PeterRS

Isn't age a factor? As I wrote some time ago, about 6 years ago on one of my regular visits to Taipei, I had an orgy of hits on a couple of the apps. One day I had arranged two hook ups - one at lunchtime and one late afternoon. Then after breakfast, another guy wrote that he'd be passing by my hotel at around 11:00 and pleaase, please could we meet! We did and he was great. By early evening I was already quite exhausted when a student from the nearby University asked if he could come round about 9:00pm. He looked ridiculously cute and I gave in. Another great encounter. Four times in one day was and remains a record for with age creeping up I certainly could not do that now. Nor indeed do I have the interest for meeting up with more than one guy each day when away from Thailand. Thankfully a heart MRI scan last year showed absolutely no abnormalities and so I am on no medication! Just a sex drive!

Much probably depends on how often one travels. A few years ago I used to travel far more regularly than now - at least 50 flights a year. After an old Samsonite hard shell case which had given me many years of service finally died, I bought a new Samsonite medium sized soft shell case. It's first outing was a long trip with stops in Hong Kong, Moscow, London, Edinburgh and than all again for a second visit on the return. Wiping the case down after my return, I noticed the shell had been punctured twice and had a longish tear. I took it to Central Chidlom where I had purchased it and asked for a new one. They refused and said i had to take it to a Samsonite repair shop. After accusing them of selling defective goods, I insisted they refund the purchase price and left the case with them. That obviously left them in a quandary. End result, though, was I got my cash back. I then went to Emporium and noticed they had a 40% off sale on certain Tumi hard shell cases. So I purchased one. It did sterling service until it got badly dented after about 4 1/2 years. Since Tumi had a 5 year warranty, I had my pick of a new case at no cost! It is this free replacement case that has the new wheels that extend out from the case shell and clearly take the brunt of any force when hitting a hard object at some speed. I'll get the broken wheel replaced after I return from the UK in late March. If thereafter another wheel breaks, I'll take @vinapu's advice and just get a cheaper one with more recessed wheels.

I arrived back yesterday afternoon around 4:30 pm. The airport was far busier than I have seen it in 3 years with long waits for luggage. Yet at Taipei, the advance baggage check in line for two flights was all but empty, even though my flight to BKK was virtually full and the security checks upstairs had very long lines. I have an expensive Tumi suitcase. On arrival back yesterday one of the wheels had broken off. This is the second consecutive flight from Taipei in 3 months when a wheel has broken. All four were perfectly fine in Taipei and so the break happened between departure from Taipei and arrival at BKK. I noticed the speed at which baggage comes off the belt onto the carousels at BKK is faster than at most other airports. Also the bags hit a sold metal surround rather than the usual rubberised surround. I can well imagine that if a bag hits wheel first, some are going to end up with those wheels broken.

As I understand it, Interpol never posted a Red Notice request. I remember reviewing around 7,500 details of those placed on a Red Notice and the Red Bull murderer was not one.

This is the Thailand forum. Most readers don't "speak English?" Funny thought! If you were posting in the Beer Bar or the South American threads, maybe. But not here! Most speak English and have understood English many years before before this Board became Gay Guides.

I've done this as well to boost mileage and status points. But it can sometimes backfire. A dozen years ago I needed more miles to get to South America biz class for a month's vacation. So on a round-the-world ticket which allows for a lot of flexibility I flew BA from London to New York using a roundabout route. London to San Francisco, overnight at the airport Hyatt using points, early morning American San Francisco to Miami, change to American to New York. But . . . all went well till the flight neared Miami. There was an electric storm near the airport and so the airport virtually closed. After a bit of circling we finally landed - and then just stayed on a taxiway. No flights were taking off and the gates were all full of planes and passengers. I thought no problem. I had allowed 2 1/2 hours for the connection. As we sat on that taxiway, I occasionally looked at my watch. After 15, 30 even 45 minutes I was not worried. But that damn storm was still around and there were no flight movements. After 75 minutes, I could see some flights taking off. I assumed all would still be fine. It wasn't. By the time we had crawled to the arrival gate, I had 15 minutes to change terminals and get to my departing flight. Still I was not overly worried as almost all flights had been subject to long delays. As luck would have it, my New York flight departed on time. After racing through the terminals, I arrived just as the aricraft was being pushed back. At the lounge, the very nice lady who was being bombarded by screaming passengers with missed flights offered me a flight the following day via Charlotte. But this got me into NYC in the afternoon and I had an important business lunch. From experience I know there is absolutely no point doing anything other than being nice. So I explained this to the lady and asked if she would "kindly" etc. do her best. She gave me a couple of drinks coupon and said she'd page me if a seat on the last flight to NYC opened up. Sure enough, it did. And sure enough, she remembered me and I got that seat. When we arrived at 10:30pm I was desperatey tired, but I had got the points and mileage. That was not the end of the troubles, though. Half the bags appeared on the LGA carousel in reasonable time. My bag and the others did not. After an hour in a nearly deserted airport, some of us found an AA rep. She explained that the aft cargo door on the 757 had stuck but engineers were working on it. I got my bag having waited 90 minutes. The taxi took no time to get in to the city and I could not wait to grab a shower and sleep. At the hotel where I had a pre-booked, pre-paid reservation, the young man looked at my booking, checked his computer and then said since I was so late they assumed I was not coming and had sold the room. The hotel was full! Just before I finally lost it, he added. "But don't worry, we'll put you in the top floor Westminster Suite for your three nights."

