Gaybutton

For those of you who want to have your laundry done just a day or so before your flight back home, I'd like to suggest making sure the laundry place will be open when you need to pick it up. Not long ago, someone I knew had dropped off his laundry the day before his flight home. He was going to pick it up the next day in the afternoon and be all packed up and ready to go later that night. Only one problem. When he went to pick up his laundry, the place was closed. He ended up having to arrange for a friend to pick up his laundry for him and then ship it back to him. Also, some of you might have noticed that quite often the laundry places don't give you a ticket or anything else to identify your laundry. They simply rely on recognizing you when you come in to pick it up. The laundry this man had gone to was one of those. His friend had a hell of a time trying to figure out which was the right laundry to pick up.

I think you would be making a mistake by taking anyone's advice and opinions about that. Both areas are in close proximity to each other. Why not try both areas and decide for yourself?

Maybe it's a vicious cycle. Maybe the bars don't put much effort or changes into their shows because there are so few customers these days and maybe there are so few customers these days because the bars don't put much effort or changes into their shows. All I know is I haven't been to a bar show in ages that hasn't been virtually the same thing they've been putting on ever since I first started coming to Thailand. With some of them, it's probably still the same costumes.

I definitely agree with that! Your post definitely touches a nerve with me. This is precisely what I have been saying is the problem with the gay go-go bars, Bangkok and Pattaya included. They lack what I call the "fun factor." Martelly, on another thread, wrote about the dull bar shows. In my opinion that is also part of the problem. I keep saying the same thing, so I might as well say it again: I can't speak for anyone other than myself, but I simply do not enjoy going to a go-go bar at which the boys do little more than stand there on the stage doing the "One-Knee Shuffle" while appearing more bored out of their minds than anything else, with excessively loud music volume, with pushy mama-sans or waiters, with high drink prices and off fees, and it's more like a meat display. It's dull. It's routine. It's predictable. And to me, one bar is very much the same as the next. I know if I go to one bar, the next bar is going to be almost exactly the same. The only real difference I see is which heads are on which bodies. Also, in my opinion, the bar shows are lousy. It's been the same old thing at virtually every bar for years. I truly believe some bar shows are more popular than others not because they're any good, but because they are less lousy than other ones. And the owners can't figure out why they have so few customers. Meanwhile, these lady-boy bars can be a hell of a lot of fun. They're lively, animated, and there's always something going on. I remember reading Michael's report, about a year ago, when he went around to the lady-boy bars in Pattaya and wrote about how they were much more fun than the gay go-go bars. I fully agree with fountainhall that it's the fun that attracts people more than anything else. Just why the gay go-go bar owners can't see that or perhaps don't care about it goes beyond me. Again, speaking only for myself, if the gay go-go bars were really fun places to be, I would certainly be there much more often. As it is now, I only go on occasion and most of the time I'm sorry I went.

MONTY'S Grand OPENING Wednesday, June 1 - 8pm Also, manager Kan's Birthday Free Pig Roast and Salad Bar Fun night for all - See you there! Monty 1. All can get DO IT YOURSELF H.I.V. Test from Monty's - 250 baht 2. All can get DO IT YOURSELF Drug Test for Ya Ba from Monty's - 120 baht

A phrase I often use is a law is not a law unless it's enforced. In Thailand, there are many more examples of that besides the indoor smoking ban. Start with the law against under-age boys working in bars. Once in a while the police enforce that one, but obviously not often enough to totally end it. In Pattaya there is a 90 decibel music volume limitation. That one was enforced for about two weeks after it came into effect. It hasn't been enforced since. Then there are the bar closing hours, unlicensed vendor encroachment on public property, unlicensed building on public property, the regulation that metered taxis must actually use the meter, etc. Even when the sale of alcohol is prohibited during certain holidays, I still see people buying all the liquor they want in many convenience stores. Even though I'm a smoker, I still see no reason why anyone, including me, who wants to smoke can't just step outside to do it. What's the hard part about that? I would have thought in this day and age people would be well aware that others do not wish to be subjected to the smoke and the law makes it perfectly clear that is is not allowed. Meanwhile, many of the bars still permit smokers to smoke all they want. They even provide the ashtrays. I don't know of a single incident in which a bar or customer was ever actually fined for violating that law.

