Gaybutton

If people in various countries throughout the world are getting the same message, then the site itself is offline. Without anyone hearing from Elephantspike we have no way of knowing why. I would advise waiting a few days before jumping to conclusions. It could be some kind of s system glitch. Lord knows, that happened to me and my web site often enough. That could easily be the explanation and perhaps the site may return shortly. If the site is still down a week from now, then it would be reasonable to believe it is probably gone for good. I am a lot more worried about Elephantspike himself than the site. It's one thing for a web site to have troubles. But from what people are saying, Elephantspike has virtually disappeared and nobody seems to know why or what has happened. He may have taken the site offline by his own choice, but I just can't accept the idea that he would do so without some sort of announcement first. In any case, I think jumping to the conclusion that the site is just gone and will stay gone is premature. Give it a few days and let's see what happens.

I'm not surprised, although I'm saddened to know that. I've been saying for quite some time that a great many of the bars in Pattaya have been virtually empty of customers and many have already failed as a result. Most likely the same is the situation in Chiang Mai. Several months ago my boyfriend and I were in Chiang Mai. We went to Adam's Apple and Coffee Boy. Every time I had been in both of those bars in the past there were plenty of customers and plenty of boys. Both were thriving. This time, when we were in Adam's Apple there were only two customers besides the two of us. In Coffee Boy we were the only ones in there at all. In Pattaya, it seems that customers do come into many of the bars when it's show time. But before the show they are empty and as soon as the show is over the bars empty out. To tell the truth, I don't know how many the bars have managed to stay open at all, but most are continuing to "hang in there," at least for now. I hope the upcoming high season will turn things around, but based on the last three high seasons, I wouldn't bet on it.

I don't think he would take the web site down without posting at least something announcing it or contacting his moderators. I hate to say it, but to me the most logical explanation is that something may have happened to him, causing him to be unable to respond at all. Accidents do happen. Illnesses do happen. I hope it is nothing like that, but it certainly seems totally out of character for him to suddenly become impossible to contact and for him not to respond, especially for this length of time. Unless someone knows how to contact him, all anyone can do is speculate. I just hope he's ok and for whatever reasons decided to do this. I hope nothing terrible has happened to him.

A pay site? Sheeeeesh! I don't even want to read it for free.

BANGKOK, Aug 22 (TNA) The Thai baht is likely to strengthen to 36.50 a US dollar due to the expected further weakening of the greenback and the appreciation of the Chinese yuan, according to an economist. Ussara Vilaipitch of Standard Chartered Bank (Thailand) said on Tuesday that there is a room for the Thai baht to further strengthen since the US dollar tends to weaken against other main currencies, including those in Asia. As well, the rather heating economic expansion of China has fueled concerns that Beijing may opt to raise interest rates to slow its growth. The move would make the yuan strengthen further, she projected. She said the weakening of the greenback and the strengthening of the Chinese yuan are key factors behind the foreign capital inflow into Asian countries, including Thailand, due to attractive returns from the currency exchange rates. Under the circumstance, the Thai currency might appreciate to 36.5-37 baht a US dollar, she forecast. Still, the baht has a key resistance level at 37.20, given the fact that the Bank of Thailand (BOT) has periodically intervened into the local currency movement. The Thai baht has appreciated by 9.5 percent since early this year, the strongest when compared with other regional currencies, including the Singapore dollar, which is up 5.6 percent, and Japanese yen, which is up 2 percent. She said local entrepreneurs should closely monitor the currency exchange rates because the baht had sharply appreciated. However, she believed that the strengthening of the Thai baht would begin to slow in the rest of the year because the central bank would try to prevent it from being too volatile. On the BOT's 14-day repurchase rate (repo) trend, Ms. Ussara said, the central bank is less likely to raise the repo because an inflationary pressure had declined. She viewed that the repo, which now stays at 5 per cent, is considered suitable for the country's current economic conditions. (TNA) - E005

I checked the Sawatdee forum again today. Now I'm seeing a screen that is completely different from anything I've seen before. Here is what I see: ____________ This account is temporarily unavailable. Please contact your hosting provider ____________ Now, Catawampuscat, I assure you that we are on top of the problems revolving around LMTU and those who take every possible opportunity to flame his postings. As a moderator there is only so much I can personally do, and I won't do anything at all without first consulting with Gaythailand. However, today I sent him some suggestions as to what I think ought to be done about it. I completely agree with you. I have seen too many boards degenerate or fail when the flamers are allowed to take control and eventually change the entire nature of the board. I too am of the opinion that this message board is supposed to be about Thailand and information that is of general interest to the gay community. I cannot imagine that general interest to the gay community includes flame posts, snide remarks, or attacks on individuals who wish to post here. I am convinced, based on my own experience running a message board, that if these sorts of posts are allowed to prevail or continue, then the board will inevitably become exactly what only a very few mental cases would want to see it become. I am doing what I can to prevent that, but the ultimate decisions as to how this should be handled are, of course, up to Gaythailand. He's where the buck stops.

