reader

From The Nation THE SLANG TERMS popular among young people this year are a mixed bag, with the most references accruing to lam yai, which means to feel annoyed; tamu tami, “cute” or “adorable”; and nok, or a person whose flirtations have been rejected. Those were the results of a recent survey conducted by the Culture Ministry and Suan Dusit Poll, which also found that 65.4 per cent of respondents knew about Thai Language Day, which falls on July 29 every year. The poll surveyed the opinions of 3,306 children, young people and other members of the public nationwide. Culture Minister Veera Rojpojanarat said 57.34 per cent of respondents knew the day had been established to mark His Majesty the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s participation in a discussion about the Thai language at Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Arts on July 29, 1962. Respondents cited the most popular slang, in descending order, with 39.44 per cent referring to lam yai, 36.86 per cent to tamu tami and 36.23 per cent to nok. Other top contenders in the lexicon included jung boei, which means “very much”, as in jung loei, but with a child’s lisp (34.67 per cent); tay or don tay, meaning to abandon or to be abandoned (34 per cent); ei ei, a tongue-in-cheek laughing expression (33.61 per cent); pay or sai pay, meaning a person who likes to treat others (30.12 per cent); teng, ta-eng or tal-eng, all of which mean “you” with a connotation of closeness like addressing a boyfriend or girlfriend (27.28 per cent); and mung ming, which is another way to say “cute” (26.06 per cent). Continues at http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30321891

I should have stressed that the card is not valid for international air travel. The advantage I see that the card has over carrying a copy of passport when out and about is that it's issued by the State Dept. for ID purposes. The passport card can be used fro entering the United States at land border crossings and sea ports-of-entry from: Canada Mexico The Caribbean Bermuda Regarding other governments, Wikipedia reports that "The card is manufactured by L-1 Identity Solutions.[5]National identity cards with similar utility are common inside the European Union countries for both national and international use. Although I don't have a card, I plan to get one when I next renew passport.

From Coconuts Suvarnabhumi Airport caught two baggage handlers stealing money and accessories from passengers’ suitcases on Friday night as they were loading a plane. Nattapon Thammarat, 20, is a newly-hired security guard who discovered the two alleged thieves. At around 6pm on Friday he became suspicious of two handlers loading luggage onto MH783, a Malaysia Airlines flight leaving Bangkok for Kuala Lumpur. The baggage handlers in question were identified as Sitthichai Sawtiew, 24, and Piyapong Juisuwan, 28. Both were employed by Bangkok Flight Services Co. to handle checked baggage. The pair were found carrying about CNY10,000 (or THB50,000). Bangkok Post reported that Piyapong allegedly stayed on the lookout, while Sitthichai allegedly took money from a passenger’s backpack. A large piece of luggage, placed in a certain position, was used to block the security guard’s view. Continues https://coconuts.co/bangkok/news/busted-baggage-handlers-suvarnabhumi-airport-caught-stealing-passengers/

Thanks for instructing us how to categorize our glad lad's personas. Spot on, McGarty!

US citizens may apply for a passport card issued by the Dept. of State. https://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/passports/information/card.html This is how the State Dept. describes the card: "The passport book and passport card are both U.S. passports. If issued for the full validity, they are both proof of your U.S. citizenship and identity." There's additional information on the Wikipedia site: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Passport_Card

The hell you say!

Can non-communist Vietnam keep them?

From The Nation Breaking News July 23, 2017 14:19 Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha has instructed the Immigration Bureau to decide whether to cancel the requirement for visitors to fill the 'TM6' arrival and departure form as part of measures to improve immigration procedure at airports, reduce waiting time and long queues.A Cabinet resolution had allowed use of the old TM6 form with two separate sections for arrival and departure to be used until September 30. This followed a request from the Ministry of Tourism and Sport's to adjust the new form in order to help the ministry to get information for analysing and planning tourism marketing strategies. The new TM6 form will have only one section for the visitor to fill, with an “automatic channel” barcode for more convenience, and would be used from October 1. http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30321551

I acknowledge this but that does not prevent the BOT from knowing how much foreign currency enters and leaves the country.

