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Bonus Shot: Temple Dog
26 Wednesday Oct 2011
Posted Chiang Mai, Travel Photography
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26 Wednesday Oct 2011
Posted Chiang Mai, Travel Photography
in≈ Comments Off on Bonus Shot: Temple Dog
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26 Wednesday Oct 2011
Posted Dancing With the Devil, Eye Candy
inTags
Seriously?
Eye candy like that and you’re reading text?!
25 Tuesday Oct 2011
Posted Thailand Travel Tips and Tales, Tips
inHere’s a news flash for ya: Asians smoke. A lot. Men, women, and children, they all puff away like there is no tomorrow. As a newbie ex-smoker, I applaud their efforts. I’ve vowed not to become one of those nasty anti-smoking ex-smokers and instead do everything in my power to stand up for the rights of smokers. Don’t hate me for being pro-smoking. There are plenty of better reasons for your hate.
When I lived in Hawaii, the commie-pinko city counsel of Honolulu wanted to ban smoking on beaches. Until the Hawaii Visitors Bureau reminded them that the islands depend on visitors from Japan. And all of them smoke. They banned smoking instead at the Aloha Stadium. An open-air facility. But not too many touri bother taking in an event at the stadium, so that was cool.
At one time you could smoke on airplanes. No. Really. Google it. You could reserve a seat in either the smoking or nonsmoking area. I always bought a nonsmoking seat because if you sat with the rest of the smokers you’d lose a lung on anything over a five hour flight. It was better to have clean air and go join the other disgusting people with a nasty habit when you needed to. The Asian carriers were the last to allow smoking on their flights. So at least for my Asia trips, I always booked with JAL or EVA. But that stopped too. No problemo, airports in Asia always had smoking rooms, so during your transit time you could load up for lost nicotine.
Two years ago they banned smoking at the Taipei airport. They must have thought it was an American facility. There was no warning. In fact, on my trip over the smoking room was there. On my trip back, it was boarded up with a sign explaining that the airport was federal property and as such smoking anywhere on the grounds was prohibited. I considered switching to a Japanese carrier, assuming they wouldn’t pull that crap in Japan, but had to put that move off ‘cuz I had too many frequent flier miles with EVA. I quit smoking before my miles ran out, so no biggy.
I guess that the people of Taipei did not appreciate not being able to smoke in their airport. And voted the bastards who legislated against smoking out. There is once again a smoking room at the Taoyuan Airport. I’m happy for the smokers of the world that they have an airport that appreciates them again.
The smoking room is a quarter of the way up the aisle that leads to the airline lounges, which are on the 3rd floor. I think there is more than one terminal at Taoyuan, but I’ve only ever flown into the one used by EVA. So if you smoke, or want to, and you are in a different terminal for all I know you’re outta luck.
I stumbled on the smoking room by accident. And even though I don’t smoke, I had to check it out because it was labeled as an ‘outdoor smoking room’. I have to assume that was their work-around for whatever law prohibits smoking in the terminal. The room is fairly large and spacious. And amazingly smoke-free; the air circulation system blows all the smoke outside. It’s a nice room. Most smoking rooms at airports are small cubbyholes. And you don’t really need to light-up when you enter, instead you can just inhale a nice lung full of secondhand smoke. The old smoking room at that terminal was the inhale the existing smoke style. So a two year ban actually ended up being a good thing. Smokers got a more enjoyable facility.
On a roll, I thought for nostalgia’s sake I should check out my old haunt at the Bangkok Airport too. Soon after deplaning, there are a set of smoking rooms along the lower concourse, one on each side of the walkway. Smokers are not known for their physical endurance, so Thailand installed a smoking room to service those walking in either direction; there’s no need to cross a twenty foot aisle when the tobacco jones hits. I always used to stop there and get my nicotine fix. Especially after Taipei quit allowing me to get my fix at their facility.
Bangkok went a different route than Taipei. Instead of an ‘outdoor’ room they installed a huge machine that takes up 80% of the smoking room. It has ashtrays around its perimeter and the central portion is a large blower to chase the smoke away. Away to where, they never decided as their are no exhaust ducts. Nor did it seem the blowers were very forceful; I put my hand above to feel the air and got nada. An old German guy who was puffing away laughed and then pointed toward his feet. I had to scuttle crab-like around the machine to see what he was pointing at. It was the machine’s plug. Laying on the floor. With no electrical outlet anywhere in sight to make the machine operable. Intent has always mattered more in Thailand than function.
