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Ayutthaya and Birthdays The same lady driver from LimoPattaya is on time in her very nice car to drive us to Ayutthaya. As usual, Bangkok Guy curls up on the back seat and rests his head in my lap. My role as human pillow is secure. After the first temple, one with tortoises, we are hungry. Bangkok Guy finds a place online and a ten minute stroll finds us at a charming old wooden Thai structure nestled in a garden. No one in sight, and we are concerned that it is closed until we find the proprietors seated around a table at the back having lunch. We are the only customers, and they are delighted to see us. Bangkok Guy selects what turns out to be a very good lunch. Over lunch we continue an earlier discussion of future travel plans. We have been looking at all the places that Thais can go without visas and some of these correspond to my bucket list, including the Maldives and the Serengeti (Tanzania and Kenya are e-visa, failing which South Africa and Kruger National Park is no visa). He does not know the Serengeti, so I type it on his phone and he explores the pictures on the web, his grin widening. He holds up a picture of one of the lodges with eco-style architecture: “This where we stay?”. “Can”. “I want!!” He is however a frugal realist: “But expensive?” Yes, compared to Tokyo which had been the next on our list, but as I want to go anyway and it will be more fun with Bangkok Guy than by myself, I assure him we can do it. Our post-covid travel plan is now the Maldives and Africa. Tokyo is banished: “It only shopping”. However, who knows when covid will end. For the second half of this year we agree that he will plan a trip for us in Thailand. Bangkok Guy is enthusiastic and shows me pics of himself on holiday in various spots of natural beauty around Thailand. He really likes scenic beauty, partly for the beauty and partly for the absence of people, and traces out a possible route on a map, all nature spots except Chang Mai which, as I have not been there, he thinks I should see. We will hire a car, he can drive, he is in fact very enthusiastic to drive me. To avoid circumnavigating Thailand by car, which I think would be tiring, I point out that he has a credit with Bangkok Airways for the cancelled Koh Samui ticket, so when we reach the far North we can fly South and hire another car. Given the logic of a free flight, he agrees, although left to himself he would drive the entire way. Lunch over, he calls the driver (they exchanged numbers and he is now in charge of driver relations) and we visit more temples including the Buddha-head-in-tree, the one with a big fishpond and the reclining Buddha. Our last stop is a floating market which Bangkok Guy is very keen to re-visit as he enjoyed it on a previous occasion. From his photos I thought it was a local market, but it is clearly built-for-tourists, albeit strongly appealing to Thai tourists. Unfortunately many of the shops and the ladies selling from boats in the small lake are no more, victims of the economy. Bangkok Guy is disappointed but unfazed and once he finds a clothing store I see why he likes this place – very attractive casual clothing at very cheap prices. He gets a stylish tie-died shirt and loose pants in white with a red-brown Thai-patten print for 100Bt each. H&M and Uniqlo, eat your hearts out. It is now a little past the hour at which we need to depart if I am going to be back at the hotel in time to receive the completed clothes from my tailor. Bangkok Guy speaks with our driver, and we are on the road home for all of four minutes when we suddenly pull over and circle around for a parking spot. To my questioning face Bangkok Guy says ‘Two minute’ with his ‘Trust Me’ expression. I assume he needs to go to the toilet. Ten minutes later I am beginning to wonder. Fifteen minutes later I line him “?” and get a quick response “Five minutes” and a sticker indicating ‘please’. My “Ok. What you doing?” gets a sticker of a figure biting its fingernails. “Not to worry, but only because it is you” to which he responds with a kiss sticker. Whatever he is doing, it means something to him, and I will find out eventually. I text my tailor that I am running late and can he please come thirty minutes later than scheduled, a request with which he is fine. I look back in the direction in which Bangkok Guy went to see if there is any sign of him and spot an advertising sign for a jeweler. Our driver is watching me. “Did he go to the jeweler?” “Yes”, she smiles. She is in on whatever he is up to. I decide to visit the jewelry shop. As I approach the shopgirls see me and by the time I enter they and Bangkok Guy are doubled-over in guilty laughter. A gold dragon on a red cord is just about to be placed in its gift box. Instead, Bangkok Guy places it around my wrist “Happy Birthday!” Everyone in the shop is beaming. It is the same type of dragon that I gave him the money to buy two years ago, instead of which he bought the ring. I had said I would like one and we had planned to take a boat to Chinatown tomorrow to get one for each of us. Bangkok Guy had drawn me into a thorough discussion of what size dragon I wanted compared to the size he wanted, and in the car on the drive here had played around comparing his hand and wrist with mine, I now realize to size the red cord correctly. I offer to buy him one but no, he has the ring, the whole point of the discussion was to find out what size of dragon I wanted. I am quite blown away and grinning from ear to ear. This is a nicest gift I have had in a long time, and the best planned. As an aside, our lady driver passed Bangkok Guy’s number on to LimoPattaya, and for the remainder of the trip LimoPattaya call Bangkok Guy, not me.

according to recent post on Twitter , Moonlight will re-open on Thursday, Jan 27 see below Moonlight Bangkok @Moonlight_Silom · Jan 24 We are back to open for service. According to the prevention of the epidemic of covids of the Ministry of Health on January 27 onwards It will be open from 7 pm until 11 pm. See you soon.

