Gaybutton

I tried your link. I'm getting the same blocking screen.

Bad news. The site might be back, but it's also blocked. I just tried it and got that same blocking screen: ขออภัย เว็บไซต์นี้เป็นเว็บไซต์ที่ไม่เหมาะสม กระทรวงเทคโนโลยีสารสนเทศและการสื่อสาร โดยได้รับความร่วมมือจากผู้ให้บริการอินเทอร์เน็ต และบริษัท กสท โทรคมนาคม จำกัด (มหาชน) จำเป็นต้องปิดกั้นเว็บไซต์นี้ หากมีข้อคิดเห็นอื่นใด หรือพบเว็บไซต์อื่นที่ไม่เหมาะสม โปรดแจ้งผ่านดวงตาข้างบนหรือ ict.cyberclean.org ( Sorry! the web site you are accessing has been blocked by ministry of information and communication technology )

I don't believe I've done anything to prevent you from expressing your opinion. If I had, then your opinion wouldn't be here. I'm sorry, but from where I sit what you are posting is an attack. I've been to Niddy's Nook too and so have many of my friends and aquaintances and not one of them has observed or experienced any of what you say is fact. Neither have I. If you feel that I "should have the courtesy to allow me to hold and express that opinion," then it stands to reason that the same courtesy should be extended to me to dispute it. Ok, now I think I've written enough about it and my opinion is clear. If you wish to have the last word, it's all yours. Express away to your heart's content.

Are you serious? Do you actually believe that attacking the restaurant in that manner is the only way to express displeasure with it? If you can't see that passing off a restaurant as having a restroom with the floor 'swimming in urine,' claiming that waiters pick their noses and then serve you food, claiming that the waiters are lazy and bored, and claiming that it will remain a second rate cafe, which implies that everyone must share that opinion, is a destructive attack post, then your thinking definitely differs from mine. A person can criticize a restaurant without trying to portray it as an unsanitary hellhole, especially when it isn't. Sorry, but Niddy's Nook is under constant attack by a group of people. And why? Because they advertise, and that gets under some people's skins. I'd bet that if Niddy's Nook never advertised, then there would also never have been this series of attacks.

PapaDavid, you are entitled to your opinion, but since when has advertising been anything other than an overblown figment of someone's imagination? Most ads I've seen all my life are exactly that. If you have really seen the toilet floors 'swimming in urine' and waiters picking their noses and then serving customers, have you reported that to the owners? The last time I was in Niddy's Nook the restaurant and toilet was spotlessly clean. I never saw any waiters doing anything other than what waiters are supposed to do. My service was friendly and efficient . . . and the waiters hands and noses were clean. Anyway, I'm happy to see that you consider your post to be constructive rather than destructive.

I can agree with you in part, Aunty, but I don't see how flame and hate posts are necessary in the name of excitement and fun. Quite often it starts off as something good natured, but too often it ends up as viscious cat fights. To my mind, that is not what this forum, or any other for that matter, should be all about. The way I see it, this web site and forum is about gay Thailand. It would take quite a bit of doing to convince me that a message board about gay Thailand ought to include 'hair pulling and eye gouging.' I don't see what any of that has to do with gay Thailand. To me, that's nothing more than immaturity and stupidity between individuals. If someone wants a forum full of hate posters and troublemakers, then I suggest someone open a new forum and call it "Gay Cat Fight." In any case, from what I read here, the number of people who do want to see cat fights are vastly outnumbered by those who want no part of it. Nevertheless, as long as posters are posting within the posting rules, there is no problem. I don't particularly want to see this forum become a clone of the Sawatdee forum, but that is not my decision to make. Ultimately, that is up to Gaythailand. As I said on another thread, he is where the buck stops.

