YimSiam

First: queuing for a refund? Hi-So indeed... Second, a copy of all of this woman's videos should be making the rounds of the Chinese interwebs under some "Surgically Altered Freak Blocks VAT Queue" tag... How did Thailand let this freak aesthetic take over? Nightmarish. (but clever enough to ride Thai chauvinist anti-Chinese wave for personal benefit, good on her there...) Chinese are horrible in tourist packs, absolutely. But at least they are somehow honest in their hearts - blameless in their idiocy, they know not what they do. Unlike Bjork. YimSiam

In my experience, In the Beginning was the Word, and the word was with Nana, and the Word was Nana.

Buying a new SIM every six months is highly recommend by me, though I rarely follow the practice... How much time have I wasted on girls in my phone, when I should have been blindly stumbling towards new and fresh faces with potential for new and fresh good times... I should just throw away the SIMs I have, and go back to the newbie status on the street, like I enjoy on my 360 profile. But someone should answer Specialist's question - will we have to register new SIMs at purchase from now on? I actually think my "I prefer not to" approach is going to work, anyway. Remember back around 2003 or 04, when there were some mobile-activated IEDs down south, this requirement was also instituted - on paper, I think. YimSiam

South Africans started with heart transplants decades ago, but only just now seem to have figured out where the real money is... How long til we get to horse cock transplants to humans, I wonder?

I would prefer not to. YimSiam

For a moment, I thought Noi had somehow finagled a ticket and visa for the UK, and was performing admirably - but fortunately, no. Just spiders.

Kukri! Ah, then - certainly the culprit is one of the Nepalese tailor touts! And the purported acknowledgement that the knife belongs to the Aussie himself is in error (perhaps he was not sufficiently 'cautioned' or Mirandized, or whatever the Thai version of that may or may not be, and hence all statements to be disregarded...)

I am relieved to say my experience extends only to true Thai ladies and the occasional ladyboy who's squeaked under the radar... and that I cannot attest to anything involving soldiers, or to men in any capacity...

Meanwhile, the Ladyboy-Yaba-Addict-and-Thief Association demands the immediate closure of all late-night lower Suk outlets, as many persons are alleged to be posing as ladyboy yaba addict thieves in the area, to the detriment of their members. That robot hostess puts in mind the computers now used to assign taxis at Suvarnabhumi - tourists get off a nice long flight, confused about where they are and where to go, and then face a confusing computer touch screen to arrange next step of transport... about as appealing as signing up for a handjob from that handjob-bot above.

PS: I should warn, though, that it is necessary to provide some guidance in the type of meal you desire - just general outlines, 'deep Isan', 'Isan light', classic Thai variety, street snackish, etc. She needs some rules to truly enjoy her freedom of choice in this activity, as in all aspects of her life. And, you must be sure to show some sense of discrimination about the dishes - one or two things may be commented on as excellent, and you will be appreciated if you later ask for the same thing - but you must also be sure to be somewhat critical - perhaps following her lead, but delicately - of some of the dishes, which will be too oily, not chopped appropriately, too expensive, or whatever. Make her happy in her role, and you will enjoy remarkable happiness yourself.

I have often sensed a great satisfaction on behalf of my caretakers when they are given the freedom to walk the streets of Bangkok - including those sois near their homes - collecting as many plastic baggies as humanly possible of Thai dishes that they like, or I like, and an assignment to bring all such baggies to my room, where I am generally recovering from recent alcoholic incapacitation, extensive daytime napping, or faux-work at my computer screen. Using each and every plate available in the room, they put out a feast on the small table, we get down on our knees on the floor around the table, and spend a good hour sampling dishes and expressing appreciation or disappointment with the various choices. Gives her responsibility over something for which she is an authority (food on her soi), allows her to spend some hours away from me (always a pleasure, for both of us), and puts her in the Thai girl's beloved position of 'taking care' in an appropriate way that she understands and can perform with aplomb. This approach can also be taken with temporary experimental ladyboy types, but I warn that it will not be as effective, there will be a subtle lack of true Thai lady connoisseurship with regard to seating, sitting, food choices, and feeding - it is easier to notice the minor shortcomings of the ladyboy variety at the table, than it is in the bed, I am persuaded through experience. YimSiam

Meanwhile, the Kangaroo Fund is preparing a complaint - to be presented orally - against a Patpong bar that uses the kangaroo name and allegedly misrepresents the marsupials' reproductive and social habits...

