Gaybutton

Has it really come to this? Now we're going to have arguments over what speed at which someone connects to the Internet? Sheeeesh! Is there anything people don't argue about?

The December 29 edition of the PATTAYA MAIL includes a report about a French "farang" who has been arrested for picking up young boys in Sunee Plaza, taking them to his apartment, filming himself having sex with them, and then posting what he films on the Internet. Somehow the phrase "total dumbass" comes to mind. To read the article, click the following link: http://www.pattayamail.com/current/news.shtml#hd9

I can now confirm that the new regulations do not prohibit smoking in bars.

The following appears in the BANGKOK POST: _____ Health Bill Withdrawn from Second Reading The controversial clause about patients' right to die in the National Health Bill Thursday sparked heated debate during the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) session. NLA yesterday deliberated the bill in the second reading. According to Section 10 of the bill, a person shall have the right to make a written statement declaring his or her intention not to receive medical treatments that serve only to delay his or her death in the terminal stage of his or her life, or not to receive the medical treatments for the purpose of ending the suffering from his or her illness. The statement shall be prepared in line with procedures and criteria prescribed by ministerial regulations. NLA member General Chamlong Srimuang supported the patients' right to die, citing the case of the late monk Buddhadasa Bhikkhu as an example. The famous monk, who passed away in 1993, made an express intention to pass away not using a respirator to cling on to life in the last stage of his life. "However, his followers asked that the respirator be used. This is against his intention," Chamlong said. Ampon said this legal clause, if enforced, would protect people's right to choose whether they wanted to live on. However, NLA member Pathumporn Watcharasathien expressed concerns about the "terminal stage" in the provision. "Who will define the terminal stage?" she questioned. She said some patients could live on much longer than what doctors previously estimated. Pathumporn suggested that at least three specialists would be required for a comment that the patients were in the terminal stage of their lives. NLA member Somkiat Onwimon complained that this clause was against doctor's ethics. "How can a person is authorised to say that this or that person should die? It's abuse of human rights," he said. After heated debate, the controversial clause managed to get the green light from NLA. However, the second reading of the National Health Bill still hit snags on several other sections. "This bill contains many flaws," NLA member Borwornsak Uwanno said. The Nation

BANGKOK, Dec 28 (TNA) Don Muang Airport, recently decommissioned as Thailand's primary international airport, will be turned into a regional aircraft maintenance and civil aviation training centre, according to an official responsible for drawing up a development plan for Bangkok's former international airport. Boonrit Saowaprurk, director of the Civil Aviation Training Centre, said that the plan would see Don Muang Airport emerge as the region's aircraft maintenance hub within the next four years, rivalling Singapore. It hopes to gain up to a quarter of the market, sharing Bt5 billion revenue (US$138.8 million). If the plan is approved by the transport ministry, Mr. Boonrit said, work would start immediately on the south of the runways to build a large aircraft maintenance facility. This would involve an investment outlay of Bt600-700 million (US$19 million). He expressed confidence that with Thailand's geographical advantage as the centre in the Southeast Asian mainland, the new facility would win over businesses from Singapore, currently the regional hub for commercial aircraft maintenance business. "Globally, aircraft servicing is worth over Bt 500 billion. Singapore currently has about a fifth of that market. If we can share about a quarter of that, it would be worth Bt25 billion (US$694 million)," Mr. Boonrit told reporters. According to the plan, the domestic terminal would be developed into a civil aviation training centre while the two international terminals would be left unchanged in case the government decided to make use of the retired airport in the future. In October, a month after commercial flights moved to Suvarnabhumi Airport, the National Economic and Social Advisory Council suggested that Don Muang Airport could further serve the aviation industry, including being a locus for chartered flights and that the airport could become an aircraft maintenance centre for Thailand and as a hub for providing spare aircraft parts. Aviation Department director-general Chaisak Angkasuwan earlier rejected a plea by budget air carriers to return their operations to Don Muang, saying that the move would double the overhead expenses in keeping both airports in operation simultaneously. The region's low-cost airlines are reported to be unhappy with the higher costs they are encountering at the new Bangkok airport, in particular the fees for parking aircraft. (TNA)-E110

As of 6:20 AM, in Thailand, now this board is loading much faster, almost at normal speed, but it is still slow going. But it is dramatically faster than just a few hours ago.