I'll wear that dress again for the contest if I can find a tailor who can let it out some more. You'll have to excuse me now. I'm too busy practicing my lip synching . . .

Well, I'll settle for honorable, or in my case probably dishonorable, mention . . .

Why don't we both go? I'd like to see which one of us would win. Maybe it would be a tie . . . "I'm sorry it had to end this way. I'll always wonder which one of us was best." Christopher George (McLeod) to John Wayne (Thornton), 'El Dorado'

I believe Bin Laden is dead and I believe killing him was perfectly justified. Even Al Qaeda is acknowledging Bin Laden is dead. If the soldiers had killed the wrong man and Bin Laden wasn't even there in that compound, I can't believe Al Qaeda wouldn't have put out a new video showing him to be alive and well by now. They didn't even use old footage to try to perpetrate a hoax that Bin Laden is alive. I also don't believe Obama would ever have announced the death of Bin Laden to the world if it wasn't an absolute, irrefutable fact. If he lied to the world, he would be risking that sooner or later the lie would be exposed. If that were to happen, Richard Nixon's experience from the Watergate cover-up would have been a cakewalk in comparison, even if it could be shown that Obama had been lied to himself. Also, if Obama lied to the world, why would he do that? Why would he risk the possibility of a hoax eventually being exposed if he knowingly stated Bin Laden is dead, but then at some later date Bin Laden is captured, killed, shows up on a video, or something else occurs to prove he is alive? What would Obama do then, make another speech and say 'whoops!'? I give him credit for being a lot smarter than that. I'm glad Bin Laden was not taken alive. If he had been taken alive he probably would have been shipped off to Guantanamo. A trial for him would have cost millions in addition to what he has already cost. None of us were there to know exactly why he was killed, but whether it was by kill order or not, I'm glad it all went down the way it did. Also, I think George Bush is doing the right thing by keeping his nose out of it.

Of course it would never happen, but I would enjoy immensely to see Obama issue a statement or, better still, appear on television and tell them, "Sue me."

It has absolutely nothing to do with the pool of qualified natural born citizens, although the natural born citizens who so far seem to be planning to run in the next election are not exactly impressing me. If there are qualified people who would meet all the qualifications except where they happened to be born, then what's wrong with allowing them to run? Personally, I couldn't care less where someone was born. I care how good a president he would make. Sure, you're entitled to your opinion, just like anyone else. So am I, and my opinion is disqualifying a presidential candidate in today's world simply because of his place of birth and simply because of an assumption that if his place of birth was somewhere other than the USA, he would be likely to let that influence his presidency, is both prejudicial and ridiculous. And, in my opinion, saying that nobody born elsewhere should be allowed to run because there are already enough qualified natural born citizens is equally ridiculous. Sorry Arnold - you can't run. Kokopelli has decided we already have enough qualified natural born candidates and he doesn't approve of the way you ran things as governor, so you're out. After all Stalin, Hitler, and Napoleon weren't natural born. Look what happened. If you or anyone else who was born someplace else is ever elected president, we all better watch out!

What makes you think the idea of doing away with the natural born rule would indicate the founding fathers lacked foresight? They had excellent foresight. They had foresight enough to know to include rules by which the Constitution can be amended. They understood perfectly that the world is not going to always be the way it was in the late 1700s. I think the idea that a Cuban born president would be more loyal to Cuba than to the USA is prejudicial nonsense. When John F. Kennedy was elected, many feared he would be unduly influenced by the Pope because he was Roman Catholic. Many feared Obama would over-prioritize black issues because he is black. Neither happened and I, for one, see no justification whatsoever in an assumption that a person who is otherwise fully qualified to be the president would be less loyal simply because he was born somewhere other than the USA. I also believe if those same founding fathers were alive today to see how the world has changed since their time, neither would they.

