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Despite the problems and complaints regarding life in Thailand, I think it can be said that Thailand is one of the most progressive countries in the world, perhaps the most progressive, regarding the rights, needs, and tolerance of those who are not heterosexual, i.e. gay and transgender. While some may regard it as weird that transgender toilets are beginning to appear in Thailand, in my opinion they represent at least someone recognizing that heterosexuality is not the only lifestyle available to humans. The following appears in the BBC NEWS. Also, have a look at the link to the article. There is a video about this included in the article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7529227.stm _____ Thai School Offers Transsexual Toilet By Jonathan Head BBC News, north-east Thailand With its spacious, tree-lined grounds and slightly threadbare classrooms, there is nothing obviously unusual about the Kampang Secondary School. It is situated in Thailand's impoverished north-east, and most of the pupils are the children of farmers. Every morning at 0800 they all gather outside to sing the national anthem and watch the flag being raised. Then they have a chance to use the toilets, before heading off the first classes of the day. Kampang is proud of its toilets. Spotless, and surrounded by flowering tropical plants, they have won national awards for cleanliness. But there is something else about them too. Between the girls' toilet and the boys', there is one signposted with a half-man, half-woman figure in blue and red. This is the transsexual toilet, and outside, in front of the mirrors, some decidedly girly-looking teenage boys preen their hair and apply face cream. 'Uncomfortable' The headteacher, Sitisak Sumontha, estimates that in any year between 10% and 20% of his boys consider themselves to be transgender - boys who would rather be girls. "They used to be teased every time they used the boys' toilets," he said, "so they started using the girls' toilets instead. But that made the girls feel uncomfortable. It made these boys unhappy, and started to affect their work." So the school offered to build the transgender boys their own facility, and they welcomed it. Triwate Phamanee is a slightly built 13-year-old who is adamant that he will one day change his gender. "We're not boys," he told me, "so we don't want to use the boys' toilet - we want them to know we are transsexuals." Vichai Saengsakul, 15, agrees. "People need to know that being a transsexual is not a joke," he says, "it's the way we want to live our lives. That's why we're grateful for what the school has done." Normal treatment The transgender boys in Kampang tend to stick together as a group, practicing their somewhat exaggerated feminine mannerisms together and generally camping it up. They still have to wear male uniforms, make-up is not allowed (although some manage to sneak in a touch of lipstick and mascara), and of course sex-change surgery is out of the question at this age - the youngest self-declared transsexual is 12. But they appear to be treated perfectly normally by other pupils and teachers alike. I asked the headmaster whether they were not too young to be making decisions about their gender. He said that, in his 35 years of working in the Thai education system, he had come across many boys like this, and they never changed. Many go on as adults to have sex-change surgery, while others will live as gay men, he said. Thailand is well known for its tolerance of transgender men, and they are very visible in everyday life. Sex-change surgery has become a speciality of the Thai health industry, and it is relatively inexpensive; patients come here from all over the world for the operation. 'Sweet and soft' The Kampang school's initiative, far from stirring up controversy, has instead prompted a discussion in other schools over whether they should be providing the same facilities. A ratio of 10% to 20% of boys calling themselves transsexual in a provincial high school does seem very high, but Mr Sitisak assured me that in his experience it was not unusual. When [the pupils grow up] they won't want to go into a transgender toilet because they will want to be accepted as a woman - so they will go to the womens toilet. Which brought up a question that has been rattling around my head ever since I first lived in Thailand seven years ago: Why do so many Thai men want to become women? I asked Suttirat Simsiriwong, who became a campaigner for transgender rights after she was barred entry to a nightclub at an international hotel in Bangkok last year. Poised, articulate and very feminine, it is hard to tell that she was not born a woman. "Maybe the numbers of gays, of people with sexual identity issues, might be the same as in other countries," said Suttirat, "but because Thai society and culture tend to be very sweet, very soft, and the men can be really feminine, if we tend to be gay, many of us tend to be transgender." So does building a special toilet in school advance the cause of winning wider acceptance for transsexuals? "At that age it's good for them to have a specific place," she said. "But when they graduate from school or university, they will know how to have medical treatment. They won't want to go into a transgender toilet because they will want to be accepted as a woman - so they will go to the women's toilet." Discrimination remains Tolerance, said Suttirat, is not the same thing as acceptance. Despite their high profile in Thailand, transsexuals complain that they are still stereotyped - they can find work easily enough as entertainers, in the beauty industry, the media, or as prostitutes, but it is much harder to become a transgender lawyer or investment banker. And their biggest complaint is that they cannot change their legal status. Despite a proposal during the drafting of a new constitution last year, to allow them to change the gender on their identity cards, this has not yet been approved.

