Gaybutton

Where are you even finding toilet paper? I never see any other than in hotels, some shopping malls here and there, and on dining tables used as napkins.

Are you kidding? I'm lucky if I can remember this morning, let alone months ago . . .

For USA citizens the embassy charges 1200 baht for the proof-of-income statement, although I'm expecting to see that cost rise along with everything else. I'm curious. How much do you, as a UK citizen, have to pay for a proof-of-income statement from your embassy?

I'm not so sure. When they want something I'm eating, it doesn't seem to matter where my plate is. And don't get upset if they don't ask first. Also, if there is only one item left on a serving plate, we usually ask if anyone wants it before we take it for ourselves. The Thais usually just take it if they want it.

Well, since you're old enough to know who she is:

I suppose a question of legality kind of negates whether it is correct to call it a custom, a peeve, or anything else. The real point is you better be very careful when crossing streets as a pedestrian in Thailand.

Airline Considers Fee for Lavatory Use By A. Pawlowski, CNN (CNN) -- Fresh on the heels of one budget airline announcing that it will ask passengers to pay extra to bring carry-on bags on board, another is considering charging them for using the lavatory. Ryanair, which is based in Dublin, Ireland, and bills itself as "Europe's first and largest low fares airline," is mulling a plan that would require travelers to pay either 1 euro or 1 British pound (about $1.33 or $1.52) for using the bathroom on flights lasting one hour or less. The plan, titled "Ryanair Cost Saving Proposal," was published in the airline's inflight magazine. The carrier said it is working with Boeing to develop a coin-operated door release so that when nature calls, passengers would need to deposit the change before being able to use the facilities. Airline considers fee for lavatory use

Passport Fees Going Up Next Week By A. Pawlowski, CNN July 7, 2010 (CNN) -- Get ready to open your wallet a little wider to satisfy your travel bug: It is soon going to cost more to apply for a new U.S. passport or renew an old one -- a move criticized by the public and some lawmakers. Starting next Tuesday, adults applying for their first passport book will have to pay $135 -- a 35 percent increase from the current $100 fee. (The cost of the wallet-size passport card, which Americans can use on certain trips closer to home, is rising from $45 to $55 for first-time applicants.) Want to add more visa pages to your passport book? It's free now, but you will have to shell out $82 under the new fee schedule. The renewal fee for passport books will rise to $110 -- up from the current $75. There's even a new fee if you'd like formally to renounce your U.S. citizenship -- it costs nothing now, but the price tag will be $450 starting Tuesday. Passport fees going up next week http://travel.state.gov/news/news_5078.html

Is that really a custom, though? I see it as peeve more than a custom.

Why? Don't you think a little experience is better than a virgin with none at all? And speaking of virgins, you know those terrorists who are convinced they'll get 77 virgins, or however many, when they enter Valhalla? I hope they do. And I also hope every one of those virgins bear a strong resemblance to:

The first thing I would add is that these customs do not necessarily apply to all Thais and do not necessarily apply to the same degree. I've seen plenty of exceptions to every one of these on the list and I've also seen plenty of times when many of these customs are considered highly important. One thing I don't see on your list is the custom of removing shoes when entering a home, even if it's a dumpy hovel of an apartment. You are also expected to remove your shoes when entering places of worship. It's also considered good form to wear long pants when entering places of worship, but again the degree to which that is enforced or cared about is quite variable. But entering a place of worship in shorts and a tank top is definitely frowned upon at best.

I'm certainly happy with mine, at least now. When I first bought it and tried it out, it said, "Not on the first date!" I finally did score, but I had to get it drunk first . . .

I don't think that's so illogical. When you take a boy off, it's not necessarily for sexual purposes. I'm sure many take boys off only to take them to an opera, followed by viewing their etchings, ending with a glass of warm milk and then giving him a cookie and sending him home. Don't you agree . . . ?

Bottom line: Did he get it?

