thaiophilus

"12/1" ? In ISO 8601 standard date notation is that 2021-12-01, 2022-01-12 or (TiT, after all) something else?

One special named day (and given the name, how could it possibly fail?) It's not the daily vaccination rate As for Runway 88, what differentiates it from Terminal 21 except for having a larger aircraft outside? Oh, and one of them is open for business.

Somebody worried about jellyfish stings?

and then there's Qantas: Queens and Nymphomaniacs Travelling As Stewards and for seasoned Caribbean travellers, LIAT (Leeward Islands Air Transport) better known as Luggage in Another Terminal

Been there done that to most of the places on that list, but MBM?

Don't imagine it's only happening in Thailand... Reichsleiter Patel has plans for England too: Fury at plans that could jail reporters for up to 14 years for stories that embarrass the government How a proposed secrecy law would recast journalism as spying When even the Daily Wail thinks it's a bad idea, something is seriously wrong.

There's an international border to do that (no comment on how effective it is ) not to mention lockdown on the Malaysian side. No, the deep south really does have a high number of cases per capita, which explains the deep red. I was wondering what causes that, if it's not population density. Ineffective or unimplemented government policy, maybe?

Only one?

Interesting. That list roughly corresponds to the provinces with highest per-capita cases, which are the ones with high population density around Bangkok, as you might expect, but also the deep south, where you might have to dig deeper to find a reason. Pattani is quite populous (to my surprise it has a greater population density than Chonburi) but not the other deep-south provinces.

How do they reconcile that with the FB "real names policy" ? or (I'm not a FB user) is that a thing of the past?

The downside of that is when you arrive at BKK, go through fast-track business class immigration and then find that the carousel due to handle 615 people's luggage is down until Somchai can find the right spanner to fix it. Yes, I too love upstairs on the A380, particuarly the Emirates version. Just thinking EK016 - EK376 gets my spine tingling. Add on the other business-class perks like limousine service (a generous 70 miles as the crow flies in UK), lounge access, priority immigration and it's a happy daydream at the moment.

Their nicknames (in order) are Od, Kem, Kay, Day, Name, Ming, Net, Arm, Suea (Tiger), King using an unsystematic transcription (ignoring aspiration, tone etc.) that may or may not be any help with pronunciation.

Indeed that's the "victory" celebrated by the Victory Monument (1941) in BKK. Shame they had to give it all back in 1946...

60, it seems. If over 65 you are "entitled' to half fares, but from 60 you are "privileged" to the same (on MRT, but not BTS). Maybe a lawyer can explain. As for the clear and informative (YMMV) announcements, I lip-sync along with them. Doesn't everybody? โปรดใช้ความระมัดระวังขณะก้าวออกจากรถ (mind the gap!)

I believe sex toys (and presumably that includes BDSM stuff) are technically illegal in LOS, though you wouldn't think so after a walk through Patpong night market or along Pattaya Beach Road.

Stationary taxis hanging around at tourist-trap locations just after BTS and MRT have shut down ( which is *before* midnight) are the worst offenders. If you walk to a main road and wave at a moving taxi with his "free" (ว่าง) sign turned on, there is less likely to be a problem. If he refuses to use the meter, don't argue, just walk away and flag another one. And if your new Thai friend does the negotiating, all the better.

While adding a few locations to my Google Maps saved places, I came across some reviews for the Golden Cock which make entertaining reading. Google has tagged it not "legendary infamous gay sleaze bar" (and I mean that in a good way ) but "karaoke bar" and so, despite all the external evidence, that's how the reviewers have read it. Incidentally, kudos to the bar for finding Indian music for one party to dance to. I wonder who was the more bemused.

The website still seems active, with updates in September 2019 (or maybe even more recently, I didn't look in detail). As ever, there's no way to verify the accuracy or timeliness of their coverage in any particular area.

Of course. All security is a tradeoff between cost, convenience and time. You have to decide for yourself what attack model you're trying to defend against. In your attack model the pickability of TSA locks is not important but in other circumstances it could matter, and that red TSA logo screams "easy backdoor, try me first" to anyone who knows. Incidentally, if the third comment on the Bruce Schneier article I cited is true, TSA locks are specifically banned as insecure for transporting firearms on domestic US flights Couldn't he just use the master key they keep behind the desk? Or had it been lost/stolen?

From the picture, it appears to have not merely a manual key, but a TSA-approved one. So any criminal with access to the internet can open it in seconds. Indeed, the legend on the lock even tells the thief which key is needed.

Hmm. You may be right about the bureaucratic nightmare, but thanks to Hotelling's Law, Britain hasn't had a socialist government in the last 40 years.

Erawan Museum and Muang Boran are two of Khun Lek Viriyaphan's legacies, the third being the Sanctuary of Truth at Pattaya. All are sui generis and well worth a visit, though IMO the S of T is overpriced. BACC (National Stadium) has interesting free exhibitions though some are perhaps a bit predictable. As for "beyond the main tourist destinations", I bet some of the regular posters could recommend many more, but the margin of this post is not big enough to contain them . Here are a few from my eclectic collection: There are other preserved/restored old houses in Bkk: MR Kukrit's house in Sathon, the Siam Society's Kamthien House on Sukhumwit, Suan Pakkad Palce in Pathumwan, the Bangkokian Museum on Charoen Krung 43. For an inexpensive day out take the Chao Phraya Express to Nonthaburi and lunch at a riverside seafood restaurant. Or take the Mahachai Shortline from Wong Wiang Yai to Samut Sakhon. For a night or two away from the crowds, stay at the Bangkok Tree House in Bang Krachao (short taxi ride from BTS Bang Na.) Looking for a peaceful green oasis in the middle of Sathon? visit the Teochew cemetery. Interested in bronze statues? have a wander down Captain Bush Lane. And if you want to visit somewhere really obscure with a view, how about the Chee Chin Khor Moral Up-Lifting for Benefiction Foundation [sic]? You've probably seen it from the river, but few people get close enough on foot to enjoy the view from the top. Or, heading east, the eccentric edifice of Wat Dhammamongkol off Sukhumwit 102?

Found it, though the map wasn't obvious. Many thanks. I was expecting the map to be a separate web page with a link from one of the tabs, but instead you have to open the "powered by issuu" viewer in the middle of the page, make it full-screen then scroll through to page 38 or so. Couldn't find any way of downloading it, though. "Save as" just saves the web page, not the magazine. Following the "share" link to the original at issu.com it has a "download" option but it's disabled. Still, a PNG screen grab is OK.

and what do you tell them?

Is there anything online showing even a halfway up to date map of bar locations? The exodus from Twilight means that none of the older maps I have downloaded over the years from Nicky, dreadedned etc. are useful any more, and neither of those sites is maintained.