Gaybutton

I really appreciate all these posts, questions, comments, corrections, etc. I use all these sorts of things when I do revision work and it's all an enormous help to me because it helps me to be more accurate and it also helps me to anticipate the kinds of questions and concerns people have, all of which will be addressed in the next revision, whenever that will be. Please don't hesitate to ask questions or inform me of inaccuracies whenever they occur. My goal in this article is to try to make obtaining and renewing the retirement visa as easy as possible and to address concerns people have. Since I deal only with the US embassy, any information you can provide about the embassy policies, prices, hours for service, required documents, etc, of your own home country will be included in the next revision. Also, if your embassy has consular service available in other cities, such as Barry Kenyon's service for the UK in Pattaya, please let me know. Barry is the only consul I know about anywhere in Thailand. Speaking of Barry, I do not have his contact information. If you do, then please obtain his permission first, and if he grants it go ahead and post it so that people from the UK will know how to get in touch with him if the need arises.

Technically you are correct. On a practical level, it works well if it's Thai-to-Thai. With farang-to-Thai, the assumption is going to be that money is involved. The PATTAYA CITY NEWS article reports the boy as being 16. The PATTAYA DAILY NEWS article reports the boy as being 15. Either way, according to both articles, this man picked up the boy in Sunee Plaza and took him to a short time room. It's going to be awfully difficult for this man to convince the police and the Thai courts that he took a Sunee Plaza street boy to a short time room, and yet money wasn't involved. He'd have a rough time convincing me too. Sometimes people get upset if the word "alleged" isn't used. After all, the man isn't guilty until he's found guilty in court. Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way in Thailand. In Thailand there is no presumption of innocence. In Thailand it's presumption of guilt unless you can prove your innocence. Even if this man really did take the boy without money being involved and even if the boy is 16 and even if this man can prove it, look at the trouble he's in and look at what he's going to have to go through under any circumstances. Is it worth it? If the boy was 18, then there wouldn't have been any problem. To me, if you see a boy you like, but fail to check his ID and make damned sure he's 18 or older first, then you're out of your mind for taking the risk. I've said many times that it is rare for someone to be arrested for taking a Sunee Plaza bar boy off from a bar, no matter what the boy's age is. This man, according to the articles, didn't take the boy off from a bar. He picked him up from the streets. But obviously there is a crackdown going on. Especially if there is a crackdown going on, would you really want to take the risk if the boy is less than age 18?

It just boggles my mind, considering the number of recent arrests, that people are still out there engaging in pedophilia sex and apparently thinking they can do it with impunity. These people probably read the same news articles everyone else reads, but they go out and do this anyway. Even with this number of recent arrests, tomorrow there will still be pedophiles out there trying to get away with it. The following appears in the PATTAYA CITY NEWS: _____ Briton Arrested On Paedophile Charges At around 4:30 on Friday morning police brought a 46-year-old British national, Mr Andrew John Gallacher, back to the Soi 9 station after allegedly finding him engaged in illegal sexual activities at his home with a 16-year-old Thai male. Police claim Mr Gallacher had picked up the boy in the Soi Sunee Plaza area of South Pattaya and brought him back for the purposes of sex and a promise of 500 baht. At the station police asked Mr Gallacher to open his computer, which had been brought back when he was arrested. On the computer were a large number of photos of young Thai males in various stages of undress, leading police to the conclusion that this was not the first time Mr Gallacher had engaged in sexual activities with local boys. Mr Gallacher is due to face court in the coming days. __________ For photos see: http://www.pattayacitynews.net/news_23_05_51.html For a more detailed article and even more photos, see: http://www.pattayadailynews.com/shownews.p...NEWS=0000006081

They have their methods and we have ours. I think doing whatever we can do to stop the pedophiles is an important thing to at least try to do for two reasons. One is the harm it causes to such young boys and I don't think the gay community should ignore it. The second is the stigma it places on the rest of us simply because we're gay. On this board, discussion of this issue is welcomed and encouraged. The threads that discuss it are clearly titled. If some people don't want to deal with it or discuss it, then nobody is forcing them to read the threads. We, of course, have no way of knowing if the discussions and threads about it have ever stopped a single pedophile or even caused them to think twice. But maybe our efforts have done something. I hope so.

