Gaybutton

Indeed I do get your meaning. As for "the boot," I see it fairly regularly. I even had it happen to me. One evening I had dinner at Hugh Millar's Symphony Brasserie. I parked in a spot at which there were no curb markings at all and no signs. When I returned to my car after dinner, it had been ticketed and chained. The car directly in front of me was also ticketed and chained. The owner of that car, a Thai woman, arrived at just about the same time I did. I asked her if she knew why this happened. She said she didn't know. Both of us had to go to the police station. We waited nearly an hour and a half before they finally got around to calling us. She was called first. I went to the desk with her. She asked why her car had been chained. All the clerk would say was that she was illegally parked. She insisted she was not, but she still ended up having to pay the fine in order to get her car released. Same for me. The fine was only 200 baht, so it wasn't worth making a major fuss over it, but since that night I have passed that same spot several times with various Thai friends, none of whom can figure out what was illegal about parking there. Probably nothing at all. The point is, they really do ticket cars, whether illegally parked or not. And we were not exactly the only two car owners in the police station that night paying fines. Since they do ticket cars, I hope they will extend that to double parked cars and delivery trucks, but I can definitely agree with you about one thing, Hedda . . . you better have a tremendous lung capacity if you are going to hold your breath waiting for the police to take action against those vehicles. You may be right about the reason and maybe you are wrong. Does that matter? Either way, cars are double and triple parking with impunity.

That might be true for rich people, but I'm not sure you are right. The police are quick enough to ticket cars when they're parked along red/white striped curbs. They chain those cars and won't unchain them until the ticket is paid. They also pull cars over along the highways and check for proper papers, licensing, etc, and ticket cars that they find with violations. I don't see how ticketing double parked cars would be so much different. Also, plenty of delivery trucks don't seem to mind blocking traffic when they stop to make a delivery, and sometimes they keep traffic blocked for quite some time. Certainly those drivers aren't rich.

There is an alternative. There are a number of places that rent post office boxes. You could place your important documents in an envelope and simply store it in a rented post office box. It would be inconvenient, but nobody else can get their hands on it that way.

I second the motion. I learned the hard way that no matter what you do, there will always be a few people who think they can post anything they want and couldn't care less if they are causing problems for everyone else. I don't know of any gay Thailand boards that have not experienced problem posters and ended up eventually being forced to remove posts. It comes as no surprise to me that almost as soon as you were able to get the block lifted, a problem poster shows up and tries to cause further problems. Every board has always started with the idea that there will be no censorship. It would be wonderful if it worked that way, but it simply does not. There are abusers out there and they seem hell bent to cause problems whenever the opportunity arises. Then they start screaming when they find their posts deleted and themselves banned. I don't understand why some people get off on intentionally causing problems, but obviously some do. It's sad, but that's the way it is. There are only two people who can control a board. The moderator or the problem poster. I'll take the moderator. The problem posters never seem to want to start a board of their own. They just seem to want to cause problems on boards owned by others.

