Bob

Interesting article - and it's gotta be a tough job. I enjoyed the one comment by the one female driver that said she wanted to be a motorsy taxi driver forever or until she reaches the age of 45. That kinda hurt........hehe.

Probably not, Astro. I'm talking about the VIP bus from the bus station (from the Southern station or Eckamai in Bangkok) that goes to the bus station in Pattaya (not to your hotel). I have no clue what the "Bell" bus is or isn't. I also don't know if there is a VIP bus from the airport but I'm sure somebody here does.

Bush and a library? Precious.....and reminds me of the newstory: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A tragic fire on Monday destroyed the personal library of President George W. Bush. Both of his books have been lost. Presidential spokesman Ari Fleischer said the president was devastated, as he had not finished coloring the second one.

I and my Chiangmai "boss" have had accounts at SCB for a few years and I can use the internet to transfer funds from my account to his account with the click of my mouse and with no fee at all (but you have to get it set up with the bank first as your limited to the number of accounts are linked that way).

Blagojevich has known that he has been under federal investigation for months and was aware of prior wiretaps. Besides the obvious, he ought to be indicted for felonious stupidity.

Without any doubt at all. They love the movies and are far more used to going to movies with subtitles than we westerners. They go gaga over all the same movies that seem to do well here in the west (from Harry Potter to James Bond to whatever). As a side note, about the only place in Thailand I've been cold (other than Doi Inthanon and one late evening in Chiangmai) has been in Thai movie theaters. Damn near as cold as all the friggin' 7-11 stores!

For Christ's sake, GB, I finally figured it out: You're deaf! If Ethel was singing outdoors in Central Park in New York City, even I could hear that bellowing broad here in northern Michigan! I never considered her much of a singer but she sure was a hell of a bellower! Come to think of it, she wasn't much of a "looker" either..... (I think they rented her out for advertising and floated her over football stadiums...). Just a little humor, GB.....although I'm stepping on one of your apparent sacred cows (ohhh, and how that last word applies! haha).

Glad you liked it, GT....but I knew you would. To me, Mystic and One2Come have the nicest massage rooms in Chiangmai and both have some fairly stunning masseurs.

No doubt. [George, I presume you're fairly happy and proud? Most excellent taste!]

I voted for 2 years but with the meaning that US combat operations would likely cease by then. But US troops will be in Iraq in some role for years to come.

GT - other than the One2Come place I mentioned above, you certainly should go to the Orient Mystic place a couple of blocks east of Sompet Market. Opened up 6-8 months ago and has very nice rooms (and, I might add, masseurs). Here's a link for their website: Orient Mystic Massage P.S. The website map for their location might confuse you a bit. An easier way to tell you how to get there is simply to go to the Prince Hotel. Then walk west (toward the moat) to the corner, turn right for about 30 yards, and then take the first left and it's about 50 yards down on the right.

Thailand having a holiday to celebrate its constitution is about as apropos as Elizabeth Taylor having a holiday to celebrate monogamy.

Hell, I'm not going to vote - either for myself or against myself. No big deal, I wouldn't drink the Chivas anyway. Now, maybe some Sangsom (I acknowledge my low class...). Fun contest anyway and some pretty fair Thai smiles.

I'm still a bit confused, GB and Ilz. I have no doubt that you both are telling us how you hear it in Pattaya or Bangkok, but I am certain that Thai people in Chiangmai, when speaking in their "English" use the English pronunciation of "Rama." Hundreds of times I've been to various sites, restaurants, etc., in that area and I usually ask if that's "Rama V" (the most popular "king" photo up in those parts) or whoever and they always say "Rama" just like it looks in English. I know that for a certainty as I've asked the question hundreds of times for the last 10 years. There are regional differences. For example only, male Thais may end a sentence with a word that sounds like "krap" in Bangkok and southern parts, but you will almost never hear the "r" up north....it's pronounced essentially as "kap." I've heard that same pronunciation ("kap") in Udon Thani and Nong Kai also. As concerns use of the word "falang" up north, you never hear that with anything that would approximate an "r" sound. At least I never have.

I'm a bit confused, Ilz. I thought "Rama" was the English version (whenever we're around a statue or photo of a king, my thai friends always - when speaking in English - simply say that's "Rama Five" or "Rama Nine" or whatever). When speaking in Thai, they pronounces it the way you suggest. So I'm a bit confused that anyone would pronounce "Rama" any different than just plain "Rama." P.S. When they say "Rama", I've often remarked that it's about the only word they use where they often pronounce an "r" just like we crazy falang.

Should have mentioned this before, GB, but you might want to consider first reviewing the various internet sites that review cameras. Just google "digital camera reviews" and you'll find at least 2-3 sites that will give you a raft of information. A couple of sites I and friends always look at before buying a camera: DPReview Steve'sDigicams

GB, you're a big boy, just google SLR....wikopedia has a short description for you.

No, the new tiger farm is not run by monks. Nervous, I was a little around the bigger ones and petted one from a distance (ready to pull back my hand in a nano second). Others, including my bf, got up right next to the middle-sized one but I kept more distance. But they're pretty docile/sleepy during the day. By the way, I guess the official name of the place is Tiger Kingdom.

