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That's exactly right - it is much more about the history of the area and it really helps to fill in a lot of the background about the place. If someone is only interested in the bars, it should be of some interest but if you're interested in the history of the area then it's truly fascinating.

A few things. Trump held up money, he was not legally allowed to do (it was authorized by Congress) to basically extort Ukraine. The context of the call, covering up the phone call moving it to the server, etc, I think negates that comment. There is a process for investigating the Bidens. Obama didn't call up Putin to ask him specific questions about them interferring in the electtion etc. He let the process happen. Trump used his own private attorney in the process. This stinks. Trump evaded the legal and agreed upon process and the fact it was a direct political rival makes it stink to high heaven if we are using the subjective 'sniff test'. Had Obama done anything like this, this guy would not have reacted like that. Also, the call was reported internally in the administration, by Trump's own party before a Democrat even saw it. It was of enough concern to LEGAL experts on such things within the administration to okay it to ultimately go to Congress. Impeachment is a political process and this act Trump is certainly well within that scope. I personally don't see any nuanced view about it.

The banks and businesses might be Chinese but the automatic barriers of the MTR seem a bit of a stretch. I was in HK last week, some signs that "things" have happened there but at least during the week it all seems normal and peaceful enough. Lots of the MTR barriers have their LCD screens smashed. Octopus cards still work but you can't check your balance so easily. A number of the subway advertisement hoardings are covered now due to damage, same with some outside ATM's. All have signs saying they are damaged and out of service as a result of vandalism. I was staying close to the Jordan MTR station on Nathan Road and traveling the MTR to Tung Chung near the airport every day. All very normal and typical HK. Airport was a bit different. Only passengers now allowed access to the departure and arrival areas. All the shops in T2 are closed. Airport quiet and easy to pass through, no immigration queues. Hotel room rates a bargain. Great time to visit but maybe stick to weekdays for now.

Well done, for a change! PORT MORESBY: Papua New Guinea said Thursday it had ordered the indefinite closure of a multi-billion dollar Chinese-owned nickel facility that spewed potentially toxic red slurry into the sea. The Mineral Resources Authority said it had ordered owners of the Ramu Nickel refineryto "shut down its processing operations" as of Monday October 21. The facility is run by the state-owned China Metallurgical Group, which mines and processes nickel, a metal widely used in batteries, including for electric cars. In late August, the plant's mechanism for dealing with slurry failed, sending hazardous liquid into the Bismarck Sea and turning parts the surrounding coastline ochre red. Earlier this year the China Metallurgical Group asked Papua New Guinea officials visiting Beijing to approve plans to expand production capacity. The Mineral Resources Authority now said the company had been "ordered to cease operations because it has failed to adequately" fix a string of defects spotted during the investigation. They included poor spillage containment systems, inadequate maintenance and "incompetency of operators". Ties between Beijing and the resource-rich Melanesian nation have been growing apace, but there have been repeated tensions over standards at some minerals and infrastructure projects. They included poor spillage containment systems, inadequate maintenance and "incompetency of operators". Ties between Beijing and the resource-rich Melanesian nation have been growing apace, but there have been repeated tensions over standards at some minerals and infrastructure projects.

5555555555555555555555555...she quickly gamed the system and is working hard to be part of the swamp! 1. She complained after winning the election that she didn't have rent money...then suddenly she did? Where did that money come from? 2. Ocasio-Cortez, chief of staff illegally moved $885G in campaign contributions 'off the books,' FEC complaint alleges https://www.foxnews.com/politics/ocasio-cortezs-millionaire-chief-of-staff-violated-fec-rules-to-hide-885g-fec-complaint-alleges 3. Republican group files FEC complaint alleging Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's campaign team illegally funneled thousands of dollars to her boyfriend through an allied PAC https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6752313/AOCs-campaign-team-accused-illegally-funneling-6-000-boyfriend-allied-PAC.html 4. Former FEC Chairman: AOC 'Could Be Facing Jail Time' for Possible Campaign Finance Violation https://pjmedia.com/trending/former-fec-chairman-ocasio-cortez-could-be-facing-jail-time-for-possible-campaign-finance-violation/ 5. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is being sued in two separate lawsuits. The plaintiffs in both lawsuits claim Ocasio-Cortez blocked them on Twitter. Business Insider says they are seeking injunctions demanding to be unblocked. A recent US appeals court judgment said President Trump isn't allowed to block people on Twitter. The two suits against Ocasio-Cortez are leaning on that ruling. Ocasio-Cortez has not commented on the lawsuits.

