anddy

actually it was bucknaway who brought it up first as "sissy types"...

great advice in almost EVERY context

Now that you mention it, yes I've heard the word baksheesh before, I usually put it some middle-eastern context (no idea if I'm right). Interestingly, the expression has also been absorbed into German language and is sometimes used (I think) with a slight connotation of being a bribe rather than a mere tip. As for Americans being "the missionaries of tipping religion" maybe that's actually not true, but merely a perception because (1) Americans travel more or we /I meet them more easily than Indian travelers, and (2) they tend to be rather vocal about it. Being vocal includes close US friends of mine who I sometimes discuss tipping habits and requirements when traveling together. Thats why I explicitly said in my post : I said "apparent" and "don't know if true". I found it a plausible and interesting historical aspect. That doesn't change the fact that that the system works that way now regardless of race, of course. And that alleged racial history is not the reason I don't like such tipping structures, it is for different reasons I explained in my post. is it so illogical and unfounded that the practice was adopted and expanded to compensate former slaves and avoid paying them actual wages? On the contrary, it dies sound plausible to me, though I'm not saying I think it's true, I'm no historian of African-American history, and have no inclination of doing lots of research into the subject. Therefore, I treat it as plausible, and even if true probably just ONE reason among others, as is usually the case in complex social situations.

Quite a broad and balanced discussion of tipping here. Some aspects from me to throw in: I believe American tipping (to wait staff) is different from tipping in the rest of the world in that in the US the tip is part of the very fabric of the overall compensation package of the waiter. This is the reason they can legally be paid less than minimum wage, this is the reason that apparently, as paborn pointed out, a certain level of tip is ASSUMED to be earned for tax purposes, and all this is the reason you are essentially OBLIGED to tip wait staff in the US. Not so in the rest of the world. Now Americans grow up with that and therefore many cannot fathom a different approach. Thus they spread their tipping culture (which is actually an obligation more than a cultural thing) around the globe like a "religion", as some have labeled it. Me personally, I do like the Japanese approach very much - service staff not only being paid a commensurate wage, but also taking pride in their work and not wanting to be tipped for it. Having said that, I do of course tip where it is common or expected or otherwise sensible as discussed in this thread (DivineMadman's elaborations pretty much reflect my own views). As for the history of tipping, I only very recently learned of an apparent very dark history of US-American wage/tipping structure, as explained in the video posted below. I don't know if it is true, but there seem to be a lot of videos on the topic in youtube, so presumably it is not made up (I've been to lazy to google it any further). Not that it really changes anything in our currentn tipping behavior, but it gives quite a different and new (to me) perspective. And finally as for the service charge: for one it can be problematic in that it doesn't got to the staff at all put is pocketed entirely but the restaurant. I've heard stories of that happening, so I don't trust the concept. Apart from that, what the hell is it supposed to be for in the first place? The cost of wait staff is an intrinsic and necessary cost of any restaurant/bar, so it should be incorporated in the overall cost structure and thus the food/drinks prices. Also, even if it is fully paid to the staff, it shifts some of the business risk from the owner to the staff - more turnover means more wage for the staff (in the form of the service charge), less sales in slow times means less earnings for staff. I believe that's unfair. A business risk is just that, a business risk and should be borne by the entrepreneur, not the wage earning staff. Anyway, here is the video: https://youtu.be/66d4h3TATVs and another one: https://youtu.be/fRWALpbS1Po

you don't even have to give them your phone number (makes subsequent disconnect easier should someone bother you), you can use the QR-code or "shake-it" funtionality while you are physically with the other person. As for ID, how about PFC? Or similar? But not really necessary I guess yes, there os no way to find someone's Line ID within Line, even if you are already friends. Same goes for the phone number, can't find it in Line. I like that feature a lot, protects your privacy better than most other similar apps. see the (new-ish) back up funcionality described above to rectify loss of data when switching phones or even when accidentally logging off. Just back up on a regular basis, unfortunatley there is no automated scheduled back up functionality (yet?) in Line, as there is in Whatsapp (I have whatsapp on auto-back up every week) I noticed an expiration as well, though no idea how long. Some seem to be available forever, others only a rather short period of time. Dunno....

