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From Pattaya Mail By Warapun Jaikusol Pattaya’s women-of-the-second-category are learning how to stay home and bake cookies. The Sisters Foundation launched its second round of vocational training courses for LGBTQ people who want to be bakers. The project began in April, funded by a 370,000-baht grant from the International Organization for Migration, a United Nations-affiliated group that provides services and advice concerning migration to governments and migrants, including internally displaced persons, refugees, and migrant workers. Some of those participating in Sisters’ bakery classes are LGBTQ migrants from neighboring countries. Project coordinator Rawitcha Sakpreechakul said the training is aimed at former transgender entertainers who were put out of work by the coronavirus pandemic. The current class has 13 students who work in groups no larger than five people, in line with Covid-19 restrictions, and use kitchens provided by the foundation, although the instructor teaches remotely. Classes cover easy-to-make items using simple tools suitable for beginners. Coming out of the ovens are butter cookies, brownies, cupcakes, macaroons, cheesecakes and more. The chefs then sell the baked goods to generate income. Continues with photos https://www.pattayamail.com/news/pattayas-ladyboys-staying-home-baking-cookies-370870

I can see them all now in their little 'pinnys' standing outside Pook Bar on Soi 6 trying to sell cookies to passing punters ....... 🤣

I don’t ask questions any more. I almost always go by whether they have a smile that reaches their eyes. My first couple of years I asked questions but my interpretation of the answers didn’t always tally with the result and I quickly realised it was futile being disappointed by issues caused by language and word interpretation. Some of my best experiences have been with boys who I would almost certainly would have counted out with honest answers to questions I would previously have asked. In fact, probably 4 of my favourite 5 offs would never have happened. Not only that but I’d have absolutely no clue how to ask for what has been my favourite off ever. Now I go with the flow, get some disappointments but am generally on the plus side.

Good video.....makes me glad I'm not planning to go back until it's open like he said, normal and not restrictions. The comments on Youtube are funny....

In the old pre-war days, I am told sleeping beths were relatively common for long haul routes. I wonder how many remember that Philippine Airlines was the first post-war airline in the world to introduce beds on their 747-200s in 1980. It installed 16 full flat bunk beds in the upper deck for first class passengers on their trans Pacific routes. It was also the first airline to be awarded the coveted award for its in flight cuisine by Les Chaines de Rotisseurs. The ince mighty continue to fall.

Britain chose its isolation with Brexit and Boris Johnson, I think. Britain and the US are both nations of narcissists who think they're important. For the moment, the US still is. I'm not sure Britain still is, having given the finger to Europe. If we get another republican or two like Trump, I'm pretty sure the US will be in the same boat. Both of these are a real pity, because Russian and China remain real threats to world freedom.

Nice to hear but I don't believe in those predictions / promises until they will be firmly announced

I am heading back to Rio and São Paulo the first week in October. i was last there in May, but now i will be flying from Miami instead of OC airport so a lot shorter flight!

shortly we will have saying ' you can take ladyboy out of bakery but you can't take bakery out of ladyboy"

I agree the last episode of The Yearbook is very disappointing and the end of the series is not understandable at all. Regarding Bite Me I really like the main actor Mark Siwat Jumlongkul he's such adorable ...

My Phuket Sandbox Experience A true horrors story LOL

SP is just so huge though. I very much enjoyed the guys I met at Lagoa but had zero luck with the apps while in SP. Yes, I could see myself getting into the restaurant seen but that's hard when one's Portuguese doesn't really go much beyond, "Eu quero ser ativo e eu quero ser passivo por voce." As I get more familiar with Brazil, I suspect SP will grow on me but right now - being the newbie that I am - Rio is just so much easier. Wake up, wander across the street to the beach and as the day progresses, make the difficult decision as to whether or not I want to meet up with a guy from the apps or visit the sauna.

