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I'll give it a shot, but sometimes truth is stranger than fiction... Maggie Withers the coach of the woman's football squad at Hampton college had been needing a vacation for quite some time. The team she coached had not been in last place at the end of the season, but only because the other team at the final game of the season had forfeited the game when four of their players had decided to start the game topless in a protest movement of some sort. After all four being disqualified and carted off the playing field after being arrested, the team had no recourse but to forfeit, allowing Maggie's girls to finish the season in second to last place. Now it was winter break and Maggie was arriving at her hotel in Pattaya, Thailand. She had heard from so many acquaintances how friendly the Thai people were to foreigners, how clean the beaches were, and how the sun warmed your very being. She would not be Coach Withers for the next fortnight, just Maggie, a thirty something english girl on vacation looking for some rest, relaxation, and maybe a little bit of excitement. Oh wait, this is Thailand 24/7 forum, sorry I thought for a minute I was in Pattaya Addicts, this is going to need a whole different plot from what I had in my mind......

Cool. Since Aircraft Carriers are considered part of "Boat Porn", I've got to see if I can dig up some of my old photos. Got some good ones over three years on board, including transiting the Suez canal, which from some angles made it seem like it would barely fit.

About 40 years ago, Feb 2nd to Feb 7th 1981, I was aboard the USS independence (CV-62) when we pulled into Perth, AUS for a bit of Liberty. Some of the photo angles look familiar. Any chance these were taken at the same time and place?

I would say I am a fan of Amazon. Lots of great things to say about the company. Not sure how here in the USA we would have fared without Amazon to keep us stocked up at home during the various lock downs. Probably kept millions of Americans from going out and visiting a bunch of retail outlets to find that one needed item. Which was then found in seconds on the Amazon site, and then arrived at your home within two days. I often wonder how society as a whole would have fared throughout this pandemic without online retail capability and the Internet as a whole, for entertainment and communication connectivity.

Has the duck reached the Event Horizon in this picture?

1) Gulliver's Soi 5 - Great games of pool, good food, and most of the ladies hanging around were available. 2)The Big Mango, Circa 2007 3)Small GoGo on Suk Soi 7/1, might have been called "Mirrors", the stage floor was all mirrors and all the girls wore socks and no underwear beneath their skirts.

Still, it would be nice in 2026 to have condo in Bangkok and wake up on a Friday morning and catch the early high speed train to Pattaya. Arrive in 30 to 40 minuets, for 200 Baht, and hit some GCs for the afternoon. Then on to LK or WS for GoGos or Discos, party all night, and catch the Midmorning train back to Bangkok and be back in your BKK condo by lunch. Never having had to get a hotel room in Patts or getting caught in a weekend traffic jam. Of course, I am wondering what condition the passengers would be in and if the train may get the moniker of "The Drunk Train". Just dreaming here.

Yes, I have watched quite a few "Buzzin Pattaya" videos and from the information in the videos, (as well as information from quite a few other Pattaya centric YouTube Vloggers), has me wanting to check out a few of the Gentlemen's Clubs. One of the things I have always found during my three week long holidays, is that after I sleep late, get some brunch, and maybe do a tour of one of the malls, there is little to do except possibly visit TQ. However, a lot of others have the same idea so it can be hard to find a seat in there sometimes. (All experiences are Pre-Covid). Now, it seems I have been missing out on quite a bit of afternoon fun to be had in these various Gentlemen's Clubs. Not sure if there a newer thing, or if my radar was just malfunctioning, but with the hours posted on the various websites, they really seem like a nice afternoon pastime. Yes, probably more expensive than just sitting in the hotel room watching videos or web surfing all afternoon, but hey, I'll be on vacation. I am sure some of the GCs will get the thumbs down, but maybe like GoGos, just a hit or miss timing thing. Anyway, whenever I can get something scheduled for a return to Thailand, I will be reading here for any GC recommendations.

