Just tried to log on to the Sawatdee site, just to check what the crazies are doing, you understand, and saw that it was not available.

 

Sawatdee Forum web link

 

I don't know what suspended means. I assume that, again, someone forgot to pay the bills and that's certainly not professional.

 

Add that to the crazies that inhabit the zoo over there - virtually the only spot that allows the bizarre rhetoric of those who have angry badgers in their pants - leads me to wonder if, in fact, the Sawatdee board has seen better days and is now in its death throes.

 

What can/should be done to rehabilitate this longtime community resource?

 

This seems to happen every so often over there. I am sure Spike will get this taken care of as soon as he knows what is happening. The SGT forum has a great deal to offer the gay community in Thailand and I sure hope they are able to get back live fast. In the meantime, may I suggest that all their posters check out another board which I am sure will be a perfect fit for those that are multiple handles inclined: The Baht Stop

"Unleash the Kraken!! Send Gaybutton over; he'll smarten 'em up..."

 

While I'm sure the problem is only temporary, thanks for volunteering me to be "sent over" to a board that would probably welcome me about as much as the Baht-Stop posters would welcome the idea of me becoming their one and only moderator. Actually, not a bad idea. My delete finger is getting mighty itchy . . .

It would be nice if a consortium could Buy it, then it could be run, more fluidly, it would seem the owner goes from a high and then a low, with his Finances and the moderator is struggling to keep up with the Patients trying to take over the Metal asylum.

 

I agree you do get about 6 silly Piggy Back Riders as they seem to call them there, whose sole purpose is to disrupt any Interesting threads, with there insane constant put downs and gibberish, apart from that it is great fun, if they could get rid of the few bitter people writing on there, but then again if you don

Although I have absolutely no knowledge of what goes on behind at Sawatdee (I write this because so many seem to think I still do) and I don't know the real reason for the suspension, there are some speculations which seem obvious:

 

• 
   
  
• The bill has not been paid. This has happened twice (I think) before, and each time it was taken care of fairly quickly. BUT ... I've never seen a 'SUSPENDED' notice, just a 'Temporary' webpage. The 'suspended' notice seems a bit more on the permanent side.
  But at this moment, I'd probably put a bet on that this is the reason for the downtime.
   
  
• A major overhaul of the Board (for whatever reason), software-wise and/or perhaps a cleanup of the philosophy of the operation. BUT ... up until now Elephantspike has never touched the (very outdated) Board Guidelines, nor speculated in public that the Board needed such a going-over.
   
  
• Elephantspike just got sick and tired of administering it. This one I can understand: the Board has been inundated by new handles lately (much more so than is normal), most of them one-line wonders trolling and flooding the Board with inane posts.
   
  
• The only help Elephantspike received was from Jinks, who more than often made matters worse with his unpredicatable and completely idiosycratic moderating decisions. He was getting a lot of heat lately about that, and perhaps decided to toss in the towel ... which left Elephantspike alone ... with the usual financial and personal issues which perhaps overwhelmed him. So he pulled the plug.
   
  
• Something else unknown to anyone except Elephatspike.
   
  

 

Even I (who started Sawatdee ... a baby of mine) has been visiting and posting there less and less lately. I used to read every thread, I now read hardly any. The Complete Wankers have become rather the majority in the last ~ let's say ~ year, and decent and thoughtful posters are few and far between. It's certainly a different place, and not often my cup of tea anymore.

Sawatdee has/had it's place in the firmament of gay Thailand message boards ... mostly because it was very loosely moderated (in a sea of over moderation) and very free in what it put up with. That I'll miss.

 

But the dark side to that philosophy can lead (and in Sawatdee's case, has) to the dolts taking over in too great a swarm, overwhelming the ambiance, eating away at the civility.

 

I hope the Board comes back. But that 'SUSPENDED' notice is not a hopeful sign.

I do agree that the rude & disruptive element have taken over Sawatdee, making it barely worth reading now.

 

Starting a topic would be pointless, as the mob quickly move in with their abuse.

I do agree that the rude & disruptive element have taken over Sawatdee, making it barely worth reading now.

 

Starting a topic would be pointless, as the mob quickly move in with their abuse.

I Cant Disagree Unfortunately

I Was Finding It More and More Difficult To Extract Reliable Information From The Site.....wow i've become a member(here)...FANTASTIC.

I rather like the forum but the site goes down for non-payment at least once per year.

I rather like the forum but the site goes down for non-payment at least once per year.

Exaggeration. Twice I'm aware of, and Sawatdee has been around (with two different platforms) since 2002.

Any site can easily go down because of non payment to domain name registrar or forgetting to pay for hosting. However, it should only happen once and never more than that IMHO. I am sure that the last time this happened that Spike got blasted by some of his members and he put it on his calendar and would never let the same thing happen again. To me, this makes sense.

 

Server issues happen all the time and when you are on a "shared" server as most are that server is also dependent on others to keep it virus free and free of issues. Normally, "shared" servers have more problems than ones that are privately owned as the companies don't protect them as well. In SGT, they share a server with others and their could be server issues but the message is not a server related problem.

 

I have to agree with Spike and think that this may be a more serious issue. I don't think Spike would forget to pay hosting again and his name is registered and not going to be up for renewal anytime soon. I hope that whatever issues he has he is able to work on and get fixed.

