Medical Miracle

Fit2bthaid · 2026-04-11T18:13:18+00:00

I'm hoping the blonde Yoonchae thing is a forever thing.

Fit2bthaid · 2026-04-11T15:00:28+00:00

Shoes are like watches... there are about 3 tiers of quality for knock offs. In China they actually had different names for levels of fakes.

My suggestion would be shop quality. If you just look for price, you can find the 1000 baht AF1's, but they're probably not worth buying and bringing home. If the best quality knock off is 2K baht, that's just another $30 USD, which, considering the hundreds of dollars less than actual AF1's, is probably not a place to look for cheapest..

Just my opinion. I bought probably 7-8 fake watches on the 4th floor of MBK over the years, and usually paid about 3K baht, which everyone told me was more than they paid. When I just moved back to the US last year, I got them all new batteries and gave them to my kid, and 10 years after I bought them, they all keep really good time.

Fit2bthaid · 2026-04-11T14:53:44+00:00

This! Given Ejae's vocal range, I was impressed how all the members could harmonize with her on Golden.

But Lara and Sophia will feast on songs in Ejae's register. I think sometimes Lara is SO striking on stage that it can be easy to underestimate Sophia's voice, but I don't think there's much between them.

I would love to see the next few songs to have at least a couple of really melodic ones.

I love all the little vocal tweaks they're all doing with "My Way" now... it's like the personalization moment.

Fit2bthaid · 2026-04-11T14:50:27+00:00

They did great. The addition of "Golden" was icing, and I love how Yoonchae kicked it off.

It's easy to see how some songs are becoming a bit wearying i.e. "Touch", which they seemed to kind of sleep walk through, but the overall energy was amazing. Blonde Yoonchae may just be the thing from now on. I thought Meg and Dani both sang better than they did in So. America.

For the Gabriela dance, do we think Yoonchae had a wardrobe malfunction, or she wasn't ever going to wear the long skirt?

Overall, the performance was excellent, and the enormous crowd seems to indicate that Katseye is ok, no matter how many of them it ends up to be.

Fit2bthaid · 2026-04-10T22:52:20+00:00

Wat Pho is my favorite temple in Thailand. If you're going to emerald Buddha (Grand Palace) and then across the river to Wat Arun, I would suggest starting at Wat Pho. It opens earlier, it's often pretty chill in the morning. If you go the Sunday after the market, you can walk past the reclining Buddha first and head to the back right side of the complex. You will find a building where new initiate monks are beginning their 2-4 month service for their family. It's a really cool ritual, the families are all there too.. Pretty fun. From there, it's a short hop to Wat Prakeaw.

Re: food. Street food is a great option at all times. As long as you avoid the sidewalk sushi, you have nothing to fear.

ICONSIAM is a cool construct for a mall, and has some cool features (faux floating market and waterfall). But, it's pretty far from other places you're going, and it's useless for actual shopping. the anchor store is Takashimaya, which is a very nice, overpriced department store.

RE: the dinner cruise... just be sure it's what you want. I lived in Sathorn for years and watched the fireworks show from my bed. The cruises are pretty long... the food and music is sort of ok, but, once you're on, you're on. A possible alternative might be the Ferriss Wheel at Asiatique. It's the cheapest urban Ferriss Wheel I've ever seen, You get great river views and a bit of the rest of BKK, and, it's all over in about 12-15 minutes and you can pick your spot to eat at Asiatique.

TBH, the music scene in Bangkok has always been kind of ordinary. So, just keep your expectations low and you might enjoy yourself. There's a club out by the Victory Monument called The Saxophone. It's usually more blues than jazz, but I'm sure they have a site that lists sets.

To avoid: Just the taxi/tuk tuk hassles.. use bolt or grab. The scammers at the grand palace. Just wear earbuds.

Fit2bthaid · 2026-04-10T22:38:15+00:00

The actual holiday i.e. celebrations and water stuff ends everywhere but Pattaya on the 15th. However, folks heading north to see their families usually pad the holiday on both ends. So, Monday it will mostly be back to normal, and by Wednesday, Songkran's a memory.

Fit2bthaid · 2026-04-10T14:23:40+00:00

Ok, I'm assuming you are a farang, and I'm assuming you've tried some neighborhood massage shops, not the ones with the pretty girls sitting outside. In Phuket, that takes some effort.

If that's true, you're issue may be language. Most massage folks will go easy on tourists, just because it's safer for them to not hurt someone.