I don't know if anyone is still reading this thread, but this new piece in the New Yorker is fascinating and explains a lot https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/09/13/the-other-afghan-women

From Coconuts Bangkok “The education system is failing 1.8 million students because online learning takes students for granted,” reads a banner hanging from a skywalk at BTS Asok in an image from a Voice TV report. Thousands of students pledged to participate in a strike on virtual learning that started yesterday. School gates have been closed since April and learning moved online. While that hasn’t been a burden on families with resources, thousands of others have struggled to keep their children educated. There are many students for whom just getting online is an epic undertaking. Adding to that, are reports of teachers taking their abusive impulses online, forcing students to obtain permission before drinking water and wear uniforms at home. Fed up with the virtual classroom experience, activist group Bad Student has called on fellow students to ditch online learning altogether and demand a better and more inclusive learning experience. Answering the call of a student-led campaign called ‘I’m fucking done with these online classes,” more than 7,000 students nationwide pledged to boycott lessons this week. The campaign’s hashtag #IAmFuckingDoneWithOnlineClasses had been retweeted more than 1 million times at time of publication. The group has also called for a better vaccine distribution and reduced workloads for both students and teachers, such as fewer lesson hours and assignments, so long as schools remain closed. Continues at https://coconuts.co/bangkok/news/thousands-of-thai-students-vow-to-ditch-school-to-oppose-virtual-learning/

On one of my previous trip to SP, I went to a gym near Paulista every day. The trainers there all greeted me when I passed by them, perhaps they were trying to solicit business. I didn't hire any of them. I later saw one of them at the Week, and brought him back to my hotel. That was easy.

Thanks for the stories, guys! 👍 Especially nice to hear about leaders who put their citizens' lives first. I've been really lucky living in a semi-rural area where most of my social and volunteer activities have been outdoors. My local friends and I are of an age that got us early vaccinations. Plus wearing a mask isn't a big problem, so I haven't been under all the stress that some folks have. Most of my city friends have hunkered down, even though they've been vaccinated. While we'd all like this behind us, nobody I know has been out demonstrating against restrictions, or vaccines, or masks. I wish I understood better what motivates people to get so worked up about taking precautions that are meant to keep them healthier, along with their friends, families, and colleagues. Especially when they get so angry, it makes me wonder if someone is winding them up or if it's a regular part of who they are. If I had to choose between marching around yelling and waving a sign or taking a hike, it would be an easy choice.

So true. I wonder how many in 1900 could have foreseen even as a remote possiblity that seven great Empires would quickly collapse - China, Britain, Germany, Austro-Hungary, the Ottoman Turks, Japan and Tsarist Russia? Or that two World Wars would completely revolutionise the world order? Or that warfare would change from mighty armies pitched against other mighty armies largely to monstrous technological machines on the ground, in the sea, in the air and no doubt soon in space? Clearly anyone who predicts the future is as likely to be wrong as he might just be right.

I thought Year Book finished with a whimper. But I have just watched the first two episodes of Bit Me and I found it most engaging... Cheers

The excellent work by the SWING charity in Pattaya reaching out to the boys working in the bars has achieved a great deal and deserves all our support. Handing out condoms and talking to the boys, and I remember my ex going on a weekend trip where they played games and had sessions learning about safer sex and condom use.

I think we'll all be grateful that there are national carriers competing in the international marketplace. If you removed all of the national carriers serving east Asia, who would you have left? Damn few and fares would go out of sight for lack of competition. Demand will be returning far sooner than a "couple of years." Count on it.

This begs the question: what carriers will benefit from Philippines Air fall from grace? Since many potential customers I think would have a moment of pause before booking the carrier going forward, Qatar, Singapore and Turkish appear to be best positioned to attract former customers of the bankrupt airline. All three have better balance sheets and more frequent service, not to mention reputation.

There were 3 interviews which took place over a 20 month period in 2011-2012. The participants were aged 18-19 at time of the first interview. Only 5 of the 25 participants were involved in the bar scene at any time and of those their attitude toward their fellow bar-boys was mixed, some seeing the culture as being bad as it encouraged a cycle of partying, drugs and consumption that made bar work necessary to maintain the cycle. Most of the participants seem to have been looking for a long term relationship and for the poorer ones this was often structured as seeking an exchange of differences with a partner who could not only help them but also their family - this was the case whether or not they got involved in the bar scene. The author was surprised by how lacking in knowledge they were as the participants were obtained through advertising to participate in a study related to improving knowledge of HIV on gay aps and networks. Bangkok Guy is younger than the participants in the study and is very informed about HIV/AIDS. The only form of sex is safe sex. I am now curious to understand how he became so well informed. My guess is that his 'older sister' with whom he runs some of the market stalls may have clued him in.

