PeterRS

I can't see anything in the quote about these being new condos. So Thais may already own a large number of condos in existing blocks. But I recall reading not so long ago that Chinese are purchasing as it is a way of getting cash out of the country.legally. Not sure what the limit is now, but it used to be US$50K per annum for individuals. That is one reason why Thai developers, especially in Bangkok, have been putting up lots of condo blocks with units of only around 25-30 sq. meters near the end of BTS and subway lines. Before the new Chinese law in Hong Kong, many young people were also buying in Thailand, and also as an investment. Housing in Hong Kong was -and I assume still is - amongst the most expensive in the world. It was estimated that a young couple in their 20s would take until retirement to pay off the mortgage on a very small apartment well out of the city. So many were parking cash in Bangkok condos in the expectation that after about ten years they would have risen sufficiently in value that the couple could get a more affordable home in Hong Kong. But the concern for Thais surely is that so many condos will remain empty - unless there is sufficient rental demand from those moving in to the city from the provinces. Partly, yes. But most Chinese wealthy enough to park money overseas are very unlikely to want to emigrate for even part of a year. They live well and they actually trust their government to continue its policy of economic development. Odd though it may seem, Shanghai has for several years been a more advanced city than Hong Kong in terms of quality of life and what that life offers. I doubt if any believe the government will start interfering with those advances because it is perfectly well aware that its very existence depends on making life better for the Chinese people. Very sadly that does not apply to the Uyghurs or the Tibetans. But I know it will surprise many that the vast majority of Chinese are perfectly happy living in China. They just want added protection for their spare cash since they know their banking system is not strong and their stock markets too volatile.

That's a bit like the Philippines Airline PAL. It was always known as Plane Always Late. A couple of decades it reversed the trend and tried to make the public believe it was Prompt At Last! It didn't work!

Let's not forget that @spoon is just a youngster - unlike most of us here!

And all the villagers who donated so much, including the landowners who refused compensation when their land was flooded by the water pumped from the cave. But surely this TV series is way too late off the blocks. Netflix won the rights over 2 years ago. What has it been doing to progress the project since then? How many other documentaries have already been aired? How many interviews with those who took part? I suspect a lot of international interest will have died before it finally airs.

Does anyone seriously believe in a country where corruption is endemic from top to bottom, where the Prime Minister has stated it will take him 20 years to get rid of corruption (meaning: get as much as you can now boys whilst you are still alive - I'm going to leave it to the next generation to try and solve the corruption problem) that these new rules will be obeyed? I'll believe it when I see it!

Cartoon by Ben Jennngs: The Guardian

I think your comment has been widely disproved. As far as I can see there is only one 2014 study in Australia that suggested vinegar might increase the amount of venom released into the skin. But that study has been widely debunked and its methodology seriously questioned. Every medical website I have currently checked still advocates the liberal use of vinegar after the creature's barbs have first been removed from the skin. This includes those from Australia where this particular genus of the box jellyfish found off Thailand originates. The websites include - https://www.healthline.com/health/box-jellyfish-sting#first-aid https://www.webmd.com/first-aid/jellyfish-stings-treatment https://dermnetnz.org/topics/australian-box-jellyfish-stings/ The last one has this quote - "Once on shore, apply vinegar for at least 30 seconds after envenomation; this deactivates penetrating nematocysts. Many tropical Australian beaches contain vinegar stations with clearly marked bottles for public use in case of marine envenomation. (Vinegar is one of a few chemicals, including ethanol, known to cause massive toxin discharge in a research, in-vitro context but not in the rescue setting, where vinegar prevents further toxin discharge when applied to the skin.)" Even the Queensland Government Department of Health's Ambulance Service website advises the use of vinegar -"immediately douse the string area with vinegar for at least 30 seconds." https://www.ambulance.qld.gov.au/docs/QAS-Box-jellyfish.pdf There are at least 51 species of box jellyfish around the world. Unfortunately it is the most dangerous of the bunch that lurks in the Indo-Pacific tropical regions. So if I hit a beach in this country, I will definitely have plenty of vinegar with me. Hopefully I'll reach it before my heart stops!

