Evil Penevil

Because those weren't the words by which you were quibbling. He is an imam and it's reasonable to expect he speaks with some authority on Islamic matters. Those were the imam's words, not mine. He means "more conservative" than the standards of dress that are generally applicable in the West. Because it is an example of an Islamic dress code that is enforced by police. I am well aware that if someone runs naked down the high street in many cities, they will be arrested or at least detained. But it is quite a different thing for a woman to be "confronted"

You are quibbling over words, Joe. The Quran decrees modesty in dress for men and women, but there are many interpretations of what that means. All religion is a matter of interpretation. What matters is who is doing the interpreting and how much authority, moral and otherwise, they have to enforce their interpretation. At one time the Christian Bible was interpreted to allow the burning of heretics and the enslavement of human beings. That has changed with time. Think what would happen if the Pope or Archbishop of Canterbury or the Rev. Billy Graham put out a hit on an author whose book

The FCO explains the difference between honorary consuls and consular officers here: http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/about-us/who-we-are/ambassadors/honorary-consuls In short, an honorary consul is not a diplomat as defined by the Vienna Convention, a career consular officer is. Evil

There are Christian and Jewish sects which place restrictions on women's dress and behavior, but that is a matter of personal piety, not civic obligation. Anyone who chooses to is free to leave those sects. Muslim women who live under Sharia law are OBLIGED to cover and follow all the other rules; otherwise, they are punished. It's not uncommon for men and women to be executed in some Muslim countries for crimes against morality. I don't see much difference in a Muslim woman wearing the burqa or the clothing worn by some Catholic sisters and Amish women. It's not the clothing itself,

I never wrote any such thing, nor do I believe it. I'm well aware there are citizens of Malaysia who aren't Malay and aren't Muslim. I'm also aware no one in Malaysia is forced to convert to Islam. The sentence which maaark quoted and it to which you refer is limited to Malaysians who are legally defined as ethnic Malays, not all Malaysian citizens. It had nothing to do WHATSOEVER with forced conversion to Islam. Ethnic Malays are born into Islam. The difficulty is they can't change their status except in extremely rare circumstances. Therefore, the ethnic Malay group in Mala

In my post, I mentioned neither Muslims nor Arabs. But anyway ... It's true that not all Muslims are Arabs; in fact, the majority of the world's Muslims aren't Arabs. And not all Arabs are Muslims, just like not all Thais are Buddhists; not all Indians are Hindu; not all Irish are Catholics; not all Israelis are Jews; not all Swedes are Lutherans and not all Alabamans are Baptists. What does that prove, other than there is almost no hegemony in terms of ethnicity, nationality and religion? The one exception might be Malaysia, where, according to the constitution, all Malays are by

I'm not worried about a few burqa-clad women on Walking Street. It's more guys like this who are a concern: I almost got into a 9/11 memorial battle with them on Sept 11.. One was drunk and very aggressive and they were all going to have go at me. Thais intervened to keep the peace, so nothing really happened, but it was very tense for a few minutes. I wasn't going to back down and thought I'd finally got my chance to do a Davey Crockett, or perhaps more culturally accurate, a Gordon at Khartoum. It was interesting experience. A couple of WS freelancers came in on my side a

According to the map in the link, there are four, with one for fast-track & VIP. Evil

There are actually three, but one is for fast-track and VIPs. On the departure level, the two that ordinary passengers can use are located behind check-in row A and rows TU, roughly at the east and west ends of the departure hall. See the map here: http://www.suvarnabhumiairport.com/indoor_map_passport_control_en.php The fst-track passport control area is roughly in the middle of the terminal. Evil

Anyone seen him recently (in the past week)? Evil

Who would have thought, but there is a porn actor (hardly a star) who uses the moniker "FLB Boy." Perhaps he got his inspiration from a certain WS hostess bar. You can't see much of FLB Boy's face, but his physique and full head of hair tend to make it unlikely he's a regular FLB customer. You can see the vids at www,acheronvideo.com under the POV section. The FLB Boy scenes are unremarkable, but sort of amusing if you like raw gonzo-type films. Evil

Flying out on Christmas Day is often cheaper. I used to do that when I worked abroad. Not much demand for flights on the 24th or 25th December. Evil

For many months, the second immigration control area had been closed due to renovations. Now it's open again and that should help keep lines shorter most of the time. But definitely, if one area is bulging at seams, try the other. Too bad that fast-track has to be ordered on-line by those who don't get a pass from their airline. I imagine a lot of people would be willing to pay for fast-track rather than standing 45 minutes or more in line. Evil

