Butch

I take it you're a puny 6'10 then lol.

Looking upwards inside a Thai building in Bangkok

Life is full of oddities. Seeing people you think are a double of your friend from years ago, chatting to people who you are connected to much closer than you realise, odd stuff which happens because it just happens. I've had a few oddities, one such strange one was I once purchased a novelty T shirt, on the front it said "Prisoner number 59108". 59108 was the first phone number I can recall us having when I was about 5 years old and we were moved into our first house. My mum made me memorise our address and phone number in case we ever got lost. Another one was when I was chatting to a guy in a Bar in Pattaya about stuff, making friends as you do, he described a funeral he had gone to, it turns out the funeral was for a friend of my Dad, and he and my Dad had ended up chatting at the wake and having a few beers together. This was 40 years after the event . Lastly, back in 1980-83 I had a really good mate at school who was from Mexico, we were best mates all those years, but he left and we lost touch. Fast forward to 1994 and I'm stood at a Nacho stall in Disneyland Florida, get a tap on the shoulder, turn around and there's my mate, Roberto, still a big lump, looks exactly the same and greets me with a huge hug. An emotional and awesome reunion, I still keep in touch with him to this day, and he works as a Sports presenter on Mexican TV lol! (plus his sister is hot). Some people say there's no such thing as coincidence. I'm not so sure myself.

Ladyboys hardly being bastions of honesty and truth, I wonder why Sky interviewed 2 of them and then 2 BR girls who are clearly not going to starve to death any time soon and also fall into a very niche area of Thai working girls, if you get my drift. They'd have been better off heading out to Buakhao and trying their luck there, or perhaps contacting local media like Fab103 to put them in contact with some working girls. The message gets across though, and it is only the tip of a massive iceberg. It is also some very tough pressure from the International media being exerted here, given that they could have picked any number of struggling SEA Countries which also has an established sex industry but chose Thailand for what reasons I have no idea, but perhaps could speculate over.

Hats off to whomever cooked that steak!. Perfect. If you let me know where you live, I'll happily come round and share the next one with you , I'll even bring a case of wine 🙂

I'm not a big takeaway fan, but tonight I thought I'd skip the whole cooking thing and get something I've not had since last year. A hot n spicy pizza from Domino's washed down with some Red Horse. The red Horse is a "De tuned" version for sale in the UK, apparently 7%. My brother runs his own Drinks beverage company, so I will send him a bottle to get tested, because after the one 330ml one I've just had, I'm starting to get the old "Red Horse" Buzz.

My mate worked as a fireman at LHR back in the 80's, he told me a few pretty shocking stories, one particularly about the state of the toilets in an Air India 747... Probably not appropriate for this area of the forum though. Does anyone else avoid the bogs on an aircraft unless it is absolutely necessary ?. Even after waking up I prefer to freshen myself up using wet wipes rather than having ablutions in the toilet!.

Can we blame the media, or do we blame the Govt for some of the misinformation?. We then need to ask if it was deliberate misinformation, or misguided disinformation, one such example being the "alleged" reason the Govt didn't say face masks was because it would have created such a massive shortage, the Healthcare profession would not have been able to get any. That in itself would have led to perhaps NHS, Police etc getting ill in larger numbers, thus any civil unrest or major incident would have been a disaster. At the end of the day it's a no brainer that an airborne transmitted disease could and would be less transmissible by wearing a mask, but the Govt didn't want panic buying of masks like they had with bog rolls. I've had Covid 19, and yes, in comparison to a lot of stuff, it was a mild illness, to me. However, in some demographics it is a fatal illness, and the problem is that the demographics where it is serious and fatal are fairly clear cut. It may present itself as a mild illness to anyone in their mid 20's, but cop it when you've over 60 and it's going to be a very different story in a larger percentage of patients. It can't be generalised as a "mild illness" imo. I agree, it is under control and the NHS is well equipped and ready to deal with it, even localised spikes. There's no doubt that the measures introduced have allowed this. The only item that can't be factored in is the utter stupidity of some people though, despite the advice to stay at home if you have symptoms, or get tested, there will always be the numptys who go out and about. Fair play if you're healthy, but there will always be some mouth breather that insists on going to work because he thinks it's "just a cold".

I used to fly Gulf from Muscat to Bombay, for some reason the usual GF Business class flight wasn't available, and I had been booked on Air India. In economy. Never, ever, ever again.