Had a neighbor once who also treated their dog the same way. Chained up all day, no attention. It was a very good dog. One night some dastardly person snuck into the yard, after consuming alcohol, and the dog disappeared. Only a coincidence that my friend in the next town over received a very nice dog the next day which has been treated as part of the family since.

The Guardian is down on Trump, but even they call it right: "In the Nixon case, impeachment never even got to a vote of the full House let alone a trial in the senate; a delegation of senior Republicans told Nixon the game was up, and he preferred to resign than be removed. It’s conceivable the Trump story will end the same way, and yet few expect it. The settled view in Washington – which has been wrong before – is that this will break on partisan lines: the Democratic-led House will vote to impeach Trump, but two-thirds of the Republican-dominated Senate will not be ready to convict him, as the rules demand, and he’ll be acquitted." The Democrats voted unanimously not to convict Clinton, and the Republicans will be close to that in not convicting Trump. Obviously, guilt or innocence doesn't really matter to our politicians. Only staying in power does. So what does that mean for the 2020 election? Your guess is as good as mine.

Saw a picture on FB the other day of Serge Martiniani from Le Bouchon and a couple of others standing outside what is soon to be the Patpong Museum. Did a search and found a recent article by Stickman about it https://www.stickmanbangkok.com/weekly-column/2019/10/the-museum-of-patpong/ and they have an under construction website. Should be very interesting.

Happy Veterans Day to Flash and others who served.

Got to love those Thai back to school sales!

They are really nasty now. You used to get the ads before the video. Now the ads pop up right in the middle of the video!

Jail won't happen short of murder. Democrats won't go there for a myriad of reasons, one of which is retribution. Before it gets to any discussion of jail, if its warranted, a deal will be done to save the office of the presidency from such an ignoble event. Plus the Dems know that the Republicans won't forget and take their pound of flesh from some future un-known Democrat.

There is no precedence for that and why should it matter. Impeachment is a political act by its very definition. Just more Republican obfuscating.

Kentucky may just have elected a Democrat governor. Virginia won the state legislature. Mississippi had its first competitive governor's race in years. The Republican won but the fact there was competition is telling. This voting season may portend the immediate future. Seems more and more people have had enough. Also, the economy is not as good as the administration claims. The economy never recovered as good as the stats were saying under Obama and now with Trump.

I'm not sure that English proficiency in England would score so high these days either.

Munchie is still a young fellow. Ah, to be young and only 60 again ... even 70!

60? fffft, been there, done that

I'm hoping to be celebrating 60 years on the planet that month so where better to do it?

"He is a proven liar, leaker & freak who is really the one who should be impeached!" Trump tweeted. " Talking about himself in a moment of enlightenment , one would think. But not, Shiff is now his "proven liar".

Trump threatening to withhold federal money to help fight the fires in California purely because he and the governor don't get along politically is not even shocking anymore. I recall Obama offered any help then Republican governor, presidential candidate and Trump supporter Christie wanted. That's class. Obama always had class even if you disagreed with him politically. Bush was always kind even in the face of name calling from Dems. Class. But this? Withholding money may cost lives. It speaks to who Trump is.

My first visit to Patpong was in 1973. There were only a handful of bars, and they were fairly small ... less than a dozen dancers in each of them. But gradually the bars started increasing and pushed the other businesses out of the sois. Believe it or not, one of the major wire services used to have it's Bangkok HQ on Patpon, UPI I think. Back in the good old days ... how I miss that traffic!

Rand Paul, AOC and the squad, among the ones who are not beholden to anyone. The swamp can not be drained by an habitual liar with morals. The aforementioned have completely different politics but are all honest. I'd rather an honest person I disagree with over a morally corrupt person even I agree with their basic ideology.

Sorry to hear about your friend. RIP. KS

I doubt it's all about gogo bars, seems to be more about the history of the place and a bit about the bars. For someone who first went there over 31 years ago and knowing how much it has changed in that time I'm sure it will be very interesting, at least to me and I've no doubt many others. 👍

In non political news, congrats to the Nats. No, not for booing the President...lol...for winning the misnamed World Series as my soccer friends in England like to remind me. "Its not a world series if you lot are the only ones playing, Steve" okay...okay.