Shopping and Business In the morning we follow Bangkok Guy’s habit of sleeping in if there is no specific reason to get up. I enjoy drifting along next to him. We leave the room in time for lunch and Shopping at IconSiam. First stop is for me, Jim Thompson where I buy additional masks as gifts and get one in yellow with an elephant pattern for Bangkok Guy. Then I follow Bangkok Guy to his usual go-to’s, H&M and Uniqlo where, to my surprise, he buys nothing. Too expensive as no Sale today. His frugality extends to my money. In Muji he finds underwear and hoodies he likes, and my views are sought on hoodie selection. He gets an attractive lemon yellow one with dove grey lining. We are heading for the escalator when I see Polo Ralph Lauren. “Expensive”. Yes, but they are having a sale, 50% off. Bangkok Guy needs ‘underwear for swim’ and these are on sale. My opinion is sought between pale pink and mid blue. I am surprised he likes the pink, but maybe it is only brighter shades to which he has an aversion. In the end price is the deciding factor, pink is 50% off while blue is only reduced 30%. To my surprise, we have to return to Jim Thompson where Bangkok Guy buys himself a black facemask. He has decided it will match his outfit better, which it does. He is frugal, but he is gay. All this activity requires a rest, so we return to the hotel and after a shower climb into bed for a nap which later becomes a ‘nap’. After dinner on the hotel terrace, we have a business discussion. I have updated the spreadsheet showing his monthly budget: his expenses, the money he makes from the market and his allowance from me. The last two years his market income has been erratic to put it mildly and I have provided additional funds to fill the gap. For the coming two years I have increased his allowance so that it fully covers his expenses: the additional money is funded from a new long term contract I recently landed. Whatever happens with covid, his basics are covered. The discussion then turns to his business. His experience with the market stalls is a textbook case of the need for differentiation and defensibility in a business model, without which you can’t maintain steady volume and reasonable margins. For example, he got into selling masks and sanitizer early and for around two months he was doing great business, until everyone else did the same thing. If he is going to move beyond hand-to-mouth he needs to find something which is both differentiated and defensible. I explain these ideas, using his experience as the example and sketching out pictures in my business notebook. Bangkok Guy becomes animated – he gets this – and takes over the conversation to explain to me how markets are organized, sketching pictures for me. He has a plan, which I think is a good one, that achieves a somewhat defensible business model by using access to goods from his hometown and the organizational structure of the markets. By employing his mother and sister the model also follows his understanding of the purpose of a small business, which is to support the family unit. Bangkok Guy and I have discussed business often enough that there is a mutual understanding that my suggestions are very welcome (“you are businessman” in a very approving tone), but that he will decide whether-or-not my ideas are workable for small business. Early in our friendship he had an idea for creating a laundry service to cater to the new middle-class tower blocks. I thought it was a good idea and a scalable one if he developed an app with a tie-in to courier services. From my perspective, the purpose of a small business is to scale enough to achieve a trade-sale or an IPO. As I waxed lyrical, I noticed I was on the receiving-end of the constipated look. “What think?” What he thought was that I did not understand the purpose of small business which is, as everyone knows, to support and provide employment for the family unit. So now I offer my insights from ‘big business’ which he then considers through the lens of his framing of small business. Capital is needed to make this new idea work, which is my role. He understands that anything beyond the allowance depends upon me generating additional income. I now know the goal for the additional income I need to make this year if the modest percentage I share with Bangkok Guy is going to meet his capital needs. I am keen to help him with this, partly as I think he has a good idea and partly because I want to move him away from hand-to-mouth and become financially independent. And of course, I like him and enjoy his enthusiasm. We do not go to Bamboo Bar tonight as Bangkok Guy points out that we have an early(ish) start in the morning.

Oh damn. For a brief moment I had hope that prices have been discounted from their pre-pandemic level in order to boost business. I totally forgot about the google camera translate function (it hasn't always proven useful). Using it now, I get a similar but slightly different translation. The 200 baht is desribed as "car per day", but the 150 baht is described as "drinking garden". Nonetheless, I reckon this is what it really means: 1. "Receptionist" is the boy who parades around in his shortest of shorts. He gets 200 baht for showing up and a 150-baht commission on any drink bought for him by a customer. 2. "Waiter" is as stated, he gets only 200 baht a day for showing up at work. Geez, if the latter works 26 days a month (i.e. only one day off a week), he earns only 5,200 baht. Furthermore, as shown in this chart, the minimum wage for Bangkok is supposed to be 331 baht per day. I guess that's why the 200 baht is not described as salary but as transport money. I can understand if the gogoboy is treated as a freelancer (since he can go off duty at any time once a willing farang is found, ibut it really doesn't pass the smell test to treat the waiter as a freelancer too, and not as an employee. I should remember to tip the waiter more than the mamasan. Then again, does the mamasan get 200 baht too??? Hmmm...

