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Don't think I've experienced over exciting sex. It's all been pretty much just exciting. Must try harder.

From Bangkok Post Travellers using Don Mueang have been advised to spare additional time to go to the airport due to the construction of the bridge linking the compound. Immigration Bureau spokesman Pol Col Cherngron Rimphadee on Tuesday advised travellers to allow more time than usual, or around three hours, to get to the airport. The advisory came after traffic congestion on Vibhavadi Rangsit Road outside Don Mueang since the closure of the bridge on Monday for renovation. The bridge will be demolished and a new one will be built in a nearby location to end the traffic bottleneck on the area. https://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/1356387/don-mueang-users-warned-of-traffic-congestion

Excerpted from NYTimes Thai soldiers in South Vietnam. Credit National Archives of Thailand By Richard A. Ruth, associate professor of history at the United States Naval Academy and the author of “In Buddha’s Company: Thai Soldiers in the Vietnam War.” Fifty years ago last month, the first Thai volunteer soldiers, a regiment-size unit called the Queen’s Cobras, were sent off to Bien Hoa in South Vietnam to fight alongside the Americans as part of the so-called Free World Forces. Eventually some 40,000 Thai soldiers and sailors would serve. While the Vietnam War is remembered rightly as a tragedy in both the United States and Vietnam, the same cannot be said for Thailand. There the war is described by participants, military histories and official monuments in largely upbeat terms. In the early 2000s, I interviewed more than 60 Thai Vietnam War veterans from that original group and its successor, a division-size unit known as the Black Panthers. They repeatedly stressed the experiential and material gains the war had given them. They talked about how their service had successfully blocked the spread of communism to Thailand. They marveled at how much Thailand had changed during the war years. And while they acknowledged the war’s terrible toll on people throughout Southeast Asia, including some of their fellow soldiers, they mostly talked about how the war had helped them and their nation. What really struck me, though, was the pride they took in their self-image as Buddhist soldiers. “Thai Buddha, No. 1!” I heard that phrase, originally blurted out in pidgin by American servicemen upon meeting Thai soldiers, time after time in my interviews. Most Thai combat soldiers wore numerous Buddhist amulets into battle. The more devout wore dozens in crisscrossing strings around their torsos. These Thai troops harbored great faith in the amulets’ protective power, saying the charms could bend the path of enemy bullets around their bodies or throw up a force field to blunt the blast of an anti-personnel mine. They took the Americans’ enthusiasm for this prodigious display as evidence of the Buddhist amulets’ superiority over similar Christian charms such as a cross or a St. Christopher medal. And they happily shared their amulets with any American who asked for one. During the first years of their commitment, from 1967 to 1969, a time when the American public was turning rapidly against the war, the Thai press carried laudatory reports of the Thai troops’ great battlefield successes. Thailand’s king, Bhumibol Adulyadej, brought gifts to the first wounded volunteers repatriated to Thai hospitals. And the monarch, enormously popular during this period, oversaw the first military funerals at palace-sponsored Buddhist temples. Thailand hosted seven air bases that launched American military aircraft daily on missions to strike strategic targets in Laos, North Vietnam and South Vietnam. The United States funded the rapid expansion of a naval base and port facilities that brought war-related supplies into the region. At the height of the war, some 50,000 American military personnel were stationed throughout Thailand. Thai entrepreneurs, many with connections to the government, built scores of new hotels, restaurants and bars to serve the waves of free-spending American G.I.s visiting on R&R. The G.I.s added $111 million to the Thai economy. At the war’s end, Thailand kept all of this military equipment and infrastructure. The Buddhist kingdom saw itself rapidly modernized thanks to the war. The “mercenary” tag has done little to harm the soldiers’ reputation at home. Thailand’s official memorials to its Vietnam War veterans laud battlefield success, military professionalism and honor. The Thai Vietnam War Veterans Memorial in Kanchanaburi evokes the more famous World War II-era monument in Bangkok called Victory Monument. Its bas-relief images show well-armed Thai troops defeating ragtag Viet Cong guerrillas. The Royal Thai Army counts the Vietnam War as one of its proudest moments of the 20th century. The dioramas and displays in the official National Memorial Museum outside Bangkok show Thai troops killing their communist foes in arrangements that stress the successful defense of Thailand. Less evident today is the terrible cost that Thailand paid for its involvement in the war. In addition to the 351 killed in action and the 1,351 wounded in Vietnam, Thailand sent volunteer troops to Laos in the so-called Secret War, many of whom fought and died under terrible conditions. The Vietnam War and the presence of American military personnel played a role in inciting episodes of political violence in the mid-1970s, notably the horrific massacres of student demonstrators by troops, police officers and vigilante gangs in 1973 and 1976. Bangkok’s notorious red-light districts catering to Western sex tourists trace their origins to the R&R visits by American troops. Some of these soldiers left behind unacknowledged offspring from short-term relationships with Thai women; many of these children were raised in poverty and ostracization. But these events — and especially their connection to the war — are largely elided from Thailand’s official memorials and histories. In that same period that Vietnam suffered, Thailand saw foreign investment soar. American-built highways now linked rural areas to Bangkok and regional capitals. The rice-growing countryside added factories and processing plants in a spate of rapid industrialization. The former R&R infrastructure left over from the war became the basis of a world-famous tourist industry that has grown enormously since the mid-1970s; this year foreign tourists are expected to add nearly $50 billion to the Thai economy. For all of the downsides that Thailand found in being America’s ally in a losing effort, it can legitimately claim, as it does in its monuments, command histories and veterans’ memories, that it came out of the Vietnam War a winner. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/07/opinion/thailand-vietnam-war.html

