reader

Sadly, even actual concert goes are known to exhibit these characteristics. Book a ticket to SE Asia, a sure cure for the blues that beset you. Will buy you a suitable glass of wine and introduce you some guys who badly want to become your new best friend. Allow me to be the first to wish you a happier New Year! 😊 There is no need to thank me.

You cast a wide net, Marc. Sure there aren't any "thugs' in your own back yard you'd care to include? From Wikipedia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethnic-cultural terms. As commonly conceptualized, the modern states of South Asia include Afghanistan,[7] Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and in some cases, Iran. South Asia borders East Asia to the northeast, Central Asia to the northwest, West Asia to the west and Southeast Asia to the east. Topographically, it is dominated by the Indian subcontinent and is bounded by the Indian Ocean in the south, and the Himalayas, Karakoram, and Pamir mountains in the north.

I certainly hope so. 😀

So glad you watched the video 😊

Foreign tourists, reported to be of Indian nationality, engaged in a violent brawl with Thai people right on Pattaya Beach Road early today, sending shockwaves through the city just one day before its New Year’s celebration. For those interested, the video of the incident. Keep in mind, although nobody was seriously injured and the video is not graphic, extremely sensitive viewers should use caution. https://fb.watch/pd1DYdAKjL/?mibextid=Nif5oz On December 28th, 2023, at dawn, local residents and joggers running along Pattaya Beach captured the shocking incident on video, which quickly went viral on Thai social media. The roughly one-minute clip depicted Thai and Indian people, both men and women, exchanging blows in the middle of busy Pattaya Beach Road near Soi 13 in the Nongprue sub-district. The video showed individuals wielding dangerous objects like sticks over a meter long, belts, glass bottles, and even metal kitchen ladles. The aggressive behavior brought traffic on part of Beach Road to a standstill as onlookers feared getting caught in the crossfire. Despite the distressed cries of women in the vicinity, no one dared intervene, and the brawl continued unabated for an unknown period. The cause of the initial confrontation remains unclear as of press time, but the incident has cast a shadow over Pattaya’s image as a peaceful tourist destination, particularly at a time when the town is gearing up for a grand New Year’s celebration, the eyewitness said. Pattaya police have not yet disclosed if any complaints regarding the incident have been filed, but an investigation is underway. Police are expected to interview both parties involved and collect CCTV footage from the area as evidence for potential legal proceedings.

NOTE -- There are as many "lists" as there are cities and I don't put a lot of stock in any. The Mastercard one at least bases its information on cash transactions (you know you've won when they give you the money 😄). From The Nation Bangkok, Phuket and Pattaya were among the top 20 most visited cities in the world this year, according to a report by the payment-processing corporation Mastercard. Thailand’s capital topped the ranking with 22.78 million international visitors. Following Bangkok are Paris (19.10 million visitors) and London (19.09 million visitors). Phuket ranked 14th with 9.89 million visitors, while Pattaya ranked 15th with 9.44 million visitors.

From The Nation A giant demon statue criticised as “un-Buddhist and scary” was removed from in front of The Bazaar Hotel in Bangkok's Huai Khwang district on Thursday. The move came after the State Railway of Thailand ordered that the statue of Khru Kai Kaeo, a winged demon with fangs and crimson talons, be removed by December 30. The hotel’s operator, Suan Lum Night Bazaar Ratchadaphisek, has also been ordered to pay a fine of 1.3 million baht for violating the Building Control Act. The statue of Khru Kai Kaeo and its accompanying nine-tailed fox figure were removed to the rear of the hotel, out of public sight. "The front of The Bazaar Hotel will be transformed into an activity area for guests," said the hotel’s owner Pairoj Thungthong. The giant demon statue made headlines when it was erected in August this year, baffling motorists and passersby on Ratchadaphisek Road. It spawned online groups who began discussing their devotion to Khru Kai Kaeo, a mythical figure said to be the teacher of Jayavarman VII, a former king of the Khmer empire. Some worshippers also reportedly regarded him as a god of wealth. However, a group calling itself the Council of Artists Supporting Thai Buddhism urged the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration to remove the statue, claiming it encouraged demon worship. Khru Kai Kaeo worshippers were promoting un-Buddhist practices including the sacrifice of animals, the group claimed. Meanwhile, the venerable Phra Phayom Kalayano, abbot of Wat Suan Kaew in Nonthaburi, advised devotees to be cautious about what they worshipped, lamenting that anything could be made into a statue to worship these days. Devotees should instead worship spiritual beings like the Buddha or Jesus, as role models of goodness, he added.

