thaiophilus

Scowling may also sometimes indicate a trip to the optician...

Such things have a long history under the name of "poses plastiques". Once popular as Lady Hamilton's "Attitudes", they were nearly the downfall of the Earl of Euston in the Cleveland Street Scandal.

The one advantage the gogo bars still have over the apps is that you can examine the goods before committing yourself and see the real thing, not an outdated photo of somebody else. Of course if they parade fully clothed it's less appealing. In the Good Old Days it wasn't so much the gogo dancing that appealed to me, nor even the shows, so much as the whole atmosphere of the bars, with the boys spontaneously interacting with each other as well as the punters.

But can you say it in one breath, without written notes? 😀 Or sing it?😎 FWIW the province name (OK, technically it's not a province but a Special Administrative Area) on car licence plates has been กรุงเทพมหานคร for as long as I've been visiting.

Dead as in "and the land has been sold".

Not so much sarcasm as self-deprecation? I expect there's a web page somewhere that will try to explain the British sense of humour...

The issue is not so much length as girth. They are made in different diameters. Too loose, it may slip off; too tight is very uncomfortable. I recall somebody recently posted some information about this: search this forum for "condom AND size" and you should find it.

Since the author is a retiree with a bald head and expanding waistline I'm not sure where the condescension is here.

Yesterday I received an email with a malware payload purporting to be from the Malaysia Hotel. I don't suppose the hotel has anything to do with it, but it looks as if their email system or website may have been compromised. If you receive anything similar, don't open (as if you would!) the attached spreadsheet.

That's unusual if your flights were both on Emirates but to be expected if you arrived on another carrier. At Dubai, Emirates use Terminal 3, other major airlines use T1, low-cost carriers like FlyDubai use T2. T1 is a train ride away from T3, T2 is a long bus ride. When I've travelled LGW - DXB- BKK it's been a short walk and security check, no train required. I'd second Gerefan's comments on the A380 business class experience. The only caveat is that there is a distance limit on the business class free limo service, with rules that differ from country to country. Unfortunately Pattaya is just out of range.

Andrew MacGregor Marshall has a fuller version of the story here. Not much seems to have changed in the last 12 years.

I had the opppsite experience at the Flamingo in Pattaya. Because there was an awkward corner they had joined two nearly normal sized rooms to make what was effectively a suite with two entrances from the corridor. I checked in, unpacked, went out. When I returned, my toothbrush etc. had mysteriously disappeared from the bathroom. Had the maid moved it? if so, where to? It took a while for me to realise that because of the history of the room, not only were there two entrance doors, there were two identical bathrooms and my things were in the other one 🙃

What's the Thai for Streisand Effect?

Yes. Since switching from employed-and-saving mode to retired-and-spending, when contemplating something expensive but affordable I often find I have to say to myself "can you really not afford it?" with an incredulous inflection. (Precise choice of words, word order and intonation are important here; if your first language is not British English you may not get the exact sense.)

to which I'd add my recommendation of the Bell Travel Service buses. Online booking only; Suvarnabhumi to Pattaya North nonstop, and the 300B fare includes minibus transfer to/from your hotel anywhere in Pattaya or Jomtien. Or for 400B you can get a bus BangNa-Pattaya with hotel transfers at both ends. For first-time visitors it avoids baht bus mafia, being dropped in the dark on unknown Sukhumvit urban jungle, and the hazards of motosai.

No, on second thoughts, it's Th. Rachini or Th. Atsadaeng which run alongside Khlong Rop Krung. At 6:00 we're here, I think. The square sentry boxes and gnarled trees look very similar. And it's the right area for soldiers etc.

My guess, no more, is that after the early part where they take the expressway from Bang Na, at about 1:15 onwards they are cruising Krung Kasem, somewhere between Hualamphong and Rama I. The canal and ornate bridges fit, and I don' t know any other stretches of canal with a main road beside them. Some of the road is one-way, so it's an interesting puzzle to identify exactly where they can be.

Construction uses concrete...

??? surely "far away and unpleasant" best describes Sai Tai Mai, which isn't near anywhere. I'd say Ekamai is accessible and compact. It's right by the BTS station of the same name, so unlike Mochit you don't need a taxi. Also it's so small you can't get lost, unlike Mochit. Tickets for the Pattaya buses are sold at the rightmost counter and the buses leave from platform 1. Simples. However, if you're going from Suvarnabhumi, don't overlook the Bell buses. Pre-booked only, about every 2 hours during the day, about twice the price of the regular buses, but that includes minibus shuttle to your hotel.

or it could just be TiT bureaucracy. They were asking for boarding cards for no obvious reason when I last arrived back in 2019. I never destroy the paperwork until the journey is completely finished. (Baggage receipt in particular: some countries actually require it before you can pick up your bag!)

In the airport proper, or down in the basement? In normal times, if you need to change money at the airport it's best to go down to the basement, where there are several money exchanges. Because it's technically the airport rail link terminal, it is outside the cartel that the banks run in the airport proper and the rates are significantly better (several percent, not fractions of a penny). Of course "normal times" don't apply so I don't know whether the exchanges are operating at present.

??? "Muslim" denotes a religion, not an ethnicity.

This site's SSL certificate appears to have expired. Don't be surprised if your browser starts telling you it's a security risk...

Our posts crossed - I meant Gaybutton's earlier post starting "In my opinion, the short answer is absolutely no."

I think Gaybutton's post above is the most accurate summary of the situation. As I read it, bars in Bangkok are not fully open but some are pretending to be restaurants until 9pm. (or paying hefty tea money, in which case don't be surprised if some publicity-seeking politician stages a police raid/photoshoot.) 16 January is not a definite reopening date, merely the first possible date the government will consider. TiT so who knows? Phuket appears to have been consistently deader than Pattaya even before lockdown, so it's unlikely that you'll have any luck there either.