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Apologies for not finishing this story earlier, but I’ve had an excitement-filled week with little time to devote to this story. The short version is this friend, let’s call him Baht, never asked me to share my vacation with him. I handed him an envelope with some cash in it and apologized for not being able to help him more during the pandemic. We made our way to a tiny specialty coffee roaster that was on the end of a sub-soi off Soi Convent and had a nice catch-up. He invited me to join his friends at Fake Club that night. I demurred as I had some shopping to do on Silom Soi 4 and Patpong, and had already wasted my first night in Bangkok catching up on the sleep I failed to get the night before my flight left. But I had always wanted to go to Club Fake and knew I’d never go to a place like that alone. Still, though, my shopping expedition beckoned so I told Baht to text me later, I might change my mind. When he finally did text me it was from Fake Club itself and the news wasn’t so great. They only sold bottles of whiskey or vodka. No tequila, but they’d let you bring a bottle of tequila inside the club and charge a 300 baht “uncorking” fee. I think I was supposed to take care of the tequila but didn’t realize that. I don’t know where to buy bottles of tequila that late in Bangkok, and Baht had made it sound as though it were something he could handle once I showed up. That happened at about 11:30. I got to the table only to find whiskey. Baht poured me a glass of whiskey and soda despite my protesting that just the smell of whiskey makes me wanna throw up. Then he excused himself to go to the bathroom. He didn’t return for a long time —almost an hour — and as his absence stretched I grew more determined to say my goodbyes as soon as he returned. It ended up that Baht had commandeered a motorcycle taxi and told him to go to every liquor store and convenience store still open until they found one with tequila. As the clock ticked almost to midnight — Thailand’s legal cutoff time for sales of alcohol — they found one last convenience store. It had a bottle of tequila. He texted me a photo of it. It was almost exactly midnight. When he got back, well after midnight, he must have had to travel far, Baht plopped my prize down on the table and told me of his adventure. Well, I guess I can stay another half hour or so, I thought. I ended up having a great night. I had not drank like that in almost three years. The music was really fun and I found out that despite no practice since the end of 2019, my body can still dance. We ended up polishing off that bottle of tequila and staying till the very end. When the bill came, a little more than 5,000 baht, I took it from the waiter, who shined his flashlight on my wallet so I could see what I was doing. As I was counting out 1,000-baht notes, I noticed all eyes around the table were on my wallet, riveted with suspense. Would I go all the way? If I did, would I leave a tip? I got to 4,000 and hesitated. Surely Golf and his friends could take care of the rest and add a tip. I glanced up, all eyes, even the waiter’s, were still glued to what my fingers were doing in my wallet. There was also a sense of desperation in those eyes, so I counted out two more bills and a jubilant celebration erupted as if I — or they — had just scored the winning goal in a World Cup game. The waiter actually broke into tears he was so happy. He gave me a big hug, showering me in thank yous. I’ve never hugged anyone so bone thin. I was happy I had left him a generous tip. He could obviously use the money.

no place will force you to use full set of extras, try one of places in Silom soi 6 , I don't think they have min. tip policy and if they do it will be at lower end . Alternatively travel to Saphan Kwai and there you have G-Beat or Kman right beside station , both with low min.tip policy

They had free elections until they decided they'd rather have a Czar. Now they get to deal with the Czar and his imperial ambitions while tens of thousands of people die.

I can second what Vinapu suggests. If you wish to remain in the Silom area, try Silom Soi Six. You'll find six all-male shops (soon to be seven) and none charge a minimum tip. I was a regular there on last trip and found they guys to be friendly and fun to be with. Don't be shy about discussing your message in advance with the guy who catches your eye. Some of the shops have en suite showers and all appeared clean and well maintained. One hour oil usually starts at 500 bht. Saphan Kwai is a good area to explore if you're up to doing a little traveling and walking. In addition to the places Vinapu mentions, KK Massage (associted with K-Man) has a huge stable. One-hour oil 400 with min tips 700-1,000. My experience there says stick with the 700 baht guys. Good luck!

Now that is really odd given your post in another thread that you would NOT go to see a doctor to determine if you have anal cancer or not. Which is it and why the change of heart?