Note from GB: It's difficult to be certain, at least based on my interpretation of this article, whether the ban includes the bars. The article does not specifically mention bars. We'll know soon enough. The following appears in THE NATION: _____ Smokers Forbidden to Lght Up in Public Areas From now on, smokers will find it harder than ever to find a place to light up because every public area will be a smoke-free zone following the latest ministerial order from the Public Health Minister. According to the order, which takes effect today, offenders will face a Bt2,000 fine, while owners who allow smoking on their premises or fail to place a no-smoking notice will be charged up to Bt20,000. The ban forbids smoking on public transport, at bus stops, in elevators, public phone booths, libraries, theatres, children's playgrounds, drugstores, meeting rooms, massage parlours and spas. Smoking in indoor stadiums is also banned - excluding snooker rooms. The ban on smoking also includes schools and educational institutes. Air-conditioned areas in art exhibition halls, galleries, museums, shopping malls, barbershops, Internet cafes and karaoke booths are also no-smoking zones. The ban includes the lobbies of hotels, resorts, condominiums, apartments and restaurants, excluding entertainment areas. Smokers are still allowed to smoke in their personal offices, individual rooms or rooms provided as smoking areas. Public Health Minister Mongkol na Songkhla yesterday held a press conference to launch the 17th ministerial order and place no-smoking labels at Hua Lampong Railway Station. He said 52,000 Thais died a year from smoking-related diseases, especially lung cancer and heart disease. It cost the country more than Bt50 billion in healthcare services for patients with lung cancer, heart disease and emphysema. A no-smoking law has already been enforced in covered areas of restaurants and public places that were air-conditioned. "This ministerial order has added more no-smoking places. The ban is to protect the health of non-smoking people from 4,000 kinds of toxin in tobacco smoke," the minister said. Mongkol encouraged anyone witnessing an offence to call 02-590-3342. Mongkol has also tried every means to reduce alcohol consumption. Even though the Council of State's ruling invalidated his ministry's Food and Drug Administration-initiated move to comprehensively ban alcohol advertising, the ministry is exploring other legal channels.

This is the first time I have been able to access Gay Thailand in the past 36 hours. As many of you know, an earthquake in Taiwan has disrupted Internet service throughout Southeast Asia. The latest reports tell us that in Thailand full service should be restored within the next five days. I was able to get in now, obviously, but the web site was extremely slow to load on this end. I'm glad we can get in at all and I hope things will be back to normal very soon. There are still a number of web sites either inaccessible or only partially accessible for us in Thailand, but I'm seeing a steady improvement as repairs to the earthquake damage are repaired.

