"The Rounds" July 29, 2005

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Just want to remind you that the folks from ThaiVisa.com are having a party this coming Friday, a party open to one and all.

Follow the graphic link below to find further information about what promises to be a terrific event -- then plan on being there!

I just now ran across a report at the Thai News Agency carrying the headline's news.

In a story the agency ran this past Thursday headlined "Martial law in deep South revoked" it is said the lifting of martial law was effective from Thursday after the move received the Royal Endorsement of His Majesty the King. The emergency executive decree the Cabinet passed Friday, July 15th that grants the Prime Minister considerable powers in addressing the violence in the troubled region has been in effect in the 3 southernmost provinces and a few districts in neighboring Songkhla Province.

The report clarifies the workings of the emergency decree. A monitoring committee is to recommend to the Prime Minister steps to take, or he can decide on his own. Those with which he agrees he then asks the Cabinet to endorse. As for the powers, he can in this way declare a state of emergency in specified areas for up to 3 months at a time. Arrests with charge for a maximum of 7 days per time and for no more than a total of 30 days must be approved by the courts.

While the report doesn't address local residents' feelings towards the change in status, presumably they are at least glad for martial law to have been lifted, something widely reported to be strongly opposed by some there.

Events will undoubtedly continue unfolding at a rapid pace. [Saturday, July 23, 2005]

CNN International is reporting blasts in the Egyptian city of Sharm el-Sheikh and a nearby resort area at the southern end of the Sinai Peninsula on the Red Sea in a story headlined "Egyptian resort blasts kill dozens."

The blasts are said to have occurred about 5:15 A.M. this morning [Saturday], Bangkok time, which is just over 6 hours ago, so details are still sketchy.

And today is Egypt's National Day, its equivalent of, say, America's 4th of July and France's Bastille day. No doubt the date was deliberately chosen to increase the shock effect of the explosions.

The incident is all the more chilling for having come the same day -- British time -- that Londoners were shocked by repeat bombings Friday in 3 subway stations and a public bus, the same as 2 weeks before, though with far fewer casualties yesterday than 2 weeks ago.

The CNN story quotes one local resident as saying he imagines there won't be a high season for tourists there -- and the tourist season is just starting for the popular resort.

As just one observer, my concern beyond, of course, the wanton violence, injuring, killing, and destruction, is the randomness of attacks over the past several months, and that the very randomness of them combined with what some take to be people of the same religion and/or nationality as their victims might encourage a rise in domestic terrorism -- including here in Thailand. I hope against hope I'm entirely wrong, to be sure.

I also hope various voices of Islam will be as many and as swift in condemning this latest attack as they were in the wake of the first London bombings a fortnight ago. Even if someone condemning such actions publicly privately approves, maybe those hearing or reading his message will be influenced -- towards peace.

Meanwhile, I offer my heartfelt, if arguably useless, sympathy to the victims and to the Egyptian people. [Saturday, July 23, 2005]

The "Northern Capital" -- which it once was -- is receiving serious attention from the Tourism Authority of Thailand according to a story in today's edition of The Nation captioned "Bt2bn Lanna plan to rival Disneyland."

The Chiang Mai area of Thailand is home to the Lanna people, a tribal group perhaps best known for the former kingdom there. While I haven't been to Chiang Mai, Lamphun and Mae Hong Son provinces -- targets for development under the ambitious plan -- I have been to Chiang Rai Province in the same part of the Kingdom, and found it wonderfully peaceful and beautiful.

The plan focuses of four measures: an under-construction convention center with seating for 3,000 in Chiang Mai scheduled for completion in 2007, the already-operational Chiang Mai Night Safari (which is showing up larger on the map all the time), a central market in Chiang Mai (though I'm not clear from the article whether there's already a basis for a market or if this would be an entirely new project), and a privately built and operated tram system connecting the 3 provinces to make moving around fast, convenient, and inexpensive.

