Walker88

Unless I'm mistaken, it seems most readers missed your point..... YOU, as a farang, are a danger to her due to Covid, whereas a Thai person using the same gloves all day, both to squeeze juice and take money, isn't any threat to her...because the juice vendor is Thai. That about right? I was in a large gym, and because I do a real workout (heavy breathing), I had my mask down a bit after a good set on the bench, far away from other folks. Some phuffy Thai (who rides a bicycle machine at the pace of a 90-year old going to market, then playing games on his phone between his every ten minute 'set') walked across the gym and told me to pull the mask back up. He passed several Thai people in the gym without masks at all, but said nothing to them. (The gym operators do not mandate masks)

Sounds like dozens of families and groups of friends out for a little moo ka ta, all hovered over the hibachi, chopsticks touching as they jockey for position over grilled shrimp and pork, or poached chicken.... ....but that sort of activity is perfectly acceptable, so long as there's no alcohol.

Will this change anything? The only thing I can see that will change is that restaurants in shopping malls will again serve alcohol. Virtually every BKK restaurant not located in a shopping mall has been serving alcohol all along. The glasses might change, but not the libation. Maybe a second thing could be that Pattaya residents will head to BKK, where they can openly enjoy a libation with their meal, though Patts seems to have its share of scofflaws. Oh, this bears repeating, as some seem to be missing it: Restaurants have "Restaurant" Licenses. Bars have "Bar" licenses. Bars are supposed to remain closed, even if they serve food, because their LICENSE says "Bar". (Oddly, there is one agogo in Patpong that occupies a venue that was once a restaurant, and the new owner inherited the 'Restaurant" license, so he should be able to open and serve alcohol from Monday, with plenty of scantily-clad, non-dancing servers. As for whether this will entice new tourists to come....unlikely. Everyone knew, or at least suspected, that 1 Nov would be the day to relax alcohol restrictions. Also, if airlines have given back 80% of their allotted slots at Suvarnabhumi for the Oct-April'22 period, bookings are likely to be at a minimum. The ones who long planned to come will come, but that's about it. It is highly likely the average visitor is going to be a single male, as such folks have specific reasons for wanting to come, are willing to jump through the various hoops, and as single travelers are less likely to be caught up in a 'proximity' infection and forced into 14 days self-paid quarantine. All are maybe not quite the 'quality' tourist the govt was hoping to attract, but beggars can't be choosers.

Inspired by the alliteration in the headline of an earlier article this week, I submit: Cops Kill Covid Cacophony at Cowboy's Kazy Kozy Cocktail Caberet Capturing Carousing Caucasian Culprits

Kabul is more fun. Don't underestimate just how fetching a full-body abaiya can be. It is said a woman is at her sexiest when she leaves something to the imagination. In Kabul, women leave EVERYTHING to the imagination.

Was in the process of typing when you did a better job of clearing this up. Kazy Kozy has been open for a while, though I personally never visited there during the lockdown.

I don't know if this is true, but I've heard that workers are modifying the jetways at Suvarnabhumi to accommodate Piper Cubs, Cessna-152s, ultralights and hang gliders, all in anticipation of the reduced number of 'enticed international travelers' who are expected to show up after 1 November.

Goodness! I view Pizza Company as an affront to all that is good and decent in this Universe. The other chains are jockeying for 2nd position on the clown car to Hades. In Bangkok, which I know better, there are 3 shops that could please even a finicky and proud Italian...Pizza Massilia, Vesuvio and Peppino. For the most part Straight Outta Napoli (though some concessions made like "Hawaiian", a euphemism for a pizza with pineapple) are all three. I've eaten at each, and when I sit and hear italian spoken all around me by other customers (especially at Vesuvio), I think that says something about the quality. Granted, other countries have their own styles and preferences, but for those who like what Italy first developed some 160 years ago (only, what a surprise, like chili in Thai food is of a similar 'youthful' age), those three venues are tops.

