MC_Ldop

The author doesn't talk about the unions, which are part of why American carriers are crap. When I fly United, I usually get the old hags from SFO to NRT. Sometimes NRT to BKK is staffed by young Thai women. They do a much better job and are infiinitely nicer to look at.

Most "free" upgrades are considered operational upgrades (op-ups). There are numerous reasons for this. Here's a post from flyertalk from a gate agent. It's pretty lengthy, but it explains it well. ==================== OPERATIONAL UPGRADES--WANTING IT 1. The Schmooze and the Reaction. The truth is there really aren't a whole lot of "tricks" and "secrets" to share in how to get them. For one, frequent fliers should (and often do) understand that you generally don't "get" them; you have them given to you, by a gate agent. But it's not as personal or arbitrary as you may think. I blame this common misconception on how "free" upgrades are given out on the travel media. FTers and travel reporters often think that what it takes is to dress your best, approach the podium with a smile and a compliment, then slip in some barely veiled request for a freebie upgrade. It's amazing how many people try this. It's as though it does not occur to them that the agent knows what they're up to. While some of my former co-workers were kinda dim, the majority of them were at least bright enough to recognize this tactic and see right through it. When people have tried this "trick" with me, I thought to myself, "have you no shame?" People often went further and literally would grovel sometimes--and it was embarassing. If you're one of those people, all you are doing is making an ... of yourself. You might say, "well it's just a gate agent I'll never see again so I don't care what he/she thinks of me" but personally I think I would have more dignity than come with some story hoping that the agent will have pity on him or her and give them an upgrade because we like the customer. Agents are generally smart enough to know when customers aren't being sincere but rather, just trying to butter them up with a nice smile and smooth clothing. It's not going to work. Other airlines may have more liberal policies in giving gate agents authority to upgrade; United doesn't. But there are exceptions. When does it happen? Pretty much only when the customer's u/g request is genuine. I once did it on a domestic 757 for an elderly and handicapped lady who never asked. I don't remember why but it helped me out too. I also recall giving it to one guy who did schmooze me (I think it was IAD-MUC). I politely rejected his polite "free" upgrade request. I told him it wasn't going to happen that day since we were only oversold by a few seats, but he stuck around and quickly gave up all hope of upgrading (as he should have). We began a conversation and he actually talked at length about aviation and engaged me in a real conversation. The flight was full, but I wasn't particularly busy (the only reason why I engaged the conversation) as things were running smoothly. About 15 minutes before departure time, when the flight was about 80-90% boarded and we were primed for an on-time departure, I had a surprise situation where one Y passenger who showed misconnect in the computer popped up at my gate (she must have taken another airline), so I was suddenly precisely 1 seat in the hole. Guess who got it? "Mr. Aviation Conversation" had just said goodbye to me and was in the back of the boarding line of 20-30 people, so I called him over and gave it to him. Why him? In a word, convenience. He was a Premier Exec so I may have bypassed a 1K (maybe not--many are already pre-upgraded), but he had the status and he was on a B fare, so I didn't feel bad. But the convenience was getting the seat I needed and a potentially bad situation resolved quickly so the flight could depart on time. Since the flight was near close-out, I risked a delay if I researched it and went on the plane to move any possible 1Ks up, when I was supposed to be at the podium finalizing flight status, paperwork, etc. This is an example of a unique situation where it would be OK to bypass a higher-ranking customer, but it is rare. This guy got lucky because time was running out for me. Knowing his status and his proximity to me (and his lucky decision not to pre-board as a 1P) were the factors. But again, it is rare and he was lucky. My conclusion for this section is to not bother with the song & dance and the schmooze or the nice threads. Save your energy and spare yourself the disappointment. Don't try to suck up to the agent and get a free upgrade you can't support through authorized means. It's a waste of time. OPERATIONAL UPGRADES--GETTING IT 2. Why? Oversales. You should understand that "operational upgrades" (free), in gneral, are to be done only when there is "an operational need" to do so. For the uninitiated, what that generally means is when we have overbooked the plane and more economy