KhunHehe

Historically Europeans--at least Spaniards--have found the eating of horse flesh out and out disgusting--even when faced with starvation.

This from Cabeza de Vaca's journal 1542, Chapter 5, "The Indians' Hospitality before and after a
New Calamity":

"We lost only those the barge took down; but the
survivors escaped as naked as they were born, with
the loss of everything we had. That was not much,
but valuable to us in that bitter November cold,
our bodies so emaciated we could easily count
every bone and looked the very picture of death.
I can say for myself that from the month of May I
had eaten nothing but corn, and that sometimes
raw. I never could bring myself to eat any of the
horse-meat at the time our beasts were
slaughtered; and fish I did not taste ten times.
On top of everything else, a cruel north wind
commenced to complete our killing."

This takes balls.

Ingenious?

8 Million baht from 18 people? I wouldn't argue with 'ingenious'. Clearly they're still evolving new 419's to replace the old "I am Ohmyfinga Ikidunot, son of the late King Footlong Ikidunot of Lower Evungatuk, and I have a proposal for you"...

Cryptic. What does this post mean?

Google 'Ebola Monkey Man: Nigerian 419 Scam' and it will make sense.

One word for "Ebola Monkey Man" site: OMG!

I lied. Four words: OMG I love it.

If by "foreign" you mean Russian.

But,soft! There are no Russians on SE Asian beaches.

And they all live on Koh Chang.

Everyone in the north talks about this--mainly Chiang Rai. I've been subjected to unprompted discussions numerous times by complete strangers, more specifically, Thai guys in their late 20's - early 30's, who know little English and stumble through lengthy explanations.

I've never heard this topic brought up by anyone in Bangkok.

This response is a very short yet thorough introduction to Thai culture. You know now more than you think you know.

Charge your phone; then, activate repeatedly: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bs-button/id551252630?mt=8

They're going to put another billboard along the highway with the beautiful Miss Yingluck advising people not to burn anymore.

Just in time for the burning of the rice fields (and miscellaneous trash) in the north. How convenient.

I never expect to get the first taxi that stops. Or the second. Actually, I'm surprised when I get a cab now.

I am, however, sick of the gladhanding. Oops...I missed the stop (when there is a trunk full of groceries), and the cabbie laughs and apologizes but he doesn't turn off the meter after missing the stop and the fare doubles.

Bring exact change to the baht, my friends.

Don't give them a tip. Ever.

What about the sweets, candies, etc., sold everywhere....I think a quarter of the Thai population makes a living form making/selling deserts/sweets. But no, let's tax the big companies more; not mom & pop operations.

Yeah. Let's tax EVERYONE...hehe.

It must be the sugar. What else could it be? Everyone exercises, and noone deep fries.

What about the sweets, candies, etc., sold everywhere....I think a quarter of the Thai population makes a living form making/selling deserts/sweets. But no, let's tax the big companies more; not mom & pop operations.

YEAH. Let's tax EVERYONE...hehe.

It must be the sugar. Everyone exercises, and noone deep fries. What else could it be?

Perhaps there might also be a wider range of low-calorie/non-sugar soft-drinks available here, one day ?

I popped into the supermarket while in Malaysia recently, and found a much-wider range of soft-drinks, many at lower prices.

Why might Thailand be so far behind ? Import-duties, poor entrepreneurial-skills, greedy local bottlers, or what ?

Or maybe they just don't care.

Dominos is excellent. Happy to see it here with Carl's Jr.

I wouldn't go near a Pizza Hut, and Pizza Co. is hit and miss (though when they get it right, it's really good).

Burger King tastes just like it does in the US, that is to say awful.

McDonald continues to be a last resort though the taste is the same everywhere in the world. Except for the Namtok beef. That's great stuff, and I've only found that in Thailand.

There are a couple good pizza places in Chiang Mai. Pulcinella is tasty. In Bangkok all the thin crust pizzerias are okay. Across from Lumpini Park near Silom MRT is an outdoor pizza joint near McDonalds that serves up tasty pizzas for only 60 baht. Order two though. They're Thai size. It's called Mama Dolores, and I'm happy to plug it here. I go there a lot.

As for Mexican food: forget it. I've tried Bourbon Street (They try hard, and it's passable.), Coyote (Sukhumvit Soi 33 appears to be closed--at least it was today; the one on Convent is AWFUL.), Charlie Browns (worse than awful), and Sunrise Tacos (fairly big portions but very heavy taste and expensive). The Sunrise Tacos in Siam Paragon is okay, but you pay through the nose for it.

