Ulysses G.

I've gotten pretty bored with books about Thailand as many of the authors are amateurish with no talent and most are written about the same few subjects that have been done to death and I have been reading them for many years.
Bangkok Hard Time by Jon Cole is yet another one about doing time in prison in LOS, but the writer tells a darn good story and is a decent writer as well. The book is sort of a combination of Mr. Nice and the Damage Done - a memoir about a drug addicted heroin smuggler who gets busted and what happens to him in jail.
He grew up as a youthful expat in Bangkok and the stories about what it was like back then and how he eventually gets into the drug scene is probably the best part of the book, but the prison stuff is quite interesting too. Anyway, if you enjoy this kind of stuff, it is one of the better ones.

I saw two tattooed skinheads with giant squirt guns attacking each other today over near the UN Irish Pub. I did not stick around to see if they were going to drench anyone else, but I am hoping that starting this early is not a trend. Has anyone else seen early activity in town?

Dharun Ravi was convicted of a hate crime and could be sentenced to ten years in prison and deportation,but had no serious history of targeting or hating gays that I have heard of. Personally, I think what he did was wrong, but that he does not deserve this conviction or to serve time or be deported. It was just a stupid, juvenile  prank that went very wrong.

http://www.thedailyb...menti-died.html

There are a number of places that sell sugar-free dark chocolate in Bangkok. Does anyone know where to buy it in Chiang Mai?

Is BioRich Stevia Sweetner available in Chiang Mai? Has anyone seen it it at Aden Health food store or anywhere else? They sell it in Bangkok, but I have not been able to find anything but the unrefined leaves here.

http://www.lepm.net/biorich/