NIrishGuy

Dead as in opened but not busy or dead as in Closed and gone forever ?

Can I suggest you put the "will try my best" mode out of your mind as something that you "should" try to make happen and change your mindset and set it in stone before you go that you will NOT be having sex without a condom when in Thailand FULL STOP just (or period if you're from the US 🙂 ) as any possible deviation from that "I will NOT" can of course quickly lead to "well maybe just this one time" and BINGO, you end up going home with more than you arrived with, which as you said maybe wont be able to be cured with one / ANY tablet. If you honestly believe / know in your heart that you're quite actually to throw caution to the wind some night and just decide to "risk it" in going bareback then perhaps consider starting a course of PREP well BEFORE your depart and then stay on it for the duration of your trip ( if not longer if you feel that's going to be a regular ( intentional) "slip up" perhaps.

When at home and if I'm missing Thailand I just buy nice clothes that are 4 sizes too small for me, tie a tiny piece of wool to them and then take them out of the back, realise they'll never fit me ever again and just pretend I've just got them back from my Thailand laundry service ! lol 🙂

"Time for something new… South America maybe.” He says he’s left Thailand for good...." Ok so who's going to open the betting then as to how long before he returns 🙂 .

You're joking right ? This is a very common thing ( here in the UK at least). Many people either clean their own bins ( Im in the why would you camp there), or as is more usual pay a company who's van follows the bin lorry and once it empties your bin they collect it in their specialist van, power wash ( and fix the wheels etc if needed) and return it to your driveway. I guess aside from aesthetics it's as people want to keep smells, insects and even possible maggot infestations etc out of their bins and off their property just as much as they can.

I know you were asking more there as to should it be a large or small amount etc however my solicitor offered me a great piece of advice when he and I were discussing that same topic. I was fumbling about over "how much money to leave" someone / everyone and found I couldn't come to an agreed number very easily. His advice was to stop thinking about how much MONEY I would be leaving them but to think instead of how much of a percentage of my final "pot" from me assets I would like to leave them. That he said usually made it feel less of a personal slant if it ended up (perhaps unintentionally) more or less that someone else may have received ( thinking family members there perhaps) but was also a big plus point ( for HIM and me) in that I wouldn't need to keep reviewing my will as my assets changed over my lifetime as my beneficiaries would always be getting the same 5% / 10% or whatever of just WHATEVER the final pot was. Plus he pointed out that in doing so it kept things nice and easy for me but ALSO for HIM to administer my estate and that would then reduce his workload and so his fees too - we all know of course that last part will NEVER happen after I'm gone and his calculating his final invoice !). I'm leaning towards doing my damnedest to spend the lot before I go without much being left anyway but of course as others have said it's hard without knowing when we're going to pop our clogs to find that happy balance. At least one of the benefits of being gay ( usually) is a lot of us don't have to worry about leaving the bulk of our estate on to wives and children. I actually had to change my financial advisor recently as my old (school) advisor guy just couldn't get his head around my requirement NOT to have to keep my estate intact for passing on to children etc and every pension plan he came up with ended up in his proposing "I" took less now as that would keep my pot well funded after my death". I had to explain to him that NO, I intend and indeed was instructing him to do the exact opposite but it seems his years of "training in safe investing" just couldn't get him into my "spend the lot and be damned mode" - hence my need to change advisors - much to my beneficiaries disgust once I'm gone perhaps ! ( and in some cases I certainly HOPE so anyway ! 🙂 )

https://sawatdeenetwork.com/v4/forum.php

You really should be on facebook with comments like that, with all the other people who can't work out why its not quite just as simple and how small multiple changes across many spheres are hoped to make a positive effect but without crucifying any one industry any more than is necessary etc. Such jibes are an easy win for the facebook brigade to make in order to get likes from their fellow "woke" brigade ( I'm not saying YOU are, I'm saying THEY THINK they are there btw) but they really dont benefit anyone much, well aside from the poster and their likes count I guess.