As the post mortems begin following the US and NATO disaster in Afghanistan, another issue is starting to hit the news. As in Iraq, it is known that corruption played a major role throughout most of the 20 years of occupation. Phantom troop levels were just a minor part. Now there is information about corruption designed to release some of that country's estimated $1 trillion wealth sitting just under the surface. The disgraced President who fled with unseeming haste with allegedly $169 million in his baggage, was part of a deal which also included a company "deeply tied to the American military and intelligence services." 20% owned by the President's brother, SOS International (SOSi) was illegally given rights to mine for chromite and had built a large factory outside Kabul. Many of its officials were recruited from former officers in the CIA and the top American commander in Afghanistan, David Petraeus. “It’s an open secret that SOSi is essentially a front for the [US Department of Defense],” one high-ranking Afghan official told us. This is part of a longer article by Zack Kopplin, an investigator at the Government Accountability Project, from today's Guardian newspaper. "Another stream of Taliban financing, facilitated by the Pentagon and Afghan elites, was the exploitation of Afghanistan’s mineral wealth. "In April, I co-authored an investigation for the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) that implicated the Afghan president and his family in mining corruption, along with well-connected US military contractors. "An estimated $1tn worth of minerals lies buried under the country’s surface. Before the Taliban takeover, Afghan law prohibited companies from buying minerals from small unregistered mines. One reason for this is because many of these mines were controlled by the Taliban, other terrorist groups, or local warlords. Buying from these mines meant financing the enemy. But our reporting found that there was one company that managed to get an exception to this rule, apparently with the approval of the office of President Ghani. "His office signed off on extralegal rights for the Afghan subsidiary of a US military contractor, SOS International (SOSi), to acquire chromite, a valuable component in stainless steel, from unlicensed mines in six Afghan provinces. The company built a factory outside Kabul and planned to crush and export the chromite. "SOSi is deeply tied to the American military and intelligence services. The company recruited heavily from the office of the former CIA director and top American commander in Afghanistan, General David Petraeus, securing significant political heft in the process. “It’s an open secret that SOSi is essentially a front for the [US Department of Defense],” one high-ranking Afghan official told us. "But SOSi had an even more important connection. Our OCCRP investigation revealed that the president’s brother, Hashmat Ghani, owned 20% of SOSi’s subsidiary, according to confidential documents leaked from an Emirati secrecy haven. "Beyond any mineral money flowing to the Taliban, this deal reflects the broader reasons Afghanistan collapsed. Corruption hollowed out state institutions and left Afghan citizens unwilling to fight for a government that, just like the Taliban, abused its own people, although in this case through theft, extortion and nepotism rather than outright violence and repression. "But the SOSi deal does not just implicate the highest levels of the country’s government, but powerful Americans and US companies too. "The Afghan state and army was in large part a facade, held up only by the American occupation, and it’s no surprise that Afghans were unwilling to fight and die for it any longer. But its failure isn’t on them. Afghanistan fell because after looting all they could from the country, American and Afghan elites gave up and fled, leaving the Afghan people behind. Who would fight for a broken system? https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/aug/30/afghanistan-us-corruption-taliban

I have no idea how urban myths are spread. The circumcision ritual in The Philippines is one. That 90% plus of young boys have the procedure done and the stigma they bear if it is not done seems to me not merely ridiculous but almost unbelievable. When I first came to Asia and visited Manila, I was really shocked that all the boys were cut. I rather assumed it was a legacy of the American colonisation, similar to the almost universal circumcision done on baby boys in South Korea after the end of the Korean War. Thankfully - at least I consider it so - that practice in South Korea is now disappearing. In The Philippines, though, it goes much further back in time and remains as common as ever, even to there being a "circumcision season"! Decades ago, Manila was a really fun gay place to visit, provided you could avert your eyes from the fightful poverty resulting from the murdering Marcos kleptocracy. The first two guys I met had probably had the procedure done in hospital for I noticed little out of the ordinary apart from the absence of a foreskin. When the third guy I met undressed I was so shocked I just did not want the assignation to continue. The meat grinder analogy may have been slightly overdone, but not overly so. I later learned that an army of unlicensed doctors and witchdoctors around the country are largely responsible for botched and supremely ugly circumcisions. It is one reason why thereafter I have rarely visited The Philippines other than for a beach vacation with friends. For the life of me I simply cannot understand why centuries (even millennia) ago tribes and certain religions felt it necessary to excise a small piece of skin from every young boy as a mark of belonging to that tribe. It seems especially stupid (with sincere apologies to those circumcised for religious reasons) because the wearing of clothing over the genitals makes it impossible for anyone else to know. Should synagogues and mosques not require men to lift up a flap to prove their adherence to the religion? Why not instead shave heads? Cut off part of the little finger like the yakuza in Japan? Or place a tattoo on the back of a hand?

