Gaybutton

US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, has released a video message to Thailand. If you would like to view it (just over a minute long) click the following link: http://www.state.gov/video/?videoid=77621375001

Sawaddee Pi Mai - Happy Songkran Enjoy your Songkran with Poseidon's B.B.Q Dinner Buffet (Friday, Saturday & Sunday Night) April 16 ~18, 2010 444 Baht only Delight with an extensive BBQ Buffet that offers ; Fresh Seafood (Rock Lobster, Prawns) smoked Salmon, Crabmeat Salad, Carppacio and much more Lots of international Appetizers & Salads Western & Asian Hot Food BBQ Grill on the Terrace (Sirloin Steak, Pork Spareribs, Sausages, Prawn,Chicken) Delicious Desserts and Fresh Fruits For your reservation please call : Restaurant Poseidon (038) 303-300 or 081-983-4182 (Kim)

I never allow the mama-san to have anything to do with it. I invariably make the mama-san go away. I don't let the mama-san choose a boy for me. I don't let the mama-san sit with me. I don't have a conversation with the mama-san. I especially don't let the mama-san sit with me when I've called a boy over. I don't let the mama-san pressure me into anything. I don't buy a drink for the mama-san. I don't tip the mama-san unless I have specifically asked the mama-san to do something for me. I can understand why the bars hire mama-sans to ride herd on the boys and deal with them and their problems. Other than that I've never really understood why the bars even have mama-sans to begin with. Sometimes I think the mama-sans are paid just to annoy the customers. On rare occasions the mama-sans are truly helpful, but for the most part, to me anyway, they're nothing but a pain-in-the-ass and the only people they're interested in helping are themselves. I would be much happier in the bars if the mama-sans were instructed to take care of the boys, but forbidden to interact with the customers at all unless the customer asks. In many cases the mama-sans push certain boys at you, to the exclusion of other boys, because those are the boys who turn over part of their tip to the mama-san. That is another reason why if the mama-san tries to push a boy on me, unless it is the very same boy I would have chosen myself, I refuse and tell the mama-san to leave me alone. As you can see, I'm a real fan of the mama-sans . . .

Then it's started, at least in that area. As far as I know, based on your report, that's the only area in Pattaya where there was any water throwing. Naturally enough, apparently most of it from drunken low-life farang. Just once I'd love to see somebody get angry enough to beat the shit out of some of them . . .

Today, Monday, April 12, virtually no Songkran splashing was going on. A friend reported that there were a couple kids in the age 5-8 bracket with squirt guns and that was about it. Realizing that I'm closing the barn door after the horse has left, today was the last day that the immigration office will be open this week. Sorry, but I did not know that until just a short time ago. The office will reopen on Monday, April 19. From what I understand, all the immigration offices in Thailand will be closed this week, with the possible exception of border crossings. It did strike me as strange that the Pattaya office will reopen on April 19. That's the big Songkran madhouse day in Pattaya. Who's going to immigration on that day, of all days? Nevertheless, that's when they'll reopen, so the officer told me. I was there today myself getting my 90-day address report out of the way.

Is that what you thought? Well, you see that, z909? I forgot to warn you when you signed on as a moderator here. Before you can kid around you first have to make sure it's ok with voldemar. As far as I'm concerned, voldemar, you can take your righteous indignation and . . . Well, I'll just let you fill in the rest of the sentence. How's that for disrespect? Many of your posts are intelligent and well thought out, but you also don't seem to have a problem about personally insulting people. You can dish it out. Now we'll see if you can take it. I don't see z909's joke as disrespectful to anybody, except of course you. That part is fine with me.

On another board I spotted this video from someone who was actually there when the gunfire broke out. I think it is worth watching:

I disagree with that part of your reply. It might have been his first time taking a boy off, but that doesn't necessarily mean it was his first time in the bars or his first time calling a boy over to sit with him. It also doesn't mean he was necessarily naive about how things are done in the bars. Because he wrote this post, if it is to be believed, then obviously he reads this board. It would be difficult for me to accept the idea that he could read this board and yet be so clueless when he decided to take the boy off.

