PeterRS

I have never used poppers but many years ago I did bring some into Thailand as I have a Thai friend who loves using them. Before my fight, I tore off all the wrappings placed a couple inside shoes covered by dirty socks and others in my toiletries bag with a lot of other materials. Surprisingly my bag was opened at BKK but the check was cursory at best. However, checks now may be more rigorous since popers are highly flammable.

Never use such apps. But I honestly cannot believe you are so incredibly busy that you have no time to read the forum. You have made many, many dozens of posts so clearly you had time to make them and read many of the responses! Do you have a new job? Or do you now spend so much more of your time looking up gay travel sites to answer some of your questions?

Absolutely not!

I wonder if they now feel the extra large bribes (oops fees) he must have paid them to lie were worth it.

I suspect a lot of people will be watching this time to ensure that he is actually in a prison and not in a VIP hospital suite. Perhaps his recent trip outside the country was to collect a good amount of cash to try and buy his way out of prison. But I doubt if this time he will be successful.

The Supreme Court of Thailand has sentenced Thaksin to jail for one year. It ruled that his previous prison term was a sham. At that time, on his first day he complained of feeling ill and was taken to the VIP Wing of a hospital where he spent the entire period of his jail term in a great degree of comfort before being pardoned after 6 months. The Supreme Court ruled this was unlawful and Thaksin was not in fact ill. That case is known in Thailand as the "14th Floor" case as it was on that floor in the hospital where Thaksin lived in a degree of luxury. Last week Thaksin flew on a private jet to his second home in Dubai allegedly to receive medical treatment. He must have assumed that by returning he could escape a prison term. He must now be wishing he had not come back! The Thaksin political dynasty has finally suffered what must surely be a fatal blow. Sic transit . . . .!

Poppers are illegal in Thailand - and in several other Asian countries. If you buy on the streets, I suspect there is a very good chance they are fake.

It also appears he was not only alone at the time he made the jump, he had been alone in his room all day. It also states "luxury" hotel. That would indicate he could have had a certain degree of wealth, either that or he blew his savings before ending everything. As far as the sound from above is concerned I would not count on the Pattaya Mail's reporting being accurate. Presumably it was an eye witness statement when the poor man's landing might have sounded as though it had come from above. The attached article from another news outlet says nothing about sound from above - merely "a loud noise from meters away". It also ooints out a Chinese fell to his death just last Sunday. Why the British man fell can only be a matter of speciulation. Boy friend problems? Girl friend problems? Health issues? Acute depression for another reason? Probaby we'll never know. It makes me wonder, though. What facilities exist in Pattaya for foreigners to consult suicide hotlines (if any) or psychiatrists about issues with which they are struggling mentally? https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2025/09/08/uk-man-the-latest-foreign-tourist-to-die-in-high-rise-balcony-fall-in-nong-prue-pattaya-last-saturday/

For virtually the first time in decades, the Myanmar junta's army is losing both territory and manpower. Consequently it is also losing much-needed cash. The various militias have gained a lot of ground fighting largely with hope and without proper military gear. The junta uses its air force to try and keep its territory, and primarily as a result of a large number of desertions conscription is now fully in force, even to the extent of men being hauled off the streets in major cities to become soldiers. Most recent supplies to the junta's air force have come from Russia in the form of six advanced Su-30MSE fighter jets. The purchase was financed by a Russian loan and was made necessary due to problem issues with older Chinese military aircraft. The junta maintains that these jets will be used to maintain the country's territorial integrity, but it is well known from various sources that they have been used against anti-junta militia forces The junta has a wide assortment of fighter jets and military helicopters in its arsenal. In the 1990s it bought 20 Mil Mi-2 and PZL W-3 Sokol helicopters from Poland and 13 Mil Mi-17 from Russia. In 2001 it bought 12 MIG-29 fighter aircraft from Belarus. This was followed by an additional order of 20 MiG-29s as part of a $570 million defence package in December 2009. 10 MiG-29Bs were upgraded to SM standard in 2017. The air force also ordered 10 Mil Mi-35 gunship helicopters as part of a $71 million defence package signed in December 2009. Private airlines have also been forced to hand over to the government a number of French-made ATR turbo prop aircraft which have been adapted for military use. All this has to be paid for! And given the strike power of the airforce, it is remarkable how successful the militias have been.

