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BANGKOK, Oct 17 (TNA) Thailand's Foreign Minister Nitya Pibulsonggram on Tuesday signaled the nation's readiness to support United Nations' sanctions against North Korea over its nuclear test. "It's a UN Security Council's resolution to which we must conform" he said. Nevertheless, the minister said, Thailand would look into the UN regulations to decide which aspects of the sanctions it would implement as there are many items. Thailand joined the international community in condemning the the underground nuclear test by North Korea on October 9, repeating its call for the socialist state to return to six-party talks to end the nuclear issue in the Korean Penninsula, but refrained from calling for global sanctions against Pyongyang. The UN Security Council unanimously voted to impose sanctions against North Korea following the nuclear test it carried out last week. The sanctions target Pyongyang's weapons and missile programmes as well as luxury goods. (TNA)-E009

Oliver Stone Film Sets Sights on Osama Bin Laden By Steve Gorman, AP In a follow-up to his recent drama "World Trade Center," filmmaker Oliver Stone plans to direct a movie about the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan, Paramount Pictures said on Monday. The film will be based in part on "Jawbreaker," a recent book chronicling the U.S.-led assault on the al Qaeda stronghold in Afghanistan's Tora Bora region and the hunt for Osama bin Laden, a spokeswoman for Paramount, which will make the film with Stone, told Reuters. Stone and Paramount, which released "World Trade Center" in August, optioned rights to "Jawbreaker" months ago, she said, confirming a report in the Hollywood trade paper Daily Variety. Paramount is a unit of Viacom Inc. The Oscar-winning director told Variety the book deal was kept quiet until now to prevent "World Trade Center" from being caught up in controversy surrounding the memoir, which suggests the U.S. military bungled a chance to get bin Laden. "World Trade Center" largely avoided political overtones by focusing on heroics of two cops -- played by Nicolas Cage and Michael Pena -- who became trapped in the rubble of the Twin Towers after hijackers crashed airliners into the buildings. Stone called it "the least political film I've made." And he insisted his objective with "Jawbreaker" similarly would be to "create compelling drama, not a polemic." But the subject matter is bound to spark debate about the Bush administration's conduct of its war on terror, especially if the movie ends up being released in 2008 before the next presidential election. No production date for the film has been set, and there was no word on casting decisions. The book was written by Gary Bernstein, a CIA officer who led the so-called "Jawbreaker" paramilitary unit that helped topple the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. Among his more controversial assertions is that bin Laden was present at Tora Bora during the U.S.-led assault on the region in 2001 but managed to slip away. His account contradicted public statements by President George W. Bush and retired Army Gen. Tommy Franks, former commander of U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, that U.S. officials were never certain bin Laden was at Tora Bora. Stone drew sharp criticism for his 1991 film "JFK," in which he was accused of giving credence to widely debunked conspiracy theories in his portrait of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Adding potential fuel to the fire is Stone's choice of Cyrus Nowrasteh, the producer-writer behind ABC's controversial miniseries "The Path to 9/11," to write the second draft of the "Jawbreaker" screenplay. Nowrasteh came under fire last month from leading Democrats who claimed the ABC miniseries was filled with inaccuracies and distortions that painted the Clinton administration as slow to confront the threat of Islamic militants prior to the September 11 attacks.