From the BBC It was a jarring image; a group of Buddhist monks, with shaven heads and orange robes, sitting back in the soft-leather seats of an executive jet, passing luxury accessories among themselves. The video of the monk, now known by his pre-monk name, Wirapol Sukphol, went viral after being posted on YouTube in 2013. A subsequent investigation by the Thai Department of Special Investigations (DSI) uncovered a lifestyle of what appeared to be mind-blowing decadence. They tracked down at least 200 million Thai baht ($6m; £4.6m) in ten bank accounts, and the purchase of 22 Mercedes Benz cars. Wirapol had built a mansion in southern California, owned a large and gaudily-decorated house in his home town of Ubon Ratchathani, and had also constructed a giant replica of the famous Emerald Buddha statue in Bangkok's royal palace, which he claimed - falsely, as it turned out - contained nine tonnes of gold. There was evidence, too, the DSI said, of sexual relationships with a number of women. One woman claimed he had fathered a child with her when she was only 15 years old, a claim the DSI says is supported by DNA analysis. Wirapol fled to the US. It took four years for the Thai authorities to secure his extradition. He has denied criminal charges of fraud, money laundering and rape. How had a monk acquired so much influence, even in his early twenties? How was he allowed to behave in ways which clearly violate the patimokkha (the 227 precepts by which monks are supposed to live)? Monks are not even supposed to touch money, and sex is strictly off-limits. Monks behaving badly are nothing new in Thailand. The temptations of modern life have thrown up many examples of monks with unseemly wealth, monks taking drugs, dancing, enjoying sexual relations with men, women, girls and boys. There are also temples which have attracted large and dedicated followings, through skilful promotion of charismatic monks and abbots, said to have supernatural powers. These have capitalised on two aspects of modern Thai life; the yearning for spiritual succour among urban Thais, who no longer have a close relationship with a traditional village temple, and a belief that donating generously to powerful temples will bring success and more material wealth. It appears Wirapol tapped into this trend. He arrived in the poor North Eastern province of Sisaket in the early 2000s, establishing a monastery on donated land in the village of Ban Yang. But according to the sub-district head, Ittipol Nontha, few local people went to his temple, because they were too poor to offer the kind of donations he expected. Continues http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-40678511

From Khaosod English PHUKET — Organizers of the Phuket Pride festival said Friday the annual event won’t be held next year but will return in 2019. Having seen low turnouts in recent years, organizer Phuket Loves You Club announced Wednesday that the LGBT celebration won’t happen next year as it has in various forms for the past 19 years. Instead, they hope to bring back a “bigger, better and more inclusive” event in 2019. Kenneth Miller, vice chairman of Phuket Loves You Club, said Friday the team will “take a year off” to gather ideas and plan a way to “get more visitors and local communities to involved.” http://www.khaosodenglish.com/life/arts/2017/07/21/phuket-pride-skip-2018-bigger-2019/

Perhaps not individual transaction but certainly gross transactions of foreign currencies to the Bank of Thailand as do US banks to the Federal Reserve. Likewise, banks that issue credit cards report gross transactions of foreign currencies. In every currency exchange I have done in Thai banks or SuperRich, the first step is to copy the face page of my passport. They even ask for name of hotel. What makes you think, especially with the current administration, some of the transaction data is not being transmitted to the BOT? Central banks worldwide have a huge interest in the state of currencies entering and leaving the country. The spending table above shows only the average spending per foreigner. When George Orwell's 1984 was first published in 1949, it was seen as a futuristic fantasy film. Today, it's tame stuff compared to what information government can collect on its citizens and visitors. ------------- Bank of Thailand Starts Foreign Exchange Regulation Reform - June 14, 2017 The Bank of Thailand has started reform of Foreign Exchange Regulations. The move is seen as a starting point for further reforms of other regulations to enhance ease of doing business. Governor of the Bank of Thailand (BOT) Veerathai Santiprabhob stated that one of the most important impediments in enhancing the nation’s competitiveness involves obsolete regulations that are not accommodative to business management. Although the BOT has continually amended the regulations, certain rules are still not in line with the changing economic and financial environment. Nevertheless, he said, the relaxation must not affect the Bank’s responsibility to maintain financial stability or its ability to collect data for monitoring and analyses of capital flows to evaluate their impact on financial markets and the economy. Over the past six months, the BOT, working with a consultant who is experienced and internationally renowned, has been collaborating closely with representatives from the private sector such as the Board of Trade of Thailand, corporations, commercial banks, money changers, and money transfer agents. All of the mentioned parties identified obstacles and provided recommendations on revising the regulations, considering compliance costs incurred by the private sector. https://www.thailand-business-news.com/banking/58185-bank-thailand-starts-foreign-exchange-regulation-reform.html

The Madrid Patpong is great pizza. Read (on Stickman, I believe) it was a hangout for CIA and similar types during Vietnam era.

Apparently you have enough rope.