Note from GB: I am posting two stories about this that appear in THE NATION. I have also posted an article that suggests this will weaken the Thai baht. At this moment the exchange rate since yesterday has not changed. The rate at the time of this posting is 37.51 baht to the US dollar. THE NATION: _____ 'Bomb Plot to Kill Thaksin Foiled', Questions Linger Published on August 25, 2006 Explosives 'ready to be detonated near motorcade'; Army officer held for questioning A car loaded with explosives that was intercepted by police early yesterday morning was possibly to be used in an attempt to kill caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra while he was travelling in his motorcade, National Intelligence Agency director Jumphol Manmai said yesterday. The police general said he learned that the bomb, containing 14.23 pounds (6.5 kilograms) of a combination of TNT and C-4 composite explosive as well as a type of 64.57 blasting agent, was ready to go off. He said he did not know who was behind the possible assassination plot. Metropolitan Police Bureau commissioner Lt-General Wiroj Jantharangsee said the explosives in the sedan were completely assembled, equipped with a remote unit sensor and ready to be detonated, and that it would have a radius of impact of around one kilometre. Five uniformed police officers pulled over the silver Daewoo sedan at the foot of a flyover on Borromratchonnani Road near Bang Phlad Intersection and arrested the driver, Army Lieutenant Thawatchai Klinchana, who said he was paid Bt200 by a man to drive it to an area called Suan Oy. Thawatchai, initially charged with having explosives in his possession, was later brought to the Crime Suppression Division compound for questioning, with two military officers present, after police searched his official residence near the First Military Precinct headquarters, where police found and seized two licence plates and a personal computer. A police team later searched Thawatchai's own home in Nonthaburi's Bang Bua Thong district and found no illegal items. A Thai Rak Thai Party blazer was found there. A police barricade was set up around the car and a large crowd was herded away to a 400-metre radius from where it was parked. A team of police ordnance experts were called in to examine the car. They neutralised some of the explosives on the front passenger seat by using a high-powered water gun to disassemble what appeared to be cloth bags with something inside. Police discovered later that the sedan's licence plate Thor Santhan-Chor Ching 3085 BKK was registered to a woman and had already been classified void. An investigation was underway to find out how the invalid licence plates came to be attached to the car and what the car's body serial number, which had been scratched out, was. At a press conference later on, the officer displayed a number of items he said were retrieved from the sedan. Explosives-related items included TNT sticks weighing 10.73 pounds in total, a number of C-4 explosive sticks weighing 3.5 pounds and a combination of blasting agents identified as Anfo (ammonium nitrate-fuel oil) contained in 13 lubricant plastic cans. Wiroj said such types of explosives were the same as those used in terror bomb attacks in the restive South by insurgents, and that the impact would have been massive. "Nobody within the lethal radius of 30-40 metres would have survived and buildings within the range would be destroyed completely, including the flyover," he said. The officer said it was possible the car was intended to attack the motorcade of Thaksin, which regularly uses the route to take him from his home in nearby Charansanitwong Soi 69 to Government House. __________ THE NATION: _____ Doubts over Thaksin's lucky escape Published on August 25, 2006 News about an assassination attempt against caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was greeted with some suspicion as security and intelligence officers said there were too many questions to support such a claim. All sorts of conspiracy theories were floated as news reports unfolded to the public about how an Army lieutenant was planning to use 67 kilograms of explosives to assassinate Thaksin. Former security tsar Prasong Soonsiri said the incident was a set-up to divert attention from the political turmoil the government is experiencing. He said the incident could lead to the issuing of the controversial Emergency Law to clamp down on the government's political opponents. Others believe the incident will give the premier the needed bargaining chip to put his supporters in key security positions at the upcoming annual reshuffle. Thaksin said it "was his lucky day for leaving home earlier". He claimed to have been heading to an emergency meeting on the flood crisis in the North, which he had called for an hour ahead of his scheduled appointments, the times of which are usually made known in advance. The assassination claim highlighted the statement made on Sunday by Thai Rak Thai Party executive Pairote Suwanchawee, who used the term "suicide bomber" to describe tactics employed by a handful of anti-Thaksin protestors at the Siam Paragon shopping