Gaybutton

I get the impression you've convinced yourself that you have a lot more influence on things around here than you actually have. I doubt that Chez Vickie, or anywhere else for that matter, is going to succeed or fail based on anything you or I have to say. People will try different restaurants and they'll either like them or they won't. Simple as that. I haven't seen very many restaurants that are exactly full anyway these days. The only exception to that I've seen is Wednesday nights at Cherry's. Their buffet always draws a huge crowd. I haven't tried Alois yet. One of these days I'll get there. I tend to stick primarily with restaurants out here on "The Dark Side." For me, it's a trek getting to the restaurants most everyone else goes to since I live nowhere near them. I have plenty of restaurants I like right here, restaurants most people who read this board, including you, probably never heard of. When was the last time you, or anyone else reading this, ate at Ann's Garden, Sure Park, Manneke Pis, The Fisherman, or Ticino?

Jesus of the Week 2010

I don't think you or Chez Vickie have to worry. I happened to pass by Saturday night too. They were quite busy.

What some of you may not know is Amazon now will ship a wide variety of items, including Kindle, to Thailand. The way it works is when you go to "checkout" you will get a calculation of the additional shipping cost, import duty fees, and whatever else. It is added to your final bill and prepaid. All you need to do is receive your item. All the fees are prepaid and handled by Amazon. That takes the headache out of ordering from Amazon if you can't find what you want within Thailand.

The following appears in the BANGKOK POST: _____ Poll: Many Support Talks with UDD Published: 21/03/2010 74.78 per cent of the respondents in Suan Dusit Poll's survey on the red-shirt demonstration agreed with the government's move to hold talks with the anti-government protesters to end the continuing political turmoil. The survey was conducted between March 18 and 20, involving 1,468 respondents in Bangkok and neighbouring provinces. 14.79 per cent of the polled said they were unsure whether such negotiations would be successful as it would depend on the decisions of key members from both sides. 10.43 per cent believed negotiations would be useless due to both sides' totally different political stances. On the respondents' views on the mass red-shirt rally of the anti-government United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) in Bangkok, 31.52 per cent viewed that the government was patient and capable of dealing with the red-shirts. 26.23 per cent believed the demonstration was held in an orderly manner and it could gain more support and people's acceptance if no violence took place. 17.72 per cent believed the UDD rally could gain interest from international media. 14.90 per cent said they were apathetic to politics and were not happy with traffic problems caused by the protesters. 9.63 per cent believed the red-shirt leaders were cooperative with authorities.

Whether you agree with the editorial or not, I don't think there would be much disagreement that whatever he is, Thaksin is no Gandhi or Mandela.

