Carmine6

http://www.forbes.com/home/feeds/afx/2006/...afx2500910.html

Forbes.com in the US carried the story (from AFX) and had this to say:

"... The anti-Thaksin camp was also boosted by the resignation of technology minister Sora-at Klinpratum, who announced he was stepping down Saturday.

The surprise resignation came one day after Culture Minister Uraiwan Thienthong suddenly quit, saying she wanted to maintain 'political ethics'.

Both resignations came at the request of Uraiwan's husband, Sanoh Thienthong, who leads a faction within Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai party. ...."

My new wife and I will spend 9 months of the year in California and 3 months in Chaiyaphum. She owns a lot in Chaiyaphum on which we plan to build a house. She says the lot is 200 by 100 meters which by my quick calculation makes it over 4 acres. She wants to put a small 100sq mtr. house on this lot but I would prefer at least 200 sq mtrs and a swimming pool.

Because we are only there a short time each year (school vacations) should we put up a modest Thai house or a more elaborate American style house and how do I find an architect who can do the design and a builder who will do the work.

Her parents live in Chaiyaphum and we would have to trust them (i.e. pay them) to oversee the project and make sure it is done right.

Thanks for any help

My girlfriend's family rebuilt their house in Chayaphum last Sept. - Nov. They're about 20-30 minutes outside the main city.

It's 2 story and about 200 sq mtr. with the kitchen out back and bathrooms outside not included in that total. It could be half that size and would be just fine in my opinon. The entire upstairs isn't used except for guests, and the front 60% of the bottom isn't used. The back of the house is really the only part that's used, since that's near the kitchen. The tv is also back there and 1 bedroom.

If they had the kitchen and bathrooms inside they could probably still have gotten 2 bedrooms into 100 sq mtr.

My girlfriend was there every day to supervise the construction, otherwise they tended to slack off or do things not quite right. They also didn't really do anything until the foreman showed up, no matter how late. I think they had a plan, but it wasn't blueprints, it was something basic, and the house is similar to others in the area. For example, the bedroom downstairs is actually the bathroom in another house. It's built the same and they even put vent slits in the concrete of the bedroom as if it were going to be a bathroom. The room has 3 large windows so there was no need for that. There are some other houses nearby that suppossedly cost much more to build because the design wasn't as familiar. But these are similar sized houses too, a smaller one shouldn't have such a high additional cost.

She bought all the materials herself which meant she got what she wanted and suppossedly saved a great deal this way. They also had a lot of wood left over from the old house. Unfortunately upstairs you can now see light through some of the old nail holes and other defects, and I'd rate the woodwork as ok since some windows need more fitting. The downstairs concrete and tile looks great however.

One side note is that while they were saving up to rebuild the house, they were living in basically a 3 sided, tin roofed shelter next door (now gutted to house the cows). All their stuff including the tv was just there in the open. Now, even though they have all the same stuff, they lock the windows and doors if all of us leave. Not sure if it's their habit or they were worried about my stuff and my girlfriend's stuff.

Not that I'd know, but as of Feb. 1, the ponds seemed to be just fine in Chaiyaphum. I still wouldn't think anything other than an indoor pool would be maintainable up there.

In my townhouse in Bangkok, the top of the stairwell that goes out to the roof gets very hot. I was thinking about installing one of those roof turbines that spin with the wind to pull some of the hot air out. I was wondering if anyone had any experience with these turbines. The roof above the stairwell is flat so I am a little worried about rain leaking in. Also, will it even help remove the hot air? At first, I was planning on putting in a power roof vent, but I keep reading those will pull too much air out along with the cooler air-conditioned air. The space at the top of the stairs is about 3.5 x 3.5 meters.

Not sure where you're from but these are used in California to vent attics. They move a lot of air if there is a nice breeze. I found the below estimates from a website:

"A small 12 inch diameter turbine vent with a constant wind speed of 5 miles per hour (mph) can remove 347 cubic feet of air per minute (cfm) from the attic space. A single 14 inch diameter turbine vent that is subjected to 15 mph winds can expel up to 1,342 cfm of air! If the winds are still, the vents still allow air to drift up and out of the attic space, although not nearly as much."

That would be way too much air if you're worried about pulling out the air conditioned air. You could probably get away with a simple vent without the turbine. They are basically a vertical pipe with a larger diameter cover raised over them so the air can flow by them, but rain can't fall in. Air blowing over the end of the pipe will pull the air out, but not nearly as much as a wind turbine.

Thanks. It was just an idea I was toying with as I have experience in the Liquor industry in the US. It seems that the time for such a thing is not yet here.

Maybe so, but if you wait for the time to be right, it'll probably be because someone else spent the time building the market.

I took a 1 1/2 ltr bottle of JW Black Label up to Issaan for my girlfriend's father and that was finished easily in 3 days. I fully expected to go through maybe 1/3 of it while I was there, and then there'd be the rest left for later. But even the women were drinking it. And later at her uncle's house, they pulled out a branded American whiskey but I can't remember which. This was out in a small farm town. They wanted Tequila, and anything else I cared to bring the next time.