I attend one of the best private dentists in Thailand. Since mid-last year or thereabouts, just after taking off my mask I have been given a strong mouthwash prior to my teeth being examined. it tastes nothing like Listerine or similar mouthwashes and requires being rinsed in the mouth for 30 full seconds. Clearly it must do something to reduce the possibility of transmission. Perhaps the new Mahidol Version is more effective, I don't know.

I remember first hearing about box jellyfish appearing off Phuket's west coast about 10 years ago. A tourist had died after being stung. The Thai media did not cover the story but the news media in other parts of Asia did. I remember something about fishermen having caught a few in their nets, and one reporter questioning if a few had been caught how many more remained uncaught in the waters. Since then there have been other stories and other deaths, notably off Koh Samui. Koh Phangan has nets and warning signs about not playing in the water outside those areas. It also has bottles of vinegar which is the recommended initial treatment until getting an affected person quickly to hospital. The boy had been playing outside the area covered by nets. His father did use vinegar on the stings but his son died on the way to hospital. From what I recall, the warming of the water around Thailand has led these lethal jellyfish to move north from their traditional habitat around Australia. https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2173495/israeli-boy-dies-from-box-jellyfish-sting-on-koh-phangan

Slightly off track, having mentioned SABENA's acronym, the only better one I know is that for LUFTHANSA - Let Us Fuck The Hostesses And Not Say Anything!

The number of general covid threads seems to have been reduced to @JKane's amusing one featuring Covid Dark Humor and those speculating when Thailand will open up to tourism again. But covid is still killing far too many people and inevitably some of us are affected as friends die. One friend aged 67 and an expert in his field (not medicine!) and therefore a frequent traveller much of each year went with his partner to spend a week at their holiday house in Greece in late-July. He then had to be in north Italy for a series of business meetings while his partner returned to London. A few days later my friend returned to get vaccinated, having stupidly missed an earlier slot. He was soon in hospital and on a ventilator. Two weeks ago he died. I first met him 45 years ago. Sadly this is not an unusual tale. How many of us have known one or more who have died of this dreadful pandemic?

Eisenhower's warning about the rise of military/industrial complex comes to mind. Important sometimes to realise the context and why he included this in this farewell speech (the use of bold face is mine). "A vital element in keeping the peace is our military establishment. Our arms must be mighty, ready for instant action, so that no potential aggressor may be tempted to risk his own destruction... "This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence—economic, political, even spiritual—is felt in every city, every statehouse, every office of the federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society. In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military–industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists, and will persist. "We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals so that security and liberty may prosper together."

I agree. My concerns remain the very small sample study, the geographical spread of the respondents being limited to rural areas in the north east and the south, and the fact that the interviews were conducted almost 10 years ago. Since technological advances play a part in the study, these will certainly in part be outdated. I am certain the responses of the boys will be illuminating. I'll not be spending £80 on the book but hope someone may eventually post their views on it here.

