Prohibition To Be Enforced In Pattaya?

Rumour has it that out of respect for HRH, The King, politicos agreed to take things easy until after HRH's birthday celebrations are over. If this rumour has any basis in fact then the gloves are about to come off.

How does this affect you? Well the bars have already been told that no alcohol can be served from 6.00pm, December 14th to midnight on December 16 because of political rallies over the last weekend before the election, rallies which authorities fear could turn in to protests, demonstrations or worse. The last thing they want is to add alcohol to an already volatile mix.

The booze block from 6.00pm, December 22nd to midnight, December 23rd is already common knowledge but some Thai boards are claiming Christmas Day will also be alcohol free. The justification for Christmas Day is unclear and unverified but hotels and restaurants should certainly be exempt if this rumour becomes fact.

How effectively these bans will be imposed in Pattaya will only be known on the day but there's usually a bar keep or two willing to risk his/their license to clean up on the thirsty mongers in town. [see FARANG Speak 2 Much]

Sierra Tangos

• New gym on the Darkside - Castra Praetoria, Soi Khao Talo. Promotion for December, 50Baht daily rate

• Find the katoey of your dreams in Pattaya - No, not Jenny's Star Bar, Lady Boy Dating

• Pent up demand for Thai property - Thailand may not be an easy place for New Yorkers to reach for the weekend, but more and more Americans are finding the tropical nation an ideal place to invest in real estate. It's not hard to see why: White sandy beaches, a solid infrastructure, quality nightlife and relatively cheap prices make it the best place in the region to buy property.

"American institutional investors keep putting money into Thai property," said Patima Jeerapaet, managing director of Colliers International Thailand. "The number of tourists is increasing every year, and the hotel industry is booming. There is huge room for growth."

In the past year, CB Richard Ellis (the Los Angeles-based brokerage that is also the largest commercial broker in New York City) opened offices in resort destinations Pattaya and Koh Samui; Jones Lang LaSalle resurrected its dormant residential sales and leasing unit, and Colliers acquired well-reputed Thai firm Pasupat Realty. In addition, White Plains-based Starwood Hotels announced plans to open the 400-room W Bangkok in 2011, and a new Le Meridien will be Pattaya's first five-star beachfront resort.

But just as more U.S. investors are expanding in the country, the army-appointed government has sought to tighten foreign ownership laws. That has all but ended freehold sales of luxury villas and soured the overall investment climate. Although the uncertainty may be hurting sales -- Thailand's Housing Business Association estimated that sales have dropped nearly 20 percent this year -- agents say it presents a good opportunity to buy. That's because prices have been nearly flat since the military coup in September 2006. Property analysts agree that pent-up demand for Thai property will likely be unleashed after the election scheduled for Dec. 23, pushing up prices in 2008. [via The Real Deal]

• Mayrin Villanueva is a very sexy model who just landed the Bond Girl role in the 22nd James Bond film

• Have a computer problem? Consult CrossLoop for live support. CrossLoop, which is an excellent desktop sharing software, could also be the next Elance for hiring tech support professionals who can remotely fix your computer problems in real-time.

Today, they have launched CrossLoop 2.0 that adds a “social” element to this already popular remote desktop sharing software and makes it extremely lucrative to IT Helpdesk staff and tech support personnel.

You can now create a personal profile on CrossLoop website that details your areas of expertise. When you provide remote help to others using CrossLoop, they can rate the session and that feedback is automatically added to your public profile.

This “CrossLoop reputation” will become an important factor when you go beyond friends and family and decide to provide professional help to potential customers. They can view your history on CrossLoop and decide whether they want to avail your service or not.

Going forward, this CrossLoop database could become the one-stop shop for finding good tech support personnel. And best of all, CrossLoop is still free.

The only downside is that CrossLoop is only available for Windows so they could be missing a large chunk of users who may be running Mac or Linux platforms. [via Digital Inspiration]

• All your media (3GB) stored in one place which you can access and share from anywhere with wixi. Techcrunch voted wixi one of the 40 most innovative products around.

• One weekend, the husband is in the bathroom shaving when the kid he hired to mow his lawn, a local kid named Bubba, comes in to pee. The husband slyly looks over and is shocked at how immensely endowed Bubba is. He can't help himself, and asks Bubba what his secret is. "Well," says Bubba, "every night before I climb into bed with a girl, I whack my penis on the bedpost three times. It works, and it sure impresses the girls!" The husband was excited at this easy suggestion and decided to try it that very night. So before climbing into bed with his wife, he took out his penis and whacked it three times on the bedpost. His wife, half-asleep, said, "Bubba? Is that you?"

• The New York Daily News has released its “50 Dumbest People in Hollywood” list with Lindsay Lohan topping the list. Britney Spears demanded a recount. Paris Hilton would have been on the list but she totally messed-up her application. (Alex Kaseberg)

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