I think it's more of an exposure and financial thing at this point, than taste. If you get more people to try different things, they'll buy. They just don't know what to buy right now.

Someone posted that there's a big import tax on wine which limits that market. I wonder if it's the same for harder alcohol.

A well-connected local business-family with experience in the aviation, telecommunications & internet industries will shortly have 80 billion Baht, about $2 billion, less-tax , available in liquid funds to invest in the country or region.

Where do TV-members think they might find good opportunities to invest that sort of money ?

One suggestion I heard - was to build a regional electricity generation/distribution business.

If we can guess right, we might make a few baht, on the SET !

I wonder if they structured the sale so that some of the money doesn't come into Thailand. Or does he have to worry about the restrictions on moving money out at all? I'd think a lot of it will go to other countries.

I think a lot of it might end up in real estate, and then all of a sudden there'll be some roads being improved to that area. The new airport is closer to the beaches, so buy some land down there, get the big resorts interested, and have the gov't fix the road. Then you sell all the condos and houses you've built, and lease the land to the resorts. Or say you own an airline, find really cheap land farther south, build a small airport and do the same thing.

How can I get my 2 computers linked together on a hard wired LAN?

They are both on Windows XP and I have run the home network set up on each and neither can see each other.

Each Lan is sending packages but neither PC is receiving them.

Where did I go wrong?

Anybody got any ideas?

Thanks.

billd766

One thing not mentioned so far is that firewalls can cause this problem. If I remember correctly, the only way I could get mine to work is using the default "MSHOME" workgroup. With my firewalls turned off, I could pick any workgroup name I wanted. This is for a 3rd party firewall, as I think the Windows firewall doesn't give me problems.

The network troubleshooter also said to do something that I can't remember now to fix a problem where you couldn't ping the other computer. You may want to run that and see what it says.

This is for a standard network setup, and not the direct cable connect that some others mentioned.

Still works as well as before for me, both computer to computer and SkypeIn/SkypeOut - but then again I connect to Sweden and not to the US.

Some guesses as to the difference:

Skype was developed by a Swede, and has been popular there for over two years already. No major increase in users in that market.

From what I have read, it seems the US market preferred Vonage up until E-bay bought Skype, but since Skype are now an E-bay company they are more heavily marketed in the US, and get heaps of new users based on the strength/recognizability of the E-bay brand in the States...

I guess it'll hit some point where the equipment upgrades will catch up with the new users.

skype still works properly most of the times, but seems like its going to be a huge scam if u try to buy credits. their forum is full of people who wanna bring them to court and there is no way to really get in touch with the skype people..... i bought a 10 Euro credit some time ago to malke calls to landlines, and after I upgraded to the latest version, the credits are still listed in my account, but everytime i want to make a call they say " u dont have credits, have to buy credits first tom make calls" .... even there is is still 9,80 Euro left and valid and listed in my account.....

and the forum is full of such stories... for example: in June they charged the credit card of their customers, but until today, the credits are not added to people's accounts and all such things.....

oh, skype is owned by EBAY now...... is that the rason maybe ?

thanks god that nowadays there are other and better options for the VOIP-call-thing

I saw those complaints, but thought I'd give it a shot. Luckily I've been fine with several refills. I use the credit up fast which probably helps since I can reject the charge if I have problems. But with the quality drop off, I'll probably wait a bit to refill again.

For the best exchange rate you need to bring your Aussie $$$$'s with you and exchange them at a Thai bank.

The exchange rate fluctuates from day to day and from bank to bank so shop around for the best rate and try and pick an up day for our currency. Currently our li'l Aussie bleeder is off the boil.

The airport money exchange does not usually give you the best rate of the day. Most banks will better their rate, but if you can't get to a bank, Bangkok airport is the next best thing and would still offer a better exchange rate than Perth.

The downside to all this is that you need to carry cash on the plane. Make sure it is secured.

The same thing goes after you have cashed it in, you then need to secure your Thai baht.

If you bring more than AUS$10,000, remember to declare it in Oz at the airport.

Mighty, how much of a difference do you find by shopping different banks? I tried to do this the first time in Thailand and I found it wasn't worth the effort. But we're not talking about a whole lot of effort, as in I didn't check it all the same day.

All curencies are linked to the dollar. When the dollar is week the thai baht is stronger. When the dollar gets stronger the Thai baht weakens.

Same with the British pound, Australian dollar etc.

Barry

Um, yeah, kind of the definition there. That doesn't guarantee that they'd all move in the same direction relative to the dollar or as much, and by extension, they'll be different relative to each other.

America's Debt Time Bomb

In the last 25 years America has gone from the world's largest creditor nation to the world's largest debtor nation. Today the national debt is approximately $7.9 trillion, and growing by over a billion a day. America depends on foreign investors to buy the govt bonds & treasury Bills. What happens if they(French,Japs & Chinese) trade dollars for euros?

Will the dollar ever drop to pre-speculation 1996 baht level of 25 ?

Being a creditor isn't all that great. No one remembers all that debt that's been forgiven over the years. Who cares if other countries owe money if they don't pay. Bono is trying to have some African debt wiped out now, so this continues.

