daydreamer

Is it therapists or "the rapists"? This reminds me of an old Saturday Night Live skit where an actor plays Sean Connery as a contestant on the game show Celebrity Jeopardy. Connery picks "the rapists" category instead of therapists (at 1.39 on video).

At Dongtan Beach, I always look for the beach concessions that have some of the old style wooden framed sling chairs. With the woven nylon fabric, they are far cooler to sit on than the white plastic loungers, where you sit on top of a towel over a vinyl covered foam cushion, that blocks all air circulation.

If immigration could just use our fingerprints already on file, instead of re-doing them for the umpteenth time, that would speed things along. A new photo each time I understand, as people's faces change, but damn, how many sets of fingerprints do you need? The biometric chip in our passports is proof that we're not imposters. Multiply that redundant fingerprint process hundreds of times an hour for return tourists, and the lines become painfully long at busy times. Maybe the immigration police think we had finger transplants.

Bigger than you know - me too. I also have a few photos of Bo. As with all bars, there are sometimes a few gems. I offed a nice Thai Army boy from Super A earlier this year. Also, you can ask the mama-san to see photos of many other boys on her phone. She told me she can call any of them, and they will come to the bar, if you don't see a boy in the bar you would like to off. She also told me she can make a booking for the following day for any of the boys in the photos on her phone. She showed me about 50 photos of different boys.

The old Golden Cock bar, before combining with Nature Boy closed down during the pandemic. I went to Golden Cock in the original location in both January and February 2020. The following month, in March 2020, Thailand closed its borders due to Covid.

Yes, I agree, fire disasters happen everywhere, but they happen in Thailand with the same causes, blocked exits, unapproved flammable fixtures and decor, locked fire exits to prevent customers leaving without paying, etc - time after time, with dozens of deaths in many cases. Quote from today's article in the Bangkok Post: "How did a night out become a mass-casualty disaster? Why were so many people unable to escape? And after years of promises following previous tragedies, will this time be different? Those answers may ultimately determine whether the deaths at Rong Beer Na Ladprao become another forgotten chapter in Thailand's long history of fire disasters -- or the catalyst for lasting change." https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/3287144/deadly-pub-fire-triggers-nationwide-probe Certainly there are incidents and close calls with pedestrian safety anywhere, however in Thailand, pedestrian safety is a complete joke, not a close call, or an occasional safety glitch. After the famous case when a young female doctor was mowed down in a crosswalk a couple years ago in Bangkok, there was a brief campaign focused on crosswalks and pedestrian safety. Lots of red paint was purchased to highlight crosswalks. And today? The same old flagrant disregard for pedestrians. No enforcement, and no consequences for violating the law. As an example, to cross Silom Road at a marked crosswalk, often twenty or more vehicles will zoom past without making any attempt to slow down. Passenger cars, motor bikes, city buses, taxis, trucks, tuk-tuks, none of them will stop. The only time vehicles will reluctantly allow pedestrians to cross is when a number of people gather at the crosswalk, and the crowd sheepishly inches forward, until one driver slows, allowing the crowd to hesitantly step forward, until all three lanes of traffic come to a stop. Then it's the same cat and mouse game to cross the traffic in the other direction, to finally reach the far side of the road. Crossing Surawong Road is similar. How many times have I read forum members write about the hazards of crossing there? Forum members have even written that they choose a hotel based on which side of the road it is located, so they can avoid the danger of crossing Surawong Road. Does that happen or sound familiar in your city?

What message are we sending to the kids? Maybe this message: Your government is unable and unwilling to prevent these tragic events from happening, so you should be prepared to look out for your own safety. It's the same story when crossing the street on a marked pedestrian crosswalk in Thailand. Be aware of your surroundings, and although safety laws exist, your government is unwilling to enforce those laws.

Sure, the club owner should be held accountable for his actions, but what about the government officials who looked the other way? They should also be punished. This is one reason these deadly fires happen again and again. Certainly there were required fire and safety inspections, and the licensing officials that allowed a licensed restaurant to instead operate as a pub. It has been in the news that the pub was last inspected in April. If so, how was it not noticed that this was an entertainment venue, and not a restaurant? The tables and seating arrangements, the stage for the live band, and the large neon Jameson Whiskey sign above the stage should have been obvious clues. If the people responsible to ensure compliance were disciplined in a significant way, these death traps would not as easily evade the laws, and continue to operate, putting lives in jeopardy. The Australian man who murdered the 17 year old girl had no accomplices in his crime, and as @vinapu pointed out, his crime was cold blooded murder. In the case of the pub fire, it was not just the pub owner who violated the law, there were also officials complicit in this crime, whether through incompetence, acceptance of bribes, or lackadaisical attitude. They will not be held accountable, and this will happen again because of it.

A very recent video posted by Benjamin Hart of Integrity Legal addresses the issue of taxes and the Thai nominee situation.

Yes, the current PM Anutin's family roots are from Guangdong. Anutin says he speaks Cantonese at home.

Maybe after the high season is over, they can use some of that $440 per night profit to install a proper bathroom wall and door to replace the current balcony curtain.

Just check to make sure the exit door is unlocked.

