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Exchange rates for Monday, January 29: Opening rates: US dollar: 35.65 Euro: 45.88 British pound: 69.675 Australian dollar: 27.375 Canadian dollar: 30.03

Based on the following two news items, don't be too surprised if you turn out to be correct: The following appears in THE NATION: _____ SUVARNABHUMI Decision Today on Shifting of Flights Theera Says Services Will be Affected; Don Muang Likely to be Recommissioned The immediate fate of the troubled Suvar-nabhumi Airport will be decided at a top-level meeting headed by Transport Minister Theera Haocharoen today. It may elect to transfer some flights back to the decommissioned Bangkok International Airport at Don Muang. The multi-billion-baht new airport has suffered a series of setbacks disrupting services over recent days. "We have to admit that the repair of Suvarnabhumi Airport taxiways and runways will affect services," Theera said yesterday. He believes recommissioning Don Muang will ease air-traffic congestion at Suvarnabhumi. Last week, it was confirmed that Suvarnabhumi has cracks on runways and taxiways. On Thursday, repair work forced some flights into holding patterns over the airport and others to refuel at U-Tapao airfield in Chon Buri. As many as 11 aerobridges at Suvarnabhumi Airport cannot be used owing to cracks on their surfaces and partial cave-ins on a runway. Temporary repairs have commenced. Tortrakul Yommanak is leading an investigation into the problems and has estimated that permanent repairs could take as long as one year. The Tortrakul-led probe is expected to conclude the causes within two weeks. Tortrakul is a board member of Airports of Thailand (AOT). According to a Transport Ministry source, the AOT board had already approved the transfer of some flights back to Don Muang. The old airport was closed to commercial traffic once Suvarnab-humi Airport was fully operational. "The AOT-approved plan allows point-to-point domestic flights to return to Don Muang. The transfer of services is not mandatory. Each airline can choose to transfer back to the old airport, or not," the source said yesterday. Bangkok Airways and Thai AirAsia are willing to return. The image of Suvarnabhumi has suffered serious blows time and again since its opening. On Saturday, water was discovered leaking into the passenger terminal from broken pipes. Reports said domestic aviation authorities have refused to extend an international safety certificate. They said the Department of Civil Aviation decided on Friday not to renew the airport's interim safety certificate that expired on Thursday. The airport can, however, continue to operate without the license. __________ And this, from the BANGKOK POST: _____ Authorities Mull return to Don Muang Airport (TNA, BangkokPost.com) The government and airport executives are considering whether to reopen Bangkok's 90-year-old airport at Don Muang as attempts to fix the brand-new Suvarnabhumi Airport are causing disruption. On Saturday morning, one of the two runways was closed for repairs. About 100 cracks were found at the new airport's taxiways and runaways and damaged sections are being closed off while repair work is carried out. Transport Minister Admiral Thira Haocharoen told reporters the possibility of moving some flights back to Don Muang is being considered, especially for point-to-point domestic flights. Don Muang was decommissioned as Bangkok's main airport in September when the new airport was officially opened but support for reopening the Don Muang facility is gaining momentum as more troubles are reported at Suvarnabhumi. The minister said that the move would speed up the repair work and help ease traffic congestion at the new airport, adding that government agencies and airline executives will discuss the issue next week. Adm Thira maintained that Thailand would not shut down Bangkok's spanking new US$3.8 billion international airport completely. He admitted there were doubts about whether it was appropriate to carry out repair work in sections before a detailed study of the damage at the new airport has been completed. The cabinet on Tuesday decided to convene a panel of "independent" experts to determine how serious the cracks are and what has caused them. The head of the panel is a board member of Airports of Thaland, which runs the facility. The airport, which was officially opened in September, was designed to handle 45 million passengers a year. The minister said problems at Suvarnabhumi would not only disrupt air traffic for several weeks, but also undermine the confidence of both the public and airlines. More disruption was forecast for Saturday as the airport's east runway was closed from 2 to 6 a.m. for repairs, said Passakorn Surapipith, deputy director of the Suvarnabhumi Airport. He added that the 40 incoming and outgoing flights scheduled would use the west runway.

