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From Bangkok Post The next two weeks will be the last for Dusit Zoo, the country's first, and still most popular, zoo. On Aug 31, the 80-year-old national institution will shut its gates for good. Its 1,000-plus animals will be relocated temporarily to six public zoos for three years until the construction of a new zoo at Klong 6 in Pathum Thani province is complete. Yet, when Bangkok Post visited recently, there was hardly a sense of impending doom about the place. The animals remained proudly displayed in their areas while all facilities were open as usual. There wasn't even a sign notifying visitors of the zoo's forthcoming closure. Director of Dusit Zoo Pitak Unson said there will be neither a special event nor a farewell party on its final day. "For the last day, things will be done as they usually are, nothing special," Mr Pitak said. Dusit Zoo, popularly known as Khao Din Wana, was built by King Rama V and was the first zoo to be built in Thailand. King Rama VIII opened the facility to the public in 1938 and, as of last year, it was drawing over two million visitors a year, generating 150 million baht in revenue. The new site is expected to open in three years time and is located on over 300 rai land in Klong 6 in Pathum Thani's Thanya Buri district. The land plot was donated by the present monarch, King Rama X. Continues with pics https://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/1524942/dusit-zoo-begins-its-long-goodbye

It is, of course, regrettable if some of the dead could not swim. But to use it as a rationale to explain the incident borders on blaming the victim.

When I was there in July for an early show, they fee was only 300. Wasn't aware that it went up for the late show. If you like Viet guys, that might qualify as a redeeming feature.

On last trip found the stage show at Twilight location more choreographed interesting. The guys at the Patpong 2 location seem a bit younger and newer to the scene overall, but very friendly. Think I may have described them as guy-next-door type. Both recommended.

By observing his posts over several years on this and other boards. By noting contradictions. By posted reports by members (including some moderators on SGT board) of his phony persona. By his vicious attack on a respected member in his first (and lone) post on GB board. By what members of this and other boards have shared with me regarding his actual identity.

You're now assuming the mantle of purveyor of nutritional doctrine and labeling members who recommend an occasional splurge as pigs. But you want us to see the world through the eyes of your phony identity as a young Singaporean. Actually, your an old timer like most members here. You, however, maintain multiple screen names on this board. Frequently they manifest in the same thread.

From South China Morning Post The boat accident that claimed the lives of 47 Chinese nationals off the Thai resort island of Phuket last month has shone a spotlight on the kingdom’s poor safety record and spread unease among tourism authorities and the government. The Ministry of Tourism and Sports said last week it had revised down its forecast for the number of Chinese arrivals for July to December by nearly 670,000, to 5.1 million, but insisted that Thailand would still achieve its target of 11 million Chinese tourists in 2018. The Phoenix was carrying 105 people – mostly Chinese – when it capsized in rough weather while returning from a popular snorkelling site on July 5. It was among three vessels that ventured out in spite of a bad weather warning. Chinese tourists accounted for almost a quarter of Thailand’s 35 million visitors in 2017, according to the ministry. The country expects to welcome 40 million tourists in 2018, with 20 million already reported in the first half of the year. There are signs, however, that concerns among Chinese tourists about Thailand’s safety record are beginning to be felt. The Bangkok Post, citing industry sources, reported that 7,300 hotel rooms in Phuket had already been cancelled for July and August as of late last month. Kongkiat Khuphongsakorn, president of the Thai Hotels Association Southern Chapter, which includes Phuket, told local media: “The booking rate has fallen sharply by 80 per cent to 90 per cent at Patong beach, and by 50 per cent across the province [Phuket] after the [boat disaster].” It did not help that Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon blamed the boat tragedy on Chinese tour operators acting through Thai nominees, who he said were responsible for harming their fellow Chinese. Prawit later retracted his statement under pressure. Continues with pics and video https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/2159959/chinese-tourist-numbers-fall-phuket-boat-capsize-deaths

As a news fanatic, in total agreement. This certainly qualifies as news. I did a cursory search and came up with zip about closing. So for those unfamiliar with the market, here's a 10-minute POV video that persuades me that something that made Bangkok uniquely Bangkok is no more.