complex in Bangkok. Making such a comparison without explanation baffled many people, with claims it was an irresponsible statement that could have caused grave misunderstanding among the public and international community. In what was seen as an unprecedented act, Thaksin's security people were extremely helpful with the media, providing photographers with pictures of Lieutenant Thawatchai Klinchana and the explosive materials found in the vehicle. Thaksin said yesterday that he had been the target of failed assassination plots on at least two occasions in the past two weeks. He claimed one happened when he was getting off his official plane at the Don Muang airforce base, but he did not elaborate. The premier has made similar claims over the past six years, although none has been proven. A military strategist also pointed out that the explosive devices in the car yesterday were not assembled or ready to be detonated. Conflicting statements were issued throughout the day. Initially, investigators on the ground said the bomb was not assembled, but the chief of the Metropolitan Police, Lt-General Wiroj Jantharangsee, told a press conference in the afternoon that it was assembled and ready to be set off. Wiroj paraded all the evidence to the media while National Intelligence Agency chief General Chumpol Munmai concluded that the devices were meant to assassinate the premier. There were no word on who was the suspected mastermind of the plot. But the military strategist pointed out that if the devices were meant to explode as Thaksin passed by, they should have been assembled so that they could be set off instantly. He said it would take at least an hour to assemble all the devices. "If somebody wanted to kill Thaksin with that amount of explosives, all they had to do was park their car next to the front of Thaskin's residence and jump on a waiting motorbike before detonating the bomb from a distance," he said. He dismissed suggestions that Internal Security Operation Command (ISOC) Deputy Director Pallop Pinmanee was behind the plot, saying Pallop had always been close to Thaksin. Pallop was immediately sacked without any real investigation. Lt-General Pirat Sawamiwat, a former classmate of Pallop, said if the ousted deputy ISOC chief was behind any assassination attempt, the victim would not have survived. Moreover, if the vehicle was in fact a car bomb, why did the driver repeatedly circle around Thaksin's residential area during the rush-hour, making the vehicle noticeable and creating suspicion? Thawatchai, who built his career as an Army intelligence officer, said he was paid Bt200 by an unnamed friend to deliver the car from the spot where he was arrested to nearby Soi Suan Oy, according to a police source. Thawatchai's knowledge of ordnance is still not known. Yesterday's incident came amid mounting demands on the government for an explanation after it was revealed that two petty criminals who carried out the beating of anti-Thaksin demonstrators at the Central World shopping complex were in fact political thugs. The news effectively pushed aside the previous contentious headlines - from the fist fight at Central World to the probe into the Kularb Kaew controversy. The Commerce Ministry has yet to make a decision on whether Kularb Kaew was an alien company or a nominee for Temasek Holdings, the Singaporean government's financial arm that took over Shin Corp Plc. Time of Events 9am Bang Phlat police station was informed that a bronze-coloured Daewoo car, driven suspiciously near the prime minister's home, had been stopped by the PM's security officers, who found explosive devices in it. They detained an army officer, identified as Lt Thawatchai Klinchana, driving the car, whose licence was fake. He was taken to the Police Crime Suppression Division for questioning. 9.30am Police and five bomb squad officers arrived to check the car parked on the side of of Rajvithi Rd, Bang Phlat, 400 metres from the PM's residence. The officers allegedly found "explosive devices", including 3.5 pounds of C-4, two sticks of TNT, a detonator, four sandbags, two gallons of benzine and some fertiliser. 11am The officers finished destroying the "explosive devices" - with a water gun - and the car was towed to a safe place for further checks. 12am Caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra sacked Pallop as deputy ISOC director. 2pm Lt Thawatchai said to the police that he had no idea that the explosive devices were hidden in the car. He was only paid Bt200 by a friend with to drive the car from the scene to Suan Oui. ______________ Assassination Attempt on PM Has Impact on Thai Economy BANGKOK, Aug 25 (TNA) The aborted assassination attempt on Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra Thursday has both direct and indirect impacts on the Thai economy, according to a top banker. Prasarn Trairattanaworakul, President of KASIKORN Bank (KBANK), said the arrest of a suspect for the failed car bomb near the residence of the Thai premier in Bangplad area here had fuelled the political uncertainties and caused direct and indirect effects on the country's economy. Directly, the country