All of this is a rehash of what's been said over the last 18 months, with a few important points to add, however, as 1 Nov approaches. The key point came in an article a day or two ago: "Airlines have returned 80% of their contracted slots for the Oct-April period." TAT and the govt can say whatever they want, but airlines are businesses. They live and die by revenue and costs (unlike bureaucrats who answer to no one or leaders who 'appointed' themselves seven years ago). When airlines return 80% of their allotted slots for the upcoming 'high season', it's pretty certain tourist numbers are going to be pretty low. It's unlikely millions of int'l travelers have decided they prefer a tramp steamer over an Airbus or Boeing. The reasons tourists are not going to come are many---Covid fears, onerous entry requirements among them---but no alcohol with meals, and no nightlife, are also part of the problem. Others have noted that alcohol is available in reality, despite the ban, but it is somewhat surreptitious and there is always the possibility that the authorities---who know full well virtually every restaurant is serving---will make an inspection if not a raid. Inspections were done last week after the big raid in BKK's Koreatown and a second in a venue across the street from a major police depot. Folks were properly warned beforehand. Inspectors also apparently told shops that it's virtually certain restaurants will again be allowed to serve as of next Monday, 1 November. Bars, however, look to remain shut until at least 15 November, maybe 1 December, or perhaps into the New Year if infection rates pick up again. A pickup in actual infections is unlikely, as little in reality is going to change. New arrivals will be few (and will be double vaxxed and PCR-tested), and restaurants will be given the green light to do what they are already doing. If infections do pick up, that will likely be due to a change in the method of collating and reporting, rather than an actual change in infection numbers. Anyone with an axe to grind will be able to make hay out of the numbers, so we shall see if the Temperance Union and/or Xenophobes win over the less puritanical or fearful bureaucrats and leaders.

Not sure what accounts for the death rates in Vietnam vs Thailand. Vietnam has a 2.4% death rate (deaths per recorded infection), while Thailand is only 1%. Better medical care? Some sort of natural immunity? Fewer tests in Vietnam? Fudged figures in Thailand? The difference is statistically significant, so it bears investigation. If it's just a matter of fudged figures or fewer tests, then it's nothing, but if there is some other factor, knowing what it is could be of benefit in treatment or care. The fact it isn't being studied suggests it's testing rates or fudging, as the differences are too significant to ignore.

A year or two ago there was a giant billboard located just as drivers left the highway heading out of Bangkok and into Suvarnabhumi. It advertised a potion made from ocean minerals that supposedly improved the skin. The billboard had a lovely woman with flawless skin, and the name of the product: Sea Min Drink. Better left unsaid.

I'd be curious as to what airlines gave up these 80% of slots. Is it Euro and North America? Middle East? East Asia? China mainland? Thailand was once kind of a bucket list destination for many in the West, as it was viewed as 'exotic' but easily accessible. That has likely passed. It's still a go-to place for Chinese and now Indians, but lesser for Westerners not coming specifically for the (closed) nightlife. I would guess the cancelled airport slots are mostly from Europe or NA, and China because they've blocked travel. Perhaps I've been here too long or too often, but I don't really know what Thailand offers anymore. Other than for nightmarket trinkets and pirated items, shopping in Thailand is more expensive than most other destinations, due to the high import tariffs. Sure, everybody can buy a t-shirt or two, but they are rather low cost. How about temples? Not particularly interesting, frankly. Ayutthaya is okay, but pales in comparison to Bagan in Myanmar and Angkor Wat in Cambodia. What is the remaining draw for non-Chinese and Indians? Medical care, perhaps, which is a major draw to Middle Easterners. Beaches? Some are okay, others are not particularly clean, and places like Penang or Bali offer something better. I'd bet that Westerners still looking to visit Thailand have as their #1 goal the nightlife, with #2 perhaps being golf. Open the bars and agogos, and maybe 5-10% of those airport slots are retaken. As much as the Thai govt, I am quite curious about what happens re arrivals after the 1st. Those with family or property likely came in already through the Sandbox, so the mix of those after 1 November will be something different.

You are new here and ubonjoe is being particularly polite, but in order to help you, I will post: The foremost authority on this site re Thai Immigration is ubonjoe. Likely he knows more about Immigration than everyone else on this site combined. If he says something, rest assured it is accurate. He is an asset to this site, and has helped countless members with sometimes difficult questions. Take his advice, get your extension, and all will be well. Oh, and yes, he is in Thailand, probably for longer than you have been on Earth.