It is worth remembering that the NHS is currently in a much better position to cope with a new spike of infections than it has been at any time since the outbreak. That can be attributed to the action taken by the Govt, which although was not without its issues, they did do the right thing eventually, moreover it brought the NHS the one commodity it needed the most, which was time. You can have all the safety gear in the world, plenty of wards and nurses ready, trained and equipped, but if the numbers become overwhelming then it's game over. it is a fairly delicate balance to strike however. I can tell you that the recent protests, rallies and disdain for the Social distancing rule on Britain's beaches , in the parks and public places is giving a lot of data which is being analysed and trends are now being watched very closely. It might transpire that the lockdown was perhaps, in the view of some, "over zealous", due to infection rates in the local areas like London (where the protests and rallies were held) not accelerating as much as predicted, and will then give an insight into where we are with the virus at the moment. Alternatively all hell might break loose over the coming weeks. As the incubation is anywhere from 6 - 15 days, we might just start to see an increase, or possibly not. One train of thought is that the "herd immunity" aspect of pandemic control is kicking in. I agree with Nightcrawler, it is better to err on the side of caution and safety. We are not out of the woods yet by any means, and an easing of lockdown is done because the virus R rate is deemed as being under control, whereas the virus itself still remains deadly. There are so many variables at play, so many factors to consider that just because we have not yet seen a massive spike in infections after a few protests, that doesn't give enough data or factual evidence to make an assumption that we are over C-19. Remember, it was a football match which started the spread in Italy, it could just as easily happen again, that much we are certain of.

Squat thrusts, plenty of squat thrusts. I always thought blue suited me.

Just got an "MOT" on the Hako, but it's over 40 years old and exempt, however I put it in every year in case the tester picks up on something I might have missed. It's done 210 miles in 2 years!. Lucky I did because it's losing a smidgen of oil from the gearbox input shaft seal. At the moment I'm updating all the paperwork, cracked open a cold Sol (£7 per case from Tesco's) and trying to cool off in the "office" in the house, as it is really, really hot out there.

Eau de Homme, although I noticed your personal aroma seemed to be containing copious amounts of "lily of the Valley" last time we met.

That is manna from heaven to me.

Pics?.

We used to go Emirates all the time, but Dubai was a real faff, a long walk plus ages to get though security (again). The duty free was pretty epic if I remember. Friends often fly Emirates to LOS and rate the airline very well, their Stansted option is quite tempting for me as it'll save an hour or so getting to LHR.

Go for the 1 inch cut if you have the comb to fit, that's what I did so as not to make myself look like a human version of a cotton bud.You can then grade down from there, plus it makes it easier but a bit more messy wrt hair everywhere though, The Wahl is a great little set , for the back of your head, my advice would be to make multiple passes, it's the best way I found. My daughter did also help me square the back of my neck off, just to deal with the growth at the base of the head, that might be the only time you need a mate or someone to help.

Not a video but some pretty awe inspiring audio from WW2. The Crew are just so calm and collected, what a generation they were. "You could light yer fag off that one!"

I tried and tried at all hours, not a thing!. It's not their fault I guess, a huge volume of calls coupled with everyone asking the same question. I'll try Thai next time, depending upon availability I might try the mid day flight. The problem with Thai though is that they don't have Premium Econ which is a really good effort from EVA and possibly the gateway drug into Business for many!.

Last trip I had a chunk of space in my luggage, so brought home a case of Schweppes Manao Soda. Can't find it in the UK locally. Nice and cold and about to open, and I have absolutely no idea where the beer mat came from.

I've been let down by EVA twice now. Once when my flight was delayed for 24 hours, we were lied to by the CS Ground agents (not EVA Staff, but they represented them) . I overheard them say there were 33 seats on the Thai flight and they would bump pax up. When I asked the guy at the counter he denied it, I stood there arguing with him and called him a liar, but they were having none of it. Only pax booked forward onto Taipei would be put on the Thai flight due to an onward being arranged. we were put up in a crap Hotel, given a meal voucher for cold food which had been sat there for ages and basically not treated very well. No apologies, no letters, and a refusal for compensation as it was a "bird strike" which is not covered. Second time was recently when the office wouldn't answer the phones or emails (no email address provided), or the phone would ring, answer then cut off half way through the recorded standard disclaimer. Understandable in recent times, but this was very very early and pre UK lockdown. I ended up getting a refund via the online portal, fairly quickly, so in some ways they redeemed themselves. In my experience, nothing compares to the standards set by Cathay CS, they are just excellent, in fact, I'd say the best in the entire business. As an example, when we fly to Manila we usually go LHR-HKG-MNL, the HKG connection is often fairly tight, especially if the flight is a bit late leaving LHR which is occasionally is as it is a late evening departure. Very often , I'll inform the staff at check in and they will put "priority luggage" stickers on it so it gets transited faster. Little things like that, and when you call them, they actually do what they can to solve your issue rather than ping pong you around 20 other departments. I've also had a situation doing a 3 way call between Cathay HKG ticketing office and my Mrs in the RP at the time, re arranging and rebooking her on a flight due to leave Manila in less than 8 hours. Bless her, the girl on the line was tapping away and rebooking while I passed on the details to the wife, and asking whether she could make it on time. She even pre booked the seats through to London, and that was an economy fare!.

