PeterRS

I have gone off Ron Howard since his extremely poor bio pic of the tenor Luciano Pavarotti. That was nothing but a puff piece with almost all the drama of the mans life, and clearly there was lots, not included. Hes better sticking to feature films.

I also thought at first that this had to be boys outside Saranrom Park waiting for customers to pass by in their cars. The fact they are quite spread out also seems to indicate that. But the photo was taken too early the day. You can see the late afternoon sun and these boys rarely appeared before 8:00pm. Looking at photos of the park, I do not recognise the railings. If the boys were waiting for work, they would surely be closer together. Similarly were they going to a protest at least one would surely have a placard or some other sign. All very curious.

Im not sure if the gay weekly drinks events are still happening. I went twice and frankly would not recommend them. Very few attended. Two or three small groups of Thais all stayed at their own tables with their own friends, and a few farang. Neither group mixed.

Totally agree with GWMinUS. “Present Perfect” is a much better film but the sequel is well worth watching. We saw it soon after cinemas reopened and there were all of 3 others at the showing unfortunately.

Something certainly has to be done if democracy as we know it is to survive. Its not so long ago that universal suffrage was assumed to be the be all and end all of democracy, the right of every citizen to elect the leadership. Access to accurate information at that time was severely limited largely to a print media with opposing viewpoints, radio and TV party political projects. The problem it seems to me is less the very recent explosion of media outlets and the internet offering all manner of wacky truths, it is the over-riding belief that each individual has a God-given right to freedom of speech, albeit one that does not allow you to shout “Fire” in a theatre if there is not in fact any fire. This freedom has empowered individuals far more than any other development in my view. “I believe I am right. I believe you are not only wrong, you are spreading lies.” Get one group together facing an opposing group and you have started your recipe for social and political upheaval. The understanding that freedom of speech must be allied to individual responsibility and accepted societal norms has almost totally disappeared. Until that fact is drummed into people, I reckon it matters little what you do to regulate the public and social media platforms. That surely comes down to education and the need for educators to stress at all times that all freedoms within a society come with very specific responsibilities. But clearly that will take time. Until then, some sort of curbs have to be put on internet and social platform freedoms. Lawmakers are fearful of anything which limits freedoms of speech, but look where the USA is today and the need for a revision of the meaning of freedom of speech becomes perfectly obvious.

I wonder when the Thais disappeared from the gogo bars. Reading older posts it was obvious that audiences at many gogo bars were a decent mix of Thais and farang a couple of decades or so ago. Could it be that rising living standards particularly among young professionals led to the opening of more Thai for Thai venues like the nightclub mentioned in the OP? Did Thaksin’s Social Order campaigns make Thais feel they did not want to be seen any more in gogo bars? This could be an interesting topic for a more lengthy article.

THAI has been trying to sell off its A340s for years and I believe it turned down at least one offer some time ago. It bought many of these planes for its North American routes. But being 4 engine gas guzzlers they had to have a much larger business class than usual and pack in as many passengers to make any profit. They rarely succeeded. Hence the routes were cancelled and THAI has been stuck with aircraft that no one in the industry seems to want. Their value now must be a tiny fraction of what THAI paid.

Surely you realise that the last debate took place 12 days before the election!! Does mail in the USA take 11 days plus the 4 or 5 day extension? There are also drop boxes in I believe many states where votes can be deposited - and thats before the days when early voting is permitted. Personally I can’t see any valid reason for counting votes after the end of voting on Election Day.

Oh really? According to Michael and other posters, who have been filling the bars at weekends? Thais! We also know from other correspondents that when the bars had their heyday 20 or so years ago, there were as many Thais as farang,

Judging from these videos and the photos posted elsewhere, those who took part were as usual just ordinary guys and gals. A few floats from companies like Sony. Good on them. It does seem to me that one reason for Taiwan’s Parade being so hugely successful with increasing numbers year after year (down this year largely because of the understandable absence of overseas visitors but last years attendance was around 170,000) is that it is privately organized by a group of gay individuals. I understand it has been so from the start. I often wonder why Thailand which we all thought was a more accepting gay society until Taiwan took over that role, never had a successful Gay Pride Parade. If even Tokyo and Hong Kong can have one (assuming the latter is allowed to continue under the new repressive political regime) and despite the best efforts of its homophobic government Singapore has its very successful gay Pink Dot celebration, why nothing here? Is it because the few that did materialize about 20 years ago were almost totally organized by the commercial sex establishments and most of the participants those who worked in them? Is it because of the ever present fear of ordinary professional Thais that they will encounter ostracism at work and home. I have heard several tales of professional Thais being denied advancement in their firms when it became known they are gay. The Thai Tourism people have a campaign targeted at gay visitors. No doubt it is aimed at the richer niche market interested in temples, beaches and shopping (sex being anathema to the authorities)!!! But Taipei tourism must make a ton of cash out of the Pride Parade if there are indeed 50,000 plus visiting from around the region (at least 10,000 of these must be from Singapore). Is one in Bangkok organized along the lines of that in Taipei not a possibility?