passengers have checked in than there are seats in the cabin. Hypothetical situation: Let's suppose we are flying today on UA837 SFO-NRT. There is a 747-400 assigned to the route and the configuration is 14-73-260. Let's say it is booked at 9 in F, 61 in C and 293 in Y. It should be fairly obvious that if more than 260 people show for Y seats with Y bookings, something will have to be done. Is that possible? Well, of course it is, with 293 booked. And what does the airline gate agent do? He or she takes some of those people in Y and gives them an upgrade to C. That's what an operational upgrade is. 3. The Scenario. You're the gate agent--so who do you choose to reward with a free seat in Business Class? Do you take the slick salesman with a nice smile wearing an Armani suit, who has just has just told you how nice your hair is and how great of gate agent you are and how you handle the stress of the job so superbly? As I mentioned above, many travel reporters say that is exactly who gets the upgrades more often than not. But at United (and probably many other airlines), it's highly unlikely. United has a policy that governs this process and it not only prevents agents from picking favorties (adding to the stress) but also rewards the people who deserve it. In spite of leading United to staggering losses since 2000, United management is not altogether completely stupid! They have a policy intended to give those necessary free upgrades to the top fliers--the people who--frankly--deserve it. Operational Upgrades are given on the basis of status and fare paid! Not personal discretion. On the rare occasion when a Global Services (UA's top-tier) passenger was planning to fly trans-pac in Y and didn't already upgrade, we would go look at our elite list in the computer and find a GS member is Y+. Bam! The GS passenger has been moved to C. That's 62 expected in C (up from 61 booked), presuming all C passengers show up. 4. The Scenario Progresses. You're still the gate agent . . . and it is 75 minutes before departure. Check-in doesn't close for another 30 minutes and Economy has just checked in to 257 out of 260 seats . . . and counting. That's 36 to go to reach 293, or 35 to go to 292 now that you've done one upgrade. Well, with 30 minutes left, it is becoming pretty obvious to you that more than 260 people will check into the Economy seats they've booked and you will be "in the hole." 4 more people check in and you're there. It won't take much time. Sure, you won't see all 292, but you'll easily see 4 or more in the next 30 minutes. So after you and your colleagues behind the podium take care of some more people in the line, asking questions that don't need to be asked, you find some time to look at the elite list in Economy only--since that's the cabin you have to be worried about. The only GS guy in Y has already been moved up so you now see there are 7 1Ks at the top of the list among elites seated in Economy. 2 of them are on the upgrade waiting list already, willing to use miles to move up. You soon realize after a handful more people check in, you're going to be more than 7 in the hole, so all the 1Ks in Y are going to C today. Some agents will process the 1Ks willing to pay miles through the upgrade list and take their miles or certs, etc. Others, like me, are not so inclined to take the "that's money for the company" view and instead be rational: delete them from the paid upgrade waitlist and give *all* 1Ks in Y complimentary upgrades since they would get it anyway. So you're not charging the ones who were un-cheap enough to put themselves on the list and willing to spend miles or certs. It's fair and it's a nice surprise for them--they didn't beg or grovel and they were willing to pay the freight for C. Might as well give them the break they deserve and not charge them since they were going to get it for free anyway, if they weren't on the list. So you move all 7 1Ks up and with the 1 GS already up there, you are now at 69 people in the C cabin, assuming all those booked in C show up. You're down to as many as 285 possible expected for Y. Did you wait for the 1Ks to come to you with a smile and assess whether or not their clothes are nice enough to warrant the business class upgrade? Hell no. You paged them up by name, repeatedly if you had to, until he or she responded and collected the business class boarding pass. Most of those 1Ks were nice enough to thank you for that and usually you smile and say "you're welcome" but let's be honest, you didn't do that 1K a favor really, you upgraded that 1K because you had to upgrade someone and it makes perfect business sense to choose the best passengers. Not only is it a company directive, but to my mind, that's the fairest way to go. 5. The Balancing Act. 52 minutes before departure. In 7 minutes you will be able to close check-in and bring the flight "under gate control" which means all functions will be handled at that time by