Gaybutton

Well. Taylorsquare, it seems like the time has come for you to provide the answer.

I'm not certain about that, but I do know that most farang who have sat through the movie had no trouble passing the test. Don't forget, on the strength of your Thai car license you might not have to sit through the movie anyway.

Can you give a URL for a web page you are translating? I've copied and pasted Thai into Google Translator several times, but the only results I've gotten so far is gibberish that makes no sense.

Fine. You didn't write those posts. Three guesses how much I care what a couple of idiots who I doubt I've ever even met have to say. Come to think of it, three guesses how much I care about anything you have to say. Obviously, for whatever your reasons are, you're trying to provoke me. I don't know why or where that's coming from all of a sudden, but it's not going to work. And, by the way, if I and/or my friends want to go to a buffet and "gorge," that's exactly what we'll do . . . with or without your approval.

I'm guessing that he, along with all the rest are already back in place or will be in a day or so.

It's on Second road, about 2 blocks south of Central Road (Pattaya Klang). You can't miss it. It's a tremendous building, also accessible from Beach Road. They do have a web site at http://www.centralfestival.co.th . Unfortunately nearly all of it is written in Thai.

If I've learned anything about buffets, I've learned the time to get there is when they first put out the food. The hot food is still hot and the cold food is still cold, and everything is at its peak quality. I've been lucky, I guess. So far I've never gotten sick from any buffets in all of Thailand.

Unless, of course, there's a second bottle . . .

Here's the infamous photo. Was it worth it? White House Aide Resigns over NY Flyover Sat May 9, 2009 By Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A White House military aide who authorized an Air Force flyover of New York that caused panic among some people in the city resigned on Friday. Louis Caldera said in a resignation letter to President Barack Obama that the controversy over the mission -- a photo shoot of a jumbo jet used as Air Force One with the Statue of Liberty in the background -- made it impossible for him to lead the White House Military Office. The flight over lower Manhattan for a photo shoot scared some New Yorkers who remembered the September 11 attacks in 2001 involving hijacked airliners that destroyed the World Trade Center. Some people panicked and evacuated office buildings when the planes flew over. Caldera had approved the mission. His resignation came on the same day Defense Secretary Robert Gates said in a letter to Senator John McCain that the photo shoot cost U.S. taxpayers as much as $357,000 (234,000 pounds). White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Obama had accepted the resignation. Obama had been described as furious when the incident occurred on April 27 and demanded a review. McCain, who lost to Obama in last year's presidential election and is the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, called the incident an "Air Farce 1 photo op." The report of the review, also released on Friday, said ultimately Caldera did not notify relevant White House officials about the flyover in advance. "When asked why he failed to do so, he did not offer a coherent explanation. He stated that it was not a conscious decision -- he did not intend not to notify them," it said. "Instead, he suggested that it may have been an oversight." Also released was a photo of the Air Force jet over the State of Liberty from the mission. Gates, providing details demanded by McCain in the wake of the incident, said the cost of a jumbo jet that is used as the president's plane, Air Force One, was estimated between $300,658 and $328,835. The cost of two accompanying F-16 jets was $28,177 for a total of $357,012, Gates said. REGRETS ANXIETY AND ALARM The Air Force's presidential airlift group planned the April 27 flight in part to get pictures of the planes flying with the Statue of Liberty and the New York skyline as a backdrop. Gates said in his letter the reaction to the low-flying planes was understandable and "we deeply regret the anxiety and alarm that resulted from this mission." Gates said the photo shoot was only part of the planes' mission, which also included practice instrument approaches and landings at Atlantic City International Airport. The entire mission had been coordinated with officials from the Federal Aviation Administration and air traffic control representatives in the New York area, he wrote. "I am concerned that this highly public and visible mission did not include an appropriate public affairs plan nor adequate review and approval by senior Air Force and DOD (Department of Defense) officials," Gates said. He said the incident was being reviewed carefully by defense officials.

I have to admit that I'm quite ignorant when it come to drugs (among other things). Are these 'date rape' drugs obtained legally in Thailand? Can these people just walk into a local pharmacy and walk out with these drugs? I wouldn't be surprised if the answer is yes. Every week there are news articles about arrests of users and sellers of Ya Ba, Ya Ice, and that sort of thing, but I don't recall ever seeing an article even mentioning the drugs listed above. So, where are these thieves obtaining these drugs?

