Gaybutton

I read that blog too. It's not something I would want to try doing myself, that's for sure. Somebody with the skill and equipment to do it is going to make some serious money.

Aren't we jumping the gun a little bit here? If Castro was dead it would be all over the news. I'm not seeing anything on any of the news networks or any of the legitimate news web sites. Castro seems to go on and on forever. Not that I would shed any tears over his death, but so far I haven't seen anything about it. I think most of what is being said above will happen, but not overnight. But I do believe the day will come when Hyman Roth really will be able to say, "Michael, we're bigger than U.S. Steel."

BANGKOK, Aug 24 (TNA) Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej Friday endorsed the country's 18th constitution, five days after the kingdom -- a constitutional monarchy since 1932 -- voted in favour of the newly-drafted charter in the first national referendum to pave the way for the first post-coup national poll scheduled for this December. The charter took effect immediately after it was announced in the Royal Gazette on Friday. The Constitution was approved by about 58 per cent of voters, with about 41 per cent rejecting it. Voters the Northeast and the upper North voted against the charter in the largest numbers. The North and Northeastern regions are considered political strongholds of the now disbanded Thai Rak Thai Party, founded by ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra who was overthrown by military coup last year. Prime Minister Gen. Surayud Chulanont indicated Thursday the date of the next general election will be finalized early next week. The prime minister said earlier he believed the most suitable dates for holding the general election are either December 16 or 23, after celebrations of His Majesty the King's 80th birthday which falls on December 5. The premier said he planned to confer with National Legislative Assembly Speaker Meechai Ruchuphan and the Election Commission chairman on fixing the election date. (TNA)-E001

Let's hope so. Thank you very much for posting this, GaySacGuy. You just saved a lot of people from a whole pile of trouble and I'll bet there will be more people copying and saving your message than there has been for any other in quite some time. You did this before it is required. Once the requirement for this begins in October, I have a feeling there will be a lot more people there every day, trying to get the stamp. I shudder to think how long the wait will be once they start getting busy. So far it's a one to two hour wait. Is anything around there to do or see, or at least get something to eat or drink while waiting? Also, once you got to the point at which you took a taxi, what did you tell the taxi driver to get you there?

Anyone who has traveled internationally through Don Muang or Suvarnabhumi International Airport is sure to be quite familiar with the King Power duty-free shops that seem to hold a monopoly on duty-free shopping within Thailand. Now King Power is to be kicked out of Suvarnabhumi, but predictably the company intends to fight back. The following appears in the BANGKOK POST: http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/24Aug2007_news01.php _____ Duty Free Firm Gets the Boot King Power Ordered out of Suvarnabhumi AMORNRAT MAHITTHIROOK The Airports of Thailand (AoT) board has ordered King Power Duty Free out of Suvarnabhumi airport after a fresh investigation found that its contract was signed without approval from the government. The board, led by Gen Saprang Kalayanamitr, also gave the green light to take action against present and past AoT officials who colluded with the firm. The evidence was in the findings of an outside committee headed by Pol Gen Pratin Santiprabhob set up to investigate King Power's right to operate commercial space in the passenger terminal of the new airport. AoT decided in March that the contracts were void because they were designed to avoid the Public-Private Joint Venture Act that requires a lengthy selection process for any investment worth one billion baht or more by the private sector in a state project. But the airport agency has not made any legal move. King Power and its sister firm, King Power Suvarnabhumi Co, filed lawsuits with the Civil Court demanding 20.8 billion baht and 48 billion baht, respectively, from AoT in compensation for nullifying their contracts in March. Yesterday's meeting was told for the first time that the Pratin investigation had found the deals had bypassed both the cabinet and the Suvarnabhumi airport development committee chaired by the prime minister. The approval given by the previous AoT board for King Power to operate at Suvarnabhumi was illegal, AoT board spokesman Chirmsak Pinthong said. The seven new members on the AoT board, including the chairman, Gen Saprang, resolved unanimously to order King Power to leave the new airport in due time, he said. They agreed to file the case with the Administrative Court and to ask the National Counter Corruption Commission to take up the case leading to action against present and past officials. A new bidding contest to find a few duty free shop operators at Suvarnabhumi airport was needed, he added. In response, Chulchit Bunyaketu, deputy chairman of King Power International Group, suggested AoT go to court. The Prime Minister's Office issued a regulation in 2002, requiring AoT to study any deal under the airport project thoroughly and seek approval from the airport development committee and the cabinet before implementation. However, the past AoT board, chaired by then transport permanent secretary Srisook Chandrangsu, approved the King Power duty free contract right away, without seeking approval from the prime minister's airport development committee and the cabinet, Mr Chirmsak said. According to Pol Gen Pratin's report, King Power firstly asked AoT on Jan 13, 2004, to extend its duty free shop contract that would expire in 2005. The contract covered its duty free shop only at Don Mueang airport and regional airports of AoT, but the requested extension was aimed at allowing King Power to expand its duty free business at Suvarnabhumi, which took over Bangkok air traffic from Don Mueang. Then acting AoT president Bancha Pattanaporn saw the issue as exceeding his authority and passed it to the previous AoT board. The Srisook board first consulted the Council of State, which is the government's legal arm. The council disagreed with the contract extension and suggested a fresh bidding contest because the business venue would change from Don Mueang to Suvarnabhumi airport. The past AoT board arranged for a working group to study the issue, headed by Vudhibhandu Vichairatana, the Budget Bureau director. The working group agreed to extend the King Power contract to Suvarnabhumi airport and the past AoT board approved the extension accordingly. Pol Gen Pratin's committee identified officials responsible for the irregularities but Mr Chirmsak declined to name them. Earlier, Pol Gen Pratin had implicated politicians, former AoT board members and AoT officials. Mr Vudhibhandu still sits on the present AoT board, but he and some other board members who were also on the past board did not attend the AoT board's meeting yesterday. Pol Gen Pratin said his committee would now examine the contract of King Power Suvarnabhumi, which won the right to develop the rest of the commercial space in the airport terminal.