Many thanks for this. I knew Ronan Farrow had been investigating Epstein for a long time but thought it was only for articles in the magazine he writes for. Just downloaded this book on kindle.

Appalling and disgraceful! And only because the Repulicans already thin majority in the House would have been reduced even further. Lord Acton stated in the 19th century, "Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely." Before she became a fallen angel, Aung Sang Suu Kyi stated in 1989 that Lord Acton was wrong. What he should have said is that "Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it."

There is a long and fascinating article about the Myanmar scam centres on today's Guardian website, although it considerably underestimates the number of trafficked workers there compared to other official estimates. The earlier discussions in this thread outline most of the points. But this map created with drone footage with the known scam centres, increased in the recent past from 11 to 27, marked as red dots illustrates the scale of the problem. And this of the totally new scam city at named KK Park south of Myawaddy. Photo Jittrapon Kaicome/The Guardian on-line One who was rescued from KK Park remains traumatised by his experience. If feels "like all the evil in this world" exists inside these compounds, he told the Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/sep/08/myanmar-military-junta-scam-centres-trafficking-crime-syndicates-kk-park

It is a trait which many westerners and non-Asians fall into, especially if they are only visiting on vacation. Those who live in Asia soon get used to the sometimes subtle differences in conversation and social interaction found in different Asian countries.

One point I failed to mention earlier. A lot of people think that sitting in the shade under a sun umbrella will stop them getting either a tan or sunburn. Most will stop some of the harming sun's rays from getting to the skin but they do not shield you from rays reflected from surrounding surfaces. Always use sunscreen even under a sun umbrella.

I regret your recollection is not so good and your earlier post absolutely does not compare anything like with like! You refer to the case of one Gayle Bishop. The two cases are completely different! Ms. Bishop lied to a Grand Jury. She had attempted to cover up her felony under oath. She perjured herself. I understand in the USA that is a crime punishible by up to five years in prison. Ms. Bishop was also found guilty of using her staff to run her law practice as well as her campaign for re-election. The judge was also concerned that Ms. Bishop showed no remorse and refused to take responsibility for her actions. The Rayner case is totaly different and invoves a second house which had in fact been sold to a trust to benefit Ms. Raynor's special needs child. Ms. Raynor had taken legal advice. She never lied and always admitted her underpayment. And you are wrong. You stated Ms. Bishop went to prison for "between 2 - 3 years"! She spent all of 19 days in jail. There is absolutely zero reason for Angela Rayner to spend any time in jail. She owned up to an error and has paid a hefy price for it. Senior US politicians rarely do that unless actually caught comitting one of several crimes. Even then, many remain in office. The Nixon Presidency was a den of thieves going right up to the Vice President Spiro Agnew. In President Reagan's administration the Attorney General Elliot Abrams, Michael Deaver, Melvyn Paisley, Victor Cohen, James Gaines and others were all convicted and found guilty of crimes for which several spent well over one year in jail. Under George Bush 1, among the guilty were the Treasurer of the USA who pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and tax evasion. Under every President since there have been allegations against Congressmen and Senators who remained in their posts before prosecutions and jail time for various crimes. Need one mention George Santos?

That's a 9 year old article. It in absoutely no way compares with an ad issued in mid-2025! Go back in many countries' histories and you will find endless stupid and senseless ads.

I am merely curious. Since my first offs in Bangkok around 45 years ago I have always understood that bars depended on off fees to pay some of the overheads. It used to be said in olden times that if a new boy failed to achieve a certain number of offs over a certain period, he would be dismissed. But then of course, all the bar boys were Thais. Does this still exist? I have zero idea. But if some overheads have to be included, it could perhaps explain why off fees rise during the low season. I cannot believe building owners and the binbs lower their prices depending on the season! But if this is correct, then off fees should come down in the high season. I am assuming they do not.