Taipei recognized that their citizens smoke and found a way to accommodate their habit. Thailand handled the same problem in a quintessential Thai manner. Both countries at least made some effort to appease their smoking visitors, a nice gesture seeing as how those smokers lives will be short anyway. Not so in America. You can’t smoke in US airports. Instead we designate smoking areas outside the terminal, off in a small corner that accumulates diesel fumes and offers no protection from inclement weather. The US government would probably like to get rid of even those areas, but instead allow the righteous non-smokers an opportunity to ridicule those who still need their nicotine.
Thailand has always been the master of the mixed message. No reason to be any different when it comes to smoking. You can buy cigarettes in Thailand. They are cheap. And available at every 7/11. But by law are hidden behind the counter. With large sale signs alerting you to what is hidden away. Again, by law, smoking is now a no-no in clubs and bars. So when you walk in you will not see any ashtrays. Until you pull your pack of smokes out. Then a nice man will bring you an ashtray so you can smoke your little heart out.
Thailand would probably like the brownie points it would get by banning smoking everywhere in the country, but the Boys in Brown make too much tea money out of fining unsuspecting tourists who drop their cigarette butts on the ground. That fine starts at 2,000 baht. And drops as quickly as your butt did if you plead poverty. Or ask to speak to a superior officer. You may think the best way to avoid that problem is to not litter. But it is easier to hand your butt to a Thai to drop. Locals are not susceptible to cigarette butt littering fines.
So, yes, international visitors can smoke at Bangkok’s airport. Domestic passengers, not so much. The smoking rooms in the domestic terminal have all recently been closed. But if you are a big fan of bad habits that will bring an early end to your life, don’t despair. A McDonald’s has been added to the domestic terminal food court. And the Muslim prayer rooms are still in existence, too. Though not usually considered a deadly habit, with the way Obama has been going at it lately, practicing the Islamic faith is becoming an iffy proposition.
24 Monday Oct 2011
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The water may be high in Thailand, but Soi Twilight, Bangkok’s largest area of gay gogo bars, is definitely not flooded with customers. The start of high season has been postponed. Hopefully not due to the drastic state of the world’s economy, but rather because touri are staying away in droves fearful of getting caught up in the floods. Whatever the reason, it’s little consolation for those who work the bars. Showtime on a rain-free Saturday night, and the hordes of customers are a no show. “Show now! Show now!” still echoes down the soi, there’s just no one around to be enticed by the call.
Dream Boy remains the most popular bar on the soi, the only bar that managed to even come close to filling with customers for the first show of the night. Punters who complain about high drink prices on the soi should take note that Dream Boy charges 300 baht for your first drink, the highest on the soi, and still does more business than its neighbors. But all is not rosy for Dream Boy either.
Ever since biz dried up a year or two ago the owner combined the Dream Boy show with its downstairs sister bar Boys Bangkok. Customers were invited to watch the show upstairs first, and then head downstairs for the second show. Now, though the red neon lights are still lit up, Boys Bangkok’s doors are shut tight. Whether that is a temporary measure due to low visitor numbers thanks to the flooding, or a sign of the times remains to be seen.
Dream Boy’s gaggle of touts used to be joined by a smattering of noisy barkers from Ocean Boy and X-Size, the resulting cacophony an in your face welcome that could easily be heard at the mouth of the soi. Like the customer count, the barker count has dwindled too. Ocean Boy has a single, and quite demure barker out front and the rep for X Size makes but a cursory appearance, occasionally stepping out of the bar to see if there are any potential customers worth performing for. Those fronting the bars closer to Suriwong have always been more about grabbing than yelling and while their numbers have remained strong, their friendly grab as you walk by has become more like a glue-like attachment of desperation.
But with the exception of Boys Bangkok, all the usual suspects are still in business, still putting on their shows. At the Suriwong corner, Banana which went dark at the beginning of the year, is open again. And Hot Male took over the groundfloor space immediately adjacent to its entrance next to Maxis, opening yet another beer bar, this time named Hot Male 2. It seems another beer bar has also opened to the backside of Ocean Boy, though maybe there was always two beer bars there? Hard to remember, it’s always been a dead stretch and if one of the bars is new it offers nothing new or unusual. Why anyone would open a beer bar on the Soi Twilight is beyond me. But then so is how any other than the two opposite of each other at the mouth of the soi can stay in business. The sports bar, at the end of the soi, has been in business for a few years now and still never seems to have any customers.
Dick’s Cafe was pretty dead too. 10:00 on a Saturday night and there were more open tables on its patio than filled. But then part of the reason to hang at Dick’s is to watch the passing parade. No parade, no good reason to pay Dick’s inflated prices or put up with their snooty staff.