This, from PATTAYA CITY NEWS: _____ Traffic Report Presented to Pattaya City Hall An interesting meeting now from Pattaya City Hall chaired by Khun Niran, the Mayor of Pattaya who received a bulky report from a team of analysts from the King Mongkot University from Bangkok. Over the last three months they have been conducting a study of traffic flow and modifications required to improve the look of Pattaya City. The report, which is over 200 pages long, began with identifying problems on Pattaya Beach Road. The report suggested that road markings were wrong and problems with Baht Buses and other vehicles who were double parking were causing potential dangers for oncoming motorists. The report also suggested that all power lines should be placed underground. They suggested that the improvements be made together and Pattaya Beach Road should be closed to traffic whilst the work is undertaken. During the closure, Pattaya Second Road will become a two way road but will revert to one-way when the work is completed. Other smaller issues such as standardization of traffic signs was also mentioned in the report which is now being considered by the Mayor. _____ It doesn't take many visits to Pattaya to see that there is a major traffic problem, one that has been escalating for years with very little being done about it. With all the new housing construction and the increase in popularity of Pattaya as a tourist destination, it doesn't take too many people with IQ's that exceed Hedda's report to see that without something drastic being done, and soon, the traffic problems will inevitably continue to grow until Pattaya becomes a traffic nightmare equalled only by Bangkok. Most of what I see in the above article has been talked about for years, especially the part about placing power lines underground. That isn't exactly something new. They are talking about working on Beach Road. I don't know what can be done about Beach Road that would make a significant difference. They can't widen the road. There's no space available to widen it. It seems to me that while placing the wires underground will dramatically improve the looks of Beach Road, I'm trying to figure out what that would do to improve the traffic flow. As usual, all these ideas are being considered at just the wrong time. High tourist season is fast approaching. I suppose, if they do anything at all, they'll start tearing up the streets during high season again, as they have done so many times before. It seems to me that much of this is a no-brainer. Instead of using the police force to spend its time looking for helmetless motorcyclists, what would be so terrible about having a group of police officers patrol around and ticketing people who double and triple park? Obviously one of the reasons people double park is because they can't find anywhere else to park. Several things can be done about that. Perhaps a city parking lot would help. Also, and this is one of my peeves, stop allowing stores to place their barriers and no parking signs on public streets. Many of these shops simply place barrriers in front of their shops so that people can't park there. Why is that tolerated? As far as I know, they have no right to do that, but they do it anyway. If they do have the right to do that, then change the regulations so that they don't. I don't understand what those barriers are supposed to accomplish. How is a car parked in front of a shop hurting their business? I don't get it. Another helpful solution would be to take advantage of already existing traffic signals. There seems to be no coordination to them. How much would it take to coordinate them? Also, the timers seem to be nonsensically set. One of my most despised traffic signals is the one located at Third Road and South Road (Pattaya Tai). Whenever I come that way from Sukhumvit Road, half my trip is spent waiting for that light. That's because it stays red forever, and then turns green with enough time for only a few cars to get through. That causes backups and major delays. And that's not the only traffic signal where this sort of problem occurs. If you are a driver in Pattaya, I'll bet you've noticed the same thing I have . . . when a traffic signal is not working, now the traffic flows smoothly. Another problem is the lack of parallel streets. There are very few and the distances between them are too far. Some of these problems seem that they would be fairly simple to rectify. Other problems are complex and there are no quick fixes. It doesn't matter, though. If it happens like most other things happen, then there will be a lot of meetings and a lot of talk, and by the time anything is actually done, if ever, it will be botched. The process of it will cause even more problems, the work will be shoddy and incompetent, and the outcome will be obsolete before the construction is even halfway finished. As you can see, I'm very optimistic . . .

Good point. Of course, if these people are suicidal, then I'd say their IQ is quite high because they're certainly doing all they can to end up dead and take a few others with them.

I'm wondering how they arrived at this figure. A great many Thai people never had more than a primary education in the first place. So, who are they testing? Are they testing those fortunate enough to be in high school or a university? Are they testing random teens, including those who never made it as far as a high school or universtity? I have never met a Thai student who has mentioned anything about taking an IQ test, and that includes my own boyfriend who is in school. He says he knows what an IQ test is, but he has never taken such a test and neither have any of his friends. Before I would want to take the figure seriously, I would want to know who is being tested. What test is being administered? Who created the test? Actually, a relatively low IQ score would not come as a major shock to me. Based on what I've seen, Thailand does not exactly provide what those from western countries would consider to be a well rounded education. I have always been highly skeptical of standardized tests. I've never figured out just what they are supposed to prove. As most of us know, in his youth Einstein would have received a low score on such a test. A close friend of mine is a teacher. She told me a story about her students taking an intelligence test. She said as she was walking around her classroom, observing what kinds of answers her students were writing, she paused and watched a student, one of the brightest she ever had, answer a few questions. She told me that he answered one question that went something like this: Which of the following does not belong on the list? 1. Goldfish 2. Bear 3. Shark 4. Whale Obviously, she was somewhat taken aback when this student selected 'shark' for his answer. She later asked him about it. She reminded him of the question and asked him again what he thinks the right answer is. Again the student said 'shark.' She said, "But why didn't you choose 'bear?' That's the only land animal on this list." He said, "Because it's the wrong answer." She said, "How do you figure that? He said, "A shark is the only one on the list that doesn't have a backbone." He got the answer wrong, but I like his answer better than the so-called correct answer. That's just another reason why I don't trust standardized tests, especially IQ tests.

