fruittbatt

We all heard the news tonight, Frank, and everyone from WWB is thinking of you and wishes you the best possible recovery. If there is anything at all I can do to help, any of your friends can pm me.

Gen Anupong has been reluctant to clear the streets, and now he's in charge. Here's my interpretation. PM knows he won't make it till September. Than means his successor will name the replacement for Anupong when he retires. By putting him on the front line now Gen Anupong either has to act and take responsibility for any massacre, or not act and take responsibility for the failure. Either way he can be forced into early retirement and the PM can replace him sooner than September and name a friendly General to head up the military instead of losing the election and having a pro red General leading the Army.

This is an incisive analysis of the politics at play here, but it appears that both the police special forces and the army are deeply divided and act according to their factional loyalties rather than being cohesive - evidenced by the failed operations to date. Has anarchy simply been well-hidden until now, or has it emerged as the constitution is tested beyond its limits?

Don't quite get the logic of your claims here...certainly I was being a little facetious, but if a cordon was placed around the Red Zone preventing entry of food supplies i think this would help put an end to the paralysis of the downtown hub by a bunch of paid thugs.

Plenty of food available in the malls mate?

Malls closed, mate?

With the red zone consolidated downtown what a perfect opportunity to cut off their khao by refusing entry to food and drink vendors, and shutting down food suppliers in the vicinity. I predict a mass exodus would occur within 3-4 hours

No, this would be the most dangerous thing to do and if some try that, food supply to all of Bangkok could be stopped by using various means.

Please get real and don't resort to stupid arguments. Your Villa and Foodland, or any other department-stores could be shut down in no time.

Don't quite get the logic of your claims here...certainly I was being a little facetious, but if a cordon was placed around the Red Zone preventing entry of food supplies i think this would help put an end to the paralysis of the downtown hub by a bunch of paid thugs.

With the red zone consolidated downtown what a perfect opportunity to cut off their khao by refusing entry to food and drink vendors, and shutting down food suppliers in the vicinity. I predict a mass exodus would occur within 3-4 hours

where does human trafficking begin and end? Should young girls in Shan State in Burma not be allowed a helping hand (paid for, of course) to make it across the border into Thailand? I know many stories of girls ending up in Thailand to a far better life than they would have otherwise have known in Burma. Most of the millions of Burmese living in Thailand would never be here without "human trafficking". So why stop it at all costs? In what capacity are you to stop any other human being's choice to do what they see as an improvement to their lot? Before you want to stop something at all cost you first have to define what "human trafficking" is.

I would argue that many human traffickers do a better job at solving world poverty than any fat UN bureaucrat. Just what have they ever done for the Burmese people?

Furthermore, I don't believe that there are many Thai girls so gullible as to believe that in such circumstances, they were heading to supply anything other than sexual services. Thais are a lot less stupid than many farangs give them credit for.

Finally, a thoughtful response to the knee-jerk reactions to this post!

Yes, the news item does beg the questions "what exactly is human trafficking?" and "why is private sponsorship for purposes of sex-work a crime yet corporate sponsorship is legal for recruiting women to become domestic drudges, liable to abuse by a jealous wife or vindictive grandmother, as has happened numerous times to Indonesian workers in Singapore?"

I am not suggesting that one form of abuse legitimates another, but that sex-work abroad is a valid employment option which happens to be better paid than construction work or selling garlands at intersections. Obviously most women who agree to the extortionate fees of the sponsor are well aware that they will be doing sex work. They may not, however, be aware of the conditions of their employment in the foreign country. Where there is detention for sexual purposes, or hidden costs which keep a woman in a state of virtual bonded labour, yes, the sponsor deserves to be brought to trial for misrepresentation and extortion....but NOT on the grounds of sexual morality as many posters here would seem to applaud.

Actually in areas like Koh Samui, Pattaya, Koh Phanghan, Phuket and Krabi it is not uncommon for guys messing around with present of former 'bargirls' over a period of time, and once the 'players' involved with the 'bar girl' position to extort the farang... and if they dig their heels too deep and refuse to pay up... the girl has him arrested for GBH, drugs, etc...

Most of the guys that do hit women...already know the program, pay up or get out of dodge immediately. Its the poor sucker that is not worldly enough to know..he won't receive justice in a foriegn country...and definitely not in Thailand when he is up against the organized criminals.