I see that this is part of a short series of books on Studies on Sexuality, Gender and Culture. According to the introductory blurb on the Anthem Press site, "the series encourages detailed study of intimate sexual meanings, love and romance, gender and sexual relationships and institutions, including the formation of relevant public policies and education. The series is interested in changing meanings of intimacy and courtship, as well as the extension of research into public policies in areas such as sexual citizenship, sex and moral panics, sexual migration, sexual health and sexual identity movements in society and online, the redefinition of gender and belief in religion and the contribution of sexuality to social inequality in Western nations." Given that last phrase, I am rather surprised that the series has a book on Thai society! However, I see from the Cambridge University Press website that there is a direct quote from the book's Introduction. "Of the 25 young men in this study 20 were Buddhist; 4 were Muslim and 1 was Christian. I had expected that including young men from the south and the northeast in the study would lead to a certain variety in terms of interpretations of homosexuality that could partly be derived from the young men's religion. However, the four Muslim men in the study seemed to be Muslim in name only; they hardly ever went to the mosque or attended other religious services or events. They were recruited from Phuket, Pattalung and Nakhon Sri Thammarat, which are provinces where only a small percentage of the population is Muslim. For security reasons, I was unable to recruit men in the four ‘troubled provinces’ in the south of the country, where Islam has a much stronger role in everyday life and where life for a young homosexual man is likely to be very different. The influence of Islam on the development of the sexual subjectivity of young same-sex-attracted men could therefore not be studied in sufficient depth and detail in this study." I'd love to know the age range of the young men in the study and how they were selected. A study of just 25 from around the country does seem to be a rather small sample. I wonder also from what social backgrounds they were selected. Since some had found their way into sex work and had a desire to find a wealthy long term partner, how many, I wonder, were from a higher social stratum and sought a career starting with University after school? The latter, in my view, have an even greater effect on the economy and positions in society. Also would any in that group see a necessity to restrain their gay selves in order to fit in as a professional working in Thailand's conservative society? Perhaps these questions are answered in the book. I hope so. And i hope it will be worth the advertised £80 per copy!

Alitalia has been in its death throes for many years and its demise is hardly a surprise. The Italian government tried to keep it alive without success. I believe Delta and Easyjet had expressed interest in taking it over a few years ago. But the talks came to nothing. I only once did a long haul on Alitalia and a few inter-Europe flights. For my money it served the best coffee in the air, but not much else! Reminds me a little of the Belgian airline SABENA which went bankrupt in 2001. Its acronym amongst frequent travellers was Such A Bloody Experience, Never Again!

Let's remember that during the months you were in Thailand on your last trip, the country was more of less completely open. There had been relatively few cases and only one relatively short lockdown in April/May 2020. The second wave at the Samui Prakan fish market in December did not have much of an overall effect. It was the third wave with the Delta variant that started in early April that has ravaged the country, I assume just as you were flying home. I would not place bets on November/December this year, but hope I am wrong. I think @z909 's estimate of March 2022 is more likely.

A propos the amusing, and sadly true, anecdote in @JKane's post above about Ronald Reagan whose determination not to acknowledge HIV-AIDS as the massive health disaster all his medical advisers tried to drum into him for years and who did not even mention the illness until his old gay pal Rock Hudson died, had he acted much earlier perhaps there would now be a vaccine. Perhaps. too. millions need not have died. Perhaps, too, the world could have saved trillions of $$ spent to date on HIV-AIDS programmes and research. It always amazes me that American 'freedoms' mean that a very large number of people claim they have the right to decide whether they are vaccinated or not. If the country was at war, those freedoms would be quite seriously and legally curtailed. With most of the anti-vexers being Trump supporters and with Trump having told Bob Woodward that covid is a "war", one wonders why such anti-social people are allowed to get away with the stupid freedom argument at this time. It's almost as though they are perfectly happy to be at war with their fellow citizens whom they could infect and whose hospitals are once again chock full of covid cases. Less than 2,500 Americans have died in 20 years of war in far off Afghanistan. Nearly 640,000 have died at home of covid. The cost of the war in Afghanistan is acknowledged at just under US$1 trillion. The losses amounting from covid so far - $16 trillion. Priorities seem amazingly twisted.

I have a friend in Bangkok whose bf is Vietnamese and they are very happy together. On a solo trip to Danang before the lockdown I had an amazing evening with a young Vietnamese boy who had clicked on an app. He was not a money boy, just a gay guy desperate to meet a farang. I wonder if the Vietnamese boys who work in the bars in Thailand are mostly straight and therefore less interested in sex with other guys.