Nok Air will resume limited service to Phuket beginning Saturday, August 9. The following appears in the Phuket Gazette ( see http://www.phuketgazette.net/dailynews/index.asp?id=6692 ): _____ Nok Air Resumes Phuket Service PHUKET CITY: Nok Air is resuming twice-weekly flights to Phuket from Bangkok following media reports of Phuket-bound tourists stranded in Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok. The Phuket Gazette's report as well as other media reports were used by the board in their decision making, Nok Air media and public relations representative Dechavut Vuttisilp told the Gazette. The limited service, which resumes on August 9, is scheduled to operate on Saturdays and Sundays only. Flights depart from Don Muang airport in Bangkok to Phuket International Airport (PIA) at 9.15 am, with the return leg taking off from PIA at 11.05 am. However, the Sunday flight for this week will be moved to Tuesday, August 12 to accommodate those wishing to enjoy Mother's Day in Phuket. For the rest of August the flights will be on Saturdays and Sundays. Many Phuket-bound tourists who already faced limited flight options following the suspension of One-Two-Go's services on July 22 were stranded in Bangkok when Nok Air suspended its Bangkok-Phuket service on August 1. The move followed Nok Air's halt of its Krabi-Bangkok service on July 1. At that time, Nok Air issued no official statement regarding its marketing strategies, but a source at the budget airline told the Gazette that people would be able to figure it out if they looked carefully at what the airline was doing. Nok Air also suspended its loss-ridden Phuket-Haad Yai service November last year after a six-month trial period found there were not enough passengers to continue it. It now remains impossible to fly between the South's two major airports, which for decades had regularly-scheduled services. Angry Finnish tourist Arto Tiitinen called from Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok on August 2 to inform the Gazette that many other irate Phuket-bound tourists were awaiting standby flights. "I'm surprised that there are not extra flights; now my family must holiday elsewhere. I have no problem with money, it's just that there aren't any tickets to Phuket available for now at any price," he said, adding that he would instead take his family to Chiang Mai for a holiday. The Gazette checked the AirAsia website that day, which showed that the airline's seven daily flights to Phuket from Suvarnabhumi were fully booked until Tuesday, August 5. Thai Airways continues to fly two or three flights daily to Phuket from Don Muang and six flights a day from Suvarnabhumi. Nok Air, which used Don Mueang International Airport as its main base, started operations in July 2004. Owned 39% by Thai Airways International, the low-cost carrier was set up to compete with the aggressive expansion of rival low-cost carrier Thai AirAsia. As it celebrates its 4th anniversary, the carrier has also relaunched its "Nok Gives Life" project. With "Nok Gives Life" the airline works to raise funds for the Cardiac Children Foundation of Thailand, established Under the Royal Patronage of HRH Princess Galyani Vadhana. Funds raised enable life-saving surgery and treatment for young heart patients.

