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NO - but they can buy you time in case you have an unfortunate event (police control, emergency health assistance, identify who you are and you are when unconscious), etcetera. Yes - one side is the ID page of my passport and the flip side is the current visa page - so each year my retirement visa is extended -- I go back to the lamination shop here in Pattaya and they issue me new facsimiles of my ID cards. Back in December when I performed this annual exercise I also asked them to laminate my global health insurance card. What I like about all of this, is that when I am swimming over on Koh Larn - these laminated cards are inserted inside a ziplock bag (with some money) and reside inside my swimming trunk pocket. Every once and a while, there are tragic events and someone is either killed and/or seriously maimed, and they cannot identify who they are and the hospital does not know how to bill them - hence impacting the level of life saving service that might be implemented. So, the purpose of these laminated cards is to mitigate some of the potential negative impacts that could happen to us in our lives...

I only carry with me laminated copies of my Thai driving license and home country passport. Originals are always locked away in the safety lockbox.

I would say that this is a reflection of the aging of our forum membership? In my young physically fit days, I used to occassionally attend White Parties and GCircuit events.

Here in Thailand I have the DLT (Department of Land Transport) app which stores my 2 Thai driving licenses (motorbike and car). The visa agent that I use here in Pattaya insisted that I get this app and she was right - because on one of my many trips to nearby Koh Larn island, I inadvertently lost my physical Thai motorbike driving license, and afterwards for some months (until the next renewal cycle), I was able to use the DLT app to display my driving license to the local police as having a valid driving license. The app is free and can be safely downloaded and installed from either Google Play or the Apple App Store.

probably not - as most likely it will be stored up in "the cloud" in an AWS (Amazon Web Services), Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, Alibaba, or Oracle server. Then you can pay a hacker to retrieve your information - OR - the hacker via AI will already find you and ask you to pay a ransom to get your data back.....

Was @vinapu back in BKK ?

Yes, but I almost abandoned Italy in the 8th month - as I was living in the Rome Trastevere neighborhood, with all of the foreign students, where all we did was speak English 24/7 and we did not integrate into the larger Italian society. So, around this time I put an advertisement in some of the local gay publications, that I was looking for an Italian roommate who did not speak much English (as I wanted to force myself to integrate and to learn Italian). I interviewed around 30 Italian guys and only 1 satisfied my requirements. Why? The other 29 were looking to find freedom from living at home with their mothers - BUT - where the expectation was that I would fulfill the roll of their mother - that is; do their laundry, cook for them, do the shopping, and clean the apartment - as they were ALL what the Italians call: Mammoni. Many of them were well into their 40s and their mother's were still taking care of them. The 30th guy, was great - as he was against the concept of "Mammoni", as he was from Sardinia (where his mother was) and wanted to live independently and have a chance to learn some English. I met him in the mornings, afternoons, and evenings to see if we liked each other in all hours of the day. Then the BIG day came to decide if we would be roommates and he took me to Villa Pamphili, where he did his sport training and jogging. He sat me down on one of the lovely park benches and told me that his decision was = NO. I was shocked - we had been hanging out for about 2 weeks to decide if we could be roommates and he was perfect for me. After interviewing 30 guys over this 2 month period I was devastated and I started crying. He said to me, ti prego, smettila! - please stop it. I asked him why he rejected me. He said that I was too American. Now this was early year 2000 and I had sold my house back in Colorado and invested it all into the crazy NASDAQ - Dot-Com bubble, so I was kind of cocky, as I could easily fart money in those years. I was obnoxious. And yes, I was too American. So, I promised him to be less American (that was my goal after all) and I had some help from the universe when the Dot-Com bubble popped in March 2000 - when I lost 90% of my invested assets - which greatly humbled me. Thank GOD that I had found this guy. We lived happily together for 6 years - which were some of the BEST years of my life when I successfully learned to speak Italian, make jokes in Italian, go to cinema and see Italian movies, and dream in Italian. Learning their language gave me additional culture - because I started to use verbs for which we don't have direct equivalents in English - and when you find a verb that helps give words to a feeling that we don't have an easy equivalent in English - it is truly an amazing experience, because it feels that you are now growing with the ability to have feelings that you could not fully have prior. --> I am not good at expressing this experience - but I am sure that many of you who are multi-lingual can understand this <--

