PeterRS

I cannot find the fascination some people have for this "sport" - if that it can be called. It ranks for me alongside the American Rodeo horse bareback jumping, as inane a "sport" as I can imagine. But then I suppose Spanish and Americans find croquet and cricket both boring and baffling/

As the Japan tourism industry continues to suffer from the ill-advised remarks by the right-wing Prime Minister on the Taiwan issue, an issue avoided publicly by all previous heads of government, the country's right wing militarists are delighted at the possibility that the Constitution might be changed. Written, it must be remembered, by the Americans and now part of Trump's ever-changing international interference as he wants this Constitution changed, Clause 9 states - “Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes” But many Japanese are totally against such change, especially the nation's young people. Public spaces across Japan are being filled with demonstrations by peope born more than half a century after the end of the war in the Pacific. 22-year old student Gohta Hashimoto is now participating in the anti-change demonstrations which have been getting bigger and bigger. "Until now, I had never thought of the Constitution as something young people needed to fight for," he said. Another student, Yuki Hioki, said at a rally in Tokyo - “The Constitution enables us to stay out of America’s wars, including in this region . . . The thought that might change makes me really angry” With the country's economy suffering from the large drop in Chinese tourism and the ¥ sinking even further, the Prime Minister seemingly knows that she still has Japan's ageing militarists on her side. But if she now loses the confidence of the nation's young people, she will be in for a fight. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/apr/22/japan-youth-pacifist-constitution-trump-iran

For anyone interested, TrueVisions in Thailand is showing a sub-titled version of Close at 8:00 pm on Tuesday 28 April Channel 223.

Those who claim there is no such thing as cultural differences are regrettably wrong. Having lived in Asia for 46 years and had relationships, some longish but some relatively short, with Japanese, Chinese, Thai, Taiwanese and Singaporean guys during that time, I can tell you that even with a Singaporean who was fluent in English there were cultural problems. Partly my fault, I admit. But they certainly do exist. I suspect @floridarob must be referring to guys who work in the commerical sex business. I know of several older farang who have enjoyed long and meaningful monogamous relationships in Japan, Hong Kong and Thailand with much younger men who had never worked in the sex trade in any capacity - and who do not go out of the relationship to have sex. Not many, perhaps, but they certainly exist. On the other hand, I do agree with the sentiment that long distance relationships are not viable - or at least most are not. Certainly I fell into this category too often. Perhaps the most sensible advice in this forum. Not sure about Grindr but if you take a sampling of the apps in general, there are plenty of non-money boys. In my 3-4 annual visits to Taipei I have met many guys from apps and not one has ever asked for money. Same in Tokyo.

You will surely know of the hundreds of books written about JFK and in particular the assassination. @Keithambrose post was somewhat unnecessary. Lee Harvey Oswald it is generally (although not by everyone) assumed to have killed JFK and therefore Jackie Kennedy no longer had to put up with his infidelities. JFK had allegedly told the British Prime Minister Harold McMillan "If I don't have a woman for three days, I get terrible headaches." That must have been a challenge for McMillan who knew his wife was having a long-time affair with Lord Boothby! But Onassis only married Jackie - he for her position in society and she to guard her children whom she feared would also be on an assassin's list. One author Peter Evens did link Onassis to the assassination of Robert Kennedy (not JFK) in his book Nemesis (allegedly the "true" story of Onassis life) - but it is tenuous at best and has never been proved beyond being a doubtful conspiracy theory. And everyone knew that the Jackie/Onassis marriage was a sham with the relationship lasting little more than a couple of months.

The air quality in Chiang Mai has always suffered in the run up to Songkran due to farmers setting fire to the stubble left by their crops to clear the land. It's nothing new and it has always had some affect on the tourism business. Now it seems to be getting worse. When tourists look at the countryside from Doi Suthep, in most parts of the year they have a glorious view of the surrounding countryside. Recently all they have seen is haze and tourist numbers are falling. Photo: Rebecca Ratcliffe/The Guardian The business of burning fields has been illegal for quite a number of years, but no-one does anything to stop it. It is, say experts, an issue of funding - or the lack of it. Lighting a match is quick and easy and does the job fast. It would need expensive equipment to achieve the same result without causing haze. The situation has got worse with high temperatures also leading to the outbreak of wildfires like this recent one. Photo: The Guardian The dust created by the haze affects everyone. An article in today's Guardian also points out that the popssibility of cancer from the haze has recently shaken the Province. Krittai Tanasombatkul, a 29-year-old doctor and clean-air campaigner, died in 2023. He had never smoked and lived a healthy lifestyle, exercising, sleeping and eating well, media reported at the time. His death was attributed to the particles in the haze. Young children have been suffering from frequent nose bleeds, a common symptom for those living with air pollution. Some families send their children away to avoid the haze. Atikun Limsukon, a doctor specialising in chest and lung care, who runs a private clinic, says his patient caseload has more than doubled over recent weeks . . . Limsukon says there is more and more evidence linking pollution not only to cancer, but also strokes, metabolic problems like diabetes and even neurocognitive problems and dementia. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/apr/15/thailand-chiang-mai-tourism-air-pollution-war-price-spikes

Also my view. Domestic US politics will end Trump's idiotic war, not his war machine.

In what sense?

Multi-national talks with Iran had been going on for years until Trump killed them in his first term. Now he reckoned a deal could be done with a country which loathes him in just 24 hours. What planet does he think he now commands? With J D Vance having failed miserably in both the objectives set for his recent trip - the reelection of the vile Orban in Hungary and getting a deal with Iran - I hope he realises that he is unikely to last long in Trump's orbit.

Thai banks - and I believe WU - will require a formal valid ID.

But as with Trump and some others, the real problem for any electorate is it does not know that when you first give them power! I see that following has spat with the Pope, Trump posted an illustration on his media platform of him as Jesus. After a torrent of anger from his Christian supporters it was taken down. But it is all over the media now. Interesting that a warplane features in the image!

Ah but the crows have finally disappeared. The anti-crow devices you get cheaply from several stores are remarkably effective. So he'd have to bring his own alarm clock 🤪 Seeing how hotel prices are going up, I now have to charge for the balcony, although as a member he'd get a very substantial discount on $908 per night LOL

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