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  1. Another important point raised by that post. DO NOT book with a retailer. Nowadays pay the little extra and book direct with the airline. It save a lot of hassle if you need to change flight schedules and what happens if that retailer goes out of business?
    3 points
  2. The Suicide Squad is pretty fun. But you can also see it on HBOMax. Was actually good to see in a big Dolby Laser theater though. Free Guy... meh. Should've had a lot to drink first. Too much of the good stuff is in the trailers and the rest is pretty predictable. The Green Knight... ... ... is trippy. Interesting and well done. Basically like Excalibur but much less action, so some will find boring and many will find confusing. Still, glad I saw it.
    2 points
  3. reader

    Ugly showdown

    From Pattaya News Five officials injured, protesters arrested during hours-long confrontation Five police officers were reportedly injured during an hours-long intense confrontation between crowd control police and hardline young protesters in Bangkok yesterday evening, August 22nd, the Deputy Commissioner of Metropolitan Police Bureau (MPB) reported. Police Major General Piya Tawichai of the MPB gave a summary of the recent gathering in the capital in which the Thalu Fah pro-democracy demonstrators had staged a gathering in front of the United Nations on Ratchadamnoen Road at 2:00 PM. The gathering peacefully went for about two hours before calling off at around 4:10 PM. Later, a group of teenagers riding motorcycles arrived at Vibhavadi Rangsit Road near the Sam Liam Din Daeng junction at around 4:50 P.M. Though the police had warned the protesters to disperse as they were violating the Emergency Decree, the group reportedly threw giant firecrackers, ping-pong bombs, and pipe bombs at the police. Some objects were also being thrown into the Royal Thai Army Band Department and Veterans General Hospital, according to the Deputy Commissioner. The riot police then had to approach the group of protesters to maintain peace and order. The protesters’ resistance led to the use of rubber bullets and water cannons during the confrontation that lasted for more than four hours. However, they continued to fight back by throwing more handmade explosions, injuring 5 police officers. A number of protesters were arrested from yesterday’s gathering and were taken to Din Daeng police station for legal proceedings, Piya added. Additionally, another Thalu Fah gathering for the eighth consecutive day is scheduled from 3:00 PM. onwards under the Sports Day theme. According to the organizers, they will be marching from the Kok Woa intersection and will hold the activities at the Democracy Monument. https://thepattayanews.com/2021/08/22/five-officials-injured-protesters-arrested-during-hours-long-confrontation-at-din-daeng-junction-yesterday-evening/
    2 points
  4. There is a very perceptive article in Friday's edition of the UK's Guardian newspaper. Written by Simon Jenkins it delivers a blistering attack on British and American lawmakers. The article was written before Tony Blair, the British Prime Minster who had given his Ambassador to Washington in 2001 instructions to "Crawl up Bush's ass and stay there!", published a 2,700 word article on his website in which he claims "The abandonment of Afghanistan and its people is tragic, dangerous, unnecessary, not in their interests and not in ours,” This from a discredited Prime Minister who went in front of the nation in 2016 to apologise for his errors in taking part in the invasion of Iraq! "I express more sorrow, regret and apology than you can ever know or believe." From The Guardian Friday 20 August 2021 (the use of bold face is mine - it is not in the original article). Britain’s MPs this week uttered one long howl of anguish over Afghanistan. Their immediate targets were Joe Biden and Boris Johnson, politicians who just happened to be on the watch when Kabul’s pack of cards collapsed. But their real concern was that a collective 20-year experiment in “exporting western values” to Afghanistan had fallen into chaos. MPs wanted someone other than themselves to blame. A politician is never so angry as when proved wrong. Like their fellow representatives in Congress, MPs somehow hoped the end would be nice and tidy, with speeches and flags, much like Britain’s exit from Hong Kong. Instead, tens of thousands of Afghans who had lived in an effective colony under years of Nato occupation had come to believe the west would either never leave or somehow protect them from Taliban retribution. They were swiftly disabused. In 2006 I stood at dusk on a castle wall overlooking Kabul with a young UN official. He had just heard the Kandahar road was no longer safe. “Why,” he sighed, “can’t Afghanistan be more like Sweden?” I tried to see if he was smiling, but he was grimacing. For another 15 years, armies of western soldiers and civilians hurled stupefying amounts of money at the country. They created a wildly corrupt western dependency, where some 50,000 Afghans have links with the west that are now lethal. As for the “western-trained” army, one of its trainers told me it was mostly for show. An occupying power could not possibly motivate local youths to kill their fellow countrymen who might soon be ruling them. He rightly predicted: “They will just walk home.” It is now 22 years since Tony Blair gave a speech in Chicago lecturing the US on his doctrine of international intervention. He wanted the west to invade countries across the world not in self-defence, but to save people everywhere from oppression. It was a reformulation of Alfred Milner’s Victorian concept of moral imperialism. British politicians on both the left and the right have long been uncomfortable about the abandonment of Milnerism as the acceptable face of empire. Global policing is somehow embedded in Britain’s political