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Some old room safe models have a small key slot for management to open in case customer forgot combo or checked out before opening last time. For right price, these generic keys can be obtained. The more modern versions rely on electronic override entry code. But since most of these relics have been replaced by newer versions, I suspect access was gained by means Vinapu describes above.

He’s a gentleman and doesn’t tell tales out of school.

Yes, Da nang, but just for three nights. Will be accompanied. I follow lead of the boys: tips much appreciated. 🙂

For coffee lovers, Tiang and Tang is only steps from Soi Tarntawan on Surawong Rd. I was first introduced to this place by the two guys who ran the much-loved Coffee Grinder. It quickly became a convenient meeting place for fellow members when they were in town. All beverages are freshly brewed and the crowd frequently crowd pleasing. One member—he knows who he is—wasn’t above soliciting LINE contacts to some (I was too shy and regretted it). There’s some tasty pastries available and there additional seating upstairs along with a restroom. Just walk 30 seconds past the 7-Eleven and you’re there. Only drawback is it closes at 6p.m.

From The Thaiger British Airways (BA) resumes flights to Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok this year, marking a significant step in its regional expansion strategy. Chairman and CEO Sean Doyle expressed the importance of this strategic return. “For a global carrier like us, expanding our network in Asia as quickly as possible is crucial. With more aircraft joining our fleet in the coming years, we are looking East as well as West in our expansion plans.”

From Thestreet.com It seems that every week, Boeing (BA) sinks deeper into controversy as it undergoes multiple investigations from the U.S. government on its safety and quality control practices following a series of startling incidents involving its planes, which multiple airlines use. This week, a current Boeing employee has just made an unsettling accusation. New Boeing whistleblower Sam Mohawk, a Boeing Quality Assurance investigator, claims that Boeing was “losing hundreds of non-conforming parts” at Boeing’s facility in Renton, Wash., where the 737 Max jet is manufactured, according to a recent complaint filed with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. He claimed in the complaint that he feared that the faulty parts were being installed on the 737s, and that it could lead to a “catastrophic event.” Boeing’s 737 Max jet production was put under a microscope earlier this year after an Alaska Airlines flight, which was a Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft, was forced to make an emergency landing after a door plug blew off of the aircraft mid-flight. Mohawk also alleges that in June 2023, shortly after Boeing was notified by the Federal Aviation Administration that its Renton plant would be inspected, 80% of the 60 nonconforming parts that the facility had at the time were hidden from FAA inspectors, and some of those parts ended up being “lost completely.” Mohawk also claims that the facility had an “overwhelming number of nonconforming parts” which led to his superiors instructing him and other workers to “eliminate” the records that revealed that a part was nonconforming.

After encountering two payment failures in attempts to secure visa for Vietnam visit, I figured why not just go to embassy on Wireless Rd. I was informed on arrival, however, that embassies no longer process visas and e-visa is only option. Returned to room and my VN friend offfered to try it on his iPad. Apparently his fingers not fat like mine—and his mind much more adaptable to electronic age—and he managed to do it on first try. So my advice is do it in advance as much as possible and read and reread data before proceeding to next step. And be advised that VN immigration sends you only one email notice containing an application submission number. It does NOT send you email with visa attached. You need to keep logging on to its website to see if it ready to download. Cost about USD 25.

You have a sixth sense about these matters…..and your bed partners are too exhausted anyway.

From Thailand News Agency The Constitutional Court has unanimously ruled that the law allowing spouses to sue for damages due to adultery is unconstitutional. The court found that Section 1523, paragraph two, of the Civil and Commercial Code, which permits a husband to claim compensation from a man involved with his wife and a wife to claim compensation from a woman openly displaying an affair with her husband, contradicts the Constitution. The Ombudsman filed a petition with the Constitutional Court, arguing that the language of this provision was problematic. It allowed a husband to sue the “adulterer” of any gender without considering whether the wife was a willing participant or whether the affair was conducted openly. In contrast, a wife could only sue another woman, and only if the affair was openly displayed. This was seen as discriminatory and against Section 27 of the Constitution, which ensures equal rights for men and women and prohibits gender-based discrimination. Celebrity lawyer Decha Kittiwittayanan stated that starting from the court’s decision, for the next 360 days, legally registered wives will not be able to sue another woman for having an affair with their husband. Similarly, husbands cannot sue another man involved with their wife. The court emphasized that everyone has equal rights and freedoms, and the law must be applied equally. However, divorce lawsuits remain unaffected as they fall under different legal provisions.

Two roads that sound alike and easy to confuse: Pradiphat Road is in Phaya Thai district of Bangkok. Pradipat Road is near Saphan Khwai BTS sky train Station.

