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From Pattaya News The government spokesperson announced that drivers in Thailand are now allowed to use their phones while driving but only with hands-free or Bluetooth devices. The new rule is the amendment to the Land Traffic Act, which went into effect after being announced in the Royal Gazette on Friday, October 7th, clarifying that car drivers are now able to use their phones to communicate wirelessly or with a Bluetooth device without having to hold their phones while driving. The rule also applies to motorcyclists who are permitted to attach their phones to the dashboard or windscreen of their motorcycles in a manner that does not obstruct their views of the traffic. However, they still need to pull over if they want to swipe on their phones for safety. According to Ms. Tipanan Sirichana, the government spokesperson, those who violate this rule will face a fine of up to 400 to 1,000 baht. The rule will be revised after five years to study the results if needed.

From Pattaya Mail More than 400 police officers and soldiers were dispatched across Pattaya in a show of force on the eve of the long holiday weekend. New Chonburi Governor Thawatchai Srithong sent the 449 officers on their way to serve and protect at Bali Hai Pier Oct. 12. Among the contingent of officers were police from Pattaya and Provincial Police Region 2, the 14th Military Circle, Banglamung District, Internal Security Operations Command, Narcotics Control Office Region 2, Marine Police and police volunteers. Officers spread out around Walking Street, checking bars and clubs for drugs, guns and minors before moving to other high-profile tourist areas.

From Pattaya Mail By Barry Kenyon Thai and Cambodian border police at Aranyaprathet and Pong Nam Ron, a three hour drive from Pattaya, have detailed the rules for foreigners wishing to obtain a further 45 days to extend their stay in Thailand. The new entry stamp can later be extended for a further month at Thai immigration offices for 1,900 baht. The scheme is popular with Brits, western Europeans, Americans and Australians. Borey San, a Cambodian clearance officer, said it was essential that applicants register with a Pattaya tour and minibus operator in advance of travel to the border. The company must then send a passport copy to the border post of choice to check that the applicant is eligible for the new permission. Unregistered individuals arriving at the frontier under their own steam could not be serviced the same day and would need to spend several days or a week in Cambodia on vacation pending a review of their application. The alternative was to remain in Thailand to risk overstay. A Thai immigration captain explained that most nationalities could take advantage of the visa run scheme, but there were 19 countries whose citizens could not get a new permission at any land border. The countries included China, India, several central Asian “stans” and a dozen states in Africa and the Indian Ocean. Separately, no individual could take advantage of the scheme more than twice in a 12 month period to prevent foreigners living permanently in Thailand by regular border trips. He said prior submission of passport copies was necessary to avoid international visitors wasting their time by turning up unannounced. Jessataporn Bunnag, owner of Thai Visa Center located next to Jomtien immigration bureau, said the new scheme was introduced last month after the Thai government confirmed its willingness for foreigners to stay longer without the hassle of applying for prior visas from Thai embassies in their home countries before travel. “The important thing is to show us your passport well in advance so that you can be sure you are eligible for the extra time by this particular route,” he said. Thai Visa Center offers the service, including all costs and even lunch, for 5,500 baht. Other companies may look cheaper, but there can be hidden extra costs such as the price of the Cambodian entry visa (US$30 or around 1,200 baht) or the minibus fare. Cambodian visa runs, which can also be done from Bangkok, disappeared during the Covid pandemic as land crossings remained closed long after airports reopened.

The hatred you spew here remains an indelible legacy. You can attempt to misdirect the narrative away from Putin’s crimes but you will always fail as you have so consistently in the past.

Those words won’t go away, Tasso.

And we’ll know what side you’ll be on.

But you’re all in with Putin’s genocide. Fascinating rationalization.

And this is what compels you to retain U.S. citizenship?

And here what Twilight’s back door looks like today. It’s a “co-culture space” for a “new tribe of urban living.”

Reports of Khaolaguy and Robbi25 confirm what I head from a non-member about this shop. Customer service does not not appear to be a priority. Prior discussion before committing seems like prudent course. I think shops that don’t limit themselves to guys just from one country offer diversity and choices that give them an edge.

From the Thaiger Philippine Airlines (PAL) today announced it will reintroduce direct flights between Cebu City and Thailand’s capital city Bangkok in December. The Philippine flag carrier made public it is to introduce a twice-weekly service, operating on Monday and Friday, which will depart from Cebu in the morning of December 9 and depart from Bangkok in the early afternoon. PAL previously operated a route from Cebu and the Thai capital city from December 2017 to March 2020.

From Thai PBS World From Thai PBS World Their Majesties the King and Queen Thursday presided over a royal ceremony to unveil the statue of the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej at the new Chalerm Phrakiat Park in Bangkok’s Dusit district. Thousands of people dressed in yellow along with senior government officials also joined in the ceremony. The Chalerm Phrakiat Park, located on 279 rai of land, is designed as Bangkok’s “new lung” with thousands of new trees to be planted there. It will also serve as a reminder of contributions by the late King and Queen Sirikit the Queen Mother to the Thai society.

