YimSiam

Looks Who's Back - Hitler awakes in 2014 Germany, the people love his Trump-like message. Concept with some potential, a few cheap jokes, but no plot.

I don't know, why do they make such a big deal about these things? What's the point of getting filthy rich - or being born filthy rich - if you're still going to be treated like everyone else every time you run into a bit o' trouble? We should be realistic about these things, and stop being so outraged... it's natural. This guy and this situation could perhaps be handled a bit more strategically with a bit of cover for the different treatment, but basically - let him pay, and be done with it. YimSiam

Then the special effects are for viewers like you - but most of the stilted dialogue and comic-book fights and predictable plotline - that's all for the old-timer Star Wars fans who wanted to see a connection to the films of their youth - and we got that in full measure.

I think they knew full well that at least a third of the film needed to be basically comic homage to the original - which was a winning idea. Shitty extras, recycled plot, and hammering away on the same old lines from the original = best part of that one.

I think that friend needs to sit down with his wife and have a careful talk about their family finances... just in case.

I do exactly that fairly often there - I good spot to gather my wits and have a few warm-up drinks and watch the people go by.

Odd - but that's how I remember it in the mid-nineties when I started to drop by for my visits. Except without the Arab dude.

Terrible, terrible.

My Pams are temporary, while my suitcases are by all reasonable analysis the most nearly-permanent elements of my life - a pair of Samsonites, one or the other of which has always been in my hotel rooms, temporary flats and work compounds. By 'always', I mean since 2000 or so - basically since I turned in my backpack for a more dignified mobility support system. Anyone done the Centrepoint Pratunam top-floor Presidential Suites? An outdoor shower 25 or so floors above Petchburi is well worth the very modest pricetag. I don't think I've ever seen anyone else up there - feel I'm the only one that knows about those rooms; maybe it was all in my mind. Shared the shower and bed up there one time with a very diligent, energetic and cooperative young lady from a disco that - nearly - persuaded me that I had finally attained the experience that would obviate any further need for continued butterfly-style activities... after her, why continue?! And yet, I keep on...

If you want a guaranteed result, you'll have to double that 500 baht...

Blame it on Chinese-Lao shopkeepers; the rest are fine...

Breakfast? What's breakfast? Been there many many times, but seem never to have reached breakfast. That place has giant rooms, multi-room suites - GIANT! - nice wooden floors, big balconies, washing machine, giant bed, it's excellent. I don't know what they expect guests to do with the large empty closet room, but someday I'll find a use for it. The drawback there is currently the weak room service choices - new restaurant is no good, I say. And yes, it can be loud, even 20+ floors up - but with Q-bar closed that has improved for the moment. They are usually my arrival day choice - airport taxi to hotel, shower-beer-bourbon and fresh change of clothes, and then bars. (Though I am virtually alone, it seems to me, in having this lifestyle in that hotel - mainly Indian tourists these days, I'd say, but they look not askance at my 10 am stumble-in parties...) Value for money, absolutely. And you get a newspaper in the morning, usually - or can easily borrow your neighbors.

Big rooms, privacy, balcony, view, washing machine, smoking are all elements essential to my enjoyment. I like something a bit different, a bit of character, when available. I have done very extensive research and sampling, and I venture that dozens of hotels have been tried and found wanting in some way. (Pretty much all of the below have also been found wanting in some way, but they somehow stay in the rotation, despite their apparent flaws - like the girls who share these rooms with me, I'm afraid.) In the order in which they come to mind: Fraser Suites, soi 11 Davis - the big suites, or the village houses S31 Column, soi 16 Panthip Suites, Sathorn (really below par room-wise, but has its strange charm) Centre Point Pratunam - top floor Presidential suites (and to have one from the major chains, if forced: Marriott Sukhumvit Park, Executive Apartments) The price I've paid to establish my list of regulars is no minor price- girls, rooms, whatever! I feel like I've stayed virtually everywhere about 3 stars at least once...

