Gaybutton

I agree with lvdkeyes. I would also say to think with your brain, not your crotch, and definitely obey the age 18+ rules. Another lesson I think many ought to learn is Thailand is much more than boys, bars, and beaches.

That's the problem. Everyone has his own individual opinion as to what constitutes "best." To me, the best is whatever I enjoy the most. If Kobe beef is really that good, then many are going to feel that's the best. For me a 2500 baht price tag, along with wine (which I don't really give a damn about), and everything else, by the time you're done, dinner is going to cost a bundle. I just wouldn't enjoy that. Maybe on a very special occasion, but that's about it. For me, the inexpensive steaks may not be the be the best, but what I look for is the flavor and texture I like best, not to mention a decent portion. One time, a few years ago, I was in Bangkok and I just had to have prime rib. I went to Hamilton's Steakhouse on friend's recommendation and had their prime rib. 1100 baht was the price and I wanted it so badly I was willing to pay it. It was excellent, but I ended up disappointed. The slice served to me was so thin I think I could have seen through it if I had held it up to the light. That's not my idea of a great dinner. If it's anything I can't stand, it's paying a premium price and ending up leaving the restaurant still hungry. To me that's a lot of crap that I can do without. I have the same opinion about Romanasia, in Pattaya. Their food is very good, but the portions are just too small. It's not just me. I ate there with two friends, neither of whom are particularly big eaters, and both said the same thing. All three of us left the restaurant still hungry. The portions at Manhattans, on the other hand, are so huge that even I can't finish. However, the last two times I ate there the quality of the prime rib was not even close to the quality that they served before they fired Tom, their original manager. I was disappointed in the quality twice. I don't think I'm particularly interested in a third try any time soon.

Maybe it's not good enough for HeyGay, but it sure sounds like my kind of place. No matter how good a steak is, I don't think I would enjoy it very much knowing I'm going to have to part with 2500 baht or more, plus tip, to pay for it. I have much better things to do with my money than to pay that much for a steak. I like steak too, but not that much. Next time I'm in Bangkok I'm going to try Mizu's Kitchen and judge for myself.

This is where that old saying about being penny wise and pound foolish comes in. Since it is obvious that certain airlines create a lot of problems for people bound for Thailand with a one-way ticket, coupled with the fact that it is absurd to pay for a round-trip ticket that you know you're not going to use, then to me the smart thing for people traveling to Thailand to stay would be to spend the extra money to get the Retirement Visa while still in your home country. There are pros and cons to everything. For example, it's getting to be more and more difficult for farang to open a Thai bank account without a non-immigrant visa and you need to have a Thai bank account to get the Retirement Visa within Thailand. If you don't have one, they won't grant the visa. On the other hand, if you get the Retirement Visa while still in your home country, having a Thai bank account is not among the requirements. So, you can get the Retirement Visa, come to Thailand with a one-way ticket, and since you'll enter Thailand with an already valid Retirement Visa, now you'll be able to open an account at any Thai bank you want. The bottom line is there are several ways to go about it. But one way I would not recommend is trying to get an airline to let you board with a one-way ticket unless you have a ticket of some sort to exit Thailand or unless you already have the Retirement Visa. I suppose one other thing you could do is call various airlines, explain your situation, and ask what their policy is about letting you travel with a one-way ticket. If the airline says it's no problem, I would ask them to confirm that for you in writing, and have that confirmation in hand when you try to board, just in case some clueless gate agent tries to stop you.

Would that be rump roast or beef jerky?

I thought my story was a nightmare, but yours is incredible. I don't know if I could have gone through what you did without totally losing my temper and winding up arrested. There are two exceptions to what you say above that I can think of. One is if you are returning to Thailand with a re-entry permit. The other is if you are entering the country with a new Retirement Visa that you obtained while still in your home country. If I had it to do over again, I would obtain the Retirement Visa while still in the USA. It would cost more, but it would save the hassle. I was lucky. If that supervisor hadn't given in, I would have been forced to either buy a return ticket or buy a ticket from Bangkok to somewhere else. That would have probably cost much more than the US$100 difference it costs to obtain the Retirement Visa outside of Thailand. That's the problem people are going to face if they try to fly to Thailand on a one-way ticket. The problem is unlikely to be arrival in Thailand. The problem is going to be with the airline. Another way around it would be to buy a fully refundable ticket from Bangkok to another country, and then get the refund once you're in Thailand.