true the translation feature of WeChat can be very handy and should show the competion the way to go. Having said that, you may still run into problems with Thai, as the usually appalling results from google translate attest. Thai doesn't lend itself to automated translation is my feeling. The structure of the language is too dissimilar from English (or other western languages). Not sure how good, say, a Thai-Khmer translation in google is, but my guess is it is equally poor because I get the feeling the translation engine is English-based, i.e. it translates whatever source language into English first, then proceeds to translate that result into your target language. Yes I agree, in my experience, too, in Indonesia WhatsApp is most common. Like I said , there are regional differences (Singapore has Whatsapp, WeChat and Line, almost in equal shares I'd guess) and the active traveller is probably best advised to get them all

they actually changed the way to make a back up a little while ago. Previously, you had to back up each and every one chat INDIVIDUALLY, a major pain in the neck. Now, you can just back up your ENTIRE chat history in one go. The function is a bit hidden in "settings - chats", but not too hard to find.

you may have seen the logo before:

haha (sorry if I laugh), not even google could help you with this super easy question: "Line ID" is sort of the "user name" in LINE, LINE being a messenger app, very similar to Whatsapp which you may be familiar with. LINE is almost unknown in western countries, but extremely popular in Asia (with local differences, VERY common in Thailand). The app is from a Japanese company, which might explain the Asian focus. Personally, I prefer LINE over Whatsapp, because it is easier to use, especially sending pictures is much easier. Also, they have an abundance of very cute stickers (some free, some for pay) instead of the outdated and boring emojies in Whatsapp. It also has long had free voice call and video call functionality (which Whatsapp only introduced rather late in the game about a year or two ago) Look in the app store of your mobile phone for LINE and you will find it. and finally, here is the wikipedia article for you: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line_(software) edit: DM beat me by a minute haha

just stumbled upon this guy offering guide services in BKK: https://nhom-tour-guide.webs.com/ He also offers massage service at https://nhom-massage.webs.com/ So looks like here you can get 2 in 1 ;-) Sorry for the competition, Moses, but as we all know competition stimulates the business :-) Disclaimer: Unlike siamroads, which I have used myself in the past (in Bali), I obviously can't vouch for the quality or reliablility of this guy. Just a random find I wanted to share.

specifically for the bars we are talking about: not to forget tea money!

adding to the "why not" argument: many of the very members of this board do it all the time when hiring working boys from Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam.... All are foreigners! Besides, if you are from, say, Europe, you might as well enjoy sex outside the bar and commercial scene with other foreginers from Asian countries such as the above mentioned or Taiwan, or Singapore or Japan or or or..... Which are not in abundant supply in Europe but more so in BKK. What I'm saying is "foreigner with other foreigner" doesn't imply same ethnicity

the waterfall pictures are gorgeous, they just suffer from one flaw: the boys are wearing shorts! Why? Hahaha ;-) The last pic (I viewed it, too, despite being just for fedssocr hehe) is just super yummmy

I NEVER carry my passport, except when going to/from the airport to travel abroad. For domestic flights I just use my Thai drivers license which obviously I carry at all times. It's useful for any other ID purposes, too, like at DJ station where they sometimes ask for ID. As most here, I do carry a color copy of the picture page of the passport plus b/w copy of visa extension+reentry permit plus latest entry stamp along with arrival card. I really don't understand why anyone would carry the original passport, especially when on a temporary holiday. A copy will suffice for police, and even if it doesn't you can always go to the hotel with them to show it. That's an inconvenience, yes, but incomparably smaller than losing the original passport (through theft or otherwise). Otherwise, I'm not really concerned about pickpocketing, I do carry my wallet (with said copies, drivers license and Thai ATM card) with me at all times, in the "unsafe" back pocket, and only very rarely move it to the front pocket for safety. I believe if it went missing I would notice it immediately due to the lack of the feeling of a filled back pocket. But then again, being more safe than that is better than being sorry and it doesn't cost much effort, so advice given by others here is probably more prudent than mine lol As for carrying two phones: if you are an Android user, that is entirely unecessary. Just get a model with 2 SIM cards and off you go as normal. It elides me why the hyped and oh-so-perfect iPhone doesn't have that.... There are superb dual-SIM Android phones in the market that easily equal to iPhone quality. I personally currently have the Oneplus 3T, a little known highh-end brand with no bloatware like the mainstream brands have. But I guess iPhone vs. Android is a matter of personal habits, preferences and sometimes near-religious beliefs LOL

probably true.... though they did discuss abolishing that stupid form altogether (now only abolished for Thai nationals) when it was redesigned but from what I read they kept it at the behest of the TAT to collect some (useless) statistics (which I'm sure they could get a hold of in a more efficient way).