If you check Christianpfc's blog you find several first-hand reports on the place. Use the search function here you'll pull up comments about it.

For a place that's said to be falling apart, SN sure attracts a lot of readers. I scan the posts there periodically and find some of the banter entertaining as I do the occasional trip reports and other info. To me it's sort of like reading a newspaper: I don't read every article but I find enough to make it worthwhile.

From South China Morning Post Cantonese colleagues call him dai lo, meaning “big brother”. A golden statue of the ancient Chinese god Guan Yu stands tall on his office desk. No expat lives as a local like Timothy Worrall – the youngest serving foreign police officer in Hong Kong. Worrall is proud to call the city home, and it is the place he plans to retire. “Where else can you go for siu yeh [late night meals] and wonton min [wonton noodles] at 11pm?” says the 44-year-old British superintendent from the force’s small boat division. He is expected to be the last foreign officer to retire from Hong Kong’s police force, 10 years from now – a milestone that will mark the end of the era of expatriate officers in the 173-year history of the force. “I was born in Hong Kong. But after going to boarding school and university in the UK, I applied from the UK to join the Hong Kong force in 1994,” Worrall says. “I was very lucky to get in as overseas recruitment was ending.” Today, Worrall has fulfilled his dream and has worked for all the police units he had targeted. Over the years he has been involved in many high-profile police operations, from dealing with the disturbances in 1996 at the Whitehead refugee detention centre, to repatriation of refugees to Vietnam, chasing smugglers in the dark of night, and even going to sea in a typhoon. He has also hosted the police force’s English television programme, Police Report. When Hong Kong transformed from a British colony to a Chinese special administrative region in 1997, the younger Worrall was working in the Emergency Unit. When the clock struck midnight on July 1, he removed his silver Royal Hong Kong Police badges, which featured opium boats in Victoria Harbour, and attached the shiny insignia of the new Hong Kong, before getting straight back on patrol. Continues with pics and video http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2118472/no-change-1997-its-still-about-providing-best-service-says

Spoiler warning -- This isn't about sex. I post this because it reminded me that Bangkok--like most major cities--offers some wonderful opportunities to step back into the past in deserted and often hard to access locations. Christian has taken us to many of them around Thailand on his blog and I've found all a source of fascination. I know it's not everyone's cup of tea. But for the more adventuresome, it can be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Excerpted from CNN Ah, porn. Few words come with as many pre-loaded connotations and assumptions -- the promise of titillation, the thrill of taboo, the inherent air of seediness. Think poverty porn. Think food porn. Think good-old fashioned porn-porn. So what are we to make of "ruin porn", the work of photographers and artists who aim to communicate the romantic frisson -- as they see it -- of run-down buildings? The allure of ruin remains prominent in tourism and popular culture, including abandoned amusement parks such as Sydney's Magic Kingdom park, Germany's Cold War-era Spreepark, and Japan's Takakanonuma Greenland in the Fukushima district. Photographers who capture these sites have a name: "urban explorers", and many keep diaries of their discoveries on social media platforms. These images represent not only economic failure, but ideological failure, representing a break with modernized conceptions of cultural innocence and everyday enjoyment. Ruins appear to confront society's faith in anthropological endurance. Decaying buildings signify the inevitable process of history, to which we, too, will eventually succumb. Essentially, 'ruin porn' is a kind of time travel to the future within the present. http://www.cnn.com/style/article/what-ruin-porn-tells-us-about-ruins-and-porn/index.html

