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The following appears in the BANGKOK POST: _____ Officers Cleared of Attempt to Assassinate Thaksin Writer: WASSANA NANUAM Published: 20/08/2009 The Bangkok Military Court has cleared three military officers accused of trying to assassinate former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra in 2006 using a car bomb. The court on Wednesday acquitted the officers of the charge of trying to murder Thaksin, but sentenced them to jail for illegally possessing and transporting weapons in the capital. Lt Thawatchai Klinchana, Col Surapol Supradit and Lt Col Manas Suprasert were accused of attempting to kill Thaksin on Aug 24, 2006. Lt Thawatchai of the Internal Security Operations Command (Isoc) was arrested in a Daewoo car stuffed with bombs under the flyover at Bang Phlat intersection that morning. He was on a route used by Thaksin every day to get to work. Lt Thawatchai's account of why he was in the car led to the arrest of the two other officers. The court acquitted the three of the attempted murder charge after it heard the bombs had not been wired to go off, that Lt Thawatchai had not held a remote control to detonate them, and Thaksin's limousine had already passed the flyover. On the charges of illegally possessing and transporting the weapons, the court sentenced Col Surapol and Lt Col Manas to six years in jail and fined them both 4,000 baht. Lt Thawatchai's sentence was commuted to four-and-a-half years in jail and a fine of 3,000 baht for giving useful testimony. The three officers said they would appeal the sentences. All three are close to Gen Panlop Pinmanee, who was an Isoc deputy director at the time of the offence. Thaksin dismissed Gen Panlop from the security post following Lt Thawatchai's arrest. Gen Panlop has denied involvement in the alleged plot to assassinate Thaksin. _________ In my opinion, just based on what I'm reading, while the evidence may have been lacking on a legal basis, on a logical basis they sure seem guilty to me. Why else would they have bombs on the very route Thaksin normally traveled? I don't approve of Thaksin and his methods, but I see no justification in attempting to murder him. Obviously Thaksin wants nothing more than to be able to return to Thailand and take over the country. Maybe one of these days he'll achieve that. But I can't help thinking of what happened to Benigno Aquino when he returned to the Philippines. He never even made it off the plane. I can certainly envision something similar happening to Thaksin. I hope nothing like that ever really happens. If it does, not only would it be wrong, but all hell would break loose in Thailand. Assassination of politicians has been all too common throughout history. You never see much good coming from it. I believe these officers attempted it, despite the court ruling. If they attempted it, will there be others?

I'm very sorry it worked out that way. I was truly hoping you would prevail.

If you're going to answer your own question, why ask it? The fact is that I have "lurked from the pot," and many times more than once. I didn't end up drugged, although I did start dancing naked on the stage. Now you know the real reason why a few bars permanently closed.

GT, I'm curious as to whether there is a "rest of the story." Did you ever try to make contact with him again?

I like the idea of suspending them, or even firing them and some sort of system to blackball them from working in any other bar, if they test positive for drugs, but I disagree that it should be the bars that do the testing, or at least have to finance the testing. I don't see why the bars should be held responsible for the behavior of their employees any more than a grocery store should be held responsible for the behavior of their employees during non-working hours. I could see a daily pee test, or whatever kind of test, if the police or a government agency does the testing or foots the bill, but I can't see forcing bar owners to do so. I also disagree with the idea that if the bars don't drug test their employees, then it means the bars condone drug use or are even drugging the boys themselves. It could just as easily mean that they don't consider it to be their responsibility, or it's an exercise in futility, or that they simply couldn't care less. I despise drug use too and I don't want to bring home a boy if I know he's a drug user, but does that mean it is now incumbent upon me to personally drug test any boy I take off? I don't think so. I think the same goes for the bars.

