LaosLover

You found a new wellspring of women here to tap. You're like Columbus discovering America. In the states, I knew a guy who kept doing home repairs to get with women. He was just stiffed and stiffed again. How did you know your 3 days of hard labor would mean a love connection? What was day 29 of that whirlwind romance like? Will you return to dig another sewer trough for her?

And then you too were helping her out on the farm? Is this the worst vacation idea/sex gambit ever?

How is it, in this very poor place, that you consistently meet women with a lot of free time? Even people who work in Pot Bars put in 50 hours a week. What are they not doing (or who are they not doing) when they're doing not much with you? And these women are in their 30's-40's? My youth was great: Disco era, New York, Qualudes. Like Pattaya with brainier women for free (or at least for a qualude). Don't want to relive it other than with a very occasional spin of Love To Love You Baby.

True enough. Oppenheimer review: A really excellent movie that I won't watch again. It's def a one and done. It makes the world of physicists really come alive and explains the complicated political processes of the day in an engrossing way. The acting is great. At 3 hours, it only seems a little long. It reminded me of The Big Short, another superb film that covered a complicated subject, but lacked the visual drama to be a compelling movie. It's sort of like The Aviator crossed with The Big Short; Big ego meets big problem, with a lot pretty scenery tossed into the mix.

Just saw Oppenheimer in an IMAX theatre. It's a bigger (and slightly blurrier) screen; it a loud boom when the have an explosion. But it's no biggie. To be fair at Chiang Mai Central Festival IMAX, they had the screen, but not the (possibly) important IMAX film stock itself, which the internet tells me is peak IMAX. I went to such a theatre (at a museum) where they had the film and the magic IMAX projector and it did seem more floaty in space. Have you seen an IMAX film? If there was a film you wanted to see and they had an IMAX. version, would you make a special trip? What was the last film of any kind you saw in a theatre? Are there any theatre-worthy films coming out for you? I def want to see Ridley Scott's Napoleon, possibly at an IMAX (a full on IMAX). That's a Siam Square excursion. I took my mother in law to see 50 Shades of Grey. Grey was asked, "How many women have been in this bed?" Grey said, "50". My mother-in-law said, "I hope he flipped that mattress over".

Refugee camp -dating gold. I'll bet that's why they have a fence around it.

He's taking his 9/10 GF for a date to 7/11? Respect.

I had a B- falafel in Mae Sot. I'll bet at the refugee camp, they'd toss you a cheese sandwich.

I went to Bhutan, the happiest place on earth. They were blissed out, sure, but also had a crazy oppressive apartheid against the dark skin transplants (which sounds very familiar).

Various surveys say a single male is most happy around the $75K mark. Assuming no debt and a property investment, that puts you on track for early retirement, dating around, and a toy or two. I have a 52 year-old friend who makes $85K. He's mono-focused on retirement to São Paulo in 8 years (he likes that flavor). He will live a life where he has every pleasure satisfied. Elon Musk can't have as much fun as he will. It takes more than money; it takes informed hedonism.

People sitting next to you on a plane don't talk to you anymore either. Why? Because they never were really gagging to talk to you in the first place and the cell phone finally gave them an out. Walkman headphone wearers were the early adaptors of polite personal space. If people don't want to smile or interact, I really want to support them in that. I come from The South where someone standing at a crosswalk will be blankly smiling at cars going by. Which meant I had to smile back. At a person I'd be forgetting 30 seconds later.

Superb chicken sate-only specialist near the clocktower. I like that little clutch of bars around the Wangcome Hotel. One even has a nightly band. The Wangcome Hotel is an 80's ugly masterpiece. Inside the vast lobby is a huge bass relief mural that should be in a museum. Chiang Mai grab cabs now have signs saying they'll do the drive to CR with stops at Chiang Doi, a hot spring, and the White and Black Temples RT for 2,500 baht. They'd take 2,000. A bit outside Mae Hong Son there's a meditation retreat place that draws a few westerners (partic young females). It's a very dramatic setting with a little cave shrine. Typically, you can't just drop into a meditation retreat center and have a wander, but this is Thailand. I donated a bag of rice and received a copper amulet. An assistant took the amulet from him to me, since it's a firm no abbot-touching allowed rule there. 'Had a half hour one on one with the English-speaking Thai abbot about discernment of sense tones. He was a proper teacher.

Chedder is hardly ever really cheddar here. We lined 'em all up and San Song was #2 behind Hong Tong -which I like because it comes in a bigger bottle.