Our dear friends and guests, Please be informed of our new Gourmet Set Menu serving from August 02. through 15 available at Casa Pascal Only. Weekly Set Menu serving from August 05 ~ 18 avaiable at both Casa Pascal and Poseidon. August 02 ~ 15 Gourmet Set Menu House Champagne *** Amuse Bouche *** White Wine Cackle Berry Chardonnay, Australia 2004 Phuket Lobster Salad with sautéed Provencale Mushrooms *** Tomato flavored Vegetables Soup *** White Asparagus and Parma Ham in Orange Mousseline *** Apple Calvados Sherbet *** Red Wine Sea Horse Bay, Shiraz, Australia,2006 Tian of Grouper and Egg Plant in Lemon Mint Butter Sauce or Oven–baked Beef- , Chicken- and Lamb Mignons roasted Artichokes and Shallots in red Wine Reduction *** Rum flavored Parfait of exotic Fruits or Selection of premium international Cheese *** Coffee or Tea Calvados, Grappa, Remy Martin, Williams Food only 1,450 Baht net (31.60 Є), Menu with Unlimited Beverages 2,900 Baht net (63.20 Є) <Weekly Special August 5. – August 11. > APPETIZER Cervelas Salad with Gherkins, Onions and Tomatoes SOUP Potato & Garlic Cream Soup MAIN COURSE Beef Skewer with Pepper Corn Sauce, Vegetables and Noodles or Pacific Dory Filet pan-fried in Butter and Almonds served with boiled Potatoes DESSERT Banana Split or Coffee or Tea <Weekly Special August 12. – August 18. > APPETIZER Tuna Tatar on Salad of assorted grilled Vegetables SOUP Cold Cucumber Soup with Dill and Walnuts MAIN COURSE Chicken stuffed with Prunes Polenta and Ratatouille or Oven-baked Sea Bass with Herbs, Olive Oil, Lemon and Vegetables accompanied by boiled Potatoes DESSERT Swiss Chocolate Mousse or Coffee or Tea WINES White Wine : Monte Vino Bianco, Italy Red Wine : Monte Vino Rosso, Italy Food only 3-Course @ 580 Baht net 4-Course @ 680 Baht net Food & unlimited Wine 3-Course @ 950 Baht net 4-Course @ 1,300 Baht net *** All prices are including 7% VAT. Service tip is at your own discretion *** For reservation at Casa Pascal (038) 723 660 Fax (038) 723 659 For reservation at Poseidon (038) 303 300 Fax (038) 303 336 E-mail: info@restaurant-pattya.com For more information : www.restaurant-pattaya.com

Thank you very much. I'm certainly looking forward to giving it a try.

Also, the Pattaya Vegetarian Club meets at Café New Orleans, of all places, on the second Tuesday of every month. The group meets upstairs and provides a wonderful all-vegetarian buffet. It's a grand total of 99 baht for it. It's been about a year since I last went, so the price may have increased by now. I don't know. You do not have to be a member, but you do have to go to Café New Orleans and buy your ticket in advance. The dinner always starts at 6:00 PM. If you are interested I suggest getting your ticket well in advance. The tickets always get sold out quickly.

"Gulag Archipelago" Author Dies In Russia (AP) Alexander Solzhenitsyn, the Nobel Prize-winning author whose books chronicled the horrors of the Soviet gulag system, has died of heart failure, his son said Monday. He was 89. Stepan Solzhenitsyn told The Associated Press his father died late Sunday, but declined further comment. Solzhenitsyn's unflinching accounts of torment and survival in the Soviet Union's slave labor camps riveted his countrymen, whose secret history he exposed. They earned him 20 years of bitter exile, but international renown. And they inspired millions, perhaps, with the knowledge that one person's courage and integrity could, in the end, defeat the totalitarian machinery of an empire. Beginning with the 1962 short novel "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich," Solzhenitsyn devoted himself to describing what he called the human "meat grinder" that had caught him along with millions of other Soviet citizens: capricious arrests, often for trifling and seemingly absurd reasons, followed by sentences to slave labor camps where cold, starvation and punishing work crushed inmates physically and spiritually. His "Gulag Archipelago" trilogy of the 1970s shocked readers by describing the savagery of the Soviet state under the dictator Josef Stalin. It helped erase lingering sympathy for the Soviet Union among many leftist intellectuals, especially in Europe. But his account of that secret system of prison camps was also inspiring in its description of how one person - Solzhenitsyn himself - survived, physically and spiritually, in a penal system of soul-crushing hardship and injustice. The West offered him shelter and accolades. But Solzhenitsyn's refusal to bend despite enormous pressure, perhaps, also gave him the courage to criticize Western culture for what he considered its weakness and decadence.

