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Note from GB: It's difficult to be certain, at least based on my interpretation of this article, whether the ban includes the bars. The article does not specifically mention bars. We'll know soon enough. The following appears in THE NATION: _____ Smokers Forbidden to Lght Up in Public Areas From now on, smokers will find it harder than ever to find a place to light up because every public area will be a smoke-free zone following the latest ministerial order from the Public Health Minister. According to the order, which takes effect today, offenders will face a Bt2,000 fine, while owners who allow smoking on their premises or fail to place a no-smoking notice will be charged up to Bt20,000. The ban forbids smoking on public transport, at bus stops, in elevators, public phone booths, libraries, theatres, children's playgrounds, drugstores, meeting rooms, massage parlours and spas. Smoking in indoor stadiums is also banned - excluding snooker rooms. The ban on smoking also includes schools and educational institutes. Air-conditioned areas in art exhibition halls, galleries, museums, shopping malls, barbershops, Internet cafes and karaoke booths are also no-smoking zones. The ban includes the lobbies of hotels, resorts, condominiums, apartments and restaurants, excluding entertainment areas. Smokers are still allowed to smoke in their personal offices, individual rooms or rooms provided as smoking areas. Public Health Minister Mongkol na Songkhla yesterday held a press conference to launch the 17th ministerial order and place no-smoking labels at Hua Lampong Railway Station. He said 52,000 Thais died a year from smoking-related diseases, especially lung cancer and heart disease. It cost the country more than Bt50 billion in healthcare services for patients with lung cancer, heart disease and emphysema. A no-smoking law has already been enforced in covered areas of restaurants and public places that were air-conditioned. "This ministerial order has added more no-smoking places. The ban is to protect the health of non-smoking people from 4,000 kinds of toxin in tobacco smoke," the minister said. Mongkol encouraged anyone witnessing an offence to call 02-590-3342. Mongkol has also tried every means to reduce alcohol consumption. Even though the Council of State's ruling invalidated his ministry's Food and Drug Administration-initiated move to comprehensively ban alcohol advertising, the ministry is exploring other legal channels.

This is the first time I have been able to access Gay Thailand in the past 36 hours. As many of you know, an earthquake in Taiwan has disrupted Internet service throughout Southeast Asia. The latest reports tell us that in Thailand full service should be restored within the next five days. I was able to get in now, obviously, but the web site was extremely slow to load on this end. I'm glad we can get in at all and I hope things will be back to normal very soon. There are still a number of web sites either inaccessible or only partially accessible for us in Thailand, but I'm seeing a steady improvement as repairs to the earthquake damage are repaired.