I was going to apply for a Citibank account to get the Royal Orchid Visa card. It allows one to use the Thai Air airport lounges anytime he flies (provided the airport has one).

But...Citibank requires that one maintains a minimum balance of 1.5 million baht for six months before the card is granted. There have to be better ways to put over $50,000 USD to work. Can you say AmEx Business Platinum--more priviledges, too.

As for Thai Air, I like it. Asia Air adds so many fees to the price of the ticket leading to checkout that often Thai Air is very, very competitive. Plus Thai gives you food and drinks, the flights are much more comfortable, and the service is better.

I have no problems booking on Thai Air's website either.

And they fly out of Suvarnabhumi which has the BTS Airport Link straight to the airport. I'm not a big fan of Don Muang (and the nickle and dime taxi scams they try and pull).

Forced marriage. Now I'd hate to fall victim to that.

If Thai would rescind the excessive sumptuary taxes on automobiles and other foreign imports, they'd allow citizens easier access to automobiles allowing them to leave Bangkok and work locally. Thai have never truely experienced large scale the freedom of owning an automobile, and they would quickly learn that using wise logistics coupled with freedom of movement makes ownership economical and invaluable.

More congestion if taxes are lowered? Bunk I say to you! More cars, more gas, more taxes, more tolls collected, more businesses. And people would be able to work outside Bangkok. This means more toll roads, more road improvements--instead of artificially suppressing demand with Draconian taxes that benefit...whom?

Has anyone ridden the BTS lately? The more they extend the line and build condos, the more crowded the trains are. And they fill at the fringe stations because these have the least expensive condos and attract the most people.

Freedom of movement on one's own terms is the only way to go.

date rape drug?

my god, you'd have to chew a handful to make that work, no?

not if you put them in a drink booze and Xanax not a good mix. Take it from one who knows.

The problem with these pills is that they do do what they are supposed to do. However, as you cannot control the crime from them you have to ban them.

Before you jump all over the Thai government look what they are trying to do with guns in the US.

Again hunting is a good thing. Having a gun is not a bad thing. Making people that are law abiding go through hoops while there is o control over the criminals is stupid.

People are still going to bring the drugs into the country.

The Thai government should put a ban on the drugs with a 10 year penalty plus time for the trafficking added on in Bangkok Hilton.

Same should be done in the US. Do a crime with a weapon no matter if it is a knife or gun get an extra 15 years non parole eligible added on to what ever the crime is.

Then just outlaw booze.

It takes days to feel the affects of Xanax for the new prescriber.

Mt Thaksin and others were talking to the operators of Macau casinos in 2005 with a view to opening Thailand's first casino in the Chiang Mai province, one of Mr Thaksin's sisters attended the meeting.

The 2006 coup put an end to that.

I think we can safely assume that negotiations are on again. And it makes sense,Thailand is bleeding gambling money to every other country that surrounds it.

Well this may be true but so what the number of tourists coming is still growing.

Besides that the Gambling will take money away from other businesses. The small man will be squeezed harder. Here in Chiang Mai the talk was that they were going to tear down a market in the Night Bazaar putting the vendors out of business and build a large gambling casino.

I do not deny that gambling will bring in more tourists but at what cost to the culture of Thailand and the small business men.

I for one do not think it is worth the supposed gain. I say supposed gain as it is strictly for big business.

Just my two satong's worth.

Casinos will only help the small business men--filling hotels and prompting tourists (and local Thais) to reconsider going to Macau, Laos, Singapore, Cambodia, and Burma casinos. When I was in Macau, there were many Thai on the ferry back to Hong Kong.

Casinos in Thailand will bury casinos in Laos, Burma, and Cambodia just like Indian casinos in California rang the death knell for Las Vegas.

But gaming leads to poverty and despair. Casinos are not happy places.

But, then again, I don't think Chiang Mai is a very happy place anyway.

I wonder if anyone in Thailand is familiar with The Simpsons, King of the Hill, Family Guy, or South Park. Americans beat everyone to the punch by making fun of themselves constantly. Unfortunately, we lampoon not just Christianity but Christ directly (which is blasphemous), and we lampoon political figures (albeit the media largely guards the left); nevertheless, America thrives.

Lose your freedom of the press, I suppose, and you lose not only your relevancy but, more importantly, your sense of humor. After all, humor's main ingredient is honesty.

Useful phrases like Is that for the whole night?

And the phase on this video, "Are you sure you not a boy"?

Not that funny. But SNL nailed it.

The video is funny, and all this controversy just brings great press to SNL. It won't be banned from Google. That's silly.

I wouldn't be surprised if the minister reaction is itself a spoof.