Bushcraft

Oooh lovely German bread within striking distance of my house at last. Must get myself down there, good bread is what I miss most in Patts.

Aw, it's just showmanship but very entertaining if not overdone and trotted out on every occasion, as Teelack suggests. They're always a formidable bunch of beef on the hoof anyway - I remember paying a business visit to New Zealand House in London as a young man, and sharing a lift with half the All Blacks team. Huge buggers to a man, I thought there was a total eclipse!

She sounds familiar Ikkrang ..

Ah Mr. Bond, licenced to thrill ..

I occasionally see one of these centipedes around the estate. Thais treat them with great respect, as a sting from one is apparently agonisingly painful and potentially dangerous - the pain lasts for days and nothing relieves it.

Loy Krathong is not what it was in Pattaya, unfortunately. 4-5 years ago you'd find many of the BGs sprucing themselves up with (usually rented) Thai costumes to celebrate, go to the beach to cast their Krathongs etc., but with very low seasons and not very busy high seasons, many just don't have the money to dress up as before. With a few exceptions, there's hardly a sign of LK in the bars nowadays, which is a pity as I think they look great with those costumes.

Or the Irishman trying to smuggle himself into the London Olympics as a contestant, without paying, and carrying a roll of barbed wire. When asked what event he was in, he replied "Fencing".

Oiks! Reminds me of the news report on TV in the '70s: The East German pole-vault champion is now the West German pole-vault champion.

Sounds like he performed a Pole-vault.

Great pics, thanks Firth. There's even more to see than when I was last there in the 80's. Spits, Hurrys, Stringbag, Mosquito, Doodlebug, V2 and much more. And malignly intelligent, strutting but ultimately ineffective Goering as nothing more than the figurehead of the German air effort, in constant conflict with the much more knowledgeable but disastrously wrong Erhard Milch, who actually ran the show. Brilliant display, a must-see if visiting England. Tributes to the saviour of Britain in 1940, Hugh "Stuffy" Dowding, and Arthur "Bomber" Harris belong there too, but are absent (?).

I very rarely see Pattaya and its sights in the early morning, but those lovely brown legs are definitely a turn-on - there's something very sexy about side-saddle. What I most like to see (when clothed) is Issaan girls dancing and singing to their Morlam music at parties - the one time when they are genuinely happy, no lies, no bullshit, just happy to be amongst their own in a far-off town.

Very good write-up Atlas, it was indeed a pleasure to meet up again and chat/marvel about the Thai scene. There were 2-3 farang with BGs or unaccompanied before you arrived, and Hammer dropped in for a couple as well, but I had hoped that more BMs would be there so that I had somebody to talk to in this very Thai environment. Nonetheless, it was a fun evening for all, and there was some delectable (though for me off-limits) Thai womanhood on show, getting steadily more pissed and fruity. For info: beers are 100 Baht, quite ok to order them one by one as in any bar. Most Thais order a bottle o

No, I just fund the place, it's Fah's venture. Have I done something wrong in posting this in this category?

Another 86 year-old chap recently bit the dust with a massive heart-attack. For 60 years he had been in the habit of taking his wife upstairs for a leisurely bit of afternoon delight after Sunday lunch. With advancing age he had taken to timing his strokes to the chime of the local church bells. What saw him off? The Mr. Whippy ice-cream van turned into the street.

Rumours abound that there are karaoke joints/pubs devoted mostly to Thais. There may be BMs who would be interested in experiencing this rather different approach to the P4P scene, but are - like myself previously - wary of going in as a farang for fear of being unwanted. My mia runs just such a place called Bauw Issaan ("handsome Issaan men") in the Rompho bar complex opposite Soi 5 (2nd Road end) in Jomtien. She has 17 all-male staff, all of whom are really excellent singers and are there to part wealthy or sponsored Thai ladies/BGs from their hard-earned cash by chatting them up, getting b

Very good that. Here's another one: When intending to turn left further on, don't plan ahead and change to the inner lane beforehand, do it from the outside lane when you reach the turnoff.

Good review, thanks for that. I'll try the place out soon, nothing there that can't be rectified and it looks good.

Well, I take this to mean anybody who applies for or extends what we (incorrectly but for convenience) call a 'retirement visa'. There are plenty of people who can show adequate income from pensions etc., and it would be grossly unfair but not impossible for this rumour to be true. Don't believe it though, it would serve no purpose except to swell the money on deposit in banks - er, perhaps reason enough ...

Here's another one: Archaeologists in the Sinai desert have just discovered the first documented Jewish suicide. They found a buried male skeleton whose right hand was clutching a dagger inserted between the fourth and fifth ribs - clearly suicide. In the left hand they found a betting slip which, translated, read: 20,000 Shekels on Goliath.

Great report Evil, I'll try it soon, never noticed it.

A well-known rock musician, an ardent Catholic, had heard that every Wednesday at 2 pm the Pope emerges from his chambers and walks down a line of people who have turned up hoping to be graced with a few words from him. So he took a holiday in Rome and turned up at the Vatican dressed in his finest clothes, joined the line of people and waited. The Pope emerged on time, walked down the line and stopped to talk to a dirty old down-and-out further up the line. The Pope then continued straight past the pop musician and disappeared. Mighty upset, the musician thought that being the Pope, his hol

Frankly this play-acting for advantage (cheating - no other word for it) is ruining the beautiful game and needs stamping on, as so many others have pointed out. As a trained martial artist who has sustained broken bones, bloody lips, concussion and acres of bruises over the years, I find some of this stuff bloody ludicrous and demeaning to the sport. The old English school, e.g. Stanley Matthews, Danny Blanchflower, Bobby Moore must be spinning in their graves.

This has been a giant-killing World Cup, with so many players from "also-ran" countries playing at top level for major clubs. I thought France put on a lacklustre performance against Nigeria, who dominated ball possession with skill and pace, making French players look incompetent at times, and were greatly aided by a superbly athletic goalkeeper. I thought Nigeria deserved to win. France will need to play much better to beat Germany, who also failed to shine but have a reputation for upping their game when it counts. Should be a good game on Friday.

I think you must mean Myway, where I've never been disappointed. A lot less expensive than Beefeater or Bighorn too.

3-4 years back I was frequently very close to a primary school teacher in Udon Thani with 20 years experience. She was on a salary of 20k, and like very many teachers had very large bank debts.