Immigration control in Thailand has always been hit-and-miss. Occasionally there are huge queues, but mostly it goes pretty quickly. That was the situation for years at Don Muang, it's the same at Swampy. Actually, that's the way it is at almost all airports when a number of full flights land at the same time. Immigration control systems can't handle "rush hour syndrome" very well, which results in long delays for arriving/departing passengers. I've experienced hour-long waits at JFK, LAX, Newark, London Heathrow and Gatwick, Hong Kong and Beijing as well as Don Muang in the day and now

My doctor prescribes Sonata, a light but effective sleep aid. It lasts about four hours and doesn't make you feel groggy. The doc said that if you're sleeping sitting up, you should wake up and walk around after four hours, then take another dose of Sonata and sleep an additional four hours if still tired. If you're in a biz seat that reclines 130 degrees or lies flat, you can sleep as many hours as you like. The risk of sleeping long hours in a cramped sitting position comes from deep-vein thrombosis. I've gone the Sonata route many times on trans-Pacific flights. Usually four hours

Not sure, but might have been Aug. 11. I always get a three- bag allowance because of my FF status on Continental. Silver Elite gets you two bags, Gold or Higher gets three. Evil

Korean Airlines is a member of SkyTeam and so is Delta. You might want to check the prices for Delta flights compared with United. Usually, they are very similar, but not always. It depends on whether both are offering discounted tickets for the dates you want. Should you fly Delta, you can take advantage of the SkyTeam Elite benefits through your Morning Calm status and that should give you an allowance of two bags per person. If you have to fly United, the suggestion to get the Chase card is a good one. That would at least give you a bunch of FF miles that help offset the cost of y

Actually, what he says is: If tomcat finishes work on the 29th early enough to catch a late-evening flight that same day, he would be in BKK before noon on Dec. 31. If he has to wait until the 30th and takes the United flight at about 11.30 a.m., he would be in BKK about 11.00 p.m. on Dec. 31. But if he takes an evening flight on Dec. 30, he wouldn't arrive in BKK until Jan. 1. It's the same pattern with flights from the East Coast of the U.S. Several times I've gone straight from work to JFK or EWR to catch an"overnight" flight on EVA or Air China than arrives +2 days in BKK.

I haven't read any reports that he's been sighted since he was taken into custody the second time. That doesn't mean he hasn't been released, but so far, no indication that he has. Evil

It depends on which airline he uses. If he flies on United, he would depart LAX around 11.30 a.m. on Dec. 30 and arrive BKK at 10.50 p.m. on Dec. 31. If he flies Thai (non-stop) or EVA or China Southern on Dec. 30, he would depart in the late evening and arrive before noon on Jan. 1. Of course, if he's able to depart late evening on Thai or EVA (930 p.m. or 1130 p.m.) on Dec. 29, he would arrive on Dec. 31 before noon. Evil

It depends a bit on when you are arriving. If it's the 10.30-11.30 p.m window for the UA-Continental flights from the U.S., then you might want to go with Bangkok as it's a 30-minute ride into town as opposed to at least a 90-minute trip to Pattaya. If your arrival is earlier, then it's really a coin toss. There are parties at every bar and night spot in both cities. If you're in BKK, head to either Nana Plaza or Soi Cowboy. But book your hotel room NOW, as NYE is traditionally a night when many hotels are sold out. Evil

Very lucky, indeed. Had he pulled that stunt elsewhere, say AC or even NYC, he could have been in contention for a Darwin Award. Evil

According to a post by Stickman on the Secrets board, the Immigration Police have today again taken the German guy into custody. I hope the German authorities have put pressure on their Thai counterparts to deport that poor soul so he gets the medical treatment he so desperately needs. If the German government can donate billions of euros so Greeks can continue to retire at age 60, it should be able to cough up a few thousand to help one of its own. Evil

That depends on whose definition of vegan you use. There are ethical vegans who shun all types of products that come from animals whether edible or non-edible - leather; honey; items made of animal horn, bone, etc. Many of them take their inspiration from Jainism and won't even swat flies or stamp on cockroaches. Others, who at least call themselves a type of vegan, basically eat a vegetarian diet that excludes dairy products and eggs. Just like not all Muslims are Salafists, not all Christians are evangelicals and not all Jews keep kosher, not all people who consider themselves vegans fol

While eating a decidedly non- vegan meal (Thai omelet stuffed with pork) in a hole-in-the-wall restaurant, I met a Swiss guy who was a vegan. He said he just told the cook what to prepare for him and it was fine. He ate in that restaurant every day. He didn't eat any sort of animal product (no dairy or eggs as well as no meat or fish), but he only cared about the dietary aspects, not the spiritual side. He wasn't concerned about the same utensils being used for meat and vegetables, nor was he concerned about a splash of fish sauce. He said he wanted to eat more raw vegetables, but he h