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Spurred by the hotel promo vdo under Gay Asia, this is an ad prepared by students from one of Bangkok's Universities. The gay overtones are very clear! Not sure who developed this also very gay ad.

From Nikkei Asia TOKYO -- Central banks across the world are rushing to develop their own digital currencies in a bid to provide safe and convenient payment systems as digitalization rapidly expands to many segments of the economy. China has been testing its digital yuan in multiple cities while the European Central Bank announced last month plans to proceed with its digital euro project and launch a two-year investigation that will look into the development and impacts of a central bank digital currency (CBDC). The Southeast Asian country launched its "Bakong" digital currency in October 2020, ahead of launch plans from the world's major economies, and is currently the only live CBDC project aside from the Bahamas' Sand Dollar. Bakong was developed by the National Bank of Cambodia, with help from Japanese blockchain technology company Soramitsu, in a bid to increase the presence of its own currency, the riel, and gradually shift away from use of the U.S. dollar. NBC's director general, Chea Serey, who leads the project, told Nikkei Asia that "Bakong started sort of as a willingness to connect up the fragmented payment systems in Cambodia." Unlike cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, CBDCs are digital forms of fiat money backed and issued by central banks. Bakong allows Cambodian citizens to pay at stores or send money through a mobile app, without the use of cash, and allows for settlements and remittances to be made in riel or U.S. dollars. Cambodia runs a dual-currency system, with the U.S. dollar widely circulating in its economy. The country's dollarization began in the 1980s and 90s, following years of civil war and unrest. Although the use of the riel has increased in terms of digital transactions since Bakong's launch, Chea Serey explains that the digital currency alone will not be able to switch Cambodia from a U.S. dollar-based economy to one based around its local currency. "There are other policies that need to be in place, like having a stable exchange rate and inflation rate, as well as [economic] growth prospects," she said. https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Markets/Currencies/Cambodia-aims-to-wean-off-US-dollar-dependence-with-digital-currency

In the second video, the sisters brother is the actor First, known for "The Shipper". https://mydramalist.com/people/19084-kanaphan-puitrakul And the other one is Up, known for the main actor in "Lovely Writer". https://mydramalist.com/people/19352-up-poompat-iam-samang There is an episode 2, KA Sunscreen Commercial:

In the first video the asian guy is Tul Pakorn, famous BL actor, at the young age of 18, known for the series Bad Romance / Together With Me and recently Manner Of Death. https://mydramalist.com/people/13078-thanasrivanitchai-pakorn

The hotel looks nice - the Taiwan boys much nicer. I'm with Lonnie. If even one of those boys comes with the room, I'll stay there on my next trip. I see that rates around the annual Gay Pride Parade at the end of October (not that we'll be able to travel then, alas!) come in at around NT$4,200 or so. Quite pricey compared to many unless it comes with the benefits.

Optimistic PM? Huh!

From The Toronto Star By Jennifer SizelandSpecial to the Star The thin stern of a pastel-blue-painted boat barely created ripples as the driver propelled us to the moss-fringed mouth of the river cave. We glided past plumes of pale green butterflies, which had gathered to lick salt from the muddy banks, before the damp dark of being inside a karst jolted our senses. My partner and I were midway through a yearlong overland whirl through Asia, and after seven months of life on the road, sailing along a river in Laos felt like the antidote to travel exhaustion. Until then, I had been trying to see and do it all — a hard-to-resist temptation in a continent as vast and fascinating as Asia — and it wasn’t until Laos that I learned to slow down. As I stood on the banks of Nong Khai, looking over the Mekong River that forms the natural border with Thailand, I could see lush trees and bushes after the choking dryness of my preceding weeks in Northern Thailand. Laos was an enigma to me, a departure from the well-beaten paths through places like India and Thailand. There was something so intriguing about a country I’d rarely heard about. As soon as we arrived, I could see that the capital, Vientiane, was unlike any other in Southeast Asia, a relaxed city with tree-lined streets, an easy café culture and palpable history, reflected in ancient, gilded Buddhist monuments and French-colonial architecture. It felt right to sip our first Beerlao by the banks of the Mekong as the sun went down, with fireflies flitting over the water. The whole city seemed to be out on the expansive promenade, taking an exercise class, having manicures and pedicures, shopping or playing cards. I watched as a Ferris wheel spun at a snail’s pace, and it struck me that Laos had a patience I didn’t yet possess. I had to know what the countryside had to offer. The drier season meant that the ex-party town of Vang Vieng was much quieter than normal. Its prime attraction was traversing the Nam Song River in the inner tubes of old truck tires. With the river so low, tubing meant drifting past cows taking a drink, and gazing upon the emerald-covered karsts that line the bank. It was so relaxing that some in our group actually fell asleep. Rivers are the open veins of Laos as they criss-cross the country, and swimming is a beloved national pastime as a result. It’s considered the ultimate way to recharge, so we took ourselves as close to it as possible by staying on a stilt lodge on the Nam Ou River in Nong Khiaw. The river barely moves due to a dam upstream and the limestone crags surrounding it, creating a small oasis we revelled in. Once we travelled past the charming yet sleepy city of Luang Prabang, the already-tiny tourist trail dissipated completely. This meant we had to learn to slow down even more, as public transport became barely existent. Continues with more photos https://www.thestar.com/life/travel/2021/07/31/in-laos-southeast-asias-antidote-to-travel-exhaustion-i-finally-learned-the-art-of-slowing-down.html

