PeterRS2

It's Vinapu logic. Always right!

The cellist is Qin Li-wei. When I heard him some years ago he was being compared to the famous Yo-Yo-Ma. Anyone interested in classical music should keep an eye out for concerts, especially by the Royal Bangkok Symphony. They sometimes have big names in the classical world. I have been to concerts with the pianists Krystian Zimerman (he has appeared twice in recent years, one of which featured a superb Brahms FIrst Concerto), Tchaikovsky Competition winner Dennis Matsuev and Sir Stephen Hough, and violinists Joshua Bell and Maxim Vengerov.

This seems to be the reason quite a number of gay venues close.

There is a pedestrian crossing over Silom almost at Soi Convent. Chances of getting hit by a vehicle? Up to you!

Because I have no desire to register on any booking site. I have the time and am happy to go to a ticket outlet where I can look at the seat plan carefully and choose where we want to sit and how much to pay.

I have been to Malaysia many times in the last 40 years. As @durian points out, it is not a country where you can shout out your sexuality from the rooftops. But I have never had any problem there from my very first visit to the famous Blue Boy bar where I met the most gorgeous Chinese young man who then spent a couple of nights with me at the Shangri La hotel, to many visits to Otot2 as well as cruising around Sungei Wang. As suggested by @a-447 Otot2 was raided in November last year and may now have closed. I have found the usual apps perfectly OK on more recent visits. But far more Chinese on them than Malays. Quite recently I had a young guy join me for three nights at the Renaissance Hotel. No one paid any attention to us. That said, KL is not really my kind of town but pleasant for short visits. I could never imagine staying there for 14 months over two years!

I believe their tickets are on sale via thaiticketmajor. Centrally located ones are their counters at Paragon 5th floor, Samyan Mtrtown 3rd floor, Central Childom 2nd floor (near Levis). There is also a call centre 02-262-3456 Ticketmelon is another outlet but it requires registration and purchase online. I refuse to use it.

Bangkok has two symhony orchestras. Both are good but they are basically part time and so concerts are only arranged occasionally. They are - 1. The Royal Bangkok Symphony Orchestra gives concerts usually in the Thailand Cultural Centre which is quite central and close to the MRT station of that name (meaning a 10 minute walk). This orchestra has a concert on 12 August in honour of the late Queen Mother. Programme includes excertps from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite and Swan Lake ballets, Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet. There is also some dance from the Bangkok City Ballet Company. Cannot find ticket details. Park Concerts are only in December/January - too hot for musicians in April. 2. The Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra. This is run by Mahidol Unversity and gives concerts in its own excellent Prince Mahidol Concert Hall. But Mahidol is some way out of Bangkok. Best way to get there is BTS to Bang Wa Station (Exit 1 or 2) and then the Salaya Link shuttle bus which leaves 90 minutes prior to a concert start time. This orchestra has a concert on Saturday 15 August at 3:00 pm which features popular music by Mozart, Rimsky Korsakov and the Cello Concerto by Richard Strauss entitled Don Quixote. I have heard the cellist before and he is excellent. It also has a second concert on the afternoon of August 22 which seems to be popular music from musicals as it is titled Side by Side. Can find no further details. On 5 September it is performing Carmina Burana. Thailand Philharmonic tickets are 1,400; 900; and 700 baht.

