PeterRS

I am sure JFK is not the only airport with near misses on the ground. But I was once on an Air France 747 from Paris which had to abort its landing because another aircraft had suddenly encroached on the designated arrival runway. Perhaps the best-known incident was about 11 years ago when an Air France A380 hit a smaller Delta Connection aircraft's tail and spun it around. How fire was avoided - thank the Lord!

Best advice so far.

As the doctor states at the start of that video, the right decision would have been for all countries in the world to treat all visitors to all countries equally! The implication being that there is no unanimous agreement about Chinese tourism while the pandemic is out of control in that country. I also note his comments are littered with "maybe", "could be" "I think . . ." "I expect . . ." That sure gives listeners a great deal of confidence!

Just what gay tourists are likely to import 🤣

With the UK Masters having finished last night with Judd Trump taking the title won last year by Zhao Xin-tong. it seems the Snooker Authorities' enquiries about match fixing are close to conclusion. Hopefully some of those under suspicion will be exonerated and permitted back on the tour. The fact that all ten players suspended are Chinese is a big problem for the authorities. China is by far the largest new market for snooker and more and more tournaments are being played there. A few months ago the Hong Kong tournament was played before an audience of 8,000 in the Hong Kong Coliseum, the first time any tournament had been played before spectators numbering more than around 3,000. China is seen to be the future of the game, especially with more and more young players winning places on the world tour. The fact that all ten under investigation are Chinese not only threatens the immediate future of the sport surely casts some doubt on the accusations. There have been British players suspended in previous years, but only two. I have already mentioned the possibility of triad influence. But I find it difficult to understand why top-ten players like Zhou and the younger Yan Bing-tao who have both won several major tournaments would throw away what were about to become stellar careers. Zhou in particular has had no dream other than playing professiojnal snooker since he was a small kid. His father even bought him a full-size snooker table when it became obvious that this was the career he wanted. The 12-year ban handed out to Stephen Lee for match fixing in 2008 and 2009 must surely have been a major deterrent to future players. Even one of the 'greats' John Higgins had to serve a much shorter ban for similar reasons. The Thai No. 1 Thepchaya Un-Nooh was investigated in 2012 but no charges wre brought. One former 'great' Willei Thorne has stated that corruption through match-fixing is endemic in the game. Apparently virtually all players have been approached. Thailand's frist player to reach the top ranks 30 years ago James Wattana even received death threats if he did not fix a match. It does seem that even though the authorities have made major efforts to stamp out match fixing, there is little they can do when bets can be taken on any number of possibilities during a match. Unless their evidence against some of the Chinese players is watertight, I still hope to see many of them exonerated.

Good luck in trying to get that accepted by the airline which flies you into Thailand! The problem for airlines is that if the passenger fails to provide proof of exit within 30 days, it is the airline which is fined a considerable sum and is also responsible for flying the passenger back to his point of departure on the next flight out. In other words, the passenger is not permitted entry to Thailand. I cannot believe any airline employee anywhere in the world checking passengers in for Thailand flights will have the slightest clue about confirmed bus or train bookings.

I have a one year visa but my passport is almost full and I had to point it out to the CX employee as he could not locate it!

I just wrote in another forum, I was stopped at Cathay Pacific check-in at HKG three days ago and asked to show either my visa or an outbound ticket. And I have flown the BKK/HKG/BKK sectors well over 200 times.

You could have fooled me! 😉 Everyone has their own style of posting and readers just have to get used to that. But in a post like the one above and others in this thread, perhaps @12is12 might enlighten us why 'M' and 'acdmc' have letters missing when 'profession' is spelled in full. It appears merely to be some form of artificial affectation.

Hopefully you are not mistaken, but I have serious doubts. I have lost track of the number of empty taxis driving past when people try to flag them down. Drivers do not want to get bogged down in traffic, even though the meter still runs, and they much prefer long distances. If they see shopping bags, it seems they just assume you only want to go 2 or 3 kms and will not stop. I see this regularly after I have been to a supermarket very near my condo. I often have to wait for the 5th or 6th empty taxi before it stops. And no, the ones which sailed by did not have "Busy" on their signs - the relatively new indication that they are on they way to pick someone up. The other much more understandable problem is end of shifts. If the driver does not own his cab, he has to deliver it back at a certain time so that another driver can take his place. Clearly he does not want to go to Don Mueang if the next driver is waiting by Saphan Thaksin! But surely the Transport Dept. could give each owner a sign to place over the meter stating "End of Shift" or some such wording. But that's far too obvious for Thailand, clearly!

What many people fail to understand that for many years contracting HIV was a death sentence. Get it from sex, blood transfusions or another exchange of bodily fluids and AIDS was bound to follow, then an extremely unpleasant long, lingering death. I had one friend who was so utterly and passionately devoted to his younger South American lover, after his death from AIDS in 1991 he simply could not consider another relationship. He himself did not pass away until 2017.