The following appears in the BANGKOK POST: _____ Thaksin 'Will Face' Criminal Charges Over Airport, Land Deal (BangkokPost.com, Agencies) The Bank of Thailand will file corruption charges against former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, based on evidence by the National Counter Corruption Commission that the deposed leader was involved in two fraud. Finance Minister Pridiyathorn Devakula vowed today that the cases would reach a criminal court. Corruption busters appointed by Thailand's ruling junta have found that Mr Thaksin was personally involved in an alleged overpriced purchase of equipment at Bangkok's new Suvarnabhumi airport and a controversial land deal in 2003. The Shinawatra family's high-profile lawyer Noppadol Pattama said Mr Thaksin will return to prove his innocence if he is charged with involvement in two controversial deals. Mr Noppadol claimed that the Council for National Security (CNS) and Assets Scrutiny Committee (ASC) were trying to boost their own achievements 100 days after the coup by linking Mr Thaksin with the scandals. As a former committee member overseeing policies of Suvarnabhumi airport, Mr Thaksin is not involved in the purchase of CTX 9000 bomb scanners at the airport, said Mr Noppadol. He said the Assets Scrutiny Committee has interpreted laws "inaccurately" for finding that Mr Thaksin and Khunying Potjaman Shinawatra were guilty in the land deal. The two cases, already widely publicised, are known locally as the CTX bomb scanner purchase for the airport, and the Ratchadaphisek land scandal, which already has enmeshed his wife, Khunying Potjaman. The junta, which came to power after toppling the Thaksin government in a bloodless coup in September, justified the putsch by saying that rampant corruption during his five years in office had undermined democracy. The army-installed government is investigating his family's business deals, including their January sale of Shin Corp shares to Singapore's Temasek Holdings, for alleged violations of Thai laws. Mr Thaksin's family sold their 49 per cent stake in Shin Corp, a telecom giant founded by the ousted premier, to the Singaporean state-linked investment firm for $1.9 billion (78 billion baht) under a tax free deal. The tax deal triggered months of street protests demanding Mr Thaksin's resignation over alleged abuse of power and corruption, culminating in the Sept 19 coup. After the power grab, the military reinstated the anti-corruption commission, which had been dormant for more than a year, and set up the Asset Scrutinising Committee with the power to seize assets from Thaksin and other former officials. _________ And This: _________ ASC Sure Airport Case Has Grounds 'Important Evidence' Against Thaksin SURASAK GLAHAN AMORNRAT MAHITTHIROOK Investigators have ''important evidence'' to support allegations against deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and 21 others over the purchase of the baggage handling system for Suvarnabhumi airport, Amnuay Tantara of the Assets Scrutiny Committee (ASC) said yesterday. Mr Amnuay, who heads a sub-panel probing the baggage-handling contracts for the airport, refused to give any details but said the team would present the evidence to Mr Thaksin . ''Our full report has sufficient grounds to show how accused people benefited from the deals, but such information cannot be revealed at this stage,'' he said. ''We'll present such evidence to Mr Thaksin when he appears to defend himself before our inquiry sub-committee, and we'll ask him to confirm if it is genuine,'' said Mr Amnuay. On Monday, the ASC accused Mr Thaksin, former transport minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit, and 20 other people of violating articles 157 and 83 of the Criminal Code in hiring contractors to provide and install the baggage-handling system and 26 CTX 9000 bomb scanner machines for the airport. They allegedly made gains from hiring inexperienced contractors and accepting their over-priced quotations for the airport's systems. The ASC found that Airports of Thailand (AoT) in 2003 allowed ITO Joint Venture, the contractor for the airport, to charge AoT for providing and installing the baggage-handling system and the CTX machines at prices that were higher than the real value, leading to a price difference of about 1.5 billion baht in total. When the CTX deal with ITO Joint Venture was scrapped, AoT was forced to deal directly with the manufacturer, GE InVision. The ASC found that the deal with the company, at an aggregate amount of US$35 million (about 1.2 billion baht), was over-priced and intentionally made it difficult to trace how much each machine cost. Mr Amnuay said the ASC was waiting for the AoT or the Transport Ministry to file complaints as a damaged party to the ASC, so that the