and perhaps add to this list something about the hiring / recruitment policy. The guys in Fresh Boys are notably much more masculine than the guys over in Hotmale. Living here in Jomtien with the Jomtien Complex (aka Supertown) as our main venue for getting guys - which tend to be skinny young twinks as the main course. So, when I go to Bangkok - I am hungry for more manly guys with some meat on their bones - and Fresh Boys DEFINITELY satisfied my appetite with their wide and very numerous selection.

I was traveling with 2 American friends who came to visit me in Rome. We decided to take the train from Rome to Taormina. When the train gets to where the Italian mainland almost touches Sicily, at Villa San Giovanni in Reggio Calabria, at this juncture, they physically put the train cars on a ship that will cross the Straits of Messina. My friends decided to go up on deck and I remained below in the belly of the ship in the train car - as I understood that an Italian guy wanted to have some fun. And after our train car emptied out (and all of the passengers went up on deck of the ship) him and I had some great cock sucking and kissing fun on an empty train car that was floating in a ship that was crossing the Straits of Messina. It was a very unique and exciting sexual experience. 🍆💦

and this is why I left the USA back in 1999 - when I moved to Italy. A dear friend was killed at gunpoint to his head when he would not give up his wallet in Denver. After the funeral - many of our friends in common - told me that they were going to get their gun licenses as a result of that incident. I replied - NO - I am leaving this country.....

My boyfriend told me that if you go into the heterosexual girl bar area of Pattaya City - at soi 6 and soi 7 - he showed me videos last night where they were already starting with the water splashing and water fights.... @floridarob would you mind if tonight we can stop by the Cocka2 bar for a moment ? I would like to buy a couple of these penis water pistols..... They look like a lot of fun....and only cost 200 baht each....

What I observed at Fresh Boys last week was customers coming to the main entry door and requesting one of the staff to get a certain guy to get dressed and come down off of the stage and to leave immediately. It was as if the customer already knew who/what he wanted as he was able to tell the FB staff immediately who he wanted. I was there on 3 different nights and on the first 2 nights (working week days) it was around 80% full, but on the Saturday (weekend) it was completely full and they were having to move already seated customers around to make space for the incoming customers. What was awkward was when a customer would call down a guy from the stage to have a drink and there was no or very limited space to seat the guy.

