bkkguy

which host bars are they? in most of the host bars I have been to in Bangkok recently the hosts barely bothered to glance up from the TV or interrupt their conversations with each other when a customer walked in! bkkguy

last I heard, a few weeks ago from a CM local, the place is closed for good, management decision, not a police order bkkguy

I don't need to be impressed by a post (or a poster) to read it, but I certainly don't see why we should be expected to put up with the (unimpressive) attitude displayed by LMTU I never said it was - the issue is not grammar but actions and intentions In your post that I quoted you said LMTU "does not care" or he "does this to piss you off " and my point was either of these two attitudes are "abusive" or "problematic" - deliberately posting comments just to "piss people off" is the classic action of a troll and is unacceptable in every other online community I have been involved with and I am just surprised it is not here! bkkguy

and we are supposed to be impressed with either of these attitudes? if he does not care about his behavior why should we welcome him in our midst? and surely repeatedly doing something "just to piss people off" is an unacceptable way to behave in any reasonable community! given that LMTU's conduct is obviously "egregiously abusive or chronically problematic" I assume he will be banned in accordance with the Code of Conduct bkkguy

"awards" are usually handed out by organisations that have some dregree of respect in the community else the award has liitle value below is the original announcement of the "tribute" and the recent press release, both exactly as sent out by the owner of Niddy's. read these and form your own conclusion but keep in mind while you are reading that Allen has been a well respected figure in Pattaya for more years than I can remember and Niddy's is a fairly forgettable small cafe in a back soi in Day Night that has only been open a few months and most people would never have heard of them if not for all the (mostly negative) comments on Sawatdee - either this is a crass stunt to profit from Allen's reputation or these people really beleive they are legends in their own lunchtime!

if LMTU/Ear Wig gave Allen an award for spelling and grammar and did the presentation in the toilet block on Jomtien Beach it would have more credibility and show more respect for Allen's service to the community than this farce! naming a cocktail after someone then charging people to come and try the cocktail is not giving someone an "award" - the whole thing is nothing but a crude publicity stunt by Niddy's Nook to (ab)use Allen's reputaion to buy acceptance and popularity for themselves, it gets the response it deserves! bkkguy

I am obviously in the minority here in thinking this is a hopeless question that will not elicit usefull responses, but I think the case has been proven so far - links to supermarket web sites that at best include a "special" price for an unknown Thai brand laundry detergent, gaybutton's response with the 300% price range for bread and maurice's post that some people live on 8,000Bt per month and others on half a million namjai has been gushing in his thanks for these replies, perhaps before he departs he could explain how these responses have been helpful in his quest for knowledge of basic housekeeping costs here - I still think the best suggestion is to spend 30 minutes in the supermarket himself to get a highly specific and personalised knowledge of his living costs here! bkkguy

in 15 years of using BBS, USENET, mailing lists, discussion forums, etc, I have watched the average quality of questions and the responses they elict go from well-thought out interesting questions deserving informative helpful replies to garbage like this that does not deserve a response if he has made the decision to come and live here and still does not know the basic cost of living then I think he has bigger problems then the the price of a kilo of rice, he gives no information about shopping habits, pack size/brand preferences, cooking habits etc and could get all the info he needs on exactly what he wants in a very short time in a supermarket - if he couldnlt be bothered doing that on any of his recent trips when he was making he life decision tio move here why should we bother? hopefully it will get rid of those asking useless quiestions or questions easily answered via a qiuick google or archive search! he is not coming till next year so why are todays prices relevant? if you want the forums to be full of fools asking foolish questions then pander to him! bkkguy

there were some letters in the Bangkok Post recently complaining of missing mail in Hua Hin - perhaps Pattaya has a similar problem I have had no recent problems with international mail in Bangkok. bkkguy

but you expect us to so we can answer your question? I don't see anything in my response that is in violation of the posting guidelines here, and have not been notified of such an infringement by the moderators if you couldn't be bothered making the effort don't expect others to do it for you - you would learn much more in half an hour in a supermarket yourself that you will from any replies to your half-baked question here! bkkguy

in 15 years you have never been to a supermarket in Thailand? You have made the decision to move to Thailand and have no idea of your basic cost of living? You give no indication of brand preferences, type of cooking you will do, shopping habits etc but expect useful responses? but I suppose, never having been in a supermarket ... But do invite us over for whatever you are planning on cooking with the rice, eggs, pork and "hot sauce" - it sounds naa kin bkkguy

I could image that from a Thai censor's perspective the gaybutton site was a how-to guide for gay sex tourists coming to Pattaya to have sex with prostitutes they off from go-go bars - hardly an image they want to promote to the world, and the forum often had articles very critical of the government if they bothered to read that far also from a Thai censor's perspective a quick glance at the gaythailand.com home page reveals lots of naked flesh and the whole site seems geared towards falung having casual sex with Thais - something certainly not to be encouraged compare that to the front page of (the currently unblocked) thailandout.com for example and the initial impression is very different (even if overall the content is similar) - little naked flesh, a portal site covering many aspects of gay scene in depth which incidently happens to a section for Thai guys to meet up and get to know each other but you don't "see" things from the government's perspective! again most of the discussion on the forums/blogs/photo galleries is similar in theme to gaybutton's content, but the ban came fairly soon after they started hosting syndicated gay asian galleries and set up their third party asian porn cinema... compare that to for example thaivisa.com (currently unblocked) where there is one small gay forum amongst hundreds of others and no asian porn! I don't say I agree with or support these blocks and I don't claim to be an expert on Thai logic but I don't know that I find some of blocks and exceptions that surprising! bkkguy

I have not maintained a list but over the last six months or so any stroll through the link lists on most of the Thai sites always produced a regular crop of blocked sites - many re-appeared with new names/IP addresses and many with password protection on the raunchy content or tidied up their image bkkguy

and you are wrong about this as well - may thai sites have been blocked many falung sites remain unbocked, and some of these are far worse than some of the blocked sites, and many thai sites far worse remain unblocked as well - as with any policy it is impossible to implement 100% immediately, particiularly when two or three authorities are involved and it requires co-operation from a number of other businesses and organisations! but some site have been able to get the block lifted and not all proxies are being blocked, only a small number are! bkkguy

you obviously don't look very hard: Pattaya Public Library 437 Moo 9, Soi Yodsak (Soi 6) Tel.: 038.426.341 and there are quite a few public libraries in Bangkok, including one in Lumphini Park bkkguy

while I don't necessarily disagree with the basic concept, surely there are more polite ways to say "please respect our rules and we will respect your posts" I wonder if he puts the same notice on his front door and treats his house guests with the same arrogance - actually with an attitude like that he probably does not have many house guests, or forum participants! and surely this has nothing to do with Gay Thailand and is in the wrong forum! bkkguy