Bob

He does look rather fab in those red pump shoes. While I've had the fortune/misfortune of not being anywhere near Pattaya, the seemingly insane "geez I've got to know" attitude about the latest secret goings-on has been actually pretty funny to me. Why is it we or some of us get all bent out of shape if we don't know the latest gossip about this or that - especially when it hardly makes any difference to what 99% of us will do today or tomorrow?

Same rumor I heard, GT..... But, while not my cup of tea, I didn't understand the glee of some (none here presently) that knocked the PP board for wanting to be different. It was their choice and more power to them.

I have to tell you, fountainhall, that I've met GB many moons ago and I can assure you that his avatar here is a bit of an improvement.* For example only , I don't remember him having that good of a tan. I don't use an avatar here for two reasons: (1) I've been too lazy so far to even figure out how to do it and (2) I wouldn't want to scare the bejeebees out of you by posting a real photo. (*for the slightly moronic not including GB, Fountainhall, or the vast bulk of the posters here - I am only joking).

I understand the point about what an employee truly does on his own time (i.e., if he's smoking dope on his own time, it's a bit difficult to see how that alone means the employer ought to suffer for that). But the boy bars and girl bars (and, I suppose "in-between" bars) are there to sell sexual services to customers. If that ain't prostitution, I don't know what it is (by the way, I'm not in any manner suggesting that it's bad or immoral).

Lord Voldemort, obviously, is the new handle of some _______ (fill in the blank as you might choose) from one of the other gay boards who either lacks the guts to post under his normal handle and/or isn't allowed to do so.

You spent a lot of time not answering the question. So, I'll try one last time: Do you think it's a good idea for a country to attempt to screen its visitors (meaning, at least in part, making a reasonable attempt to determine if they have significant criminal convictions in their home countries)? [if you choose not to answer, at least save the rest of the board from hearing repetitious comments about what kind of a police state you think I'm from]

I disagree........and would like you to cite any specific Thai law that would allow grabbing any of the funds. In the US, we have tons of laws but there is no one law that says something to the effect that "if the court thinks your a bad guy, they can order you to forfeit all your money and/or the money of your wife and children." The concept of "rule of law" implies there will be laws that specifically proscribe certain conduct and provide quantifiable methods for punishment. Having the military kick a legitimate government out the door and then position people on a court who will then rule in a general sense that you're a bad guy (that's kinda pre-ordained in this case, that's for sure) and then say we get to take all your money because of that is hardly following any "rule of law" notions. I'm not saying at all that Shinawatra wasn't as corrupt as almost all Thai politicians - as he certainly was; however, he is slightly different than most of them as he made most of his money not as a direct result of being a politician.

While I don't know what you see or know about the boy bars within the country of Thailand, they'd fit any definition of a "house of prostitution" I could come up with. They hire people who will go off (or, sometimes, up) to have sex with customers and the house gets a fee for making the introduction. And the fact that there's one or more customers who want nothing more than a little shopping or non-sexual companionship with one or more of the employees doesn't alter what everybody knows that 99% of the customers are looking for (and getting). I'm hoping your post was made tongue-in-cheek but, if not, we're living on two different planets.

As appears to be your modus operandi, your post makes no sense. You seem to be criticize any attempt by a country to intelligently screen its allowed visitors and, at the same time, slam those that try to do that for not being thorough enough. Presuming you might want to substantively respond, do you even think it's a good idea for a country to attempt not allow in people convicted of certain crimes in their home country?

I'm not sure how it will affect anything. But you would think that the immigration people (the people in charge of allowing strangers to enter your country and supposedly in charge of trying to protect Thailand from bad ones in the first place) just might want to know if somebody is charged (or convicted) of murder, bank robbery, rape of kids, terrorism, or whatever. Before now, apparently they didn't care to know (and likely still don't).

There seems to be no justification at all - at least from this westerner's eyes - to take any of the money of his ex-wife or his two children. And, while I can almost support taking some of his money (at least to the extent that his actions as prime minister at times were so damn unethical - like pushing the billion+ baht loan for Burma so they could use the money to buy shit from Shin Corporation), there's probably no recognizable legal basis for any confiscation. But, given that the people who are going to rule on this are essentially patsies of the military, my prediction is they'll take it all. Their simply too obsessed not to in my view (and, with all the empty talk about political reconciliation, they'll choose the one action that will make that the worst it possibly could be). Just my guess.