Opening Rates: Friday, August 24: _____ US Dollar: 34.19 Euro: 46.24 British Pound: 68.405 Australian Dollar: 27.89 Canadian Dollar: 32.265 _____ Closing Rates US Dollar: 34.18 Euro: 46.335 British Pound: 68.275 Australian Dollar: 27.855 Canadian Dollar: 32.31 No further updates will be available until Monday.

Opening Rates: Thursday, August 23: _____ US Dollar: 34.21 Euro: 46.2450 British Pound: 68.12 Australian Dollar: 27.67 Canadian Dollar: 32.1325 _____ Closing Rates: US Dollar: 34.21 Euro: 46.23 British Pound: 68.165 Australian Dollar: 27.73 Canadian Dollar: 32.085

I wasn't able to get to posting the opening rates for today at opening time. The following are the rates as of 11:10 AM, Wednesday, August 22: _____ US Dollar: 34.36 Euro: 46.155 British Pound: 67.965 Australian Dollar: 27.3 Canadian Dollar: 32.0625 _____ Closing Rates: US Dollar: 34.27 Euro: 46.11 British Pound: 67.87 Australian Dollar: 27.3325 Canadian Dollar: 32.085

You're quite welcome.

Opening Rates: Tuesday, August 21: _____ US Dollar: 34.19 Euro: 45.9450 British Pound: 67.785 Australian Dollar: 27.3575 Canadian Dollar: 32.1475 _____ Closing Rates: US Dollar: 34.33 Euro: 46.19 British Pound: 67.915 Australian Dollar: 27.3325 Canadian Dollar: 32.2

There are conflicting reports about the percent by which the referendum passed, but apparently the Thai population has indeed passed the referendum. I'm not sure what it really means or what changes we will see, if any, in our own daily routines, but there it is. I admit that I really haven't paid very much attention to the whole thing. It seems that in Thailand everything changes, and yet nothing changes, so I haven't really bothered with it. Perhaps someone out there who has been keeping up with it can give us some ideas as to what to expect. One of the things that did catch my interest, though, is that the voter turnout was not very high. I would have thought that most of the Thai people would have wanted to get out there and vote, but the whole thing seems to be very ho-hum to the Thais with whom I've spoken. Maybe some of them think in the same vein as me, that no matter how it turns out, nothing much is going to change for them one way or another. We'll see.