The following appears in the BANGKOK POST: _____ Thaksin, Get Out! Published: 21/03/2010 The United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) needs to get rid of its figure-head. It needs to do away with former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. People like Veera Musikapong, Weng Tojirakan and other nameless, faceless red shirts out there have been fighting for democracy since Thaksin Shinawatra was still selling cell phones and promising to solve Bangkok traffic in six months. Sure, Thaksin's money and connections go a long way in organising the movement. Certainly, he was elected by popular vote and wrongly ousted by a military coup. The man has legitimate complaints. But still, what Thaksin stands for _ his shady character and his salesman antics, his lack of principles and his hypocrisies _ can only prevent the ultimate goal of the UDD, which is to bring about a true democracy (or at least as close to it as possible) to Thailand. When Thaksin's henchmen (Jatu-porn Prompan and Nattawut Saikau) were preaching ridiculous, reactionary hellfire and brimstone, and other hardliners called for ''extreme measures'', Mr Veera should have been applauded for standing firm and insisting that this has to be a peaceful, non-violent movement. The motto ''the enemy of my enemy is my friend'' is fair enough, but those UDD who are genuine about democracy should be careful not to corrupt their principles for the sake of ''teamwork''. What sort of hold Thaksin has over the red movement, I'm not quite sure. A few elements of the UDD have expressed their disdain for Thaksin _ and yet, no one dares to break away and form a true movement for democracy. Is it about the money? Is it about the power? Has Thaksin somehow made them an offer they couldn't refuse? I know a thing or two about an offer one can't refuse. Last Tuesday I was offered the opportunity to go on the ''G-Force'' ride at the amusement park in the grounds of the old British Embassy. Now, I get motion sickness riding in cars, and many would say I'm too old for an amusement park ride. But the thought of doing otherwise never crossed my mind. If the offer had been to run naked across the Phan Fa Bridge with the face of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva tattooed to my back, I would have said: ''Hold on, first let me call my mum to say my last goodbye.'' The reason I'm digressing here is, as much as others may not understand why I went for the ride, many others have expressed puzzlement as to why those genuinely fighting for a true democracy would hold Thaksin up as their figure head. The difference is, I know why I went for the ride, but perhaps the ''genuine'' red shirts do not realise why they should break away from Thaksin and his minions. So perhaps I should tell them why, after all, I've already accused the former prime minister with a few strong words in this article. So I should back them up, right? Is it wrong to accuse a former leader guilty of corruption of having a shady character? I'm not even talking about the asset seizure case. The 2008 Ratchada land scandal was rock solid, not to mention the guilty verdict was passed under the regime of Somchai Wongsawat, the then prime minister and brother-in-law to Thaksin. Is it wrong to insult his salesman antics? One doesn't have to buy votes, but is promising the entire country one million baht per village, cold hard cash, if you vote for the Thai Rak Thai party any different from putting up the sign ''Democracy for Sale?'' It might not have been illegal, but was it wrong? Is it wrong to point out that he lacks principles? The man claims to stand for democracy, yet his gross abuse of human rights led to the murder of more than 2,500 civilians. Not to mention his various attempts at repressing freedom of speech and expression. Is it not accurate to call him a hypocrite? The former prime minister keeps insisting that he's Thailand's Mahatma Gandhi, the Kingdom's Nelson Mandela. Now do I need to get into the details of how delusional, how ridiculous this is? Would either man leave their supporters to fend for themselves while living it up in beautiful Montenegro on the Adriatic Coast, or Dubai, or Berlin, or Phnom Penh or anywhere else? It's an insult, not only to the nations of India and South Africa, and every individual within the UDD movement, but also to the history of human civilisation itself. Thaksin Shinawatra is the red-shirt UDD movement. This will always be the truth until those ''genuine'' elements within the UDD movement wake up and realise they have been hoodwinked, hog-washed, that with Thaksin they'll never find real democracy, but it's autocracy that will smack them in the head. No doubt, the status quo, the oligarchic rule by the military and aristocratic elites of Thailand needs to be changed. But replacing them with the oligarchic rule of business elites will only lead to a dystopian vision of George Orwell's nightmare. If one understands Thai history and the current situation, one would realise that the old elites have an expiry date. Supporters of democracy will have a much better chance against them. But the new business elites, if they get a firm hold on power _ well, the likes of Mr Veera and Dr Weng may end up weeping: ''I should have known better.'' I don't know why the red shirts are hooked on Thaksin, but I do know that the offer of a true democracy, of human rights and opportunities, should be more than enough to tempt them away. And they'll end up the happier for it, just like I am with the G-force ride. Even if I was blaspheming against all the gods, pagans or otherwise, every time it did a 360-degree flip high above Bangkok's skyline. So, red-shirt UDD, let's wait before screaming: ''Abhisit, get out!'' Let's first yell: ''Thaksin, get out [of the UDD movement]!'' Or make him an offer he surely couldn't refuse: ''Thaksin, get out of Montenegro and join us in the streets. Risk the hardships and a prison term _ like Gandhi and Mandela did for their countries.''

Anything I am being told is passed along to GT. However, try as he might, I doubt there is anything he can do about it because the source of the problem does not seem to be from the board itself. It would be interesting to know, however, just where the finger of blame needs to be pointed. I'm not sure whether the problem is occurring exclusively from within Thailand or from other countries as well. It gets difficult because even if the problem is only occurring within Thailand, I have no idea how to figure out why it happens to some people, especially those who had never had this problem until recently, and why it doesn't happen to others. Even if we can figure it out, I don't know if there is anything we can do about it. The only things I can recommend trying for those experiencing the problem is to do the standard procedures such as cleaning out the cache, trying a good registry cleaner, re-starting the computer, configuring the computer so that unnecessary programs don't auto-load at start-up, etc. Other than that, I don't know what can be done.