Normally, there is no reason for AOC to get this much attention. She's a freshman House of Representative member. The reason the right is so triggered by her is unmitigated fear. AOC won an election over arguably the 2nd most powerful Democrat in the Congress. The establishment Dems like Pelosi fear her because she can't be bought and her views are populist and will possibly/probably be the future of the party. The Republicans see someone who represents the future as well. There were/are other politicians that have her politics but are relatively unknown and ignored. So why AOC? She has a few million twitter followers. The fear is real. Demonizing her is the current tactic. It's failing. She is a female, latina, attractive, honest, impeachable and smart. Those characteristics are very, very dangerous to the status quo. The Republicans see a future Presidential candidate that can appeal to a large swaths of their base.

It got cold in Germany. The last four nights we had in large parts of our country -1 to -4 degrees in the night. In the low mountain ranges and in the Alps of course correspondingly colder. A high pressure area over Central Europe led to a cold spell. I had to turn on the heating for the first time in this autumn. To pass the time I watch some videos from warmer areas; e.g. Pattaya Walking Street, Beach Road. I'd like to be there now. and some more ....

Yup, remember him well for selling a share to a young Scandiwegian, wheelchair-bound after a car crash. The Scandiwegian paid for his share with his car crash compensation, assured it was a good investment..... Flash, can you remember the other conman of those days? Clue: New York Saint, received a refund after intervention by Gringo?

Is it right to atttack the LTC? Of course not, no more than was Hillary's calling Major Tulsi Gabbard ... a decorated combat veteran ... a "Russian asset". Politicians seem to make up their own rules these days, and it's time to judge them all by the same standards, regardless of party affiliation.

Don't care about the V formation, I imagine that if the Haka was performed, inside the English half, the Englanders would run off for a bracing cup of tea,

The 8 families, got it? Used to be 9 but mum and myself quit.

Not long enough .....

TYT is a progressive site. They admit as much. They state facts that support the views host or if its opinion, it's reasoned. There are some opinions on the right that are reasoned as well. The problem is when people start stating opinions as facts.

555555555 yes, I know. It's hard for me to converse in the English language. My possibilities of expression are very limited. The situation is different when I express myself in writing in comments, reports, annotations, etc. I use dictionaries and small translation aids from the Internet. The English grammar and syntax are very simple, thank God. The only difficult rule for me is the 'paraphrasing with to do'. The grammar and syntax of the German language are probably the most complicated of all world languages. A foreigner who has a reasonably faultless command of our language has my highest recognition.

No she wasn't, she was a fatty. Never, and it speaks to the life, that young men like Bill, led, handsome and well off and all of that, everything was an open door to him. He'd prolly never encountered a conniving, scheming trickster in training like the Hillary.

"Raising awareness about safe and good driving behaviour is also important and it can start with students in schools." To the best of my knowledge, there are no driver training classes in Thai secondary schools. It was a required subject when I was in high school, and we learned about the traffic laws, stopping speeds, how an internal combustion engine works etc. Most of us also signed up for hands-on driving training, in which we drove a dual control car on the California freeways, under a qualified teacher's supervision. Maybe it's time that Thailand began such classes, at least in the city schools? p.s. My wife nowadays is a very good driver, but I remember how she was issued a license before she knew how to drive ... simply because she was a civil servants and therefore someone "special".

Hillary is bitter. There is nothing...I repeat nothing more cruel than a bitter old American woman.

Flash, wot you said. Tulsi looks like a good one, not a bone spur in sight.

Hillary has crossed the line with regards to comments about Tulsi. She has never really recovered from the '16 campaign. I think she has never gotten closure on how she lost the most winnable election. She needs to talk to Gore.

Not to worry, Ocasio-Cortez has officially cast her support to Bernie. We see the new Democratic ticket in the making. Sanity is returning to America. ... Holy crap, I see that Michael Moore is adding his weight too. Bernie is getting all the biggies. Time to chuck it in Elizabeth and Beto. You don't stand a chance.

I don't know about the constitutionality of it but I disagree with having to submit your tax return. Just like I'm sure you agree with states that were trying to force submission of birth certificates as a precursor to them invalidating Obama's. Lets be consistent about bullshit from all sides.

...and for the record. I am NOT a fan of Biden. I wouldn't vote for him frankly.