When business is slow the usual Thai answer to dwindling profits is to raise prices. Possibly Soi Twilight bar owners realize there is a limit to what they can get away with charging. The average drink price is still 250 baht. Dream Boys starts at 300 baht but drops to 260 baht after your first drink. Off fees seem to have not risen either, most of the bars along the soi charge 400 baht.
As far as the bars and the boys they have to offer, nothing there has changed either. The same type of guys are still up for sale at each bar, the mix between fem, boy next door, and muscle stud remains. (For a more detailed description of each bar and the type of guys they offer please refer to my original State of the State post here.)
Even the crowd over at Tawan was smaller than normal. Which means the number of muscle studs available is larger. The guys are looking pretty good having just finished off a round of competitive body building, and with business being slow they all are quick to flash a smile.
Unfortunately, the week long series of Silver Jubilee events Tawan had planned for next week has been postponed until the end of November due to the floods (which for the record, have had no effect water-wise on the Patpong area). Tawan has opened a small massage place next door, which for some reason is populated with little twink guys out front. They are running a promotion to encourage customers to try out the massage parlor: buy 2 drinks (260 baht each) at Tawan and get a free massage next door. That’d be one without a happy ending. Business may be slow, but you won’t be getting your rocks off for free in Bangkok.
10/29/11: Quick Update
Thanks to the threat of floods, Soi Twilight is still on the slow side. But Boys Bangkok’s doors are again open and they once again share a show with their sister bar, Dream Boy.
Over at Tawan, a lot of guys headed home to deal with the rising water so the normal stable was a bit lacking. And mostly of the B roster. As much as Tawan manages to reel in the muscle hunks, they also rely on filler, the only requirement seeming to be ‘large’. Unfortunately that can also mean fat and ugly. This was the first time I’ve visited Tawan in over 20 years that I didn’t find at least one guy suitable for offing. So I tried out their new massage service next door.
I went with a foot massage, it was well done and relaxing. As I mentioned before though, why they are staffing their massage shop with twinks when their customer draw is those who hit Tawan for muscles is beyond me. But then if you are looking for a real massage and not a happy ending, the twinks they hired seem to know what they are doing.
23 Sunday Oct 2011
Posted Thailand Travel Tips and Tales, Tips
inTags
Short people are the last to know it is raining.
And the first to know it’s a flood.
One can only assume Thailand’s new government is made up of people above-average in height.
If you haven’t been able to decipher whether or not Suvarnabhumi Airport is experiencing flooding, I’m gonna settle that question for you now. It is. But the problem is not water. It is a flood of cars that has descended on Bangkok’s International Airport. Vehicles of every kind, everywhere you look. The airport is a humongous parking lot.
The multi-floored parking structure is packed to the gills. I hope the lower floors are being reserved for use by actual travellers. But then since the overabundance of parked vehicles is thanks to concerns about the possible flooding in near-by areas, for once, it is the upper floors of the parking garage that hold the primo spots. Or did if you got there early enough to snag one. Because now, it’s all about overflow.
Driving toward the departure area you start noticing traffic is heavier than normal. Not that that slows your 200 km/h driving taxi daredevil down in the least bit. Nor should it. All the traffic is queued up along the left side of the roadway. On the right, where terminal access soon appears, its clear sailing.
As you whiz pass the gridlock you quickly realize the problem is that there are no drivers in any of the cars. The vehicles are not waiting to inch forward. They’ve been parked. High above ground; high above the most generous estimate of tidal flood levels. That the roadway has become a gigantic parking lot shouldn’t be a surprise, every overpass visible off the tollway for the last 20 kilometers has been turned into a parking lot too. Thailand’s prime minister announced locals should move their valuable to high ground in expectation of the rising water. Seems they listened. And their most valuable possession, evidently, is their car.
The PM also announced that flood waters were being diverted from the middle of the city – which by default means purposefully steered toward what officials deem less important portions of the greater Bangkok metropolitan area – and that key spots, such as the airport, would receive the greatest amount of the government’s protective efforts. So the safest place for your car these days is at Suvarnabhumi Airport.
Touri have helped ease the airport congestion problem by cancelling their trips to Thailand. The facility is not quite deserted, but does have a feel to it as if the yellow shirts are headed its way once again. Wait time at check-in counters is minimal, at security check points nonexistent. And the crowds in the smoking rooms in the domestic terminal . . . oh, wait, no crowds: they’ve closed all of the domestic terminal smoking areas.
