Bob

I whole-heartedly agree with the "man-up" comments. Michael, you'd bitch if they hung you with a new rope! (and probably because the rope wasn't made by Prada!). If it really irritates you that your poor old lay-flat business section has only one bathroom (other than all the effort it takes to walk upstairs), all I can say (no pun intended) is that I really don't give a shit!

As Bill Clinton didn't say, I don't feel your pain. Yea, sure, I'm going to get on a boat and spend weeks trapped on some chunk of steel trying to get to Thailand. Not a friggin' chance. If you're willing to fly into east Myanmar, I might be able to get you a special cruise to Thailand with the Rohingya! Cheap too!

The Court will begin reading of the two decisions at 10AM (EST) tomorrow. That'll be 9PM in Thailand.

Generally true; however, then there's usually a charge for each piece of checked luggage, a charge for one of the better (more legroom) economy seats, a charge for meals/food/drinks, etc. And one airline is talking about charging for using the friggin' bathroom (and I'm not sure if that will be based on a price per use, a price per tonnage on the toilet seat, time used, or deposits made....hehe).

Also done in the US. The toppings on a "Hawaiian" pizza are ham and pineapple. Yum.

No need to feel guilty. Well, at least if you didn't hear them screaming as they were boiled/steamed/suffocated to death so you could slide their remains down your gullet.....

The important question Koko was asking was what plans have you made, if any, in case you die in Thailand. Have you made any plans? You want your body eventually shipped back to the Black Forest (and who's going to foot that expensive bill)? Want to be cremated or buried in Thailand? I don't plan on dying soon either; however, making no plans ultimately means (in the event you get nailed by a bus in Bangkok or whatever) that you're dumping a whole lot of problems and expense on family members back in the fatherland.

Like you said, the "ashes" here in the US are pretty much all ashes; however, not in Thailand. Many years ago, a Thai boy I once knew in Udon Thani wanted me to go see his recently deceased mother who was then "residing" at a local temple in a jar much like the one in your photo above. The large jar was sitting in a recess in one of the outer walls and contained rather large pieces of bones and chunks of other nasty-looking things I didn't want to contemplate. Almost made me gag (and most definitely helped me decide that I sure as hell don't want to see that for me (if you want to meet me, you'll need to do it before I give up the ghost. (Of course in Thailand, they don't give up ghosts.....they serve them orange Fantas....hehe).

I can only speak as to what happens with US citizens and I realize we're going over old ground, at least in part. But here goes: (1) If you have no Thai Will, then the Thai authorities will get around to notifying the US embassy that one of their citizens has died. (2) The Embassy will then begin try to locate what statutorily is called the "next of kin." This isn't easy for the most part as they'll likely contact whatever person you've written in your passport to notify in case of an emergency (or, if you've registered your presence in Thailand with the embassy via their traveler program, they'll notify the person you named via that program). They'll start asking relevant questions - like did the decedent have a Will or have probate proceedings started. If whoever they contact is aware that a US Will exists, then the embassy is going to take instructions (or provide assistance) to whoever is appointed by a local probate court as the executor/administrator. Now, that won't happen quickly as your local executor/administrator needs to have a death certificate to file the probate proceedings - and that'll take a couple of weeks to get from the Thai authorities. I'd note that it's also possible - at least as suggested by the embassy - that they'll honor the wishes of the proposed executor named in the US Will (but, again, they need some certified documents and payments in advance - they aren't going to take any action or authorize the release of any remains based on a phone call). (3) Okay, let's fast forward to the point that the embassy knows for certain who the next of kin is or will be. They (the embassy) then needs certified documents from that person in their hot little hands and money paid in advance to handle any local funeral or expatriation of remains. Again, time passes. Eventually, if the certified "next of kin" is identified and has sent the proper certified paperwork to the embassy (or consulate) and the referenced "next of kin" authorizes cremation in Thailand, then the remains will be released and a cremation can take place here. And not until that happens. Alternatively, presuming you want to be quickly cremated in Thailand, the only way to do that is to have a Thai Will with somebody named in that Will to handle matters for you. I had a question about this because the embassy website doesn't really talk about whether they will honor a Thai Will and Thai executor; so, I sent an email to the embassy and received a reply that they would indeed honor your wishes expressed in a Thai Will and will let the Thai executor promptly take possession of the remains for cremation. At least that's what they assured me. Back to the original post, I want to be quickly cremated and my ashes disposed of in an unidentifiable manner (preferably, as my younger brothers used to call it, via a "terminal swirly" - which is a ride down the porcelain receptacle). I have no desire to have my ashes sitting in some urn on somebody's fireplace, spread over somebody's garden, or whatever. Just toss them away.

