Smiles

Looks like you were unfortunately missing during the god awful 'Neal Interregnum'. (Out on that veranda being coolingly swished by your favourite coolee I suppose?).
Man you missed the mayhem! I assure you, you would have had a heyday dealing with that old bugger, although you would have been banned very quickly, along with threats of a lawsuit, your friends being harrassed, or your family murdered.
It was an embarrassing hoot to say the least -- in the same fashion as is the the ongoing circus being put upon the poor Americans these days by a sweaty-faced psycho named Donald Trump.
 
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Just as an aside: the original Sawatdee was called Sawatdee Forum and it was started in 2003 by Mr Smiles. It's platform was called EZboard and did not resemble at all the image you you have attached in the OP. That image is I believe is of the 2nd incarnation of Sawatdee, which was owned by the second owner Elephantspike in around 2005 (if my memory serves me right ... which is often wrong these days). Then came the horrific Neal, then came Surfcrest.

Probably everyone can learn something from everyone else dear Kregger, no matter their status ... kind of what message boards are all about, eh?
For instance, from this thread I just learned that you are a silly twit. See, the system works.
 
About your second point: the esteemed sex tourists of Thailand are 'Rice Queens' ( definitely not a denigrating term in my books ... myself being of that ilk ) and are attracted to 'Asian men', often to exclusion.
I seriously doubt there would be a tsunami of old overweight Europeans and N American Asian-lovers flooding the beaches in Rio just because the price of an off goes up a bit in Whore-On-Sea.
 
Cheers ...
 

That's quite an excellent NYT editorial: nail-on-the-head-like.
Perhaps, just perhaps, if Trump manages to win the presidency ~ one never knows anything which lasts more than 4 or 5 hours in this sorry excuse for an election ~ the results of his first 4-yr tenure will be so horrendous, so disastrous, so sad, that he will be either, (1) impeached and thrown out on his ear, or (2) defeated so badly in the second 4 years that he will destroy the Republican Party so deeply that a new, much smarter party might well emerge.
 
However. In this, the most intriguing of elections in many decades, it all comes down to ~ right now at least ~ "nobody knows nuttin'"

I have never been scammed of anything in Thailand ... and that is a time frame of 7 years on holidays and 10 years of living here. Not once, and that is with putting myself in a situation as a potential easy mark more than a few times.
Sometimes I think my old man is scamming me, but I ignore it and carry on.  

You might want to revisit your patriotism regarding 'Little Britain' after watching a few of these puppies. Are these the folks who voted 'Leave'? Possibly.
Hilarious and unbelievably crude, small town England was never funnier.
 
And bye the bye, after visiting my guy's home in Nang Mut in Surin Province last week I found out that, apparently, we are in fact the only-gays-in-the-village.
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LYzEO_xaAA

You might want to revisit your patriotism regarding 'Little Britain' after watching a few of these puppies. Are these the folks who voted 'Leave'? Possibly.
Hilarious and unbelievably crude, small town England was never funnier.
 
And bye the bye, after visiting my guy's home in Nang Mut in Surin Province last week I found out that, apparently, we are in fact the only-gays-in-the-village.
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LYzEO_xaAA

Looks like you were unfortunately missing during the god awful 'Neal Interregnum'. (Out on that veranda being coolingly swished by your favourite coolee I suppose?).
Man you missed the mayhem! I assure you, you would have had a heyday dealing with that old bugger, although you would have been banned very quickly, along with threats of a lawsuit, your friends being harrassed, or your family murdered.
It was an embarrassing hoot to say the least -- in the same fashion as is the the ongoing circus being put upon the poor Americans these days by a sweaty-faced psycho named Donald Trump.
 
-------------------------------------
 
Just as an aside: the original Sawatdee was called Sawatdee Forum and it was started in 2003 by Mr Smiles. It's platform was called EZboard and did not resemble at all the image you you have attached in the OP. That image is I believe is of the 2nd incarnation of Sawatdee, which was owned by the second owner Elephantspike in around 2005 (if my memory serves me right ... which is often wrong these days). Then came the horrific Neal, then came Surfcrest.

WHAT!!! No Chinese pears? Well fuck me. 
 
And ... 
 
 
Perhaps he had never, ever, stumbled upon a farang so laughably anal as your aquiline self.

How many times does the old cliche of "every one to his own" raise it's noggin when photos are thrown about willy nilly on message boards?
The dude in Tatar's post above ~ for myself ~ is just about the epitome of a Baghdad no-go zone. There is a absolutely nothing in that image which would attract me on any possible level.
And trust me, I'm no twink aficionado.
 
But ... Tatar please grab onto that hunk and don't let go. That cliche mentioned above has lots of merits, and the fishing's good.
 