Washington Square fell victim to the wrecking ball a few years ago. Now Queens Park Plaza has to bite the dust. The only constant is the change. I remember Washington Square: Washington Square was located on the Sukumvhit between the Soi 22 and Soi 24; a plaza with about a dozen pubs that have settled there since the end of the 70s. A meeting place for Anglo-American "local expats" as well as a few Vietnam veterans and Anglo long-term vacationers; mostly pensioners, drinking away their pensions ... The "Silverdollar", the "Prince of Wales", the "Wild Country Bar", the "Texas Lone Star", the "New Square One Pub" and some others. When you entered these bars, you noticed that these pubs breathe history, these pubs can tell an infinite number of great stories. When I discovered them around 1997/98, I thought I was in the heart of Düsseldorf's Old Town. Among the Anglo-American guests of Washington Square there were some interesting types; unfortunately most of them already deceased. It was always great to talk to them for two or three hours. The only one still active is Richard Diran. Have a look at the website. In memory of Washington Square, Richard painted a picture of the Texas Lone Star; at the bottom right he immortalized himself. On it the regulars, the girls; he tried to capture the atmosphere of this pub. I remember the king of the "squaronions" Kurt Francis. "Your voice of Bangkok". http://www.diranart.com/store/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=172 www.Diranart.com

Scotland thrashed Russia 61 - 0 this morning. To reach the quarters they now need to beat hosts Japan (who beat Ireland in the first round) on Sunday. However the match could possibly be cancelled due to the anticipated weekend arrival of Super Typhoon Haggis, in which case Scotland would be out. How ironic would that be?!

Yes that's next. I asked Somchai's mother and she said the local politician man, has promised a VHS data recorder that uses andy magnetic tapes, for every small business in Thailand. They have a lot of them already coming, from China on the big Submarine that's dues to be delivered.

Coss Not a dig at you ... Don't Shoot the Messenger What the article is referring to is Non-Immigrant (O-A) Visa aka the Retirement Visa but not the Non-Immigrant (O) aka the Marriage Visa. I was expecting this to come up at some point since the Non-Immigrant (O-X) Visa aka the 10 Year Visa already has this requirement but O-A is a little bit more laxed since overseas policies are allowed whereas O-X has to be with Thai insurance Company

There is a plethora of people and information still be heard and seen. The fact is the administration is pressuring anyone with first hand knowledge not to speak to Congress. Nixon did the same. Nixon was around in a day where the stigma of impeachment meant more. Before Nixon it only happened once in the 1800s. The public was against him as well. The public was never against Clinton. He had a very high favorable rating and it was deemed by the public and the Democrats as the Republicans simply desperate to reverse two elections. I certainly didn't see a valid reason based on precedence which I described on here a few times. And by that time I was done with the Clintons politically so much I didn't back Gore. It's clear Trump is guilty. This is no longer debatable. It's why the Republicans were first arguing procedural issues and now arguing hearsay rules not applicable to impeachment and arguing well before everyone is heard. Why not wait till ALL the witnesses are called and why do so when the people with first hand knowledge are being kept from testifying. The reason is that the masses are asses as an old Wall Street adage goes. The GOP are masters of the Nazi strategy of repeating something to the point where it becomes part of your consciousness. The interesting thing is had any other prior President we know of, including the beloved Reagan, their asses would be out by now. Trump gets a wide berth. He knows he enjoys that. And that may be his biggest advantage along with the incompetency of the Democrats. We aren't done. We haven't heard the original recording. But the Republican senators are already saying they are voting no. You do the right thing no matter if Trump will not get convicted. If he really could be excused by his base on video handing launch codes to Putin, and the GOP wouldn't convict him you bring up articles of impeachment anyway. Let history judge the ones who put party over the country. Not doing so is cowardice. And a violation of your oath. America is done. It's apparent we have no honor. When you see all this, coupled with the abandoning the Kurds and other things, I believe it will hurt us down the road. Especially against China or any other power. Countries will believe they can no longer rely on America. And they will be right. And some day, I really believe the left version of Trump will come and the same thing will happen on the left and it will be even worse and he or she will have Trump and his support as precedence to excuse themselves. And the GOP will cry bloody murder and lose.

My suburb in Laos has a large building attached to a police college, that exists to house the myriad of folk, who monitor the sketchy network of CCTV in Vientiane. I can't imagine how they'd cope with modern tech like GPS and computers from the 21st century....