I definitely agree with 'The Rose' on this one. I haven't been to Queen's yet, but I intend to give it a try. I've been to several restaurants in Pattaya that I did not like at first. Then I gave them another chance and was pleasantly surprised several times and have enjoyed those restaurants ever since. There are some that I wouldn't go to again if the food was free, but those always get three chances before I give up on them.

Actually, yes you can. There are several online spell check sites out there. Try these two: http://www.spellcheck.net http://www.iespell.com

I checked once more at 3:15 PM. Now Sawatdee is unblocked. This is just the sort of thing these web sites wen through before: Blocked. Unblocked. Blocked. Unblocked. Here we go again.

Can you please tell us where this restaurant is? I'd like to give it a try, but I have never heard of it and have no idea where to find it.

I periodically look at all the popular gay Thailand web sites. For the better part of two months none of them have been blocked, at least not through my ISP. However, the Sawatdee forum is blocked. I read the Sawatdee forum only about once a month or so. For all I know, the site has been blocked for weeks. I don't know. However, it is definitely blocked now. Here is what I see when I try to access the site: ______ 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 wasn't referring specifically to your posts. There are others who hit the submit button too quickly before they proofread their post. Few seem to go back and edit their post when mistakes are discovered. In your case, I too often find it very difficult to follow what you are trying to say and I do think it would be helpful if you would run your postings through a word processor first. I have definitely noticed a group of posters that attempt to flame every one of your posts. I would like to see that stop. The flames seem to stem from personal animosity rather than the content of the post itself. I don't think such flames are appropriate on this, or any other message board. Whether people like you or your posts is irrelevant. You have just as much right to post here as they do. If people don't like your posts, then they don't have to read them. If they disagree with what you write, then they should explain their disagreement rather than post flames and snide remarks. For that reason I hope Gaythailand follows through with what he said and will start getting rid of the flame posts and, if necessary, those who post them. We've all seen what happens when people like that take over message boards and nothing is done to stop them. I hope it won't end up happening here too.

That is indeed a very graphic web site. It probably won't help much, but I'm going to show it to my boyfriend in yet another attempt to convince him to at least wear the helmet. Even that's a problem. Most of the helmets I see people wearing are low quality. I don't know how much good they will do in the event of an accident, but at least it's something. That's why I called this thread "Motorcycle Logic." They see it as almost a game they play with the police. Meanwhile, nearly every boy I see has at least one scar from a motorcycle accident. And still they don't want to wear the helmet. As Pete1969 so aptly said, "I don't get it."

Of course, none of us have been out there yet to see how this works, but on the face of it I don't like the idea. It's not always so easy to heave heavy luggage onto shuttle buses, not to mention getting it off again. Also, what about handicapped people? Quite often airport shuttle buses don't leave until they are filled to capacity, leaving you quite likely to be standing there, in crowded conditions, without even a seat. Also, it's been my experience at airports at which shuttle buses are necessary, sometimes you end up having to wait twenty minutes or more for the next bus and even then they are sometimes so full that you still can't get on and end up waiting again. Then it's a mad dash to get the few available seats. After a long-haul flight who wants to have to deal with any of that? At the present Bangkok International, at least the taxis can take you right to the airport door and pick you up just outside. But at Suvarnabhumi apparently that's not going to be the way it works. My favorite airport in Thailand is the U-Tapao airport, only about a half hour ride from Pattaya. Taxis pull right up to the door and there are plenty of luggage carts. There are no crowds and it's quite an easy airport to deal with. But I don't like this shuttle bus idea at all. That seems like very poor planning to me. A brand new airport and this is the best they can come up with? I hope, once the airport opens, it will turn out to be a lot better than it sounds.