From MSN / Bangkok Post Airfares are expected to gradually fall next year due to an increase in licensed airlines and a higher number of aircraft in the air transport sector, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT). The CAAT said on Tuesday night that eight airlines had recently received air operator licences from the transport minister (Suriya Jungrungreangkit) and were planning to deploy a total of 60 airplanes throughout 2024. According to the aviation authority, five of the eight airlines are domestic. They include Ezy Airlines (formerly known as Landarch Airlines), Pattaya Airways, P80 Air, Really Cool Airlines and Siam Seaplane. With a combined investment of 3.85 billion baht, these airlines have yet to receive air operator certificates to start operation. The CAAT acknowledged that airlines often need to make profits to support flights that yield marginal profits, as long as ticket prices remain within the ceiling prices set by the authority. Concerning the increase in airfares during festivals, the CAAT assured that all airlines continue to adhere to the stipulated airfare ceilings. The CAAT recommended that the sooner passengers booked tickets, the cheaper they would pay for flights. It explained that airlines had downsized personnel, fleets, infrastructures and management systems during the Covid-19 pandemic for survival. At present, demand for air travel exceeds supply and airfares have seen an increase of 17% worldwide. The CAAT added that airfares in the country increased partly because of the expiration of a reduction in excise tax on jet fuel in July.

Woi said anything about fun?

I’ve posted before about successfully using my US insurance to get reimbursed for emergency room visit to Bangkok Christian Hospital in 2022. Nothing illegal about it. It’s a benefit of the policy. He makes it very clear towards end of video that it only covers emergencies and not a substitute for standard health insurance.

I’ll have my lawyer call your lawyer to work out pre-nup.

There’s so much to be considered. Could we agree to an open marriage (we both get to screw around with other guys). Would our parents approve. Who’ll wash the dishes. Are you rich. 🙂

Do you believe in long engagements?

Would love to but the men I like are already married.....to women.🙂

From The Nation With an outbreak of the potentially fatal Zika virus now Bangkok, residents were on Wednesday warned by a leading virologist to protect themselves against mosquito bites. Yong Poovorawan, head of the Centre of Excellence in Clinical Virology at Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Medicine, posted on his Facebook wall that many cases of the mosquito-borne infection of Zika virus have been detected in Bangkok and even in temples. The doctor did not give the exact figures of Zika cases in the capital but he did write that the infection could be fatal for some people. It can also cause birth defects. He posted that the Zika virus’ symptoms were similar to those of Dengue but the condition would be less severe. In addition to being transmitted from a pregnant woman to her fetus during pregnancy, Zika can be passed on through sexual contact, blood transfusion, and organ transplantation. Symptoms for those who do experience them usually appear within 3-7 days of being infected and can include fever, rash, joint pain, red eyes (conjunctivitis), headache, muscle pain and fatigue.

