Enzian

Home is where the heart (or hard?) is.

After being in Vietnam for two weeks just before the lockdowns my impression is that the Vietnamese are not as heavy drinkers as Thais, but they certainly do share those tobacco bongs together at the sidewalk shops.

The garment sewing sweat shops back in the heart of the Din Daeng neighborhood here in Bangkok operate day and night with the roll-up doors wide open and air con is virtually unknown. People work at their machines at most a meter apart, usually without masks. And over at the Din Daeng night food market the crowds have returned, elbow to elbow, but wearing masks. Except for a little less traffic, and the masks, you wouldn't know there was a problem.

She-Wanna-Boom reminds me of the guy who goes around with a stencil of a smiling lady who says "I Wanna Bang Cock".

What's going on with liability for "negligence"? Is it country by country? Say someone gets sick in a hotel, and sues claiming that the cleaning procedures were inadequate or not according to standard protocols? I know people seldom sue in Thailand, but the US is crazy as we all know.

This is a country where the laws are enforced selectively. I note the women standing on Sukhumvit offering their services (unless they are really just psychotherapists and I just don't get it). What could be more obvious? And potentially dangerous? I'm not saying they shouldn't earn a living, I'm saying it's surreal. The police don't see them? So I conclude that the closures are really collective acts of social cooperation, not enforcement. And that the closures will only last as long as the asian tendency to conform goes along with them, or wants to. In a few days we will know a lot more.

True store first level Fortune Town was open a while back, all upper floors and  most of Central Plaza closed, meaning no AIS for me to top up since the web site won't recognize my credit cards.

I agree with Yadon that a lot has been lost or ruined, but there are still some pockets on soi 24 and 26 and 26/1 and elsewhere. But then I'm a soapy fan. I used to like Merci up on Rachada Rd, but a change of management or something spoiled it. Some of the scene up that way is still ok, but the Japanese willingness to overpay has made it rather unreasonable. It will really be interesting to see what shakes out with those big places when this crisis eases.

I just broke up a several year relation with one almost 40 years younger. I refused to marry or buy a house or even a car. I did set her up with a small business which I don't regret. To her credit, she really gave it her all for the first 80% of the run. She may at times have thought she was draining me of a lot, but probably didn't realize that it was just a fraction of my total real income. I only gave what I was happy to lose, because I sensed it would not be forever. The beginning of the end came when she started helping out some of her family members in ways I thought were too much.

1 hour ago, jadee said:

Out of interest, what are all the women doing now? Gone back to the farm or started working online? (...asking for a friend...)

My favorite massage woman is far away back in the village, catching fish and eating mangos.

I transferred a third of that amount in one SWIFT wire transfer into a FCD acct at Krungsri (hope I'm not telling too much). Those type accts have no deposit insurance, but recent events assure me that the elite of this country will not let any banks go under. And if and when the baht goes to 35 or 36 you could change the money into baht and then have deposit insurance. Honestly I would not transfer any more than necessary for the visa renewal because there are easy ways to access money sitting in the US, even with your situation.

So are free-lance working girls (or more likely, women) classified as self-employed, or are they even included here?

4 hours ago, The Word said:

Is there any other reason for the existence of shopping malls?

Place to stand in the air con before walking home.

I've only been here for 10 years so I can't say I know Thai men very well, tho I do know a little about the women. And for both I suspect kinship is more important by far than what we westerners think of as friendship. I've been rereading some Shakespeare, and it is notable how often men in the plays speak of their "love" for each other, and though they used the term much more loosely than we do today, there is still something there in western psychology, like with the Italians, men and women, greeting with kisses on both cheeks before the pandemic.

I need the malls to open so I can top up the data on my AIS card at one of their shops. Their web site won't take my credit cards, and when I call the service number I just get a recording telling me to go top up.

I have three close farang friends here in Bangkok, and many acquaintances. I work at those friendships. I have been in therapy off and on my whole life, and it was imprinted in my mind when a therapist remarked that human connections are the main thing in life, in a general way nothing else comes close.

Back in the states I was a noted personage in a certain alternative/underground music scene for 20 years, and ended up with 650 so-called "friends" on FB (not many for some people though). All those people knew me and still know me by my first name, though there were only a few dozen I knew very well. Friends are important; do it.

1 hour ago, Lacessit said:

Women are attracted to power, intellect, physical good looks, and money. Score 50%.

Well at least I have three out of four. You can guess.

Why not include condoms? You know, people stuck at home, bored, but not able to afford further offspring.

I keep suggesting check out the Din Daeng night food market over on Thanon Pracha Songkhro. That big formerly empty space in the middle is again filling up with food sellers, and the lane that leads away from the street is long and narrow and packed with people selling live fish and every other thing and people are jostling elbow to elbow, sure they have masks but so what? If any herd has immunity it must be those people, they wouldn't be returning to previous form if they all knew of people sick. And I'm seeing signs of places (shouldn't be specific) that should be closed that are wink wink nudge nudge actually open. What I'm saying is that there is this urge to return to normal because in some communities people just aren't feeling the crisis. And yes, I know it is a horrible disease.

15 minutes ago, Spellforce said:

Everyday I chat with some friends who are living in Europe, they all tell me that their dick is going to explode ! They are all waiting for the end of the confinement and going back to Thailand.

They never mentioned money issue.

Did the government close the FKKs in Germany?