_________________________________
 
Oops ... what happened to Tatar's post and photo?
Somewhere between me reading his post and replying to it, it has disappeared. WTF?

So difficult these days ... to search for something on the net only to be hijacked into Annoyance Land with the adds popping up all over the place, invariably complete garbage (I was doing a flight search the last week, found what I wanted to know, got outta dodge, only to be stalked by the online booking site for days with other ideas for flights to Nepal, or Uzbekistan).
 
But this little gem ~ completely unasked for ~ intrigued me to keep on clicking deep into a world of gentle love and charming simplicity.
A young Chinese man (Tian Jun) and his new born son (Tian Lin) have had their photo taken together in basically the same simple pose, more the better for black and white, for 30 years.
Hard to imagine more tenderness ... yet devoid of any smidgen of mushy sentimentality.
 
http://lifehacklane.com/1211/a-father-son-take-the-same-photo-for-years-the-results-are-stunning/1/

So difficult these days ... to search for something on the net only to be hijacked into Annoyance Land with the adds popping up all over the place, invariably complete garbage (I was doing a flight search the last week, found what I wanted to know, got outta dodge, only to be stalked by the online booking site for days with other ideas for flights to Nepal, or Uzbekistan).
 
But this little gem ~ completely unasked for ~ intrigued me to keep on clicking deep into a world of gentle love and charming simplicity.
A young Chinese man (Tian Jun) and his new born son (Tian Lin) have had their photo taken together in basically the same simple pose, more the better for black and white, for 30 years.
Hard to imagine more tenderness ... yet devoid of any smidgen of mushy sentimentality.
 
http://lifehacklane.com/1211/a-father-son-take-the-same-photo-for-years-the-results-are-stunning/1/

My old man did his monk-duty last summer, at the unusually late age of 46.
If I recall correctly he told me the bottom cost was somewhere between 40 and 50,000 baht. I would make a good guess that that amount would be much more common than the 300,000 baht mentioned in the OP . . . a figure which probably would mean that only the middle class would be able, or willing, to spend.
On the other hand, any number of Thai's might easily think of borrowing ~ from whoever ~ large figures for this hugely meaningful ceremony, and go into hock for a long time.
I am back in Canada right now for a month or so, but when I talk to him on the phone next I will ask him for a more precise figure and edit it into this post. 
 
If interested, I wrote a rather longish post on Sawatdee last summer about the ceremony ~ at which I attended. Might give the OP some idea of what goes on.  http://sawatdeenetwork.com/v4/showthread.php?17228-Boyfriend-becoming-a-Monk-(Part-2)

My old man did his monk-duty last summer, at the unusually late age of 46.
If I recall correctly he told me the bottom cost was somewhere between 40 and 50,000 baht. I would make a good guess that that amount would be much more common than the 300,000 baht mentioned in the OP . . . a figure which probably would mean that only the middle class would be able, or willing, to spend.
On the other hand, any number of Thai's might easily think of borrowing ~ from whoever ~ large figures for this hugely meaningful ceremony, and go into hock for a long time.
I am back in Canada right now for a month or so, but when I talk to him on the phone next I will ask him for a more precise figure and edit it into this post. 
 
If interested, I wrote a rather longish post on Sawatdee last summer about the ceremony ~ at which I attended. Might give the OP some idea of what goes on.  http://sawatdeenetwork.com/v4/showthread.php?17228-Boyfriend-becoming-a-Monk-(Part-2)

My old man did his monk-duty last summer, at the unusually late age of 46.
If I recall correctly he told me the bottom cost was somewhere between 40 and 50,000 baht. I would make a good guess that that amount would be much more common than the 300,000 baht mentioned in the OP . . . a figure which probably would mean that only the middle class would be able, or willing, to spend.
On the other hand, any number of Thai's might easily think of borrowing ~ from whoever ~ large figures for this hugely meaningful ceremony, and go into hock for a long time.
I am back in Canada right now for a month or so, but when I talk to him on the phone next I will ask him for a more precise figure and edit it into this post. 
 
If interested, I wrote a rather longish post on Sawatdee last summer about the ceremony ~ at which I attended. Might give the OP some idea of what goes on.  http://sawatdeenetwork.com/v4/showthread.php?17228-Boyfriend-becoming-a-Monk-(Part-2)

CEDRIC SAYS: " ... makes a stay in Bangkok unpleasant. Sometimes I just dont feel like the problems and pay way over the odds for a hotel limo if Im going any distance, like to Hua Hin or wherever (hoping to one day catch a glimpse of the legendary Smiles with his boy), or 800 baht for a larger mini bus style taxi for a trip ... "
 
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WOW! ... 'Legendary, eh? My noodle doth swell.
My only comment would be that you are just not looking hard enough, try NOT "just glimpsing" next time. Yes, we still live in Hua Hin, and thank you very much, but 'His Boy' is now 46 ~ closing fast on 47.
 
