Gaybutton

And that's a perfect example of why utter idiots such as those who thought it was a great idea to hurt Jim's feelings like that or people such as that moronic, gutless coward who actually sent him a threatening Email, hidden of course by a program to make the Email untraceable, ought to be completely disregarded. People like that are worthy only of contempt. I'd like to see any one of them life a finger to help someone else or spend one baht out of their own pockets to help people the way Jim does. Those are the people who ought to be leaving the message boards, not Jim.

I have never heard about any farang having any problem whatsoever in that situation. No arrest and no fines. No law says that it is incumbent upon a farang to check the ID of anybody. You're being foolish if you don't and you would have definite problems if the boy is found to be under age, but as far as it being your responsibility to check whether the boy is actually Thai or whether he is in Thailand legally, that's not your problem and, as far as I know, the police do not regard it as your problem. In this case, the boy would be in trouble, but not the farang. I know of no law that prohibits sex with boys of other nationalities provided that the boy is at least 18 years old.

No problem. He'll just buy the prison . . .

I don't think anyone is disputing that, but the question is not about that. The question is what did Pope Pius XII do that makes the Catholic Church want to canonize him as a saint? There must be a reason. I'd like to know what it is.

I would also contact both the bank and the police to report it. THE NATION now has a graphic display that shows how it's done and what the scamming devices look like. See: http://nationmultimedia.com/admin/specials...d/file/How2.pdf

I see. I didn't read the other forums and I almost never read one in particular, the one on which I'm guessing the attacks to which you referred occurred. The fact that he was attacked on that one comes as no surprise. If anything, the surprise is that anyone who posts on certain forums would not know in advance that they will end up attacked. That's virtually a given. Well, it doesn't happen on this forum. That's because I'm a "control freak," remember? And those are the freaks that need controlling. However, I still don't understand why, if he was attacked on other forums, he would remove his post on this one. There wasn't a damned thing wrong with his post and I hope he reinstates it so that people who wish to discuss it can do so intelligently. Of course, the issue can still be discussed whether he reinstates the post or not, but Travelerjim's opinion is just as valid as anyone's and if someone dislikes his opinion, then they can just fuck off if they can't debate the issue rather than attack the poster. Also, there's really no need for anyone to post on multiple forums. Most people reading one forum read all of them anyway.

Here are some more details, from THE NATION: _____ Protecting ATMs against Skimmers By The Nation Published on March 11, 2009 A special device to prevent the theft of information embedded in ATM cards is being installed in more than 30,000 ATM machines nationwide, Phol Thanachote, chairman of the Automated Teller Machines' businesses community, said yesterday. The community is also considering installing devices that jam wireless signals in areas near ATM machines, to prevent stolen information from being relayed wirelessly, he said. Stickers will help ATM users determine which machine has been protected. Skimming techniques have been in use for the past few years, though it has become more difficult to come up with protective measures due to fast-developing technology. However, he said, educated users should be able to protect themselves because they know about the tricks being used by scammers. On Monday, the Thai Bankers' Association issued a statement saying that they would consider compensating victims on a case-by-case basis, but would be completely responsible if victims can prove that they were not at fault. In Chumphon, three commercial banks yesterday agreed in principle to pay money to victims who have lost money through skimming after an investigation proved that their cash had been stolen, not lost through carelessness. The Bangkok Bank branch said its decision would soon make a final decision and make payments from March 23 onwards. Kasikorn Thai and Thai Military Banks have not coordindated with the provincial authority's taskforce in Chumphon about the conditions and the date of payments, senior provincial official Suthin Phayak said. "We expect that they have contacted their victims and made personal agreements." Police in Chumphon's Lang Suan district said they were going after four more suspects, all part of a Malaysian ring led by a man called Teo Puex Heng. So far, 15 victims have registered with Lang Suan police, who police say have made agreements with the three commercial banks. In Chumphon, around Bt3 million has been stolen so far. Police had earlier said the racketeers had stolen around Bt50 million from victims in Surat Thani, Phetchaburi, Trang, Krabi, and Songkhla over the past five months.

The following appears in THE NATION: _____ Banks to Protect ATMs Against Skimming Scams A special device to prevent the theft of information embedded in ATM cards is being installed in more than 30,000 ATM machines nationwide, Phol Thanachote, chairman of the Automated Teller Machines' businesses community, said Tuesday. The community is also considering installing devices that jam wireless signals in areas near ATM machines, to prevent stolen information from being relayed wirelessly, he said. Stickers will help ATM users determine which machine has been protected. Skimming techniques have been in use for the past few years, though it has become more difficult to come up with protective measures due to fast developing technology. However, he said, educated users should be able to protect themselves because they know about the tricks being used by scammers.