It won't be anytime soon. Greed has no bounds. The number one man on the list is the father of the young man responsible in the famous Red Bull hit and run death of a Thai police officer.

Although not a nightlife facility, the Royal Jomtien Hotel had a ghastly fire in 1997 in which 91 people died. As in many cases in Thailand, the fire exits were locked to prevent customers from leaving without paying. The fire started on the ground floor, and rose up through the building. Many hotel guests were trapped above the fire in the high rise hotel. The fire burned for more than 10 hours, and was very challenging to extinguish, due to the height of the structure. I remember seeing the broken windows on upper floors and the smoke stained building facade in the summer of 1997. The hotel is located on the corner of Beach Road, diagonally across from the Jomtien police box, and very close to Jomtien Complex. After the fire, the hotel was renovated, and today is open as the Jomtien Palm Beach Hotel.

Thailand is planning to build border walls, announced in March 2026. - From the Bangkok Post: "In the future, the military will add permanent walls and electronic fences equipped with sensors and CCTV cameras for 24-hour surveillance, he added." https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/3218615/thailand-to-start-building-cambodia-border-fences-next-month

@vinapu, do you travel from the Zing on Thappraya Road to either Pattaya or Jomtien by songtaew? That would be easy during the slower season, however, during high season, many songtaews are packed full, with no room. You might watch more than a dozen trucks pass by before there is one with open space. About twenty years ago, I stayed at Mr Mac's Hotel, and songtaew travel was a daily issue. I know that now we have Bolt and Grab, but that seems too much trouble for every time you step out of the hotel.

That list entitled "Biggest Spending Tourists in Thailand" looks questionable. At $260 a day (8,320 baht), that seems kind of low for the average of the biggest spenders by country. I guess they didn't look at either gay or straight tourists who frequent the nightlife, and partake in offing boys (or bar fining bar girls), or indulging in happy ending massages. I know I certainly spend more that amount per day when I'm in Bangkok. Just my non-luxury Bangkok hotel room alone would be at least one third of that $260, if not more. I suspect there are quite a few board members that exceed that daily spend budget when visiting Bangkok as a tourist. After the cost of a hotel room, meals, drinks in bars, off fees or massage parlor fees, tips, shopping, transportation, etc, I would have to cut back to spend only $260 per day in total. Given that those high rollers on that list (except Hong Kong and Brunei) are from Middle Eastern countries, I don't believe they are imbibing in alcohol, and buying 500 baht drinks in boy bars. It looks like Thai Alpha, the maker of this list is using some skewed data. Perhaps they meant to say how much tourists from those countries spend per day in Siam Paragon Mall. We talk about how expensive it is to off certain boys such as models. Our straight brothers in most cases are paying much higher prices to "bar fine" women from bars than we pay to "off" boys. According to an internet search, for straight bars: A "bar fine" is the fee paid directly to the venue to compensate the establishment for allowing a hostess, dancer, or model to leave her shift early. It does not include the separate tips or fees negotiated independently with the companion. Standard Beer Bars / Patpong: Fines generally stay on the lower end, hovering between 700 THB and 1,200 THB. Soi Cowboy & Nana Plaza: Average Go-Go bar fines sit firmly between 1,000 THB and 2,500 THB. Top-tier, highly popular clubs frequently charge premium rates of 3,000 THB to 4,000 THB, especially earlier in the evening.

Since we know @alexa800 is not a real person, but is a robot, I asked the questions to see what her responses would be. The same as before in other threads, she does not respond to questions.

Alexa, that must have been thrilling for you. Did you operate the Cessna under VFR or IFR? Since you are located within the 60 nautical mile radius of Washington DC, did you complete the mandatory FAA Special Awareness Training before your flight?

Agreed. It seems your recent post above made it okay, so there was likely an issue that caused your previous post from one month ago to not show up on the board. You can ask @TotallyOz, he is the site admin. You can send him a PM. Just go to Messages (envelope icon) at the top of every page after you log in, and ask him.

Tim is a woman's name in Thailand, not used by men. Tim's is located just north of The Avenue Mall on Second Road.

Right, Up2 bar was on Rama IV, not far from the Rama IV end of Soi Twilight. It was a fairly large bar, but unfortunately, I believe the out of the way location caused its demise.

Yes, I remember that thread. @abidismaili and I identified @vinapu's first bar visited, named Up2. I believe Twilight was the only bar in that location in 1991, at the beginning of the soi. just across Surawong from Barbiery Bar. I remember being in Barbiery, and seeing a prolific poster on one of the Thailand gay forums that some may remember named David in Pattaya. He was taking photos of the beautifully body painted dancers in Barbiery to post on a gay Thailand forum, as he often did with his photos. I don't recall which forum David posted on. The camera David was using was one of the first Sony digital cameras, one that used a 3.5 inch floppy disk, before Sony developed a memory stick. The camera was a Sony Mavica. Hey, don't we have a forum member named @Mavica ?

Ladyboy lip-syncing competition?

Thanks for your post, @floridarob (I've run out of "likes" for a 24 hour period). I believe Google AI is assuming incorrect in that they are using a 5 day workweek (22-day working month) to establish the wages. In many countries such as Thailand, workers in many lower paid jobs have only one day off per week.