PeterRS

My days in the bars and with money boys ended quite some time ago. I therefore have no interest in what going rates are. That said, I have nothing whatever against money boys. They provide a service and are making a living. Good on them, especially if the service is great. However, being based in Bangkok I notice that there are so many boys available on the apps who are not money boys and whose only interest is in a good time with some good sex. Bangkok being a large city, most will ask for transport if they are coming from reasonably far away, but few request taxis. Sometimes a nice dinner is accepted, but far from always Having a partner, I don't take them up on offers. But my partner knows that I do meet up with guys when i travel, but again not money boys. In Tokyo, Taipei, KL, Singapore and more recently in Danang there always seem to be plenty of boys looking for an older farang. On my last trip to Singapore I was merely lying on my bed after a rather heavy lunch when a young student clicked on me. Turned out he was virtually passing the front door of the hotel. Well, what was I supposed to do? I had a good time. I fully realise that non commercial guys are not always available when a visiting tourist wants to hook up. Many are students or young guys with jobs. So outside of Thailand I do not expect hook ups till early evening. So far I have rarely been disappointed.

The new "social order" has been promulgated for at least a couple of years. The government no longer wants cheap tourism. It's after the big spenders. So it has made it easier to park your private jet in Phuket! 🤣

We can blame the first Thaksin government and his homophobic Interior Minister Purachai for early closing times. Before their Social Order campaigns in the early 2000s, bars and clubs stayed open virtually as long as there were customers. Purachai imposed mostly 1:00 am closing times. Even the hugely respected GM of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Kurt Wachtveitl, told the New York Times this would be a major setback for Thai tourism.

Unquestionably. And it was not Nixon or US administrations that created that change. It was the twice rehabilitated Deng Xiao-ping and his vision for a new China. Sadly Tiananmen Square in June 1989 remains one blot on his record. But even a detailed analysis of that disaster illustrates how he was increasingly hemmed in by the old guard which felt his reforms were not in accord with Mao's revolution and which had got rid of the reformers Deng had earlier placed in top positions. Thereafter, Deng's power was significantly reduced. The real question for Thailand and the huge investments it made in recent years to cope with the huge - and largely surprising - uptick in Chinese tourism is will the Chinese return in the same numbers. Tourism in this country seems to go in cycles. First the westerners, then the Russians. If the Chinese cannot be attracted back in the same numbers as in 2019, who will take their place? Indians?

Yes it's a totalitarian and authoritarian state, although it is far less draconian in most of the country than we often think, - at least that is what my friends living there tell me. Of course those in Xinjiang and Tibet will not agree, for what China is doing there is ghastly and seems underneath everything like some form of genocide. And yes, China may have grown big largely on the back of the greed of western consumers desperate for cheaper goods. But it has to be more than that for Bangladesh is known worldwide for its textile exports, yet it remains mired in poverty. I think it's important to remember that the USA became a friend of China with Nixon's visit in 1971 which turned the USA's previous policy on its head. The USA actively helped China grow as a natural buffer to the Soviet Union. At that time, China had lost about 30 million of its peoples to Mao's mad campaigns and was not yet over the Cultural Revolution. Thereafter with the rise of Deng Xiao-ping, it was not the west he turned to but the mega zillionaire Chinese in Hong Kong and other parts of the world. They funded his initial economic reforms and helped drag 400 million out of poverty. Of course, once the west learned of the cheap goods and the cheap labour market, they flooded in. Soon after the start of this century, many Japanese high-end goods like digital cameras were actually made in China. Greed had indeed become a factor in the equation and China grew fast as a result. I don't know enough about theft of intellectual property but no doubt that helped too. However it was achieved, though, China pre-covid was the world's second largest economy - up from almost zero in just 40 years. I think I am correct in saying only Japan holds a similar record - and again it was a demand first for cheap goods and then quality which was the cause.

I remember years ago being told by someone in the airline industry that a full 747-400 flying from Asia to Europe will burn off 25% of its fuel just to reach cruising altitude - i.e. in less than first 25 minutes. But the more efficient design of the 787s and A350s and their having 2 engines rather than 4 no doubt make them a good deal more fuel efficient.

Agreed. When I returned to Bangkok at the end of March, I forgot about the Thai Pass until there were only 5 working days left prior to departure. I panicked a bit but managed to get the form in on a Sunday. I was then very surprised that the QR code was returned on the following Wednesday evening. In future I would certainly not leave it anything like so late.

GIven that China accounted for around 30% if not more of all arrivals in 2019, it's hardly surprising that arrivals in 2022 are way below pre-pandemic levels. What will be interesting is when China does permit overseas tourism again, will the Chinese still consider Thailand as a first choice?