Opening Rates: Monday, August 20: _____ US Dollar: 34.19 Euro: 46.015 British Pound: 67.48 Australian Dollar: 26.9775 Canadian Dollar: 32.0 _____ Closing Rates: US Dollar: 34.15 Euro: 45.96 British Pound: 67.735 Australian Dollar: 27.2425 Canadian Dollar: 32.0425

The following appears in the PATTAYA CITY NEWS (click link for photos: http://www.pattayacitynews.net/news_18_08_50_3.htm ): _____ South Pattaya Bars Checked by Bangkok and Local Police Despite Calls for Leniency in these Low Season Months On Friday Night, Police and District Officials made checks on bars located in the South Pattaya area. Checks on licenses, explicit shows and employees were made. We begin at Soi Sunee Plaza in South Pattaya where Banglamung District Licensing Officials accompanied by Police Colonel Sutin, the Superintendent of Pattaya Police and a group of Officers inspected many bars. Almost 100 people were checked to ensure they were carrying their ID Cards and if they had recently consumed met-amphetamine. License checks were also made on many of the bars. At the end of the exercise, 20 people were arrested after failing urine tests. There were no licensing irregularities found. We also joined a group of Police Officers from the Children and Women’s Division from Bangkok who inspected a number of bars on Walking Street led by Police Colonel Norasak, Deputy Commander of the Unit and Police Colonel Worapong, Commander of the Eastern Region. The group was checking mainly the Go-Go bars for explicit shows and performers who were showing too much skin. No arrests were made, however the officers did lodge complaints to a number of Bar Managers regarding performers who were seen to be wearing costumes which revealed too much of their bodies. We spoke with a number of bar owners located on Walking Street and around South Pattaya who mentioned that in these low season months they are finding it hard to attract customers and would like authorities to allow a certain amount of leeway regarding activities inside the bars, however this bar inspection seems to suggest that the Police will not allow any forms of explicit shows and even require performers to cover-up more than before, which could have an adverse affect on Tourism here in Pattaya if this apparent crackdown continues.

There are also threads about this on the Gay Ting&Tong message board (see http://www.gaytingtong.com/topic1740.html ) and the Baht-Stop message board (see http://www.baht-stop.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=2563 ). I took a look at the threads on Sawatdee, Baht-Stop, and Gay Ting&Tong. I had no problem getting in. There really isn't any information on the Sawatdee thread that isn't also posted here, Baht-Stop, and Gay Ting&Tong.

Last night a friend and I took a little tour of Sunee Plaza. Several of our friends like to hang out at the Corner Bar and we were on our way there to catch up with them at about 9:00 PM. As we passed one bar, someone told us a raid is expected at about 10:00 PM. In other words, Sunee Plaza was tipped off. When we caught up with our friends at Corner Bar, they also told us a raid is expected at about 10:00 PM. At about 9:40, that's when we began to see the under-age boys starting to make their exit from Sunee Plaza. A few minutes later I wanted to leave. I had no desire to be around when a raid occurs. Naturally, just my luck, my car was parked just outside of Sunee Plaza. Guess who discovered he had a flat tire! My friend called his own boyfriend, who has a tire pump. While we were waiting for him to arrive, we cooled our heels at the Po Pot restaurant. Sure enough, at about 10:20 the police started arriving . . . in droves. Pickup truck after pickup truck, loaded with police officers, entered Sunee Plaza. A large number of individual officers also arrived on motorcycles. We saw them block off Sunee Plaza. Any under-age boys or boys on drugs were now trapped. From what I understand, the police drug-tested and checked ID's of every single boy in Sunee Plaza, whether they were working in a bar or not. I have a feeling, though, the police didn't reel in too many boys considering that just about everybody in Sunee Plaza knew the raid was coming, at least an hour and a half in advance. The bars had plenty of time to get rid of their under-age boys and I'm sure the boys on drugs had plenty of time to escape as well. Once I had the tire in decent shape I wasn't about to hang around to watch the rest of it, but any boys who ended up caught in the net would have to be either deaf or total idiots. Everyone knew this raid was coming. Now, why would I be thinking that there just may be someone in the police department who gets paid to tip off the bar scene when a raid, especially a major raid, is about to occur?