China is owed a lot of dollars, so they've got a vested interest in the dollar staying reasonably strong. If the dollar drops, not only are the bonds worth much less, but their exports will drop substantially and really smack that economy. Same for Japan. My guess is, if push came to shove, they'd negotiate on that debt. But I don't think it'll get that bad. Somehing will kind of snap before then and it'll finally freak out the politicians. In the meantime, the debt is more than offset by US assets.

One bit of resistance to the dollar dropping drastically is that oil is still priced in dollars. So a weak dollar means that oil costs even more.

Wanted law student gives up

Surat Thani - A university student accused of pushing another student out on to the road, where he was killed by a car, has surrendered after hiding in Surat Thani for two weeks.

Ake-karat Pongpipat, 22, a senior at Ramkhamhaeng University's faculty of law, was wanted on an arrest warrant.

He is accused of pushing Eknarin Sarati, 29, into the way of a car in soi Ramkhamhaeng 42 during a scuffle on the night of Jan 13.

Eknarin died the following day, the day he was due to graduate.

Mr Ake-karat surrendered yesterday to police in Wiang Sa district, Surat Thani. He had been hiding in his home, police said. He faces charges of manslaughter and illegal possession of a firearm. Police allege the accused and two other students from the university harassed Eknarin before he was struck by a car.

They said that during initial questioning Mr Ake-karat claimed Eknarin was drunk and accidentally stepped off the footpath and was hit by the car. The accused denied the victim was pushed as reported in many newspapers. He also denied any intention to commit murder.

Metropolitan Police chief Lt-General Wiroj Jantharangsi said there were many eyewitnesses and police believed they had a strong case.

Mr Ake-karat was denied police bail and was being sent to Bangkok's Hua Mark police station for questioning.

Police were confident the other two suspects would soon be caught.

====================================

This guy was a law student???

He'll fit well into the profession...

Was the victim 20 or 29? I was picturing all young guys for some reason, but it's sad either way. I can't believe that if they brandished a gun to keep people from helping, this guy is going to try to say the victim stumbled into the street on his own. Obviously he has to know there were witnesses, and what an idiot for keeping the firearm. Guess he was intending to be a defense attorney.

Thank You Digger.

Thats about what I pay now for my attorney hourly fees. $ 350.00 is cheap when your protecting a couple hundred grand. I believe you get what you pay for. And I am not going to mess around in a foreign country where I might have little to no recourse. I have some recourse in the states and some times even that is not good enough and you still get burned. Like the next guy, I am also looking for a deal. But I am not going to do anything stupid to risk my investment. Or another way to say it, I will do my best to minimize my risk exposure. You can check out my web site to see my current operation. www.discountfirearmsinc.com We are #1 in Las Vegas. I will check out the recommended website. Thanks Again!

Woah, what are you opening up? Doesn't look like you can go cheap on the lawyer. I hope it's a nice range as the ones I've seen are unbelievably expensive. They start something like $1 a round if I remember correctly, so not worth going to check out. Although maybe now I understand why you're trying to set up over there.

...

Besides Im still correct that whats happening is that analogue signals are simply being changed to Digital, it has nothing to do with High Definition. ...

This is true only as regards the regulations. The FCC is requiring digital, but the big Networks are taking it the step further and broacasting HD in many cities already. They are actually filming shows in HD now and have been for some time. The "Tonight Show" with Jay Leno started broadcasting in HD in 1999. If you don't want to believe someone who's actually seen the HD over the air broadcasts, then try this site:

http://www.cnet.com/4520-7874_1-5108854-1.html

From the first paragraph:

"...the major broadcast networks (including ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC) offer almost all of their scripted prime-time shows in high definition; and HDTV signals are readily available, either over the air or via cable or satellite."

As relates to tuners:

"The situation will only continue to improve as the FCC mandates more built-in DTV tuners. The ruling currently requires that all TVs sized 36 inches or larger include built-in tuners. The mandate trickles down to smaller TVs and other gear with TV tuners, such as VCRs and DVD recorders, until finally, on July 1, 2007, every TV tuner sold will be able to receive digital broadcasts."

In pratice, few larger TV's seem to have a digital tuner that isn't also HD. The BenQ 37" does not have a tuner, but the Sony Bravia 26" and 40" at Best Buy do have HD tuners. The Sony Bravia 32" is available with an HD tuner, or with an analog tuner not a digital tuner.

I've only been using Skype (actually Skypeout) for 2 months. While the call quality from California to a Thailand cell phone was initially fantastic, lately the quality is pretty bad. Clipped sound, too soft, robotic sounding words at times, etc. I've tried calling back which sometimes helps. My regular VOIP line is fine when I get sick of the distortion and swith over, so I don't think it's a network issue on this end.

Then last week I heard that Skype is adding 120,000 users per day or week now. Could this be the problem? Has anyone else had a similar change in call quality for either regular Skype or Skypeout?

Thanks.

