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my guess would be that the rate isn't going to change by all that much so trying to time it is probably pointless. The rate has been hovering between 34 and 35 for a while now. Even if it went to something like 36 that is only a very small percentage.

I believe the Reuters report noted that the food in question was coconut soup with salmon. You're right though that it is an incredible story. Could it be a bizarre way for everyone to sort of save face? I don't understand why the whole cabinet would be forced to resign. They weren't cooking with him...

I would imagine the original is likely a better film. I don't get why studios remake these Asian films with white guys in the lead.

I agree that this sounds very dangerous. If it were legit you would be able to get a straight answer to questions about exactly where she would be working. The Bt30000 for the plane ticket cost will likely then also turn into tens of thousands of a baht a month for housing and other expenses. So she will end up in indentured servitude if not outright slavery. You read all the time about people from poor countries who end up in human trafficking situations.

what do they hope to gain by marching on the Brits??? these people are idiots. The wheels of justice turn slowly, it's only been a week. I am sure the British government isn't going to be pushed around but a bunch of people marching in the street of BKK.

I see that the latest speculation is that they are headed to England and that their children have already gone there. I read that there was a teary goodbye at the airport before they left for china with many large suitcases. It will be interesting to see if the Thais request their extradition if they are convicted in the new case that goes to trial tomorrow. Apparently the court will proceed to try them in absentia since their testimony is not a requirement. I would guess that fleeing doesn't look too good to the court either. What happens to his Man City ownership if that is the case? Will the EPL throw him out?

who would give them exile status though? aren't they really fugitives from justice? Does China have an extradition treaty with Thailand? Pojman has already been convicted of one of her crimes. I can't believe they let her leave the country in the first place. Altho perhaps the opposition would prefer that Thaksin live in exile outside the country so he can't stir things up inside. Maybe some sort of deal was struck behind the scenes.

in the end will they really "clean" anything up? Or will they just push the issues to another neighborhood/area? If they really are sending all of these addicts to treatment that would be great. But even the best treatment methods/facilities aren't always especially effective. I can't imagine that there is funding for real intensive treatment. So these kids will just end up doing the same thing somewhere else. Same thing with the underage issue. It might go a bit more underground but it won't go away forever. Too much money to be made.

"Deckchair operators said that they have increasingly observed these saucy goings on and have also found large numbers of used condoms scattered around the area." Now if this was gay sex would they call it "saucy goings on" or would they call it immoral sinning?

not sure exactly how this checkpoint would be implemented. Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't it that case that the bars are not the only thing there. Aren't there also residential buildings all around there where families live? Would you issue some sort of special "pass" to the people who live there?

I visited this museum in November shortly after it opened. It is pretty dreadful as museums go. Very little interpretation of artifacts. Quite expensive for what it is. And for such a huge building the collection is fairly tiny. Siem Reap could use a good museum with a good collection that explains Khmer civilization. I was lucky enough to have my own guide and to have done some research in advance, but not everyone has that. Unfortunately the National Museum in PP is not so great either. Lots of Buddha images but again very little explanation or interpretation. And lots of women trying to sell you incense and other items for all of the Buddhas.

Are you sure he passed thru immigration? if he was flying in and out of the same terminal there would be no need for him to do so on his own. Typically the immigration jails are in the no man's land area. The people they lock up there have not legally entered the country. I suspect they put him in a cell at the airport immigration jail, then a few days later bundled him onto US gov't airplane to fly to Jordan. So he would not have entered the country.

This thread was started with the story of his lawsuit being dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. He was sent by the US to Jordan because the CIA intended for him to end up in Syria to be tortured on the behalf of the US gov't. Any other day of course we would be all up in arms about how the Syrians are state sponsors of terrorism. But I suppose when they are supporting the terrorism of the USA it is OK to do it. The technicality in this case I suppose is that altho he was in the airport he was always "airside" and never officially entered the country through our immigration department. I think some one made a movie about this sort of situation recently. Airports are a sort of limbo legally with respect to these sorts of issues. I'm not sure why the Canadian government paid him damages rather than the criminals who run this country. The USA used the be a beacon of freedom. Now we are a global disgrace.

This topic comes up here from time to time. I know there was a long article in the Washington Post several months ago as well. People traveling to and from the UK were having their computers searched and the contents copied. Lots of companies are concerned about the exposure of sensitive material and are ordering their employees to not take the work computers with them. It seemed that mainly it was South Asian and Middle Eastern people being targeted in that story. I expected to be searched on my return from Thailand on my first trip. But all I got at JFK was "welcome home, sir" from the customs people. I think I was the first person to get my bags and go thru. I was over the customs limit (I had bought some jewelry) and declared it but they didn't seem to care. The customs declaration card requires you to list all of the countries visited during your time outside the USA. Last year instead of going via JFK I took ANA via NRT and when I arrived at Washington Dulles it was a giant mess. They only had 1 passport control agent on duty at 9 AM. So there was a massive line. They finally added a bunch more at about 10 AM. They were just processing people as fast as they could at that point to get the line down. The passport agent only asked me if I was in the military which was a very odd question I thought. The customs agents just waved me through, even though again I was over the limit. Ultimately all you can do is not carry anything questionable and be as polite with them as you possibly can. And arrive at an understaffed airport, maybe.

