PeterRS

Like others - TRAVEL! Somewhere in Asia away from Thailand where there is a good nightlife scene and company to be enjoyed.

Thanks ResponsibleTourism for bringing out some issues I was not aware of. Please be assured I was not comparing Phrae to Cirque du Soleil or the famous Chinese Acrobatic troupes. As I pointed out, such a comparison would be "horribly unfair". After all, a Cirque show in Las Vegas usually takes three years during conception, evolution, rehearsal and construction of special theatres. I will certainly watch the Al Jazeira programme. I do think, however, that given everything you say all performing artists from whatever background have somewhere deep inside them a desire for a form of perfection. It is perfectly possibly to maintain the core values of the company and the acts/scenes based on their personal experiences when at the same time bringing in a little more experience in terms of, for example, lighting. You don't need lots of light units. Just a little more creativity which enhances the performers. After all, this is precisely how the Chinese acrobatic companies developed over time. From small touring groups on minuscule budgets with a minimum of presentation, they looked at what others were doing in other parts of the world and gradually developed a whole new set of skills. Phrae is clearly ambitious. Hence the desire to be in the Guiness book of Records. So why not have a much longer term goal that embraces training, local culture, history, individual stories and skills, and quality of presentation? Just my thoughts. I remember when I was in Siem Reap, I was taken to a silk factory where girls from dirt poor families were trained in all the skills of silk making from cultivating mulberry leaves to weaving the finished products. They could have produced an average quality of silk and no doubt the public would have purchased it at local markets. But the foreigner who had set up the factory believed these girls deserved better and higher wages. He was determined that they have an environment where they could develop their skills to the point where the silk produced compared to the best almost anywhere in Asia. It was wonderful quality and I bought quite a lot.

I agree that Charles seems to have the type of character who might say it - albeit in jest rather then as a hugely significant moment. As for title and security, their son could not automatically become a Prince. He would have when the Queen dies and Charles becomes King, but goodness knows why. I too am confused because the issue of security would not have arisen had they stayed in the UK. I do think a look back at how the Brit royals treat outsiders, even those who have been loyal 'servants', illustrates why they continually put their collective feet into the muck. I read this yesterday on another forum. I have checked the facts and it appears totally true. "Before the abdication, the present Queen and her sister had a loving nanny Marion Crawford. She was devoted to the children. When their father unexpectedly became king, she postponed her own marriage and chance of having children to stay with the royal family and look after the princesses. She stayed with the family during the war until Princess Elizabeth got married. As a mark of the royal family's gratitude, she was then given what is termed in Britain as a 'grace and favour' residence in the grounds of Kensington Palace. She was permitted to live there at a peppercorn rent for her lifetime. "Encouraged by an American publisher, she wrote a simple and loving account of her time with the little princesses. She had nothing in her contract of employment about not putting any of her experiences in writing. It was published in 1950. Immediately she was dropped by the royal family like a stone. She was forced to leave her "home for life" and never had any contact with the royal family again. It destroyed her. To have some chance of seeing the princesses, she bought a house in the Scottish city of Aberdeen so she could at least glimpse them from afar as they left Aberdeen station for their annual holiday in Balmoral. No one ever visited her. Twice she attempted to take her own life, leaving a note saying " I cannot bear those I love to pass me by on the road." "When she died in 1988, there was no wreath from either of the princesses, from the Queen Mother or anyone associated with the royal family. She had been totally frozen out and totally forgotten. "Just a few years later came their disgraceful treatment of Princess Diana and her various attempts at self harm. Now MM. "Now they are also covering up for the depraved disgraceful exploits of (alleged) pedophile Prince Andrew cavorting with young girls thanks to his close friendship with Marc Epstein, even after his Florida conviction. Once Epstein's sidekick Ghislaine Maxwell gets to court, watch for a lot more to come out about this. "Clearly the people behind the scenes in that dysfunctional family have zero interest in outsiders and not an ounce of sympathy for them."

Hard to believe it was only ten years ago. It seems like history. But the huge 9:00 magnitude quake that hit just off the eastern coast of northern Japan took place at 14:46 local time ten years ago tomorrow. The events which then unfolded were screened around the world as all looked on in horror. We saw the tsunami waves making their way to the coast where towns were thought to be protected by large tsunami walls and gates. None worked. The water just cascaded over them and moved whole sections of towns inland. Worse, further down the coast the nuclear plant at Fukushima was inundated. In theory its shore defences should have been high enough. But I have read that one result of the earthquake was to raise the land to the point where the defences were useless. True or not, it is now estimated that it will take 40 years to clean up the Fukushima area. How long it will take to make the nuclear waste water presently stored in huge tanks safe may be hundreds of years. But let us tomorrow remember the more than 18.000 people killed and the many more made homeless.

