PeterRS

A fascinating article with a new hotel for @Olddaddy - the US$908 per night Siri Sala Private Thai Villa! 🤪 Curious, though, that there is no mention of Bangkok still sinking. Already the city sits an average of only 0.5-1.5 meters above sea level. Largely due to the soil on which the city is built and the idiocy of the post WWII period when many of the khlongs were filled in with concrete to create wide roads, Bangkok is now sinking at the rate of 1cm - 2cm per year. Much less than during the 1970s but added to the effects of sea rise as a result of global warming, some experts suggest parts of the city will be under water within 30 years. As Professor Seree Supratid, the director of climate change and disaster centre at Rangsit Centre, stated in an aticle almost two years ago - "We cannot avoid such catastrophic flooding. This is not fortune telling, this is science." He added it was difficult to find politicians willing to fund construction projects that could take up to 20 years to complete. Normally they are not interested because they say, "I am elected for four years, I will not think for more than four years," so this is a big problem for us. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-08-11/bangkok-is-sinking-residents-warn-rising-seas-will-swallow-city/102559364 This Buddhust Temple in Khun Samut Chin Village is surrounded by water and only stands firm because the temple's monks arranged to have walls built around it more than 20 years ago.

I doubt the cost of living has much to do with it. The much weaker ¥ accounts for the present difference in prices. Japan used to be considerably more expensive than Hong Kong.

A very good and pertinent point in this discussion. To add to it: the war in Laos was a covert CIA operation that never had congressional approval. It was a secret war. Almost unbelievably, for an average of 9 entire years the USA dropped one planeload of bombs over Laos every 8 minutes. Think about that for a moment and take it in. This tiny landlocked third world country had more bombs dropped on it than the entire number dropped on Germany AND Japan combined during WWII. And the USA still refuses to pay for the destruction of the roughly one third of these cluster bombs that failed to explode, ordinance that has already killed 20,000 Lao people since the end of the undeclared war - mostly children as @zoomomancs points out. At the present rate it will take 100 more years to clear the country of this horrendous debacle. https://www.bbc.com/audio/play/p0fjwcjy https://www.bbc.com/audio/play/p0fjwcjy

Yet at the time he was awarded the top job both legally and constitutionally. I have written above how Iran has had no free and fair elections since the ouster of Mosaddegh in 1953 by the Americans and British. Since you have brought up Hitler, it is perhaps wise to recall that without the punishing reparations that totally crippled Germany at the Versailles Treaty, the groundswell which enabled AH to rise to power in the 1920s might well have shifted against him. Speculation, I agree. But when peoples had to take cash in wheelbarrows to pay for a loaf of bread, any lifeline out of such degradation can seem almost a miracle. And that holds good for Iran. We are told that having got rid of many of the leaders of the old regime, the Israelis and their allies the USA have ended up with an even more hard line lot. True or not, I do not know, but I believe that the more the USA tries to punish Iran, the more the people will hate that country. When will the USA realise that influencing the rest of the world with wars and interfering in other coutries' politics is just not in their best interests? Since 1945 the USA has lost almost every war it entered in a developing country. As former US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates states frankly in his 2014 memoir Duty: "the US is good at overthrowing governments but has no idea what to do when it comes to their replacements". Sending J D Vance into Hungary to support the despised Victor Orban was probably the final nail in his coffin as his oppponent won an astonishing two thirds majority. Trump and his merry band of yes-men cohorts should first sort out the sometimes horrible problems in their own country before interfering with others.

And Trump and his acolytes have zero idea of the lessons of history. Had he just looked at the quagmire of Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, he would have kept well away from Iran. One look at the several major disasters from Bush 2's war with Iraq would have been another lesson. One reading of Robert McNamara's long mea culpa In Retrospect would have brought home precisely how the disasters and deaths happening in Vietnam were a direct result of the misguided and wrong policies which he and his Washington colleagues were actually advocating. He would have realised that the American Consul in East Pakistan was almost daily begging Washington to take action with West Pakistan to stop its monstrous bloodshed which they described as "selective genocide." Washington did nothing. No one knows how many actually died but historians estimate it could have been as high as 3 million.