Yes, I did stay in Welcome world beach resort. It is a nice hotel and the more expensive rooms have seaview. But..... they make a problem with joiners, if they are not Thai. If they have f.e an overstay, they will not be allowed. For that reason last november I changed to Agate hotel in de Jomtien complex. No seaview but a very friendly joiner policy. They make not a problem at all. And the rooms are ok!

going to Pattaya for the beach sounds like novelty for me, I need to try that one day

you sound like my twin brother as I probably would do the same although jumping for 1-2 days to Pattaya is nice distraction from Bangkok charms

2 in Pattaya and 4 in BKK sounds good, I'd probably stay the whole 6 in BKK, but I'm a vampire that likes big cities and BKK has better looking guys and more manly, my opinion as well as more massage options.

I'll be arriving at around 11am, so starting in Pattaya does seem like a good choice. I usually just take a combination of ARL/MRT/walk or ARL/BTS/walk. Rolling a suitcase from Silom or Sala Daeng station is always a fun time lol. Yes to all of the above! Massages - yes, restaurants - yes, gogo/host bars - gogo preferred but host can do also, twinks/masculine - I like both, but at the end of the day I will usually go with whoever has the nicest face (amongst other things), sky bars - they are nice, but not too fussed, shopping - I'm not a big shopper like I used to be but I like both malls and markets. I like the way you divided it up - I'll be there for 6 days, so now I'm actually thinking 2 in Pattaya and 4 in Bangkok rather than 3 and 3, thanks for the suggestion!. Bangkok is my favourite but I would like a bit of a beach getaway too. Ah this is what I did not quite think about! Thank you for alerting me to this as it is quite an important factor in deciding where to stay!

Bkk, u obviously set a new standard for detailed tempting posts here, certainly for issues other than sex. Kudos! Why is klom klom "infamous"?

You can walk into almost any gay massage parlor and ask for exactly what you described above. Or you could walk in, say you'd like an oil massage, play dumb about any extras and see how far the therapist will go. Think of it as an adventure. There used to be a massage place in front of Pinnacle Lumpinee, for years a favorite hotel among gay tourists. A friend from New York who was with a straight female friend once asked the hotel receptionist to recommend a massage shop that both he and she could enjoy. Basically they wanted a place with no hanky-panky, although probably neither would say no to some fun. Anyway, the receptionist recommended the place right in front of the hotel. They entered, ordered hourlong massages and were put into adjoining — um, what are they? Rooms separated by thin curtains? — well, you get the idea. My friend must have been giving off gay vibes because unbeknownst to him he was assigned a gay therapist, but also an actual masseur, someone with skill. The therapist, I guess sensing he was in the company of another gay man, decided to see if he could arouse his customer with strokes that kept getting closer and closure to my friend's anus, eliciting louder and louder moans with each stroke until a thumb started brushing up against the anus. And then ever so slightly inside. Eventually the therapist asked my friend to turn over. He did, and the masseur repeated the same procedure — long strokes not quite to the crotch but getting closer with every stroke until he was gently caressing my friends balls with his finger tips, but for only a split second before starting the down stroke. My friend said he couldn't contain himself, letting out a stream of moans that gave voice to his pleasure. All along, his female friend on the other side of the curtain was completely silent. Eventually my friend shot a load without even having his erection touched. This was 2004 and to this day he still says it was the best massage of his life. And the biggest load he has ever shot. But he's probably had more fun relating this story than he did during the sensual massage. He first told his female friend who immediately after leaving the shop asked, “Oh my god, what was all that moaning about?” The female friend couldn't believe all that had gone down — or maybe up — just a few feet from her without her realizing it. They had, after all, asked for a no hanky-panky shop.

Great! This is a starting point, thanks for your response. I will look into it! Will they ask you point blank if you want an extra service to go with the massage? Its my first time here in BKK hence I'm anxious about things that could easily turn south. Hehe

To add to my "torture", the driver assigned to me is very good looking. But I see a wedding band on his finger.