It's been reported more than a few times in this Board in recent years that younger Thais increasingly favour BB sex. It seems to be common in the Thai-for-Thai saunas dotted around the outskirts of Bangkok. Given the reduced amount of sex education in schools, in particular relating to HIV and how to avoid catching it, it is sadly not surprising.

Love to see some of those young snooker players in tight short pants - preferably white so you can see the bulge. But there would have to be an age limit. Who would want to see Ronnie O'Sullivan or John Higgins other than covered head to toe in black?

i arrived back last night on a Cathay Pacific flight. No checks in HKG other than that I had a visa, no checks at BKK. Only requirement was the wearing of masks in flight except at meal time. Not sure why the visa was an issue at check-in as I have an annual visa and a flight out on 10 February. But the CX staffer would not check me in until he saw the visa in my passport!

I'll make another bet. Anutin's measures will be revised sooner rather than later!

I happen to be a fan of snooker and am glued to the tv when the main tournaments are being played. One feature of recent years has been the arrival of many young Chinese players. Two in particular have won major events. First was 22 year-old Yang Bing-tao who won the 2021 Masters title. Even more talented is 25 year-old Zhao Xin-tong from X'ian who won the 2021 UK and German Masters titles. His qualities as a player have been praised extremely highly by such greats as Ronnie O'Sullivan and Stephen Hendry. Most of these Chinese players moved to Sheffield in England when they were much younger where there are excellent facillities for their development. Now a huge cloud hangs over not just these two players but 8 others ranging in age from 19 to 35. All have been banned by the snooker authorities pending the outcome of investigations for match fixing. Fixing the outcome of matches is not confined to Chinese players. In 2013 the British player Stephen Lee was banned for 10 years. The integrity unit of the World Professional Billiard and Snooker Association monitors the betting industry very closely. It receives alerts when unusual betting activity is discovered. The detail of the bans presently imposed have not been made public. Given the massive increase in interest of the sport in China in particular, I can only assume that it came as a result of bets made in Asia. Given that most of these young Chinese are a result of the country's one-child policy, I can see the possibility of triad activity here. These gangsters would be unlikely to go after the players since they are based in England. But I can see them going after their families if the sons did not go along with their illegal activities. But that's a pure guess. We have to wait a few more weeks before the details are made public. Should illegal match fixing be proved, it will be good for the sport. It will also be sad to see so much talent banned for many years when they should be at their peak. Zhao Xin-tong, the world No. 9, is especially cute (!) and I will miss his participation on the international snooker tour! https://www.bbc.com/sport/snooker/64174244

Will we now see a resurgence of the Russian mafia which used to control part of Pattaya's life as it did more openly in Phuket? And will Chinese triad activity follow as it has done very effectively in Sihanoukville in Cambodia?

I don't think that is quite accurate. China has been battling covid ever since it first appeared in Wuhan more than 3 years ago. Led by Xi Jinping's mad policy it assumed it could triumph over an invisible virus. Three years of massive city lockdowns and huge disruption to its once thriving economy. Now instead of being sensible about it, it has just unlocked the stable door and thrown away the key. No doubt this has something to do with Chinese New Year in a couple of weeks and the massive unrest that he would have faced had he forced the population to abandon the lunar New Year family gatherings for yet another year. For China this is not a new battle. It is the continuation of a huge failure which threatens to lead to an even bigger failure, one that will see covid spread massively within China. Some of those infected are now spreading to other parts of the world and/or putting the world's healthcare facilities at considerable risk. Classic buck passing. The allied issue arising from this is: can Xi hang on to power? The lockdown policy was his. The deaths that are now following are on him. The leadership in Beijing is not a unified body. It is rife with factions as we recently saw at the National People's Congress a couple of months ago. Will he be dethroned? We shall see.

I'll bet they'll be wearing masks and using hand sanitiser. i think I should have a little bet on how many of these tourists are found to have covid on arrival!

That seems to be American thinking. These two young people were seasoned British actors and they worked in Europe. Nudity in movies was not such a big thing. Parental consent was required for Hussey showing a flash of her tits and it was given in writing. With the age of consent being 16, Whiting did not require any parental consent for showing his ass. After seeing the movie, the producers of "True Grit" offered Hussey the lead role of Mattie. She turned it down, saying "John Wayne doesn't do anything for me." In 1968 she was also offered the title role in Hal Wallis' movie "Anne of a Thousand Days" a movie that was nominated for 10 Oscars, including Best Actress. She turned it down. The role went to Canadian actress Genevieve Bujold who won a Golden Globe for her performance. So much for Ms. Hussey's career having suffered! She inflicted those wounds on herself! "Romeo and Juliet" was regulated by the British Board of Film Censors for showing in the UK. It gave it an A classification as being acceptable for minors in the presence of an adult. The BBFC was more concerned about the violence and suicides than it was with the nudity! In the USA it was given a G rating meaning all ages could see it. Only in 1973 was this rating changed to PG, meaning it MIGHT be inappropriate for children under 13. Children of 14 and 15 were still able to watch the movie without a guardian. This idiotic law suit is no doubt a ploy by an unscrupulous lawyer out to make a quick buck through a hefty percentage of any winnings. It such cases, often the accused (Paramount) will make a small out of court payment simply to avoid the cost of hiring lawyers and fighting the case in court. Hopefully Paramount will counter-sue. At least they stand to make perhaps a lot more cash with reruns of the movie on TV.

