Londoner

To be more specific, his achievements include a significant contribution to the rise in popularity of classical music across Asia.

I'm not sure that Peter would thank me but I can say now that he is a well-known and distinguished person with an enviable reputation and significant cultural achievements. Not just in Asia but across the world.

Disappointing. PeterRS2 will be missed, particularly since his contributions are so knowledgeable and distinctive. There is , or should be, a place for different perspectives and I find those which deal with political , social, or cultural issues more to my taste than bar reports. I also particularly enjoy his photographs of parts of Thailand I do not know. I am of the same generation as Peter; I sometimes feel out of place among younger people who have "grown-up" with sites like this one. Our language is different, as are our experiences and our interests. There should be room for us all. I have left two other gay Thailand sites owing to persistent racism from a minority of contributors and so this one is my "last hurrah"; I wish it to continue to be inclusive of age, taste and style. And- here's an odd word- respectful.

Thanks. I enjoy those panoramic views. Even now, I recall my first day in Bangkok thirty years ago and the wonder of my first view of the city at night from the tenth floor of my hotel.

Thanks Vessey. Netflix is presenting "The Life of Chuck". Worth a look. Its message is that our lives are finite and so we should strive to enjoy every minute. It's not profound but it is certainly apposite to those of us who are ageing but can still find joy in Thailand. And expect to do until (referencing the film's abiding image) the lights flicker -out.

Readers who aren't British may not have heard of George Best, a great footballer of the 1960s, who became a wealthy playboy and drank himself to death, more or less. In his last weeks on earth a reporter asked him what had happened to all the money he made. "I spent it on sex and booze," he said. " The rest I wasted."

Is that clear, blue sea really Pattaya?

Any views on gun-ownership in Thailand? Apparently, a firearm can be found in as many as twenty percent of homes, some licensed, others not. This is far higher than in any other Asian country. Why?

Apologies; typo.

I'm ot willing to begin a

Coincidentally- sorry, I'm joining this thread late- have any posters who have reached eighty in the UK found the sudden rise in the cost of premiums astonishingly large? For my thirty years of travel to Thailand, my insurance has been covered by my bank card which provides insurance through a large UK company. When I reach eighty- alas, not too far in the future- I find that it will cost me over £1000 a year for the same cover for my three trips, despite being in the flower of youth, health- wise. Well, almost.

My career as a student of the Thai language ended when I mistakenly used a colloquial term for penis in a restaurant when ordering food. Although the recollection of this event kept both my partner and our taxi-driver in hysterics- dangerously so- all the way from the airport to Pattaya, I was never allowed to order in Thai again.

I remember this bar well. I used to compare and contrast it with Throb in Pattaya where the show included more comedy and the dancing was less professional. I'm not surprised to learn That X-treme's dancers were professionals; their routines were complicated and no doubt exacting to learn. I recall feeling rather sad that they didn't attract better audiences.

I particularly like their dancing in traditional dress. I remember that, for a very short time, Throb had this on its menu. Too rare, in my view....I find it charming. By the way, I note how hard the guys work. I see them arriving at around 1600 to prepare. As MauRICE says, I wouldn't assume that that they are looking for customers. If you haven't seen them, there are plenty of videos on YouTube.

My advice is not to use Booking.com or Agoda when booking Agate. Email the hotel manager directly. Better prices and highly efficient. Suraksa.p@theagatepattaya.com Jomtien isn't the most scenic of places we stay in in Thailand but the Agate is a our favourite hotel and we stay there three times a year. Great staff (plenty of them gay) and quiet.

Thanks to Classic FM no doubt. The other popular request nowadays is Pachebel's ubiquitous Canon. Before that, "Here comes the bride" to the wedding march from Wagner's Tannhauser was popular.

Returning to the original posting, I am a great believer in being provided due respect to my age after a twenty hour journey and so I always use Priority. OD's post sent me scurrying to google and I'm pleased to report that I can find no indication that the facility is no longer available.

Organs are a sore point for me....that is church and concert ones. I should have been living a life full of exploratory, adolescent sex: instead I was learning (among other things) the organ on my school chapel. Never, it has to be admitted, to a very high level. And yes, before you ask, it was much the same with sex later on. "Pipe" organs are so expensive that few churches can afford them. And some new concert halls ( yes, Barbican in London, I'm pointing at you) don't even have their own, preferring easily transportable electronic monstrosities that, while clever, much, much cheaper, easy to maintain and useful for teaching, are not the "real McCoy". For those of you who have never played a simple chord of C Major on a large church organ, and marvelled at the amount of noise that can be produced with the minimum of effort, including deep notes on the pedal, all I can say is that you've missed something.

Thailand is certainly "the land of the free" when comes to western invaders, but if there is one country that I'd expect to reject Western art, it would be China. After all, Mao's government was distinctly anti-foreigner and particularly anti-West. And well before that there was the destruction of the Summer Palace in 1860 by the British Army- an act of wilful barbarism borne out of a sense of racial superiority- and this was a defining moment in China's history. And ours, come to think of it although apparently written out of popular history in the UK. We've been pretty cruel across five continents for a thousand years but Thailand has remained free of our worst excesses. Unlike neighbours like Laos, Cambodia and Burma, all of which have been cruelly colonised in relatively recent times. I return to the issue of relative wealth. Culture, particularly music is expensive. And then education; to what extent do Thai children experience culture of any sort in their curricula?

Korea, China, Hong Kong and Singapore all have world-class symphony orchestras as well as concert halls that put London's second-rate ones to shame. Music education in their schools is, as far as I can discern, better resourced than here. Top -class Asian conductors and instrumentalists are always touring Europe and the US, and produce acclaimed recordings. Is it merely an issue of money that has prevents Thailand from achieving similar success? Or are there cultural and political factors at play?

I always pack snow-shoes when traveling to Bangkok. You never know.

I liked the Hollies, too. The tunes were better back then. And the singers were frequently prettier.

I'm trying to remember Noel Coward's description of pop-music- something about it being "fixed" in a particular time in our lives and accordingly able to induce nostalgia. The songs of the Sixties certainly do that for me. Particular moments, memories, people. And why the 60s? Obviously; my adolescence, the time of change and awakening. It was also when I discovered Gustav Mahler; I still love and listen to his music, but none of it evokes the past like pop music does. Is it that "high art" speaks to all times, from the tragedies of Aeschylus, though the music of Mozart to that of today?

Yes. Very cute. None of the others were. My interests don't include pop music, far from it, but I caught Daydream Believer on YouTube recently and it's a good tune even if its words are silly.

Sea Hag, the charmingly named restaurant in Patong, was highly recommended when I was last there. Traditional Thai menu.