For me, arrival time decides if I would start in Bangkok or Pattaya. Arrival before noon : I would prefer to start in Pattaya Arrival in the afternoon : I start in Bangkok

I've been meaning to get to this, but have been busy...went to Bali after BKK and a 1 night encore in BKK on my way back to the states.....Now I'm in Brazil after a short break in Mexico. Left Pattaya using Mike Taxi, prompt as usual into BKK with 2 stops...I was staying at The Tarntawan and my friend at the Peninsular ....def different tax brackets. Got a front room at Tarntawan, maybe the best stay I've had here ever since the wifi was SUPER fast, felt like a new mattress, and cold a/c. A few familiar faces seen working the hotel, I felt at home. Ordered a pad kaprow room service and was delicious as always. My friend is into nice restaurants, so we went to Blue Elephant for dinner...nice waiter from Myanmar good food and friendly service. We did the rounds of most of the go-go bars, Hot Male, Fresh Boys, Banana Club, Jupitar where I warned him would be a total waste of money for both of us, but he insisted on seeing it yet agreed with me after and we never went back, thank goodness. It was late so we walked by Super A- no one interesting and then Nature Boy/ Golden Cock. The owner/bartender recognized me and had only 2 guys working, 1 I had been with before....nothing for my friend, he went to his hotel alone as he was tired and I had a couple of beers in GC and offed the guy I had been with before and I knew he knew what I liked...... Next day I had room service breakfast, it's supposed to be only in the lobby but the waitress said she'd bring it up to my room since I'm a long time customer and told me that I'm the only one doing that...I felt special 🙄 Anyone that knows me, knows I am a vampire and generally don't go outside until 5pm.....this trip in BKK was usually 6 or 7pm. We went to another restaurant Aksorn, a Michelin star restaurant....2800 thb ++pp.....I would've been just as satisfied at 5 star rated Foodland, we went to some of the go-go's again and added Dream boys. I didn't see anyone that I really wanted to be with and my friend had lined up someone on Grindr so I went to Hot Male downstairs where I was supposed to meet @vinapu . It was getting late and most places were getting ready to close when I saw him come walking towards the bar, but went up to someone else sitting at the bar and hugged him and started chatting. I figured he knew him from other trips....come to find out he never met him before. So I yelled out, "what am I chopped liver" and he said, am I supposed to know you to which I replied, I'm Floridarob....then he realized his error and said bye to the other guy. He was in Hot Mode and everything was closing so he went to wonder the streets and from his reports, he scored someone that had finished work at Tawan and was having drinks with his friends. I didn't find anyone and got some 7/11 food to take to my room. Met up with Vinapu at Foodland for lunch and went with him to Senso...as soon as he sat down, he knew who he wanted immediately and deserted me, lol I didn't see anyone, it was early and only 3 guys working....Since I'm not a sex machine, I figured I'd save myself for later to enjoy the night. On my way back to the hotel, walking down Silom, someone in front of a massage shop called me over, it was a regular I've known from Super A for a long time so agreed to a foot massage. Talked about economy and blah, blah, blah...was nice to see him but he got chunky, like many of us did during Covid... Dinner at Rongros, great view of Wat Arun and the river, nice setting, decent food. By the time we finished, I was too full and tired to do anything and my friend had another Grindr date lined up...much easier for a top than a bottom to have sex on a full stomach. For lunch we went to the Malaysia hotel...I told him I always went at night and knew the people at night, no one during the day...he insisted we go, it is one of my favorite places for thai food for a long, long time...it used to be such a fun place before the apps to go to after the bars. The food was horrible and I knew if we went at night it would've been better , oh well. Went to Dream Boys and New Twilight....I told him, no more dinners, I'll never have sex at that rate. REALLY liked New Twilight...not sure if it will last though because of the location, nothing that has been there has lasted and with the way the gay clubs are going, can't believe someone invested so heavily there. The rest of the nights were pretty much the same, Ate at G's on Soi 4, was blah, Some foot massages on Soi 6, there was always 1 guy in a bar that knew me from before and when I asked their names, I referred to my notes from previous trips and decided they weren't worth a 2nd time... got my haircut at David no 5, near where BBB Inn used to be, had some grindr hookups, 2 free ones that recognized me from previous trips, bought some sexy underwear from Silom for gifts back home, met a German friend for dinner, went to MBK to buy gifts and Muay Thai shirts I wanted, the shop didn't have what I was looking fo rand they were nice enough to give me the factory website and I bought them online and delivered the next day to my hotel. One night we went to Tawan, I didn't want to , it's been a very long time since I've seen someone my type there, but my friend did. I explained to the waiter I have been a customer for a long time and brought my friend to see the show, but I was full and couldn't drink anything...he nodded and came back with 2 drinks on the bin. I explained I didn't want anything and only brought my friend. He checked with the boss, They said I can leave and they won't charge me....so I waited for my friend outside. I told them now I'd never come back, but you know their long time vision is only today.....every time we walked passed it, I told them, no never coming in again....they didn't care. The highlight of the BKK trip was 2 filipinos that were offering 4 hand massage. They wanted too much but agreed on 2k baht....we hung out at their hotel, Furama Silom drinking then we started messing around....it was like a fantasy, Amazing massage and long time sex from both of them together, they've been friends a long time and knew how to push my buttons. Off to Bali for 10 days, I'll try to do a summary report in that board and one of Brasil when I get back..... This turned into a long summary 😝 On the way back from Bali, I had a 12 hr layover in BKK...No line at Fastrack Immigration but had to wait 45 mins for luggage....Grab Taxi to Tarntawan, got a back room this time, but before I left, I asked them to block a high room. For $17usd a night without b'fast, was still a good deal and decent room, get a high room if you book a back (cheaper) room. Went for another haircut (priorities), then to Hot Male...That's where had the most my type on this trip....narrowed down to 1 and explained I didn't have much time because I had to head back to the airport , had a few drinks and back to my room.....my biggest complaint about guys, they want to please everyone and say they can do what you want. I think he was more bottom, but claimed to be top.....I had to practically fuck him so he could nutt, he was cute and fun and we had already negotiated a short, short time rate. I went to food land for my last pad kaprow and to get some ingredients to make my own at home. Off to the airport and to Boston for a few days before returning home to Mexico.

