PeterRS

Do you mean they form an anagram? If not, are they in the order in which they appear in your clues or the order on the page? One more question. With the Thai BL movies, is there a number in the squares?

The bars lasted through the early years of the much scarier HIV pandemic. In fact they increased in number. They lasted through three years of the Asian Economic Crisis. They lasted through the 2008 global financial recession. The main difference in recent years has been the replacement of Thai boys with others from neighbouring countries. My view is that in future it will become more difficult for Lao, Cambodian and Vietnamese to return for quite some time after the bars reopen. But like the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s many Thai boys may now be desperate for decent paying work. Maybe they will return to the bars. There are two huge differences between 2020 and the three instances I refer to above. 1. international air travel. IATA has stated it will be 2024 before flights return to their 2019 level. 2. Disposable incomes of millions of possible gay travellers have taken a big hit. If flight prices rise to a point where gay tourists decide they just cannot afford to fly to Thailand, what happens to the demand for the bars over the next year or two? Bars can probably survive a shutdown for a few months. Can they survive a major drop off in customers lasting years?

True. Even with good load factors the profit was probably minimal. I also suspect THAI just did not have spare twin engine aircraft to maintain the US routea. Singapore Airlines had a daily Newark/Singapore non stop for some years but that also used A340s and was cancelled when oil prices started to spike.. It was reinstated last year as a business and premium economy only flight using newer A350 aircraft. I cant imagine a THAI non stop surviving without a decent sized economy section.

I believe the reason for the THAI flights being cancelled was a result of the airline purchasing a fleet of long haul 4 engine gas guzzling Airbus A340s for the US routes. This was just before the extended flight range over water for twin engine jets like the 777s was extended to enable twin engine aircraft to fly these ultra long haul routes. The THAI A340s had an extra large biz class and If I recall correctly load factors wete more than good. Sadly the A340s were the wrong plane at the wrong time, same as the A380 was also several years too late into the market. THAI has tried to offload the A340s without much success. Most airlines just dont want them now.

My guess is that amazon used regular international flights for shipping. If you have the packages sent to a friend in the USA or UK, DHL still ships into and out of Thailand.

Its crystal ball time. Although Thailands domestic carriers can operate from tomorrow, the restrictions including social distancing mean that capacity can only be about 50%. I havent looked at fares but the Bangkok Post reckoned these would rise by 50%. Not surprising. In the USA, the average internal flight now only has 17 passengers. What of international airlines? When will they be allowed to land at DMK and BKK? What will their fares be like? How many will want to travel? Most of the fleets of international airlines have been mothballed and many staff either laid off or taking early retirement. Will passengers from certain countries be banned for longer than others? In Asia, Vietnam and Taiwan appear to have controlled the covid19 virus far better than others. Since all air routes depend on passengers flying in both directions, will flights out of Hanoi and Taipei be safer than the return legs on the same aircraft? Aircraft orders have all but collapsed with Airbus and Boeing both in trouble. Boeing still has a huge mess on its hands with yet more recently discovered 737 Max flaws still unresolved and Boeing itself advising the flight to obtain regulatory approval has been pushed back again. Now it is likely to take place in August. Since this must be the 6th or 10th date given by the manufacturer, the chances of its being delayed again must be high. Southwest has already announced the postponement of its introduction to October 30. Thats not the manufacturers only problem though. It seems that if it cannot deliver aircraft within 12 months of the date in the contract, airlines can cancel orders at no penalty. With the planes receiving such a negative public image, Boeing had orders for 150 of the aircraft cancelled in March alone. How many more customers will cancel? And what will Boeing do if its cash cow is unable to persuade the public that it is in fact safe? Would you fly in the plane? Despite the success of its A320 Neo and A350 aircraft, Airbus is also facing blank order books and is bleeding cash. Then there is the collapse of the price of oil. Since the A320 Neo and the 737 Max were sold on the basis of there being more fuel efficient than existing models, presumably that claim is far less important than it was last year now that oil will make up a much smaller percentage of flight costs. Both aircraft were developed to make single aisle travel across longer distances possible more cheaply. Would I want to take a n 8 hour flight on a single aisle aircraft? Frankly no! Then, will the oil price reduction make 4 engine planes now more efficient? Is there a chance the Airbus A380 could be reprieved? Who would run an airline!