Here in the States, a large percentage of people are mixed, and it's common to see mixed kids who are much smarter than their parents. Or mixed kids who are much more attractive than their parents were when younger. This is independent of what happens economically, since social factors can affect that greatly.

It is also common to see kids who are not of mixed race who are smarter and more attractive than their parents. There is absolutely no reason why this would be more prevalent in children of mixed ethnic backgrounds, on a genetic level.

I'm not sure about "absolutely no reason" since there are instances of genetic problems being endemic to a relatively isolated group of people. But yeah, that's probably effectively true. I can only say that when I've noted a big discrepancy it's generally been for mixed race kids. Like my last 2 roommates. One was half Japanese, half Mexican and you wouldn't have believed her mother was her mother, even in the old pictures. Way smarter too and her kids are even sharper with some German and other stuff on the other side.

The one before that was part American Indian on both sides and then English, Scottish, and I think Swedish somewhere between the sides. Same situation with the mother being not nearly as stunning even in the old pics, or as smart. I have a lot more examples like my nieces and nephews and my business partner's kids. But I guess part of the problem is it's hard to think of people I know who are pure anything, and then they kind of match their parents.

UPDATE

'We never could figure him out'

By Joe Kovac Jr., Macon Telegraph

1/22/06

As James Sullivan goes on trial for the 1987 murder-for-hire slaying of his socialite wife, locals recall his years in Macon. In the town where he struck it rich half a lifetime ago, back when James Vincent Sullivan was plain old Jimmy the liquor distributor's nephew, some who knew him figure the fate that has befallen him couldn't lay ruin to a finer fellow.

Sullivan, a Massachusetts-raised outsider supreme on the good-buddy Southern liquor scene, fashioned himself a persona that has, to this day, done something the man himself never quite has: hung around.

An international fugitive for more than three years since his Macon days, Sullivan's ties to the town where he married the woman he is now accused of having killed, while itinerant at best, left a trail he is yet to outlive.

As Sullivan, 64, stands trial in Fulton County in the 1987 murder-for-hire slaying of his second wife, Lita, recollections of the once-local millionaire with "the world by the tail" have re-emerged.

Part mystery and all Yankee, Sullivan and his penchant for polyester splashed down in Macon in 1973. A couple of years later, he inherited his uncle Frank Bienert's company when Bienert died. But within a decade of that, Sullivan, a former department store accountant, sold Crown Beverage Inc., which carried the bankable Seagram's line, for a reported $5 million.

Sullivan, whose first wife, Catherine, had divorced him in 1976, then married Lita McClinton, whom he met while shopping at an Atlanta boutique where she worked. Upon selling Crown in 1983, the Sullivans soon moved to Florida, into a Palm Beach mansion. By some accounts, Lita didn't like the life there and in the mid-'80s moved away to a townhouse the couple owned in Atlanta.

The Sullivans were in the midst of a divorce in early 1987 when Lita was shot and killed at her front door by someone who'd apparently posed as a flower deliveryman.

Sullivan, in the 19 years since Lita's death - in Macon at least - has become a character locals can't seem to forget, something of a rich man's Anjette Lyles. They ate in her restaurant; they drank his gin.

Gerald Neal, who worked for Sullivan at Crown Beverage for about three months in the mid-1970s, says he was hired with the idea of helping Sullivan smooth things over with local retailers. Neal says liquor-store owners had tired of Sullivan's practice of "selling off the dock" to friends and others, thereby draining the potential sales of the very vendors he was licensed to supply.

Neal and some liquor-store owners at the time say it got so bad that stores began taking Seagram's products off their shelves, selling them only when customers requested them.

Neal, 63, says Sullivan "asked me what I thought he ought to do and I told him, I said, 'You need to rent the Macon Auditorium down there and invite everybody you do business with and tell them what a no-good, rotten SOB you've been.' ... He said he would never do that, that it was his business and he could do what he wanted to.

"Nobody liked him," Neal says. "I don't know of anybody in Macon, Georgia, ... anybody that came in contact with him that cared for him. There's just no way to describe the man."

Neal recalls Sullivan as a "good bull shooter" who wore out-of-style polyester suits and liked to drive fast.

"If you got around him talking, you would think that he was the greatest thing that ever was about being smart about things," Neal says. "His business could have been at least 50 percent better than what it was had he acted like a human being. But he chose to go the other way."

'DIDN'T LIKE HIS AIR'

Sullivan's notoriety as a Boston boy turned multimillionaire turned "America's Most Wanted" murder suspect has long since hit home in his native Massachusetts.

Last month, a newspaper column in Worcester's Sunday Telegram referred to Sullivan as "persona non grata" at his alma mater, Holy Cross, noting that a former college president who, five weeks after Lita Sullivan's 1987 death, "attended a party in Florida hosted by Mr. Sullivan for Holy Cross alumni ... was unavailable for comment - permanently."