From The Thaiger A Canadian tourist’s holiday in Pattaya took a sinister twist after a threesome left him penniless. What seemed like a casual bit of fun with two Ugandan sex workers turned into a costly nightmare. Chon Buri Immigration Police arrested 38 year old Mariam and 28 year old Sheebah at a hotel in the Khao Pratamnak area of South Pattaya. The arrests followed a warrant issued by the Pattaya Provincial Court on charges of jointly committing theft at night. This action was taken after Khalid, a Canadian tourist, lodged a complaint at Bang Lamung Police Station. On June 10, Khalid invited two African women to drink and spend the night with him in his hotel room on Pattaya-Na Kluea Road, agreeing to pay them 2,000 baht each. Exhausted, he fell asleep but awoke to find that around 90,000 baht in Thai and foreign currency, which he had securely placed in the room’s safe, was missing. Despite the women’s steadfast denials, claiming they were only there to give him a relaxing massage, police investigations revealed otherwise. Evidence, including CCTV footage, undeniably linked the women to the crime. ======== Foreign man knocks out transwoman on Walking Street Security camera footage depicting a foreign man punching a Thai transwoman in the face, causing her to lose consciousness on Pattaya Walking Street, went viral yesterday. The CCTV footage, recorded around 3am on June 17, was widely shared by Thai media outlets. It showed a heated argument between the transwoman in a yellow dress and two foreign men wearing white T-shirts. Initially attempting to walk away, the foreigners were followed by the transwoman who continued shouting at them. Suddenly, one of the men punched the transwoman in the face, causing her to lose consciousness and fell backwards onto the ground. Security guards from a nearby bar rushed to help her, while other transwomen, believed to be her friends, chased the two foreigners.

From CNBC A federal investigation is underway into how a Southwest Airlines passenger jet suffered substantial damage after experiencing a rare phenomenon known as a Dutch roll at almost 38,000 feet. Flight N8825Q, a Boeing 737 Max carrying 175 passengers and six crew, was traveling from Phoenix to Oakland on May 25 when its tail began to yaw or wag left and right while the aircraft’s wings rocked side to side. Dutch roll is the name given to this potentially dangerous lateral asymmetric movement, supposedly inspired by the movements of ice skaters. The Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement Thursday that it was working with Boeing and the National Transportation Safety Board to investigate the cause of the fault. Boeing declined to comment. ========= From Aviation Pros The crew of a Southwest Airlines flight from Phoenix to Oakland had to regain control of a Boeing 737-8 Max aircraft after it experienced a rare, midair Dutch roll last month, according to the Federal Aviation Administration, prompting the plane to be taken out of service. But what exactly is the phenomenon? A Dutch roll, named after the movements of traditional ice skaters, is when an airplane sways back and forth both laterally, called "rolling," and directionally, called "yawing," according to Boeing. In other words, the plane's wing tips tilt up and down on either side (the rolling), while its nose and tail wobble left to right (the yawing). The plane's nose makes a figure-eight motion as a result of the out-of-phase oscillations, according to the FAA. The rocking movement can cause airsickness. The oscillations will continue until the movement eventually corrects itself or a pilot corrects it, according to Boeing. Pilots are trained to handle the motion, which can be caused by any "asymmetric input," like wind or an action by the pilot. In the Southwest case, a preliminary inspection by the FAA found damage to a unit that supplies backup power to the rudder, which officials indicated could have led to the May 25, incident, the Associated Press reported.

KK Massage is repeating a midweek promotion of one-hour session for baht 250 today and tomorrow. Ever since One Spa hiked its fee to 450, KK has been seeing an opportunity to become more competitive.

Thanks for calling attention to sequential numbering system. Never noticed that before. Agree about darkness factor. Your number 25 would be a great addition to any bar and he certainly boosts the appeal of the Freshboy lineup. Looking forward to more of your reports.👍

I’m not a Pattaya visitor but have read consistently on the forums about the shrinking expat community there. Part of it is obviously by choice but the government must accept that its unpredictable—and often onerous—policies discourage rather than encourage foreigners to retire to Thailand. I was among those westerners who weighed the option for years. Just when I was giving it greater consideration, the emerging possibility of dual state taxation has pretty much sealed any hopes I was considering. I think I could manage the health care issue but not the taxation one. Even if authorities decided against the idea, I believe future administrations would go on to seek new revenue streams from retirees, introducing more uncertainty. The logical—and economically proven—approach is to gain revenue from the spending of retirees on goods and services. It’s another altogether to try to wring the source dry before it can spend funds on those goods and services.

From The Thaiger Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin has taken sick leave after testing positive for Covid-19. The announcement came yesterday evening through his Facebook page, where he revealed experiencing fatigue and a slight fever, which led him to undergo testing. Government spokesperson Chai Wacharonke reported that the Bangkok-born prime minister consulted a doctor last Friday upon noticing the symptoms. The test results confirmed the Covid infection. Medical advice has been given to the prime minister to rest until he is no longer contagious, with additional monitoring planned for the early part of this week. The 62 year old Srettha shared the news on Facebook.

My Airbnb experience is limited to Bangkok. I visit for 30 or more days at a time and it works well for me. A local friend stays with me. In Bkk, 28 days is the legal minimum stay for Airbnb rental. But for my first 15 years I stayed in a wide variety of hotels and that worked well, also, on shorter stays.

Good reminder to rest of us to get boosters.

Much experience?