The following appears in THE NATION: _____ OUSTED PREMIER Thaksin Advised to Stay Abroad for a Long Time Army Rejects his Plan to Return, Says his Coming Back Would Aggravate Social Division Ousted PM Thaksin Shinawatra had hoped to return to his home in Bangkok next Sunday, but the Council for National Security (CNS) put a stop to his plan. A political source said household maids had been preparing the Chan Song Lah residence ready for Thaksin's return. There were also reports that Thaksin, who has taken refuge in London, flew to Singapore over the weekend and met with senior members of the Thai Rak Thai. Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont admitted that Thaksin had requested that he be allowed to come home, but was told that the time was not right yet. Gen Sonthi Boonyaratglin, head of the security council, expressed concern yesterday about the volatile political situation caused by certain pressure groups acting like a political undercurrent to exert undue influence. "The situation has not been completely normalised and authorities are closely monitoring the unfolding events," he said. In light of the political volatility, the time was not right for deposed premier Thaksin Shinawatra to return, Sonthi said. The CNS and the interim government would have to hold a joint meeting before giving a green light for Thaksin to return, he said. Thaksin said in an interview broadcast on iTV yesterday that he would not be returning to Thailand in the near future. Speaking from his posh London apartment, the ex-PM said he wanted a rest. It was unclear when the interview was recorded. General Winai Phattiyakul, the CNS secretary general, said Thaksin should not make a hasty decision to end his exile before the lifting of martial law. "For the sake of peace, many concerned parties have suggested that Thaksin review the timing of his return to Bangkok carefully," Winai said. He also said the CNS would finalise its decision this week whether to issue a white paper on the domestic political situation. The paper, if published, will explain the September 19 coup. Chat Thai Party deputy leader Somsak Prissanananthakul said he viewed the timing of Thaksin's return as the real issue. "It is not a problem for Thaksin to return to his homeland but he should choose the right time to do so," Somsak said. The wrong timing might exacerbate social divisions, he said, adding that he believed Thaksin could decide his options for himself. Former senator Wallop Tangkhananurak agreed, saying that Thaksin's return at this time could trigger dangerous confrontations between his supporters and detractors. Deposed premier Field Marshal Thanom Kittikachorn enjoyed the forgiveness of the Thai people after a time lapse of one year in exile and remained a respected figure among his supporters, Wallop said, urging Thaksin to emulate Thanom's example. Former Thai Rak Thai MP Chalermchai Ulankul said Thaksin should extend his London stay rather than risk living in detention. Thaksin's return would likely trigger situations that could get out of hand and this in turn would prompt the authorities to restrict his movement, Chalermchai said. Activist Phromsak Saenpho said he had just made a long-distance call from Chiang Mai to Thaksin in London. "Thaksin told me he did not want to stir up trouble and confirmed his stand on the peaceful political process," Phromsak said. He said Thaksin should be allowed his return without any pre-conditions. Chaiphan Prapasawat, another activist from Chiang Mai, said police should immediately detain Thaksin to face charges relating to policy abuses, corruption and more than 2,000 killings during the "war on drugs".

I don't know if that is correct. During October my boyfriend went for his driving license and they did require him to submit a medical certificate. To avoid problems, I suggest spending the 200 baht it would cost to get one, just in case. I'd rather have it and not need it then get all the way out there and find out that they won't issue the license without it.

BANGKOK, Oct 16 (TNA) Thai Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont said the Cabinet will discuss during its weekly meeting this Tuesday whether to lift the martial law or not. Martial law has been in effect since the military seizure of power in September 19, through which Gen. Surayud was installed as prime minister. Gen. Surayud spoke to reporters upon returning from a one-day official visit to Cambodia on Sunday. The Prime Minister acknowledged that he discussed the martial law issue with Army Chief Sonthi Boonyaratkalin who also heads the Council for National Security which retains ultimate power over the country at the moment by virtue of its imposition of martial law. Gen. Surayud said that martial law would be on agenda of the weekly Cabinet meeting but declined to discuss the issue any further until after the Cabinet meeting since, he said, this is a matter of collective decision. Right activists, academics and varied civil society organisations have called for the revocation of martial law banning political gatherings and activities, claiming that the law violated the constitution and even the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Gen.Surayud said earlier that the government did not ignore the public concern over this subject but it needs some certain time to revoke the law. (TNA)-E007

Just to avoid confusion, the web site tdperhs is talking about is not Air Asia. The name sounds similar, but this web site is a booking agency, not the Air Asia airline web site.

Make sure to have the desk clerk at your hotel check the ID too. Assumning the boy is of legal age and the ID card actually belongs to the boy, have the desk clerk keep the ID card, with instructions not to release it to the boy without first checking with you to make sure everything is ok and nothing has been stolen.

Yes, you do. You will need another residence certificate, medical certificate, copies of the passport, photos, and your current license. You can get all the copies and photos at the little shop next door to the Immigration Police office, so that won't be much of a hassle. Make sure you take your passport with you. Also make sure, when getting the photos, they are aware that you need them for the residence certificate and also the driver's license. Different size photos are required for each. Make sure the residence certificate says "non-immigrant" on the visa type. Sometimes they make a mistake and print "tourist" as the visa type. The driver's license bureau won't accept that and they'll send you right back to the Immigration Police office is the certificate says "tourist." With the documents, all you'll have to do is fill out the application and hand over the documents. You'll be called to pick up your new license about a half hour later. If you feel uncertain, please feel free to contact me. I'll be glad to go with you, if you want, assuming I'll be available on Thursday.