From the BBC Booking a flight from London to Sydney can paint a telling picture of the big change in global air travel in recent years. It is the same if you are looking to fly from Bangkok to Los Angeles. Or from Singapore to New York. In all three cases, the cheapest tickets these days are often offered by a Chinese airline. Take the London to Sydney route. Using one of the best-known flight-finder websites to search for a ticket to fly out and back on two dates picked at random - 30 October and 12 November - the cheapest available, at the time of writing, was quoted by China Southern Airlines. Meanwhile, if you wanted to fly between Bangkok and Los Angeles on the same dates, the lowest-priced ticket was offered by China Eastern Airlines. So if you don't mind having a stopover in a Chinese city you might not have heard of before - how about 12 hours in Qingdao? - leisure and business travellers can often save a fair amount of money. But how exactly are a growing number of Chinese airlines able to offer bargain prices that undercut more established rivals from Europe, the US, Asia, and the Middle East? Are they playing fair? And how are the Chinese carriers able to secure an increasing amount of often hard-to-get landing slots around the world? China's main airlines are undoubtedly being subsidised by the Chinese government, says Shukor Yusof, founder of Endau Analytics, a Singapore-based aviation industry research group. These subsidies enable the carriers, such as the big three - Air China, China Eastern and China Southern - to aggressively gain market share around the world without worrying too much about any losses along the way. "Chinese carriers do not reveal details, or specifics," says Mr Yusof. "However, taking account of the numbers that are flying, it would be fair to say that some are breaking even, many lose money, and few are able to eke out profits." China's airlines are also benefiting from regional Chinese governments offering them subsidies to run international flights from their main cities, in the hope of putting them more on the map, and encouraging tourism and economic development. In 2016 regional Chinese authorities outside Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou spent at least 8.6bn yuan ($1.3bn; £1bn) subsidising airlines, mostly towards international flights, according to data compiled by research group Civil Aviation Data Analysis. One of the smaller Chinese carriers, Sichuan Airlines, offers services to Los Angeles from Hangzhou and Jinan, and both flights are said to rely heavily on subsidies, with less than 60% of seats full, compared with the global, industry-wide average of 81.4% in 2017. Thanks to the financial support from the Chinese government - which is the majority owner of Air China, China Eastern and China Southern - the Chinese carriers also have the funds to buy landing slots around the world. These can cost tens of millions of dollars, with airlines having to buy them from other carriers. Yet while the Chinese government is undoubtedly using its financial muscle to help Chinese airlines grab a growing share of the global aviation market, it would be far too simplistic to attribute the rising dominance of the country's carriers to state sponsorship alone. Instead you have to remember that China is the world's most populous country, and a growing number of its people can afford to fly overseas on holiday. This comes at the same time as countries in the West have eased visa restrictions on Chinese travellers. Mr Yusof says that the number of people from mainland China flying abroad has more than doubled over the past decade, "the fastest [rate] in the world". "We are talking close to 100 million seats in 2017 alone," he says.Outside of Asia, the most popular overseas destination for Chinese holidaymakers is the US. These Chinese tourists spend on average almost $7,000 (£5,500) per trip, according to the US Travel Association. Given the boost this gives to the tourism industry in the US and Europe, you can see why governments are quite happy to see more flights from China. In fact, the growth in international Chinese passenger numbers is so extensive that China is forecast to overtake the US as the world's largest aviation market by 2022, according to the International Air Transport Association industry body. Continues with pics https://www.bbc.com/news/business-45168924

At home, before you leave.

This may be the better--if not best--of the special productions about the cave rescue (Thai with English subtitles). No matter how much I learn about it, it's never enough. No matter how much bad news I read daily, this saga lifts me up. It's the feeling that all the religions of the world hope to instill but frequently fall short of doing. This quote by the Chiang Rai governor--that ends the video--says it more powerfully than anything I can think of: "It was a mission undertaken by the whole world; by humanity itself."

NOTE -- The panoramic photo below features a scene familiar to most readers (Saphan Taskin BTS stop just before Silom line crosses above the Chao Phraya and environs). Question that comes to mind: what was the photographer's vantage point? From South China Morning Post Chinese parents buy education and properties in Thailand as international school fees at home rise International school fees and properties in Bangkok are a fraction of those in China Chinese parents keen to enrol their children in international schools but reluctant to pay the exorbitant tuition fees in the mainland are turning to Thailand as an option, a trend that has bolstered the local property market. Peggy Wang, a mother of a 10-year old girl and six-year old boy, is one such parent who opted to move to the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai, where annual tuition fees at less than 60,000 yuan (US$8,732) are a quarter of the 240,000 yuan her children’s Beijing bilingual school had charged. “The teachers in the Beijing school change frequently, but in Thailand, teachers have families there, so the faculty is stable,” Wang said. “In Beijing, my children have to take extra English classes after school in the absence of an English-speaking environment outside class, but not in Thailand.” She plans to send her children to international schools in Bangkok when they get older, where fees will rise to about 100,000 yuan a year. To prepare for that, she has bought a 31 square metre flat in Bangkok for 650,000 yuan, in addition to the Chiang Mai villa she lives in and a flat in Pattaya. Continues at https://www.scmp.com/property/hong-kong-china/article/2159400/mainland-chinese-parents-buy-education-and-properties

I give you the that. But wherever they are or are not from, have the decency to get a room. For locals or foreigners to treat the city's central park as if it was the Garden of Earthy Delights at Babylon displays disrespect for all.