The latest, according to the BoT (Bank of Thailand) is the baht is now expected to undergo mood swings. They expect quite a bit of volatility. According to the BoT, the baht is going to be up and down, and that is going to occur frequently. If you are someone who gets his retirement income direct deposited into a Thai bank account, then whatever the exchange rate is at the moment the money is placed into you're account, that's what you'll end up with. The following appears in THE NATION: _____ Continue Hedging, Firms Told BOT Expects Baht Volatility Published on August 18, 2007 The Bank of Thailand yesterday warned exporters to continue hedging their foreign-currency income because the baht is expected to experience volatility. BOT Governor Tarisa Watanagase said exporters should not expect the baht's recent weakness to persist. The currency could swing up and down so robustly that firms would have to constantly cover their risk. "Exporters should not believe that the baht will be like this for long. They must take care of themselves by hedging their income continuously, instead of covering the risk for only some periods," she said. The baht has weakened gradually over the past few weeks as foreign investors unloaded their stocks on the Thai bourse and shifted the money out of the country to raise their liquidity, which was affected by sub-prime mortgage loans in the United States. The currency opened at Bt34.56-Bt34.58 to the US dollar in the onshore market yesterday and closed at Bt34.50-Bt34.55, after dipping to Bt34.68. In the offshore market, the baht was quoted at Bt33.20-Bt33.50 at 5pm. The stock market fluctuated yesterday, dropping to 732.78 at one point before closing at the day's high of 758.42, up 1.03 per cent, on retail investors' expectations that the new constitution will be passed at the weekend referendum, paving the way for a general election in December. The trading value on the stock market was Bt23.55 billion. Foreign investors were net sellers to the tune of Bt6.8 billion, making their cumulative net sales since August 1 about Bt40 billion. The BOT said earlier this week that about half of the capital from net foreign selling in the stock market had left the country. The direction of fund flows has reversed from the beginning of July, when foreign investors were rushing into the country to grab cheap stocks. The central bank has been blamed for allowing the baht to appreciate relentlessly without active intervention, causing the currency to break historical levels several times. As of August 10, net international reserves were US$86.6 billion (Bt3 trillion), of which $73.4 billion was gross reserves and the remaining $13.2 billion was net forward position. The net foreign reserves were $12.7 billion higher than at the end of last year, reflecting the level of the BOT's intervention in the foreign-exchange market. About 40 representatives of the central bank, the Finance Ministry, academics, bankers and businessmen are to convene on Monday to discuss the foreign-exchange market along with the economic outlook. Tarisa said the meeting would brainstorm the medium-term picture in the light of the current fluctuations in the economic situation. "We are ready to listen to recommendations and will get a very good result," the central bank governor said. Meanwhile, assistant governor Suchada Kirakul said she was confident that the general election would be held, regardless of whether the constitution draft is approved. The election will be held on December 26 if the draft is passed, and will be delayed only slightly if another constitution has to be adopted instead, she said. The economy will not be affected much if the draft is not accepted because the government's budget for the 2008 fiscal year has been already approved, she added. "It is different from last year, when the 2007 budget approval was delayed and there was uncertainty, as a result of which budget disbursement was frozen," Suchada said. Tarisa, along with Finance Minister Chalongphob Sussangkarn and Deputy PM and Industry Minister Kosit Panpiemras, met Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont earlier yesterday to brief him about the economic situation. Kosit said the recent worry about sub-prime debts in the US would not impact the Thai economy, especially in the real sector. The important thing is that the central bank monitors the liquidity in the financial system by keeping track of financial transactions. "As for the situation in the stock market, no one knows the exact amount or for how long foreign investors will sell. But I think the situation in the stock market is still normal. There are still several other factors. The stocks can go down, and then they go up," Kosit said. The industry minister said exporters were unlikely to be affected by the fears of a global credit crunch as Asian economies are still growing well. Government spending has already injected funds into the economy and private investment has recovered, he said, adding that consumers would also be more comfortable about spending after the constitution referendum. Chalongphob warned that Thailand was likely to face pressure from a second round of capital inflows and that businesses should prepare for the situation. Wichit Chaitrong, Anoma Srisukkasem The Nation

