Gaybutton

I thought it was just terrible. I didn't like it, anyway. The only food item I really enjoyed was falafel, but how many times can you eat the same thing before you're tired of it. No, that was the one and only time I ever met him and I'm grateful for the experience. Years ago when Yul Brynner was on tour with "The King and I," the show came to Ft. Lauderdale. He was a slightly different type. One of my mother's friends was in a grocery store near the theater, picking out oranges. Suddenly she realized that Yul Brynner was standing right next to her, also picking out oranges. She said to him, "Excuse me, aren't you Yul Brynner?" Without even casting a glance in her direction he said, "You are correct." She tried to say how she admires him and loves the show. He wouldn't even look at her. No response of any kind at all, as if she wasn't even there. I can understand how celebrities can get sick and tired of fans bothering them all the time, but nobody twisted their arms to go into show business. I would think they ought to realize that if they achieve stardom, then dealing with fans and people who recognize them is part of it. It wouldn't have hurt him to simply say, "Thank you" and go on about his business. The woman probably would have been thrilled instead of having her feelings hurt. On the other hand, I've spotted plenty of showbiz and political celebrities in my life and sometimes I would say something and sometimes not. I never was completely ignored. Sometimes it would be a thank-you and that was all. I expected nothing more. But that experience with Peter Ustinov was unforgettable. He made me feel as if he very much appreciated me speaking to him and he treated me as if I was a friend. It was so nice to know he was such a charming person in real life.

If I'm not too busy watching a, shall we say, more personalized fashion show, I'll probably go.

One of the major frustrations that can happen with long distance relationships when there is a serious language barrier is finding a solution to effective communication. Years ago, before I could speak Thai and when I would only be in Thailand during holidays, I solved the problem by going to a local Thai restaurant, explaining the problem, and asking for help. I was lucky. The people at the restaurant were very sympathetic and even refused to take any money to help me. They greatly enjoyed doing that for me. What I would do was write my message, take it to the restaurant, and they would call me when they had finished the translation if they didn't have time to do it while I was there. Now I had my message written in Thai. I would scan that into my computer, attach it to an Email, and send it out to my boyfriend. When my boyfriend would write to me in Thai, I would print out his Email, take it to the restaurant, and they would simply tell me what he had written, right then and there. Something else you can do (as long as it's not too often) is to send your message to me in an Email. I'll be happy to call your boyfriend for you, tell him what your message says, and send you his response in an Email. If you decide to do that on occasion, please use my gaybutton@gmail.com Email address rather than via a PM. If I'm traveling I can access my Email on my mobile phone, but I can't access a PM unless I go to an Internet cafe, which I rarely do when I'm out of town. If your message is too complex for my ability to speak Thai, you still don't have a problem. I know plenty of Thai people whose English is nearly fluent. I'll be glad to do the same thing for anybody else who is having communication difficulties. And don't worry . . . I know that the policy is "hands off my boyfriend!"

Based on these posts, apparently there is no consistent policy. The way I see it, even if you are charged 20 baht per transaction, that still beats hell out of 150 baht per transaction. I don't know what to tell you other than the fact that I am never charged a fee when I use an ATM card to withdraw from an ATM owned by the same bank. I have never been charged a fee when I withdraw money from a bank teller with use of my passbook. Thaiworthy, I don't know what to tell you. Are you certain that he is making withdrawals from Siam Commercial ATMs? The 20 baht fee is assessed if he withdraws from a different bank's ATM, but he shouldn't be charged a fee when making withdrawals from a Siam Commercial ATM. If that is occurring, I have no idea why he would be charged, but I don't get charged, unless it's a recent policy that they did not grandfather in for older accounts. The only two suggestions I can come up with are to let your boyfriend know you are serious about the 20 baht fee being charged every time he makes a withdrawal and you're going to keep a record of the days he makes multiple withdrawals and deduct those fees from the amount you send to him. The other suggestion is to send a fixed amount to him. That way, if he starts losing money due to those 20 baht fees, now it's his problem instead of yours.

