Walker88

If your wife or girlfriend, with whom you've yet to consummate the relationship or after you've had a vasectomy, came to you pregnant and insisted "God did it", I doubt anyone would buy it. Yet this month much of the world celebrates just such a tale told by a Bronze Age woman to her traveling mate. I enjoy the Holiday, but the lie behind it is rather silly. If a dad provides absolutely no assistance or financial support to the child he helped create, we call him a Deadbeat Dad, yet billions pray to a fictitious being that behaved exactly that way. Religion is a funny thing. Another few billion folks insist---under penalty of death---that the supposed creator of 200 billion galaxies each with around a trillion stars picked some illiterate pedophile in the middle of nowhere to share its final message. Then there was a guy who seemed to suffer from what we now know is clinical depression, but he found a solution where he would make himself absent of all desire, thus never being down or disappointed. He also plagiarized from the vedas, which were written before he came on the scene. His solution became a faith, or some say a philosophy, though 99.99% of its faithful sure seem to want wealth and respect and 'face'. Science and knowledge of both biochemistry and physics have taken away almost all the power anybody's god or gods had. I have to tip my hat to John Smith, however, who sold a lie to people who should have known better, because much was already known about existence when he made up his tale, even tossing in magic underwear to the mix. It is kind of understandable that Stone Age or Bronze Age people were fooled by charlatans or crazy people, but by the time John Smith sold his bill of goods, much of the true nature of existence had been revealed. The mind decays with age or injury. A good many people are nothing but vegetative just before passing. Still many need to believe that at that instant of death all comes back to what it was, complete with memories and personality.....unless the entity is reincarnated, in which case the mind must go through some sort of Men in Black neuralyzer to erase memory of any past iteration. For many, it is too much to accept that existence is random, resulting more from somebody being horny than any Master Plan, and consciousness is merely a wonderful interplay between physical atoms and electromagnetism.

There is one reason the convicted sex offender, convicted charity fraudster, convicted business fraudster, mendacious, democracy-hating, serial philandering, thieving insurrectionist trump did not start any wars is because Gen Milley stopped him. The clown trump wanted to attack Iran before November 2020, thinking it would help him in the polls. After Biden kicked trump's slimy bloated butt, trump wanted to start a nuclear war with China, believing a "state of emergency" would allow him to stay in power. Fortunately, Gen Milley told China that trump was a lunatic and don't take anything he says seriously, because the Joint Chiefs would not allow it to happen. Now trump claims what Milley did was treason and says Gen Milley should be executed. trump is so stupid he even wanted to start a nuclear war with a hurricane.

If you're going to buy wine at Big-C, might as well buy the cheapest thing they have, since the stuff is unlikely to have been stored properly since bottled. Nothing is going to taste particularly good, whether 1 satang or 1000 baht. The oddity---or perhaps not---of wine in Thailand is the tax affects the price decreasingly as the actual value of the wine increases. Either because importers fudge, Customs is totally unaware of finer wine pricing, or money changes hands, the price of better wines in Thailand is not much different from the retail price in the US. Europe may be cheaper, but not the US. Any wine that goes for maybe $30+ in the US will not be priced much differently in Thailand at the larger importers, but a $5 wine in the US will cost much more than that in Thailand. There are a range of Toscanas, Chiantis and Barbera d'Albas I can buy in Bangkok at the same price I pay in the US. That's also true of even higher priced wines like Sassicaia or Solaia, or a good Brunello di Montalcino. Even the restaurant markup for these wines is not much different than one would see in a US restaurant. I can pay 3100 baht for a Le Volte at a place like El Gaucho, and in a US restaurant I would pay maybe $90.

As most know, some opinions cannot be expressed freely in Thailand, and there are even laws on the books prohibiting some opinions. Also, defamation lawsuits in Thailand need not be based on false statements, but rather if a statement, even a true one, results in someone's loss of face. The topic of nightlife and what it encompasses is kind of like fiat money: everyone knows it's really worthless, but we all agree to suspend our disbelief and let the system keep working. Everyone knows prostitution is a major component of Thai culture, and not only among foreign visitors, but collectively the powers that be agree to pretend it doesn't exist, all the while enjoying the many benefits it brings to the country.

