by the week), thanks to a friend in London I learned about the fast track 1-week passports that can be obtained in at least two UK passport centres - in London and Glasgow. Although these are bililed as only accessible to those living in Britain, I had absolutely no trouble. I booked an appointment a couple of weeks earlier, took all the required paperwork and drove to the Glasgow passport office. The passport officer was a charming young guy who had me processed in 8 minutes instead of the 30 it claims to take. As I had paid a little extra for courier delivery, my new 50-page passport arrived exactly 48 hours later! How long those now applying from Thailand will have to wait is in the lap of the British government and whether it settles the strike action or not.

I quite agree. Difference in age is often only in the eye of the beholder. A vast difference in wealth, though, is a different matter. If the marriage lasts, the young man is almost certainly going to be heir to an unimaginable fortune. That said, though, we should recognise that David Geffen has given very substantial amounts to various charitable and philanthropic causes. Recently he was the lead donor having given $100 million to the campaign to totally renovate the previously named Avery Fisher Hall in New York's Lincoln Center, home of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. Having had two disastrous renovations since opening in the 1960s, finally after almost 60 years the Hall is now acclaimed by audiencers, musicians and critics a like as superb.

I understand the 10 year LTR visa has benefits the Elite Visa does not. Perhaps we should recall that the Elite Visa was a near disaster when it was first launched. There was even a time after a few years when it as going to be dispensed with. Now it has become far more popular.

Frankly no idea - sorry. There were several gay guys working at my hotel and I guess there must be quite a few around the island. The OP said he was not so interested in sex and I was not there for sex.

I have never undersood why the retirement visa prohibits working on a voluntary basis for a registered charity. Retirees tend to have a lot of free time and when I reach that point in life I would be very happy to donate some of my time. But TIT and it's a no-no.

Although not in Thailand, I thoroughly recommend the still relatively undeveloped Vietnamese island of Phu Quoc. It's actually situated under Sihanoukville but is Vietnamese. It's like Phuket used to be and has some marvellous hotels depending on your budget. I used points to stay at the Marriott Resort which was magnificent. Pricey but there are cheaper hotels on different beaches. There is a daily Thai Vietjet flight from BKK. Bangkok Airways used to run a daily flight from BKK which may return to the schedule in the next few months. On mainland Thailand I'd also recommend Khao Lak. This is located about 100 kms north of Phuket airport and is basically a series of hotels well set apart as to be all but invisible from each other. Fabulous sandy beaches and lots of local small eateries on the beach if you wish to avoid the hotel coffee shops/restaurants. There are several excursions including, if I recall correctly, one to one of the Andaman Islands (but that needs checking). Again the Marriott Resort is excellent but also pricey. The only time to avoid are European holidays like Easter and Christmas when it is packed mostly with German tourists. My photos were taken the week after Easter when the hotel was still 100% full. But you can see how empty the beach was.

50th Street was quite a walk from 42nd Street and Times Square. Indeed it could not be called part of Times Square. For your info, the New Amsterdam renovation was for The Lion King's stage production - not the movie. It played there for 9 years where it was seen by around 6 million patrons. In that time how many attended the Adonis? Clearly not very many because it closed in 1989 and was demolished in 1995. (I did patronise the Adonis a couple of times but the movies were not the type I enjoy.)

I'd never heard of his videos and just watched the first featuring Cage aux Folles and Birdcage. I saw the original French movie of Cage aux Folles and adored it. It was so funny and I thought briliantly done. On the other hand, I found the Robin Williams American remake both over-the-top and quite boring. Yet i saw the Broadway musical with wonderful hummable music by Jerry Herman and its great cast led by Gene Barry and George Hearn (surely one of his greatest roles) and just loved it. I saw it twice.