According to the PATTAYA MAIL, the police are not only going to go after the suspected pedophiles themselves, but now will start going after the owners and operators of properties where these offenses take place. For the full story, click: http://www.pattayamail.com/current/news.shtml#hd10

I can't speak to that comment, but I really do hope for the sake of all concerned that Pattaya Players succeeds. I believe Chris has probably put his life's blood and probably quite a bit of his own money, not to mention massive amounts of time, to create this, and I think it's a damned good idea. I want it to work, but I think the over-advertising is going to be detrimental if it continues. I don't want to see it fail because of it and that's why I'm expressing my opinion about it.

They don't look hot to me under those flashing lights. If the room were on fire they still wouldn't look hot to me under that kind of lighting. Maybe I'm alone in my opinion (it sure wouldn't be the first time). I wonder what others think.

There seems to be something wrong with the PM system. Since yesterday, when I try to open a PM sent to me, instead of opening the PM, it just opens the box to send a PM. In other words, if you sent me a PM lately, I can't read it until Stef and GayThailand can fix the problem. Instead of sending me a PM, please send an Email to me a gaybutton@gmail.com . If you sent a PM to me recently, but received no response, that's why. I imagine others are probably having the same problem. I suggest avoiding the PM system until our programing gurus can fix the problem.

I think the Pattaya Players has a lot of potential, so please take my post in the spirit in which it is intended. I mean this constructively. I believe the two biggest mistakes you made with Niddy's Nook were over-advertising and hyping it up beyond what it actually was. I believe those were the main reasons why it eventually failed. I believe you are making precisely the same kind of mistakes with the Pattaya Players, and it's going to cause harm, rather than be beneficial, to Pattaya Players because so many people find the over-advertising annoying. My unsolicited advice is to advertise the production just once, about two weeks before ticket sales begin, and leave it at that. People can read and I think they'll appreciate it much more if you handle it that way, rather than a barrage of advertising and hype posts. Up to you . . .

No need for apologies. I am not an owner, but I hold a 30-year prepaid lease on my house, which essentially is the same thing when taking monthly expenditures into consideration. Obviously, since my lease is prepaid, I don't have to worry about a monthly mortgage or rental payment. I don't think any of that is even taken into consideration. I know some people who pay rent as low as 3500 baht per month and some people who pay over 100,000 baht per month. As far as the minimum monthly requirement is concerned, for visa purposes it doesn't matter. If you can show a proof-of-income statement with at least the 66,000 baht minimum, as far as Immigration is concerned that's fine no matter how much your monthly expenditures may be. How much you pay for mortgage or rent, or how much your other average monthly expenditures are, is not even asked.

Friday, May 23: Opening rates: US Dollar: 31.76 Euro: 49.84 British Pound: 62.76 Australian Dollar: 30.25 Canadian Dollar: 32.0675 _____ Closing rates: US Dollar: 31.88 Euro: 50.065 British Pound: 62.99 Australian Dollar: 30.4925 Canadian Dollar: 32.185

I just tried to do that for you, but I don't have access to an area of the web site at which that is possible. I suggest sending a PM to both GayThailand and Stef. Maybe one of them can do it for you. Failing that, you could always re-register under 'Khortose' and use that handle from now on.

It turns out that I was wrong. Today a close friend, someone who would know, informed me the actual minimum is 66,000 baht per month.

I don't know if this would be of any help, but if no one responds, maybe a starting point would be the Chiangmai Mail ( http://www.chiangmai-mail.com ). They do have online classified ads, including real estate ads. Also, perhaps if you contact the Chiangmai Mail via their Email, maybe someone will respond.

