Gaybutton

Very good report and I'm glad you had a nice time, even though your first experience was with a dud. Regarding the young street kids, believe me, unfortunately they're there. I'm surprised you didn't see any. But if you're going to spend time in the Sunee Plaza area, you will. That was good thinking on your part about Gay Romeo. That's one reason I keep recommending it. No buying the obligatory drinks. No off fees. The boy comes to you. And he turned out to be very good. Not bad at all for your first day.

Me too. Back in my university days I asked a store cashier if he had change for a twenty-dollar bill. He said sure and gave me a ten and two fives. I thanked him and left. Yes, I admit it was dishonest of me, but I was a lot younger then. He did just fine giving me change for the twenty. I had never given him anything. "I can't win for nuthin'! A waiter gave me the wrong check. It was for the guy at the next table. I looked over at him and said, 'Hey, buddy. I've got your check.' He said, 'Thanks.'" - Rodney Dangerfield

Scalia has always been my personal favorite. Remember when he actually came out and said that proof of innocence is not a valid reason to overturn a conviction and set a prisoner free? I almost had that dipped in bronze and framed. And these are the people who have the final say-so. Your tax dollar at work . . .

That is probably more sensible than the answer you would get.

Are you kidding? In the USA they probably don't even know what you're talking about. Most store clerks I encounter can't even make change correctly. There was actually a story, supposedly true, about a foiled attempted armed robbery at a fast food store, late at night where there was only one teenage boy working the cash register. The robber demanded the money from the cash register. The boy said he can't open the cash register unless the guy orders something. The guy said fine, gimme a hamburger. The boy then asked if he wants fries with that. Then the boy started asking if he wants the burger 'super sized.' Does he want small, medium, or large fries. What does he want to drink? Small, medium, or large? The robber gave up and left. You know what? I believe it! Regarding putting who benefits on the menus, would you really trust the place to live up to it?

You ask a legitimate question. But it definitely is not in fine print. It's in big bold letters. I often wonder how foreigners feel when they visit the USA. In most foreign countries, the price marked is exactly what you pay at the cash register. I don't think I've ever seen that at an American cash register. I wonder how many foreigners are unpleasantly surprised when they take an item marked $5 to a cash register in the USA only to hear the cashier say, "That'll be $6.50 please . . ."

I agree, but there is still the problem of the policy about refusing a visa to anyone suspected of having been involved with prostitution. They don't even need any evidence. All they have to do is just think the boy may have been a prostitute. A Thai boy applying for a visa to travel with someone twice or even three times his age, and beyond, is still facing a problem. I hope the gay marriage issue is favorably resolved. Then maybe they'll get over this crap about denying someone a visa because he may have been a prostitute. I'd be the first one to tell them that when I was their age, if someone had offered me money to have sex with him, I would have loved it! Sadly, nobody has ever offered me a damned thing to have sex with him. If it wasn't for the way things work in Thailand, the only sex dates I probably would ever get would still be dating my hands . . .

I think lvdkeyes and you have found the solution to the ATM problem for a lot of people. I'm almost afraid to ask this next one: If you can go into a bank branch and without being charged a fee do essentially the same thing you can do at an ATM, then why are fees charged for using an ATM, especially that much of a fee?

"The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all possible worlds. The pessimist fears this is true." - James Branch Cabell

All I was trying to do was point out that the service charge tips at Amor all really do go to the staff. I didn't mean to start a debate about the prices there or the manner by which they are displayed. He does clearly state, on each menu page, about the service charge and VAT. Amor is not the only restaurant to do things that way. Just like anywhere else, sometimes I eat there and sometimes I don't. If I want lamb shanks, I go to the Amor. I think he has the best in town. Great desserts too.

Even if you don't have to give your PIN, if your card is stolen wouldn't you immediately contact your issuing bank and report the theft? They'll instantly cancel the card. Even if the card is stolen, it is useless to the thief unless he knows your PIN number. If he has some way to get it, by the time he does you will already have canceled the card. Another tip is to ask the issuing bank, before your trip, if they have a number to call from a foreign country. Often they have a collect call number for people who are out of the country.

Do you know if they place any kind of limitation on the amount you can cash out (of course without overdrawing)? It seems to me, if you are using a foreign ATM card and prefer not to use Aeon or any of the ATMs reported to be charging 15 baht, then this is a hell of a good option. Remember, when you travel to Thailand, make sure you first contact your bank and alert both the agent with whom you are speaking and also alert their fraud department to avoid them locking your debit card. If the agent tells you he will alert the fraud department for you, don't trust that. I learned the hard way once and it took several calls and several days to get my debit card unlocked. Before they agreed to unlock the card, they wanted all kinds of information that I simply did not have while traveling and could not remember. It was ridiculous, but that's what you have to go through. I urge you to contact their fraud department yourself prior to your holiday. Make sure they know where you will be, your departure and return dates, and whether you anticipate withdrawing an unusually large amount of cash. That can save you a lot of hassle.