The following appears in the BANGKOK POST: _____ THAI Stuck with A380s Cancellation Penalties Could Reach $700m By: BOONSONG KOSITCHOTETHANA Published: 11/07/2009 Thai Airways International (THAI) has no other options but to keep its order for six Airbus 380 megajets it wanted to cancel as doing so would lead to huge adverse consequences. "The best option available for us is to delay taking delivery of those A380s," Wallop Bhukkanasut, the chairman of THAI's executive board, said last night. The flag carrier had earlier sought to terminate the A380 contract or change to another future Airbus model, the A350-1000, as it had come to believe the world's largest commercial aircraft would not be economical to operate. In the recent negotiations with the European planemaker, Airbus has ruled out those changes and THAI itself has come to realise that the cancellation will result in a legal battle that would have a significant impact on THAI and the image of the country as a whole, something the airline wants to avoid, according to Mr Wallop. The cancellation would expose the airline to US$700 million in penalty costs - $300 million in pre-payment for airframes and $400 million for contracts already committed. "Several contracts involved in the A380s are restricted with absolutely no room for change," Mr Wallop told reporters after the airline's board meeting. THAI is now proposing that the delivery of its first three A380s, each costing $300 million, be put off to 2012 and the remaining three in 2013. The airline has been contracted to take delivery of the jets in two lots, in October 2010 and June 2011. "In 2012, global economic conditions should be in much better shape, and so will traffic volume. By then, THAI's cash flow problem should have been resolved and the economic environment improved," he said. THAI will continue to negotiate with Airbus on details of the new proposal but it wants the company to cap the cost escalation in order to minimise the financial impact, he added. The airline will also reconsider how the aircraft could be deployed, he noted. THAI had earlier planned to fly the A380s on its long-haul routes, such as Bangkok to London, Paris and Frankfurt. Airbus has scaled back production of the A380 this year as customers resist taking large planes because of the global travel slump. THAI is seeking to cut costs after posting a net loss of 21.3 billion baht, its first in its history, in 2008. It earned 7.8 billion in profit in the first quarter this year, mainly on currency gains. Mr Wallop acknowledged that the chance of getting the A350-1000 early in the event of a change from the A380 was slim as there was a huge order backlog for the aircraft, for which deliveries are not expected until 2018. THAI shares closed yesterday on the Stock Exchange of Thailand at 13.20 baht, down 90 satang, in trade worth 77.88 million baht.

Bob is correct. You have a choice. You can enter on the 30-days, but when you go to get a new retirement visa, first they're going to convert your 30-days to a non-immigrant visa, 1900 baht. Then they're going to convert the non-immigrant visa to the retirement visa, another 1900 baht. They'll do all of that at the same time, so you'll only need to make one trip to the Immigration office to get that taken care of and a second trip the next day to pick up your passport with the new Retirement Visa. Now, you may have a problem with a one-way ticket, not upon arrival, but getting on the plane to start with. I did that when I retired and damned near was denied permission to board the plane. That happened in Los Angeles. My flight into Los Angeles arrived about four hours before the flight from Los Angeles to Taipei. This was with American Airlines. When they were getting ready to begin boarding passengers they made an announcement: "Please check your boarding pass. If your boarding pass does not have a circular green stamp on it, you need to see the gate agent." Of course, mine didn't have it. Three lines formed and three gate agents were taking care of people. The people in the other lines were getting their stamp in less than a minute. The gate agent handling me was fiddling around with her computer. After standing there for over ten minutes I asked, "Excuse me, but is there some sort of problem?" She gave me a smiling "Yes." That's all she said. "Would you mind telling me what it is?" "Our supervisor is on her way over here, sir. She'll explain it to you." When the supervisor arrived she said, "Sir, I can't let you board the flight." I couldn't believe what I had just heard. "What do you mean you can't let me board the flight? Why not?" "Because you only have a one-way ticket." I said, "Of course I only have a one-way ticket. That's because I'm not coming back." She looked at me puzzled. I further explained that I had just retired, was going to Thailand to live, and I had no need for a return ticket. "The problem is, sir, that Thailand will deny you entry if you don't have a ticket to depart Thailand. Then American has to fly you back, at our expense, and we'll be charged heavy fines." I said, "Ma'am, I've been all through this with my Thai attorney. I'm not going to be denied entry. They don't even check to see if you have a departure ticket." "I still can't let you board the flight." "Ok," I said, "Then sell me a ticket from Bangkok to Singapore or something. Then I'll have a departure ticket." "You don't even have the correct documentation to enter Thailand." I showed her my non-immigrant visa. "What's that?" She looked at it and then said to the gate agent, "Ok, you can let him go." Of course, I had no problem at all entering Thailand. For that reason, if you're going to travel on a one-way ticket, I suggest following Bob's advice and get a non-immigrant visa in case you run into a similar problem. Another thing. Since I entered on a 90-day visa, I figured I might as well use up the 90 days before applying for the Retirement Visa. That didn't do me any good. When they issued my Retirement Visa, the expiration date was one year from the date I had entered Thailand, not one year from the date I applied for the Retirement Visa. You do have the option of obtaining the Retirement Visa at the nearest Thai consulate too. You might want to consider that. It will cost you about US $100 more to do it that way, but you would be traveling on an already approved Retirement Visa.