you, the gate agent at the gate, not the ticket counter. But here is where you have to start paying attention to balancing the appropriate amount of upgrades--don't do too many and don't do to few. And most of all, for heaven's sake--be especially sure you don't do any upgrades too late and jeopardize an on-time departure! So . . . after handling a few more quick tasks, you check to see that Economy is now checked in to 267--even AFTER you have done 8 complimentary operational upgrades. DAMN! Where did all those people come from? And so fast! You're 7 in the hole! Even after doing 8 upgrades! Grrrr. But there is light at the end of the tunnel--you take gate control in 6 minutes, 43 seconds. At that point there will no longer be any more check-in surprises. You know you're going to need to do more upgrades, but you're 7 in the hole and you only have 4 Business Class seats to use. Remember? You went from 61 to 69 seats in C after your 8 operational upgrades. Hmmmmm. So 3 of your Economy people are in limbo. Now that GS & 1Ks have been cleared from the 'elites in Y' list, 1Ps, the Premier Executives rise to the top of the list. There are 15 of them still sitting in Y. Well, you decide in the next 6 minutes to fill the C cabin--you put 4 1Ps in to C class seats. How do you choose which 4 of this 15? It's easy, the computer has sorted that too, generally by booking code. A 1P on a Y fare goes higher than a 1P on a B fare, M, H, Q, W, V, etc. You have 4 1Ps on Ys, Bs & Ms, so they go to C with just a few keystrokes. Now you have filled C to 73 passengers, assuming all those booked in C show up. Only 1Ps on H fares and lower remain in Economy. You thought that makes you only 3 in the hole, as opposed to 7, since you moved 4 more up. But you'd be wrong. It's now exactly 46 minutes before departure and you discover that 5 *more* people checked in to Economy in those last few minutes. So your 263 in Y turns into 268. UGH! You piss and moan for 60 seconds and take care of a customer issue. It's now 45 minutes 'til departure: Time to take "gate control." Fortunately for you, you notice that in spite of upgrading 12 people people to take your C cabin from 61 booked to a presumed count of 73 (full), in fact, C shows it is checked in to only 67. You're thinking "that's cool, but why?" Well, 6 C class customers have not shown up. That's not uncommon because they have fully flexible tickets and no penalty to change dates, so they just don't show up. The people in Chicago who authorize overbooking depend on this type of thing. Now, for those 6 people who have not shown up for their C class seats, they lose their seat assignments at 45 mins til departure, but not their reservation (and C booking) until 30 minutes before departure. Most of those 6 won't show up in the next 15 minutes, but one or two might. So you decide to take the next 3 1Ps on the list in Economy (all H-fares) and bring the C cabin up to 70, holding back a few more upgrades. 6. Getting Tricky. You're now at 70 in C & 265 in Y. You see that if you are later able to upgrade 3 more, you will be full in C, but then you'll be down to 262 checked in in Y, or 2 more people in Y still without seats! OK, so you're short of 2 seats, but of course, your ace in the hole is the F cabin. But you can not double upgrade anyone of those 2 from Y to F. Policy. So, 10 minutes later you are at 35 mins til departure and no more C bookings have checked in. So you take 2 more 1Ps and move them to C. Your 70 & 265 passenger count in C & F turns into 72 & 263. You wisely decide to hold one C seat back for 5 more minutes until the cut-off, which is a good thing because a few minutes later, just 32 minutes before departure--SURPRISE! A 1K comes running up to your podium sweating like a pig and breathing heavily at you across the podium (his breath stinks of course) because he is wheezing from all the running! He is your last pre-booked C cabin passenger. Why isn't he checked in and how did he get through security without a boarding pass? He flew in to SFO on Alaska Airlines--they couldn't give him a boarding pass so he had to check in at the gate. Of course his AS flight was late so he barely gets to the gate in time--just 2 minutes to spare. He checks into not the C seat he was pre-assigned (he lost that at the :45 mark), but the last C seat you have--a middle. But oh well. So now your numbers are 73 & 263. You now have *3* people in Y without a seat BUT . . . remember that F cabin with a 14 capacity and only 9 bookings? Well, the good news is . . . 