CheshireTom

That's handy if they nab you for military service. Just joking.

No. Naklua is a Tambon and Pattaya is a self-governing municipal area which includes Naklua.

The nearest authorised repair centre (rather than drop-off point) for Canon cameras is probably on the 5th floor of MBK in BKK.

If you're not using Windows ...

A brief description from thaiguru.com ... 'Thai addresses are usually in the form: XXX/YYY Moo ZZ T. aaaaaaa A. bbbbbbb City, Province, Postal Code For example: 765/345 Moo 12 T. Ban Mai A. Pakkred Nonthaburi, 12345 In the latter example, the 765 (XXX) is the house group, and the 345 (YYY) is the house number within the group. You will find house groups mixed up with each other, so that going down a soi you may find 56/234 beside 56/789 beside 56/987 beside 41/2 beside 41/3 beside 56/876 beside 98/321, and you may find 56/232 a kilometer away from 56/233. The groups tend to designate the age of the house, i.e., a building phase. Then there is the Moo, also spelled Mu or abbreviated M., which is the village number, so the example designates village number 12 within Tambon Ban Mai. Each province is split into about 5 to 25 districts called Amphur, and each Amphur is split into many Tambon, and then each Tambon is split into many Moo groups. In the address above, T. is Tambon and A. is Amphur. People often put in M. for Moo. In the cities, you can have addresses like this: 321/456 Sukhumvit soi 39 Klongton-Nua, Wattana, Bangkok 10110 The difference is that it has a street name instead of a Moo number (instead a soi number, see next paragraph). Also, they tend to drop "Tambon" and "Amphur" words, though that's what Klongton-Nua and Wattana are, in this example. Most city addresses will have a "soi" number. The main roads have perpendicular streets going off both sides, which are called "sois" and are even numbered 2, 4, 6, etc., on one side and odd numbered 1, 3, 5, etc., on the other side. As you go down the road, they tend to get out of sync so that soi 71 can be across the street from soi 48, but they are always in order on the same side of the street, i.e., before soi 48 is always soi 46. Many sois usually have a name, too, for example, Sukhumvit soi 4 is called soi Nana (well known), but the name of the soi is usually not specified, only the number, and if you said a typical soi name, most people wouldn't know where it is, but if you say Sukhumvit soi 39, they know generally where that is! However, once you find the soi number, the office and house addresses are normally not in order, so you have the same problem as in the provinces and suburbs, such as "I'm now on Sukhumvit soi 39, but where is house 321/456?" In the city, people usually don't know each other, unlike in the countryside, so you better have clear directions. If it's a business, then ask the motorcycle taxis because they normally know. If you need to find a place, the best thing to do is ask the person you are trying to find, and get directions like this: "From Sukhumvit Road, go to Sukhumvit soi 39, turn left, go 1.2 kilometers to L'Opera Restaurant, turn left again, go 50 meters to turn right at the next sub-soi, then go down another 80 meters and our house is on the right, number 321/456" or something like that. In the countryside, once you get close enough you can often just ask for a person's family name and someone will know. The problem is getting close enough, because there are no signs saying "Mu 5 this way, Mu 6 that way". You can see addresses with Mu numbers on them and ask someone where is Mu 12, and keep getting closer and closer ... On a weekday, you can call or go to the post office to ask. On a weekend, you can find the Tambon village headman's house and go ask him, and someone may even take you to the home. Otherwise, you can ask around, but people don't remember house numbers and it's best to ask for names, and hope they know who you are looking for. However, in the end, the best thing to do is just get directions from the person or place you are seeking out."

I've adopted Newcastle for the season - I really rate Alan Pardew and he has a good system and some good players. Their last financials (up to June 2011) were pretty good and they appear to be continuing along the same lines since. Hopefully they won't be distracted by the Europa League thing - qualification for the CL next season has got to be the absolute priority. Looking forward to tonight's game - Cisse v Luiz could be interesting.

Haven't the bars at the top of the soi been flattened? Anybody any idea what is being built there?