I get the feeling your last visit to an agogo or chat with the women in that business was in 1967 or thereabouts. Your view and my view are obviously different. In a bar like Pin-up on Walking Street, around 75% of the women are tatted up, almost as many pierced (ears, yes, but navel is a close second and nose carries up the rear.) I can't think of a bar in Bangkok where at least half the women are un-tatted. My post was garnered from conversations with dozens of bargirls and represents a fairly common tale. I became quite close friends with one in particular, and have spent the last few years hanging out with her and her friends. They have told me---and I have little reason to doubt them---that they know of very few 'sisters' who don't take something to dull the experience. Ice is one favorite, ketamine another, and almost all sip kratom tea in their time off. Others use white powder and some yaa baa. Speak with a bar owner or manager and he'll tell you the problems the bar has with women and illicit substances. Watch the women's "Toms" who wait outside, and you can see who supplies the stuff. As for enjoying it, they are good at fooling their customers, and they know their customers' egos are fragile enough that even a fake O or ill-timed groans sell easily. Most have a very matter-of-fact attitude about the work, not liking the intimate aspects of it, but accepting the fact it is about the only way they can meet the demands of family care. Now no doubt you make Brad Pitt jealous and are a stud muffin in the sack, but most customers are not exactly in peak condition nor do they make women weak in the knees, even the women who are not gay. Most of the women with whom I have become friendly---and never dallied with---say that they block out the sex part and try to think of anything but what they are doing. Women from Pin-up have told me that at least half of their 'sisters' have Toms and are not attracted to men (except you, of course). Some have taken on other low paying jobs during the Covid Era and claim they never intend to go back to the agogos. We'll see if that holds up, as these women made anywhere from 50K to over 100K baht a month before Covid. Tough to beat that during the Boom Years, much less in the Post Covid Era. A good way to get an education, if one is so inclined, is take a half dozen bargirls out for moo ka ta. They really open up---besides eating what I might eat in a week. Sans make-up and in street clothes rather than work outfits, they let down their guard and say what they really think. Yes, some women, especially those from the back of beyond in Isaan, see some aspects of the job as 'glamorous'---make-up, clothes, fancy phones, the occasional rich customer who takes them to a Facebook-post-worthy hi-so restaurant or hotel---but many get wounded badly by the experience. Contrary to a popular farang belief, not all Thai women have a 'it's no big deal' attitude about casual sex or letting men have their way with their bodies. Again, this is my experience and yours may differ. I have found some truly nice women in the business and have gained some friendships along the way that I value. For the most part the women do not have an easy or enviable life. The pressures are great and while the monetary rewards beat what their graduated peers may earn, there is a steep price to pay for it. Yes, some let it roll of their back like water on a duck, but for some it eats away at them and leaves them damaged in the long run.