DNA. All Blair’s wars of aggression were cheered on in the House of Commons. Many people have spoken this week of the “decline of the west”, lamenting the collapse of US moral authority. Yet these theories are beside the point. The belief that our moral values are somehow meaningless unless they are enforced upon those who do not share them is imperialist bigotry. It also leads to absurd biases. Iraq is now thought of as “bad interventionism”, as opposed to Afghanistan’s “good” version. The virtue of the latter invasion led President Obama in 2009 to bless the war in Afghanistan with a “surge” of soldiers, taking the US total to 110,000, mere target practice for the Taliban. American gunboat diplomacy, initially supposed to salve the wounds of 9/11 in 2001, opened the door to fake morality and a trillion-dollar nation-building fantasy. The catastrophic return of Taliban autonomy became its inevitable conclusion. The US – with Britain as its lackey – committed liberal interventionism’s cardinal sin: half-heartedness. The craving to intervene is always followed by a craving to withdraw. Traditional empires at least pretended they would never leave. As it was, Afghanistan replicated departures from India, South Africa, Hong Kong and Iraq. If you invade and conquer an alien state, you own it, but must then disown it. Western rule has killed an estimated 240,000 in Afghanistan since 2001, more than the Taliban ever did. It has not left morality, just a mess. We must assume strategists in Washington and London are now planning interventions in Taiwan and Ukraine against possible Chinese and Russian expansion. If you ask taxpayers to spend billions on defence, you need something to show for it. So you pretend, as Johnson did in his bizarre conversation with Biden this week, that “gains” were made in Afghanistan. You accuse non-interventionists, as did the former Tory leader William Hague, of demonstrating “the enfeeblement of the western mind”. In a recent column, Hague called on Britain to continue invading foreign countries when “our common humanity demands it”. In doing so, he sounded like Pope Urban summoning the First Crusade. more at https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/aug/20/west-nation-building-fantasy-afghanistan-boris-johnson
    2 points
  5. I had very mixed feelings about The Green Knight. It was very well done, but I disliked it. It plays with the original stories very well. Free Guy told you it was bubblegum icecream and it was. Fun, and silly, and not very deep. I think The Green Knight is worth a watch for most. Free Guy, if you like summer bubblegum movies, because it is one.
    2 points
  6. If we think busloads of Chinese tourists in the past were bad, truckloads of Chinese money might be incomparably worse. The nightmare would be if Chinese money re-made the tourist trade of Pattaya into something resembling Sihanoukville. Google "Sihanoukville" to see what I mean, or read this article from the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/jul/31/no-cambodia-left-chinese-money-changing-sihanoukville
    2 points
  7. From Pattaya Mail Thai Airways International (THAI) announced to resume international and domestic flight operations during the August – October period. In response to demand for air travel, the airline will operate flights to international and domestic destinations under the Covid-19 prevention measures, said Nond Kalinta, THAI’s chief commercial officer. The domestic route is: Bangkok – Phuket: two flights per week every Thursday and Friday, starting from September to October. The routes to support the Phuket Sandbox project are: Bangkok- Phuket- Frankfurt: one weekly flight on Thursdays. Bangkok- Phuket – London: one weekly flight on Fridays. Bangkok-Paris-Phuket-Bangkok: one weekly flight on Thursdays. Bangkok-Zurich-Phuket- Bangkok: one weekly flight every Friday. The routes to Europe and Australia Bangkok – London: two flights per week, Wednesdays and Sundays. Bangkok – Frankfurt: two flights per week, Saturdays and Sundays. Bangkok – Copenhagen: two flights per week, Tuesdays and Saturdays (only on Saturdays in September). Bangkok – Sydney: two flights per week, Wednesdays and Sundays. https://www.pattayamail.com/thailandnews/thai-airways-to-resume-intl-and-domestic-flight-operations-for-august-october-368592
    1 point
  8. your concerns are valid but I wouldn't worry until very close to decision about travel . Rules are inconsistent from nation to nation and are changing more often than some people underwear. I don't even start about sense some of them make. So while we mentally may be prepared for scenario A in fact version D.1.7 will apply at time of our travel. Only thing we can do is to be prepared to jump at first feasible opportunity.
    1 point
  9. The porn will migrate to onlyfans clones in other countries, instead of one company there will be many. You can't moralise and/or demonetise porn out of existence.
    1 point
  10. I've met some Awesome guys in Brazil using Grindr. One guy I still hope to meet again! I remember him telling me he was only in Brazil for a short time to earn some money. On my final night in Brazil he came to visit and had a friend tag along with him. That was a night I will never forget. I can still remember almost every inch of their bodies and if I try a little, I can remember their voices.. Grindr never failed me when it came to meeting guys, be it free or for $. I am sure when I return, Grindr will be the first app I will be using. My favorite ways to meet guys over the internet in Brazil. Grindr (App) Romeo (www.romeo.com) Viva Local (https://www.vivalocal.com/acompanhantes-gays/br) Skokka (https://br.skokka.com/acompanhantes-masculinos/rio-de-janeiro/zona-central/) Garotocomlocal (https://garotocomlocal.com.br/) Hornet (App) Jack'd (App) Recon (App & web) (www.recon.com) Dudesnude (www.dudesnude.com)
    1 point
  11. KYTOP

