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I think, during Covid, many expats stepped up to help Thais who were seriously affected by lack of food and shelter. The pictures of queues for food and water were more than evident at the time. A lot of money was raised. You wouldn't know it now that just a couple of years ago, Pattaya was almost a ghost town For tourists, like myself, I rarely get to meet Thais, not associated with the tourist industry, but its a lot different for those for expat farangs, many who put back, into the place which they have made their home. I reckon most of us are good farangs in the sense that we behave respectfully and peacefully toward the country and people we are visiting and I seldom see any colonial type attitudes these days. Pattaya and other tourist areas are a bubble, and do not represent Thailand as a whole. Those of us who have travelled around the country and spent any time in villages and typical 3towns will know that. But for some, they only the tourist side behave like they might in Benidorm or Ibiza. They come and go and often behave like animals. But in my opinion, they are few and far a very small minority. We should not forget that the main reason for Thais coming to work in places like Pattaya and leaving their homes and families is due to poverty and a chance of employment that they might not get elsewhere, particularly if poorly educated and unskilled. Indirectly, we are all helping toward the economy and the welfare of Thai families from places far and wide, while having fun and relaxation. Sure it may feel sometimes that we are walking wallets, but everything balances out. I am sure that for most bar girls, shagging Western tourists for money, would have been their first choice of employment if there were other opportunities, and there is pressure from their families and the needs of their children to send money home. Once part of the entertainment industry, its hard to leave, and there is not the kind of welfare systems that we enjoy in the West. As in the first post, it's easy to identify bad farangs but overlook the mostly good and unnoticed Thailand often penned as the land of smiles but I often see beyond the smile on girls faces, who playact night after night to please us, but are constantly thinking about their families back home and the worries they have and we don't see. We can just walk away at the end of holiday, but not so easy for them

I happened to walk through Royal Garden Plaza (Pattaya) yesterday afternoon and found the 2024 Pattaya International Tattoo Convention was in progress. There were stands exhibiting various accessories, such as ink and books of designs, and several artists plying their trade. Probably some 50% of the objects of the artists were falang. Two highly tattooed girls were getting a lot of attention, including from a film crew. There seemed to be various competitions. This was a line-up of the winners of the "geometric" competition. And these were the winners of the "beauty" competition, and included the girls who were being filmed earlier.

In the UK Marks & Spencer have started doing their Gastropub range of pies again.They used to be superb & this Steak & Old Peculier Ale version did not disappoint.With pease pudding,veg & gravy. Delicious but lots of cals & saturated fats....but it's a rare treat.

Indian yesterday.

According to the missus the doctor said they have picked up some sort of infection. 2000 baht and 1 large bag of pills and potions each hopefully they will now be on the mend.

yesterday's birds at the SF Botanical Garden... . . .

Each to his own, but I've never seen the attraction, especially for Thai women. Most of the younger lasses have really great skin quality, I'm quite happy with it au naturel, as it were, there's no need to cover it in ink to appreciate it. I could have a long rant about the GF's daft, but I won't bore you and will leave it there...

Ham and cheese I gobbled down before going to bed last night. So happy to be back home.

I was about to bin my smart TV and buy a new one after 6 years. It kept switching itself off and some of the remote control buttons were just not working Was about order a new TV with Argos, then I had a thought..... I restored the factory settings on the TV reinstalled everything, reconnected to WIFI. Then prized the remote open with a kichen knife,removed batteries and cleaned the components thoroughly and dried them. Replaced the batteries, switched TV back on and everything working perfectly as before. Just saved myself 500 quid and the hassle of remounting a new one on the wall. Going to reward myself with a bottle of Jack Daniels later.

Let's see you build one for your kids, lol

Back from a shopping run to Home Pro. During the day I use my bicycle for errands around town. Big mistake today as it's just too bloody hot out there to be doing anything remotely resembling exercise. Took a long, cold shower to get my body temp back down to normal.