I suppose anything is possible, but I doubt that is the problem because several people who never had a problem before now have the problem, but they haven't changed any of their settings. Their settings are the same now as they were prior to these problems, so how could that account for the problems? I think it's more likely a combination of factors including more internet traffic slowing things down, use of WiFi, people's own ISPs, etc. I'm no guru either, but I don't see how it could be coming from the board side. If it was a problem with the board itself, then why would some people be having the problems, but others are having no problems at all? For the same reason, even though GT recently changed servers, again only some people are having the problems and some people were reporting this to me before the servers were changed. I don't see how that could have anything to do with it either. The thing that puzzles me most is that some people are saying the only website on which they are having these problems is this one. It will take someone with much more skill than I have to figure it out.

That's right . . . part of the problem. It's more complicated than just that. I get complaints that some can't log in, some can access the board but only agonizingly slowly, and some can't access the board at all. And even then, with some people the problems are intermittent.

That is correct. Part of the agreement is that the full sentence be served. The recipient country can't decide that the Thai court was corrupt. They can't even have a hearing about it. Where would they get witnesses from? However, there is leeway about the manner in which the sentence will be served. It could be prison. It could be work release. It could be many things. My understanding is that each case is handled individually and the agreement has to be acceptable to both countries.

Me too. The last time I changed my style was in celebration of Alaska and Hawaii becoming states . . .

RichLB and I still have yet to do what we've been planning to do for the better part of four months - go up and down all the sois along Jomtien Beach road. We've made discoveries we really like. I suppose the two main reasons we haven't done that yet are because 1. We tend to stick to the restaurants we already know and like, and 2. Lazy.

If they can't access the board, how are they going to see your message . . . ?

Since both Jesus and Mary put in appearances every once in a while on the insides of jar lids, on vague images on walls, and even on potato chips, my question is how come, after 2000 years, they've never changed their wardrobe . . . ?

Are we actually going to debate which restaurant is better? You like L'Olivier. I like Chez Vickie. I think people ought to try them both and make their own decisions. Do you disagree?

Well, I am interested in sex and I would appreciate details.

My experience is precisely the opposite of yours. Chez Vickie is one of my favorite restaurants and the dishes I and my friends have tried have been outstanding. On the other hand, ever since the original owner of L'Olivier, Jackie, sold the restaurant, in my opinion it went downhill. I guess it's all a question of individual taste and whether you're lucky or unlucky the night you try. Obvious solution? Try these places and decide for yourself.

I don't know. Maybe it's just me, but I'm having great difficulty trying to figure out how pouring blood and deliberately causing traffic chaos is supposed to get more people sympathetic to the Red-Shirt cause. If the Bangkok Post is correct that 30,000 people are expected to participate, that is a significantly lower number of participants than in the recent rallies, none of which drew the numbers the Red-Shirt leaders, according to news articles, had hoped for in the first place. If nothing else, it will be interesting to see how this all plays out today. I'm glad I'm not in Bangkok today.

The following appears in the BANGKOK POST: _____ Abhisit Calls in Media to Slam Thaksin Published: 20/03/2010 Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has gone on the offensive to counter ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra's daily video-link where he encourages people to join the red shirt rallies. The premier yesterday gave an interview with three well-known international news agencies and two local television channels to explain the political situation in the country. Mr Abhisit was interviewed by reporters from Al Jazeera, the BBC and CNN as well as local TV channels 9 and 5 in the same session yesterday. In response to Thaksin's repeated messages that prai, or proletariat, are oppressed by the elite and that Thaksin wanted to fight for the proletariat, Mr Abhisit dismissed Thaksin's remark. Thaksin and UDD leaders have often referred to the red shirts as prai while dubbing wealthy bureaucrats as amataya, or the elite. "Pol Lt Col Thaksin used to be an extremely rich prime minister. Is he an elite or one of the proletariat? This morning I saw a photograph in Matichon newspaper picturing where demonstrators were lying down and another photograph of Pol Col Thaksin and his children overseas. Do these represent the elite and the proletariat?" Mr Abhisit said. He suggested Thaksin should not speak in a way that could create hatred between the rich and poor. Society would be fine as long as people could do their jobs lawfully and had opportunities and rules that everyone respected. Mr Abhisit warned that attempts to divide society and incite people to topple the system were dangerous. He explained that in Thailand there was no longer the proletariat and the elite. All Thai people are equal in terms of freedom but they are unequal in opportunities and his government is trying and doing more than other governments to solve this inequality. He said his government was doing what other governments dared not do. On March 30, the cabinet will consider changes to land and asset taxes. Meanwhile, Thaksin said to his supporters via video-link last night that he did not want to use the prai word for the red shirts' campaign anymore. "I would like to tell the red shirt leaders that Bangkok people don't like the word prai so we should change our word to rasadon temkan [wholly-righteous citizen]," he said. Acting government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn said the news agencies had sought an interview with Mr Abhisit for several weeks and the prime minister gave it yesterday as it was a good time to communicate with other countries.

