Gaybutton

Travel Alert: Thailand The State Department alerts U.S. citizens traveling to and residing in Thailand of ongoing demonstrations in Bangkok. Due to escalating violence in central Bangkok, all U.S. citizens should avoid nonessential travel to Bangkok. Those traveling outside of Bangkok in Thailand should be aware of the possibility of disturbances elsewhere and should exercise caution and good judgment. This replaces the Travel Alert dated April 20, 2010, to update information on security concerns and to recommend against travel to Bangkok at this time. This Travel Alert will expire on July 22, 2010. On the evening of April 22, 2010, several explosions occurred in the Silom/Sala Daeng area at the Sala Daeng BTS Skytrain station causing a number of injuries, including at least one fatality. The possibility of more such attacks cannot be ruled out. U.S. citizens should avoid travel to and lodging in this area. You should monitor local news concerning demonstrations and avoid such areas, if possible. If U.S. citizens must travel to these areas, they should exercise special caution and remain vigilant with regard to their personal security. Immediately report to law enforcement or security personnel any unattended packages or bags or suspicious objects in public areas. The United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (aka UDD or

Pattaya’s Recently Re-laid Thappraya Road Collapses The recently re-laid surface of Thappraya Road in Pattaya has collapsed in several places after the period of inclement weather and heavy traffic that was experienced over the Songkran festival period. Pattaya, the 23rd of April 2010 [PDN]: Several parts of the new road, which took contractors nearly 2 years to compete, have collapsed or are showing worrying signs of wear. Thappraya Road is a main artery of Pattaya, responsible for connecting South Pattaya to Jomtien with adjoining roads to the heavily populated Pratamnak Hill area. Thappraya Road started to show signs of undue wear within a fortnight of the official opening at the end of March. A large depression in the roads surface has formed at the junction with Pratamnak Road whilst more recently, during an entire day of inclement weather, a section of the road in the Jomtien bound lane has entirely caved-in allegedly due to the insufficient drainage installed. _____ Photos and the rest of the article at: Recently Re-laid Thappraya Road Collapses

"Anerucans" That's a correction?

If you edit your post using the full editor, you should be able to correct the title. Of course, there's always proofreading before hitting the post button . . . Anyway, that meeting seems like it will be interesting. If anyone attends, please let us know what is said. I'm really not sure what the embassy can tell us that most of us wouldn't already know from keeping up with the news, but maybe they know something we don't.

I have to leave it up to GT to do that. The only way I can physically remove your post since it is the first post on the thread would be to remove the entire thread. If I do that, now I will be in the doghouse with GT, so I'll pass the buck leave it up to him. Meanwhile, we can chalk this one up to a mild misunderstanding.

I sincerely and publicly apologize. I certainly didn't mean to offend you. I'm the one who moved it because most of the post is about your experience in Phnom Penh and is subheaded "Trip to Phnom Penh." The reason I moved it was because the post has very good information about Phnom Penh and most people looking for information about Cambodia are going to look for it on the Gay Asia forum, not the Pattaya Forum. That's the forum on which I thought the post would be the most appropriate. It never occurred to me that moving the post might upset you. However, the post has been moved back to the Gay Thailand forum and again I'm sorry if moving the post offended you. I didn't mean for that to happen.

You've got it. I'm definitely right. Yes, those do come to mind, along with a great many other similar concerns that interest me and plenty of other people. And guess what, I still concern myself with other things including the things of importance to you. Apparently you have a problem about that. Now I see. My concerns have to be the same as yours, or better still exclusively yours, otherwise it's time to start belittling. Nevertheless I see you too have read every one of those posts. Now that you've had your put-down, let's get back to the subject of the thread.

I'm sure there are many people around who can actually be "worried" about more than just one thing at a time. Sex? Ohhhh yes, I remember that . . . .

I suggest also looking at this web site: http://www.pattayashemales.com/bars.htm

I hope you don't let that happen. This guy sounds like some kind of a nut to me and your boyfriend seems perfectly capable of handling the situation himself. Obviously your boyfriend has no intention of having anything to do with that guy, so I wouldn't get involved unless your boyfriend asks you to. If you try to intervene, I can see that escalating and then you'll find yourself having to explain things to the police, who probably won't take very kindly to an incident. I think your boyfriend can handle it just fine.