Well spotted DivineMadman. Sondheim has to be one of the greatest figures in musical theater. His total contribution from lyricist for West Side Story onwards is massive. I have not seen as many of his shows as I would have liked (still time I hope) but the late Elaine Stritch singing Ladies Who Lunch in Company has to be the highlight. That show Company was a revelation of what musical theater could be to me. Little Night Music is a gem with Len Cariou and Hermione Gingold giving superb performances in the original production, Sweeney Todd far more dramatic in the theater than in Tim Burtons movie, and Follies which I saw in a 2000 New York revival pure joy. For Sondheim lovers, he published a fascinating book about 10 years ago titled Finishing The Hat: Collected Lyrics (1954-1981) with Attendant Comments , Principles, Heresies, Grudges, Whines and Anecdotes. It is packed with fascinating insights, as in this one about West Side Story. "Originally, Tony was to have been a blond Polish Catholic, in order to contrast him as much as possible with the Puerto Ricans. This gave the name 'Maria' a religious resonance which I pushed with the line 'Say it soft and it's almost like praying'.". My favourite is when he talks about Elaine Stritch relaxing after rehearsals of Company. "The character of Joanne was not only written for Elaine Stritch, it was based on her, or at least on her acerbic delivery and self-assessment, as exemplified by a moment George Furth had shared with her: they had entered a bar at two in the morning and Elaine, well-oiled, had murmered to the bartender in passing, 'Just give me a bottle of vodka and a floor plan'". I think this is Stritchs best rendition of Ladies Who Lunch and its wonderful lyrics as she gets drunker with each toast.

Good on the owner. As someone once said, you gotta have a gimmick ....

Reader, you make very good points. I am not anti American. But America has made more than its fair share of foreign relations mistakes, just as Britain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Russia, China and other countries have done over the centuries. But you do twist facts. Yes, under the lend lease program America helped the United Kingdom in World War 2 before Germay declared War on it. Yet the same program provided arms and materiel to the USSR. Roosevelt made it very clear it was in Americas interest to do so. Similarly with the Marshall Plan, a truly visionary program that rebuilt western Europe in record time. Again, though, this was primarily in the US interests. America was desperate that the advance of the communist Soviet Union stopped at the soon to be East German border. Without the Marshall Plan so ravaged was western Europe that the Soviet Union would quickly have been at the Atlantic shoreline. Same with Vietnam. The US then was staunchly anti colonial. It continually pressed Britain to decolonize. During World War 2 it had fed money and materiel to Ho Chi Minh and his troops to help them harass the Japanese invaders. Near the end of the war Ho sent several letters to Roosevelt and Truman seeking assurance that its ally, the US, would prevent the French from renewing its repressive colonial regime. The US declined to do so. It turned its back on Vietnam because the French leader de Gaulle had made it perfectly clear that if France could not resume its control of Info China, it would give the Soviets free passage across its country. It turned out that the French were no match for the Vietnamese forces. Their rout at Dien Bien Phu was an ignominious defeat for de Gaulle.

Funny response when everything I wrote is true. As for covid19, I see on the internet that as of a few days ago vietnam had 268 cases of which 202 have recovered and no deaths. Figures for the USA - 764,177, 70,172 and 49,591. Not true? Incidentally didnt the US troops stay well away from Europe in World war 2 only until Germany declared war on it? The detail of international relations are often unfathonable. We only see the results.

Foreign relations is a curious beast. Cambodia has been in Beijings camp since the days of French colonial rule. King Sihanouk fled to Beijing after the 1970 coup which may well have had CIA backing. It was the US secret unsanctioned bombing of Cambodia that directly created the vacuum that led to the rise to power of the genocidal Khmer Rouge. Even after Vietnam invaded and liberated the country, the world led by the USA continued to recognise the murderers for another dozen years. The US even tried to persuade other nations to help rebuild the Khmer Rouge! President Carter in a policy continued by Reagan and Bush 41 called on other nations to cut off assistance and aid to Vietnam. How come the murder of about 1.5 million plus of its citizens would qualify the Khmer Rouge continuing in power? The Khmer Rouge then continued to represent Cambodia at the UN until 1991. Madness! Funny too that Vietnam is coupled with the USA and others in attempts to stamp out the covid19 virus. From what I read, Vietnam was way ahead of the USA in insisting on its people wearing facemarks and using hand sanitiser. This despite Vietnam having a weak healthcare system and small health budget. The leaders in Hanoi implemented their strategy during Tet, the same day as Chinese New Year before the end of January when there were no known cases outside China. Quarantine of those with the virus and tracking of contacts started long before Trump and his minions in Washington gave the virus the time of day.

