bust

Probably hasn't. I am sure First Hotel was there back then. Sits across from the Police compound. Current owner has been there for over 25 years.

Google translate is a language all of it's own

Not tourists. There are a vast number of sweat shops run in and around Mae Sot due to the abundant supply of migrant workers. Where there's a sweat shop there's usually one or the other.

A long time friend of mine recently passed away and had some of his ashes scattered in Mae Sot. He visited there frequently over the past 15 years in fact was the person who introduced me to the place which has become my favourite destination in LOS outside Bangkok. So I made a promise to visit there on my next trip and pay my respects. There was absolutely no way I was driving up during songkran as the 100 odd km road from Tak to Mae Sot is one of the most dangerous roads I have ever been on. Mountainous and winding, and as most of us know the Thaïs have practically zero common sense when they get behind the controls of any vehicle. The stand out part of the road is the escape route on one of the steeper sections. Any vehicle that used it as a form of slowing down or stopping would very quickly find themselves airborne over a small ravine, as the ramp is maybe 150 feet leading to a sheer drop. It is more like a launching ramp. So a couple of days after Songkran a good mate of mine who lives in Bangkok but who has never visited there and myself jumped in the rental and headed off on the 6 hour journey. For the record the new Honda Accord is very comfortable but has an engine the size of an eggbeater. Completely gutless. After a stop for breakfast in Nakhon Sawan we arrived at First Hotel to check in at about 2.30 pm. I love this hotel as it is basic but central to town and has a very accommodating owner who understands the needs of his guests. He is the guy who introduced me to a regular Burmese girl who would visit my room and give me a 3 hour massage for 360 baht. Also the fact the owner is restoring it in hand-carved reclaimed teak has always fascinated me and I have watched his craftsmanship over the years. To date a work in progress of almost 25 years. So being beer o’clock we headed off to find a cold beer and a feed. Despite its remote location and relatively small size Mae Sot is among the most culturally diverse cities in Thailand. Walking down the streets of the town, you'll see a fascinating ethnic mixture: Burmese men in their longyi, Hmong and Karen women in traditional hill-tribe dress, bearded Muslims, Sri Lankans, Thai army rangers and foreign NGO workers on their pushbikes. My mate suggested we ask one of the female middle aged Ngos where we can find a cold beer and some girls for fun. Although I frequent the place it always takes me a short while to re-familiarise myself with the small town centre. Lots of one-way streets that always confuse my sense of direction. I did however remember a little restaurant that I have eaten breakfast at many times called Bai Fern and managed to navigate us there. I knew they would have a nice cold beer. I guess the temperature was pushing 40. Always a few degrees hotter or colder than Bangkok. So we sat down for lunch a couple of Singhas and prepared ourselves for the conquest ahead, more beer and ladies. There are several very vague reports on the nightlife in Mae Sot. Unless you know where to go or have a reasonable degree of local knowledge, Mae Sot is a ghost town by about 9.00 pm. Way too early for us. Stickman has made a short review and there are a few comments on another board but very little detail is available. I had heard reports of a karaoke bar down near the markets so we decided to make that our next destination. Paying our bill we also asked the lady serving us if she knew of bar with lady in our best way which became a mixture of english/charades. Not many of the ethnic Karens speak much English and my Thai is not at all good. With her shaking her head no and a perfect smile and a giggle we headed off to the town markets. The Burmese Market in the centre of town represents an amazing cultural mix. Here most of the food, apart from the vegetables is either alive or covered in flies. Turtles, eels and frogs all available. I don’t find the other markets nearly as interesting down on the river near the Friendship Bridge as they are more touristy. I do though find the dodgy stalls by the boardwalk at the river amusing with their black market cigarettes and alcohol as well as a good selection of penis enlargement medication and sex toys and some rather dodgy looking Russian made Viagra. A futile trek around the markets yielded nothing except direction to a cold fridge of soda so we decided to head back towards the hotel and finds somewhere to sit down. The heat was starting to take its toll. I had been to a restaurant before run by a Canadian so we made our way there. The Canadian has lived in Mae Sot for 15 years and has a Burmese wife who works in the restaurant with him. Mae Sot was noticeably quiet but I guess the holidays were playing a big part in that. Lots of shops closed up for the week. Sat at the bar under the fans and ordered a couple of Singhas. If I remember correct 60 baht a bottle. The larger ones not the ones we are used to in Bangkok. After a second beer I decided to wonder up towards the gem markets to see if I could find an old friend Mr Sein. I had shown a photo of him to the Canadian to see if he knew him and had seen him around to which he assured me he was still in town. He was from Sri Lanka registered with the UNHCR many years ago. On his U.S. visa application his commitment to honesty was a little bit too honest.. Not wanting to lie he openly acknowledged to the U.S. Embassy that he was once a ‘bomb maker’ and that he was also a devout ‘Muslim.’ Unsurprisingly, the application was rejected. There was no sign of him so I headed back to my friend to down another beer. The Canadian and another customer told us that most of the bars/drinking spots were closed for the break but if we headed about 1 km out of town there were possibly a few places open. So we made plans for the evening. A shower, change clothes and head off again on our conquest for beer woman and song. Feeling a bit fresher and ready to hit the town we asked the guy at the reception desk on our way out if he had any idea where to go for drink and lady. “Oh Lucky Lucky you go Lucky Lucky†he says. He tells us there is a karaoke bar just near 7-Eleven up street. Now I knew exactly where the 7-Eleven was so there we headed. Shame he wasn’t around earlier as the daytime staff had no idea. The 7-Eleven is a bout 50 metres from the hotel. We got there to find two motorbike taxis riders sitting on some old crates drinking beer from a bottle. We asked if they knew where Lucky Lucky was. Oh yes Lucky Lucky and he points to a pulled down shutter across the road. Not open today he tells us. Bummer. So we ask where we can go see lady and drink. His eyes light up and he asks you want lady? Yes and drink. Ok he says we take you. Ummm on bike? I am nervous on bikes to begin with but put a drunk Thai in control and it’s not for me. But the younger one seemed sober enough. So why not besides we didn’t really feel like an early evening. My friend decides to be clever and goes and stands behind the younger sober rider as he said he was no way getting on the drunks bike. Turns out he was waiting behind the drunks bike after all and we both had a good laugh. So we told them to take their time and finish their beer while we summonsed the courage to actually see this through. So on we get and go all the way up one way then all the way back down another road and end up just around the corner from the 7-Eleven. I guess taxi drivers in LOS are the same no matter where you are. We pull up at a doorway on the opposite side of the street just down from Bai Fern. It is just next to an internet café I used to visit years ago before we all had smart phones. Inside is a few tables and chairs small counter, which behind sits a rather attractive Thai lady in her early to mid thirties. The taxi guys beckon us in and show us to another doorway to the rear of the premises. Here we find what we have been looking for. A lounge area consisting of few tables, a couple of lounges occupied by some beautiful Burmese girls, a fridge full of beer and a karaoke machine. Jackpot. So in we go and find a table to sit at and order a bottle of Singha. For the record large bottles 80 baht. Not bad at all. The girls I guess were maybe late teens, early twenties and by no means seemed new to their work but did seem a little surprised to see farangs in their bar. The taxi guys seemed to want to hang around. My mate wanted to smoke but they didn’t allow it in the room so we headed back out to the main area and the Thai lady seated us at a table near the lounge entry. Moments later our taxi guys joined us. Seems they wanted in on the night. Wasn’t going to happen. So we gave them 100 baht each and bid them farewell. The young one left but the old drunk one could be heard later butchering song after song on the Karaoke machine. So just when we think our luck has changed the place gets raided by the immigration Police. The pace they worked gave anyone who shouldn’t be there ample time to either hide or leave in a hurry out the back. So suddenly there was only one Burmese girl and a couple of men left including the drunken taxi guy. So we just ordered another bottle and watched the show. They all were required to show ID and get photographed holding them to prove a match including the Thai lady. All the documents of the bar were photographed. Even my mate and I were photographed. But they did apologised for the inconvenience. We accepted the apology and insisted a group photo to which they agreed. I hadn’t laughed so much in a long time. They finally left after about 20 minutes and shortly things returned to normal with even more girls appearing. So we sat there quietly for the next couple of hours drinking and just observing this fascinating little establishment. Kind of reminded me of that movie The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas. A steady flow of customers rolled in and out. Ranging from young Thai’s, old Thaïs, soldiers, drunk motorbike taxi drivers. I questioned the mamasan how things worked. She told me each punter has the girl for 20 minutes upstairs in a very basic room for 400 baht. Girl takes 300 the bar 100. She insisted condoms were always used but I honestly doubt it. She claimed the girls were regularly sent for check-ups but anyone’s guess whether that was fact. We entertained ourselves by having bets on how long each punter would last. Some of the older men would return in a lather of sweat while the girls wondered back in without a hair out of place. Ann the mamasan who incidentally I was quiet keen to maybe spend some time with after closing explained the girls used to do hotel visits but she put an end to it after one of her girls got pack raped by a group of Arabs one night. They had also had a few violent incidents with Indians as well. They now had a strict policy that they would not service either so the place had really become purely to cater for the local Thaïs. She was true to her word when two Arabs walked in and she told them no girls were available. There was probably half a dozen in the karaoke room. So it was without doubt one of the most memorable evenings I have spent in LOS. Bar closed at 1.00 am and my mate headed back to the hotel while I was whisked away on the back of a bike to an unknown place to continue drinking with Ann. Had absolutely no idea where her room was but consciously tried to find points of reference in case I needed to find my own way back. Fortunately I was delivered back to the hotel in one piece in time for breakfast. Exhausted but without regret. There is absolutely no way I would have found my way back. I have been to a lot of small villages up north and throughout Isaan, but Mae Sot holds the true essence of Amazing Thailand. If you ever get the chance do yourself a favour and visit. On a footnote after breakfast, on our way back to the hotel we ran into Mr Sein. He has finally been granted relocation to the US.