Witness: Civil Unions like Allowing just One Bite of Twinkie By Dan Simon and Augie Martin, CNN January 11, 2010 San Francisco, California (CNN) -- A gay couple challenging Proposition 8 in federal court Monday said civil unions and domestic partnerships aren't the same as marriages, something they view as a stepping stone toward starting a family. "[it's] like putting a Twinkie at the end of a treadmill and saying, 'You can only have a bite,' " testified Paul Katami, one of the plaintiffs. "And you want the whole thing. ... All I want is to be married." Katami and his partner, Jeffrey Zarrillo, are among plaintiffs asking Chief Judge Vaughn R. Walker of the U.S. District Court in San Francisco to issue an injunction against the enforcement of California's Proposition 8, arguing the ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. If allowed to marry his partner, 36-year-old Zarrillo said he would finally feel equal and complete. "I'd be able to stand there as one family, as a married individual," Zarrillo said, noting the "pride that one feels when that happens." During testimony, attorney David Boies asked Zarrillo why he believed marriage was a better option for same-sex couples when compared with domestic partnerships and other arrangements states have for same-sex couples. "Domestic partnership would relegate me to second-class citizenship, maybe third-class -- and that's not enough," he said. Zarrillo and Katami of Los Angeles, California, are joined by Kristin Perry and Sandra Stier of Berkeley, California, in the court challenge. Zarrillo said he believes it's an important step to be married before having children, saying it would make it easier for the couple and the child and would afford the child additional protections. Being married and wearing a wedding ring sends a message to society, he said. "It says to them, these individuals are serious," Zarrillo said. "They're committed to one another." Another attorney for the couples, Theodore Olson, argued to the judge that a ban on Proposition 8 leaves gay couples out of something available to all other people in the United States. "Marriage is central to life in America," Olson said. "It promotes mental, physical and emotional self. It's the building block of family, neighborhoods and community in our society." Proposition 8, Olson said, ended the dream of marriage for same-sex couples, which includes hundreds of thousands of Californians. The state, he said, "has put people into categories." "You're different, and we're going to take away that right from you," Olson said, interpreting the meaning of the ban. "... That's discrimination." However, Charles Cooper, an attorney representing Protect Marriage, the group that came up with Proposition 8, told the judge in his opening statement the purpose of marriage is to promote procreation between men and women. Same-sex marriage "will likely lead to very real social harm; it's too novel and experimental," he argued. Californians "are entitled to make this critical decision for themselves," he said, pointing to voter support of the proposition. Except for the issue of marriage, gays and lesbians have been successful in attaining policy goals, Cooper said, adding that California has some of the most comprehensive protections in the nation. About 100 protesters against the measure and in favor of same-sex marriage gathered peacefully outside the courthouse before the hearing, waving signs supporting equal rights. The case will likely head to the U.S. Supreme Court no matter the outcome. It is expected to set legal precedents that will shape society for years and result in a landmark court decision that settles whether Americans can marry people of the same sex. In legal circles and across the Internet, it has been dubbed this generation's Brown v. Board of Education, the case that led to the Supreme Court decision that outlawed segregation in schools. Some say it could be the biggest ruling since Roe v. Wade, which tackled abortion. It also closely echoes the Supreme Court case that overturned bans on interracial marriage.

Aeon's main Pattaya office is on the ground floor of the Tesco-Lotus on North Road (Pattaya Nua). Maybe they are not even aware of the problem. If anyone wants to use that machine, perhaps it would be a good idea to stop in at that main office, use the machine there, and report the problem. If it happens to you, or any ATM for that matter, it would be easy for them to check the veracity of what you tell them if something like that happens to you because the amount of cash still in the machine next time they check and the amount you never received would show up when they do their tally. If the machine does not give you the cash, but does debit your account, if you can get the machine to print out the receipt, keep the receipt and take it with you when you report the problem. If you can't even get the receipt, at least make note of the date and time the transaction occurred. I had something like that happen to me once at a K-Bank ATM. It debited my account without dispensing the cash. I went to a branch office and reported the problem. It took a couple of days, but they contacted me, told me they had verified my report, and gave me the option of having the funds restored to my account or returning to the branch and taking the cash.

I know for a fact the the 10% service charge does go to the waiters at the Amor restaurant in Pattayaland - all of it. I don't know for any other restaurants. Sometimes the scam can be avoided if you place the tip directly into the waiter's hands rather than in the bill folder. But you never know. All too often the waiters are still forced to turn over those tips too. Some restaurants are honest, pool the tips, and distribute the tips evenly to the staff nightly. Others, it's decided by the management, whoever that might be. They might pocket what they want for themselves before distributing anything. They might give much more to a favored waiter than others receive. I've decided it's an exercise in futility to try to outflank the tip cheaters. I don't know of any tricks that they don't already know about themselves. I don't try anymore. While I would like my tip to go where it is supposed to go, it's not something I really can control. So, in moderate to inexpensive restaurants I leave a 20 baht tip. In Thailand, those kinds of restaurants do not go by a percentage of the bill. 20 baht is what is expected and that's what I tip. In restaurants where a "service charge" is added to the bill, that's the tip. More "upper crust" expensive restaurants, the ones that leave the tip amount up to you, that's where a percentage of the bill is expected. In the small mom-and-pop noodle shop types of restaurants, where your entire bill is likely to be between 30 to 100 baht, tipping is not expected at all, although I do usually leave a little something if the service has been good. That's been my experience, anyway.

