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If you're headed into or out of the Silom-Sathorn area, prepare for even more bad news during much of the same period that runway work is under way. From Bangkok Post The Thai-Belgian bridge on Rama IV Road in Pathumwan district will be closed for 30-45 days for repairs after its steel structure was damaged by a fierce fire among some garbage bins stored underneath it on Tuesday morning. Thiti Songcharoenkij, director of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration's Construction and Maintenance Office, said a preliminary examination found the steel beams on the outbound (heading to Klong Toey) were bent after being scorched by the fire for an extended period, causing the traffic surface to subside. The city's traffic would certainly be affected by the closure of four traffic lanes. http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/1206404/thai-belgian-bridge-to-be-closed-up-to-45-days

Long delays described below bear no connection the the planned runway work but was caused by understaffed immigration check points. From Coconuts Foreign tourists were stranded in a long line at the immigration checkpoint at Suvarnabhumi International Airport yesterday morning. Morning News showed a video of a paranoia-inducing long line of travelers queuing at the immigration checkpoint to leave Thailand as only six out of eighteen counters were open for service around 8am on Sunday. The influx of travelers caused the line to stretch from the immigration checkpoint all the way to the check-in area, according to government radio channel JS100. http://coconuts.co/bangkok/news/crazy-queue-suvarnabhumi-airports-immigration-causes-travelers-miss-flights/

If you think Soi Twlight long-time rates are high, be glad you're not a woman seeking male companship in Tokyo where it can run into thousands of dollars. From Nation Multimedia: CIGARETTE SMOKE hangs thick in the air of a Tokyo nightspot as Aki Nitta sips champagne with a trio of sweet-talking Lotharios peddling fake love at premium rates. In a country which has lost its mojo, many wealthy Japanese women spend eye-watering sums on male hosts in return for an evening of sweet talk, flirting – and often sex. The 27-year-old businesswoman from Nagoya, spends around $10,000 (Bt350,000) a month on the object of her desire – a faintly androgynous beau with bleached hair and a boyish grin. But some big-spenders splurge over $100,000 in a single night to have their egos stroked by smooth-talking rental Romeos who themselves can earn five times that amount in a good month. There are a growing number of wealthy and successful Japanese women that have become frustrated with traditional dating and instead prefer to focus their romantic energies somewhere they are guaranteed to be treated well. Many women – ranging from 20-somethings to those in their sixties – lavish expensive gifts on their favourite hosts, buying them diamond watches, luxury cars, even apartments. http://www.nationmultimedia.com/news/life/art_culture/30307247

An official from the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, accompanied by a host of local authorities, toured some of the Pattaya hot spots over the weekend and seems to think the problem is well under control. From Pattaya One Some of Thailand’s leading tourism figures descended on Pattaya at the end of big week in the resort’s often troubled history, to focus on the future development. Leading the way on a tour of Beach Road and Walking Street was Pongphanu Sewatrun one of the leading lights at the Ministry for Tourism and Sports. Also in attendance was the Banglamung district chief Naris Niramaiwong and other national tourism industry officials. Pongphanu painted a rosy picture of the resort’s future saying that many problems of the past had now been addressed. He claimed that the city was dealing with its crime problem successfully. Countering comments make in the UK media that Pattaya was a sex capital of the world and full of nothing but prostitutes he said: “Pattaya has had some problems but it is a great place and a very important place for the tourism industry. We want it to continue to develop into the future. “There is nothing to worry about,” he added. “Pattaya is a quality place that is of a world standard”. http://pattayaone.news/en/upbeat-pattaya-future/

True. Individual tastes may vary but there are some universal truths. WB's needs more publicity than the Thai boards can provide alone. It needs a FB page and inclusion in the listings that other Asian and Chinese gays, in particular, follow. That may well require some professional help in getting it placed in the right slots but that should prove money well spent in the greater scheme of things.

A successful manager (as this Dane surely is) very likely has a schedule with waypoints he needs to tick off if Winner Boys will remain viable. He knows the seasons and can predict the potential traffic. He knows customers, like restaurant-goers, are drawn to the most crowded places. He's fully aware that he must maintain the original buzz that has prompted the positive postings on all the message boards which function like Trip Advisor ratings. Sounds like a good business plan. But even the best plans can go awry as firecat points out. He needs to keep staff pacified and happy because they are--in the final analysis--his primary asset. This is where it will get tricky: fail at this task and customers (and revenue) go south like birds in winter. If firecat's premise is correct--and there's little reason to think it's not--then its up to ex-pats to make or break this place, particularly in low season. Not being being one (I'm writing from 10,000-mike away), I can't speak for them but I gather from board postings that they like what they see. They've long offered suggestions on what a difference good management of a Sunee bar could make. Now they appear to have it. If, on the other hand, kokopelli's premise is correct that dwindling libido coupled with the convenience of on-line shopping make Winner--or anyplace like it--a dinosaur, then this is just a momentary blip in a continuum that knows only one direction. In any case, Winner Boys may well represent the last best attempt to keep Sunee on its feet. Until the reinforcements arrive again from the western front, it's up to you, besieged ex-pats, to fight the good fight!