Now we know why Sir Bob doesn't like Mondays ...

A guy calls a company and orders their 5-day, 5kg weight loss program. The next day, there's a knock on the door and there stands before him a voluptuous, athletic, 19 year old babe dressed in nothing but a pair of Nike running shoes and a sign around her neck.. She introduces herself as a representative of the weight loss company. The sign reads, "If you can catch me, you can have me." Without a second thought, he takes off after her. A few miles later puffing and puffing, he finally gives up. The same girl shows up for the next four days and the same thing happens. On the fifth day, he weighs himself and is delighted to find he has lost 5kg as promised. He calls the company and orders their 5-day/10kg program. The next day there's a knock at the door and there stands the most stunning, beautiful, sexy woman he has ever seen in his life. She is wearing nothing but Reebok running shoes and a sign around her neck that reads, "If you catch me you can have me". Well, he's out the door after her like a shot. This girl is in excellent shape and he does his best, but no such luck. So for the next four days, the same routine happens with him gradually getting in better and better shape. Much to his delight on the fifth day when he weighs himself, he discovers that he has lost another 10kg as promised. He decides to go for broke and calls the company to order the 7-day/25kg program. "Are you sure?" asks the representative on the phone. "This is our most rigorous program." "Absolutely," he replies, "I haven't felt this good in years." The next day there's a knock at the door; and when he opens it he finds a huge muscular guy standing there wearing nothing but pink running shoes and a sign around his neck that reads, "If I catch you, you are mine." He lost 33 kilos that week.

Was Tony Bullimore on the passenger list?

So looks like they may have found it about 400 kms off the West Australian coast. http://mobile.news.com.au/world/possible-wreckage-spotted-in-search-for-missing-malaysia-airlines-flight-mh370-raaf-plane-on-its-way-to-identify-objects/story-fndir2ev-1226859680610

I am convinced that nobody really knows.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9crf_outkast-roses_music

I loved the apron she used to wear......"Feminists....Awful Women In Ghastly Clothes"

L'Wren Scott

http://youtu.be/1WHelVsu9x8

A boy walks into a confessional "Bless me Father, for I have sinned. I have been with a loose girl." The priest asks, "Is that you, little Joey Pagano?" "Yes, Father, it is." "And who was the girl you were with?" "I can't tell you, Father. I don't want to ruin her reputation." "Well, Joey, I'm sure to find out her name sooner or later so you may as well tell me now. Was it Tina Minetti?" "I cannot say." "Was it Teresa Mazzarelli?" "I'll never tell." "Was it Nina Capelli?" "I'm sorry, but I cannot name her." "Was it Cathy Piriano?" "My lips are sealed." "Was it Rosa DiAngelo, then?" "Please, Father! I cannot tell you." The priest sighs in frustration. "You're very tight lipped, and I admire that. But you've sinned and have to atone. You cannot be an altar boy now for 4 months. Now you go and behave yourself." Joey walks back to his pew, and his friend Franco slides over and whispers, "What'd you get?" "Four months vacation and five good leads..."