Obviously it's quite a project. Has there been any word yet about their projected opening date?

Once again, if you are traveling to or from the USA I suggest calling Rhonda at Norcross Travel, the travel agent I have been recommending for many years, before you commit to another price. She almost always is able to save you hundreds of dollars, no matter what you find from any other source. Her toll free number is 1-888-888-7157. Make sure you are speaking to Rhonda, not someone else.

I hate to be a party pooper, but I didn't like the video. The constant flashing of strobes and color changes drives me crazy. What's appealing about that, whether live or on video? Can't they just shine a steady light? I'd much rather it be that way than the changes nearly twice per second. Maybe the rest of you like it, but it doesn't appeal to me at all. All it does for me is to give me a headache. Other than pushy mama-sans, overpriced drinks, and overpriced off fees, I can't think of anything much more annoying to me than that kind of lighting. The boys might be particularly hot, but if the presentation of the go-go boys includes that kind of lighting, I'd be in that bar for about two minutes before I'd go elsewhere.

Thursday, May 22: Opening rates: US Dollar: 31.64 Euro: 49.88 British Pound: 62.34 Australian Dollar: 30.3575 Canadian Dollar: 32.03 Once again, the Canadian dollar has surpassed the US dollar in value. So far, with the exception of the US dollar, which is now in decline, the other major currencies are still increasing in value. __________ Closing rates: US Dollar: 31.70 Euro: 50.01 British Pound: 62.52 Australian Dollar: 30.3825 Canadian Dollar: 32.06

I make it seem easy because it is. There's nothing difficult about it at all. I have no idea what the Australian embassy requires. Thailand requires a minimum income of 72,000 baht per month, as I recall. I could easily be wrong about that figure. I'm relying on memory, and my memory has seen better days. Since you are still in Australia, a phone call to the Thai embassy could get you an accurate answer. None of it has to remain in your bank account. You can spend it as you wish. You don't have to prove how much goes into your bank account, if you are using the proof-of-income method. Thailand merely requires that you have a Thai bank account at all and that funds go into that account from abroad. That's what the letter from the bank certifies. The letter says nothing about the amount going in. As far as your actual income is concerned, whether through cash, shares, or anything else, that's what the proof-of-income statement is all about, so that depends on what the Australian embassy will accept. Assuming you can prove your income, if nobody with experience at the Australian embassy responds, I advise either bringing documentation with you or simply springing for a call to the Australian embassy in Bangkok and asking them what they require. Maybe they just take your word for it too.

Sorry, I didn't get today's opening rates. Wednesday, May 21: Closing rates: US Dollar: 31.71 Euro: 49.795 British Pound: 62.28 Australian Dollar: 30.3575 Canadian Dollar: 31.9075

It's somewhere between 'not a pot to piss in' and 'a mint of money.'

This was sent to me by a friend who represents the Weekly report: _____ "Three Sunee Plaza A Go Go bars are closed for 30 days after receiving notices on 14 May from the police: Villa Rouge/Kaos, Good Boys, and Minou."

Who knows? Whoever you ask tells a story different from everyone else you ask. You know when we'll know when these bars will really reopen? When they reopen.

I noticed there is an announcement that the Minou bar was closed, but nothing was said about when they will reopen. One of the mama-sans there is a friend of mine and told me the bar was ordered to remain closed for a month. If that is correct, then they should reopen around mid June.

You've noticed that too. It is also quite rare to hear about raids on any of the girlie bars. Every so often a group of bigwigs in law enforcement takes a publicity walk through Walking Street and that's about it. It seems obvious to me that the gay bars and gay farang are the primary police targets. Just why that is would be debatable, but that's the way it is. You would have to go a long way to convince me there are no heterosexual pedophiles in Thailand, no Thai pedophiles (you never hear about any of them being arrested), and that every girlie bar fully complies with the laws and never hires under-age girls.