From Gulf Times DOHA - Qatar Airways will launch direct flights to Pattaya, its fifth route to Thailand, due to increasing customer demand, it was announced. The new four times a week service, which starts on January 28, 2018, is in addition to the airline’s existing flights to Bangkok, Krabi, Phuket and soon to be launched, Chiang Mai. Qatar Airways will operate a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, with 22 seats in Business Class and 232 seats in Economy Class on flights between Doha and U-Tapao Rayong Pattaya International Airport, on its winter schedule. http://www.gulf-times.com/story/569184/Qatar-Airways-launches-new-flights-to-Pattaya

At my age, their "use by date" seems to somehow coincide with my departure date.

Sailors on liberty are ripe for cruising if you follow some simple rules. Remember, these guys have been living at sea in close quarters and crave relief when ashore. The average age for the lowest four enlisted grades is between 19 and 20 in the US Navy and that probably is the same elsewhere. They appreciate the luxury of some time in a hotel room. Cruising sailors 101: 1. Look for sailor unaccompanied by mates. 2. Invite him for a drink 3. Repair to your room 4. Repeat until you run out of sailors or money.

Nineteen navies will send ships to Pattaya to participate in the International Fleet Review Nov. 13-22. Activities will feature l and and sea events, including a fleet review regatta on Nov. 17 in Pattaya Bay. The event will be held in conjunction Air Race 1 World Cup Thailand 2017 from November 17 to 19, at U-Tapao International Airport located on the Royal Thai Navy Base in Sattahip, Chon Buri province. Additional information http://aseanifr2017.com/

From The Nation Government spokesman Lt-General Sansern Kaewkamnerd said on Saturday that the mourning period for the passing of His Majesty the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej will end on Monday, October 30. Sansern said the official end of the mourning period has been agreed upon by the Cabinet. He said that people would not be required to wear colourful clothes on that day, despite rumours to that effect on social media. The spokesman also denied that the government had instructed the Prachuap Khiri Khan governor to tell residents of all districts to wear yellow on Monday. No instruction on clothing has been given, the spokesman added. Meanwhile, areas around the Royal Cremation Ground have returned to normal after the funeral was completed on Friday. http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30330305

If Hong Kong is on your itinerary, Travel Gay Asia has many massage listings, and many have fairly recent reviews. https://www.travelgayasia.com/hong-kong-gay-massage-spas/

Thanks for catching that. I meant to write 898 HKD (389 fee plus 500 tip) equals USD 115, EUR 98 and about half of what you'd pay in west.

Considering you're in HK, the total cost for 1.5 hr. isn't bad (USD 115, EUR 98) and about half of what you'd pay in west. Thanks for report.

All is opinion, Marcus Aurelius (quoting Cynic Monimus)

When I passed through Doha on my last return trip, these practices were already in effect. All bags were were re-screened at gate and then opened for inspection. A few routine questions asked by airline screeners but the emphasis was definitely on electronics. Agree that it's an inconvenience but as soon as the first airline experiences an in-flight explosion, the same practice will be adopted by all nations. I'd rather be ahead of the curve.

