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Having left Bangkok not that long ago, don't recall finding an acceptable meal at a reasonable price problematic. Most Thais patronize prepared food vendors. If the industry is experiencing a big drop in income, I'd first look at their pricing. Even McDonald's announced this week the return of the "value meal" due to reduced same-store sales. From Pattaya News On July 31st, 2024, Mr. Sorathep Rojpotjanaruch, the Chairman of the Thai Restaurant Business Association, revealed that the restaurant industry has faced a significant drop in spending, exceeding 50% recently. The association had appealed to the Thai Prime Minister to address the current economic issues with immediate stimulus measures instead of solely relying on the upcoming 10,000-baht digital wallet scheme. More than half of the Thai restaurants in the association could close by year-end without prompt action, remarked Sorathep. The combined impact of rising raw material costs and declining consumer spending has left small restaurants struggling. Medium-sized and SME establishments are also suffering due to increased tax burdens. The lack of government response to their initial appeal has left business owners feeling abandoned, questioning the effectiveness of the current administration, concerned Sorathep.

If the boys can do it, you can do it. 🙂

That really jogged my memory. Was taken there by a friend sometime in the 80's and had a good meal. But what I recall most is the truly memorable bottle of Chardonnay that we shared.

From BBC As Democratic presidential hopeful Kamala Harris vets potential running mates, spare a thought for the contenders as they undergo a process that one past participant likens to "a colonoscopy performed with a telescope”. Have you ever paid for sex? Have you ever paid for an abortion? Have you ever had a homosexual encounter? This is just some of the material in questionnaires fired off during the exhaustive vetting process for previous US vice-presidential nominees. Potential partners to join Ms Harris on the Democratic ticket for November's election will have to answer up to 200 questions before they can even begin to be seriously considered. The vetters - campaign officials and lawyers who volunteer their billable hours for the networking and prestige - often have about a month to dig up every grain of dirt they can find. The Harris campaign has a matter of days to pick a running mate, with a paperwork deadline looming. The vice-president, who went through the process herself only four years ago, has been assessing around a dozen contenders, with Governor Josh Shapiro and Senator Mark Kelly among those being touted. Pete Buttigieg, who is also among the rumoured potential picks, was asked this week if the possible running mates are aware they are being vetted. "Yeah, you know," he said with a smile. What makes the whole undertaking especially challenging is that, unlike with cabinet picks, the FBI does not perform background checks on vice-presidents. The vetters will pore over a contender’s tax returns and medical history. They may log on to his or her private social media accounts. They will scour the social media posts of his or her children. The grandchildren’s, too. The least suggestion of marital infidelity, or any other skeleton in the closet, will be picked apart. They will check every record of every word the potential candidate has ever uttered or written. Jim Hamilton, a Democratic lawyer who evaluated potential running mates for John Kerry, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, told the BBC that notes of the process are destroyed afterwards to preserve “a strict, strict veil of confidentiality”.

+1 Did you consider going home with the doc? 😉

I try to adhere to same practice whenever possible. It trumps any inconvenience like missing leisurely breakfast. ====================== From Yahoo News Mass tourism exasperates locals in Europe and beyond An increasing number of visitors has sparked numerous anti-tourism movements in Spain and elsewhere in Europe. Locals blame tourists for driving up housing costs, inflation, and causing environmental degradation. Some affected regions are beginning to take small steps to ease their residents' concerns. A collective of several hundred associations in Spain known as Ecologistas marched through the town of El Puerto de Santa Maria on July 20 to denounce "uncontrolled mass tourism", chanting: “Our city is not for sale!” Thousands of protesters marched on July 6 in Barcelona to denounce an excess of visitors, preceding another large demonstration against mass tourism on July 22 in Mallorca, an island reputed for its beaches, protected creeks, limestone mountains and archeological sites. Spain recorded an additional 24 million tourists in the first quarter of 2024 compared to the same period the previous year, representing an annual increase of 14.5 percent. The country had already registered an all-time high in international visitors in 2023. The tourism boom is driving up prices in shops as well as housing costs, a surge which locals say is complicating their access to housing. Spain’s most-visited city, Barcelona, welcomes some 12 million people a year, many of whom arrive by cruise ship. The increasing number of tourists each year is putting pressure on health services, waste management, water supply and housing – to the detriment of inhabitants. "The city centre might be good for drinking a beer, but it has become an aggressive and unbearable place to live."