From CNBC Here's what it looks like when you let Google store your location history. Even if you pause this setting though, the company will still store information about your your physical whereabouts. Turning off location history doesn't stop Google from storing where you've been — here's how to limit the info it logs Contrary to what a user might reasonably assume, pausing "Location History" on a Google account doesn't actually stop it from storing time-stamped location data. Privacy conscious users should pause the "web and app activity" setting too. Do you think you've stopped Google from storing information about your physical whereabouts? You might want to double check. Contrary to what a user might reasonably assume, pausing "Location History" tracking on a Google account doesn't actually stop the search giant from storing time-stamped location data, as revealed by The Associated Press. Google makes it very easy to pause your location history, which saves information about where you go, through its Activity Controls page. If you pause location history, Google says that "the places you go are no longer stored." That message is misleading, however. Unless your turn off "web & app activity" tracking as well, Google will still store precise, time-stamped location data. For example, even after I paused my Location History, Google still logged my latitude and longitude information when I searched for something: Even if a user turned off their location history, information stored through those location markers could still paint a clear picture about their physical whereabouts over time. For example, clicking on that location marker opened up a Google Maps display that showed exactly where I was when I made that search query. While Google's Location History is turned off by default, the web and app activity tracking is turned on by default. Without checking their "my activity" page, a user might never know that Google apps and websites are storing their location information. Continues at https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/13/how-to-stop-google-from-storing-your-location-history.html

Perhaps you only associate with "Thai-Chinese professionals" and not the indigenous Thais who work the bars and massage shops. And perhaps you aren't really a 23-year-old Singaporean exchange student in Chiang Mai as you claim. Perhaps you'll tire of this charade.

Possibility but why not just remain at home if that's your objective. But that aside, I'd be remiss if I didn't call attention to your achievement--now a year in the rear view mirror--that your boyish modesty prevents you from doing so. Your brief but excellent adventure on Gaybutton's board established a record for all boards, current and extinct, in the category of shortest duration of membership. On Aug. 11, 2017, you registered as a new member and immediately posted an attack on a long-time member in the thread about Soi Twilight. Although GB quickly detected your intrusion, deleting your post along with your membership, I think your record (about two hours was it?) is safe.

Well, you got me thinking: could this in fact be true. So I set out to find @jiji_winkieboy and it wasn't difficult. This tweet on Aug. 6 seems to be among those that got this yarn going (original Thai run through Google translate): "Very bad experience This is a great way to start your day. But it's going to rain. To walk to the path that never went. What do you know? People are standing in the dark with the first thought that comes with Pokemon. I often see the employees in the office to catch the Pokemon good enough to eat it! (per)" And another from Aug. 7: "I think the scene outside the garden is lively people love to run a lot of love, but if it is in the middle of the garden it will be dark. There are people out there who are horny outdoor. In it, Phi Phi is like Harry uses baking powder to diarrhea, but the wrong pronunciation is wrong. It's a nonsense !!!!" Somehow I remain unpersuaded. But you can find more of his many tweets below: https://twitter.com/jiji_winkieboy

NOTE -- You don't have to look far in the headlines to find claims of "fake news" but I think there's a possibility this may be a fitting candidate. Below you'll find a follow up story to a claim on Twitter that a group of men were having sex in the daytime in Lumpinee Park. Below that article you find an article from the Bangkok Post from the previous day. In Post account, the Bangkok governor says he exercises there daily and has never seen the likes of it; a police general tweets that there's a 100,000 bht reward for anyone who can prove it; and a park security guard who says that he saw it in progress but all participants were--of course--foreigners. And all this is based on a tweet by someone who calls himself @jiji_winkieboy. What foreigners go to Bangkok to have sex with other foreigners anyway? You be the judge. From The Nation Complaints online about homosexual men having sex in Lumpini Park has prompted the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration is keep a closer watch on all 37 public parks in the capital. The complaint on Twitter about gay sex at 360-rai Lumpini Park was widely re-tweeted. “I have already ordered an increase in officials patrolling the parks,” Deputy Governor Chakrabhand Phiew-ngarm said on Sunday. He said the parks were also fitted with security cameras and more lighting. Continues with video http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30351984 ------------------ From Bangkok Post A titillating tweet from a jogger claiming to have seen a group of people having sex in Lumpini Park sent Bangkok governor Aswin Kwanmaung into a state of denial that such activities go on there. He exercised twice a week in the country's most famous public park, right in the city's centre, and had never seen such goings on there, the governor exclaimed. Pol Gen Aswin Kwanmuang on Friday challenged the person who posted the message, saying he would give the tweeter 100,000 baht if he could prove it was true. But the city's director of public parks, Arom Wongmaha, and a security officer at Lumpini confirmed the report, according to TV Channel 3. Mrs Arom said the sexual romp was reported on Tuesday around 3pm, and all involved were foreigners. https://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/1519350/sex-in-the-park-doesnt-happen-blusters-city-governor