You can read the title any way you wish 🤪 but I am referring to an article in today's Guardian. It has photos of what I have long regarded as the greatest feat of endurance and leadership of the last century. With World War 1 on the horizon, one man set off from London in an attempt to gain the one unclaimed prize in the history of exploration: a land crossing of the Antarctic. In his ship The Endurance with a crew of 27 they reached the edge of the Antarctic Wedell Sea close to the point where they would disembark and set off by foot. But then the ship became trapped in the ice. They failed to release it and so for months they were stuck as over time the ice crushed the ship like matchwood. It gradually keeled over and sank within 10 months of arrival. Shakleton and his crew were stranded with no way of informing the world what was happening. With the weather becoming warmer, six months later the ice on which they had pitched tents broke into ice floes. Shakleton then showed his courage and extraordinary leadership. The Endurance carried three small open boats. He and his men dragged them over the ice for weeks till they reached open water. With minimal navigation equipment, they then set out on those simple boats for the icy mountainous remote Elephant Island in freezing weather across some of the most treacherous seas anywhere some 60 miles away. They were aware the island was uninhabited but it was far better to make for land than sink in the ice. Once there, they had to find food. Using two of the boats, they erected a form of shelter and lived on seal and penguin meat. Realising he had to find some way of reaching civilisation, Shakleton and five of his crew set out in one of the open boats named James Caird (who had been one of the sponsors of the expedition) to make for South Georgia where he knew there was a whaling station. But it was 800 miles away and once again he had to sail through some of the most tempestuous seas where waves of 40 feet high were not uncommon. The other men must have been somewhat taken aback when he told them at the outset, "I know nothing about sailing!" Shakleton and his exceedingly brave men reached South Georgia after a full 17 days at sea. But then they realised they were on the wrong side of the island from the whaling station. So wearing only their thick, sea-sodden woollen clothing, they set about crossing the island's snow-covered mountain range. Two days later when the whalers heard Shakleton's story, they could not believe it. No one could cross that ocean in an open boat, they reckoned. However, Shakleton's priority was rescuing the men he had left behind on Elephant Island. 128 days since his departure and on the fourth attempt, he finally landed again at Elephant Island. His men were overjoyed to see him, all believing he must have been lost at sea. Even more remarkable is the fact that Shackleton was able to return to London with all his men, thanks in part by assistance from the Chilean government. Not one had been lost on this quite extraordinary voyage. In ordinary times, Shakleton would have been hailed as a hero and awarded all manner of honours. If there is one sad ending it was that his return co-incided with the worst happenings in World War 1. Returning from a previous expedition in 1909 he had indeed been hailed a hero. This time, despite what is now regarded as one of the greatest acts of heroism of the century , his return was noted without fuss. He did attempt one more Antarctic Expedition but died of a fatal heart attack in South Georgia in 1922. He requested to be buried there. Shakleton had had the foresight to take with him in his crew a superb photgrapher, Frank Hurley. His exploits on the Endurance are therefore extremely well documented. The Guardian prints some photos today. Among the dozens of books about the Expedition, I thoroughly recommend Carline Alexander's The Endurance: Shakleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition published in 1999, as much for the stunning photographs as for the writing. It is one of the few books on amazon I have noted with 5 stars. More details can be found in the link below. https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2026/jul/23/hed-lie-down-in-front-of-the-moving-ship-a-fresh-look-at-ernest-shackletons-endurance-expedition https://shackleton.com/en-th/blogs/articles/james-caird-cross-the-southern-ocean

Travelling to Europe last year, for some reason I still do not understand there were no mileage business class seats on Qatar even though I gave them a four month window. So I took Cathay Pacific through Hong Kong. CX used to fly up over China and then across Russia. So the flight was little more than 11 hours. With Russian airspace closed, the CX A350 had to fly under Russia with a flight time of just under 14 hours. Fortunately the newish 10 part serial The Day of the Jackal with Eddie Redmayne was on the extra large vdo screens and kept me sane!

I only once flew Qantas from Bangkok to London. I was switched from a Finnair flight in biz class when it had a major delay. I thought the service, comfort, food and wines were alll excellent.

Two bottles of Bass Phillip Estate 2021 Pinot Noir will go down very nicely, thank you. Not too heavy for the sultry weather here now.

Qantas has long planned for a Sydney/London route without stops in Singapore or Dubai. It has ordered 12 specially modified A350-1000 planes with extra fuel tanks and more space in cabins for passengers. The first test flight of the ultra-long haul aircraft flew from Toulouse to Melbourne on Thursday. That flight took just over 19 hours. The first of the new versions will be delivered to Qantas in April 2027 with scheduled flights due to start in October. The outward flight against the prevailing winds is scheduled for 23 hours. These ultra-long haul A 350s have an extra fuel tank with 20,000 litres of fuel. Seating has been reduced accordingly and also to allow for such a long time in one space. Passenger load will be 238 against 300 for a regular A350. Naturally the seats in the first half of the aircraft will have additional benefits. Although the 100 or so basic economy passengers will have quite a generous 33 inches of pitch, I for one could not imagine a flight of that length, the more so as being non-stop Qantas will charge extra for it. Qantas future plans include Sydney and Melbourne non-stops to New York. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jul/24/qantas-project-sunrise-airbus-a350-1000ulr-ultra-long-range-france-melbourne-test-flight This week's flight only had the full Qantas logo on the wing tips.

