Gaybutton

It is almost impossible to make an exchange rate recommendation for long-term financial planning. Only two months ago all the predictions were that the baht would move to about 42 to the US dollar and remain there. It didn't exactly work out that way, at least not yet. Then, when the coup occurred, many people thought that would dramatically weaken the baht. It didn't work out that way either. The thing to do is try to be prepared for any eventuality. I would do my financial planning using the current exchange rate because the Bank of Thailand has been intervening to keep the baht from strengthening to the extent that export businesses would be seriously hurt. If the baht returns to the 40's level, wonderful. If not, then at least you're prepared. Whether it will affect your lifestyle depends on your monthly retirement income level and what kind of lifestyle you seek. The question, at present, is whether an exchange rate of around 36 baht to the US dollar can support it based on the monthly income you anticipate. As far as the debate over renting and buying is concerned, that is also a difficult call these days. When I bought, the exchange rate was steady at about 45 to the US dollar. Obviously, if I bought now, I'd be paying a lot more for the same thing. Either way, it is definitely good to know that when something is bought and paid for you at least won't have to worry about that aspect of your life. On the other hand, when you rent you always have the option of simply walking away. Obviously, the exchange rate is something beyond our personal control. The trick is to do your best to be prepared for any eventuality and be very happy if the exchange rate manages to get back into the 40's. We're all trying to deal with the current exchange rate. What will it be a year from now, two years from now, five years from now, ten years from now? There's no way to even guess. What I do know is that old phrase, "sound as a dollar" is now obsolete. Thanks a lot, Mr. Prez.

BANGKOK, Nov 4 (TNA) The Thai baht which has been strengthening over the past two weeks due to continued foreign capital inflows is expected to remain strong next week, according to a report issued by Kasikorn Research Centre. The report said the baht closed at Bt36.67 against the dollar compared to Bt36.87 late last week--which was the highest in more than seven years due in part to an intervention by the Bank of Thailand attempting to put the brake on the strenghtening baht. The baht also became stronger against the dollar this week following continued capital inflows while the dollar weakened following a poor performance of the US economy, it said. The report said the baht is expected to move within the range of Bt36.40-36.80 per dollar next week on continued foreign capital inflows as traders keep a close watch on US employment data for October--which could assist the dollar to become strong, but only on the short-term. Traders are also awaiting US trade figures for September to be released next week and the outcome of the British central bank meeting to be held Wednesday and Thursday in which it might raise interest rate and could pressure on the dollar against key currencies, the report said. Economists have stated that a stronger baht will hurt exporters, whose income will be diluted when dollar income is converted to a lower amount of baht. (TNA)-E011

I'll tell you what business it is of his. Many people write posts talking about how awful it is that "farang" come to Thailand to exploit the bar boys. When someone literally uses a boy and then gives him a pittance for his services, I think that's the height of exploitation and it is something this web site stands against. I think it is very much GayThailand's business. I think it ought to be everybody's business, including yours, to stand against it.

Thanks for the dictionary definition, Wowpow. Until now I didn't realize that I'm a profane heathen. You know something? I'm glad I am! As for you, Pearl69er, an overreaction on my part? Ok. In the future if you try really hard not to confuse the names of people at whom you wish to hurl accusations, maybe nobody will overreact. This is the second time I've been the subject, on this board, of posts making accusations against me when they were meant for GayThailand. I'm Gaybutton. He's GayThailand. It can't be all that difficult to distinguish between the two. Before those of you out there who are breathing fire and so extremely angry that you just can't wait to post, at least take a second or two to make sure you are directing your hatred toward the correct person. Don't worry. I've been the subject of accusations many, many times over the years and often still am. The problem the accusers have is that I don't really care what they think, although I know from time to time I am fully deserving of the hate posts. Now, Pearl69er, if anyone is overreacting I'd say it's you. You're going on and on and on with this the same way another poster went on and on and on about Niddy's Nook. As long as you keep responding people are going to continue their posts. You've already said, time after time, that you are not guilty of the accusations being made against you. You've made your point and everyone reading these threads is already well aware of your position. Unless having the absolute last word is an imperative for you, I suggest that it's been quite enough. Continuing these responses is making you appear as something I doubt you wish to be perceived as. It's a two-word phrase. The first word is horse's.

I greatly admire you for being open and honest about it.

