Bob

My condolences as you apparently have to go through there a whole lot of times per year. I (so far) have been lucky and that may be due to the arrival time (about 11:15AM) or departure time (4:30PM) and, for sure, part of it is that I only do each of those once a year nowhere near peak travel times.

Geez, whoever they are (they who "tood" this site), they must love you now. Michael, there's just zero excuse to call the board owners assholes let alone stupid just because you happen to not find almost anything interesting or don't like the number or quantity of posts. Out of curiosity only....with, of course, no obligation by you or anybody to explain anything....what is it you're really trying to say there? Is that your "swan song?" You feel others needed to know how you feel? Having a bad hair day? [Lest somebody takes a message by my not commenting, I'd note that I too enjoy most of Khun Fountainhill posts. To be honest, he occasionally posts something which I have little interest in but that's only a reflection of my narrow brain and not in any way a reflection on him.]

The good news is that planes usually only crash once. The bad news is that it's pretty difficult (not impossible, just difficult) to fix a broken wheel with a wad of duct tape! But trust you made it okay. The only somewhat-scary incident I was ever involved with was on one of those small commuter planes (one of those French planes with the struts holding the wings up) going from Detroit to my home city. Those planes only had two seats on one side and a single seat on the other side of the dinky aisle and, altogether, probably didn't hold more than 30 people or so. Anyway, I boarded and sat in the single seat right across from the door opening (which means I was about 30 inches at most from the door) and then I watched in amazement while two dim-witted ground personnel repeatedly tried to shut the door (they weren't happy with how it was latching). After they did this 20+ times, I just leaned over and sarcastically offerred: "If you want, I could just hold the door shut." Finding no humor at all with that, they continued to open and slam the door a few more times. What bothered me is I could hear their last comments when one said "Do you think we got it now?" and the other Einstein answered "Heck if I know!" I don't think they realized we could hear them talking in the plane. I kept my eye on that door the whole damn flight. That spooked me a bit but what topped that off was that very same plane flipped over in Detroit the very next day. Never read about the cause but my money's on the damn door! [Those French strut planes were later banned by the FAA due to too many accidents, several involving icing problems with the planes.]

Thankfully, they (e.g., Jim & Tammi Bakker, Jim Jones, Oral Roberts, David Koresh, Westboro Baptist Church, etc., etc.) usually have this wonderful propensity to ultimately prove to most people that that's exactly what they are. Another example in my view of what happens when you combine any religion with any government.

I've never met Monty (or at least I don't think I have) but, based on all the stories about him on the various boards over the years, I've always wanted to meet the guy. He seems like quite the character and rather universally liked by just about everybody he's encountered. There also have been several stories posted....some by Monty himself....detailing his medical issues, the last most serious one (just a couple of months ago?) requiring him to quickly sell the business he owned then. Now he's stepping back into the stress and hours of running another, even bigger, bar in Pattaya?!? Wow. Monty, you've maybe got balls bigger than the repository of your common sense but, nevertheless, good luck with your new venture (but, more importantly, stealing Frank Sinatra's line again, may you live to be 150 years old....and the last voice you hear is mine!).

Read about this in the Bangkok post yesterday. The ballet outfits being "indecent?!?" One almost has to be a real pervert to accept that notion. The only redeeming factor of this ruling is that it hopefully makes the advocates look like the fools they are.

Come on now, give the Easter Bunny a break! Sure, he may have some issues but at least he's never claimed he's seen Russia from his rabbit hole! And, for god's/buddha's sake, don't compare him to Sarah Palin! There are criminal libel laws in Thailand, don't ya know?!? You betcha, doc!

Legally? None as far as I know. You could do that education visa or business visa, I suppose, but, absent one of those two avenues, enjoy the 90-day out-of-country runs!

Ok, Rhodo, you've got your defacto blog over at Ting Tong and there's no need to post that stuff over here. I might be a minority of one but I don't want to know or hear about your exploits, how much you pay for them, what their names are, how many you have at a time, or whatever. When I was much younger....like 40 years ago....I and friends would read the forum columns in Playboy, Penthouse, and I think even the Hustler magazine and we used to just howl as to what we believed were made-up stories. Not that I care but I, for one, don't buy your stories as anything other than good imagination (although it doesn't work for me whether true or not true).

Hmmm....this is getting to be somewhat like a...a...a...blog! Khun Thaiworthy has some milk from his dairy to calm you down. B)

It does? Guess I learn something new every day. But, to be honest, I'm not going to go looking for it as I really don't want to read somebody else's diary. I somewhat feel like a voyeur whenever I've done that before. I will give you an "A" for a positive attitude. That's refreshing these days. Take care.