But I did read your post. That's why I posted this one. More of the typical corruption that goes on. You are wrong when you say that "farang" who read Hedda's posts are rare. I think more people look for your posts than any other posts.

KOH SAMUI, July 18 (TNA) Thai commandos on Tuesday arrested two Britons, two Danes and three Thai nationals on suspicions of money laundering in a pre-dawn crackdown on their houses in the southern resort island of Samui in Surat Thani province, said a local TNA reporter. About 100 armed police, led by Pol.Gen. Dussadee Areeya, chief of Department of Special Investigation Police's Information Technology, raided houses and businesses belonging to the seven suspects at 05.45 am and apprehended all of them on court order. The TNA reporter said police had confiscated some documents found during the search. Thai police acted on the tip off from Danish police about a foreign money laundering racket that has operated in Thailand with its network in Bangkok, Pattaya, Phuket and Koh Samui. The gang members have also been involved in drugs and faced an arrest for extortion. The two Britons and two Danes were identified as Peter Watkin Jones, Crispin Paton-Smith, Peter Rosenberg and Kim Lingard Nilson; while the Thais were identified as Pramuan Somwong, a government land officer, Sam-rerng Buanak and Pratheep Muangkaew. Pramuan has been charged with government document forging. Pol. Gen. Dussadee said the gang operated through a land company jointly set up with the Thai nationals. ''Once they sold a piece of land to a buyer, they would add that buyer as the company's board member and only part of the money from the deal would change hands in Thailand and the rest transferred to overseas,'' said the police general. (TNA)-E004

Soooooooo. Just for that, I'll have to think up some more . . .

Same here. The only time I have ever been able to get them right is when I cook them myself. Well, as long as I obviously have nothing better to do, here's some more things I never see in Thailand: 1. HMO's 2. Lima beans 3. Roller skating rinks 4. Thai people who prefer to go by their given name, rather than their nickname. 5. "Farang" eating Thai food who say the food isn't hot enough and then start adding more chili peppers. 6. Thai people on the Adkins diet. 7. Graham crackers. 8. A really good traffic flow on Sukhumvit Road, in Bangkok, during rush hour. 9. Well behaved "farang" throwing water on people during Songkran. 10. Venues that charge much higher prices for "farang" relenting and changing their policy so that everyone pays the Thai price. 11. Baht bus drivers telling a "farang" that he only has to pay five baht. 12. A shop in Pantip Plaza that sells only legitimate software. 13. An Albanian restaurant. 14. A disco or karaoke that adheres to the 90-decibel rule. 15. A hospital emergency room that asks for your insurance card before treating whatever it was that brought you there. 16. A street without any cars double parked. 17. Surf boards. 18. A quilting bee. 19. A Thai grandmother reading "Gunga Din." 20. A store that sells lawn mowers. 21. A pickup truck with a rebel plate in the front and a shotgun rack in the rear window. 22. A Thai television station that shows reruns of "I Love Lucy." 23. A Chuck-E-Cheese 24. Jimmy Dean Sausage. 25. A Thai house painter who uses drop cloths. 26. Thai boys who are consistently on time. 27. Television commercials advertising denture adhesives. 28. A mini-series featuring Richard Chamberlain or Ben Gazarra. 29. A restaurant that serves really excellent, American style prime rib. 30. Weight Watchers meetings.