I needed a break from Pattaya last week and the urge to visit Bangkok immediately after the Friday 28 March 2025 earthquake - gave me the excuse to go and visit BKK. I have noticed throughout my life that I seem to be attracted to disasters.... Me at the Costa Concordia disaster in 2012 off the coast of Giglio island in Italy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costa_Concordia_disaster So, I explore Bangkok last week and the only inconvenience due to the earthquake that I experienced, was that I was not allowed to go to the top of the Mahanakhon tower to visit the Skywalk - as it was closed (3 April 2025) for post earthquake damage assessment. I have since learned that some of my friends who have condos in BKK have encountered earthquake damages in their condos that will need to be fixed. One friend is having to pay 250,000 baht to fix cracks in his condo walls. In this trip to BKK, I wanted to have NEW experiences and a visit to Benchakiti Park was on my list. So, on Saturday 5 April 2025 I first visit Lumphini Park looking everywhere for the entrance to Benchakiti Park - as I had read that these 2 parks are now connected. WRONG!! They are NOT connected and I share the below so that you can avoid the long extra walking mistake that I made - indicated in RED below. I had walked the perimeter of Lumphini Park looking for signs / indications of the cutover that I had read about to get to Benchakiti Park. After not finding one, I gave up and just exited Lumphini Park where the RED X is indicated on the below map. I walked upwards on Witthayu Road towards the One Bangkok complex - as it appeared on my Google map as being connected to Benchakiti Park = NOT - there is a certain point where as a pedestrian you cannot walk anymore as the pathway ends and becomes a large entrance only for cars onto a big highway. So, a kind security guard directed me to what I believe was northbound on small tiny roads that eventually entered into a shanty town with streets where cars could not pass - as they were too narrow and only pedestrians and motorbikes could pass in these narrow alleys (it reminded me of my many walks in the back streets of Venice). Unlike in the Philippines - when I entered their shantytowns, I was not afraid - as I am already intune with the local Thai people and their kindness - as we definitely could not understand each other there. I think that the locals understood where I wanted to go (as I presumed that I was not the only lost farang looking for the entrance to the unmarked Benchakiti Park), as they all kept indicating to me which alley way that I needed to meander through to get to the upper pedestrian bridge that connects Witthayu Road with an overpass bridge specifically built that brings you to Benchakiti Park that is elevated over the shanty town. So, the lesson learned for an enjoyable entrance to Benchakiti Park from Lumphini Park is: You need to physically EXIT Lumphini Park at the extreme North East exit (as shown below): and then walk perhaps 100 meters north and you will find a stairway that goes up onto a purposely built pedestrian bridge (I believe that it is called the Green Mile) that will take you over the busy Witthayu Road, over all of the below shanty town, and then over the busy Duang Phithak Road, and by then you are physically in Benchakiti Park. When you arrive to Benchakiti Park - you can stay up on the meandering walkway - which is what I did - OR - you can take the stairs and go down into the park and walk amongst the greenery, streams, swamps, etcetera. There are many placards during the walk to tell you what you are looking at in both Thai and in English. Nice greenery and eye candy down below. I highly recommend a visit to Benchakiti Park, and now you can enjoy it more than I did, as I exhausted my energy levels when I became lost in the intense heat. I would definitely go back - but: using the direct route - to conserve my energy to enjoy the park more, on a more cloudy day to avoid the intense rays of the sun, and, I would venture down from the meandering elevated pedestrian walkway to be up and closer to the nature. https://hikerhero.com/benjakitti-park/ Enjoy!!

Only playing with your tongue? Any advantages if your tongue is longer, talented, or moist ? No other body parts are allowed?

Had an interesting experience last night. We went to the Jomtien Complex (aka Supertown) Candy Bar Games Night. My Thai boyfriend won the preliminary Jenga Tumbler round and he was challenged to the final round with the other finalist, a jovial farang guy. Well, like that tower that fell in Bangkok during the earthquake - the table that the Jenga Tumble block was sitting on was struck (by what looked like the farang guy who was competing with my boyfriend) during the moment that my boyfriend was removing one of the Jenga blocks and it all came crashing down. Consequently, the 2.000 baht was awarded by the Candy Bar to the farang guy - but he made a very kind scene and awarded that 2.000 baht to my boyfriend in a romantic kind of way..... Was I jealous - a little bit - but my boyfriend had his eyes on my face (as I was recording the scene) during that romantic interface with the farang..... So, "tipping the boys" can come in many flavors and gestures.....

Last week when I was in BKK I saw this in action a couple of times. Perhaps they should keep the "take away" section away from us in the audience that can distract us when we are trying to make our selection from the stage. I propose a separate "take away" window.... of course with its own pricing structure....

After 2 years 6 months here - I find myself performing the wai frequently. It has now become habit and I have never seen a Thai person seem to be disappointed in the way that I performed the wai - as often I am wai-ing back to their initiated wai and the resulting smiles are endearing. After reading the below article about the nuances of the proper ways to perform the wai - I now realize that I still have a lot to learn. https://jonesyinthailand.com/culture/etiquette-and-customs/the-thai-wai/ Now I find that my wais are occurring even outside of Thailand - during my 62 days in Cebu I was often wai-ing and I remember 1 Filipino asked me if I was Buddhist as a result.

I can only imagine how this is going to play out, in light of: - the current Trump tariffs, - and the recent anger of Marco Rubio from the State Department, about Thailand sending back against their will the 40 Uyghurs to China. The Thai government sure has a way of upsetting the apple cart.

