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Point taken. I should have explained in previous post that the sanctions originally date to 1958, four years before missile crisis. The sale of arms was blocked when Batista was still in power. More sanctions followed in 1960 when Cuba nationalized American oil refineries with compensation. In 1962, following the missile crisis, everything with the exception of food and humanitarian supplies were sanctioned. Obviously Cuba doesn't pose an overt military threat but it does pose a political one. Although travel to Cuba has been liberalized and remittances from families in the US allowed, sanctions remain in place principally because of the overwhelming support they receive from the Cuban-American community in Florida that number 1.53 million. Florida is a crucial state in presidential elections with 29 electoral votes that no candidate is eager to risk losing them. The bottom line is that it's tough to win without taking Florida (just ask Al Gore).

From Bangkok Post Hoteliers in Koh Samui are suffering from lower numbers of tourists. The occupancy rate on the island during the final quarter this year, as of Dec 20, has plunged to 30% from 50% in the same period of 2018, said Vorasit Pongkumpunt, president of the Tourism Association of Koh Samui. During the last two weeks of December, the occupancy rate should rise to 90%, putting it at 50% average for the year. He attributed the low figures to the strong baht and trade war, as major markets such as the Chinese flock to cheaper beach destinations in Vietnam, the Philippines and Indonesia. The occupancy rate for next year's first quarter in Samui stands at 35%, down from 50-60%, according to bookings. https://www.bangkokpost.com/learning/easy/1818044/not-enough-tourists-for-koh-samui-hotels

An extraordinary report by any measure. Thank you. You may not think of yourself as a serial reporter but that's what you are. You managed to capture precise moments in time with a practiced eye. You're a natural raconteur. Particularly enjoy your writing style. You candidly describe the scene and your offs while taking care to protect their identity. You appreciate that they're young men and--as Divine Madman said in another thread--we are the adults. Many of the guys we date will go on to lead very different lives and the last thing we should want to do is create problems for them. You didn't date deities. The men you chose (or in some cases chose you) are everyday type guys who populate the Patpong/Surawong entertainment zone. You even manage to present the ML model with down-to-earth personal qualities we often don't hear about. And a particular tip of the cap for pointing out the satisfaction you got from getting to know many of your offs outside of the bedroom. Your curiosity about their lives off the clock is both insightful and rewarding. Sharing a meal is a great ice breaker and in keeping with a treasured Asian custom. Delighted you have BKK back on your itinerary. .

You can be excused for forgetting that both the US and the UK were allies with Russia in WWII. Trump may like to think of the Putin as a present day ally but neither house of Congress does. And Congress has the final say on that. US bases around the world are there at the request of the host nations. Perhaps you'd feel better if they hosted Russian air bases instead? We both know if the UK had nukes when bombs were falling on the island they would have used them.The US was the first to use them because they were the first (barely ahead of the nazis) to develop them. Or perhaps you would have preferred that the nazis got them first? You like to bash anything American when it's convenient. But you forget that it was America that bailed you out of two wars and will be the first nation you go to if shit hits the fan again. They had little choice in the matter. They were surrounded by a fleet of US warships. It was JFK's measured response to the crisis that saved your ass.

Or perhaps he opted to forgo sex and remain in Scotland for the snap election. he he

Since I assume that you've been to Cuba and speak from experience, you must know what you're talking about. But I'm inclined to think that Cuba treats all of its citizens well. Sixty years is a long time, I agree. However, the fact that Cuba allowed Russia to place nuclear-tipped missiles 90 miles off the coast of Key West might have played a role in the sanctions. It was about 78 years ago, with the Nazis amassing forces 26 miles off the UK coast, that the US sent hundreds of thousands of troops to your shores along with thousands of aircraft and ships to help repel them. A small matter I know. Just thought I'd mention it.