Further, authorities in Lamphun Province are expected to set up a shopping area in Muang district, as would Chiang Mai provincial authorities in that province's Fang District, the report adds.

The area is attractive, though until a few years ago it was at a disadvantage in that one had absolutely no choice but to reach it from an international departure point by coming through Bangkok. There are now some direct international direct air links to Chiang Mai, with more planned. While the area can get quite warm -- over 40°C/104F° -- even at its coldest it rarely ventures below freezing, even atop the higher peaks of the mountains there.

With the relatively modest proposed budget of under US$52 at present exchange rates versus an expected spending by tourists of upwards of 25 times that amount, the proposal sounds to be a great idea if everything in the report is accurate.

To put this in another context than the newspaper article does, Thailand has very much to offer far away from the violence-plagues Deep South and the tsunami-devastated regions, both not doing well in terms of tourism. While increased tourism in the far North won't directly benefit the Deep South, it would of course benefit the national economy.

Competing with Hongkong's Disneyland slated to open this coming September may be a bit ambitious, but even if it is, the plan could very well help invigorate the regional economy.

Reports from friends and in the media in the past suggest 2 other areas that may deserve governmental attention: inadequate local public transport and, at least in the case of Chiang Mai, problems with garbage disposal. None of the target locations are alone in these problems (think Pattaya-Jomtien, for instance), but if the TAT is going to drop a wad of money into this plan, someone needs to help them out in those areas, too.

I hope to see a very successful project come online, on schedule, and within budget in 2007 -- and, hopefully, without controversy, for once! [Saturday, July 23, 2005]

I was delighted to read the further great news that Malaysia-based Air Asia has signed a sponsorship deal with the world-famous -- and world-class -- British football team Manchester United. (To my U.S.A. brethren, "football" is what we call "soccer" but which the entire rest of the planet calls football! Of course, the rest of the planet also calls rugby football, which is a point for us!)

Now, you may wonder why I would be pleased a Malaysian-based carrier bagged a sponsorship deal with one of the world's football powerhouses. The answer is simple: one branch of the airline is ThaiAirAsia, the Thailand-based component of the company (well, that's a glimpse of the blindingly obvious, isn't it???). The local arm is 51% controlled by the Prime Minister's business interests, so if this deal benefits the parent corporation it will also benefit ThaiAirAsia -- and, therefore, the Kingdom.

Football is wildly popular here, and some of you no doubt recall an effort to involve Thailand in buying a premier team that ultimately didn't work out in recent year's, largely over concerns about just how such an expensive undertaking would be financed.

The airline plans to paint one of its current fleet in the team's colors to promote awareness of AirAsia on a global stage. (Heck, the deal is already garnering attention right across time zones.)

Airline management must be confident of success: they recently placed firm orders for 60 Airbus 320's, configured to carry up to 180 passengers each, with options on another 40. That's a whole bunch of jetliners by anyone's standards, especially for a budget carrier. As I understand it, the airline currently operates just 6 aircraft with 3 Boeing 737-300's slated to join its fleet soon. Going from 6 to at least 69 planes? -- everyone better hope this pays off.

Another aspect of the coup is that the airline joins an enviable line-up of global sponsors of the team such as Nike sports wear. I can't imagine being associated with heavy-weight brand names can do anything but help the airline. I say "coup" because AirAsia is the first budget-carrier ever to reach a sponsorship agreement with a major English Premier League Team.

Yet another is the success of Thai Beverage, Plc in its sponsorship of EPL football team Everton, another very popular team.

More Thai Driving Entertainment

I've seen the lines of traffic lazily slithering around each other, each on the wrong side of the road.

And, of course, the yaba-maddened 18-wheeler driver barreling down the motorway at Warp Factor 9.

Then there are the upcountry folks in China riding their [pedal-powered] bicycles down a highway, blithely ignoring the light-speed traffic seeking to get past them. . . .