Nasty business indeed. I daresay that if the deceased man lived here for thirty years he would have been well aware of common scams. Pointless speculating on whether or not he actually was guilty of GBH until we know more about his story. All we know for sure is that he was convicted of this serious crime.

This is a real Somerset Maugham-style story of a veteran expat who no longer "called Australia home". What a miserable end! And what an indictment of Australia that the deceased would (allegedly) prefer to die of an overdose of pharmaceutical drugs in a Thai jail than to go back to his country of origin!

Replies to the OP so far have glossed the issue that the deceased was convicted of GBH. I suspect there is more to this saga than we have heard on this thread.

Harsh anti-drug laws and sporadic "wars on drugs" simply kill petty dealers or users on the street and drive the bigger guys further underground or into more corrupt practices, like buying protection from authorities.

There are no winners in drug wars or harsh legislation. The example of Thailand's offensive against yaba several years ago shows just how futile it is to kill drug offenders and dealers. The murder of hundreds during the "war on drugs" has been absolutely zero deterrent to yaba, cannabis, pharmaceuticals, heroin use in this country: quite the opposite.

And if we are arguing for harsh laws based on the social effects of drug use, surely the road toll over Songkran 2009 indicates that alcohol should be outlawed??? Can you imagine the outcry if this potentially lethal preferred drug of most TV readers was suddenly made illegal???

Today I dragged myself out to Chiang Mai Sham Hospital to notify them that I had contracted dengue fever here in Chiang Mai. As soon as the desk staff discovered I had already been diagnosed, tested, and medicated by a (competent, English-speaking, thorough, and cheap) clinic in Malaysia, they fell into a group quandary as to what to do next.

The sole English-speaker informed me that I would have to go to the Public Health Department myself on Monday. I advised him that I had already done my job by reporting the case to him, and that it was now the hospital's job to photocopy the lab report and to notify Public Health. After a further conference he photocopied the document. I wonder whether the case will in fact be reported?

Another amusing CM Sham hospital story happened last year when my husband decided to purchase one of their "full health check packages" . He was told that he was overweight, which was odd as he had actually lost weight through gym work. As I read the report I noticed that his height had been incorrectly recorded as 165 cms instead of 191cm, so that his weight of 95 kgs seemed excessive. By then, of course, he had already paid the bill, but they DID note their error...verbally.

most scam emails having been doing the rounds for a long time, some for years - with minimal changes in wording.

therefore you can cut and paste a sentence from them and/or the title into google or yahoo (add the words hoax+email) ... and read the whole history of that scam (if it is a scam). this includes "virus warning", "missing child", "bad luck if you break the chain" etc etc etc. They are all there

Anyone reading this ... please engage your brain into gear before passing these things on to everyone in your mailing list ... otherwise the next generation will be still reading the same time-wasting garbage & generating email hit-lists for the next generation of spammers

Interesting, Bruce. I just Googled "Hoax email stranded lost wallet" and sure enough almost the identical wording came up on a blog in which the writer was explaining how some scammer had impersonated a surfer called Ace Cool in order to obtain money transfers.

Glad I used this forum rather than my email contact list to alert people.

I received the same email just after Christmas...from the owner of a popular restaurant in town?

No, not this one. One thing that made me suspicious immediately was that the writer started with the American greeting "How are you doing?", yet the friend in question is English and would not use that expression.

Just wanted to alert people in Chiang Mai that this evening I received a bogus request from the email address of a friend here. The gist of this email was that the friend is stranded in Greece after losing his wallet and needs money to pay hotel bills and also to pay for a fare back to Thailand. The emailer was asking for 1000 GBP or any contribution.

I was somewhat suspicious because I had seen the friend in question in Nimmanheimin Road on Saturday. I also thought it highly unlikely this person would be going to Greece or that he would send an email asking for money.

A phone call confirmed that the friend is still in Chiang Mai and had never emailed me. Apparently he used a public computer a couple of days ago and must have forgotten to sign out.

I am sure that most people would be suspicious of any request for money, but just wanted to alert you all to the scam in case there is anyone out there whose compassion might overrule their scepticism.

There are beggars along Huay Kaew, near Kad Suan Kaew and CM Orchid Hotel, who regularly beg with sleeping babies in their arms. It has occurred to me that these children sleep for VERY long hours and may be drugged.

If the children were not asleep, eg if they were crying, donors would probably give food to the beggar for the kid. Often beggars are much more interested in money than food, for various reasons.