I took a look at the web site. That's a fantastic offer. It's a round-trip fare. I saw on the same web site that Delta's flight is almost three times that much. You might want to first call CAL and see what they offer. But this fare is one I would grab quickly before they're sold out. Here is a clickable link: http://www.asia.com

Good try, but you'll have to be far more clever than that to get me to take the bait. Everyone can read that board and see the garbage posts for themselves.

The following appears in the PATTAYA CITY NEWS: _____ Broke Texan Makes a Run for it Rather than Paying his Outstanding Rent A bizarre case now from the Argyll Apartments on the Pratamnuk Road in South Pattaya. Mr. Tim Gibbons aged 39 from Texas, USA checked into the apartments three months ago after a planned 6 month stay in Pattaya to take some time-out from his job back in Texas. Unbeknown to staff at the apartment, he lost his job back in Texas whilst he was here in Pattaya and he ran out of money and could not afford to pay the rent. Staff decided to confront him on Friday evening after accumulating a bill of 69,000 Baht over the last three months. Mr. Gibbons did not have the money to pay the bill and took the decision to make a run for it. He was quickly caught and the Police were called. Staff presented Police with the tenancy agreement and he was duly arrested and taken to Pattaya Police Station. He is now in a situation where he will have to either find the money quickly or face some jail time and possible deportation.

BANGKOK, Oct 15 (TNA) Former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra can 'come home', but it would be better for him to wait until martial law is lifted. Defense Minister Boonrawd Somtat said Sunday that ousted ex-premier Thaksin is welcome to return home 'as a Thai citizen' but it is better that he should wait until martial law, imposed following the September 19 coup, is lifted. It is up to Mr. Thaksin himself to consider whether it is appropriate for him to return to Thailand now and whether his return could severely stir the waters, Gen. Boonrawd said. However, he said both Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont and Gen. Sonthi Boonyaratkalin, chairman of the Council for National Security (CNS), will also have to consider whether national security could be threatened if Mr. Thaksin returns now. The deposed premier is now staying with his family in an apartment in London. Prime Minister Surayud told journalists Saturday that Mr. Thaksin had telephoned him and asked to return to Thailand. Gen. Surayud said he had told Mr. Thaksin it was the right of all Thais to return to their homeland but the timing must be right and details must be discussed among the concerned parties. "It's better to wait for the martial law to be lifted," said Gen. Boonrawd, adding that Mr. Thaksin will have to wait until that day, and that concerned officials will have to discuss the issue first to determine whether it is appropriate for him to return home. Meanwhile, Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal Chalit Phukbhasuk, also deputy chairman of CNS, said he personally believed that martial law could be lifted within the next one or two months if everybody fully cooperates in solving the problems facing the country. ACM Chalit told journalists after holding talks with the prime minister and Gen. Sonthi on the possibility of lifting martial law that several factors, including internal peace, would have to be taken into consideration before Mr. Thaksin is allowed to return home. (TNA)-E111

It might be telling us that the person who started it ought to have started it on Sawatdee instead of this board and that Sawatdee would probably be a much higher quality board if moderators there also refused to allow that sort of garbage in the first place. Does it tell you something different?

In Phuket you'll probably find what you're looking for at a bar called Tangmo. In Pattaya there are so many bars to choose from that you really need to try them all. You'll also find plenty of the types you seek at the gay beach area. I'll let someone else handle Chiang Mai recommendations for you. I always thought the best bar there was Adam's Apple, but from what I understand it has closed. I'm not familiar enough with Chiang Mai to make any further recommendations. You might also want to check the following two links: Chiang Mai: http://www.dreadedned.com/directory/bytype/2/12/ Phuket: http://www.dreadedned.com/directory/bytype/4/12/

What is most interesting to me is that one could still be 18 years old to work in a bar, but would have to be seven years older to patronize the same bar.