I don't think anyone is trying to do that. Certainly lack of logic applies anywhere. My continual references to the great and sainted Dan Quayle ought to illustrate that. And, if I was applying my "I Don't Get It" list to the USA, it would be infinitely longer than my list as it applies to Thailand. A country that has people who actually support fine folks such as Jimmy Swaggart, Fred Phelps, and the Ku Klux Klan definitely merits an "I Don't Get It" list. I don't think anyone is trying to come across as superior. It's just fun to point out some of the curious things we observe and experience in Thailand and wonder where, or even if, logic applies. My most recent example is something that I noticed only yesterday. In the area at which I live there is a hell of a lot of new construction going on. About two years ago the Bank of Ayudhya opened a branch office in that area. Yesterday I was passing by and I noticed a bank branch office under construction, less than half a block up the street from the Bank of Ayudhya branch office. When it opens, you know what bank it will be? Bank of Ayudhya! Two branch offices of the same bank, virtually across the street from one another. That might actually make some sense if they were going to close the first office in favor of the new one going in, except for one little thing. From what I understand they're not planning to close that first office. They're simply going to have two of them. I'd say that no matter where you come from, that's just a wee bit difficult to figure out . . . And speaking of "I Don't Get It" -> "The USA was founded by slave owners who wanted to be free. And they're banning toy guns, but they're gonna keep the fuckin' real ones!" - George Carlin

However it happened, I believe it was unintentional. I've never heard of anything like this happening before. I think it was just a fluke and RichLB was unfortunate enough to be at the wrong ATM at the wrong time. Murphy's Law strikes again.

I truly believe that. Few people would dispute that the deck chairs are about the most uncomfortable choice of chair types there can be, but the same style deck chairs are used at virtually every beach in Thailand. Why? I'm convinced that somebody has arranged something with somebody. And the uniformity regulations make no sense to me either. The chairs have to be lined up just so, and it has to be those chairs. Many of the concessions keep a few plastic chairs available upon request, but woe be unto the concession that ever puts in any other kinds of chairs.

Thank you! For about three years I've been trying to remember the name of that bar. Yes, That's it! And your description is exactly the way I remember it. I've always wondered about that clich

Of course, it is best to check what comes out of the machine while you're still standing right there and if a problem occurs, call the bank immediately. You should still call the bank. They might have some way of verifying the mistake and getting your 500 baht back to you. I doubt this was a deliberate rip-off. It seems to me like some sort of glitch in which a 500 baht note got mixed up somehow with the thousand baht notes and you wound up finding it.

Thai language media is reporting that a Sunee Plaza male has been arrested in connection with this death. That's all the information I have. Strange that none of the English language media has said a word about it.

Sure, if you want to be ridiculous. Go ahead then, based on that idea, and explain why Thais build stages for their own performers everywhere you look, including places where the presence of farang would be extremely rare. Explain why, not very many years ago, these bars were fun places to be and the go-go boys were far more enthusiastic than they seem to be now, but the stages and the head levels were precisely the same then as they are today. Head levels had nothing to do with it then, and head levels don't even begin to explain the atmosphere of these bars today. Do you truly believe that if the bars were redone so that the head levels were changed, now the boys would become much more animated?

Sounds good to me . . . All he has to do is cancel the service, after which he opens the same service again. Now he's a new customer.

I have thought about it, and it makes zero sense to me. Where is this idea coming from that being on an elevated stage makes the boys uncomfortable? Since when? Most of the bars have always been like that, even when they used to be fun. Now all of a sudden being elevated on a stage is a problem for the boys? They're perfectly willing to be there, close to naked, many "whipping it out" and masturbating in front of onlookers, and not only willing, but wanting to go with total strangers for sex, but being on an elevated stage is what makes them uncomfortable. Right. Whatever the reason is, that ain't it. I doubt it is even a remote factor.

I don't agree with that idea at all. How, then, do you explain the fact that the Thais themselves build stages for performers for their own shows and performances, even in the most rural areas? Based on what you are saying, I would think they would be more likely to build structures resembling the Colosseum in Rome or ancient Greek theaters. Of course, if your idea is correct, then the solution in the bars is simple. Just switch things around. Put the customer seating on the stage and have the go-go boys dance on the floor . . .

I think that's a decision you have to make on your own. All you'll get from a question like that is "my choice is better than your choice" comments. You'll have some people telling you Bangkok is the best choice, followed by "No. no. Chiang Mai," with others telling you all about how Pattaya is best, and still others telling you why they like their other, lesser known places. How could that help you? You need to spend time in different cities and towns and decide for yourself. If you are unsure where you want to be, then once you come to Thailand, spend some time, better still a few months, in one area, a few months in another area, and so on until you decide "this is the place" or even the possibility of "whoops, Thailand is not for me after all."