Rogie

Ever thought of emulating him Z? Why should the Thai guys have all the fun, wearing these lovely speedos (or whatever make they are) whilst it seems most young white tourists wear those ridiculous long baggy swimming trunks covering over half to three-quarters of the leg! Photo #2 shows speedos look good on a white guy. #4 resemble those worn by 'James Bond', and #1 shows that the longer swimming trunks can look stylish when not overly long or baggy and NOT in some garish pattern. Z wrote: How about the red and white trunks in photo # 3 Z? I reckon they'd look stunning on even an average Thai beach bum!

Do airlines have insurance for this sort of thing?

"Kevin Schurer, a historian and demographer, tracked down two living descendants of Anne of York, Richard III’s sister, one of them a London-based, Canadian-born furniture maker, Michael Ibsen, 55, and the other a second cousin of Mr. Ibsen’s who has requested anonymity." It's tricky Dicky . . .

Good idea to (cat)nip these catty comments in the bud. Yes, we know that! 17 advertorials so far!

You make it sound like the Emirate's bar is your local FH!

Thanks Z. Yes, I think they deserve a bit of that. Some of them are a bit too fly-by-night for my liking.

It was TW won the DP FH! Koko won last year!

Thanks for explaining Bob. So if I understand correctly your whole schooling was in Catholic-run schools. I hope the parochial high school wasn't more of the same! As a matter of interest what was the nun's attitude towards Valentine's Day? In my school it was a big thing. Each kid had a large open envelope allocated place at the back of the classroom and you stuck the valentine's cards (if memory serves I think we made them ourselves) into those. Clearly the more popular kids got more than those less popular. I think I was about low to average! Nowadays I expect some busybodies would ban that practice just in case it hurt the feelings of those getting few cards. I don't understand something Bob (and TW): why the need for such a disciplinarian approach? I know you alluded to some naughtiness in your schoolboy days Bob, but even so I can't imagine the necessity of what to me seems an overly-zealous way to school kids. It does seem to me to be associated with Catholic nuns and priests and celibacy, and all that entails, versus a mix of married and unmarried Protestant teachers with possibly kids of their own. Now I know what parochial means I can safely say the school I was at wasn't one. I guess it would be called secular. There was the morning singing of O Canada and God Save the Queen, but no religion. That was dealt with by attendance at Sunday school, which I enjoyed because the teachers there were real human beings. I can still recall my Sunday school teacher from those far off days. He was a warmhearted, sincere man. If I can do my non-PC thing here. I don't know about the US, but in Britain we hear all kinds of tales of classroom indiscipline by disruptive pupils, even in primary schools where there are record numbers being expelled. Might not a return to old-fashioned school discipline be a good idea? No, not petty things like not talking at mealtimes, but by giving individual teachers a lot more flexibility and support (don't take the kid's version of events as gospel, and don't assume the teacher is guilty until proven innocent!) to deal with belligerent youngsters. . . failing that, being frogmarched to the headmaster's study for the cane or the strap anyone?

Good advice. I invest £50 ($ eighty) a month into Glaxo Smith Kline shares, using the system Z advocates (Pound cost averaging here in Britain). They have hovered around the same price for years, so no big gains there but the dividends are good, which can be ploughed back into shares which is what I do or taken as income.

Am I right in assuming Thaiworthy and Bob went to Catholic-run elementary school's in the US? (an elementary school is the same as a British primary school? so what ages 5 or 6 to 11 or 12?). I think i have heard of parochial school, but it would help to know a bit more about what that involved. I went to a Protestant school in Montreal, Canada until the age of 10. It was a pretty ordinary school. No nuns obviously, and my recollection of all my female teachers is very positive. There were no sadists and no need for strict disciplinarians. This was in the late 50's when kids were brought up properly to respect their parents, teachers (and others in authority) as well as other kids. It was a benign environment and I was happy living in it.

FH: Thanks for clearing up my misconception regarding the Emirates bar area. That's an excellent photo by the way; I took it as being a professionally taken one, perhaps Emirates (and other airlines) ought to employ you as a freelance photographer! The worst thing about that Little Britain spoof is the stewards' uniform. Green shirt, waistcoat, tie. And a dreadful wig, makes the bald guy look like Boris Johnson (mayor of London). I see the hero's name is Fearghal; isn't that an Irish name. Are they having a dig at Ryan Air I wonder? (I couldn't catch all the dialogue).

I agree with most of your post Painai. But, the key word is retired. Retirement spans the whole spectrum nowadays. Where once a guy was knackered by his early to mid-sixties from a lifetime of heavy manual work down a coal mine or in a steel mill or whathaveyou, now most retirees in western countries are in pretty good shape. Good shape physically and medically. But the brain maybe's fared less well. In some it has already started the winding down process, so the guy is really happy getting together with his mates for a beer or a visit to the game or take off for a day's fishing. However, if rather than stay put in his home town he decides to up sticks for Thailand one might expect such a person to be more enterprising and ambitious. So, learning the language might be in his in-tray. What with all the major things he has to sort out during and immediately after the move, it's only to be expected some things take a back seat. I would hazard a guess that a newly-retired guy might want to consider learning Thai within a year or two. Half-baked plans that kept getting put on the back shelf rarely assume enough urgency to overcome an obvious reluctance! Of course he may decide from the outset he doesn't want to learn the language in which case fair enough, he can get on and enjoy his retirement with one less thing to concern himself with. As Painai says, To each his own.

