Gaybutton

Sometimes, if it's a boy I like enough to want to give something substantial to beyond a tip, I don't buy him gold, telephones, motorbikes, or anything of the kind. You know what I do? I ask him when was the last time he had money enough to go home and visit his family. Most of the time it's been many months, sometimes years. If that's the case, I buy him a round-trip home so he can be with his family for a few weeks and I give him money enough so he can have a good time while he's there. I've done that several times over the years. Based on the response I invariably get, they appreciate that far more than anything else I could have bought. I still get "Thank you so much" notes from boys who received that gift years ago. Consider doing that, gents.

The busiest is usually right around Christmas and New Year. If you're going to come at that time, make your bookings as early as you can - to be assured of being able to get flights and get your first choice hotel bookings.

I think it is more a matter of individual tastes and preferences. For me they have become far less interesting over the years. But I know several farang, some of whom have lived here as long as I have and some even longer, and they're in the bars virtually every night. I agree the bars are probably most fun for people who come to Thailand for brief holidays. Many save up all year to be able to come to Thailand and go to the bars. Meanwhile I live here and rarely go to the bars at all anymore. "All that you wanted he would not even take." - Anne Baxter (Nefretiri), 'The Ten Commandments'

I'm glad to know I am the subject of a myth. Some dubbed me "Mayor of Sunee Plaza." Wrong. Some thought I was the leader of the "Barmy Army." Wrong. Actually most of the same people who were "Barmy Army" regulars are still part of the same group. And the person who really was the leader still is. The fact is I used to go to Sunee Plaza regularly, at minimum several times a week. Now it's rare for me to go to any bars more than just a few times a month. I don't enjoy the bars as much as I used to - when they were actually fun. Also, I live on "The Dark Side," quite a distance from the bars. I used to be able to get to the bars from my place in about 15 minutes. Now, with all the traffic problems, I'm lucky if I can get to the bars within 40 minutes. And living here, I don't need the bars to find boys. I almost never bother with bar boys at all anymore. That's thanks to sites such as Planet Romeo and sheer luck. And I'm not a drinker. I never was. I might have a gin & tonic or a glass of wine once in a while, but that's about it. As for my group of "Barmy Army" friends, we meet for dinner quite often. If they want to go to the bars after dinner, that's usually when I'll go. Other than that, I'll be interested in going to the bars regularly again if they ever again become the fun they used to be. Speaking only for myself, to me one beer bar is pretty much the same as the next. I usually don't last more than 20 minutes or so in a go-go bar, mainly because of the music volume. Extremely loud music drives me away. It for sure doesn't attract me. These days, I'm much happier now that my biggest problems of the day are usually which young lad I want to "entertain," and which restaurant I want to go to for dinner. As for puzzling about which young gent to choose that day, back in the USA I would have murdered my mother to have that problem. If I'm not calling them, they're calling me. I think I'll stay right where I am . . .

I'm sure you can find the way without high tech help. It might take much longer, you'll eventually get there. But since we do have high tech help available, I intend to use it. What I used to do in an unfamiliar city, such as Bangkok, was if I had no idea how to get where I was trying to go, but I was driving, I would hire a motorbike taxi and follow him. He would always make sure he didn't lose me. If he did, he would also lose getting paid. As for high tech, when calculators were first gaining popularity, I had a math teacher who told us, "You can all use your calculators as much as you wish - as soon as you can prove to me you don't need one."

I can. Google maps is fine for initial route planning, but it can't compare to a GPS. For example, when I go to Bangkok, Google maps can easily plan a route from my home to where I'm trying to go. What Google maps cannot do, but my GPS can, is instantly guide me to an alternate route if there is some reason why I can't take the Google maps route all the way. That happens frequently when I go to Bangkok. My exit into Bangkok is Rama IV. Often, the police have it blocked off. Without my GPS I'd probably still be trying to figure out an alternate route. Sometimes I'm on my way somewhere, and on the spur of the moment decide to go somewhere else or visit some attraction. My GPS handles that easily. My GPS gives me continual voice callouts such as "In 300 meters turn left on Rt. 2245." "Railroad crossing ahead in 200 meters." "In 300 meters you will reach your destination, on the right." It also gives me warnings such as if I'm exceeding the speed limit, a huge truck is approaching from the rear - closely, I'm approaching a hidden, dangerous sharp turn. It gives me a continual ETA to my destination. It can show my choice of the road map with local terrain or simply the road map. It can show my choice of 2D or 3D buildings. When I'm approaching an exit that can be confusing, it guides me to the correct way to go. It can give me a heads-up display at night. It can show me all the hotels, gas stations, restaurants, ATMs, shops, hospitals, auto repair shops, where to park my car - you name it - in my immediate vicinity - with telephone numbers. All kinds of additional features too. I do use Google maps sometimes to initially plan a route, but compared to a GPS it doesn't even come close. The Sygic GPS I recommended for mobile phones works beautifully. For the US $30 it cost me for the paid version, I would not want to be without it. Christian, painful as I know it is for you not to do things the cheapest way possible, there are times when it's actually a good idea to open your wallet and spend some money on something.

