Gaybutton

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.

I called the US Embassy this morning. I reached someone in American Citizens Services and explained what is on their web site. He said, yes, there definitely must be some mistake because the embassy doesn't even have a consular visit scheduled for Pattaya at all in May. He asked for the URL of that announcement, which I qave him, and he put me on hold. When he came back he said, "Sir, I don't know how you got that URL, but what you are looking at is our announcement for May, 2007, not May 2008." He gave me the URL for the latest correct announcement, which is: http://bangkok.usembassy.gov/embassy/wwc/r...may-9-2008.html So, the announcement above would be just fine if you enter a time machine and go back a year. Just so nobody is confused, there is no consular visit in either Pattaya or Phuket this month, and the Udon Thani visit has already come and gone. The posted announcement is incorrect.

About ten years ago I would have made the same assumption. Now I'm not so sure. Much has changed over the years and I don't think it's so easy, if one has enough money, to buy one's way out of this kind of trouble anymore. What I do know is that in certain criminal matters, it is legally possible in Thailand to reach a financial settlement with the victim and/or the victim's family and end the matter that way. What I don't know is whether that applies in pedophile cases. I think it's been about six or seven months, or so, since two farangs who live in Pattaya were caught in Khorat engaging in under-age sex. According to the news articles these two would make visits to Khorat on a regular basis for that purpose. Shortly after the major publicity died down one of them started showing up at the beach almost daily. I have no idea whether he bought his way out of trouble, was released on bail, or what. I haven't seen him lately. I haven't seen him for about two or three months. I have no idea whether he simply stopped coming to the beach, was able to leave Thailand, is in jail, was deported, was prosecuted in his home country, bought his way out of it, or what ended up happening to him. These cases are reported at the time of arrest, but I never see any follow-up publicity regarding the final outcome.

See: http://www.pattayapeople.com/default.asp?F...IdArticle=11864 I'm beginning to think there must be a convention in town.

Those dates are all Sundays, not Fridays. Unless the embassy has somehow managed to cause Sundays to actually occur on Fridays, I'd say somebody at the embassy made a slight error. It's midnight in Thailand at the moment. I'll call the embassy in the morning and see what I can find out.

Right. It was explained so clearly on that thread. How could I possibly have failed to realize?

Here is something I didn't know until today. Did you know that if you have a Thai bank account, you can add to your One-Two-Call time at an ATM or through your online banking? It never occurred to me you could do that until I spotted a woman in front of me, on an ATM line, doing it. Until now, I always thought you had to buy a time card at a convenience store or mobile phone shop. You can buy additional time in increments of 50, 100, 500, and 1000 baht. You can do this at any ATM that represents a Thai bank with which you have an account. If you have a Bangkok Bank account, then you have to do it at a Bangkok Bank ATM, using your Bangkok Bank ATM card. It won't work if you are at, for example, a Bangkok Bank ATM, but are using a Bank of Ayudhya ATM card. Just put your card into the ATM, enter your code, and press the button for "payments." You'll easily follow the rest. Out of curiosity I checked my online banking. Sure enough, you can do the same thing online. It's not just One-Two-Call. All of the phone systems that require time cards can be done at ATMs or online. Actually, I don't use One-Two-Call. I have an account with DTAC and I receive a bill once per month, which I can pay online or at any DTAC shop. I prefer DTAC to One-Two-Call because of the convenience of a monthly bill, rather than having to run out and buy time cards all the time. Also, DTAC's per-minute charge is less than One-Two-Call. I still prefer DTAC to One-Two-Call, but at least for me, One-Two-Call just became a lot more convenient if for some reason I ever switch over. By the way, a farang can use DTAC in the same way One-Two-Call is used - with time cards. A farang can only open an account in which he is billed each month if he has a work permit. If you want to do it the way I'm doing it, then you need to find a Thai (he must be at least 20 years old) who will trust you to pay the bill every month. He has to take out a DTAC account in his name, list your address as the billing address, and give you the SIM card.

Didn't anybody who reads this board go to the show? I was hoping to see a few reviews posted.