Wow @reader this is truly amazing what you wrote. I remember when Babe was new to the Moonlight stage and an American friend of mine was over-obsessed with Babe and acquired LT with Babe for 10,000 baht - I thought that my friend was crazy. I would never pay our local mini-Babe = Max 10,000 baht - perhaps maybe 3.000 baht. So, perhaps Babe is in a league of his own - as he made it BIG in Moonlight - for which there is no local equivalent here in Pattaya / Jomtien.

Already Italy is going independently of the EU pact to try to save its export industries. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-04-08/italy-s-meloni-set-to-visit-us-next-week-to-press-trump-on-trade?embedded-checkout=true https://www.reuters.com/world/italys-meloni-meet-trump-april-17-tariff-talks-2025-04-08/ I lived in Italy for 12 years and Hungary for 8 years and EU "cohesion" was often not very cohesive when there are 27 independent countries to align with Brussel's dictates.

I already have a Thai boyfriend who keeps vampire operating hours which is a HUGE friction point in our relationship, as I tend to keep farmer operating hours. So, the next boyfriend will need to be more farmer operating hours oriented and in the Las Vegas (Pattaya) of Thailand that is nearly impossible. Before you say that I should change my operating hours to align with the vampire lifestyle that would be a living hell because: 1.) My optimal sex operating hours are between 9am to 9pm. Outside of that range kills the sex for me. 2.) Alcohol - I do not really like alcohol - childhood background where many family dysfunctional members were functional alcoholics in denial and consequently there was lots of physical violence, verbal abuse, and aggressive behaviour. Consequently, when I need to be around many vampires (functional alcoholics) I am in a very uncomfortable space and I can get easily triggered. Unfortunately, many of the local vampires (and even some forum members) are functional alcoholics. Lastly, alcohol kills my ability to have an erection. 3.) Sun - I love the sun. This is why I moved here. The local vampires hate the sun. Let's see what the future will bring me.

Thank you to @PeterRS and @Moses to shed some light on the causes for this internal Myanmar strife and never ending civil war. Do either of you think that in our lifetime (I am already 63) that we will see a form of peace that would allow us to vacation in Myanmar again? This is one of my bucket list dreams.

and you are correct - if you live here full time on your monthly pension than it is highly likely that you cannot go out every night and drink, or off guys, or get massages every day. It is the same when you are back in your home country (after being in Thailand on a vacation (less than 1 month) or as a seasonal [ seasonal is someone who stays here for 4 to 5 months ] that you cannot go out every night to drink, off the local guys in your home country and/or get massages every day. So, when you make Thailand your permanent home country to live in - you adjust your lifestyle to be in line with the constraints of your monthly pension. Also, if you go out every night - then everything becomes boring, mundane, and not exciting. So, for me 2 to 3 times each week is enough for budgeting purposes and also to hope that there might be a surprise in the entertainment for that night and not be boring and mundane - to avoid the ugliness of the local bar mantra = "farang sit - farang drink"......

This morning I watched an excellent speech given by the PM of Singapore, Mr. Lawrence Wong. He makes an interesting point which I had not dwelled on much. Trump's tariffs are focused only on "goods" and NOT on "good and services". In many countries around the world the USA does indeed have a trade deficit. BUT, with many countries around the world, the USA has a sizeable trade surplus - if "services" were included in the analysis. The other alarming point that the PM makes is that this could be the turning point in global trade - where the trade regime moves from multilateral to unilateral - thus going against the origins of the WTO (World Trade Organization). I would say that this 23 minute speech is well worth a listen.

I still disagree. I personally experienced this in the condo building where I live, when there was the unresolved tragedy, when an Italian national "fell" from the 19th floor naked to his death last year. As I wanted to learn more than what was reported in the newspaper, I was ALWAYS made to understand to let it go from: - building security team, - juristic office, - cleaning lady team, - nearby friend who owns a bar in the Jomtien Complex, - my gym. In all cases, they told me (all were Thai) that this incident is a big inconvenience and the reputatation of the condo complex must be protected. Consequently, to survive in peace here, I backed off with my research, as it was made VERY clear to me that I was damaging Thailand's reputation by pursuing what had already been swept under the carpet.