"You were both wrong. And you were both right." - Yul Brynner (Taras), 'Taras Bulba'

I thought I'd never see the day, but I agree with every word bkkguy wrote in his post above.

It also won't cover any resulting medical expenses for anyone, vehicle and property damage, funeral expenses if anyone dies, compensation to victim families, bail money, or anything else. In other words, if something happens and the driver was drunk or on drugs, now you're completely on your own. If someone other than yourself is going to be driving, you better be damned sure you can absolutely trust him when he's out and about on his own. With my car nobody drives it but me. The few times I ever made an exception, if somebody else was driving, that was not going to happen unless I was in the car too. Miller: "You don't trust anyone, do you?" Stavros: "That is why I have lived so long." - David Niven (Miller), Anthony Quinn (Stavros), 'The Guns of Navarone'

Another thing - if your boyfriend is driving and there is an accident, the police are going to check for drugs in his system and check to see if he has been drinking. If either of those are the case, the insurance company isn't going to pay anything. Even if the police rule the other driver was at fault and that driver has insurance, if your boyfriend was drunk or tests positive for drugs. they're not going to pay either.

I've owned a car in Thailand for many years. Insurance runs about 14,000 baht per year. That's per year. Incredibly inexpensive. An SUV will probably be a few thousand baht more expensive. My recommendation is a standard car rather than an SUV unless you have a serious need for an SUV. With an SUV you're going to have problems finding a place to park, driving down narrow sois, driving down sois where cars are double parked (which is most of them), etc. For me, in Thailand the smaller the car, the better. The last thing I would want in Thailand is a big car. Make sure to get the first class insurance which fully covers you and any other licensed driver who drives the car - zero deductible and total coverage, no matter who is at fault. That definitely comes in handy if there is an accident with an uninsured vehicle. If you've had no claims during the year, the rate usually goes down. The thing to consider is whose name the car is in. If there is an accident, the person ultimately responsible is the person whose name the car is in. Another thing to consider - if you would want to be assured the boy gets the car in case of your own death, if the car is in his name it is not even an issue. As for credit, what is available is up to the car dealership and the finance company they work with. If the car is going to be in a Thai person's name, the down payment is usually far less than they want if the car is going to be in a farang name. Also, check to see if there are penalties for early payoff. Your boyfriend might be close about the down payment. My car is a Toyota Vios. I was able to get the Thai down payment price 50,000 baht. That was a while back. My car is almost 10 years old now and still runs as perfectly as it did the day I bought it. Once a car reaches 9 years old, Thailand requires annual inspection. If you properly maintain the car passing inspection should be no problem. I thought about selling the car and buying a new one, but then I thought "Why?" I have a car fully paid off and running perfectly. I'm going to stick with this car until it becomes a maintenance problem no matter how old it is. I'm old too, but I for sure am not running perfectly anymore . . . If you're not going to do all that much driving or traveling, you might want to consider a used car. Many are in prime condition and the only reason they're being sold is because the owner couldn't keep up with the payments. But don't buy a used car without first getting an independent mechanic to inspect it. Most of the time at checkpoints I've been waved on, but sometimes the police will stop you. It won't matter whether it's a Thai or farang driver and it won't matter whether you did anything wrong or not. If the police officer has his hand out, you're going to part with money. Just accept that as being part of it if you're going to drive in Thailand. For me, it's never been more than 400 baht and it almost never happens in the city or major expressways and toll roads. It's usually if I'm driving in the provinces and even then most of the time I'm just waved right through. Not a big issue. If a cop is going to fine me, meaning he wants to pocket the money, I say, "I don't have time to go to the police station. Can I please give the money to you and you take care of it for me at the police station?" That line has never failed me. I just give him what he wants and goodbye. As I said, no cop has ever asked me for more than 400 baht and I've been driving in Thailand since the mid 1990s. Many cars come with built-in GPS now. They are quite sophisticated. You can easily switch between English and Thai displays and voice direction. It works beautifully in Bangkok and everywhere else in Thailand. Sometimes it wants to take you on a road you don't want, but all you have to do is drive right past it and the GPS immediately recalculates another route. My car did not come with built-in GPS. I use an excellent GPS that is a mobile phone app. Sygic. My phone is an Android phone. I don't know if Sygic is available for other phones. There is a free and paid version. The free version works just fine, but I went with the paid version which has more bells and whistles. For the US $30 for the paid version, it's a hell of a good deal and the updates are current. It has never failed to get me where I want to go and get me back home again. It has maps available, free, for all countries. They recently even came out with a map for Laos. If the car does not come with a GPS and if your phone is not compatible with Sygic, the best GPS brand is Garmin. As for driving into other countries and returning to Thailand, I can't help you with that one. I've never tried. While Thailand's roads are usually in good shape, I'm not so sure about other countries. From what I understand, Cambodian roads are terrible.