8 of your 9 F bookings have checked in, so 6 seats are open in F! You need 3 more seats in Y--and in order to get them, you don't upgrade the last 3 1Ps from Y to F; rather, you go in and pull up the elite list already holding tickets in the C cabin--meaning they are in C without upgrading. Global Services passengers are at the top of the list of course, and there are 5 of them. However, 3 are upgrades--only 2 are full fare C tickets. You move *only* those two up to F. Your numbers are now at 10 & 71 & 263. Next on the 'elites in C' list are the 1Ks. You take the first 1K who is on a C ticket (meaning not an upgrade) and move him/her to F. That's 11 & 70 & 263. You then have 3 seats in C open to move another 3 1Ps from Y, which frees those last 3 seats in Y and you assign them to the last 3 people waiting for their seats in Y. That puts you at 11 & 73 & 260. You're done . . . with the seat management part anyway, there are other issues but that's another post. . . . . That's how operational upgrades work. SUMMARY: 7. When "On-time" Is Jeopardized. "On time zero" is the God to which all United management prays and therefore, the obsession with on-time departures spreads throughout the operation and the company in general, naturally, it is the thing that determines if a gate agent does a good job or not. Most gate agents have enough pride to at least try hard to meet on-time objectives when working flights. A good gate agent gets a flight out on time in the face of multiple challenges, such as: * oversales * misconnections, * long standby lists * understaffing * too much attempted cary-on baggage * customers draining the time resources of the agent with both petty and valid complaints, etc. 8. Keep In Mind. Sometimes an agent has to cut corners to make it all happen, especially when more challenges than usual arise. Oversales mean customers who are confirmed on flights check in and don't hold seats--something the gate agent has to deal with--a further demand on time resources. On occasion, circumstances beyond the agent's control conspire to make it virtually impossible to get the flight out on time if the agent works the flight "by the book." Perhaps the confirmed customers without seats have had to wait a long time for their seat assignment and by the time the agent has a chance to "onload" those customers to their seat assignments, the cabin they booked (usually Y) is full. Doing it by the book means you take the elite fliers from their seats in Y (they may have boarded), move them up a cabin and get the waiting Y passengers in Y seats. But if on-time would be blown by taking the time to do that, sometimes a few of those customers (usually known as BP2s) get put in C or even F at the last minute to get them on quickly and prevent a delay. Quite often, good planning by the agent will prevent that, but there are times when no amount of planning can prevent it. You never know what last minute surprises will come upon a gate agent. It's supposed to be very scientific and done by *status* and *fare paid*, not by smiling, making compliments or wearing nice clothes. It almost always works this way. And to me, that is an area where UA has got the policy right. However, there are exceptions. I remember a few years ago working IAD-CDG on a 777 that had capacity of 12-49-197 and was booked something like 2-13-241. Hahha! That's very rare so it was more of a free-for-all and few Premiers or above were even on the flight. So lots of people without status got a Christmas treat. That's a VERY rare exception. To use a baseball analogy, every once in a while, the gate agent sees a curve ball that breaks over the plate hard enough that he/she can not hit the ball and still get the flight out on time. So the agent must ad-lib, close the book or do whatever to fill the seats any way he or she can in order to go on time. It's not the way it's supposed to be done, but sometimes you've gotta bend the rules a little to make the God of "on-time-zero" happy! So nothing is 100% in this process and I would guess some of you may have received UGs in circumstances different to the policy and of course, agents are human and every once in a while, an agent will like a passenger who gets an upgrade ahead of a more deserving or loyal 1K, but I do believe those situations are extremely rare, as they should be. I guess my advice to people who want free upgrades is not to waste your energy on asking for one--those seats are that are worth a lot and agents are not empowered during normal situations to give them out arbitrarily. And don't go looking to create an abnormal situation. It has to be for a good reason and the agent usually knows when to make exceptions and when no to. The best thing to do if you want to avoid the monotony of normal coach seating is just spend the cash ($79 on internationals last I knew) to get into Economy Plus for more legroom until you earn enough status (Premier at the 25k level) to be entitled to it for no extra charge. And of course you can always work on earning the miles it takes to get to business class. Commercial airline tavel sucks. I say you just gotta deal with it. Well that just about wraps it up. I've put a lot into this post and my fingers are tired! I hope some Fters will have been entertained by this post and perhaps feel they understand the process better. ====================