Noted that you are still up to your old elitist/White Man's Burden/Breakfast at Tiffany's schtick when it comes to posting on message boards. Still having trouble with Bangkok (I'm sure you say 'Krung Thep') taxi dudes I see. By the way, walking away without paying is a stunt you should not attempt more than once. The second time may well introduce you to the REAL meaning of 'Taxi Mafia'.

Michael Michael Michael, wrong as usual. That dude cannot be me as I never wear a tie.

Michael Michael Michael, wrong as usual. That dude cannot be me as I never wear a tie.

CEDRIC SAYS: " ... makes a stay in Bangkok unpleasant. Sometimes I just dont feel like the problems and pay way over the odds for a hotel limo if Im going any distance, like to Hua Hin or wherever (hoping to one day catch a glimpse of the legendary Smiles with his boy), or 800 baht for a larger mini bus style taxi for a trip ... "
 
------------------------------------------
 
WOW! ... 'Legendary, eh? My noodle doth swell.
My only comment would be that you are just not looking hard enough, try NOT "just glimpsing" next time. Yes, we still live in Hua Hin, and thank you very much, but 'His Boy' is now 46 ~ closing fast on 47.
 
Noted that you are still up to your old elitist/White Man's Burden/Breakfast at Tiffany's schtick when it comes to posting on message boards. Still having trouble with Bangkok (I'm sure you say 'Krung Thep') taxi dudes I see. By the way, walking away without paying is a stunt you should not attempt more than once. The second time may well introduce you to the REAL meaning of 'Taxi Mafia'.

Thank you so much. Unlike your article and it's List, I try my best to be original.

Thank you so much. Unlike your article and it's List, I try my best to be original.

LoveThailand:  It is far from that (and certainly no Voice of Reason) . . . starting off with that the points made are hardly 'different' whatsoever.
I've heard all these shallow little cliches discussed continually on many a message board for years now, and certainly in the specific context which Mr Barnes addresses them, i.e. that they are all nonsense.
 
Agreed, the list is nonsense, but the list is not new stuff at all . . . but it is cheap journalism: i.e. the fantastical generalization that all (or even most) 'aging sexpats' believe heartily in the efficacy ~ perhaps a creepy deliciousness ~ of the items on 'The List' above.
Utter nonsense, cliched balderdash, factually unproven, shallow extrapolation.
 
I could drag out a dozen or so friends who, like myself, live full time in Thailand and would laugh this so-called 'Breaking News' out of the the nearest coffee shop. 
 
Perhaps a new Editor is needed for this publication.

LoveThailand:  It is far from that (and certainly no Voice of Reason) . . . starting off with that the points made are hardly 'different' whatsoever.
I've heard all these shallow little cliches discussed continually on many a message board for years now, and certainly in the specific context which Mr Barnes addresses them, i.e. that they are all nonsense.
 
Agreed, the list is nonsense, but the list is not new stuff at all . . . but it is cheap journalism: i.e. the fantastical generalization that all (or even most) 'aging sexpats' believe heartily in the efficacy ~ perhaps a creepy deliciousness ~ of the items on 'The List' above.
Utter nonsense, cliched balderdash, factually unproven, shallow extrapolation.
 
I could drag out a dozen or so friends who, like myself, live full time in Thailand and would laugh this so-called 'Breaking News' out of the the nearest coffee shop. 
 
Perhaps a new Editor is needed for this publication.

LoveThailand:  It is far from that (and certainly no Voice of Reason) . . . starting off with that the points made are hardly 'different' whatsoever.
I've heard all these shallow little cliches discussed continually on many a message board for years now, and certainly in the specific context which Mr Barnes addresses them, i.e. that they are all nonsense.
 
Agreed, the list is nonsense, but the list is not new stuff at all . . . but it is cheap journalism: i.e. the fantastical generalization that all (or even most) 'aging sexpats' believe heartily in the efficacy ~ perhaps a creepy deliciousness ~ of the items on 'The List' above.
Utter nonsense, cliched balderdash, factually unproven, shallow extrapolation.
 
I could drag out a dozen or so friends who, like myself, live full time in Thailand and would laugh this so-called 'Breaking News' out of the the nearest coffee shop. 
 
Perhaps a new Editor is needed for this publication.

Sperm buildup?
Let 'er rip I say:  at Firecat's advanced age one must take great advantage of the first few explosive incidents. The parabolic curve heads down the Other Side quite rapidly.
 
After that, he's (Khor)Toast. 

Sperm buildup?
Let 'er rip I say:  at Firecat's advanced age one must take great advantage of the first few explosive incidents. The parabolic curve heads down the Other Side quite rapidly.
 
After that, he's (Khor)Toast.