PeterRS

I cannot recall your post about the purge and when it happened. The fact is that Thai boys have been leaving the go-go bars to be replaced by others from neighbouring countries for a considerable number of years. I guess the purge @vinapu refers to is something that happened post the government's Social Order campaigns at the start of the 2000s because I do not recall many boys being non-Thais even for a few years after that time. I do remember, though, (I'm guessing around 2008-10) there was a lot of chatter in Dick's Cafe about a very handsome young Vietnamese who worked in a beer bar (Scorpion?) a little futher up the Soi. But for whatever reason he was not affable! On the other hand, the gradually booming economy made working in other jobs more attractive to many of the upcountry lads who were the usual recruiting ground for go-go bar boys. And my guess is that barring a desperate slide in the economy, bars will continue having to rely mostly on non-Thais.

Hong Kong airport has been using this technology since at least the start of the year. Perhaps becase it is so relatively new, on my three visits this year so far, I find it actually slows down what used to be a very fast system (especially for those with HK Permanent Identity cards). From observing just a few passengers, some tourists seem to have a problem with spectacles, others with inserting their identity documents the correct way at the first 'station'. It's also been in use in Taipei when exiting the country since pre covid. For some reason, at Taoyuan airport the whole process works much faster.

Daytime temperatures in Bangkok's 'winter season' very rarely fall below around 28. It will be a little cooler in the evenings and can drop down 4 or 5 degrees. Chiang Mai is certainly cooler, especially in the evenings when you will almost certainly need a sweater. As @reader's article points out, much depends on China. If it is below freezing in Beijing, the winter monsoon will ensure that some of those cold winds will extend down as far as Thailand leading to cooler weather. I was once having a short vacation in Hua Hin bewteen Christmas and New Year when it was pretty cool just lying by the pool. But the winter monsoon can blow in at any time. I recall one late November spell in Hong Kong, normally one of the loveliest months weather-wise, when daytime temperatures dropped to what felt like a bitterly cold 12 degrees. Check what is happening temperature-wise in Beijing in the winter period and you can be sure this will have some effect on Thailand a few days later.

Hong Kong is still reeling from the law brought in by its Chinese masters 3 years ago. This effectively gives the Chinese-appointed Hong Kong government (yes, I know it's elected but only by an elite group from a small slate of candidates all approved by Beijing) even greater powers than those in China itself regarding subversion, terrorism and colluding with foreign powers. It's known as the "love China" law and extends right down into schools and publishing companies. As I have recently discovered, all books about Hong Kong, past and present, must now be censored prior to publication and certain words, phrases and events can not be included. Having initially failed in its duty to protect the citizens of Hong Kong by denying Chinese holding the British National Overseas Passport the right of abode in Britain prior to 1997 - an event which one political commentator of the time claimed would have been the single best boost the British economy could ever have - in 2020 Britain reversed course and opened its doors to those very same citizens. As of December last year more than 150,000 had taken up the new visa rights leading to Hong Kong's first fall in total population for many decades. Now it seems the UK has learned from China. An article in today' Observer newspaper states the deeply unpopular Conservative government has drawn up plans to broaden the definition of extremism to anyone who undermines its institutions and values. "The proposals have provoked a furious response from civil rights groups with some warning it risks 'criminalising dissent', and would significantly suppress freedom of expression. "One Whitehall official said: 'The concern is that this is a crackdown on freedom of speech. The definition is too broad and will capture legitimate organisations and individuals.' . . . "The documents state: 'Extremism is the promotion or advancement of any ideology which aims to overturn or undermine the UK’s system of parliamentary democracy, its institutions and values.' "Martin Bright, editor-at-large, Index on Censorship, added: 'This is an unwarranted attack on freedom of expression and would potentially criminalise every student radical and revolutionary dissident. It has never been the British way to arrest people for thought crime.'” https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/nov/04/plans-to-redefine-extremism-would-include-undermining-uk-values

Why?