I suppose they didn't have enough problems. Now a ruptured water pipe managed to ruin luggage. Maybe they need to exorcise the ghosts that must be plaguing the airport. The following appears in the BANGKOK POST: _____ Water Pipe in Suvarnabhumi Toilet Comes Loose Baggage Damaged by Leak on Lower Floor A pipe in the toilet of a passenger terminal in trouble-plagued Suvarnabhumi airport came loose, causing water to leak and seep down to the lower floor and damage baggage, the airport director said yesterday. The problem adds yet another concern to the growing question of the reliability of the three-month-old airport. It has been plagued by a host of problems, the most serious of which include runway and taxiway cracks. Suvarnabhumi director Somchai Sawasdeepol said a connecting joint in a pipe in one of the toilets on the third floor of the terminal came loose. Water then leaked, some seeping down to the baggage storage room on the second floor below. The water damaged some bags and their owners would be compensated, the director said. Airport workers turned off the water valve and mopped up the area. Also yesterday, a worker in the construction project building a train link to the airport was crushed to death by falling metal scaffolding. The body of Rungchai Moongpulklang, 18, was pulled from the wreckage. Police suspected the accident, which occurred in Lat Krabang, was caused by scaffolding bearing too much weight. Meanwhile, Democrat party deputy spokesman Apichart Sakdiset demanded the government express regret over the resignation of the Bangkok Post's former news editor Chadin Tephaval, and the dismissal of senior reporter Sermsuk Kasitipradit due to a Suvarnabhumi runway cracks report in 2005. Mr Apichart said the Bangkok Post was the first newspaper to expose the cracks but was rebuked harshly by then prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra for being unpatriotic. The Post front page story on Aug 8, 2005 quoted a source as saying a team of US experts hired by Mr Thaksin to inspect Suvarnabhumi airport had found cracks on the runway. The paper retracted the story and apologised the following day. On March 13 last year, the Criminal Court opened the first hearing on the case in which Bancha Pattanaporn, acting president of Airports of Thailand Plc (AoT), and New Bangkok International Airport company (NBIA), sued Post Publishing Plc as publisher of the Bangkok Post and its editor Kowit Sanandang on charges of defamation over the paper's runway crack coverage. Mr Apichart said the discovery now of cracks in the runway and taxiways was a national embarrassment. ''Who will be responsible for what happened to the Bangkok Post and the fate of the two senior staff?'' Mr Apichart said. He added the Thai Journalists Association and the Press Council of Thailand must take the issue as a case study of political pressure on the media while the Bangkok Post should also reconsider the punishment ordered against Mr Chadin and Mr Sermsuk for the sake of the working morale of its news staff. Mr Sermsuk said in an interview on iTV that he had no hidden agenda in reporting the runway cracks story.

You get the Thai rate.

Gentlemen, you're all having a stroke over something that simply does not exist in Thailand. These 33 and 34 baht exchange rates, about which so many are having apoplexy, are OFFSHORE exchange rates for the baht to US dollar. Those are NOT the rates you get within Thailand. You only will get rates like that if you've buying baht outside of Thailand. This afternoon, just to make sure, I went to a Bangkok Bank and looked at their exchange rates personally. The rates to the US dollar are still in the 35 point something range and this is what the rates have been for the past several weeks. That still sux, but at least it has not appreciated to the rates causing conniption fits for some of you. Not yet, anyway. On Monday I'll post the exchange rates current for the most commonly exchanged foreign currencies.

