PeterRS

I think a new thread for Ukraine is called for. There have been valid points made about WWII which I di not believe are associated with Ukraine. So I'll start one!

You compare the readership who 'like' posts my as "subpar to my own intelligence". I suppose you do sometimes joke, for that is not merely a monster of a joke, it is utterly demeaning in the extreme to those who do enjoy my posts. And that is the more so compared to small number who actually bother reading your posts and then downvote them. Reality is clearly not your thing! But you fail to note that it is still a lie and that @Riobard has done nothing to correct it. Funny how a random check of long-term posters shows that all have a specific start date going back to 2006. Well, I suppose that accounts for most of @Riobard's posts being in a fantasy land since no Board existed in 1970

It does not matter. The fact is that @Riobard has a false start date and has not bothered to update it. Corrupt misleading activity!

The Reform UK movement is already on the march. Durham County Council, run since May by the dreadful ultra right-wing Reform UK Party, is withdrawing the funds it has contributed regularly to the annual Gay Pride March from next year. Councillor Grimes (a somewhat appropriate name, I'd have thought) has said "Taxpayers shouldn't be bankrolling it. Durham Country Council isn't an ATM for contested causes." Instead the Council spend its funds on "the services everyone relies on, not on flying the latest alphabet flag for the professional offence industry." Durham Pride 2025

DId you even bother to try the internet? I have not tried any of these which are based in Tokyo. https://www.travelgay.com/tokyo-gay-massage-spas https://www.jptherapist.com/en https://gaymassage.jp/en/venue/show/menssalonfriday https://boyinthai.com/detail/topboy/ http://35.75.66.216/en/venue/show/aktis There are many more if you just do a googe search.

Don't worry. I'll put them in the washing machine.

Another of your non-facts which is untrue. Less than 300,000 in total were killed in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The statistic site has a wide estimte of between 110,000 and 210,000 deaths. Others agree with the higher end - https://www.britannica.com/question/How-many-people-died-in-the-bombings-of-Hiroshima-and-Nagasaki https://www.newsweek.com/how-many-people-died-hiroshima-nagasaki-japan-second-world-war-1522276

Guess what? We have aother Beachlover on the forum. Apart from lying through his teeth trying to make readers believe he was a mid-20s Australian Chinese businessman from Sydney, he was a bored old expat somewhere in or near Pattaya who flooded several boards and led to the demise of one. More to the point, he posted photos of his alleged travels but made certain that anything which would identify him was blocked out. Now @Riobard does likewise. Is Beachlover your cousin?

Well now you reallly have me confused. You wrote - I immediately responded with - In other words, dear @Olddaddy, you have just again referred to Nice Boys. And guess what? So did my response! Now you again state you are talking about Nice Boys. Did I never once refer to Winner Bar. Ooops, no! I think you have your knickers in a bit of a twist! I am working on a hammock on the balcony that might be big enough for two.

Sometimes no alternative but to wait near this time of year.

So your reading is impaired. The Search engine is good. Or are you one who expects everything to be done for you?

Funny then. SInce you know that and that bar is not for you, why did you ask?

More than your posts do. Have you any idea how boring they are? Probably yes, because you deliberately set out to be a bore.

Like Stalin who trusted Hitler and then turned on him? Don't get me wrong, though. Without Russia, the Nazis would have overrun Europe as Churchill and Roosevelt were well aware. I'm not sure why you suddently bring up the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, although they certainly persuaded the Japanese their war had come to an end. But this thread is about remembrance of the end of the war in the Pacific and particulary the horrific atrocities by the Japanese in that war. Not about who is winning a present day arms race. You are certainly free to start another thread should you so wish.

Fair point again. But there is no bus that goes within 1 km of my apartment and the nearest MRT station is even further away. Besides, on a Friday afternoon getting on any bus in the upper Silom area means waiting a very long time as there are very long queues.

What utter garbage - as we have come to expect from this poster. On how many topics have you posted? How many readers actually have expressed their liking of your posts? How many have you on ignore? You ridiculously claim to have joined the Board in 1970 long before it started, yet your first post was at the end of 2017. Perhaps not surprisingly it was on the subject of syphilis and gonorrhoea. Obviously right up your alley. 🤣

I fully understand your point. But how do you get from A to B when the distance is between 3 - 4 kms with a backpack and two relatively full shopping bags? When you live in a place there are sometimes other commitments making it difficult to shop at other times. Add in rain, however light, and would you plan to walk? You'd probably have to as empty taxis will be thin on the ground and available motorcy guys non-existent.

I do not recall downvoting any post until your posts appeared. And there is a good reason for that, as other posters have pointed out.

There are several posts on this subject, some quite recent. I suggest you use the Search box.

At a CNN town hall in May 2023, Trump said: “They’re dying, Russians and Ukrainians. I want them to stop dying. And I’ll have that done — I’ll have that done in 24 hours.” https://apnews.com/article/trump-russia-ukraine-war-un-election-a78ecb843af452b8dda1d52d137ca893 And the reality 27 months later - The much-anticipated summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin . . . ended with a thud Friday after they conceded that they had failed to reach any agreements on how to end the Russia-Ukraine war. https://apnews.com/article/trump-putin-summit-ukraine-war-takeaways-b9ff04c4143c6ac228e196ddaf6dd6d3 If it was not so serious it would be laughable!