The issue of "trafficking" seems to be a bit of a red herring here. I suspect it has been raised as part of the racist crackdown on minority groups from Burma. The real issue is one of policing, as others have said.

I have seen a drunk man in downtown Chiang Mai kick a boy beggar because he accepted food and drinks from tourists outside the 711. Obviously the kid was supposed to get money for the master. I have also seen a farang guy lead a beggar boy away with him at night in the same area. I have been to the tourist police about both these incidents. They have asked very cursory questions but their lack of interest was obvious. I have also mentioned these occurrences to the farang police helpers, who told me to "ring the number" . What to do?

Well look at this in another perspective.

In Chiang Mai where I live, I know of a few restaurants where youngish Thai tarts hang about outside willing to be company for any stupid Farang that will buy them a meal.

It gives the place a bad reputation as a decent class restaurant and puts a lot of family groups and middle aged couples off visiting the place.

These eating establishments rely on good reputations and want to be known in the tourist guides as high class venues.

I have no doubts that if any Farang walked into the Atlanta Hotel with a Thai wife or respectable looking Thai girlfriend of a similar age group, that they would be welcome.

Not only are you absolutely wrong about the Atlanta welcoming "respectable" Thais, you also reveal some very derogatory attitudes about Thai women and farang men. Such comment is totally gratuitous and based on unwarranted stereotyping of both groups.

Surely it would be far more helpful to explode the urban myths of the "sex-tourist", "the Thai tart" and the "stupid farang" rather than perpetuate such trashy, racist, labels. (Ask yourself, for example, have you ever heard of a "temple tourist" or an "elephant tourist"??? why, then a "sex-tourist"???)

Others have suggested that the Atlanta is worthy of preservation for its architectural features. While the architecture of the building is hideous the internal staircase is a stunner. The writing room, swimming pool area, reception and dining room are indeed fine examples of deco/retro decor and well worthy of preservation.

Lured by the retro decor, we made the mistake of staying at the said establishment a few years ago. My younger daughter was here on holiday, so we booked a so-called "family suite". The decor was grim, old, and dreary. The food in the restaurant was toned down for farangs..or was it because spices might incite the evil sexual appetites of the pale-skins?

We all found the "no-sex-tourist" policy and references to "catamites" extremely puzzling as well as offensive. The Atlanta's headline posters about sex-tourists left me questioning what constitutes a sex-tourist. Even people who visit Thailand with the stated object of having as much sex as possible surely do many other things...like visiting shops, internet cafes, tourist attractions, hotels, restaurants, bars..and maybe even temples. So much hysteria about so little...made me wonder if racism was in fact the motivating force behind the hotel's policy.

The night of our stay there was a massive thunderstorm which shook the whole hotel like it was a maracca in the hands of a giant. It was a truly gothic moment. Very scary. I like to think it was the god of gaydom and equal rights wreaking vengeance on this miserable place.

Another interesting sideline is that my daughter (by now truly paranoid about this weird place) claimed she saw a camera in a wall by the swimming pool. She also said that the chlorine in the water seemed way over the normal strength...perhaps to bleach anyone with skin that was slightly too dark for the taste of the management?

What a hideous and callous crime against this young woman. Condolences to her family and friends.

The ethnicity of the perpetrator is irrelevant and sheeting the blame home to a Burmese illegal immigrant is a typically racist response. If the perpetrator were a Thai, his/her ethnicity would not be considered an issue worthy of mention.

You are absolutely right, but isn't this the case in any other country around the world ? If what the article in the newspaper says is right, then there should be payed some attention to the fact that the other students at the campus pointed the finger to the Burmese workers.

The fact that they are Burmese has got nothing to do with it. They could have been Laos or Cambodian or even Eskimos for that matter.

Yes, racism in the media and among the general population is a global phenomenon, certainly not limited to Thailand. And it may well be that the rapist and murderer is in fact Shan or Burmese. The point of my post is that to name and draw attention to a particular ethnic (or religious) group when a crime has been committed has the effect of encouraging the media audience to demonize or scapegoat a minority - to pile the blame onto THEM, as opposed to US, rather than to focus on the horrific nature of the crime and its wider social context.

What a hideous and callous crime against this young woman. Condolences to her family and friends.

The ethnicity of the perpetrator is irrelevant and sheeting the blame home to a Burmese illegal immigrant is a typically racist response. If the perpetrator were a Thai, his/her ethnicity would not be considered an issue worthy of mention.