During Tsarist times in Russia, being known as gay was tantamount to career-ending, no matter who you were. Arguably Russia's most famous composer and later to become known as one of its most tormented gay men was the composer Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Ironically his brother Modest was also gay - but then he was not nearly as famous. Tchaikovsky was lauded throughout the country partly for his music to three of what have become the most popular ballets in the repertoire - Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker, but equally for his seven symphonies, violin concerto, two piano concertos and the opera Eugene Onegin. Even today Tchaikovsky being gay is very much played down in Russia to fit in with Putin's homophobia and the country's harsh laws. In an attempt to throw any suspicion off him, in 1877 aged 37 Tchaikovsky decided to get married. Antonina Miliukova was an aspiring young musician. From the moment she first saw Tchaikovsky, she was enthralled. She determined to marry him despite the fact they were particularly ill-suited to each other. Tchaikovsky stated she was a woman "with whom I am not the least in love." Modest went further, describing her as a "crazed half-wit." In the end she got her way, even though it seems certain she was not aware at that time that he was gay. In many respects this was similar to events a few decades later when an aspiring young ballet student set her sights on marrying arguably the greatest male dancer the world has ever seen, Vaslav Nijinsky. Nijinsy had been the plaything of a homosexual clique in St. Petersburg before being taken under the wing of the very gay impresario, Serge Diaghiev. Probably more bisexual than totally gay, after his marriage Nijinsky's career fell apart and he was to spend decades in and out of psychiatric institutions. Tchaikovsky suffered no similar fate. His marriage was more than a disaster, however. He soon found his wife "absolutely repulsive" and spoke of "unbearable moral torments." It lasted for just 8 weeks before the couple separated. Since divorce was complicated in Russia, they had to remain man and wife until his death. But the rift was total and he saw no more of her. The Hollywood Reporter writing about the new movie shown recently at the Cannes Film Festival "Tchaikovsky's Wife" describes the marriage as "more like a train suddenly hitting a 747, then flying off the rails of a bridge, where it crash lands into a boat causing an explosion that blows up the bridge, too." Both parties were to suffer, Tchaikovsky of a nervous breakdown although he was thereafter able to continue his career. Antonina was devastated and ended up like Nijinsky in losing her mind. The marriage was a tragedy for both parties.

It's interesting how airlines were all but desperate to get rid of their A380s prior to covid but several have now taken some of theirs out of mothballs with the substantial uptick in travel demand. I know SIA, BA and Qatar have done so. I believe Emirates continued to fly them on some routes even during the pandemic.

For whatever reason, I not only did not like Elvis - I actively disliked him! Those ghastly movies! There were other US pop stars of the time that I enjoyed - loved The Beach Boys, Dionne Warwick, Mamas and the Papas, Roy Orbison, Sonny & Cher, Bob Dylan etc. - but Elvis left me cold! Then the British invasion started with The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and the host of other Merseyside groups which thereafter took most of my interest.

Looks nice from the outside. The location is almost exactly where Barbiery moved after leaving Suriwong. I hope that is not an omen. But then the 'new' Barbiery was a totally different less inviting experience inside its second incarnation and died after a relatively short time. It was also on the 3rd floor of a multi-storey rather than at ground level. No doubt that made it difficult to find for first timers.

The problem with TG's non-stop NYC service was that it had purchased 6 of the long range 4-engine Airbus A340-600s especially to serve its USA routes to NYC and LAX. Apart from its inability to carry much cargo, with a mix of business and economy seats the aircraft had to sell most of the seats to break even. It never did. A bit like the A380, it was the wrong aircraft at the wrong time. Almost as soon as the long distance version was being manufactured, changes in the ETOPS regulations meant that cheaper twin jets like the 777 were thereafter able to fly across the Pacific. The massive increase in fuel price around 2008 then all but killed it. For many years TG tried to sell its A340 fleet without success. They are not listed on its present fleet but it is believed TG still owns them and they are stored at U-tapao airport.

