joekicker

Yes, it's all about the money, nobody cares a whit that it's the second biggest religion and widely seen, discussed and known. Only money counts to those Thais. The fact it's in the constitution and a duty of the King has nothing to do with it. There's no tolerance, that's just a show to attract the bucks. All about money, that's the Thais for you. They just put in a Muslim commander of the army because it would get more money. .

Most people wouldn't know a burqa from a hijab. That said, there's lots of Iranians, and some of the chador are close to burqas, especially if you really haven't a clue about it all. But again, is this really the purpose of Pattaya, to get pixxed at the way some people dress? If so, just consider what most Thais are saying about you (general "you" jacko, pace). .

Yeah, really, why do YOU care what fantasies other people have and how they live them out? .

I'll bear that in mind on my next mongering trip to Blackpool. Thanks. .

It's true, execpt that for most people it's mother's milk that turns them gay. Harvard researchers proved that, apparently 97.73 per cent of gay people brag their mothers breast-fed them. Totally limp-wristed as a result. .

You call that easy? Well, at least you didn't call it cheap. .

Entirely, completely seriously. Actually, they're not, little one. Next time you fly to Thailand, spend a couple of days in Thailand -- Bangkok, Sukhothai, Songkhla, Prachin Buri... And get to the schools. Isan has been a little slower in taking up milk and beefy meals, you're seeing the Pattaya girls as a result of that. Thais have volleyball teams and super-models and all that stuff now. Not all the boxers are flyweights, not any more. .

Precisely. Otherwise, as I say, hike on down the Quacks' Hall to another door. Really. If your doctor doesn't trust you, why would you trust him? Or her of course. .

Heh. In Ayutthaya, one of the pooyai is claiming the water is 5 metres deep in and around the industrial park. If true, that's some kind of record. I don't think even that would get too far up Mount Pratumnak. heh again. .

I'd get a different doctor, then. I am definitely not into any drugs at all, but when I want something, every few years or so, I want what I want. I have a doctor who got me ... I think it was Xanax, and also got me morphine and a couple of other things. We talk about it, but we see eye-to-eye. .

Yeah. My solution is to hunch down, carry a few magazines, a couple of books, and see what's on the movie list. All airlines take the same amount of time to fly a route. All seats arrive at the same time. Block out the actual flight as much as possible, go zombie, survive. All the planning and folderal about 24 hours out of your life seems very misplaced to me. .

It was about the same in 1980-something, I'm having a total blackout exactly what year, 1983 ... or so. It went on for three months, too, it was really bad. Then, as now, my own house was in a dry area, but getting around was the same for everyone. The big fad of THAT day was extending your tailpipe up and over the roof like a truck. Times like this, I'm glad Bangkok is filled with Thais. Anyone else I know, it would be absolute chaos, guns and worse. As you say, they are terrific at coping. My opinion is that Bangkok is AS ready as it's possible to be. The authorities, new government and old, City Hall religious idjits and level-headed, they've cleared the drains, got the weirs and pumps oiled and generally - generally - are as prepared as you can be. When there's too much water in the river, it has to go somewhere. Looks like some Bangkok areas are going to get it. Even then, Bangkok won't be nearly as horribly hit as some of the up-country places. The last high tide is Oct 18, and after that it should be -- no pun intended -- all downhill. Those who give a spit, this is one of my favourite webcams. It's from the top of the Landmark Hotel which is beside Nana. The cam revolves. As I write, upper Sukhumvit is un-flooded, and it's scheduled to stay that way, because it's far enough from the river. If you look at this, and there are floods, shed a tear for Bangkok. EDIT I should have included this. There are an insane number of Bangkok traffic cams at this link. HINT: If you load the link in Google Chrome browser, you can get a quick(er) translation of where the cams are located. .

Yes it started fairly recently. If you fly them all the time, you don't get that of course. Like Evil, I get yessir, yessir, three bags full. Someone told me just a few days ago that an extra suitcase from US to Thailand is $70, so that might be worth it. One way of course. I tell people in the US to take one suitcase, then buy another in Thailand and bring it back. $70 is not bad, after you get past crying over the one-bag limit. Re the Chase card, you ALSO get 40,000 miles with a United card, pretty easy to get, I think. And United is peddling what looks like a different card, United Premium, which gets you miles and some bennies. None of these are worthwhile unless you're going to be an FF though. .