Gaybutton has posted a link to a fascinating incident related to the cave rescue. It seems that one of those who participated in the rescue (Danish Claus Rasmussen) and a companion were driving in a pick-up truck when they took a wrong turn and got caught up in flash flood in Phuket that swept the vehicle into canal. The saga of their rescue by a over a hundred locals includes a great video along with pics. http://gaybuttonthai.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=9203

Excellent video of efforts to construct a large mural, memorializing the event. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-asia-45029013/thailand-mural-celebrates-cave-heroes

From NHK Newsline Travelers passing through the main airport in Laos are about to see the benefits of the latest development aid from Japan in the form of a bigger, better terminal building. An opening ceremony at Vientiane Airport on Thursday marked the debut of the new facility which is twice as big as the original. Japan covered most of the cost through assistance worth around 80 million dollars. It comes at a time when Laos is increasing its economic ties with China. A Japanese company will continue to manage the terminal for another 10 years in tandem with a local state-run enterprise. Japanese officials say they hope the aid can contribute to sustaining relations between the 2 countries. Video link https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20180809_44/

The guy in dead center of photo is the one I wrote about in my recent trip report. He remains the object of my Moonlight obsession.

From South China Morning Post After years of debate, Chinese scientists are close to a consensus on the design for what would be the world’s longest undersea railway tunnel, connecting the mainland to Taiwan. If realised, shuttle trains could be whizzing through a 135km (84 mile) undersea section of the tunnel at up to 250km/h (155mph) by 2030. The ambitious undertaking would include a multi-billion-yuan engineering and technical “warm-up” project, according to plans the scientists have sent the Chinese government, the South China Morning Post has learned. Despite this technological progress, rising political tensions between the self-ruled island and Beijing, which regards it However, some researchers said it was possible that Beijing would start work on the project in a unilateral, and largely symbolic move. Continues with pics and video https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2158271/strait-ahead-how-beijing-planning-worlds-longest-rail-tunnel-link

From The Nation Kuala Lumpur - The Malaysian government came under fire Thursday for ordering the removal of two LGBT activists' portraits from an exhibition, with campaigners labelling it an attack on the "dignity" of the gay community. The photos of Nisha Ayub and Pang Khee Teik were taken down from display at an arts festival in the northern state of Penang this week following the government order, festival organisers confirmed. Authorities in Muslim-majority Malaysia often take a dim view of homosexuality, and the country retains its colonial-era ban on sodomy. Officials have been criticised for introducing programmes directed at the LGBT community, such as a competition launched last year by the health ministry offering cash prizes to whoever could create the best video explaining how to "prevent" homosexuality. http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30351828

From Bloomberg News Thailand’s central bank left its benchmark interest rate unchanged near a record low as expected, and kept its rhetoric about the decreasing need for monetary policy to support the economy. Six of the seven monetary policy committee members voted to hold the one-day bond repurchase rate at 1.5 percent, where it’s been since 2015, according to a statement on the Bank of Thailand’s website on Wednesday. One MPC member voted for a 25 basis-point increase. All 20 economists surveyed by Bloomberg predicted the rate would stay on hold. Thailand’s hefty foreign reserves and a current-account surplus have helped to shield the nation against the worst of the volatility engulfing emerging markets, giving the central bank more time to refrain from raising rates. But policy makers have started to lay the groundwork for rate hikes as inflation picks up and economic growth strengthens. “The need to use an accommodative monetary policy will continue to lessen over time,” Assistant Governor Jaturong Jantarangs said in a briefing in Bangkok. “But we can’t say when is the trigger point.” The central bank will probably raise rates if “overall economic activity over the period continued to gain traction from all components, especially private consumption and investment,” Tim said in a note. The export outlook is better than expected and the central bank hasn’t yet seen the impact from rising global trade protectionism, Bank of Thailand’s Jaturong said. Economic growth was at a five-year high of 4.8 percent in the first quarter. Inflation is slowly rebounding and has returned to the central bank’s target range of 1 percent to 4 percent since April. Bank of Thailand said it is closely monitoring the currency’s volatility and its impact on the economy. The baht was among the worst-performing Asian currencies in the past three months, dropping about 4 percent against the dollar. “Looking ahead, the baht would likely remain volatile, and thus the committee would continue to closely monitor exchange-rate developments as well as impacts on the economy,” the central bank said in the statement. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-08-08/thailand-holds-key-rate-near-a-record-low-to-support-growth