The following appears in the BANGKOK POST: _____ Thaksin 'Will Face' Criminal Charges Over Airport, Land Deal (BangkokPost.com, Agencies) The Bank of Thailand will file corruption charges against former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, based on evidence by the National Counter Corruption Commission that the deposed leader was involved in two fraud. Finance Minister Pridiyathorn Devakula vowed today that the cases would reach a criminal court. Corruption busters appointed by Thailand's ruling junta have found that Mr Thaksin was personally involved in an alleged overpriced purchase of equipment at Bangkok's new Suvarnabhumi airport and a controversial land deal in 2003. The Shinawatra family's high-profile lawyer Noppadol Pattama said Mr Thaksin will return to prove his innocence if he is charged with involvement in two controversial deals. Mr Noppadol claimed that the Council for National Security (CNS) and Assets Scrutiny Committee (ASC) were trying to boost their own achievements 100 days after the coup by linking Mr Thaksin with the scandals. As a former committee member overseeing policies of Suvarnabhumi airport, Mr Thaksin is not involved in the purchase of CTX 9000 bomb scanners at the airport, said Mr Noppadol. He said the Assets Scrutiny Committee has interpreted laws "inaccurately" for finding that Mr Thaksin and Khunying Potjaman Shinawatra were guilty in the land deal. The two cases, already widely publicised, are known locally as the CTX bomb scanner purchase for the airport, and the Ratchadaphisek land scandal, which already has enmeshed his wife, Khunying Potjaman. The junta, which came to power after toppling the Thaksin government in a bloodless coup in September, justified the putsch by saying that rampant corruption during his five years in office had undermined democracy. The army-installed government is investigating his family's business deals, including their January sale of Shin Corp shares to Singapore's Temasek Holdings, for alleged violations of Thai laws. Mr Thaksin's family sold their 49 per cent stake in Shin Corp, a telecom giant founded by the ousted premier, to the Singaporean state-linked investment firm for $1.9 billion (78 billion baht) under a tax free deal. The tax deal triggered months of street protests demanding Mr Thaksin's resignation over alleged abuse of power and corruption, culminating in the Sept 19 coup. After the power grab, the military reinstated the anti-corruption commission, which had been dormant for more than a year, and set up the Asset Scrutinising Committee with the power to seize assets from Thaksin and other former officials. _________ And This: _________ ASC Sure Airport Case Has Grounds 'Important Evidence' Against Thaksin SURASAK GLAHAN AMORNRAT MAHITTHIROOK Investigators have ''important evidence'' to support allegations against deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and 21 others over the purchase of the baggage handling system for Suvarnabhumi airport, Amnuay Tantara of the Assets Scrutiny Committee (ASC) said yesterday. Mr Amnuay, who heads a sub-panel probing the baggage-handling contracts for the airport, refused to give any details but said the team would present the evidence to Mr Thaksin . ''Our full report has sufficient grounds to show how accused people benefited from the deals, but such information cannot be revealed at this stage,'' he said. ''We'll present such evidence to Mr Thaksin when he appears to defend himself before our inquiry sub-committee, and we'll ask him to confirm if it is genuine,'' said Mr Amnuay. On Monday, the ASC accused Mr Thaksin, former transport minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit, and 20 other people of violating articles 157 and 83 of the Criminal Code in hiring contractors to provide and install the baggage-handling system and 26 CTX 9000 bomb scanner machines for the airport. They allegedly made gains from hiring inexperienced contractors and accepting their over-priced quotations for the airport's systems. The ASC found that Airports of Thailand (AoT) in 2003 allowed ITO Joint Venture, the contractor for the airport, to charge AoT for providing and installing the baggage-handling system and the CTX machines at prices that were higher than the real value, leading to a price difference of about 1.5 billion baht in total. When the CTX deal with ITO Joint Venture was scrapped, AoT was forced to deal directly with the manufacturer, GE InVision. The ASC found that the deal with the company, at an aggregate amount of US$35 million (about 1.2 billion baht), was over-priced and intentionally made it difficult to trace how much each machine cost. Mr Amnuay said the ASC was waiting for the AoT or the Transport Ministry to file complaints as a damaged party to the ASC, so that the panel could then set up a sub-committee to handle the inquiry into the case. The inquiry stage would take a long time to complete because it involves 22 accused people who may require additional testimony from their witnesses, he said. Mr Thaksin was also accused by the ASC of violating article 100 of the National Counter Corruption Act by entering into a land deal with the Bank of Thailand (BoT) in 2003. His wife Khunying Potjaman was cleared of the charge as the ASC agreed that she was not a state official and only colluded in the deal. The BoT or the Finance Ministry must file complaints to the ASC as a damaged party as well to allow the inquiry into the case to proceed. Transport Minister Theera Haocharoen said that the ministry will ask AoT, as a damaged party, to lodge a complaint against those implicated by the ASC. Disciplinary action against the transport staff will be considered following the formal allegations, Adm Theera said. The minister said the parties concerned will take action promptly as soon as the ministry receives an official report from the ASC. Suvarnabhumi airport director Somchai Sawasdeephon, one of the 22 accused, shrugged off the prospect of being charged, saying he was ready to clarify the accusations. Mr Thaksin's lawyer Noppadol Pattama said Mr Thaksin wants to return to Thailand to defend the accusations in person. ''There have been many cases brought against him so he wants to come back,'' Mr Noppadol said. Meanwhile, the ASC has yet to consider whether to allow two children of the Shinawatra family to postpone testifying to the panel. Panthongtae and Pinthongta Shinawatra have been called to clarify today a deal they made with Ample Rich Investments Ltd in January of this year. However, according to their letter, Mr Panthongtae will be away in Japan and he has asked to have the questioning rescheduled to Jan 10 next year, while Ms Pinthongta has to study for her exams and has requested to be allowed to testify on Jan 24. Kanchanapa Honghern, secretary to Khunying Potjaman, has been summoned but has asked to testify on Jan 12 as she has other business to attend to. The ASC said the three can each seek just a single postponement. __________ And This: __________ BANGKOK, Dec 26 (TNA) Former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra will return to Thailand to defend himself and his family if an assets probe panel levels charges against him over alleged corruption, Noppadol Pattama, a legal advisor to the Shinawatra family said on Tuesday. Mr. Noppadol told a press conference that he had discussed the matter with Mr. Thaksin Tuesday morning by telephone in his self-imposed exile in Beijing, after the Assets Examination Committee (AEC) announced Monday that it had grounds to believe the ousted premier was involved in the alleged corruption cases. AEC spokesperson Sak Korsaengruang said the panel found that Mr. Thaksin, former Transport Minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit, and 20 other officials had abused their power in the procurement of the baggage handling system and 26 CTX 9000 bomb scanners for Bangkok's new Suvarnabhumi airport. The panel also found Mr.Thaksin and his wife Pojaman guilty in regard to the 2003 land purchase in which Khunying Pojaman bought a Bt772 million tract of land in central Bangkok from the Bank of Thailand's Financial Institutions Development Fund (FIDF) through a bidding process that was allegedly pre-determined in ways that benefited Khunying Pojaman while her husband was in power as prime minister. Mr. Noppadol reaffirmed that Mr. Thaksin had no involvement in the two cases. He said both cases were politicised by the Council for National Security (CNS) and the AEC which wanted to demonstrate their achievements during the three months since the CNS, known before as the Council for Democratic Reform (CDR), staged its coup d'etat toppling the Thaksin government on September 19. Besides, he said, regarding the land deal the assets examiners tried to interpret laws in such a way that Mr. Thaksin and his wife were seen to be guilty. "When charges are levelled against him, Mr. Thaksin needs to come back to prove his innocence," Mr. Noppadol said. "He cannot fight charges while living overseas." As a Thai citizen, the lawyer asserted, Mr.Thaksin has the right to do so. The Thaksin family attorney presented a letter to the AEC on Tuesday morning, asking to postpone the testimony to the panel of Mr.Thaksin's son, Panthongtae, daughter Pinthongta, and Khunying Pojaman's secretary Kanchanapha Honghern, regarding the Shin Corp share transfer from December 27 to a yet-to-be-determined date next month. Earlier, the AEC had ordered the trio to appear and to be prepared to give information and answer questions regarding their case on December 27. (TNA)-E009

