houlicha

I must be one of the dodgy ones, I seem to feel right at home in Nana. Now Patpong, not so much. I enjoy having a variety of places to play pool, and just watch the panorama of interesting sights. Of course, I don't have to live there.

so by "booking in advance" I assume that means you have to pay first before entering? Sounds appropriate.

The conventional wisdom of young GI's in Thailand in 1970 was that Thai women all looked about 17 until sometime in their mid 30's, at which point they instantaneously looked 65.

He's a "great Chicago Mayor"?

Running the perimeter road around our radio post near Udorn AFB in 1972. A cobra sunning in the dirt road puts his head up right in front of me, all I could do was jump over him. Probably the fastest run I had all year.

Good luck learning Mandarin OP (sincere, not sarcasm). I teach Mandarin at a local college, but probably can't help you, I'm in Illinois.

A little hard to wipe out ISIS when they're in sleeper cells in cities like Paris. Bombing Paris is not high on any list of viable options.

Somewhat off topic, but related to accents and speaking Thai, I had a strange experience a few years back. I was visiting Thailand for business and made an acquaintanceship with a fellow American who has a strong southern drawl. I know only a few dozen words of Thai, but I have an excellent ear for languages, fluent in Mandarin and French. He suggested we take a taxi to dinner (my southern friend) and it was obvious he spoke extensive Thai, being married there for at least 10 years. But as I listened to him speaking to the driver, I was saying to myself his Thai is terrible, he didn't sound like any native Thai speaker or fluent farang I had ever heard. There was a complete lack of tones, just words. But the driver was leaning over and listening intently, and seemed to understand fully. They went back and forth for about 15 minutes, and never once did I hear the driver say "arai?" I had to assume the tonality in Thai is not nearly as important as it is in Chinese.

At some point you need to have and enforce reasonable regulations. How about every sidewalk on a major thoroughfare (e.g. Suk) must have at least 2 meters of unobstructed walkway. Those cops who occasionally do raids will consistently shut down anyone doing business in the safe zone. I suppose you'd need to mark the sidewalk.

I've lived in Taiwan (both Taipei and Kaohsiung) and it's more expensive than Thailand for just about everything. Not a fun country, especially if you speak no Chinese.

I'm in the US but may consider Thailand at some time in the future. Not to hijack this thread, but are there now any restrictions on getting money back out of Thailand? I'd probably never go back to the US, but could see myself moving to China or the Philippines. If I put say $500,000 in a Thai bank, could I get it back out again in a few years?

I realize there are no guarantees when dealing with Thailand.

Did the junta write this piece?

I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that there is not a single member of the junta who could write that well.

Virtually all Thai beer is tasteless? Oh if only that were so.

There is one and only one thing that keeps me in the US rather than in Thailand - family (wife, children and grandchildren). I would not be looking for girls if I were there (or boys either, smartasses) just the people and lifestyle. From what I am seeing here, I could live a very comfortable life on my income in Bangkok.

Maybe two things. I'd have to ditch my 9,000 book comic book collection, probably wouldn't do well in the humidity.

Just wait until they start building a Chinese island opposite Phuket.

Have you tried Khao San Rd. for people watching?

I can live with the midnight closings, if only they'd get started a little earlier. The British rule of waiting until the sun goes down seems to rule Asia, including Hong Kong. I'd like to hit a few busy pool bars in the afternoon, break for dinner, then start up again 7:30 until midnight. Of course this is all fantasy since I no longer drink, but I can dream.

If I ever go back to Pattaya, you won't catch me above a second story for any reason.

I wouldn't. But then I don't pay bar fines either.

Schwab is both a stock brokerage house and a bank.It's mostly online services, so far as I know the only brick and mortar Schwab bank is in Reno, Nevada.The foreign exchange and ATM fees are waived, I used my Schwab card on my last trip to China.

Did Fox News say this was their official corporate stance on the issue? Some "contributor" makes a possibly boneheaded, possibly insensitive statement. Adult viewers can't deal with this without Big Brother stepping in?

Not sure exactly what "border stability" refers to, unless it's just don't send us a wave of refugees.

Syria and the Ukraine are also projecting increases in Russian visitors next year.

Once when I was on the skytrain going from Nana to Patpong, a small boy, maybe 8 or 9, was kind enough to make sure my wallet was secure enough in my back pocket. Since I had been sweating like a pig (natch) it was very secure, and only pulled on my shorts as he tried to remove it. I wanted to thank him as soon as I felt it, but he was running like mad through the crowd. Probably that Asian shyness around strangers.

i read that to mean the authorities know his identity but are not releasing it to the public. But then I have an active imagination.