Everything you say is correct, but that's not the point. The point is what you would choose to do if a friend asks you not to take a boy he either has, or is trying to establish, a relationship with. I don't think anybody disputes the idea that if a boy is working in a bar, then he is at liberty to go with anyone who wants him. But the question is, at least the way I'm seeing this issue, is if a friend asks you not to take that boy, would you take him anyway? In reality, I don't think a friend is going to ask that of you unless he has a damned good reason. His reason doesn't have to be anything I see as a valid reason. Even if I see his reason as ridiculous, he doesn't see it that way and, as I said, that's good enough for me. I'm not going to start arguing with him about it. If it's a friend, I would trust that he does have, in his view, a good reason and my choice would be to abide by his wishes. I would not give him the third degree as to why he has asked this or why the boy is still working in a bar or why he doesn't find a different job for him, or anything else. If he is my friend, then I'll simply abide by his wishes. I believe my friends would do the same for me. I thought that's how true friends are supposed to treat each other. If I had a friend who tells me that since that boy works in a bar, he's going to go ahead and take him despite my request and despite the availability of so many other boys, then he wouldn't be a friend much longer and probably never was a true friend in the first place.

Thank you, fountainhall. Not that I'm planning to go to Bangkok any time soon (although a young gent or two just might override that decision), but your information is a great help. It certainly seems as if it is far less complicated coming from the south, as I would do, but my main concern would be that Rama IV exit being blocked off. I never even knew about that Soi Suwan Sawat alternative. I think next time I drive to Bangkok I'l give it a try. This is where having a GPS comes in handy, but I don't know my way around Bangkok all that well and I would be nervous that the GPS would route me right into the protest area, exactly where I wouldn't want to be. I think for the time being, until the protest either ends or moves elsewhere, if I go to Bangkok, I'll probably go on by bus and take a taxi from the bus station. It might be more expensive and inconvenient that way, but then it would be their problem instead of mine. However, if I leave Pattaya very early in the morning, like between 4:00-5:30am, or very late at night, I would still probably drive.

Ahhhhh, Gay Romeo. I've noticed that many Thai boys, especially the money boys, will often lie about their age, but they don't say they're younger than their actual age. They say they're older. They do that, of course, if they're under-age but are looking for sex-for-pay. I don't think Gay Romeo even permits anyone to register if they say they are under 18. Only yesterday I was looking at some of the personals. I saw an ad on Gboysiam that caught my attention because I could have sworn I had just seen an ad from that very same boy on Gay Romeo. I had another look at Gay Romeo and sure enough, there was that same boy, even using the same screen name. On Gay Romeo he said he is 19. On Gboysiam he says he is 15! And his photos make him look a lot closer to 15 than 19 to me. You have to be careful about things like that. That's why if I arrange to meet a Gay Romeo boy whose age seems questionable, I always make sure to check his ID card and I always arrange to meet them at some neutral spot first, but not my home until I've checked his ID card. Also, some of these boys are not above grabbing someone else's photos or photos they've taken from other web sites and posting them as their own photos. I'm usually skeptical when they post headless photos. I'm also skeptical if they've posted shirtless photos, but I can spot differences in the photos, such as different tattoos, tattoos at differing body locations, differences in body hair, etc. I guess I have been lucky. So far I've had only one incident in which I wanted to meet a Gay Romeo boy and fell for it about his age. I was going to meet him at a neutral spot. His Gay Romeo photos looked too young, but he insisted he was 18. When he showed up at the appointed location I told him to show me his ID card. He didn't try to lie by saying he didn't have it. He did have it and showed it to me. He was 16! I told him, "Very sorry, I'll see you in two years." He still tried to convince me to take him anyway. He said, "No problem. Police not know." I said, "I'm sorry. Maybe police not know, but I know. I do not take boys when they are too young. And you lied to me about your age, so I don't take you." That's when a very disappointed looking boy sulked away and I went to a bar. The best solution to avoid the under-age boys from the personals sites is to make sure to check their ID cards when you first meet them. I never tell them in advance to bring their ID cards because the under-age boys will all too often try to pull the old switcheroo with their ID cards when they know you're going to check. If they show up without an ID card or try to give me some excuse for not showing it to me, I don't take them.

A few more questions: When I go to Bangkok I usually stay at either the Malaysia Hotel or the Pinnacle Hotel. I prefer to drive to get there. When I exit the expressway, I take the Rama IV exit, which is only a few blocks from Soi Ngam Duplii, where both of those hotels are located. Do you know if there is any difficulty taking that exit? Also, quite often the police barricade off the Rama IV exit on the northbound side. When they do that, I usually go to the next exit at Phetchaburi Road and head for Rama IV from there. What are your thoughts about that? Do you know if the Chatuchak weekend market has been open and operating normally?