They're like the mamasans who know the perfect off before you can get "I'm looking for..." out of your mouth. LOL

I've used a few private hospitals in Bangkok as the need arose over the years and have received what I consider very good service and--in most cases--equal or superior to what I might expect to find at home. And at costs significantly less. I've also taken young men to these hospitals for out-patient care they couldn't otherwise afford. The only area of health care that concerns me is a tendency to over prescribe medications. All of the hospitals I've used have in-house pharmacies that are important profit centers so there is an incentive to to write script for those pharmacies. Thai doctors seem more accustomed to write prescriptions without explaining much about the medications to the patient. But since they all speak English will--if questioned--have a dialogue with you. A law passed last year requires hospitals to provide patients with a script that can be used at the pharmacy of their choice outside of the hospital where more competitive pricing can be found. You just have to ask. I've been very satisfied with the service and pricing at the pharmacies on Rama IV. They're clustered in the block between Silom and Surawong. They're located across the road from King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital (and medical school), considered one of the best in the Kingdom. The Chula Pharmacy is the only name I can recall at the moment. It's particularly busy around lunch time but handles the crowds efficiently.

Excerpted from NYTimes BANGKOK — The coconut wood pestle hits the mortar, and the chili fumes rise in a cough-inducing haze. The lime rind bruises. Salted crab releases its funk, along with bits of claw and carapace. Shreds of green papaya are tossed in, bathed in a blast of fermented fish paste tempered by palm sugar. The smell is alive and dead, asphyxiating and alluring all at once. More than anything, this green papaya salad, made in a street cart by a woman who has been wielding her pestle for three and a half decades, provides the perfume of Bangkok. But street food vendors — with their pungent salads, oodles of noodles and coconut sweetmeats — have lately become the target of some of the capital’s planners. To them, this metropolis of 10 million residents suffers from an excess of crowds, clutter and health hazards. The floods, the heat, the stench of clogged canals and rotting fruit, the pok pok pok of that pestle — it’s all too much. They prefer an air-conditioned Bangkok, with malls, ice-skating rinks and Instagrammable dessert cafes. They want the street food vendors gone. And so Somboon Chitmani, who has been making green papaya salad in the streets of Bangkok for 36 years, waits. By the end of this year, she has heard, street cooks could be cleared out of central Bangkok. Already, the number of areas designated for street food has decreased from 683 three years ago to 175, according to the Network of Thai Street Vendors for Sustainable Development. Sakoltee Phattiyakul, the deputy governor of Bangkok, dismissed fears that street food would be gone from Bangkok this year. “No, no, no, we’re not going to ban to zero,” he said, stressing that a local government initiative to clear the city’s sidewalks of clutter was “just a plan that we have had for years.” Others within the government bureaucracy have sent a different message, though, leaving vendors spooked. Earlier this month, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration said the sidewalk cleanup campaign was moving ahead. “If they want to get rid of us, we can’t do anything to protest because it’s the law,” Ms. Somboon said. “But Bangkok to me is about street food. Without it, it wouldn’t feel the same.” Nearly 15 percent of Thailand’s citizens live in Bangkok, and many cling to the fringes of one of the world’s most unequal societies. The capital’s notorious traffic forces long commutes, meaning it’s often impractical to return home to eat lunch, or even dinner until late. Besides, many people rent lodging without kitchens. Street food is also a family business for Nitisak Trachoo, whose parents have pushed a pair of food carts across Bangkok for 27 years. Mr. Nitisak, 28, once worked as a bellboy but two years ago, when his parents asked him for help, he returned to the streets. Each day, as demure office workers and tourists in short shorts watch, he pours streams of green batter into a mold for tiny cakes fragrant with the vanilla-like juice of the pandan leaf, a common flavoring in Southeast Asia. On a recent afternoon, steam wafted from the griddle, adding a syrupy note to the humid air. “Being a bellboy is a lot easier,” Mr. Nitisak said, mopping away sweat. “But when my parents asked me to help I came right away because it’s the Thai way.” https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/14/world/asia/bangkok-street-food.htm

How's it going after your first week in Bangkok, Spicytea123?