panel could then set up a sub-committee to handle the inquiry into the case. The inquiry stage would take a long time to complete because it involves 22 accused people who may require additional testimony from their witnesses, he said. Mr Thaksin was also accused by the ASC of violating article 100 of the National Counter Corruption Act by entering into a land deal with the Bank of Thailand (BoT) in 2003. His wife Khunying Potjaman was cleared of the charge as the ASC agreed that she was not a state official and only colluded in the deal. The BoT or the Finance Ministry must file complaints to the ASC as a damaged party as well to allow the inquiry into the case to proceed. Transport Minister Theera Haocharoen said that the ministry will ask AoT, as a damaged party, to lodge a complaint against those implicated by the ASC. Disciplinary action against the transport staff will be considered following the formal allegations, Adm Theera said. The minister said the parties concerned will take action promptly as soon as the ministry receives an official report from the ASC. Suvarnabhumi airport director Somchai Sawasdeephon, one of the 22 accused, shrugged off the prospect of being charged, saying he was ready to clarify the accusations. Mr Thaksin's lawyer Noppadol Pattama said Mr Thaksin wants to return to Thailand to defend the accusations in person. ''There have been many cases brought against him so he wants to come back,'' Mr Noppadol said. Meanwhile, the ASC has yet to consider whether to allow two children of the Shinawatra family to postpone testifying to the panel. Panthongtae and Pinthongta Shinawatra have been called to clarify today a deal they made with Ample Rich Investments Ltd in January of this year. However, according to their letter, Mr Panthongtae will be away in Japan and he has asked to have the questioning rescheduled to Jan 10 next year, while Ms Pinthongta has to study for her exams and has requested to be allowed to testify on Jan 24. Kanchanapa Honghern, secretary to Khunying Potjaman, has been summoned but has asked to testify on Jan 12 as she has other business to attend to. The ASC said the three can each seek just a single postponement. __________ And This: __________ BANGKOK, Dec 26 (TNA) Former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra will return to Thailand to defend himself and his family if an assets probe panel levels charges against him over alleged corruption, Noppadol Pattama, a legal advisor to the Shinawatra family said on Tuesday. Mr. Noppadol told a press conference that he had discussed the matter with Mr. Thaksin Tuesday morning by telephone in his self-imposed exile in Beijing, after the Assets Examination Committee (AEC) announced Monday that it had grounds to believe the ousted premier was involved in the alleged corruption cases. AEC spokesperson Sak Korsaengruang said the panel found that Mr. Thaksin, former Transport Minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit, and 20 other officials had abused their power in the procurement of the baggage handling system and 26 CTX 9000 bomb scanners for Bangkok's new Suvarnabhumi airport. The panel also found Mr.Thaksin and his wife Pojaman guilty in regard to the 2003 land purchase in which Khunying Pojaman bought a Bt772 million tract of land in central Bangkok from the Bank of Thailand's Financial Institutions Development Fund (FIDF) through a bidding process that was allegedly pre-determined in ways that benefited Khunying Pojaman while her husband was in power as prime minister. Mr. Noppadol reaffirmed that Mr. Thaksin had no involvement in the two cases. He said both cases were politicised by the Council for National Security (CNS) and the AEC which wanted to demonstrate their achievements during the three months since the CNS, known before as the Council for Democratic Reform (CDR), staged its coup d'etat toppling the Thaksin government on September 19. Besides, he said, regarding the land deal the assets examiners tried to interpret laws in such a way that Mr. Thaksin and his wife were seen to be guilty. "When charges are levelled against him, Mr. Thaksin needs to come back to prove his innocence," Mr. Noppadol said. "He cannot fight charges while living overseas." As a Thai citizen, the lawyer asserted, Mr.Thaksin has the right to do so. The Thaksin family attorney presented a letter to the AEC on Tuesday morning, asking to postpone the testimony to the panel of Mr.Thaksin's son, Panthongtae, daughter Pinthongta, and Khunying Pojaman's secretary Kanchanapha Honghern, regarding the Shin Corp share transfer from December 27 to a yet-to-be-determined date next month. Earlier, the AEC had ordered the trio to appear and to be prepared to give information and answer questions regarding their case on December 27. (TNA)-E009