I know of no troll posts that appeared on this thread. What troll posts? What post on this thread appears to be a troll post? Oogleman, why did you say that? Travelerjim, why did you eliminate your original post and replace it with an apology? Am I missing something here? Every response that was written on this thread is still there, completely intact. Where are you getting the idea that anyone here was offended? I see nothing to indicate that in any of the responses and I saw nothing offensive in your original post. And even if someone was offended, too bad. That's their problem. Anybody posting here has the right to post an opposing opinion, as long as it contains no personal attacks, but nobody posted anything that indicates they were offended by your original post and I see no attacks or even opposition to your opinion. Also, you know that if someone had written an attack post, then I would have immediately gotten rid of the post and would have placed whoever wrote it on moderated mode. Where is this coming from? I don't understand what the problem is. Why are you leaving this board?

Does the first class or second class accommodation have any electrical outlets?

The following appears in PATTAYA ONE: _____ Pattaya Music Festival 2009 Announcement. On Tuesday Morning at the VIP meeting room at Pattaya City Hall, Khun Wirawat, Deputy Mayor of Pattaya chaired a further preparation meeting for the upcoming Pattaya Music Festival which will take place between 20th and 22nd March. Representatives from the GMM-Grammy Record Company and the organizing committee were in attendance. It was confirmed that there will be three stages, one at the Bali Hai Port at the south end of Pattaya Beach, one on Pattaya Beach Road between Soi’s 4 and 5 and a third stage will be located further up the beach in front of the Central Pattaya intersection. Singers and groups from Thailand and around the region are set to appear at the event. Some of the featured international artists include Cirque de Freak from Australia and Girls Generation from South Korea. ____________________ For photos and a second article, see: http://www.pattayadailynews.com/shownews.p...NEWS=0000008597

Ask at Thais for Life. They might be interested. Some of those types of items eventually become collectors items and may already have value. Don't be so quick to throw it all away. My mother did that to the baseball card collection I had as a child. If I still had those cards, now they would be worth quite a bundle. Sometimes I see programs listed for sale on eBAY, and people do buy them.

The next PGF (Pattaya Gay Festival) dinner will be held at the La Dolce Vita restaurant on Sunday, April 5 at 7:00pm. There is a very good review of the restaurant, including location and directions, at: http://www.pattayamail.com/812/dining.shtml The information is included on the following flier. You can make reservations through Jim Lumsden at The Ambiance (telephone: 038 424 099) or you can make reservations online at: http://www.liberty-computers.com/mail_pgf/...cation_form.php _________________________________________

It's a problem, but I don't see it as particularly catastrophic. Even if someone is thinking with his crotch, rather than his head, and takes a boy off without checking his ID, then the boy will be refused admittance to most reputable hotels if he has no ID. Another part of the equation is that I know of no incidents, ever, in which a farang was arrested when he took a bar boy off. So, this is not necessarily a big problem, but it becomes one when a bar tries to pass off a boy working illegally as if he were a boy working legitimately. Obviously, the safest and most cautious thing to do is to take boys off only if they can produce an Thai national ID card, checking to make sure the card is actually his own, and that he is at least 18 years old. If you do otherwise, then you have to judge for yourself how much of a risk you're taking. I do agree that the bars are wrong to hire boys who are working illegally and it's even more wrong if the bars encourage the boys to lie to customers about who they really are.

Wal-Mart

Oh, come on! You say that as if it's the adult version of a child saying, "But he did it too." Can you explain to me how the fact that the silence of the Americans and British justifies the Pope's silence or enhances his qualifications to be canonized as a saint? If anything, the USA and UK did what they did in the name of politics and trying to fight a war. That doesn't make it right in any sense, but I thought the Pope was supposed to be acting in the name of religion and virtue, hardly the same thing as politics or war. I think the USA and UK were dead wrong to be silent about the Holocaust when it was happening. I also think the Pope, who is supposed to be infallible, was also dead wrong. Why didn't he try to do anything about it? Why didn't he ever say one word about it? Just for the sake of argument, suppose he was totally unaware of the Holocaust. Again, what it is that qualifies him as a saint or motivates the present day Catholic Church to be moving in the direction of canonizing him as a saint? With respect to Catholics, that is something else that made it to my "I Don't Get It" list.

To find out, click the following link and watch the video. I thought it was truly fascinating. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/03/06/...ail;mostPopular

That's not 100% true. There are resorts out here, mainly along the reservoir.

It's not nearly as bad as you might think. When you live out here it doesn't take very long to find ways around most of the problems and you quickly get used to the days and times that traffic problems are likely. The good news is that during the times you would normally go to and from the beach and to and from the gay venues there is rarely a traffic problem at all. Rush hour is between about 5:00pm to about 7:00pm. That's when you usually run into serious traffic delays out here, but that happens only intermittently. Mornings, however, are rarely ever backed up. I have no idea why. Personally, I wouldn't object to living in a luxury condo at View Talay, but since that's not affordable for me, I'm perfectly happy right where I am. Unless I could afford a luxury condo at the beach, if I had to do it all over again, knowing what I know now, I would still choose to live on the Dark Side. I would not want to live on the Dark Side, however, without my own transportation unless I live relatively close to Sukhumvit, where public transportation is readily available on all the Dark Side sois.