"Selling is legal. Fucking is legal. Why isn't selling fucking legal? Why is it against the law to sell something that's perfectly legal to give away?" - George Carlin

We have now merged (details below), but it should be more interesting with the power of the combined staffs and input into the magazine, than just what we alone could do. I would like more content on the local venues and news and photos on the community happenings to include in the revised SPICE! and soon on the new improved SPICE! online website. If you have some news about what is happening there in your community, send me your comments by Wednesday the 15th and I will try and get it into the next August issue. Any comments or questions, please contact me. SPICE!.. Thailand's #1 magazine for gay men for the last 9 years, has hit the Big Time! Effective immediately SPICE! has merged and will be published by PAPPA Co., Ltd., which also publishes the best-selling book in Thailand about Thailand: The Official Thailand Survival Guide. But the news does not stop there.... PAPPA Co., Ltd. is the exclusive sales and marketing agent for the Pattaya Times Media Corp., Thailand's ONLY foreign-owned and managed media group headed by American businessman Drew Noyes. · What does this mean to our readers and our advertisers? Better content, better graphics, better distribution and an association with a main stream powerhouse dedicated to keeping SPICE! the Essential Guide for Gay Men. I am now Vice President of Sales & Marketing of the combined company and will continue to contribute to the further growth of SPICE! as an contributing editor. We now have 4 graphic designers, 7 administrative personnel, 3 editors, a photo editor, 5 reporters, 2 cameramen and 12 contributors. This makes us by far the best-staffed gay magazine in the industry. · What difference will you see in the next issue? There will be plenty of news for singles, but an added focus on community news including activities for gay couples. We know people not only come for the “Bar Scene” and entertainment venues, but also to enjoy the many attractions each city has to offer, from fine dining and shopping to outdoor activities and sightseeing in this beautiful country we are in. We plan to offer many added articles and features not currently in SPICE! to benefit everyone, tourists, ex-pats and frequent visitors. Two editors are gay Thais who are Western educated and one is in a long-term relationship with a Brit and the other a bit of a playboy looking for fun foreigners. Also, another editor is a gay American who has been on the gay scene in Thailand for nine years -me! We plan to put more community news back into SPICE! to help promote our advertisers, our community and to the benefit our readers. There are really many markets to target with SPICE!. Many think of two, tourists and ex-pats, but there are long stay and frequent visitors with more disposable income. Also friends who visit their friends who live here are influenced by their recommendations. If the locals don’t get out much or are traveling to another city with their friends, they look to SPICE! to see where we recommend and to our advertisers listings to see where to Stay, Go, Eat & Play when they visit another area as they know we keep up-to-date in each venue with our local contributors and regular visits. · How will this merger make SPICE! the #1 choice magazine to read for all gay men visiting and living in Thailand? Improved exposure! 1) SPICE! will be cross promoted on This Is Thailand Radio FM103 now broadcasting live in Pattaya and soon going worldwide with streaming audio via the internet. SPICE! will link on its websites and we will offer Gay themed special music and up-coming social events. Also we plan fun activities gay men would like to attend. There will be Talk Radio segments with advice for gay men in Thailand, too. 2) In the next release of The Official Thailand Survival Guide 2010 there will be a section dedicated solely to the Thailand gay scene with great info and lots of maps provided by the SPICE! staff. 3) The Pattaya Times is the largest newspaper outside of Bangkok and is the only leading newspaper which has a "Gay Times" section (now re-named SPICE! Happenings) to which SPICE! contributes. The Pattaya Times is already distributed in Chiang Mai, Bangkok, Hua Hin and all over the 11 provinces in the Eastern Seaboard including Pattaya. There are plans for region editions of the Hua Hin Times, the Chiang Mai Times and the Southern Times serving Krabi, Phuket and Koh Samui. Next month watch for the release of our new more powerful updated website to become the Gay Portal into Thailand and Asia that will include the new SPICE! forums and gay social networking at http://www.spicemag.net. If you would like a banner, link or special mention on our website, please let me know. Now is the best time to contact me for current special pricing for advertising in the newly revamped SPICE! Magazine. Ad space is limited by region so please indicate your interest soon by replying to this message. We are also offering special package prices to advertise on the SPICE! Happenings page in our “Sister Publication”.. The Pattaya Times. It has been great taking SPICE! through the metamorphosis from Thai Guys, then Sticky Rice to SPICE! Now we have the power and backing no other gay magazine will ever get in Thailand. Hands down we are and will continue to be the #1 publication serving the English-reading, Thailand gay market! If you are not advertising in SPICE! how will your potential customers find you when all else is gone? In this economy, the strong survive. Please join us. There is power and strength in consolidation. I look forward to talking with you real soon! Sincerely, Phil Graham Vice President Pattaya Times Media Corporation Co., Ltd. Mobile Phone: +66 (0)81-941-6769 Thai Siam Publishing Co.,Ltd. Publishers:SPICE! Magazine & Website 477/19-20 M.12 Thappraya Rd., Nongprue, Banglamung, Chonburi 20150 Tel: 038-075-537, 038-075-538 Fax: 038-075-539

