Rogie

I could be wrong, as there's bound to be exceptions, but aren't First Ladies always given the respect their position warrants/deserves? And provided they don't meddle, and are seen to be 'above politics', smile serenely and are seen to support their husband, they'll generally be liked by the American public. So a First Lady who's 'likeable' in the first place is going to win a lot of sympathy when her normal role as the President's loyal wife is seriously tested and stretched by her husband's behaviour. I think Mrs Clinton will inevitably attract a lot of support over and above what a man in her position would, simply because she's a woman and everyone knows the US will elect a female President at some stage in the future, but who knows, if she's not going to be it, there's no law that says gender equality means it has to be a woman's turn - thus if Mrs Clinton decides not to run it could be decades before another woman manages to become a serious contender. On the other hand if she does decide to run I bet many will vote for her for the novelty value, so they can tell future generations in their family "I voted for the first woman President", just as quite likely they'll also be able to say "I voted for Barack Obama, America's first black President".

That's good to know the ICE system operates in Thailand: I have a couple of numbers stored in my phone listed as ICE1 and ICE2, but never thought to check if it was recognised internationally.

Kim Jong-online (Couldn't resist stealing that headline from the BBC website, and notice the dear leader's name in size 18 font!- I wouldn't wish to be disrespectful). And what about mobile phones? And surely a novel way to avoid detection! http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20445632

I've never been a Clinton fan of either sex, but owing to the poor quality in recent times of most would-be contenders for the POTUS, I have to admit to warming to Mrs Clinton. Apologies to any Americans who object to my 'poor quality' comment - I am sure there are many good candidates, but the way elections (by which I mean the primaries) are organised seems to favour those possessed of brawn (i.e. loads-a-money) over brain.

Whilst aware there are risks, as in any contact with people you don't know, I hadn't heard of such disastrous outcomes before . . . . . . bearing in mind the OP stated:

It's certainly not acceptable to take pics in any area where men go to meet other men, or women for that matter. Even within the confines of a gay club such as the ones in Boystown and even if the performers in the show are westerners dressed up in drag it is frowned upon, if not completely disallowed. The photos one can see on gay websites are taken by people well-known to the management, with their permission. At least that is the way it used to be, unless things have changed. Just supposing somebody was in the habit of making homophobic comments or gestures, and he frequented Sunee for example on a regular basis. How to deal with that? Contact the police? Probably a good idea in many western countries where homophobia is recognised as a 'hate crime', but in Thailand personally I wouldn't wish to involve the police. I would favour word of mouth, such that the offending person whenever he was spotted lurking was made to feel uncomfortable. Eventually the penny would drop and he'd quit his antics. How to let others know about him so he could be avoided? Rather than posting his pic on a message board such as this, photos could still be taken on mobile phones or similar and if you were going to meet a group of friends for drinks just pass the photo around amongst yourselves with a comment along the lines of "watch out for this guy, he has a bad reputation". Homophobic comments made when you are 'out and about', away from a recognised gay area, with your Thai friend(s) are not so easy to counter. My comments in the preceding paragraph relate just to repeat offenders - hopefully there aren't any, but it seems a good idea to have some sort of strategy for dealing with it should it occur.

Yes indeed, another good example, plus when sampling a neat cask-aged single malt Scotch it should be diluted with water from a reliable source, perhaps spring water from the Campsie Fells? Maybe when you first visited NYC over 30 years ago it was still a crime-ridden city. I believe it has been cleaned up considerably so that it is now a very safe city. It would seem the tap water, as Firecat assures us, is now most drinkable!

If I was in Bangkok right now I'd be sure to head over to this shop. Unfortunately I am in Pattaya and will be getting the airport bus direct to the airport next week. The list of pies looks wonderful and I'd definitely buy a few, although the prices look a bit steep, about UKP2 for a pie, which is more than you would pay 'back home', although I haven't seen them so they may be larger than they look in the photo. Of course, to be realistic, one has to factor in the costs of baking pies in a foreign country plus your restricted clientele. I don't suppose that many local Thai people are amongst the shop's customers. I tried to trace the Imagine Thailand Foundation referred to in the flyer. I wonder if it's the same as this one, called Imagine Thailand? http://imaginethailand.org/

At first I thought you were just being funny, but having read the recipe via the link given by GB in post #26 I have to say I'd probably feel the same way. I haven't even left the blocks yet; but with Christmas on the horizon I hope to be joining the ranks shortly thereafter. Is it really true that the secret 'ingredient' of New York bagels is the water used? NYC tap water? If so, that echoes claims that certain beers brewed in Britain derive their distinctive characters from the local water supply. For example Burton on Trent has traditionally been the home of English ale.