In the "All Seasons Hotel Pattaya" thread below it was mentioned that the hotel charges a 300 baht joiner fee. Wowpow responded with: The subject of joiner fees has come up before, but it almost always is about how much certain hotels charge or whether any fees are charged at all. I don't recall any threads ever discussing why joiner fees are charged in the first place. I can understand joiner fees if someone has booked a room for one, but two people end up sleeping in that room. I doubt that it has anything to do with breakfast because few hotels are going to charge 300 baht for breakfast and most hotels issue breakfast vouchers if breakfast is included. If someone joins for breakfast, but is not booked into the hotel, they normally receive a separate bill, just like going to any restaurant. To my mind it is perfectly fair to charge a joiner fee if an extra person, not booked into the hotel, is sleeping in a room that was not booked for him. That's fine if someone is sleeping over. But what about "short time" guests? Some hotels ask a joiner fee as soon as they see a "farang" heading for his room with a boy. If that same "farang" is headed for his room with another "farang," nobody bats an eye. I don't see the justification for charging a joiner fee if someone is visiting one's room for a couple of hours, whether "farang," Thai, or anything else, even when the reason for the visit is perfectly obvious. To me, under those circumstances the hotel is taking advantage of the customer, just like the hotels that force their customers to pay for a Christmas or New Year's dinner whether they want it or not. I'm curious what your opinion is.

Opening Rates: Friday, August 17: _____ US Dollar: 34.42 Euro: 46.1 British Pound: 68.12 Australian Dollar: 27.07 Canadian Dollar: 31.815 Closing Rates: _____ US Dollar: 34.31 Euro: 45.995 British Pound: 67.645 Australian Dollar: 26.5775 Canadian Dollar: 31.7325

The exchange rate is rapidly moving in favor of the US Dollar. Only this morning the opening rate was 34.01. Less than three hours later it is 34.15. While this motion continues, I will do what I was doing when the dollar was weakening. I'll post the daily opening and closing rates on this thread. As of 11:45 AM, Thursday, August 16, the exchange rate is as follows. This message will be edited after today's closing to also show the closing rate: US Dollar: 34.15 Euro: 45.625 British Pound: 67.58 Australian Dollar: 27.2375 Canadian Dollar: 31.3575 _____ Closing Rates: US Dollar: 34.27 Euro: 45.855 British Pound: 67.77 Australian Dollar: 27.385 Canadian Dollar: 31.54

For whatever reasons, the US dollar to baht exchange rate has been improving every day lately. I don't know why, but as long as this trend continues, I certainly won't argue about it. Here are the exchange rates as of 8:25 AM, Thursday, August 16: US Dollar: 34.01 Euro: 45.39 British Pound: 67.375 Australian Dollar: 27.615 Canadian Dollar: 31.2575

Let's not keep harping on this. Enough has already been said. This time I'm the one locking the thread.

This morning I went to the Pattaya Immigration office and asked. Naturally, nobody had any idea other than to tell me it is in the Chang Watthana area, not far from the Don Muang airport. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs web site ( http://www.mfa.go.th/web/1.php ) the address is: Ministry of Foreign Affairs 123 Chaengwatthana Road Laksi Telephone: 02-981-7171 See: http://www.mfa.go.th/web/143.php for a map. I have placed another map for you on this post, both in English and Thai. The green circle in the center of the map is the location. Hopefully that will all provide you with enough information to get there without too much trouble. I don't see any BTS or MRT stations in that area. Probably the best thing to do is call the number from a taxi and let them tell the taxi driver how to get there. I haven't tried the number, but I think it is a land line number, meaning that you shouldn't need to dial 082. Of course, if 02 doesn't work, then try it with the 8.

If you look at the pinned topic, you'll see how to get rid of the centering. That's the best we can do until the programmers fix the problem.

It's not so much of a joke. I consider that to be quite a compliment. I'm just as sorry for the boy, his family, and what you're going through as I can possibly be. This is not the time for people to be doing any flaming. As far as I'm concerned you should feel free to write all you want about this terrible incident on this board. Those who prefer to send E-mail to you for fear of being flamed if they post about it here have no need to worry. Rest assured, if anyone is so incredibly low as to try to flame you for it or flame anyone who desires to express his sympathies, then they'll quickly discover that I intend to live up to that compliment. pax vobiscum

You are probably correct. It turns out that the Ministry intends to charge 400 baht for the stamp.