I just spent 9 days in Japan, 3 days each in Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka over Thanksgiving. I visited several Onsens and a couple of brothels. Just a quick heads up, as with many things in Japan, it is better to prearrange the boys online before rather than trying to pick one up on the day of or one day before. Tokyo Hot spring - I didn't go to any gay saunas this time, but went to an Onsen with natural hot spring that was supposed to have a lot of eye candy and some action. This one is in a commercial mall with indoor and outdoor pools https://www.ousama2603.com/shop/ooimachi/access.html. Very open space with limited area to play (probably in the steam room). However, there are many signs in Japanese (I can read a little bit) saying they will call the police if you behave suspiciously. I think they are trying to crack down on bad behaviors. I met a Taiwanese guy on another forum and he went to another hot springs in Shinjuku area https://thermae-yu.jp/ and reported that it is all look and no action too. I also read that there is another community bath house https://spa-tokyo.net/z-t-daikokuyu-nakano/index.html that can have some touching but I didn't have time to explore. Brothel - I booked a guy on https://en.hi-na.com/cast/rank.php that I have been lusting after since pre-pandemic (3 years of blue balls)! I checked his schedule and emailed the place in English a week ahead and arranged the time. Response was quick. A few minutes before the appointment, I arrived at the suggested exit at the train station and tried emailing them to pick me up, but I ended up having to call them. Once inside the shop, they confirmed what I ordered and I paid upfront. The guy is very similar to the picture but definitely a few years older but not too far off and has a smoking body. I think the only exaggeration is his dick size (so if you are a size queen you might be disappointed). The operating procedure was shower, mouth wash and then onto the bed. He kissed and licked my nipples but only sucked a little bit. We fucked with condom with both of us came. I enjoyed the time and almost wanted to book for the overnight but I had to leave Tokyo the next morning so I resisted my urge. I think I paid 22,000 yen for 2 hours. Just a personal preference, I think I prefer my Japanese brothel experience (I used other shops in Japan before in previous trips with similar experience) over the ones I had in Thailand such as My Hero or VClub. The room in Japan is a regular studio with a shower and bright set up like a bedroom, and the guys (at least try to) make me feel like I was having sex with my boyfriend. Whereas in Thailand, the rooms are usually carved out from a big space and dimly lit, which makes me feel like I was visiting a brothel with a you know what 🤷‍♂️😅.

