faranglaw

Poor Burboy, brokenhearted again. And the rest of us don’t get to read your wonderful trip reports. Also brokenhearted.

I will miss “Humpalong.”

Which apps are you using? I am also finding some interest as well but not for free as I’ve passed the point of no return at 71.

Hotel: Glo Hotel Sukhumvit 5 Plane landed 2230 on Nov 30 Tested next day at 0930 Result at 1930 Two people, Two tests, two results. Stayed the extra night at no cost. Food: Disgusting. Cost: $312 Canadian or about 8000 Baht via Agoda I think we could have done a lot better.

One time at Babylon someone broke into my locker and took money from my wallet. I was careful not to bring any credit cards with me, just money for the evening, so it didn’t amount to much, maybe 500-1000. They took what I had but very kindly left about 100 baht to make sure I could get home. A thoughtful thief. I was actually rather touched. Only in Thailand.

Oh THAT TM6 form! All OK now. Maybe this will be useful to others, or maybe I’m just my usual nervous dizzy self the day before traveling. See you there! “TM 6 immigration form is a form required to be filled by foreign nationals entering Thailand to be submitted to the Thai immigration checkpoint at the airport you arrived at in Thailand. The TM 6 form can only be obtained once you are inside the plane during all international flights to Thailand. It will be handed over by the airline crew or staff for you to fill it. If you have not received the TM 6 form while on the plane, you can obtain this at the table located before the Thai immigration checkpoint at the airport.”

Hmm we leave tomorrow and I wasn’t aware of the TM6. We certainly have everything else, including my 3 month visa, approved, and the Thai pass. I will look up the TM6. Confusing as always, as it seems from this site that the TM6 is included in the Thai pass. https://www.facebook.com/thailandprd/posts/according-to-the-ease-of-travelling-policy-a-thailand-pass-system-will-be-adopte/4726655164024527/ Thanks for posting!

Dear Husband and I, here in a gloomy Vancouver November, got our Thailand Passes approved without much trouble; we just followed the directions. I also got my 3 month visa approved, again not much trouble. Four days start to finish for all of this. Yes, we will have to stay one night in a quarantine hotel, so we will see how that goes. But it is not a huge turnoff to me, just a bit of extra expense. So we arrive late on November 29th, and will let you all know how it goes. We are hoping to travel freely in LOS by the end of the day on the 30th. Very much looking forward to seeing his family and various acquaintances and friends we haven’t seen for two years.

Oh thank GOD for this forum!

Has anyone heard what the ten countries are? is Canada on the Angel List?

“And the friendliest red.” LOL

My new favorite! Yuto is so Cuto! 😁

Yes a very sweet and funny Karenyi massage young man I went to a few times, in the On Nut area, has disappeared from LINE. No more sweet emoticons from him. He is the youngest of five in his family, and I worry for his safety.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/28/myanmar-could-become-covid-super-spreader-state-says-un-expert

I love the main character, so cute and weepy!

A Thai friend of mine’s dismissive comment on sauna mania: “Office girls!”

This is a good story and thank you for sharing it. One factor to consider is that one or both of these men may have been suffering from dementia, undiagnosed as they seem to have been rather socially isolated. Or perhaps one of them had undiagnosed mental illness such as bipolar disease, one of the symptoms of which is recklessness with money. Perhaps the other man didn’t know how, or didn’t have the strength, to handle his friend’s increasingly poor decisions. I wonder about this especially because of the sudden loss of income, which suggests they may have fallen for scammers who prey on vulnerable older people. Likely we will never know, but before judging too harshly, we might want to consider these or other possibilities. All of which suggests that the best investment we can make in old age is not financial; it is social. I think of my miracle 98 year old mother still living independently in Massachusetts, USA. Her sons are loving and supportive but not nearby. She couldn’t manage without the support of neighbors and friends she cultivated over the years. Not to mention her cat and her garden. So everyone make sure you have people around who care about you and keep an active mind. You will need them both when the inevitable decline comes.

The First World needs to do much more as the virus does not recognize boundaries. But it’s good to see the Biden administration stepping up. Part of the reason is that there is a glut of vaccines in the US now; they can’t give them away, and some states are actually offering lottery prizes to get people to vaccinate. About one third of US citizens are “vaccine hesitant,” which is a rather nice way of putting it.

I think my 98 year old mother in Massachusetts has still not received the Mother’s Day card I sent four weeks ago (from Canada). As she put it so well, “The mail here used to be pretty good until somebody decided to fix it.”

I have so many fond memories of Babylon. I have gone there almost every year since 1990, when it was in the old place down the street with all the tropical plants on the roof. Too many fond memories to count. It wasn’t until I was over 65 that my luck with the younger Asian men started to run out. And that was less because of my age and more because the clientele changed—more farang, more Asian men from other countries—Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea- looking for other Asian men. Oh well, as George Harrison sang, “All things must pass.” (including George Harrison)

Yes, but what if they live in a Red State?

Iceland??

Why would anyone pay for the Extra? I’m genuinely curious.

We are so far behind here in Canada. A previous government outsourced all our vaccine production so we have had to make deals outside the country. So I’m here in Vancouver, born in 1950 and currently the province is only making appointments for people born 1949 and before. Oh well. Mostly staying home and hoping to get the first shot by the end of the month.