Heyyyyy, I get that one too. Good ones, Pearl . . . I see you're keeping score. Actually they're for each time, so far, that you've put your foot in your mouth, but you might as well keep it going until you have the whole shoe store in there. That's my good one. If you think that joke was lousy, wait till the rest of them. Ok, I'm sure we can all hardly wait to read all about what you write next about how Sunee Plaza is only a nest of vipers and for you to teach us all about what constitutes a good hotel. Here. I'll help you. A good hotel is anything that isn't near . . . shhh . . . Niddy's Nook. Right?

Note from GB: Every so often we see news items about "farang" whose homes are robbed and sometimes end up being the victim of violence. When these stories include large amounts of cash being stolen, I can't help but wonder about the logic of keeping substantial amounts of money anywhere other than a bank. In the majority of cases, these people are victimized by someone who they know or has reason to believe there is a large amount of cash on the premises. The following appears in the PATTAYA CITY NEWS: _____ American Resident Beaten and Robbed from his South Pattaya Home A disturbing case now from a house in

That's a very good question. I don't know the answer, but the most accurate answer will come from the US Embassy in Bangkok. If you are located in Thailand, give them a call at 02-205-4000 and ask for American Citizens Services. I realize you want a visa for a Thai, but that office should have the answer. If you are located outside of Thailand, I still think it's worth springing for a phone call, but you can also try their "Contact Us" form at: http://thailand.us-visaservices.com/Forms/contact_us.aspx

Heyyyyy, I get it, Pearl69er. That's a good one. Shoo.

Well, most of them anyway . . .

Wouldn't you also have him pay for the damages?

