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I am not sure that I agree with the word - worry. Rather than worry, I think visitors to Brazil need to exercise a little more caution than they did just a few years ago. There is no question that poverty and no jobs make otherwise good people (Brazilians) do things they would not normally do such as stealing and mugging. In my opinion, the above is a better way to look at the facts about visiting here. In my case, I visit Brazil often. I have traveled here for over fifteen years. That equates to more than one hundred trips to Brazil. If you believe in statistics, you have comfort and a high probability of not having any negative issue or a problem during your visit. Statistically speaking, you have a greater probability of having a wonderful time than a bad time. Although I am less comfortable than I was before my incident, I am now back in Brazil again. This is my second trip here since the mugging. Don't be discouraged about reports of crime. Just be a little more cautious. Philosophically, if your number comes up, you will have a problem regardless of where you are.

Hey guys. It's my first time to BA. I've been to Rio - loved it - and found my way to 117, 202, etc. BA doesn't get all that much play here, so I'm wondering if anyone has some suggestions for: what area to stay in where there are cafes, restaurants where cute gay guys (not garatos) hang out, just for eye candy purposes. Also, in what area - I'm assuming the same - would there be more boys strolling around? gay gym - I think the Megatlon chain might have a gay crowd, but which one(s)? Any other gym suggestions? a modestly priced hotel/apartment in that neighborhood? and, last but not least, muscle guys for hire - yes, specifically muscle men, big bodybuilders most preferred. I've seen soytuyo and some of the other sites, but I didn't see any really competitive bodybuilder types (ripped fitness model types also do it for me). I realize that there's nothing in BA like the Rio saunas, so any advice would be most appreciated - if anyone knows anyone in particular, please by all means send me a private message with contact info. Many thanks!

On the one hand, I have had ice in my drinks at Maxi’s with no ill effects. On the other hand, twice, a salad from a salad bar undid me. Note the salad bar. Other salads have had no ill effects. Hope you know BenG1000 that this forum is hoping you have the most fantastical visit

I'd like to repeat that I have nothing against you, but i wanna use your experience to tell people to don't do anything you did...Many people need to watch less Rambo movies, cause shit here in Brazil happens even to people living here from when they were born. Experience has nothing to do and doesn't make you bulletproof. And unexperienced people as much as the experienced ones often tend to underestimate the risks and to misjudge situations. Like the 25 yrs old MMA fighter who some months ago reacted to an assault got shot in the head by the older friend of the flip-flop wearing 16 yrs old thief in Tijuca who was keeping the situation under control and who came from around the corner to save his friend from the beatdown he was receiving. That's why most of the people won't help you if you get mugged. Most of the people would never risk to get shot to save a gringo from losing his DSLR camera or iPhone, there are too many weapons and too many people willing to kill you for no reasons in Brazil...bad combination.

Maybe part of his appeal is that he can't be painted as a bull goose left loony like Ocasio-Cortez. Of couse, it didn't hurt that he ran his Texas campaign against a creepy whack job of a troll. Come to think of it, maybe that would be just the right model for a campaign against Trump. And it doesn't hurt that he's kinda cute.

Please credit me with some sense ! They were wearing flip flops and shorts and nothing else and if I wasn't sure if the situation I would have reacted differently ! I have lived all over the world and spend 48 weeks of the year travelling to wild and wacky places for work and more than capable of judging a situation thanks. I think some people in here need to stick to the keys !

Don’t worry they’re all open again tomorrow. Go for a massage tonight?

From my experience I have found everything and more in Thailand as compared to back home in respect to salad ingredients. Possibly some of that is imported but it is available.

make it "great advantage"

One of the best salad bars anywhere is in Pattaya!! The Wooden Box on Thappraya Rd. around the corner from Baan Souy Resort. Ate there every day for over a week!! Felt great! They also have a wide variety of other delicious food most of which is health oriented.

Inspiring. Thank you for this...

If you think about the climate to grow a "western salad" it need to be a temperate region. That's not Thailand. Go local - you won't regret it!

