Gaybutton

Unless you have evidence to the contrary, yes I would. As I said, I have never heard of the police doing such a thing and you can bet if such an activity was taking place I, and plenty of other people, would have heard about it. I know people enjoy posting about how corrupt the police can be, and I don't disagree with that, but just making up something that doesn't exist and frightening people with it is not, in my opinion, an appropriate thing to do. Could it happen? I suppose so. The police could also have someone slip ya ba into your pocket, arrest you on drug charges, and force you to pay a fortune to get out of it. Has such a thing ever happened? Not to my knowledge. Also, to my knowledge, a scam such as you describe has never happened. Not ever. If you want to accuse the police, or anyone else for that matter, of doing something wrong, at least accuse them of something they have actually done, not something you simply made up.

Many of you are familiar with the wonderful restaurant, Cherry's. Many of you are also familiar with their daily special set dinner menu which includes everything from their excellent salad bar to terrific desserts. Every Sunday the set menu changes. They also give you an appetizer that's not even listed on the menu. If you prefer a different soup, they will change it to your preference upon request. This evening Geezer and I went to Cherry's. Now, on Sundays only, they offer their set menu for 250 baht! It's the same dinner that during weekdays is 450 baht. Same excellent quality. Same everything. The only difference is the price! It's a truly incredible bargain for this price. This very well may be the best dinner bargain in town. I strongly urge you to make reservations. Every table was packed, and with good reason! The number for reservations is: 086-314-5819. I'll let this evening's menu speak for itself:

The following appears in the BANGKOK POST: _____ Car Dealer Suspected of Forgery RETAILERS TO RECEIVE INSTRUCTIONS ON DETECTING FAKES By: PRASIT TANGPRASERT AND ASSAWIN PINIJWONG NAKHON RATCHASIMA : Police will seek a warrant for the arrest of a used-car dealer suspected of financing a major banknote forgery gang, according to deputy provincial police chief Pongdet Promijit. Investigators believe the man is staying in Bangkok. Three suspected members of a major forgery gang were arrested on Friday with equipment for making banknotes, including two printing presses and 800 sheets of glossy paper. The gang was allegedly caught in the act of forging banknotes at the M Bangkok printing house in Din Daeng district. One of those arrested told police his gang was hired by a businessman to forge 1,000-baht banknotes. More than 10,000 fake 1,000-baht notes made by the gang are believed to be in circulation. Pol Col Pongdet said the printing house provided printing services by day and forged 1,000-baht notes by night. The fake notes bore a close resemblance to authentic banknotes because they were produced on printing presses instead of computer and printers. The machines are able to turn out many notes, Pol Col Pongdet said. The officer said the gang counterfeited 10,000 notes worth 10 million baht and handed them over to the businessman in return for 200,000 baht in October. Meanwhile, machines able to detect fake notes are in short supply in Tak province following the recent scare. Several local repair shops have been rushed off their feet repairing machines brought in by worried vendors. Pol Col Passawat Taengjui, superintendent of Mae Sot police, said leaflets have been distributed among retailers informing them how to identify phony notes. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said the government was drawing up measures to respond to the spread of the bogus notes. Yesterday, the Commerce Ministry launched a campaign telling people how to differentiate fake notes from real ones.

Yes, you can trust the ID cards. You're perfectly safe if it's the boy's own ID card. I know of no incident, not ever, where a sting such as you describe ever took place.

I see. Then what an excellent reason you had for writing that post. Maybe one of these days I'll figure out what part of my post was so funny that it inspired you to write that kind of a reply at all . . . the one that wasn't an attempt to make me look like a fool.

While you're rolling on the floor, I don't see any posts from you that suggested the driving license agency as the place to look for the International Driving Permit in Thailand. Considering that in the USA you get them at AAA and some other travel agents, and not at driving license issuing offices, why should it have occurred to me that the driving license office would be the place to check in Thailand? I neither see a reason nor do I appreciate a post from you attempting to make me look like a fool.