The problem in countries like Thailand the the UK and probably many others as well (Malaysia?) is that it is often totally impossible to read a postmark! How does the US mail system have such clear postmarks?

The fact that all the votes have not been counted in the USA 8 days after the election shows what a total mess the entire system is. I’m not sure if any country has got it right but I agree with z909 that having all votes counted within hours of polls closing and then the new government being installed just hours later seems vastly better than the long drawn out affair across the pond. There is so much I don’t understand. First the idiocy of the electoral college. Yes, I know it may have seemed a good idea at the time, but only to about half the framers. There was intense debate and many did not like it. Second, why is a system devised centuries ago when the USA was a totally different country remain acceptable today? It is a total anachronism and extremely anti-democratic. I realise that voters are not only voting for a President and each state has therefore adopted different systems. But the Presidential vote is for a national office. The others for a local office - even including senators. So why is it so difficult to have one nationwide system for electing Presidents that is the same nationwide and another for local candidates where each can be as different as chalk and cheese. It is surely not out with the capabilities of the US computer companies to come up with an easy to use system that is fully backed up. The mail-in system seems to work but each state having different systems seems again nuts! Why permit the counting of any vote whatever that is not received by the end of polling day? OK. The armed forces mail may take longer. So give them the ballot papers further in advance. That is surely so obvious. Same with ordinary mail in voters. Why do those who leave it to the last possible minute deserve to have a vote counted 4 or 5 days after the election? Then why do those who voted early have to wait to be counted last? They probably arrived first! Then there is the weirdest part of all - a 10 week or so interregnum between the result of the election when, as we are now seeing, an outgoing President can play havoc with the government. What sort of wacky system is that? Again, centuries ago it was probably necessary. Today it most definitely is not. It can all be done in a matter of days as long as the senior civil servants remain in their positions. it sometimes beats me why the US berates the world for not being more democratic. The USA needs to look at its own form of democracy and reform it first before it tells the rest of us what to do IMHO.

I have never ever been able to work out why so many foreign nationals get so worked up about double pricing. Why on earth the fuss? At least two saunas in Bangkok have much higher prices for older farang compared to the Thai entry price? So what? Pay up or go somewhere else. Pissed off that you have to pay a bit more to get into a national park? Now isnt it just a bit strange that most farang tourists have coughed up 20,000 baht for an air fare and many thousands for a hotel, pop 2,000 to 3,000 a night for entertainment, dont eat at street stalls, dont have a family to bring up - and yet they scream blue murder when a Thai gets into Wat Phra Kaew free whereas the farang has to pay 500 baht. If that sticks in your craw so much, take your complaining and go somewhere where there are no distinctions. But of course they wont. They like Thailand and what it offers too much. So quit complaining and just put up with it!

I wonder why. For about ten years I have had a small Japanese made wristband that measures my blood pressure and pulse. Admittedly it is not a watch but could be attached to one. After I press start, it takes about 20 seconds to come up with the readings. Understandably it does lightly squeeze the wrist for a few moments. I once took it to a hospital so I could check the readings against professional equipment. They were remarkably similar.

A drag brunch? I hope it will be popular but nothing will drag me anywhere near a bunch of drag queens.

Oh come on! I specifically stated "several UK newspapers". So you don't believe me. Here are more - https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/dominic-cummings-barnard-castle-durham-coronavirus-police-prosecution-nazir-afzal-b1454947.html https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8899061/Dominic-Cummings-face-prosecution-breaking-lockdown-says-former-prosecutor.html https://breakingnewstv.in/dominic-cummings-225-page-file-alleges-aide-dedicated-six-covid-breaches/ Is there anything there right wing enough for you? I find it hard to square the accusation of possible perversion of the course of justice backed up by a 220 something page report, an accusation made by a former Chief Crown Prosecutor, with your view that the whole business is "very tiresome". The man broke his own regulations. He jmay have lied. An inquiry with testimony from the witnesses who state he lied should surely clear that up. The man should have been fired on the spot.

More doubt on Cummings actions. This has been reported in several UK newspapers of which this is one. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/oct/30/dossier-alleges-cummings-may-have-perverted-course-of-justice-in-account-of-lockdown-trip Even though he broke the law and may have perverted the course of justice? One law for government advisors and one for the rest of the country, obviously.

Such a shame that foreigners will not be able to attend this years Taipei Gay Pride Parade on Saturday.

Sorry vivapu, I think it an absolute disgrace that he turned up. How would your family feel if the person who murdered you and then ran from the crime scene turned up at your funeral? This criminal policeman is a member of the "super elite" and the heir to a family fortune. Remember what happened to the Red Bull heir, Boss whatever his name is? More than 8 years ago around 5 in the morning he murdered a traffic policeman in cold blood by mowing him down on Sukhumvit driving around 100 mph and then dragging the body for a few hundred meters before escaping to his family compound. His family would not release him and the Ferrari to the police for about 8 hours. Even so, he still had alcohol and drugs in his system. He has succeeded in escaping justice for 8 long years, finally fleeing Thailand in his private jet in 2017. Even with an Interpol arrest warrant, he is still at large allegedly enjoying the high life in Dubai. When the elite government announced earlier this year that all charges against him were being dropped, there was such an outcry on social media it was forced to do a U turn and reopen the case. Interpol is again involved. What's the betting that both he and now the murderer policeman get off scot free in the fullness of time. Money talks in Thailand.