I was on a bicycle in Laos once around early dusk, when they're selling lots of snacks in the market and the streets are a little busy. Guy ran into me from behind on a motorcycle, doing a little damage to his bike, complaining about being hurt, and so on. I was fine - no harm no foul. But the guy - drunk, of course - figures he's hit the lottery: a traffic accident with farang! Starts haranguing me for causing the accident, making a scene, calls the traffic police over. Traffic policeman comes over, wais me respectfully, and addresses to me a "Ajarn Yimsiam"... asks me if there is a problem, I say no, he tells the guy to go fuck off. The guy is shocked, calls for a cop from the regular police to come, same thing happens, but this time after I get my respect, the cop starts beating the motorcycle driver with his stick, shames him in front of all the snack stall ladies, and the guy ends up having to skulk away walking his motorcycle... Too bad for him he didn't know I was in town giving classes and workshops to virtually everyone in the government in the provincial capital: governor's office, cops, customs, etc. Lesson of the story: while every Thai may well back a Thai, the Lao will back their guest instructor! Was surprised at how much I enjoyed my moment of total privilege, and the guy's face as he watched 'his' cops give me unexpected respect...

And across Bangkok, TGs turned away from their phones and got back to the good old business at hand: getting their customer for the evening off, cuddling and watching crappy tv, and snacking...

My dick just looks small in contrast to my gigantic balls. At least that's what I tell myself...

I suppose the consolation is that in the Buddhist world, the wheel keeps spinning, nothing is forever: today there is night market, tomorrow there is none, then there is night market again... For years, Thailand has ranked among the very top entrepreneurial countries in the world, and they didn't get there by giving up and slouching back home whenever someone told them not to do something... The streets will come alive again, the sidewalks will be clogged, it just takes a bit of time... http://www.inc.com/peter-economy/the-10-most-entrepreneurial-countries-in-the-world.html

Getting older, while my big-picture wisdom seems to grow, my specific-instance patience for bullshit has gone down the fucking drain. Especially if I haven't had a cigarette in a couple hours, as happened today. Traffic in Amman Jordan - I was ready to fucking go on a rampage, though all the higher-level functions in me told me to relax and accept the fucking mess. But jesus, I have no patience anymore for just stupid bullshit like bad driving and poorly timed traffic lights. Turning into a cranky, crochety old man very quickly indeed - and me just 43....

If only I knew that mototaxis were actually going to be on my side, the 'some men come to rob you' argument would be a good one... But I'm afraid it looks just as much like a classic shakedown threat, as much as anything. There are a few places where I feel the motos and ne'er do wells would be on my side if I came into (unearned) trouble - the Spicy soi, Suk 4 and 11/13, soi Lucky Star in Pattaya - but otherwise, I have no faith.

There are some circumstances where a happy friendly smile is just not the right note to strike... this is one of them.

Maybe they mean TAIWAN. Very bad place. Chinese. Troublemakers. Rude.

Insomnia. I keep following the rule that I'll watch anything Al Pacino does, but the dividends are often slim.

No idea. Tragic, just tragic. Have taken up a new job in a tame little place, bringing to an end quite a few years of mandatory RnR holidays on a regular basis... I am an idiot to have applied for this job, when I could have stayed in well-paying, RnR-style gigs infinitely - fuck me for that poor judgment: Never Again! YimSiam

I've had many - very many - medical care plans for my many Thai visits in the past - dental, mental, physical, pretty much everything you might imagine to test, prevent, cure, or control my various real and perceived ailments. And every damn time it's all come to a grinding halt with my first round drinks and the gathering momentum of each first morning, afternoon or night in the city - just seems impossible to break the cycle... I think the only treatment I've managed to follow through on in the past ten years was a Yellow Fever shot - and that only because it was administered in the airport itself, and a requirement for entry... ah, yes, and of course the stitches in my forehead one morning after a truly innocent accident in my hotel room after a night that ended with my taking home a girl from JP bar in Pattaya... A good girl, she rode me on her motorbike to the hospital once we realized that it was a pretty good gash with consistent blood flow and likely to leave a noticeable scar smack in the middle of my forehead... So, that's med care I also got in Thailand - again, not really a choice. At least the hospital was quick work with the needle and thread... Look forward to hearing whether Fiery Jack has a better follow-through than I do on medical plans in LoS... YimSiam

Well, maybe if the problem is parking spots and garbage in drains and sex toys, those could be addressed through less soul-killing measures for the city's busy vibe...