From The BBC An ultra-wholesome Japanese dating series on Netflix has hooked viewers globally. It's part of a wave of reality shows showing the nuances, and differences, of gay relationships. It is a concept that we've seen many times before: a group of strangers enter a house and, as cameras film their every move, they search for a romantic connection. But conceptually, Netflix's The Boyfriend is actually a million miles from the Love Island villa, where singles with chiselled abs search for love (and Instagram fame). The Netflix series is Japan's first ever same-sex dating show – a landmark moment for LGBTQ+ representation. The premise is simple: in Tateyama, a quiet coastal city in Japan, a seaside beach house known as the "Green Room" becomes home to a group of nine young men from different backgrounds, from product designers to artists, models, students, and chefs. As their stories unfold, a group of commentators – including Japanese actress Megumi, pop star Thelma Aoyama, and comedian Yoshimi Tokui – provide a humorous running analysis of every moment, misstep, and micro-drama. Words like "groundbreaking" are overused in TV criticism, but The Boyfriend feels genuinely deserving of it. Since the first episodes dropped on Netflix on 9 July, the show has been positively reviewed and much discussed on social media by viewers around the world – mostly because of how different it feels to the more over-produced, conflict-heavy dating shows we're used to seeing. In the Green Room, romances form over a blink-and-you'll-miss-it glance, a flirty beachside picnic, or a letter posted under a bedroom door. And the show is part of a wider shift, where a new wave of LGBTQ+ dating shows – like BBC Three's I Kissed a Boy and I Kissed a Girl in the UK – are showing viewers a more wholesome side to romantic reality TV. TV critic and writer Scott Bryan, host of BBC 5 Live's Must Watch podcast, thinks the success of The Boyfriend is down to it existing at the meeting point between wider TV trends. The first being that TV shows that are not in the English language have become gradually more popular on streaming platforms since dystopian Korean drama Squid Game became Netflix's all-time most-watched show in 2021. "Sometimes, watching a show with subtitles means that you actually become much more absorbed in it," Bryan says. "Because you're not scrolling on your phone or looking at another screen, you actually have to watch it." Then there is the show's production set-up, with the group of commentators providing a sense of narrative cohesion and witty asides: this is an extension of the format of Married at First Sight UK and Australia, where the "experts" watch group events such as dinner parties. "The fact that you have these personalities providing instant reactions, rather than syphoning that off to a separate programme, is great. It makes the show easier to follow and it also makes the raw footage of the participants feel more organic and authentic in comparison." There is also a more thoughtful, quietly sincere quality to both the contestants and the show as a whole that makes it stand out. The Boyfriend has a distinctly “back to basics” feel about it. The group are tasked with running a coffee truck together and managing how they spend the profits to cover their household budget. As the name suggests, the show is about finding romantic love, but over the course of 10 episodes, which have been released two at a time throughout July, the group have also formed deep friendships. Fans have been won over by the brotherhood between the men (and even their taste in menswear) almost as much as their unpredictable romances. In 2023, BBC Three's I Kissed a Boy, presented by Dannii Minogue, became the UK's first-ever gay dating show. (It was followed by I Kissed a Girl, starring a group of queer women, in 2024.) Dan Harry, a participant on I Kissed a Boy, was initially unsure when he was approached by a casting producer. "I was extremely cautious," he says. "Because there were no reference points for this. There were no other gay dating shows for me to visualise what it was going to be like." But this ended up being what convinced him to take part. "I realised it could turn out to be a bit of a landmark TV moment. I wanted to be a part of that." Watching The Boyfriend, and both I Kissed a Boy and I Kissed a Girl, what is noticeable is how direct the communication is between the couples. Proper conversations between the contestants about their backgrounds and emotional lives come to the fore much more quickly than on a show like Love Island, where talk for a long while mostly seems to revolve around superficial flirting or "grafting". Rejections are often delivered more constructively and, in general, these shows have felt noticeably kinder and less manipulative of their subjects than majority-straight shows like Love Island, Love is Blind, or Married at First Sight. "There's a really big difference between Love Island and something like I Kissed a Boy," Harry explains. "On I Kissed a Boy, you see our stories and our backgrounds, our upbringings, and our deeper emotional feelings, whereas within Love Island pretty much everything is about what happens in the bubble of the villa."