There is a strong rumour circulating around refugee advocates that the plane was diverted to Manus Island where all 239 passengers plus the crew are seeking asylum. According to inside sources this has all be kept clasified in line with the Abbott Government's asylum seeker policy. The new dfaft policy "Turn The Planes Back" is being drawn up at the moment.

Investigators conclude missing jet hijacked, steered off course, official say Investigators trying to solve the disappearance of a Malaysia Airlines jetliner have concluded that one of the pilots or someone else with flying experience hijacked the missing Boeing 777 and steered it off course, according to a Malaysian government official. The official, who is involved in the investigation, told The Associated Press on Saturday that no motive has been established, and it is not yet clear where the plane was taken. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media. The official said that hijacking was no longer a theory. "It is conclusive," he said. He said evidence that led to the conclusion were signs that the plane's communications were switched off deliberately, data about the flight path and indications the plane was steered in a way to avoid detection by radar. The jet's communication with the ground was severed under one hour into a flight March 8 from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Malaysian officials have said radar data suggest it may have turned back and crossed back over the Malaysian peninsula westward, after setting out toward the Chinese capital. Earlier, a senior U.S. official told Fox News that the search effort will broaden deep into the Indian Ocean, based on new intelligence assessments that there is a "higher probability" the aircraft went down in that region. As a consequence of shared U.S.-Malaysian intelligence assessments, it is understood that the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Kidd will expand its search into a southern quadrant of the ocean, while Indian authorities will cover a northern quadrant. The development comes as authorities speculate that the disappearance may have been an "act of piracy,†and more evidence suggests the plane was diverted by a skilled pilot before it vanished, U.S. and Malaysian officials familiar with the investigation said Friday. A Malaysian government official involved in the mysterious case said only a skilled person could navigate the Boeing 777 the way it was flown after its last confirmed location over the South China Sea, the Associated Press reported earlier Friday. The official declined to be identified because he is not authorized to brief the media. Key evidence for "human intervention" in the plane's disappearance is that contact with its transponder stopped about 12 minutes before a messaging system quit, an unidentified American official told the Associated Press. The official -- also not authorized to speak publicly -- said it's also possible the plane may have landed somewhere. ABC News quoted two unidentified American officials as saying the U.S. believes the plane's data reporting system and transponder were shut down separately, at 1:07 a.m. and 1:21 a.m. Such a scenario would indicate the plane did not disappear due to some kind of catastrophic failure. A source familiar with the investigation but not authorized to speak on the record told Fox News that flight 370 continued to send "periodic pushes" of data after the transponder went dark for about four hours after contact was lost with the aircraft, suggesting the jet continued to fly. This was described to Fox News as signals data that, in isolation, would not provide location data. While the systems were no longer transmitting maintenance data, the satellite communication link was still active. Once an hour, the system sent out a “handshake†-- a form of reset, like a cell phone searching for an antenna tower. The “handshake†allows the satellite to work out how much tilt or arc was needed to be in range of the plane's signal. It therefore provides a scope or range for the aircraft, but it does not provide altitude, speed or location. If the plane had disintegrated during flight or had suffered some other catastrophic failure, all signals — the pings to the satellite, the data messages and the transponder — would be expected to stop at the same time. Analysis of the Malaysia flight data suggests the plane diverted from its intended northeast route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing and instead flew west, using airline flight paths normally taken to the Middle East and Europe, Reuters reported Friday. This points to the theory that the plane was being flown by the pilots or possibly someone familiar with those routes, according to sources in the Reuters report. Details such as these are leading investigators to sharpen their focus the possibility of sabotage, The Wall Street Journal reported late Friday. Mike Glynn, a committee member of the Australian and International Pilots Association, said he considers pilot suicide to be the most likely explanation for the disappearance, as was suspected in a SilkAir crash during a flight from Singapore to Jakarta in 1997 and an EgyptAir flight from Los Angeles to Cairo in 1999. "A pilot rather than a hijacker is more likely to be able to switch off the communications equipment," Glynn said. "The last thing that I, as a pilot, want is suspicion to fall on the crew, but it's happened twice before." "What we can say is we are looking at sabotage, with hijack still on the cards," said that source, a senior Malaysian police official. Malaysian police have previously said they were checking whether any passengers or crew had personal or psychological problems that might offer clues to why the plane vanished, along with the possibility of a hijacking, sabotage or mechanical failure. Speaking earlier Friday, acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said the country had yet to determine what happened to the plane after it dropped off civilian radar and ceased communicating with the ground around 40 minutes into the flight to Beijing. He said investigators were still trying to establish with certainty that military radar records of a blip moving west across the Malay Peninsula into the Strait of Malacca showed Malaysia Airlines flight 370. "I will be the most happiest person if we can actually confirm that it is the MH370, then we can move all (search) assets from the South China Sea to the Strait of Malacca," he told reporters. Until then, he said, the international search effort would continue expanding east and west from the plane's last confirmed location. The Malaysian official said it had now been established with a "more than 50 percent" degree of certainty that military radar had picked up the missing plane. Scores of plane and aircraft from 12 countries are currently involved in the search, which currently reaches into the eastern stretches of the South China Sea and on the western side of the Malay Peninsula, northwest into the Andaman Sea and further into the India Ocean. http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/03/14/malaysia-airlines-search-heads-toward-indian-ocean/

