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how much is that seat with miles only? 80K plus $2300 seems like a ripoff. It only cost me 90,000 miles plus about $50 for the taxes for a StarAlliance award ticket on ANA using United miles from Washington, DC to BKK.

thanks for the correction. I am currently reading "The Demise of the Dollar" which included that info. I guess maybe they didn't catch that when they updated the book.

welcome to inflation. As the speculators keep driving up the price of oil we are going to see prices continue to rise for everything. I am pretty well convinced that there's a new worldwide depression on the way. As the USD continues to sink it is going to drag down lots of other economies. There are the ones like China who are pegged to the dollar. And as Americans are required to cut back on our overconsumption and escalating debt levels everyone who exports stuff to us are going to be in trouble because this market will not be able to afford to buy as much stuff from everywhere else. As for airfares, you know they have really not changed all that much for many, many years. If they had been gradually increasing over time it wouldn't be so noticeable. But now that the airlines are bleeding so much money fares have to go up. They probably won't all survive anyway.

does it seem odd that the only news is about men with boys? are there no men with girls getting arrested?

well, if he was importing boys for what sounds like a very long time it probably wasn't so hard to find him. According to the article he was rotating new boys in and old boys out every week! Of course the Nation article is a bit misleading. Only two of the boys were under 15. Three of them were 19. The headline makes it sound like he had 8 little boys lined up and ready to go. This guy clearly has a lot of money to bankroll this lifestyle. I assume the BIB will take their cut and his life will go on.

there are always these sorts of little fluctuations. I would suspect that the TBT is coming back a little bit based on the inflation worries in LoS. Over the long term future though I don't see how the USD can do anything but continue it's decline. The level of national debt is just so high with no manufacturing economy to really increase exports which will leave us sinking. It's pretty depressing, in every sense of the word.

here ya go, from Pattaya City News http://www.pattayacitynews.net/news_14_05_51.html "In the early hours of Wednesday Morning, Tourist Police Officers from Pattaya arrested a German National apparently caught engaging in sexual activities with two boys under the age of 15. Tourist Police Detectives conducted a raid of a room at the Inchart Apartments in Soi Sunee Plaza, South Pattaya and found Mr. Wolf-Rudiger Engelke aged 67 in a state of undress."

doesn't the article say that he was arrested at a guest house/apartment near Sunee and that he picked the boys up off the street near there? In any event, all of the warnings in the world do not matter. It is a compulsion. It is not rational. Does the press also ever report on Thais being arrested for sex with kids? Do they ever report on people being arrested for sex with underage girls? Why do they put pictures of the naked perp and the kids all over the paper and the web? Do those kids really deserve that? Is it necessary to have the obligatory photo of the boys pointing at the guy?