Morgan Freeman Hospitalized after Car Wreck (CNN) -- Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman was in serious condition but in "good spirits" at a Tennessee hospital after being involved in a car wreck in northern Mississippi Sunday night, his business partner said. Freeman, 71, broke his left upper arm and suffered several other fractures and neck and shoulder injuries in the wreck, said Bill Luckett, an attorney from Clarksdale, Mississippi. A woman who also was in the car was taken to the same hospital, said Angie Underwood, a spokeswoman for the Mississippi Highway Patrol. No information on her condition was released. Freeman could have surgery as early as Monday evening and could need three to four months to recover, Luckett told reporters outside the Regional Medical Center in Memphis, Tennessee. "He's in good spirits, but he's in some pain," said Luckett, who owns a restaurant and blues club with Freeman in Clarksdale. Underwood said the wreck happened at about 11:30 p.m. Sunday on a state highway about five miles west of Charleston, Mississippi, where Freeman has a home. According to The Associated Press, Mississippi Highway Patrol spokesman Sgt. Ben Williams said Freeman was driving a 1997 Nissan Maxima belonging to Demaris Meyer of Memphis when the car left a rural highway and flipped several times shortly before midnight Sunday. "There's no indication that either alcohol or drugs were involved," Williams said, according to the AP. Williams said Meyer was in the car, and that both she and Freeman were wearing seat belts, Williams said. Clay McFerrin, editor of the Sun Sentinel in Charleston, Mississippi, told the AP that emergency personnel "had to use the jaws of life to extract him from the vehicle." "He was lucid, conscious," McFerrin told the AP. "He was talking, joking with some of the rescue workers at one point." McFerrin, who told the AP he arrived at the accident scene not long after the incident, said bystanders were trying to get a look at the actor. When one person tried to snap a photo with a cell phone camera, Freeman joked, "no freebies, no freebies," McFerrin told the AP. The cause of the wreck is under investigation, Underwood said. Milla Borden, spokeswoman for the Memphis hospital, confirmed that Freeman was in serious condition there Monday. Freeman was headed to his Charleston home when the wreck happened, said Luckett, who added that the woman in the car "is a mutual friend of ours." Both had been at Luckett's home in Clarksdale -- about 35 miles northwest of the wreck site -- before the crash occurred, Luckett said. Freeman won an Academy Award for best supporting actor in 2005 for his role in the gritty boxing film "Million Dollar Baby." He has been nominated for Oscars three other times, for the movies "Street Smart," "Driving Miss Daisy" and "The Shawshank Redemption." He's starring in two successful summer films, the hitman drama "Wanted" and the blockbuster "The Dark Knight." He recently starred on Broadway in a production of the Clifford Odets play "The Country Girl." He was born in Memphis and grew up in the Mississippi Delta region, moving back to open his blues club, Ground Zero, and a restaurant in Clarksdale in 2001. In a 2005 interview with CNN, he said returning to the area was "one of the smartest moves I've made in life." "My aim in life, when I graduated from high school, was to get out of Mississippi," he said. "I started coming back in about 1979, because my parents moved back, which I couldn't understand. What in the world would make you come back here? It took me about 20 years to figure that out." Freeman's nonprofit foundation has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to schools in the historically poor region, and he established the club in part to preserve the Delta's musical heritage.