This diotic saga continues. Franco Zeffirelli's son has hit out against the two actors for basically lying. He reminds us that Olivia Hussey went on to work on Zeffirelli's mini-series Jesus of Nazareth and Whiting attended Zeffirelli's funeral in 2019. Hardly the actions of actors who believe they were violated. Pippo Zeffirelli adds - "In all these years, they have always maintained a relationship of deep gratitude towards Zeffirelli, releasing hundreds of interviews about the happy memory of their very fortunate experience." I hope Parmount counter sues!

I doubt if changing planes changes anything. Immigration authorities want information about yout primary departure city. If the authorities don't believe you, all they need do is put you to one side and then check your baggage tag. You can only fool them if you deplane at the intermediate stop, reclaim your baggage and then re check in.

I don't doubt your reasoning re Eastern European countries. But if I recall correctly, we KNEW and the WHO KNEW what was happening in those countries. Do you know what is actually happening in China re covid? Not even the WHO knows! All we hear from a large variety of sources is that covid is now rampant in that country and about to get a great deal worse. Hospitals are already overrun. The Chinese authorities reported 5 deaths on January 5 and 3 on January 6. No one in China believes these firgres. CNN had an interview with one Chinese national who had four deaths in his family in recent days. He believes the official firgures are nonsense. Well over 200 million Chinese are about to roam freely around the country returning to their ancestral home towns and villages in the countryside - where a huge number have not been vaccinated - to celebrate Chinese New Year for several days around January 22 for the first time since 2019. As already mentioned, at least 1 million deaths are expected and a vast number of new infections. Because of the lockdown policy over the last 3 years, there is no herd immunity in China. Who knows how many will become infected by the end of this month? And who knows how many will get round the regulations and be desperate to get out of the country in the hope of avoiding infection? We know that money talks in China. No doubt it will help getting some on aircraft flying out of China. Like you I know several who died of covid including one a close friend. I don't want to see any more. Do you know anyone with long covid? That is a hideous long term health problem. I am all for freedoms - but as I have written several times before, freedom rightly demands responsibility. In terms of covid that means those who might be infected with the disease have a responsibilty to do all possible to avoid infecting others. At the same time governments have a duty to protect those who might become infected with it. In medical terms, I firmly believe caution is the best policy. Anutin is a total self-serving idiot whose sole aim is to become Prime Minister for believing that he knows how better to handle the massive China outbreak compared to the health authorities in a large and increasing number of other major countries.

The more I read about this law suit the more I confused I get. The movie was filmed entirely in Italy. Nudity in many European movies was far from uncommon at that time, unlike the much more prudish American fim industry. The two actors are both British, not American. Conveniently the lawsuit states they were all but forced to be nude by Zeffirelli, but he is dead and his estate is not named in the suit. The actors' lawyer has stated his clients "were very young children who had no iunderstanding aobut what was to hit them. All of sudden they were famous at a level they never expected, and in addition they were violated in a way they didn't know how to deal with." What a load of utter rubbish!

I wonder why you think this is fine? Two years ago, the world was in virtual panic as millions were dying of covid and many forms of measures against the virus were adopted in most of the world. This included lockdowns and the inability of most of us to travel. We were all afraid of getting the virus. Thanks to China's stupidity, first in trying to control the spread of the virus through extensive lockdowns rather than vaccinations and now in opening the stable door long after the horses have bolted, covid infections are not merely rife, they are spreading with great rapidity around China with the likelihood - according to many in the medical profession - of a million deaths in the relatively near future. The country's health system is overrun and unable to cope. We know that more than half the Chinese passengers on a flight to Italy tested positive. We know that 28% of Chinese passengers on a flight to Taipei tested positive. If these represent even a fraction of those about to flood the world, how are the world's health services going to cope? Yet you seem happy to accept the possibility of many thousands (tens of thousands?) of Chinese ariving in Thailand bringing covid with them. Yes, Thailand is much better prepared and many Thais are fully vaccinated. But vaccination does not mean you can not be reinfected. Three members of my own family and two friends in Taipei became reinfected even after three vaccinations. I am not prepared to treat anyone from China as an adult making his/her own choice - yet! I am not prepared to let the Chinese government use its economic leverage to pressure worldwide governments to accept its own citizens when it has done precious little to protect those citizens over the last 3 years. Thailand should do as other countries are doing - ban travellers from China until that country has covid under control.