Her opinion, I suspect, was geared more to generating clicks than any actual fear. Maybe there are some unsavory looking characters on Soi 4, but it is quite safe. Her greatest fear came from someone asking her how she was doing, which is hardly threatening. She then fantasized about "What if he had grabbed me and pulled me away!" Well, he didn't, and wasn't about to do so. She might have worried instead "What if I had a heart attack and ambulances couldn't get to me because of the crowded streets?" THAT would be a legitimate concern, not some guy grabbing and pulling her away. As for Thai sex workers, they ARE very much a part of Thailand's soft power, like it or not. Even when Chinese tour groups were coming en masse before Covid, they always paraded down Walking Street as part of their 'experience', sometimes even entering an agogo. I would guess a million single men come to Thailand each year not really planning to visit all the temples. Japanese location managers, who enjoyed their scouting visits to Thailand, recommended setting up factories in Thailand that ended up employing millions of Thai workers. It wasn't just the tax breaks that attracted these firms. Hundreds of thousands of Japanese 'salarymen' come each year during Japan's Golden Week, and not only to play golf. While I'm sure all AN members came to Thailand for the temples or to study the predominant faith, lots of people visit specifically because of the reputation Thailand has for beautiful and available women. The Chinese woman's video will not discourage anyone---Chinese or otherwise---from visiting. In fact, if anything it will encourage visits. Maybe the cops and Immigration know that, so with a wink wink they are making an issue out of her video.

If I were a sexy woman---rather than the stud muffin I am---I would feel safer on Soi 4 near Nana than most other places in the world. The place is filled with knights in shining armor, anxious to prove their mettle and save damsels in distress. If a woman was grabbed and pulled away---as the Chinese "Influencer" said she feared---a hundred men in that very public place would come to her rescue. There's never going to be a Kitty Genovese anywhere near Nana Plaza. In the "few" times I have walked near or into NEP, I have seen smiling Chinese female tourists heading into Billboard or some other agogo anxious for an experience. Plenty of young Chinese couples, too. I've seen giggling Chinese women slipping 20 baht notes into the bikini bottoms of women on stage. Maybe one Chinese tourist getting shot by a crazed kid in Siam Paragon scared off other Chinese visitors, but the thrill of seeing an open and vibrant nightlife area is going to attract both male and female Chinese tourists, being herded by a guy carrying a pennant, just like Walking Street in Pattaya has long done Queue the tour busses; Nana is going to get even more crowded.

https://thethaiger.com/news/national/tiktok-turmoil-chinese-influencer-in-hot-water-after-soi-nana-video-fined-for-illegal-work I see she 'influenced' cops and Immigration to take action against her.

"In the video, a foreign man approached the Chinese woman and spoke to her. She was seen waving her hand in protest and apologizing. She later revealed that the man asked her how she was today. She added that the man was too close to her and she would never be able to escape in time if he grabbed her." Wow! And if the comet Kahoutek made a return appearance, entered Earth's atmosphere, and struck smack dab outside of Soi 4 Hooters...one shudders to think ...but Kahoutek didn't, just as the 'foreign man' who committed the horrendous crime of asking her how she was, did not grab her and pull her away through a crowd of a hundred thousand people, "99%" of whom are no good. Covid-19 and now this "Influencer". Has anything good ever come out of China since Marco Polo and a noodle recipe?

They were classified TS, SCI, Codeword, HCS and RD. Most such documents are "Eyes Only", and even when brought by courier to the White House from Langley or Ft Meade, they are either burned in the White House or couriered back to their source. When I was in the agency, I could have gotten a security violation just for leaving a doc out of the safe overnight. That is in a facility only accessed through heavily armed guards, into a building requiring a badge to enter, up to a floor and behind a cipher locked Branch, and then even in an additional cipher locked room. trump stole these things and had them in a country club where anyone with $200K could join. Case Officers in other intelligence services did join, including two female members of China's MSS. Do any trumpers think they joined for the buffet?