Or, at least I haven't seen these . . . 1. A New York style deli. 2. Fried eggs, once over lightly, done correctly. 3. Thai men wearing a toupee. 4. Thai people repaying a loan provided by a "farang." 5. Everyone at your table, in a restaurant, served the main course at the same time. 6. Bangkok taxi drivers who would much prefer to use their meter, if given the choice, rather than negotiate a fare. 7. A bar boy who enjoyed being with a "farang" so much that he refused a tip. 8. "Farang" at the beach, over fifty years old, who really look great in a thong or bikini. 9. An excellent Mexican restaurant. 10. A Polo field. 11. Thai women suffering from Anorexia or Bulemia. 12. Thai boys who go to the beach in hopes of achieving a great tan. 13, Spumoni 14. A barber shop that isn't in close proximity to more barber shops. 15. Pecan pie. 16. Trailer parks. 17. A street on which motorcycle drivers never go the wrong way. 18. A Buick dealership. 19. Here's one I do see, but not very often: Stop signs. 20. Tornados. 21. Exact change lanes at toll booths. 22. Fly fishermen. 23. Girl Scout cookies. 24. Ice hockey teams. 25. Late night infomercials. 26. A do-it-yourself carwash. 27. Garage sales. 28. A portrait of Millard Fillmore. 29. Fraternaties and Sororoties 30. A Thai person who claims to have seen a UFO or claims to have been kidnapped by aliens. Oh well . . . can't have everything.

To the person who sent a private message to me, I suggest using E-mail instead. I was not able to open your message. My E-mail address is gaybutton@gmail.com . I logged on to try later and now the message has disappeared entirely.

All that you say, mauRICE, may be the reason. It may also have nothing to do with the reason. Unfortunately, the bottom line is that it is still just a guess. In my case, other than curiosity, it is a moot issue. I see no reason to change my decision not to reinstate my web site. For many years it was fun. I really enjoyed working with the web site and the people who benefitted from it. But for the past few years the fun began to deterioriate as more and more problems developed, mostly from people, as you rightly say, with too much time on their hands and also all the problems I was having with my web host company. When it got to be a pain and a chore, rather than much fun anymore, the blocking was a blessing in disguise. If it had not been for that, I probably still would be running the web site and still going through more problems than satisfaction. Now that the site has been down for a few months, quite frankly I don't miss it. It was flattering and gratifying to receive so much E-mail from people saddened to see the web site go offline. I still receive such E-mail periodically. Many people miss it and the information it provided. I have had many people tell me it was my web site that got them to come to Thailand in the first place. I do miss that aspect of it, but it just isn't worth it to me to deal with it any longer. In all fairness, I will state that one of the nicest E-mails I received, shortly after announcing my intention to remove the web site permanently, came from Smiles. I didn't expect it and I was very pleasantly surprised by it. I appreciated his E-mail more than most because it demonstrated that while we may be bitterly at odds online, on a personal level our mutual regard is entirely different.

That is possible, but I ended the matchmaking service about a year-and-a-half before the blocking occurred. Also, none of the photos used were naked. Maybe that had something to do with it and maybe it didn't. All anyone can do is guess. Two things are certain . . . I never received any sort of complaint about it from any Thai person or organization at all. Also, my Thai attorney assured me that the service was totally legal and violated absolutely nothing. Unfortunately, I do know what "some of these sadistic quacks with too much time on their hands are capable of." The most blatant example was the person who tried to intimidate and blackmail me into banning Hedda from posting on my web site message board. Maybe he had something to do with it since I refused to give in to a nut like that. Again, whether he had something to do with it or not is anybody's guess. The only thing we know for sure is that this site, my web site, the Connect Guesthouse site in Phuket, and the Sawatdee forum were all blocked. I have read postings that many other sites were also blocked. I have never seen any evidence of that. I have never seen any other web sites that were blocked other than those four. To this very day I am still waiting for someone to submit a URL for any other web site that is blocked. So far nobody has, and I have not been able to find any. Not one. The common denominator, as I see it, is that these four web sites are all "farang" owned. I have seen no Thai-owned web sited that have been blocked.