Here is the latest, as of December 27: The following posters, as of December 27, have exceeded 100 posts since the contest began: GaySacGuy: 113 Steve1903: 129 Fountainhall: 164 Pattayamale: 172 Laurence: 177 Lvdkeyes: 238 MonkeySee: 425

Well, it save you an off fee . . .

The poor man might have to find himself eating in restaurants where they don't chill the salad forks.

Maybe in Pattaya the driving license agency is the place to get one. That never occurred to me.

I'm having trouble deciding whether some of those pictures are of gardening tools or medieval torture devices . . . .

Whaddya mean those clothes are unforgivable? He borrowed that shirt from me!

I can't remember quite what it was, but wasn't there some sort of incident between her and then-President Lyndon Johnson? Is it my imagination or does anyone else recall something like that?

Most likely I will be here, yes. I'm one of the few crazy farang who truly loves Songkran. And I really do want to meet you. With all kidding aside, I think you're one of the most interesting people ever to grace the message boards. If I miss the chance to meet you, I will consider that a true sadly lost opportunity.

I think that will be one important factor. I think two other important factors include the Chinese economy and the stability (or lack thereof) of the Thai government. I feel sorry for the Thai people who are going to suffer as a result of all that's been going on, but I have to admit that if a side effect is a better exchange rate for us farang, then I certainly would have no objection.

I used to use them for roasting a whole chicken, making a brisket, and a few other things. I used to like the way the food would come out. By the way, I was in Villa Market yesterday and I looked for them. I couldn't find any.

No. You're supposed to check his national ID card. The fact that you weren't sure is no excuse and won't help you if you try to use that as a defense. If you take a boy, under the law it is your responsibility to be certain of his age. If you are not sure; if the boy has no ID card; if you have any reason to suspect the boy is using a fake ID or someone else's ID, or anything at all that causes doubt, then the solution is very simple: Don't take the boy. No matter how much we debate the issue among ourselves, one thing is irrefutable: If you are caught in a sexual situation with a boy who has not yet reached his 18th birthday, or if it is later discovered that you previously engaged in sex with a boy who had not reached his 18th birthday, then you're going to be arrested and will have to face the consequences.

The following appears in the BANGKOK POST: _____ Police Step Up the Pressure on Foreign Paedophiles A Male Briton Runs a Website Offering Child Sex in Thailand By: Wassayos Ngamkham A foreign mastermind and at least 20 more foreign paedophiles are being sought under Operation Naga, a joint investigation between the UK's Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) and the Royal Thai Police. Four foreigners and one Thai were arrested on charges of sexually exploiting minors in Pattaya on Dec 11, but the operation is not over yet. On the Thai side, police from the Children, Juveniles and Women Division (CWD) are running the operation. Panya Cha-emtes, an inspector at the CWD, is gathering evidence to arrest other suspected paedophiles who are customers of a male Briton running a website offering child sex in Thailand. ''It's an organisation deeply involved in the sex trade with a British man as the mastermind,'' Pol Lt-Col Panya said. ''He contacts customers through a website and has a Thai transvestite procure children for customers, most of whom are Europeans who have businesses in Thailand or retirees who have settled here.'' According to the inspector, the British man is a big procurer in Pattaya. However, on the morning of Dec 11 when police arrested four foreign paedophiles there, they did not find any evidence linking them to the mastermind. Operation Naga unfolded on Nov 17 when CEOP representatives took a huge stack of files to CWD chief Pol Maj-Gen Chaiwat Ketworachai. The CWD formed a team of 18 detectives to go after members of the ring, with their inquiries centred in Pattaya. CWD deputy chief Suwitpol Imjairat, who is heading the mission, said the first phase of the operation took place between Nov 17 and 21 when detectives split into three groups to gather information from the abused children and seek out the procurers and suspected paedophiles in Pattaya. Detectives collected enough information to be able to begin the mission's second phase from Nov 24 to 28, when abused children were asked to identify the suspected paedophiles. ''This stage had to be carried out carefully because most of the victimised children are normally reluctant to speak out. We worked with difficulty because the parents of some children did not know their children had provided sex services in return for money.'' Pol Col Suwitpol said abused children tend to be uneducated, aged seven to 16. Police spent five days interviewing eight abused children, a week before the raid. The children's accounts and other evidence were submitted to the Pattaya court, where police sought arrest warrants for four suspected foreign paedophiles. The alleged Thai transvestite procurer, Eknarin Chaicharoenchokdee, 30, also known as Saeng Kaetdee, was sought on an arrest warrant before that. On Dec 11, five groups of police conducted raids at various locations around Pattaya. They arrested Malcolm Payne, 59, and Robert Horsman, 45, both from Britain, as well as 62-year-old American Robert Lond and 66-year-old German Fritz Blattner. The four were charged with sexually abusing minors, separating the minors from their parents and torturing children physically and mentally. The other group of police reached the residence of the main British procurer suspect, but they did not find any incriminating evidence. At transvestite Eknarin's house, police seized six dildos, photographs of the four foreign suspects allegedly having sex with children, pornographic VCDs and books, a computer hard disk and documents. ''Most of the foreigners who bought children from the service have been staying in Thailand for a long time and were frequent customers. They love Thais but they did wrong and broke the law, so we must take action,'' Pol Col Suwitpol said. ''Police are monitoring at least 20 more people and seeking warrants for their arrests,'' he said. Police are hunting not only the British ringleader but also three more Thai suspects who allegedly procured children for him. ''These gangs exist not only in Pattaya. We believe they are in other major tourist destinations in Thailand as well, including Chiang Mai and Phuket. Countries in the region are exchanging information and we might conduct raids on other tourist spots soon,'' Pol Lt-Col Panya said.