Andrew MacGregor Marshall has a fuller version of the story here. Not much seems to have changed in the last 12 years.

http://robbreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/blue-diamond1.jpg

Well, I pay for Netflix and GagaOOLala now, so I could not add Viki. And many of the producers, like StarHunter are charging to watch the Episode NOW rather than in a few weeks. GOD will BL Videos be going the way of the BIG STREAMING sites?? 😉

A gay-owned coffee company in Rio has launched in just the last two weeks called Jacu (after the bird, it is not Jacu Bird Poop Coffee). I met the owner, and he is impressive. He is pushing diversity and has hired a great team. One of his executives I met is a guy who grew up in a favela and is now finishing his third year of law school. The company pays his tuition and high salaries. I asked how I could help. If you are in Rio, you can order the coffee at @jacucoffee. It is shipped the same day and takes about two days to your location in Rio. Just great tasting coffee and the picture on the box is the owner's farm. He also said they started to use social influencers to add followers to @jacucoffee. They are opening a coffee and doughnut cafe in Rio Sul. Can we help to drive up the Instagram numbers? Can work to get placement from more retail stores in Rio and SP. And when you are in Rio, ordering some coffee makes a great gift. I just brought back 12 boxes to the USA. Selling at R$39 for 250 g box in Brazil, this same quality coffee in the USA would be priced over US$15. Say they are expanding to the USA market, have meetings set with large retailers. Sorry did not see this topic before I posted.

A gay-owned coffee company in Rio has launched in just the last two weeks called Jacu (after the bird, it is not Jacu Bird Poop Coffee). I met the owner, and he is impressive. He is pushing diversity and has hired a great team. One of his executives I met is a guy who grew up in a favela and is now finishing his third year of law school. The company pays his tuition and high salaries. I asked how I could help. If you are in Rio, you can order the coffee at @jacucoffee. It is shipped the same day and takes about two days to your location in Rio or SP. Just great tasting coffee and the picture on the box is the owner's farm. He also said they started to use social influencers to add followers to @jacucoffee. They are opening a coffee and doughnut cafe in Rio Sul. Can we help to drive up the Instagram numbers? Can work to get placement from more retail stores in Rio and SP. And when you are in Rio, ordering some coffee makes a great gift. I just brought back 12 boxes to the USA. Selling at R$39 for 250 g box in Brazil, this same quality coffee in the USA would be priced over US$15. Say they are expanding to the USA market, have meetings set with large retailers.

331 Baht BKK versus 336 Baht Phuket, I guess that explains why taxi fares in Phuket are double as high as in BKK

Enjoy your trip!

ส่วนแบ่งดื่ม = "drink share" (not hair share) = ??? share for each boy drink 150? พนักงานต้อนรับชาย = "male welcome staff" = receptionist, ??? could also mean host boy? ค่ารถ = "car fare" = travelling expense, ??? 200/day for coming to the bar?

New website launched January 2022, covers events, entry requirements and hours of operations. https://elsillonrojoclub.com/

Yeah, you definitely have to pick and choose. There are just so many of these programs that there's no way you could see them all

"car fare", "hair share" sounds like some king of slang talk in this context but at least we know it's NOT new drink prices

I am curious about this from their twitter. Can anyone who can read Thai translate for us? Are these the new drinks prices? I couldn't use Google Translate because it's an image not inline text.

Thailand and Saudi Arabia Tuesday agreed to restore full diplomatic relations for the first time in more than three decades with Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha expressing regret over a series of “tragic cases” involving a 50-carat blue diamond that had soured ties. The Thai Enquirer attempts to explain the convoluted history of the one of the strangest series of crimes in the nation's history. From Thai Enquirer By Erich Parpart and Cod Satrusayang The visit of Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-ocha to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday will mark the first high-level talks, in fact the highest level talks, between the two kingdoms in more than 30 years. Bilateral ties between the two kingdoms have been broken since the “Blue Diamond” incident in 1989. For those that don’t remember, in 1989, a Thai migrant worker, Kriangkrai Techamong, stole $20 million US dollars worth of diamonds from the palace of Saudi Prince Faisal bin Fahd and fled home. One of the stolen pieces of jewelry was a 50-carat blue diamond which was believed to be one of the biggest of its kind in the world. Kriangkrai was arrested in 1990 and he confessed to the crime and he said he decided to give back all of the stolen jewelry that he had yet to sell. Diplomatic fiasco But that was not the reason for the diplomatic row. All Prince Faisal wanted was the return of the diamonds, if they were returned, there would be no diplomatic consequences assured the Saudis. What led to diplomatic tension was after the police, led by Lieutenant-General Chalor Kerdthes and his team, arrested Kriangkrai they said they would returned the Diamonds. But instead, what was sent back was fake jewelry. Most importantly, the blue diamond was not part of cache. The police blamed a fence, Santi Srithanakhan, but Santi denies those charges. Many newspapers at the time began pointing fingers at the police. To make matters worse, when the Saudis sent two diplomats to Thailand to help with the investigation, they were killed by unknown actors. Another Saudi businessman that had knowledge of the investigation went missing in February 1990. All three cases were never solved. In 1994, Chalor and his team kidnapped Santi’s wife and son to force Santi into revealing his accomplices. Chalor ended up killing the wife and son. Chalor was sentenced to death in 2009 but he received a royal pardon which reduced his sentence by fifty years. He was later released after spending 19 years in jail. Resuming ties To this day no one knows the whereabouts of the diamonds and what happened to the Saudi diplomats. The incident has been a stain on relations for the past 30 years, something Prayut Chan-ocha wants to rectify this week. But the Prime Minister will have little to work with, even insiders within the military and the police are unsure about the real going-ons in the Blue Diamond case. Rumors among the elite and high society circles have circulated for decades about the possible whereabouts of the Blue Diamond. Some say the diamond was cut up and its parts distributed to the elite in Thai society to keep the murderer’s identity safe. The truth is we will probably never know. https://www.thaienquirer.com/36880/the-blue-diamond-affair-explained/

Yes for the 1st question. I believe the answer is yes to your 2nd question depending how your country's requirements.

