Gaybutton

I have now been told that the bars may open at their own discretion, but will not be allowed to sell alcohol. Of course the police can still come around and order the bars to close Friday, but for now, that's the word.

One of Thailand's most important Buddhist holidays is Visakha Bucha, which falls on Friday, May 28 this year. Banks will be closed. The bars will also probably close, but I just screwed up about L'Olivier, so I won't say anything definite about the bars until I have a chance to check and make sure.

Maybe Thaksin will have his lawyer submit an appeal for him too . . .

None. After I sold it off I invested in a company that prepares grasshoppers and moth larvae for people to eat . . .

Baht weakens due to sharp sell-off Published: 26/05/2010 A sharp sell-off in stocks by foreign investors is pressuring the Thai baht to depreciate, Bank of Thailand's Financial Markets and Reserve Management Department senior director Wongwatoo Potirat said on Wednesday. "Foreign investors want to hold more dollars as they are worried about the public debt crisis in Europe and the North Korea and South Korea dispute," Ms Wongwatoo said. Baht weakens due to sharp sell-off

I would think Thaksin has many more lawyers than just the ones in Thailand. I would guess he has lawyers in every country he goes to, in case he has to try to fight extradition to Thailand. In any case, it was his Thai lawyers who submitted the appeal today. _____ Thaksin's Lawyer Submits Appeal Against Terrorism Warrant Former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra's lawyer Wednesday submitted an appeal to the Criminal Court against the court's approval of arrest warrant against the former premier on charge of terrorism. Thanadej Puangpool, the lawyer, Phichit Chuenban, a legal advisor and their team arrived at the court at 2:30 pm and submitted the appeal. The appeal called for an urgent consideration of the case. Thaksin's lawyer submits appeal against terrorism warrant

Good. He's convinced me. Now all he has to do is convince the judge . . .

Gay Romeo has become the most popular "farang hunt" personals site for the bar boys, and Camfrog seems to be quite attractive to a great many as well. I know a few boys who have given up working in the go-go bars at all in favor of spending their time working Gay Romeo. The other night I was chatting with Mike, the owner of the La Cage bar at Sunee Plaza. He is just about convinced that Gay Romeo will eventually kill Pattaya's bar scene altogether. I'm not as pessimistic as all that, but I do think Gay Romeo will at least put a good sized dent in it. I think the most serious problem the bars are facing at present is not competition from gay personals sites, but a major lack of customers. If nothing else, at least the Red-Shirt protest was kind enough to occur during the lowest part of the low season, but all the turmoil in Thailand hasn't exactly helped the tourist industry. For several years in succession the Pattaya bar scene has attracted fewer and fewer customers. Hell, it's actually been quite awhile already since the last pedophile arrest. Even their numbers seem to have declined. I see more bars that have either closed or have been put up for sale than I remember ever seeing around here. The bars can't survive forever without enough customers to at least break even. Many more boys seem to be turning to sites such as Gay Romeo not to replace the money they make working in the bars, but to supplement it. I believe for the present time we will see more and more boys working Gay Romeo than ever before, but I think most will choose to do that in addition to working in the bars rather than instead of working in the bars. I believe in order for Gay Romeo to be truly beneficial for the boys, then the bar scene has to survive. It's the bar and beach scene that attracts most gay holiday makers to Pattaya, not Gay Romeo, isn't it? If it wasn't for the bar scene and the boys, how many of you would come to Thailand solely on the basis of Gay Romeo? Also, the boys know that a great many farang who use Gay Romeo are not even present in Thailand. For years I have been saying that the bars need to do things to make themselves more attractive to customers and continue to be able attract the gay crowd to Thailand. However, as far as I can tell, the only change many of the bars have made in recent years has been to raise their prices. That's my opinion, anyway. What's yours?

"The other day I ate so much Chinese food I went home and did the laundry." - Bob Hope

Good point! "There's Milton Berle. He died last year, but somebody forgot to tell him." - Don Rickles, 'Dean Martin Celebrity Roast'

Only one problem. I have yet to see any economists who predict what the baht will do against the US dollar ever get it right.

Thaksin's attorney is going to appeal the warrant. I have no idea how other countries harboring him will respond to the terrorism warrant, but I have a feeling that Thaksin will be concentrating on himself now rather than worrying about protests. __________ Thaksin's Lawyer to Submit Appeal Against Thaksin's Warrant Phichit Chuenban, a lawyer of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, said Wednesday that he will submit an appeal against the Criminal Court's approval of terrorism arrest warrant against Thaksin. Thaksin's lawyer to submit appeal against Thaksin's warrant

Two Foreigners Arrested By The Nation, AFP Published on May 26, 2010 A Briton and an Australian have been arrested for joining the red shirt protests, officials said yesterday. The Australian, Conor David Purcell, 30, and the Briton, Jeff Savage, 49, were arrested and charged with breaching the emergency law, an offence which carries up to two years imprisonment, police said. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said the pair were arrested for violating the state of emergency "and for their roles on stage during the rally". "For the Australian man it's not yet clear, but in the case of the Briton he's involved with the (red shirt) movement in Pattaya," Abhisit said. He said officials would also probe other allegations against the men. Two foreigners arrested

To me it's much more distasteful to post as if we're seven year olds, disguising words with asterisks when we all know perfectly well what the word is. I think doing that is just ridiculous. How is the use of asterisks any less distasteful? How will using asterisks save our standards? I think if a word is to be used, then use the word or don't use the word at all. I'm a little too old to worry about f**k or shhhhhhh, it's the 'F' word! Meanwhile, a thread about whether Abhisit should step down or remain in office has turned into a thread about whether we should use the word "fuck" with all its letters intact. I think the discussion about Abhisit is just a wee bit more important and we might consider getting back to the subject of the thread.

