dixon cox

The Sihanoukville story is such a sad one. Snooky will never be the same again. I'm so glad I spent a good amount of time there between 8 and 10 years ago, before greed and corruption took their toll. So many problems around the world. One country name always seems to be in the thick of it.

Are landlords expected to live on nothing for the duration? Some services could be temporarily nationalised as the ladder of commerce has many rungs, but why kick out only one rung part way up? .. That doesn't make any sense at all. No disrespect intended, but thank goodness you're not on any committee which has any impact on my life. I read that the UK government is outlawing rent increases for the foreseeable future. That sounds far more intelligent. Shutting down all bars, massage venues, places where people would gather in one fell swoop was done for all the right reasons, but the unintended consequences are that 1000's in Pattaya lost their incomes in a heartbeat. Thais are not known for their saving attributes or ability to look beyond just a few days into the future, so many will try to head home to their provinces until things improve. Non-emergency travel is also now/will be banned. What that will leave behind in Pattaya and other cities is many Thais with no money to pay for food, or rent, or anything else. Who knows how that will all work out until it happens. Could lead to all manner of civil unrest. A city which predominantly relies on tourism and sex tourism couldn't be in a worse position.

As it happens, on the subject of personal grooming, I haven't shaved for a couple of weeks and my white (more like seminal grey) beard is doing quite nicely. It itches, but I put up with that as it adds to the filtration near my air intakes. I wash it, as I do my hands and wrists, whenever I return home from going outside. I look more like my monkey avatar than ever

Tom Hanks and his Mrs have been diagnosed with the corona virus. Yesterday I went through the cancellation process with Emirates for my flight to the UK in April. Besides the hassle of returning into Thailand with their new mandatory smartphone app upon re-entry, being introduced today (12th March), I have no intention of exposing my 88 and 89 year old parents to my own self which has been exposed to numerous international travellers during my journey. Better to be safe than sorry. No Songkran celebrations this year, either. That in itself will probably save more lives in Thailand than the corona virus might take.

The last Chinese person I saw, at least I think she was Chinese, was leaving my local pharmacy with her helpers about a week ago having just spent B46,000+ on face masks. Several big boxes of them. I know, I saw how much, because the pharmacist held up a calculator with enormous numbers on it because the ink cartridge on the credit card slip printing machine was seemingly towards the end of its life and the Chinese woman couldn't see it, despite squinting and adjusting her glasses. When it comes to financial matters, especially where your present or future livelihood and/or income is dependent upon it, it is always wise to diversify. In Thailand western farang can sense they've become persona non grata in recent years in favour of other Asian nations who apparently possess more financial promise, notably China. Well, there's a lesson in diversification when you don't diversify particularly well. Suck it up, Somchai. On a personal level I may sympathise with individual Thais, but the country as a whole is a completely different kettle of fish. I'd love to see this country fall into a deep recession and struggle for a number of years in order to rebalance their inflated opinion of themselves on the world stage, not to mention the fluke strength of the Baht over recent times.

The voting system here did not work correctly, or was set up poorly, or was fixed. I know because I voted for both Sensations and Roadhouse which both indicate zero votes received. I actually voted for every bar with the exception of Katty Bar and New Bar. Most likely a fix.

Nothing springs to mind which I should or could change. I am what I am

I thought about ordering a takeaway Xmas dinner this year to eat at home alone, but in the end I didn't bother. Instead I stocked up on things to eat at home so I can avoid the crowds and the over-inflated prices for what is essentially a glorified Sunday dinner, but with turkey and sprouts. At time of posting here in Pattaya it is 13:55, in England it is 06:55. In around one hour I shall deliver my Xmas gift to my Mum & Dad which comes in the form of a long long distance telephone call using normal phone service lines with discount prefix, as opposed to a cheap charlie LINE phone call, so they can use the cordless landline phone at home instead of struggling with the smartphone. Mum will be reading in bed, so Dad can take it up there with him and use speaker phone. Here in Pattaya it will be another day spent on my own, perhaps the worst day of the year, second only to New Year's Eve/New Year. For an HSP the noise, crowds, squeeling whores and idiot tourists I can be in no better place. However, if I could 'teleport' anywhere in an instant I would teleport back home for Xmas dinner with my Mum & Dad.

From what I read the existing restaurants, Major cinema, bowling, Villa Market etc. will remain as is. Apparently half of the gogo units are already allocated. Good luck to them, and I mean it. The Avenue has always struggled, particularly since Central Festival opened its doors. There used to be a sizeable and very nicely air-conditioned amusement arcade at the back of The Avenue up on the 1st floor years ago. Perhaps it will be like re-living old times. There is an enormous amount of unused space there, may as well put it to use.