The following two stories appear in the BANGKOK POST: _____ Cambodia Starts Squabble over Second Temple (BangkokPost.com, Agencies) - Cambodia on Sunday escalated the border dispute over the Preah Vihear temple, accusing Thai troops of "occupying" a temple far to the west, long considered a totally different matter. About 70 Thais have been at the 13th Century Ta Muen Thom temple complex in Surin province "since Thursday", a Cambodian spokesman in Phnom Penh claimed. But Thai Foreign Minister Tej Bunnag said no troops have moved into the area. Cambodia and spokesman Sim Sokha appeared to be linking the Preah Vihear and Ta Muen Thom disputes. Although both are in border areas, they are not connected in either distant or recent history - until now. On the ground, military commanders were more relaxed and there was no apparent tension at the site. "We have a paramilitary post which has been there for several years," said Thai Army Maj Gen Sujit Sithiprabha, commander for the Cambodian border. "Ta Muen Thom belongs to us. We have to have soldiers to take care of the area which belongs to us." Var Kimhong, chairman of the Cambodia Border Committee, told the AFP news agency that Thai soldiers were stationed in the ruin, but said this was "not a new thing". "Ta Muen is in our territory, but since 1998 Thailand took a chance to occupy it by claiming that they came to conserve it." Ta Muen Thom is a temple from the height of the Khmer empire, and part of the outlying Angkor Wat complex opposite Thailand's northeast, or Isan region. An Associated Press report from Cambodia on Sunday quoted Chuch Phoeun of the Cambodian Ministry of Culture as saying it was built in the 13th century as a rest house along a road linking the ancient Angkor city with what is now northeastern Thailand. Ta Muen Thom is in a so-called "white zone" under dispute by the neighbouring countries, where Surin abuts the border of Cambodia`s Oddar Meanchey Cambodian authorities appear to be stepping up nationalist sentiment, despite earlier predictions they would try to cool the Preah Vihear and other border disputes following last week's general election, won handily by Prime Minister Hun Sen. Thai merchants and diplomats were forced to call off two planned exhibitions and sales of Thai fruit and other goods this week. Expo officials cited growing anti-Thai sentiment in Cambodia. Last week Hun Sen's wife hosted a huge Preah Vihear temple ritual, seen by some as a major provocation, after Mr Tej and his Cambodian counterpart Hor Namhong negotiated a troop pullback at the disputed temple grounds. In Phnom Penh on Sunday, Maj Sim Sokha, a Cambodian border-protection officer, claimed that Thai soldiers have been deployed in an 80-yard radius around the Ta Muen Thom temple grounds and have prevented Cambodian troops from entering. About 40 Cambodian soldiers are in close proximity to the Thai troops, he said. Mr Tej denied there had been any troop movements by either side at the Surin province border site. Sim Sokha said Thai troops had been deployed in an 80-metre radius around the Ta Muen Thom temple grounds, and had prevented Cambodian troops from entering. He said about 40 Cambodian soldiers were "in close proximity" to the Thai troops, but had been ordered to exercise restraint while the government tries to resolve the issue with Thailand. Last Friday, the French and Japanese ambassadors discussed the border problem with Mr Tej at the foreign ministry. The Preah Vihear dispute originates in French colonial maps, and Japanese actions when it occupied Cambodia during World War Two. Mr Tej, who assumed the ministerial post July 27, told Ambassador Laurent Bili that France could now act as a bridge in solving the temple row. Japanese ambassador to Thailand Hideaki Kobayashi supported bilateral efforts to solve the temple problem, and would be willing to assist in clearing landmines around the disputed area, according to a report by official Thai News Agency. In addition, US ambassador Eric John pledged American "support for bilateral talks between Thailand and Cambodia to peacefully resolve the situation in the border area adjacent to" Preah Vihear. The US is interested in how the dispute could affect the visit on Wednesday of President George W. Bush. The "US stood ready to cooperate and work closely with Thailand to further strengthen the two countries' relations," the US diplomat said. ____________________ New Temple Uproar Phnom Penh - Reports that a second sacred temple on the Thai- Cambodian border has been occupied by Thai troops has drawn an angry reaction from the public, Cambodian media reported Sunday. Thai Foreign Minister Tej Bunnag said no troops have moved into the area. Ta Muen Thom temple, at the border of Surin province and Cambodia's Banteay Meanchey, has been manned by Thai troops for more than five years, the chairman of the government's border committee, Var Kimhong, told locally broadcast Radio France Internationale (RFI). However the nation's largest selling newspaper, Rasmei Kampuchea, as well as the French-funded RFI and US-funded Radio Free Asia began running reports of its alleged occupation Sunday. Kimhong said there was no legal doubt Ta Muen Thom was Cambodian. Public outrage has grown steadily since areas around Preah Vihear temple, which Cambodia says are sovereign and Thailand says are disputed, were occupied by Thai troops on July 15, days after it was declared a Unesco World Heritage Site against Thai wishes. At a press conference held just before national elections last month, Cambodian government spokesman Khieu Kanharith declined to answer a question on whether troop build-ups had also occurred on the Thai border with Banteay Meanchey. The Cambodian government has tried to dampen the nationalist sentiment sweeping the country and urged the public to allow bilateral diplomacy to work, or, failing that, UN mediation. In 2003 an angry mob torched the Thai embassy and several businesses over a false story a Thai actress had claimed the nation's icon, Angkor Wat temple, was Thai - a serious setback for trade and diplomatic relations. Claims published in the Thai media accusing Cambodia's First Lady Bun Rany, wife of Prime Minister Hun Sen, of leading a black magic ritual when she hosted a Buddhist ceremony attended by more than 1,000 people at Preah Vihear Friday have not helped. To be accused of sorcery is regarded as a terrible insult by Cambodians, who regularly kill those accused of it. (dpa)

That's easy. At the zoo, you can't take the animals off . . .