AVAAZ is donating money directly to the network of monasteries in Burma. THe people are gathering at temples and monasteries because they are the only thing left in some areas. THe monks are tending the people as best they can. This organization seems to be well established. Here's an email I got today: Dear friends, Burma has been devastated by a cyclone—and by the military junta's failure to help its people cope. Help raise relief funds for distribution by Burma's monks: CLICK TO DONATE! In the wake of a massive cyclone, tens of thousands of Burmese are dead. More than 40,000 are missing. A million are homeless. But what's happening in Burma is not just a natural disaster—it's also a catastrophe of bad leadership. Burma's brutal and corrupt military junta failed to warn the people, failed to evacuate any areas, and suppressed freedom of communication so that Burmese people didn't know the storm was coming when the rest of the world did. Now the government is failing to respond to the disaster and obstructing international aid organizations. Humanitarian relief is urgently needed, but Burma's government could easily delay, divert or misuse any aid. Today the International Burmese Monks Organization, including many leaders of the democracy protests last fall, launched a new effort to provide relief through Burma's powerful grass roots network of monasteries—the most trusted institutions in the country and currently the only source of housing and support in many devastated communities. Click below to help the Burmese people with a donation and see a video appeal to Avaaz from a leader of the monks: https://secure.avaaz.org/en/burma_cyclone/77.php Giving to the monks is a smart, fast way to get aid directly to Burma's people. Governments and international aid organizations are important, but face challenges—they may not be allowed into Burma, or they may be forced to provide aid according to the junta's rules. And most will have to spend large amounts of money just setting up operations in the country. The monks are already on the front lines of the aid effort—housing, feeding, and supporting the victims of the cyclone since the day it struck. The International Burmese Monks Organization will send money directly to each monastery through their own networks, bypassing regime controls. Last year, more than 800,000 of us around the world stood with the Burmese people as they rose up against the military dictatorship. The government lost no time then in dispatching its armies to ruthlessly crush the nonviolent democracy movement—but now, as tens of thousands die, the junta's response is slow and threatens to divert precious aid into the corrupt regime's pockets. The monks are unlikely to receive aid from governments or large humanitarian organizations, but they have a stronger presence and trust among the Burmese people than both. If we all chip in a little bit, we can help them to make a big difference. Click here to donate: https://secure.avaaz.org/en/burma_cyclone/77.php With hope, Ricken, Ben, Graziela, Paul, Iain, Veronique, Pascal, Galit and the whole Avaaz team PS: Here are some links to more information: For more information about Avaaz's work to support the Burmese people, click here: http://www.avaaz.org/en/burma_report_back/ For more information about the cyclone, the humanitarian crisis, and the political dimension, see these articles: New York Times: "A Challenge Getting Relief to Myanmar's Remote Areas." 7 May 2008. BBC: "Will Burma's leaders let aid in?" 6 May 2008. India's Economic Times: Indian meteorological department advised junta 48 hours in advance, 6 May 2008. BBC: "Disaster tests Burma's junta." 5 May 2008 Times Online: "Aid workers fear Burma cyclone deaths will top 50,000." 6 May 2008. _________ ABOUT AVAAZ Avaaz.org is an independent, not-for-profit global campaigning organization that works to ensure that the views and values of the world's people inform global decision-making. (Avaaz means "voice" in many languages.) Avaaz receives no money from governments or corporations, and is staffed by a global team based in London, Rio de Janeiro, New York, Paris, Washington DC, and Geneva.

wow, I was already pretty depressed and after reading this I may go over the edge altogether! The world has an awful lot of problems right now. They say the "misery index" is rising fast due to the food crisis. I guess it's going to get a whole lot more miserable for a lot of people who have no idea what is coming. Or they are willfully ignoring the problems because they are just so daunting. One of my friends had a BF from Germany who wrote for a German economics magazine. Four or five years ago he was predicting a collapse of the US economy based largely on the housing bubble and the fact that we owe so much money to so many other countries. I guess those predictions are finally coming true. People who think this is just going to be a little recessive blip are in for a rude awakening I fear. I am glad I have been traveling the last several years while I am still young. Depending on how bad things end up getting I may not have the option to do that in the future. I wonder if this year's trip may be my last to LoS.

I typically plan using my miles as far in advance as possible to get a free ticket. And I have always managed to get in general what I want. Sometimes I have to adjust by a couple of days or take a routing that is not the most direct. Sometimes you just have to try a couple of times until you get an agent who knows how to work the system and is willing to check all of the partner airlines. I am never able to find anything on airline websites, I always call even though it means a small fee. Cathay must belong to one of the big alliances, right? Call and ask them to check on the partners unless you will only fly CX metal. I managed to get a free seat from Washington to Malta a couple of years ago on about 3 months notice. That was on Lufthansa via FRA using UA miles for a StarAlliance award. But last year and this I am booked in business class to BKK using All Nippon which is very nice. Those were both booked about 8-9 months in advance. I flew business class to Australia several years ago on UA which is typically not an easy route to get so I basically had to book it about at the outer limit of 11 months or so. Be persistent and keep checking. Seats get released all the time for a variety of reasons.