The following appears in the BANGKOK POST: _____ Reds Launch Mobile Rally Traffic chaos looming, 30,000 protesters likely Published: 20/03/2010 Authorities and city commuters are bracing themselves for possible traffic chaos as the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship embarks on a 46km mobile rally through Bangkok today. Traffic police anticipate traffic snarls when a caravan of about 1,000 cars and motorcycles leaves Phan Fa Bridge, the red shirts' base, for other areas around Bangkok including Rama IV, Silom, Ramkhamhaeng and Yaowarat (for route details, see graphic). The government's peace-keeping command estimates up to 30,000 demonstrators will join the march, half of them from the provinces. The red shirts' march, which may be extended to the Thon Buri side of the city, is expected to take all day. The convoy is likely to leave Phan Fa Bridge at 10am and is expected to finish at 5pm. The Metropolitan Police Bureau (MPB) will deploy at least 1,350 police to help direct traffic. MPB deputy commissioner Pol Maj Gen Phanu Kerdlarpphol, in charge of traffic, yesterday advised city commuters to avoid the march route. "We will talk to the UDD leaders and have them confirm the routes," he said. Pol Maj Gen Phanu said traffic police will staff intersections to direct traffic and ensure that other motorists can use the roads. He said security would also be stepped up to boost the safety of UDD demonstrators and the public in general. Col Sansern Kaewkamnerd, spokesman of the peace-keeping command, asked the UDD not to occupy all traffic lanes, and to allow other commuters to use the roads too. He said security authorities are concerned about "organised" supporters along the routes, but noted that police are making security preparations. Today's march follows a blood protest early this week in which demonstrators shed 10cc of blood each and poured the blood at the gates of Government House to protest against the government's rejection of their demands. Today's march is aimed at drumming up support from city residents for the UDD's battle against the government and the elite. Puea Thai MPs have made a suggestion that the caravan should not carry on for too long, to avoid causing traffic congestion and upsetting commuters, as the UDD has decided to go for a prolonged protest. "[The UDD] needs the support of city residents if it is to prolong the rally. The march is also intended to show the UDD's stance and woo support," said a source in the Puea Thai party. The route does not cover Din Daeng and Nang Loeng communities, who confronted the red shirts when they protested there last April. Two residents of Nang Loeng community were killed and scores of people injured in the clash. Instead the march is set to pass Ramkhamhaeng area which is said to be a support base of its core leader Jatuporn Prompan. UDD leader Weng Tochirakarn yesterday denied the route of the march was designed to pass through Puea Thai's strongholds in the city. "It has nothing to do with the Puea Thai party because we also go through the Yaowarat [Chinatown] area," he said. Few parts of Chinatown are thought to support the UDD. He added the caravan will be decorated with flags bearing messages, "Red Shirts Love Bangkok", and "Bangkok Loves Red Shirts". People's Alliance for Democracy coordinator Suriyasai Katasila criticised the red shirts' march, saying it was not a move to pressure the government, but the public in general. The UDD march was unlikely to win support from "the silent force" which was aware of the group's agenda and interests. "It is a parade day for the red shirts in the provinces and in Bangkok," he said. Meanwhile, police are investigating a Molotov cocktail attack at the 2nd Cavalry Division near army-run Channel 5 TV station in Sanam Pao. The attacker hurled a Molotov cocktail, which is made of kerosine, inside the division compound about 11pm. The attacker arrived in one of three taxis which sped away after the attack. It caused slight damage to a decommissioned tank parked outside the division. A taxi driver has been detained and questioned in connection with the attack. Meanwhile, police are also looking into two shootings in Soi Thong Lor on Thursday night to establish if they are related to the political situation. Gunmen sprayed bullets at houses which belong to local businessmen, Supoj Techawibul, 56, and his brother Surapong, 58. The brothers own a pulp-related business which has financial problems. In early February, gunmen fired shots at one house but no one was injured.