I hope you will also consider visiting Luang Prabang the old royal capital. It is a fascinating small city that is now a Unesco World Heritage site.

One of the earliest was Lord of the Flies which another poster has mentioned. Another was John Wyndham's sci-fi Day of the Triffids. Becoming aware of my crushes on other boys, I loved a book which i think is no longer in print, Roger Peyrefitte's Special Friendships, a poignant and mildly erotic but touching story about the love between two boys and set in a Catholic Boarding School. In my teens, I always liked to get absorbed in long books. War and Peace and David Copperfield were two. Since then, I still enjoy longer books. Absolutely loved Viram Seth's A Suitable Boy (more than 1,000 pages) and Donna Tart's more recent novel The Goldfinch.

I did watch most of the hour long show last night. I felt a mixture of happiness that this company is trying hard in developing their skills and creating jobs in the country and continuing its culture. It was a reasonable start. But I also felt some sadness that it clearly has a long way to go. So let me humbly make a few suggestions. More could be done to provide links between the various sections. Any comparison with Cirque du Soleil would be horribly unfair, but this was the first thing I noticed when seeing my first touring Cirque show, Alegria about 25 years ago. It was not merely a series of superb acrobatic and comedic acts. Each was linked with the appearance of characters who appeared throughout the show. No dialogue as in all Cirque shows - merely stock characters in great costumes. I believe it would help Phare's development to work on this. Cirque du Soleil has certainly never performed in Cambodia but there are videos available of many of their shows. Overall presentation and lighting could be worked on to develop a more professional look (or was this mostly bad TV lighting, I wonder?) A bit more drama could also be injected into some of the individual items. Circus has a long tradition in China and some of its companies are world beaters. It would probably help Phrae if they could work out some sort of loose relationship with one of these Chinese companies. 20 years ago I saw the company based in Shenyang which is one of the most professional and dazzling companies. Not only were the individual acts almost breathtaking - one boy slowly balanced one hardback chair slantwise on another and then another and so on until he was actually balancing on about 12 chairs without any safety net - they were obviously starting to learn from Cirque du Soleil through more innovative lighting, music, drama and linkage of acts. Still, the injection of additional monies will no doubt help the company develop into a much stronger performing unit. Hopefully many who watched will give them that encouragement.

Like Londoner, I have not been to the bars for a few years as I too am in a relationship. But for many years - several decades in fact! - I was a regular. We all change over time and we all age. So inevitably our preferences also change. Then again, I used to love the bars. I loved seeing the boys on stage, many of whom openly flirted with customers in the hope of an off. I loved it when nudity was allowed in most of the bars, not because I wanted to see the "whole package". It was much more that I found the naked body of a young Thai guy such a turn on. I took a lot of the boys off in those earlier years and only once had what Id term a dud. It so happened he came from Screwboys in the mid-1990s. But you cannot hit the bullseye every time and that one experience apart I had loads of good and sometimes great times. Living in Thailand, personally I have never been a great fan of the apps. The first time I used one I arranged to meet a guy in a coffee shop in a mall. I then learned that Thai time is very much like Bali time - rubber time in effect. My guy had not shown after 30 minutes. I called him. On the way, he said. After 45 minutes I told him I could only wait another 5 minutes. Please stay, I'm on the way. I just gave up. Another experience we all have had, another coffee shop rendezvous had the guy show more or less on time but he was at the very least 10 years older than his pics. Of course, punters have now got wise to such things and find ways round them. When I was still single, I used the apps successfully when overseas. In Thailand it was the bars! I know I am repeating others, but the bar experience was not just for looking at handsome young guys. They were fun. And the boys seemed to be having a lot of fun even if offs were scarce. In the early days all were Thai and presumably some had come from the same village. What has been missing for many years now and certainly on my last visit about 5 years ago was that fun and interaction. Mobile phones are surely partly to blame. All the boys were glued to them. In earlier times, there were no such distractions. Ensuring the customers had a good time was much more important.

Given the horrific near recent history of Cambodia, I think its great that a company like this is not only creating employment but offering training to young people and helping keep alive some of the country's culture. I will watch and will donate.

And it's a lovely time of year because many trees and plants begin to blossom. These were taken on a short walk near my apartment this morning.

I am out and about most days. Very few people seem like tourists.

Are they? I live in Bangkok and have neither seen nor heard of any marching against anything for some 4 months or so. There certainly were major protest marches in October but these were not exclusively against the worsening economic conditions. There was another reason which on this Board cannot be discussed. Like many Asian nations, Thailand has a good family structure. Some of those out of work especially in the tourism industry will no doubt have returned home and be working in the village shop or in the fields. Then you have to realise that several polls have found that a considerable majority of Thais do not want tourism to reopen until there are better solutions to the covid19 pandemic. The Tourism Authority of Thailand constantly pushes for opening up tourism in some way but the government is not biting. Thailand is far from alone in this respect. A couple of months ago Hong Kong and Singapore announced a traffic bubble to allow one flight in each direction initially. A few days before it started, Hong Kong had a new outbreak and the bubble burst! For those who enjoy travelling we just have no alternative but to wait.

