Camelot

Fortunately vets in Thailand do not torture animals this way. Ask them and you will be quickly shown the door.

Buddhism does not condone such cruel and barbaric practices as "debarking" and "declawing" or any other type of vicious animal abuse.

Another reason I'm so glad I live here.

I've bought melatonin a couple of times from the pharmacy in Central, Chitlom, but it was expensive. I've found it cheaper and more convenient to order from Life Extension in the US. Never had any problems with Customs or even had to pay duty and my mail order purchases date back to 1995.

It's not illegal here. It's in a grey area.

... and TrueVisions know there will always be a demand because, nationally speaking, they are a monopoly with exclusive rights in Thailand to most of the best channels available in Southeast Asia.

The major advertisers are usually the sponsors.

Hallmark occasionally runs trailers for the Sci-Fi channel, which is also apparently available. Now that I would really enjoy.

I would also welcome a return of the much-loved BBC Entertainment channel. I downgraded to Gold when that was cancelled last June but would happily upgrade again to Platinum, Titanium whatever to get that back.

A big 'yes' to HD. So many viewers now have expensive high-def TVs but there are no HDTV channels being broadcast. I'm surprised there hasn't been more pressure from equipment manufacturers. HDTV is not just about Blu-ray players and discs. It would be a joy if that were actually on the horizon.

1995 turbocharged Subaru Impreza. Red. Reliable and relatively unscathed. Has aged well but its owner hasn't.

Roadhouse gets booked out quickly. Black Swan was good a couple of years ago (didn't make it last year).

Good for the tastebuds, that is. Not so much the waistline.

It's not UBC anymore. At least UBC was occasionally responsive to viewer sentiment, but it was taken over by True in early 2007.

Now it's TrueVisions alias Charoen Pokphand --- the chicken people, busily cashing in on their new monopoly.

I think I was far better off with UBC.

UBC launched BBC Entertainment (formerly BBC Prime) here. TrueVisions dumped it and replaced it with the dreadful AXN Beyond, possibly because it was cheaper. They totally ignored protests from subscribers, many of whom were willing to pay for BBC Entertainment separately as an a la carte item, like NHK.

There also appears to have been some alarming dumbing down of the other channels as well.

My experience is that Bangkok Bank is passbook only. Never received a statement.

...but not as good as the Jazz.

Why do I see yet another tightening of Immigration rules on the horizon?

Remember threads like this before you complain.

Thailand banned leaded petrol at the beginning of 1996.

Here's another solution to your problem:

Try adding 60 millilitres of F2-21 additive for one full tank of gasoline 95 (do not under any circumstances use gasohol). And the following refuelling will require only 20 millilitres of F2-21 for each tank. Department stores should carry F2-21 which costs about Bt200-300 a bottle.

Those two cycles should set you right for at least a year.

With no passport or evidence of a Thai visa?

I think that increase is only for the Don Muang tollway where the operator wants to increase the fee to 60 baht for a car.

That's separate from the rest of the expressway where, I assume, the fee remains the same.

Someone has to pay for the overstaffing...

Complaints to THAI are normally handled by the Public Relations Dept. Target the VP in charge. Registered letter, not email. It must look official.

I enjoy reading a newspaper over breakfast or when in a taxi or a doctor or dentist's waiting room. I just can't see that being replaced by a computer anytime soon. Not in Thailand.

It does begin by saying "Anything can happen in soccer".

Thai-language newspapers such as Thai Rath still have huge market penetration in the provinces and I think that will continue for a while yet. Not so much for the news as for their columnists and all-round entertainment value.

I don't see too many farmers or rural villagers buying laptops or PCs. The daily newspaper is still an affordable part of everyday life and will probably remain so for at least another generation. Traditions die hard.

My wife just commented that Thaksin should delay his visit to Cambodia by a day and go on Friday the 13th.

She said that would be a more auspicious day considering what he's up to.

No love lost there and she is from the North.

Not trying to put it down as a provincial capital but the last time I went there it was closed. Don't know if that's a regular occurrence. Beautiful lake, though.

I prefer Nakhon Phanom, another hour down the road. That has always been a lively town and while the lake is nice, I think the river and view of Laos in NKP is better.

Good luck, anyway.

New police chief, new police station commanders and this follows the transfer of several senior police officers who were considered to be too flexible with bar closing enforcement and gambling in their zones. Seems to happen most years around this reshuffle time.

It's true, though, that the foreign tourist and Thai after-hours scene never completely recovered from the ravages of Thaksin and Purachai's social order crackdown from 2002-06. Neither did I because I work at night and they deprived me of an easy-to-obtain drink after work with friends. Incidentally Purachai is still a member of the Police Commission but no longer active in raiding and closing down bars and nightclubs. His influence, though, seems to linger on.

The heat should be off next month in the run-up to New Year. Too much money to be made all around. Expect some price rises, though.

That's also part of the tradition.

You are right about the Tylenol. I was given 10 tablets when I saw an orthopedic doctor at BNH for treatment after breaking my arm at the elbow in an accident last year.

They didn't help in the slightest. I couldn't even get an injection to ease the pain.

Some years ago a Thai work colleague was denied proper pain relief at Rajvithi Hospital. The doctor treating her told me that as a matter of policy they do not give strong pain management drugs to patients for fear they might become addicted. Logical enough, but this was a terminal case of cancer and she did suffer unnecessarily before she died.

I seem to be one of the small number of people in the world who are quite happy with Vista Home Premium. I see no reason to change my OS for now.

Just a casual thought. I wonder what Sir Anthony would have made of Thaksin, had they lived in the same era.

His comments about then Foreign Minister Thanat Khoman were absolutely spot on, although no one dared say it at the time.

The photocopy of the title pages of your passport is required by Thai Customs for clearance. It has nothing to do with Fedex. All they will do is show it to the Customs officer for clearance of your goods. Even if your order comes by regular mail you will still have to produce this along with the green Customs form, duty as assessed and VAT when you pick up your package from the post office. If there is no duty then they won't need it.

My experience has been that if vitamin or other pills are involved they will often have to get approval from the Food and Drug Administration. This is usually quite fast.

The passport photocopy or scan is a routine government requirement. There is nothing suspicious or conspiratorial about it. Customs must have acquired enough of mine to paper the walls of several offices over the years.