What is even more curious is that my Internet service provider is TOT. I have not been blocked from this web site in weeks. I get right in, without having to use a proxy or anything else. Apparently the blocking is not compulsory and is up to the individual service provider. What provider do you use? When the blocking first occurred, I checked with my Thai attorney and he assured me that this sort of censorship is illegal in Thailand. The person you spoke to, Stef, told you "Sorry not good English but it is Dick Pics not good ." Considering the fact that my web site did not have any such pictures, and never did, I still have no idea why I was blocked.

This is very interesting. I too would like to know who the censors are and how to contact them. If that's something you can't post publicly, how about sending me an E-mail with the details at gaybutton@gmail.com . I would like to know who did the talking, on both sides, and whether these people speak English. I'm still not planning to reinstate my web site, although I would very much like to know why it was blocked. Some people tell me I'm wrong, but as far as I can tell, the blocked web sites are "farang" owned. I know there are many pornographic Thai web sites and they are not, and never were, blocked. If you do not want to put the information even in an E-mail for some reason, maybe we can meet personally. We saw each other this afternoon, but you didn't say anything about this and I didn't read your post until after I went home. If I knew about this, I would have asked you about it when we were together today.

Look at the bright side. Maybe the "off" fees will be less expensive . . .

BANGKOK, July 12 (TNA) Interior Minister Kongsak Wanthana dismissed rumors of a plot to involving foreign assassins alleged to have been hired to kill Thailand's caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, saying such hearsay only serves to sow fear and confusion among the public. Though the interior minister categorically rejected the rumored plot to assassinate the embattled Mr. Thaksin, a plot which purportedly would be carried out by unidentified foreign gunmen, Air Chief Marshal Kongsak assured the public Wednesday that security officials are remaining diligent, nonetheless. Security officials must pay careful attention to any circumstances which is rumored or otherwise comes to light, he stated. No government can be careless when rumors of such a sensitive nature affecting the highest levels of the state are being passed around by word of mouth. For that reason, Interior Ministry security officials will work harder on such rumored intelligence. The interior minister declined to comment if the so-called assassination attempt might have been connected with Mr. Thaksin's earlier remarks made about a certain "charismatic figure who remains beyond the reach of the Constitution." Meanwhile, Marshal Kongsak played down concerns that a gathering of members of the Dharma Gaya religious sect, scheduled early next week at its temple in Pathum Thani province, had been designed to thwart a massive gathering of the anti-Thaksin People's Alliance for Democracy set for Friday in the capital. Neither had the Dharma Gaya gathering been designed to show massive support for the embattled prime minister as alleged, Marshal Kongsak said. Nonetheless, a hundred thousand people are expected to show up at the temple next Monday. According to the interior minister, the Dharma Gaya members rally was only meant to celebrate His Majesty the King's 60th anniversary of his accession to the throne. (TNA)-E008

CHIANG MAI, July 13 (TNA) A minor earthquake measuring 3.0 on the Ritcher Scale was reported in Thailand's northern resort province of Chiang Mai Thursday morning, but there have been no reports of any damage or casualties. The quake hit Chiang Mai's Hang Dong District at 07:28 a.m., according to the Meteorological Department. The epicentre of the northern quake has yet been indicated. Initially, there have also been no reports of any damage or casualties from the tremor. (TNA)--E002

If you are flying from Bangkok, then yes, Air Asia is less expensive. If you are leaving from Pattaya, I advise taking Bangkok Air. You can depart from U-Tapao. Asia Air does not service U-Tapao. It does cost about 1000 baht more on Bangkok Air from U-Tapao, but U-Tapao is only about a 35 minute ride from Pattaya and the airport is very small. No waiting in lines and much more convenient for everything. It actually works out cheaper if you are leaving from Pattaya. By the time you pay to go to Bangkok and return from Bangkok, along with the two hour ride it takes to and from Bangkok, it's probably less expensive and much more convenient and hassle free.