I am sure we have all seen movies that for one reason or another become totally fixed in our minds. Of the most lighthearted ones, I will never forget the first times I saw Cabaret and Victor Victoria. Both remain almost crystal clear in my mind as I have aged. I have been interested to realise over the years that when showing these movies to a younger generation of Thais, they too have enjoyed them - sometimes hugely. I write as I have just seen another on one of the TrueVisions channels. The Reader, with a screenplay by the masterly David Hare and excellently directed by Stephen Daldry, was one of two movies for which the incomparable Kate Winslett was nominated for Best Actress in 2009. Many thought she'd win for Revolutionary Road, the tale of a desperately bored housewife in suburban America with dreams of moving to Paris with her boring and almost equally as bored husband played by Leonardo di Caprio. But she won for The Reader. I believe justifiably so. Set in the mid-1950s, in the movie she plays a mid-30s German tram conductor, Hanna Schmidt. Returning early one evening, she finds a young schoolboy of 15, clearly sick, sitting in the entrance to her apartment block. She cleans him up and takes him back close to his home where he is discovered to have scarlet fever. But he cannot forget Hanna. After his three month recuperation, he returns with flowers to thank her. She is distant and hardly grateful. She asks that he goes down to the coal cellar to collect two buckets of coal. Returning covered in coal dust, she runs a bath for him. With youthful bashfulness he strips off and luxuriates in the bath. Then Hanna is standing by the bath with a towel and we witness the first of what essentially are sex scenes with, had the Thai censors not been so active, considerably nudity. David Kross, the 18 year old German actor who then played the young Michael. looks gorgeous! There follow a number of scenes when he admits he is very much in love with Hanna, even though there is such a difference in their ages. It is, he tells her, his first time being with a woman and clearly he enjoys every minute of it! Even so, Hanna remains distant, her only desire that he read to her. Initially after sex; then prior to sex. One day he runs up to her apartment only to find it totally empty. She has disappeared. As one in the full bloom of first love, he is naturally heartbroken. Some years later as a law student studying the Holocaust, he sees her again. Unknown to him she had been an SS guard in Auschwitz during the war and is being tried along with 5 other guards with the ghastly murder of more than 200 children under their care. Watching her trial Michael is horrified and transfixed. Questioned by the Chief Judge, Hanna seems openly honest and truthful, but yet evasive. Only Michael had finally learned her other secret that, were she to confess it to the Court, could mitigate her sentence. But she is too stubborn. She remains silent. Finally he goes to see her in jail. At the last minute he gets cold feet and walks away. Hanna gets life in prison. As the film fast forwards. Ralph Fiennes as the older Michael has clearly been unable to forget Hanna. After some 20 years he goes to visit her. She has changed immeasurably, but his feelings clearly have not. Ever since meeting her he has been virtually unable to convey his feelings even to the wife he divorced and the daughter he loves. Only as the movie ends does he begin to open up. I find it a haunting movie - and not just because Kate Winslet is wonderful and David Kross is so tempting! It's largely about the choices we make in life and the way we communicate or not with others. It's also special as two of the producers were themselves so special in the world of filmmaking. Both died during production - the greats, Sydney Pollack and Anthony Minghella.

Chakran close to the Aree stop on the Skytrain might be worth a visit. It is beautifully decorated, has a small pool, rooftop jacuzzi, snack bar and all the other usual facilities. It is now almost exclusively Thai for Thai or Thai for Asian, but since you are young (compared to many of us!) you might find success there. Certainly there will be a lot of young Thais/Asians. Don't confuse it with the massage spa which is located in the same building.

Totally agree that Thailand has so much to see outside the main cities and tourist spots. There are also lots of local events that are stunning and quite unique to Thailand. I have referred before to the Candle Festival in Ubon Ratchathani and the Ghost Festival in the village of Dansai in Loei Province. These both take place during the period of Buddhist Lent and so usually the June/July period. Although there is occasional rain, it is not the main rainy season. The Ubon Festival is not a procession of townsfolk parading through with hand-held candles. For about a month beforehand, each temple prepares massive wax carvings on trucks. These depict scenes from Buddhist scriptures. About 30 or so of these form the main part of the Parade which also includes participation by thousands including many cute students from the local university. There are many ghost festivals around Thailand but Dansai is I believe the largest and most popular. Loei is a lovely green province where the weather is generally little cooler. There is even a large vineyard. The only problem for visitors to the Festival is the lack of good hotel rooms in or very close to the village. There really is only one on the hill above the village and so it needs to be booked far in advance. Many visitors stay in Loei which is about 1 hr 20 minutes away and go by tourist bus.

It's been like this for decades! Fly NYC/TYO or TYO/NYC return and the biz class fare has traditionally been much higher than, say, NYC/TYO/HKG. In the late 1980s when I worked in Hong Kong, there were many occasions when I would purchase return tickets HKG/TYO/NYC for Japanese clients who would just tear up the coupons for the HKG/TYO sectors. It saved them a ton of cash. Unfortunately at some point the airlines got wise to this practice and computers started deleting all flights on a ticket if the first flight was not actually flown. There used to be several anomalies that you could take advantage of. At the same time and well into the 1990s British Airways had a first class fare from Macao to Lisbon via London that was less than the cost of a biz class ticket HKG/London. That seemed madness to me, but I tried it. Macao then had no airport and the ex-Macao ticket provided a jetfoil ticket from Macao to HKG, then first class tickets to London and a biz class seat on to Lisbon as there was no first class on that aircraft. One stopover in London was permitted. A friend in Lisbon alerted me to this and told me just to tear up the jetfoil tickets. I did - and it worked like a dream. I loved those short stops in Lisbon!