From The Guardian Traditional Thai massage gains Unesco heritage status (photo from AFP website) The body-folding, sharp-elbowed techniques of Thai massage have been added to Unesco’s prestigious heritage list. Originating in India and practised in Thailand for centuries, the massage was popularised when a special school opened in the 1960s to train massage therapists from around the world. The addition of nuad Thai to Unesco’s list of “intangible cultural heritage” practices was “historic”, said the Thai delegate at the Unesco meeting in Bogotá, Colombia. “It helps promote the practice of Nuad Thai locally and internationally,” he said. From upscale Bangkok spas and Phuket beachfronts to modest street-side shophouses, nuad Thai is ubiquitous, and an hour of the back-straightening discipline can cost as little as $5. Doctors and monks were said to have brought these methods 2,500 years ago to Thailand, passing its secrets from master to disciple in temples and later within families. Under Thailand’s King Rama III in the 19th century, scholars engraved their knowledge of the field onto the stones of the famed Wat Pho temple in Bangkok.Its nuad Thai school, which has trained more than 200,000 massage therapists who practice in 145 countries, opened in 1962. Today, a therapist at a top-end spa can charge around $100 an hour in Thailand, and two or three times more in London, New York or Hong Kong where the Thai massage brand is booming. But the training is “demanding”, says Chilean Sari, a professional masseuse who travelled to Bangkok to learn the discipline. “The technique is very precise; there are so many things to be aware of,” the 34-year-old said. The teachings focus on directing blood circulation around problem areas to solve muscle aches – sometimes drawing winces from clients unaccustomed to the force applied. Studies have shown it can help relieve back pain, headaches, insomnia and even anxiety. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/13/traditional-thai-massage-gains-unesco-heritage-status

From Bloomberg News Election agency asks court to mull Future Forward dissolution Party head has warned elimination could be protest flash-point Thailand’s Election Commission petitioned a court to consider the break up of the country’s most high-profile opposition party, whose leader has warned that its dissolution could spark protests. Loans of 191.2 million baht ($6.3 million) to the Future Forward party from its chief Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit breached financing rules for political parties, the commission said in a statement Wednesday in Bangkok. “We absolutely disagree with the commission’s decision,” Piyabutr Saengkanokkul, the party’s secretary-general, said in a briefing. “We will continue to go forward with our duties. The decision today can’t stop our journey.” Future Forward is less than two years old but surged in Thailand’s disputed March election, which came after almost five years under a junta. Thanathorn is a critic of the royalist establishment’s grip on power, and his party’s goals include rewriting the military-backed charter and breaking up oligopolies. The commission asked the Constitutional Court to mull the financing case. The usual next step is for the court to decide whether to accept it or not. Thanathorn said last week that Thailand could see street protests again if establishment forces continue to resist democratic change, and signaled that dissolution could be a flash-point for demonstrations. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-12-11/thai-agency-seeks-break-up-of-highest-profile-opposition-party