Wow! And Wow again! Norway's Karsten Warholm's smashing his own world record way out of the park in the 400 m hurdles surely has to be this Olympics greatest moment. I understand that after each Olympics the Committee decides which new sports to add and which to drop. One event I was partially able to see last night was the equestrian jumping. I did not watch for long. I find it so boring. The three equestrian disciplines have been part of the Olympics since 1912 and surely they should be the first to be sent packing. Is there any other sport that requires an animal before it can happen? The cost of the equestrian events must be far higher than most other sports given the need to fly in so many horses and have an arena exclusively for them.

Too much wishful thinking in the world...the virus and its variant offspring are opponents that thrive on wishful thinking that things return to "normal" as vaccination rates increase. In my part of California, we are back to major masking. I spoke with friends in Beijing yesterday, and there are outbreaks in Nanjing and Beijing. I very much want to return to my my wayward travel schedule and luxuriate in the life I once led as a twice a year tourist in Thailand. Totally Oz is "thriving" in someways that I envy. It's been too long...it will be a longer wait. I hope I'm wrong and the Thai government will get it act together.

Let me help everyone. I'm really gay. Like obviously gay. Everyone can see it in me. My keyboard that I am typing on is pink. My monitor I'm looking at has unicorns attached. My clothes are more flamboyant than the contestants on Legendary. My nails are a bit polished. My ass was shaved by the lady who does bikini waxes to the stars. Let there be no mistaking this, when I type, I send all my gay aura through the Internet into the post I'm typing. And, yes, it is as gay as fuck if it comes from me! (hell, even my emoji's are gay (yes, you have access to them as well). PS I have a cute gay boy giving me head as I type this. Seriously. He is insatiable and he said he is gayer than I am (I don't think so).

From The Thaiger Asanha Bucha Day is a special Buddhist holiday in Thailand marking the day when the Lord Buddha delivered his first sermon at Benares in India over 2,500 years ago. The exact date of the holiday is determined by the waxing moon and the lunar months, but is usually held in July or August each year. In 2021 it falls on July 26. Today is also the start of the period of Buddhist Lent. There were to be 3 public holidays in a row – Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday (HM The King’s birthday) this year but the Tuesday holiday was abandoned by the government as the Covid situation became worse. Asahna Bucha is a national Holiday in Thailand. It replaced Buddhist Lent as a gazetted holiday in 2007. The date in the western calendar depends on the Lunar cycle. It is also known as Asalha Puja or Dhamma Day. Because this years’ Asanha Bucha Day falls on a weekend day, Monday, July 26 has been named as a public holiday across Thailand. The Buddha preached his first sermon at a deer park and from this sermon the Dharma (doctrine) of the Buddha was symbolised as a wheel. The Dharmachakra is also known as the Wheel of Life, Wheel of Law or Wheel of Doctrine and can be seen on flags in temples and buildings all across Thailand. Similarly, pictures or models of deer can often be seen at temples or in depictions of the Buddha. https://thethaiger.com/news/national/today-is-asanha-bucha-day-why-is-the-day-special-for-thai-buddhists-public-holiday

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/28/myanmar-could-become-covid-super-spreader-state-says-un-expert