The full transcript of David Walsh's 2009 interview makes for fascinating reading.

Do you have dual nationality? I would assume you do.

Neither did Marion Jones. As it is, he wasn't accused by USADA of failing a drug test (just as Jones wasn't accused of failing a test) - the rule violations alleged by USADA that he chose not to contest were: "(1)Use and/or attempted use of prohibited substances and/or methods including EPO, blood transfusions, testosterone, corticosteroids and masking agents. (2)Possession of prohibited substances and/or methods including EPO, blood transfusions and related equipment (such as needles, blood bags, storage containers and other transfusion equipment and blood parameters measuring devices), testosterone, corticosteroids and masking agents. (3)Trafficking of EPO, testosterone, and corticosteroids. (4)Administration and/or attempted administration to others of EPO, testosterone, and cortisone. (5)Assisting, encouraging, aiding, abetting, covering up and other complicity involving one or more anti-doping rule violations and/or attempted anti-doping rule violations." I'm sure a bigger picture will emerge over the coming days/weeks/months/years (Bruyneel has opted to go to arbitration and Hamilton has a book due out in the next couple of weeks). It'll be interesting to see the UCI's formal reaction - it would be for them (and the TdF organisers/IOC) to actually rewrite the record books. Obviously giving anything to Ullrich (who was also never accused of failing a drug test but still copped a ban and had his 3rd place in the 2005 TdF removed from the record books) would open up a whole new can of worms.

One down, one(?) to go for Frankel ... now 13/13 after the Juddmonte Stakes over 10 and a bit furlongs at York. [media=] [/media]

Well, Lance has decided not to fight the USADA ... Somehow, I don't think we've heard the end of the saga ... from AP ... Armstrong facing loss of 7 Tour de France titles By JIM VERTUNO, AP Sports Writer AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Never one to back away from a fight, Lance Armstrong is finally giving in and the cost of quitting is steep: His seven Tour de France titles could be gone as soon as Friday. The superstar cyclist, whose stirring victories after his comeback from cancer helped him transcend sports, chose not to pursue arbitration in the drug case brought against him by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. That was his last option in his bitter fight with USADA and his decision set the stage for the titles to be stripped and his name to be all but wiped from the record books of the sport he once ruled. Travis Tygart, USADA's chief executive, left no doubt that was the next step. He said Armstrong would lose the titles as soon as Friday and be hit with a lifetime ban, even though he is retired and turning 41 next month. Still to be heard from was the sport's governing body, the International Cycling Union, which had backed Armstrong's legal challenge to USADA's authority. Tygart said the UCI was "bound to recognize our decision and impose it" as a signer of the World Anti-Doping Code. "They have no choice but to strip the titles under the code," he said. Armstrong clearly knew his legacy would be blemished by his decision. He said he has grown tired of defending himself in a seemingly never-ending fight against charges that he doped while piling up more Tour victories than anyone ever. He has consistently pointed to the hundreds of drug tests that he passed as proof of his innocence during his extraordinary run of Tour titles from 1999 to 2005. "There comes a point in every man's life when he has to say, 'Enough is enough.' For me, that time is now," Armstrong said Thursday night, hours before the deadline to enter arbitration. He called the USADA investigation an "unconstitutional witch hunt." "I have been dealing with claims that I cheated and had an unfair advantage in winning my seven Tours since 1999," he said. "The toll this has taken on my family and my work for our foundation and on me leads me to where I am today — finished with this nonsense."