And BadBoy is committed to taking us along for a "ride" along the way

From the NYTimes The e-waste industry is booming in Southeast Asia, frightening residents worried for their health. Despite a ban on imports, Thailand is a center of the business. Foreign workers sorting through piles of shredded e-waste on the premises of New Sky Metal in Thailand in September.Credit...Bryan Denton for The New York Times By Hannah Beech and Ryn Jirenuwat KOH KHANUN, Thailand — Crouched on the ground in a dimly lit factory, the women picked through the discarded innards of the modern world: batteries, circuit boards and bundles of wires. They broke down the scrap — known as e-waste — with hammers and raw hands. Men, some with faces wrapped in rags to repel the fumes, shoveled the refuse into a clanking machine that salvages usable metal. As they toiled, smoke spewed over nearby villages and farms. Residents have no idea what is in the smoke: plastic, metal, who knows? All they know is that it stinks and they feel sick. The factory, New Sky Metal, is part of a thriving e-waste industry across Southeast Asia, born of China’s decision to stop accepting the world’s electronic refuse, which was poisoning its land and people. Thailand in particular has become a center of the industry even as activists push back and its government wrestles to balance competing interests of public safety with the profits to be made from the lucrative trade. Last year, Thailand banned the import of foreign e-waste. Yet new factories are opening across the country, and tons of e-waste are being processed, environmental monitors and industry experts say. “E-waste has to go somewhere,” said Jim Puckett, the executive director of the Basel Action Network, which campaigns against trash dumping in poor countries, “and the Chinese are simply moving their entire operations to Southeast Asia.” “The only way to make money is to get huge volume with cheap, illegal labor and pollute the hell out of the environment,” he added. But it is dirty and dangerous work to extract the tiny quantities of precious metals — like gold, silver and copper — from castoff phones, computers and televisions. For years, China took in much of the world’s electronic refuse. Then in 2018, Beijing closed its borders to foreign e-waste. Thailand and other countries in Southeast Asia — with their lax enforcement of environmental laws, easily exploited labor force and cozy nexus between business and government — saw an opportunity. “Every circuit and every cable is very lucrative, especially if there is no concern for the environment or for workers,” said Penchom Saetang, the head of Ecological Alert and Recovery Thailand, an environmental watchdog. While Southeast Asian nations like Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines have rejected individual shipments of waste from Western countries, Thailand was the first to push back more systematically against the electronic refuse deluging its ports. In June of last year, the Thai Ministry of Industry announced with great fanfare the ban on foreign e-waste. The police made a series of high-profile raids on at least 10 factories, including New Sky Metal. “New Sky is closed now, totally closed,” Yutthana Poolpipat, the head of the Laem Chabang Port customs bureau, said in September. “There is no electronic waste coming into Thailand, zero.” But a recent visit to the hamlet of Koh Khanun showed that the factory was still up and running, as are many others, a reflection of the weak regulatory system and corruption that has tainted the country. Since the e-waste ban, 28 new recycling factories, most dealing with electronic refuse, began operations in one province east of Bangkok, Chachoengsao, where Koh Khanun is located, according to provincial statistics. This year, 14 businesses in that province were granted licenses to process electronic waste. Most of the new factories are in central Thailand between Bangkok and Laem Chabang, the nation’s biggest port, but more provinces are allowing the businesses. Continues with photos https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/08/world/asia/e-waste-thailand-southeast-asia.html

From Bangkok Post A requirement for individual Taiwanese travellers to submit financial statements when applying for a visa to enter Thailand has been postponed until at least March, according to local reports. The Thailand Trade and Economic Office (TTEO) in Taipei announced earlier that the requirement for three months’ evidence of financial statements would take effect on Dec 1. The news angered Taiwanese officials and local travel agents, who noted that Thai citizens don’t need visas to visit Taiwan. That programme was extended on Aug 1 for another year, until July 31, 2020. The number of Taiwanese who visited Thailand in the first 10 months of this year totalled 700,356, a 24% increase from the same period last year. https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/1810689/new-visa-rules-for-taiwanese-postponed#cxrecs_s

Although 5k seems like a lot in the overall scheme of things in a Bangkok environment (and it is), in three recent posts by veteran trip reporters none expressed dissatisfaction or disappointment with their decision to go ahead with the off. To put it in perspective, consider the cost of a going to a club and paying 700 for drinks, 200 in tips for staff, 500 for off and 2,000 for the guy who proves to be a dud. That 3,400 and you close the door to your hotel and you're dissatisfied with the experience. All of a sudden the high-end off doesn't look so pricey.