I remember the first fime I went on holiday after I started working. It was 2 weeks spent in early November at the Villa Rosa in Malta. Not much was heard about sunscreens in those days and I would spend most by the pool in what was then a very deserted part of the island. After 3 days I felt my skin begin to get quite itchy. I was suffering from prickly heat - over exposure to the sun, even in November - and had to find a drug store to cover my body in soothing camomile lotion. In the ensuing years before I came to live in Asia, I took two week vacations in many sunny spots, usually much closer to summer. What I put on my body then I cannot recall, but it helped me get a tan while avoiding the prickly heat rashes. It was when I moved to Hong Kong that I really started to become a sun worshipper. Having arrived in early March, a month later a friend invited me to spend a day on her junk - a lovely few hours swimming, eating, drinking and gossiping, but with no sun. It was quite cloudy that day. Towards the end, my friend told me to put on some sunscreen. But it's not sunny, I ignorantly replied. Just do it, she said! That eveing as I was about to get into the shower, I noticed that my face was almost beetroot in colour and my nose glowing like Santa's Rudolf. I learned my lesson. But if I recall correctly, sun lotions in those days did not have factors. You just rubbed some oil or ointment onto the skin and that was supposed to protect you. I suppose after Sundays at sea (one of the joys of living in Hong Kong), my face was less red, but it was still red. Exactly when I learned about skin protection factors, I cannot recall. But the moment I became aware of them, I always put a 16 or something like that on my face and 8 on my body. After all I still wanted to get a tan! Having the roof above my apartment meant I was tanning more than most and no doubt more than I should. But the dangers of overexposure to the sun were only starting to become known. It still took some years, though, before I exchanged the 16 for a factor 50 for my face. Moving to Bangkok 24 years ago and with a pool in the condo, on days with free time or no work I'd be at the pool virtually every lunchtime for at least an hour. It kept my tan going! Thankfully I was not based in Australia for by then the dangers of skin cancer had become very well known. My Australian friends covered themselves with factor 50s before our regular beach outings, whilst I stuck mostly with my 8 or slightly higher on my body. Australians love the sun, but rightly they also fear it. 66% of Australians will require surgery for at least some form of skin cancer during their lives. In an article on today's BBC website, Australians and indeed many around the world should be not just worried - but very worried! The country has the highest rate of skin cancers in the world even though they use the highest factor screening. So why be worried? In a damning June Report, Choice Australia tested 20 of the most popular sunscreens. 16 failed the factor tests. One, Ultra Violette's Lean Screen SPF 50 Mattifying Zinc Suncreen was the "most significant failure". The test showed its SPF was just 4. A second test came up with the same result. Other brands which failed their SPF factors included Neutrogena, Banana Boat, Bondi Sands and Cancer Council. Lean Screen was sold in nearly 30 countries at a price of US$50 upwards. The company hit back claiming its brand had been thoroughly tested. Two months later it was recalled from sale after eight separate tests showed eight different results. In the last few weeks, another four sunscreen products - not included in the original Choice Australia survey - have been withdrawn from sale. In Europe sunscreen is classified as a cosmetic. In Australia as a medicine, and therefore subject to some of the most robust regulations worldwide. How did this happen? An investigation by the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) discovered that half the brands which had failed the Australia Choice testing had been certified by just one laboratory based in the USA, and this laboratory had consistently recorded high test results. A lab in Western Australia using the same base formula had also passed sunscreens. This is not the first time fake results have been posted. In 2019 a probe by US authorities into a suscreen testing lab ended with the owner being jailed for fraud. How to avoid fraud? Well, doctors point out that even if a Factor 50 is actually a Factor 25, you still have some important cover. In future, regular use of an accepted high Factor applied every two hours, use of hats and other protective clothing, and more use of shade will certainly help. GIven the amount of unprotected sunshine I experienced decades ago, I am now surprised and thankful I am for now free of skin cancer. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gzl41rpdqo

Asian Boys! LOL

Not having offed anyone for several years, I perhaps should not comment other than generally. What in the view of those who write about them does an off fee actually cover? Given we are in the low season, does any part go to bar rental, wages of any paid staff and the regular payments to the binb? I realise that it is supposed to cover the non-attendance of the guy for a period of time when another punter could perhaps have taken him off. I just wonder if the increasing amounts seemingly now sought by some bars cover more?