There's no one size fits all re women who end up in agogos, but here's one. Imagine being a young woman in a small village in Isaan. Your Thai boyfriend gets you with child at age 16. You are 'too confusing' for other students in school, so the school suggests it's better you drop out. You have the child and wonder how to take care of it. The rest of your family sees an opportunity for you (and them). They have heard pretty young women like you, now 18 years old, can go to Bangkok or Pattaya and get a job that pays big money. All you have to do is dance, and maybe a little something else from time to time. Anyway, there's nothing else you can do, as even 7-11 wants a high school diploma. You leave your child with Mom or Grandma and head to Pattaya. A 'friend' from your province back home introduces you to a mamasan, who looks you over and decides you would make a welcome addition to her stable of dancers. You start the job, which pays you a daily fee larger than any money you have ever seen. All you do initially is get on a stage, shuffle a bit to some music, and look at yourself in the mirror. You know men are looking you over, but you're too shy to pay any return attention. Some men call you over when your routine is done and offer to buy you a drink. You know you get 50-60 baht for each drink they buy, and you also know the manager insists on meeting some quota of drinks each month. You can't find much to talk about with the man, as your English is really poor to non-existent, and maybe his isn't so good either. With little to talk about, the man decides just to start touching you. At first you're a bit shocked that he is touching your bare legs, especially when he gets close to what is still covered up. He mentions the term 'barfine', but you're too scared to even think about what you've heard it means. The days pass and you befriend some of the other dancers. They are so glamorous. They know everything about make-up, have the latest mobile phone, and even own their own motorcycle. You watch them with customers, and they are so smooth. Their English is infinitely better than yours, and they are always laughing with the customer and seem happy. They also seem okay that he keeps fondling them. You start asking questions of your colleagues. "What it's like to go with a customer? What do I have to do? Are the farangs really big and does it hurt? How much money does he pay me?" Very quickly you decide to give it a shot. You're petrified, but keep thinking about those phones and motorcycles and also what money you can send home to take care of your child. You let a customer barfine you. You go to a short term hotel. You shower up and come out wrapped in a towel. He showers and comes to the bed naked. He starts removing your towel and touching you everywhere. Pretty soon he is ready for much more. You almost forget what your 'sisters' said about insisting on a condom. The man doesn't want to use one and offers you extra money if he can go without. Maybe you allow it, maybe not. It's all over in an instant, as you've tried to block out what is happening to you. As you leave, he hands you a few thousand baht. Maybe you've never seen a 1000 baht note. Rather than go back to your bar, you go home and try to sleep. You cannot fall asleep as you just keep thinking about what happened. You don't like being touched and entered, but that money looks pretty good. Is this something you can do again? Do you want to do it again? The next morning you send 2000 baht home to your mother. You call her on your cheap, second hand phone you bought in the market back home. Your mother is so excited by the sudden windfall. You lie to her about how you got the money (but your mother knows the truth). Back at the bar the next night you get barfined again, and again walk away with a few thousand baht. This time you send just 1000 baht home. You want to go shopping and buy some new clothes. One of your sisters told you that you can even get a brand new phone and only pay about 1000 baht, at least now. Then you just pay some money every month, but you get the phone today. How cool is that! You call home on your new phone, and your brother wants to talk to you. He needs some money. You tell him you'll send it tomorrow. You go to work, but tonight no customer wants to barfine you. Are you not pretty enough? Yes, those other ladies are so sexy. They have really big nom that they got at a doctor's office. Maybe you need to get some of those, too. Your brother calls asking where his money is. You tell him you didn't get paid, so maybe tomorrow. He's angry. It's your fault he doesn't have any money. What kind of sister are you? You feel really bad not fulfilling your obligation. Soon enough you get another barfine. You're getting used to the whole thing. You begin to understand men and what they want. You begin to feel you have some power. Other ladies have told you how they even get men who go back home to send them money every month 'to keep you away from other men'. You ask the ladies, "Do you really stop going with customers?" They laugh at your naivete. Maybe they sit you down and give you a lecture on the world as they know it. You walk away believing that farangs are walking ATMs and you have their PIN. On your calls home, your brother is joined by an uncle or two who also want to 'borrow' money. Mom wants more, too. Mom wants the same phone you have, and don't you think you owe her at least that much? The demands for money keep going higher, and your 'family' accepts no excuses. You feel the pressure of filial piety, but also know deep down they are using you. When you think about it you hate what you do with the customers, but it's too late. That is now who you are---someone who has sex for money---and you know your family will never stop asking for more and more. The pressures eat at you. A sister who always seems okay offers you something to take. The pill goes well with the alcohol you are drinking each day. The pills become a habit. You're strong. You can take it....your job, that is. You are in charge, fooling the customers into thinking you like them. You know how to deliver the experience they want, and get paid more for doing it well. You sometimes wonder if you'll get sick from what you do. You know the monthly check-ups are a joke, and you also know of sisters who get really sick. You start to look a little ragged. The long hours, the mental strain, the alcohol and pills, the pressure from family all take a toll. You need more make-up to make yourself look beautiful. You need other kinds of pills, too. Some days you can't get a customer, and you know it's because the other ladies are more beautiful and sexy. You know you need to get some silicon. You also decide you need some tattoos. You don't really think about what or why, you just start getting inked. You see another tattoo you like, and find a spot for that, too. You also add a nose piercing and one in your navel. Your whole body is changing even faster than your mind. Life is becoming a blur. Go to work, drink lots of Tequila, get a customer to take you out, have sex, get a few thousand baht, go out after work with your 'sisters' and blow most of your money on more alcohol, then somehow go home by 5am and try to sleep. By 8am your mother or brother or uncle is calling looking for money. You try to sleep again. You wake up at 5pm, heat some water and make a bowl of Mama Noodles, then start getting ready for work. Rinse and repeat. This is now your life.....and all because some boy got you pregnant and then walked away from you. You don't even want to think about the future, because you don't know if there is a way out. There probably isn't much of a way out. You're kind of damaged goods, at least in the eyes of Thai society. You're all tatted up and pierced. You have next to no education. Any Thai who looks at you knows what your work is. Some men might want to take a romp with you, but no way they are interested in a relationship. You've had too many men, or you are too deep in the bargirl culture to ever be trustworthy. Maybe you can get a moto-taxi driver as a mate, a guy who sells substances on the side and may have a penchant for being a little rough with his women. Maybe you can land a foreigners 3-4 decades your senior who will take care of you. You're good at feigning affection, so maybe you can pull that off. Plus, you can still go with customers even if you're with the foreigner. He won't know, and you can just lie if you need. If you cannot get the moto-taxi guy or the chubby old farang, you might find work in a beer bar. You've lost the look the agogos seek, so you move down the chain to places where the customer base is less demanding, but also less affluent. You drink, play games with the customers, and sometimes go short time for a fraction of what you used to command in the agogo. Life didn't quite turn out how you dreamed it would back when you were a teen. Your daughter is now 18 years old. You are also a grandmother and you're not even 40. Your daughter tells you she's heading for Pattaya to work.