I don't think he meant it that way. You were looking for things to do and he merely made some suggestions. Also, you did not say that you were looking for things uniquely Thai or cultural. A few years ago I wrote a series of articles I called "Day Trippin'." If you will send me an Email at gaybutton@gmail.com I'll be happy to send them to you. They are dated, but the basic information is still valid. Those articles will answer most of your questions about things to do in the Pattaya area besides beach and bars. Anyone who wants any of my old articles is welcome to them. Also, as I usually do, if someone coming to Pattaya for the first time wishes to contact me, since I have a car, I'll be happy to take them around personally. Because of fuel prices these days, I do ask that they cover the cost of fuel if they wish to take me up on the offer.

"I love America. I love the freedom we used to have." - George Carlin

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...isrc=newsletter Travelers' Laptops May Be Detained At Border No Suspicion Required Under DHS Policies By Ellen Nakashima Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, August 1, 2008; Page A01 Federal agents may take a traveler's laptop computer or other electronic device to an off-site location for an unspecified period of time without any suspicion of wrongdoing, as part of border search policies the Department of Homeland Security recently disclosed. Also, officials may share copies of the laptop's contents with other agencies and private entities for language translation, data decryption or other reasons, according to the policies, dated July 16 and issued by two DHS agencies, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "The policies . . . are truly alarming," said Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.), who is probing the government's border search practices. He said he intends to introduce legislation soon that would require reasonable suspicion for border searches, as well as prohibit profiling on race, religion or national origin. DHS officials said the newly disclosed policies -- which apply to anyone entering the country, including U.S. citizens -- are reasonable and necessary to prevent terrorism. Officials said such procedures have long been in place but were disclosed last month because of public interest in the matter. Civil liberties and business travel groups have pressed the government to disclose its procedures as an increasing number of international travelers have reported that their laptops, cellphones and other digital devices had been taken -- for months, in at least one case -- and their contents examined. The policies state that officers may "detain" laptops "for a reasonable period of time" to "review and analyze information." This may take place "absent individualized suspicion." The policies cover "any device capable of storing information in digital or analog form," including hard drives, flash drives, cellphones, iPods, pagers, beepers, and video and audio tapes. They also cover "all papers and other written documentation," including books, pamphlets and "written materials commonly referred to as 'pocket trash' or 'pocket litter.' " Reasonable measures must be taken to protect business information and attorney-client privileged material, the policies say, but there is no specific mention of the handling of personal data such as medical and financial records. When a review is completed and no probable cause exists to keep the information, any copies of the data must be destroyed. Copies sent to non-federal entities must be returned to DHS. But the documents specify that there is no limitation on authorities keeping written notes or reports about the materials. "They're saying they can rifle through all the information in a traveler's laptop without having a smidgen of evidence that the traveler is breaking the law," said Greg Nojeim, senior counsel at the Center for Democracy and Technology. Notably, he said, the policies "don't establish any criteria for whose computer can be searched." Customs Deputy Commissioner Jayson P. Ahern said the efforts "do not infringe on Americans' privacy." In a statement submitted to Feingold for a June hearing on the issue, he noted that the executive branch has long had "plenary authority to conduct routine searches and seizures at the border without probable cause or a warrant" to prevent drugs and other contraband from entering the country. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff wrote in an opinion piece published last month in USA Today that "the most dangerous contraband is often contained in laptop computers or other electronic devices." Searches have uncovered "violent jihadist materials" as well as images of child pornography, he wrote. With about 400 million travelers entering the country each year, "as a practical matter, travelers only go to secondary [for a more thorough examination] when there is some level of suspicion," Chertoff wrote. "Yet legislation locking in a particular standard for searches would have a dangerous, chilling effect as officers' often split-second assessments are second-guessed." In April, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in San Francisco upheld the government's power to conduct searches of an international traveler's laptop without suspicion of wrongdoing. The Customs policy can be viewed at: http://www.cbp.gov/linkhandler/cgov/travel...h_authority.pdf.