Ah, Macaroni. I remember you. You’re the man who wrote this about you and your “homo homies”. “In my circle of homo homies, we think life and language would be colorless and humourless if we didn't have hags, yobs, paddies, blackfellas, trannies, geezers, dumbblonds, gerontophiles and fatsos among us. Nor do we need to look far to see rice queens, potato queens, curry queens... And don't forget muscle marys.” So you and your homies somehow manage to boost your own self images by calling out blacks and aboriginies (blackfellss). Irishmen (paddies), overweight people (fatsos). The list goes on but I don’t believe we need much more to judge your intent. But by all means please continue to find more members to disparage. 😉

From CNN Hong KongCNN — Interested in capping off your trip to Hong Kong with a long weekend in Beijing or Shanghai? A new high-speed sleeper train service is making that possibility easier than ever. Two new overnight routes connecting the city with Beijing and Shanghai entered into service on June 15. Both trains depart Hong Kong West Kowloon Station in the evening and arrive in Beijing at 6.53 a.m. and Shanghai at 6.45 a.m., making the journeys around 12.5 hours and 11 hours respectively. Return trips depart from Beijing and Shanghai at around 8 p.m. and arrive in Hong Kong at 8.47 a.m. and 7.29 a.m. These routes run four days a week, departing all three stations every evening from Friday to Monday. “It will be more comfortable and faster, reducing the travel time by about half, and will cover a wider range of destinations, including popular tourist attraction cities,” John Lee, Hong Kong’s chief executive, said in a press statement, referring to the previous overnight train routes that connected Hong Kong with China’s two biggest cities. Those intercity railway services, Beijing-Kowloon and Shanghai-Kowloon, launched in 1997. The train ride to China’s capital took around 24 hours while the journey to Shanghai was about 19 hours. Prices range from HKD937 to HKD1,506 ($120-$193) for the Hong Kong-Beijing route and HKD682 to HKD2,128 ($88-273) for the Hong Kong-Shanghai route. But while the new trips do indeed slash the overnight travel time by almost half, the high-speed sleeper services take slightly longer than the daytime bullet trains already in service connecting Hong Kong and the two cities in mainland China. Currently, the train company operates one daily high-speed connection to Beijing, which takes around 8.5 hours, and one to Shanghai, which is around 7.5 hours.

As a law-abiding tourist, I know that you earnestly check all fellow stamp collectors for adherence to tradition before showing them what you keep under cover. 🙂

NOTE — Have you ever wondered why some boys wear dual sets of underwear? From Pattaya News By Adam Judd In the land of smiles, Thailand, where the sun shines bright and the beaches beckon, there exists a law that has raised many an eyebrow. It’s the infamous underwear law, a regulation that insists on the wearing of undergarments whenever one steps out of their abode. Now, before you dismiss this as mere hearsay or the stuff of urban legends, let’s delve into this peculiar piece of legislation with a mix of earnest inquiry and a pinch of humor. At its core, the underwear law is not technically enshrined in Thai statutes but rather emerges from the depths of social customs and expectations. It’s an unwritten rule that whispers from the paddy fields of rural Thailand to the bustling streets of Bangkok: “Thou shalt not venture forth sans underpants.” The rationale? A blend of modesty, hygiene, and perhaps a dash of superstition—after all, who wants to risk offending the spirits with indecent exposure? While the law may sound like it’s straight out of a comedy sketch, it’s not actively enforced by the Thai police. You won’t find officers conducting spot checks for skivvies or setting up underwear checkpoints. However, it’s worth noting that in certain conservative communities, going commando might earn you some disapproving tuts and possibly a lesson in propriety from the local elders. In Thailand, respect for tradition and social norms is paramount. The underwear mandate is less about legal enforcement and more about adhering to societal expectations. It’s akin to an unspoken agreement among Thais to maintain a certain level of decorum in public spaces—kind of like not slurping your soup too loudly at a formal dinner. Now, what about our revered Buddhist monks? Surely they’re not subject to such worldly concerns? Indeed, monks are often seen as living beyond the material trappings of society, including, it seems, undergarments. Their religious attire, designed for simplicity and modesty, likely exempts them from this peculiar regulation. In conclusion, while you’re unlikely to be fined for flouting the underwear law during your Thai adventures, it’s probably wise to err on the side of caution—and comfort. So there you have it—a lighthearted look at one of Thailand’s most talked-about (but least enforced) regulations.

From Pattaya Newd The Royal Thai Navy ship HTMS Ravi, a freshwater transport vessel, delivered over 170 tons (around 154,000 liters) of fresh water to the residents of Koh Larn in Pattaya to alleviate an ongoing drought problem. The delivery, which took place on June 14th, 2024, came as Koh Larn is facing a water shortage due to dry weather conditions and an increase in tourist arrivals. Pattaya Mayor Mr. Poramase Ngampiches stated that after receiving complaints from residents and tourists about insufficient water supplies, he reached out to the Royal Thai Navy’s Fleet Command 1 for assistance. The delivered water is expected to temporarily relieve the initial needs of Koh Larn residents. Meanwhile, Pattaya officials are in the process of finding long-term solutions to the island’s water shortage.

Regretfully none include opportunity for sex adventurism, for which many readers here have when making their assessments.