From the BBC (21 JUNE, 2011) Barbarossa Hitler Stalin: War warnings Stalin ignored By Patrick Jackson BBC News Russia and other parts of the former USSR commemorate one of the darkest days of their history on Wednesday, the 70th anniversary of Hitler's invasion. It has long been known that Stalin received warnings of an impending attack, prompting one of the great questions of military history: why were Soviet forces, despite their impressive numbers, so ill-prepared to withstand the Nazi blitzkrieg? Some accounts of the war have sought to play down the amount of intelligence the Kremlin had to go on, but this week a wealth of damning detail has emerged in the Russian media. In an interview with Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper, Russian military historian Arsen Martirosyan revealed that Soviet intelligence had named the exact, or almost exact, date of the invasion 47 times in the 10 days before Germany struck. Moscow knew of Nazi invasion plans from 1935, the historian argues, and was aware as early as 1936 of an attack plan called the Eastern Campaign. It seems that Hitler himself all but let the cat out of the bag in May 1941, when he sent a letter to Stalin, who at the time was still a nominally friendly leader under the Molotov-Ribbentrop non-aggression pact. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-13862135

Thailand to become a more popular destination for Russians fleeing Putin’s draft From Pattaya Mail By Barry Kenyon After a seven months hiatus, Aeroflot flights from Moscow to both Phuket and Bangkok are scheduled to begin at the end of the month. This was confirmed by Vladimir Sosnov, the Russian consul general in Phuket, and by CNN correspondents who say that tickets are indeed on sale in the Russian capital. There have been no direct flights since March 2022, largely because aero spare parts have been hard to obtain since the imposition of western sanctions. To date, about 90,000 Russians, mostly bona fide tourists or expats, have entered Thailand since the Ukraine war began last February. This largely reflects travel difficulties as air passengers must generally go first to countries – Turkey and the United Arab Emirates are examples – which offer visa-free entry to Russians and onward flights to Bangkok. In 2019, prior to the Covid pandemic almost one million Russians entered Thailand in a similar seven months period. Draft escapee Vadim is a 26 year old Russian, currently residing in Pattaya, who says he fled Moscow via Turkey to avoid the compulsory call-up to the Russian military. He says that he expects more men, hoping to escape the draft, to arrive in Thailand once flights resume. “They are likely to be questioned by the police in Russia prior to departure and they won’t carry too much luggage to avoid suspicion.” But he expected many to get through. “Actually, Putin prefers people opposed to him to be out of the country.” His colleague Alexei, 28, said Thailand had its merits and disadvantages as a bolt hole for draft deniers. “Russians don’t need a visa to come here for 30 days and extensions are easy to obtain. On the other hand, the work permit rules here are very strict.” He said he had been a waiter in both Kazakhistan and Turkey, but that was impossible in Thailand. Alexei complained that he had met some official hostility even in Pattaya. “Bank accounts are very hard to open here and I was told by an official to forget the idea unless I could produce a 12 months’ rental contract. That kind of discrimination doesn’t seem to apply to other nationalities.” Russian journalist Ekaterina Kogutov said the biggest problem for most escapees was how to support themselves abroad. “Some countries have given them refugee status, but others have banned them or made clear there is no state support.” Thai authorities do not provide financial help. Ekaterina explained that many men who had fled here worked remotely as digital nomads beneath the radar. Others were self-sufficient for now or received financial support from their families in Russia. Of course, most Russian draft escapees have transferred by land to those neighboring countries willing to admit them. Those fleeing abroad by air are likely to be the more affluent or well-connected and hundreds are known to have flown out by private jets. But now that Thailand is becoming more accessible by air, and with a history of welcoming one and a half million Russians in 2019, the arrival of more draft escapees is inevitable. A policy statement from the Thai government is clearly overdue.

Stalin was informed of Hitler’s designs on Russia and he chose to disbelieve it. Appease a bully today and be prepared to suffer consequences tomorrow. That’s a lesson that goes back millennia.

The good news is that the sofas are now vinyl. Other than that your recollections are spot on. They had a few guys sitting outside that same night so I believe you’ll be in luck.

That was Neville Chamberlain’s policy of appeasement with another animal in 1938.

As Tom Cruise observed in the original Top Gun, it’s a target rich environment. If you want to survey the most masseurs in the least amount of time, there’s no place in town that makes it easier than Silom Soi 6 and environs. Begin your search at the new, all-Thai 9teen shop on Silom near the mouth of Soi 6 and then turn left on to 6 and you’ll find a total of six shops before you come to the dogleg turn. Continue in the direction of Surawong and you come to Sun Massage, the daytime home of Tawan Bar. All eight of the above shops have male only masseurs and on any given day you can find upwards of 70 available guys. Still not enough? Continue to Surawong road and turn right where you begin to pass by the mixed shops.

