Stickman

Back in Bangkok? Oh, gosh, that won't be for a long time.....best guess is some time next year. Almost certainly won't be this year. Always happy to meet up.

You own those two domain names? They'd be worth something. Probably not huge money, but still a decent amount, I imagine. Planning on doing anything with them or just going to hang on to them?

My feeling is that bloggers will slowly become a thing of the past as more and more people move over to YouTube and become vloggers. Some of the vloggers get more views in the first 24 hours of posting a new video than sites like Stickman get across the whole site in an entire week. As for the relationship between Stickman and Stickboy, it is complicated. I can't say too much as I signed an NDA so forgive me for sparing a lot of details, but what I can say is that the person who bought Stickman was not Stickboy.

Thanks for the kind words. Dana has been suffering from cancer for some years. From what I understand, it started in the prostate and then spread. I have not heard from him in several months but the prognosis was not good and last time I heard it was terminal. (I wouldn't normally talk about someone's health issues but Dana has been remarkably open about it, hence I mention it.)

In recent years it really was a hobby that paid and filled in a few hours in the day. I was in a groove, had a decent network of people on the ground helping me out and it was easy to put out something reasonable each week. Stopping, even for a short time, loses momentum - and means a comeback becomes more difficult. If I was a betting man, I'd say I won't be back. I say that for a combination of reasons but ultimately, I think it comes back to the state of the industry and viability of the site. I won't do it for peanuts and that means the owners need to sell a decent chunk of advertising each month to pay me. Given tourists won't likely be back in decent numbers for some time to come, it's hard to see it happening. And I am totally cool with that.

Despite what was written in that last column, I think the chances of making a return are slim. It was a nice run and nice to get another 2.5 years writing the column but my best guess is that I won't be back. And I am cool with that. Let's face the truth: It is daft that I guy living in New Zealand who hasn't lived in Bangkok since early 2015 was writing a column about expat nightlife. Of course, I gave it my best shot every week and did everything I could to remain relevant, but there is only so much you can do when you're 10,000 km away.

Currently only New Zealand citizens and holders of resident and permanent resident visas can travel to New Zealand. Pre-Covid - and I presume post-Covid when the border opens up, anyone who has the skills to fill one of the many jobs on the "skills shortage category" can apply for a work visa. If a Thai can show they have the skills needed, they can apply for a work visa. Nursing is one of the major skills shortage areas....but there are many! Minimum wage in NZ currently is $18.90 / hour and will increase to $20 / hour in April.

I spent a couple of nights at the "Jugendherberge" (spelling?) in Dusseldorf in the early '90s. I don't remember a great deal about the city but I do remember Koenigstrasse as apparently being one of the swankiest shopping districts in all of Germany. I would later learn from a German friend in Bangkok that there is something of a rivalry between Dusseldorf and Cologine, where he comes from.

Just to be clear, I did not take those photos. They were taken by probably the best Western glamour photographer in Thailand (he does work for Playboy, calendars etc.) For sure, too many tattoos for me too....but hey, that's pretty much how things are in the bars these days, right?

Just curious.....did the ATM screen come up with a message saying that there was a 3.9% fee levied on the transaction?

Self-isolation for 40 weeks

It's a pile of shit, it really is. I reckon most borders will be closed soon and sooner or later, most countries will go in to lockdown i.e. people will be house-bound, only allowed out to get essentials and go to work. It seems that is the only way to stop this thing, short of a vaccine being found - but word is that would be at least 12 months away. The death toll is bad enough already but God knows where it will end up. And the economic carnage will be HORRIFIC! Best to plant your ass where you want to be for the next several months because real soon it's going to get real hard to relocate....

Some of my favourites include Margarita Storm (mouth of Sukhumvit soi 13), Bad Burger (on Sukhumvit around soi 20) and Daniel Thaiger (deep down Sukhumvit soi 11 on the right-hand side).

Bingo....it's an active volcano FFS! I'm quite happy that it's 50 km from land!

Trauma Center Bruce Willis is a cop who is investigating the murder of his partner and protecting the one witness who was injured. Unfortunately this is not Bruce's finest hour and I would not bother. 1 star out of 5.

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.

Cigar Bob must have died several years ago. Heart attack if I remember right? He was always trying some new business venture but the poor guy seemed to be broke more often than not...

Yeah, remember that episode.....very nasty business. Whatever happened to him? I seem to recall he fled to India, if my memory is right (and often it is not!).

I'd love to think you're right but I think England will provide a stern test this weekend....that match could be quite an arm wrestle. And I don't think South Africa will find Wales to be easy beats. My prediction is two close semi-finals and a NZ vs Wales final.

For the earlier rounds of the Rugby World cup featuring the big teams, The Kiwi was booked out i.e. EVERY SEAT in the bar was booked....so if you want to watch the games there, you might want to give them a call and see if there is space...

Traffic is obviously one cause of pollution, but traffic is generally constant year-round, and is not the main contributing factor when the pollution levels get really bad. I gather that the main cause is burning of crops. The pollution was really bad early last week and I see that it's been even worse this week. The sad part is that there is no reason to think that the problem will be addressed any time soon.

No, that's complete nonsense that it is poorly run and moderated. I'd actually say it is far and away the best moderated board. Social media changed things a lot, and the mix and profile of expats in Thailand has changed markedly too.

I think it works well enough as it is. Obviously, you might have some concerns as as perhaps it is costing you more money to run it than you want to spend / is causing you grief or worry etc. Unless there are any problems that perhaps we might not be aware of, it would be a shame to see it change and a real shame to see it close down.....perhaps it's nice just knowing that it's still here and if you want to go and say something then you can?

It's kind of a little different to that. Christchurch folk don't see themselves as superior, rather they just don't like rather a lot of people including many of their fellow countrymen.

Generally speaking in New Zealand, the further south you get, the friendlier the people are - and Christchurch is a long way south of Wellington (where I was born), Auckland (where I grew up . consider my hometown) and Napier (where I currently live), all of which are in the North Island. But Christchurch is a bit of an anomaly. It feels very provincial even though (by NZ standards) it's a big city. I find the people of Christchurch have a chip on their shoulder about people from Auckland and from the North Island generally, and many are anti non-white. This is not paranoia - a good friend from Christchurch who lived in Thailand for many years often tells me of the feelings of many in Christchurch which are anti-Maoris and anti-Asians. Ok, not everyone in Christchurch is like that of course and I am sure you will find non-white immigrants there who love it and feel welcome, but it is much less cosmopolitan than say Auckland and there is a feeling of anti-outsiders there. I visited Christchurch for the first time in 1996 on business and made the mistake of saying I was from Auckland....big mistake. The anti-Aucklander sentiment was strong. I don't care for that sort of crap and hence I don't care for Christchurch.