Yes. I was not there to see the red ball-black ball drawing, but I was present the day all the boys who got the red ball had to show up for induction. That was also quite an experience.

Then, my friend, you don't know how things work in the bars here. If you called him over to sit with you, then buying the boy a drink and tipping him is exactly what you are expected to do. He also will receive between 20 and 50 baht from the bar when you buy a drink for him. If you have some reason why you don't want to buy a drink for him, or at least offer to, then you should tip him 120 baht at minimum. If you were busy publicly groping and fondling him, then you ought to tip him a hell of a lot more than that. Of course, if the boy came to sit with you uninvited, then you are under no obligation to buy him a drink or tip him anything at all. When bar boys try to do that to me, they never even get the chance to sit down. I shoo them away immediately. If a boy is going to sit next to me, get his drink, and also get a tip, it's going to be a boy I called over. It definitely won't be a boy who tried to force himself on me (unless, of course, I like him better than the boy I had in mind in the first place). It's not the whiskey story that seems strange to me. It's the 3:00am call from the mama-san just when you happened to be in the bathroom. If you can't see that was a set-up, then you can't see the obvious. I do, however, have one problem with the whiskey story. In your first post you said you were leaving two days later and you went back to the bar the next day just before 2:00am to give him the bottle. In your post above you said you were leaving the very next morning. Am I misunderstanding something or has your story changed? And why would you wait until nearly 2:00am to go out and give him a bottle of whiskey? What were you doing until then? You took him off at 1:30am and were on the town until 3:00am. That part seems strange too. Why were you on the town at all, especially at that hour? Where did you take him? What was even still open? Whose idea was it to go on the town instead of to your room? Maybe you didn't go anywhere. Maybe you decided to just take a little 90 minute stroll beginning at 1:30am. That 3:00am call from the mama-san was no coincidence. If the mama-san just happened to call at that moment, then it's the first time in the entire history of Pattaya that I've ever heard of a mama-san calling a boy at all once he's been taken off, much less a call to tell him he needs to leave his customer. And at that hour too. Sorry, but I don't buy that one. I'm not saying the call didn't take place. I'm saying you were bullshitted about the reason for the call. If I understood you correctly, the call was supposedly to remind the boy he needs to visit his mother in the hospital and he needs to leave. That's absurd. It would be just as absurd if the call was to advise the boy that his mother is in the hospital and the boy had not known that earlier. If someone was calling to inform the boy, are you telling me that whoever it was would have placed the call to the mama-san instead of directly to the boy? The call would have had to come from someone who knows the boy, wouldn't it? Why would that person call the mama-san, but not the boy directly? Maybe because that person would have had the mama-san's telephone number, but would not have the boy's telephone number? I'd have a little problem buying that one too. That's part of why I'm saying your story doesn't make much sense. Obviously I wasn't there, but my guess is the boy set up that call to get rid of you. He didn't just walk away because he wanted to try to get money out of you before leaving. I'm guessing that your idea of a fun night on the town was his idea of being bored shitless when all he really wanted to do was perform the obligatory sex, get his money, and see you later. I could be wrong, but that's what I believe really happened. RichLB's advice is go ahead and see the boy again if you really liked him. My advice is find someone else.

As far as I know, in Bangkok there is only one, the Grand Hyatt Erawan.