BANGKOK (TNA) Aug 20 Thai authorities Sunday evening deported an American suspected of killing six-year-old child beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey to the United States, five days after he was apprehended in Bangkok in a high profile criminal case which raises questions as to whether he really is the killer. John Mark Karr, 41, was arrested Wednesday in connection with the slaying of six-year-old JonBenet, who was found strangled and beaten to death in the basement of her family's Colorado home on the day after Christmas 1996. The school teacher was escorted by Thai police officers on his way from the Immigration Detention Center where he had been jailed to Don Muang International Airport. Pol. Lt-Gen. Suwat Thamrongsrisakul, commissioner of the Immigration Bureau, said Karr was ready to fight charges in the United States. The confessed killer, wearing a dark maroon dress shirt and black necktie, was accompanied by three US immigration officials on board Thai Airways flight 794 which departed Bangkok just after 8 p.m. (1300 GMT) to Los Angeles. US authorities earlier issued an arrest warrant on charges of murder, kidnapping and sexual assault of a child. Karr was expelled from Thailand because he is regarded as an undesirable person although he was not charged with any crime here. (TNA)-E001

Doesn't it raise anyone's eyebrows that the message said, albeit with incorrect English, "i am very happy to meet ur profile."? TeePee's profile has nothing there other than the option to send him a message via the private messaging system. According to what Stef says, this person does not keep a profile himself and has sent precisely the same message to others on this system. That is exactly what 'phishing' is, isn't it? I'm not accusing this person of wrongdoing. Perhaps he is truly sincere. But I've received too many E-mails from Dr. Mwenene Mweleke, from Nigeria, who knows what a good, honest person I am and wants me to help him by allowing him to deposit 325-quadrillion dollars into my bank account to help him get it out of Nigeria, not to be extremely suspicious. I am very skeptical of unsolicited E-mails and messages. I have seen nothing on this web site that even suggests TeePee is looking for such messages in the first place. From where I'm sitting, if someone is interested in responding to such a message, then proceed with caution.

I don't understand what all the fuss is about. This message board does not have a spell checker. So what? All anyone needs to do is write what he intends to post into a word processor first. Most decent word processors do have spell checkers and grammar checkers. Once the post is written and after the spelling, grammar, and punctuation has been checked, then simply copy the post and paste it into the message box. That seems simple enough to me. If people were consistently complaining that my posts were difficult to understand because of spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors, then that's exactly what I would do. What's the point of posting a message when people keep saying they don't understand what you write? In my opinion, it is not only the responsibility of the poster to remain within the posting rules, but it is also the responsibility of the poster to at least try to make sure his post is understandable.

Baht Expected to Remain Strong this Week BANGKOK, Aug 20 (TNA) The Thai baht is anticipated to move within the range of Bt37.10 to Bt37.60 against the US dollar this week compared with Bt37.34 per dollar during late trade on Friday, according to a report issued by the Kasikorn Research Centre. The report said the baht could strengthen this week due to the lack of positive factors to support the US dollar, and that traders are less worried now regarding a further hike in the interest rate by the US Federal Reserve Bank. Traders are also awaiting new factors to stimulate trade apart from key US economic data--including housing sales and purchase orders for durable goods, it said, adding that the strengthening of the baht could be limited due to an intervention by the Bank of Thailand (BoT). Several negative factors had hit the strong baht last week, the report said. They included a market intervention by the BoT to keep the baht from being too strong and strong dollar profit-taking by exporters. The central bank said on Tuesday that it had intervened in the market after finding that the local currency was too strong. The baht edged down late last week, unlike the Japanese yen and other regional currencies which strengthened on the back of US inflation. However, the baht rose later following an interest rate hike by the Chinese central bank which helped pushed up the yen and the local currency. (TNA)-E111

Personally, I would be looking askance at an E-mail received out of the blue from, of all places, Ghana. The official language in Ghana is English. It immediately strikes me as strange that this person's English is so poor. I'm suspicious of that. Also, it has been my experience that the more someone finds it necessary to talk about honesty, the less honest he really is. Just out of curiosity, did he send a photo? I could be totally wrong of course, but this smacks of 'phishing' to me. Considering the number of boys available right here in Thailand, if it were me I would just delete this guy's E-mail and forget it, even if he really picked up your E-mail address on a profile somewhere. I'd let him find someone else's profile and let him tell that guy all about how honest he is.

I've got it! It will be a 'letmetellu' posting in which all of the spelling, grammar, and punctuation will be correct and the posting will be coherent.