Well, sue me . . . Maybe it's "SUE-one knee" as in the "One-Knee Shuffle" . . . . Now a lot of the go-go boys don't even do that. With some, it's getting to be more like "Living Statues."

I wonder how much of a dent recovery from the riots and the near collapse of the tourist industry will put in those coffers.

I won't even try. It's too dangerous for anyone to bend over when you're around . . .

Court Issues Thaksin Terror Warrant Published: 25/05/2010 The Criminal Court on Tuesday approved the Department of Special Investigation's request for an arrest warrant for former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra on terrorism charges. The court approved the warrant after examining testimony given by DSI chief Tharit Pengdit, his deputy Pol Col Narat Savetanant and Pol Lt-Col Thawal Mangkhang, the DSI chief investigator, on Monday. Court issues Thaksin terror warrant ____________________ Curfew Extended for 4 Days Published: 25/05/2010 The cabinet agreed to extend the curfew in Bangkok and 23 other provinces to Friday night, Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban said after the cabinet meeting on Tuesday. The curfew will be in force between midnight and 4am, he said. Curfew extended for 4 days _____ The articles I've found do not specifically say, but it is my understanding that Pattaya will still be exempt from the curfew.

You can see the following article, plus videos, and plenty of commentary on the Thai Visa site: Australian Man Arrested Over Thai Protests - Thailand Forum _______ Aussie Arrested over Thai Protests An Australian man has been arrested in Thailand following two months of Red Shirt protests. The man has been identified as as Conor David Purcell, an ex-soldier working in Bangkok as a language teacher, ABC News reported. Mr Purcell, 30, was arrested under the emergency decree used to end almost the protests in Bangkok. Purcell was arrested at his apartment complex in the city on Sunday. Thai authorities say he incited unrest while speaking from the stage of the Red Shirt protest camp on two occasions, ABC News reported. source: http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/aussi...0-1225871105387

You mean you think there will be any . . . ?

Maybe, but I don't know if that's true or not. You know why I don't know? Because they haven't said why they block the sites they block in the first place. Why do I have a feeling that from among all the reasons they might have for blocking web sites, the real reason is whichever one makes the least sense?

I'm going to kid myself and think otherwise. To me, the Yellow-Shirts were wrong to take over the airport. The Thai government was wrong to turn a peaceful demonstration into a violent demonstration. The Red-Shirts were wrong to destroy half of Bangkok and other buildings within Thailand. While I certainly can condone each side wishing to bring serious attention to their political views, I do not condone the methods by which they did it. To my mind, they all were wrong to do what they did. I haven't seen a side yet that is doing the right thing by means of their methods. The Red-Shirts want free elections and an end to class inequality in which the poor have virtually no real chance to be able to succeed in life. The Yellow-Shirts don't want their country led by a would-be dictator or a puppet government. You don't achieve your goals by taking over airports, killing people, destroying property, rioting, and everything else that's been going on. So far, I think it's been a question of which side can outlast and outgun the other and so far none of the sides is any closer to their goals than they were before any of this got started. Thailand is now a house divided. If Abraham Lincoln was right that a house divided cannot stand, then if Thailand falls I can't help but wonder if Humpty Dumpty will ever really be able to be put together again, at least any time reasonably soon.

I still disagree with you. You're using what happened to my web site as one of your examples. The fact is that my web site was blocked. The fact is also that my web site was not forced offline. I took it offline myself. If I had not done that, it would be online today, just as all the Thai gay web sites that were blocked are online and have been for years. I can't prove it, but I am thoroughly convinced my web site was blocked because it contained "Gay" as part of the title. I don't believe it had a thing to do with the content of the web site or message board and I don't believe whoever was responsible for blocking the site ever read one word of its content. There was nothing on the web site or message board that should have instigated blocking the site. I seriously doubt that the Thai government gives a damn about message board conversations gay farang have with each other, provided those conversations do not advocate committing felonies in Thailand. The way I feel about it is if the Thai authorities really want to take down this message board based upon the types of messages posted here, then let them. I believe if they ever do decide to block this web site, the reason won't be because of the content of the messages posted here. But I do believe GT would have no more success in finding out why the site is blocked than I had. Don't forget, if this web site is ever blocked, GT won't receive any kind of formal notification for the specific reasons why it was blocked or who blocked it. He'll just wake up one morning and find it blocked. If the site gets blocked, maybe the reason will be because of the content of the messages, as you say. Then again, maybe the reason won't have anything to do with the content of the messages. We'll have no way to find out. It will just be gone.

Sadness in Siam Small business owners mourn loss of livelihoods and even greater damage to the spirit of one of Bangkok's most popular shopping spots. Published: 24/05/2010 Pennisa Wongsricharoenrung looks across the table, her hands shaking and eyes red and glazed, thinking of fire. "The damage was so much worse than what I saw on TV. My first thought was, how can my family survive after our shops were destroyed?" she asks in a shaking voice. Her seven shops in Siam Square are now ashes, consumed along with 100 other small businesses in the blazes that shook the Ratchaprasong area last Wednesday. Sadness in Siam

Dammit, GT. How many times have I told you not to post my photo?