GB, yep, we're stepping all over each other here. I was responding a bit to your first post, then saw you posted again, and tried to deal with that with the "PS" comments. Whenever you see "D", it stands for "digital." I gotta believe you know what SLR stands for (single lens reflex) and I'd bet you owned one at some time in your life. God knows you're old enough! (slight interjection of humor into a boring topic?...hehe).

GB, first you ought to decide what you want in a camera. For example, if you want something you can slip into your pocket, then that limits some of the choices. If you want the absolute best, go with an SLR (but that also means an expensive and large camera, lenses, etc.). I've owned three digital cameras over the last 10 years and I happen to love the Canon Powershot one I have now. Medium sized, 10X zoom, 6 meg resolution (in spite of all the hype, that's more than enough resolution unless you plan on printing out fine photos larger than 8 x 10), and it cost me about $350.00. The 10X zoom is really an excellent feature that's come in handy many times. If I lost this camera, I would buy the newest Powershot model (one with an optical zoom of at least 8X) in a flash (no pun intended). Ignore anything you read about "digital zoom." It's pure crap. I also don't favor the Sony brand because you end up paying 20% for the name only and often you're stuck with only Sony products (i.e., memory cards) that will work with the camera (although Sony products usually work very well). Digital cameras started out with crappy (low) resolution and expensive and small storage. Those issues have disappeared entirely (even low-end cameras have pretty impressive resolution and you can buy a storage card for $15.00 that will hold more photos than you're likely to take in many months). Now it's all about convenience and features. P.S. DSLR stands for digital single lens reflex. Idential to the old single lens reflex cameras (camera body, you attach various lenses to it, and, when you're looking through the viewfinder, you're actually looking right through the lens). The only difference is it's digital storage (e.g., no film, only a memory card). P.S.S. I see you posted another resonse before I finished this one. Couple of comments: Don't plan on having any digital camera take good photos at night. In my view, none of them do a very good job of it (but, then again, it seemed that only an expert could make good night shots with the old SLR cameras). As to the "wash-out" of flashes at night, I've found that a problem with most cameras I've owned over the years. You solve that by going into the menu and lessening the amount of the flash a little (it's easy to make the change) and also remember that a flash shot at night is pretty much worthless beyond about 10 feet. Finally, most digital cameras now shoot quickly (the waiting part you mention has pretty much been resolved - but you can check out the specs for a given camera online).

There's also a new "tiger farm" that recently opened up in Chiangmai. It's about 10 miles northwest of Chiangmai by Mae Rim. Decent facility to have lunch and see a fair number of tigers. For extra baht (500, if my memory is right) you can go into three cages with a handler and go pet (carefully) adult tiger, ones that are maybe 30 pounds (maybe 4-5 months old?), and ones that are maybe 8-10 pounds (not sure of their age but young). And, of course, you can take photos very up-close to the little beasts. I visited the place in mid-October and did pay extra to get into the two cages without the adult tigers. I didn't go into the adult tiger enclosure as I have a general rule not to pet anything that can eat me.... Then, of course, there is the Sri Racha Tiger Zoo that's by Chon Buri but that's really more like a zoo in general - and you won't be petting anything there unless you take your bf.... Here's a shot I took of a medium-sized and baby tiger:

The same story is on another forum. Another poster said: "never let facts or common sense get in the way of a good urban myth" He said it better than I did so I'll leave it at that.

To correct/add to my prior post, laurence, you're right, they also eat with the spoon. What usually strikes me as unusual (well, it did at first many years ago) is their using it as a knife to cut. I'll keep watching for use of a fork, though, as I don't remember seeing them ever use that (in fact, come to think of it, it's difficult for me to remember them even having a fork next to their plate or bowl).

The one newspaper story doesn't support anything about any drug-induced sleep. Think of it, if there's a drug like that going through the air system, wouldn't it have affected the driver and all of the people engaging in the thefts? Or did they take the secret antidote ahead of time? As to your commment that "this must go on quite a lot", I respectfully don't believe that at all. An incident of this type would receive publicity - as evidenced by the one newspaper story - and I've never "heard" or read anything like this before anywhere. Based on my experiences on buses in Thailand, it seems the Thais can sleep in just about any position and regardless of the noise level around them. The newspaper story simply indicates that somebody stole items from their bags while they were sleeping. That's happened on rare occasions even on airplanes.

As to use of the spoon, I have only seen the Thais use it to obtain food from a common serving bowl or to use it as a knife. At the moment, in all my years, I don't recall ever seeing a Thai use a fork for anything (my Chiangmai bf of 8 years certainly has never touched one in my presence). As to a threshhold - especially at a temple - I've always been taught to never step on it (you step over it to get in and out). Not sure why, it's just the way I've always done it and how I've observed Thais do it. Many buildings don't have the raised threshhold but, if they do, I never step on it. Finally...but with no intention to be gross...never ever blow your nose with a handkerchief (or tissue or whatever) in a restaurant or in any formal setting with other Thais present. That simply grosses Thais out and I learned that one many years ago by violating the rule (and still feel embarrassed about it).