From Thai PBS World Bangkok’s Bang Sue Grand Station – touted as Southeast Asia’s most modern rail terminus – opened with little fanfare last year as COVID-19 dominated headlines. Its role as the national rail hub has also been delayed by well over a year. However, the pandemic also made Bang Sue Grand Station a household word among Thais. Hundreds of thousands flocked to the station between May 2021 and September this year to get vaccinated against the new coronavirus. Bang Sue served as the city’s main vaccination center, delivering more than 6 million shots over 16 months. Now that the infection rate has fallen and a central vaccination center is no longer necessary, Bang Sue Grand Station can go back to its original job – serving as a railway hub. Bangkok’s new central station From January next year, all commercial trains will switch from the old Bangkok station of Hua Lamphong to Bang Sue, explained Nirut Maneephan, State Railway of Thailand (SRT) governor. “Some 56 such trains leave the capital daily,” he said. Commercial trains refer to Special Express, Express, and Rapid trains that have first-class and sleeper carriages. Most of these trains serve long-distance routes from Bangkok to cities such as Chiang Mai, Ubon Ratchathani, Songkhla or Yala. Transport Minister Saksayam Chidchob had pushed hard for Bang Sue Grand Station to take over from the historic and hugely popular Hua Lamphong station since late last year, but to no avail. Now, however, major types of railway services are finally about to shift to the new national hub with Hua Lamphong catering to just short-haul or ordinary trains, that stop at all stations and have no first-class cabins. In preparation for its larger role, Bang Sue started selling tickets for long-distance trips on November 1. Bang Sue Grand Station Built between 2013 and 2019 with a budget of 34.14 billion baht, Bang Sue Grand Station is more than three times larger than Hua Lamphong at nearly 300,000 square meters. It has 24 platforms – compared with Hua Lamphong’s 14 – and capacity to serve more than 600,000 passengers daily. The station is packed with world-class facilities. Thanks to 5G technology, passengers will be greeted by SRT robots that can communicate in both Thai and English. The robots will provide passengers with travel information, recommendations on attractions, and basic assistance. For instance, the SRT automated helpers can guide passengers to the right platform if they lose their way. They can also alert their human colleagues when extra help if needed. Another example of high-tech automation at Bang Sue is the smart wheelchairs, which are available to take passengers who can’t walk anywhere in the station without human help. Security in the station is also AI-enabled, with video from the more than 120 security cameras monitored via artificial intelligence. The system also issues alerts in real-time, so human staff can rush to help passengers in cases of emergency or if they stray into dangerous zones. It will also serve as a key city transport hub as it is connected to the Red Line and Thailand’s three main airports, as well as the Airport Rail Link and the MRT Blue Line. It will serve, too, as a stop in the future rail line linking Kunming in China with Singapore. Bang Sue has strong road connections and can be accessed conveniently via Bangkok’s network of main roads and expressways. Located in the capital’s Chatuchak district, this shiny new station is expected to spur economic development, reduce the cost and time spent on travel and smoothly connect Thailand to its neighbors.

i just got back 2 weeks ago and i decided to go back the 8th of December for a week! the reason being i won’t be able to go the last half of December, January or February and March is 3 months away! Plus i had such a great time this last trip i talked myself into a quick trip back! (plus i met one particular guy i wanted to confirm he was as hot as i remember! 🤣 i am also staying in Copacabana for the first time in 12 years. i found a great apartment at a even greater price! My first 10 years i stayed only in Copa and the last 12 years i have only stayed in Ipanema(and is still my favorite) i have only stayed in Airbnbs since 2010 and definitely prefer them to hotels!

I tried , I'm just not a beach person , water is usually too wet for my taste. But I agree Koh Larn is easy to get to and much better beach place than Pattaya or even Jomtien.

Try Kho Larn island beaches it's so beautiful.

i agree but in massages action sometimes takes its own course, touch here , brush there and all of the sudden. idea of just massage is abandoned. In male stuffed places if one opts for oil massage it may be taken as indication that more than just a massage is expected so after several minutes masseur may start some sinister moves and wait for your reaction. Unless of course we already scratched his knee or something.

PeterRS is able to defend himself but your comment is offensive. Force yourself to be nice , otherwise don't waste any opportunity to be silent As for believing in Putin's terminology I wonder if you still believe in Santa Claus not to mention Sleeping Beauty and her 7 dwarfs, one of them , third from the left mind you, was named gayinpattaya I believe.