From CNN Kudos to you if you can speak perfect Japanese and order food at a neighborhood sushi bar in Tokyo. If you can, chances are that on your next trip to Japan, you may be able to score a better deal by blending in as a local. Japan has never been a destination known for hiking up prices for foreigners. But overtourism – fueled by a combination of pent-up post-Covid demands (aka “revenge travel”) and the weak local currency – has recently prompted restaurants in the country to consider the merits of differential pricing. “People say it’s discrimination, but it is really hard for us to serve foreigners, and it is beyond our capacity,” said Shogo Yonemitsu, who runs Tamatebako, an all-you-can-eat seafood grill in Shibuya, Tokyo’s bustling shopping district. He maintains that he doesn’t charge tourists extra. Instead, he offers a 1,000 yen ($6.50) discount to locals. “We need (this pricing system) for cost reasons,” Yonemitsu said.

From TechCrunch A federal district court in New York has ruled that U.S. border agents must obtain a warrant before searching the electronic devices of Americans and international travelers crossing the U.S. border. The ruling on July 24 is the latest court opinion to upend the U.S. government’s long-standing legal argument, which asserts that federal border agents should be allowed to access the devices of travelers at ports of entry, like airports, seaports and land borders, without a court-approved warrant. Civil liberties groups who advocated for the ruling praised the judgment. “The ruling makes clear that border agents need a warrant before they can access what the Supreme Court has called ‘a window into a person’s life,’” Scott Wilkens, senior counsel at the Knight First Amendment Institute, one of the groups that filed in the case, said in a press release Friday. The district court’s ruling takes effect across the U.S. Eastern District of New York, which includes New York City-area airports like John F. Kennedy International Airport, one of the largest transportation hubs in the United States. A spokesperson for U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the agency responsible for border security, said it was “reviewing” the court’s decision. “CBP cannot comment on pending criminal cases, and will continue performing its vital national security mission consistent with law and policy,” said CBP spokesperson Justin Long. The court ruling regards a criminal case involving Kurbonali Sultanov, a U.S. citizen whose phone was taken by border agents at JFK Airport in 2022 and told to provide his password, which Sultanov did when officers told him that he had no choice. Sultanov later moved to suppress the evidence — alleged to be child sexual abuse material — taken from his phone by arguing that the search violated his Fourth Amendment rights. The U.S. border is a legally fuzzy space, where international travelers have almost no right to privacy and where Americans can also face intrusive searches. The U.S. government asserts unique powers and authorities at the border, such as conducting device searches without a warrant, which law enforcement cannot normally use against someone who had crossed onto U.S. soil without first convincing a judge of enough suspicion to justify the search. Continues at https://techcrunch.com/2024/07/29/us-border-agents-must-get-warrant-before-cell-phone-searches-federal-court-rules/

From Pattaya Mail A meeting was held to gather public feedback on Phase 2 of the Pattaya Public Transportation System, specifically the proposed Red Line Monorail project. The July 30 event, organized by the consultancy firms involved in the project’s feasibility study, design, and environmental impact assessment, aimed to present draft environmental mitigation measures and collect additional input from stakeholders. The Red Line Monorail is planned to run from the Dolphin Roundabout to Thappraya Junction and extend to the Eastern National Sports Stadium, covering a distance of approximately 17.37 kilometres. The elevated monorail system, while involving higher construction and maintenance costs, is expected to reduce traffic disruptions and align with Pattaya’s urban development and tourism goals. This design aims to promote a shift in travel modes among residents and tourists. The project will feature ten stations spaced 800-1,000 metres apart, with walking distances to stations of around 400-500 meters, ensuring convenient access. The investment model for the Red and Purple Line projects will utilize a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) framework, supporting Pattaya’s ambition to become a major tourism hub in alignment with the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) development plans. Held at the Redemptorist Foundation for People with Disabilities Conference Centre in Pattaya, the meeting saw significant public participation, reflecting strong community interest and concern over the project’s potential impacts and benefits. Consultants provided detailed information on the project, including environmental impact mitigation strategies and design options. The feedback gathered will be used to refine project plans, ensuring they address local needs and environmental concerns. From Pattaya News

The ordinance that exists in Bangkok province is a rental period of not less than 28 days.