Note from GB: I like the part about the one packet of dried prunes. Perhaps the shoplifting spree made them a little bit constipated. Also, in Thailand, the first floor is the second floor. The floor on ground level, which most of us refer to as the first floor is referred to as the ground floor in Thailand. The next floor up, which most of us refer to as the second floor, is referrred to as the first floor. Confused? The following appears in the PATTAYA CITY NEWS: _____ Couple Caught Stealing Over 20,000 Baht's Worth of items from Carrefour. A case of shoplifting now from the Carrefour Shopping Center in Central Pattaya. At 10pm on Saturday Night, Police Lieutenant Colonel Santi from Pattaya Police station was called by staff at Carrefour who requested assistance in dealing with a couple accused of stealing over 20,000 Baht

The following appears in the PATTAYA CITY NEWS: Photos are available in the original article: http://www.pattayacitynews.net/news_25_12_49_3.htm _____ 5 Dead in Drunken Road Crash in Banglamung. Police Sub-Lieutenant Natapon from Banglamung Police Station was called to the Sukumvit Road in Naklua in front of the Pattaya Steel Center to deal with a serious accident resulting in multiple fatalities. He arrived along with rescue workers and was met with a scene of utter devastation with bodies lying in the street and one was still trapped in a Black BMW 323i. A total of 5 people inside the car lost their lives in one of Pattaya

BANGKOK, Dec 26 (TNA) The Asset Examination Committee has found ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his wife Khunying Pojaman guilty of the latter

shoo

Last night a friend gave this to me. I got a great laugh from of it. I hope you do too:

Thank you for that. I do accept and appreciate it. Since you have now done what I feel is the right thing to do and apologized, I'll stop being among the people who post attacks against you on this board and elsewhere, although I kind of hate to step out of my role as the Wicked Stepmother. Merry Christmas. The war is over.

The thread started off asking about hotels in or near te Sunee Plaza area. Now we're getting far away from there. So as not to confuse Davidjewel, some of the accommodations now being discussed are far outside of that area. Also, if you simply ignore anything Pearl69er posts, you'll be just fine. When he says, "I think not," I agree.

You will probably find what you are looking for at http://www.utopia-asia.com/tipsthai.htm

You may be close to correct. Several low-fare airlines have already asked to go back to Don Muang ( see: http://www.gaythailand.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=1121 ). Based on what I'm reading here, I'm not surprised. Forty years in the making, and this is what Thailand comes up with.

For those of you who wish to know as much as possible about seating on the various airlines, I suggest having a look at the following URL: http://www.seatguru.com

The following appears in the BANGKOK POST: _____ New Airport Faces Partial Shutdown Mistakes, Graft Found in Almost All Contracts AMORNRAT MAHITTHIROOK Poor construction at Suvarnabhumi may force parts of the new airport to be shut down for repairs. This would open the way for the recently abandoned Don Muang airport to be re-opened to serve Bangkok's air traffic needs. Deputy Transport Minister Sansern Wongcha-um said yesterday that following a recent report on the problems facing Suvarnabhumi airport, it was likely that part of the new facility would have to be closed and Don Muang airport would pick up the slack. Some people had suggested the airport, open less than three months, be completely closed for a revamp, with flights being redirected to Don Muang until the improvements are completed, Mr Sansern said. He was opposed to that. Trying to move everything back to Don Muang would cause chaos. The Council for Democratic Reform _ now the Council for National Security _ asked about the readiness of Suvarnabhumi airport just after the Sept 19 coup, but executives of the Airports of Thailand (AoT) had insisted the airport was ready for the scheduled Sept 28 opening. Opening the airport before it was completed had inevitably led to problems. If the opening had been delayed to allow work to be finished properly, the airport would have started on a more solid footing. The new AoT board appointed after the coup has discovered physical and managerial problems at Suvarnabhumi airport. Board member Yodyiam Theptranont, who heads a sub-panel investigating the problems, said the repairs would take a long time. He could not give a timeframe. Mr Yodyiam's report to the AoT board outlined a lengthy list of complaints and deficiencies, along with a list of recommendations on fixing the problems. The report attributed the faults to substandard construction, poor management and manipulation of designs and materials. The report said the airport's information technology facilities were incomplete and the upper floors of the car park building have no drains, causing rain water to flow into elevator shafts. Over 1,000 lamps had already burned out and not been replaced. Mr Yodyiam said AoT lacked an official with direct responsibility for the airport's construction, which had posed an obstacle in getting swift repairs. Another AoT board member, Tortrakul Yomnak, said many areas need repairs and a partial closure was likely. Chaisak Angsuwan, director-general of the Civil Aviation Department, said that due to the persistent problems, the department could not issue a permanent licence for Suvarnabhumi airport. It would, however, extend an interim aerodrome certificate for the airport for another six months in January, he said. Mr Chaisak said the airport needed to meet all physical and operational requirements before it could be given a permanent certificate. There were many cracks in the airport's taxiways, some serious and some not, and repairs would be time-consuming, he said. Many operations staff also have no expertise in using their equipment. Adm Bannawit Kengrian, chairman of the National Legislative Assembly's committee on Suvarnabhumi airport, said his panel had discovered mistakes and irregularities in almost all the airport's contracts. Names of those believed responsible would be announced in two weeks. Specifications in some contracts had been distorted, he said. Salaries paid executives of the Novotel Suvarnabhumi Airport Hotel were unusually high. Despite its claimed five-star status, the hotel had plywood doors. An inexperienced contractor operated transformers that supply power to visiting aircraft and six transformers had burnt out. The cost of digging ditches around the airport was inflated to three billion baht and hiring security guards to five billion baht. Any contracts where corruption was found would be scrapped, he said