WOW, Curtis, I did not realize you are a SHARK!!! HAHAHAHA

For those who'll be in Bangkok in the next month, you'll have a chance to see the 105-year-old landmark Hua Lamphong railroad station in its final days before service ends Dec. 23. For those not so lucky, you can view a video embedded in the following Bangkok Post article https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2219687/hua-lamphong-will-have-to-close

I was in a similar position. Only a week between applying for the Thai Pass and my flight date. After two or three days had passed I had only the acknowledgement I was getting seriously worried. I then found this website https://asq.in.th/thailand-pass?tpOpen=1&rushIt who promise you the pass in 6 to 48 hours. Or a refund. I paid up and got the pass in an hour! Recomended.

I do !

no doubt, no doubt

Am I projecting my needs onto Bangkok Guy? I don't think so. I hope not. Relationships work better the more you understand the other person, so I am interested in understanding him. Given the language and cultural barriers, there is a large opportunity for mis-interpretation. Given Bangkok Guy's very factual nature and lack of a poker face, there is some hope I may get enough right.

Enter Bangkok Guy Complete radio silence from Bangkok Guy, which is not a surprise as he only communicates if there is something to communicate and, unlike me, feels no need to reconfirm what is already agreed. The need to keep multiple balls in the air in business has habituated me to rigorous management of time and process which I unwisely carry over into my personal life. Unwisely, as it gets in the way of relaxation and spontaneity. In Bangkok Guy’s words ‘So much organize’. Bangkok Guy has three approaches to managing this potentially irritating part of my personality. Amused indulgence while he watches me attempt to bend the universe to my will, when a wise person would realize you can only organize so much and then play the rest by ear; persistent but gentle suggestions that I need to relax more; and simply ignoring me and doing what he thinks is necessary at the pace he considers suitable. Today he is ignoring me. A little after 5pm he Line’s me that he has finished his errands and is on his way, followed by a Thai-language screenshot of the hotel with the question “This your hotel?” Odd question as he has already spoken to the hotel about his vaccination status, so I guess that his taxi driver knows of other hotels with similar names and wants confirmation of the address. I later discover that he went into the website to get the address and got such a shock at the room rate (full board, not my heavily discounted rate) that he felt he needed to confirm. It is great to see him. He looks good and his eyes have their usual sense of mischief. After two years apart we are both happy, hopeful, but slightly hesitant. Is this going to click and pick up from where we left off? I reassure him that as he has been sick, we go at his pace. I follow him. He wants to rest, we rest. He wants to go to Bamboo Bar, we go, but if he does not feel up to it, we do not go. His face, mirroring his thoughts as always, is a picture of great satisfaction mixed with thought. He snuggles close and smiles “I follow you”. “You have been sick, I want to be sure you are ok”. “I not tired any more, can go anywhere. You want to go Ayutthaya? Can go.” I touch the gold ring on his ring-finger. “You give money for (he uses a Thai word meaning dragon charm) but I buy ring”. We have had this discussion on Line, but now that I am seeing the ring in person for the first time, he is watching my reaction. “So you wear my ring?” “Yes”, with a mischievous smile. “So you are mine?” “Yes”, with the mischief heading off the scale. I trace his eyebrows with my finger “These mine?” “Yes.” Stroking his nose “This mine?” “Yes.” Comprehensive exploration reveals that all of him is mine. Ah, but apparently a rule of reciprocity applies here. “If ring make you mine, then ring makes me yours?” “Yes.” “All of me?” “Yes” with a great grin. This is clearly a powerful ring, but alas for Sir Peter Jackson there is no material here for a further trilogy. Unlike Sauron, Bangkok Guy is likely to use the power of the ring gently and reasonably, mischief and grinning included. It does not take much empathy to understand that while Bangkok Guy needs and likes the financial support I provide, he also needs love. He has a romantic heart but beyond that, sane and well-balanced as he is, I sense a need for emotional support. I don’t know his full family background, but there is a deficit there that needs to be filled. After a couple of hours slowly reintroducing ourselves, we shower before heading to Bamboo Bar. We are again very comfortable with each other. Things are not back to where we left off. Somehow they have moved beyond that.

I now have a reservation at Le Meridien Phuket, it is 4-5km away from the paradise complex so I will be relying on transport, but it has a private beach, lots of outdoor spaces for dining, and being a hotel brand I know and trust will help ease the anxiety of the sandbox stay. Unless my plans change (again) I will try and give a good summary of the current Patong scene in my trip report in April.