Among the things that I have difficulty understanding about how things work in Thailand is what law enforcement agencies have jurisdiction and where. The following story, appearing in the PATTAYA CITY NEWS, illustrates what I mean: ____________ Bangkok Police Launch Sweep of Pattaya Bars On Thursday evening a squad of 70 Bangkok-based police decided it was time they had a little sojourn into the fleshpots of Pattaya and spent some hours wandering about the various beer bar complexes and go-go bars as well as a couple of the more infamous soapy massage joints. Accompanied by a frothing gaggle of media hacks, all armed with television cameras as well as the latest in still digital cameras, the upstanding men and women of the Bangkok police force visited the Sabailand Massage Parlour on Second Road, at the corner of Soi 3 if any of you are not quite sure where to find it. Here they interviewed a number of the more attractive and younger looking girls, asking them to produce their Identification cards in order to prove that they were all over the legal age to engage in activities involving water, soap and excitable men. Satisfied with this, the police troop then moved onto a number of beer bars in the Soi 2 area and once again were compelled to chat with the more attractive and younger looking girls, checking identification cards and asking about the health and well-being of sundry family members and farmyard stock. Then it was into a couple of the go-go bars where many members of the media were excited to find a large number of ladies who were wearing g-string bikinis. The flashbulbs of the cameras in the media scrum helped to really light up the dressing rooms and general area of the chrome pole palaces while the very professional police persons asked the girls to produce their ID cards. Most of the girls were forced to go into their lockers in order to show the plastic cards, explaining it was difficult to keep the card on their person when dressed in not much more than a pair of boots and a smile. A senior policemen told one bar owner that the 2:00AM closing time should be enforced and that staying open later than this is against the law. The bar owner allegedly told the policeman that he paid a little extra money each month in order to stay open later, but the Bangkok officer said whoever he paid the money to it couldn

I know of no better rates from hospitals or anywhere else, but there are advantages. You're right about the main advantage of the one-year visa . . . it saves the hassle and of having to make the 90-day visa run. With the one-year visa the only requirement is to report your address every 90 days. The 90-day visa is a tourist visa. The retirement visa is a non-immigrant visa. You can get a Thai driver's license and motorcycle license with the retirement visa, but not with the 90-day visa. Also, from what I understand, some banks will not let you open an account and/or will not let you get online banking with the 90-day visa. Other than that, I can't think of any other particular advantages, although I have heard that Thailand is frowning on allowing people to live in Thailand permanently by constantly making visa runs. I have heard they are going to set some sort of limitation on the number of visa runs permitted over certain periods of time. I don't know if there is actually any truth to that, but every so often I hear rumblings about it. I have also heard that various consulates and Thai embassies outside of Thailand are tightening up the rules about making it so easy to get the 90-day visa. It seems to me that someone who wishes to be a resident of Thailand is a lot better off with the one-year visa rather than the 90-day visa. However, for whatever reasons, there are plenty of people who prefer to stick to the visa run method, rather than the one-year visa method, despite the fact that they are eligible for the one-year visa. If you are under age 50, then at the moment you don't have much choice. It is my understanding that to be eligible for the one-year visa, you must be at least 50 years old and also have a proveable income from sources outside of Thailand. Neither of those is a requirement for the 90-day visa.

From the Thai National News Bureau - Public Relations Department http://thainews.prd.go.th/newsenglish/prev...id=254908130010 The National Telecommunications Commission has reaffirmed that starting September 1st it will change the digit system of mobile phone numbers from 9 digits to 10 digits, to accomodate consumer demand and to promote fair competition in the telecom business. Mr. Manas Songsaeng (มนัส ทรงแสง), the deputy secretary-general of the NTC, said the switch is in result of a shortage in mobile phone numbers at present, due to the very high popularity of the cell phones. The original plan was to accomodate 50 million numbers but 76 million has already been used up until now. Thus new numbers must be provided in order to encourage free and fair competition in the business. The increase of numbers will be achieved by the addition of one more digit to each mobile phone number. For the exisiting numbers, dialers will have to punch in 08 instead of the 0 they previously had to put in. Numbers in the following 8 digits would remain the same. For example the number 01-1234567 would then be dialed 08-1123-4567. The service providers will automatically take care of implementing the new format. ____________________ Note from GB: What the article does not say is whether this will affect the dialing sequence if you are calling a Thai number from abroad. I am guessing that it will. At the moment, if the number you are trying to call, from the USA, is 01-123-4567 the present dialing sequence would be 011-66-1-123-4567. I am guessing that as of September 1 the dialing sequence will change to 011-66-81-123-4567.

It seems like this is a restaurant people are either going to love or hate, with no in between. I suppose the thing to do is try it and judge for yourself.

I rest my case.