Maybe it would be a good idea to find out who the boy is and you go see him . . . I take exception to a lot of what you're saying. First, I see nothing in either of ChristianPFC's posts that indicate the boy knew in advance how much he was going to get. Also, if somehow he did know in advance that he was only going to get 500 baht, then I doubt he would have gone off with him at all unless he was desperate for money. It is possible the boy simply concluded that he was unlikely to get very much out of ChristianPFC. After all, he said it himself that he did not buy the boy a drink, but did give him a 100 baht tip. Isn't it the usual procedure, if you call a boy over to sit with you, to buy him a drink and give him 100 baht? Have you ever heard of a mama-san calling a boy once he has been taken off, let alone at 3:00am? I haven't. It's pretty obvious to me that for whatever reason, as soon as ChristianPFC went to the bathroom, the boy arranged the call. It's still strange, though. The boy must have had several opportunities during the evening to have a moment or two to be alone and make an arrangement for a call much earlier. If he's anything like every other Thai boy I know, then he probably received a few calls during the evening. They would have spoken Thai, so the boy easily could have made a call arrangement while knowing ChristianPFC wouldn't understand what was being said. And if the boy simply wanted to get away from ChristianPFC, there must have been plenty of opportunities where he could easily have simply walked off. The only scenario that makes any sense to me, if we're being told the truth and if we're being told the whole story, is that the boy really was enjoying the evening. But when it came time for sex he wanted to get out of it. He didn't walk off because he wanted to be paid. So, he came up with this trick and this excuse. And he got paid. Not much, but he got paid. So much for that old saying about how you can't have your cake and eat it too. One other possibility is that ChristianPFC might have inadvertently said or done something to upset the boy without realizing he had done so. That's happened to me and I'll bet it's happened to many farang. Has anyone reading this ever been in a situation in which suddenly the boy you were with got angry with you, and to this day you're still trying to figure out what you had said or done? Certainly if ChristianPFC wants to see this boy again it's his decision. But given the number of boys available in Pattaya, if it were me I wouldn't. Of course we're not taking into consideration that the boy might reject going off with ChristianPFC when he returns. Still, there is a lot about this story that just doesn't quite gel.

How do you know? It could have been an overnight long-time off. And considering the number of offs boys are getting these days, I would have been after the bird-in-the-hand. You're going to have to explain how a call at just the right moment, telling the boy he needs to leave because he's visiting mama in the hospital the next day, or what would make the mama-san think this boy even needed reminding, or even if he really was going to visit mama the next day why that should mean he needs to leave, makes even the remotest sense.

Protests, riots, and governments may come and go, but Saranrom Park lives on! May it stay that way. Leave it to HeyGay to go cruising right in the middle of violent rioting. Do you remember the movie 'Oliver'? One of my favorite scenes occurs right near the end of the movie. The villain gets shot and hung. The crowd is staring up at the body swinging on the end of a rope from above. Meanwhile The Artful Dodger seizes that moment to pick a pocket. What does HeyGay do? Pick a boy. I kind of have to admire that. . .

You can edit your posts for a short period of time after writing them. I think for about a half hour.

At 10:35pm I received the following from a friend via text message. He did not say his source, but here is what he said: _____ FLASH: At least 5 dead, 300 wounded in Bangkok clashes with Red-Shirts. Report: One foreign tourist was shot in the chest after saying to a soldier "Fuck you." __________________ THE NATION is reporting at least 8 dead, 486 wounded so far. I can't get through to the BANGKOK POST to see what they're saying. I've tried several times, but it won't load right now. In any case, no matter which media source has the latest accurate information, obviously there have been deaths and numerous injuries. It's a shame to see it come to this, but there it is.

They were normal until you got here . . .

Pattaya Songkran Festivities announced at Press Conference 10th April 2010 On Friday Afternoon at Central Festival Pattaya Beach, Khun Itipon, the Mayor of Pattaya led a press conference to announce the local activities for the Pattaya Songkran Festival. (Click the link for specifics): Pattaya Songkran

I can appreciate why you feel that way, but I think you might be carrying things a little too far. I truly believe that while there are many who are just as you describe, there are many more who want to make money by working in the bars, but they're not out to cheat or steal from people to get it. The problem is the difficulty in determining who the "rotten apples" are. Too many people find out who they are the hard way. We've gone over the common sense precautions on this board many times. If you take the precautions and use common sense, then you should be fine.