But I may have seen the best instance of, um, "interesting" -- remember last week's Chinese curse? -- driving.

I was walking through Washington Square, passing along about in front of the well-known Bourbon Street Restaurant.

Washington Square is a private area, private in the sense that the buildings and "streets" are all owned by the landlord, not the government. In other words, the vehicle-accessible areas are parking spaces and private driveways -- driveways, not proper public thoroughfares.

It was a motorcycle driver who impressed me so much the other day. I've seen all sorts of amazing things involving extended families on small motorcycles -- en masse -- and other spectacles.

But the other day was the first time I had ever seen a motorcycle driver steering his Shetland pony of the motorcycle world motorcycle along at a putt-putt rate with one hand, the other hand being fully occupied in not spilling any of the contents of the foam-rubber soup bowl he was carrying, carrying it only the Fates know where.

Oh, he was driving slowly, carefully -- itself remarkable in The City of Angels, the nickname surely deriving at least in part from the extraordinarily high number of traffic fatalities here.

When I say "soup bowl," that's precisely what I mean. Not a container 2 centimeters across a at the top, 3 centimeters high, and 10 centimeters broad at its base, but some shaped very similarly to a standard Western-style soup bowl, i.e., rather broader across the top than the bottom, and not that deep.

The Accidental Observation triggered a chain of metaphysical thoughts.

"Why," I wondered, "didn't he eat the soup before he began driving again?" That musing was followed immediately by another; "If he is delivering it to someone, why didn't the intended diner come himself/herself to get it?" which led in turn to the speculative musing "I wonder just how far this poor devil has to go before he can stop being a motorized waiter, serving tray held delicately aloft???"

Yes, we have motorcycles plying the sidewalks, including motorcycles driven by Bangkok's Finest. And we have them racing at airliner speeds in the rare instances their drivers are reasonably straight, the traffic is open, and their engines are finely-tuned. We have the delivery boys with their let's-keep-the-pizza-hot boxes built onto the passenger area of their scooters bringing you your anchovy-pineapple-and fermented fish pizza to your doorstep.

But . . . what? "Open-air soup"?

Oh, a footnote. Just as the guy was about even with me, the cellular phone dangling from his belt rang, rang loudly enough to have been heard above The Armageddon. I convulsed -- as did the driver. He was obviously distressed, one hand steering his steed, the other reverently carrying The Chalice, but without a third hand to tend the biological imperative of "One must answer his telephone, no matter what."

Lordy. You just gotta love this place. . . . [Saturday, July 23, 2005]

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Both Good News and Debatable News from Phuket

The Phuket Gazette has 2 stories this week of special interest as far as tourism goes.

First is the story headlined "Phuket flight services picking up." This reports that some of the flights cancelled in the wake of last December's tsunami are being re-established, indicating managers of the airlines involved have some degree of confidence that demand is picking up for those routes. Than be only sweet music to the ears of everyone in the slightest way affected by tourism -- and by the income it generates.

The report cites Thai International, Orient Thai, and Dragon Air as 2 carriers re-establishing international routes to the island resort.

Of particular interest is the quote from a Thai International official saying that despite traffic on the Europe-Phuket route being down 40-50% year-on-year, the carrier's flights for December 26-30, 2005 are already nearly fully booked, a period coinciding with the time various memorial events will take place -- and that in itself indicates a return of confidence to individuals perhaps earlier afraid to travel to one scene where the terrible drama of the tsunami played out.

I sure hope the sector picks up. As many have noted before (including me), the people whose lives were devastated by the disaster are well beyond wanting charity: they want to resume their lives and regain their self-respect, as just about any of us would were we to find ourselves in their distressed situation.

Of a more questionable nature is the story in the report titled "Limo protest delays improved airport taxi service." That is, the moral provenance of the protest is open to debate.

The crux of the protest involves the fact that Phuket's Governor Udomsak Uswarangkura wants to move the metered taxi stand from its current location 50 meters from the terminal to inside the terminal -- where the limo service already has stands for which it pays -- and to let the metered taxi stand inside without charging anything for the concession.