If you're looking for a real tour guide that is fairly easy to arrange I would imagine, especially in low season. You can always contact Purple Dragon (www.purpledrag.com) and use one of their guides. They are pretty much uniformly excellent and communicate very well. I think a full day with the guide is something like $50-60. You pay for lunch and transport as well as admissions. But for things like the Palace the guide gets in free. I swear by them and have had fantastic times traveling with them the last two years. They also have guides who can help you navigate the nightlife scene as well. They are based at the Tarntawan Place hotel so they are easy to find.

this is quite a story. After Googling and reading the story from the Scottish press from several years ago it's actually a pretty shocking story. It certainly makes me re-think my choice of where to stay and visit when I am in Pattaya.

well, given the reports we have seen on the incredibly high drink prices it may be that a vicious cycle has been created. In addition to it being low season people aren't interested in spending all of their money on drinks. And because there are so few customers I suppose the bars have to raise prices to cover their costs. Of course the rise of the baht may factor in a bit too. When it was 40 to the USD a higher price might not seem so bad, but with it sitting around 31 to the dollar now that's a pretty big difference. since I am not there I don't know for sure, but it seems like this may be a factor.

As I noted in the Sihanoukville thread: As for gay scene, there isn't much of one. There are a couple of gay or gay friendly bars in Phnom Penh. I visited Salt Lounge while I was there. It's very friendly. I happened to be there for their 3rd anniversary party which was quite an event. I know I have written about it elsewhere if not here before. They set up a stage out front with a tent over it that took up about half of the street. They had some (bad) drag, candle and fire dancers, and a few other things. For the Cambodians who had never been outside of their country before it was something the likes of which they had never seen. If you are used to shows in BKK and elsewhere I think it was a bit quaint. But I felt kind of honored to be there to share the experience with them. They have a website: http://www.thesaltlounge.com/ The Sticky Rice guide to gay Asia has links for gay places in Cambodia. Where to stay depends on your budget. I stayed at the Intercontinental last year. It was very nice in a chain hotel sort of way. The breakfast was good but the dining room was a bit overwhelmed with tour groups. This year I will be spending a night at the Amanjaya. It is much better located right near the river, palace, and Silver Pagoda. The Intercontinental is not very close to most of things a tourist would want to see. The Raffles Le Royale is supposed to be the best hotel in town, and I would guess it has prices to match. You could do PP in 2 days. There are no go-go bars or anything like that. If there is a commercial sex scene it must be pretty underground there. At least I didn't see it. There is certainly a great deal of poverty for sure. There's no "massage" scene either like there is in Thailand. I did have a massage but it was a legit massage with both of us fully clothed. They gave me a tshirt and loose pants to put on. The masseur was similarly attired. That was for a basic Thai-style massage. I supposed if I had opted for an oil massage instead I would have been naked but my guess is that the masseur would have still been fully clothed. He put me in a number of interesting positions. As for what to do in the city, there really aren't all that many tourist attractions. There is the wat on top of Phnom Penh (which means Penh's Hill). The grand palace is very nice, but not as nice as the Grand Palace in BKK. The one in PP is only about 100 years old. The Silver Pagoda is on the same grounds as the palace. I think it's a pretty well-confirmed rumor that the current king is gay. There is the genocide museum. Other than that there's the casino and the riverfront park. The national museum is OK, mainly just a collection of statuary without much identification. And there are a bunch of women inside who will try to get you to buy flowers for all of the Buddha statues. There are a couple of old markets that are crowded and hot. I arranged my visit using Purple Dragon tours (www.purpledrag.com). My guide, Nol, is a fascinating and passionate guy. He was a monk from age 8 until he graduated from school. He took me to visit his old monastery which is near the palace which was a special treat. He has very strong opinions about all sorts of things. His accent took a little getting used to. But I had a really great time just spending time with him and our driver and eating our meals together. I will be returning to see him later this year. Having a guide and driver was a big time saver and very informative.

That is a detailed reply. As he says you basically pay for things in USD and get small change in Riels. Most prices are quoted in dollars. As for gay scene, there isn't much of one. There are a couple of gay or gay friendly bars in Phnom Penh. I visited Salt Lounge while I was there. It's very friendly. I happened to be there for their 3rd anniversary party which was quite an event. I know I have written about it elsewhere if not here before. They set up a stage out front with a tent over it that took up about half of the street. They had some (bad) drag, candle and fire dancers, and a few other things. For the Cambodians who had never been outside of their country before it was something the likes of which they had never seen. If you are used to shows in BKK and elsewhere I think it was a bit quaint. But I felt kind of honored to be there to share the experience with them. They have a website: http://www.thesaltlounge.com/ The Sticky Rice guide to gay Asia has links for gay places in Cambodia. There is also apparently a gay bar in Siem Reap (Linga Bar) that is supposed to be really nice. I was so tired after visiting the temples all day that I never ventured out to find it. I loved Cambodia. I will be going back for a few days in November on my next return to SE Asia. I am not really into beaches so I don't have much interest in Sihanoukville. This time I will be heading down to Kep and visiting the old sites around that area. Although the lodging options in Kep are fairly dire from the looks of things so I am sure S-ville is much better in that regard. I think Bokor is easily doable from S-ville though as well.

