Bob

AMAZING! How can the driver shift? How can you balance all of those people? I would hate to come to a stop sign.

It's pretty routine in the rural areas to have at least 3 on a motorsy. Even in Chiangmai, I have on occasion sat on the pedestrian overpass in Chiangmai near the Worarat Market just to take some photos of unbelievably loaded motorsys passing by. Mom, dad, two kids, and baby on the gas tank is all too common.

P.S. Nice avatar, Wino. Looks like we've got a similar family tree....

Is anyone familiar with a good and economical lodging in Hua Hin for a couple of days? I'm planning to head out there with my wife for a weekend. Please advise.

I've stayed at the Peony there a couple of times. Good location and, while I don't remember the price, it wasn't too bad. See if you can get a first floor room right off the pool. I would note that the furniture there is rather spartan.

Thought I posted this here (photo was taken by Toq, a member of another board). And, yes, you can guess the number of people on the bike (and it isn't 6).

The full moon is on November 2 of this year. Is the festival in Chiang Mai November 1, 2, and 3? I will probably not be able to attend the Chiang Mai festival this year, but am interested to know if the festival is the three days before the full moon. Thanks.

The answer is "yes" but the big parade and biggest events at the Taipae Gate are on the 2nd. There are events each of the two nights before at Taipae Gate (and probably elsewhere but I've only gone to the gate area) and they do a very small parade each of those two evenings before.

Some people float their krathongs on the two evenings before but 90%+ of all activity occurs on the 2nd itself.

In CM Loy Krathong lasts for 3 days with fireworks and lanterns. On the last night there is a huge street parade with beautifully colored and lighted krathong (floats). I was there last year and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Ditto. The largest parade (from Taipae Gate to the Narawat bridge) is on the third night (on the actual Loy Krathong day, I believe) and consists of beautifully lit floats, bands, and whatnots. The number of lanterns being launched into the sky is amazing (and probably why you don't see many aircraft in the area that evening). Four weeks from Monday, I'll be floating my own krathong down the Ping.

The weather people here in the states say this particular typhoon is going to be extremely nasty. Apparently, after it goes through the north of Luzon, it's going to stall out and hang around just off the northwest coast - and they're talking about upwards of 20 inches of rain. Best of luck to all concerned.

This is the same chance any defendant takes in making a deal...judges don't typically deviate from the recommendation, but I've seen it happen more than once.

That's true and I've seen it happen many times too - but it's always been based on the pre-sentence report unearthing some nasty things (like other crimes or proclivities) or something the defendant did since the plea was accepted. And it works both ways - I've seen judges give less than the recommended sentence where good things were unearthed by the report.

For those that don't know, a defendant, after entering a plea (or after being found guilty at trial) goes through a pre-sentence investigation conducted usually by a probation officer. That officer then writes a report and then recommends a sentence in writing - and oftentimes, if the state has sentencing guidelines, includes the calculations or ranges of times provided by those guidelines. That report and recommendation is given to the judge, prosecutor, and the defendant. Just prior to sentencing, the judge will ask the defendant if he takes any issue with any of the factual statements in the report and gives the defendant (or, oftentimes, his counsel) the opportunity to correct any errors. The prosecutor is essentially asked the same thing although they usually don't have much to say as the prosecutor usually isn't involved in the pre-sentence investigation. Then the judge announces the sentence (and that's the first time anybody knows what it will be - which continues to beg the question for me as to how Polanski or his counsel "knew" what the judge might do). And, I'd note, in my experience, the judge's first consideration of what the sentence will be is either right before the hearing when he reads the pre-sentence report and/or when he arrives on the bench and decides at that point in time.

In probably 95% of the cases, the recommendation is followed by the court rather blindly.

Meth, like crack, turns users into addicts very quickly and breeds paranoia and violence.

Sure does. A Thai friend from Khon Kaen told me about a fellow student, high on the stuff, jumping off the top of one of the dorm buildings. My good friend in Chiangmai has repeated the same type of stories - kids committing suicide, engaging in senseless violence against friends and family members, and just going berserk. And, occasionally, one sees the newspaper article about some guy high on meth hacking his wife and kids to death.

I'm not sure why yaba isn't manufactured in Thailand - and maybe it is. But the major job of the cops/military in the north these days is to try to interdict the stuff coming in from Burma (estimated, according to newspaper articles, at millions of pills per month). There's also some scuttlebut going around that the Burmese military is involved in the trade and using it as a method to finance their operations (and I wouldn't doubt that at all).

10) They are running to the bathroom to vomit.

9) All the pretty young ladies have a big smile on their face.

8) They all wore a paper bag over their head so their mommas wouldn't see them on the next Top 10 list.

7)

The Sisters Of Mercy eventually gave up teaching and became a kick ass goth band.

Heck, I thought I saw a few of them later on the defensive line for the Chicago Bears.