It does seem discriminatory, especially considering the fact that the girlie bars are allowed to open much earlier in the day than the gay go-go bars are. Today's PATTAYA CITY NEWS has an interesting article: _____ Beer Bars around Pattaya Told to Smarten-Up and Cover-Up by Pattaya City Hall At Pattaya City Hall, Khun Wootisuk, Deputy Mayor of Pattaya assembled a selected group of Beer Bar Owners to discuss plans to assist the city in cleaning-up its image as local government strive to change the image of Pattaya in an attempt to transform it into a family resort. It was mentioned that the local government are not happy with the image portrayed by open air beer bars and would like the bar owners to tell employees to cover-up and use polite language when conversing with tourists. All too often, Pattaya is mentioned by others as a place where foreigners come for sex and it is this that the local government would like to change, however they do acknowledge the presence of the industry but would like these changes to Beer Bar operation which is the visible aspect of Pattaya

Something that has always struck me as strange, within Christian religions, is the term "God fearing." I've always taken that to mean that Christians attend church services and pray, not necessarily out of full belief and devotion, but out of fear as to what they have been taught will happen if they don't. Personally, I can't help but feel that today there is a significant percentage of Christians who don't truly believe what religious educators try to teach, but simply go through the motions because it is the thing to do. Living in Thailand I have become convinced that the vast majority of Buddhist Thais really do absolutely believe the teachings of Buddhism. Whether the studies that indicate the percentage of Thai teens that regularly attend religious services is accurate or not, as far as I know Buddhists have never killed, tortured, or otherwise terrorized people in the name of religion, while Christians and Muslims have done so throughout history and it still goes on today. I have always enjoyed George Carlin's comments about Christianity: "Religion has actually convinced people that there's an invisible man who lives in the sky who watches everything you do, every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a special list of ten things he does not want you to do. And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place, full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry forever and ever 'til the end of time! . . . . . . . . . But He loves you."

Kao Pansa, the three month period of Buddhist Lent, began today, July 11. As is almost always the case during a religious holiday, the gay bars were all closed this evening. My boyfriend and I were in the Sunee Plaza area, in our car, and we were able to drive right through Sunee Plaza at about 8:45 PM. All the bars were dark and the street was nearly empty, except for a few wandering boys trolling for "farang" that might not have been aware that the bars would all be closed today. Now, in keeping with "What's wrong with this picture?", we were just passing through the area because we dropped off one of his friends at his apartment, very close to Sunee Plaza. We then were going out to dinner in North Patttaya. We drove up Second Road. Many of you are aware of all the girlie bars in North Pattaya. Many were also closed, but plenty of them were wide open and filled with customers, as usual. Now, maybe I'm wrong, but I was under the impression the bars close because the police go around a night or two before and instruct the bars to remain closed on certain occasions. Are these bar closings restricted only to the gay bars? As far as I could tell, all the gay bars were closed throughout Pattaya. I'm wondering why the gay bars have to close, but the girlie bars are allowed to remain open. There were too many of them open for it to be chalked up to a few bars defying police orders. We saw no police officers trying to get the open girlie bars to close. As a matter of fact, we saw no police officers at all. We didn't even see any police officers stopping helmetless motorcycle drivers. Why is that?

BANGKOK, (TNA) Computer users in Thailand and other Asian countries have been warned of 26 computer virus strains spreading across the region via electronic mails (e-mails), according to a leading computer software manufacturer. As internet and viruses know no national boundaries, the warning applies to any country in the world. The 26 computer virus strains are worms in the RONTKBR.GEN family, which were first identified last year but have been spreading in wider areas across the region, according to manufacturer Trend Micro Incorporated, a leading world provider of comprehensive antivirus, Internet content security, and outbreak management software and services. The worms are spreading through "no subject" e-mails, and had reportedly destroyed nearly 16,000 computers so far, the company warned in a statement released to the local press on Sunday. The company's experts concede it is hard to contain the worms as their attack begins once the "no subject" e-mails are temptingly opened and they immediately modify host files which prevent any anti-virus function. The Silicon Valley (California)-based company is represented in Thailand by Trend Micro (Thailand). Trend Micro said Thailand is now among the top ten Asian economies where the worms are mostly spreading and destroying local computer systems. The other Asian economies include China, Taiwan and Japan; while the problem in neighbouring Malaysia and Indonesia is increasing remarkably, according to the company. (TNA)-E002