I'll usually stand up for the Democrats as the lesser of two evils, but this one by Hilary is just too ridiculous to defend - this should be an automatic end to any future prospects for her... Unbelievably weak attempt to explain what is obvious to anyone with even the most limited exposure to the modern office and governmental world...

Just wait til they go to Dr. BJs... or when the Student Union gets wind of After Skool...

Good Lord, just imagine what the International Police Association is going to say, when they figure out that many Thai police stations have men and women dressed entirely in realistic police uniforms - damaging the reputation of the profession!

Apparently some of the Filipino bar'girls' also suffer from a form of localized gigantism, as in the case of the bargirl pictured, whose shoulders are quite broad...

Indeed - it's quite a story. But it also cuts close to the bone when told in detail, and includes more than a few elements that are not particularly complimentary to me... Perhaps I can find a Fiery Jack style comic approach that makes it less humiliating and revealing, and more entertaining that it might otherwise be... Suffice to say, if a girl 's room is decorated with black magic charts and shelves of Hindu diety statues, and she spends her time doing mor du exercises, it may be wise to keep your distance!

I had always given credit for the occult spells and so on to the Buriram and Surin types - but in the end it was a Korat girl in Hong Kong that put a debilitating spell on me, completely enslaved me for a few months, an experience I will not soon forget. Western doctors had their own diagnosis - depression, anxiety - but it was only after a detailed story was revealed to me by someone close to the events that everything made sense: ensnared accidentally by some good old-fashioned black magic! I've never been much of a believer, but this incident fit so well, it kind of opened up room for unusual beliefs on my part... YimSiam

I wonder how big an issue that is with today's groups - perhaps there are measures in place to ensure prompt return of all, even if it's only the occasional individual who tries to skip the Big Ben/Parliament visit, and instead registers an asylum claim. "We Know Where Your Family Lives" serves global people smugglers well enough, maybe PRC sticks with that. Or maybe just require that the other members of the tour group pay a fine if anyone fails to appear for the flight home - say, 200 yuan, that should do it, they're not going to let anyone out of their sight if it has a price tag attached...

Let's say they eventually get the Kaaba (a group with similar crazy historical/religious end-of-days plans did take over Mecca in '79 or thereabouts, but regrettably didn't go straight for the kaaba and the house full of idols... Maybe these guys would go all the way - or if they're stretched for cash somehow, sell the kaaba to some other enterprising community like Mecca, who can set up a tourism system around the stone, as Meccans have done since way before Islam arrived... Statues melted down, stone temples turned to dust - a big deal for the Judeo-Christian-Islamic types, but the Buddhists are probably more geared to take it in stride - nothing lasts, nothing has a permanent nature, it was bound to happen either now - or in a million years... same-same, impermanent. Looking forward to the day when ISIS is just a peripheral footnote in regional history - another story of young men gone egotistical and well wrong, with a happy ending (preferably involving the local communities turning on these guys and stringing them up by their balls, for days. YimSiam

I suppose it's a basic hazard of the profession he chose... Ride 250,000 k? Do anything 250,000 times and you're bound to start testing the odds for avoiding worst-case-scenario accidents. One thing, though - this guy had a good run of it, and made what must have been an adventure out of the life most fritter away on a nine-to-five.

Like the gay guys used to say: it's not a lifestyle, it's a life... Not sure what that would mean in this context, but there it is. At the very least, the NGO thing is a living. A comfortable, unaccountable adventure of a living, for which you may not be qualified, but for which you will enjoy the adulation of your peers - failing that, of the mothers of your peers... (I have suckled that NGO teat, and more. It's creamy all the way down, so long as you stay one step ahead of forcing yourself to accept how ludicrous the whole edifice is. But even that dire conclusion can be remedied by a simple rationale: "We're not as bad as the UN agencies, and not in the same league as bilateral aid!" YimSiam - ("Aid: Where You Don't Have To Turn A Profit To Make Good Money")

Mortals, by Norman Rush. Not as good as his novel Mating, too much endless conversation and thinking about his wife, relationship bunk that I can't be bothered with (the PB hotel usually kicks me out at the conclusion of my usual 'relationship' length, which tends towards maximum one long-time...) But the guy writes good prose, is occasionally funny, and lots of thoughtful digressions, so I'll keep reading him.

I'm guessing not ISIS, ISIS doesn't seem to show the self-awareness to be able to laugh at themselves the way these guys basically seem to. One of the hundreds of other Sunni groups across the country who are 'marrying' (kidnapping, raping and enslaving) local girls, abusing local populations, and carrying out war with Assad and anyone else who will fight...

Hope he had a nice long perp walk...