From Bangkok Post The national wage committee agreed on Friday to increase the minimum daily wage by 5-6 baht, from 308-330 baht to 313-336 baht, and will propose the rise to cabinet for effect from Jan 1. Unskilled workers in most provinces will be entitled to 315-320 baht a day. Suthi Sukosol, permanent secretary for labour, said the committee made its decision after careful consideration of factors including employees' cost of living, employers' ability to pay, and local and global economic conditions. The 6-baht increment will apply in Bangkok, Chon Buri, Phuket, Prachin Buri, Samut Prakan and Samut Sakhon. The 5-baht rise will apply in the other provinces. https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/1810054/minimum-wage-to-rise-next-month#cxrecs_s

Numazu said: "It's like a hurricane came through this street. Very very sad photo. Also, why is it so messy still there? Aren't they doing construction?" Vinapu said: "It looks regretfully messy" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I think the salvagers have been stripping out anything of any value (pipes, electrical, etc.). It's a large parcel that includes the building that Family Mart occupied on the Surawong side and several buildings on the Rama IV side.

One of the best and least appreciated shows in town...and there's no entrance fee. And if you're looking to kill some afternoon time, you can watch them set it up. (4-6 p.m. is prime time viewing)

Taken 3 December

From Bangkok Post Prayut urges ‘spending in dollars’ Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said the nation has to think about expenditure in dollars to help weaken its currency. "We have to think how we will spend in dollars in many ways to help weaken the baht," Gen Prayut said in a speech Monday, adding the private sector needs to help with that process. A current-account surplus, capital inflows and high foreign reserves are among the causes of baht strength, he said. The comments in Bangkok could be a reiteration of earlier government entreaties for more imports, which require converting baht to spend in dollars, economists said. Calls to a prime minister’s aide for more clarity weren’t immediately answered. "The premier may be urging people to spend more by converting baht into dollars,” said Kampon Adireksombat, head of economic and financial market research at Siam Commercial Bank. "He wants people to import more and invest more. If we spend more, that will also help reduce our trade surplus." https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/1807164#cxrecs_s

From Bangkok Post More than two decades ago, the baht suffered heavy devaluation as a result of speculation, forcing Thailand's central bank to de-link the local currency from the US dollar and adopt a managed floating exchange rate. Fast-forward to the present and the baht's value has become a challenge for the trade-reliant economy. This time the local currency's strength is the issue, as opposed to drastic depreciation during the 1997 financial crisis. The last time the baht's value against the greenback touched 29 was in 2013. The currency appreciation irked many businesses and policymakers to the point that there was a public rift between Finance Minister Kittiratt NI a-Ranong and former central bank governor Prasarn Trairatvorakul, as the latter did not acquiesce to the former's demand to cut the policy interest rate to curb the appreciation. The strong baht in 2019 is a result of Thailand's massive current account surplus. The surplus, worth US$26.4 billion (797 billion baht) on a year-to-date basis as of September, stems from lower import value compared with export value, inflows of tourism revenue and near-record foreign reserves of about $222 billion. Ample foreign reserves have made Thailand stand out as a safe haven to park capital, either for actual investment or speculation, amid the US dollar's significant retreat, rattled by the shaky future of the global economy, the Federal Reserve's monetary easing and a tit-for-tat trade dispute between the world's two biggest economies. The baht is projected to reach 28.70 against the dollar next year on assumptions that exports will start to rebound and the number of inbound tourists will outpace outbound volume. The local currency is estimated to hover narrowly at 30-30.30 to the dollar for the remainder of this year on anticipation that no trade deal is confirmed between China and the US. https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/1806469#cxrecs_s

+1

Agree. Some may indeed think differently but I suspected that most don’t appreciate the longer-term implications of having their younger history trailing them into future. I think that most Thai guys live in the moment.

A few observations: (1) never had a dud from Freshboys; (2) this was among the best trip report segments I’ve read. If there was a TR Hall of Fame, Numazu and a handful of others would be enshrined (and we all know who they are). The scene just before closing in the bar was vivid in its description. The last chance for an off yet they all rallied to the mamasan’s clarion call while knowing the odds were against them. Just another reason why these guys are all special and the “model” category becomes increasingly meaningless as the night goes on.