Damn, I already told Jim Longan that I would be going to his party.

Nice going! That's a pretty good fare. If you're unable to find a hotel directly, try latestays.com or asiatravel.com.

I filed online for 247 days. I shall report back too.

Flight are pricey leading into Christmas, especially this close to the holiday. Your best bet is to fly from a big airport like SFO and check the prices for low-cost airlines like EVA or China Air. Maybe call a consolidator to see if you can find a good price.

I shall have to partake. It's a nice beer to have every couple of days. I wonder how it goes with your ribs....

Bruce Lee is not the founder of Wing Chun.

You should let Keeper take you up on that imaginary special in exchange for 10 baht Don Julio.

I eat lots of pie in Thailand...but not the British kind. :)

Hmmmm, I've always snacked at the Queen Vic or the Sportsman. Any reason to pick Jack Tar over these two places?

BS. There are a lot of holes that can be countered or defended in this martial art. Any style that teaches high kicks can be defended against of countered.

I did too actually. Hopefully you went to the site and put in a vote!

Here's the Latest Voting Page Six readers sent in photos of their Thai honeys this past November for entry into the Miss Riff-Raffles contest. Now it’s time for you to whittle down the group and choose the next finalist! Remember, Joy and Pakpao are already in the finals. Your vote will determine who will join them. It’s kind of like American Idol…but with Thai bar girls (mostly). Voting will remain open for a week, so please make your pick and ask some friends to do the same. Here are a few pics of the ladies you can choose from. Remember to head to the site for more pics!

That's hardly sound logic. The foot to the nads is practically the same distance and legs move faster.

There's almost always a Thai holding a major belt at bantamweight or below.

I studied tae kwon do when I was younger and did a fair bit of boxing a few years ago. I took up the former because I was following some friends, while the latter was my own choice. I don't think either martial art is particularly strong in a fight. Tae kwon do has too much kicking and you're pretty much screwed if you're taken to the ground. Boxing by its very nature is limited, since you're only worried about hitting and protecting the upper half of your body. Any of the MMA leagues can show you how strong Brazillian jiu-jitsu and wrestling are. Certainly the best fighter is one that has strong grappling and striking skills, but I'd take an excellent grappler with mediocre striking over an excellent striker with mediocre grappling any day of the week.