I agree with the idea, but I think it needs perfecting. For example, if the tip is included in the "off" fee, it is collected by the bar at the time you pay your bill. How do you know that boy will actually receive it or that he will receive all of it? In some bars, the mama-sans demand a portion of tips the boys get. Also, if the tip is paid at the time the "off" fee is paid, it's the mama-sans who distribute the tips. Unless there is a way to make sure the boy will receive the tip to which he is entitled, then it's a good idea that I don't think will really work. Another problem is when the boy turns out to be a dud. I have never supported under-tipping, but I do support the idea that if one has made an agreement with a boy, and then the boy does not live up to what the agreement was, then he does not deserve the full tip. Sometimes he deserves nothing at all. That does happen sometimes. If the boy knows his tip is advance paid, then he also knows he's got his tip whether he performs or not. I do not agree with the idea that a tip should be paid prior to the service being rendered. Even in restaurants that include service charges on the bill do not expect the charge to be paid prior to the service. If the service was unacceptable, then the service charge can be disputed prior to paying the bill. I think the problem can be solved very simply. All a bar would need to do is to post a sign in a location that people are sure to spot and specify the expected minimum "short time" and "long time" tips. That is the way it is done in the gay massage parlors. If, for example, you go to the Blue House massage, they will show you a menu of the available types of massages and the menu boldly shows what the tip should be for the boy. Why can't the bars do the same thing?

That, sir, is a flat out lie. "Many" of your posts? I eliminated a grand total of two of your posts and sent you a PM telling you the reason for the deletions was your use of profanity. That is not acceptable on this message board. I also told you that you can repost your responses as long as you do not use profanity. If any posts other than the ones I communicated with you about were eliminated, I'm not the one who did it. This board has one owner and three moderators, all of whom have the ability to eliminate posts. I have tried my best to be fair with you, but since you wish to be public about this I'll tell you now that you are being treated the same as everyone else who posts on this board and the rules here apply to everyone. Nobody is telling you that you cannot respond if you feel that you are being attacked, but you are being told that if you use profanity, then you can kiss goodbye posts that contain it. That also applies to everyone who posts on this board. If that's not good enough for you, then I suggest finding another message board on which to post.

I agree with you entirely. I have not seen the "farang" participation you're talking about, but it's also been more than a month since I was even in a bar at all. I'm glad I didn't see that and I think it is in extremely poor taste for "farang" to be doing anything other than watching the shows. I'm quite unpleasantly surprised to know that any bars permit such a thing.

The following appears in THE NATION: _____ Last Diary Entries of a Heartbroken Boy The last message the young man wrote in his diary reflected what was probably going through his mind in the moments before he took his own life: "Never love anybody with your whole heart." "The time the message was written, as he marked it in the diary, was 6.13am. After that, he jumped," the father of Chaowalit Sathitsuk, 17, said after his son's suicide yesterday. Stress and a broken heart are believed to have driven Chaowalit, a Grade-10 student of Ekamai International School, to jump to his death from his apartment yesterday morning. A farewell message left in his diary apologised to his family. Chaowalit is assumed to have jumped from his room on the fifth floor of an apartment building in Soi Pridi Phanomyong 37 on Sukhumvit 71 Road. Police officers found a message in the boy's diary which read; "Sorry to my family that I do this. I don't know any other way to suicide, jumping is an easy way and won't become a crime case. Love mum." According to police, Chaowalit wrote that he was distressed about love amongst other entries on topics such as space and extraterrestrial beings. Police found music still playing in his room while footprints and a partially smoked cigarette were found on the railing of a balcony. The room was otherwise undisturbed. Chaowalit's mother, Sumalee Sathitsuk, told police that Chaowalit was a cheerful boy, but suffered from the congenital disease of thalassemia. His educational record was fair. Sumalee added that Chaowalit lived with his father and grandmother, but was alone yesterday when he jumped. She said she had told Chaowalit she wanted to meet with his teacher to discuss his academic record, which may have left him feeling more stressed. "He liked to spend his leisure time playing fighting computer games and reading books about spirits. I have no idea what is the real reason behind his suicide," said Sumalee through her tears. She later cried until she fainted after receiving Chaowalit's body at Chulalongkorn Hospital. Chaowalit's father, Kamphol, said he didn't think his son had any problems at school or home. His family recently discovered Chaowalit was disappointed after being rejected by a 26-year-old woman he had met on the Internet. However, they had seen nothing to indicate that he was suicidal. "The previous night, my son asked me to buy him a CD and later said he wanted to be alone that night. So I went to stay at another condo and never thought that he would commit suicide," said Kamphol. He found that Chaowalit had written much in his diary about the 26-year-old woman, from the first day they met until the last day of his life. "This is the biggest loss of my life and my family. Without my son, I feel like I have lost everything," said Kamphol.