You DO know that several Apps on your phone do and have already been tracking your every move from the very first day you bought it don't you ?? Just have a look back at your google locations someday when you're bored just to see just now much, quite scary if you weren't aware of it !

Well you weren't meant to TELL him we'd gossip as COME ON a room full of gay men I mean who could possibly even consider that we wouldn't ! lol But Shushh, say nothing and he might tell us yet...... 🙂 OK, back to JFK........see all the mafia had to do was tell a gay man who the culprit was and the whole world would know the full story AND MORE by now ! 🙂

OK so aside from JFK so go ON.......spill the beans ! What were the CEO's dirty secrets, come on, you know you've been DYING to tell all these years and didn't, go on, we wont tell anyone else we promise !! lol

Can I suggest that the first part of the sentence perhaps somewhat negates the second there GB perhaps ? As I'd posted above other people are reporting a different view and I see 'vaghn" ( if I may copy your post sir) has posted the following on another thread re this subject "'restaurant' in name only is what most places are doing it seems. From what i am seeing in insta stories of the boys in other places in bangkok, it is business as usual, dancing, bottles and drinks on the tables, no food in sight. They're partying it up until 2-3am." I see other posters also mentioning that DJ station is allegedly reopening again in some form. So while I don't deny for a second that things aren't as they were or that the law says "bars are closed" but like most things in life people always seem to find a way to work around such things and that appears to be what's happening in Bkk too just like many other cities right now. I guess this also goes back to a different conversation over on SGT recently where one member posted that they thought "a good time ( in pattaya) could still be had ( if you were up for it and knew where to look / who to talk to find it) and both yourself and MFAS suggested that you believed that was highly unlikely in your opinions ( or words to that effect). Which i guess goes back to just how hard and how much effort a person is prepared to put into to looking for that fun and actually seeking it out maybe and that to me is very much a how you see life thing, either being the whole glass half empty thing or half full thing just maybe? I think if I were the OP and was maybe finding myself sitting at home over New Years, alone and bored then personally I think I'd be saying "fuck it" and getting up and going to Bkk ( or anywhere else) and then working hard there on arrival to make the best of things as I found them on the ground and not just perhaps taking someone else's black and white view of "it's useless stay home, everything is closed in Bangkok ( and everywhere else) view just quite as readily as that view is being projecting perhaps -but I guess that's just how I roll in life and you GB I know may take a slightly more conservative view of things in that regard, but for the sake of balance it's good the OP does get a good balanced view of course.

??? Are people not posting in other threads that (some) of bars in Soi 4 are open, albeit with limited early closing times which may or may not be being adhered too and indeed that word "heaving" was used to describe the crowds there this weekend just past ?

Well I'm not sure if we should share the info with you but us UK gays are starting a concerted campaign to persuade Kylie to remain here in the UK and not return home as she advertised she would be doing. She SAYS she's going to jump back and forward between the two countries but we're not so easily fooled, we know this is the start of the "it's me not you" conversation and so urgent measures need to be taken to get her to change her mind - well we've decided either that or just removing her passport and holding her here against her will, we've voted and either option is currently considered as feasible and acceptable ! But the main thing is we feel it's important to address the REALLY pressing matters that affect gay mens live here while we have the chance.

Yep, and you both can be asymptomatic and pass it on to others of course, but hey, who's caring about that as long as you're already Jack eh.......anyway, you're right, make your own choices, I'm merely pointing out why the rules were there to begin with, as to whether you chose to follow them or not is of course 'up to you" - just lets not all complain when covid is still with us all in a year or two from now with possible lockdowns and dear knows what still occurring then eh.

Not forgetting of course that even if you're vaccinated or not there is a valid reason WHY they're closing everywhere and so putting yourself ( and then others) at risk if you catch or pass on Covid that you picked up somwhere like that by flouting the health advice / rules is something to consider too of course - if even just for your own health if nothing else.