I'll let someone else address your other questions. As for ID cards, under Thai law a foreigner must have his passport with him at all times. Most people don't do that, however, for fear of losing it. There are photo shops all over the place and you won't have any problem finding one. They can make an ID card size copy of the passport pages the police would want to see if you are stopped. They'll make the card and laminate it for you at a very minimal cost. In most cases that is acceptable, although you should be aware that the police do not have to accept that if they choose not to. However, I do not know of any cases in which a farang was stopped and the laminated card was not accepted. That should be good enough, but I won't guarantee it. In most cases, the laminated card is acceptable. However, when it comes to checking in to a hotel and cashing travel checks, you definitely must have your actual passport with you.

What about S.T.E.F. ?: Sexy To Everyone, Fantastic equipment.

This evening some friends and I attended this event. It was really wonderful. The restaurant was packed. Not an empty seat in the house. The buffet items were set up outside. The Swiss MC delivered a short speech, first in German, followed by English. Then the buffet was opened. We really enjoyed it and it certainly seemed as if everyone in the restaurant also thoroughly enjoyed it. Pascal's staff provides top quality service and their cooks prepared everything to perfection. One of the people present was a British translator for the group, fluent in German. He said they do this sort of event two or three times per year. This is the first time it has been done as a buffet and the first time it has been open to the public, rather than exclusively the membership. Look for something about it in next week's PATTAYA MAIL. Their reporters and cameramen showed up for a while and interviewed a few people outside. I hope the next time they have an event like this they open it to the public and let all of us know about it. It's quite different and quite a treat. Of course, at Casa Pascal everything is first quality. I don't know how they did it at this price. If they do more of these events, if you are fortunate enough to be in Pattaya it's something you don't want to miss.

I have a feeling if I simply told this story, nobody would believe me. Even though it appears in the PATTAYA DAILY NEWS, it's still unbelievable! Have a look for yourself: http://www.pattayadailynews.com/shownews.p...NEWS=0000006786

I wonder what John Bobbitt would have to say about that.

That proves my point, I think. If you have trouble at one branch, try another. Chances are very good that you'll get a completely different answer.

I'm sorry my status as moderator, according to you, disqualifies me as a person who is allowed to comment, express my opinion, and disagree with you, just as anyone else can do. I'm fine as a moderator as long as my opinion agrees with yours. So be it. There are several other boards out there on which you can post. Try the Sawatdee board. I don't post on that board, so you can post there to your heart's content without worrying about a reply from me.

Thank you. There are plenty of people out there who would vehemently disagree with that comment, but I appreciate it.

Can you tell us how much these types of phones cost?

I can't answer the rest of your questions, but as for why boys do this, I've noticed a great many Thai boys listen to their friends, rather than doctors or anybody else, when it comes to silicone, hormone pills, implants, tattoos, and Lord-knows-what. I would be willing to bet that the boy you met had a friend somewhere who told him he could enhance his size by doing this.

Maybe that's yet another reason to open a Thai bank account. If you have a Thai bank account with online banking, you can add to your 1-2-Call online, with as little as 50 baht. Obviously, with online banking you can do that from anywhere in the world.

Maybe they ought to try the kind of thing most of us receive in spam Emails . . . Dr. Mweleke Mwenene from Nigeria, who is going to deposit three hundred trillion dollars into your bank account to get the money out. We've all received those kinds of Emails. Well, if Thaksin ever needs to deposit 2-billion US dollars into someone's bank account, I volunteer . . .

It's hard to predict what will happen now. Some are saying that neither she nor Thaksin, if he too ends up convicted, will ever serve a day in prison. Apparently, despite the verdict, they are still allowed to leave Thailand. Some say that is tantamount to exiling them, but I wonder what will happen if they do leave, refuse to return, and then their passports are revoked.