Given the entry requirements, including the possibility that one might end up in quarantine for 2 weeks at one's own expense, the likely visitor would NOT be: -Families (too many chances for a positive in the group) -Those with wives, GFs or property (already came back through the Phuket Sandbox) -Couples (too much hassle vs other destinations, plus one more chance of a positive test in the party of 2) So who would be the likely entrant? -Single male Now some will come re4gardless of the rules and restrictions, but some % of those who want to come will not come now if bars are closed. Thus, the rules put quite a limit on how many people will show up in November.

If this is the case, it will be primarily be Thais passing the infection to Thais. The foreigners coming in will be double vaxxed and will have tested negative. Even if they pick up the virus once in Thailand, double vaxxed people carry a lesser viral load (as the latest research shows), and also their immune system rids the body of the virus faster. The recent entrants will also have their movement monitored via the Mor Chana app, whereas foreigners currently in Thailand are not required to download that app nor have movements monitored. Not all foreigners currently in Thailand have been vaxxed, and not all have been or will be tested. Similarly, Thais are not required to download the app, even if neither vaxxed nor tested. The new system has a lot of the 'rules for the sake of rules' and not a whole lot of logic. The opening of many venues, which may happen as Thailand relaxes its restrictive measures, will put Thais in touch with other Thais to a greater extent that currently. Not all of these Thai workers will be double vaxxed, so they will be more vulnerable than the vaxxed. If a surge does develop, I suspect the reaction will be to close the borders, which in light of who the actual carriers and transmitters of the virus are, is not logical. Closing venues where infections are found to spread easily would make more sense, but closing borders---when the entrants would be negative-testing, double vaxxed people---would make no sense. Thus, that is what they likely will do.

More important, one could make a strong argument that Thailand's economic development owes a debt of thanks to the bargirls. How many project and facilities managers came scouting for locations for a new regional plant, had a great time in Patpong or Nana or a soapie, and that influenced their recommendation for their parent company to set up in Thailand? I think things like tax incentives look good on paper, but a pleasant memory is likely a lot more influential. How many young financial analysts working for Western investment banks came to scout out 'emerging markets', had a similarly great time in Bangkok or Pattaya, and wrote glowingly of Thailand's prospects, even upping it's 'recommended weighting' in an emerging markets' index? Males are easily influenced by female affections, real or imagined. Business has a very human element to it, despite what biz schools might teach. Rather than try to pretend the industry doesn't or never existed, there ought to be a statue or postage stamp reflecting the valuable contribution bargirls have made far beyond the tourism industry. Without FDI and portfolio weighting, Thailand might still be a sleepy backwater nation with a fraction of its current GDP. It might be attractive as a sleepy, Laos-like backwater land, but most Thai people probably prefer what investment and tech transfer brought it.

Yes, before those GIs, Thailand had no sex outside of intentional procreation between married adults. It was Paradise, Shangri-la, Heaven and Valhalla all rolled into one. Prostitution was unknown in Thailand until 1965, and of course doesn't exist today. I bet it was also those GIs who established Bangkok's Thaniya Street, too: "Irasshaimase" His comments were thinly veiled tribalism. Perhaps he could have been more honest and said, "Thailand has always had a vibrant sex industry, but with the arrival of GIs in the 1960s, a portion of it began to target the new foreign market".

Little finger from the ladies, middle finger from the men.....pretty soon he'll have an entire hand he can use to pleasure himself.