I believe that falls under the principle of "regression toward the mean" (technical way of saying that things tend to even out over time). This discussion prompted me to consider one of my favorite topics--massage--as an instrument for explaining why (IMHO) why it's in the best interest of the Thai government to do nothing to discourage it. Why? Because it provides for a transfer of wealth from the wealthier Thais and foreigners to the poorest members of Thai society, most of whom reside in the country's northeast quadrant. Think about it. A not insignificant portion of the tips provided end up supporting families that otherwise would have to rely wholly on agricultural income (or other manual labor). Without the social programs most of us take for granted (i.e., ss, pensions, national health), there's no safety net to speak of. Tip income finds it way to the neediest without taxation or corruption that applies to other forms of wages. OK, the shop may have to pay tea money and taxes in one form of another, but the tips themselves are, in effect, the perfect wealth transfer. Sure, some of it ends up in Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, but the lion's share stays at home. So when we hand over those tips, we're doing more good than we probably spend much time thinking about. And it beats writing a check to some NGO that first takes its bite before going on to do its particular form of "good."

We have a system of user names that has worked very well. It ceases, however, to work well when a poster uses more than one user name. BTW Stevie, I don't believe you helped Sglad's case when you brought Trump in as a comparison. But then again, it may not have been your intent to help him at all; you just seek the last word. But by all means please carry on...do you have sufficient rope?

I hate to shatter your genteel sense of reality but we have user names (aka authors) here. This way we can distinguish between what posters write. Why don't you now take the opportunity to get us back on topic as you suggested.

We differ on my counts, Stevie, and this is just one more. When I go to a bookstore, books are arranged into categories like fiction and non fiction. About two-thirds of my selections are fiction and often authors I've read before. But if there was no distinction between the categories, I'd have no way of knowing whether I'm reading history, biography or fantasy. I don't think it's asking too much to expect the same here. As I said above, Sglad has talent but he seems to thrive more on deception than story-telling The deception obviously doesn't bother you so all I can say is happy reading! P.S. And yes, the thread has drifted off topic. Hopefully someone will some along and pull it back on track.

Agree that there's no fool-proof way to figure out exactly who's spending how much and on what activities. The most reliable gross spending indicator is the currency exchange transactions where passports are required. So they know name and nationality of persons exchanging specific quantities of foreign currencies into Thai. There's a limited number of ways visitors pay for goods and services: Thai currency they brought into the country with them; currency they exchange into baht and credit card transactions. (The first is the lone unknown factor; the latter two are easily tabulated into how much visitors from nation X spent). Divide that amount by number of in-bound visitors from that nation during a given period and you come with with an average per person. It's admittedly an imperfect number but it's useful in obtaining a snapshot.

Japan's NHK network remembers the Thai financial crisis: https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/videos/20170721201747589/

From Pattayaone No sooner has Pattaya recovered from having the filthiest sea in Thailand than the black sludge and effluent are back. Now questions are being asked by the media about what happened to a large budget to clean up water treatment at the resort. What was billed as more of an environmental disaster zone than a high class resort last week, is now back to being a cesspit. Sophon Cable TV said that yesterday a 300 meter stretch of beach around South Pattaya and the old port area was just as bad as ever. Shamed into action last week the cleaners of the local authority and the military had been out in force. Now it looks like they will have to come back to continue to do what many in Pattaya fear will be a recurring theme: “Sticking a plaster on a gaping wound”. Sophon cable said that the gaping wound is filthy water, pollution and excrement that is pumped into the sea that is just blown back ashore time and again. They reported that that the area was as bad as ever yesterday and added some caustic comments as toxic as the pollution stating that 60 million baht was meant to have been spent this year on the pollution of the beaches in the area without any results. This was part of a 27 million baht EEC fund to upgrade the resorts sewage infrastructure topped up to 60 million by the interior ministry. Questions are being asked as to how this money was spent. Sophon said the work was all meant to have been completed by July. Source: Thai Visa http://pattayaone.news/en/pattaya-environmental-disaster/

Sglad originally posted on all three boards (going back as far as '07) with a different user name, although at some point appended it on SN with --old. The registration info he provided would place him now in his mid-70's (a neighborhood many find ourselves in). To the best of my knowledge, that original handle remains active on all boards but is only used currently on GB. He listed Bangkok as his home and some posts described himself as an English teacher. At some point he adopted a second handle that he's using in in this thread and has used on SN. He also appears to have at least one other user name here and two others on SN. One veteran SN contributor sees a Beachlover connection. I really wasn't following the boards closely then so I won't comment on that. It's sad because some of his posts provide useful information and insights. Others, however, about his life as a Singaporean "uni" student or stressed out young man, detract from his original persona and leave readers unsure where he draws the line between reality and fiction . As I've said in another thread, why not have a forum on the board where members can try their hand at fiction? I suspect Sglad might fare quite well.

Bet 'ya do.

How can I put this gently, glad one. You are a fraud. You misrepresent yourself as a someone who you are not. But in the interest of generosity, I nominate you for the Thai gay boards' award for achievement in the field of fiction. I acknowledge that the award does not yet exist. However, no one is more worthy than you.

Post #141 posted above makes no reference to Thai guys lusting after you. And obviously there's no cause that would prompt them to do so--"for money or otherwise."