As in many other areas in life, certainly when it comes to for-pay services, the best thing would me to clarify upfront exactly what u want. (-:

I just came back from a trip to Japan on China Airlines. On my way back, I had a nine hours layover in Taipei, so I left the airport and went into town. Border control was easy (US passport). Just fill out your flight information (the one leaving Taiwan) as your Taipei address on the Declaration form and you are free to roam. They still gave me the test kits but I never used them. Just remember the train into Taipei Station (which is about 20 minutes walk to Ximending or one subway stop away) is slightly over 1 hour depending on whether it is commuter or express. I ended up having a massage at the Royal spa in Ximending (all the eating and bathing in Japan worn me out 😁). I had the regular 2 hours massage (NTD 3,000 no additional tips needed). My favorite guy was not available so I picked one from the list on site. As usual, the first hour was dry rub which included a lot of pressure point pressing (very much like a sport massage) and stretching. He twisted me like a pretzel with his body ( like a Thai massage but with me naked). Then he took a bathroom break and came back stripped down to a tight underwear and started the oil massage part, which ended up with him completely naked and finished me off with a hand job. The Royal spa usually adds 10 minutes to the 2 hours for showering before and after the massage. The massage in Taiwan is usually very professional and strong like a sport massage even in the gay massage shops. HE is usually included (I never had it not included at various shops) but no sucking or fucking (this might happen 'extremely' rarely). I had one guy won't even let me touch him as he will do all the touching but he was naked and giving me HE (go figured). Of course, I never went back to that guy again. So you might need to ask first.

When do you think your going back? I'm going in early 2023 ,maybe February or March,luv to catch up with you .

Great! This is a starting point, thanks for your response. I will look into it!

for early arrivals or late departures I'm trying to find some cheap hotel and book the room there precisely in order I don't need to wait for check in time or being forced vacate room at prescribed time , I rather pay up for whole day and don't use it in full but at least have an access to shower e.t.c.

For paradise I can even wait 2 hours!

one should never mix work with amorous stuff

who says admission to paradise is supposed to be immediate ?

sure, we can even converse in Russian

less then 4 days - Bangkok 4 days - 2 here and 2 there 5 -7 days , 2 Pattaya, rest in BKK in any order Why I answered that way? Because it's roughly what I did on my last trip ( report started , rest to follow ) 1st leg 1 day - BKK, 2nd leg 8 days -3 BKK, 1 Pattaya, 4 days BKK, 3rd leg 4 days - 2 Pattaya and 2 BKK.

From CNN Airbus has previously announced a variety of hydrogen-powered airplane concepts as part of its ZEROe program, including the Blended Wing Body. (CNN) — Airbus has announced it is developing a hydrogen-powered fuel cell engine -- and that it plans to test it on the largest commercial airplane ever to take to the skies. The French aviation giant revealed at Airbus Summit 2022 on November 30 that it will mount the engine between the wings and the tail of a modified A380 superjumbo. Test flights are estimated for 2026, as part of the Airbus ZEROe initiative to launch a zero-emission aircraft by 2035. "In terms of aerodynamics, the A380 is a very stable aircraft. So the pod attached to the rear fuselage via the stub doesn't pose much of an issue," said Mathias Andriamisaina, head of ZEROe demonstrators and tests at Airbus, in a statement. Airbus had previously revealed concept designs for an aircraft utilizing liquid hydrogen fuel and combustion engines, but vice president of Zero-Emission Aircraft Glenn Llewellyn suggested fuel cells alone might be sufficient to power smaller commercial aircraft. The engine uses fuel cells to convert the hydrogen into electricity, which then powers a propeller. "At scale, and if the technology targets were achieved, fuel cell engines may be able to power a 100-passenger aircraft with a range of approximately 1,000 nautical miles," he said. Continues with photos https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/airbus-fuel-cell-engine-rolls-royce-easyjet-engine-c2e-spc-intl/index.html

Of course there are many reasons why a departure is delayed, thus depriving an incoming flight of its assigned bay. But one possibility is that with a shortage of baggage handlers, loading the departing aircraft's luggage was taking longer than planned. The shortage/incompetence of a baggage operator can have numerous knock on effects.

What time of day was that? I must have been very, very lucky. I think someone else mentioned it before but this may not be the best course of action. The newly appointed contractor will not be able to produce the hundreds or thousands of replacement workers at a snap of a finger. Furthermore they need time to train the workers. What might be better would be to reduce the area of responsibility of the existing operator to something appropriate to the number of staff he has (e.g. 50% of flights) and give the remaining flights to the new operator. If necessary, get soldiers to do the job during the bridging period.