Way to go! One of the most encouraging reports on Patpong 2’s most reliable bars in a while.

Think restful thoughts. Put on some nice music and let the world pass you by. I'm delighted to make your acquaintance.

There, there, Riobard. Those boys are not going to hurt you. They're only celebrating among themselves. They have absolutely no intention of going up and pulling you out of the stands and doing unspeakable physical activities with you. Really? But I appreciate that you're different. Now get some milk and cookies and try to forget all about those nasty fist-thumping boys. They're not coming for you. BTW, the Men's Badminton doubles are tomorrow. Can't promise you anything but there will probably be fewer emotional outbursts and fist thumping.

I understand, Riobard. I truly do. You lack understanding of the way athletes bond with one another. Watch soccer, baseball, hockey and football players react with each other after a good play. They pump each other up with displays of emotion. I'm sorry this is lost on you.

Unlike athletes competing in many other events, gymnasts can't show emotion during routines and have to hold it until after. It a release of tension that I like to see in a truly competitive athlete.

Asher Hong springs a MASSIVE vault for USA in team all-around final | Paris Olympics | NBC Sports Continues with video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbrvW0pRSfM

If avoiding walking by Soi 6 massage shops is only thing preventing you from taking unit there, I'd rethink my aversion. Those guys take "no thanks" and "not today" in stride. Nothing ventured, nothing gained they figure. Having stayed in Soi 3 building several times in past, I agree that it does a good size pool that I used occasionally. Only thing that bothered me was that I never saw it being serviced which is something that should be checked daily. Not saying they don't I just never observed it happening. Other than that they're both just minutes from Patpong and Soi 4. Take your pick.

Try driving taxi in Bangkok and you'd become greedy, too.🙂

From The Nation The operator of the Robinhood application has postponed shutting down its food delivery service, saying that many parties are interested in acquiring the business. According to SCBX’s letter to the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) on Tuesday, the decision is based on the company’s ongoing consideration of acquisition proposals for the entire business from interested parties, which have exceeded its expectations. Other services on the application will cease operation as initially scheduled on July 31, it added. “The company is committed to ensuring that the Robinhood application, a product of Thai innovation for Thai people, continues its business operation sustainably to maximise benefits for all stakeholders, including consumers, merchants, and all Robinhood riders,” it said. SCBX also hopes that the postponement of the application’s food delivery service until further notice will receive support from its customers to assist merchants and riders. Previously, SCBX had planned to end all services on the Robinhood application, which is operated by its subsidiary Purple Ventures Co Ltd, saying that the application had completed its mission of supporting merchants, riders, and small businesses throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. The past five years of the Robinhood operations have shown increasing net losses. The company reported an 87-million-baht loss in 202. The net loss surged to 1.335 billion baht in 2021 then to 1.986 billion baht in 2022, with the highest net loss of 2.155 billion baht recorded in 2023.

At least it was for a noble cause. 🙂 From Thai PBS World Twenty-five city officials have been implicated in corruption in the procurement of overpriced and overrated fitness equipment for Bangkok fitness centres. Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA), Nathapong Disayabutra, told a press conference today that a disciplinary committee will be set up to investigate the allegations. The panel will have 120 days to complete its probe, which can be extended by 60 days if necessary, he said. He also said that the procurement of the fitness equipment, involving seven projects, was in breach of state bidding practices. For instance, the prices were inflated above market prices and the specifications were unnecessarily narrow. The deputy permanent secretary also noted that the qualifications of the bidders specified in the Terms of Reference were tailored to limit the number of potential bidders, such as requiring them to submit details of at least four contracts they have signed with state agencies in the past two years, which is beyond the requirements set by the Finance Ministry. Of the 25 officials implicated in the scandal, Nathapong said one of them had resigned, adding that the remaining 24 are not in the same department or unit, but are responsible for the procurement projects.

Those from Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Myanmar receive closer scrutiny because they are more likely to be working working without permit. If you have a round trip ticket, immigration is already aware based on information provided by your carrier, as mentioned above. More than 100 vans and buses daily carry individuals from metro Bangkok to Cambodia and back where the are usually readmitted if they have no history of overstaying their visa exempt status.