My wife is beautiful to me because I love her...I didn't "choose" her because her skin tone. This is a loaded post and I don't know if it deserves a serious discussion or a 'boink' on the head....

Precisely. To buy into a discussion of what is beautiful and what is not is bound to evoke racist and sexist responses. Beauty is so much more than the skin deep. I'd like to know what qualities of mind and spirit people find beautiful. Personally, I value generosity, curiosity, restraint, compassion. These are the forms of beauty I hope to attain before my physical body succumbs to age and death.

Met at 4th floor opposite the cinemas in Kad Suan Kaew does great innovative free-hand work. He uses totally sterile equipment, new ink, and has excellent personal hygiene (When was the last time you met a tattooist in a a spotless, ironed cotton checked shirt?). Met's prices are very reasonable. Naga in Loi Kroh Road is hygienic but charges tourist prices.

For original work by a good artist who is personable and uses clean equipment, I recommend Met.

I came to Thailand almost three years ago, in my mid fifties, weighing 65kg. I had always had large hips, big thighs, generous breasts. Yes, I had all the horrid experiences of never being able to buy stuff that fitted unless it was matronly and synthetic, or extremely overpriced imported stuff. Yes, Thais always told me how fat I was, despite my "good" proportions, flattish stomach and reasonable level of fitness.

Three years later I weigh 49kg, partly due to careful diet, yoga, walking, AND social pressure. Who wants to spend her life being outsized in a tiny persons' country, a kind of "invisible" female Gulliver figure? I think our perceptions of what is normal in body shape and size are totally culturally conditioned. In the West "big" is normal despite the anorexic super-model myths of beauty. Here in Thailand "slenderness" is a national fetish. I see no reason to occupy a bigger space on the planet than is good for my health - both physical and psychological. I have never felt better than I do now for having shed weight and along with it my perceptions of what constitutes a "normal" body image.

If I were to gain weight for reasons beyond my control I would accept that. The great thing to celebrate is our diversity as women not the sizes of our boobs, waists, or hips. I will often make a point of complimenting older Thai women on their beauty (inner grace, dignity, genuine friendliness, kindness, or well-groomed appearance) to emphasize the point that beauty is not a matter of slenderness, or of whitening cream, pink blusher, or applying eye-make you would need an excavator to remove.

Dear Fruitbatt,

How do you engage with the publishing process here in Thailand or do you have contcats elsewhere?

Hope you are keeping well,

All the Best

Bill Z

Hi Bill,

I have pm'd you, but for the benefit of others - I am not familiar with the Thai publishing scene. White Lotus and Silkworm Books seem to publish many works by farangs. Try a google search for more info, or google editors in Thailand, who are often generous with their industry tips.

Best, FB.

I have always dreamed of writing a book but lacked motivation and time to do it. It's been a nebulous feeling for years as I tried to figure out what is the story I want to tell. About 2 months ago I found myself so full of ideas I started writing them down just for the hel_l of it, regardless if they made sense or formed a clear cohesive plot. After writing down 100 pages of notes an idea for a book emerged, I started to see themes, motifs and symbols recur and was able to wake up to my vision. I'm now organizing my notes and sometime next year plan to give it my best shot. I have very realistic expectations about its success which are low. If I didn't feel passionate about writing a book or genuinely felt I should do it for the experience and desire to make a work of art I could never even begin due to fear of failure. I will give it my best shot and hope it gets published but if not I'll be glad I tried. Maybe I'll keep a blog as I do it, though I don't really want to be thought of as a writer unless I'm sucessful, I don't want to pysche myself out. My book will be about Thailand and the USA.

I like your comments about passionate engagement with your subject, Wasabi. You are evidently are a sensitive writer with very high standards and expectations of yourself. Go for it, and believe in yourself! If you ever need moral support from a fellow writer, please pm me. Very best to you, FB.

So, does anyone know whether the Mae Sae event is still on? I would like to know details of where, when, if anyone is hiring a mini-van or would like to give a lift to people prepared to share fuel costs. I would also be interested to see details of any future anti-Burmese junta rallies/protests in Chiang Mai posted on this forum or in this thread.

Is the decision not to implement the new police order anything more than a "stay of execution"?

Ad hoc immigration policy decisions and u-turns foster uncertainty and mistrust in farangs likely to be affected by such laws.

For those retired expats who are looking security of residence, ability to own a home, stable and logical immigration guidelines, the message is very clear.

Look at countries other than Thailand while you can.