Looks like an interesting event worth making a trip to Pattaya to see.

Don't you realise how childish it looks? And how difficult to read? This may be how you write to friends but posters on this boards are used to a form of English they mostly comprehend. Having to try and work out what another poster is trying to say negates the point of the posts! It's merely an affectation that perhaps is supposed to look trendy. Sorry to day: it doesn't!

Corruption! Part of Thailand's culture! Yet the Yingluck government pledged to end it. It didn't. Two months ago the present Prime Minister pledged to end corruption in 20 years. “Corruption is a threat to the country,” he said. “We cannot allow the younger generation to inherit these sins.” 20 years? As proved in Hong Kong and Singapore, he could end corruption in a couple of years if his words had any meaning. They don't! https://www.nationthailand.com/thailand/policies/40022926

Perhaps it's worth recalling that Interpol were useless when it came to trying to locate the Red Bull heir murderer. More than 10 years have passed since he mowed down and killed the traffic policeman - and still the Thai government is happy for this guilty man to go free despite his having been back in this country several times and spotted in other locations like London.

Chinese human trafficking extends into its own borders. Thanks to the one child policy, there is now such an imbalance between males and females. Somewhere in the region of 50 million men will not be able to marry. So for years now young girls have been trafficked, largely from the poor northern states of Vietnam. They merely vanish before ending up with older men and saddled with one or more children. The results can often be sexual violence, depression, PTSD and even attempted suicide. https://ghrp.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s41256-017-0049-4 The Chinese government still fails to realise that making greater efforts to reduce taboos on homosexuality and even actually encouraging it would solve their problem in a flash, at the same time preventing a great many loveless marriages.

I also find sometimes the site is slow. Yesterday morning I could not log off as there was a message about site maintenance. When I opened the site in the evening, I was still logged in and it all worked well. But the problems I have experienced are very minor.

I never once visited Aniki as I felt it was just too expensive. My two visits to Rainbow were also before 2011. I never liked it. The layout was rather industrial and the attitude of some of the guys was pretty much anti-foreigner. That's the only time I have come across that in all my many dozens of visits to Taiwan. Before Soi13 the best sauna by far was in a building to the south of the main railway station. It was on the 5th and 6th floors. Most of the guys who went there were young, fit and downright gorgeous! I suspect it was Taipei's first real sauna. Sadly the major 7.7 earthquake in 1999 damaged the building and the whole block had to be torn down. There was another pleasant but much smaller sauna to the south of Peace Park. It was smaller and for some reason the police raided it a few times. I believe that is why it closed.

I adored the first Parade I attended. It was all so new and, despite what I had read, so utterly exciting. That this could be held anywhere in Asia seemed so unlikely. Then the second proved that the first had been no mirage! I expect first time visitors now will find it similarly exciting, even though they will have been to the Sydney Parade and others in the west. Taipei's remains quite different.

My first was 2011. I had not heard about the Parade until a year earlier when I checked in to my hotel. There on the front page of the newpaper on my desk were photos of the previous day's ParadeI decided there and then I would be take part in 2011. In total I have been to 7 Parades. I had to miss 2015 for business reasons and 2019 since i had returned from a tiring European trip just the previous evening. I just checked flights and hotels for this coming October. Already prices have gone up.

I only use my Apple desktop computer for on line banking with scam apps recommended by the banks. I've recently had one problem but it is not related to a scam or phishing.

For several years the Taipei Pride Parade has been fixed as the last Saturday in October - so Saturday 28 this year. Note that in addition to the Parade there are various parties during the weekend. These get booked out quickly and there will always be queues outside the venues with guys hoping to get in. All gay venues will be packed. Even the hot spring. Some years ago when Chuan Tang was the 'in' gay hot spring (the management changed the policy soon after), I went on to the hot spring after the Parade. I had never before had to queue. This Saturday it took a good 20 minutes just to gt through the door and then another 25 minutes to get to the lockers. When I looked over to my left to see the main pool, I was surprised that i could not see any water - merely a vast array of naked bodies! The point about hotels is worth considering. Taipei's Pride weekend atrracts gay guys not only from all over Asia but also from Taiwan itself. Added to the usual tourist numbers, the cheaper and more popular hotels can get booked up fast. For those who have not read about the Parade before, here are a few photos some of which I have posted before. Many participants assemble at Peace Park to prepare. They then move to the large open space at Taipei City Hall Square. This is the assembly point and also the destination. At the end there is a concert in the Square with usually some gay Taiwanese and Hong Kong singers. Because of the nuimbers attending, the route in pre-covid years was been split into three. So you have to decide which one you will follow. All will be packed with cute guys, but only one is likely to have the Speedo/Aqux boys. Keep your eyes peeled!