Loy Kratong is one of the most fun-filled of all the Thai holidays and this year it falls on Sunday, November 5. Most of the festivities take place at night. Many of the most popular beach concessions are offering excellent buffet dinners at equally excellent prices. Tickets are on sale for these buffets and it is best to purchase yours as soon as possible if you have not already done so. The weather has been perfect for this holiday for several days and is expected to remain perfect through Sunday. It's an event you won't want to miss if you are fortunate enough to be in Thailand. The bars will be open. Please be careful. Pattaya is already going through a lot of accident problems due to drunk drivers and they're all going to be out there driving drunk that night. Also, watch out for pickpockets and snatchers. Don't carry any more cash than necessary and I would advise leaving your expensive items in your room safe. If you are going to carry a camera, be especially cautious of thieves. You'll find good articles about Loy Kratong and the festivities that go with it in the present online edition of the PATTAYA MAIL at http://www.pattayamail.com

You and I have already communicated via the private messaging system as to why one of your messages on this thread was deleted. We do not delete messages frivolously or without cause. As for "You either delete the lot or allow me to reply to my attackers ( sans profanity)," the moderators will be the ones who will set policy as to how to run this message board, thank you very much. If you and those disputing you wish to continue, it is up to the owner of this message board as to how far to let it continue. My personal opinion . . . enough already.

My boyfriend needed one when we went to Laos. That was years ago. Maybe the regulations have changed or maybe it applies only to Laos. We entered by bus over the Friendship Bridge. Maybe it applies, or used to apply, there. I do remember that he had to get some sort of a permit to leave Thailand. So did every Thai citizen on that bus. Based on your post, apparently that is no longer necessary.

Obtaining a passport won't be a problem for the boy. I don't have the telephone number for the Thai passport agency. Perhaps someone else can provide that for you, but I do know that all he needs is his national ID card, passport photos, and some easy-to-get documents from home. The fee is nominal. I believe the only place he can get a passport is in Bangkok. Again, someone else will have to tell you where. The passport office used to be in the Asia Center building, easy to spot when entering Bangkok from the expressway, but it has since moved and I'm not sure where. Countries like Malaysia, Vietnam, and Cambodia are no problem at all. The boy will need an exit permit to leave Thailand and that is simple to obtain as well. There is a small fee for that permit, I think. Your boyfriend probably knows all of this already anyway, or can very easily find out.

That's not always the case, but when you do manage to find a good, helpful mama-san, I think it is a good idea to make sure she is well tipped. That would involve a second stop at that bar because you won't know how good the mama-san's advice was until after you have "offed" the boy. I think it is worth the effort and money to see that a good mama-san is tipped. That way you will be remembered, the mama-san will be even more helpful, and will be encouraged to be helpful to others. It's the pushy, rude mama-sans that I can do without, but the truly helpful ones are worth their weight in gold.

I have never understood why some people are under the impression that the numbers of messages and the numbers of members are the determining factors of what makes a good message board. Yes, some boards certainly do have numbers of posts far higher than this board has. I usually read those whenever I am in need of inanities, which constitute many of the posts that account for those numbers.

The following appears in the BANGKOK POST: _____ Schoolgirls 'Selling Sex for Easy Money' WASSAYOS NGAMKHAM Young schoolgirls have been selling sex during school term breaks to earn pocket money to play online games and buy luxury items, investigators have found. The Crimes against Children, Juvenile and Women Suppression Division (CCSD) recently said that sex services were offered by girls as young as 12 during the school holiday last month. It claimed scores of young schoolgirls, including those in lower high school and commercial colleges, took up prostitution for the easy money, so they could buy mobile phones, clothes and accessories and play online games. Pol Maj Uthen Nuipin, an inspector from the CCSD sub-division 1, said some girls in Bangkok had left home over the school break last month to stay with friends and offered sex for money, with motorcycle taxi drivers acting as go-betweens. He said some parents thought their daughters had gone missing, prompting police to search for them. The officers discovered the girls were selling themselves and making between 1,500 and 3,000 baht each. Pol Maj Uthen said he interviewed a 12-year-old girl who had sex with her boyfriend and thought she could now pocket some cash from sleeping with men for money. He insisted that those who paid for such sexual services would face three to 15 years in jail or be fined 6,000 to 30,000 baht, or both, no matter if the minor was willing or not. A 13-year-old schoolgirl in Mathayom 2 said she bought the newest models of mobile phones with the money she was paid for sex. She was arrested on Nov 1, together with her customer, in Prawet district. Pol Maj Uthen said his agency would speed up joint cooperation with relevant agencies to draw up a long-term solution to the problem before the next school summer break

I don't know, but maybe that sign was actually a clever thing. I was seriously considering shelling out 1400 baht just to find out and experience whatever "Fumigate the Infrared," "Rapidly", and "Highlight the Flower" were. I don't know if I would have paid 5000 baht to "Peel the New Face," but with a face like mine, 5000 baht for a new one might not have been such a bad idea.