From National Public Radio Hong Kong's LGBTQ community is cautiously optimistic that the government will legalize same-sex marriage following landmark rulings in favor of granting gay and lesbian couples more rights. Hong Kong's civil liberties have been in decline since China's government imposed a national security law there. That law followed large-scale and sometimes violent anti-government protests in 2019. But the rights of LGBTQ people seem to have been left alone for the most part. And this year, Hong Kong's courts made several key rulings in favor of granting gay and lesbian couples more rights. This is sparking hopes that the city will join a growing number of places in Asia with legalized same-sex marriage. Cindy Sui sent us this report from Hong Kong. Click on link to 5-minute podcast: https://www.npr.org/2023/12/26/1221725599/recent-rulings-have-sparked-hopes-that-hong-kong-will-soon-legalize-same-sex-mar

While we applaud declining interest rates we must also accept their economic realities. There's a correlation between the interest rate of our home currency with its corresponding value to the baht, as can be observed in the charts below. And if the trend continues--as most economists believe it will--the baht will continue to strength barring an unforeseen crisis in confidence. The exchange rate also influences the price we pay for international airline tickets and the hotel rates in Thailand, as can be seen in the daily (if not hourly) fluctuations on any of the booking sites. Since carriers collude on essentially fixing airfares, there's not much the consumer can do but shop for the occasional seasonal dips. When it comes to hotel rates, however, there's much greater competition. It's not all bad news. The cost of goods and services in our home countries should likewise be retreating although that is often hard to discern at the checkout counter.

Entertaining video from one of Clinton's better cabinet selections. And he makes some solid points. One of the carriers he mentioned (Southwest) was recently fined $140 million by the government for its disastrous handling an episode a year ago. There's ample blame to go around. Somehow I don't automatically extrapolate the scenario to gogo bars or massage shops in Thailand. Unlike air passengers who--for a variety of reasons--have a compelling need to fly, customers in entertainment venues do not. They can use the apps as many have suggested, or try to get lucky the old fashioned way: cruising the conventional bars or dance clubs, or looking for street trade (yes, it still exits). Gogo bars and massage shops don't have a monopoly on sex akin to the airlines' grip on flying.

Eight Jey Spa guys were kind enough to make themselves available for holiday work today. You only get one guess as to who's Vinapu's choice would be if he was hard-pressed to choose just one.

Haven't done this in a while so please forgive my indulgence. From CNN A 12-year-old stray dog found roaming in an English village turned out to have been missing for several years – until an animal rescue and the community that fed her helped bring her to safety. Volunteer nonprofit Lost Dog Recovery UK South said in a Facebook post someone told them in November about a small black dog running in the road near Crawley Down, a village in West Sussex, England. “They stopped the traffic, let the dog disappear into the woodland and knew not to follow and just returned ASAP to leave food,” the organization said in a social media post on December 11. On December 9, the volunteers left a trap for the dog along with a tempting meal: a warm roast chicken topped with paté. “We knew our little stray was picky and we had worked out what she liked,” the nonprofit said. She wandered over to the trap that night. “Looking over her shoulder a lot, and taking it nice and slowly, she made her way inside the trap, finally treading on the footplate and triggering the door,” the Facebook post read. Through her microchip, they discovered the dog’s name is Rose and that she went missing in March 2017 within 24 hours of being adopted. Rose’s initial owners were contacted, but they had relocated, their circumstances had changed and they could no longer care for her, according to Lost Dog Recovery UK South. In an update on December 18, the nonprofit said Rose was receiving care at Last Chance Animal Rescue in Edenbridge, a town in Kent, England. The organization also noted they have received many rehoming inquiries for Rose and said those interested in welcoming Rose to their home should contact Last Chance Animal Rescue.

From VN Express Chinese influencer Wang Ziyu is facing the possibility of deportation and a lifelong ban from Thailand after making disparaging comments about Bangkok’s Nana red light district. Operating the 2.68-million-follower account "Thailand 77Seven" on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, Wang uploaded a video of herself in Nana district on Dec. 5, as reported by the South China Morning Post. Captured around midnight, the video shows her describing the area as "unsafe" and frequented by "sleazy" visitors. She thus advises women to steer clear of the area. The Thai police, viewing her remarks as harmful to Thailand’s image as a tourist destination, called her in for questioning. Authorities discovered during this process that Wang was also allegedly engaged in online sales within Thailand without a work permit, violating her tourist visa conditions, according to CNN. Despite her removing the video and offering a public apology in English, Thai, and Chinese, Thai officials are moving forward with legal proceedings. Wang could face a fine up to 10,000 yuan (USS$1,400), a possible deportation and ban from ever returning to Thailand. The incident has sparked varied reactions among Chinese social media users. Some defend Wang’s freedom of expression, while others accuse her of damaging Thailand’s reputation for personal gain.