It's worth joining just to be able to see your photos FH, plus I might add those recently posted by Michael. Many other members post interesting photos and pics too.

As I understand it, if you use an external photo-hosting site and post the pic here it is visible to everyone, including non-members. Doing it the way Kokopelli describes means the pic is only visible if you are logged in, so I suppose it could be argued that makes any pics you upload just that bit more private, as only registered members who are logged in can see them.

That's great to see what Dresden has managed to do, and shows that one way to come to terms with the past is to embrace a vision.of how things might have been had it never happened. Much enjoyed the photos and the accompanying descriptions.

Best photos of Petra I've ever seen, linked by some great descriptions. You are a latter-day Jean Louis Burckhardt Fountainhall.

Author: Anand Chandra - AFP http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gb6wOA9djnzaGqrN-lUWdyF3xaOg?docId=CNG.165acc5087d7564ef29f9aef366e0041.611

Whoever would have thought it? http://www.bangkokpost.com/travel/travel-update/323641/cabin-crew-love-single-males

For more about firework displays see: http://www.gaythailand.com/forums/topic/8089-annual-macau-international-fireworks-display-contest/#entry58870 I see the Pattaya one is also billed as 'international'. Which team won last year and who is the favourite for this year I wonder?

I'm in a charitable mood today and would like to say I enjoyed your joke Tw. Would it be too nosy to enquire if the joke was a collaboration with your joke-writer, or does it date from your pre-joke writer days. In other words, are the jokes going to get better, or not?

An airline called Virgin America is on that list at #7 but many of the comments are from Americans bemoaning the state of their nation's airlines, so I have to admit to being a bit confused. Well done to THAI Airways for making the top 10.

Some naive newspaper in China fell for this rather pathetic prank. That's about the only mildly amusing aspect to this very unfunny and far-too-contrived piece. http://www.theonion.com/articles/kim-jongun-named-the-onions-sexiest-man-alive-for,30379/?ref=auto

And what about kewl? Cool?

You seem to be exhibiting one or two troll symptoms Master ChrisTerry Why not tell us a bit more about your experiences and your preferences and you might get a more sympathetic response, but I doubt you will get a straight answers to your second question, although I have answered your third openly and honestly.

Taken from Today's Bangkok Post Life section Karnjana Karnjanatawe writing in Think Box: and she concludes by saying: http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/323240/thai-flying-in-the-face-of-progress

I'm in agreement with Bob. This kind of thing, which is potentailly dangerous, is best practiced IMO (and I hasten to add I have no personal experience) between two people - usually two men but of course it could be any combination - who are well known to one another; so the element of trust inspires confidence such that those participating will derive some kind of pleasure from it. It must be quite frightening to have it done to you by somebody youi do not know, a stranger. That's why I share Bob's doubts that any would-be fister (the active person) will find anyone keen to agree to being the passive partner.

Kudos ('likes') to Koko for the excellent Abe quiz and to TW for knowing the answer. I failed miserably and certainly would never have known the identity of the Mexican president, a contemporary of Lincoln's. I was also pathetically un-Ab(l)e and unaware there was a statue of Lincoln in Manchester, the nearest city to where I currently live. My excuse is I lived away from Manchester for many years and only moved back to the vicinity of Manchester a few years ago, well after the statue was moved to its present location in Lincoln Square (although to be fair it had been in Platt Fields since 1919 but that is not the centre of Manchester by any means so pretty unlikely you would know about it unless you lived locally and went jogging in the park or took your dog for walks there). Here is the text of a letter written in 1863 to the working men of Manchester/Lancashire. http://www.revealinghistories.org.uk/the-american-civil-war-and-the-lancashire-cotton-famine/places/statue-of-abraham-lincoln-lincoln-square-manchester.html

The Wanderlust Trip Finder looks like a useful tool for anyone researching a trip. By means of a drop-down menu you can specify what kind of holiday you are looking for. Here is one example of an itinerary in Burma, that includes the four places mentioned previously by several of our members, that I came across using this 'finder': http://tripfinder.wanderlustmarketplace.co.uk/ http://tripfinder.wanderlustmarketplace.co.uk/operator-directory/TransIndus_131/Burma-Highlights_11345