Passing the Time As originally conceived this trip had a significant business component, using Bangkok as a hub to visit other cities in the region or people coming to Bangkok to meet me, and re-establish face contact after two years. The removal of Test-and-Go shut the door on this. However, my presence in Thailand and this time zone makes me useful to others whose plans have also been disrupted and I receive requests for all manner of help from meeting potential investors to conducting a Zoom-forum and even interviewing a candidate. With my days free I am happy to oblige and the days before Bangkok Guy joins me become a pleasant routine of swimming, working, dining by the river and becoming a regular at the Bamboo Bar where the captain now automatically orders me a Sazerac. Not wanting to risk crowds on the Metro or Sky Train I hire a car and driver from TheLimoPattaya whenever I need to get around and re-experience what we all know – Bangkok is not a city in which driving makes much sense as a transport option. I have the same lady driver with the very nice car, the weather is mild enough that cracking the windows open does not cause discomfort, and as the traffic is taken into account in planning, everything goes smoothly. For those into shopping, Jim Thompson is making a great N95-design mask in a fun selection of fabrics. Much more comfortable than the regular ones as the straps are adjustable. Hovering in the background is a nagging concern over the true state of Bangkok Guy’s health. It is not a concern that can be addressed through Line exchanges for language reasons and also because he is both a Stoic and believes in looking good. I will only find out when we meet as, in person, when it is just the two of us face-to-face, communication is much easier and it is always the plain truth, politely expressed. Things Begin to Fall into Place, Finally The morning of the day prior to Bangkok Guy’s emancipation from home-isolation begins with an apology he sent late the night before, after I had turned in. ‘Sorry I didn’t answer you. I take medicine and sleepy all day’. That explains his total radio silence yesterday. I tell him no problem, rest and get better. After swimming laps I have an early lunch by the pool and doze in the shade of the cabana, enjoying the soft breeze off the river. A ping from my iphone breaks my reverie, a sticker of a rabbit and a chick popping out from behind a wall. Bangkok Guy signaling he would like to talk. I ask if I can call him – our established etiquette to give him time to make himself presentable before a live audience – and the next thing he is calling me, voice only. He clearly doesn’t want to make a live appearance. He sounds tired but says he feels better and his sense of mischief is alive and well. I tell him the next few days are what he wants, I follow him. We have established ‘I follow you’ as our code for who is in charge of the task at hand for everything from choosing a restaurant to finding a temple or deciding on the main activity for the day. What I mean to convey is that he is recovering, so we go at his pace. His response is a mischievous giggle while he repeats ‘you follow me’ in a very satisfied tone of voice. We will see where this leads. We agree he will come to the hotel at 5pm the next day. His choice of timing. My guess is that he has a lot of errands to run after being quarantined for so long, some of which will involve restoring his grooming to its usual high standard. I slip back into my cabana reverie only to be pulled out of it by another ping, this time from my tailor. I have an appointment in the afternoon but he is at the hotel for another client, so if it suits me we can have a fitting now. I am very happy with what he has made and, seeing my satisfaction, he suggests that now I will of course want ten of everything. I do get a few extra, including an additional pair of linen trousers in terracotta-with-orange-highlights which I like but which I know Bangkok Guy will view with considerable skepticism. If he is going to pull my chain, I am going to pull his. For a change I lunch outside the hotel on the terrace at D’ARK in IconSiam. It is 1.45pm and the waiter (extremely cute) tells me alcohol sales stop at 2pm, so rather than a glass I order a carafe of the Sancerre with fanciful thoughts of acquiring a monopoly on alcohol between 2-5pm, and selling glasses from my stock at outrageous prices to parched Falang. It is an excellent Sancerre and I happily consume my cache, parched Falang be damned.

Thank you. I was quite concerned. He has recovered well, no lasting symptoms.

Clearing the Cultural Fog My flight touches down early. To my surprise the domestic terminal is a hive of activity, a striking contrast to the international ghost town. A lady from LimoPattaya meets me in a very nice car for a fast trip into town. I notice that only one of the many large advertising billboards by the highway is in use, the others forlornly solicit business with their phone numbers. I am enjoying lunch by the river when Bangkok Guy pings me with a photo of a doctor’s letter, which I take to the concierge for translation to ensure that it has all the information the hotel needs. Bangkok Guy has a habit of sending me documents in Thai as proof of various things, such as the Time Payment Tractor, and I have always trusted that they show what he says they show. This is the first time I have had anything translated. The letter says Bangkok Guy has had covid, is about to end his ten days quarantine but then must return home for a further four days self-isolation. This seems overly cautious to me, but clarifies why Bangkok Guy insists he has to go home after he leaves hospital. His unwillingness to enter the hotel remains a mystery. It seems the caution is justified. I ask Bangkok Guy if he would like to take a day trip to Ayutthaya. “I feel weak lately. Do not want to travel. So sorry.” Although he looks good on Line - he probably makes sure he looks good when I call - I should have been more attuned to his earlier comment ‘not good inside’. My guess is that he contracted the Delta variant which remains more prevalent in Thailand than Omicron. This means that it may take a while for him to be back to full health. The concierge tells me that Bamboo Bar is open and I celebrate my first evening in Bangkok by returning to that old favorite to sip a Sazerac while listening to a very enjoyable jazz vocalist. Bangkok Guy will enjoy this once he is free as he likes jazz vocals, assuming he feels up to going out. I only stay for the first set however as there is an almost full house and I still have a final PCR test to pass. Back with the front desk I discover why Bangkok Guy thinks he can only meet me outside the hotel. Contrary to my earlier conversation I am now told the hotel’s policy is double-vaccination only, no doctor’s letters (!!??!!#@%!) which makes sense of Bangkok Guy’s statement that he can only meet me outside the hotel. It seems the policy depends upon to whom you talk. This misunderstanding is corrected. Bangkok Guy will be welcome. In the slightly fraught period during which the misunderstanding is corrected, I contact four alternative five star hotels to secure a back-up plan. Two are very clear ‘double-vaccination only’, one is open to accepting the doctor’s letter once they have seen it and can verify its contents, and one is equally clear at the opposite end of the spectrum ‘we have no vaccination requirement’.