The relevant part of the Message Centre policies is (taken from post # 2 in that link) "There will be no posts allowed that disparage or insult the royal family" (placing his hands over his mouth) I haven't insulted, nor disparaged, anyone in the above category. If it turns out not to be a breath of fresh air, so what? That just means more of the same which has to be good. I don't like many aspects of Thai society, but I prefer to focus on the upside: whenever anybody asks me why I visit the Kingdom I usually tell them it's the people, the culture, their Buddhist faith and love of their King and country.

That's a good photo which I think i have seen before. I know space is always at a premium, and if FH is impressed I'd be surprised if many were dismissive, however even so it looks pretty tidgy, maybe room for half a dozen 'customers'. . . hardly much more than a walk-in cupboard. After the revelation of how Boeing were prepared to risk what they intended as a new generation of battery just for the sake of the equivalent of one passenger's suitcase (40 lbs / 18 kg if I recall rightly) I find the parsimony of some airlines pretty pathetic.

That's a minefield, that one Timmberty. The debate about keeping people alive who are on life-support systems. Very very difficult. Then there's euthanasia. Unless we've got all day, all week and all year, to debate these and other issues - where people's actions can be construed as either charitable or not - would make Thai Visa Forum look like a needle in our Giant Haystack.

Just as some charities are better than others, some replies will be more uncharitable than others. Bob's question doesn't seem uncharitable to me.

I don't think so, the dark-haired boy looks oriental to me! Do you have any musical genes TW? The ginger-haired guy who looks like Prince Harry struggling to play a decent lick on his air guitar.

We have a China town in Manchester and I would assume it's been there for a long time. Whether they speak Mandarin or Cantonese I have no idea but if I was a local politician or businessman I'd go and chat to the Chinese community and ask for their help and advice.

I hope you're all set for a litter of catty puns! Ok, just joking, I'm not going to inflict that upon you. Yes we are a nation of cat lovers in Britain. If I recall correctly one of the of the breed called Cedric Brown who was the boss at a company called British Gas disgraced himself by his greed. He and his ilk spawned often ribald reference to fat cats.

I think Timmberty is being unfair to Williewillie; that's probably not the total sum of what he had in mind, at least I hope not. Allow me to be a bit more diplomatic. I usually just skim through the bar reports and don't bother reading the ones started by bar owners at all. If the majority of topics were bar reports that'd make my browsing time on this Message Board pretty short. I might not bother to even log in and just read the good stuff from time to time. Like it or not, a Board has a 'personality', and if it jars too much with your own likes and preferences then you're likely to view it less favourably. I used to post on another Board but now just read it. It's personality (if it has one!) is lost on me, and I feel like a stranger there, outside looking in.

It seems reasonable to assume that most parents nowadays are very well informed about these things when compared to the ignorance of earlier generations. That doesn't mean to say they will be any more or less thrilled to learn their son or daughter is gay, but they are likely to be prepared for it, should things pan out that way. Any sensible parent can work out the odds for himself, so to put on a pair of blinkers and pretend it can't happen in their family could have awkward consequences. Of course some parents do put on the blinkers, but no longer out of ignorance. Earlier generations were 'ignorant' because homosexuality was a crime. Nobody wanted to admit in public to being homosexual or even knowing one. A life in the closet was more or less a homosexual's unhappy lot, and there were no role models hence stupid stereotypes prevailed in people's imaginations.

My favourite is photo #4. The legs on the guy in the pink swimming trunks, they go on and on and on! smooth and oh so long (maybe another case of ooh! long . . .?) Nicely framed by the umbrella poles too. Not sure what to make of that. We're all beachlovers are we not? Who is this mysterious 'he'? I resent the tarnishing of a perfectly innocent and fun-filled expression. A poke in the eye to that. Beachlovers of the world unite!

It hadn't dawned on me that the new regent might be like a breath of fresh air. The odds must be agin it, but wouldn't it be wonderful it that came true? Another gigantic elephant (not in the room, I just mean as a giant-sized problem) is Thailand hasn't seen a succession since before most of us were born. That has to be seen as a weakness in a country with a weak democracy. Contrast that with countries that elect a head of state - a President - every four or five years. A non-elected head of state in a country like Britain is no problem because it's a stable democracy . . . coup-free for over 350 years since the 1640's.

I find it's often too hot to eat much. That's when I'm staying at my friend's place which doesn't have AC. I don't think I would ever put on weight living in Thailand. Probably a more healthy diet than back home as I don't use much milk, don't eat cheese or cream and as Thai beer's boring I just have one bottle (big) with my evening meal. I am a bit suspicious of the fruit and veg, whether it be bought at the local market (my preference) or a grocers or supermarket. I wonder if it is loaded with pesticide residues. Fruit probably isn't very easy to grow yourself (although you see mangoes growing in people's gardens), but growing your own veg would probably get round the residue problem. Anyone any experience of growing your own veg in Thailand?

Maybe the trick for those branded, herded and then coralled is to take some interest in the aircraft they're flying on - like the so-called guilty parties (see posts # 2,3 and 4). I haven't been interested much in that before but in future I shall scrutinise the laminated plastic document nestling in the pocket of the seat in front of me, the one that gives the layout of the aircraft, exits, means of escape, diagrams of oxygen masks and other essential tools for survival when the stack of Li ion batteries being transported by the 'toff' of middle eastern extraction in business class do a wobbly flying over Koh Phangan one full moon's eve. And anudder thing, not that I would wish to milk this topic, I love the way the stewardess comes along with the menu just as you are getting restless, rather in the way a child is pacified by a dummy crammed into its mouth. There always seems to be a beef dish on the menu in economy. No doubt the upper classes look down on that. Moo fool them.