Is blatantly breaking the rules once not bad enough? Is the most senior Prime Ministerial adviser who helped write the rules permitted unilaterally to break them by driving about 400 kms from his home during a total lockdown without any resultant sanction? Of course not. He should have been fired. Period. To argue otherwise is pure nonsense. That view has absolutely zilch to do with which party is in government. So what if he is useful? I'll bet tens if not hundreds of thousands of others in the UK felt they were also useful and also had valid reasons for breaking the lockdown. Such hypocrisy and such we are holier than thou attitude is not confined to the UK. If the US Senate does confirm the new homophobic judge today after the Republicans unilaterally changed the rules and then had its most senior representatives with hands on hearts blatantly lie on camera more than once, it illustrates once more the depths to which US democracy has sunk. In politics there is lying and there is lying. These were the depths of disgrace. No, thats not Donald Trump, although he has taken US politics into a very black swamp. That is the conniving bastard Mitch McConnell and his perfectly awful surrogate Lindsay Graham. Hopefully they will themselves be confined to the depths of a miserable swamp by being roundly defeated next week.

That is obviously one viewpoint. The other is that these are not normal times. The world is in the grips of a pandemic when partly as a result of the UK government's near total ineptitude wages have been substantially reduced for huge numbers and others have no opportunity of finding work. As a direct result existing social security safety nets have huge holes in them. From what I read the government's view has been criticised by so many in Britain the majority clearly seem to agree with Rashford and the pediatricians. There seems to be a near universal view amongst some that everyone should work for a living and that state subsidies are in many cases a disincentive to work. I defy anyone to try and argue that view at the present time. Johnson's government has made mistake after mistake after mistake. He has not even sacked his main advisor who twice deliberately broke the lockdown rules he himself had helped draw up. Break the rules and you should be out. Period. And every government has a duty to ensure that its young children at least have food on the table.

Im good at airing the problem but lousy at offering solutions. I agree wholeheartedly with z909 about the quality or lack thereof of candidates. but then who selects the candidates? Political parties. As long as you have parties and first past the post, you have division and a large chunk of each constituency not represented. My parents generation accepted this because they sincerely believed that whoever was elected would represent all the electors. Now politicians beholden to a party have to tow the party line, however that represents the views of the electors. Over the weekend I was been reading of the recent case in the UK of the excellent Manchester United soccer player, Marcus Rashford. At the age of just 22 and from a single parent underprivileged background, he led a successful movement to persuade the UK government to continue school meals for kids from poor backgrounds during the summer vacation. Johnson's party had vetoed the idea and then had to do a hugely embarrassing U turn. A few days ago an opposition party tabled a motion that kids from poor homes should again benefit with meals during the half term and Xmas vacations. Johnson forced a party line and it was defeated. Instead of bitching about it, Rashford and his team set about talking with cafes, restaurants, other suppliers and even local councils to try and ensure decent meals for the kids. A petition signed by 2,000 pediatricians stated that ensuring young kids have enough nourishment is one of the most "basic human responsibilities." The huge outpouring of support in the country has yet again totally shamed a government that has wasted vast amounts of sterling in its increasingly hopeless attempts to control the corona virus. A fraction of that could easily provide nourishing meals for kids from homes where their parents now just don't have the money to buy enough food.. The excuses put forward by some allegedly intelligent MPs were disgraceful in the extreme, as a result of which they have had to apologise in the face of massive public opposition. One ruling party MP took to social media linking free meals for kids with"crack dens" and "brothels". Utter idiocy! It seems as though Johnson's government will once again have to do another even more massively embarrassing U turn thanks to the passionate humanitarian efforts of a humble young 22 year old wise beyond his years. If this is the result of democracy, there is something rotten about the present system of governance.

I'm with Vessey - Winner Boys and Nice Boys. If I could go back in time, Happy Boys off Sunee and the early incarnation of Krazy Dragon.

I was not aware that Cathay Pacific played such a major role in the airline's history. I had thought it was largely independent until recently. I assume it must have had separate management. I did wonder why it added flat bed seats in its A330s. For an airline that only had regional routes, that seemed an expensive and unnecessary addition. Is Hong Kong Airlines still operating? Wasn't it a division of Hainan Airlines, a great airline but it had severe financial problems even before the pandemic. HK Airlines offered great transPacific prices.

Cathay Dragon was named Dragonair before CX took it over. On the few times I flew it I found it one of the best airlines in Asia, way better than Cathay Pacific. Better ground staff, better cabins, better cabin crews, better food. Very sad that its staff are being let go.