The new one-suitcase rule is a bitxh. Apart from that, United will leave roughly on time, get you there roughly on time, give you meals on time and bring you your 3.75 Cokes per trip. There are more movies on their little screens than you can watch (except on their horrible 747s, with the one "TV set" monitor per 50 passengers.) They are... what's the word.... efficient. I use them constantly because they're dependable. As spectacular as Walking Street at 11 a.m. but as dependable as anything that's German. .

You're ignoring the basic point - if you think you can hide illegal activities on the Net, you're wrong. If you want to keep your regular activities confidential, then HMA is quite good. Even Frosty's throwaway accounts and throwaway Visa cards and throwaway computers (he forgot to mention that; using cybercafes and business centres) won't HIDE you if "they" want to track you. .

Was this the Friday night speech? I thought it was relatively good, really -- her first crisis speech at all. I thought she got across quite well that there's not much more that authorities can do, and it all depends on the rain gods and the tide gods so far as Bangkok is concerned. She advised people to stock some food -- which on Saturday they started to do. I thought it was a good, not great, "be prepared but don't panic" effort, frankly. Meanwhile, Fatso, the governor (mayor) of Bangkok clutches his Buddha and rushes down to the sacred pillar at precisely 3:09 to pray to the goddess of rains, I shit you not. He's Mark's guy, for what it's worth. Mark was seen traipsing around in the water last week. At least he wasn't riding in a boat and making prai push him this year, that's an advance. Anyhow, it's Thaksin's fault, apparently. .

Back in the old days..... It used to be common to leave Bangkok, Saigon, Hong Kong ... and get to the US BEFORE you left. Flights back then went across the Pacific, through Honolulu, often Agana. It was kind of weird, going back in time. Even these days, I often get to the west coast of the US two, three hours after leaving Bangkok. .

Ditto. This guy was the Steve Jobs of the NFL. He sold that game to the public like it was an iPhone. And about as warm as Jobs, too. RIP, Al. You made an impact. .

Sigh. If he leaves the US on the 30th, it is no trick to arrive on the 31st. I do this every couple of months, sometimes more frequently. ALMOST all flights out of the US arrive in Thailand the next day. The exceptions are the flights that leave the US late at night, which some do. If you leave LAX at 2330, for example.... The OP SPECIFICALLY stated the 29th - not the 30th. Flying at any time on the 29th means he will make New Year's Eve in Thailand exactly as he says -- unless he breaks his flight or his flight breaks down. EXAMPLE: I have no idea where the OP is, but let's take beautiful Omaha, Nebraska, in the American heartland. Even if he tearfully leaves Omaha on the 30th, he's in Bangkok on the 31st by this US airline. It's not a trick. They do it every day. .

A VPN has an IP address. If they want to track you, they will track you. These Anyonymous and Lulzsec groups, they did stuff that the very top people WANTED to track them. So they did. It's not easy to track this sort of thing, but it is NEVER impossible. If you want to be anyonymous, get the hell off the Internet. Now. .

Almost any muay thai camp will take you on. Since you don't want to actually train by their schedule, and you won't be around much, and you don't want to hang at the camp, they'll extract a bit of cash from you. I wouldn't be surprised at 1,000 a day. Baht. Maybe possibly more. If there's any sort of fixed price for what you want I'm unaware. You'll have to ask around. .

Yeah, sort of. I think Jobs in the past few years turned into an EXTRAORDINARY genius and visionary, and even before that was a special sort of human bean. But he was working with all the collected tools since... well, since Marconi if you wish. Since that other iTie, whassisface, the Vinci guy?. Jeez, I was just thinking today of the first transistor radio, and the first portable calculator. Big, BIG deals in my lifetime. The iPhone (and other iStuff) is brilliant evolution, but in the end it's evolution, yeah. .

And Apple had a one-button mouse and Microsoft had three buttons. And the iPhone doesn't have a mouse. And so on. Prezackly. .

In many ways. But Apple was hardly original, it ripped off the interface as well, look and feel both. In so many ways, really, the iPhone is just a ripoff of 1973 Xerox Parc. Which just ripped off the radar display of WW2, really. .

Actually, he can leave on the 30th, have a couple of stopovers and get in on the 31st, not much of a trick. .