Quite by chance I came across this rather fascinating short film highlighting the difference between the ease with which homosexuals mixed in London in the 1930s compared to the much stricter climate that existed in the 1950s. It was made by London Weekend Television in 1981 and inevitably considers homosexual men as of that time. The video explains why views on homosexuals changed as the works of sexologists like Freud slowly began to seep outside academia after the Second World War. The word "homosexual" became much better known, along with such terms as inverts and perversion. Very quickly the public would become obsessed with the idea of dangerous effeminate homosexuals corrupting those around them. With spies like Guy Burgess being known homosexuals, the idea of homosexuals also being traitors mutiplied. In 1954 police arrested ten times more homosexual men than in the 1930s. So those interviewed in the film regard the 1930s in a much more favourable light.

Little wonder that Changi is consistently at the top of airport rankings. Whereas most major international airports are boring and make one long to get on to the flight, Changi offers a great deal to keep passengers interested and enjoyed, particularly if you have spend some transit time there. Hardly surprising that Hamad Airport in Doha has been taking a lot of tips from Changi, especially in developing a garden-like atmosphere.

I should certainly have mentioned both The Beach Boys and The Eagles. On my last visit to the UK in March, I travelled a short distance to meet an old University friend whom I keep up with on most visits. This trip he selected a small restaurant we had not been to before. Walking from the train, I was absolutely delighted to find a shop selling only 'oldies' both on vinyl and CD transfers, all at ultra bargain prices. One of The Monkees which I would not normally have bought was £1.99 for a double album! I'll be back at that shop when I am over next in May.

Not everyone is into muscled ageing hunks! Having lived and worked in Japan for some years and being a regular visitor, I can say that many young Japanese guys may look younger than their actual ages, but I suspect some of the faces in those web photos use discreet lighting and/or a touch of photoshop.

+1

They were my teenage idols, groups whose shelf lives were usually brief. They shone like bright stars only to die as younger ones rose in their place. The Hollies, Marmalade, Herman's Hermits, Cream, The Animals, The Dave Clark Five, The Monkees, Procul Harem . . . the list is long. Many of the songs remain on my favourites list. Setting The Beatles aside, my all-time favourite album remains Procul Harem's Grand Hotel, an amazing collection of fantastic songs with the earthy vocals of Gary Brooker. Some, of course, have lasted the course. Who would have thought that The Beatles would today be launching their final single even though two passed away decades ago. Or that The Rolling Stones would not only have launched a new album which has raced to the No. 1 spot in many countries, the group will continue to tour next year. Mick Jagger is 80, for goodness sake - an age when most of us are sipping our Singhas and enjoying a life of retirement with energy levels much reduced although with a Thai boy sometimes in our beds and thanks to little pills which keep everything functioning as it should! The octogenarian Sir Paul McCartney and near-octogenarian Sir Elton John, who has just completed a multi-year tour of his own, take part on that Stones album. Dionne Warwick whose equally earthy tones led to her being the muse of Burt Bacharach for many years continued well beyond the 1960s and remains a true icon. Moving forward in years, Gloria Gaynor's star shone briefly for a while as a gay icon with I Will Survive and I Am Who I Am, the latter from the iconic gay musical the Jerry Herman/Harvey Fierstein La Cage aux Folles (far better than the later Hollywood movie although nothing could beat the original French one) which I saw twice on Broadway with Gene Barry and the incomparable George Hearn. The start of the disco revolution when I danced along with a gazillion others to Donna Summer, The Village People, The Bee Gees . . . ah! those were the days when music helped in a small way to take our minds off the ravages of AIDS then startng to spread its tentacles around the world. I suppose - unfortunately (well, his music is certainly not my kind of music) - we cannot forget that ever-youthful octogenarian, perhaps even gay although he vociferously denies it, Cliff Richard We will all have our own favourites. I just wonder which young artists now in their 20s and early 30s of today will last anywhere as long. Some in their middle age like Lady Gaga, Madonna and Janet Jackson will always be there, I reckon. Yet quite a few in the younger group are already burned out or taking lengthy breaks for a variety of reasons including Ariana Grande, Selina Gomez, Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber . . . It's almost as though in this day of social media, that is what can quickly build up a 'star' and unless that star is always up there at the top of the posting lists (I am not on social media and so do not know the correct term!) the fans can just as quickly abandon them. In the 'old' days' we relied on television if we wanted to see the stars and a variety of gossip magazines if we wanted to know a little more about their lives. But then, of course, there were the great songs and great performances. Or is that just the view of an ageing hippie with a hankering for the old days?