In 1998, a time when, according to authorities, Sullivan had fled the country to Central America and, later, to Thailand to avoid prosecution, the Boston Globe ran a profile of Sullivan. The paper noted how, a few years earlier, "when Sullivan's father died ... the millionaire son spoke at the funeral at Sacred Heart Church in Quincy. The sight unnerved a close family friend. 'Imagine that,' the friend said. 'Satan himself on the altar.' "

In his prime, Sullivan had reddish, sandy-blond hair and bore some resemblance to singer Jerry Lee Lewis. He was 5 foot 10, but his long face and low-slung jawline lent him the distinguished look of a man 3 or 4 inches taller.

A 1992 article in Atlanta Magazine noted his "nasal, clipped" Boston accent and quoted Lita Sullivan's mother, JoAnn McClinton, recalling the man who'd courted her daughter: "We just didn't like his air. ... He had horn-rimmed glasses (and wore) either green or red polyester knit pants."

By some accounts, Lita, who'd once had fashion-design aspirations, dressed up her man, perhaps helping him move in social scenes in Macon, Atlanta and, later, Palm Beach.

Edwina Barnes of Macon remembers her former neighbor in the upscale Shirley Hills neighborhood as "a nice-looking man," adding that "he just could not have been nicer when I did fund-raisers. He always supplied the liquor and everything. He was always very, very nice to us. Always a very pleasant person."

Barnes also knew of Sullivan from his days in Palm Beach, where Barnes also had a home.

"He was always nice to invite us to the parties," Barnes says, "and you just never, ever saw this other side that we're assuming that he has. But he could not have been nicer to us."

That said, Barnes recalls that Sullivan "certainly did have kind of a stronger personality than most people in the South."

'HAD THE WORLD BY THE TAIL'

Bobby Sanders, who owned the Pinebrook Village Package Store on Forsyth Road and had dealings with Sullivan on a weekly basis for more than two years, figures Sullivan "could have gotten along, he just didn't, I guess, want to."

"He alienated everybody and he was such a miser," says Sanders, 71, telling of a time when, he says, Sullivan sold him bottles of "bad wine" that Sullivan had been reimbursed for and was "supposed to take to the dump."

On its Web site, the television show "America's Most Wanted" lists Sullivan as "captured" and describes him as someone who is "frugal but likes to entertain the lifestyle of a millionaire," a man "police say ... may steal condiments."

"He thought he was smarter than anybody down here," Sanders says. "He wouldn't mind telling other people that people in the South was a bunch of idiots, a bunch of rednecks. We never could figure him out. He had the world by the tail. He had one of the top wholesale companies in America. ... He could have had anything he wanted."

Sanders adds, "I actually told him this when he came to my store, 'Let me tell you one ###### thing, you go right out behind my store here at the (Idle Hour) country club and you sell those folks liquor and they could give a s--- about you because you are not a Macon blue blood. You will never be a Macon blue blood. They are nice, but you'll never be accepted in the Macon blue-blood crowd.' "

Nick Block of Macon, who owned two Thunderbird liquor stores here, says Sullivan's so-called "off-the-dock" sales didn't do much for Sullivan's business reputation.

Block says, "I had a friend and his daughter was getting ready to get married, and they called me and said, 'Nick, you gonna give us a good price on some booze and wine?' I said, 'Sure.' And my wife mentioned to me about a week before the wedding, 'Have you gotten an order out of Mrs. XYZ?' And I said, 'No.' And we go to the reception and all the wine and all the liquor there came out of Crown Beverage company, so you didn't have to be a Phi Beta Kappa to figure what happened."

Block, 79, remembers Sullivan as "very intelligent."

"He took me out to lunch (at Shoney's - "really impressed me") one day with the idea of healing the rift between us," Block says, "and he promised he wasn't gonna sell anything off his dock or out the back door, and that very afternoon he sells a couple of cases of liquor to a dentist. Truth wasn't his long suit."

YEARS HAVE WORN ON HIM

Here now three decades later, what pertinent truths there are to be had about Sullivan and his past will, in an Atlanta courthouse, no doubt conjure memories of his Macon years.

No full picture of Sullivan is complete without mention of the place where he rose to riches. One of his slain wife's best friends still lives here, as do many of the people who knew James and Lita Sullivan as a couple.

Sullivan, of course, doesn't much look the same. The years and time behind bars since his arrest in Thailand in 2002 have worn on him.

The once disheveled Northerner who skewed debonair down South has, with his sagging features, taken on the carriage of a man who has long since resigned to slouch. The gold-buttoned navy blazer he wore in court earlier this month wasn't pressed, and had it been his 150-or-so-pound frame wouldn't have come close to filling it. And there was a blankness about him that would not have been out of place at a wake.

When he stood to greet prospective jurors on the first day of proceedings at his trial, Sullivan, who has pleaded not guilty, faced his peers without expression.

He had listened again and again while a judge read the charges against him to one group of potential jurors after another. He had heard over and over how his life was on the line, that the death penalty may be in order.

At a table to his right, prosecutors also stood. They gave their names. Then one of Sullivan's attorneys, Ed Garland, took the floor.

"First let me introduce you to James Sullivan," Garland told would-be jurors, gesturing to his client.

"Good morning," Sullivan said with a nod.

"Good morning," the people replied.

