ChristianPFC

Reasonably priced one-way flight Berlin to Bangkok I plan to fly to Bangkok in November or December and the date of my return is uncertain. I will get a Non-Immigrant Type B visa before flying, so there should be no visa problem. I have been looking for a resonably (read: cheap) priced one way flight, to no avail. Return flights from Berlin to Bangkok cost about 600-700 Euro, single flights about 500-600. I even wrote to a travel agency, their prices are similar. When I go back to Germany, I will have the same problem: one-way flight Bangkok to Berlin. Where and how can I get a one-way flight at half the price of a return flight? Of course, one day I will go back to Germany, but I don’t know when. Buying a return ticket with open return date or return in a year might be an option. There will be a fee for changing the return date, still cheaper than two one-way flights. Another option would be to find someone who needs a ticket from Bangkok to Berlin, one of us buys a return trip and then changes the name of the passenger (for a fee, but still much cheaper than buying two tickets) and sells the flight to the other. Does anyone have experience with similar problems? (Side question: why are return flights cheaper than twice the price of a single flight?) (I just notice, most of my topics are about money, or rather saving thereof. Usually the amounts are negligible – 10% service charge, 7% VAT, to tip or not to tip, free bus or bus for 6.5 or 8 Baht, checking if someone forgot his change in public telephones or ticket machines, how to avoid the 50 Baht airport charge for taxis – but now we are talking money: clever booking will save me 5,000 to 10,000 Baht for each flight!)

Thanks for your report. I bought one watch at Patpong, and it started to disassemble while I was still in Thailand. (But my watch was only 250 Baht, negotiated down from 500, I didn't know that you can get the same kind of watch for 100 elsewhere.)

I too use 12call, only standard service (I just want to call friends and I don't want to study communication technology, which would be helpful to understand their various and changing calling plans). Do you buy the 500 Baht calling credit in one sum at a phone shop or at the 7/11 (where I found out that they have maxium 100 Baht calling credit, which means I will get 5x100 Baht and have to enter each separately). I did several whining posts about losing my number due to expiry, I don't want to bore you with the details which can be found on the forums.

I like your attitude, always positive despite all the feedback. I just checked my notes: I was in Toy Boys on 20.09. and offed a boy (150 Baht my drink, 160 his drink, 400 off-fee, 1500 tip long time). I was satisfied (the problem was he was a heavy smoker, so I will not take him again). Apart from that, I cannot contribute to the discussion as my memory of the evening in Toy Boys is weak.

I don't think Thai people are nicer to animals than people from elsewhere. Shame on you, kudos to your boyfriend.

In the article quoted, they refer to Velib in Paris. I saw these, but never used one. But conditions in Paris are different from Bangkok. They are successful in Paris, but you can't transplant the system to Bangkok. And bicyles need some maintenance. There simply is no space for bicycles in Bangkok. On the road, it's too dangerous, on the sidewalk (I don't know where to start why you can't go by bicylce on the sidewalk). You would need lanes that are separate (so cars can't get on them, like the bus system in South Sathorn), but these lanes will be used by motorcyles and pedestrians and vendors. There was a free bicycle service for tourists (Bangkok Smile Bike, bicyle rental plus map with recommendet tour) around the Royal Palace area (I used it and wrote a report in 2011), sadly, on my last holiday in September all stations I saw were abandoned.

Don't mention the war! I distinguish between killed and "just" died the following way: Reinhard Heydrich was killed by Czech guerilla (technically he died some days later in hospital), and as retaliation the majority of the population of Lidice was killed by German forces (1942). People in Hamburg, Dresden, ... Hiroshima, Nagasaki "just" died (which does not make them less dead) during Allied bombings, they were at the wrong time at the wrong place. About 10,000 collaborators (or assumed collaborators) in France were killed after the war (by their own countrymen, often without trial, sometimes under circumstances that make a KZ look a cosy place). The majority of German soldiers in the Stalingrad pocked "just" died from cold and starvation, the majority of the survivors "just" died as prisoners of war from cold and starvation. This is an extremely difficult subject, and people like to forget that the UK and France declared war on Germany, and the USA de facto declared war on Germany by supplying weapons to the UK.

That's true for me. When I see a boy being offed, he appears cuter to me than before. When I see a boy walking with a Farang, the same. Actually, I was in a similar situation. I was with a group of Thai boys at the gay beach, and I asked one of them for his name on gayromeo, and I was not aware that he was with his Farang boyfriend. So now I try to figure out who belongs to whom to avoid such embarrassing (for me, and possibly for the boy) moments. I would never hit on someone's Thai boyfriend as long as he (the Farang) is around. And for people (Farang) I know, not even when he is away.

a. Clique yes, intimidating no. b. welcome c. I love the banter at SGT, banter elsewhere is positive as well. I have been on Gay Thailand forums (mainly gaybuttonthai and SGT) for some years and have some further comments. Subjects get repeated (in some cases I write again what I think about the subject, sometimes I copy what I wrote elsewhere). I wonder how some people can create such amounts of contents (sometimes very competent). I think I spend too much time on these boards (more than 1 hour per day).