On Golden Pond was a lovely movie. Jane Fonda was great as were her father and Katherine Hepburn. My favourite Fonda scene, though, is from Klute where she plays a hooker. At one point she has been picked up and is giving a dull guy a good time. The camera then focuses on her bored face as she raises her hand to check the time on her watch. Clearly she is thinking how much longer do I have to go through this before I get my cash!

Suggest you take a look at Taipei under the City Guides. Taipei offers a lot for the gay traveller. It's not Bangkok or Pattaya but in addition to plenty of sex there is a lot of culture including the must-see National Museum where the treasures of China over centuries are displayed (although only a fraction can be displayed at any one time).

The start of the thread states "Threads can only be added by Scooby." Is that name being continued?

Having bad mouthed Bitterman, let me explain why. Early last year my friend and I arrived around 6:45pm. About to order from the drinks list in the main menu, I happened to overhear the waiter tell diners at the next table that there was a 2 for 1 Happy Hour until 7 and suggested they order drinks quickly. So we called the same waiter over and ordered our drinks. When they arrived about 5 minutes later, we said we'd like our second drinks along with the main course. The waiter asked what we meant by second drinks. I explained. Of that is only from our special Happy Hour menu, he said. But he had not bothered to give us one, adding we did not qualify for a second drink. When something like that happens I ask to speak to the manager. Just after 7:00 pm she came over. She blamed us. After a while, she said she would make an exception and give us "second drinks on the house". Those second drinks never arrived despite being asked for a couple of times. I had Atlantic Cod with vegetables. A disaster! Tough, dry and tasteless. I could not finish it. Our bill for 2 was 2,000 baht. As we left the manager was by the door. I pointed out that the promised second drinks had never arrived. With a surly look on her face, all she would say was "Sorry". Friends had recommended the restaurant, but we will not return.

I would be grateful for Spoon's comments. I have read up quite a bit about religious extremism in countries like Malaysia and Indonesia. It seems from what I have read that both countries were much less concerned with such extremism prior to 1979. That year of course saw the return of the Ayatollah Khomeini to rule Iran with his firebrand Islamic revolution. Increasingly governments in countries in Asia with a majority Islamic population (and even Singapore with a minority of Muslims) became increasingly concerned that Khomeini's strict interpretation of Islam and anti-western stance would spread generally to the Islamic world. So greater attention was soon paid to reinforcing religious laws. Is that too general a view?

There are also some very good restaurants on that soi. I have dined three times at the relatively new The Commons. This is a group of very nice smallish restaurants in a cluster rather like a small shopping mall. The one restaurant I avoid on that soi is Bitterman. Only dined once but the service was dreadful and the food little better than mediocre.

Apart from the tragedy of five deaths and one girl now scarred both physically and mentally for life, what would have happened if there had been a group of people crossing that road, or a car coming in the opposite direction? A taxi is seen stopping at the accident site in the opposite direction just moments later. That more were not involved is almost a miracle.

Out of curiosity, what is the meaning of hooboy? From what I can read in various on line dictionaries, it relates to negative emotions or dismay!!

Interesting article on the CNN website this morning regarding the problems Boeing is now facing. The 777 has proved a profitable and reliable aircraft for the company. But some existing 777s are proving unpopular with airlines. Last year Delta announced it would retire all 18 of its 777s even though 8 had been in service for only 10 years. Then Boeing's latest longer range model the 777X has been affected by serious delays in getting the first production model off the ground. Like all twin engine jets, production of the 787 Dreamliner is being affected by very slack demand due to the pandemic and the resultant major reduction on international routes. As a result, one of the two plants that build the aircraft will be closed down. Worse, late last year Boeing halted deliveries due to problems with the 787 horizontal stabiliser. Then last Friday the FAA ordered inspections of more than 200 already delivered 787s due to torn decompression panels in the cargo holds. The FAA considers this could result in a risk of fire. Not very encouraging for those thinking of flying the 787. https://edition.cnn.com/2021/02/22/business/boeing-widebody-jet-woes/index.html