Some of you may remember the film, "The Bridge on the River Kwai," in which it had turned out the bridge was being built in the wrong location. The ground was too swampy to support the bridge. Now it turns out that a similar of problem exists for the entire Suvarnabhumi Airport, and that's why at least one runway is literally beginning to fall apart, somewhat like streets of Pattaya do following a heavy rain. The following appears in THE NATION: _____ SUVARNABHUMI Rescue Plan for Airport Expert Warned 15 Years Ago Building on a Swamp was Trouble A top architect has suggested ways to save the Bt150-billion Suvarnabhumi Airport. Dr Sumet Jumsai said the increasingly serious runway cracks had to be resolved. "We have to make Suvarnabhumi work because it is already there. "For the runways, repairs to the cracks must continue, but Airports of Thailand should sheet-pile both sides of the runways along their entire length. "This should lessen the subsoil shift and reduce cracks on the apron's surface," he said. "In the long run it may be necessary to pile all the aprons. The new runway east of the existing polder [a polder is a diked area], slated for expansion, might be built sooner rather than later. "In this respect the polder must not be expanded, and the new runway must not be land-filled. Instead the runway should be built above flood level on piers in order to allow flood water to pass under it," Sumet said. "In this way it will not impede water flow or further reduce the flood-retention capacity of Nong Ngu Hao swamp [on which the airport is built]." "There is nothing new in this. You can draw a lesson from the traditional Thai house on stilts standing comfortably in watery terrain. Traditional Thai architecture is amphibious and in harmony with nature." Sumet, who opposed building the airport on the site because of unfavourable subsoil conditions, suggested air traffic at the four-month-old Suvarnabhumi Airport should then shift to the newly piled runway to allow the existing aprons to be piled. Alternatively, the old Don Muang airport north of Bangkok could be recommissioned to accept flights while repairs are carried out. Sumet said his measures would not resolve flooding outside the polder, since the water-retention capacity of the swamp had been severely compromised by the airport. Sumet, one of Thailand's top architects, with many buildings in Bangkok, the provinces and neighbouring countries, recalled how 15 years ago he had fought against the location of an airport at Nong Ngu Hao on the grounds it went against nature. "Nature is now taking its toll in this swamp, and I feel everyone has got it wrong in the ongoing investigation. The bottom line is that with or without corruption - and every government in the design and construction phases is implicated - the runways and any structure not on piles will be subject to differential settlement and cracks," he said. "All you have to do is to look at the Bang Na-Trat Highway. After so many years and multiple layers of compressed sub-base, the road still sinks," he said.

Congratulations to Stef! Stef is in Pattaya and we spoke today at the beach. Without revealing trade secrets, Stef was able to make an adjustment to the message board program that seems to be working to stop the spam from being posted. Since Stef's adjustment, no more spams have appeared. It will probably stay that way. However, we'll still be on the lookout for them.

As opposed to the false facts? I can only speak for what I saw when I was there. The night I was there, none of what you say on your post was the case. I don't dispute what you say, but that was not my experience at all.

What is the source of your information? Mine comes from the Bank of Ayudhya web site ( http://www.krungsri.com/thai/home.aspx ), which is updated several times on weekdays. An opening rate is sometimes, but not always, published on Saturdays, but not a closing rate. I've always found their rates to be accurate and their published rate is always what I actually receive when exchanging money. Both Bangkok Bank and Bank of Ayudhya published the US dollar to baht exchange rate as 35.64 on Friday. I did not exchange any money on Friday. Did anyone exchange money on Friday? If yes, do you know the rate you got? If someone can tell us what he actually received on Friday, that might help to clear up some of the confusion.

Gents, Spam software has become quite sophisticated and today, for the first time, this message board seems to be getting inundated with it. I request that you do NOT send PMs to the moderators informing us when you spot them. Believe me, our eyes work too and we will get rid of them as soon as we spot them. It's pain-in-the-hind-quarter enough getting rid of the spams. There is no need to add to the difficulty by sending us PM's telling us about the spam posts. It's clogging up our PM mailboxes for no reason and then we have to get rid of all the needless PMs too. I request that you send us a PM about a spam post only if you've seen it sitting there for twelve hours or more. If it remains visible as long as that, then we've missed it.

No one has answered one of the most important questions: What kind of a bar is Loma? Is it strictly a host bar? Is it a go-go bar? I'd would also like to know things such as the drink prices, the number of boys working there, their "off" fee, assuming they even have "off" at all, and their business hours. Regarding the location of the NoBody gay massage, it's in the same complex with the Balcony Restaurant in Pattaya. You can't miss it. You simply enter the driveway, which you have to do no matter how you arrive at the Balcony, and NoBody is right in front of you. To get to Nobody from the Boyztown-Pattayaland area, obviously you do exactly what you would do to get to the Balcony Restaurant. You go north on Second Road until you reach the Dolphin Roundabout. Then you go east on North road (Pattaya Nua). You'll see the sign for the Balcony Restaurant on your left. If you get as far as the Tesco-Lotus shopping center, you missed it and went too far.