You think the Iranian people are fighting for free and fair elections? What planet are you on? Hardly any now know what that means! Ever since the Brits and the CIA mounted the coup that got rid of their last freely elected Prime Minister Mosaddegh in 1953, there have never been free and fair elections. Iranians have only known dictatorships, increasingly repressive, megalomaniacal and murderous ones. Iranians do not forget that it was the USA's weapons and cash that enabled the hated Shah to hold on to power and to continue through his Sawak Secret police his murderous regime. Without all that American aid, the Shah could never have survived - and the result of that would almost certainly have been no Khomeini. Nor do Iranians forget that when Saddam Hussein started the 8-year Iraq/Iran War, it was with Saddam that the USA sided. And what happened to Saddam? The Iranians know well that the USA turned 180º against him. Further, as we now know from CIA documents declassifed in 2013, the USA never once pushed Saddam to stop using chemical weapons against the Iranians. https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2013/08/26/215733981/new-details-on-how-u-s-helped-saddam-as-he-gassed-iran Which country called Iran part of the "Axis of Evil"? Which country has not only frozen vast sums of cash owed to the Iranians, it has persuaded others to do so as well leading to the Iranians being owed around $100 billion of its own cash? Which has led the movement to place sanction after sanction on the country? You clearly forget these were all actions of or started by the USA and pressed on its allies. And if you think Iranians in general might even consider placing any trust in the USA which with its ally Israel has also bombed the hell out of them in recent weeks - starting, let's recall with a US missile which murdered 170+ girls aged 7-12 in their school - you have with respect very little idea about Iranian thinking. FYI this mural still remains on the wall of the old US Embassy building in Teheran! PS: I doubt if the Iranians hold much faith in free and fair elections. They wiill have noted that such a process elected Trump and Netanyahu!

The US could not occupy Iran. Let's get that very clear. It did indeed occupy Iraq with near disastrous consequences for it had no clue what it was really doing - one result being the rise of ISIS. But Iran is four times larger than Iraq - four times! Further, the deserts in Iran are nothing like the deserts in Iraq. They are not sand. They are basically a wide mix of some of the highest stony sand dunes on the planet, barren salty desert and high rugged mountains. Desert areas cover more than 50% of the country. Only around 10% of the country is what we might call lowland. Then there is the heat! Some of the hottest temperatures ever recorded on our planet were 82.2ºC (180ºF) near Iran's Qeshm Dayrestan Airport in August last year. For a long time the Lut Desert had the highest temperature ever recorded on earth at 70.7ºC. That was exceeded last year when the Lut Desert recorded 80ºC. Humans die at such temperatures if exposed for much more than ten minutes without massive hydration. How long would troops carrying a lot of equipment last? Remember, too, that Iran has a severe shortage of water. While we're at it, let's also recall that if the present negotiations in Pakistan fail and Trump is idiotic enough to try and invade, he will be doing so at the hottest time of the year. I would certainly fear for the lives of US forces in such conditions, the more so as you have to cross deserts to get to many population centres. On my two-week trip to Iran in 2017, I had to spend two days crossing deserts and each time I prayed the car I was in would not break down! Then there is the population. Before the war, Iraq had a population of between 24 and 25 million with 432,000 in its armed forces. Iran's population is generally agreed to be around 92 million and we know that it has much larger armed forces than Iraq in the Revolutionary Guard. We also know that Iranians are a proud and passionate people, jealous of their 2,500 year old Empire. Iraq only became a state in 1921. America's forces are already almost overstretched. A ground war would require massive conscription. After the disaster of Vietnam, the US public will never stand for that again unless the US homeland is being invaded. https://www.worldweatherattribution.org/human-induced-climate-change-compounded-by-socio-economic-water-stressors-increased-severity-of-5-year-drought-in-iran-and-euphrates-and-tigris-basin/

There is no way the US can occupy Iran.

I think the reason Japan now seems more affordable is simply because it is!! The ¥ has fallen by more than half its value against the US$ and the spa owners don't seem to have been quick of the mark at adjusting prices. On the other hand, why should they adjust prices given that the vast majority of their clients are Japanese guys? With the usual large number of Chinese tourists virtually banned from visiting Japan by their government, now is almost as cheap as the Japan has been for tourists for decades.

Thanks for taking us behind the paywall. As far as the above comment is concerned, today it does indeed seem farcical. But looking 2 or 3 years into the future, is it any more farcical that Germany would become an ally of the UK and the USA, or that Vietnam become an ally of the USA? Israel is never going to get rid of Iran and Iran is never going together rid of israel. I can certainly see a situation where the Middle East is torn apart and then carved up between them. Surely that would be preferential to a bunch of individual states which were carved out of the desert and created from scratch by Brtain and other colonial powers?

Do we know for sure that Netanyahu persuaded Trump? To me that is spin and I have no idea if it is true or false. I believe Netanyahu is very much at the bottom of the quagmire the US is now in, but I doubt if Trump would have started a war unless he knew Netanyahu was going to back him up with a vast arsenal of weaponry. I know little about AI. But if his vdos are AI speak, they sure make a great deal of sense.