Apologies to spoon. Id love to say it was an accidental spoonerism but it was merely a simple slip of the finger.

z909 is 100% correct. Taiwan obviously learned its lesson from the 2003 SARS outbreak and reports suggest that life there seems to be normal apart from mandatory wearing of facemarks and use of hand sanitisers. Given the lessons that other countries should have learned from SARS and the other killer virus outbreaks that have appeared since then, the WHO bears as much responsibility for the Covid19 spread as most ignorant and arrogant world leaders. These are the people gladly spend trillions on weapons of war but mere pence (sic) on preparing their countries for a virus outbreak that was bound to happen spooner rather than later,

This movie was popular when it was shown a couple of years ago. Its a tale of two Thai guys who happen to meet up by accident when holidaying in Hokkaido. I wont say more as it will give too much of the story away. I liked it even though it is quite slow moving. There are long silences which are almost Pinteresque but these provide an insight into the thoughts of the principal characters. The full movie is available on youtube. A sequel Present Perfect Part 2 was filmed last year and released last month. But it only had a run of a few days before cinemas were closed.

Second or third visit around 1996 I met the cutest Thai guy in Heaven sauna. I took him out for dinner after our encounter and discovered he was a student about to enter his final year at university. Lovely body, fascinating smile, very friendly, very good English, well endowed as befitted an Isaan boy and a great technique in bed! We continued to meet for my next three visits. Once I took him to Koh Samui for 4 days where we stayed in a hotel with a jacuzzi in the bathroom. What went on in that jacuzzi matched what went on in bed but seemed more exciting. Then he found a Thai boyfriend and our adventures ended. But we remained friends and I met up with him regularly for lunches or dinners until three years ago when he returned to open a business in his home town. I always found Babylon in its first more intimate incarnation in the 90s more exciting than the bigger premises it moved into down the soi. Many more cute young Thais than now, many eager to find older farangs. Never encountered any rent boys. Always queues to get in at the weekend. Once I was just standing around in the semi darkness when I heard a voice with an Australian accent behind me ask if Id like to go with him to a room. I turned around to explain I was only interested in Thais when I realised he was Thai. Turned out hed been to university in Sydney. Hence the Oz accent. He knew exactly what he wanted, had no inhibitions, was passionate and we had an amazing evening followed by dinner. I was staying at the Hyatt then and managed to get him past security for the next two nights. Great days and nights!

I may have confused readers when talking about the entertainment business. I not intend this to mean cock (as suggested by Vinapu) or offs. More the entertainment provided by the bar business. Many posters over several years have talked about how the 1990s saw the peak as far as entertainent value in the gogo bars is concerned. The boys actually danced. They were fun and seemed intent on giving customers a good time. The shows were mostly fun and often creative. Was there not also a less aggressive commercial aspect for customers? From my experience of the Bangkok bars over the last few years, the entertainment value in many has greatly diminished. Standing still with hands behind their backs in a slow rotation or at most a form of soft shoe shuffle has replaced real dancing at the same time as prices have risen very quickly way above any reasonable level. In my experience with few exceptions the boys from neighbouring countries mostly seem less concerned about the good time element in the bars. Perhaps I visited on the wrong nights.