That's a legitimate enough grievance in and of itself. I'm less convinced that fairness is the sole concern of officials of the limo company, who admit it's cheaper for travelers to take a metered taxi into town than it is to hire one of their limousines. In other words, I wonder just how those same managers would react were the operators of the metered taxi stand to be allowed to have it inside the terminal -- at rates in line with what the limousine service pay (which are substantial, to be fair).

Further, the operators of the limousine service aren't reported as being willing to reduce fees for their services so as to compete with metered taxis. In the interest of fairness, again, I should note that just because the story doesn't say they are willing to compete doesn't necessarily mean they aren't willing to do so. But it would be more than surprising to learn that's the case.

Anecdotes indicate that less-than-clever business practices already do nothing, at best, to encourage potential visitors. For example, I reported in a recent column the failings of a hotel in Phuket in serving a friend of mine from the U.S. and his buddies: failing to mention a then-current half-price promotion for a room, a promotion available only at the hotel itself, not through a travel agent; saying the hotel itself would cater a custom dinner when in fact a catering service was hired to handle it; and blithely informing my friend the reason he couldn't watch a cable channel was because "now is the low season and we discontinue cable television service during the low season to save money" or words to that effect.

In other words, I'm reminded of the "logic" exemplified by the Western manager of a hotel in Beijing years ago whose response to occupancy rates below the break-even point was to raise rates by 25% and up to compensate. Sure -- raise the rates to the already dwindling number of occupants to "encourage" them to extend their stays!

It's easy to believe the Beijing hotel's manager's thinking is akin to that of the managers of the limousine service at the Phuket airport.

Losing money for whatever reason, fair or unfair? -- "Raise rates!" A time-honored tradition in many parts of the world.

Including, apparently, Phuket . . . [Sunday, July 24, 2005]

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Cruises in Asia

Ran across an ad for the Asian cruises service of Radisson Seven Seas cruise and was intrigued, so I clicked on the link to go exploring just what the outfit has on offer.

The company offers a lot, that's for sure. You need to be pretty well-heeled to avail yourself of their services, but if you fit that description, you may well want to take a look at their numerous cruises.

I have to admit I'm in absolutely no position to comment one way or another about voyaging on the high seas. A coward at heart, I'm content to ride the ferry between Hongkong and Macau on smooth seas, thank you very much. No seafaring adventure in *my* soul! But I know plenty of devotees of cruises, not least my Mom and Sister, both of whom are fond of riding around the Caribbean.

I'm plain scared to death of getting seasick. A friend of mine who's a former naval aviator in the Korean War era was on Formosa Straits patrol in the late 1950's once when a typhoon hit that volatile stretch of water and spent days puking his toenails right up. No thanks.

But back to Radisson. Thailand does figure into its ports of call. For instance, the line's Hongkong-Singapore cruise stops in Bangkok with optional side trips to Angkor Wat in Cambodia and Luang Prabang in Laos, the former royal capital of The Land of a Million Elephants. (It's not stated in the itinerary what you do if you elect not to take these side trips.) This particular cruise starts at a cool $7,271 -- I *assume* that's U.S. dollars, though that's not indicated.

This cruise is aboard the line's Seven Seas Mariner. (The link takes you to the ship's description page.) A 700-passenger ship, it offers a crew-to-passenger ratio of 1-1.6, high even for a cruise ship. At 709 feet (218.15 meters) long and 93 feet (28.6 meters) wide, this ain't a rowboat! And it sports 8 passenger decks.

I'm particularly intrigued by the line's 2 scheduled sailings to the South Pole, cruises in January, 2006, which start at $7,395 per person.

The cruise departs from the southernmost city in the world, Ushuaia, the capital of Argentina's cumbersomely-named Tierra del Fuego [Land of Fire], Antarctica, and Southern Atlantic Islands Province in the remote Patagonia region of the country.

