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Sadly we tend to foget that Iran did have fair elections for the Majlis (parliament) following WWII. Mohamad Mosaddegh had first been elected to parliament as far back as 1923. Having been in favour of Reza Khan as the Prime Minister in the 1920s, he turned against him after a coup in 1925 when the British deposed the then Shah and installed Reza Khan in the post. Whereas Britain had discovered oil in Iran, following its own revolution Russia wanted and took part of Iran. In Britain's eyes, this was less for oil than the threat it posed to the British Raj in India and beyond. In 1941, the British forced Reza Khan's abdication in favour of his son, even though as Shah he had helped modernise Iran. A secularist, he even prayed in a Jewish synagogue and changed the name of Persia to Iran. In 1951, the Majlis voted 79 to 12 to elect Mosaddegh as the country's next Prime Minister. Mosaddegh introduced a lot of social reforms in the country. But Britain and the USA loathed the fact that he introduced legislation to nationalise the country's oil production. As Britain had discovered the oil, it regarded the income from it as its own, paying Iran a pittance for the rights. In the 1920s, Britain was supposed to pay 5% of net profits, but Britain never permitted any inspection of the Anglo Iranian Oil Company's books. In fact, although there were formal agreements, Britain often did not pay Iran anything. Mosaddegh then made life difficult for the British by, for example, instituting a blockade of the Gulf so oil could not be transported. There was also some bad blood between Mosaddegh and the Shah when parliament cut the Shah's personal budget. The end result was that Britain and the USA through the CIA helped get rid of Mossadegh through a variety of means that the CIA has used regularly since then, including paying tribesmen and mobs to demonstrate openly against Mosaddegh. The Shah initially fled to Rome. In Iran Britain, still recovering from its WWII efforts, could not carry out Mosaddegh's ouster on its own. Initially the USA was reluctant to join Britain's Iran advanture. But when Eisenhower came to power, everything changed. The two countries then arranged for Mosaddegh's ouster and far greater powers provided to the Shah. The USA then basically became the Shah's paymaster until he was forced from power in the 1979 Revolution. So Iran did have elections that were at least basically fair long before Britain and the USA took it upon themselves to destabilise the country. And everything since has to go back to the duly elected Mosaddegh's ouster in 1953.

I own an Airbnb apartment in Ipanema, so I will give the perspective of a local / investor — who is also quite familiar with why most traveling men who post at these message boards choose Rio. In my neighborhood of Ipanema, as well as in Leblon and some grander parts of Copacabana (the big touristy areas), there have been some high-profile incidences involving Airbnbs / short-term rentals with some very bad actors — and a few of them ended up deadly, but most of them were violent robberies or home invasions. These have placed the other residents of the buildings in greater harm and risk, and it’s just another reason for those who hate the existence of short-term rentals to get city government involved. As a result, there is proposed city regulation on the table, and many of the condominium associations (they have group meetings) decided to be proactive and self-regulate, hoping to stem any potential laws restricting short-term rentals. Many buildings in the area, mine included, decided that they will place greater restrictions on short-term rentals — one of them being that only those who are registered as the Airbnb guests can have access to the building and apartment. Others have voted against allowing any short-term rentals at all. I would estimate that, in my area alone, in the past 2 years, over half of the buildings either added the no-guest policy for short-termers or banned short-term rentals altogether. So, my advice is first, to carefully read the house rules of the listing before booking. If a listing does not allow guests, then the host needs either to place that in the rules in advance, or directly after booking, send you a message with any restrictions. if you find an Airbnb in the area that allows you to have guests, if that’s truly important to you, then you should book it — because they are much fewer and more far between in Rio than ever before. I also will add that this restriction has not reduced my bookings at all — and with less added risk. So, from the perspective of a host / investor, the threat of income loss from gay and straight male tourists who prefer the company of strangers is minimal to nil. And as a tourist that comes and goes, you should understand there are very good reasons why these rules are in place. Even with my listing explicitly saying up front “no guests”, I still get men (because it’s always men, gay or straight!) asking me the same old “can I have a Brazilian friend up for a drink?”. The answer is always no. Look before you book!

Works a treat. Tested it on Thai, Laos and French. I've yet to find a native Japanese person to test @Riobard 's question. The microphone is your mobile and requires a data connection. Uses it's own App, only issue, as always, was syncing up the Blutooth. Not really designed for long speeches, so normal conversionial sentences. Depending on background noise, point mobile at your foreigner or just leave on the table, they speak, you then hear the translation in your ears. You reply in English, text is translated into Thai (etc) on the phone screen, however; you also get the Thai audio of the translation, so you can memorise it and say it back. Gives the impression you speak Thai! They also act as a standard pair of buds for listening to music. The App also does picture translation, plus can translate active phone calls, write or translate voice notes or create subtitles from an streaming or constant audio source. The marketing blurb says it's using AI, which is a load of 💩, as if it was it'll speak my reply without me saying it. Model is HTC NE40. Would recommend.