The following appears in the BANGKOK POST: _____ Alongkorn Told to Cool It after Ruckus in Patpong By: MANOP THIP-OSOD Published: 9/05/2009 The Democrat Party has put the brakes on Deputy Commerce Minister Alongkorn Ponlaboot's crackdown on retailers of pirated goods and has asked him to target the producers instead. The move was announced yesterday by Democrat spokesman Buranaj Samuttaraks, after some 200 traders from the Patpong area gathered at the party's headquarters. The vendors complained that Commerce Ministry officials had over-reacted with their Wednesday-night crackdown on intellectual property violations on Patpong Road. "We will treat each side fairly," Dr Buranaj told the traders. The crackdown should be aimed at producers of pirated goods as they were the root cause of the problem, and it should be made sure that any action taken would not hurt tourism in anyway, said the spokesman. The Democrats will meet to discuss the matter again next Tuesday, in a bid to find softer ways to deal with traders selling pirated goods in Bangkok. Wednesday night's operation ended in a brawl when traders clashed with officials who confiscated the illegal goods, mostly counterfeit bags and clothes, and loaded them into four vans. About 10 officials were injured in the melee. The traders were aware of their wrongdoing, but said they want the government to adopt a more peaceful approach. Mr Alongkorn, who heads the state's anti-piracy campaign, previously said the ministry would deal harshly with intellectual property violators by launching raids every two days. The Patpong shopping area would not be spared. The deputy minister, who is visiting South Africa, could not be reached for comment yesterday. Meanwhile, the police have set up an inquiry panel to question Bang Rak police chief Pol Col Ekachai Bunwisut, as Patpong falls under his jurisdiction. He has been heavily criticised for turning a blind eye to piracy in his district, said Metropolitan Police Bureau chief Pol Lt Gen Worapong Chewpreecha. But no senior officers have been transferred from Bang Rak district so far, deputy city police chief Wiboon Bangtamai said. Preventing the sale of pirated goods is a police officer's duty, but the force deals with the matter in a different manner from commerce officials, Pol Maj Gen Wiboon said. Officers usually begin their action once they receive complaints from manufacturers and then raid the production sites or warehouses of the pirates. "Arresting small street sellers would face resistance," he said. Despite attempts to negotiate and warn the retailers, Pol Maj Gen Wiboon said that sometimes the arrests also led to unexpected injuries and deaths.

If nothing else, let's get the name right. Many people are still confused. The restaurant is not White Knight. It's White Night - without the 'K.' While we're at it, it's Sunee Plaza, not Sunnee or Sunny Plaza. Just in case you wanted to know . . .

Where does the article say that?

One of the more common methods of larceny I read about, including an article today, is someone takes a prostitute, whether male, female, TV, or whatever (usually picked up on Beach road or Walking Street) to his room. Then the thief puts some sort of drug into the victim's drink. In a short while the victim passes out and remains unconscious for hours. By the time the victim wakes up, the thief is long gone, along with the victim's valuables. What drug(s) are these thieves using to do that? Where do they get it?

He's not the one I mean.

That's an interestingly ignorant comment, MonkeySee. I'm surprised you would write such a thing. That's a side of you I haven't seen before and I'm sorry to see it now. For your information, that article was written by AFP. AFP stands for "Agence France-Presse," a French news organization. If you are talking about the man who made the swim, yes he's American. Please show me where the article indicates he is a reporter. I missed it. As far as I can tell, he's an individual lone nut who could have been from anywhere. In other words, I fail to see anything at all, either in the source of the article or in the content of the article, that even hints that he's a reporter. I don't mind at all the insults directed toward Americans when they are warranted, but I do get annoyed when an insult comes from out of nowhere, for no reason. I get a little tired of people who think it's appropriate to insult people based solely upon where they come from. I'm an American. I'm neither proud of it nor ashamed of it. It's simply the country in which I was born and raised. Certainly America has its problems and flaws. I'm glad to know your home country is free of similar shortcomings.

The way I heard it, he retired.

I get it. In other words, we should all eat as you do and better still, look like you. In case you hadn't noticed, plenty of people who ate at the White Night buffet, and also eat at other buffets, are not overweight at all and get plenty of exercise. Also, just because people may be "extravagantly overweight," as you put it, that doesn't mean they go into buffets and eat like there's no tomorrow or like pigs at a trough. However, it's always nice to see you here every once in a blue moon posting really helpful and necessary remarks like that. Aren't you going to post another one of your statistical notes, complete with graphics, about how often I post and how many posts I've written?

I trust you're not among them . . . I think the point is that Thailand has picked, shall we say, an interesting moment to impose a new tax, even if it's a small one. To most people reading this board it's not exactly going to break the bank, but a great many Thais are struggling just to have a few baht. For many, drinking, usually with friends, is the only entertainment outlet they can afford at all and, as far as I can tell, getting drunk is as ingrained into the culture, especially the uneducated rural poor, as sending money home to mama is ingrained in the culture of most of the boys. They're the ones who will suffer from this and I suspect many are going to resort to moonshine, which can be a dangerous thing to do.

Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your point of view, as long as there is money to be made the USA can complain about it from now until the Second Coming, but I seriously doubt much will ever really be done to stop it any more than they can stop the drug trade. In all of Thailand, I know of only one shop at which legitimate DVDs are even available at all. The average price for a legitimate imported DVD there is between US $30 to US$50, on up. Meanwhile, DVDs bought from most of the vendors cost 100 baht. Three guesses who will prevail.