***

THE SULLIVAN CASE: A TIMELINE

1973 - James Sullivan moves to Macon to manage his uncle Frank Bienert's liquor-distribution company, Crown Beverage Inc.

1975 - Bienert dies, leaving Sullivan control of the company. Two months later, Sullivan's first wife, Catherine, files for divorce.

1976 - Four days after Christmas, Sullivan marries Lita McClinton of Atlanta. The couple soon moves into a home on Nottingham Drive in Macon's affluent Shirley Hills neighborhood.

1983 - Sullivan sells Crown Beverage for a reported $5 million and buys and renovates a $2 million mansion in Palm Beach.

1984 - Sullivan buys a Buckhead condo, and the couple splits time between Florida and Georgia.

1985 - In August, Lita Sullivan moves into the Buckhead residence and later files for divorce.

1987 - Jan. 16, shortly after 8 a.m., a gunman believed to have been pretending to deliver pink roses to Lita Sullivan shot her when she answered her door. The Sullivans' divorce case was still ongoing. James Sullivan was later named a suspect in Lita's death. Sullivan remarried in September to a woman he'd reportedly been seeing for two years.

1992 - In late November after federal prosecutors contend Sullivan used long-distance calls to arrange Lita's death, a judge ruled that they failed to make their case.

1998 - In April, acting on a tip, authorities arrest Phillip Harwood, then 49, at his North Carolina home and contend he is the gunman who shot and killed Lita Sullivan. Later the same week, a warrant for Sullivan's arrest is issued, charging that he arranged Lita's death. Sullivan disappears.

1999 - In February, Fox TV's "America's Most Wanted" airs. Authorities say Sullivan, again divorced, is out of the country, possibly living in Central America.

2002 - Sullivan is arrested at a beachside condo in Thailand.

2004 - Sullivan, after prosecutors here announce they will seek the death penalty against him, is extradited to Georgia.

2005 - The buried remains of Sullivan's uncle, Frank Bienert, are exhumed in his home state of Massachusetts after authorities suspect that Bienert, who died and left his fortune to Sullivan, may have been poisoned. An autopsy shows Bienert died of natural causes.

2006 - In January, jury selection begins in the murder case against Sullivan. Testimony is expected to start in mid- to late February.

4 years on the run, then 4 years from arrest to trial. Sounds like he would have gotten a long sentence back then, so hope he goes away for a long time now.

... Not that I am any type of scientist but like to think our kids got the best of both our gene pools

I'll have to hand it to you Rigger; as an Aussie you're definately an optimist

Well cross breeding in animals can produce the same things I mentioned so I don’t see that we would be much different

As for being a optimist I guess I am since when I was in Oz my beer was always half empty but since living in LOS my beer is always full

There was a study here in the States a long time ago that found that mixed race kids were significantly smarter. I have the suspicion that part of the explanation is that smarter people were more likely to marry out of their race back then. But I still do think there is something to the belief that mixed genetics are generally positive. I know I've tried to mix genes a lot, although the other gene suppliers haven't always been willing.

With statements like this, do you really wonder why Thai men don’t want farangs in Thailand?

And if you really think this is true, check out the leuk-kreung in countries like Vietnam. They’re typically poor and living in villages.

And while some leuk-kreung may do well, they probably had fathers who were stationed here for good positions in the military. My guess is that the Caucasian sex tourists living here (not all caucasians of course) probably don't offer the best genes of their race.

Point taken. The way I had originally wrote the sentence was "Being from Los Angeles, there's much more opportunity to date different races. I know I've tried to mix genes......" But it was getting to be a long response. I was commenting more on the benefit of mixed genes, not specific to Thailand. And I have dated a few different ethnic/cultural backgrounds over here.

Here in the States, a large percentage of people are mixed, and it's common to see mixed kids who are much smarter than their parents. Or mixed kids who are much more attractive than their parents were when younger. This is independent of what happens economically, since social factors can affect that greatly.

Not sure if this is worth a new topic so I'll post here. My girlfriend attends Ramkhamhaeng and says there were actually 5 graduating students killed recently. The other 4 weren't out in public like the one that made the newspaper. She said that there's recently been more friction between those from Isaan and those from the southern areas of Thailand.

Before the fishermen in the murder on Samui were caught, the two groups were saying that the attackers had to be from the other area. Sounds like that kind of brought some stuff to the surface since her friend who lives in a nice building wants to move now. She said there's even police on that soi, but there's still problems. Too many guys just hanging around now.

My girlfriend's apartment building has been fine for the several years she has lived there, but some new people have moved in and someone broke into her room and took some money. Her new next door neighbors stay up late and make a bit of noise too. She's moving next to school, so that will go away, but I'm concernced that there's still some animosity among the groups. She says guys will make comments to her while she's walking by, but she'll be ok since she never talks back and just keeps walking.

When I visited the school, my girlfriend said that the girls there are cute, but there's lots of scary looking guys. I agree, but I just figured the guys just looked that way since they weren't very affluent, but were mostly decent guys since they were trying to get an education. Was I wrong?