The DoJ can prosecute him for unauthorized possession of classified documents. It may do so, though likely his criminal lawyers would demand the docs be exposed as evidence. trump stole---there is no other word for willful removal---documents rated TS, SCI, Codeword, HCS and RD. He did not declassify, and he certainly cannot declassify in his mind. There is zero paper trail of any declassification. When confronted with his theft he lied (felony). He instructed his minions to destroy evidence (felony). ANYONE else in illegal possession of such sensitive docs would already be jailed pending trial. Even his goobers can offer so reason why trump would steal all of those docs. The obvious answer is trump hoped to monetize them. POTUSs never have a security clearance, not even when serving. Certainly they do not have one after being soundly defeated. Perhaps you do not understand the nature of the docs trump stole. HCS is Human Clandestine Sources, meaning identities of agency assets are in them. Not even a sitting POTUS is given identity details, only things like "a long time source whose previous reporting has proven accurate". trump would have had to get those docs from one of the goobers he appointed as DNI, such as Grenell or Ratcliffe. No way Coates would have given him such things. Clandestine assets and potential assets now know a reckless clown like trump could expose them and put them and their families in danger. That means some will refuse recruitment or quit, leaving the US more vulnerable. trump's big mouth with Lavrov and Kislyak ended up getting an Israeli penetration of a Moslem terrorist group beheaded. Another point...with RD classified docs, there can be no claim of declassification, because only the Dept of Energy can declassify RD rated docs, as they pertain to nuclear matters about which a moron like trump would know absolutely nothing.

You seem as bitter as Neem Oil and as knowledgeable as a US Republican House member. In one post you said nobody here is in a 35% tax bracket. Wrong. I'm in the highest US tax bracket just through TBill interest alone, never mind dividends and capital gains, and I suspect there are some other members here (maybe Mr Rolex himself) so burdened by good fortune and dumb luck. I bought a Thai business during Covid, I make a nice profit, and I'm not miserable. My business pays Thai taxes, both VAT and income. I'd gladly be a sex tourist, but I have a lovely Thai girlfriend and am content with her alone. Membership here varies considerably. Don't make assumptions or spout inaccurate generalizations. Unless I'm mistaken, the only thing this new program will do to me is require many more forms and document submissions, as I already pay more than the Thai top income bracket, and the US has a tax treaty with Thailand. I bring no outside funds into Thailand either. I do have sympathy to European pensioners, as it may cost them.

Ask to see her passport, take a photo of it, tell her you're reporting her to the police, and that scamming in Thailand is a capital offense punishable by hanging. If she starts crying, maybe it's not a scam. If she bolts out the door...scam.

Always been drawn to photography and the great photographers, such as Henri Cartier-Bresson or Sebastiao Salgado, Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange, etc. Part of the enjoyment of photography in the past was the procedure....loading film, capturing an image, wondering if it was captured as hoped, developing it in the darkroom, then making a print. I had favorite films and gear...B&W such as Kodak Technical Pan or for color, the glorious Kodachrome 25. Using something small and discrete such as a Leica Rangefinder allowed for all sorts of shots and an easy way to capture the moment exactly as one wanted (with proper depth of field, etc.). I know one can still do most of these things with modern digital equipment, and editing via a computer is much easier than in a darkroom, but I still prefer the old ways. Yes, Leica now makes a great Monochrome Rangefinder, and computers allow for conservative color saturation that can approach what Kodachrome did naturally, but in my opinion too many photographers today go overboard on sharpness and saturation. Maybe that is what the market wants, but I prefer the old ways.

Many threads along these same lines as of late. Most countries teach myths to their young. This is done for various reasons. Thailand does it better than most nations...so thorough is it, in fact, that there are even laws that make the questioning of the myths a crime punishable by imprisonment. There are those who benefit greatly from both the teaching of myths and the failure to provide a good education, and the benefactors are not about to change. The Thai elite or 1% control 75% of all wealth in the country, creating one of the worst qini coefficients in the world. Unleashing the ability of the Thai people, which would take both a revamping of the system and a generation or two, would likely create a much larger pie from which the elite could benefit, but even if net-net they would gain more, they would control a smaller overall percent of the pie. Both wealth and control seem to the the goals, so absent a majority---rather than a mere plurality---in an election, no change is going to come.

