PeterRS

Khaosod English identifies the hotel as being on Sukhumvit 13 and the party comprised 28 Thai nationals and one Filipino.

One to add to my list. Never heard it before.

We were all somewhat aghast that @Olddaddy stayed at the Capella Hotel by the river. This has now been voted 3rd Best Hotel in the world by the official World’s 50 Best Hotel Academy, which is made up of 800 hotel industry experts, including hoteliers and travel journalists, spread across 13 destinations around the globe. No wonder he was a bit picky he saw my balcony . Some more for @Olddaddy to consider as he contemplates his next travels. The top ten list is - 1. The Rosewood, Hong Kong 2. Four Seasons, Bangkok 3. Capella, Bangkok 4. Passalacqua, Lake Como, Italy 5. Raffles, Singapore 6. Atlantis The Royal, Dubai 7. Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok 8. Chable Yucantan, Chochola, Mexico 9. Four Seasons, Florence, Italy 10. Upper House, Hong Kong The top three are all relatively new hotels. For long the traditional top hotels are either further down the list or have dropped off altogether. Hong Kong's flagship hotels, the Mandarin Oriental is at #41 and the venerable Peninsula has dropped off. Vienna's Sacher Hotel (where you have to have sachertorte mit shlag at a great price) is almost at the bottom at #49. Claridge's, the Connaught, Raffles OWO (what on earth does that mean?) and the Emory are the four to aim for in London, but the Savoy seems to have fallen into the river.

Are you sure you wanted to see him perform and not just to see him????

I tend to agree with @vinapu. I hasten to add I have no idea what the Magic Castle is or why it should interest you. Do they saw guys in half throughout and have rabbits runing around the place which have been pulled out of hats? Seriously, though, it sounds rather like a Club for professional magicians and therefore it would not be appropriate to solicit an invitation from someone you do not know or hardly know and just happen to meet casually at a party. Had I been there and in your shoes, as it were, I would probably have said something like, "I've heard of those amazing dinners you have at the Magic Castle. Do you know if there is any way non-magicians might be able to attend?" So even though I knew the answer, I'd throw the question over to him rather than specifically asking him to invite me.

Recently, and for a reason that defeats me, I have been getting regular emails from Quora. Today there is one rather nasty one about how narcissists age. But it is quite interesting, even though I doubt if it reflects the type of existence many narcissistic personalities have led.. 1. First, they spend their lives hurting others. After years of hurting others, all the guilt and shame add up, no matter how much they may deny it. To avoid this feeling, they continue to do bad things in order to protect their false identity — their “False Self.” Picture each cruel act as a brick. And by old age, they are carrying a huge mountain of bricks. 2. Second, they always see themselves as the victim. When people react to their bad behaviour, they twist it and believe they are the ones being treated badly. As time goes by this attitude isolates them. They drive everyone away but cannot understand why they are alone. My covert mother at the end of her life felt miserable and said that everyone had abused her. She had a good life and a husband that adored her, giving her every gift imaginable. 3. Third, the aging process works on their mind. They lose control and no longer can conceal their inner self. If they were covert, the mask drops. They become more rude, selfish and more bitter, exposing their real self. Now you know - or don't as the case may be!

Our @vinapu is now a certified STAR! Perhaps the TAT should create an Avenue of Gay Stars in Bangkok as a tourist attraction. After all, going back a century or so, we have Somerset Maugham, Noel Coward, Jim Thomson, the greatest male ballet dancer Vaslav Nijinsky, Gore Vidal, Marlon Brando, David Bowie, Michael Jackson, British Ambassador Brian Davidson, the murdered editor Daniel Berrigan, Sitthichai Chavanothai founder of HIM publications, gay activist, Natee Teerarojjanapongs, Mithuna Junior which was Thailand's first commerical gay magazine pubished wholly in Thai, Soi Twilight, Telephone Bar . . . Ideally King Vajiravudh Rama VI, assumed by all to be homosexual, should be included, but I expect lese majeste would prohibit that!

I have friends who a dozen or so years ago bought a beautiful small one-bedroom flat in Tokyo. But it was almost unique in my experience as it had a deck outside which could easily accommodate 50. The problem was the toilet. It was one of the then latest Japanese gadgets which do a great deal more than merely flush. There were instructions on the wall, but they were only in Japanese. Many at their first party were foreign friends who had little clue how to work them if they needed to poop. Most guys took so long trying to decipher the insructions, the end result was a long queue for peeing with many just going to the edge of the deck to water the garden below! I guess the Japanese couple below must have wondered how their flowers looked more lovely than usual!

No good either, in my view! I'm all for giving recognition to those who do good in their communities, but not for continuing to glorify centuries when the British Empire - as all such Empires did - resulted in great deal of harm.

Although I am reasonably certain there was no family living in any compound in Soi Twilight.

I have been in the front row for an Emirates economy flight to Hong Kong. The flight was overbooked and they offered me lounge access, priority boarding and a free biz class return for a later date if I just agreed to that one sector downgrade. It was a generous offer which I accepted and actually enjoyed the front row - even though then it was an economy seat and there was no partition in front. So I think Premium Economy on the A380 might certainly be worth trying.

The problem on the Emirates A380s is there is no bulkhead, only two half partitions. The first row has two seats each side with tons of legroom because they are in the open area at the downstairs entrance. The problem is that the toilets are up a few stairs at the front and the chances are you are going to have queues occasionally in front of you.