The Montien used to have a strict no joiners policy and I believe that is still the case. When I have guests I cannot accommodate at home, I always put them up at Le Siam on Soi Convent. It's 3 minutes walk to Silom Soi 4, 5 minites maximum to the Skytrain and a minute longer to the MRT. Close to lots of shops, cafes and restaurants. Usually priced around US$50 in the low season and $60 in the high season for a classic double room. https://www.lesiamhotel.com/ A little more up market there is the Rose Residence just round the corner from Le Meridien on Suriwong. High season $90 double room. https://www.agoda.com/the-rose-residence-bangkok/hotel/bangkok-th.html?cid=1844104&ds=SXrirOPEgI3XzISe Note this is not The Rose Hotel which is a bit of a dump. It is the Rose up-market residence

Yes, sounds an excellent book. But note that it was published in 2020 which means it would have been written in 2019. It may therefore not be what you are looking for.

Loved the Hollies, Herman's Hermits and also a Glasgow-based band named Marmalade which had ten hits betwen 1968 and 1972. "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Dah" topped the charts in 1969. Peter and Gordon were famous for short time. "A World Without Love" in 1964 was their greatest hit. Peter was Peter Asher, brother of the popular actor Jane Asher who was the girlfriend of Paul McCartney for five years before he met Linda.

True and untrue. Thalland bans a whole list of anti-society and other sites. As reported in The Bangkok Post in Janary 2020, Thailand scored 6 in a survey of online internet censorship in 150 countries. Others with that score include Yemen, Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and others. As The Post reported - Responding to Thailand's score of 6, Comparitech editor Paul Bischoff told the Bangkok Post that Thailand bans access to some torrent sites, restricts access to pornography and censors news media and social media. https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/general/1837434/thailands-internet-censorship-rates-6-10 During the Thaksin era 60% of sites were blocked for pornography and internet nudity. That has since been reduced but remains above 20%. Generally, cases involving individual viewing have not been prosecuted but the law permits prosecution if the authorities demand it particularly in the case of internet providers of nudity.

You clearly either cannot read what I have written and what historians accept or you now weakly suggest it might have been an invasion rather than incursion. But you are wrong again! Nixon and Kissinger kept the 1970 invasion of Cambodia a total secret - from all but the South Vietnamese government, the ground troops who invaded and the poor Cambodians they slaughtered. The reason was threefold. 1. to prevent the need for congressional approval which they knew would almost certainly not be forthcoming; 2. to prevent an even greater increase in anti-war outrage within the US; and 3. to continue the fiction of Cambodian neutrality. But he could not keep the invasion a secret. So instead of information filtering out in dribs and drabs, he went public about it, stating it was to protect US lives. As predicted, his TV address (made after the secret invasion had started, a point which it appears you tried to avoid mentioning) prompted further outrage among the US public.

I fear this is more or less true of most of Asia - and many other parts of the world. Before the colonists arrived to be followed by nationalists seeking control of their own countries, many had been beset by a whole range of disasters, many now all but forgotten. Perhaps only in India and China are some major atrocities regularly recalled.

Ironically it was the USA which led the group of nations that ensured the Khmer Rouge held on to Cambodia's UN seat for so long. The USA was determined not to permit any Vietnamese influence. There were even allegations from several sources that it was directly arming and partially funding the Khmer Rouge to weaken the influence of Vietnam and thus, it assumed, the USSR in SouthEast Asia. The ridiculous positions taken by the United States throughout much of this period is rather nicely summed up by the comments of President Carter's National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski. In 1980 he urged the Thais to work with China in helping rebuild the Khmer Rouge and said, "I encouraged the Chinese to support Pol Pot . . . we could never support Pol Pot but China could." Then in an open letter to the New York Times in 1998, he stated, "The Chinese were aiding Pol Pot but without any help or arrangement with the United States. Moreover we told the Chinese explicitly that in our view Pol Pot was an abomination and that the United States would have nothing to do with him – directly or indirectly." Obviously a man after Kissinger's own crooked lying heart.