From Thai PBS. world Thailand has abstained, as did China and India, in a vote on the UN resolution not to recognise the four regions of Ukraine which Russia has claimed, following referenda held late last month. The UN General Assembly passed the resolution by a large majority on Wednesday, demanding that Moscow reverse course on its “attempted illegal annexation” of parts of Ukraine. The results were 143 member states in favour, with five voting against and 35 abstentions. The countries voting against were Belarus, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Nicaragua, Russia and Syria. The resolution, now passed in the Assembly, calls on all states, the UN and international organisations not to recognize any of Russia’s annexation claims and demands the immediate reversal of its annexation declaration. On Monday, the UN rejected Russian efforts hold a secret ballot on the matter. A majority of member countries elected to hold the vote in public. Thailand also abstained in a vote to suspend Russia from UN Human Rights Council in April this year, citing inclusivity. In March, Thailand did, however, vote to condemn Russia’s aggression in Ukraine.

I’ve found that most of straight men (variously refereed to as “all man”, “real man”, in the vernacular) will provide hand job happy ending because they know it will pad their tip. As for Cloud Massage, no one can accurately predict what will actually happen once the door is closed. That’s when the real “policy” is made.

They didn’t appear necessarily skinny or necessarily muscled. A few wore jackets. Best useful term that comes to mind is boys next door, one of who looked too young to drive.

From Variety International streaming company Netflix has unveiled six new titles representing its first wide-ranging slate of content from Thailand. Its four films and two series span the comedy, suspense and comedy drama genres and hail from six different local production firms – GMM Studios, International, GDH, Song Sound Productions, Transformation Films, 18 Tanwa and Jungka Bangkok. Significantly, too, they are sourced from established directors or producers. Writer-director Prueksa Amaruji’s dark comedy film “Lost Lotteries” is produced by Ekachai Uekrongtham (“Beautiful Beautiful Boxer,” “Pleasure Factory”) and will stream from mid-November. Writer-producer Kongdej Jaturanrasmee and veteran indie producer Soros Sukhum (“Memoria,” “Pop-Aye”) are behind director Sitisiri Mongkolsiri’s “Hunger,” a family drama with food as its central theme. It stars Chutimon Chuengcharoensukying, aka Aok Bap, the breakout star of “Bad Genius” and a former Talent to Watch, selected by Variety and the International Film Festival & Awards Macao. Veteran director Wisit Sasanatieng (“Tears of the Black Tiger”) is directing “The Murderer,” a dark comedy set in one of Thailand’s poorest and most looked-down-upon regions in which a British man is accused of murdering his wife’s family, but it is the wife that has to defend him. Another veteran director Nonzee Nimibutr (“Jan Dara”) is set to deliver “Mon Rak Nak Pak,” a drama about the good old days of Thai cinema when dialog was narrated live and medicine carts were used to bring in audiences. “Shutter” director Parkpoom Wongpoom directs and jointly produces series “Delete,” a love triangle thriller in which a complicated relationship leads to people being erased from others’ lives. Aok Bap also stars. Nalina Chayasombat, who previously worked with Wongpoom on “Shutter” and “Phobia 2” is directing series “Analog Squad,” in which a group of misfits is hired to play the part of estranged family members in order to fill in the cracks of a broken family. Netflix has previously commissioned individual shows in Thailand, rather than a slate of local titles and enjoyed success with “Bangkok Breaking,” and the recently launched “Thai Cave Rescue.” The approach is changing as the company tries to drill down to local level in more territories and as it responds to competitive pressure from rival platforms who have also targeted Thailand for expansion. “We’re always looking for stories that are authentically local and when we give it the greenlight, we make sure it’s created in the best possible format to bring that story to life,” said Yongyoot Thongkongtoon, an experienced local director (“Iron Ladies”) and now Netflix’s Thailand content lead, told Variety. “For this initial slate, it just so happened that most of the stories that were pitched to us were most suited for film. However, we’re always looking for opportunities to optimize for more balanced programming as we continue to expand our slate in the next few years.”

I was walking along the Road New Twlight bar is on when three guys stationed by the side of road approached me. “Many new boys, come see”. They gestured toward what at one time formed the lead in the trifecta of sleaze—Super A, Golden Cock and Nature Boy. Sleaze. Really hadn’t seen much signs of it since returning so as the whore monger that inhabits all of us here I felt duty bound to check it out. Stepping through the door of Super A was like time travel, returning to my last visit over a dozen years prior. It was discomforting to see how nothing had changed: sofas to the right, tiny stage to the left and bar in back. Two customers were sitting with guys. I sat down in the unoccupied sofa and order a beer (200). Soon the show, more of a lineup actually, got under way. One guy stood on the stage and moved his arms slightly from side to side. Seven boys in street clothes stood to his right doing nothing, all with the look, “what am I doing here.” The same thought crossed my mind but I cautioned myself to give it a chance. Four or five minutes passed and nothing changed. The mamasan signaled to everyone to sit down. That prompted me to pay my tab and make for the door behind an Asian customer toting his bottle of beer. If I felt anything as I walked away it was sympathy for those who made up the ragtag crew whose vacant expressions spoke volumes. It can be challenging to get a new bar up and running, and sometimes too much of a one. But never under estimate the sleaze factor to prevail in the end.

Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds 😀

I inhabit Silom area. I rarely see westerners with masks outdoors. In stores, markets and transportation, generally yes. In restaurants and bars, no.