A mystery arose some years ago about the Antarctic when a, let's see, I think a 9th-century map -- something like that -- was found in the Arab world that accurately outlined Antarctic's land mass. The mystery is that the Antarctic has been ice-covered for millennia, so how in the world did Arab geographers accurately describe it?

Anyway, even if you're not a cruise sort of person but you are a dreamer, as I am, take a look . . . and dream away. [Monday, July 25, 2005]

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Tsunami Scare May Affect Tourist Arrivals

Sunday night's tsunami alert has concerned some people, not least Thailand's tourism officials and those involved in the tourism industry.

But there's good news here that needs to be stressed: first, there wasn't a tsunami, and, second, the alert system worked well, allowing people to make a decision whether to move inland.

Congratulations to the authorities operating the warning system are certainly in high order.

The number of tourists arriving in the Kingdom in general and along the Andaman Sea coast in particular is well below targets for the year to date, and this latest scare isn't likely to help, to say the least.

Yet the quake that struck in the Indian Ocean Sunday night was hundreds of kilometers away from Thailand's shore along the Andaman. Yes, the quake was rather large at 7.3 on the Richter scale, yet that's far weaker than the quake that led to last December's devastating tsunami that took out significant portions of the coast, at the cost of thousands of lives lost and many more people injured and otherwise dislocated.

Occupancy rates along Phuket's world-famous Patong Beach had reportedly crept back up to about 50%, still an anemic figure but an improving one.

What can one say? Yes, a tsunami could strike at any time, and until we have a crystal ball that allows us to know in advance of such calamities, we're stuck with life's uncertainties. Hell, a meteorite could strike, too, the force of scads of Hiroshima-size atomic bombs. I guess a big enough earthquake could cause the west coast of the Kingdom to slide into the watery abyss, for that matter.

But none of those are likely to happen; that's one thing we can predict with reasonable certainty.

Besides, tsunamis aren't "geo-specific" -- i.e., they aren't restricted to any one place on the planet. Look at the one that devastated Portugal a few centuries back, killing tens of thousands -- practically on the opposite side of the planet from Thailand. So, if we're inclined to cancel our trip to an Andaman Sea resort out of fear of a tsunami, it logically follows we won't go to, say, a Caribbean island instead, doesn't it?

I'm reminded of my friends who like to go to the coast of California to surf. California is rather earthquake-prone, sometimes suffering huge shakes that kill many people, injure more, and destroy vast amounts of property -- but my friends aren't in the least deterred from their quest of the perfect wave.

And good on them for that.

Thank goodness this latest alarm was no more than that -- an alarm. That's the most important thing of all. [Tuesday, July 26, 2005]

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Unsurprisingly, the news media has reported that Bangkok's new international airport, Suvarnabhumi Airport, has been delayed from September 29th, 2005 until no later than sometime in July, 2006.

I wasn't surprised to read about this, especially since a commercial airline pilot I know told me a few weeks ago that when his aircraft's landing at Don Muang was delayed on that trip, his holding pattern too him over Suvarnabhumi Airport and that while he's no airport-builder, it sure didn't look to him as if it could possibly be completed in time for full-scale operations by late September.

But I guess putting matters in perspective is that the new airport has been around half a century in coming, so another delay of less than a year isn't so bad in the grand scheme of things. Besides, that'll give some extra time to do more work on support infrastructure for the facility, such as the elevated roadway directly to the terminal.

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra toured the facility and made the announcement, which is the best thing he could have done given earlier assurances from various parties, including him, the airport would be open September 29th. In a clear show of support, he says he plans to be a passenger on the very first plane to land there.

This upcoming event is NOT restricted to Americans, nor is it restricted to members of the military. Here's the e-mail I got from Jim Traywick, who is calling for "Then and Now" photographs to be used at the event:

I would like to request that each of you take a look at the old photo library and send digital photos that I can use for a presentation on the night of the Gala Dinner.