Indeed! It has appeared several times in recent years. The "boys in the bars" was a regular saying when I first started visiting Thailand. Perhaps we have become politically more correct since then. Personally I try mostly to use twink or guy but boys do slip into posts occasionally. But then again I do not think it matters if the word boy is used or not. There are plenty of sensible posters here who would shoot down any post that specifically referred to anyone aged under 18 and seek its removal by the Moderator. On the other hand, with respect to Ruthrieston, going to a bar to see "young gentlemen" on stage does seem like something out of the 19th century!

Wishing you a speedy recovery after the surgery - and perhaps a longer stay in Thailand next year.

An excellent and excellently brief analysis. Just one question. It would seem that the USA has rather drifted into the present quagmire over very many decades, if not a century or two. It also appears to some outsiders, of which I am one, that power and money are at the root of the problems. And since it seems power has always throughout that time been a factor that could be purchased, do you think the influence of the mega-rich ever be diminished? It is interesting to compare the USA with its former colonisers in the UK. The UK has very strict limits on spending in elections, even though the first-past-the-post constituency system to my thinking is inherently anti-democratic and on occasion open to corruption. But there is at least a greater degree of morality in the understanding of public trust. Just yesterday, the Deputy Prime Minister of the ruling Labour Party, a lady who rose from working class origins to become virtually the most powerful woman in the land, resigned. A mother of three, one of her children was born prematurely, is blind and has special eucational needs. She resigned because she had been found guilty by the Party's Ethics Advisor that she had broken the ministerial code of Conduct. That breach concerned her failure to pay the correct amount of tax on a second home. She had paid £40,000 but it should have been £80,000. Would any politician of any rank in the USA resign over an underpayment of US$54,000? I somehow doubt it!

The points in your reply which I have marked 1) and 3) only go to prove my point. The majority of those in the USA have "little need to travel." So if there is little need, how is it they find out about other countries, their histories, societies, different forms of governing etc.? Seond or third hand from their local media! As for #2, the fact is that a vast percentage of the new passports being applied for and given out in the USA are for millennials - i.e. the young. In 1994 only 10% of Americans held passports as noted in the BBC article below. So if it is the young Americas who are now travelling, older Americans who prefer to travel within their own country still have little idea what really goes on in the world. The world's nations with the highest percentage of passports and the easiest access for visa-free travel to most countries can be found in Asia. Singapore, Japan, and South Korea head the list, with many European countries not far behind. US passports do not provide as much visa free travel for the simple reason that 20 or more countries require visas obtained in advance of travel. In the Henley Passport index, the USA comes in at #36 after countries like Croatia, Estonia and Slovenia! https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-42586638 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henley_Passport_Index

Frankly I just do not know. But surely there are plenty of instances of people being abducted from one country to another where the country from which the person was abducted resorts to little more than diplomatic means? Some, like China, possibly Russia and perhaps a handful of others, find covert ways of returning individual citizens, usually citizens they believe to have broken their laws. Unilaterally invading another country invites all sorts of major, major problems, the more so when the citizens involved have willingly made the move - willingly but under false pretences. Besides, who knows precisely who and how many have been abducted from any one country? If, say, Thailand invaded Myanmar to rescue a dozen citizens, what if it unknowingly left behind two dozen more? The PR consequences would be very detrimental. Myanmar is a huge country and the scam centres are not just located in one place. Has any country anywhere been able to solve the business of the trafficking of its people? Not to my knowledge. The UN estimates that human trafficking is one of the world's fastest growing crimes. At any time it further estimates that in 2021 27.6 million had been trafficked worldwide. https://www.dhs.gov/human-trafficking-quick-facts https://2021-2025.state.gov/humantrafficking-about-human-trafficking/