NOTE: I'm no computer guru. I know how to turn the machine and can find my way around the net with relative ease. But that's it. I'm passing along this information because it seems widespread and PC magazine says passwords on some sites we use have been compromised. In the second link below from the Washington Post, there's a link that enables you to determine if your website is among those affected. I found one that I frequently use is. You're probably much-better technically aware than me to evaluated these articles. From PC magazine Web services company Cloudflare recently patched a bug that could have exposed a broad range of customer data like passwords, chat transcripts, and other information stored by millions of websites. The bug, discovered by Google security researcher Tavis Ormandy, allowed sensitive data from Cloudflare-powered websites to be cached by search engines, including Google. "I'm finding private messages from major dating sites, full messages from a well-known chat service, online password manager data, frames from adult video sites, hotel bookings," Ormandy wrote in a Feb. 19 blog post. "We're talking full https requests, client IP addresses, full responses, cookies, passwords, keys, data, everything." http://www.pcmag.com/news/351962/cloudflare-leak-exposed-data-from-millions-of-websites -------------- From Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2017/02/24/a-major-security-flaw-means-you-have-to-change-your-passwords-again

Take Christian's advice. Your cup will surely runneth over...and down your leg and onto the floor if you happen to find yourself in the Garden of (un)Earthly Delights.

Thai Airways International reports that it is fully prepared for the anticipated delays during the scheduled repairs on one of its runways at Suvarnabhumi airport between Mar. 3 and May 5. The airline also prepared to use an alternate airport if necessary Passengers are advised to allow extra time during the repair period. http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/transport/1204201/thai-warns-of-delays-during-runway-repairs

Brits running bars in Pattaya should not be too surprised they they soon receive a visit from the BIB. From Pattaya One Nature is the real reason, not sex, says Pattaya police chief Pattaya police chief has hit back at claims that Pattaya is only about sex by saying that tourists come to the resort for its natural wonders. But he seems determined to clear out the streetwalkers nonetheless. Apichai Kroppetch was responding to a story in the UK’s Mirror newspaper that said Pattaya was the sex capital of the world and 1 in 5 of its female population were sex workers. And he has suggested the damage to the Pattaya image came from British businessmen who have set up in the sex trade at the resort. But while accepting there was a certain sex business he said that his men would be stepping up efforts to curb the trade singling out prostitutes who openly sell themselves on Beach Road. http://pattayaone.news/en/nature-not-sex/

From Pattaya One A Crisis meeting was held by Pattaya police recently addressing the growing concern over tourist safety in and around the area. The solution to the problem, Happy Zones. The “Happy Zone” idea come from the national police HQ, and will slowly be introduced into tourist cities across Thailand in the near future. Pattaya will be the first to take a shot at the new concept, which police hope will be a success. Yesterday operators on Walking Street were invited to Pattaya town hall to meet with regional chiefs, local cops, district officials and immigration forces to hear the plans. With tourist revenue being a key factor for the Thai economy, tourist safety is becoming a big issue, especially with the recent problems involving foreigners, said Somprasong Yenthuam, a Chonburi police spokesman. He said he had been ordered by the national police HQ to stop crime against tourists. Crime figures in Pattaya are said to be the highest in the country, and recent press releases in International newspapers do nothing to enhance the image either. “So we have decided to set up ‘Happy Zones'”, said Somprasong. “These will be in tourist towns throughout the country but the project will start in Pattaya first”. http://pattayaone.news/en/happy-zone-introduced-pattaya/

This article from Pattaya One raised some issues we all should be aware of if we use or are considering using Viagra-type meds: A 64-year-old man popped sex drugs and died of a heart attack while romping with an escort who fled leaving him on the bed. A woman was seen on CCTV arriving on a moped at 10pm before leaving a ”short time later” while the man was sprawled naked on the bed in Bueng Kan, northern Thailand. Maids who checked the room at midnight found packets of an aphrodisiac called ”the muscle” and the man’s penis was still erect – despite being dead for more than an hour. Police said they believed he had suffered a heart attack while having sex with the young girl due to the power of the drug, or that he had eaten a large meal before having ”vigorous activity”. Police Captain Narong Srimart said the man took an aphrodisiac before having sex and had a heart attack during sex. He added: ‘’The officials opened the door into the room and the deceased was found lying naked. His penis was still hard and erect. He had been dead about an hour.” http://pattayaone.news/en/64-year-dies-heart-attack/ What exactly is Priapism and why it's considered a medical emergency: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priapism

I, too, remember those goings-on at Babylon. There were not many, but they seemed to be regulars. Haven't been to Babs for quite some time now because of the poor ratio of Thais to guys like me. As Groucho Marx said, "I wouldn't belong to any club that would have me as a member."