Meanwhile, the extent of the flooding in Bangkok is minimal. Unless you live in one of the areas the government decided to sick the flood on. But then if you do, you are not a tourist (touri areas are all safe and dry), part of the government (the seat of government is safe and dry), or rich (because the rich are always above everything). Today the PM warned Bangkokians that they should get ready for another four to six weeks of the same flood conditions they are already experiencing. Which for most means another month of sunny skies and dry, dusty streets.
Potential visitors to Bangkok are concerned about the flooding. The visuals on TV do not bode well for a holiday in Thailand right now. But in Bangkok at least, the only tourists experiencing flooding are those who booked into a cheap hotel that has a Thai-style bathroom.
22 Saturday Oct 2011
Posted End of the Week, It's A Gay World
in≈ Comments Off on End Of The Week #10
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It’s been a wet week for Thailand, so it only seems fitting to end it with a wet, um end.
22 Saturday Oct 2011
Posted Bangkok, Monk Shot!, Travel Photography
in≈ Comments Off on Monk Shot! #31
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You have to be sly when photographing monks. Posed monk shots just don’t do it. So you need to sneak up on them. That’s not as easy as it sounds. Monks are supposed to be apart from the secular world, but those little bastards are in tune with all that is happening around them. Just try and point your camera in their direction. They’ll quickly turn away.
Sometimes it seems as if the entire nation is working to protect their monks from being photographed. Line up a good shot on a street in Bangkok and just as you are about to click, a bus will pull in between you and the monk. And the monk disappears by the time your view is no longer blocked. If a bus isn’t handy, some local will step in between you and the monk. Monk hunting is not an easy sport.
But sometimes you have to just bite the bullet, smile, and ask for the shot. Especially with the young ones. It doesn’t seem fair to sneak up on the youngsters; they haven’t yet learned how to properly flee from touri. This duo willingly posed for me motoring up the Chao Phraya one morning. Good thing I asked for the shot. On a small boat I’d hate to see what Buddha would throw in the path to otherwise ruin the shot.
(So for the record, the flooding is not my fault.)
21 Friday Oct 2011
Posted Tales, Thailand Travel Tips and Tales
in≈ Comments Off on And The Rains Came. Or Not.
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I was managing a large residential/commercial property in downtown Honolulu when Hurricane Iniki struck the islands. We were lucky. We’d been warned. The amount of loss to life and property was far less than it could have been thanks to that warning. But regardless of how long you have to prepare in advance, when Mother Nature decides to offer up a heavy bitch slap, it’s gonna hurt.
When the warning sirens went off before the break of dawn that day, I knew little about hurricanes. I also knew little about Hawaii’s warning system but figured any noise that loud, that persistent, and that early in the morning couldn’t be a good thing. I did know, however, where to turn for an answer, proving to Darwin that I really wasn’t eligible for the team he was lining up to play tag with what was to be the worst hurricane to hit Hawaii in modern times.
When you live with a type A personality, pesky little things like nonstop blaring sirens are of little concern. If whatever is going on requires your attention, El Capitan will let you know about it. And probably have printed instructions to boot. So if my roommates even let the noise wake them, they immediately rolled back over in their beds and went back to sleep. Normally, with that kind of attitude, I’d abandon you to your fate. But ‘roommates’ translated to ‘the guys who pay my rent on the house’ so I got them all out of bed, issued instructions – though not printed, you bastards – and headed off to work: I had a multi-billion dollar property that took up an entire block of downtown Honolulu to protect. Not to mention some 3,000 people who lived or made their living there.
Hawaii’s version of talking heads, better known as the idiots who thought they ran Gilligan’s Island, were busy preparing for the natural disaster by booking time on the local news channels. Tips on last-minute hurricane preparedness were few in number and did little more than cause a run on all of the islands’ retail operations when they opened that day. Many of those not quite important enough to snag air time, like city council members, lived at my property and instead did what people who think they are important do best: they got in the way. No thanks to their efforts, I managed to rally the staff and start taking steps that would ensure the property’s survival. Possibly the residents’ survival too. And discovering little things about the operation I’d been clueless about. Like that a former manager had ordered all the emergency exit doors, on all 65 floors, be locked as a security measure. When a natural disaster strikes and people die, a lot of blame gets passed around; seldom do you hear about the true idiots responsible for so many deaths.
Fortunately, the islands had several hours to get ready for Hurricane Iniki’s visit. In my little patch of paradise, we’d done all we could do and sat back to anxiously await our deaths. I was on a 25th floor outdoor security point at the anointed hour. Hawaii’s usual light tropical breeze had fled in front of the bigger winds’ path. The air was calm. A common house fly buzzed by and landed on my hand. Several hours later, I went home and caught up on the sleep I’d sacrificed in the face of expected destruction. Honolulu had been spared. Kauai and parts of Maui had not been as lucky.