There's an article in the Pattaya Mail today that reads in part: "... the Pattaya Immigration Office will take the lead in setting up a

"be hard to take", "very opinionated", "his words are often harsh" ,"I don't always like the things he says", "he is abrasive." When one is a teen, one often is upset as hell when one of your friends says something nasty to you; however, when you're over 50, things seem to reverse and good friends are expected to razz the hell out of each other (if your friends are only being polite to you, you know something's wrong!). Based on GT's descriptive comments about GB, it's obvious they're very good friends. On the other hand, GB, I wouldn't let him give your eulogy....hehehehe.

Lord Voldemar, I think you have the question wrong. The question to me is why does a newbie with a total of 5 posts since June of last year think he has the right to either tell the posters here what has been suggested (by others, obviously) over the years or to tell a moderator that he ought to take a hike. The answer, at least to me, is that you really have no history or standing here and you ought to pull up stakes and camp elsewhere.

You know, they do a hell of a job with that song (Unchained Melody). Both have really good voices and one of them has great range with his voice.

Rather unbelievable to westerners who hold some notion of the freedoms of speech and press. As I noted elsewhere, can you imagine a court in England or the US issuing a gag order prohibiting all print media from speculating about what that court might do in a given case? I'd bet the first headline would read: "Fuck You, You Moron Judges!" hehe

Yep, been there and done that too many times. It pisses me off when they cut in front of me but I try not to show it. If on a given occasion I don't want it to happen (e.g., when I'm in a hurry), I just politely make sure that there is no room for somebody to do it. We falang, I think, tend to provide more space than asian cultures and I've found they won't jump in front of me if I stand reasonably close to the person in front of me.

No problem from me on that score. I was just correcting a statment and I did so accurately. I actually exerted great effort not to clearly state my personal feelings about the situation (although, admittedly, the "delusions" comment was an unnecessary editorial that could have been omitted).

Nice of you to try to lump yourself with GB and/or to re-write some history. To my recollection, GB hasn't ever been banned from other boards. As to your claim that you've gotten in trouble (banned is what I think you mean) for telling "the truth", that's simply untrue as no moderator ever banned you for either telling the truth or not telling the truth. Please don't continue the delusions here.

As noted by z909, B-Beez is a massage joint (and a good one by all reports) but, while you can get lucky, one doesn't normally contact a massage joint by email asking for tour guide information. First time I've ever heard of it (and would bet they were scratching their heads trying to figure out how to respond to you). If you're looking for a gay tour guide for your trip, maybe contact a gay tour guide? Or, if it's more in your alley to meet somebody in a massage parlour and then ask them to serve as a guide, wait until you get here and do that (hardly try to hire somebody like that over the internet). As concerns Lavender Lanna, the concern is whether the place will remain open (or for how long) given the alleged owner of the place has passed away. But it's been open since his death and your only problem would be if something happens before your stay is completed. My guess, for now, is to not worry about it. Or, if you're the worrying type, then try to lock in a room at PJ's place (which is within walking distance to Lavender Lanna anyway).

Sounds to me like one of those "orange-peeling" deals. ("Your honor, honest to god, I was just standing on the corner peeling my orange when this guy backed around the corner into my knife six times"...). Given it was a 60-year-old guy, it's a bit difficult for me to believe he was in the middle of sin city and into the auto-eroticism bit. But, who the hell knows. And, presuming your were going to kill yourself by hanging (not a chance!), what the hell would be the deal with the plastic bag?

Somewhat related to some of the comments, how many of you guys actually have your credit card information (card number and the information on the backside of the card as to where to call in case of a problem or theft) written down in case it's needed? I've got the info on a word document on my laptop but, of course, have never had to make use of it. And, with my luck, some day somebody will steal both the laptop and the credit cards.....

One that I never get is the people that block the moving walkways at airports such as Suvarnabhumi. They can't stand off to one side (I do believe there are signs there to that effect) nor can they hear the herd of buffaloes coming up behind them? I often don't walk on those walkways and just take the easy ride....but I know enough to stand off to the side to let those in more of a hurry through. Simple common courtesy even if the signs weren't there.

Stealing the line from Steve Martin: Well, excuuuuuuuse me! I understand (and, I think, generally practice) acceptable social skills but I'm getting the drift here that either Emily Post or Queen Victoria is taking this to a whole new level. Interesting reading but I have no plans to attend a royal function at the moment. By the way, do Kings fart in public (and, if so, who takes the blame? hehe)?

No big deal but, yes, one or more are missing. I posted a comment which I saw printed in the thread but it's no longer here. If it was just a site disruption, I would have thought that the particular post just wouldn't have shown up (but hell if I know). The comment I posted dealt in part with Xian's tossing the coffee and I just presumed that somebody didn't like what I said about it. Again, no big deal, it isn't worth the trouble and it may not be timely now anyway.