....or at home before you leave for a trip, 10$ watch shows exactly the same time real ROLEX shows and if one really needs something around his neck , own skin would do nicely, thank you very much

alcohol ban ends 6:00 pm on 24th. Things should get back to normal after that.

https://siamroads.com/

I just finished reading a biography of Randy Shilts, so the AIDS crisis was on my mind. It's not something one forgets either. Perhaps narcissists don't like it being mentioned as it distracts from talk about them. My apologies.

And all the eligible voters will be happy to cast their votes the following day.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Childhood's_End

One more thing - My travel insurance carrier sends out newsletters every now and again. Their newsletter of today has some excellent suggestions about how to reduce the chances of someone stealing your property or money while you are traveling. Some of the suggestions are already in the forum but there are some different ideas about how to keep thieves away from your money and property. Most of the suggestions I already knew. There were a few different ideas. This company is very knowledgeable about reducing theft. Many of the suggestions help both the traveler and the insurance company because the insurance company does not have to pay for covered items not stolen. For those interested in seeing the newsletter - http://links.mkt1649.com/servlet/MailView?ms=MTUyOTM0NDAS1&r=MTkyNTI2ODYxNDMzS0&j=MTYwMTEzOTczMQS2&mt=1&rt=0

That's quite a knock on gay men. Anyone who lived through the AIDS crisis saw the vast generosity of the gay and lesbian community. We see it still today in the support social programs receive. Gay men volunteer, they donate, they show care. Don't knock them. Knock those pompous fools who think they know so much more than anyone else.

From my experience the best time is always between 4 pm to 9 pm. Best days are Friday and Saturday. Sunday and Wednesday are ok. The other days are quiet. But if you like a guy and tell him on Friday that you will be there on Monday, he will be there on Monday. Friday and Saturday is sometimes so busy that all private cabins (you have to pay extra for private cabins but I prefer because it is clean and you have more space) are occupied and you have to wait for a free cabin, so I go early on these days that I can get a cabin for the time I stay there. I guess other clients do the same and thats why it is sometimes hard to get one.

I think his name was John Booth. At one time he had been an English teacher so there was no reason for him to write as he did other than he was having a bit of fun. Sadly he died in very unfortunate circumstances. He had been treated for some form of cancer and thought he was cancer free. Then it returned but he had no cash left for a return to hospital. I seem to recall friends in Bangkok looked after him as best they could and he died in their home.

From CNN (14 Mar.) The world's longest passenger plane is here -- the Boeing 777X The longest passenger jetliner in the world just made its debut. On March 13, the very first Boeing 777X was presented to company employees, inside the airframer's main wide-body manufacturing facility in Everett, Washington. Boeing had planned to unveil the jetliner on Wednesday, but delayed the debut following the crash of its aircraft in Ethiopia. The event was simplified to respect the recent loss of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, a Boeing 737 MAX 8. At 252 feet, the 777X is longer than its predecessor, the 777-300ER, and the super-stretched Airbus A340-600. It'll even be longer by a nose than the current record-holder, the 747-8, the latest version of Boeing's own "Queen of the Skies" whose aviation-changing ancestor flew 50 years ago. With its maiden test flight expected later this spring, the 777-9 is the larger of the two 777X models that make up Boeing's jetliner program. continues with photos http://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/boeing-777x-what-you-need-to-know/index.html

My intent is not to derail the thread but the many posts jostled my memory back to 1970’s San Francisco when the Campus theater was sort of a crude Moonlight of its day. Rick Donovan is the model I recall best. William Higgins made him one of the top stars of his well-done films. Rick appeared from time to time as did other headliners of the day. He’d do some stuff on stage before walking down the isle to allow guests to deposit bills and inspect the merchandise that was the talk of the town. It was before internet and word about places like this came via word of mouth and guides like Spartacus. A different era to be sure but Campus earned all the hype Moonlight does today.