I'm not sure what to make of all this. Whether it's just happened all around the same time and will die down, or there's some bigger problem brewing. Have the economic aftermath of the Tsunami or the political issues in the south forced people to move to Bangkok?

... Not that I am any type of scientist but like to think our kids got the best of both our gene pools

I'll have to hand it to you Rigger; as an Aussie you're definately an optimist

Well cross breeding in animals can produce the same things I mentioned so I don’t see that we would be much different

As for being a optimist I guess I am since when I was in Oz my beer was always half empty but since living in LOS my beer is always full

There was a study here in the States a long time ago that found that mixed race kids were significantly smarter. I have the suspicion that part of the explanation is that smarter people were more likely to marry out of their race back then. But I still do think there is something to the belief that mixed genetics are generally positive. I know I've tried to mix genes a lot, although the other gene suppliers haven't always been willing.

Firefoxx, read your post and it only talks about Digital over-the-air transmissions not HDTV. Digital TV is not HDTV, UBC is digital as is all satellite and most cable technology. They have the same Digital TV act in teh UK which says that analogue TV signals will be switched off on X date, it has nothing to do with HDTV though.

HDTV is by definition (sorry) either 720P or 1080i (P). HDTV does not mean a flash TV, a big TV or an LCD TV etc... it is a standard of resolutions. You may be getting confused by the HD ready stickers that manufacturers have stuck on their TV's so that people will be tricked into buying them thinking they are high def, theyre not - Its a ploy by manufacturers so that consumers feel safe buying less expensive TV's.

I can buy almost anything on ebay for 15% less than in most shops in America so its not surprising that you managed to find a Sony Bravia on ebay in the USA for 20% less than in Thailand, in fact its testament to my statement that the price differences are closing in.

Also most shops I know are displaying a price of 144,900 baht for the Bravia, which is 5k baht off of the RRP, I alos know that they will discount a tiny amount off this if pushed.

I can confirm that the major US networks broadcast HDTV that can be received via the old aerial antennas. It's a separate signal from the regular broadcast and is a full HD signal and not just digital. I watched the last Olympics in High Def and the picture was astonishing. Normally the HD broadcast is the same as the regular one, but the Olympics had different programming on HD. This is because they only used a limited amount of HD cameras. Otherwise the screen would have jumped from full aspect to regular as they switched cameras. When I moved out of line of sight of the mountain that the antennas are on top of, I lost the HD broadcast.

The HD broadcast isn't available in all areas, just the major metropolitan areas, but it is rolling out as more people have sets that can take advantage. Not all shows are in HD, so lots of times, there really wasn't any difference between the regular and HD signal.

Many of the new HD sets do have a HD receiver built in. I'm not sure if most or close to all of them do, but the ones I glanced at around Christmas did have them. My old set requires a separate box, but the signal is over the air and not cable.

Note the sites below specifically say available over-the-air.

http://abc.go.com/site/hdtvfaq.html

http://www.nbc.com/Footer/HDTV/

FROM TODAY's BANGKOK POST POSTBAG:

Thai credit cards won't work in UK, Europe

Yes and no!

The problem isn’t that simple.

Several factors are involved.

In Denmark the government along with the banks forced the use of chip cards upon the Danish citizens about a year ago.

And as you where told, the shops turned the old swipe system back in exchange for the new card reader. But as with so many other things the system wasn’t and still doesn’t work perfect. A lot of customers would have to wait up to 30 seconds for the card reader, phone line and database to approve the purchase and you can imagine what that will do to a queue at a cashier in a supermarket.

The shops became rebels and would cover the card reader with duck tape. The system still had the old swipe option so the consumers would use that instead.

And they still do…

The old Visa and Master Cards in Denmark had a very nice feature. It has a photo of the card holder on the back. This was a great way to id the card holder.

But along with the new chip cards the photos disappeared.

The reason for many Thai credit cards to be rejected is simply because of fraud.

There are to many scams and credit card numbers stolen or the get it from the internet and purchase from an online shop. The shop doesn’t care since the numbers used is a legal running number BUT the person who has his or her credit card stolen or misused would along with the bank fill a complain to the shop and the credit card merchant…this is known as a charge back. And it is charge backs that are the problem because it costs the merchants a lot of money and time to track and prove or accept and pay back the money…solution to this is simple don’t accept credit cards from Thailand, Malaysia or Kenya and so on.

So when you go to the restaurant in London or Copenhagen and wants to pay with your Thai Visa or Master Card a warning will pop up at the cashier asking for extra prove of ID…like a signature or other cards.

It is the same reason why many have the same problem here in Thailand when the want to buy something online like Skype call out time.

The credit card fraud in Thailand is so big that many Scandinavian banks will contact customers returning from holiday in Thailand and ask if they would please check all Visa transaction and tell if the agree to the purchases.

The solution might be within reach or maybe not but the new Thai ID card has the exact same chip based on java embedded on the card. So if the bank in Thailand where smart they would use this as a credit card or debit card. I’m sure they are already thinking about that.

So even though you don’t look like a scam artist you will be treated like one until proven otherwise…when you pay with a Thai Visa or Master Card.

Sad but true…..