Exchange Rates for Friday, January 26: Closing Rates: US dollar: 35.64 Euro: 45.97 British Pound: 69.97 Australian dollar: 27.42 Canadian dollar: 29.9875

You don't need to find someone's profile if you wish to send a personal message (PM) in response to a post. Simply click on the recipient's user name to the left of the box that contains the post. A menu will pop up for that user and you will see that one of the items you can select is "Send a personal message." Click on that and the rest is easy.

Exchange Rates for Friday, January 26: Opening Rates: US dollar: 35.66 Euro: 46.005 British Pound: 69.95 Australian dollar: 27.4025 Canadian dollar: 29.975

Let's not hit the panic button just yet. The following are the closing exchange rates for Thursday, January 25: US dollar: 35.58 Euro: 46.015 British Pound: 69.805 Australian dollar: 27.52 Canadian dollar: 30.1275 None of those rates are significantly different from the levels at which the rates have been for the last six weeks. I see no such announcement in any of the Thai media that normally reports BOT moves, so I don't know where the people posting on Thaivisa are getting this from. I'll post the exchange rates for Friday, both opening and closing, on this thread when they become available. I'll monitor the exchange rates next week. If I see any significant changes, I'll post the rates.

With all those massages, you must be getting to be like Kobe beef by now. Between the two massage choices, I think NoBody is the better of the two and it's also a little less expensive than the other one, the name of which escapes me at the moment. Even though I live fairly close, I've never been to Madame Ed's other than to simply have a look. Have you been there lately? If yes, what can you tell us?

Actually, NoBody is surviving quite nicely and a second gay massage opened right next door. Loma, from the outside, appeared to be a place that's been around for quite some time. That Soi 33 has several venues, but from what I saw I think Loma is the only gay venue there. I'll try to get there within the next couple of days. The one I don't get is Cartier. I have no idea how they intend to survive. From what I understand, hardly anyone is going there and it is in a bizarre location for a gay bar. Nevertheless, they're still there.

Ok, I haven't been in there yet, but this morning I was in that area. I drove by to see if I could spot it. Yes, it's definitely there. It's called Loma Bar. I was unable to tell from the outside whether it is a go-go bar or host bar or something else, but it's there. As soon as you get to Soi 33, from the Naklua extension of Second Road, you turn into the soi and it's just beyond the corner on the right. You can't miss it. I'll try to get in there and check it out soon.

If you have to view these films within Thailand, there is little choice. These films, at least so far, are not being screened in Thai movie theaters.

I think the fees depend upon which university it is and which courses the student is taking. There is one way to find out for sure whether a young gentleman is actually a university student. Universities issue their own ID cards. Ask to see his.

Hmmmmm, sounds like this Soi 33 is quite a street.

As terrible a thing it is that happened to GP, the silver lining on the cloud is that we have discovered that when a serious situation such as this occurs, many of us do as much as we can to help each other. I think it's wonderful to see that we are a cohesive, supportive group after all when those among us find themselves in need. I'll bet that no matter who might have something terrible happen next time, most of the gay Thailand community will be there for whoever it is, doing as much as we can to help. I think this kind of support for each other is a very important thing and it's great to know that we can count on each other in times of crisis.

Both films to which Ear Wig refers are already being sold, pirated versions of course, by the beach DVD vendors and the DVD vendors around town. 100 baht a pop.

If he's getting prices like that for being a tour guide (and most likely that does not include the price of taxis, food, admission, etc, that you would have to cover for him) he doesn't need to sell sex. He doesn't need to become a doctor either . . .

That's perfect. There is a tour desk in the lobby at the Pinnacle, although if it's a gay tour that you want, you're probably better off booking that through the Tarntawan Place Hotel. You're about a ten to fifteen minute taxi ride from the Tarntawan Place Hotel from the Pinnacle and the taxi shouldn't cost you more than 40 baht. That's slightly more than US $1. Also, as Geezer suggested, you're also perfectly welcome to contact me directly when you come to Pattaya. I'm always glad to help people new to Pattaya and will be happy to come to Le Caf