Good advice all. I've tried to make it clear that the info I put out isn't even intended to be complete or exhaustive, and only occasionally up-to-date. I figure the guys who are inclined to go explore some of the different parts of Bangkok will figure that out on their own. I try to get to places a few times before posting a meaningful write-up. I may have a good time at DM Spa but I'm not getting back there this year, just because I'm busy. Lat Prao is such a traffic nightmare these days I'm just not even thinking about going over there. I get the shakes just thinking about going near Don Muang, which means what looks to be a nice new place like Orchid is going to be left for someone else to report on. I'm not sure some places really even care much about the farang crowd. And it's really about the guys there at that particular day (as Crystal Relax points out now), so how much can you really plan. Personally, there are some guys at Koonpaan (rough transliteration) who I think are really sexy, but I'm not sure they're everybody's type and it's not convenient, so, again, why bother. There are some places that I just ignore for other reasons. One place was discussed on a Thai board and I thought the owner's responses were off-putting, so forget it (as far as I'm concerned). A new place that started being active on Line posted pics of two guys that seemed rather young and put "17-18" as the caption. Delete block and move on. If you have found a good place that you want to give some advertising - post about here. I wanted to get AEC some visibility to support a nice small new business and I took a shine to a couple of the guys. Bantai is still in business. Somedbody have time to go there and update?? Or if you have favorite place that you want keep secret (like Pong), fine. Up to you. gboysiam and if you want to go through the hoops tmmsociety are good sources of info. I've found out about places from other members here (thank you 1moRussian ). I've also found out about places by facebook suggestions and similar random connections.

Thank you...Riobard It will be my first time to Themas Barcelona in early June 2019 and I will be staying in an Air B&B about 12mins walking to the location as per google maps.

From Bangkok Post (15 Feb.) Vietnamese airlines get access to US for first time WASHINGTON: Vietnamese airlines will be able to fly to the United States and codeshare with American carriers after the US Federal Aviation Administration declared the country complies with international safety standards. The US aviation safety agency said in a statement late on Thursday that it was awarding Vietnam a “Category 1” rating, two weeks after Reuters reported the decision was expected. “It’s recognition by a very developed aviation authority which requires a very high standard of safety and security,” Vietnamese Deputy Transport Minister Nguyen Ngoc Dong told Reuters on Friday. There are currently no non-stop flights between Vietnam and the United States, despite a large market catering to tourism and visits by friends and relatives. Vietnam Airlines, Bamboo Airways and VietJet Aviation desire to fly to the United States. Bamboo Airways chairman Trinh Van Quyet said Bamboo was considering destinations such as Seattle, Los Angeles and San Francisco, with the first route to open in late 2020 or early 2021. His airline has ordered 20 Boeing Co 787s for long-haul flights. Capa Centre for Aviation chief analyst Brendan Sobie said the FAA rating was important for Vietnam symbolically and politically. But he said Vietnamese airlines could struggle to make US flights profitable because of the lack of demand from high-paying business travellers. “For Vietnam Airlines, launching routes to the US is our political responsibility as a national airline. Whether or not the route is commercially feasible depends quite a lot on technical issues and aircraft,” the airline said in a statement. Vietnam Airlines said it was in talks with Airbus and Boeing about potential jet purchases for the US route, but the earliest they were expected to arrive was in 2022. In the meantime its existing codeshares with Delta Air Lines could be expanded after the rating. Budget carrier VietJet said it plans to purchase wide-body jets capable of non-stop US flights and believes its experience in keeping costs down will give it an effective business model. “We plan to open routes to cities with Vietnamese communities living in the United States such as in California, serving the large travelling and commercial demand from customers,” VietJet’s vice president To Viet Thang said in a statement. The FAA last year sent a team to Vietnam to conduct a safety assessment. Vietnam’s rapidly growing aviation market saw traffic increase 16% on average each year from 2010 to 2017, government data shows. https://www.bangkokpost.com/news/transport/1629850/vietnamese-airlines-finally-get-access-to-us

Why would you ask me. Michael answered it completely?