On another topic, we were talking about damages for nervous shock. This would seem to be a perfect case

He was using one of his other personalities.

Fair enough, though I do get blogs from industry websites, that highlight endemic issues.

Not to dispute what you've said, but on a related note I've found that online review websites are useless for comparing airlines, because most of the reviews are of flights where something went horribly wrong. Pick almost any airline and there will be a worryingly long list of 1-star reviews from badly-treated customers. If they've had a satisfactory flight most people don't bother to leave a review. My only experience of problems with Gulf carriers was Emirates in 2020 when I had to cancel a flight because of COVID. They refunded my flight in full within a couple of days, and unlike many of the other airliness there was no pressure to rebook or accept vouchers instead of cash.

And boy is it gonna be fun to watch.

For all flights departing UK/EU (regardless of carrier nationality), or arriving in the UK/EU on a UK/EU airline, all that would be a legal requirement, not a courtesy from the airline.

Regrettably not, back Thursday 4th May.

Yes, I am specifically targeting the mega Gulf carriers.

To be fair, though their onboard service is poor, at least in my view, I have always found that they cope well with cancellations etc. I think that is partly at least because of the litigation environment in the USA. Gulf carriers don't have to worry about being sued for millions!

Apr 25- May 1st, will you be around?

No, the blind kneading the blubber.😏

The Khaosod English headline had me panicking as due to pop back to The UK in April for a couple of weeks. Booked yesterday for mid April, the usual price I pay for BKK-LHR-BKK is 40k to 45kTHB, cattle class with leg room seat at the front, managed to get it for 58kTHB, so 50ish% markup. With the world's supply of crude reduced by 30 to 35%, current infrastructure is running on reserves. Read yesterday that Australia only has 34 days of reserves, somewhat less than the 90 days the International Energy Agency (IEA) suggest. An independent report hilighted it was nearer 25 days! Thailand is reported to hold only 61 days. The UK does adhere to the IDA'S 90 day recommendation, however only 85% of reserves are kept within the UK, the other 15% are stored in Holand, Germany and Belgium. Doesn't take a genius to conclude as the international emergency developes further; those stocks would be requisitioned by those 3 countries. Doesn't help that the current Energy minister (the one that can't eat a bacon sandwich) is closing down the UK's oil & gas drilling wells, making the UK more dependant on imports. As @emiel1981 says "A lot can happen in 3 weeks", let's hope so, or as Private James Frazer of the Walmington-On-Sea Home Guard famously said "We're doomed! Doomed".

Hello guys!! I am currently in Thailand for a trip with friends. They are going back in few days and I will be flying to Bangkok where I will have 4 days for myself. I was searching for good massage places and that's how I came across this forum. After reading the forum I came across all sort of acronym s, sss, H etc. Kind of understood what they meant. After looking through the forum I shortlisted a few - s'sense, Fafa, Wabisabi, Jey as of now. Are there any other good places that can be recommended? Also how do the masseurs treat here? Do they change the treatment on the basis of looks? I don't consider myself good looking at all - fat, belly etc. How much does that change their treatment to you? Is there anything I should take note of too? Do PM me if you have more detailed recommendations to share too. Thanks all in advance and appreciate your help.

probably he picked up all pieces before taking photo. On serious note, take closer look

Today I'm speaking with a Russian🇷🇺 accent, I find you can get discount on most things with this accent

There's a difference between recommended tip and minimum tip. Arena tells you the recommended tip, which includes sexual activity. TCS and other upmarket places advise on minimum tip -- which does NOT include sexual activity (or, at most a handjob with the masseur remaining fully dressed). TCS will not discuss sexual activity with you; it has to be privately negotiated in the room with the service provider himself.

I notice you're not even mentioning USA carriers. 🤣

@emiel1981 I've been staring at your photo of chicken & cashewnuts. I can hardly see any chicken 😆

I agree with @Moses. There are no massage shops in Pattaya, not even Paradise, where you can reliably expect a high standard of massage complemented by extra service. There may be a few places, e.g. in Terminal 21, where trained therapists work, but (a) the shop will have a strict policy against anything erotic and (b) you're almost surely going to get a woman servicing you. For the latter reason, I have never bothered to try.

Just add another personality, @Olddaddy has an entire cast....

Damn, I asked @floridarob to stay away and you had to bring that story. I think I need a new identity in this forum.