Kevin Meacher -- board member Cookie and owner of Jasmine Mansion -- has a bunch of new stories up on Riff-Raffles. The latest batch is from his trip to Chiang Mai. There's some pretty neat stuff here, including a visit with the "long neck" people, an interesting train ride from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, a trip to the zoo, and more. Here are some excerpts with links to the full stories. The Road to Chiang Mai Leads to...a Train in Bangkok We have recently returned from our Chiang Mai trip and, remarkably, experienced a week away without any major incidents occurring either on our travels or back at the hotel. In fact, the hotel appears to have fared extremely well in our absence with Jasmine Mansion being full and our restaurant recording some excellent figures. At the time of this writing, it’s still low season in Pattaya and to be turning potential guests away at this time of year, as we are, is almost unheard of. I have always been a very organized person and trips away usually see me packed and ready for the road about a week in advance. My normal routine is to carefully fold all my clothes and place them neatly in my suitcase whilst checking that I have sufficient shirts, trousers, underwear and so forth for the number of days away. I will then add more shirts, trousers and underwear just to be on the safe side. With two or three days to go I will then unpack everything to check that nothing has been forgotten then re-pack, adding a couple more of each item. I go through this process once again on the eve of my trip, adding even more clothing. Therefore, a one week trip will see me traveling with sufficient apparel to last a fortnight, at least, and still I will send clothes to the hotel laundry during my vacation — yes I really am that retentive! I will also have packed more books than there are likely to be found on the shelves of a small library. Even if I were to spend the entire trip reading I would still have three times too many books with me than I could get possibly through. Mrs. Boss has a rather different approach. She is one of those people who pack ten minutes before the scheduled departure time. When I say ‘pack’ what I actually mean is haphazardly fill a suitcase. Mrs. Boss will open a case and hurl various items of clothing into it directly from the wardrobe, empty her makeup drawer on the top of the clothing and close the lid! Of course, everything will require ironing once she has arrived and inevitably she will have forgotten various essentials necessitating the first day away being spent shopping. I am convinced that this random act of packing is a deliberate ploy to justify her going out to buy some new clothes and cosmetics but have, thus far, kept the theory to myself. Full story and photos The Broom-Closet Train From Bangkok to Chiang Mai After a surprisingly smooth ride from Pattaya to Bangkok, my family and I were ready to board the train to Chiang Mai. The joy of being at the beginning of our holiday and the impending train journey was, however, short lived. It survived right up to the point where we boarded the train and saw our compartment. I had been dreaming of an Orient Express style experience with grand carriages and ornate fittings evoking memories of Victorian days. What I got was a grey and barren room. It was hardly large enough to accommodate a couple of brooms let alone two adults, two children, two large suitcases and four pieces of hand luggage. We were jammed into the compartment with no space in which to move — the boys immediately expressed their preference for air travel. We endeavoured to make the best of our circumstances although I could not resist the occasional dig at Mrs. Boss for only booking one compartment. I had suggested we get two compartments and, on those rare occasions, when I am right I like to ram the point home. Having arranged everything to maximize the space the best we could, we set of for the restaurant car. Again my unreasonable expectation levels surfaced and my dreams of a carriage lit by gas lamps with a gold embossed menu offering an array of international cuisine and extensive wine list was were just that. The food was edible but distinctly average with the only real bright spot being that smoking was permitted in this area of the train. I therefore puffed away feverishly, doing my little bit to recreate the era of steam trains, until the boys became bored. We returned to our broom closet and in no time at all both of my sons were soundly asleep. The same could not be said for Mrs. Boss and I, as we tossed and turned failing miserably to find anything remotely resembling a comfortable position. Our lack of comfort was compounded by the fact the air conditioning unit was not functioning. Our complaints to the train personnel were met with such remarks as, “If you don’t like it then get off,” or, “Air-con must be okay as you only ones to complain.” We explained that perhaps our fellow passengers were not complaining because their air-con units were working fine thus giving them no cause for complaint. This was met by even more dismissive retorts and eventually we simply gave up and accepted that customer service was not included within the price of our ticket. Full Story and pictures Panda Pies and Long Neck Paduangs From Pattaya to Bangkok, we finally made it to Chiang Mai! We checked in to the hotel and spent the next few days traveling around the city. The first day, as I had anticipated, was spent shopping for the various items Mrs. Boss had forgotten. Additionally a couple of pairs of shoes were purchased for James who had left home and traveled the entire journey without any footwear. Such was the length of his trousers neither Mrs. Boss nor I had seen his feet, and thus we were blissfully unaware of his barefooted-ness. Following the day at the shops we visited Chiang Mai Zoo, went on the Night Safari, had a day trip into the mountains, ventured to the Wat Phra Thart Doi Suthep temple and took in a hill tribe village excursion. We also allowed the boys to spend some time go-karting and horse riding — both of which they found highly entertaining. All of the attractions were worthy of a visit although it is unlikely I will be counting the days until I return to any of them. The Zoo was passable but the experience was made a success due solely to the Panda enclosure. One of these adorable beasts was fast asleep for the entire hour we were watching, whilst the other was on the go constantly. Having completed our tour of the zoo we decided to take our evening meal at the restaurant just outside the main entrance. Here I noticed several dishes not normally witnessed on a Thai restaurant menu all featuring Kangaroo or Crocodile meat. There were several Kangaroos and Crocodiles present at the zoo and I presumed that the fare at the restaurant was part of a bit of business on the side between the two operations. Perhaps on my next visit they will be offering Panda Pie, although if they do I have absolutely no doubt that it will taste the same as chicken! The Night Safari scores many points if you are one of those people interested in peering through the dark at seventy different species of antelopes and other herbivores — by the way I am not one of those people. However, the highlight for me was in seeing a pair of white tigers for the first time, and I considered that alone to be worthy of the entrance fee. The entrance fee was also something of a first for me. The usual practice here of imposing higher prices for Farangs than for Thais was in evidence, as expected. However, the indomitable Mrs. Boss is no different on holiday than she is when in work mode. She explained to the assistant that I live in Thailand and therefore should be charged the same as Thai people were. Without so much as a murmur the price for my admission was immediately reduced to the same level as being charged to Mrs. Boss. Full story and photos Wat Phra Thart Doi Suthep and the Idiot Waitress Wat Phra Thart Doi Suthep was a pleasant change from our zoological experiences in Chiang Mai. We left early in the morning and headed up the mountain range, which had been the view from out hotel room window for the past few days. Upon arrival at the foot of the temple we were informed the climb to the top was some three-hundred and three steps via the Naga stairway. Before I could even start to list several thousand reasons why I would not be making the ascent, Mrs. Boss advised that there was also cable-car access to the summit — we all got into the cable car even though I did tell the family not to be swayed by my decision! The views from the temple were quite spectacular and the cool morning breeze was very pleasant. I agreed to walk down the steps with the boys and Mrs. Boss and maintained this charade until we stood peering down at the descent. It was now I discovered that my ankle, broken some thirty years ago, had flared up. Unfortunately, once again, I would be forced to miss out on the joys of navigating the Naga stairway. Every night took on a similar feel as, due to sheer exhaustion, we took to our beds almost immediately after dinner. This meant no looking at the night life of Chiang Mai such as it may be and, most unexpectedly, never making it to the Night Bazaar…ah! We had purchased a DVD player on our first day along with several DVDs. We would clamber into bed as a family and put on a DVD with the normal outcome being that all of us would be asleep prior to the selected movie even reaching its midpoint. I would the wake in the early morning hours and have to carry the boys to their beds and turn off the television. The plans for privacy that Mrs. Boss and I had been anticipating lay in tatters — like so many of my plans have since moving to Thailand. Full story and photos