It is one of the great contemporary dance companies in the world with a corps of stunning dancers. The men are young, tall and with incredible bodies. I have seen several performances of the Cloudgate Dance Theatre now celebrating its 50th anniversary. All have been quite wonderful. For those in London, there is another chance to see them at Saders Wells Theatre in Rosebery Avenue from November 30 to December 2 with performances of Lunar Halo. One of The Guardian newspaper's weekly video picks this week is the streaming of another Cloudgate production Rice on Marquee TV. This includes music from a variety of sources including Hakka Traditional Folk Songs, Bellini, Saint-Saens, Richard Strauss and Chinese composers. This is a dcumentary made about the company's brilliant founder Lin Hwai-min for the 40th anniversary.

As if anyone ouside the Palestinian/Arab world would even consider that a possibility! WIth such entrenched positions on all sides of this ghastly war, who would keep the peace?

Many of those boys look stunning!

This must be something of a sentimental return since it was a joint venture with SAS that helped get THAI off the ground internationally in 1960. SAS itself started flights between Copenhagen and Bangkok in 1949. Then the flight time was 36 hrs with stops in Zurich, Rome, Damascus, Karachi and Calcutta. As in @reader's post, the west-east routing with the new service will be 10 hrs 35 mins with prevailing winds making the return slightly longer. The aircraft will be the Airbus A350 with business, premium economy and cattle class! Economy is in the 3-3-3 format. Another New Scandinavian Airline to Service Bangkok A new Scandinavian budget airline, Norse Atlantic Airways, is also due to start ferrying tourists to Thailand from Oslo starting today with 2 flights per week using Boeing 787-9 aircraft. The schedule will increase to 3 perweek during the period Dec 19 - Jan 13. Cheapest round trip outside the winter season seems to be around US$700 return but you pay for nearly everything including the seat you prefer, meals, drinks, earbud headphones etc. One reviewer of a flight from Paris to New York was pleasantly surprised but found the baggage weights were strictly applied with substantial additional fees if you are overweight. The aircraft has 64 Premium Economy seats in 2-3-2 configuration. Economy is the usual 3-3-3 layout.

Although we're a bit off topic, since it has been raised I'd like to pose another question: how effective are border walls really for those determined to get to the other side? The world is today witnessing the ghastly murders on both sides of the Israel border with Gaza. I have nowhere seen mentioned the fact that israel spent a great deal of money and warded off another batch of international criticism when it started work on its huge border wall. Already over 400 kms have been completed and work is underway on another 58 kms. As the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported, it is the most complex project israeli defence officials have ever built. The 65 km section separating israel with Gaza is more of a massive iron fence, but it is equipped with cutting edge technology designed to detect any security breach. It also includes an underground barrier and is equipped with hundreds of cameras, radars and sensors. There are guard towers positioned at every 500 feet. Yet the Hamas terrorists still got through with relative ease. According to the Israel Defence Forces, the wall was breached in no less than 29 places. If the state of Israel, always on the front foot when it comes to defending its security, cannot build a secure wall, how effective or therwise is one between the USA and Mexico likely to be?

So yet again an idea is floated long before the relevant department/s have even considered even the short-term implications of the plan. This is soooo Thai!

Solid gold toilets and beluga caviar on tap 🤣

Yes, "lists" is correct. Not content with just a list of the ten best places to visit, Lonely Planey outdoes its competitors with five separate lists. The Best Travel 2024 list has no less than five different categories - Countries, Regions, Cities, Sustainable Travel and Best Value. Results are in many cases surprising. Best Country is Mongolia. Now I wonder if that country is even included in any other list! Best Region is Western Balkans Trans Dinarica Cycling Route. Well, and what if I don't fancy cycling? You'll probably prefer #5, Southern Thailand. Best City is Nairobi. Huh? Not for gay travellers. it ain't. Homosexuality can be punished by between 5 and 21 years in jail. Stick to #2 which is Paris - as long as you can avoid the bedbugs LOL Best Sustainable Destination is Spain. This is largely because of the country's efforts to expand renewable energy and bring tourism to hitherto emerging areas. I totaly agree with £2 on the list - Argentinean and Chilean Patagonia. Sorry if this is repeating photos, but I utterly adored my trip there way back in 2010. Torres del Paine National Park with great views from the mega-expensive Explora Hotel Guanocos are watching you! Perito Moreno Glacier Best Value is the USA's Mid West. Well I suppose if you take a gun with you, maybe so. The blurb stresses the cities of Chicago, Milwaukee and Detroit. Huh? Chicago is cheap? Not when I have been there! https://edition.cnn.com/travel/lonely-planets-top-places-to-go-in-2024/index.html