Oil rig worker says he saw Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 burst into flames IN what could be the last chilling sighting of missing Flight MH370, an oil rig worker believes he spotted the Malaysia Airlines jetliner burst into flames on Saturday morning. New Zealander Mike McKay, who is working on a rig operating in the Gulf of Thailand, was so certain he saw the ill-fated flight on fire that he emailed his employers, urging them to pass the information onto authorities. “Gentlemen. I believe I saw the Malaysian Airlines flight come down. The timing is right,†he wrote. “I tried to contact Malaysian and Vietnamese officials days ago. But I do not know if the message has been received. “I am on the oil ring Songa-Mercur off the coast of Vung Tau. “The surface location of the observation is Lat 08 22’ 30.20†N Lat 108 42.22.26†E. “I observed (the plane?) burning at high altitude at a compass bearing of 265* to 275*†Mr McKay is working on the oil rig Songa Mercur off Vung Tau, on the south east coast of Vietnam. This would put the plane in the same general area where a Chinese satellite has spotted a suspected crash site. In his email to his employers on March 12 he claims he saw flames in the sky which quickly extinguished. “From when I first saw the burning (plane) until the flames went out (still at high altitude) was 10-15 seconds. There was no lateral movement, so it was either coming toward our location, stationary, or going away from our location,†he wrote. “The general position of the observation was perpendicular/south west of the normal flight paths.†Mr McKay said the possible plane appeared to be in one piece. I spotted it ... the letter written by oil rig worker Mike McKay. Source: AAP “It is very difficult to judge the distance but I would say 50 to 70 kms along the compass bearing 260-277,†he wrote. “The sea surface current at our location is 2-2.3 knots in the direction of 225-230. “The wind direction has been E-ENE averaging 15-20 knots. “(We see the con trails every day) and at a lower altitude than the normal flight paths or on the compass bearing 265 to 275 intersecting the normal flight paths at normal altitude but further away.†Michael Jerome McKay signed off with “Good Luckâ€. Near the crash site? ... the Songa Mecur oil rig off Vung Tau, Vietnam. Source: Supplied Vietnam’s air traffic management deputy general director Doan Huu Giasaid has reportedly confirmed they received Mr McKay’s original email. “He said he spotted a burning [object] at that location, some 300km southeast of Vung Tau,†he reportedly said. Other Vietnamese officials have reportedly since dismissed the account after not finding anything in the water. US ABC News anchor Bob Woodruff confirmed he spoke with Richard Beaton at Japanese Idemitsu Oil & Gas Co, who hired Songa Mercur to drill, and confirms Mr McKay’s email is real. Vietnamese naval officer Le Minh Thanh told America’s ABC News that Vietnamese officials sent a plane to the area to investigate the man’s claims, but the search was fruitless. http://www.news.com.au/world/oil-rig-worker-says-he-saw-malaysia-airlines-flight-mh370-burst-into-flames/story-fndir2ev-1226853302184

Just out of curiosity why was he recording? Was he expecting trouble or was it staged,

Reality is nobody has a clue.......especially the Malaysians

http://aca.ninemsn.com.au/

Fariq Hamid the co-pilot apparently is notorious for inviting woman to join them in the cockpit