The following appears in the PATTAYA DAILY NEWS: for photos see: http://www.pattayadailynews.com/shownews.p...NEWS=0000009244 _____ NUDE NORWEGIAN THREATENS TO COMMIT HARI KARI IN JOMTIEN “What is it about Pattaya,” one may ask “that it seems to attract the most bizarre examples of humanity imaginable?” This time it was severely intoxicated, nude Norwegian who appeared on a Jomtien hotel balcony on 15 May 2009, at 12.00 pm threatening to leap off, whilst simultaneously praying to God. Yesterday, 15 May, Pol.Lt.Col. Sawai Ong-art, Pattaya Police Investigator [Dong Tan Branch] was notified that a foreigner had apparently gone crazy and having taken off his clothes, was standing on the second-floor balcony of Thai Sweet Inn, Somprasong Plaza, Jomtien Beach Road, apparently intending to jump off the building. Police rushed to the scene with the Sawang Boriboon Rescue team. At the incident location, police found a Norwegian man by the name of Daniel, [32] somewhat intoxicated from having ingested drugs. He was standing stark naked on the balcony, with his palms together, prayer-like, chanting an indecipherable mantra, apparently to God. Police tried to persuade him to adopt a more reasonable stance and to return inside his room, but he just ignored them. When police went to investigate his room, they found the water tap had been running continuously since midnight [according to witnesses]. The police tried to get hold of him, but the man fought back and steadfastly refused to put his clothes back on. He then fled downstairs, hotly pursued by the police team; the local bystanders being alternately shocked and intrigued to see the seemingly mad antics of the naked farang. Eventually, however, the police managed to restrain him and took him off to the police station to calm him down before questioning him. The police decided the best policy was to keep him at the station under restraint in case he went even more crazy and started to harm others.

For Email, some people have suggested using Google Translate to convert English to Thai. I'm not so sure that works very well. I often use Google Translate when I look at gay personals sites. Sometimes I get a good translation, but most of the time I get gibberish. In other words, Google Translate seems to have a little room for improvement. Here's a few examples of the translation results I got from Gboysiam personal ads: 1. White Man, I move this Chinese boy last rain other benign whose isolation Talk 2. Reserve the right ... only celibate. 3. We discuss availability of the new bridge 4. Eager children less than 20 rows Hat Yai - Songkhla talk to restrict. 5. Want to have real people working age factors, age, or union with more than talk. Lord only knows what results your Thai friend will get when trying to use Google Translate to convert your English to Thai, whether he does it himself or you do it for him prior to sending him an Email.

I'll second that. There is no fee for withdrawing money from an ATM from a bank at which you have an account and there is no fee for withdrawing money from a teller. Lvdkeyes is also correct that you must have your bank passbook and your passport, your genuine passport, not a copy. When you withdraw funds they make a copy of your passport and have you sign the copy. You can withdraw funds at any branch of your bank provided you can produce those two documents and there are no fees. So, I think we've addressed your question. If you prefer to withdraw from a teller instead of using an ATM card, yes you can and there are no fees. Oddly enough, I actually was being charged a 30 baht fee to deposit cash to my account for about two months, but that policy has been stopped. Now there is no fee for depositing cash. I'm not sure, but I suppose you could get away with not taking your passbook. People do lose their passbook, but you'll probably experience a hassle if you don't have it.