If I were you, I wouldn't get too excited by the so-called number of hits. For example only, I visit that site once or more every day and click on your posts so as to clear them away (sorry, other than the first few posts, I didn't read any more as I simply am not interested in the lurid details or following anybody's pre-vacation life, daily vacation life, or post-vacation life). While I have no problem at all with what your doing, I'm a bit surprised that the owner of the site let's you use his site for essentially your private blog. But that's Oogie's problem/benefit as far as I'm concerned as it's not my website. Oftentimes, as I've noted here and elsewhere over the years, I often wonder more about the motivations behind postings rather than the substance of the postings themselves. You obviously strongly feel that others want to know what you do and how you react to various people and events whereas I wouldn't write that kind of stuff about my life (or prior vacations) here in Thailand even if somebody paid me to do it. I don't even share some of that information with close friends. I've made similar comments to poster Dodger (at SWD) in the past as I was curious as to what motivated him to keep advising the world of the details of his vacation life with his bf. He, like you, is a very decent guy but I simply don't understand what it is that you guys get off on telling the various stories about boyfriends, boys you off, or whatever. I do recognize it really doesn't matter if I do or don't ever understand the motivations involved; regardless, I find that issue to be the interesting angle for me.

Nah, for that you'll hear the ambulance...

Very nice. I'm sure we have some bursting blooms up here in the boonies. In fact, I'm sure of it (can't see them because of the bad air but I can hear them gasping....).

Absolutely agree that this is the obvious and intelligent solution. Which, unfortunately, constitutes two reasons it'll never happen here.

Intuitively, it just seems to me that one properly-sized and efficient airport ought to be the long-term goal. Spending money to upgrade Don Muang and to build an adequate rail system between the two airports is, in my view, better spent elsewhere. And it'll take years to get a rapid transit system built between the two airports.....and, in the meantime, I have no desire whatsoever to slog through the traffic/flooding/whatever between Don Muang and Swampy. I wonder what percentage of the people flying internationally into Bangkok are ultimately heading to Chiangmai (Thailand's second-biggest city) or Phuket? If the percentage was significant enough (20% or more?), why not improve the "international" parts of the Chiangmai and Phuket airports and avoid Bangkok altogether for those travelers? It'd be great if occasionally a flight from the US or Europe landed here instead of Bangkok. We apparently already have some sparse flights to Seoul and Taipei and, if I can ever get the schedules to match without going broke buying the tickets, I'll jump at it as I'd just as soon avoid Bangkok altogether. As an extra bonus, our airport immigration up here is a breeze!

Just read the Muamba story a short while ago and it does appear that his survival is nothing short of miraculous. Not only did he have 15 shocks in the hospital, the article mentions that they administered 12 shocks in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. I don't think they'll do it more than 3 or 4 times in most situations. The article also made me wonder how many other people might be alive today if there were extended resuscitation efforts as was provided in this case. On the other hand, Muamba was extremely lucky that there was an off-duty cardiologist in the stands who was allowed to assist on the field and drove with him in the ambulance while administering vital drugs enroute. Lucky dude, that's for sure.

And Swampy's problems are now garnering a bit more international attention per this CNN article today: http://www.cnngo.com/bangkok/visit/trouble-bkk-critics-take-aim-bangkoks-crowded-international-airport-060746?hpt=hp_c4

Thanks for the info.....and, of course, just for you....lol.

Okay, okay, now will somebody take the time to explain to me (in simple English) how the hell I set an avatar here?

That's maybe why I'm rather fond of "Swampy" (because LAX is out there!).

Egads.....Next time I'll let my travel agent (www.fountainhill.com) handle it....and hope that his taxes and surcharges include a slim Thai man who will personally walk me through the process....

Most likely. I actually did go to some websites to look for free avatars and none of them tickle my fancy and/or other parts. And I have no idea where I found the Hanuman photo that I've used for years elsewhere. Maybe Khun Thaiworthy can find something appropriate for me (under 5 baht, please!).

For the heck of it, found the Landis Hotel's own website, put in the same dates as Khun Thaiworthy, and it says the price for a Superior Room (w/2 adults) is TWD3,586.64 (or 3,785 Thai baht) per night. I don't know about "add-ons", if any, as I didn't check that. While I agree that one should check around, sometimes the cheapest option is directly with the hotel itself (which cuts out the middleman.....as surely these other sites are charging something for the service).

Whoops, meant Edna. But no cooking sherry or other spirits. If anything, I don't drink enough! I can understand the history of men playing women's roles at a time where they essentially had to as no women were allowed to either act or attend (some time before the Equal Rights Amendment, I believe...). But I still don't get what I see as something different - the guys (usually at least about our age and not too pretty to start out with) who are broadway wannabees dressed up in frocks that even Dame Edna might find a bit tacky. And, typically (at least most of the ones I saw years ago in Pattaya....and ran from as fast as I could), the guys were substantially horizontally challenged. I've only seen this phenomenon once here in Chiangmai. A few years back, a guy built a showplace/restaurant/bar called Ruby Monroes (which was also his stage name) on Nimmanhaemin. I went to dinner there one night with the bf and another Thai friend and the show/act was simply horrible (and the fact that there were only 4-5 other people in the whole place prevented us from tactfully and quickly escaping). The guy had spent a lot of money on the place and, once I experienced that train wreck, I predicted it wouldn't last 3 months. I guess I was being generous as it was closed in about 30 days. Dame Edna and others mentioned were trying to be funny and largely succeeded. I have never perceived that the others I mention were trying to be funny (they weren't in any event!) and almost all of them (in spite of the frumpy frocks and makeup applied with a paint roller) looked almost frightening and could hardly carry a tune. What was left to admire or even tolerate remains beyond me.