Heyyyyy, I get that one too. Good ones, Pearl . . . I see you're keeping score. Actually they're for each time, so far, that you've put your foot in your mouth, but you might as well keep it going until you have the whole shoe store in there. That's my good one. If you think that joke was lousy, wait till the rest of them. Ok, I'm sure we can all hardly wait to read all about what you write next about how Sunee Plaza is only a nest of vipers and for you to teach us all about what constitutes a good hotel. Here. I'll help you. A good hotel is anything that isn't near . . . shhh . . . Niddy's Nook. Right?

Note from GB: Every so often we see news items about "farang" whose homes are robbed and sometimes end up being the victim of violence. When these stories include large amounts of cash being stolen, I can't help but wonder about the logic of keeping substantial amounts of money anywhere other than a bank. In the majority of cases, these people are victimized by someone who they know or has reason to believe there is a large amount of cash on the premises. The following appears in the PATTAYA CITY NEWS: _____ American Resident Beaten and Robbed from his South Pattaya Home A disturbing case now from a house in

That's a very good question. I don't know the answer, but the most accurate answer will come from the US Embassy in Bangkok. If you are located in Thailand, give them a call at 02-205-4000 and ask for American Citizens Services. I realize you want a visa for a Thai, but that office should have the answer. If you are located outside of Thailand, I still think it's worth springing for a phone call, but you can also try their "Contact Us" form at: http://thailand.us-visaservices.com/Forms/contact_us.aspx

Heyyyyy, I get it, Pearl69er. That's a good one. Shoo.

Well, most of them anyway . . .

Wouldn't you also have him pay for the damages?

Note from GB: I like the part about the one packet of dried prunes. Perhaps the shoplifting spree made them a little bit constipated. Also, in Thailand, the first floor is the second floor. The floor on ground level, which most of us refer to as the first floor is referred to as the ground floor in Thailand. The next floor up, which most of us refer to as the second floor, is referrred to as the first floor. Confused? The following appears in the PATTAYA CITY NEWS: _____ Couple Caught Stealing Over 20,000 Baht's Worth of items from Carrefour. A case of shoplifting now from the Carrefour Shopping Center in Central Pattaya. At 10pm on Saturday Night, Police Lieutenant Colonel Santi from Pattaya Police station was called by staff at Carrefour who requested assistance in dealing with a couple accused of stealing over 20,000 Baht

The following appears in the PATTAYA CITY NEWS: Photos are available in the original article: http://www.pattayacitynews.net/news_25_12_49_3.htm _____ 5 Dead in Drunken Road Crash in Banglamung. Police Sub-Lieutenant Natapon from Banglamung Police Station was called to the Sukumvit Road in Naklua in front of the Pattaya Steel Center to deal with a serious accident resulting in multiple fatalities. He arrived along with rescue workers and was met with a scene of utter devastation with bodies lying in the street and one was still trapped in a Black BMW 323i. A total of 5 people inside the car lost their lives in one of Pattaya

BANGKOK, Dec 26 (TNA) The Asset Examination Committee has found ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his wife Khunying Pojaman guilty of the latter

shoo

Last night a friend gave this to me. I got a great laugh from of it. I hope you do too:

Thank you for that. I do accept and appreciate it. Since you have now done what I feel is the right thing to do and apologized, I'll stop being among the people who post attacks against you on this board and elsewhere, although I kind of hate to step out of my role as the Wicked Stepmother. Merry Christmas. The war is over.

The thread started off asking about hotels in or near te Sunee Plaza area. Now we're getting far away from there. So as not to confuse Davidjewel, some of the accommodations now being discussed are far outside of that area. Also, if you simply ignore anything Pearl69er posts, you'll be just fine. When he says, "I think not," I agree.

You will probably find what you are looking for at http://www.utopia-asia.com/tipsthai.htm

You may be close to correct. Several low-fare airlines have already asked to go back to Don Muang ( see: http://www.gaythailand.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=1121 ). Based on what I'm reading here, I'm not surprised. Forty years in the making, and this is what Thailand comes up with.

For those of you who wish to know as much as possible about seating on the various airlines, I suggest having a look at the following URL: http://www.seatguru.com