10+ years ago there were dogs all over the cities of Thailand. Hell, I remember it was even difficult walking at times around the areas of Suriwong and Silom in Bangkok in the wee hours of the morning as packs of dogs took over the corners and were going nuts barking at and, at times, fighting with their rivals. Chiangmai had a hell of a lot more street dogs back then too. Then, sometime around 2004 (?), all of a sudden the bulk of the dogs were gone and I recall at least a article or two in the newspaper that the government was going to cull the population. Somebody did, that's for sure. Koko's last post also mentions what typically happens to the dogs that are intercepted before they get to Vietnam or wherever. Last year, they caught a big truck and found 1,300 dogs in it heading for Vietnam and the article indicated that the dogs were turned over to some government shelter. A month or two later, there was a small article mentioning that 800+ of those dogs had died.

Michael, is it okay to eat a sheep? And still okay to eat it if you've raised it as a pet from birth? And, presuming that either the number of chimpanzees was adequate to allow humans to eat them (meaning that doing so wouldn't cause the chimpanzee population to collapse) or that somebody specifically farm-raised them for food, then what's the moral dilemma of chowing down on Cheetah? Because it's cute or because it's somewhat smarter than a cow? Sometimes we have pretty strong prejudices regarding what we find acceptable to eat based on our own cultures. The Americans and English, for example, pretty much gag at notion of the French or others eating horse. But I'm not sure that's all fair. There are some societies who've eaten dog for ages and, while I personally would never cross that line, I can't see how any of us can condemn them for it. Unless, of course, it happens to be our pet Fluffy.... I'm just curious as to your thinking and I'm not arguing that anybody ought to eat their pets, leader dogs, or endangered animals.

Nope, never heard of any of them before although I guessed the meaning of all of them correctly (although that wasn't hard). I used to laugh at the length of some German words and one I learned in 1st year college German was geschwindigkeitsbegrenzung (German word for speed limit). But I see the article you urled lists the longest (perhaps now defunct) German word of "rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz" which means "the law concerning the delegation of duties for the supervision of cattle marking and the labeling of beef." That word, I note, hasn't come up too often on this message board (although I was thinking christianPFC might use it some time in reference to the bars' recruitment and grading of gogo boys....).

Hey! I resemble that!

I'm not so sure that's accurate - or at least I wouldn't suggest one arrive at that conclusion from a few publicized cases. Everything depends on the situation that the cops confront. If it's a sudden situation, there's no doubt that the cops in the US are trained to kill - the notion being that they shouldn't shoot at all unless it's necessary to stop somebody from killing or maiming themselves or others. There are other situations where the cops have more time to analyze the situation and then choose to use bean bags, tasers, or other non-lethal means of stopping a suspect. But....anybody that raises, points, or shoots a gun at a US cop is more than likely heading to the morgue with multiple wounds (as ceejay suggests, a 9 millimeter bullet does a lot of damage) presuming the cop has any reasonable ability to aim his weapon (often he/she doesn't which is sometimes why too many bystanders are hit by "friendly" fire).

The first waiter you ask tells you the boy isn't offable. And the second waiter tells you the same thing. And then the owner confirms what the first two guys said. And you feel "deceived?" I'm at a bit of a loss how you make that leap. I've known a few guys in various gay establishments that aren't offable and, while I've felt maybe a little disappointed when it involved a stunner, I hardly can claim to be deceived. Not only are some boys not in fact offable - due to their job requirements or personal circumstances - but (this may come as a shock to some) they often have the right to say they do or don't want to do something.

Have a good time. Although not very big, I rather like going to the Chiangrai night market as sometimes I can find something different (usually some type of wood carving) that I end up buying. Rather low key compared to the night markets in the big cities.

No, don't know anything about it. I'd recommend, Michael, that you touch base with Traveler Jim before you select any policy or any company. He's an expert in the health insurance business and knows all or most of the options out there. He'll likely read this post and perhaps will make some comment (or, if you should want his email addy, just send me a PM).

If you stay at the Wangcome, you can get around the town itself by foot (not that big!). For our trips out of town, we rented a car. We've used the car rental place directly across from the front entry of the Wangcome (and maybe north 100 feet or so?) several times and felt that outfit was reasonably fair (we had no problems). I've never used any of the guides/transport/whatever that the Wangcome offers (presuming they do). Things change up there all the time but that Regency Boy Bar has been there forever (well, at least 10-12 years). When I was last Chiangrai, there was a second boy bar (named, aptly, simply "Boys Bar" versus the "Regency Boys Bar" you saw on streetview) open and it's about 2 blocks north of the Wangcome. As to whether it's still open, heck if I know. Both of the bars were (and I'm being kind here) disappointing. I've only flown into Chiangrai twice and I really don't remember how we got downtown. We must have taken a taxi or tuk tuk or something (whatever was available at the airport). Nowadays, we drive from Chiangmai and have our own transportation but we haven't been up there since October of 2011 if my memory is correct.