The prices are above those in the sauna, but if you get one full hour and you can get a REAL massage along with real sex, it's worth it. Yes, I'd be poorer too!

Lets hope this is true. Meanwhile malaysia is also thinking of the same line of living with the virus, though our timeline might be more realistic as we are 48% fully vaccinated and 62% at least first dose of all population. Of the eligible adult population, that number is much higher at 67%/87% respectively. We will also begin vaccination for 12-18 soon in states where majority of the adult has been fully vaccinated. https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2021/09/01/covid-19-expected-to-become-endemic-in-malaysia-by-end-of-october-says-kj

I just binged episodes 6-16 of Light On Me (the pretty Korean HS boys drama). They put the first 5 eps on YouTube but then the rest was on Viki or WeTV. I signed up for the Viki free trial to watch the rest. It is really great. Quite well done. I loved the story's twists and turns. The production design is really good. Highly recommended if you get a chance to see it.

From Channel News Asia Social platform helps small eateries survive Wilailak Thanakitwibul, 68, cooks for a customer at Three Aunties', a small eatery on Bangkok's Samran Rat road. (Photo: Pichayada Promchertchoo) BANGKOK: The sound of a metal spatula against a wok was a familiar greeting to visitors at a small eatery on Samran Rat road. Aromatic smoke, sometimes with a spicy note of chillies, and the sizzling of food over hot flames used to fill its little unpretentious space on the ground floor of an old shophouse. For five decades, its occupants - three sisters now in their 60s and 70s - have cooked and served an array of local dishes to generations of customers. Their eatery Three Aunties’ is one of many in Bangkok’s historic neighbourhood known as Pratu Pee or ‘Ghost Gate’ among Thais. Once an exit way for dead bodies from Bangkok’s old city, the area is home to numerous street-food legends, whose culinary fame and mouthwatering dishes such as Phad Thai noodles and Ba Chang sticky rice dumplings had long attracted throngs of foodies. Today, the neighbourhood is unusually quiet. COVID-19 and various lockdown measures have dealt a heavy blow to the restaurants. People stay at home to avoid infections and many have less spending power than before. With hardly any walk-in customers for more than a year, small eateries are struggling to survive. “We used to make 3,000 to 4,000 baht (US$92 to US$122) per day but right now, we can barely make 1,000 baht,” said 68-year-old Wilailak Thanakitwibul from Three Aunties’. Scant income has caused the siblings to slip into debt and dejection. They owe their landlord two months’ rent and have to live sparingly to get by. Knowing they may not have any customers, the three sisters have no choice but to open their eatery every day and hope for the best. “We can’t stop because the rent is more than 500 baht per day,” Wilailak said. “It’s so exhausting to earn some money these days. Still, there have been some lucky days with hundreds of orders, thanks to a community-driven platform called Locall. According to its co-founder Peangploy Jitpiyatham, Locall is a by-product of the pandemic, formed in April last year by a civil society network named SATARANA. Its digital platform allows customers to place orders for select restaurants and cafes in different neighbourhoods, focusing on small and elderly sellers with no access to online delivery services. They also engage unemployed community members who wish to deliver food from local sellers to customers. Continues with photos https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/thailand-covid-19-local-platform-help-eateries-2145106