In Israel, in Tel Aviv don't miss the Dead Sea Scrolls. In Jerusalem don't miss the old city, the Wailing Wall (which is the only surviving structure still existing from the original temple built by King Solomon), and definitely don't miss the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial. I took a bus tour to En Gedi. That's where the Dead Sea is. You don't want to miss swimming in the Dead Sea (or trying to). You can even take a ride on a camel if you want. On the way there was a stop at a pillar of salt that traditionally is thought to be Lot's wife, the woman turned to a pillar of salt because she looked back during the destruction of Soddom And Gomorrah. They also stopped at Masada. You can climb Masada if you have the stamina, but there is also a tram that goes up. When you reach the top there is a guided tour. Try to go to a kibbutz farm. That's very interesting the way they do that. One tip. When I was there I started getting sick. I was in bad shape for three days. I went to a doctor, took the prescriptions, and continued to get worse. For a while I thought I would have to be hospitalized. Then a woman staying in the same hotel advised me to take some salt. I told her I try to avoid concuming too much salt. She reminded me that in the middle of a desert country you must have salt. By that time I was ready to try anything, so I took a tablespoon of salt, dissolved it in a glass of water, and drank it down. 20 minutes later I was fine! That's no exaggeration. Another tip. If you are going to be there on a Friday, the whole country shuts down at sundown and absolutely nothing is open until sundown the next day. I mean no taxis, no restaurants, no nothing. My hotel was in Tel Aviv, but I had taken a bus that day to Jerusalem. When I went to the bus station to return to Tel Aviv, that's when I discovered about everything shutting down. I asked someone walking by how come there were no buses. That's when it was explained to me. There was a major hotel nearby, so I walked there. As an aside, Peter Ustinov was staying there. I got to meet him. I spotted him as he was walking through the lobby and went up to him to say hello. What a wonderful person he was. He took time to have a whole conversation with me. He told me he's there filming a movie, one of the ones in which he played Inspector Poirot. Then he started talking about some of the things he went through when they made the movie "Spartacus." We chatted for nearly 15 minutes before he finally said he needs to excuse himself. I'll never forget that. All I expected to do was tell him I'm a great fan, get a thank-you and possibly a handshake, and that would be that. I never expected him to start chatting as if we were old friends. When I entered the hotel I explained my predicament to the desk clerk. I asked for a room. He asked me if I had prepaid the room. I told him I had no idea about any of this and I'm a walk-in. He said they are not allowed to accept money during that time period, so he couldn't give me a room. I showed him a wallet full of cash and asked if I could pay for the room the next day when this was over. Sorry, he said, they can only accept advance payments. I sighed and asked him where the restaurant is. He asked me if I had prepaid for meals there. Of course, I hadn't. Again he said they can't serve me if I haven't prepaid. I asked him what I'm supposed to do. I have no way to get back to my hotel in Tel Aviv. I have no way to eat. I have no place to sleep. He said the only thing he can do to help me is he can let me sleep on a couch in the hotel lobby. Thanks a lot! He also said I can take an Arab taxi back to Tel Aviv if I wanted to chance it. Three other people were in the same predicament. We decided to share an Arab taxi back to Tel Aviv and pray we wouldn't end up with our throats slit or something. The taxi driver couldn't have been any nicer. There was no problem at all. When I finally arrived back at my hotel, they at least let me eat since I already had a room there. Don't let that happen to you! The unpleasant thing about Israel was the food. It was the worst food I've ever had in my life, no matter where I went. I thought I was going to find New York style delis on virtually every street corner. Not so! Everything is middle eastern food. I think it's a trip well worth doing. I wouldn't go again, but I'm glad I went once.

Arrests at Moscow Gay Parade Ahead of Eurovision Song Contest MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- Dozens of gays and lesbian rights activists planning a parade in southwestern Moscow Saturday have been detained, Russia's Interfax news agency reported. The arrests included Nikolai Alexeyev, a prominent gay activist in Russia and his associate Nikolai Bayev, Interfax said, adding that more people trickling into the location were being arrested without explanations. Officials of Moscow's gay community had announced earlier plans to rally at Novopushkinsky Park in central Moscow, Interfax said. The arrests came ahead of tonight's Eurovision Song Contest, which is being held in Moscow on Saturday evening. The contest has a strong following among the gay and lesbian community. Journalists from various countries gathered at the scene as police barricaded the park with metal bars. Trucks with soldiers onboard are parked on nearby streets, Interfax said. UK gay human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell, in a statement on his Web site ahead of the march, said that it was being held to coincide with the final of the Eurovision Song Contest, which is being held in Moscow on Saturday night. "This parade is in defence of human rights. We are defending the often violated human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Russians. They want legal protection against discrimination and hate crimes. I support their cause. "Not all Russians are homophobic, but many are. Gay Russians suffer queer-bashing attacks, blackmail, verbal abuse and discrimination in education, housing and employment, This shames the great Russian nation." The Eurovision Song Contest, which began in 1956, sees singers and groups from a shortlist of European nations perform a specially-written song, before telephone votes from each nation decide the winner. In western Europe the contest is regard as a light entertainment spectacular, with a strong following among the gay and lesbian community. Many fans dress up, hold parties and gather round the TV to watch the three-hour plus televised marathon. In more recent years, however, eastern European nations, which take the contest much more seriously, have come to dominate. The contest is also known for its political edge, as nations either give zero points to traditional enemies -- or, if they are enjoying good relations, the maximum number of points, as a sign of friendship. The most famous winners of the contest were Abba, who came to attention as the Swedish entry with Waterloo in 1974. In 1988 Celine Dion won the contest while singing on behalf of Switzerland. The dance show Riverdance first came to attention as an interval act when the contest was held in Dublin in 1994. The organizers of the contest estimate that it is watched by 100 million people worldwide.