The new board looks very nice. Best of luck with it.

Actually, I should call it a "rediscovery" rather than a "find." I've eaten at Cherry several times. RichLB first told me about Cherry a year or so ago. It was a nice little inexpensive restaurant that served good steaks at very inexpensive prices. They had a small, barely acceptable salad bar along with it. This evening Geezer invited me to go out to dinner. He said he just found a great restaurant at very reasonable prices. When I arrived to pick him up, he said to go to Third Road and start looking for a parking spot when we get close to the X-yte disco. I said, "You're talking about Cherry, aen't you?" I asked if he was referring to the same place I was thinking about. He was talking about wonderful soup, a dessert menu, and food beautifully presented. That's not the Cherry I remembered. It turns out that the restaurant has been completely re-done since I was there last. They have a fabulous chef now and the menu has been entirely changed. The salad bar isn't even there anymore. There is a marvelous set menu that includes an appetizer, soup, main course, and dessert with a choice of coffee or tea at 295 baht. We ordered from the ala carte menu. We each had a great salad, and an excellent garlic bread was served with it. I chose the crab, shrimp, and avocado salad. Geezer had the salad with Parma ham and cheese. Both were excellent. We each had the cream of potato soup, which was one of the best I've ever had. We also each ordered the pork chop with a marvelous sauce, melted Swiss cheese, and a vegetable stuffing. It was incredibly good. They even have a selection of fine wines. For dessert Geezer had tiramisu and I tried the Crepe Suzette. I've had Crepe Suzette many times in my life, and this is the best one I have ever had. The food was absolutely beautifully presented. I mean it was almost as beautifully presented as you would expect at Casa Pascal. Our total bill came to 460 baht each. Cherry is a marvelous little restaurant that I highly recommend. It is on Third Road, almost directly across from the X-yte disco. They open at 2:00 PM and close at 1:00 AM. Give Cherry a try. I think you're going to be just as delighted as we were. It definitely makes it to my top ten "go to very often" list.

I see nothing wrong with gay and gay friendly venues advertising themselves on a message board. An ad is a message, isn't it? I would only object if the same ad is posted repeatedly. I've read some of the negative comments toward Niddy's Nook and their advertising. Why shoudn't they advertise? They're a gay venue and I'd much rather be supportive of a gay venue than be so critical of it. I've seen that some people object to the ad touting their cheeseburger as the tastiest in Pattaya. What do you expect them to say? It's an ad, isn't it? Maybe some think they ought to say, "Our cheeseburger is lousy, but come in and try one anyway." I really don't understand why anyone objects to Thai gay venues advertising themselves here. Is it the idea that it is an ad that bothers people? I suppose the same people refuse to watch television, refuse to read newspapers and magazines, and walk out of movies theaters when ads appear. Regarding the cheeseburger, I haven't tried it yet. I'm not going to rely on the opinion of others. I'm going to try it for myself. If I like it, wonderful. If I don't, then I won't order another one there. But if I don't like it, I'm not going to start writing posts that attempt to destroy the restaurant.

Once again, my favorite oxymoron, Thai Logic, comes into play here. While I greatly sympathize with the plight of the bars, I have no sympathy at all for bars that intentionally attempt to cheat their customers, whether they are drunk or sober. It was explained to Gaythailand that the bar overcharged him because times are tough. Yeah? Well, guess what. Things are tough all over. First, if the excuse for overcharging is because the bars don't have enough customers, then raise the price or otherwise communicate a higher charge and so so in advance. But don't present me with a trumped up bill and hope I won't notice. How much more money is the bar even going to have by cheating if they have only a few customers each night? If they're really lucky, maybe the equivalent of US $10 to $20? To my mind, if the waiter or mama-san told me in advance that the usual price of a drink is 120 baht, but they are temporarily charging 140 baht, and explained why, then I would not be upset and I would also have the option of buying the drink or leaving. I would be a return customer under those circumstances. However, if the bar tries cheating me, that's the last time I'd ever be in that bar. Anyone who reads my posts ought to be well aware that I am sad for the bars that are closing for lack of customers. I truly sympathize with the problem. But if a bar is cheating customers in order to try to remain in business, then I'll be the first one to applaud when the doors close for good. I'm surprised that the bars don't realize that cheating people is not going to help them. All that's going to do is drive away customers and make the problem even worse. Well, Thai logic strikes again.