One of the things we expats learn to do is to stop comparing prices to the prices one would pay in our home countries. I suppose that's valid when one is in Thailand for short periods of time, but when you're here permanently the prices "back home" become irrelevant. Living in Thailand you start learning to compare prices not to "back home," but to other places in Thailand. While some still retain the notion that you get what you pay for, it doesn't always work that way, at least in Thailand. I would be willing to bet that the haircut you get in most of the 50 to 60 baht places is just as good as the 300 baht haircuts and if some of the barbers in the high-end places were replaced temporarily with the barbers in the "peon" places, you would never know the difference. By the way, how did Yassir Arafat always manage to have a 3-day beard stubble?

I would have thought that would be a pilgrimage to avoid. I didn't know you were a masochist. Now if my face ever appears inside a jar lid, that's when to make a pilgrimage. Pax vobiscum.

The following information was given to me today by someone in full position to know what is going on, but prefers to remain anonymous: _____ I have just heard from people that have been to see Kevin Quill in Klong Prem prison in Bangkok that he expects to be repatriated back to England on the 23rd of this month. He was granted repatriation under the prisoner exchange system that is in place between Thailand and the United Kingdom in mid December last year and has been waiting for a date to depart since then. What this means is that he will be deported to London and then taken to a local prison there for assessment. He has had cancer and has a speech box in his throat that may require some attention. They will also assess where and how he will spend the remaining time of the 6 year prison sentence given to him by the Thai judicial system. I believe that under the terms of the prisoner exchange program he and anyone that is released to their home country's prison system must serve the whole of the remaining sentence handed down by a Thai court in their home country after being sent back there. In Mr. Quill’s case he will still have three and a half years remaining of his 6 year sentence. It’s generally understood that he will be sent to an open prison for some time before being released wearing a radio collar for the remainder of his time.

The following appears in the BANGKOK POST: _____ UDD Unveils Rally Route Published: 19/03/2010 The red-shirts of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship will start moving out from Phan Fa bridge about 10am on Saturday in a convoy through the capital, a leader of the red-shirted guards said on Friday. Aree Krainara said UDD leaders would be at both the head and the tail of the convoy of vehicles. The campaign to encourage city people to join the rally would end at 6pm, he said. The convoy would move along Yommarat and Phetchaburi roads to the Asoke intersection and turn right to Ratchapisek road, he said. From the Fortune Town department store, the red-shirts would turn to the right and march along Lat Phrao road to Bang Kapi, Lam Sali intersection, Ramkhamhaeng road, Rama 9 road, Khlong Tan, Phra Khanong, Silom, Rama IV, Klongtoey, Odeon circle, Yommarat and back to Phan Fa bridge. Pol Lt Gen Santan Chayanont, chief of Metropolitan Police Bureau, said police will try to ensure the general public is not inconvenienced. Pol Maj Gen Piya Utayo, spokesman of Metropolitan Police Bureau, said the government's peacekeeping operation command had ordered police to step up security around the rally sites as it is concerned that a third party might try to instigate unrest. Government spokesman Panithan Wattanayakorn said the checkpoint at Ayutthaya's Wang Noi district will be expanded this weekend to accomodate the needs of supporters of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) travelling to Bangkok to reinforce the diminishing number of protesters. "The checkpoint will be expanded to support protesters travelling to the capital," he said. Mr Panithan refused to estimate the number of red-shirts who may arrive to join the rally, but said the number of protesters tends to decrease the longer the rally continues. "Ask the protest leaders for a number," Mr Panithan said. Authorities are preparing safety measures and a traffic plan fopr this weekend, when protesters plan to move pickup trucks around the capital and drum up support for what they now describe as a "class war". Authorities were cooperating with protest leaders and asking them about the routes they plan to travel, he said.