Welcome to the club.

"Religion has actually convinced people that there's an invisible man who lives in the sky who watches everything you do, every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a special list of ten things he does not want you to do. And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place, full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry forever and ever 'til the end of time!!! But He loves you." - George Carlin

You're feeling stingy because you're applying western standards to your concept of what things ought to cost in Thailand. It just doesn't work that way. Actually, I think people are making a mistake by paying more than standard fare because it encourages the drivers to try to cheat farang. That, by the way, also goes for the motorcycle taxis. Jomtien Complex to Sunee Plaza on a motorcycle taxi shouldn't be more than 30 baht, 40 at the most. If you wish to pay more than standard, by all means do so, but when giving the driver the extra money I suggest saying to him "Tip for you" so that he'll realize you do know the standard fare, but you wish to be generous with him.

I don't know what your friend saw, but I know of no gay venues on Soi Buakhao at all. Not one. There are plenty of mixed crowd venues, but no gay venues on that soi that I know of. There is a large lady-boy bar on Soi Buakhao, though. Cartier is not directly on Soi Buakhao. It's off Soi Buakhao on Soi Leng Kee 1, between Soi Buakhao and Third Road. I haven't been to Cartier in quite some time, so I really can't give you much in the way of first-hand experience, but I do know that many have said they love that bar and are delighted with the boys there. Give it a try. For its location I can't find any maps that show Cartier, but there is a hotel on the same soi called Opey de Place. Here is a link to their map, which is pretty good. Cartier is on the opposite side of the street, a little further up toward Third Road (just about where you see the letter "g" on the map for Soi Lengkee). http://www.opeydeplacepattaya.com/Location.htm However, I agree with your friend in that there are plenty of willing boys to be found on Soi Buakhao, both on the streets and working at the various entertainment venues. Also, many of the boys who work in gay venues live in apartments along Soi Buakhao, so finding boys in that area isn't very difficult at all. I also agree with your friend that people are missing out by not at least giving Soi Buakhao a try at least once.

If you were looking at the profiles of those who are online now, then of course you found only a handful. You're lucky you found any at all. Your post on this board says 8:59am (Thailand time). Apparently you were looking at Gay Romeo somewhere between 7:00am to 9:00am, Thailand time. I'll bet the "online now" box had a check in it. Wrong time of day to find many people in Thailand online. On the other hand, if you had looked at the profiles, but first un-checked the "online now" box, hundreds of profiles would have come up.

It isn't. I'm never happy when it becomes necessary to put on my moderator's hat, but that's what I'm going to do now before a minor dispute becomes a major dispute. I can see where this can go, so it's not going to go at all. Thread locked. Rest assured that if this continues on another thread, the posts will be deleted and whoever starts it up will be placed on moderated mode.

My friend, please believe me. For the sake of all concerned, I suggest the present risk also be the last risk. Some of the remarks you're making are offending posters here and I am receiving PMs complaining about it. I would rather not be placed in the position of having to do anything more than I'm doing in this post. If you simply stop making these kinds of remarks, then there is no problem for me to have to step in and solve.