Readers are generally of two minds when it comes to just what they would prefer that the superpowers do with all that power they possess. There are those who wish them to do absolutely nothing beyond acting in self defense if attacked, presumably by another superpower. Others would have them take overt action to defend the underdog in places like Myanmar, Taiwan, Ukraine and multiple other locations across the globe. And then there are others who want it both ways (no pun intended). In the wake of reaction to military adventurism noted above over the past few centuries, it seems unlikely that those nations with the most assets will be lining up to dispatch troops to another land regardless of how downtrodden its inhabitants may be. What is likely is the employment of more non-military action such as trade sanctions and embargoes, and perhaps in select places the use of stand off (over-the-horizon) weapons. It's one thing to engage ad infinitum in armchair analysis but another altogether to put forth a system that brings justice without the violence of imperialism. The United Nations, and the League of Nations before it, haven't been able to achieve that lofty goal. In many cases, NATO ended up being the post war default mechanism. We're free to judge for ourselves how well that's served member nations. As I write, there are leaders within the European Union discussing the pros and cons of an EU army to face up to future geopolitical threats there. Generally it sounds like NATO Light and I doubt its supporters envision it in any way well suited for deployment beyond EU geography. So where does that all leave those whose hue and cry demand a better Afghanistan, a humane Myanmar, a secure Taiwan, a non-threatening North Korea, and peaceful places in much of the African continent and beyond? Perhaps it will be ad-hoc contributions like we see taking place now in Afghanistan where Qatar and Turkey have joined efforts to restart the air traffic control system. Neither are superpowers in the military sense but both possess diplomatic leverage beyond their weight class. Maybe, just maybe, we're seeing solutions emerge that were not on the radar just a few months earlier.

From Pattaya News Cambodian man rescued after floating for two days in the Gulf of Thailand near Rayong A Cambodian man who was floating in the Gulf of Thailand for two days near Rayong has been rescued by the Royal Thai Navy. The Royal Thai Navy First Area Command reports their team called the ‘We Care, We Protect squad’ rescued a Cambodian man who had previously been working on a Thai fishing boat early yesterday morning (September 3rd). The Cambodian man, who wasn’t named by the Royal Thai Navy, told officers he fell down from the Thai fishing boat ‘Chock Pawin Chai’. He was found in the sea near Rayong Bay. He survived, according to the man, two days in the ocean by hanging onto debris he found. No identification cards were found with him. Due to language barriers, it was difficult to communicate with the Cambodian man. Officers are investigating the incident and have reached out to contact his employer in the fishing industry to determine what happened. The Royal Thai Navy also noted in a statement that small fishing boats were at risk during heavy recent storms and monsoon season and should take regular precautions. Continues with photo https://thepattayanews.com/2021/09/04/cambodian-man-rescued-after-floating-for-two-days-in-the-gulf-of-thailand-near-rayong/ ===================================== Dutch man rescued from forest after four days of being missing in Phetchaburi A Dutchman, who had been missing since Tuesday, August 31st, was found alive and in decent condition in a forest reserve in the Tha Yang district last night. This is, notes TPN media, the second case of an older foreigner lost in the woods in Thailand this week, with a similar case reported by us yesterday here. The man, 79-year-old Francis Kas van Rossum, had gone missing Tuesday after drinking beer, according to his wife Mrs. Rachot Chanwijit, 61-years-old. He had last been seen riding a motorbike near the Khao Noi Monastery in Ban Khong Ta Bang. Rachot had managed to speak with her husband over the phone on the morning of September 2nd, in which he stated he was lost in the woods in the Tha Yang area. It was unclear how or why he had entered this area, which is a dense forest reserve. After this, she lost contact as Francis’ battery on his phone had run out. At 11:00 P.M. last night, September 3rd, 2021, Francis was located about 700 meters from a city road in a thick forest reserve in the Huai Mae Phiang sub-district of Tha Yang. He was found sleeping in a small puddle, wearing a t-shirt and shorts, and other than mosquito bites and some scratches, as well as exhaustion, appeared to be in good physical condition. Rescue workers brought him to his relatives at the Tha Mai Ruak Police Station. Francis had been located by local villagers at a farm nearby who while searching for potential food in the reserve saw Francis’s blue motorcycle parked in the woods and later located him lying in the puddle. The villagers immediately called rescue services and teams for assistance. Continues with photos https://thepattayanews.com/2021/09/04/dutch-man-rescued-from-forest-after-four-days-of-being-missing-in-phetchaburi/

Located in Santa Teresa’s bohemian artist district yet central to all of Rio’s attraction and nightlife “ the drop-dead-sexiest neighborhood in Rio”. Casa Cool Beans is a relaxed but organized, comfortable but not pretentious beautiful hotel run by good staff with reasonable prices. https://www.gayguides.com/listing/casa-cool-beans/