The following appears in THE NATION: _____ Where Did Our Tsunami Cash Go? Western Countries Send Complaint to Police after Loss of Money Donated to Identify Victims Seven major Western countries recently submitted a joint complaint to the Royal Police Headquarters alleging that money intended to help identify tsunami victims had been stolen, according to informed sources. The sources, who asked not to be identified due to the sensitivity of the subject, said funds contributed by Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States and France amounted to almost Bt60 million. The money was donated by the citizens of those countries, who wanted to help victims of the tsunami that killed more than 5,000 people in the Phuket, Phang-Nga and Krabi areas. The source said more than 60 per cent of the funds were wasted and disguised as travelling and other miscellaneous costs. "To be frank, someone has stolen our citizens' money," said one of the sources, who has followed the victim identification process from the beginning. Thailand Tsunami Victim Identification (TTVI) was established by the international community in January 2005. With its disaster victim identification (DVI) operation, TTVI is considered the largest such multinational operation ever conducted. At one point there were at least 600 officials from Thailand and 30 other countries to help the victims. In a joint letter dated November 22 addressed to General Kowit Watana of the Royal Thai Police, diplomats raised two pivotal issues: the status of DNA data of over 400 bodies and the bodies of over 400 missing victims which have not been located. "Without any additional new information or discoveries of further bodies (now very unlikely), these last remaining bodies and missing people are sadly unlikely to be reconciled," the letter read. The source said the Public Health Ministry had constantly refused to hand back DNA data. "We want the data to be returned to the centre for further testing and matching," said the source. The issue was raised in the letter in a more polite way. It said that during the first 10 days after the tsunami, approximately 2,000 bodies were released to relatives. Among them, the diplomats believed, were some misidentified bodies. At the time, nobody wanted to raise any questions as efforts were concentrated on helping the tsunami victims. The diplomats also urged the Royal Thai Police to help ensure that DNA analysis is completed by tomorrow, the second anniversary of the tsunami. Since the letter's submission, there has been no response from the police or the Foreign Ministry, which was given a copy of the complaint. The most damaging part of the letter was the request to have an internal audit concerning the funds. The sources claim to have reliable information that the funds contributed by the seven countries were misused. It requested an internal auditing by "a reputable and qualified private accountancy company" covering the period from January 2005 until the present time. The sources said the US government had agreed to meet the costs of the audit using the funds available in the tsunami-related cooperative agreement with the TTVI and DVI, which began in January 2005. The letter said that "any such misuse would be an especially sensitive and distressing matter for us all, given the generous-spirited and cooperative nature of the whole DVI operation". According to General Amarin Niumsakul, assistant police commissioner-general, the letter from the envoys alleging misuse of funds was a serious allegation, which he said could be a misunderstanding. Deputy police commissioner-general General Achiravit Suwanphesad said the funds were used not only by Thai officials but foreign experts as well. The joint letter, which was also addressed to Foreign Minister Nitya Phibulsonggram, was signed by Sweden's Lars Erik Backstrom, German Ambassador Dr Christoph Bruemmer, Dutch Ambassador Pieter Marres, Swedish Ambassador Jonas Hafstrom, British Ambassador David Fall, US Ambassador Ralph Boyce and France's charge d'affaires Pascal le Deunff. This is the first time that such a large group of Western countries has questioned the integrity of Thai police in an official letter. The Nation _____ To view the letter, click the following link: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/specials/monday_letter.gif