I don't know the answer, despite it being obvious to you. I'm getting a little worried that NBA basketball players will never be able to have a girlfriend, because in a relative sense most all women are so small. I've lived in Thailand for a while, and visited over many years before that. I've seen many very tiny Thai women (under 5 feet, under 90 lbs.). Thais---men and women---tend to be shorter than most Westerners. Maybe it's genetic or diet related; I don't know. The small women don't look like the ten year olds I remember, as they have all the equipment a grown woman has. Sometimes I'm surprised when a Thai woman tells me she's 42 kg, as she looks proportionately like any other fit woman. Thais just happen to be smaller than the average Western woman. I don't think guys seeking beautiful or friendly women are going to turn a beauty down because she's too small. I am sure there are bad guys who come to Thailand in search of underage females, just as I am sure there are plenty of Thai men who seek underage females. I don't think the number of foreigners who do that is so high. Granted one is too many, but guys like Gary Glitter and Arthur C Clarke, who could have gone anywhere to feed their predilections, did not choose Thailand. Thailand is known for lovely women, not vulnerable children. As to the OP's question, I don't know about Scots, but I do remember when I was younger that one or two Irish women in that Corrs group could have had me.

Honeypots are one of the oldest, but tried and true, means of espionage. Mata Hari was one. A late friend wrote a book about such things, later made into a movie with Jennifer Lawrence, Joel Edgerton and Jeremy Irons....Red Sparrow.

I'm either terribly shallow, or else driven by instinct. It's probably a little of both. I enjoyed dating in the US. Some lovely women, and my colleagues on Wall Street (my obvious pool) were doing well enough financially that there was no push for money. They didn't need my money. Relationships went beyond financial need. Admittedly, it's a bit rough and tumble in that world, so successful women had to assume many traits that have been viewed as traditionally masculine. Maybe that is why I pulled up stakes and left. I took residence in a host of countries where I could do the same work. Japan kept me for many years, and as the internet became more reliable, other countries beckoned. Lovely women in all of these lands, though most not as flush as the women back home. With time, my preference was for women younger than myself (this is where the shallowness comes in, though I do think it's also instinct). I understand that with the passing years, my wallet would likely become more attractive than me, so I have always tried to be discreet and not wear my good fortune on my sleeve. No doubt I'm dead wrong, but I've also always been of the view I should bring the best 'me' into any relationship, which means both emotional and physical. I dress well and hit the gym regularly, so maintain my university build to this day. I try to keep up on a host of topics, too, so that I might have something in common with any woman I meet. I also laugh a lot and love life. Now living in Thailand, I find the women quite appealing. That 'sanuk' thing puts them over the top. Many are appealing physically, of course, but from time to time I meet one that is much more than a beauty. My shallowness continues to have me leaning toward women who are younger than me (though it might be that instinctual search for fertile women). It seems to work here, a guy a decade or more older than his date is okay. That might make me a loser and keep me out of hi-so Thai society, but that is not something I would seek even if it was wide open to me. I live according to the blueprint I have drawn for myself, and since one gets no bonus points for following societal convention, the only person or thing I will have to answer to on my last day of life is myself. I'm sure my memories will bring a smile on that day.

Get a trumper to read? Only if it's a comic book version. Their messiah has said proudly that he's never read an entire book.

Maya Angelou said it best: When someone tells you who they are, believe them. trump is a corrupt, criminal, self-serving, dictator wannabe. He is willfully ignorant and driven by too things: woeful personal insecurity and vindictiveness. He absolutely wishes he were a dictator. As his former golf caddie and White House Adviser Dan Scavino said before 20 January 2021, 'the boss' has no intention of leaving; he doesn't care about the rules'. That is not someone who believes in democracy and the peaceful transfer of power. trump has already stated that he would invoke the Insurrection Act and put the military in the street if people opposed him. How funny, given that he incited the terrorist attack and attempted coup back in 2020 and 2021. SC Smith, who can add charges to the existing indictment, should add Sedition, as it is a capital offense that carries the death penalty. I always wonder how trump's cult justifies 6 January, the fake elector scheme, the attempt in Georgia to 'find me 11,780 votes', the theft of highly classified documents including TS, SCI, Codeword, HCS, and RD. trump called his goobers to DC on 6 January, Tweeting "It will be WILD!" for what purpose? He told them to march to the Capitol on 6 January for what? Buy souvenirs? One has to be a dumb as a trumper to believe trump's actions were aimed at anything less than overturning the election and destroying US democracy. The cult has spent 3 years trying to rig the system for next time. They've changed voting laws in many States, gerrymandered wherever they can, and made some rules that will severely limit who can vote. The current Speaker is a pure Talibangical, a moron who insists the Earth is only 6000 years old, that Jeebus looks like the Italian Renaissance version, and that the US is a Christian nation. Like Bimbobert and MTG, Johnson is 'sick of that separation of church and State thing', and believes the US should be run via the writings of a Bronze Age collection of fantasy and pabulum than the US Constitution. It seems to have escaped all of those goobers that almost all of the Founders were atheists and specifically made sure no religion would be part of the new nation.