It's okay. You get a lot of space. I checked it out in person and was surprised at how different the rooms look from the pictures. It's definitely a bit run down.

Tell that to Tony Hawk. He turns 40 next year. Jason Lee, the actor, was a professional skateboarder before getting his acting break with Kevin Smith. He turns 38 next year and still skates. Putting an age cap on fun activities is just stupid.

The Official Miss Riff-Raffles Contest The Prizes For you: Dinner for two and a bottle of wine at Manhattans Steakhouse. For your girl: A 5,000-baht shopping voucher. What You Have To Do To Win The Prizes Send in a few photos of one (or more!) of your favorite ladies holding the book Riff-Raffles. You can purchase the book at Jasmine Mansion on Soi Buakhao or from these online retailers. For the full contest information click here. Background Info Kevin Meacher, owner of Jasmine Mansion, is holding a contest to promote his book Riff-Raffles. Readers of his book can send in photos of a girl holding the book for a chance to win some excellent prizes. Each month, one girl will be selected, via Internet poll, as a finalist. At the end of March, the finalists will be voted on for the top prize. The dinner + wine offer is good for a year, so no worries if you don't visit Pattaya that often. So far there are two finalists Joy (Miss September) and Pakpao (Miss October). You can see some of the photos Kevin's readers have sent in here. I hope some of you can take some time out of your busy high season schedule to take some photos of some sexy girls! With any luck, you'll be eating a delicious steak and drinking some great wine. And your girl will have 5,000 baht to shop with!!!

You get better rates exchanging C-notes.

That's the scariest frickin' clown I've seen in years. I'm going to have nightmares about that one for sure.

I stayed there for all of August and put down a 10K deposit. It wasn't an issue getting the balance back. I'm booked there for a few weeks in January and was quoted a 3K deposit. In both cases, this was due upon arrival and put on a CC. I never worry about these deposits, because if there's any fishy business, my bank will take care of it.

I don't disagree with the ideal. It's just that there's a potential for a big exclusive/inclusive rift. Finding the right balance is not easy and I don't envy you having to deal with it. I'm curious to see how you're going to handle everyone rising to higher levels too. Again, I don't envy you. No matter what you do, you're going to have a lot of people complaining. FYI, I'm registered as MC_Ldop over there. I hope to be contributing more shortly. Right now I'm just trying to figure out how everything works. Again, I REALLY appreciate the dark background and light font. If possible, I change all my apps to a similar scheme. Good luck!