Today both the police and the military moved in to try to start dispersing the Red-Shirts. At the time of this post, 135 injuries have been reported. Thus far no deaths have been reported. The protests have also caused operations to be suspended at 4 BTS stations. There is one report that Red-Shirt leaders have urged protesters to destroy those stations. The USA embassy has issued several alerts, which can be viewed at: Public Announcements and Warden Messages - U.S. Embassy Bangkok, Thailand Both THE NATION and the BANGKOK POST have published numerous articles about today's activities. Rather than pick and choose articles to post here, I think it is better that you check out their web sites yourselves. Bangkok Post The Nation It would be very helpful if those of you who currently are in Bangkok would be kind enough to post your own observations and reports of trouble spots. I'm not in Bangkok, so I don't know how safe or dangerous it might be to go to Bangkok at the moment. What I do know is Pattaya is perfectly safe and everything in Pattaya is functioning normally. There hasn't even been any Songkran splashings yet. Personally I would not choose Bangkok as a holiday spot just now, but all is normal in Pattaya.

Is it just me, or does anyone else find this part of the story a little strange? Since when do these boys get calls from the mama-sans after being taken off? As a matter of fact, the entire story seems a little strange to me, not to mention the fact that all this supposedly took place in January and we're hearing about it in April. However, assuming the story is true and this really happened, how do you know this wasn't a set-up? He has to go back now? Back where? The bar? I'll bet anything that he called the mama-san, if it really even was the mama-san, while you were in the bathroom. You don't find the timing of that just a wee bit convenient? If you're not pulling our legs, then you were most likely conned into giving him money without him having to do a damned thing. And then you followed it up with a gift? I'll accept that your story is true, but I sure as hell don't accept that his story was true. It's absurd. Just when the sex is about to happen he can no longer stay because he has to visit mama in the hospital the next day? He needed the mama-san to remind him of that, especially at just the right moment? And even if he really was going to visit mama in the hospital the next day, why would that cause him to be unable to stay with you long enough to 'take care you'? If it were me I would have gotten rid of him quick and stayed rid of him. And most, if not all, of that 500 baht would have remained in my own wallet. You ask if you should take him again on your next trip. Are you kidding me? My advice would be don't walk away from him, but run. The only way I would take him again would be if I want him to take me again.

I know Thai Airways and Air Asia have several non-stop flights per day. I've never checked other carriers.

Actually, there is one. Pattayaland Soi 3, the soi where The Ambiance and Le Café Royale are, is perfectly safe. No water splashing is allowed in that soi. Not ever, not even on "the big day." Of course, getting to and from that soi . . . .

It's hard to predict. My experience has been that along Pattaya Tai there will be some splashing going on, and it will escalate over the week, but until the big day there won't be very much. If you walk close to the businesses and as far from the street as you can, there shouldn't be any problem. They don't splash the businesses. It's mostly vehicles splashing each other until the big day, so you'll probably be ok for the most part from the 12th to the 17th. I wouldn't want to bet the rice farm on it, though. You never know what some people, especially drunken low-life farang, might do, so even though you probably won't get splashed in that area it is still a good idea to protect anything that water could damage. You should be safe in Sunee. They all know the farang don't come there to get splashed and the boys don't usually splash each other very much in Sunee. But again it can't hurt anything to protect anything prone to water damage. During that 12th to 17th (and 18th) period, the most likely areas to get splashed will be along Beach Road, especially along the north part where the open air girlie bars are. That's where a lot of farang hang out and start splashing people, especially those in baht buses. The same thing happens along Second Road, also in the area close to Central Road (Pattaya Klang). This year will be the first time that the new Central Festival has been a factor, so it's anybody's guess what may go on. Another problem spot is on the way to and from the beach. As soon as you pass the Thepprasit Road intersection, that's usually where the trouble starts, again more by drunken farang than by Thais. Once you're at the beach there is never any splashing. The best solution, if you don't want to be splashed, is to ask the baht bus driver if you can sit up front with him. If he says no, wait for a baht bus on which the driver says yes. Pattaya also now has those taxis, which might also be a solution. It really shouldn't be that bad until about the 17th, but again you just never know. You might recall that last year the Red Shirts caused major disruption in Pattaya just before Songkran. I posted daily reports of my own observations beginning on the 13th last year. If you review that thread it may give you an idea of what to expect: Meanwhile, Songkran in Pattaya Also, don't forget that when it comes to mealtime, if you're reluctant to go out, there's always Waiter on Wheels and Door-2-Door. They do quite a bit of business during Songkran.