Watching dusk at Ao Nang Beach

We get bombarded with bad farang stories, usually completely understood and well deserved. But, we hear little regarding the goodness that we sometimes do. A few minutes ago @thegrogmonsterposted a nice one on helping a kid's family with doctor expenses/treatment. It gave me the thought.... It might be nice to share stories now and then about folks who do the little (sometimes big) things to help. Even if just amongst ourselves.

Dinner in the pool hall. Fried pork in garlic for a change from chicken.

I feel for the guy; I am just recovering from Shingles and it was bloody unpleasant. Have not been to the gym for almost 4 weeks, although have done quite a few walks into town etc. Will hopefully go to the gym on Tuesday but Shingles can last 4-6 weeks although the pain will reduce. It's a virus, so he will have to deal with the pain by taking pain killers, if needed. Hopefully the hospital will have given him Zovirax ointment to put on. As a virus I hope they haven't given him anti biotics to make money, they can not treat a virus. As much as Shingles is not contagious, if someone comes into contact with the sores then they can get the herpes virus which can later give chicken pox or Shingles, best to sleep separately and use personal towels etc. Sweating through exercise, or just the heat, can make the condition worse, should not exert himself.

My mum, wife and 2 beautiful nieces all have tattoos and to be honest I find them disgusting. That said it is their bodies to do whatever they want.

How bizarre.

Just inflated the bike tires. All prepped for a short ride to the gym. Then followed up with another stock up at the market and a check on my security friend who slogs through this heat 12 hours a day. Back in the swing.

Yesterday I noticed that one of the young kids was covered in a rash and had small lumps everywhere. I asked the missus about it and she didn’t know but asked the mother and she said it had been like this for a few days. I said what are they doing about it and the reply was nothing as it is too expensive to see a doctor. I said tell them that we will take the kid to the doctors the next morning. Overnight another child had got the same thing. So for the last hour I have been sitting outside the doctors while the kids get checked out. Hopefully all is good and they come out soon.

Nearer to 20Km village to village mate... And yes I know the feeling because that is what happened to me in Kamphaengpet.. I am extremely lucky to have bumped into M'Lady this time around!! EDIT = I'm wrong! Just checked the map .. more like 60km village to village ... Was Tesco Lotus in town when you were there ..??. When I moved to Surin Kap Choeng in '98 there was f**k-all!!

You're about 40 km west of where I lived when I first moved to Thailand. I lived about seven months in Buntharik. I really enjoyed living there, but left to escape my then GF's greedy, thankless family.

My brother sent me a couple of photos from Mammoth, California, whilst on his skiing trip. The other day saw a pretty bad day, but today, as he was leaving to drive to Los Angeles, the weather is beautiful. He has had mostly good skiiing days though.

MacDonalds?

And/or Valtrex tablets (Valacyclovir). Available OTC in Thailand but expensive. https://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements/valacyclovir-oral-route/side-effects/drg-20066635?p=1

It was a saag tofu which I added some mushrooms, tomatoes, onions and garlic. Fills it out but with low calories.

Latest pic of the potential Mookata and the start of something new just further down the road. Markings for 16 smaller units round the perimeter and something bigger in the centre.

Bloody excellent mate! Saag is the best green poo I have ever tasted ...!!

With a "SWAT" team they are well equipped and trained. They will usually look at this as a challenge. As long as he is not imminently threatening an innocent they will take him down using a number of different methods. As @boydeste noted taser or sometimes plastic shotgun rounds, gas, etc. One on one or just a couple of initial responders they may have shot him.

Hahaha ...Bollocks !!!

No the street food here is really rough. I was going to get some fried bananas but the oil looked like it was motor oil that they fried them in. The street food is sketchy here for sure.

Outside Royal Garden in Pattaya this afternoon:

Walk in the Botanical Garden yesterday afternoon...

It 40 degrees and here we are sitting under a tin shed in the back blocks of North East Thailand. The girls are eating green mangoes dipped in chilli sauce drinking warm beer poured over ice. Please shoot me.