TMax

Yeah no surprises with Changi coming in at number 1.

It's good to see Nine Spa is still producing the goods, when I first went there I printed out their directions on how to get there from BTS Phrom Pong and gave them to the motorbike taxi rider who then proceeded to get lost and took me on a tour before finally arriving (lucky I went earlier just in case and now I know it's easier to walk from the BTS). On one trip there I tried their 4 hands massage, which was very good and the afters even better.

That's a good lap for early morning exercise (start no later than 7am), around Lumphini Park, along the green mile and then to Benchakitti Park (have a nice look around) and back again, takes quite a long time and must be early morning (or you roast) and take a big bottle of water. From memory the walk I've done from the hotel and back using that route was about 7 kilometres (give or take a bit), yes I do walk a lot even at home, a lot of my exercise now is walking for cardio health so a walk like that isn't too hard for me.

This video exposes the mistake in the calculation

Retiring to Thailand to work out the cost and how much you need could be broken down a fair bit, can't help you with a Baht / Dollar figure but when I thought about it I looked at the different options, still think about it at times but some of the changes they have made have me looking at other places and options just in case I decide to do it. Visa - PeterRS has covered what I looked at but that was before they changed the Elite visa, I don't trust agents and would rather sort out the visa personally. Where to live - Big city, small city or country. (A) Big city would have been my choice on that because of proximity to the better health care (I'm not an ancient one but not a spring chicken either) and on that note taking out private health insurance would be a must, also there's more to do to pass the time. (B) Accommodation - simple, comfortable or a bit more lavish, cheaper outside the big cities but as good in quality? Lifestyle - (A) Want to live like a tourist and visit the bars every night or massage several times a week, the expensive option. (B) A little more frugal and only visit those places once or twice a week. (C) Live a bit more like a local and watch the budget very closely. Want to travel around and see the country or just put down roots and stay in one place e.g. live in Bangkok and visit Pattaya on occasion or vice versa. No doubt there are many more considerations but if I were to seriously look at it again I would try to work it out as much as possible, there are expat sites that give approximate cost of living examples like rents, utilities, groceries, local transport, phone / internet / cable tv etc and add the fun factor costs to that. I have (and had) friends that moved to the Philippines and Thailand, some that decided to live like tourists, those that survived (a few didn't) their money very quickly disappeared and by then it was too late to penny pinch with the budget. There are a couple of sensible ones that did the right thing and are now happily married with families.

2 hours but then I just do the massage parlours and not the bars, 3 hours if it's a quality 4 hands massage and afters

I love that he included the Heard and McDonald Islands, no doubt the penguins that live there most likely couldn't care less haha 😆

Just watched a video on this and the building collapsing which is some nasty stuff, also read a post on Facebook (Khaosod English) that all flights in Thailand had been grounded (that one seems to be a maybe)

I'm one of those that are not too keen on the bars, I don't mind the beer bars for a drink or two but not the show bars and I very much prefer the massage shops for a quick spot of fun.

Should be rather nice when completed.

I'm hoping Australia will make the visa waiver list at some stage, I know the Vietnamese Tourism minister was once pushing for it to happen (a couple of years back now) along with quite a few other countries. My last trip to Vietnam was way back in 1999 and I will be returning at some stage, I loved it in Dalat and Nha Trang back then.

Yes I do prefer cut too but I just don't like those badly cut ones ☹️

I was reading a story on Bangkok Post and this little bit was mentioned, possibility the couples wrong bag is one of the smuggling rings bags. Possible bag mix up

To me this means Thai cocks are so much nicer looking 😍

Singapore Airlines now as well.

Not going to be much fun in Manila, I think protests will be the order of the day with Duterte supporters.

Mostly female but there were guys doing foot massages downstairs so I would imagine they would also be available for massages in the rooms (mine was by a female)

I've always enjoyed walks in Lumphini Park and it was good to see so many water monitors in the park on my last trip, as well as quite a lot of eye candy😋

Apologies for not finishing my trip report from last November but I've had a lot to get through, not much else happened on that trip except another visit to Senso where I selected another 2hr massage (but I asked him to forget the oil and not touch the neck) and the massage was quite reasonable and finished off remarkably well. I did have what I would call a proper massage at Urban Thai on soi Thaniya but that for me was more a remedial massage as there was no extras on offer and I may add was a very good massage. That and I was invited to go on a private cruise on the Chao Phraya river with some old friends and it was a very relaxing days outing. The flight home was delayed by an hour which from memory is close to normal for Thai airways on the Perth flight and it was a bit rough too, plenty of turbulence along the way but arrived home ok. Given all that's happened / happening I am planning another trip later this year but not too sure of the date yet, with the hotel I am hoping to wind back the hands of time and stay at the Tarntawan again, it's been many years since I was there last. Currency exchange was mostly done at X-One on Surawong which gave me the best rates for the Australian "peso" but I did use the exchange at Silom 64 building a few times as I was going past on the way out for the evening. Had my first medical procedure a few days after getting home and it worked OK (3 epidural injections in the neck and restored a lot of feeling in the hands) but alas the big one has been delayed, it seems that I am not suffering enough to warrant such a major operation (oh well such is life). Not having full feeling in my hands and fingers (zero pain thankfully) is a nuisance but I'm not letting it control what I do so am continuing on with life as normal until it gets too bad and the time for the operation comes along. In the meantime my thoughts will be on a trip later this year.

I bet it won't be as smooth as possible though.

Last November I showed my business class boarding pass and they put me through fast track at immigration, I did arrive late at night so whether that had anything to do with it or not I don't know.

Frequent flyer points is my only gripe with Singapore Airlines, had a nice little bundle of them then one day when I tried to check what was there and if I could use them some idiot had deleted my Krisflyer account and SIA wouldn't (or couldn't) reinstate it. Since then, even though I joined the Thai Airways programme I only ever used it to collect points once and have never bothered with it since.

My last trip I only had a small carry on bag and put it at my feet (business class so plenty of foot room), going over on Thai Airways wasn't a problem but coming home the hostess picked it up and put in the overhead, such a small bag I would rather keep it near my feet especially if I were to fly economy.

I had a feeling from the start that this would just get swept under the carpet and nothing would come of it.

Some years back I booked a trip to Autthaya through a small travel agent in Soi Thaniya (just around the Surawong corner) and cost 1800 baht, the tour was done through the Tourism Authority of Thailand. Itinerary was hotel pick-up by minivan at 8am, Bang Pa In and then Autthaya, the return was bus to a pier and river boat with buffet lunch back to Bangkok. Turned into a really nice day trip (even though it was a stinking hot day) and the boat ride back was nice and relaxing which got back to Bangkok around 6pm. Would have been much nicer with a private tour but I didn't mind going with a small group and all in all a very good day out.