Interesting to read this thread some 5 years later and I still concur with everything I posted back then. The only difference being that I am single these days but the sentiment still stands tall. Leeching off another guys ladydrink or barfine by way of flirting with his date is extremely poor etiquette, even worse if they are an established couple. Those kind of guys I have every desire to avoid but they wouldn't alter my course in terms of where I went. But if I feel uncomfortable for any reason I would soon be excecuting my departure as there's always another venue, or another night. Bars do exist where my opinion of the management and/or one or more members of staff is very low, so I simply don't go there as there's no desire to do so. To go somewhere where you don't want to be doesn't make any sense and any FOMO doesn't exist anymore.

Everything I pay for here in Thailand is done with cash, so it's easy to work out my budget spends as I record all my ATM withdrawals on a spreadsheet. The only other expense is a once-a-year return airline ticket to the UK to see my Mum & Dad, which I pay for by credit card. I eat at home perhaps 1 or 2 days per week, easy stuff, not cooking, simply because I'm too lazy to go out or to cook properly. The rest of the time I eat farang food at farang restaurants with the occasional Indian meal thrown in when I feel like it. I have the belly to prove it. I don't care for Thai food but probably eat it about 4 times a year, usually at Pak Boong Loi Fah at the top of Soi Chayapoon. I do what I want when I want, eat what I want, live where I want and don't spend (on average) more than about B40k per month. Give me 10x the money and after an initial splurge I'll likely carry on as I am now and just sit on the rest. Any excessive spending in Thailand is primarily accounted for by booze and whores. The draw of that faded long ago. The occasional ladyman street walker in a seedy short-time room does it for me and has done for years. I love the sleeze. I always have. I took to early retirement at 49 years old like a duck to water. No regrets

Where I stay, yes, or at least it was until the current version of Sweethearts Bar opened within weak wifi range. As I type this at midday all I can hear is the distant doppler effect from the occasional passing vehicle, the intermittent worn bearings of my 8 year old fan, and the internal fan inside my laptop. It is still socks-at-home temps but I need the fan to blow the smoke around and away from the cat. I like Jimbo as he is not dissimilar to me. Jaded, a bit grumpy, and gets pleasure from criticising and moaning about life in general. We often share a table at Nicky's if our meal times coincide but I just wish Sweethearts Bar, as it currently stands, wasn't there. Either that or ladymen miraculously develop a sense of consideration for others and become aware of the ear-piercing noises they often make and how their presence at the bar entrance is irritating on a daily basis. God help Jimbo, I don't know how he does it. I have to walk past it almost every day if I go outside, although they seem to be ignoring me now, as I do them, which is progress. From home I cannot hear the music, it's just their excitable and customer beckoning squeals and screeches I can hear as those high frequency oscillations from their tranny tonsils travel through the air like invisible mini razor blades on a mission to scratch and scrape at my ear drums. It used to be a nice, quiet part of Buakhao. This reinforces my mantra about never, ever buying a property in Thailand. You never know who may become your neighbour.

Excellent news, thank you! I just had a look on the other forum as I barely know who is who in Sweethearts. Good on Jimbo for dealing swiftly with the 'problem'. See, I wasn't exaggerating in my previous post I remember that screeching and cackling formed part of my dream until it eventually woke me and I was still hearing it. Shame about the window, but glad it happened as the disturbance alone may not have been enough for a ban, but it's clear she's got plenty of previous.

It is 5:30am in Pattaya and it is COLD! According to Yahoo! weather it is 21C, but the numbers are meaningless in comparison with those reported elsewhere across the globe. 21C in England would be a summer's day and feel completely different. Here it is fucking cold and has been for days already. Seemingly still not cold enough for the small group of has-been tranny whores sitting outside Sweethearts Bar cackling and screeching their whore-life small-talk throughout the early hours. If I could understand Thai language fluently I'd know exactly what one of them was talking about. As is often the case it is one voice in a group which slices through the atmosphere and carries further than any other. Daybreak cannot come fast enough, not for the temperature rise but for the daylight, which will hopefully drive that inconsiderate tranny cunt back into the shadows and out of earshot, at least for a while. Indoors I am wearing socks, long jogging pants and two shirts, sometimes I add a cap to keep my head warm, too. Man, it is cold here in Pattaya. The coldest I have ever known since I moved here

The ladyman bars I've peered into over recent times are indeed very quiet, or empty, besides staff. The ones with a farang backer usually get the larger following due to forum presence and also financial backing, which can cover the lean times, but that's no guarantee of customers on non-party nights. Having said that, the busiest bar by far I have seen recently was TJ's on the Wednesday just gone. I'm pretty sure that must've been an exception on the night as it had a party feel but no party. Pure luck perhaps, but many known faces in attendance. It is a wonder how many survive.