Note from GB: This means the exchange rate for Thai baht to the US dollar will be a little better for "farang" than previously predicted. The Bank of Thailand (BOT) apparently intends to try to keep the baht at aproximately 38 baht to the US dollar. At the moment I am posting this, the exchange rate is 37.51 baht to the US dollar BANGKOK, Aug 24 (TNA) Bank of Thailand (BOT)'s Governor M.R. Pridiyathorn Devakula on Wednesday revealed that the country's international reserve had increased as a result of the central bank's intervention in the baht movement, not a current account surplus. He said the international reserve as of August 11 stood at US$59.4 billion, from US$59.3 billion on August 4. The increased reserve stemmed from the intervention in the stronger baht by the BOT and an appreciation of other main currencies against the US dollar, which are used for the reserve. "Higher international reserve is not a result of the current account surplus and forward contracts. Instead, it results from the stronger US dollar, which makes other main currencies such as the Japanese yen and the euro appreciate. It helps boost the international reserve," he said. The BOT chief said that the central bank shares a common view with Finance Minster Thanong Bidaya that the baht is likely to stay at a range of 37.5-38 a dollar next year, not 36 projected by some analysts. The BOT earlier projected that the Thai baht would hover around 37.5-38 baht, which is an appropriate level for Thai exports, noted the central bank chief. (TNA) - E005

I didn't know that, Bob. I hope it works out that way again and that they will reopen. We'll see.

It's really sad to see this happening. I remember the very first go-go bar I ever went to in Thailand. It was called Superman, in Bangkok. It's long gone, along with others. I remember a bar (can't remember the name though) that was just across the street from the original Utopia on Soi 23 in Bangkok. Also long gone. In Pattaya, those who have been around for awhile may remember go-go bars such as Moonlight, Playboy, Boys Studio, Tai Boys Boys, Charlie Boys, Lek's Boys, and a few others whose names I don't recall. All gone now. Several of the remaining bars have changed hands and changed names several times. I remember when it was far more likely to see a new bar open than see an existing bar close. Now it's the other way around. The latest apparently is Adam's Apple in Chiang Mai. That's the first long-existing bar in Chiang Mai that has closed, as far as I know.

I don't recall making any excuses. I woke up one morning and found my web site blocked. I took it offline because of it. Simple as that and I don't think I ever said it was due to anything else.

I don't know what he was thinking, but I'll bet he wasn't thinking what I'm thinking. Welcome to what may be recorded as a classic blooper.

I just loved this one. Here it is, exactly as it appears in the PATTAYA CITY NEWS: _________________ Large Erections Planned for Pattaya At a meeting held at Pattaya City Hall on Wednesday, the very busy Mayor Niran announced the allocation of 46 million baht of the annual budget to the construction of two large archways on the borders of the city. The giant erections will be similar to but much more grandiose than the archway currently spanning Walking Street and will be festooned with lights so that even in darkness people driving along Sukhumvit highway will know they are entering the outskirts of Pattaya. __________________ I don't know about anyone else, but I certainly have no objections to giant erections, especially if they're "festooned with lights."

I agree with The Rose. It is reasonable, in my opinion, because that's where the bar's tip for the boy is coming from. Anything else he gets is up to the person with whom he is sitting. I do have one exception. If a boy is sitting with me, then it's because I called him over. I do not ever buy a drink for or tip a boy who sits with me uninvited or has been foisted on me by a mama-san. I usually shoo them away, but sometimes they are so aggressive they sit down next to me anyhow and start trying to high pressure me into buying them a drink. If that occurs I simply totally ignore him, call over the boy I really wanted if there is one, tell him to go away, leave, tell him no, or whatever, but when they force themselves upon me, that's where I draw the line.