Except for a few areas of the State, everyone’s efforts at readying themselves for the traumatic blow were for naught. Except for the most basic info from the National Weather Bureau, all of the warnings of doom, predictions of how bad the damage would be, and expectations for the immensity of destruction that would occur, were just plain wrong. But then even when it is extreme weather you are dealing with, it still is nothing more than a weather report. And all over our world the people responsible for weather reports get it wrong. Daily. In my next life I want to be a weatherman. It’s the only job I know of that you can fuck-up every single day and not only not get fired, but get raises and promotions too.
Extreme weather is a nasty bogeyman. We’ve all seen the result. It’s not a pretty sight. So you really can’t blame people for making enormous last minute efforts to dampen the blow when a massive natural event seems likely to occur. Afterwards, it may seem to have been much ado about nothing. But all of those crazy little efforts, should the event actually take place, add up. Peoples’ lives are saved. Property does suffer less damage than it may have. And possibly, one of the talking heads may have got his story right.
So welcome to Bangkok, a city under siege. The bogeyman in this case isn’t just a vague possibility of what might happen. Weeks of horror have already demonstrated what may transpire. Pictures of the flooding in 60 of the country’s provinces ram that message home. Over 8 million Thais have already suffered from what is being called the worst flooding in Thailand in over fifty years. And fifty years ago there were not as many people packed into this tiny country. The potential for loss is enormous. Only diminished by the potential for blame. And no one seems to know what in the hell is going on.
Suvarnabhumi Airport is either closed, opened, may be closed, or is safe. Regardless of its status, those who like to point fingers are already blaring derision over the decision to build Thailand’s newest airport on what was swampland. Whether the airport is destroyed or never gets its feet wet matters little. Blame is the name of the game. Travellers may feel differently. It’s a bit unnerving to hop on a close to twenty hour flight not knowing if the airport will be there when you land. Because death sells almost as well as sex, the government’s efforts to protect the airport from damage doesn’t get attention because of the positive actions, but instead is used to show just how serious the problem is. To the media, Suvarnabhumi Airport has already become a victim of the floods. Meanwhile, operations there continue as normal. No one has donned waders. Flood? What Flood? I can’t help but think that whoever is ultimately responsible for that property isn’t standing overlooking his area of influence, waiting for the catastrophe while a common house fly buzzes about and lands on his hand.
Sandbagged barricades have popped up all over the city. Add a touch of barbed wire and you’d think the Red Shirts were back in town. Oh, wait. They won the election. So guess not. That loss may have been a greater blow to those who were in power than any the flooding may result in, but you know, right now, they are saying thanks to their gods. Someone else will get the blame. It’s no longer their fault. Meanwhile, the new prime minister is quickly discovering that the baht that stops on her desk isn’t just the bankable kind. She’s already being blamed, being called incompetent, and her downfall is being predicted. While in Bangkok the waters have barely gotten anyone’s feet wet. Thanks to the press, it seems she is sharing Suvarnabhumi Airport’s fate. Man the lifeboats, sure hope Thailand’s new government knows how to swim.
There is no arguing about the amount of destruction the floods have already been responsible for this year. It’s rainy season, which takes on a bit more force when you remember it is also called monsoon season. That there will be flooding in Bangkok is a given. That happens every year. But the bogeyman has been unleashed, the people have been warned. Every nightly downpour results in the locals becoming uncommonly tense. Usually when the skies open at this time of the year, everyone out and caught in the downpour huddles together under the closest protection. And laughs. While the nearby street becomes a small river. This year, instead, not as many people are out, not as many are getting wet. And there isn’t the amount of laughter you normally hear. Instead, everyone starts eyeballing the sandbags, they start picturing the swollen rivers that have wiped up so many areas up north. There isn’t a lot of water in Bangkok right now. But there is a lot of fear.
High tides are predictable. So is the path and schedule of the massive amount of water flowing south. For some reason, just when and where that water will hit Bangkok is not. Like Honolulu 19 years ago, Bangkok may be spared the brunt of the Mother Nature’s force. The city prepares itself for something that may never happen. The media and opposing politicians act like it already has. Meanwhile Bangkok’s citizens and visitors wait. The dry streets that greet them each morning along with the sun seem to tell a different story. But the water is coming. And everyone knows you can’t trust Mother Nature. Nor those responsible for protecting us from her wrath.