For crying out loud, who comes up with this nonsense? The bars don't drug their boys into dancing. That's one of the more ridiculous ideas I've heard in quite some time. First, even if there was a reason to do that, which there isn't, the cost of the drugs would be prohibitive. Second, when the police do their raids, the last thing the bars want is for the police to find any of their boys testing positive for drugs. Third, if they were drugging their boys, then they would all test positive for drugs when the police raid. Fourth, if they were really doing that, then the boys would actually be dancing. When was the last time you saw the majority of the boys on stage doing much more than the "One Knee Shuffle"? If anyone wants to believe that the bars are drugging the bar boys, go right ahead, but there is no evidence or proof of any kind that such a thing is going on. Granted, there's a lot of things going on at some of these bars that they wouldn't want made public, but drugging the boys just isn't one of them.

I think it's near fetched, myself . . .

That issue came up several months ago. You might recall there was a big to-do when the powers-that-be announced that bars would be closed if any staff members failed police drug tests. The bars raised holy hell about that because they said there is no way for them to be responsible for what their employees do when they're not working and it was far too expensive for them to test the employees on any kind of regular basis. I don't know what became of that, but obviously the police don't close the bars when employees test positive for drugs. However, the bars maintain that drug testing their employees is far too cost prohibitive.

I have, many times. Granted, at many airports you're on your own when it comes to claiming luggage, but I have indeed been to many at which they really do check your luggage tag against the stub in your ticket folder. In Thailand, however, I've never seen any kind of check at all.

That brings to mind another one that often happens to people, in keeping with Murphy's Law. You come to Thailand for a holiday and you finally find the perfect boy of your dreams . . . and it's the last full day of your holiday.

The following appears in the BANGKOK POST: _____ AoT Enlists Support to Tackle Airport Woes Police Cases will be Dealt with In-House Writer: AMORNRAT MAHITTHIROOK Published: 18/08/2009 Airports of Thailand Plc is calling on state security agencies to draw up new measures to deal with problems at Suvarnabhumi airport including baggage theft and alleged extortion of tourists. AoT president Serirat Prasutanond said the agencies were expected to come up with their proposals and submit them to AoT executives on Thursday. Mr Serirat yesterday met representatives from the police, customs and King Power, the operator of the duty-free complex at the airport, to discuss the problems dogging Suvarnabhumi. The meeting came on the heels of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's visit to the airport on Saturday to gather information first-hand on the troubles plaguing the airport. Foreign media outlets have reported in recent weeks on a number of foreign travellers being accused of shoplifting at the airport and held by police until they paid a bribe to secure their freedom. The airport is under the jurisdiction of Rachathewa police station. It was also reported tourists claimed to have been fined for breaking customs regulations for possessing more than one carton of cigarettes or one bottle of liquor. Mr Serirat said the proposed new guidelines would be forwarded to the Transport Ministry and the prime minister for approval. Mr Serirat said signs would probably be put up telling tourists when they are leaving the duty-free area and warning them to pay up for all items before leaving to avoid being arrested for shoplifting. He said a police office on the third floor would be renovated and equipped with the tools needed to facilitate police work so suspects would not have to leave the airport. Niran Thiranartsin, the airport director, said passengers were regularly fined for possessing more than the permitted amount of cigarettes and alcohol. In most cases, the cigarettes and alcohol were not purchased at the airport. Fines could be imposed if passengers were found in possession of more than the permitted amount. Mr Niran said customs and revenue authorities would have to come up with better regulations to deal with such cases. Pratheep Vijitho, the airport's deputy director for operations, said the two contracted operators handling passenger luggage at the airport would be required to employ better measures to prevent luggage thefts. The two are Thai Airways International and Bangkok Flight Services Co. More security cameras will be installed in the sorting area. He said the measures were expected to take effect on Sept 1.