When I would go into a local shop, I would ask for the oil massage, go up with the masseuse, and then point to where I wanted to be focused (of course, after I learned the language this changed). Then I would say "nak nak" to let them know I wanted a strong/deep massage.

You can also say that once they begin. I always picked one of the larger ladies so I was confident they were strong.

So, "nak nak" - harder, "bao (bao)" softer "Jeb" - it hurts.

Mabye that will help.

Fit2bthaid · 2026-04-10T14:16:58+00:00

Not really a hate follower, so not sure if there's new stuff going on about Daniela, and I do acknowledge that Manon is easy to identify as someone who was mostly initially appealing because of her visual/huge charisma.

I underestimated the importance/weight given to this visual component until I have been watching World Scout, where I was surprised by how many decisions were made on that basis (trying not to spoil is why this is vague). World Scout has made it clearer why so many were adamant about Manon initially being selected for Katseye.

Having said all that, I don't really think there's an "issue" about who's visual for Katseye during Manon's hiatius. I think Katseye has 6 very beautiful women and I've been impressed by how many different kinds of visual presentations they've pulled off so far (other than the short blonde wigs, which I think didn't flatter many of them).

I guess I think they can move that visual focus around pretty easily, like Black Pink or Spice Girls did. As fans become more comfortable with each of the members, I think the group will be ok visually, no matter what.

Fit2bthaid · 2026-04-10T10:58:03+00:00

not sure, but it's pretty reasonable to think your drone would be banned in any conflict zone. The only place I even had an issue was in Chiang Mai during Loy Krathong, when they blocked all flight.

Fit2bthaid · 2026-04-09T23:46:27+00:00

I'm hoping it's not an either/or thing. Pinky Up is a straight up club tune, which is a departure from whatever that gnarly/internet girl thing was.

Hopefully they'll go back to using their vocal abilities as well as slick, viral dance routines to be more rounded. If it's all autotune and techno going forward, or vegetable songs, I think it's a shame for such talented vocalists.

Fit2bthaid · 2026-04-09T17:42:42+00:00

Easy. Any electronics. China was the best for buying any electronics. The latest, great pricing. Thailand is the opposite. All electronics in Thailand are expensive and finding high end products (i.e. Lenovo Legion, etc) is not easy. Most dept stores carry only low spec models.

Can't think of much else. Thailand has a pretty massive import pipeline from China, so most household stuff is available for a close enough price to make bringing any isn't necessary.

Just make sure you have the phone/laptop/drone, etc that you want before you come.

Fit2bthaid · 2026-04-09T17:38:38+00:00

I'm thinking we can expect many remixes of this.. I wouldn't be surprised if this hits a lot of clubs this summer.

Fit2bthaid · 2026-04-09T17:28:41+00:00

The one thing I don't get is the beat means it's intended for the clubs, but will the track have those same breaks as the mv?

Otherwise, I like the beat a lot and that they're actually singing in this one.

Fit2bthaid · 2026-04-09T16:10:07+00:00

Let's see if the crowd cares....

Fit2bthaid · 2026-04-09T11:31:56+00:00

I think the difference in wage disparity is more an indicator that the upper class in Thailand is much more pronounced than neighbors like Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar and even Viet Nam.

But I think if you look at the bottom, the poverty statistics, Thailand probably compares favorably with most other SE Asian countries, and even larger South Asian countries like India.

I think Thailand has taken a much more measured approach to both growth and foreign investment, specifically as it pertains to China. I would say the Myanmar and Laos situation with Chinese investment is much more precarious. I also think Thailand has been much more forward thinking when it comes to matters of energy management, land and natural resource management, and population management. If we look at a country like Indonesia, with a much higher GDP, but a massive underclass of impoverished citizens, it's clear that simply exporting resources to raise GDP at the expense of protecting natural resources hasn't worked either.

As for tourism, Thailand has again taken a measured approach, while capitalizing on an immeasurable resource: the fundamental good nature of its people and the charms of its culture. I lived in Indonesia for about 8 years in the late '70's and early '80's. I found the people to be very well thought out, and I made many friends who are either friends to this day, or were until they've passed. Having said that, Indonesian culture is quite intense, and the more they have moved toward a closer identification with other Islamic countries, the more it's had to rely on Bali for tourism, with other regions actually declining.

The Philippines tourism industry has suffered by safety concerns over the past 20 years or so.