Miep Gies, Anne Frank Protector, Dies at 100 January 12, 2010 (CNN) -- Miep Gies, who ensured the diary of Anne Frank did not fall into the hands of Nazis after the teen's arrest, has died. She was 100. Gies was among a team of Dutch citizens who hid the Frank family of four and four others in a secret annex in Amsterdam, Netherlands, during World War II, according to her official Web site, which announced her death Monday. She worked as a secretary for Anne Frank's father, Otto, in the front side of the same Prinsengracht building. The family stayed in the secret room from July 1942 until August 4, 1944, when they were arrested by Gestapo and Dutch police after being betrayed by an informant. Two of Gies' team were arrested that day, but she and her friend, Bep Voskuijl, were left behind -- and found 14-year-old Anne's papers. "And there Bep and I saw Anne's diary papers lying on the floor. I said, 'Pick them up!' Bep stood there staring, frozen. I said, 'Pick them up! Pick them up!' We were afraid, but we did out best to collect all the papers," Gies said in a 1998 interview with The Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. "Then we went downstairs. And there we stood, Bep and I. I asked, 'What now, Bep?' She answered, 'You're the oldest. You hold on to them. So I did." The girl had chronicled two years of the emotions and fears that gripped her during hiding, as well as candid thoughts on her family, her feelings for friend-in-hiding Peter van Pels, and dreams of being a professional writer. Mixed into the entries were the names of the Dutch helpers, who risked their lives to keep the family's secret. "I didn't read Anne's diary papers. ... It's a good thing I didn't because if I had read them I would have had to burn them," she said in the 1998 interview. "Some of the information in them was dangerous." The diary was sheltered in Gies' desk drawer and later turned over to Otto Frank when he returned after the war as the only surviving resident of the annex. Anne died at northern Germany's Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in 1945. Her father published her diary, titled "The Secret Annex," in 1947. Despite the legendary hardship she endured during the German occupation, Gies never embraced the label of a hero. "More than 20,000 Dutch people helped to hide Jews and others in need of hiding during those years. I willingly did what I could to help. My husband did as well. It was not enough," she says in the prologue of her memoirs, "Anne Frank Remembered: The Story of the Woman Who Helped to Hide the Frank Family." "There is nothing special about me. I have never wanted special attention. I was only willing to do what was asked of me and what seemed necessary at the time." Gies' husband, Jan, whom she married in 1941, died in 1993. The couple had a son together.

I don't know what to tell you or anyone else having problems. I am still able to connect without any trouble and I don't think it has anything to do with a stored cache because new messages show for me as well. The best I can tell you is anyone who really wants to access that board is welcome to come on over to my place and use my computer . . . I guess there must be some irony in the fact that many of you want to access the Sawatdee board and cannot. Meanwhile, I am neither a member nor do I post on that board. I seem to be the only one here who is not having problems accessing the Sawatdee board and I'm probably the only one who couldn't care less and rarely reads that board in the first place. "All that you wanted he would not even take." - Anne Baxter, 'The Ten Commandments'

Consider it added. Yes, bargaining is fully expected here. That does not include stores such as grocery stores, shopping malls, convenience stores, etc. However it is expected at mom and pop shops and, depending on what they're selling, from the beach vendors too. For example, at the beach I bought a watch from a vendor. He started by asking 1800 baht for it. I ended up paying 250 baht, and he still made a profit. Unless an obviously outrageous price is being asked, I usually start the haggling at 30% to 35% lower than the initial asking price.

I can't make sense of it. I'm in Pattaya and I never have any problem accessing any of these sites unless the site itself has gone down. How come I can access these sites, but others are having so much trouble?

Congratulations! That's quite a sum, just under US $5000! I'm sorry that I was unable to attend.

Now that's flightening . . .

I can't imagine why the browser would have anything to do with it, but I use Firefox and I have had none of the problems being described on this thread, including just now. This very moment I tried it and it loaded right up flawlessly. The only thing that makes any sense to me is somehow your location and the routing to get to Sawatdee has something to do with it or perhaps your ISP blocked the site for some reason. Welcome to the latest entry on my "I Don't Get It" list . . .

I second the motion. If the New York Times writers want to go to these places, fine with me, but as Louis B. Meyer once said, "Include me out."

I can't imagine that it is being blocked in Bangkok, but not in Pattaya. Try it with a proxy server. If nothing else works, that ought to do it. For me, it works just fine and I'm not having any of the problems Smiles described. Everything loads up for me. If you have not already done so, perhaps you ought to send an Email to ElephantSpike and let him know, specifically, what kinds of problems you are encountering.

Number One Boys is located on the site of the old J.J. Pub, not to be confused with the J.J. Karaoke. To get there, If you're coming from Boyztown-Second Road, turn right on the soi between Tuk Com and the K-Bank. Go to the second left turn. That's where it is.