It seems slightly strange that one of the screen's major icons died 70 years ago just before his third and last movie appeared. I had never seen Rebel Without A Cause until this afternoon when it was shown on a True Visions channel. I had looked forward to it but was perhaps a bit disappointed, both with the movie and with James Dean. Natalie Wood's character also seemed to me two-dimensional and more than a little unbelievable. Inevitably it is dated and the post-war rebel image of the younger characters seemed tame - at least when you compare it with, for example, the gang warfare in the 1960s West Side Story. The concept of teenagers as a class of their own was still relatively new after the war. Teenagers were regarded as being filled with a restless angst and spirit of rebellion toward the social norms which they felt restricted by, and it is this that Rebel Without A Cause doesn't quite present on screen IMHO. The interesting character I think is Plato played by the cherubic 16-year old Sal Mineo. It was a role that earned him his first of two nominations for the Academy Award as Best Supporting Actor. It could never be said at the time but he admitted in a 1972 interview that he really had to be killled off. His character, he suggested, "was in a way the first gay teenager in films." For years Mineo denied he was gay, presumably to ensure he got parts. Later in his short life there was a spell when he said he was bisexual and had allegedly slept with some of the most powerful men and some women in Hollywood, including Montgomery Clift and Marlon Brando. Sadly for him, it did not do his career much good. the more so as his looks began to fade. In 1976 aged 37 he was brutally stabbed to death by a pizza delivery man during a random robbery outside his West Hollywood apartment. For his final six years he finally came out as gay and lived with an acting teacher Courtney Burr III. James Dean and Sal Mineo in a scene from Rebel Without A Cause

Just make sure the nephews dont get the lube! Oops!

You've let the cat out of the bag! I hadn't planned to let on about that!

Thinking back, the golden age of British television sitcoms seems to have all but disappeared many decades ago. Shows like Blackadder, Yes Minister, Are You Being Served?, Dad's Army, Porridge (with Ronnie Barker and the very talented Richard Beckinsale, father of actress Kate, who died tragically young) Steptoe and Son, Rising Damp, Till Death Us Do Part . . .and that's before all the comedy shows with such talented actors as Tony Hancock, Morecambe and Wise, Eric Sykes, Arthur Askey, Frankie Howerd, Spike Milligan . . . so many and so many now forgotten. And that's before considering at all the radio sitcoms and great comedians, not to forget the many great writers without whom most of the shows would never have got off the ground.

Fabulous reviews @NoNameFanBoy . Many thanks. You deserve five hearts! And totally agree about Japanese lube. Tried it in the years I worked there and quickly abandoned it in favour of lubes I picked up in Hong Kong.

In this forum there are some fascinating insights into the start and development of Patpong. I wonder if anyone has a history of Soi Twilight from its very beginnings. Perhaps even adding in those gay venues which started up in Silom Soi 4 and Patpong 2.

In the years when I was doing reguar ultra-long distance travel, I always took wax earplugs with me to ensure noise did not bother me. I found in cities like New York the sound of traffic and emergency vehicles generally found their way in to most rooms. But if I am with company overnight, even the lovely sound of breathing next to me won't keep me awake. On the other hand, I cannot handle anyone who snores!

Not sure where I heard/read it but I thought Sauna Mania did have an age policy. If that is not the case, does it come into force on certain nights/holidays?

The sound insulation of rooms is also important to me. I have stayed in many hotels in Taipei. One relatively inexpensive one just 30 meters from a subway station and overlooking Da an Park had a fabulous location. My room also had a really nice view of the park but it was just across from the single lift. I was driven crazy by the noise of people chatting quite loudly during their long waits to get the lift. I asked the management if on another visit I could select a room at the end of the corridor even if I paid a little more. Nope. Only available if free at check in. Never stayed again, unfortunately.

Suely PrEP or whatever medication one takes as precaution against HIV will not stop one becoming infected with other STIs. I get an HIV test once each year and the staff at the well-known clinic told me they have seen a very significant rise in syphilis and gonorrhea infections in just the last two years.

The reviews for premium economy seating seem to vary quite a bit. Those Emirates ultra long range A380s presently retrofitted with Premium Economy get very good praise with that cabin being located at the front of the lower deck. The retrofitted 777s seem a bit more cramped.

It has been announced that the King will subsidise him from his private funds. No suggestion yet where his avaricious ex-wife will live. I can't imagine anyone in those cities is too concerned! There is already a wealth of persons with titles in the UK but who these days wants another Baron, Viscount, Earl, Marquess or Duke? Besides, the awards every half year given out to prominent persons are also out of date. The British Empire all but died in the mid-20th century but people are still awarded as either Members, Orders or Commanders of the British Empire!

So the King has finally acted. Andrew has been formally stripped of his titles and forced to move out of his 30 room mansion. In future he will simply be called Andrew Mountbatten Windsor. This may not be the end, though. Several Parliamentarians are calling for a debate. There are no modern precedents for such a colossal loss of royal status . . . The sliver of dignity given to him, that he was voluntarily choosing not to use his titles, has been taken away . . . Titles such as Duke of York, the Earl of Inverness and Baron Killyleagh will be forcibly removed . . . All that remains is his place in the line of succession, and new guidance from the House of Commons Library has shown that too could be removed by Parliament, if Commonwealth realms give their consent. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c62elnjnqqxo Parliament may well now act because even without his titles, as the son of a Queen, Andrew still remains eighth in line of the throne. That is almost certain to be stripped from him.