I'd think that staying at the Le Meredien wouldn't be too much of a bother. Not that long a walk from there to downtown. And I'd guess the place has regular transportation. We stayed once at the Dusit Island Resort up there and that was a bit of a distance from the center of town (but the place was gorgeous). Other than Wat Rong Khun, I can't think of any other must-see places in Chiangrai itself. Normally, when I was up there, we often were off during the day to the bf's dinky home village which is a bit east of Mae Chan. Oh....we've been to the Queen Mother's place twice (and I'll think of its formal name hopefully before I finish this). She (the King's mother) had a Swiss chalet built up on one of the small mountain areas and it's surrounded by several acres of beautiful gardens. The chalet/lodge itself is now a memorial to her. Oh (had to go look at some photos), the name of the place is Doi Tung. It's about a 45 minute drive north of Chiangrai but worth a visit. I'd note that it often rains up there (think it was raining a little both times I visited). [Chiangrai itself was founded about 1262 by the first Lanna king, Mengrai. And, of course, he named the city after himself ("chiang" means city and, naturally, "rai" in that name refers to the king himself). But, given all the wars and destruction around that area, I'm not aware of anything around the town that would remotely date back to the 13th century. Near the end of the 16th century, after the Thais finally forced the Burmese out of of the area now known as Chiangmai and Chiangrai provinces, the cities of Chiangmai and Chiangrai slowly began to repopulate. And many of the people brought to the area at that time were from a couple of cities located in the Shan state of Burma.]

I and the bf spent 5-6 days in Hanoi with a sidetrip to Halong Bay in 2008. We experienced no scams, touts, or whatever. A very enjoyable trip. The only negative at all was the air quality both in Hanoi and around Halong Bay (which is about a 3-hour car trip to the east of Hanoi) and I remember wise-cracking that the air quality in Bangkok and Chiangmai was much better than that in Hanoi. Many tourists take a boat (junk) trip in Halong Bay and I had read several articles that indicated that one shouldn't book an overnight cruise unless you pay for one of the top-end and much more expensive cruises (because the accommodations where shitty on the average junk and the noise and smell of fuel oil would make it very difficult to sleep on those boats). Because of those reports, we chose to just go on a day trip (think we got there about 10AM and were back at the dock by 5PM). Sort of an enjoyable boat ride on this old junk but, to be honest, it wasn't all that exciting and it's no big loss if you miss it. All the people we encountered in Hanoi were very friendly, much like the reception I've always received in Thailand. We stayed at a hotel (The Church Hotel) in the old quarter there maybe 200-300 yards from the big catholic cathedral. The hotel room was somewhat small but was generally acceptable. I don't remember the cost of the room.

I would predict that there will be a large number of states that won't approve gay marriage for a very long time and there likely will be problems because of the varying laws - especially if the Supreme Court doesn't rule that one state must recognize as valid a marriage approved by another state. And, generally, those states are the majority "red" states. Bible thumpers and Republicans won't generally bend on this issue. Eventually, either all the states need to come on board on this issue or the Supreme Court must ultimately rule that constitutionally that the states cannot treat a same-sex couple any different than a straight couple. That's not likely in the near future.

So his burial plot won't become a problem (either by causing problems for the graveyard or because it might attract like weirdos), perhaps they ought to bury him at sea. Osama could use the company.

I won't hold my breath waiting for a decision on this issue. If it's like most ideas they come up with, it'll just fade away. But, should they do something, I'd hope that they don't make some blanket rule that applies to everyone regardless of circumstances. For example only, those who are keeping 800K in a Thai bank to maintain their annual visa ought (probably) not to be considered as being unable to pay for medical care here. There are a whole lot of falang here who are either without any visas at all or who uses various cheating methods to qualify for long-term visas and it'd be my guess that it's this target group that's running up the medical bills (presuming that the Thai government's report about the cost amount is anywhere near accurate in the first place). Oh well, they'll probably get around to this topic again once they finish intelligent flood prevention measures in Bangkok.....

No (probably only because I rarely send a PM) but I've noticed a couple of problems in the last couple of days. The first (this will be a rather low-tech explanation given the source) is the log-in page (the top of the front page) doesn't appear all the time and some partial page (saying Internet Explorer can't find it or something like that) appears. The second problem I've noticed is when trying to reply to a post. You'll see one reply I made where several letters appear above and below the quoted part (I didn't do that, the program did). Not that big a deal but something a little weird has happened for the last day or two.

I was told I was just a twinkle in my dad's eye. And, of course, my mother was and always remained a virgin (the 11 kids, I suppose, are just unexplainable).