you may be helpless, but certainly not useless, as others have correctly pointed out. Hope you will make a full recovery so we we can share another meal at our favorite small restaurant in Silom in the future! on topic: accidentally stumbled upon this series of pictures from the "making-of" of a statue (statues) about the rescue effort. Not that it should matter in this context, but can't help finding the models very sexy indeed ;-) https://picpost.postjung.com/326035.html

I just added DM Spa in Line using the Line-ID you provided (i.e. theone5), but that profile says they have a problem with their timeline and one should add ID dmspa6 instead. So I added that one as well and a minute later received a message with a price list. So the latter profile (dmspa6) seems to be the active one. You may want to add that info to your blog.

oh, given the size of your tip another question occurred to me: did he cum as well?

This is not (necessarily) a recent migration phenomenon, but goes back some time. Some/many/all of the young stateless (including the coach I read somewhere) were (ostensibly) born in Thailand to parents from Myanmar who have fled there long ago. No papers, no citizenship. You ask "isn't it mandatory to register a birth within 7 working days?" Well it may be, BUT, these people probably could care less about bureaucratic things like this, especially if they live in remote areas. Or they aren't even aware of such things. Also, it MAY be that this obligation applies only to Thai citizens, not people giving birth in Thailand (though I have no knowledge of Thai law). As so often, a complex issue. I sincerely hope that this gives the Thai government a kick in the butt to resolve this not only for the boys + coach but for all the affected people, almost half a million! Some article in the BP lamented this as well and essentially said the Thai authorities are too lazy to work on it (as they hardly care).

another heartbreaking piece, they only learned about Saman's death today: https://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/1503958/boys-rescued-from-cave-mourn-diver-who-died

both things are big plusses in my book, too. Hopefully he is still there in the fall haha

yeah totally agree, I also find that in probably at least 95% of the cases they look better, often MUCH better in the flesh than in pictures. No idea why, but the reason you suspect sounds very plausible

The one in the middle doesn't work there any more. In fact he worked there only very briefly, I think less than 4 weeks,a and that was last year. I know this because he became a pretty close personal friend of mine (never anything sexual) since a US friend of mine I was doing the bar tour with offed him from Fresh Boys almost 3 years ago. Very lovely person. That means all the bar and massage shop pictures in the magazine are just advertisements and not a reflection of current staff. The magazine itself is not new at all by the way, has been around forever, along with similiar ones like Thai Puan amd another one whose name I can't recall now. Whenever I see hardcopies of those I'm surprised thy still exist in the online age.

I had no idea you were in BKK mid-June, I was still there, too, before going off to my usual summer in Europe. But given the short duration and apparent whirlwind nature of the trip I guess I have to forgive you for not getting in touch 555 Ah I do remember ShanBoy, offed from x-size when we were there together. I do remember finding him very cute too, so maybe I should follow through and try him ;-) Anyway, mesmerizing report as always, very glad you have sort of re-discovered BKK for yourself :-) Oh, love the Monger index!! P.S. I wonder if BurBoy will feature at all....

This was and still is front page news in Germany too. Needless to say I've been moved by these events, too, to say the least. As reader points out in the post above, some of the boys as well as the coach are actually stateless so accepting any foreign invitations is cruelly impossible for them, lacking passports. As this article in the Bangkok Post says, there are a whopping half million stateless people in Thailand. I fail to understand why such people aren't given citizenship. What's the loss to Thailand or any other country hosting such people? None, but they will gain decent, law abiding and possibly tax paying citizens. So why not, why? Probably simple and mean tribalism of "us"-vs-"them", nothing to be proud of. Hopefully the cave story can change that. https://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/1501574/coach-ek-the-unlikely-stateless-hero-of-cave-drama