The TG 772 ER is 3-3-3 seating in economy so I suppose it is possible what they could do is take something like the first 7 rows of economy and make sure that the middle seats are left empty and call that "premium economy" since you would have a little more space with no one sitting next to you. But that may be too creative of a solution for them and it doesn't do anything to increase pitch between rows. Definitely I would call them. If they can't accommodate you to your satisfaction I would demand a refund if it's not offered. But then you will still need to find alternate arrangements.

If you are flying ex LAX you need to check with Thai soon. According to Thai's website "While THAI will discontinue its New York operations, the company will retain service on the return route Bangkok-Los Angeles v.v., which will utilize Airbus A340-500 aircraft until September 2008, thereafter to utilize Boeing 777-200 ER aircraft to and from Los Angeles at 5 flights per week." Since the 777 has no premium economy you will end up in regular economy. In fact that aircraft has only 30 business class seats which is half as many as the A345, so some folks in business could potentially end up being seated in economy. At the very least you may be due some money back depending on what the economy fare is now. And since the 777 can't make it all the way on one tank of gas they will add a stop at Osaka to refuel.

I assume its mainly a fad. I saw a ton of Thai kids at FAT Festival last year in BKK with all sorts of facial piercings. The lip piercing seemed to be especially popular. These were all middle-class teenagers. The tattoos may be more traditional. I don't want to play amateur psychologist too much, but it's also possible that the tattoos are a way to cover up. And all of those piercings and tattoos could be a self-esteem issue. Especially for boys whose job it is to parade around naked or nearly so for a bar full of strangers and then are expected to go off and have sex with all comers.

I guess 34 is better than 32 or 33 for Americans. Unfortunately though our economy over here is in terrible shape as well and it's only likely to keep getting worse. So that will prevent the dollar from gaining much on the TBt.

Ambiance has high speed wireless that works pretty well. The Executive suite rooms also include a laptop for your use along with a printer as well. But of course you can use your own computer instead.

I wonder exactly how they will manage to shoe-horn an elevator into the building. And how much noise and disruption will that construction cause? Putting an elevator into a new building is pretty straightforward, but retro-fitting one into an existing building can't be easy.

with fuel costs rising it probably didn't make sense to keep on flying an aircraft that only seats 200 if it's full. there are other options to connect in Asia. I flew ANA via NRT from Washington last year and enjoyed it. I am going back with them again this year.

wow, you have a beautiful home!

you think this is bad publicity? Bad for the guys being arrested for sure, but I think it's probably good publicity for Pattaya. Here's an interesting tidbit from the Pattaya Mail article: " A media briefing was held on May 19 by Pol Maj Gen Panya Mamen, deputy superintendent of the Investigation Center at the Department for Suppression for Transnational Crime, Pol Col Manoo Mekmorhk, deputy commander of the Tourist Police, Pol Col Naradet Klomtuksing, superintendent of investigation at Tourist Police 2, Tourist Police Headquarters, Pol Maj Col Suwan Un-Anan, chief investigator at Pattaya Tourist Police Station, Pol Col Nopadol Wongnom, superintendent at Pattaya Police Station, and Ms Mariel Schaltz, an official from the USA." Only one of the arrestees appears to have been a US citizen. Most of the them are Europeans. So why is there an official from the USA at this briefing and no one from the UK for example? Also according to the article Sunee Plaza is being closely watched, whatever that means.

It's kind of a double edged sword though. My first time in LoS was Sept 2006. There apparently weren't many tourists in Pattaya at the time. Several times I was the only patron in a bar. All the boys on stage just stare at you expectantly trying very hard to make eye contact and win your attention. It made me extremely uncomfortable to be the center of attention like that. And it almost made me feel obligated spend money that I wouldn't normally have done.

I think a lot of what you say likely hits the nail on the head. But with regard to the poor families, don't they send their boys to Pattaya and BKK just as they send their girls to "work" to help support the family knowing full well what work means. Do they really place a distinction on whether the boy or girl is 15 or 16 or 18 or 20? I wonder if a lot of the effort against farang has to do with xenophobia. Thais are proud of the fact that they are the only country in their neighborhood that was never colonized and subjugated by the West. Of course the kings cut some deals and gave up certain things in order to retain a certain amount of autonomy. But the basic person on the street just knows that the white man never took over their country. So, I suppose the idea of white men coming to Thailand and physically and sexually holding power over their boys is seen as emasculating the country.