One of those wires in that picture is/was my 3BB internet feed. I called 3BB out yesterday and they spent two hours, then again today with another pair who got me back online in an hour. That was a couple of hours ago. As it happens, I walked past Holiday Inn Express on Friday morning at around 07.30am on my way to Friendship so was aware of what had happened. it is not far from me at all and the monkey put two and two together. This was confirmed when I checked the event logs of my almost-always-on laptop, which reported DNS servers not responding at 04.31 that morning. So I used my limited Thai to suggest the possiblity of fire damage to the 3BB lads. I learned how to say 'Fire' in Thai language back in December 1998 while staying in Street One Lodge, Soi 1, Sukhumvit Road, Bangkok .. fai mai, fai mai .. Someone had fallen asleep with a lit cigarette on the go. He went to jail, by all accounts. That place had to be rebuilt due to the fire and smoke damage, even though the fire was contained within just a few rooms the smoke and water ruined the rest. The fire brigade, who took their own sweet time in getting there, literally flooded the place throughout, to be on the safe side. Also, many rooms were cleared of valuables by either security or emergency services while the evacuees stood outside watching the events before being allowed back inside a room at a time. Another small Thai language lesson; a fire damaged or burnt cable is called 'fai mai kaybun'. Another one for the lingo list, although I'll probably just remember it.

That figure seems ludicrous. I think they're trying to spend-shame people into parting with more money by over- exaggerrating the lowest common denominator.

I went to Family Mart next to The Hideaway yesterday and there was a printed out sign on the counter about plastic bags, I can't remember exactly what it said now, but they gave me one to carry my items home in. After Sunday dinner today I went to 7-11 on the corner of Soi 15 and Buakhao and there was no signage relating to plastic bags that I could see. I guess you have to read the news to know what they're up to. Besides what was in tins and some M150s, everything else was wrapped in plastic or in plastic bottles. At least they double-bagged me. So in most cases plastic was triple layered. I use my plastic bags for bin liners, even though bin liners get supplied if I need them. My plastic bags are not single use. I do my bit for Greta.

Thailand just copies what the 1st world does and then thinks it is cutting edge. It is extremely uninnovative. Besides being the biggest whorehouse in the world Thailand has brought little else of note to mankind. Off the top of my head I am unable to think of anything else. The beauty their country possesses was a natural gift, they didn't create it, they're just gradually ruining it. Their education, both within schools and throughout the general populus, leaves a lot to be desired. The country functions with a mental age which struggles to operate above that of a 12 year old. The government prefers to keep it that way so people don't ask questions. I'm not suggesting conservation of the planet is a bad idea, not at all, but what irritates me is Thailand 's habit of imposing arbitrary laws without taking into account any unintended consequences or providing alternatives or real reasons why. Nobody is able to question the puppeteers who pull all the strings. Their priorities are all to shit, often due to nefarious alterior motives and posing on the world stage pretending to be something far bigger than they actually are. Losing the ability to walk into a convenience store and purchase half a dozen items and then not be able to carry them home without bringing your own or buying a full blown shopping bag is poorly thought out and lacks preparation. The prospect of working on a biodegradable alternative to plastic prior to imposing the law probably never crossed their minds. Why not ensure all bags are biodegradable? .. No, just ban plastic bags altogether while they wait for someone in the West to come up with an alternative so they can copy it. Jaded? .. Probably. Thailand's ineptitude grinds after a while.

So, when buying something on the way home we're supposed to have remembered to take a bag out with us when we went out. Geez. The world is turning to shit, no thanks to Greta Thunburg. Family Mart might do well, until they cave, too.

I used to use water machines a lot at my previous abode as it was not only cheaper, but easier to refill cleaned bottles than go to a 7-11 as there were several nearby. However, I always used to run it for a few seconds before offering my own first bottle up and also make sure it never touched the dispensing nozzle. These days I get given free water, so no longer use them and ~shock-horror~ I use tap water when boiling it for tea or coffee or when brushing teeth.

It may be the way you've written it, but from my unserstanding of what you've written this would leave me suspicious of the email address being penetrated, especially if contacts from that email address have been used in any way. Personally, I'd change the password for that email address and perform a thorough scan of the system.

I had my suspicions of who BBG might be based upon a few early clues. Then one appeared further down the page that confirmed it. Welcome aboard, BBG. Don't worry I won't blow your cover, or even blow you under the covers. I'll leave that job to your kitten of choice.

There are numerous reasons why that will not be the case and many ways to avoid the 40% threshold, especially if you plan accordingly. I'm not interested in your personal circumstances, but for a single person anything in your estate over £325k will be taxed at 40%, £650k if you're married. Personal pensions are exempt and tax free to nominated benificiaries if you expire before 75 years of age etc.. There are also property considerations as well, plus other ways to legally lessen your inheritance tax liabilities. Perhaps do some research, if you're wealthy, or get some legal advice on the matter. Uninformed comments sometimes require correction as they may mentally impact the lesser informed in a negatve manner. Please don't be offended.