DivineMadman

According to today's Bangkok Post Terminal 2 is not quite dead yet. https://www.bangkokpost.com/news/politics/1630574/act-flags-airport-graft-risk

I agree. I am sure it makes sense for him and most of his customers. But because you have to book him well ahead of time, it's makes less sense for me. I worry I won't still be in the mood when the appointed day comes. But more power to him. Every so often I come across rants by masseurs or managers about no-show customers. I think some shops require a deposit for outcalls. Again makes sense for them. I wouldn't do it unless a shop I knew well. Also, of course, I would never send a deposit or travel money to a free lancer.

I haven't tried him. He's certainly my type in many ways, but his schedule is very often booked well in advance and although I am sure he is 100% dependable and above-board, you have to send a deposit to make a booking with him, which is just a little irritating. Also -- and maybe most important -- he identifies as top only so, taking him at his word, I don't think I'ld be getting my bang for my baht. He is very popular and has been for years so I am sure he's great. Just never makes it to the top of my "must do" list. Maybe someday I'll be intrigued enough and he'll have a sudden cancelation and I'll have the good luck to get a massage with him.

AEC is a nice little massage shop that has just opened up on Suan Phlu. If you are walking from Sathorn it's in an a small alley on the right side opposite and just past the intersection with Soi 6. The google map location is accurate. Map Website Line ID 6395rich I took the guy they offered but there are about 4-6 guys who work there. All are probably mid-20s. All pretty good looking above-average, different types. I am sure you can pick from the guys available or by picture if you book ahead. I was happy to take the guy offered. I counted about 3-4 fairly good sized massage rooms. shared bathroom/shower at the end of the hall. massage room walls do not go to the ceiling. no stairs. massage rooms have oversized tables with face cutout. Shower alone before and after. Masseur was clothed (underwear) throughout. I think if I had asked he probably would have dropped his clothes, but I didn't care so why not let him be comfortable. He certainly did not mind some good-natured groping at appropriate times. Massage was absolutely fantastic. He asked hard or soft massage and I gave the passive aggressive "medium" answer, so the massage was a little on the soft side but very good very very sensual throughout. five stars on the massage. Happy ending was an expertly given hand job. A bit unusual he continued to massage me during and after the happy ending so the whole experience was just an organic flow from massage to more sensual to HE back to more massage. Nicely done. One hour aroma oil 500 baht. 90 minutes 800 baht. I don't think it's a brothel in the style of the nearby Prince. The prices reflect that. What you get is a bit of better massage than usual Prince and all the guys are very friendly. It's a very nice warm and welcoming shop. If a good old f***ing is what you're interested in, by all means reach out to the shop. I think I've seen them on Grindr, so if you want they'll probably be game. I didn't see a minimum tip listed. I had a 90 minute massage and tipped 1,500 and I think we were all happy. Definitely going back.

FYI There will be a book sale at the Siam Society February 16 10:00-17:00. Vendors will be offering books, Thai crafts and "curios." The Siam Society is just a short walk from BTS Asoke/MRT Sukhumwit. After the sale you can always get a nice foot massage at Banana or be a bit more wild at Urban Male or Nine Spa. Siam Society Book Fair Facebook

Happy Valentine's Day. (Photo from Pong's public twitter feed)

I think the proposed terminal 2 was more of a "do not let the perfect be the enemy of the good" stop gap. Easier to build and connect to transit. A brand new mega terminal will certainly be better in the long run. But in the long run we'll all be ..... I wonder if you need a strong leader with a clear vision to build something as big Swampy. Or in Thaksin's case, strong leader, clear vision and, if reports are to be believed, a truly rapacious capacity for graft. Where Thailand gets the money for a mega terminal will also be interesting to see. Any chance it'll be China??

yes. the latest report - if true - is not that it's on hold but officially "scrapped". Although of course anything can change, and even more so during an election year as promises are made.... ALso reports that the gov't has pulled the high speed train project connecting the airports because the winner of the bid has changed the terms. But presumably that's just a hiccup and that will still go forward, with one of the other bidders or on changed terms.

I just came across a report that suggests the National Economic and Social Development Board has told AOT to drop the current plans for Terminal 2 and go back to the original master plan. If true, then certainly not much relief for Swampy for many more years to come. [The original master plan calls for a large expansion terminal on the other side of the runways - sort of a mirror image of the current one.] The third runway and a currently planned expansion of the eastern end of the current terminal are still in the works. Oh well.

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winner of the most ironic user name

yes. not entirely surprising. Grab starts out a bit higher than you would probably see on metered taxi and then you may be subject to dynamic/surge pricing, which of course doesn't happen when the taxi actually uses the meter. (Also the different choices between grab taxi, grab car, just grab, etc., give you different prices.). For jollies I just checked (13:30 pm) what Grab was quoting for Ploenchit BTS to Shangri-La and the just grab price was 117. grab taxi was 101-132. Premium cars of course even more expensive. I wonder if you got hit with a big surge pricing premium. There is an official Thai taxi app called Taxi OK. It's meant to be a competitor and the taxis in the program have to meet certain minimum standards. I've tried to use it a few times but have invariably ended up using Grab because no taxis actually agree to the pickup. Maybe someone else can get it to work for them.... I have mixed luck getting taxis off the street easily, so in your particular experience of "literally grabbed a metered taxi", well, for me, sometimes it's that easy and other times not so much. After a few 10-15 minute episodes trying to find a taxi willing to go where you want to go and to use the meter, the lure of Grab might be greater. If you're staying at or near a hotel then there might be a queue of taxis and the doorman can help explain where you want to go and to insist on the meter. I miss those days.... If I'm going out into the 'burbs to find a spot of one sort or another outside central Bangkok I always use Grab, just because I can get the location sent to me via Line or I can get the pinpoint location on google maps, link that directly to Grab and then it pops up on the driver's screen automatically and I never have to try to show him the location on the map or call the shop to explain to him. For me, that alone is worth a lot. Not so important in the main tourist areas. Also nice to be able to pay using for the trip through the Grab app.