I am happy that you went. I definitely plan to go there in the next couple of years. Glad to hear the weather was good in November. You say it was cool at night...exactly how cool? Light jacket cool? fleece jacket cool? heavier coat? That's probably around the time I would go...late October or November.

yes, flights to Laos are expensive. Bangkok Airways flies to Luang Prabang at least so you may want to check them to compare or use a site like kayak.com to compare multiple airlines. There aren't a lot of airlines that fly there so prices tend to be a bit high. I think Lao Airlines also flies to BKK. you may want to take a look at Purple Dragon's Laos offerings. I am using them for my trip later this year. I have traveled with them the past two years and while they are not cheap I think they provide a great service.

Here is an interesting post on that very subject by the owner of Purple Dragon Tours http://www.purpledrag.com/blog/4October07.htm I personally have very conflicted feelings on the subject. I think I come down on the side of visiting and spending money mainly serves to enrich the tyrants and does little to support the people. But I also see the other side and understand their argument. Obviously it's a complicated issue.

I definitely have to agree with you there. And since everyone talks about how much she cared about the poor people you kind of wish she could have left some instructions to save the money and spend it on the less fortunate. But I assume that this is just the way it "must" be done with respect to protocol. You can see the chariots at the National Museum in an annex building. They also have video from some of the formal important funerals that play on a continuous loop. When I was there several art students were drawing the chariots. They are very impressive.

of course the reason this guy is in trouble is that he was abusing boys and taking their pictures and one of them turned him in to the police.

can he really be called "gay"? Since he seemed to prefer young boys that makes him either a pedophile or perhaps an ephebophile. Apparently he also abused some young girls, but I guess the pictures that we know about are of boys. I believe there is a distinction between preferring children and some one who you would call gay in the conventional sense who prefers adult males.

exactly. The Chinese need to step in. But that's one slightly less repressive regime telling another what to do. If there are 50 million people and only 400,000 troops you would think that they should be able to overwhelm the military even with its guns. There are several dead already and there will likely be many more. It was somewhat encouraging to see 10000 people come out today even after the monasteries were raided and monks beat up. Reports of some soldiers refusing to beat the monks is also a bit encouraging. I wonder if there's any chance of a coup within the military? As much as we would like to think the outside world can do something it is unfortunate that it appears an internal rebellion or revolution is the only way the situation inside the country will change.

A couple of things.... It is great that you generally enjoyed yourself. My first time, as it were, was about a year ago and I also had an amazing time, but I too found it to be very eye opening. Particularly Pattaya and Sunee. And I agree that the place is fairly shocking to see first hand. However, as has been pointed out here there are plenty of venues there that are on the up and up. Did you really pay Bt1500 for a short time? Is that the going rate now? I never paid more than Bt1000 for a short time and that seemed to satisfy everyone involved. And that was before the dollar started it's downward slide. The only time I ever took any taxis I had my guides with me and they did the talking so I think that helped avoid any taxi hanky-panky. The driver who took me back to the hotel the night of the coup wanted an inflated price but was quickly put in his place. I tipped him anyway because I was happy that we found him under the circumstances. The traffic in BKK is chaotic, but in an odd way I thought that was part of its charm. I suppose if I lived there and had to deal with it every day it would make me crazy, but in small doses it didn't bother me. And the nice thing about being in the Silom area is that the skytrain is right there and can get you around to many places you want to go.

here's the Cambodia e-visa website http://evisa.mfaic.gov.kh/ This is the route I plan to go for my Cambodia visa, US Passport holder here as well. You need an electronic passport size photo (.jpg) and you fill out their online application and pay the fee. Seems pretty simple. Don't know about Laos.