I recently did a presentation put to music for a group of USAF and USMC folks for a planning conference and it turned out great. I’d like to do that for this event as well. So anything you have will be welcomed and used. I used a lot of my file material in that presentation to give them all a history lesson and I have to tell you that went over well! I need aircraft photos, people photos, downtown and on base events and scenes. Everything from Korat, Takhli, NKP, Ubon, Udorn, Nam Phong, and any from the TLC area or in-country Vietnam and our US Forces activities.

Please give me some information about the photos if you will so that I can group them appropriately.

I’m going to use all the photos everyone has placed on the web page and if you did the THEN & NOW photos you can expect to be seeing yourself up there. I’d like to see many more of those go on the board before the reunion.

And fair warning to all you web page people – if I see it and it’s not copyrighted and I can lift it, it’ll be up there.

Also, I would like to thank Menko Christoph for sending his information to the web site on getting tickets and general travel info. Thanks! I know others will be better informed as a result. Anyone else having information to share like that, feel free to send it in.

I know I plan to be there -- I know both retired an active-duty military personnel as well as civilians who worked in this part of the world during the Vietnam War.

Khun Taffy, the friendly, outgoing, even downright boisterous proprietor of the fun bar New Square One Pub in Washington Square celebrates his 58th birthday this coming Monday, August 1st, at the pub. Friends of Taffy's are invited to drop around for a drink and to eat some of the great variety of [free] food he plans to have on hand.

Those of you who do know Taffy but haven't happened to attend one of his parties can imagine that things tend to get quite, um, "festive" at the events. The man does love to party!

Besides various meats, vegetables, and cheeses, some delicious food from The Great American Rib Company will be on hand, courtesy of the GARC partner and chef, Khun Robb. Like Taffy himself, Khun Robb is a superb cook, something to which I can personally attest from long, repeated experience. There also will be some Thai food on hand. (See the next story for new information about The Great American Rib Company.)

Taffy usually says his parties will start in late afternoon, but he invariably jumps the gun and kicks off early -- well, maybe not invariably. Anyway, do drop by and wish him Happy Birthday; he's really excited about it.

Great Mexican Food Bargain Monday Nights
from The Great American Rib Company Coming Next Week

Happened to run into Khun Robb yesterday (at Taffy's bar, coincidentally), and he asked me to pass along a new Monday night offering he and his partners are kicking off this coming Monday, August 1st.

From 6:30-9:30 P.M. there will be a regular Monday-night offer of all the Mexican food you can eat, and just as Robb makes great barbecued ribs, he makes equally great Mexican food. (He used to be the chef at Tequila Reef down Pattaya way before moving to Sukhuvmit Soi 33's Mojos, then helped found The GARC. I've eaten at both.) Cuervo Tequila shooters will also be offered.

The price for all this? -- the food is an amazingly cheap 199 baht per person, and the Cuervo an equally cheap 50 baht per shot!!!

I guarantee it -- if you're a Mexican food aficionado, you won't walk away hungry. (I'll leave alone any comment about Cuervo aficionados -- I'm not a tequila drinker!)

The restaurant is located about midway between Sukhumvit Road and Rama IV Road on Sukhumvit Soi 36 [the name at the Sukhumvit Road end]/Soi Saen Saeb [the name at the Rama IV Road end] and is on your right coming from Sukhumvit Road. There is street parking available.

There are many who think the food is truly excellent. I don't know how many people have said that the ribs, for example, are at least as good as the very best they've ever eaten, and arguably the very best, bar none.

A note on the kind of guy Robb is: he didn't know about Taffy's birthday when he was telling me and Taffy about the new Monday night offer, but he did later, and as he was leaving the bar was when he said for us not to worry about coming next Monday AND that he would bring up free food to contribute to the birthday festivities -- despite the fact that as chef at The GARC he has to be there for his own business.