I tried that link. It worked perfectly for me.

In most cases the boy will order a soft drink. In most bars they pay the boy 20 baht when he orders a soft drink, but nothing at all when he orders a beer or hard drink. In most cases the boy expects at least a 100 baht tip when he is called to sit with you. I agree with the above postings as to how much more ought to be given to the boy, depending on how long and depending on how far the touching and feeling goes. Remember, most of the bar boys are paid little or nothing by the bar and they depend solely on tips and "offs" to make a living. I don't think it is a good idea to over-tip, but it is definitely a bad idea to under-tip.

When I saw this post I tried Hedda's blog. It worked just fine.

It is very nice indeed and just as nice to know that the police department is not going to tolerate such a scam by on of their own. I admire the victim of this scam for having the good sense and fortitude to go to the police station to report this. I doubt he was their first victim. I wonder how many victims they successfully intimidated and scammed before being caught.

Dear Phuket Area American Citizens, The Consular Section of the American Embassy in Bangkok is pleased to inform you of an upcoming Embassy consular visit in Phuket. Consular staff will be available to provide consular services on Friday, September 15, from 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM in the Similian Room of the Phuket Hilton Arcadia Resort on Karon Beach. The following consular services will be available: *Passport renewal applications (US $67.00 or baht 2,680 for adult passports) *Additional passport pages (no charge) *Notarial services (US $30 or baht 1,200 for the first notarial; US $20 or baht 800 for each additional notarial) *Embassy registration and/or address change *Absentee ballot application and voting abroad information *Social security, VA or other federal benefits questions *We ask that you bring correct change Note: PLEASE BRING A ZEROX COPY OF YOUR PASSPORT PHOTO PAGE FOR ALL PASSPORT APPLICATIONS AND REQUESTS FOR EXTRA PAGES. Passport requests for minors under age 14 will require the presence of both parents and the original and a copy of the child's birth certificate. Due to the large amount of time and paperwork involved, no applications for Consular Reports of Birth will be accepted during consular outreach trips If you have any questions, please e-mail: acsbkk@state.gov or call the American Citizen Services Unit at: 02-205-4049. We look forward to seeing you on September 15th. Sincerely, American Citizen Services U.S. Embassy Bangkok ************************************************************************ **************************** To subscribe or unsubscribe to this list, go to: http://bangkok.usembassy.gov/embassy/acsemaillist.htm The U.S. Embassy Consular Section is located at 95 Wireless Road, Bangkok 10330, Thailand (Nearest BTS Skytrain station: Phloen Chit) American Citizen Services Unit Window Hours: Monday - Friday, 7:30 - 11 AM and 1 - 2 PM Note: The ACS unit will be CLOSED on August 25, September 4 and September 29, 2006. Tel: +66-2-205-4049 Fax: +66-2-205-4103 E-mail: acsbkk@state.gov

I would like to suggest that people refrain from getting too carried away and farfetched with theories and speculation as to what has happened with Sawatdee and Elephantspike. I think everyone will be far better served by sticking to the facts. As far as I know, these are the facts: 1. The Sawatdee forum is offline. 2. We do not know why it is offline. 3. Elephantspike has not communicated reasons why the web site is offline. 4. We do not know why he has made no communication. 5. Elephantspike has not responded to attempts to contact him. 6. We do not know why he has not responded. Outside of those six facts, anything else is only guessing until or unless Elephantspike does communicate what is going on and why.

The actual amount you would receive per dollar closed at 37.39 today. I don't know what to make of all this and I'm no economics expert, but only a couple of months ago the predictions were that the exchange rate would be close to 41 to 42 baht per dollar by now. Instead, it's 37.39 and predicted to get worse. It is difficult to know just what to expect because these predictions have yet to be right. If the baht becomes too strong, then the export and tourism business will suffer. If it becomes too weak, then more rounds of inflation will hit the Thai people. Where all this is going to end is anybody's guess. The bottom line, at least for now, is that you get close to 25% less baht per dollar than you got three years ago. That's quite a hit, especially for us retirees who depend on the exchange rate.