I recently read a report about an incident in China where a "bad guy" was caught in a busy stadium (I believe) by facial recognition cameras & software. It's some scary stuff. And at the same time we are embracing the technology. I think (and as always am probably wrong here) that the proposals to speed things up in U.S. airports involve among other things use of facial recognition tech. I even read one report that the recent Facebook 10-year challenge was ginned up by Facebook to improve its own facial recognition software. True? I don't know. But could well be. If I'm ever doing anything suspicious I am sure to wear a Paulsf mask if there are cameras nearby.

Doesn't seem like a big deal to me, but as I've mentioned in another thread, I've linked Line Pay with Rabbit Card, which required it's own registration. Makes Rabbit Card that much easier to use (and three free rides(!)). If you don't already have a Rabbit Card you can get cute cards with a Line character on them now. I think most Rabbit Card users probably aren't tourists. It's simple a fact that Rabbit Card is NOT merely a transit card. That metaphoric train has left the station and not coming back. There are a lot of places that take Rabbit Card - coffee shops, cinemas, fast food joints, some food courts, gourmet market, Family Mart, etc.. It even has its own rewards program. It seems a bit bizarre to suggest that they take away that functionality just because some tourists don't want to register to use it. Mangoom Card -- if it ever materializes -- is expected to be a transit-only stored value card (I believe). Until then, there just isn't one.

Excellent advice. I think Thai Immigration has promised to staff all the immigration desks and now there are also dedicated lines for Chinese visitors -- at least on arrival. All that plus there is a concerted effort to make things better for the Chinese visitors, so maybe it won't be too bad on arrival. I do think, however, that Immigration misses the boat (as it were) on departure and it is shame to have vistors' last memories of Thailand be those horrendous lines....

It's a lost cause, but someone did take the time to try to give Trump a real life example he could understand. (Not 100% sure the science is exactly right, but it's clever)

This site gives the official pollution details from the Pollution Control Department. air4thai. There is also a free app air4thai. Below is a screencap I just took for Rama IV/Pathumwan, which is the district for the purposes of Pollution Control Department that includes Silom.

I think the current system is probably overall faster than it would be if a smaller number of passengers were getting loaded into a smaller space near the "dispatcher", but certainly it is a little disheartening after 18hr flight to have to schlepp luggage another 50 meters. Even before they introduced the current system you often would have to walk a bit to get to your taxi, but at least the taxi driver came to you and could help with luggage. But more important, I think when they got rid of the the human people assigning taxis it became that much easier for unscrupulous taxis drivers to try to go off-meter.

My brand-new condo building has that sort of odd little step up at the entry to each apartment. The explanation that I got for why it was done was that it protects the apartments from when the meebaan does the heavy floor washing out in the hallways. And this was presented as the rather obvious explanation. So these treacherous barriers around a bathroom would also prevent the water from sloshing out of the bathroom as the meebaans give the bathrooms their frequent mopping. Not sure I'ld make tha particular safety tradeoff, but TIT.

I think the usual advice for tourists is simply to stay away from VN during Tet

Most of them definitely do go back home for Tet, but there are some who stay in BKK. As the saying goes, you only need one [or two] - so you might still have good luck!

Agree it's a delightful video, but so ripe for parody.....

Somtum Der on Sala Daeng is good for hard-core Isaan food. Can be very hot/spicy. Even Isaan people like the food. Papaya right behind Silom Complex is good (maybe not great) and not expensive. A lot of locals and expats/tourists. It's got a very relaxed vibe. Feels more like it should be by a beach somewhere. If you're willing to go street food there's a good busy collection of street food joints along Pluk Chit 1 just off Rama IV. Always busy with a good dinner crowd. (No shortage of good street food spots all over, just that there's a lot of choices here all right next to each other and the soi itself has traffic and exhaust than Suriwong....). Also convenient after massage at any of the City Court shops.

It makes sense if perhaps the offer you think is reasonable he thinks is not. And it makes sense if the guy makes a judgment about the person who is making the offer and the price below he will not sell his ass.

For the ever-so-slightly adventurous, a visit to the Klong Toey "slums" is a fascinating experience. There is a delightful cooking school in the slums, which is how i got there. Highly recommended and the school benefits the Klong Toey community in many way. The school is charmingly called Cooking With Poo. CookingWithPoo Like all Bangkok neighborhoods, I think it safe, but it is very confusing and even with GPS and google maps I probably wouldn't venture very deep there unaccompanied. But the couple times I have been there I thought everyone was the usual nice and polite people we would all expect. Somewhere in the midst of it all is a tiny sports field that takes clever advantage of a unique footprint and one some design awards. I do want to get to see that at some point.