If you mean 'elite' Thai society, I do not think it is anything special. Mostly ill-gotten gains by folks who are morally bankrupt. No thanks. Several years ago I was invited to a party at the Thai PM's residence. The guest of honor was Tiger Woods. The entire evening the elite mothers of Thai society, decked out in Chanel and Valentino, Manalo Blahnik shoes (an old GF has 100 pairs, so I know the look), and baubles more gauche than what Harry Winston or Graff would dare design, desperately trying to pawn their daughters off on Tiger. Eventually Tiger literally said, "Eff this", walked out front, and had his limo bring him back to the hotel. The mothers were chasing fame and face. Oddly, perhaps, Tiger looks Black, has more Chinese blood than Thai, but apparently tying up with him was viewed as kosher among the khunying set. It was not a display that made me think "I want to be accepted by them".

It's the Commonwhinge Games.

Brits don't have a monopoly on that. A certain demographic from the US, prompted by their bloated political messiah, always bark about the migrants destroying US culture----all while perched on a barstool outraged that the Thai service staff 'can't speak friggin English'.

If Big Joke wiped out the prostitution, age appropriate or not, that doesn't exist, would that increase or decrease tourism? Is this just another example of tit for TAT? I know what the international reputation of Pattaya is: beaches that put Bora Bora to shame, & a deep religious piety that puts Tora Bora to shame Thus, I understand the need to get BJ on the mission(ary). Ideally, he will bring this to a riveting climax and leave all of Thailand, from the hoi polloi to the elite, with a happy ending. That will be good for me, and I hope it will be good for you, too.

Most threads where money is discussed, or about Thailand seeking 'quality' tourists, lead to absolute comments about 'what the wealthy really want'. Invariably, these absolutes are wrong. The wealthy want what they want. For some it might be showing off the Bugatti, but for others it is living low key and anonymous, but content. I also find it funny when people say "The wealthy don't need hookers", as if money makes the libido go away. The movie Pretty Woman is actually representative of a certain segment of the wealthy. Most everybody likes sex. It relieves stress, plus it's fun. Sometimes one just wants sex but not any sort of commitment nor any expectation from the woman. Some people like filet mignon, but that doesn't mean they want to marry a grass fed Black Angus. They will have a meal, and then tomorrow something different. Some might condemn that kind of morality, and they're welcome to do so, but morality doesn't necessary increase with wealth. I left my industry when I reached a goal I had for wealth. Most of my former colleagues are still working. More will never be enough for them. Their choice. A couple are billionaires (in USD, which is 10+ figures in American English). A couple are catalogued in the Forbes 400. Let me just say not all of them are 'one woman' kind of guys. There are at least two regulars in a BKK agogo who come to Thailand on their own jets. The actor Hugh Grant got picked up for hiring a streetwalker on Hollywood Blvd to give him a $20 hummer...and this while he was dating Liz Hurley. The author Graham Greene was a habitue of agogo-type nightspots. So was Nobel Prize physicist Richard Feynman. Jack Kennedy had a fling with Marilyn Monroe, while married to Jacky. Bill Clinton made Cohibas even more famous. Does anyone think Bill Gates just strayed once? Or Jeff Bezos? How many baby-mommys does Elon Musk have? Not all bazllionaires are the same.

I have good experiences with Thai staff, so no complaints, whether for food, clothing, electronics, hardware....always good. The best service staff I've ever come across, on average, is actually Myanmar. They know everything about the product they supervise. Everything. It doesn't matter if it's a cheap toy or a smart TV, they know everything about it. They know how to assemble whatever they sell, or start it up and get it registered, or how much inventory they have in the back. I never had even a mildly frustrating experience shopping there.