Rogie

Indeed, what is wrong with bangers? Nowt lad, luverly grub. Bangers and mash with onion gravy or, if you want a real treat, toad-in-the-hole

Yes

As a short term alternative, suitable for visitors, and assuming you have a Thai friend you can trust, you could adopt the best of both worlds. Bring some travellers cheques, encash a reasonable amount at a time, and pay the baht into your friend's account. Then for the duration of your visit you can use his ATM card to withdraw small amounts on a regular basis without incurring a fee.

Mr Ali al-Stab-in-da-back

Henry Ford's offer of the Model-T Ford in 'any colour you like, so long as it's black' is an example of Hobson's choice. In other words like it or lump it. The original poster is suggesting ways to give ladyboys a different voice In cockney rhyming slang a hobson's = voice

Ah, that's better!

Who is to say? I suspect a greater awareness of climatic events has lead to greater scrutiny, such that even the smallest aberration from the perceived norm is heralded as proof of some sort of permanent change. That's the key word, permanent. I am not saying the events in Seattle / New York come under the heading of minor events but they are when compared to the shrinking of the polar icecaps, retreating glaciers and so forth. Strange weather patterns as experienced by KhorTose are perplexing, but do not prove anything much in themselves, although taken as a whole along with lots of other strange happenings seem to have led many adherents of climate change to shout "we have proof". It looks to me like changes we (by which i mean scientists who can measure these things) can observe such as the melting of polar ice and are likely to be permanent, offers some kind of 'proof', whereas shifting weather patterns (more or less sun, more or less rain etc) does not.

That reminds me Lebanon was famous for its Chateau Musar, a heavyweight red wine that was made even whilst the civil war was raging. Not sure I'd like grape leaves, though. Mind you, I used to enjoy eating grapes whole, seeds 'n all. Nowadays I cannot. 'Proper' grapes are hardly ever seen any more, in the UK at least. Lebanon's been on my list of countries to visit for a while, so I enjoyed reading that article.

Indonesian police show images of the suicide bombers. Al-Qaeda linked to Jakarta bomb attacks Jakarta July 23, 2009 Quote below taken from the Australian newspaper The Age

You raise some good points. I'm sure most of us would agree it's time to make a few (gross understatement) improvements. I am assuming a black box, when recovered, becomes something of a celebrity and the information it contains enters the public realm. If an airline has something to hide they might wish for it not to be found. On the other hand if the airline are blameless and in truth the airliner were hit by freak atmospheric conditions, then they would be very unhappy not to have this confirmed if the black box went missing. When fish and birds can be tagged to follow their movements it does seem odd something as important as a black box can simply vanish, or its contents decay so rapidly. There is probably an element of pride involved too. All airlines swear they're as safe as houses, when we well know many aren't. It seems (Ok, easy with hindsight to say that) the Yemeni plane was an accident waiting to happen. Now is not the time (is it ever?) with the industry in trouble, but some kind of international team of inspectors with powers to examine aircraft, maintenance logs, interview pilots and maintenance crews, etc might help to stamp out the worst culprits before the plane can take to the skies.

Is it Candle Paradise or Candie Paradise? Anyone been to it? If not, anyone planning to go?

If you mean from a humanitarian point of view I agree Clearly a time will come when the regime runs out of steam but by then the human cost within N. Korea itself will have been incalculable. I don't think we can make a comparison with Iran for example. Iranians. although living under a repressive regime, are pretty savvy and have access to modern 'gadgets'; means to communicate between themselves. N. Koreans could be living in the dark ages as far as any comparison goes. I am reminded of the (possibly mythical) stories of Japanese soldiers holding out in the wilds of Borneo for decades, not realising WW2 had long since ended. There must have been something 'strange' done to their minds in their military training to hard wire that focus. I believe N. Koreans have been indoctrinated along similar lines. I feel desperately sorry for Joe Public in North Korea. I would dearly love to wring the necks of those miserable chickens who run the show. And that's all it is really, a show. A fairground. Like one of those pathetic little fairground booths claiming the earth - you go in and realise you've wasted your money. Smoke and mirrors.

Trying to be smart, or just confused? I'll give you the benefit of the doubt! If you still can't see my choice of words was deliberate in the context then I suggest you look the word irony up in the dictionary.

My first reaction on reading this was why this guy was still alive after his 'previous' . . . as is well known sodomy is punishable by death in Saudi Arabia. But, lo and behold, homosexuality is alive and well and in a country admittedly not near you and not in Europe or Africa but in Asia and its name is Arabia, as in Lawrence of Arabia. The one country in the whole world you would have thought had licked the problem, turns out to be just like everywhere else. Allah be praised! http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200705/gay-saudi-arabia

Am I the only one a bit mystified here? The silence from this newby - who's had more than 10 days in which to respond to Gaybutton's perfectly reasonable questions - speaks volumes. My reading of this is that the Villa is gay-friendly, not gay-owned and I see from an earlier post it is run by a guy called Alan and a woman. I would be greatly surprised if the owner, who responded so well to Gaybutton's original enquiry and who came across at the very least as gay-friendly, could turn out to be some sort of kill joy. The only sure fire way to resolve this would be for Gaybutton to message the owner (along similar lines to his original approach) putting these accusations to him and getting a response. Any decent hotel/guest house should be more than happy to 'set the record straight'.