Knowing that part of Singapore only vaguely, I was curious to find out how the estimated speed of 200 kph + was reached. The uploader of this video uses the simple calculation of time and distance. He also illustrates how that speed could easily have been reached by giving more details of the section of Tanjong Pagar prior to the start of videos showing the crash and subsequent fireball. Shockingly, it also shows from a different angle that the girlfriend of the driver was at the roadside actually recording her boyfriend driving his BMW Coupe as he made four circuits, each time gaining greater speed. In the original video a large piece of the car is propelled across the road immediately on impact. From the state of the car as it was towed away, it appears that it might have been the door on the driver's side (although this could have been cut away later by first responders). Even if they had been conscious, the three in the back had no chance as the car only had two doors. In the event the front passengers were vaguely conscious, their fate was sealed. They would never have got out in time. At the crash site it is clear the bonnet (the engine cover) had been propelled upwards and forwards. This could have breached the front windscreen and effectively killed those in the front. In the video below the bonnet has been placed back close to its original position. While this is all pure speculation, my hope is that every youngster taking their driving tests everywhere is shown these videos to illustrate the awful danger of speeding.

After the engine explosion on the United flight from Denver, 69 Boeing 777s in the USA and Japan using that same engine type have now been grounded. But Boeing has recommended grounding more than 120 aircraft worldwide. Japan has also banned all such aircraft from overflying its airspace. If memory serves me correctly, the arrival of the 777 in the 1990s and the rapid extension of the rules permitting twin engine aircraft to fly over water for more hours were a direct result of more powerful and safer engines. United 328 to Honolulu was only minutes after take-off when one engine failed. With the engine continuously on fire, the captain of the United flight was able to quickly turn around and land safely back at Denver. What I wonder would have happened if the engine had failed and continued on fire half way between the west coast and Hawaii? That's a flight time of about 5 hours over water with no intermediate airport. Would the continuing fire then have started to melt part of the 777's wings? The 777 has an enviable safety record. But this was a failure of an engine produced by one of several engine suppliers. As has happened before, regulators were aware of potential problems with this Pratt and Whitney engine type. Yet little seems to have been done to correct the problem. With the much bigger engines nowadays, we have already seen the sort of damage that can be done in a sudden failure when Qantas pilots managed to get their A380 en route to Sydney safely back to Singapore even with most of their control systems out of action and damage to the fuselage. But that again took place less than 5 minutes after take off from Singapore and depended on the fact that there were two cabin crews on board. What would have been the result if it had been mid-way over the Indian Ocean on its previous leg? I am starting to miss the tried and true Lockheed L1011 Tristar.

This is no longer news as the events took place a week ago. But it illustrates the very serious danger when young guys in fast cars take it into their heads that they can race along narrow city streets just to have a good time. Several friends between 26 and 29 had been dining very late at a Korean restaurant near Singapore's Chinatown. Most had worked for a finance company and were self-made men. Around 5:15 am they decided to call it a night. Whether the 29 year old driver had been drinking has not yet been determined. From reports it seems he offered to give some of his friends a joyride to show off his BMW Coupe along some of Chinatown's narrow roads. At least two had intended taking a night bus home but they decided to have a bit of fun. The video shows surveillance footage of the car going out of control as it tries to make a slight turn. Some reports allege it was doing approx, 200 kph. It then skids along the narrow road lined with old-style Chinese shopfronts slowly rotating 180 degrees. It then hits the pillar of an empty shophouse back of the car first. The force of the crash may only have rendered the occupants semi-conscious. But after about 15 seconds it bursts into flames and their fate was sealed. Some seconds later a car stops of the left side and a man gets out. He was apparently a friend of the victims and was later seen on his knees howling in anguish. The girl seen running towards the crash is the fiancee of the 29-year old driver. Although the video has been cropped at this point, she runs straight into the flames to try to get her boyfriend out of the inferno. She was immediately taken to hospital and is fighting for her life having suffered burns to 80% of her body. Ironically in the light of the accident, BMW's advertising for the model read "Sympathy for the Rebel. Can't Stop. Play with Fire. Chasing New Levels." That was quickly taken down. It appears cars racing along these narrow roads in the early mornings is not unusual. Why Singapore authorities had taken no action to erect speed bumps or another speed control measure is unknown. They have announced in the light of this accident they will revisit the idea. A photo of four of the young men who died has been widely circulated.

The post is real. You are as entitled to your opinion as anyone. And i did request opinions. But I know what I did and why I did it. And with respect, I know these two unfortunate people a great deal more than you. I would not do as you imply you would. I do remember when someone gave me a daily calendar decades ago with a proverb or saying on each page. One said, "Never lend money to a friend as you will lose your money and your friend." Call me a fool if you wish. I did what I did and am in no way unhappy that I did so. I understand your viewpoint, but I do not regard the contributions I have made as charitable donations. I have tried to help two guys with whom I was on friendly terms for many years. Period. I believe if the situation was reversed, they would do the same. I have seen them a few weeks ago when they were almost like skeletons. Why? That's the big question to which I have no clear answer.