Just out of curiosity, wouldn't whoever is hosting a site send somebody a reminder, a bill, or an email before just pulling the plug?

Just out of curiosity, wouldn't whoever is hosting a site send somebody a reminder, a bill, or an email before just pulling the plug?

Not necessarily. When I used to run my own web site the same thing happened to me. I received no bill or warning of any kind, but woke up one morning to find my web site down. And along with advising me that it was my responsibility to remember the due dates, they refused to reestablish my web site until they received a money order, so the site was down for several days.

Exaggeration.

 

I've only been a member there for two years and this is the second time. That's 'once per year' from my perspective.

I've only been a member there for two years and this is the second time. That's 'once per year' from my perspective.

 

I think it's about twice in 2 years also.

 

As for e-mail warnings. Well, if it's anything like my monthly ISP fee, they send me an invoice e-mail every month. Then when the credit card expires, the warning e-mails look just like the routine invoices, so they don't get read.

 

As for getting more help with the moderating, they always could ask the members.

I think it's about twice in 2 years also.

 

Not that it's any big deal but I've been a member of SGT since the beginning and I only remember that it's occurred twice in the last 10 years.

 

I do hope that it comes back online but that's mainly so that the half a dozen or so idiots there won't attempt to infect the other boards.

Nearly every post is bait for the bitter vipers that lurk there. Much nicer atmosphere here.

I do agree that the rude & disruptive element have taken over Sawatdee, making it barely worth reading now.

 

Starting a topic would be pointless, as the mob quickly move in with their abuse.

 

I agree with what you say. However, what really turned me off to SGT was the fact that advertisers were made "protected" by spike as he really needed their money. For example, people who pointed out the questionable advertising and business associations of one advertiser were thrown off the board, even though what they said was clearly true. To my way of thinking this made the board a hypocritical farce.

All of the gay Thailand boards have their fans and their critics. Whether you like the Sawatdee board or not, so far all I have seen is speculation as to why it says the account has been suspended. I don't have any idea why the board is suspended. You know why? Because Elephantspike hasn't told me and as far as I know he also hasn't told anyone else. For all I know, it is entirely possible that even he has not yet been told why the Sawatdee account has been suspended. It could be because the account has not been paid, as many seem to think, but it also could be for other reasons.

 

It doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me to be guessing what happened. It does make sense to me to wait for Elephantspike to tell us what happened if he chooses to do so or tell us if the board is going to return online. Don't forget, the Pattaya Passions board also suddenly disappeared not long ago. As far as I know, the owner has yet to disclose any reasons.

My read of the "This Account has been Suspended" message is that since Jinks is now on holiday in Thailand, he doesn't want to have the hassle of monitoring the message board at the same time. After all, the message URL is www.sawatdee-gay-thailand.com, not some web hosting company.

 

Take a look at this message Jinks put on TingTong:

"Hello over here, every year I seem to get a few days off.

A nice rest from our adorable members."

GayTingTong Forum

 

My guess is that when Jinks has finished his holiday, then the message boards on SGT will reappear.

My guess is that when Jinks has finished his holiday, then the message boards on SGT will reappear.

 

That is an interesting read on this. Hey, guys when I got on holiday to Brazil, should I just close the board for 2 months? LOL jk No one in their right mind would do that. Of course, I am told I am not in my right mind to travel to Brazil for fun anyway.

 

You may be right grampa. But, no notice, no e-mails and even jinks does not know what is really going on. I doubt this is the case at SGT. Again, I point back to Smiles statement.

 

Normally when this the site is closed in the past, Spike would post on a board or send a message. Neither has happened.

It does make sense to me to wait for Elephantspike to tell us what happened if he chooses to do so or tell us if the board is going to return online. Don't forget, the Pattaya Passions board also suddenly disappeared not long ago. As far as I know, the owner has yet to disclose any reasons.

True. It would seem only common courtesy for the Board owner to send out a mass email informing the members ~ many of whom have contributed significant upkeep money over the years ~ that the Board was either temporarily or permanently suspended.

Sawatdee was around for a lot longer than Passion, and hard as it may be for folks to believe, had a pretty large and loyal membership (at least until about 2 years ago).

I would have hoped that Elephantspike would handle the demise ~ if that's what it is ~ in at least that simple way.

 

On the other hand ... it may pop back up again. Outta the blue. A joke on the speculators, a la sawatdee style.

I would have hoped that Elephantspike would handle the demise ~ if that's what it is ~ in at least that simple way.

That's where the confusion is. Nobody who actually knows the story has posted anything on any of the other boards. That leaves everyone who has in interest in the Sawatdee board in the dark as to what is going on. People are speculating as to why the account was suspended, but nobody seems to know if the board is going to come back or not.

 

It doesn't make sense to me that jinks would suspend the board while on holiday. As far as I know, he's never done that before. Why would he do that now, especially without a prior announcement? He most likely looks at the Internet no matter where he is and he could just as easily moderate from anywhere. I doubt that is the explanation.

 

I don't think it would kill whoever does know to let the rest of the world at least know if the board is going to come back online. The board does have a large following and I think it is perfectly reasonable to let that following know something. While I realize I am not welcome on that board, that doesn't diminish its importance to a lot of people out there. I hope the board does come back and in the meantime I hope someone will inform everyone as to what to expect.