I'm glad you managed to get things set up the way you want and I'm sure your Thai friend is delighted to have a computer. I'm sure between friends, Internet shops, etc, it won't be very long before he's an expert. I hope everything works out well for the two of you and doing this for him really was worth it in the long run. Please keep us informed.

The following appears in the BANGKOK POST: _____ US Man Swims Lake to Meet Suu Kyi By: AFP Published: 8/05/2009 Rangoon - Burmese authorities have arrested an American who swam across a lake to meet opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and stayed 48 hours in her off-limits compound where she is under house arrest, officials said. State media said the man, identified as John Willian Yeattaw, spent two days at the house in the main city of Rangoon before security forces plucked him from the water as he left at dawn on Wednesday. The man confessed that he had arrived in Rangoon on a tourist visa on May 2, then swam to the compound the following night "and secretly entered the house and stayed there", the New Light of Myanmar newspaper said. Burmese official sources speaking on condition of anonymity confirmed the account and said that the man had succeeded in meeting Mrs Suu Kyi during his time at the house. He then left late on May 5 and "was found and arrested by the security force while he was swimming back out of the lake" at about 5:30am on Wednesday "with the help of a five-litre drinking water bottle", the paper added. It said authorities confiscated his passport and a black haversack, torch, folding pliers, a camera, two US $100 bills and some Burmese currency notes. An investigation was under way to determine the motive of the man, who is aged 53 and was a United States national, officials said, giving no further details of the incident. Witnesses said more than 30 police officers entered Mrs Suu Kyi's residence after the story broke on Thursday and security forces blocked off the roads leading to her house. The US embassy said it was trying to find out more. "We have seen the article this morning," a spokesman said. "We don't have any more information. We are trying to learn more information ourselves." The incident would be the first time that anyone has sneaked into Mrs Suu Kyi's family compound, which is normally off-limits. Mrs Suu Kyi has spent most of the past 19 years under house arrest in Rangoon, where she lives with her two maids, and she is allowed only occasional visits from her doctor and lawyer. Nyan Win, a spokesman from Mrs Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD), said the incident exposed security concerns. "It shows the security weakness at Daw Suu Kyi's compound... we are worried for Daw Suu Kyi's security," he said. He was unable to confirm whether the US national had met Mrs Suu Kyi, saying that he only had the local newspaper reports to go on. Mrs Suu Kyi's doctor visited the house later on Thursday to carry out her regular medical check-up but it was unclear if he had been able to visit her, Nyan Win said. Official sources said the doctor waited for several hours but was eventually denied permission to enter. The 63-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate's latest period of incarceration expires at the end of May and authorities have not said yet if they intend to extend her sentence. Her party said on Tuesday the government had rejected a separate legal appeal against her detention. The appeal was lodged last year after Mrs Suu Kyi was given an intravenous drip by her doctor after refusing food deliveries for a month. The NLD won a landslide victory in elections in 1990 but the military, which has ruled the impoverished country with an iron rod since 1962, never allowed it to take office.

That's right. All of Thailand.

Here's the BANGKOK POST version of the story: _____ Government Takes Tough Stand on Pirate Goods Published: 7/05/2009 at 06:11 PM The current crackdown on intellectual property violations will continue, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said on Thursday, echoing the tough stance of Commerce Minister Alongkorn Ponlaboot who vowed earlier in the day to conduct raids on sellers of pirate goods every two days. Mr Alongkorn also pledged to make sure ministry officials display identification before commencing arrests and confiscating goods. The government's hardening of its stance follows a raid on vendors in Patpong on Wednesday night and a clash which led to 11 people being injured. Vendors filed a series of police complaints against commerce officials, accusing them of assault, damaging property and abuse of authority. Mr Alongkorn said the public must view Wednesday night’s incident fairly as officials on the raid also suffered serious injuries. Mr Abhisit said he would be going over reports of the incident to determine if officials acted inappropriately, which might prompt a revision of raid procedure. Venders clashed violently with ministry officials in Bangkok’s tourist centre of Patpong. There were reports of gunshots being fired into the air to scare off the officials. About 200 vendors and 50 commerce officials were involved in the conflict, which erupted after officials raided sellers’ booths to arrest them for intellectual property violations and confiscated their goods. Officials arrested four sellers and made off with four vans loaded with confiscated counterfeit goods, mostly pirate copies of bags and clothes. The arrested vendors were taken to Bang Rak police station. They were given bail on Thursday morning. Another vendor under charge was being treated for his wounds at hospital. Other vendors shortly afterwards marched to Bang Rak police station to file charges against the commerce officials. They accused them of assault and causing damage to property. Some sellers, covered in blood smears, told reporters they were assaulted by the raiding party. Market vendors continued to file charges with police throughout Thursday. National police chief Gen Patcharawat Wongsuwan said he instructed the chief of Bangkok police to closely supervise all issues relating to the incident. Pol Gen Patcharawat said he would examine reports that Central Investigation Bureau police took part in the raid.

10 baht? You think that's all it will be?