NOTE -- Best filed under don't try this at home....or anyplace else. From VN Express An Indian man was hospitalized in Hanoi after inserting a live eel into his anus, which punctured his intestines and entered the abdominal cavity. The patient was admitted to Viet Duc Hospital on July 27 with severe abdominal pain. After informing doctors of his actions, a scan was conducted to locate the eel. Le Nhat Huy, Vice Director of the Department of Colorectal and Perineal Surgery, stated that doctors initially attempted to use endoscopy to remove the eel. However, they discovered a large lime obstructing the rectum. Due to the eel's location and the patient's pain, surgery was deemed necessary. Surgeons successfully removed the live eel, which measured 65 cm, from the patient's body. The eel had punctured the intestine and entered the abdominal cavity. Following the eel's removal, doctors extracted the lime through the anus. The reasons behind the patient's decision to insert the lime and the eel remain unclear.

From Thai PBS World On National Thai Language Day, many foreign diplomats in Thailand are embracing the occasion by sharing their own take on the local language on social media. The subjects range from Thai food, to slang words, to the number of syllables in the full name of Bangkok. The European Union delegation celebrates the event by posting a video on their official Facebook page explaining 4 Thai slang words, including; ‘Kueap-tui’ (เกือบตุย) – ‘almost dead’ ‘Jhung’ (จึ้ง) – the equivalent of ‘wow, amazing, excellent!’ ‘Tid-Glam’ (ติดแกลม) – ‘addicted to glamour’, and ‘Dai-Yoo’ (ได้อยู่) – depending on the tone, this term carries both positive and negative connotations. Literally, it means ‘quite OK, it’s alright’ but figuratively it could also mean ‘that doesn’t quite work’. These are slang words that the younger generations often use. Kueap-Tui (เกือบตุย) is a modification of เกือบตาย (Kueap-Tai), which means ‘nearly dead or nearly died’. It is often used in a light context to express the feeling of achievement after overcoming difficulties. The British Ambassador to Thailand, Mark Gooding, celebrates the day by reviewing Thai food in Thai. The items on the menu include; durian crisps, noodle with pink sauce and fish balls, Chrysanthemum drink, Tokyo mini pancakes and steamed sticky rice with banana fillings. The programme is called ‘aroi mak mak’ which is a homophone of his English name ‘Mark’ (‘mak’ means ‘very’ in Thai, and ‘aroi mak mak’ means ‘very delicious’). Ambassador Gooding ends the video by saying that he uses the Thai language not only for work but also in his daily life. Robert F. Godec, the US Ambassador to Thailand also joins the event by singing Bangkok’s full name in Thai. The central theme was the question, “how many syllables are there in Bangkok’s full name?”. The video ends with ‘can you guess how many syllables there are?’, but no one was quite sure of the exact number. Both videos of the US and the EU embassies also feature the Thai ‘ya-dom’ or the herbal inhalers that are popular among Thais. Videos are embedded in the following link https://www.facebook.com/EUinThailand/videos/470717442576440/

From The Thaiger Debate is intensifying over whether Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin should be ousted from office following his controversial decision to appoint Pichit Chuenban, a former convict, as a PM’s Office Minister in the latest Cabinet reshuffle. Former senator Wanchai Sornsiri expressed confidence that the Constitutional Court will likely dismiss the case against PM Srettha, pointing out that no court ruling has been made on the specific crime that would prevent Pichit from taking up the ministerial position. Pichit was accused of attempted bribery in 2008 while representing former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in a contentious land case. Although he was sentenced to six months in jail, Wanchai clarified that this was for contempt of court, not for attempted bribery. Wanchai also mentioned that the Thai premier had sought the Council of State’s opinion regarding the matter, indicating that the 62 year old prime minister was committed to adhering to legal procedures. “The political circumstances are changing. Most members of the new Senate have good ties with Bhumjaithai. The recent golf date between Anutin and Thaksin at a resort in Nakhon Ratchasima is a sign that a compromise has been reached.” The controversy began when a group of 40 caretaker senators filed a petition with the Constitutional Court in May, demanding PM Srettha’s removal for allegedly violating the constitution by appointing Pichit. They argued that Pichit was unsuitable for a cabinet role due to his 2008 conviction for attempting to bribe Supreme Court officials with a paper bag containing 2 million baht. Pichit resigned from his ministerial position just before the court accepted the petition, a move seen as an effort to shield the Thai PM from legal complications. The Constitutional Court is set to deliver its verdict on the case against PM Srettha tomorrow.