KhorTose

Many have said this same thing. I would almost call it a universal truth. I hate to keep using quotes, but I can't really come up with new words, when there are so many wise men who have spoken on this subject. The more a man knows, the more he forgives. Confucius

Actually an old Jewish proverb says sort of the same thing. "A Jewish wife will forgive and forget, but she'll never forget what she forgave.

We were robbed. I think the world cup definitely needs better officials.

Really not quite logical. All the leaders are in jail. All their bank accounts are frozen and still the red shirts are still protesting. Show me some real proof money is being paid and not second hand or government manufactured evidence. I cannot understand how with this horrible government, you continue to believe the people who are against it, are just against it for money. This is a "Give me a break" kind of wishful thinking on your part.

I completely agree with this very wise and noted psychiatrist, who is one of the world's great humanitarians. The stupid neither forgive nor forget- the smart forgive- but never forget" -Thomas Szasz

Go America. Predict that America will once again be in the final 8.

I might think he is attempting a scam, but I would never accuse him of that.

TotallyOz sounds a little weird, and I am sure Dorothy is already taken on most gay boards. Seattle calls itself the Emerald city and Oz, and we are great Wizard of Oz fans. How about some play on the word Emerald or Oz. EmeraldCityKing, EmeraldKing, KingOz, GayOz, Ozgay, gayEmeraldCity, EmeraldCitygay, GayinOz, or my favorite, EmeraldCitySmoothie.

As someone who used to work in the food industry, I can tell you an interesting story. Jimmy sold that company to Sara Lee in 1984, but continued to draw millions as its spokesman. In 2002 the company said he was to old and quit paying his salary. A member of the board of Sara Lee told me he was really hurt that they did this, but had to keep his mouth shut about it because of contract clauses. RIP Jimmy.

No interesting story here. I just looked up the Thai word for excuse me in a tourist guide book put out by a Dutch travel service and it was written in Dutch. Later on I was to find out the Dutch had it wrong, but what the heck I am stuck with it now. GB loved your story and, as someone who spent way too long in the closet myself, I can completely understand why that Button was so important to you. Something the younger generation will never know about--the lucky devils.

I would like to title you compassionate thinking above as "meet the RED shirts." However, you are only talking about one group of the red shirts. It is not just the poor who are impacted by the great divide, but many in the educated middle class. This middle class does not have the money for Pattaya Bangkok Hospital either, and they are educated enough to be disenchanted by the money that is spent on the military and to line the pockets of the very rich. Had they a voice in their government much of that money would go elsewhere.

Yes 1. Yes 2. Illegal, but ignored. Cheap hotels may have scams. 3. No, No but you can pick up boys and make your own arrangements 4. I never attended it, but tickets are required if you wish to go to the home of the nats on Mt Popa. 5. Yes, but PM me for the best way to exchange money. 6. There are soldiers everywhere, but they are only after their own people. Many tips on buying and avoiding duty available if you PM me.

Nor did I. Thanks Rich and Bob, you saved my a...

I too recommend Om Yim hotel. Great place to stay. I went on the Ibis hotel site and the best rates are at the hotel and not with any booking agency. Why do you need an agency?

I see it on others too, but not here. However, it does not rate the individual post but the entire topic, so not really a thank you button.

It is sad, but you are correct. The poor lady has gone over the edge. She was such a great institution for so many years, and I will miss her.

That is

While I have never stayed at your guesthouse, I always go to Rit's beach to catch the sun and I always order food from your place via Rit. Nobody has answered one question. Can I still count on getting good food (yours) at Rit's?

One of the main reasons they want to keep her locked up. I do wish she would have left Burma years ago as I think she would be far more effective touring and speaking in the Western world. There is a long piece on why she did not and what it cost here, but somehow I think she might have made a mistake by staying.