I'm dreadfully sorry taylorsquare, can't help you, I've forgotten already. It seems to me the only reason this song event is even worth a passing mention is because the winner this year is very photogenic. As for whether he is any good musically, I'll leave that to others to decide. I think the last time I bothered to watch this tedious 'contest' I was still in short trousers.

MonkeySee, thanks for posting that very informative report on anal cancer risk factors. My reading of this is that gay men, whether they be top or bottom, who practice safe sex and who don't smoke are no more likely to become victims of this than the average person. Seeing Farrah Fawcett in the newspaper today was a bit of a shock as it was the first I knew about her plight. Good point taylorsquare: I would have thought a routine bowel check-up could easily enough be extended to include a quick anal check, perhaps along the lines of having your prostate checked by the so-called digital rectal examination. . . reasonably quick and painless. Just thinking aloud here: gay men, especially bottoms, are usually pretty scrupulous about anal hygiene. There is no evidence that this helps, but bearing in mind the importance of the anus to the average gay guy, there is a good chance he'll be a bit more alert to any warning signs. Exactly what warning signs might there be, I don't know. Maybe it is a bit like bowel cancer which is often called the 'silent killer'.

Close your eyes Taylorsquare and you could open them to find yourself in the Khao San Road. What a pleasant surprise! You've hit the nail on the head - a few years ago towns like Mae Hong Son were touted as 'frontier towns' where you might see some interesting sights. I haven't been to that part of Thailand - I was keen to go a few years ago but I think I'll pass on that now, rather than share staring room only with blond Swedes and hunky Kiwis. Sorry to hear you had no luck with the local guys - what were you doing wrong?!!

The Aedes aegypti mosquito biting human flesh. Shown actual size!!! (well, maybe not) Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

Yes, I think it is safe to assume Taylorsquare was confusing Mae Sot with Mae Sai. Certainly, as I was coming to Mae Sot from Chiang Mai, my friend cautioned me not to get on the wrong bus! Before I arrived in Mae Sot I had read the following in Lonely Planet 11th edition published 2005: "Walking down the streets of Mae Sot, you'll see an interesting ethnic mixture - Burmese men in their longyi (sarongs), Hmong and Karen women in traditional hill-tribe dress, bearded Indo-Burmese men and Thai army rangers". I saw nothing of the sort. Maybe I wasn't looking! Or maybe the description was written in 1982 when the 1st edition came out, and hasn't been updated! Does anyone know of any towns in Thailand where you can see an interesting ethnic mix, people going about their daily business, somewhat along the lines of the above? I mean women (seeing a man in ethnic dress is never seen nowadays), genuinely dressed (i.e. not for tourists) in ethnic fashion, maybe at the market or walking into town from their village to sell their wares. My sad observation is the days of jeans and T-shirt for men/boys and young girls/women are with us for the foreseeable future. Older women still wear nice colourful skirts and Fred Perry-type tops. However, Thai traditional or national dress, if that is the right term, is still seen at festivals, parades, feast days, beauty contests, etc. so all is not lost!

Are there any guys for fun in Mae Sot (or Mae Sod variant spelling)?? This is a town I visited last year and I found it very humdrum. Nothing special at all. It's right on the Thailand:Burma border so is of interest if you fancy a quick jaunt into Burma for the day, but you have to report back to the border post to retrieve your passport - you cannot stay overnight. Quite frankly there's not much to see on the other side, but you may of course hit lucky and meet a guy, but you probably stand a better chance in Mae Sot. I don't think there are any gay bars but like everywhere else in Thailand, a smile and a friendly word or two may get a favourable response. The friend I was staying with had recently found himself a really nice young man from the local area who was happy to move in with him and help around the house.

I sense you are saying that in order to provoke a response, so here goes: Yes, the individual gay man has little to fear. I know you have drawn a clear distinction between homosexual men and paedophiles and I would hope all readers of this message board are in accord with you. However, it is the way these arrests are reported, they are very high profile and the man or men who have committed the alleged offense(s) are, by dint of the fact the minors involved were boys, at least in the popular imagination, gay men. It is easy for those with an anti-gay agenda to capitalise on this. That makes it awkward for the likes of us.

Dear Dek Narak, I know hotmail sounds good, but it's useless http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2240240/...lems-cause-user PS. I am a reliable, trustworthy, mature guy, with a loving, caring nature.

You're right there! It is interesting. "Reliable, trustworthy, mature guy, with a loving, caring nature". . . .he's a drunkard, bald as a coot, another boy only has to smile and he's Buddhas-own butterfly.

I agree with KhorTose: very good report Gaybutton. I stayed at the Ibis in January: I'd just flown in from Australia and the Malaysia was full, and I stupidly hadn't booked (essential at that time of year). I paid 1,500 baht per night for two people and stayed two nights. I was with bf so I cannot comment on joiners fee (I presume what you are referring to KhorTose is if you take a boy to your room - apologies if I have understood this wrongly). I didn't try the breakfast or indeed any meals there. The hotel is clean and spacious. The staff were friendly and efficient and I have no evidence that they are not gay-friendly - after all, our sexuality was obvious. The rooms are very small and so are the double beds - perhaps you could call them sub-queen? The bed was also very hard. My impression is that the rooms are designed for coach parties, stay-one-night-and-move on kind of people. They simply aren't comfortable or even cosy, given the size - just functional. Overall I was disappointed - I cannot recommend the Ibis as particularly good value unless you are really stuck for somewhere to stay.