True. Boy bars in Japan have very strict time limits and extra payments if you go over. No doubt that's because they were waiting for you to invite them for a meal at your 7-star Foodland restaurant 🤣

That will add another A380 at BKK to join those from Qatar and Emirates. By dropping its first class and not including a premium economy cabin, one Emirates daily flight has a capacity of 615 passengers. I wonder if we will ever again see a sight I saw on arrival at HKG a few years ago with 3 A380s in adjacent bays.

I know nothing about the effect of these drugs, but the presence of a knife and puncture wounds to the left of the neck might just possibly have been a suicide. Slicing through the carotid artery would result in death in minutes. The seeming absence of theft, even of the drug, would also seem to suggest this. Just a theory while we wait for official notification.

There are some elected politicians who make me cringe every time I see then on television, even before they open their mouths because I know what is coming. This morning, though, on CNN, the awful Senator Lindsay Graham took things to a ridiculous level. He stated that had Trump been President Russia would not have invaded Ukraine and Hamas would not have committed its atrocities in Israel. It reminds me of an old joke originally about a different group of people but let's assume for a bit of fun that they were the three senator amigos - the weird friendship between Graham, John McCain and Joseph Lieberman. The three are on a park bench and discussing the state of the Middle East. McCain: I had a dream last night and in my dream I saw God who said to me: "John McCain you are a true Christian and I believe your views on Israel are correct." Lieberman: How strange! In my dream I also saw God who told me: "Joe, pay no attention to John McCain, Your views on israel are the only ones that matter." Graham: What did I say?

The atrocity of the massacre in israel was horrific in the extreme. Those murderers and terrorists deserve extreme punishment. But the actions of Israel in Gaza, most recently the bombing yesterday of the refugee camp and the deliberate murder of 50 or more innocent civilians, takes punishment way beyond the meaning of the word. Sad to say, Israel has in the past shown a habit of over-reacting to atrocities. The 3-day massacre in 1982 of several thousand Palestinians and Lebanese citizens in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps is perhaps the most notorious. At that time the stated aim was to eradicate the Palestinian Lberation Organisation. It didn't work. It strengthened the PLO. Attempting to get rid of Hamas will not work, either. Yet how many thosands more civilians will die, have their homes, towns and cities destroyed, and their lives made utter misery for years as a result of Israel's actions? I fail to understand one thing. Israel has also been extremely successful at tartgeted individual strikes. After the Munich Olympics massacre, Israel took a great deal of time to assess the situation, build a task force of experts and then set them loose to go into the world and kill the terrorists. To the best of my knowledge, very few - if any at all - civilians were killed in the assassination of the terrorists. All this was later brought to world attention thanks to Steven Spielberg's film Munich. Has Israel had no agents operating in Gaza for years whose specific aim has been to obtain details of precisely where leaders of Hamas are, or are likely to be, or where and how they move around? I fully accept that Hamas has no qualms about hiding amongst civilians and in places like hospitals. But murdering many dozens of civilians to kill one Hamas leader in a massive bomb strike has to be seen as a war crime. It appears to me part of a deliberate attempt to wipe out a population rather than take out one man. Every time an israeli or US politician talks about it being necessary as part of the bigger picture makes me feel sick. As Palestinian casualties rise exponentially in the days to come, the anti-Israel demonstrations around the world will surely only increase, in my view. War is ugly and all wars have their seemingly inexplicable atrocities. The Blitz, the carpet bombing of Coventry, Hamburg, Dresden, Tokyo and the unbelievably horrific rape in Nanjing and other cities in WWII mostly targeted civilians. I do believe that these occurred during the currency of wars between countries. Many will criticise me, but the massacres in israel and Gaza are between large groups of individuals - and this makes it quite different.

Maybe Taiwan LOL