Considering the counterfeiting that goes on in Thailand, how do you know that what you're getting is really Kobe beef?

I have no idea, then, what could be causing the problem. The only thing I can think of to try would be to see use of a different browser makes any difference.

The following appears in the CHIANG MAI MAIL http://www.chiangmai-mail.com/current/news.shtml#hd3 _____ American Paedophile Arrested in Chiang Mai CMM reporters At 4 p.m on July 1 at Chiang’s Provincial Police Region 5 headquarters, Pol.Lt.Col. Apichart Haptasin announced that US citizen, Robert Ward Cutler, 37, had been arrested on charges of paedophilia involving at least 5 young boys under the age of 15 years, the most recent victim being 13 years old. At the time of his arrest, the accused was working as a guest lecturer and researcher at a university in Chiang Mai. Previously, Cutler, a Fulbright scholar, had taught at Bard College in New York. A search of his rented house in Muang district resulted in the seizure of a laptop computer, boxes of pornographic CDs and sex toys for use during anal intercourse. Police were initially alerted to Cutler’s identity, place of work and crimes by the Australian police in Thailand, and subsequently contacted the Foundation of Child Development. Cooperation then took place between Region 5’s Office of Protection against Transnational Crime and other relevant organisations, including Rights of the Child in America and Australia, which resulted in Cutler’s interrogation and subsequent arrest.

I think maybe that temporary replacement board is still in your cache. Try clearing your cache. If that doesn't work, try hitting the 'refresh' or 'reload' button on your browser. That should cure the problem.

The positive side of that is it's better to leave a place, still wanting more, than to leave a place, swearing never to return. I think in my case, one of these days I'll have to give Kuala Lumpur another try. I went there only once and hated ever second of it. I swore never to return. But then I read other people's posts about what a wonderful time they have there, and I wonder if we were in the same city. So, when I want one of those 'change of pace' trips, I think I'll give Kuala Lumpur a second chance.