That's not the case at all. Pattaya (and possibly Chiang Mai?) is the exception to the rule - for everywhere else the conversion from an initial 30-day visa exempt stamp or 60+30 day tourist visa to a 'O' Visa and accompanying 90-day stay permit is done at Chaeng Wattana in Bangkok. A couple of points to note ... 1. You should have at least 15 days remaining validity on your current 30-day visa exempt stamp or 60+30 day tourist visa when making your application to convert to an 'O' Visa. 2. You will be given a receipt for your 2k Baht application fee and told to return 14 days later to get the result of your application. 3. During your second visit, assuming your application is approved, your passport is stamped with the 'O' Visa (over-stamped "USED") and 90-day stay permit. The 'O' visa and stay permit are dated as per the date of application, not the day of collection. 4. After 60 days have expired on the 90-day stay permit, it can then be extended for a further year at your local immigration office (60 days seeding required on bank deposits). 5. Subsequent extensions can also be done at your local immigration office (90 days seeding required for cash deposits). 6. If you don't fancy the trip to Bangkok, you can choose to go to a neighbouring country and obtain an 'O' Visa (for the purpose of investigating retirement) and extend that at your local immigration office. 7. The immigration bureau is located in the government offices complex at Chaeng Wattana - about 10 minutes from Don Mueang airport across from Laksi IT Plaza. Assuming you have your paperwork in order prior to arriving, you can easily be in and out in 30-40 minutes.

Yes, the only reason they can win the medals is because "the number of aquatics events is a bit of a joke". Nice to see that you eventually got there. Your ability to go around in circles should mark you as a potential winner in the men's 5k. Joe would be proud that he still impacts on your life though. And concerned.

The same mix as Frank Rijkaard, Ruud Gullitt et al. The Javanese-Surinamese mixed with giant Dutch farmers does seem to produce a good result.

Qatar is now showing 90k on their own website. If I can get similar prices to EDI, I might make a trip myself.

Dearie me! Have a look at the IOC website - you may be able to educate yourself as to what comprises Aquatics, and what comprises Athletics. Quite simply, one is administered by FINA, the other by the IAAF. Good of you to point out WHY you "don't get it" though. I appreciate that. Anyway, my "claim" was, "the number of aquatics events is a bit of a joke". That claim is supported by the fact that four swimmers from one country can win over 20 medals between them, and the top 11 swimmers overall can win over 40 medals between them. If you can highlight any similar situations with either 4 or 11 competitors in the athletics events, the comparison I used , I'll be glad to see them. (obviously when the athletics events have finished) I could have used the top 10 swimmers but I though it was a good excuse to sneak in a gratuitous pic of the lovely Ranomi Kromowidjojo.

No ... cheaptickets.co.th ... edreams is around 2k more expensive (they price in GBP, so it depends on fx rates - GBP 1,891 is the price they show). Cheaptickets is one of the few secure sites that seems to throw up decent prices in THB and allow you to book using a CC or DC.

Qatar is 91k with short changeovers ...

There may well be (or maybe not). But the original claim was, "the number of aquatics events is a bit of a joke. Imagine if athletics ...". Not Swimming, and not Track and Field ... and no skewed medal tables! Err, it's the freestyle, not front crawl. That's why they can use whatever method they want to enter the water or turn. If they couldn't, it wouldn't be called the freestyle. [media=]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOQ89oRj3U8[/media]

To be fair, petanque and carp fishing haven't been adopted as Olympic sports yet.

And failed miserably before going off at a tangent and droning on about balls and skiing, neither of which I mentioned. In athletics, you have one men's individual 100m running gold medal up for grabs. In swimming you have four individual 100m gold medals up for grabs. At 200m you have one running gold medal up for grabs, but you have 5 individual swimming events. Repeat for the different distances. That was the comparison. Correct. You're not getting it. I didn't mention, nor suggest, anything whatsoever about skewing, or medals, or tables. In fact, during this entire thread I've purposely avoided getting involved in the discussions about medal tables (except for Thailand - easy to keep count) - I tend to see the athletes' performances as reflecting their own commitment and sacrifices, not a nation's. As an aside, I think you'll find that while a "crawl" appears to be a popular sport in Pattaya, it hasn't quite yet gained Olympic accreditation.

How did you know that? I'll have to make the next one a bit more difficult! There's got to be something about politicos and royals milking the publicity at every opportunity.

Malaysia uses them. In Jan - MH 2/3.

Moving on to the odd-one-out round, Fatboy. Have a look at these four pics .... Which is the odd one out?