I wonder who feeds him and where he sleeps every night ?

Im just hoping that your bored and a trolling otherwise your casual view to your and other peoples safety ( which i accept is their responsibility not yours) is terrible - and sa others have said above when you factor in this is you shagging young poor, ill sexually educated Thai guys who NEED the money no matter what, then THAT adds a whole different level of terrible to the equation too.

I hate to break it to all of us oldies here lol - but facebook is SO last year and very few young people use as so much anymore. Instagram and Twitter ( and a few others that I'm not up on) seem to be the order of the day now for the young hip crowd apparently. Oh and re people getting offended by me not "friending" them I too have to always tell them that actually I rarely use Facebook and hardly ever think of opening it......but that IS of course only to those who I wish not to accept the friend request from as of course they'll never know the difference - hopefully ( and actually nor do I care even if they do work it out usually too is the main reason ) ! lol Oh and for those who think they "deleted" their profile from Facebook etc, you might want to just jump on there someday and check that again as Facebook are famous for UN deleting you a few months after you request it and you then have to do it again, I believe it may even be in their T&C's that they can. They of course play that as "just checking you were sure" type thing - but that's also why their membership numbers stay high when a lot of people you talk to now wouldn't go near it with a barge pole as the data they scrape from your account is genuinely scary sometimes. If you have never gone into your account settings and looked in your privacy settings at the amount of very detailed info about you and your likes and viewing habits etc that they've already taken from your use of facebook ( and Whats app or instagram which they own too of course and now even cross share all that data too !) you should, again it's quite scary and is enough to make most people say "screw that' and press the "delete my profile" button......which they then proceed to reinstate behind your back again later anyway it seems ! FACEBOOK - the spawn of the devil when it comes to data scraping - but, we can't even complain as they (sort of ) tell us they're doing it and we actually click a button to LET THEM so I guess we're just as bad for encouraging and allowing it to happen. PS yes I still use facebook so Im in no position to talk !

I maybe wouldn't be too sure about that last part as Im told by my Filipino partner that there are many cases an entire (poor) townships vote being bought en masse but whatever candidate, who buys the top local politicians vote, either with money directly or perhaps with offers of local positions of influence etc and they then instruct their following to vote in whatever way they are told, likewise cases of money simply being distributed in the same poor neighbourhoods to literally just buy up the votes as that candidate is then seem as "their guy" etc. On up the social ladder it may become a bit more subtle in that if not hard cash again the politician uses their (seemingly vast sway locally) to assist directly in appointing even just ordinary people. supporters to jobs in hospitals etc, where a simple phone call from them is all it takes to get someone employed or them to get government assistance etc. On one hand I guess you could say the same happens in the West, but just a little more subtly perhaps, but it seems that vote "buying' IS very much a thing in the Ph's and the ruling families ( on both sides) are up to their necks in all sorts of scheming to secure their vote, right up from the poor all the way up to the top in them oiling the wheels to try to get their hands on the levers of power. As for Dutuere retiring, all I'd say there perhaps is "watch this space" as he's made that same claim before and he's still there and the one thing can all see re the Ph's and their political families is that once they taste power it's hard to get them to give it up again - as amazing can be seen by Admelda Marcos and her family still commanding a certain power there and running and winning elections even after all of their very public history or corruption and greed there ! As I often comment to my BF, the Flipino people cant really complain as they get EXACTLY the politicians they deserve ( a bit like here in the West now I come to think of it) and they repeatedly elect and continue to idolise the most corrupt politicians they can seem to find almost ! Some of the conversations I've had with my partners family re the likes of Duetere and him basically being a murdered and State supporter of same are incredible but of course they always end with the line "well you wouldn't understand as you're not Flipino but for us he's a great man! ( but leaving out then and he got my wife, son and daughter appointed to their jobs when he was Mayor of Davao part of course .....)"