I have paid little attention to the pundits on TV and elsewhere about the Middle East War, partly because I do not trust a word of what politicians and so-called decision makers in any country are saying. However, as I sometimes do, I pick up nuggets from youtube. Some admittedly is crap - and I have recently been guilty of repeating one crap entry, for which I again apologise. This morning, though, I listened to a video explanation by Canadian educator Jiang Xueqin (who is not actually a professor) of how he believes the war has to end. Hong Kong's South China Morning Post has dubbed him China's Nostradamus. I have never listened to any of his vdos before - and i admit I am slightly baffled by the comment on the top left "Altered or synthetic comment" as I do not know what it means! But I find much of what he says to be logical and worth hearing. Part of the reason for going to war was new to me - especially the petrodollar issue. And part of what he predicts could be one of the outcomes with shifting alliances in a Middle East without an American presence is at the least very interesting. I believe he is correct in sugeting that Iran will never trust America, if only because every time they have been in the midst of previous negotiations, the USA has torn them up. He believes that the USA has to withdraw from the Middle East partly because it will be overextended militarily, and that the resultant vacuum will be filled by Israel and Iran. The remaining Middle East states willl then align with one or the other - for their own interests. He believes that eventually Israel and Iran will eventually agree to co-exist - and that I do find more than somewhat difficult to believe. But then I really have no idea what to believe. I just find this analysis interesting. His entry on wikipedia states this - Jiang's Geo-Strategy episode, "The Iran Trap" (2024), has attracted international attention, predicting the re-election of Donald Trump in 2024 and escalating U.S. involvement in a conflict with Iran (cf. the 2025 and 2026 conflicts) and eventual U.S. loss in a prolonged conflict, the first two of which have come true as of 2026. According to India Today, other analysts had made similar predictions but "Jiang packaged them early and memorably."

I live in a totally different continent - in Asia - and there seems to be a few differences in attitude when it comes to protection from HIV with more using PREP and or condoms for casual sex. In my view, the type of sex you want is only partly your decision. Sex takes two people and if both wish it raw and both are aware of the dangers, so be it. But if one is not, then raw sex without either PREP or a condom becomes a different matter altogether. Sadly here in Bangkok there is a rise in HIV cases among young men in the 18-25 or so age group who attend saunas scattered mostly on the outskirts of the city. Around 7 in 10 of new cases are among young guys who seem to believe that unprotected sex is now safe. But 96.4% of new infections are linked to unprotected sex. I tend to agree with @KeepItReal. Actions have consequences and unfortunately for you your own have resulted in your being HIV positive. But what about all the seemingly many men you have sex with? Did you give thought to them, I wonder? And I am curious how will you modify your sexual behaviour taking account of your present HIV status?

15 years is a long time and memories fade. But it was in 2011 that Thailand was caught out in a mini scandal during Sonkran that had local tongues wagging for quite some time. That year, three young girls aged 13, 14 and 15 got overly into the Songkran spirit. On one of the days they climbed on to the top of a minivan at the top of Silom, took off their tops and danced much to the delight of many in the crowd. Unfortunately someone posted a video on youtube. The Bang Rak district director filed a complaint with the police and urged that obscenity charges be filed against the girls. He claimed the topless female revellers had hurt the image of Thailand and distorted Songkran culture. Even the Culture Minister joined in the condemnation, urging strong action against both the girls themselves and the Songkran organisers. The Minister seriously suggested the punishment should include the girls being required to read books about the Songkran Festival to young students so they could learn how serious this celebration is. Some queried why the Ministry of Culture should be the guardian of the nation's morals. Surely it's remit should be the finer things in life, about the arts and the preservation and development of traditional culture? But that’s not what the Minster thought at the time. The girls were then fined 500 baht each for "disturbing the peace" [peace over Sonkran???] and had to make grovelling public apologies about their lewd behaviour. But then someone noticed that the Ministry was being totally hypocritical. In the Bangkok Post, a photo appeared of the Ministry's own webpage. This showed - surprise, surprise - three Thai maidens each naked to the waist. Within minutes of that article appearing, the image had been taken down and replaced with a more sober image of Thai culture - but not before some wise guy had made a copy of the relevant web page. The Minister never explained how that image might have "hurt" the image of Thailand!! The Bangkok Post then continued with an article by a political analyst who happened to work in the Prime Minister's Department. It was ostensibly about an exhibition at the Koi Art Gallery in Bangkok. Titled Colour of Day / Colour of Night, this showed the work of two painters who “portray their totally opposite perception and interpretation of Thai society and the way of life of the subjects.” Part of it stated - It is not just corruption in the sense that officials take bribes and allow wrongdoing to take place. The acceptance that nothing can be done about the sex trade in Thailand, that this is part of a "normal" way of life, corrupts the minds of the people and bleaches into the ethical fabric of a society . . . The police and government authorities, by clamping down on the girls, and the enthusiasts who posted the video clips on the internet demonstrate the Thai hypocrisy and denial. By trying to quickly close the case and getting the news off the front page, the authorities are not addressing the real problem at all. If corruption is a root cause, hypocrisy and denial are what make matters worse. If one cannot look the truth in the eye and carry on pretending that darkness does not exist, then no problem will be resolved, and our sons and daughters will only sink further into condemnation . . . Sadly that Bangkok Post article is lost in the mists of time. But I posted about the entire episode in this forum on April 22 2011.

At least it gives some idea of what goes on in Bangkok during Songkran. This is the advance official link for 2026 and not a young man in any of it! But lots of pics from previous years can be found on the web. https://www.gcircuit.com/