For me, it depends on where that one place is. Personally, I love living in the place that would be my first choice for a holiday. Every so often I like going somewhere else, for a change of pace. However, that makes me appreciate where I am all the more when I return.

Having a law on paper is one thing. Enforcing it is quite another.

You may also suggest he mortgage his house in order to pay for it. I love steak too, but no steak in the world, including Kobe, is worth that kind of money to me . . . unless of course someone else is paying for it.

He was referring to an article I posted about a Thai woman who tried to claim that was her bill, in order to con her farang boyfriend. Somehow that article and most of that thread has disappeared after yesterday's problems with the board.

For me, that's simple: The rest of my life.

This may narrow it down for you: http://www.bangkok.com/restaurant-dining-e...ing-steaks.html I have also heard that Neil's Tavern is excellent: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1...ves.html?cat=16

I have not been told, but I believe this is the old version, back in place after yesterday's disaster.

Massachusetts Sues Federal Government over Marriage Law (CNN) -- Massachusetts sued the U.S. government on Wednesday, challenging the constitutionality of a federal law that defines marriage as the union of a man and a woman. "We're taking this action today because, first, we believe that [the Defense of Marriage Act] directly interferes with Massachusetts' long-standing sovereign authority to define and regulate the marital status of its residents," Attorney General Martha Coakley said Wednesday afternoon. "Massachusetts has a single category of married persons, and we view all married persons equally and identically," she said. "DOMA divides that category into two distinct and unequal classes of marriage." The lawsuit argues that the act, which became law in 1996, denies same-sex couples essential rights and protections, including federal income tax credits, employment and retirement benefits, health insurance coverage and Social Security payments. "In enacting DOMA, Congress overstepped its authority, undermined states' efforts to recognize marriages between same-sex couples, and codified an animus towards gay and lesbian people," the state wrote in the lawsuit, which was filed Wednesday in federal court. Massachusetts, the first state to legalize gay marriage, said that about 16,000 same-sex couples have been married there since 2004, when it began issuing marriage licenses. Since that time, the lawsuit said, "the security and stability of families has been strengthened in important ways throughout the state." The state is challenging Section 3 of the law, which defines marriage as "a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife" and a spouse as "a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife." Before the act, the lawsuit argues, defining marital status was the prerogative of the states. The law "eviscerated more than 200 years of federal government deference to the states with respect to defining marriage," it said. The lawsuit also argues that the law forces Massachusetts to treat same-sex married couples differently from heterosexual married couples, particularly through determining who qualifies for the state's Medicaid program, known as MassHealth, and whether a same-sex spouse of a veteran can be buried in a veteran cemetery. "But for DOMA, married individuals in same-sex relationships in the commonwealth would receive the same status, obligations, responsibilities, rights, and protections as married individuals in different-sex relationships under local, state, and federal laws," the lawsuit said. The defendants named in the lawsuit include the Department of Health and Human Services, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, the Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki and the United States itself. Charles Miller, a spokesman for the Department of Justice, said the department will review the case but noted that President Obama supports the legislative repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act. In March, Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders -- the same Boston-based group that successfully argued in 2003 for same-sex marriage rights in Massachusetts -- also sued the federal government over Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act. Besides Massachusetts, three other states recognize same-sex marriages: Connecticut, Maine, and Iowa. Vermont and New Hampshire will join their company when same-sex marriages become legal later this year and early next year.

Whatever it is, if a stereotyped American Indian asked me, "How you like-um?", my answer would be, "Stink-um."

A lot of the functions won't work at all yet. For example, that "Mother of" thread I posted was lucky to see the light of day at all. I have no idea how it wound up appearing twice, and once with a thread locked. I can't get into my own post to edit it out. In other words, the board needs a hell of a lot of work. I don't see much here, at least not yet, that makes the old board worth bothering to upgrade. I'm a great believer in "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." It wasn't broke, but it got fixed anyhow. Now it's broke. The old board was working perfectly. So far, the results of this upgrade are not exactly impressive.