Bob,

What order of nuns were they? At my school they were BVM's (Black Veiled Monsters). We had a Sister Mary Edna too who was a terror to 5th graders. I wonder if it was the same bitch. I had Sister May Albia in 6th grade who was even worse.

We had the Sisters of Mercy. Come to think of it, I don't recall experiencing any mercy from those old birds.

You can´t miss "walking street if you go to Pattaya. It´s a weird but exciting blend of exotic bars and girls, with many people welcoming you and friendly faces. Nice prices if you want to eat delicious sea food.

I agree with your comments other than the part about "many people welcoming you and friendly faces." Other than the touts trying to entice (or should I say "irritatingly cajole?") you into whatever bar or restaurant, the only other "friendly faces" at least later into the evening are people with that alcohol afterglow.

Yet, Walking Street is typical Pattaya and ought to be experienced by anyone visiting the area. I rather enjoy on rare occasion just stopping for a few beers and simply watching in awe/amazement/humor what's walking up and down the street. Sorta like going to the county fair....hehe.

I like them both. I do not like to receive my news from only one place.

Like Wino, I like to alternate between the two of them.

My major gripe with both of these newspapers is that either (1) neither paper hires competent investigative reporters or (2) the editorial boards of the papers squelch any useful reporting. Or, perhaps, the libel laws of Thailand prevent any effective reporting.

It was damn near 50 years ago since I hung around those beastly penguins.....but just thinking about them still gives me the willies.

I can still remember our principal, Sister Mary Edna (a/k/a Hurricane Edna) lifting a friend of mine by the hair about a foot off the ground and slapping him silly. I would note, however, that my friend never again did smart off to the old bitch....hehe.

And, god, were those beasts ugly. I'm still traumatized by having seen a couple of them after their headgear flew off on the playground. Lovely facial hair though (come to think of it, some of them looked like my avatar to the left....).

The thing is he wouldn't have pled guilty if he'd known the judge wasn't going to honor the terms of the plea bargain, and given the state of California law at the time it's unlikely that he would have been convicted at trial.

Smoker, I can fully understand that - presuming that, as part of the plea bargain placed on the record in court, there was any part of the deal that said he was guaranteed "such and such" sentence. Do you know that to be the case?

I'm not sure what you mean by "given the state of California law at the time." I read the transcript of the girl's testimony to the grand jury and I, for one, would have bet a jury would have nailed him. In spite of a few notorius trials, the jury rarely gets it wrong.

I don't see why there'd be any problem with getting a retirement visa either in or outside of Thailand as long as you qualify (50 years of age and have the appropriate income or bank account amount.

I don't know diddley about work permits but thought they were totally separate from visas (although maybe they can somehow be combined). But I do know your retirement visa gives you no right to be employed.

I imagine the closing of businesses related to the movie and music industries has a lot more to do with their insanely overpriced products than customers burning bootlegs.

I'm not so sure of that - especially when you often can buy a dvd ripoff of a movie in Asia (i.e., Thailand) within a few weeks of the movie's release! And for 100 baht (heck of a lot less than going to the movie theater).

Back in the "napster" days, I was looking forward to the release of the new Sek Loso album "Black & White." I happened to download it for free the week before it was released! (yea, I know, I'm bad....)

I agree with a statute of limitations on many crimes...but never on crimes of violence, which this was. Take a few minutes to read over what Polanski did, and you'll see this was not a momentary acting out, but plays more like a deliberate plan.

The statute of limitations doesn't apply here as he was convicted (by pleading guilty) and fled the jurisdiction. Even if he fled before he was arrested, the statute of limitations is tolled while you're out of the jurisdiction (the jurisdiction being California).

The kid was just being a smartass and asking for it. Wish I had had the balls to do that but the nuns would have kicked the shit out of me.

Khadafy is really a nutcase.

Much, much, too kind.

but when you see the crown jewels and other .........it is impressive.

Chuckie drop his pants again?

Speaking of that, lvdkeyes, maybe time for a little more humor. Not sure where I got this photo years ago:

Ah, the "good old days." We do have selective memories.

My dad, when he was alive, would rarely talk about the difficult life on the farm back in the teens and twenties; but, whenever he did, he always ended the story with the same comment: "You know, I don't miss it a damn bit!"

Okay, maybe some time for a little humor? (and I hope this isn't too unacceptable). And I have no clue where I found this one as I've had it for years.

When they say buying amphetamines, are they talking about crystal meth, or something else? Does Thailand have a meth problem? I would assume heroin is an issue there, but don't really know what other drugs of choice are popular in Thailand.

Same, same: ya ba (which literally means "crazy medicine" in Thai) = crystal meth = ampetamine = speed. Oftentimes or at least originally, it also contained caffeine.

And, yes, it's the big kahuna in Thailand and mainly is smuggled across the border from Burma (although apparently it's coming in from Laos and Cambodia too). Very addictive and the user wants/needs more and more of the stuff. Nasty stuff.