Stickman

Yep, it just seems that the notion of a return to a degree of normality is getting pushed further and further out, which is kind of depressing. It really seems like most of the world needs to be vaccinated and we hope that the vaccines don't need to be tweaked to fight new variants until this will all be over. How long will that be?

Out of curiosity, what percentage of Western retirees in Thailand do you reckon own their own home, be it a condo or a house (which would obviously be either in someone else's name or under a company's control? I guess those who are married or in a long-term relationship would have a higher ownership rate. It would be interested to know what the numbers are amongst retirees who have lived in Thailand say 5+ years. I said to a good friend a few years ago that he should buy a condo in Bangkok. He loves Bangkok and would never consider leaving - and he particularly liked living downtown. He

The possibility of a 10 million baht minimum for house and land is crazy. Even in Bangkok 10 million baht buys you a lot of house (although not downtown, obviously). Out in the suburbs you can get a nice, new property in a good development for between 6 and 10 million baht. Yes, you can spend much less than this, of course - but once you get north of say 7 or 8 million baht the developments start to feel a little bit more exclusive (although anything genuinely flash will cost multiples of this amount). And in other parts of the country obviously you can get a lot more house for a lot less mone

Sorry to go off on a tangent but I heard that the main guy who runs the Patpong Market died a few months back and the future of the market is uncertain, even when visitors return. And yes, I agree, what a sight the setting up of the Patpong Night Market is!

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 eac

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