That's what I call a darned nice guy, on both counts. And his partners are equally nice, so I really encourage each and every one of you to try out their food. It's a great place. [Friday, July 29, 2005]

I finally got around to trying the food at this nice little inn-restaurant for food and thoroughly enjoyed the 2 dishes I tried, meatballs with Swedish mustard and potato skins with cheese, bacon bits, sour cream, and chives.

And the prices are reasonable: 90 baht for the meatballs, 80 baht for the potato skins. There were six meatballs with a lettuce/tomato/cucumber slice garnish and a side dish of the Swedish mustard. Then there were the 3 potato skins. I ordered a side dish of sour cream, not knowing the skins come with it already, which the waitress quite rightly told me about. I then asked her if they put just a little or a lot -- sour cream is quite expensive here -- and she said there isn't much served. So, I went ahead and ordered the side dish. In the event, I got the side order -- but the skins served me had none on them, so I have no way of gauging the quantity served if you *don't* make a side order. The skins also came with the same garnish.

I have a small appetite, and was filled after finishing the meatballs and 2 of the 3 potato skins. If you have a large appetite, you'll probably want to try them as appetizers to a main course, unlike me; I ate them as a mid-afternoon meal. (Sometimes I miss the days when I could sit down and eat a 2/3's-kilo slab of prime rib along with the side of vegetables and a huge baked potato with the works -- after 3-4 trips to the salad bar!)

The waitress was efficient and friendly, and the food came in a reasonable amount of time.

The affable owner happened not to be in, but that suited my purposes of trying the place both for myself and to write this review, and the waitress didn't recognize me from the time I was there a few months ago -- though I certainly remembered her; she's quite attractive. (Too bad for me I'm more than old enough to be her father, huh???)

D'Pelican is located in a sub-soi -- a driveway, actually -- between the Regency Park Hotel on Sukhumvit Soi 22 and Sukhumvit Road on the same side (west side) as the hotel, right beside Larry's Dive Restaurant-Dive Shop. You turn into the drive and spot the largish sign projecting out from the row of shop-houses on your left, the establishment a bit behind the front of the Korean Barbeque directly facing the soi.

Give it a try, and if you think of it and Tom's there, tell him I sent you! [Friday, July 29, 2005]

It seems there's a lot of food news this week -- this article is about another place starting a Monday-night food offer, Flaming Moe's [formerly Starlight] in Queen's Park Plaza on Sukhumvit Soi 22 between the Regency Park Hotel and the Imperial Queen's Park Hotel (on the same side of Sukhumvit Soi 22 as the Regency Park Hotel).

The offer is barbeque ribs for 195 baht -- a good deal for good ribs. Having never had their ribs, I can't speak to the quality of the food, but I do know the other food I've had there in the past has always been excellent, and though the bar changed hands some time back, the time or two I've had a bite there since I couldn't detect any drop in quality nor, indeed, any change in taste. I expect the food to be as good as the rest on offer. [Late news: over the weekend I discovered the e-mail I received with the announcement about the ribs was a hoax NOT sent by anyone connected with the bar. Apologies for the incorrect information -- but that this is a nice little bar most certainly IS correct! August 1, 2005]

Flaming Moe's is a tiny place with a smallish bar, drink shelves around the remainder of the wall (except the front one). there are also a couple sofas, one on an elevated stand next to the front end of the L-shaped bar, the other along the front wall facing the rear of the bar, with a low coffee table in front of it. It has a pool table and dart board, and is home base for 2 darts teams.

The staff, regulars, and owner are all quite friendly -- this is a neighborhood sort of bar almost entirely; virtually everyone knows everyone else.

As a quick look at Flaming Moe's new-and-still-not-entirely-complete website will quickly reveal this is a theme bar. Specifically, it's modeled on the hugely popular American television series "The Simpson's."

As always, I will be greatly appreciative of a mention if you do drop by that you read about it here. [Friday, July 29, 2005]

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