So far I'm still fortunate enough not to need it, so I don't know very much about it, but I do have a couple of suggestions that come to mind. The first is to see your doctor. The side effects you describe sound potentially dangerous to me and there are alternatives, such as Cialis. I wouldn't take it again without consulting your doctor. The second suggestion is to base your use of it according to timing. One thing you could do would be to spend one evening simply scouting the bars, making notes to yourself as to which boys you probably would want to take "off." After you have your list, the next night, or even the same night, if you know in advance which bars and which boys at which you intend to "off," now you can time your taking of the Viagra before even entering the bar. If the boy has already been "offed" or turns out to have a pierced tongue or some other attribute that you dislike, you can simply move on to the next one on your list.

And a Merry Christmas to you too. You're entitled to your opinion, but I never did like when someone chops a business apart and expresses his view as fact instead of as an opinion. Howard's happens to be the hotel of choice for a great many "farang," and that includes many who can easily afford to stay anywhere they wish, in the lap of luxury. Perhaps your concept of what constitutes a 'decent' hotel differs from the opinion held by others. Most people I know who have stayed at Howard's return there every time they visit Pattaya and wouldn't even consider staying elsewhere. Sometimes I wish they would. I often pick up my friends when they're staying at Howard's and the soi is not the easiest street to drive. The hotel is inexpensive. If you're expecting a 5-star hotel at that price you won't get one, but most people I know consider it an excellent value for the money and are quite satisfied with the rooms. The gentleman asked for a hotel in or around Sunee Plaza and Howard's is one of the best available in that area. How about letting people try it and judge for themselves instead of coming online, registering here, and making your first post on this message board for no apparent purpose other than to demean a perfectly good accommodation.

We went to the News Cafe again a couple of nights ago, this time five of us, and again we all greatly enjoyed it. While we were there two more friends entered and said they came because they read the review I posted here. Today I was at the beach and ran into them. They both said they like it very much and went a second time, this time with their Thai boyfriends. The boyfriends also enjoyed it. One of them highly recommended the "toast skagen," item number 2 on the menu as an appetizer. I'll be sure to give it a try next time I'm there, which will be soon, for sure. This restaurant is quickly becoming a "must" on your list of places to eat when visiting Pattaya.

The following appears in the BANGKOK POST: _____ Storms Create Southern Disasters Chumphon (TNA) Two more southern districts along the Gulf of Thailand have been declared disaster zones while strong waves continue to pound the region and damaged houses, officials said. The Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation warned the southern provinces the high waves will continue until New Year. Anucha Moekkhawet, the department director, said that the coastlines of provinces along the Gulf of Thailand will remain endangered for another week at least. Pathiu district in this province was declared a disaster zone Saturday by the provincial governor after mighty waves as high as four metres initially destroyed six houses. The Royal Thai Navy has set up a 24-hour relief center here to help people impacted by the waves. Another disaster zone was declared in Chaiya district of Surat Thani province after waves eroded seven kilometres of Sai Kaew beach and more than 30 temporary shelters of fishermen were washed away along with a number of fishing boats. Army officials yesterday inspected villagers in Tha Chana district of Surat Thani who were affected by powerful waves and found that many of them were suffering from stress, headache and high blood pressure. Soldiers built retaining walls from some 4,000 sandbags more in a bid to fend off the waves. In Songkhla province near the Thai-Malaysian border, military engineer units helped the villagers build breakwaters of rock to prevent the waves from destroying a Thai Muslim cemetery located near the beach. A lecturer at a Bangkok university blamed the El Nino weather phenomenon for the unusually high waves that are ravaging the coastlines of southern provinces along the Gulf. The lecturer said a crash between the cold air mass from China and warm sea water in the Gulf had created unusually strong surf that surged against the Gulf of Thailand coastline, creating problems in many areas.