The Confabulation Tendency It is difficult to understand what is going on here. Why would the hospital require him to go home after ten days in quarantine? Why does he say he cannot see me in the hotel, when the hotel tells me a doctor’s letter is fine? Given the propensity of the human mind when stressed to automatically seek out a narrative which fits the ‘know facts’ – to make up a story to meet our need to feel we understand - I need to be very careful. My experience with Bangkok Guy, and the principal that the simplest explanation is most likely the correct one, suggest that what we have here is another example of linguistic/cultural fog. Something is lost-in-translation and I need to chill out and take time for things to become clear. Call this ‘Explanation A, Cultural Fog’. However, that simple direct piece of reasoning is insufficient to calm my mind and halt its search for pattern-fitting narratives. Soaring in flights of fancy, my mind constructs two ‘fact fitting’ narratives. The first of these, ‘Explanation B, It’s A Con!’ I have a sufficient grip on reality to dismiss. Beginning with the thought “Isn’t it odd that each announcement of not being able to meet came just at the last minute?”, in this narrative Bangkok Guy never had covid and never had any intention of meeting for any number of reasons which can be invented to propel the narrative. However, I think he has genuinely contracted covid. The whole thing is sufficiently elaborate and consistent that reality seems a much better bet than make-believe. Also, a complete con simply doesn't gell with my experience of Bangkok Guy, who is honest to a fault (I think?). In ‘Explanation C, The Curse of the Caring Falang’, Bangkok Guy has another Falang; contracting Covid has fouled up his careful management of his Falang; and he is now wildly improvising (for example, he tells me the hotel says he cannot enter, but the hotel tells me they will accept a doctor’s letter). This is a much longer narrative fitting many more ‘facts’. This trip has been in the works for a long time, plenty of time to develop a story for Falang #2 that he will be back in home village over New Year when he will actually be with me. In the initial discussion after he got covid his concern was canceling his flight to Koh Samui, nothing more. Meeting in Bangkok was good. It was only five days later that, in hindsight, his reluctance to go to the hotel ahead of me and the odd frustrated sticker he sent, signaled that something was off-balance (rather than simple frustration as I thought at the time). What has gone off-balance is that Falang #2 discovered he was in hospital and insisted that Bangkok Guy stay with him once he was released. The Curse of the Caring Falang! It is an old truth that the best lies contain a partial truth. However, my experience is that all our lies contain some truth as inventing a complete fantasy is just too difficult. Consciously or unconsciously, we incorporate elements of reality into our falsehoods. The piece of reality in Bangkok Guys’ story is that someone is saying he has to go home after leaving the hospital. The unreality is that the someone is the hospital. That Bangkok Guy may have more than one Falang is not ideal, but neither is it the end of the World. We have no agreement for, nor expectation of, exclusivity. His ideal Falang lives in Thailand and it is clear to both of us that this is not me. I am only in Thailand twice a year on average, two weeks of the four are business, so a maximum two weeks of his dedicated time. An entrepreneurial young man could utilize the other fifty weeks to his advantage. ‘Cultural Fog’ and ‘The Curse of the Caring Falang’ cast Bangkok Guy in very different lights. My experience of Bangkok Guy, and Occam’s Razor, suggest ‘Cultural Fog’ is the true situation here, but where emotions are involved (‘After all this I won’t see him!!!’) it is hard to clear the mind of a well-constructed narrative. I need to chill out and wait for Bangkok Guy’s response to my request for a doctor’s letter. ‘Cultural Fog’ will enable him to provide the letter. ‘It’s a Con!’ he cannot provide the doctor’s letter. ‘The Curse of the Caring Falang’ he will be able to provide the doctor’s letter but will not want to, resulting in improvised excuses.

Things Veer Further Off-Course I decide to spend my last day on Koh Samui dining at the two five star hotels that anchor each end of the beach. After a leisurely morning and strolling the beach I settle into a table next to the gently breaking surf and contentedly watch the World over a couple of glasses of pleasantly grassy sauvignon and a squid ink paella. After strolling the beach to settle lunch I am on my way to an afternoon massage appointment when Bangkok Guy pings me. He says he has talked to the hotel and ‘cannot enter’. I asked him yesterday to bring his vaccination card as the hotel now requires proof of vaccination. I call him and things only get murkier. He implies that he did not get his second shot. What?! However, as he has just recovered from covid this should not matter, and I tell him to get a letter from the hospital saying he is just out of quarantine as recent recovery is equal to a vaccination. There is a conversation in the background and he says no, hospital tell him to go home, cannot go to hotel. His response to my “but this is not the way it works” is “but this is Thailand”. He can see me outside hotel but cannot go into hotel. I feel sick. After all the effort to make this trip happen I will not spend time with Bangkok Guy?! Fortunately the ninety minute massage is very good and gives me time to clear my head and think. I call the hotel, explain the situation and ask what the rules are for someone just released from quarantine. They confirm my understanding: all that is required is a letter from the hospital saying he has had covid, has been in quarantine and has been released. No need for anything further. I send Bangkok Guy a Line message explaining what is required and ask him to get the letter. Then I head to dinner at the opposite end of the long white-sand crescent from lunch, where I enjoy a beautiful sunset over excellent Thai food. Next morning I catch my flight to Bangkok. Bangkok Guy is yet to read my message from the previous day.