A totally pointless post, given that in February 1945 the world was in a ghastly war on several fronts. The examples you quote have nothing to do with any war that is underway.

Not surprising! If I am in Silom near or at Silom Complex, getting home by taxi outside the rush hour can take no more than 15 minutes for a fare of around Bt. 65. If I try getting a taxi for the same distance from and to the same locations in peak rush hours on a Friday, first - taxis are very difficult to come by, and second - just getting from, say, Silom Complex to turn into Soi Convent can take almost 20 minutes! The traffic is basically stuck. And that is little more than 100 meters I reckon.

Thank you @daydreamer for reminding us all of the evil and slaughter of the Japanese occupation. And it was not only in Korea, but we tend to know much less about that invasion and occupation of the Korean Peninsula. Two other vital issues we often forget about Korea during WWII. First, Japan realised it did not have sufficient forces to fight on all the war fronts it had opened. So it recruited Koreans. By the end of the war, 5,400,000 Koreans worked for the Japanese war effort. Of these around 650,000 opted to remain in Japan after the war rather than return home to Korea. The second concerns an agreement made between Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin at the Yalta Conference in February 1945. This ensured that once the war in Europe was over and the Nazi armies thoroughly defeated, attention would turn to Asia. Korea posed a huge problem as there were more than 850,000 Japanese living in and administering country. These would have to be vetted for war crimes and the vast majority repatriated. Aware of the massive repatriation task, this had two immediate consequences. First Russia agreed to declare war on Japan. Second, the US and Russia agreed that they would divide repatriation between them. Russia would take the northern part of the country and the USA the lower, the split being at the 38th parallel. Once the administrative offices had been put in place, of course, America and Russia - allies during the war - became sworn enemies. The failure to put just one country in charge of repatriation then became obvious, and we all know the disaster which has resulted in formation of the two Koreas. What I find extraordinary is that we know by the time of the Yata Conference, although the west needed the Russians to continue fighting Hitler form the east, neither Roosevelt nor Churchill trusted Stalin. By 1949, the Americans had left and put in place a pro-American government in the south run by a reviled strongman Syngman Rhee. The Russians removed their forces from the north but not their influence and Kim Il-sung became its strongman. Perhaps ironically the part of Asia which had been most infuenced by Christianity was the Korean Peninsula. Kim Il-sung's material grandfather had been a Protetant minister and it has been alleged that his grandson played the organ in his Church. But like many Koreans Kim was a nationalist whose objective was to get the hated Japanese out of the country. Partisan battles erupted with the Japanese. After one in 1937 the 25-year old Kim fled first to Japanese Manchuria and then to Russia after which he was put on a Japanese 'wanted' list. Many Koreans ended up in Russia where they were able to escape from the hunger, fatigue and danger of fighting in the Peninsula. Kim's first son was born there and named Yuri Irsenovich Kim, later to be known to the world as Kim Jong-il. The Koreans in Russia were then incorporated into the Russia's 88th Special Rifle Brigade. The Russians thereafter persuaded Kim to be their liaison between Pyongyang and the Russian army. We all know what then happened with the Korean War: its slaughter of millions, the closure of North Korea and in later years the nuclear stand-off. We all conveniently forget that the very fact of partition of the Peninsula was due as much to the west in the form of America and the UK as to Russia.

Obviousy should read Modern Manners by P. J. O'Rourke prior to departure. Description.: “Modern Manners is O’Rourke doing what he has always done: making hilarious, insightful, often vicious fun of the world and all its inhabitants,” raves People magazine. In this “Etiquette Book for Rude People,” the man that Wall Street Journal dubbed “the funniest writer in America” sets his sites on the world of etiquette and guides us through the “art of incivility,” providing a “rulebook for living in a world without rules.” While the anti-etiquette outlined within may not be ideal for every situation, it’s a fine way to pass the time, distinguish yourself from the crowd, or at least have a lot of fun trying.

Good airline. This January review of the SYD to BKK business class may interest you. Check with the airline if you realy have to enter China to pick up ad recheck in your bag before the Bangkok sector. And do you therefore need a visa? "On checkin was advised that bags could only be sent as far as Haikou. At that point I would have to enter China, collect baggage then checkin for BKK flight. And that's despite both flights being on a single ticket. Upon arrival then had issues at passport control. They wanted evidence of my 2nd flight. The print out I had on me simply said SYD / BKK. And had no wifi access. Eventually was allowed in. The flights themselves were great. Relatively modern planes with attentive flight attendants. 1-2-1 in business on the A330 and 2-2 on the 737. Western food options on the way over. Very much Chinese on the way back. For the price I paid it was a great option but 15-17hrs to BKK instead of 9 hours might turn others off." https://www.airlinequality.com/airline-reviews/hainan-airlines