I stayed at the Secrets Villa for a few days in 2010 with a couple of nice ladies. If anyone remembers, the Villa had a large bathtub, enough room for three people. While I have probably had a bath since then, I can't think past that fantastic time. Does anyone know what happened to the Secrets Villa after Secrets closed down?

I am sure, somehow, it is Boeing's fault. Boeing made the wings too long... Boeing forgot to install the the wing collision detection sensor, or decided not to install to save money... Boeing documentation has the wingspan at 113 feet, and the pilots only knew Metric, so 113 cm.... Boeing never specifically said that the wing could NOT pass through a stationary object...

Remember when you had to pay a 500 Baht fee to leave. You still pay it but now it is just in the price of your airline ticket. I always tucked a 500 Baht bill into my Passport on the first day I arrived, no matter what, I would have my exit fee on departure day.

It looks like for the foreseeable future, any of the previous discussions on the best countries for holidays in SE Asia (Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Philippines) are going to need to include the local Covid restrictions as part of the equation. For years I have read hundreds of posts concerning the best place to vacation in SE Asia, with metrics such as cost, crime issues, attractiveness and willingness of the ladies, quality and price of accommodations, food availability, etc. Now we are definitely going to need to include any hassles, restrictions, and costs associated with Covid to any of these SE Asia destinations, when things start to open up again. It is definitely going to change the calculations in some very severe ways, and the actions that the various SE Asian governments take will probably have long term effects on their tourist industries. For me, as things shake out over the next year or two, I might have to start a spreadsheet to track the various costs and restrictions to enter and vacation in each of these countries. I have always found that Thailand, for me, was the best destination, but in the future, who knows?

I always wonder why the People expect Politicians to be "Leaders", to be "Decisive", to have a "Plan", and to react "Quickly", to any crisis. Politicians (ALL Politicians), are good at one thing, POLITICS! By its very nature, Politics requires compromise, co-operation, dis-information, deception, and delayed decisions. None of these things have any use in a Crisis. Don't get me wrong, I understand the need for all of the above, I just don't get why the ranter expects this particular Politician to actually be a LEADER during this or any other crisis. I understand he is frustrated as are we all, but the long road out of this Crisis and the next one is to vote in People who were proven Leaders (Military, Corporate, Etc.) before they became politicians. That doesn't work all the time, but it's a lot better than the career politician.

Hey Phil, just sharing a memory/anecdote from Sugar Babies. You may remember this one. I was having a drink and a look and you introduced me to an english guy and we were having a good chat. Then a group of Chinese woman tourists (about 15) all came in together and sat down in a row on the upper tier. I got the idea to have one of the Sugar Baby girls, while BAREly clothed, to squeeze her way past them all in the row. You found the perfect girl who was willing for the modest tip of 100 Baht. She really played it up pretending to "fall" into the laps of several of the ladies. What was fun for us was watching the reaction of the Chinese ladies who had obviously just planned to watch from a distance, and found themselves with a very up close show. Best 100 Baht I ever spent in Pattaya.

Really interesting discussion. As of July I am unemployed for the first time in my life. 41 years consisting of US Navy (6 years), Small company (2 Years), large Corporation (33 years). Since my first trip to Thailand in 2005 I have planned to spend some of my retirement in LOS. Currently working on re-locating here in the US and setting up a smaller home to spend 4-6 months a year with the rest in LOS, possibly purchase a condo in BKK, but obviously just rent at first for awhile. Now it looks like any plans for LOS are on hold for at least another year. Even just a 30 or 60 day holiday is not an option. So I have finally reached the right age, with the finances all set up for a comfortable retirement, and all I can do is wait it out. But, when I am finally able to visit Thailand for a long time or short vacation, will it be everything I have set it up in my head to be? Will it be relaxing breakfasts, foot massage in the afternoon, a few drinks in the evening, and maybe, on occasion, some friendly female company? Or will it just be more rules and aggravation than a daily foot massage and friendly ladies are worth to me as I get oder. Well, I am going to give it a try, when allowed back in by Thailand, and I'll try to post a bit more here as things get moving.