From CNBC Airlines get ready for new US security rules that take effect Thursday New security measures including stricter passenger screening take effect on Thursday on all U.S.-bound flights to comply with government requirements designed to avoid an in-cabin ban on laptops, airlines said. Airlines contacted by Reuters said the new measures could include short security interviews with passengers at check-in or the boarding gate, sparking concerns over flight delays and extended processing time. They will affect 325,000 airline passengers on about 2,000 commercial flights arriving daily in the United States, on 180 airlines from 280 airports in 105 countries. The United States announced the new rules in June to end its restrictions on carry-on electronic devices on planes coming from 10 airports in eight countries in the Middle East and North Africa in response to unspecified security threats. Those restrictions were lifted in July, but the Trump administration said it could reimpose measures on a case by case basis if airlines and airports did not boost security. European and U.S. officials said at the time that airlines had 120 days to comply with the measures, including increased passenger screening. The 120-day deadline is Thursday. Airlines had until late July to expand explosive trace detection testing. "We see this as a big issue for China Airlines," Steve Chang, senior vice president of the Taiwanese firm told reporters on Wednesday, adding the airline was trying to consult with the American Institute in the country over the issue. Korean Airlines, South Korea's flagship carrier, also said it had a lot of concerns with the new measures. "We are asking customers to show up at the airport early ... It's just inconvenient for the passengers," President and Chief Operating Officer Walter Cho told Reuters in Taipei. Lufthansa said on Tuesday the measures would be in place by Thursday and travelers could face short interviews at check-in or at the gate. Economy passengers on Lufthansa's Swiss airline have been asked to check in at least 90 minutes before departure. Cathay Pacific Airways said it would suspend in-town check-in and self bag-drop services for passengers booked on direct flights to the United States. The airline said passengers would also have short security interviews and it has advised travelers to arrive three hours before departure. Singapore Airlines said the security checks could include inspections of personal electronic devices as well as security questioning during check-in and boarding. https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/25/airlines-get-ready-for-new-us-security-rules-that-take-effect-tomorrow.html

Fountain's photography always seems to capture the grandeur of wherever he visits. He recently posted a trip report to Iran on Gaybutton's board that lives up his billing.

I'd certainly agree that we'll probably never know with any certainty what became of Thompson, despite all the research and supposition. But if you put aside his life as a CIA operative, the life of the other Jim Thompson is fascinating in its own right. Highly-educated with a designer's eye, he revitalized the silk craft in Thailand. He was welcomed into the hi-so society of Bangkok elite and invitations to his parties were much sought after not so much for his company but for the opportunity to rub elbows with other hi-so's higher in the pecking order--a time-honored pursuit that persists to this day. Thompson may have even fooled himself occasionally into believing he had been accepted by these Thais as one of their own but in reality it was an illusion. That's always a bridge too far for any foreigner. Few old Asia hands have had more written about him. And it's not uncommon for one researcher or biographer to conflict with the other, particularly when it comes to his disappearance. He simply makes for great copy. If a reader is interested in the original hard-copy version of the Life (May, 1984) article, they're available on Ebay and Amazon.

If she was a white congresswoman in small hat would it make any difference? Don't believe any members appear anywhere in the film. It lasts 106 minutes. If you haven't toured the Jim Thompson House, it's located a short walk from the National Stadium BTS stop.

I consider it fairly priced because you're getting quality ingredients, almost all of which (except veggies) have to be imported (cheese, pureed sauce, flour, olive oil). In Bangkok, there's no better place to enjoy thin-crust pizza and no place is more convenient--or legendary--than Madrid.

So instead of trying your best to take this thread off topic, why don't you post a trip report about Madrid the city. Or post pics of nice, young Spanish boys in photos forum. Maybe that will succeed in sating your hunger.

