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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.

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.