Who is being inaccurate? Someone who quotes wikipedia as his only source? Hmmm! It seems you blithely continue to persist in using the niceties dreamed up by the warmongers Nixon and Kissnger. We know from sources within the White House that incursion was chosen since the American public would never stand for invasion. You quote an unnamed wikipedia article. I have already provided three serious ones and could do so for another 30 but it would totally bore other readers. However, since you insist that you do not accept what historians accept, here are four more with sources - As the Cambodian government faces imminent collapse, Kissinger convinces Nixon to order a land invasion, sparking massive protests across American college campuses. https://www.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/amex37kis-soc-fwc/beyond-vietnam-the-forgotten-war-in-cambodia-american-experience/ The United States' invasion of Cambodia in 1970 was a significant military and political event during the Vietnam War https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/united-states-invades-cambodia On May 8, 1970, Nixon held a press conference to defend the invasion of Cambodia https://www.history.com/articles/nixon-war-powers-act-vietnam-war-cambodia Please note that quote is from history.com! When American and South Vietnamese forces, led by General Creighton Abrams, launched an attack into neutral Cambodia in 1970, the invasion ignited a firestorm of violent antiwar protests throughout the United States, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271359600_The_Cambodian_Campaign_The_1970_Offensive_and_America's_Vietnam_War And as Willliam Shawcross writes on page 213 of his masterly book on the Destruction of Cambodia, "The invasion of Cambodia led to an extension of the use of bombing" You can continue taking Nixon and Kissinger's side all you want, but you cannot change facts!

Too true! But the BIB are not the ones patrolling and controlling the internet in Thailand although I expect they'd be the ones to extort the brown envelopes rather than hand out summons. The problem is that Thailand has one of the most censored internets anywhere. It would be reasonable to assume that someone is going to find naked pics some time - even though it ay be some years away.

I never thought about it. Maybe that is indeed why the crow left. I'll have to have him back to keep the crow away.

I have always wondered how this site is able to upload so many high-res photos. I usually downsize my pics to a reasonable pixel size but often wonder if that is even necessary. I agree. Either the Board rules should be changed or the existing policy enforced. One or the other. My understanding always has been that there is a specific private XXX photo forum because most of the rest of the site is open to any reader. Hence any kid can open the Board and see the pics. I can't see the BIB agreeing to this!

Sadly that does not surprise me. Bookshops nowadays generally will not read unsolicited manuscripts. They depend on literary agents to do that for them and then recommend books to include on the shelves. The wars in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos all happened in the late 1950s - mid-1975 period. Since bookstores are generally staffed by elderly or young men and women, that basically means there is virtually zero interest. The older ones in the USA don't want to remember and the younger ones know virtually nothing about that period. There is therefore little interest in stocking books dealing with these wars, the more so as the USA lost them all. I have had three books on other issues published. Three years ago I started on a fourth with Myanmar as its main background. Myanmar is a fascinating country with a rich history, kings who tried to modernise the country but also the seat of rebellions and wars. As the fires of war were breaking out in Asia after WWII - Korea, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaya etc. - Myanmar was in a period of relative calm - relative to those other countries. Yet it has been beset since 1962 by increasingly brutal dictatorships and a civil war that continues to this day. My book centres on a refugee from that country. I have sent formal Proposals to more than 50 literary agents. All have rejected it. Not because they have read the book - no agent wants a full book on their computers, just specific details which unfortunately take ages as each seems to want different information. One was at least honest. She said no one is interested in Myanmar now. Most readers would have no clue where it is, although some may have heard of Aung San Suu Kyi. To quote the title of a 1970s movie, it is basically The Land That Time Forgot. Very sadly, I am sure the same is basically true of Cambodia. I would check amazon which seems to have a variety of books on Cambodia.