Circumnavigating the Island My original itinerary included a rental car which Bangkok Guy was going to drive, an idea he liked very much. There was no flexibility to either alter the booking nor to get a refund, so on the fourth day I collect a car which I will be returning halfway through the rental period. The things forbidden in the rental contract include smoking, animals and durian. The partial saving grace is that I can drive myself to my day-5 PCR test at Koh Samui hospital, avoiding having a taxi wait for me, the cost of which is equivalent to two days car rental. Driving on Koh Samui is very easy and my little car is the right size for the narrow roads and right-angle bends – literally a right-angle in an otherwise continuous stretch of road. After the PCR test – efficiently organized on the hospital’s tennis court – I have lunch at a very isolated beach restaurant that was recommended to me. Not a place I would have ever found on my own and excellent Thai food. I send a pic to Bangkok Guy who apart from being envious - "So Delicious" – is amused that the mild spice level is at the upper end of my tolerance. He likes confirmation of his ides fixes about Falang. My anti-clockwise circumnavigation of the island is singularly lacking in the picture postcard views which comprise one-hundred-and-ten-percent of Koh Samui according to the internet, guide books and advertisements for accommodation. Between the infinity pools of the hillside villas and the white sand beaches an ugly ring of random ribbon development encircles the entire island, excepting the South West quadrant. Think of the ugly bits of Pattaya (well, just think of Pattaya) stretched into a thin circle. I saw the villa I had originally booked and, now I understand the lay of the land, I am happy to be paying the premium for direct beach access.

Pass 2nd PCR Test, Free! (at least until the 3rd PCR Test) 8:30am I answer the phone and am greeted with a very cheerful ‘Congratulation you pass test! Welcome! Please come have breakfast!’. Freedom begins with an excellent Thai stir fry and coffee on a grassed terrace, after which I visit the spa and book a Thai massage and a facial. My request for a manicure and pedicure is received with an expression which indicates I have crossed some line of logic and a muddled suggestion that I can simply walk outside. Muddled to me, as on arrival the street appeared to be nothing but trees, a few restaurants and the landscaped entrances to resorts. Rejuvenated by the massage and facial I head to the beach-side restaurant for lunch, after which I walk the long crescent of white sand between two bluffs which my hotel shares with several others. The walk reveals the confusion at the spa as the beach is home to two local massage-relax-and-make-you-beautiful establishments. After my first manicure, pedicure and sole-smoothing in I-don’t-know-how-long my feet are fit to be seen unshod, and at a price which explains why the hotel does not bother to compete. I Finally Acclimate The build up to this trip had been stressful enough that it was only on the third day that I began to chill out and really enjoy myself. Stunning weather, good food, over a mile of white sand beach – how can I not eventually unwind despite the issue of further PCR tests and Bangkok Guy’s health? Four high-end hotels and three mid-level ones share the long crescent of white sand. The deeper pockets of the high-end owners are reflected in continued pristine maintenance, versus signs of deferred maintenance at the mid-level places. While far from crowded, there are enough tourai to give a sense of life and action. After walking the beach for three days it is clear that none of the hotels is anywhere near full occupancy. At one end of the crescent a local beach bar hides in the trees. Here at high tide you sip your Campari Spritz while the waves wash around your ancles, and it pays to watch how the incoming water is breaking over the end of the bluff as a noticeable boiling of white indicates a large swell which, in a minute or two, will wash over the top of the old sailboard serving as a low drinks table. On-going confinement with no distractions but his cell phone is getting on top of Bangkok Guy, and my having fun in the sun and sand without him rubs salt in the wound. One of his messages has a strange meme suggesting great frustration. I move my flight forward a couple of days and extend the hotel in Bangkok so that I will be there when he is released. The tone of his communications improves subtly after I tell him of these changes: I will be there for him and this makes him happy.

Pass PCR Test, Will Travel I pass the first of four PCR tests, don my N95 mask and away! After allowing for empty seats to separate passengers, both my flights are fairly full, in contrast to the terminals which are ghost towns. No taxiing delays with a que of one for the first flight and two for the second. Passengers all following covid safety protocols. I had been warned that my ears would ache from the N95 mask and this was very true, but the only negative until the leg to Koh Samui. Thai health and immigration were very pleasant and efficient and it took only around 40 minutes from disembarkation to being seated in the departure gate for the five hour wait for the official quarantine connecting flight. The health officials in Koh Samui were also very efficient, so the whole process of checking papers to record who sat where on the plane, getting the PCR test and getting into the hotel’s single-party transport went smoothly. Bangkok Airways, not so much efficient. The flight is supposed to be a quarantine one. However, the plane was not parked at the gate but some distance away. To get there we crowd into a bus, not a hope of distancing. Long drive, then a wait inside the bus until we can board. Among my fellow passengers were a group who were somewhat lax in masking, as though the mask itself was a powerful talisman regardless of how it was worn. I avoided them in the lounge, but no hope of doing so in the bus or on the small plane. Grrrr….. Efficiency resumed at my hotel. They had me pre-register on-line a few days before arrival. On arrival I was taken directly to the room, shown how to get the room service menu from the TV and told to stay in the room until my test results arrived around 8am the next morning. I was not given a key, so if I left the room it would be obvious as I could not get back in, in theory. In practice my hosts had left me access to my private terrace from which I could slip directly into the pool and swim to freedom. Not wanting to abuse their hospitality or be a selfish idiot I content myself on the terrace with sunshine, fresh air, the smell of flowers, excellent Thai food and a Chang beer.