Yes, I can see how you can call it a dismissal. i did not want to go into a long discussion of the politics of the moment when I said she can give interviews. I guess i should have fleshed that out then and there, but the present politics are what is happening now. Believe me I meant no slight. No, I am not familiar with the Gaurdian quote, and will look it up. My main source of information is the "free Burma newsletter that I get, but do not memorize. I get it as a scanned document from my mail service and I usually read it and delete it. However, you made me go to the "free Burma" web site, and not only are they calling for continuing the sanctions, but have a recent interview (4/26/2010) with Aung San Suu Kyi where she asks for the sanctions by the US to be continued. Apparently she has given up on her thought to be in the next election or any mercy from this government. Until she asks tourist to come to Burma, I will stay away. However, if you go--and you really should--I strongly suggest you get money on the black market as this money does not go to the government, but leaves the country in a way the government cannot at this moment stop. Not only that, but where the money goes might make you quite pleased. The main mission of the "Free Burma" society. 1) strengthen the position of the rightful leaders of Burma, 1991 Nobel Peace Prize recipient Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the democratically elected National League for Democracy, by cutting the political and economic lifelines of the ruling military junta;

Did it ever occur to you that the sanction are there in order to support the people of Burma, and are not exclusive of each other. Not everyone knows about the current military government. Why don't you speak at length and with great detail about it, that is if you dare. Great,l that means there will be no problem on letting this women run in the next election. If she is so unpopular she will surely be defeated and then the west can withdraw it's sanctions. Problem solved, and I am sure you will spend a great deal of time seeing that this government makes that decision, YES? I am very saddened to hear about the suffering of the Burmese people the sanctions have caused. For some reason, that seems to escape you, I am even more saddened to see thousands of Burmese killed and imprisoned by this government. You seem to think the answer is giving them more money via tourism. Sorry, but I do not buy that as they spend most of their foreign exchange now on the military and themselves. I just cannot see them adopting a new policy to provide for their people, especially when they may get people like you to do it for them.

English was one of my better subjects in college, but I am not an English teacher. I did spend a considerable amount of time helping the monks with their English lessons, and correcting their papers at the university at Chidi Luaan in Chiang Mai. I found their most common mistakes was in the use of prepositions and when to add or not add "s" and other endings to words. They also have a terrible time with punctuation, but so do all to many English speakers, so i left those and spelling errors like venders out. So just out of curiosity I started at post 51? to 53? and looked for these type of errors. Still not proof of anything, but it sure makes me wonder who this man is. Is there an English teacher out there who can tell me if this is ESl, or just high school english?

Yes, you have read both post correctly. She can, in fact, give interviews. However, since the swimming incidence she was placed under arrest again, and her time of her house arrest was extended by the government. She was suppose to run in the 2010 election and she has kept her silence hoping they would reverse her house arrest. She is still hoping they do so as the speculation is now that she is ready to go abroad and fight the battle overseas. So she can give interviews but is choosing to keep quite. Please check out the free burma web sites or the uk web site I sent you. They are not well formatted, but there is tons of information on these sites.Oh, I am wrong about that interview date. It was 1997 not 2007. If you found one in 2002 it is new to me.

I would be interested to know what the current official and unofficial rate is at the moment, but My statement still stands, there is a black market rate, and if anyone wishes to know how to safely get it, please PM me.

She has been under arrest since that idiot swam to her house. Her last interview was in the progressive article you did not read or you would know it was 2007 as Josan committed on in an earlier post. It is strange you had to sift through 200 articles as that is one of the first things that pop up if you do Aung San Suu Kyi's views on tourism are these two second hand reports of her feelings in this matter. I have known about these articles for a long time, and was very surprised that Josan did not mention them. I suspect he is not a Westerner with access to google or he would have mentioned them. I delibertly asked him a second time just to find out if he could answer me, which anyone---including you---with access to google could easily do. She has not retracted her statement and the Free Burma web sites that support her (including the one in the UK) continue to say she does not want tourist. If you read what the co-founder--who was recently released from jail said--it is that he does not know her current views. Let me see. We have a man who does not know how to use google or the ability to access it. A man who mentions tourism and invites people to come, but gives no information on the best way to exchange money, a man who seldom posts and when he does it is to get people to come to Burma, and a man who belittles a nobel prize winning elected leader who has been imprisoned for 15 years by a military dictatorship. Not absolute proof in any sense, but I for one do not buy his neutrality nor his interest in making things better for gays in Burma. There is a huge difference between the three rates. The official government rate is low, the unofficial rate is slightly better and the black market rate is a wow wow of a difference. Sorry fountainhall, but this is one of the only things he said that is true. The official-unofficial rate is announced on the radio and posted at all government parks and other points that charge for access. I freely admit, it is hard to believe, but it is true. Thank you