No, it isn't. On that same thread you wrote, "Good god . . . this thread sounds like some of the cess-pool bickering much more common on Sawatdee Forum!! The Mod is going to have to step in I'm afraid." Now you want to criticize him for doing precisely what you suggested. He had to remove the thread entirely, whether you approve of it or not. If he had removed only the posts that caused the problems, then the rest of the thread would have made no sense at all, not that it made all that much sense in the first place. It's one thing for a little cat fighting to occur within threads on which the topic is something else, such as threads about Niddy's Nook always seems to generate, but that thread's very topic and initial post was an attack post. If he had let that stand, it would create a precedent that we don't want on this web site. You're right. That kind of garbage belongs on the Sawatdee Forum, if there is actually some sort of need for attacks at all. If people want to wage a war of words and attack each other, then they'll have to find somewhere else to do it. You don't have to worry about GayThailand becoming the "Ayatollah." Now that he has made his policy clear regarding such posts, I'll be glad to take on that task. I'm always being accused of needless deletions and censorship anyway. So, as long as people have already decided I'm guilty of doing that, I might as well at least commit the crime, and that's just what I'm going to do if another thread like that ever appears on this web site.

BOSTON, Massachusetts (AP) Former U.S. Rep. Gerry Studds, the first openly gay person elected to Congress, died early Saturday at Boston Medical Center, several days after he collapsed while walking his dog, his husband said. Studds fell unconscious October 3 because of what doctors later determined was a blood clot in his lung, Dean Hara said. Studds regained consciousness, remained in the hospital, and seemed to be improving. He was scheduled to be transferred to a rehabilitation center, but his condition deteriorated Friday and he died at about 1:30 a.m. Saturday, Hara said. Hara, who married Studds shortly after gay marriage was legalized in Massachusetts in 2004, said Studds was a pioneer who gave courage to gay people everywhere by winning re-election after publicly acknowledging his homosexuality. "He gave people of his generation, or my generation, of future generations, the courage to do whatever they wanted to do," he said. Studds was first elected in 1972 and represented Cape Cod and the Islands, New Bedford, and the South Shore for 12 Congressional terms. He retired from Congress in 1997. In 1983, Studds acknowledged his homosexuality after a former Congressional page revealed he'd had a relationship with Studds a decade earlier. Studds was censured by the House for having sexual relations with the page. He acknowledged having sex with a 17-year-old male page in 1973 and making sexual advances to two others and admitted an error in judgment, but did not apologize.

Well, GayThailand, if this regulation comes into effect, let's go to a liquor store together and see if either of us get carded

Before everyone gets too excited about it, this visa will not apply to most of us. It is a business visa and it applies only to foreigners who are in Thailand to conduct business. For those of us who are on the one-year retirement visa or the non-immigrant Type "O" visa, this is not a visa for which you will be eligible.

Last year, one of the most severe droughts in Thailand's history. This year, so much rain that the worst flooding in sixty years is occurring in Thailand. So far Pattaya has been spared, with the exception of a few isolated areas; areas at which tourists are rarely present. We keep reading about the severity of the flooding in both Bangkok and Chiang Mai, two major gay tourist destinations. I think many of us would appreciate it very much if those of you in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, and elsewhere can give us some first-hand information as to the flooding you have seen. How bad is it? Is the flooding occurring in the tourist areas? Which areas are safe and which are areas to avoid? What about transportation? Any information you can provide would be of great help to those planning to be in those areas over the next several weeks.

The following appears in the Pattaya City News: _____ Spectacular Press Conference Announces Pattaya

Ha ha ha . . . . I know just what you mean, Hedda. With some boys, I think it's more appropriate to answer a phone call with "Tao-rai" instead of "Hello." "Tao-rai" means "how much?" I have one "farang" friend who actually carries two mobile phones. One holds the phone number for his friends. The other is for the number he gives to the Thai boys. His reasoning is obvious, although a little extreme. Nevertheless, that's how he deals with it. But even then some of the boys don't take no answer for an answer.

I'm not an economist. I really do not understand the implications of the following article, but here it is. I think many of us would be grateful if someone familiar with economics can explain what, if anything, this is likely to mean for "farang" as well as Thais. __________ BANGKOK, Oct 13 (TNA) Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Pridiyathorn Devakula on Thursday revealed the ministry would emphasise the implementation of the monetary and fiscal policy by adhering to the sufficiency economy principle. Delivering the performance policy to the ministry

Just so there is no confusion, the price I mentioned above does include the "happy ending." No additional fees or tips are expected.