BjornAgain

Dubai is worst, beach hotels have tar-ball cleaning stations as you come off the beach. Was 15 years ago.

Misspent youth as a cabin boy. You soon pickup the tricks of the trade!

Word on the ground, all ready to open, just waiting on the liqueur licence to be issued. Fingers crossed for Saturday 15th.

Ah!, a fellow Hilton points scorer. Agree the Metropolis Suites over on Sukhumvit Soi 39 is cracking value for money, plus there's a couple of good International restaurants in walking distance. However last week it took 75 minutes to get to Silom due to the infuriating BKK traffic. If you haven't ticked of the Garden Inn at 320 Silom Road, then suggest you give it a try. The suites are ideal for entertaining guests.

A quick bit of maritime forensic investigation could pin-point the guilty party or parties. Date / Time of first reported incident, plus any follow-up incidents in neighbouring beaches / shore line (gives indication of discharge direction). Understanding of quantity and to a degree the quality of 'tar-balls' ie to gauge if sludge tanks or bilge tanks have been discharged. Also quality will give an indication of multi-ship discharge. Sludge is heavier than bilge. Knowledge of local tides plus recent weather conditions will give you an area of concern. Then cross reference with the Marine Traffic satellite/ GPS Apps (The maritime equivalent of FlightTracker24) and you might have a couple of suspects. Also records from local ports of your suspect ships that have used ship-to-shore discharge facilities, or not! Prosecution on the other hand will be the big issue. For those that have not seen what MarrineTraffic.com can report, snapshot of Kao Larn as of Monday 19th Aug at 17:10. Have hi-lited the nearest big ship for reference.

Classic illegal case of flushing the tanks.

Must admit, having had Chicken Pox 3 times as a kid, have always given anyone with it or Shingles a wide birth. Am back in UK next month, so will add a shot onto my growing free medical list. Would appear 90% of adults over 50 carry the herpes zoster (Shingles) virus, with high-income regions, ie North Amercia and Europe the most prone. As for Asia, China is logging 6 million cases pa, Thailand doesn't actually log Shingles cases, but does report on Chicken Pox. Worst year was 2014 with 48,000 cases (initiated in Laos). Jan & Feb 2026 logged 10,560 cases, an increase due to the cooler weather earlier this year. With no countrywide pediatric vaccination program for Chicken Pox, reminds me of the earlier 60's growing up in Singapore; where our G&T sodden mothers passed us kids around so the other kids could catch it and improve their immune system.

Obviously not talking 70's London youfspeak.

Did go for Guido's 12 inches the other night. Managed to gobble it all down, but forced to leave the salad. Washed down with a hand full of Suffolk's finest cider. A farewell dinner for @Reader as he returned home after his summer jaunt in BKK. Guido was down south cracking the whip getting G's Pratumnak ready for the 15th. (Hopefully). Full announcement will be via his FaceBook page. ( https://www.facebook.com/share/1AyMXNJPgA/ ) In comparison, Ziggy's is more firmer and spicier!

Yes, can highly recommend. In fact I know one of the owners is a JC fan, so would be more than happy to quote lines back. Have dined there 4 times, your Philippines bf will be impressed with the wine list! John Quarisa's 30 Mile Chardonnay is a right little number. Goes well with either the Schnitzel's (chicken or pork) or the Chef's special wurst.

Age has it's disadvantages. Use to tag Travel Insurance when I bought my plane ticket, however I've obviously crossed the threshold as no longer an option with Thai Airways, my prefered local carrier. Flew EasyJet in April, no issues, able to tag along with the flight. Did look around locally, but couldn't find a company that would take me without 100 questions. So same as medical insurance, self insured.

No, clocked the famous Aussi and friend on Beach Road earlier.

First came to mass attention in 1960 at the wedding of Princess Margaret and Antony Armstrong-Jones as it replaced the more traditional Mendelssohn's The Wedding March. Since then various European Royal Houses have use it. Last UK outing was Wills & Kate in 2011. Found a recording from 1932 as played by the composer, Charles- Marie Widor himself. L

As @Londoner said recently, don't forget to pack your Snow-shoes.

Very sensible, especially if you're planning to visit The Frost Magical Ice of Siam theme park, just outside Pattaya. Billed as The Largest Ice Sculptures display in the whole of South East Asia.

Originally formed in 1961 as The Gaylords, they changed their name in '64 to The Marmalade. First Scottish band to ever top the UK charts. Alright Pop Pickers. Not 'arf.

Same can be said of the bloke that replaced him in 1964, he went on to have 3 wives. His name, Phil Collins.

Happy to join you in any Willie Walsh bashing. In terms of being a pilot, lets just say he wasn't held to high exteem by his colleagues, hence his jump into management. Remember when he was appointed in 2000 to CEO of Air Lingus, Google, Yahoo, Ask Jeeves and the BBC were forced to update their syntax/ spell checkers across their UK platforms, as Willie was deemed an offensive word at the time! Therefor; initial news bulletins were surpressed.

Should have said Volvo.

For me, I keep thinking of "Hey Hey It's Saturday". Channel 9 Australia Saturday morning kids TV. Ran from 1971 for 29 years.

You're right about the back rooms. Top-Top, book direct, that way you can specify your preference. Chris the Entertainments / Reservations manager's e-mail is:- TheVenueJomtienPattaya@hotmail.com

No issues with entertaining 'a friend' at The Venue. As @bkkmfj2648 has detailed, Grindr is heavily used, seconded by Hornet. You'll soon find your feet when you get here. Enjoy. The only other App to suggest would be Thai Friendly.

I trust you didn't leave a lasting memory for the crows to remember? I recall Peter posted that the balcony crows have flown. However, recent research has shown they have one of the best memories across the animal kingdom, and can hold human facial recognition memories for upto 17 years (University of Washington, 2012) and can even pass these preferences onto their offspring. Beware! The word will be out across the Soi's on your return.

Agreed. Scares the living bejesus out of me.

For VIP status, I'll stretch to 100, but flabby, aged saggy bottoms, 500 is pushing it.