But you are not the one with the biggest problem if that might cheer you up.

The people or companies that do online shopping from Thailand with Thai Visa cards or MasterCard are far more helpless.

Most online merchants know of the charges regarding the charge back I mentioned before. Therefore they will use a database to try and minimize fraud.

That database will collect as much info as possible about the customer, so if you are buying from a internet address in Thailand (IP) you will setup an alarm.

Next up is your name…it doesn’t sound Thai …next alarm.

And when you then proceed to use a Thai credit card is the alarm that says no way!

And it is the same thing most skype users in Thailand are seeing now.

Thanks. This makes much more sense than the newspaper writer's information. As noted by Lopburi3, American cards don't yet have these chips in them, so there has to be some alternative way to use them. Otherwise expect Americans to spend a lot less while visiting.

My guess is the reporter didn't ask the right people for the answers and was misinformed. What a surprise. For example, he relied upon the clerk at the retailer, so did he also rely on a customer service rep at the bank? Not necessarily the most reliable sources in either case.

Sometime about 14 years ago, a plane crashed north of Bangkok a ways--maybe this "120K north of Bangkok" line was referring to this crash. The crash was picked over by the locals, stealing everything including rings and watches from the dead bodies. When a news reporter asked a thief how he could steal from the dead, he responded "If we don't take it, the police will."

Several months after that, a plane crashed in Samui and the same thing happened. Even the Buddhist amulet of the Thai pilot was stolen from his dead body.

And, how on earth can they spend $250 million on a movie like this??????

And one more thing, "She said in 2005, 497 foreign films were shot in Thailand, generating Bt1.13 billion (more than US$28 million) in revenue."

THAT IS ONLY $56k / MOVIE That is not much at all!! hel_l, my university in the States gets something like $20K / day for allowing filming.

The math is messed up on the production costs, 6 billion Baht is about $150 million. But that still is a lot, so I'd expect a big special effects budget for crash scenes and chases. Google the producer's name and you'll see he has done a lot of ok films. Nothing really great. But a big budget is a big budget, so hopefull there'll be lots of on site filming.

Thanks for the help guys, I may put it on ice then if it's something I would have to leave Thailand to do properly, but I'm pleased I got such a positive response - this website is growing on me.

why does it need to be a side car, it would slow down the jet ski and alter its handling, why not attach an inflatable to the jet ski, with a gas bottle to instantly inflate it at the scene, after the jet ski has arrived having travelled at full speed with no extra drag and minimum extra weight, you can copy that idea if you like, if its any good

I had thought of that phuketsiam, not about the inflatable but about the handling. The carbon fibre design would be incredibly lightweight and streamlined, I even thought of having one either side which is a possibility, but an instant yellow inflatable is also a good idea, or orange would be the proper color for an emergency craft but either way I'll split the profits with you should it ever take off, but I doubt it will happen.

The idea of a rescue vehicle has potential in the western world as I know that jet ski's are already being used as rescue vehicles. Think oceans, lakes and beaches.

Now that I didn't know, if that is how it is then it looks like somebody has already stolen my initial idea.

Life goes on, thanks again for the advice, is there anything these guys don't copy?

In Hawaii, and I'm pretty sure I've seen it elsewhere such as surfing competitions, the lifeguards use something like a big boogie board or foam pad attached to the back. Someone lies down on that and then sweeps/grabs the victim onto it. It's a hard attachment to the back, versus something like ropes, so it doesn't swing behind, it stays right behind. Probably little drag since it's ridding on top of the foamy water behind, but not exactly a smooth, dry ride. There are rope handles at the front and sides to grab onto.

I don't think a sidecar will work. No matter how light, the water drag will pull it to that side. You'd have to double side it.

Found some old pictures.

http://www.aloha.com/~lifeguards/wrunner.html

I also noted the story but can not believe it as US cards do not have any such chip that I am aware of and I am sure they are not going to cut off that much of the market. Believe some dates have been mixed up somewhere. I have two US visa cards issued within the last six months and valid for 2 and 3 years that do not appear to have any chip.

This is my reaction too. My Amex Blue has a chip in it, but I don't think it's for the same purpose as the European chips. Some of the big US banks are starting to roll out chipped cards, but these are for point of sale purchases and specifically don't require a signature or pin. You just wave the card on a reader and it makes the charge. Last I heard the roll out was in Arizona and some other area back east and the cards are only recently being distributed widely.

Assuming the chips can do the same thing as the European ones, Americans aren't accustomed to using pins with their credit cards and won't know them, and it'll be years before all the cards get swaped out. Anything remotely touristy will risk losing a lot of sales.

Outrageous fees, yes. All transfers with the below firms went at about 99% of the current exchange rate. www.xe.com

WAMU $30

Citibank $30

Fidelity Brokerage $15, waived for gold comission level

Citibank allows online entry of the wire transfer information so as long as you can check your e-mail for the transaction code, you can make it from anywhere.

Bangkok bank seems to be a good choice for lots of folks. Somewhat of a sliding scale for the fee, with a cap. But the exchange rate seems better than the 99%.