Saturday, October 22, 2005

$63 Goes A Long Way In Bangkok

Dingwall got a rubdown, fo' sho:
“On Dec. 16 of last year, he handed in a receipt for a massage in Bangkok,” said Mr. Pallister. “This Liberal culture of entitlement has gone far too far. Perhaps the government could tell us if David Dingwall is entitled to a massage at the expense of Canadian taxpayers?”

Reg Alcock, the president of the treasury board, replied that Mr. Pallister was likely misrepresenting the facts.

At Mr. Pallister’s news conference later, he provided only one page from the hotel bill, a page which listed the massage charge.

The Royal Canadian Mint provided the complete bill and invoice to The Chronicle Herald later. It shows that Mr. Dingwall was not reimbursed for the massage — which he paid for in cash — but he did take a 9,000 baht cash advance from the hotel the day before the massage and was reimbursed for that: about $260.
I'm no stranger to Thailand or Thai massages, but I have to say a very intense 1 hr of Thai massage only costs about 300-400 baht, or about $9-$12 CDN.

The ones that cost over a 1000 baht in Thailand, aren't the kind of massages you'd tell your mother about, and 2000 baht? Um, well....

What the hell was Dingwall even doing in Bangkok on "business", anyway? And do we have receipts for the rest of the 9000 baht? This could get interesting, because to spend 9000 baht a day in Bangkok, you have to be doing your best to blow your wad, er cash.
One night in Bangkok and the world's your oyster
The bars are temples but the pearls ain't free
You'll find a god in every golden cloister
And if you're lucky then the god's a she
--Murray's Head

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Glad to see I'm not the only McClarty who thinks the Liberals need the boot. To bad the voters in Ontario are brain dead.

Shamrocks! said...

"Glad to see I'm not the only McClarty who thinks the Liberals need the boot."

Barrie, I pray for the day we can say we have a conservative government.

Shamrocks! said...

Kyle:

I really don't care what Dingwall does in Thailand, as long as Canadians don't have to foot the bill for his fun. Getting a "massage" is not a legit business expense.

I think the key is finding a party that will put in necessary controls to prevent abuses. This is fundamental. Right now, the PMO's office has powers without checks and balances, and the ministries are run like personal fiefdoms. Canadians have to take the power back.