What actually happens in 2020 may well be different. In 1997 the effect was principally limited to Asia. But Thailand did not recover quickly. It had totally exhausted all its foreign exchange reserves in the vain attempt to prop up the baht. The country suffered a good three years of severe economic pain. That crisis only had a minor effect on the rest of the world. China then was a tiny dot on the economic horizon. Now it has been contributing a third of the global economy. China's growth this year will be way lower than the last few years and this will have a huge effect around the world. Imports and exports are all falling dramatically as economic activity in countries increasingly being locked down declines. Already, as Tim Cook of Apple pointed out, there are huge disruptions to the world's supply chains. We have already seen the effect just on world tourism with Thailand especially hard hit as outbound Chinese travel is all but dead. Many major airlines and much of the hotel industry are on life support. When people start to fly in greater numbers again, I cannot see a return to pre Covid19 levels till far into the future. Recently I stayed in a 390 room hotel which had at most 30 rooms occupied. In my crystal ball I see a much greater wariness of the Chinese to travel even in the medium term since average incomes will have dropped and families will have less disposable income for two years or more. I suspect a more accurate comparison is with the global financial crisis in 2008. But I see this one as being even worse. I truly wish I am wrong. I do agree, though, that one result may be a drop in the number of Vietnamese, Laos and Cambodians in the entertainment business and a return of more Thais. Perhaps thats one little bright sot on the horizon.

This video by a Vietnamese pop star has gone viral. It focuses on the need for hand washing in a fun way. Interesting that it was made more than a month ago at a time when few seemed to have been paying much attention to the importance of hand washing! Apologies if it has already been posted. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctF5aMV05kM

Yesterday the Bangkok Post reported the government has allowed one border crossing to Laos and one to Cambodia to remain open. The one for Cambodia is at Aranyaprathet. https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/1883110/more-border-closures-in-fight-against-virus

Surely it is more than ridiculous to make decisions based on reported statistics of those infected and those who have sadly died, however important these are. The key statistic has to be the number of those tested compared to total population. In the case of something like this virus, to assume that existing totals bear any reality to actual infections is fantasy. Mandating the testing of visitors before they can travel therefore seems to make a degree of sense. Hopefully most will not be infected between the date of the test and the date of travel.

Is there anything stopping you sending him a PM if you are seeking advice? Didnt Bob actually suggest this about 3 years ago?

Many belated congratulations to your parents. As DivineMadman points out, a lovely story. My own parents knew each other considerably longer before their marriage that would have reached well into its sixth decade had not my father succumbed to cancer. I do think our respective parents were probably far from unique. Six decades or so ago saw very different times when society in general worked in much simpler ways. But I wonder if your parents came from very different cultures and actually lived on opposite sides of the planet before those first happy meetings? Perhaps my comments on the OP are a result of a failed attempt to live with a lovely Thai young man in his late 20s who had earlier lived with a boyfriend in Australia. I assumed he would be accustomed to a different western culture and did not take the trouble to introduce him to it before he moved. I was stupid. Despite his promises of undying love and after a lengthy long distance relationship, he just could not settle down. Purely for info, he was not a money boy and had never been in any gay bar in Thailand.

Like it or not KhorTose has made a valid point. Can anyone really know another person enough to marry and spend his life with him when this man has never once been to their own country? When one party has never lived in Thailand for more than a few weeks at a time? Some posters here have given out details of their meetings with other posters. So let me add that I met KhorTose. I hope he will forgive me giving out a small bit of personal information in his defence in the face of the "offensive derogatory over-generalizations" he is being accused of. Before he proposed to his Thai partner he returned and actually lived in Thailand for several years during which time they lived together. He also took his partner on a visit to his home in the USA so the young man could get used to the living environment. Only after all that did he feel confident enough that his Thai partner would be happy to settle in a totally alien country. We are all different. What works for one may not for another. Some use stronger language and inferences than others. I do not believe Schuft is a troll and I wish him every success with the relationship.

I refer to the quote I made earlier - from an expert on viruses. They may not grow but they don't die in the absence of a human cell to latch on to. As she points out they can iive on surfaces other than skin for up to months in some cases But I certainly wouldnt be relying on any advice or quotes made here. Do your own research and make up your own mind. Its your life, after all. In fact, I think this thread can end up being misleading. I suggest it is closed.

Well that may be the theory but there really are no specific rules. It all depends on the individual hotels. I once stayed at an up market hotel in what was billed as a superior room. It was tiny, felt like a broom cupboard and had a view of rooftops. I called the management and asked to see the standard room. Oh we do not have standard rooms was the response. I then argued. I told him that in the English language, the language of the country we were in, the word superior meant superior to something inferior. Again I asked to see the standard room. To keep me quiet I was upgraded to a deluxe - which of course should have been named a superior! Deluxe is often used for rooms of exactly the same size but on higher floors. Now I just call and ask in advance precisely what each room type consists of!