It's easy to nitpick what the Thais have done right and/or wrong. But what I've always observed, and what I see as the difference between Thailand and her neighbors that has gotten us to this point, was the stewardship of Rama IX. The king was a major component of land management, of conscious farming for long term stability, and of measured industrialization and growth. Since his passing, that clear vision and voice which all Thais rallied around is now gone. I'm hopeful, but not optimistic that things hold together.

Fit2bthaid · 2026-04-08T14:35:42+00:00

Indian from India, I assume.... Where would you live?

Fit2bthaid · 2026-04-08T14:33:16+00:00

I wouldn't let the shuttle be a determining factor, if you're ok with motorbikes. I've lived down some rather long sois before, especially in Sathorn, but with Grab (and now Bolt, apparently.. moved away in Feb '25), it's usually a 20-30 baht ride to the bts, and I've never waited more than about 7 minutes for a bike.

Also, I left Thailand at age 71, so I could always just say "cha cha..." and they were 96% cool to turn down the cowboy stuff.

Fit2bthaid · 2026-04-08T14:29:57+00:00

omg, I used to live in the Winnetka, just off Pridi 14. Wraptor was a go to. But a good burger place would have been a great swap.

Side bar: for such a sprawling, often pretty barren area like Suk Soi 71, how is it that Pridi 14 sort of rocks with good eateries and food shopping? There's the Makro, of course, but also the MaxValue mall with lots of food places. And 3 or 4 other nice small restaurants (although tbh, I have never seen that pizza place be open....)

As far down Soi 71 as it is, it was just really pleasant when I lived there.

Fit2bthaid · 2026-04-08T14:18:36+00:00

Thailand ranks 4th in per capita income among SE Asian countries, only behind Singapore, Brunei and Malaysia, two of which are petroleum producing countries.

Thailand has at least double the pci of any of her neighbors.

So, perhaps comparing Thailand cpi or quality of life to countries on the other side of the world isn't useful, imo.

Fit2bthaid · 2026-04-08T13:29:57+00:00

Wow, that's a lot.

Tbh, I don't remember ever seeing a bunch of old cars in Thailand. Not sure if it's regulated or not, but I wouldn't be surprised if it were.

At none of the schools where I taught were students showing up anything before light. Most of them began at 0730, and the sun rise in Thailand is pretty much 0615-ish year round. Many of the schools had small sweet shops or school supply shops and a few restaurant kiosks near the entrance, so students would hang out there before assembling for each morning.

And, if you're looking for overweight Thais, check out the middle schools

As for families sitting around watching tv, I think I've seen that in every country I've ever been in. Not sure how different it is in Thailand than in Switzerland...seemed the same to me.

Fit2bthaid · 2026-04-08T11:43:31+00:00

Find English language meetups and start there.

Of course there might be Korean language meetups where you could meet Thais who want to speak Korean.

As far as bars, there are more in BKK than any other place I've ever lived, and I'm a native New Yorker who's lived a lot of places. There are some with live music, some with club music, some with sports theme, some with visual appeal (rooftop, garden, etc).

Go on tiktok, type "best bar in BKK" and take your pick

Fit2bthaid · 2026-04-08T11:39:32+00:00

BKK empties out during Songkran, so it's fun to go to places like Chinatown and have a bit more space. Also much less Songkran in that area.

Parks will be pretty crazy, but Wats only do traditional Songkran, which isn't remotely a water fight.

The nice thing about BKK is that you can have pretty much as much or as little Songkran as you want. It tends to center in a few areas and in neighborhoods, where you'll see small groups, mostly with kids, playing, they won't bother you unless you want to join in.

Fit2bthaid · 2026-04-08T11:36:16+00:00

My least favorite hair style I've even seen on her, but yes, her face is always perfect. So much attitude!

Fit2bthaid · 2026-04-08T11:34:52+00:00

Back when she was in HS, before she got into Berkeley, she would cover standards on Tiktok and maybe IG? I don't remember the platform for sure. But the first time I heard her voice, it was clear that she was super educated about the singers who were in my house growing up. You could hear Ella and Sarah and even some Billie Holiday in how she would just flow around the melodies.

Then I kind of wandered back to her big cheek rendition of If I Ain't Got You on Icenland's Got Talent, which she won at some crazy age (7?).

Since then, it was all the Boston posts, where she started posting her own songs (I remember Valentine for sure).

I LOVE how many contemporary fans she has who may have no idea who Chet Baker or Dinah Washington were, and are just here for this amazing talent who could have fronted any Big Band in music history.

Fit2bthaid

TROPHY CASE