Blue Elephant has been a Bangkok Institution for almost two decades. I had the pleasure of being invited to a dinner party there soon after it opened. Everything was as near perfect as one could hope for - food, service, ambience. etc. Since then I have been back more than a dozen times and have never once been disappointed. It's a great restaurant if you have a special guest you would like to impress. The late King's sister, Princess Galyani, would sometimes dine there.

Re Le Bouchon, we dined there yesterday evening. It felt a little strange as we kept trying to work out where the Babylon entrance and staircases had been! We found nothing familiar. Not surprising since it had been a ladies spa and another business since Babylon moved out to the larger premises further down the soi about two decades earlier. We had heard mixed reports about both the food and the service. Some of the staff from the old location on Patpong 2 were still there and they were excellent. Three tall, younger Thai ladies were rather dumb but we assume they will learn. Once seated and with our drinks, everything moved up quite a few notches. We both thought the food was excellent, especially a starter with Hokkaido scallops. The salmon was also near perfection. My plentiful chocolate mousse for dessert had a lovely chocolatey taste and a nice consistency. My partner's Creme Brûlée was as good. Price for a three course meal plus aperitifs and a glass of wine each was 1,900 baht for two. Good value even if on the slightly pricey side. The present menu will be gradually expanded as the staff get into their stride. We were told that the set lunch at 480 baht++ is packed virtually every day. Last night it was around three-quarters full. Closed every Tuesday.

On many trips to Phuket, I also stayed once at Le Meridien, thinking that it would be nice to have a basically private beach. Totally agree with @vaughn. It's a hotel for families and the location is not convenient. I have never returned.

You haven't had a problem in SE Asia because I don't think any countries/cities have special additional taxes. Tokyo has, though. In addition to the standard government consumption tax (VAT) and hotel's usual service charge, there is a special city nightly charge of around $1 - $2. The last is almost always collected by the hotel in cash and does not always appear on booking sites. I understand it is some sort of tourism-related charge. I have been to New York many times over many years and have always had a city per night charge. Sometimes this is prepaid and sometimes added on check out. I have also been in European countries where a special city nightly tax has been levied. As I understand it, these charges are often added with only a short period of advance notice and the nightly rate can also change without much notice. As the website https://ec.europa.eu points out, "In many cases occupancy taxes are payable in person, and cannot be included in the pre-paid price of the accommodation." It adds that these nightly occupancy taxes are being adopted by more countries. Niggling little things like this also piss me off if I am not told about them/do not know about them in advance. If I was to register a complaint on Tripadvisor, I'm not sure where I would make it because it is not the fault of the hotel. Is there a special agoda section for complaints? But considering the amounts are so small relative to the actual cost of the rooms, making a fuss over it seems to me a waste of time and effort.

I thought the now deceased Super A had moved downstairs to pretty dreadful premises more than a few years ago.

As many have done, hugely expensive apartments like those in Bangkok's most expensive condos in Witthayu and homes in places like Phuket. I know two from Hong Kong who have each built huge houses with several guest houses in their own compounds in Phuket. Many of these owners provide employment for cleaners, cooks, housemaids - even butlers. Add in private jet parking fees and yacht berths at marinas. I also knew a couple from my home town in the UK who have been coming to Phuket for six months every winter to stay in their own luxury apartment. Add in all the sun, sand, cuisine etc. that you could not get over wintering the UK. Posters here may assume that sex is an essential part of a visitor experience. I doubt if that's true for most of the rich Elite members. They probably bring their boyfriends/girlfriends with them LOL.

It's been the aim of the country since much further back - around 2003 or so. That was the reason the Thaksin government started up the Thailand Elite scheme. For years it was virtually a disaster, but in recent years with the various major changes to the retirement visa and with some having to lock up virtually 800,000 baht in an account each year, it has become a great deal more popular.

The requirement for anyone arriving in Thailand by air to have an air ticket out of the country has been the law for decades. It is rarely enforced once you arrive at Immigration but some airlines do check this before they allow you to board your flight to Thailand. As a frequent traveller and living in Thailand, I have been stopped twice - in Sydney by British Airways and in Hong Kong by Cathay Pacific. In both cases I was very close to being prevented from being given a boarding pass because I could not show an onward ticket out of the country. The reason given in Sydney was that if the Immigration Department discovered I did not have an onward ticket, I would be sent back to Sydney at my expense and the airline would be fined by the Thai authorities. In order to get on that BA flight, I had to give the check-in manager a signed credit card slip (it was about 15 years ago). I was told Singapore has the same requirement but I have no idea how true that is.