A Very Bumpy Start This trip was booked back in June based solely on vague optimism that ‘things will improve’. The January timing was a matter of habit. When test-and-go was announced I lacked Vinapu’s prescience and instead of going immediately kept to the original schedule. Traveling in the Time of Covid it should come as no surprise that this trip has been the most difficult trip to keep on the rails that I have ever experienced. The airline canceled all flights to Thailand and I had to re-book. I went through the hoops of completing all the ThaiPass paperwork. To be sure of passing the first of four PCR tests I withdrew from Christmas celebrations. Double-guessing the Thai Government’s announcement that it was considering suspending Test-and-Go, I re-booked all the accommodation and internal flights, at some cost. The day I am due to leave I lie in bed, dawn light coming around the edges of the curtains, and Bangkok Guy pings me on Line. He has developed the habit of pinging me in the morning if he wants to talk as he knows I am up early, but this is a little early. “There is a Big Problem”. On the bright side, his English is coming along. He used the indefinite article. When he answers my call he looks serious and without talking faces his phone toward his wrist. There is an intravenous drip attachment. Back to his face and, while he is looking good, I see he is in bed and the pillow has a blue hospital paper cover. He has Covid. It seems to be a moderate case. He looks good, a cough but no problems breathing, and once we talk his smile is as bright as ever. His personality is also unaffected. His main concern is not his health but the cost of cancelations as he will not be out of quarantine in time to join me on Koh Samui. A leading indicator that I have crossed the line from under-the-weather to truly ill is the loss of my vanity. For Bangkok Guy it would be the loss of frugality. With his frugality intact he is on the right side of the health line. However, the third time I tell him he is looking good – a mechanical reassurance to myself as much as to him – he corrects me. “Outside look good, inside not good”. He is sick enough to be feeling it. He is happy that I am still coming and that we will eventually meet in Bangkok. He will get out of the ten-day quarantine the day before I arrive in Bangkok from Koh Samui and I offer to extend our hotel booking so he can go there, be comfortable and have room service. He is not sure. In case Omicron gathered speed, in Bangkok I re-booked into a hotel with a lot of outdoor space by the river which, if necessary, we can use as a resort and use the river to get around rather than the Sky Train or Metro. I have four PCR tests to pass during the trip and failing any of the three in Thailand will land me in hospital for ten days, which I have no intention of letting happen, so crowded spaces are verboten. The hotel is very high end (I got an attractive deal) and I suspect Bangkok Guy is not comfortable with the idea of being there alone. I will play this by ear and possibly leave Koh Samui early (and expensively as it is too late to alter the reservation).

Found this on their WhatsApp -- foto of the entry door and WhatsApp phone number for reference.

From Richard Barrow Twitter site The Governor of the State Railway of Thailand has confirmed that the buildings of Bangkok Railway Station will not be destroyed or dismantled for sure.

Richard Barrow is dedicating his weekend to riding trains out of Hua Lamphong and Bang Sue. His posts are filled with great photos of the views and travel information. From Richard Barrow Twitter site "This afternoon I rode the new Red Line commuter train in #Bangkok. There are two lines so far that operate out of Bang Sue Grand Station. One to Taling Chan and the other to Rangsit. Most of the line is elevated as it leaves the city and so some great views."

This article (published today) presents different facts about the fate of Hua Lamphong that reflects what Day Dreamer posted above. From Thai Enquirer Thaksin calls for the preservation of Hua Lamphong station Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra took to social media late on Tuesday to talk about government policies related to old buildings and decry rapid urbanization at the cost of culture. Among the sites that needed to be preserved was Hua Lamphong station, which should become a hub of soft power. “I would definitely keep Hua Lamphong,” he said. “It is irreplaceable and invaluable…and it can be made to be even more valuable,” he said. Thaksin said it could be transformed into an exhibition hall for people from around the country to come and show their local wisdom, talents and products. “It can be transformed into a soft power hub,” he said. The train station, which was built in 1910, closed on Wednesday and all rail services moved to the new Bang Sue Grand Station. Transport Minister Saksayam Chidchob said the ministry and the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) have plans to redevelop the 121-rai station for commercial purposes by clearing it to make way for condominiums, hotels and malls. However, the main station’s architecture will be kept as a museum. The Fine Arts Department said last week that they will register the railway station as a official national heritage site to protect it from development plans. They have yet to say how much of the land should be conserved. Thaksin said the loss-making SRT should not only be thinking of selling the land to pay back their debts. The state-owned enterprise’s debt was over 100 billion baht in 2020. “Hua Lamphong should be given back as public property for people so that it can be used to promote knowledge, as a meeting center for the new generation and many other purposes…instead of just cutting it up and selling it as pieces.” https://www.thaienquirer.com/35246/thaksin-calls-for-the-preservation-of-hua-lamphong-station/

Ah yes! Rama IV will be in desperate need of new shopping malls, new office towers, new apartment blocks and let more luxury hotels even after One Bangkok, the city's largest integrated development, opens in the area around the top of Sathorn and Silom!

station's hall will make great lobby of new residential / hotel complex called " Station Tower"? It'd be bit stupid to demolish most important building in all Thai railways history

I wish that even after re-development they leave single renovated track to provide shuttle service between Hualampong and Bang Sue, kind of new dark red SRT line to Rangsit is.

Just recently, there was a plan to renovate the old building for use as a museum. Now it sounds like that may not happen. The first sentence of the Bangkok Post article says "the land on which the station is located might have to be cleared to make way for commercial development".