While posting about the Jim Thompson film in Beer Bar forum, I got to thinking about the Madrid restaurant in Patpong. Although he met his demise two years before it opened in 1969, Thompson would have felt right at home considering the clientele who frequented the place in its early days. The Madrid also makes occasional appearances in the trip reports, particularly those of vinapu. And as for price, what more testimony do you need than that of Christian who finds it a good value. Here's some takes of how it's been remembered over time. Bangkok Post (August, 2013) The ornate black door with the coats of arms and shields looks heavier than it is, and opens up from the gaudy seediness of Patpong Soi 1 into a world where time moves differently _ although not necessarily slower. The Madrid bar and restaurant has evolved since it opened in 1969, then catering mostly to US soldiers fighting in Vietnam and later gaining a reputation for hosting pilots from the CIA's Air America and even as a place where covert operations were planned. A woman who asked to be identified only as Jenny now runs Madrid; she took over the business from her Thai mother, who helped get the bar up and running with Jenny's American stepfather. The clientele was about 95% American in the old days, including many CIA and DEA agents and US embassy workers. The most famous regulars were the Air America pilots who conducted clandestine operations against communists in Laos in the 1960s and 1970s. Most have now gone: Many have died, others have stopped drinking out of health concerns, and some have moved upcountry because they find Bangkok too expensive these days. Pilots are still popular at Madrid, but these days they are the commercial rather than conspiratorial kind. This is helped somewhat by the fact Jenny's husband, Andre, flies for Vietnam Airlines. Screenwriter Dave Walker, who calls his recent project The Poorest Man ''a Khmer Rouge story with a happy ending'', has been coming to the Madrid regularly since 1981. Of all the changes there, he says it's the people he misses the most. ''I miss the characters,'' he says. ''It was living history. The conversations here, you couldn't imagine. These guys really lived life.'' Stickman (May, 2013) One of the great dames of Patpong, Madrid opened in 1969 and has been popular with generations of expats. Hundreds of bottles of alcohol are stacked behind the bar, yet the single-shophouse Madrid with small booths along one wall is more restaurant than bar. In a city with unlimited dining options, Madrid still compares well. Madrid opens early and the eggs Benedict is a favourite. There's a daily special but Madrid is perhaps best known amongst expats for its pizzas, amazing given that pizza is the one item of farang food that polarises expats. Who doesn't think the best pizza comes from their hometown? The area above the bar is said to have been a CIA safehouse in the '70s, a place where clandestine meetings were held and planning for many missions over Laos carried out. Easy to walk past, Madrid is located on the main Patpong soi, about 50 metres or so along on the left-had side if you enter from the Silom Road end. The Guardian (March, 2017) There’s only one Vietnam veteran’s bar left in Patpong, the notorious red-light district. When Khun Daeng and her American GI husband opened the Madrid Bar and Restaurant in 1969, the first thing they did was swap the grand piano for a record player. Soon after, it became a hangout for CIA types. Men like Jack Shirley, a legendary former CIA official, drank here. The current owner, Jenny, Khun Daeng’s daughter, has not altered the decor since the Madrid’s hey-day, and it still serves the unappetising-looking but much-loved army dish known as SOS. This either means “shit on a shingle”* or “save our stomachs”, depending on who you ask. It is a mush of chipped beef, mixed with milk and gravy, slapped on toast. * I can attest that it was the former, from basic training to discharge. reader Teak Door blog (November, 2008) The Madrid was an old CIA hangout during the Air America days. At that time, you most likely would run into Jack Shirley or Tony Poe downing a few beers in the Madrid. Tony Poe is who the Colonel Kurtz character from Apocalypse Now is based on. The photo below is an old one from the Lucy's Tiger Den. The walls at the Madrid are plastered with photos of customers new and old. Jack Shirley is on the right and Tony Poe is sitting with him to his left.

From Khaosod English BANGKOK — A new documentary is set to stir fresh debate over one of Asia’s most enduring mysteries: What happened to Jim Thompson, Thailand’s legendary silk king. The former American intelligence officer turned textile tycoon went for a walk in the Malaysian jungle 50 years ago and never returned. Despite a massive search, no trace of Thompson was ever found. One of the most prominent Westerners in Asia had simply vanished. Theories abound: He was killed by a tiger; he got lost and perished in deep forest; he disappeared himself as part of a political intrigue. Those behind the documentary say they have new evidence that Thompson was killed. Their film, “Who Killed Jim Thompson,” premiered Oct. 20 at the Eugene International Film Festival in the U.S. state of Oregon. “There’s been all sorts of theories and mostly silly theories, but I’m hoping that this will put some closure to, you know, the whole story,” said Barry Broman, the film’s producer. The filmmakers, from Adventure Film Productions, said they got their break out of the blue: An old contact approached them with a tale of a death-bed confession. They eventually found a second source whose information dove-tailed with the first. Their conclusion: Thompson was slain by rebels from the Communist Party of Malaya who grew suspicious after he arrived in the jungle and began requesting a meeting with the party’s secretary-general, at the time Malaysia’s most-wanted man. Rather than vacationing, the filmmakers said, Thompson was on what turned out to be a final, fatal mission. Continues with photo http://www.khaosodenglish.com/news/2017/10/21/jim-thompson-disappearance-case-solved/ For those who wish to learn more about this fascinating character in modern Thai history: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Thompson_(designer)