On the opposite end, I always get a good laugh with the fractured written English used by the Thais. There are so many native English speakers available to proofread for them, but few places ever seem to have anyone do that (unless they've been asking Dan Quayle to proofread) and even fewer ever make corrections when mistakes are pointed out. To me, the all time winner of the Fractured English award has got to be the sign that used to be outside of the Perfect Beauty Salon, near Center Condo. That barber shop is gone now, but the sign lives on forever. Here it is: [attachmentid=71]

Those are too numerous to list and I don't know them all. It isn't limited just to Pattaya either. I had it happen to me in Phuket. It seems to be primarily beach resort hotels that have a restaurant. The best suggestion I can make is to ask at the time you are making reservations. If you already have reservations, then I would still check and find out. If the hotel does have the mandatory buffet, I would also ask the price of it. If I don't want to participate, then I would try to make reservations elsewhere first, and then cancel my original reservations.

What do if your flight arrives when it's raining? Also, what do they do to get people from the terminal building out to the plane for departing flights? In my opinion, one of the most impressive and well designed airports in the world is Singapore's Changi International Airport. It's too bad Suvarnabhumi did not use the same people to design the airport. Based on everything I'm seeing on this thread, and I have not been to Suvarnabhumi yet, it sounds very poorly designed. I would have thought that a brand new airport, literally forty years in the making, an airport hoped to be the new major Asian hub, would have been designed so that it would be a pleasure to use. Instead it seems like it ended up being yet another semi disaster. Even if you don't mind the long walks, when I see people writing that there are not enough bathrooms, no convenient restaurants, not enough gates so that people still end up on a bus at a parking tarmac, and the bus takes you to areas inconvenient for connecting flights, etc, etc, etc, then I'm not exactly impressed with the design. It's hard to believe that competent, modern airport architects and designers would have failed to anticipate these problems, but there it is and we're all stuck with it. One thing is for sure . . . from now on, whenever I take a flight that originates in Thailand, I'm going to check to see if there's a way to get where I'm trying to go by departing from U-Tapao.

I don't agree with you. I think the Pinnacle is an excellent location and it is highly popular hotel for gays. I like Jimmy very much and have always been well satisfied with his service. I have never been asked to pay a joiner fee at the Pinnacle. There is nothing wrong with Tarntawan Place, but you are making unfair comments about Jimmy and calling people "cheap Charlies" because they want to stay at the Pinnacle. That's your opinion, to which you're entitled, but it sure isn't fact. Just because you don't like the Pinnacle doesn't make those comments true. I also don't think anyone is a "fool" for staying at an excellent hotel, only a few minutes away from where your preference is, and paying 1000 baht less a night for it.

Give me a call about that. There's a pool table company very close to where I live. I'll bet you can get service from them or at least they ought to be able to put you in touch with someone who can service it.

The answer is yes to both. The bars will definitely be busy and although most Thais do not celebrate the religious aspects of Christmas, a great many do celebrate the fun parts. Be careful of which hotel you choose. Many hotels charge a manditory fee for a Christmas buffet and also a New Year's Eve buffet regardless of whether you want to eat there or not. They don't let you out of it and sometimes those buffets are quite expensive. I will say, however, the one's I've been to have always been well worth it, although I also resent having to pay for something about which I was never told in advance.

If the visa does not specify the number of entries, then you will need to check with the immigration office. They are the ones who can tell you. I don't know if you need a re-entry permit for a multiple entry visa, but again I would check with the immigration police to find out. If you do need the re-enty permit, it's 1900 baht.

No need to book a full fare. In Bangkok I suggest staying at the Pinnacle. The Pinnacle is a ten minute, 35 baht taxi ride from the gay venues in the Silom-Suriwong-Patpong area. Call Jimmy by telephone to book. Don't use E-mail. You'll be back from your holiday before he gets around to answering his E-mail. It's worth the call. Booking through Jimmy will save you between 800 to 900 baht per night. Jimmy is Thai and he speaks English. His office is located in the Pinnacle. The telephone number in Thailand is 081-859-6585. If you wish to have a copy of the Pinnacle's business card, send me an E-mail at gaybutton@gmail.com. I'll be happy to attach a copy of the business card and send it to you. The card has taxi directions written in Thai so that you'll have no problem getting there from the airport. I suggest Pattaya over Phuket for your first trip. From the Pinnacle it's a short taxi ride to the Ekamai bus station. From there it costs only about 100 baht for a bus to Pattaya. The ride will take about two hours. Once you reach the bus terminal in Pattaya there will be plenty of baht buses to get you to your hotel. You'll be charged about 150 baht for the baht bus ride to your hotel. You can also hire a taxi to take you to Pattaya. That will run about 1400 baht or so. The Pinnacle can arrange that for you. In Pattaya I suggest staying at either The Ambiance or Le Caf