The above is a reason why I refuse to use mobile phone banking.

I echo all @fedssocr comments. A few years ago I did one of the organised 5-day round-the-island coach tours staying at very good hotels. I was amazed at how beautiful the island is, having earlier only visited Taipei, Taichung and Kaohsiung. We started at Sun Moon Lake where in addition to a large hot spring pool in the basement, each room had its own mini-hot spring pool! Sun Moon Lake We then drove down south of Kaohsiung to the far south coast with its crystal clear water and visiting the main Buddhist monastery before returning to Kahsiung for the night. From there we moved over to the East Coast and worked our way up to the stunning Taroko Gorge where our hotel was virtually at the top of the Gorge. Much of the upper part of the East coast looks rather like parts of the north coast of the Hawaiian Islands. Returning to Taipei is quick as the road goes through several long tunnels. You can do all these sights on your own and save quite a bit of cash. I just wanted to be lazy for a few days to sit back and enjoy the island in comfort.

I was there only once and was mugged in the middle of a sunny day. It was a Sunday and took place very close to a Church that was so packed there were people standing outside at the back. Thankfully three heard my cry for help and raced to do so. I was very impressed that a pollce car was on the scene in little more than a minute.

Well, what else would one expect a "Vice" minister to say? 😉

Only one I was anywhere near was the last one where I hit the bullseye!

Just for clarification unless others have not noticed it, Babylon closed about 3 years ago. The building is currently being demolished.

I have a bank in the UK which I use for UK income sources and occasional payments over to Bangkok. It is not my main bank. I have generally sent money to Thailand using online banking twice a year in May and November. To do so I have to have use a special log in number plus two passwords. I then get on my Thai phone a 6 digit PIN number which has to be added before I can access my account. For years it has worked well. Nothing since then has changed. But on November 30, for the first time, I did not receive the 6 digit PIN. There is an on-line CHAT function which I then used. Generally I find these hopeless. This one was worse than hopeless. It recommended deleting the app and startng again. Same problem. Then that I use my debit card with the card reader sent years ago by the bank. The battery is dead as I have never needed to use it. Then that I use a special international banking phone line (which I have to pay for). Having dialled and been told there were 2 customers ahead of me, I finally put the phone down after 112 minutes! Effectively I was locked out of my account. I wrote to the bank's Chairman. I know; a hopeless exercise as it would only be sent down the line, but it made me feel better. Eventually I had an admission from the bank saying they had a fault with their third party contractor which generates the 6 digit PINS. Within a week this had been reversed and I was informed the problem was with AIS which has always been my provider in Thailand. It stated the PINS had been generated but not recognised by AIS (although no reason given why this should suddenly have happened). I have had the AIS technical team check 3 times and they advise there is no problem at their end and they have not received any PINS out of the UK. In the meantime, I have no trouble with similar PINS required for online banking with a Hong Kong bank or with ordering a variety of merchandise from the internet, including from London, using Hong Kong credit cards. Then I tried to order a gift for a family member from the catalogue sent by the Mandarin Oriental hotel group for special small Christmas gifts. I have double checked that this was a genuine offer from the Group. Since all gifts were made in China, the payments were in Yuan. Using my UK debit card, the transaction did not go through. Eventually I was advised my card had been discontinued because of a "suspected" hack. The hack was the Mandarin Oriental payment! The bank's fraud office then sent me a letter - a letter that took 12 days to arrive! - to inform me about the debit card being cancelled and asking me urgently to phone them. They stated they had tried to call me three times. This was pure bullshit. During that two week period, I had no incoming phone calls from the UK on either my mobile or landline. I asked why, given the urgency, they did not use my email. No answer other than the bank does not use emails! Funny that, given that this mess has led to an exchange of at least 24 emails so far! At least the Indian gentleman who answered from the Fraud department said he would replace the debit card urgently. Although the bank has a policy of not sending new cards overseas, after a 5-minute discussion with his superiors, I was informed an exception would be made in my case. Five days later, I get a form email from the bank stating they could not send new debit cards overseas and so I should provide a UK address! The Complaints Department then apologised for my having been given wrong information but no alternative way for me to access my account! Thankfully I shall be in the UK for two weeks in early March. After almost five decades, I will close my account with this Bank, make an official complaint with the Banking Commissioner and inform the Chairman in another letter I am considering legal action. The last will be a useless exercise as I will naturally not even take that route. I will then change to a bank which has my main account in Hong Kong. I have heard of many complaints about UK banks and had felt good that my banking had aways run smoothly. Now I am totally locked out of my account. I can't even find out what the balance is! F--K the Royal Bank of Scotland!

I get the impression your heart is pretty full to overflowing 🤣 - like most of us!!!