    Is This Keanu Reeves?

    Yes it is him. He starred with the late River Phoenix. There is one scene were River keeps tweaking Keanu's nipple while they are lying in bed. I remember Keanu had great nipples.😊
    1 point
  12. Don’t rush and book months in advance. Airline ‘street cred’ is at an all time low and they cancel on a whim. If interested suggest look at their reliability over several months to see how many “cancellations” happen.
    1 point
  13. Now we can see foresight of some bar owners relocating from ground level of soi Twilight to 2nd floors on Patpong 2. It'll be quite romantic to go to HotMale by gondola
    1 point
  14. Thanks! I hope that comment made you feel superior and better from whatever negative thing you are going through. Smile! Have a great and positive weekend!
    1 point
  15. If you want to travel for culture, food, some sun and just to relax, go to Salvador Bahia...' If your whole goal is to go for sex and you can care less about the city or beaches or culture....Go to Rio.... Salvador Bahia and Rio can't compare when it comes to boys or saunas in quantity or quality...
    1 point
  16. reader

    Ugly showdown

    From Bangkok Post Demonstrators react to tear gas during a clash with police in Bangkok's Din Daeng area on Saturday. (Photo by Wichan Charoenkiartpakun) Police fired tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannon on anti-government protesters on Saturday, the culmination of a running battle in which demonstrators were forced to change their destination three times. Redem demonstrators had arranged originally to meet at Democracy Monument at 2pm on Saturday, with a plan to march to the Grand Palace. Redem (Restart Democracy) has no official leaders but still has guards. Created by the Free Youth group in February, it can consist of different pro-democracy groups that share common goals at any given time. The group on Saturday was looking to push three demands — Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha must unconditionally resign as prime minister, the budgets for the palace and armed forces must be cut and allocated to Covid-19 relief efforts, and the "tycoon" Covid-19 vaccine must be changed to the mRNA type. A few hundred people arrived at Democracy Monument around noon. Police closed the area to traffic at 12.20pm and told them to disperse. In front of the Grand Palace nearby, the usual wall of containers was seen, fortified this time with decommissioned tanker cars obtained from the State Railway of Thailand. At 1pm, police started clearing the area. Rubber bullets were reportedly used and at least two people were arrested. The demonstrators were pushed back to the Phan Fa Bridge. Some threw firecrackers and fired catapults at the police. Free Youth then posted on Facebook that the destination was being changed to Government House. As container walls were also set up there, a loudspeaker truck announced another change of destination to Victory Monument, with a planned march to the 11th Infantry Regiment, where Prime Minister Prayut resides. As the demonstrators arrived at Victory Monument and were heading for Vibhavadi Road, which leads to the army base, police blocked traffic using stacked containers and barbed wire, with crowd control police lining up behind the barriers. Police told them to go back to Victory Monument. As some of the protesters tried to remove the containers, several tear gas canisters were fired at them at Din Daeng intersection at 3.30pm. Police said they would use rubber bullets if the protesters still tried to move forward. At 5.30pm, police pushed them further back to Victory Monument using water cannon. Video taken at the scene also showed tear gas and muzzle flashes — possibly from firing of rubber bullets — being used by officers positioned on the skywalk overlooking the roundabout. Free Youth called off the rally around 5.30 but sporadic clashes were continuing into the evening between small groups of protesters and police. The Victory Monument BTS station was temporarily closed as the police operation continued. Dozens of protesters were seen being carried away on motorcycles and in ambulances. The Erawan Emergency Medical Centre said at least two civilians and three officers had been injured. https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2161607/police-crack-down-on-protesters
    0 points
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