I wonder why they do that. Just another item on my "I Don't Get It" list.

It must be the size of an olympic pool!

The rate I'm seeing shows the baht closed at 34.77 today. But let's hope it works out as you say. Only a couple days ago it looked like it was going to go back into the 33's. If it reaches 35 on the sites I check, I'll start posting the daily rates again. Monday's opening should be an interesting one.

That's the whole point. Thailand has its own definition and, quite frankly, it can be confusing to try figuring out just what that definition actually is. However, anybody who ends up arrested for sex with an under-age boy can show the arresting police officers a dictionary. They may even read it . . . the whole trip downtown.

If anyone knows cooking, it's certainly you. But there are times when I would like to use a roasting bag for other things. So, I'm still curious if anyone has spotted them anywhere.

Not only that, but this time there probably will be an attempt to control. During the PAD protests nobody did much of anything to control any of it. If the Thai government wanted the police and/or military to intervene, they weren't listening. However, I agree with you that this round of protests could escalate into at least police intervention. I don't think Thailand wants to see airports or anything else that could cause serious disruption happen again. I think Thailand is really beginning to feel the pinch. The first indicator, in my opinion, is the exchange rate. Only a couple days ago the US dollar to baht exchange rate was 34.3. This morning it opened at 34.53. At the moment I'm writing this, less than an hour after the opening rate, it's 34.71. The next indicator, in my opinion, is the gay personals web sites. I like GayRomeo. For quite a while the ads I saw were the same ads that had been there for a long time. Now I'm suddenly starting to see a lot of new faces appearing on the personals sites. That tells me something. The tourist industry is also beginning to really suffer. I'm hearing about more and more lay-offs and people either ending up out of a job or having their number of work days and hours cut back. However, I'm still not seeing very many boys working the beaches. That surprises me. Maybe they can't even afford the bus fare and concession fees.

They don't. I'm registered and all I ever get is an occasional Email from them with an ad specifying what kinds of promotions and specials they have available. Even then, I only get those Emails because I checked a box requesting those Emails. Other than that, if I'm getting any kind of Email from other advertisers, fine with me. I never see any of them. I don't know about other Email services, but on Gmail those kinds of ads never make it to my Inbox. They all end up in the Spam folder and I enjoy deleting the contents of that folder without reading any of the Emails there. I also never receive phone calls or text messages from anyone advertising air travel, or any other kind of travel for that matter. So I'm pretty well convinced that they don't sell any of your personal information to anybody.