If all goes according to plan, Thailand will have, by 2023, its first submarine in service since 1950. The Bangkok Post reports that two more are to be purchased. Although the Thai navy hasn't had a sub to man for 67 years, it remained steadfastly confident that replacements would follow, maintaining a staffed submarine command throughout. The challenge will be to figure how to effectively deploy the craft in the Gulf of Thailand that has an average depth of just 190 ft. From Bangkok Post The Royal Thai Navy has secured 13.5 billion baht to purchase a Chinese-made submarine. It is expected the vessel would be ready to enter service in six years time. The Chinese S26T craft has a submerged displacement of 2,600 tonnes and is equipped with an air-independent propulsion system that allows the submarine to stay under water for up to three weeks at a time. http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/security/1186061/navy-secures-funds-to-buy-chinese-sub

Here's a novel idea from the Tourist Authority of Thailand (TAT) to attract Chinese tourists. Instead of Disneyland, they can experience the thrills of Armyland, a ready-made solution that will divert them from Nana Plaza and Walking Street so they can inspect vintage tanks and watch the recruits train and drill. Actually, that may not be a bad idea, but make it an equal opportunity available to all foreigners. We need diversion, too. Getting to know the soldiers is as good as any. Suggest they develop an app for that. From Bangkok Post The Tourism Authority of Thailand has come up with an idea to open military facilities to draw tourists from China as part of a campaign to show Thailand's new look, TAT deputy governor Srisuda Wanapinyosak said. She believes warships, firing ranges and others will be exciting for them. http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general ... facilities

Beijing aims to spread safe sex awareness among men at risk of contracting HIV as part of its wider push to tackle the spread of the disease. Critics say, however, any campaign should address the discrimination that patients face in seeking medical care. In a plan released by the State Council on stopping the spread of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), the government vowed to have 90 per cent of the high risk population educated about the disease, and lower the mother-to-child transmission to 4 per cent. The plan, released last month, also aims to lower the rate of infection arising from unsafe sex among men, or MSM, by 10 per cent by the end of 2020. http://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2072197/beijing-targets-unsafe-sex-among-men-hiv-campaign

I don't live in LOS but I've known where Saphan Kwai is for 15+ years now. It's simple to get to by Skytrain and found it a worthwhile alternative to Silom venues. However, time--and gentrification--has taken its toll. Haven't been there for about five years but it once had ample bars and two huge porn cinemas. One was torn down and I'm unsure if the other is still open. Christian recently gave a pretty good review to a massage place there.

(CNN) In the history of Western art, the erotic has long been hidden, ignored or condemned. For centuries, one had to look to mythological or even religious works for representations of the naked body, even a mere breast -- a nude Venus, goddess of love and beauty, in Ancient Rome, or Adam and Eve as symbolic representations of sin in paradise. It's only relatively recently that erotic art has become truly transgressive in nature. Freed from the shackles of myth, religion and academia, it gives way to the fury of desire. Erotic art is truly an image without context, a naked and pure image that transgresses the norm by making the private, the intimate and the sexual public, expressing the infinite power and beauty of the subconscious. Pablo Picasso once said sexuality and art are the same thing. Perhaps he was right. http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/15/arts/erotic-art-history/index.html

Used to enjoy sitting at outside tables at Telephone but the overhead fans are directed downward, forcing the smoke to spread to tables under the canopy instead of dispersing it. So I move across the street to a bar stool at Balcony for relief. But since I travel 10k miles to get there, I find that I over look most annoyances that would drive me batty at home. I regularly remind myself to keep my trip priorities in order.

Although it doesn't help the bar owners, it certainly improves the odds of a Thai getting offed.

Absolutely stunning photography, providing a sense of place that allows us to travel vicariously though your generous efforts. The horseplay you captured at the village toll point reinforced what I've come to see repeatedly represented in my visits to Thailand and environs: the uninhibited joy that young people take in each others' company. Perhaps it comes from living in a more intimate conditions, in close proximity with others that fosters this mindset of acceptance. I'm sure that there other factors I may never fully appreciate but remains a joyous experience simply to witness it.

Regardless of your nationality you should be familiar with what to expect when arriving from international destinations. This CNN segment covers topics like right to search your phone or other device, latitude in types of questions, search and seizure and legal rights. Veterans travelers are probably familiar with these but some areas, according to article, remain in a state of flux. http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/16/us/border-legal-rights-faq-trnd/index.html

The American PBS network has introduced a three-episode special that takes a fascinating look inside the world of commercial aviation. It takes the viewer way behind the scenes, exploring how luggage is handled in a maze of underground tracks. It describes airport design considerations, aircraft construction and maintenance, navigation and how in-flight medical emergencies are handled. And that's just a sample of topics covered. One segment centered on the world's busiest air cargo airport which I was surprised to learn is Hong Kong. You should be able to view complete episodes once they have aired at this link. http://www.pbs.org/show/city-sky/

Will take you up on that offer next time in Singapore... but please hold the pig offals. Never had scallop porridge but it sounds great. And no, I won't be boiling my rice in 1 to 6 ratio either. I'll just settle for soaking it. Always thought if I had liquid left in pan after cooking that I didn't do it right.

German news network DW English language program Global 3000 follows the transition of a male-to-female transgender process in Bangkok. http://www.dw.com/en/metamorphosis-made-in-thailand/av-37210406