Based on business in Pattaya just now it looks like it might be in more for a hard landing than a smooth take off ! 😞

With respect, firstly lets be clear that "I" am not "claiming" anything as I I ( like you I imagine) am merely repeating claims as read on various websites, nothing more then that. I don't profess to have any more insight into the issue that anyone else who may have clicked on a few internet pages about the story. Also the bottom line of course is that no one can ever know for sure exactly what happened, so neither of the two versions of history can be described as "nonsense" as we simply cant' know which version is true. To answer your question though re sources etc and after two ( admittedly very quick and cursory click on a few gogle links) here are just some of the details I found : "In 2021, actress Miriam Margolyes claimed in her memoir This Much is True that Du Pré died in an assisted suicide. She stated that her therapist, Margaret Branch, told her that she assisted the suicide via lethal injection. Du Pré's former husband, Daniel Barenboim, called the claim "unverifiable" and said it had "absolutely nothing to do with the reality of Jackie's passing".[11] Source : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacqueline_du_Pré or The account was rejected yesterday by one of Miss du Pre's closest companions, Cynthia Friend, 81, who told the Daily Mail: 'I don't believe it for one minute. She was very special to me, and I had been staying there for a few nights with Ruth, her wonderful nurse. I don't know when this lady is saying Jackie was well enough to say, 'I'd like to be put out of my misery', because Jackie couldn't speak at the end. 'There is no way she could have asked anybody. Ruth never left Jackie. There were a number of her close friends there at the end. I cannot imagine what Jackie would say, if she heard these things. Miss du Pre's death certificate shows that her cause of death was recorded by her GP as 'bronchopneumonia and multiple sclerosis'. Yesterday Mr Barenboim said the story had 'absolutely nothing to do with the reality of Jackie's passing', and called it 'unverifiable'. source : https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9956395/Storm-Miriam-Margolyes-claim-cellist-Jacqueline-du-Pre-helped-taking-life.html ( and yes I do accept that's from the Daily Mail etc but it quote sources and does give a different view so I thought it worth posting also.) I also read the Guardian article from which I assume you're lifting your own detail from re the family and the commune etc and yes theres no doubt, there's clearly two absolutely different stories at play there it seems and two very different agendas at play too it seems. But again unfortunately it seems that this is just one of those stories now that the world will never know about for sure as to who was telling the truth I guess.

"So, of course, I kissed her and I injected her" Sorry unless I'm missing something re her story ( which knowing Miriam I might take with a pinch of salt anyway) but if not her therapist ( if still alive? - *quick edit - on checking she's long dead it seems) not just confess to committing murder right there !?? Also it should be noted that the family have totally rejected the claim and said it would have been impossible for Mrs De Pru to ask for ANYTHING as she was totally incapacitated and barely able to move or speak to ask anyone to "put her out of her misery". Why you'd almost think a publisher had a book to sell or something there for a minute ! I did love the story Miriam told on one of the Graham Norton shows where on her being presented to HM Queen Elizabeth at some theatre line up she was asked "So, what do you do" and she came out with some flowery answer about "ohhh Im just the BEST story teller in the whole world" to which the Queen just rolled her eyes and moved on. When the Queen then spoke to the person in the line up who was standing next to Miriam and Miriam interjected in that conversation too the Queen instantly snapped at her 'Be Quiet!" and carried on her original conversation with the next person 🙂 So I love the fact that someone at least ( and no better person than the Queen herself WAS able to put Miriam back in her box, even if only for a short while ! 😉

"A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away..." The opening scrolling credits on all Star Wars movies for those who didn't know it....

Knowing her as I do and her being such a fucking idiot usually I'm guessing she was more thinking along the lines of 'thyme, oregano and perhaps a little basil" thrown in for good measure just. I doubt she even had the wit to read any of the online nonsense and probably just came up with that bright idea all on her own !