I don't know a thing about India myself, but a good indicator, I think, is the fact that there are plenty of boys advertising themselves on Gay Romeo. I just did a Google search for "Gay India." Plenty of web sites come up.

The small towns can be difficult for a farang trying to find someone gay. Like any other small town, just about everyone knows everyone else. For that reason, often gays in Thai small towns won't be responsive. That doesn't mean you can't find anyone, but the odds are not that great.

In Thailand there has so far been only 2 cases of Swine Flu reported. That doesn't seem to me to be much of a cause for alarm just yet. However, if you do want cause for alarm, how about Chikungunya disease, a viral disease similar to Dengue Fever carried by mosquitoes. There's no shortage of mosquitoes in Thailand and so far over 15,000 cases have been reported. The following appears in the BANGKOK POST: _____ 15,000 Come Down with Mosquito Virus Published: 15/05/2009 An outbreak of Chikungunya disease, a virus spread by mosquitoes, has struck the South with over 15,000 people infected. No fatalities have been reported. Disease Control Department chief Somchai Chakrabhand said 15,240 people in 15 southern provinces had been infected with Chikungunya disease from January to April. The department has asked local health offices to intensify surveillance, particularly in the provinces of Songkhla, Pattani, Narathiwat, Yala, Trang and Phatthalung, where the most people have been admitted to hospital. He said the Public Health Ministry was confident it could contain the epidemic. The ministry had increased surveillance measures. Mr Somchai said a shortage of health staff posed a major problem for the ministry to deal with outbreaks of diseases, particularly the A (H1N1) flu. To contain the Chikungunya epidemic, health officials have been sent to tell people about the disease and how to destroy mosquito breeding grounds. He urged provincial governors to head Chikungunya suppression teams in their provinces as the ministry had inadequate medical equipment and staff. Chikungunya fever is a viral disease transmitted to humans by infected mosquitoes. Its symptoms are similar to dengue fever.

Not always, but from the posts on this thread, that's what it appears to be this time. For Brazil, I suggest sending GayThailand a PM. He can tell you everything you want to know about Brazil.

Chiang Rai is not exactly noted for its gay scene. The only two web sites I know of that even include the two gay bars in Chiang Rai on their lists anymore are: http://www.utopia-asia.com/thaicr.htm and http://www.thailandscene.com/other.shtml I have no idea whether the information is current. Also, Chiang Rai is nowhere near Mae Sot. It's hundreds of miles between the two and about a 9-hour bus ride.

Yes, and it's a good thing it didn't happen like that, but your post brings up the important issue of fire safety and it's never too often to give it serious thought.

Undercover agents? I doubt it. Every so often I'll read a news item about a Thai plain clothes police officer in a bar, but they're not in the bar to check farang. They're in the bar to check on any illegal activities in which the the bar might be involved. I'll repeat what I've said many times. I have never heard of a farang arrest for taking an under-age boy off from a bar. The only arrests I ever hear about stem from farang taking neighborhood boys home with them. The same holds true in this case, based on my interpretation of the articles. They don't say what led to the arrests, but it seems clear to me that these men were not taking boys from bars.

The following appears in THE NATION: _____ Thailand Nabs Three Europeans after Paedophile Tip Thai police on Tuesday arrested three European tourists, all in their 60s, on charges of sexually abusing minors at a beach resort. The suspects were rounded up in Pattaya, 100 kilometres south-east of Bangkok, after Thai police were tipped off by Interpol about a Swedish child sex tour to the beach resort, notorious for its sleazy entertainment scene. The men arrested were Swedish nationals Karl Erik Berglund, 60, and Lars Anders Ellerman, 65, and British national George Stanley Gibbs, 67. "These men have abused many children in the Pattaya area," said Police Major General Chaiwat Gaetworachai, head of Thailand's Child Protection Division. He acknowledged that several of the men on the sex tour had evaded arrest.

Ok, then the next logical question is for Geezer. Where do you have your clothes made?