No one , except perhaps the Chinese saw this coming. We've seen that the Airlines have done their best in a bad situation, but ultimately, a sudden stop of cashflow and demands for ticket refunds booked several months back has effectively crippled their finances. Ever since the Volcanic Ash cloud event, I've always gone direct to the airline for my booking. At the same time I've always booked well in advance, rather than last minute so the financial strain isn't as much (2 - 3 round trips for 3 people a year to the RP is not cheap). When this all kicked off, we received a refund from PAL very quickly. there was a definite sense of relief when it was refunded !. EVA also refunded my ticket in fairly good time, albeit with a penalty. Of course I have friends who have booked via TA's, and as such had extra hoops to jump through when asking for a refund, as the Airlines won't deal with them directly. Therefore many offices were closed and the infrastructure for working from home being installed, causing more of a delay. A few have said they will in future go direct with the airlines, in case of this (potentially feasible) event happening again. I won't change anything, I'll still book fairly long in advance (minimum 5 months) and direct. For a bit of extra expense (although not that much with PAL or Cathay) it gives a peace of mind knowing that, as long as the offices are manned, help is just a phone call and reference number away. The other advantage is that should there be an issue with your ticket in your destination Country, you then don't have to go through your TA in the UK to get anything sorted, you can just call the local airline office. I had this with Cathay back in 03, I needed to change my ticket in order to return to the UK pronto, local Office refused to help, so it was $2 a minute phone call ping pong in the wee hours of the morning to the UK getting it changed. What do you guys prefer to do?

We holidayed in Rayong back in 2015 and really enjoyed it. Out of interest, the pic of the restaurant , where is that relative to the Ban Phe pier?. We had some awesome seafood meals there, sitting looking out to the bay with the fishing boats and their bright green lights. The mossie repellent really came in handy as well!

They'll leave it. To be honest, at 500 baht ST you're the beggar, not them. I'm with Evil / Baz on this one, exploiting someone who is already facing hardship is the cowards way out. It is wrong whichever way you look at it, and is the precise reason the Thais hold so many Singha vest , dirty short , Leo drinking and sandal wearing farang in so much disdain. Ultimately if a person needs to short shrift working girls because they didn't manage to work out the fact their pension cannot meet the expected cost of living, then go live somewhere cheaper or go home. Exploiting people in hardship is f**king bang out of order. It's one thing to negotiate with a GGG asking 5k to a more realistic price for the services you might or might not get in return, but another to effectively tell a girl her body and time is worth next to nothing. 500 baht ST is derisory, and you should be ashamed of yourself for thinking it was nothing else other than that. FWIW, I've already been warned by the Mods, if this gets me another warning point then big deal. Sue me.

Here's a perspective of the situation: Many guys, myself included have forgone this years trip and as a result have saved the thick end of 3 grand upwards., plus or minus, but let us not argue over semantics. That's not the point though, what is the point is that many guys would prefer to keep the money fluid in the uncertainty we have in the private sector of the UK at the moment. I've said it before, the money I've saved by not going to LOS has effectively given me a cushion of 2 months, maybe 3 of I'm very careful should everything go south. That , for some guys could be the difference between being homeless and being solvent. Yes, my wife earns good money and can do "private" work if it all goes tits up but as always everything is based upon worst case scenarios. Factor in also, the uncertainty of the restrictions being placed upon visitors. Ok, let us say that joe shmoe arrived in LO, gets the tracking app ,then gets a dose of the Pattaya Flu 3 days into his holiday. The Hotel which temp scans him daily then reports it, he gets a visit and while not being Covid + does give the symptoms which are almost identical, bit TIT so it doesn't matter , his holiday is now f***d and he might well be, like if he was in Cambodia (and I expect Thailand to follow suit) several grand out of pocket because he needs to meet his own quarantine bill, treatment and re arrange his flight home. But Joe Schmoe didn't have Covid+ insurance because it was prohibitively expensive. Joe now has a problem. A problem which can be avoided by avoiding Thailand until it gets back to normal. The higher echelons of Thai society have always looked upon the farang with disdain. It's entirely our own fault, the behaviour of some farangs wouldn't exactly endear them to us. They want rid of us, but , like many unconsidered actions, have not fully realised the consequences. They wished us gone, but were not too worried because they felt the Yuan would take up the slack. It has done so , to a point, the Chinese investment into LOS vastly outstrips the tourist £$ EU AUD, but now everything has stopped, some of the people in the higher echelons of Thai society are feeling a very harsh reality biting down. As the old saying goes: Be careful what you wish for.