I wonder who said that for I have not heard it before. I am certain the Thais are almost as active as before and they like sex as much as anyone, if not more so! What I have heard said is that the commercial tourist sex trade is in long time decline. I myself have said it for, as you know, I believe that it is almost certainly true.

It's the glass half empty in me. I can't help it LOL

From what I read, the British media are in general furious at the lack of consultation from their American allies (a lack of consultation also extended to NATO), at the speed in which the withdrawal had to take place and the disaster of having to leave behind Afghan allies and their families. Not a day has gone by without British vets excoriating the Americans because some of the Afghanis who helped them are now stuck in the country and liable to be killed. The media also point out that the British started pulling Afghanis out well before the Americans started on the paperwork. With fingers being pointed in all directions, including as I pointed out in a recent post the media itself, there is another group that one British vet is blaming in part for the disaster that took place two weeks ago - the independent contractors brought in largely by the Americans to do some of their work. This was also the case in Iraq - and we know what a disaster that turned out to be. Let's not forget that in that debacle it was Vice President DIck Cheney's former company Halliburton that was first awarded a US$7 billion contract (non-biddable by others) for private sector work in the country. Later in the war, that number rose to a whopping $31 billion. Even later, Halliburton's subsidiary KBR was found guilty of over billing. By then, though, Halliburton had distanced itself from KBR by selling off KBR in 2007. This is one UK vet's comment. When I was in Afghanistan, private military contractors numbered almost 30,000. Some were engaged in protection tasks, but many more were responsible for training and mentoring Afghans who held positions of significant influence. They advised on intelligence, war-fighting, diplomacy, policing, you name it. Some of them were doing their best. Many more didn’t give a damn. Many were on six figures and had been for years. Afghanistan for them was a cash cow, a way of putting their kids through college (most were American) or paying off a mortgage. In sum, there were too many poorly qualified people working without accountability, getting paid far too much. If you want an answer to the question of why Afghanistan’s military crumbled in weeks, take a long hard look at their so-called mentors. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/aug/27/afghanistan-nato-mission-corruption-military-soldier

I think @numazu's predictions are about right, in my view. I agree it will be the Asian gay market that revives first. From chatting to a few over recent years and judging from a couple of internet chat rooms based elsewhere in the region, Asians are generally more interested in massage and to a lesser extent saunas than they are in go-go bars. This is especially true of Singaporeans, Malaysians and Taiwanese - i.e. those from countries where individuals or small groups of gay guys are quite regular travellers. They are also perhaps more adventurous in finding spas out of the city centre. But the quality of the massage is usually as important as the afters, and any new establishments will need to ensure their masseurs are trained. Asians had been keeping Bangkok's go-go bars alive for some time, both on stage and off. I know that many of the audience would go for a massage or to Babylon or Chakran before going to a bar - but to see the show rather than a group of scantily clad guys doing a soft shoe shuffle on stage. After all, they had already satisfied their sexual desires that evening. Not having been a regular for some years, I depend on reports from friends, but it does seem to me that as a general rule not so many go to take off a boy. Having occasionally been with friends at Dick's or one of the beer bars in Soi Twilight in its last year or two, it was obvious that trade for the go-go bars was quite limited until after 10:00pm. And after the shows, there would be a major exodus. That means the bars will once again depend on drink prices to keep their heads above water. That will deter few Asians, I believe, but surely put off the farang who seemed constantly to complain about rising prices. Again from what I read and hear, the sexual prowess of the boys from neighbouring countries varies, some exceptional but more duds than with the Thai boys. Also many seemed to be working illegally so that if the BiB appeared they would instantly disappear. Is that really likely to change? Will those boys have any chance of a proper work visa? Surely not. In the old days 20+ years ago (sorry guys, I know we should be looking forward, not back) the Thai boys on stage usually seemed to be having fun and were genuinely pleased to get an off. Certainly as far as I was concerned I was rarely disappointed with an off. Which brings me to the next point. We know that improved economic circumstances were one reason for the Thai boys gradually leaving the bar scene. I assume many must now be suffering badly. Is it likely that this will drive more Thai boys back to the bars in the hope that this will financially be much more remunerative, at least in the short to medium term? That could be the fillip the bars desperately need.

Apologies. Yes, I should have written Ubon.