There was a similar topic on SGT: http://www.sawatdee-gay-thailand.com/forum/why-did-you-leave-t27259.html My reply there: If a bar has far less than 10 boys, I get an overview from the door ("Come in Sir, have a look first") and if none is my type, I leave. Otherwise, I enter, order a drink and stay about 30 min to 1 h. Generally you can say the more boys, the longer I stay (but only one drink per bar). If I see a boy I like, I invite him and take him off or make a note to come back for him (maybe). If there is nobody I like, I leave or ponder what to do and where to go next. Sometimes I try to get a look at one boy from the back or from the side which can mean I have to wait until he turns around. I generally do not enjoy shows and plan my visits to be before or after the show. Only exception is X-Boys Pattaya, I like their show. I prefer bars without smokers, no loud music, some white light (I love Thai complexion, but with colored light and too little light you can't see it).

As far as I know (from the internet), there are problems with the way tigers are kept (not appropriate to the species). Furthermore, they might be drugged, and still accidents happen regularly! It seems there is no way to keep a tiger appropriate to the species and allow many people to touch him. I will certainly think well about animal rights before I go to any zoo or show, or anywhere else that involves animals, in Thailand. (There are even reports about abuse of elephants. The only animal I think is resistant to mistreatment in captivity is the crocodile.)

Germany, Berlin, Unter den Linden, Adlon Hotel. Back to the subject, which has been discussed many times. I have to add one more reason to my previous explanations. I could meet my future boyfriend anytime and anywhere. (Not only could, probably will!)

Due to lack of suitable phone, I never tried Grindr. But all these reports made me curious! I got a glimpse at Grindr on a Thai friend's phone, but would like to have a look at a Farang's phone with some explanations.

What kind of smoothies do you make? I love the watermelon fruit shakes I get in some restaurants in Thailand. I tried to make one (or rather get my mother try to make, she is more kitchen-savvy than I am) in Germany based on a recipe from the internet, and failed!

Where did you get that number from? Furthermore, it's important to distinguish between people who where killed and who died.

Two towns come to my mind: Barcelona and Bruxelles. (There are many more interesting places I haven't been to, but a quick answer gives this result.)

Most Bangkok taxis have an information sheet hanging from the headrest of the front seat with distance - price (I think from 1 km to 100 km) and fares to locations all over Thailand. There must be a copy of that somewhere in the internet.

Misleading book title While I was waiting for boarding for my flight back to Germany, I saw this at Suwannaphum Airport: I have been around gay Thailand forums for too long, so I was actually mislead into believing ...! After a stroll through the bookstore I came back and found someone taking a picture (after arranging the book so you can see the whole cover). I took a look inside and was relieved: Poo is the author’s nickname (ปู bpoo = crab). Checking on the internet, I found these links: http://www.cookingwithpoo.com/ http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/mar/30/cooking-with-poo-oddest-title-prize My favorite odd book title is:„Der gegenläufige Doppelschneckenextruder“ (in English: „The counter-rotating twin-screw extruder“).

Peeing standing safes time and space. In public toilets, there is usually a queue in front of the ladies' toilet, because it takes longer for them because they have to sit, and you can install fewer toilet bowls than urinals in the same space. There was even an attempt to introduce urinals for women in Germany (at least I read so in a journal for sanitary ware long time ago), but it did not catch on.

When I post something on blogs, there is usually a "captcha" to verify I am a person. That would be an easy way to prevent automated registrations on forums? http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/CAPTCHA

You are so quick! Bummer, now I can't use this line I had prepared as a hint in case nobody finds the solution: "It's LMTU's home turf." It's indeed a public pissoir (I think they call it urinoir), I took the picture a few days ago in Paris. And indeed, there is need for it, you can smell piss under bridges, on walls and in many other places and often even see the wet trace on the floor. They even filled corners with concrete to prevent people from pissing there (the piss would splash back onto your trousers and run to your shoes). But would you want to piss in public on one of these? Three people can piss at the same time, but I would be hesitant to use them. Picture from the internet:

Let me continue this thread: what is the following device? (Both pictures show the same device, from the third side it looks the same.) (Don't look up the website on the sticker, that's cheating!) Pictures taken in Paris, 19th arrondissement, there are a few more of these devices.

The vast majority of my taxi trips is without problems. I had only a few drivers who tried to overcharge me by quoting a fixed priced (about twice the amount it would cost to by the meter), and that happened only at the airport or in Silom (and there only right in front of Soi 2 or 4, if you walk a few meters no problem). I don't remember free taxis not stopping, but I often have this problem with empty baht-busses in Pattaya. Sometimes empty baht-buses drive past, I beckon them to stop, but they wave their hand to show that they will not stop. I can only assume that they are booked and are on the way to pick up their client.

A light year is only a unit of distance. To make your confusion complete, a parsec is the distance from which the distance between Sun and Earth appear under an angle of one second. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parsec

My comment above was of a general nature and not referring to the deleted/reinstalled posts by Bob and fountainhall. The limited number of my posts that were deleted on various gay Thailand boards, I had both cases: no message at all (which left me wondering if there was a technical problem when I submitted) or PM by the moderator with reason and quote of my deleted post.