I received the following information this morning: ______________ The memorial service and cremation for Richard Bunn will be held on Tuesday, May 3, 2011 at 1:30pm at Wat Chai on Pattaya Tai next to Center Condo.

John Walker Lindh comes to mind. Remember him? The 'American Taliban' who was caught fighting with the Taliban in Afghanistan. He was a natural born citizen. On the other hand, since Arnold Schwartzenegger was mentioned, his politics might be controversial, but I don't think there is any doubt about his loyalties. He is not a natural born citizen. He can be governor of a state, but is ineligible to run for President. That's why I think retaining the natural born citizen rule is nonsense in this day and age. I also think the electoral college system for presidential elections is nonsense in this day and age, but passing amendments to the Constitution is extremely difficult to do. If either of those rules are ever changed, I wouldn't bet on any of us living long enough to see that day come.

It only matters because the USA Constitution says it matters: "No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty-five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States." I agree with you in that retaining this law is a little ridiculous in this day and age, but unless and until an amendment to the Constitution is passed, then like it or not, that's the law.

Send a PM to tdperhs. He stayed there quite recently.

An announcement has been posted on the Gay Ting & Tong Forum that Gwm4asian has passed away. See: http://www.gaytingtong.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=7903 I am shocked and quite upset about this. Many of us knew him (photos are on the post) and he was one of the most likeable and charitable people I've ever met. He also did an enormous amount of work for Pattaya Street Kids ( http://www.pattayastreetkids.org ). I would recommend a donation to Pattaya Street Kids, if you wish, in honor of him. He would be most pleased with that. My condolences to his friends and family. I will really miss him.

I'm sorry about that. I have no idea what the problem could be, especially since I have not received any reports about anyone else having problems getting to the board. The only other thing I can think of for you to try would be to enter with use of a proxy server.

That brings to mind another potential problem. There is a risk that Immigration will refuse to grant extensions. While that is unlikely to occur, it is still a possibility. Immigration is under no obligation to grant extensions at all. In most cases they do without any problems, but I do know of people who applied for extensions and were refused.

I don't have any idea if this would work, but see if you can find out whether, during the last month of the triple entry visa, instead of doing something like an extension or a visa run to Cambodia or Laos, getting a reentry permit from Immigration and then going to Cambodia or Laos would extend the validity of your visa upon return to Thailand. Other than that, I can't think of anything else to try.

I haven't had any problems and no one else has said anything about a problem. Usually when things like that occur, a few hours later it's fine. Give it another try. Just in case, maybe you were entering the URL incorrectly. Here it is. You can either copy and paste it, or just click on it and bookmark it if it comes up: http://www.gaybuttonthai.com

Since apparently you wish to contact him for legitimate medical purposes, I'm not so heartless that I would deny it to you. I won't give out someone's Email address without his permission to do so, but if you want to send him a PM, I'll make an exception and give you another chance on my board if you want it. If you choose to re-register, I'll approve it.

If the rules have changed, I was not aware of it. If 8 months is the best you can get, there may not be a way around that if you wish to stay longer. I think your best move would be to get the best visa you can obtain, and then once you are in Thailand talk to Immigration and see if there is anything they can do for you. Also, it seems that different Immigration offices have their own perceptions of the rules. If you don't get anywhere at one Immigration office, I would try one or two others before giving up.

The one directly in front of Tui's and the two next ones to the right, as you face the beach, are in my opinion the best ones. Most boys who go to the beach seem to pick any of those three. The concession at Rit's Beach seems to be the most popular among English speaking farang, but if you're looking for boys, any of those three will do. If boys show up, but the ones you like are sitting at a different concession, you can always move or just go over and start chatting with the boy you like. If you invite him to come and sit with you, chances are very good he will be quite willing.