To answer, what do you like....sounds like the beach. But you like massages, restaurants, go-go bars, host bars, twinks or masculine, you top or bottom, sky bars, shopping....etc...?

Suvarnabhumi immigration queue: saturday noon: 50 mins thursday noon: 55 mins

I agree with that. I'm no lover of BKK but I find the journey from the airport into the city -traffic notwithstanding- nothing less than thrilling, even if it can be frustrating.

I love you Mack 💜 Looking forward to more reports.

oh yes , free electoral process and all that

What a load of nonsense! Russians are in a position to determine who leads them - and who leads them into an undeclared war and a vast number of war crimes.

I suspect not many will remember Jiang Zemin other than he took over the leadership of China when Deng stepped aside after 1989. As the obituaries have noted, he was a very different type of leader from the present President Xi. He even charmed Bill Clinton after Clinton had earlier virtually trashed him as a "butcher of Beijing"! He certainly seems to have been a man who revelled in life. A recent book about the tenor Luciano Pavarotti has an interesting anecdote which perhaps illustrates this. In 2001 the Olympic Bidding Committee was in Beijing making its final assessment of the bids for the 2008 Games. To coincide with this, the Chinese had organised a concert with the famous Three Tenors inside the Forbidden City. Until then, only Bertolucci had been allowed access to the Forbidden City for his movie The Last Emperor. Although none of the top leadership attended the concert, President Jiang invited the tenors to lunch the following day. After a pleasant lunch with Jiang, who spoke good English, the Prime Minister Zhu Rongji and the Minister of Culture, Jiang thanked the tenors for helping with the Chinese bid for the 2008 Summer Games. He then said there was a western tradition that you "sing for your supper". So he proposed that the tenors sing duets with the senior leaders. After Carreras sang something with the Culture Minister and Domingo with the Prime Minister, it came to Pavarotti's turn. President Jiang apparently loved the Neapolitan songs which Pavarotti had sung many hundreds of times. What he did not know was that Pavarotti not only could not read music, he could never remember words. So when they sang their duet, while Jiang was note and word perfect, Pavarotti could not remember certain words and had to resort to the Italian version of "rhubarb, rhubarb." That gaff aside, Pavarotti - clearly a very intelligent man despite his often appearing less so - claimed that having met many of the world's Kings, Queens, Princes, Prime Minsters and other senior leaders, he found Jiang the most intelligent of them all!

It depends on what you mean by a beach view. The row of hotels overlooking Dongtan certainly have uninterrupted views of the sea but you'd have to check whether a particular room has one. Those hotels have narrow beach fronts for obvious reasons, stretching a long way back as far as the Pattaya road where the main entrances tend to be. I assume that the rooms with the best views will be priced accordingly. And will be the most in demand.

Welcome to the forum. What I'm saying is that before you tell me or in fact anybody here where we should or shouldn't stick anything introduce yourself properly. Western propaganda is not an issue, Russian bombs are.

So the truth - in part - begins to come out. Previously the Qatar government had admitted to less than 10 deaths. Detailed studies by several organisations and media outlets had put the number at far closer to 7,000. Since the Qatar government refused autopsies, it was clearly a deliberate attempt at a cover up. Most of those workers had to pay recruiters large sums to get jobs working on the World Cup infrastructure. With their deaths, the Qatari's have offered no compensation. The country claims the deaths were by natural causes such as heart failure or respiratory failure. So the families of these workers are left with major debts. Forbes Magazine and various other sources have put the cost to Qatar of hosting the World Cup at $200 BILLION! Yet, it refuses to pay the relatives of those who died preparing for the event even a few thousand $$. The Qatar World Cup has brought a new word into the lexicon - sportswashing. Quick to get on the bandwagon has been Saudi Arabia which is now hosting a number of major international events in the Kingdom. Along with its neighbouring countries, it owns several of the world's top soccer clubs including English champions Manchester City, Newcastle United and French League leaders Paris-Saint Germain. Emirates, Qatar Airlines and Etihad also plough hundreds of millions into clubs through sponsorship. The latest sport to be upset by Arab investment is the Saudi backed and financed LIV Golf breakaway Tour. It has lured top golfers away from the US PGA and European PGA tours by offering absurd amounts of money. Sign on bonuses of well over $100 million have been paid to Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson (Mickelson has been reported in London's Financial Times as having received $200 million even though he had previously declared the Saudis "scary motherfuckers to get involved with", that he ackbowledges they killed Adnan Khashoggi and "have a horrible record on human rights.") LIV Tournament Prize Money vastly eclipses anything offered by the other regular tours. The LIV tour is estimated to be costing Saudia Arabia's Sovereign Wealth Fund $2 billion - annually. https://www.ft.com/content/b5b110a6-9280-4d7a-a0b6-09ef2a423c7a