I like the formula of Arrival Day, Vibe and walk around Day, and Special Activity Day (if available). A Nan or a Tak will be light in the special activity department. A Phitsolunuk will not have enough vibe to warrant its own day. But Mae's Sot and Hong Song are proper 3 day-stops. And even the underachieving Mae, Mae Sariang. I love low class border towns It's got the bootleg viagra vibe and the so-so market on the Myanmar side. Plus, you can book a Chiang Saen mini-bus tour from there. Doing the full North with a Chiang Mai stop is prob about a month to do it justice, and that's without the parks.

Gotta toss in 2-3 days in Mae Sot; one of the more interesting Mae's littering the North. Like Burma on a budget. And another renowned waterfall.

There was an English woman (Bridget) with a Thai husband that had some huts. The marriage was going south and you'd hear them fighting around the clock. This would be unthinkable now as a vacation, but nobody minded. Everyone was cool and pretended it never happened when they were ordering a fruit shake.

Many thanks for this. I recall when a '98 updated edition of the Lonely Planet Thailand Guide described White Sands Beach as a place where "long-termers contentedly nurse their bongs", the beach hut building frenzy was in full swing. For me, Thor and that time were peak-Thailand. Paloma was the classy resort, 70 baht for a hut with a shared squat toilet was doable -if you were willing to forgo a beach view (another 30 baht). Thor had the big mix of diff nationalities, ages, and orientations, all mixing it up on that beautiful beach (pre-The Beach), ordering improbable food combinations like French toast, green curry, a Chang, and a watermelon shake. It was more of a mix because you had people coming from Cambodia and Pattaya instead of just everyone heading to the beach straight off of the plane. I went to Ko Chang 4 times and I wish I went 4 more. Ko Chang was (and prob still is?) the sort of oddball choice for a beach compared to the South.

I just watched all of Season 2 of Is It Cake? on Netflix. Can't fault it. It's a big watch in Pot stores. Best drunk/stoned audience participation show ever. So no, I personally am not tired of all the rubbish. This is the Golden Era of Rubbish. That was pretty good rubbish too.

That's a good thread jack: Expensive tuff that is worth it, why, and to whom. For me: Madagascar -medium rip-off, you gotta love, love the lemurs Bhutan - Liked it, didn't love it, but it stayed with me for a long time Kauai -Stunning, but boring Amazon Cruise -Def worth it Meeting Obama's Grandmother: Like, $50 tops.

That's another problem with living here: You generally are very happy with your sleeping arrangements; a great guest house has less allure. I'm sitting on my Balcony looking at Chiang Mai's bright lights and illuminated stupa's. My corner unit is huge. As a hotel room equivalent, I'd be paying at least $80 a night. So I'm less incentivized to go and sit on a balcony in very nice Loei.

I was reading about a possible Malaria outbreak getting going in Florida. Is this not judgement from The Lord? I am urging all Republicans to desist from Malaria treatment in the future. Faucci's for it -and who knows what's in it? Also: Trust Ron and Don. Only they can help you. How many times have they helpfully pointed this out?

Yeah, but better. Just like vacations in Manhattan cost more than vacations in Adelaide. Like when you said you really liked the Phimai ruin, but felt that $50 for Angkor Wat was too rich for your blood. That is short-sighted enconomizing. I had a lot of great years doing SEA on hard seats and hard mattresses. I envy you your travels, but not enough to do them again. It's great that you'll go to a place like Loei for a look around. That's prob not even one in 10,000 tourists. But the more Loei's you hit, the less unique they will each seem. I think a lot about living in Nonthburi in the future. I read here that Nonthburi was over, everyone on this board had departed for Suraburi. I went to Suraburi and found it to be basically suburban Nonthburi. It's sort of Nonthburi-lite all the way north until its just rice paddies. No need to visit multiple fill in the blank-buri's.

I support Jane on this 1,000%. In the Trump Dump I moved from to here, Covid was like The Grim Reaper for old Confederate Flag wavers. I personally urged many a neighbor to drink bleach, as slyly suggested by their leader. Result: My county was deep-red, now it's medium-pink. Die, retards, Die! I remember an old saying, "avoid something like the plague". It was too tall an order for those bible morons. People who jog behind buses are more astute. This incarnation didn't work out for those dumb rednecks,. Role those karmic dice and try to come back as a tree frog, losers.

1) what states that Trump lost last time might he now win? (Poss Pa but prob not., Ga. if lightening strikes) 2) what states that he won might he lose? (NC was close, Pot and Abortion will be on the ballot in Fla.) 3) What states that were purple are now dark purple/blue (Col., Az, Mich) 4) What Purple states are now trending Red? (none).

Is Balti even possible here?