Note: There was a problem with the board this morning and it was not accessible until now. Obviously, now the problem is fixed, but today's opening rates are actually "Round 3" rates since I couldn't get onto the board until now. Tuesday, May 20: Opening rates: US Dollar: 31.99 Euro: 49.62 British Pound: 62.39 Australian Dollar: 30.5225 Canadian Dollar: 32.13 _____ Closing Rates: US Dollar: 31.91 Euro: 49.70 British Pound: 62.325 Australian Dollar: 30.485 Canadian Dollar: 31.995 Oh well, it was a nice dream, but it looks like the dollar is slipping against the baht again. Damn! If nothing else, most Americans who live in Thailand, who were also eligible for the tax rebate, who were also to receive it via direct deposit to a Thai bank account, received it while the baht was still at its recent peak.

The local oysters are ok, and maybe Khunatm's French oysters are great, but until you've had Apalachee Bay oysters from the Gulf coast of Florida, you haven't had oysters.

Today I drove right by Cherry's. I noticed they now have a new sign in place at the corner and a big sign on their now former premises telling people where the new location is. It's only 40 meters from the former location, so it won't be at all difficult to find.

The PATTAYA DAILY NEWS has now published its version of events, including photos. See: http://www.pattayadailynews.com/shownews.p...NEWS=0000006033

It's possible, of course, but I doubt it. Thais are very protective of children. Somehow I can't envision police officers approaching parents and saying, "Pardon me, but we have a farang we suspect of being a pedophile. Would you mind if we borrow your eleven year old boy, teach him what he needs to do, and allow him to get naked and start having sex with this farang so we can catch the guy in the act?" Many members of the Thai police are corrupt when it comes to money, but I can't picture them using children in this manner, even if the children are street urchins. I believe it is much more likely they know children who are involved in this, possibly mafia controlled. They go after the farang pedophiles. When was the last time you heard about a Thai pedophile being arrested? Perhaps, as in Iran, they don't exist . . . I think it's selective enforcement and they don't put much effort into going after the Thai pedophiles or the Thai "Mr. Bigs" who traffic the children. That's my opinion. Whether my opinion is also a fact will probably never be known. No matter what, obviously farang are primary targets. It would take a lot more than people's personal opinions to convince me the police intentionally seek out and use children in that manner. Catching farang pedophiles is big news. Catching Thai pedophiles seems to be quite ho-hum. In any case, in my opinion foreigners who come to Thailand to have sex with children are not only reprehensible and causing those of us who are not pedophiles to share their terrible reputation, but they are also complete idiots for risking everything for the purpose of fulfilling whatever it is they need to fulfill. Where they're going they'll likely have plenty of sex, but it won't be with children. It will probably consist mainly of midnight conjugal visits from some big 'Mongos' they don't want one from.

My God! Just how many gay pedophiles are out there in Pattaya?!?!?!?! Aren't they ever going to learn? One of these guys is accused of actually having 8 boys delivered to him, just like having a few pizzas delivered. And they think they can get away with this. What's wrong with these people? Both stories appear in THE NATION: ____ Briton Arrested for Allegedly Buying Sex from 11-year-old Boy Pattaya- A British tourist has been arrested for allegedly buying sex service from a 11-year-old boy, police said. Police said Dee Christopher, 41, was arrested at his rented house in Chon Buri's Bang Lamung district at 7 pm Sunday. Police found the boy with him. The boy told police that Christopher picked him up while he was walking in a soi and he was given Bt500 in exchange for the sex. The Nation ____________________ Briton Arrested for Allegedly Buying Sex from 8 Underage Teenagers Pattaya - Police arrested a British tourist after found him inside his rented luxurious mansion with eight teenage boys ranging from 14 to 18 years old. Michael Terrance, 58, was arrested at 7:30 pm at the mansion in Chon Buri's Bang Lamug district on Saturday. Police said he had already had sex with one of the boys while the seven others were waiting for him in the living room when police raided the house. The eight boys told police that they were delivered to Terrance by Chalee Kengthanyakorn, 45 who works at a pub in Bangkok. They said Terrance gave Chalee Bt2,000 for each of them but Chalee deducted Bt1,000 each. Terrance declined to talk to police, saying he would consult his lawyer first. The Nation

GaySacGuy probably knows more about Phuket than most people here. I don't think he checks into the board all that often, but if you send him a PM he'll see it quickly enough and will be able to respond if nobody else does first.