From Agence France-Presse Shan State, Myanmar – An 18-year-old recruit in one of Myanmar’s pro-democracy fighting units prepares to launch a drone strike on junta troops, driven by anger and her mother’s call for revolution. Moe Moe is one of hundreds of women training, living and fighting alongside men in the “People’s Defence Forces”, upending gender norms in the mostly Buddhist country. She grew up during a rare period of democracy in Myanmar and, after the military ended it with a 2021 coup, joined one of the dozens of PDF units that formed to end the junta’s rule. Moe Moe initially worked with a group organising protests against the military but, after months of the junta’s’ deadly crackdown, decided to become a fighter. “I can’t stand the military’s injustice,” she said after carrying out the drone strike in Shan state, which neighbours the more populous Mandalay region. “They killed innocent civilians. The main reason I joined was because of my anger.” Moe Moe, wearing the group’s camouflage fatigues and its red peacock badge stitched onto her arm, said she had friends in the Mandalay PDF who invited her to fight with them. “I was born in Mandalay, I’m a Mandalay girl. So, I joined Mandalay PDF,” she said. Continues with photos https://www.thaipbsworld.com/im-a-mandalay-girl-teenage-soldier-fights-on-myanmars-front-lines/T

From Thai PBS World Seven boats sink in Gulf and Andaman Sea in four days, eight people still missing Six tour boats and a fishing vessel have sunk in the Gulf and the Andaman Sea in the past four days. Two passengers, a skipper and five crew are still missing. The “Sawan Tour” dive boat, carrying 16 tourists, mostly foreigners, on a diving trip near Mu Ko Surin National Park in the Andaman Sea, off Phang-nga province, sank on December 23rd. 16 tourists were rescued and two are missing. The third fleet of the Royal Thai Navy sent a plane to join the search, while vessels boats were dispatched to look for the two missing tourists. The searches continued yesterday, but without success. Yesterday, a speed boat, “Bandaya 19”, carrying over 73 tourists, capsized near Bubu Island, to the east of Adang Island off Satun province. All of the passengers and four crew members were rescued. According to the Royal Thai Navy, the speed boat’s hull was fractured by strong waves, as it was heading toward Lanta Island in Krabi province, allowing water to enter quickly. All passengers and crew were told to abandon the strickenvessel and were rescued by the navy. On the same day, a fishing boat, “Sirawit Namchoke”, capsized in rough seas off Chang Island in Trat province. The skipper and his five crew went missing. A sea search was mounted, but was eventually suspended due to strong winds and rough seas. Officials of the Noppharat Thara Mu Ko Phi-Phi National Park are flying red flags on beaches in Ao Nang sub-district in Krabi and on several islands to warn tourists not to swim in the sea. Tour boat operators were also told to exercise extreme caution and to have adequate life vests on board if they are taking tourists on island trips. Two cruise ships, carrying more than 5,000 passengers, have reportedly cancelled plans to bring them ashore on Samui Island due to the rough seas, but ferry services between the mainland and the island continue to operate as usual, but were told reduce their loaded weight for safety reasons. In Pattaya, marine officials have banned small vessels and speed boats from taking passengers to and from Lan Island. Only large vessels with sufficient life vests are allowed to set sail for the tourist island.

In love and war, never say never.

Sounds like you found the perfect elf to celebrate naughty but age-appropriate yuletide activities. And a merry Festivus to all!