Bob

While this story probably has more to do with the married relationship, I note that the immediate problem was the non-payment of gambling debts. There are money lenders (okay, the better word would be "loansharks") in every village and they are not people you want to mess with at all. A very good thai friend who has lived in Chiangmai for the last 10 years owns a small (1 rai) parcel of land with his brother (a farmer) near the Laos border. The brother, without consulting my friend, borrowed 50,000 baht against the parcel from the local loansharks, the brother having told them that my friend consented to the loan. My friend finds out about the loan (and the fact that the brother is not making repayments) when he was visiting the home village one day. Even though my friend had nothing to do with the loan - and told them he never consented to it or received any of the money - threats were made and my friend is very fearful and almost sure that the sharks will find him in Chiangmai and re-arrange his face/body. He has moved his residence once just because of this fear. Whether the creditor is named Corleone or Somchai, you really don't want to mess with these people. As for the posted story, it sounds like the family probably did it (but don't for a minute think it couldn't have been the lenders).

A trusted friend of mine was told by a federal agent that their program is looking solely for porn (especially the kiddie variety) although some modifications have been made to it since 9/11/2001 for security purposes. He said that it takes about 3-4 minutes, once the program starts, for the program to signal a possible problem or no problem. I presume they'll take a bit longer if a possible problem crops up. So, I doubt if they are looking for copyrighted music or other such things. I also heard - totally hearsay - that they are capable of adding a bug to your computer that either helps them find something a second time or (and I hope not) will allow them remote access once you're later connected to the net. This rumor is so paranoid I don't want to contemplate it (although I don't personally worry as they'd be bored to death looking at my computer).

Other than a competent "wiping*" of your harddrive, you can't "delete" an image that the government program can't find so simple deletion of a image will hardly protect you. This is true even with all of the various kinds of media for digital camera. For example, I found a free program on the net that will let you "find" deleted images on compact flash and smart media cards (because I screwed them up or accidentally deleted them). I can usually recover 80-90%of the photos that have been deleted and have even done so after reformatting the media. And that's using a free, simple, program (the feds certainly do better). If you're carrying a computer or any other type of media, the only 100% safe way to do that is not to have ever had questionable photos on the harddrive/media. While I had the inclination to take a nude photo or two of close friends, I have stiffled myself so far as I don't want or need the risk. *There are many "wiping" programs available on the net, some for free. Supposedly you can be 99.99% safe by wiping the free space to DOD (Department of Defense) standards (which I understand is a minimum of 9 passes - and that'll usually take 15-24 hours to do depending on your chip speed). Even with this, I have no clue if the federal programs can or can't find something that's been wiped to that standard.

Setting aside the extraneous comments, Allen certainly deserves many tributes. Like a few others (I'll not name them but many know who they are), he's been of immeasurable help to hundreds if not thousands of visitors to Thailand and Pattaya - through his prior board and continuing newsletter and through his personal efforts. An extremely likeable guy who I've had the pleasure of meeting a couple of times. Like David in Pattaya (and, again, a few others), he's gone out of his way in the past to assist newbie and seasoned travelers. If you're reading this, Allen, I'm sorry I can't be there to toast you . Enjoy.

You can do the online banking with Siam Commercial Bank. Presuming you're going to transfer funds repeatedly to your thai friend, you both set up an account at SCB and then you just set up your account with his account number as an authorized transferee account. Then, with a click of your mouse from wherever you are, the funds are transferred (within 12 hours usually) to your friend's account. There is no charge at all for the transfers done this way.

Depends what you want but I'd suggest spending 2-3 days in Luang Prabang. Really nice small town, probably a lot like Chiangmai about 75 years ago. Several in town hotels and guesthouses. A couple of guys suggested a particular guesthouse and I made reservations for myself and my Chiangmai friend. When we got there, the place was pretty bad and we ended up staying at the Villa Santi Resort which is a mile or two out of town (but they have a very good Mercedes bus service to town and back every hour). Place was more expensive (I paid $62.00 per night) but it remains the nicest place I've ever stayed at in Southeast Asia (hmmm.....maybe second only to the Goodwood Park in Singapore). Not much open gay activity up there although there's a couple of gay-owned cafes/bars (the one just northeast of Mount Phousi was a lot of fun). You can fly to Luang Prabang from Bangkok or Chiangmai.