I would say there really isn't a change in nationalities, but some have become more prominent. Russia seems to represent quite a surge in visitors to Pattaya. Many shops that used to have their signs and ads only in Thai and English now also include Russian. I've noticed many restaurants now have menus that include Russian. I've seen more Russian restaurants opening up. Other than that, I haven't noticed much of anything having changed.

Mindless twaddle? Hmmmm. And here I was thinking it was mindless diddly-doo. Of course, it's easy to avoid a response by sluffing it off, bestowing a label upon it, and trying to use that as justification for it being unworthy of attention, when meanwhile, by your own admission, the things I said are exactly what you would do. To quote Ronald Reagan, "There you go again . . ." You wrote, "If the friend was truly keen on the special go-go boy then he would be doing . . ." As for the rest of that sentence, just fill in the blank. You have written similar sentences throughout this thread. I'm sure your friends are delighted that you have decided for them what they would do. After all, there's only one valid point of view . . . yours. However, you have certainly made your position clear. You're going to disregard your friend's wishes, come up with justification for it, and do what you can to make sure his boyfriend, person of interest, object of infatuation, or whatever you want to call it, ends up sharing your bed with you. After all, your friend can't really mean that he doesn't want you to bed down with his boyfriend. That boy can't really be his boyfriend since he's working in a bar. And why shouldn't I take him whether my friend likes it or not? The boy is merely a prostitute. If my friend has asked me not to take him, what the hell do I care? I know how to handle it. If I was your friend (and I can see that won't ever happen) and asked that you don't take off a particular boy who I feel close to, if his badge number is 22, I'll ask that you don't take the boy wearing badge number 7. That way my boyfriend will be safe while you're triumphantly prancing out the door with boy number 7, who also won't have to go home penniless that night. Now everyone will be happy . . . It won't work that way, though. After your posts, just brimming over with intelligence, my posts are only mindless twaddle . . .

How is this going to affect the Silom-Suriwong-PatPong gay bar area, popular gay hotels such as the Pinnacle, Malaysia, and Tarntawan Place, along with places such as the Babylon Sauna, all of which are in the vicinity you are describing? Also, what about access to these places? I'm guessing you might as well forget about it by car, but what about taxis, motorbike taxis, and the Metro and BTS? I suppose there's always walking, but would you be walking right into a dangerous area? Actually, I've heard these hotels are rather full right now because of the difficulty many are having trying to get home due to the volcano.

My answer is I don't know what my friend thinks and I'm not going to ask. He's my friend and if he has expressed his wishes, that's good enough for me. I don't need him to explain or justify. Ok, I've answered your question. Now instead of evading it yet again, answer mine. It took me a few minutes to finish my little laugh over this one: "Do you want to go home penniless or do you want to go with me?" How generous of you. You're coming to the rescue of the boy your friend asked you not to take. You merit a statue too. If you're so concerned about the boy that you're going to help him out by fucking him, why not truly help him instead by abiding by your friend's wishes, taking the boy off, giving him some money right then and there instead of taking him home so you can get laid, and letting him go home or wherever he wants to go so he have a night off and not have to go home penniless? Can't do that, though, can you? Nooooo. Doing something like that never even occurred to you. You've just got to have sex with him. From among all the other boys available it just has to be him. After all, your friend's wishes mean nothing to you. And the boy . . . well, he's nothing but a prostitute.

You are becoming very quick to put down people who don't agree with you. "Silly old fools." Why? Because they don't agree with you? Unless their opinion is the same as yours, then they're silly old fools? As far as you not getting it, the point is you don't have to get it. Only your friend has to get it. If he asks you not to take off a certain boy, try at least asking him why before you head out your door to the bar where you know that boy works. So, you go right ahead and take a boy off even if your friend has asked that you don't. I'm still waiting for you to address the question I asked: Given the number of boys available, why would you take off the one boy your friend has asked you not to? Anyone who has a go-go boy boyfriend lining up to be gay_grampa's friend?

If that is the case, then on what basis does he decide to waive the charge?

Velasco: I wish I was ten years older. Corrie: Older?!? Velasco: Yes. Dirty old men get away with much more. - Barefoot in the Park

I think it would be best if someone takes a copy of that article, shows it to Wat, find out from him what the story is, and then let us know what he says.

Amen! Totally agree.

Are you talking about a boyfriend or a marriage? Does moving toward those goals count?

With my luck, instead I'll come back as a cell in the asshole of a dung beetle. Come to think of it, some people out there think that's what I already am. OMG! You're going to be my wife!