I agree with much of your post, but I don't agree about this part. I don't see why you should feel that way or feel any guilt whatsoever. You gave the boy some money for his birthday, which was a very nice thing to do. But you're certainly neither responsible nor in control of what he did with the money. You can't even know what he did with the money. The fact that he was arrested doesn't mean that he took the money and bought ya ba with it. He may already have had the ya ba or some friend of his may have given it to him. For all you know, the money you gave him may have gone toward room rent, sending home to mama, buying clothes, or something else. You are in no way the cause of him ending up arrested. If he's on ya ba, he most likely would have ended up arrested whether you gave some money to him or not. These boys who are ya ba users manage to get it one way or another, even when they're flat broke. One of the worst aspects of the ya ba is the fact that these boys are under such peer pressure. If it wasn't for that, I believe most of them would have never touched the stuff in the first place.

That's one of the secrets about driving in Thailand. If you have a long car trip to make, then the dead of night is the best time if you want a good chance of avoiding the corrupt police road blocks. They don't seem to be very nocturnal. Also, when it's raining they don't seem to want to come out to play.

I think your theory is a little far fetched, but who knows? It could turn out to be that you are right. In any case, you're definitely right about the average 'punter' seeing only the friendly side of things. We don't often see the truly sinister side of it. We hear stories and rumors, but few of us ever really see it for ourselves.

Beats me. My eyebrows also raised at these numbers. I can't speak to the accuracy of the numbers, but obviously there were under-age employees, employees who failed the urine test, and arrests. I don't think the actual number is the important thing. I think the important thing is the fact that these things still go on, and if it's going on in one bar, then I'd say the odds are pretty good that it's going on in others. What bothers me the most is that some bars strive to make sure that none of this goes on, and when these things happen, it causes problems for the bars that are operating entirely legitimately. Once again, check those ID cards and watch your valuables. Ya ba costs money and obviously there are a number of boys who are users.

The following appears in PATTAYA ONE: for photos, see: http://www.pattayaone.net/news/2009/august/news_17_08_52.shtml _____ Underage Employees and Drug Takers Detained During Boy Bar Raid in Soi Sunee Plaza. Pattaya, August 17 [PATTAYA ONE NEWS] In the early hours of Monday Morning, Police Lieutenant Jumluk from Pattaya Police Station led a team of officers on a raid of the Villa Rouge Boys Nightclub located in Soi Sunee Plaza in South Pattaya, an area notorious for underage bar workers. Officers entered the premises and detained all employees and conducted a check on them. It was found that 23 employees were under the age of 18 and 35 employees failed urine tests, confirming the recent consumption of methamphetamine. Khun Duanggeow aged 50, the manager of the venue was arrested and he joined the other arrestees at Pattaya Police Station. The Manager was charged with employing staff under the age of 18 and the 35 employees who failed urine tests were charged with class 1 drug consumption offences. A full report of the incident will be sent to the Banglamung District Licensing Unit for their consideration.

Gay Men Attacked, Executed in Iraq, Rights Group Says BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Hundreds of gay men have been tortured and killed in Iraq in recent months, some by the nation's security forces, Human Rights Watch said Monday. Interviews with doctors indicate hundreds of men had been killed, but the exact number was unclear because of the stigma associated with homosexuality in Iraq, the New York-based watchdog group said in its report. "Iraq's leaders are supposed to defend all Iraqis, not abandon them to armed agents of hate," said Scott Long, director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights Program at Human Rights Watch. "Turning a blind eye to torture and murder threatens the rights and life of every Iraqi." Iraqi officials acknowledged that the nation's culture stigmatizes homosexuality, but said the government does not condone such attacks. Authorities are unable to provide homosexuals with special protection, said government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh. According to Human Rights Watch, which is urging a government crackdown, attackers target people on the streets or storm homes, where they conduct interrogations and demand names of suspected gay men. Many end up in hospitals and morgues, the organization said, basing its conclusion on reports from doctors. Men have been threatened with "honor killings" by relatives worried that their "unmanly behavior" will ruin the family's reputation, Human Rights Watch said. Killings, kidnappings and torture of those suspected of homosexual conduct have intensified in areas such as the Baghdad neighborhood of Sadr City, the watchdog said. Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia, which is active in Sadr City, has joined in the attacks and defends its actions as a way to stop the "feminization" of Iraqi men, the report said. "We have testimony that indicates that the nation's security forces are taking part in the attacks," Long said. The group interviewed more than 50 people who gave accounts of abuses, beatings and stops at security checkpoints, he added. "These killings point to the continuing and lethal failure of Iraq's post-occupation authorities to establish the rule of law and protect their citizens," said Rasha Moumneh, Middle East researcher for Human Rights Watch. A provision from the Saddam Hussein era endorses crimes committed "with honorable motives," according to the organization. The government spokesman said the provision was popular during the Saddam era, but is not used today. He added that there is a push to educate police about human rights. Attacks against civilians, including homosexuals, are not allowed, al-Dabbagh said.