Still on the subject of the World Cup, where is the man who succeeded the corrupt Blatter, Blatter being an individual who started his career selling women's underwear and who has encouraged women players to wear much sexier, skimpy shorts to attract more spectators? Giovanni Infantino was thought to be a nameless bureaucrat who would clean up the game. A lawyer by training, he has consistently stayed in the background when it came to Qatar's not following FIFA rules. He did nothing to help the tens of thousands of migrant workers who worked for slave wages and many of whom died building all the new soccer stadia required to host the World Cup. He has said nothing about compensation for those who died. He has said amost nothing about gay visitors. He has banned players from using armbands promoting equality of the sexes by threatening those who did so with virtual bans from playing in the tournament. This is a man in the pocket of the Qataris.(In his 20s he could speak Arabic!) At his one press conference on the eve of the tournament, he gave a 50 minute monologue about there being nothing to accuse the Qataris about. Instead he claimed Europe should spend the next 3,000 years apologisiing for all the wrongs it did to other peoples on the planet over the orevious 3,000 years. Clearly FIFA has yet another idiot in charge. Whether he is corrupt or not, remains to be seen. Given the corruption rife throughout FIFA, I suspect @Olddaddy will soon place a bet that Infantino will be up on some criminal charge sooner rather than later.

From Thai News Agency BANGKOK, Nov 28 (TNA) – The BA.2.75 sub-variant of COVID-19 already accounted for as much as 58% of COVID-19 cases in the country and another subtype might emerge late this year when European visitors would arrive to avoid winter in their homeland, according to the Department of Medical Sciences. Dr Supakit Sirilak, director-general of the department, said there was a small wave of COVID-19 infections in the country and most of them, or 58%, were cases of the BA.2.75 sub-variant because more Indian visitors were arriving. Late this year many Europeans would escape cold weather in their homeland and arrive in Thailand. Therefore, COVID-19 strains in Thailand could change then and cases of the XBB sub-variant could rise due to the visits of European travelers, he said. Regarding the global situation of COVID-19, Dr Supakit said the virus was mutating and avoiding antibodies. Due to the mutation, the disease would spread faster, previously infected people could fall sick of the disease again and vaccines might not be as effective as they were in the past. He advised people to receive vaccine booster shots, saying people needed at least four jabs, not three, because the COVID-19 situation already changed. (TNA)

From The Nation Most of Thailand’s long-distance, rapid and express trains will switch from Bangkok’s Hua Lamphong station to Bang Sue Grand Station in January next year. Fifty-two trains will switch over to the new 15-billion-baht national rail hub in mid-January, the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) decided on Thursday. Only eastbound trains will continue to use Hua Lamphong after that date, said a source familiar with the matter. Bang Sue Grand Station (aka Krungthep Aphiwat Central Station) opened in November last year and began serving passengers on the SRT’s two urban Red Lines. SRT had planned to move all 66 long-distance trains, apart from eastbound services, to Bang Sue but the plan was delayed due to the Covid-19 situation. Fifty-two of the 66 routes have now reopened – 14 to the North, 20 to the South, and 18 to the Northeast. The SRT will advertise the change of terminal station in December, so that passengers reserving tickets can plan their travel accordingly. Meanwhile, urban trains, ordinary trains and trains on tourism routes are still operating from Hua Lamphong station as usual. From mid-January, trains bound for the North and Northeast will use the elevated railway from Bang Sue Grand Station to Rangsit station. They will no longer stop at five stations, namely Nikhom Rotfai, Thung Song Hong, Bang Khen, Laksi, and Kan Kheha. Don Muang Station will instead serve as the stop between Bang Sue and Rangsit stations.