If fresh towels are all you need, there shouldn't be a problem getting them any time you want them, even in the middle of the night. Any hotel I've ever stayed in, if I want fresh towels I simply call the front desk, tell them I need fresh towels, and they send somebody up within just a few minutes - no problem. I don't do that often, but when I have I've never been refused. If you do have somebody bringing something to your room at odd hours, I think it's definitely appropriate to tip whoever brings it. If you're really lucky, maybe the tip won't be merely money . . .

Sorry, I forgot about the third troll. Keep trying trolls. Maybe one of these days you'll actually come up with something intelligent - but I doubt it.

Perhaps . . . But I see no other trolls besides those two posting on this board. That's how they get their fun. As soon as someone posts something that makes them vulnerable, you can bet they'll be right on it with the same kinds of posts. Whether it's convoluted logic, total bullshit, or just plain mean, there they are. And steveboy, in all his brilliance, took the bait as you can see on his post just above. Feed a troll and it works every time.

I see you couldn't resist dragging me into this. I made no posts on this topic, but here come the trolls with their insult attempts. Yawn. Lucky for you I don't moderate this board anymore. With the kind of behavior both you and steveboy persist in your posts, you would have been gone long ago - the first time either of you decided to post your utter crap.

I'll be foolish and ask. Who paid?

I too am enjoying your photos. I hope you will continue.

There you have it, folks. Fed the troll and that's the best he can come up with. I rest my case.

Neither do I. I've seen several monk ordination ceremonies over the years. The most expensive I've ever seen was 14,000 baht - and that included the parties, the music, the parade, the food - everything. There is no way an ordination ceremony should cost 300,000 baht 150,000 baht, or anywhere near close to that. Nearly every Thai boy is going to be ordained as a monk around age 21. Most don't remain as monks more than a month. How many Thais do you suppose could possibly come up with that kind of money? Of course, if they manage to get a farang to foot the bill for them, that's when they can have their ceremony catered by Maxim's of Paris and have the Black Watch lead the parade . . .

No need to bother wasting time explaining anything to steveboy. He's just another troll who gets his jollies by trying to insult and put-down both me and my board at every opportunity - probably someone I booted off my board for just such behavior and then changes his screen name and runs to other boards to cry about it. Three guesses how much I care about what people like that want to post.

I am extremely grateful to Moses, the administrator on the Sawatdee forum. Moses was kind enough to offer to help me fix the problem on my board and he has already done so. My board is working perfectly now. In order to fix the problem Moses needed full administrator status, which of course I gave him. And I am going to leave his administrator status in place permanently. I have full faith, trust, and confidence in Moses. Moses, you are a miracle worker. I don't know how you did it, but I can't thank you enough.

Thank you ct2005. I have no way of knowing if people are still encountering the problem unless they tell me. I do think you set the filter incorrectly. I won't work unless you enter the entire URL. Unfortunately, if there are several URLs, you have to enter each one individually. I realize that's tedious, but until the problem is fixed there is no other way that seems to work. For me, this is what's known as a 'pain-in-the-ass.' It's bad enough I have to deal with dozens of phony bot registration attempts every day. Now this too. If anyone happens to know other solution possibilities, I'd be grateful if you let me know.

There is a problem on my board. Some can't access the posts. What's going on is there is some damned web site trying to hijack my board and redirect to their own web site - some ridiculous web site where they are trying to sell, of all things, Viagra. The problem is on the server side. I've alerted them. Your guess is as good as mine as to how long it will take for them to get rid of it. In the meantime, there is a way to handle it. If you're using the Firefox browser or another browser that accepts the Adblock Pro add-on, install it. It's free. Once you install it, the topic still may not open. If that happens, look at the bottom left of your screen. You will see the URL trying to hijack my board. If you copy that URL and put it into the Adblock Pro filter, that stops it - most of the time. Another solution that worked for me was to close off the board, start it again, go directly to the forum you want, and instead of clicking on 'view unread posts' or 'view new posts', click on the topic itself and then go to the last page. That worked for me. Not that I can do anything about it if neither of those work, but let me know. It's always something!

If someone walks out wearing your shoes, I'd say chances are good it was simply a mistake. If someone walks out wearing your shoes and carrying his own, then I'd say it was a deliberate theft. Of course, the next question is who would go to a temple to steal someone else's shoes?

True story - The first time I was ever in Thailand, in Bangkok I wanted to take a guided tour. From among the tour choices, the one that appealed to me most was called "Temple Tour." It was going to be a city tour that includes stops at the most famous temples - the reclining Buddha, the Emerald Buddha, etc. The tour guide spoke very good English and was well versed about everywhere we were going. I knew about the tradition of removing shoes when entering a temple, but I didn't know why. I was curious. At one of the stops I asked the tour guide why removing shoes before entering was the tradition and why it was such an important thing to do. Based on his lengthy answers throughout the tour, I was expecting a detailed, complex explanation about it. Here's the answer I received: Me: "Why is removing shoes an important requirement when entering a Buddhist temple?" Tour Guide: "Keep floor clean."