Thank you. I haven't been on that bypass in years because it used to be very heavily trafficked with large trucks. I didn't know until your post that improvements have been made. I'll give it a try when I make my next trip from Pattaya to Bangkok.

I think the motorway. If you use the 'skyway,' which I refer to as the expressway, then you have to go through Si Racha and Chonburi to get there. At 3:00am it's no problem, but during the day, the traffic and traffic signal delays can take forever. The motorway has none of those. What I do is take the motorway until I pass the rest area. The second exit after the rest area takes you over to the 'skyway'. Getting to the 'skyway' from the motorway at that exit takes about three minutes. That saves a hell of a lot of time.

For what it's worth, my screen resolution is set to 1024 x 768 and works just fine.

Yep. Bumrungrad Hospital.

A very good point indeed. Here are some of my peeves, when they occur. Fortunately, most of these don't happen very often, but I'll bet many of you can relate to at least two or three of these: 1. When in the bar they're all over you, but in the sack they're duds. 2. When the very instant you ejaculate, they run to the shower. 3. When they tell you "I can do everything," but once you have them in private they do nothing and/or when you've requested something 'special,' they've agreed to it, and then won't do whatever it was you wanted. 4. When you get them to your room and they start giving you a price list for what they'll do. 5. When you get them to your room and they immediately turn on the TV and pay a hell of a lot more attention to that than they do to you. (pull out the plug just enough so that the TV won't come on, but it still looks plugged in. Then you can tell them the TV is broken) 6. When in the height of passion, their phone rings and they answer it, and even go into a lengthy conversation. Sometimes that happens repeatedly. 7. When it's perfectly obvious that all they want to do is get it over with, get their money, and get going. 8. When they've got to get drunk first. 9. When they cry and start telling you all about their family financial troubles and/or their former farang boyfriend who dumped them. 10. When they've injected their penises with some sort of concoction to enlarge them, and ended up instead with something grossly deformed.

Nearly 300 Illegal Taxi Drivers, Tour Guides Nabbed at Suvarnabhumi Airport BANGKOK, Aug 16 (TNA)

It's the same for me. I don't have any idea why gay_grampa's appears like that. If there is a way to get it to line up horizontally, rather than vertically, I can't find it. Better still, I don't even really know what that "0" icon is even for. It says "reputation." I don't know what reputation they're talking about or why it would even be important to anyone, but there it is. Voting on whether you like a post or not? I don't see how that would make any difference to anyone and very few people are using it. If that whole three-icon set could be removed entirely, I think that would be an improvement.

I'm almost afraid to try locking this topic and then unlocking it again, but here goes! If you find this topic locked, you'll know I still couldn't unlock it. _______________ Ok, I managed to unlock it, but I had to do it the hard way. I can click the Open Topic button, but I still get the same error. I can do it now, though, by going outside the thread and opening it from the main forum topic list. That's fine. As long as I can do it at all now, I'm happy. There you have it, folks . . . If you find a topic locked, you'll know I could have reopened it, but didn't.