Having been in Thailand for the entire Covid Era, if there is anything that irritates me, it's the flip flopping as the situation changes. Gyms are open, then closed, then opened again, then closed again. Restaurants are open for dine-in, then closed, then open again, then closed again. Three times since April 2020 shops have been forced shut. Minor irritations in the grand scheme, perhaps, but irritations nonetheless. Being one with a little too much empathy, it has been painful to watch shop after shop get shuttered, its owner throwing in the towel. More painful has been watching the sidewalks of Bangkok and Pattaya fill up early evening with folks with no place to sleep other than rough. I came into Covid healthy and financially flush, and when Covid ends---or we simply come to terms with its Sword of Damocles presence---I'll exit the same way. My biggest problem was boredom; other folks biggest problem was far far worse, so I know I'm luckier than many. As for normal, I think there really will be a 'new normal'. The world we knew in 2019 is gone forever. Covid is part, perhaps a major part of how the world has changed, but other issues have popped in that say it's all going to be different now, from travel to work to health concerns to xenophobia to politics to business to globalization (or not) to the environment..... The New World is: -less globalized -more vertically integrated companies or with captive local suppliers -more tribal/fear of 'others' -much less patient (see increasing incidences of road rage and flight rage) -less belief in science and more in myth, superstition and the embrace of---even pride in---willful ignorance, kind of Dark Ages 2.0 -less belief in democracy, a greater acceptance of authoritarianism -smaller cities, as work-from-home and fear of crowded places disperses humanity -more fear of flying and overall less travel -an obviously changing physical environment with more floods, droughts, excessive heat and excessive cold, major storms -even greater migratory flows of people as some economies and environments have been/are being decimated -a much greater concentration of personal wealth than ever (Bezos, Zuckerberg, Musk, Arnault, Putin + about 15 others are now worth more than half of all humanity combined) -a much greater concentration of corporate wealth (Apple is now worth more than the top 100 UK listed companies combined) Humans are adaptable and will adjust, but life is going to be less pleasant than it was, and we likely return to the historical mean that is a lot closer to Hobbes' "nasty, brutish and short" than a Walt Disney world of peace and love. There will be more international disputes, more racism, brushfire wars, armament buildups, the occasional genocide or Rwanda/Cambodia 'incidents, more mass slaughter (the US will share its penchant for that with other nations), and likely a new plague (since 1980 we've had more than at any time in human history----HIV, Hep C, SARS, MERS, Covid, Avian Flu, Swine Flu, West Nile Virus, Ebola, etc.)

For anyone considering a visit to Thailand as the borders 'open up' on 1 November, this is what you can expect: -An onerous application process that involves uploading docs online and getting an electronic "Pass", as opposed to a COE. Such a system might be simple for young people, but older folks are likely to have problems with the new fangled system -A Q-tip up your nose before departure, and another when you land, reminding you just how cavernous is the nasal pathway. One might be acceptable; two becomes overkill -Should anyone in your party not be fully vaxxed, they will need to do a lengthy quarantine at their expense. Since few children have been fully vaxxed, say goodbye to those folks Thailand wanted to attract to their 'family destinations' -Should anyone in your party test positive for Covid, you will need to do quarantine at your expense -Should you avoid the the two previous requirements, you will not be able to enjoy any sort of alcohol with your meal, nor stop into a bar for a drink as you unwind from your day of temple visits So what sort of person---who has a world of alternatives where he can spend his travel funds---is going to be attracted to Thailand at this time, where---if he accepts a drink from a restaurant scofflawing the rules he might get arrested and fined? Likely the only ones so attracted will either be those with family or property in Thailand (but the majority already entered through the Phuket Sandbox) or else single men who are in the mood to link up with a young Thai woman. Unless TAT has recently redefined 'quality tourist', it is unlikely the folks willing to tolerate Thailand's requirements will fall into the category originally envisaged. It seems Thailand has a wildly over-inflated view of its attractiveness. November 1 might begin to disabuse them of their prideful notions.

Police and govt officials were out en masse last night in Bangkok, from Soi 4 to Soi 8, making sure all restaurants were in compliance with the 'no alcohol' rule. As one might expect, all venues were totally in compliance with the rules and no alcohol was found to be sold during the inspection. Restaurant staff were reminded that even take out alcohol sales were prohibited, as such sales are the function of 7-11s, not restaurants. (Yes, I know.)

Among themselves the women don't use the term โสเภณี, but instead use กะหรี่ , which is particularly nasty slang

Great actors and raconteurs. O'Toole in Lawrence of Arabia is one of the screen's greatest performances. Burton was great in some of his less popular films, such as The Spy Who Came in From the Cold and The Comedians (with Elizabeth Taylor, Peter Ustinov, Alec Guinness, Roscoe Lee Brown). Burton was one of two of the best guests on talk shows, the other being Orson Welles. Welles just blurted out an interesting quip once that blew right past Dick Cavett...."Ignorance: there's no authority in the world like it".