All anyone needs to do is send me an Email (gaybutton@gmail.com) or PM about a week before your arrival. Let me know where you intend to stay and how long you will be in Pattaya. If you have a phone number in Thailand, better still. Let me know your intentions. Are you house hunting? Do you simply want a tour of the area? Do you want to go to one of the Dark Side restaurants? Just let me know what you want to do so that I'll have some idea of how much time is required. Assuming I'll be in town myself, we'll probably be able to work out an arrangement. I'll see Email much sooner than I'll see a PM. I can check Email on my mobile phone, but I can't check PMs.

With all due respect to Catholics, so far nobody has said anything about why the Catholic Church wishes to canonize this Pope as a saint in the first place. I am not trying to bash anything. I'm trying to understand. What is it about this Pope that qualifies him as a saint? I don't think there would be too many people who would dispute that whatever he was, he was no Mother Theresa. So, what is it that makes him a candidate for sainthood?

The following appears in the BANGKOK POST: _____ Airport Thieves Under Spotlight Police Believe a Number of Gangs are Operating at Suvarnabhumi By: Saritdet Marukatat and Wassayos Ngamkham Police don't believe the arrest of three suspects last month will end the scourge of thieves targeting outbound passengers at Suvarnabhumi airport. "I believe there is more than one gang operating at the airport," tourist police chief Adis Ngamchitsuksri said. Suspects Amorn Wisetya, Suranart Channum and Pairat Saengpong were arrested on Feb 26 after the Tourist Police Division was contacted by Mohammad Umar. Mr Mohammad, a 57-year-old Qatari, left Bangkok on Feb 11 only to discover after picking up his luggage in Doha that a bag had been damaged and the lock broken. A mobile phone and gold ring were among the items missing. Tourist police focused their inquiries on the assumption the bag had been interfered with between the check-in counter and the aircraft. Lady Luck was on their side too, as Mr Mohammad was alerted that someone was using his stolen designer Samsung Giorgio Armani mobile, thanks to a special function on the phone which allows it to be tracked even after the SIM card has been replaced. The investigators used the new phone number to track the suspects. They discovered the phone had been sold to a shop in the Rangsit area of Pathum Thani and the ring was sold to a shop in Don Muang district in Bangkok. Finding the stolen items not only made Mr Mohammad happy but also proved the police theory correct. The thieves worked for a baggage handling agent commissioned by Qatar Airways. According to the tourist police commander, they damaged the bag while it was being loaded on to the aircraft. Once the thieves targeted a bag, it took them just a few minutes to break its lock and steal whatever valuables it contained. Nobody suspected what they were up to as they were the only ones inside the plane's hold, stacking luggage. They stole small but valuable items as they were easy to conceal. While such items did not translate into big money for the thieves, stealing them greatly damaged the reputation of Thailand. And while airlines were informed about the problem, they preferred to keep it quiet by paying damages to the passengers so the issue would not hurt their reputation. The next step for police was to try and get undercover officers to work with baggage handling firms. The hard part of this, said Pol Maj-Gen Adis, was to get his agents involved in the scam. Suvarnabhumi is not the only airport in Thailand facing this problem. A similar complaint had been sent from a budget airline flying out of Phuket airport. Tourist police investigators are now investigating. After seeing so many such cases, Pol Maj-Gen Adis can offer a word of advice on baggage security. "Passengers should put all valuables in hardcover baggage because it is more difficult for criminals to break. Do not use soft baggage," he said. But Thailand's main airport has more problems than thieving baggage handlers. Passengers have filed complaints about luggage being snatched or pick-pocketing in the departures area. On Jan 15, Tahar Boutrigue, an Algerian, was arrested after police followed him when a passenger reported his luggage stolen two days earlier. Tourist police say when they raided his apartment they found him with a stolen notebook computer, camera and bag. He had targeted people who left their luggage unattended, Pol Maj-Gen Adis said. On Feb 27, two Mongolians, Tsedendorj Tserendash and Chinbold Darisuren, were arrested on charges of pick-pocketing a purse from Japanese tourists on the departures floor. In addition to the Algerians and Mongolians, Laotians, Chinese and South Americans have been arrested, according to the Tourist Police Division. Their prime operating time is from 7pm to 9pm, said Pol Maj-Gen Adis. That is when Suvarnabhumi's departures hall is busiest with travellers checking-in for their night flights. "Japanese travelers are the favourite target for Asian pickpockets, especially those from China," Pol Maj-Gen Adis said.

Not that I've ever seen. The baht buses that operate within Pattaya are blue. The ones that operate along Sukhumvit are white. The ones that operate on Soi Neurnplabwan are red. I have seen blue baht buses on the Dark Side many times, but I believe those were either hired from within the city or are simply baht bus drivers going home, going to work, or are out on the Dark Side going somewhere themselves. Sometimes people on the Dark Side make an arrangement for a blue baht bus to pick them up and take them somewhere. I've done that if I'm going to the bus station with too much luggage to carry on a motorcycle taxi if I'm not going to take my car. I've never spotted just where the red buses originate. However, if you intend to explore the Dark Side, I wouldn't plan to rely on catching a red baht bus. Even if you catch one, lord-only-knows how long it will take you to catch another one to take you back. Unlike within the city, out on the Dark Side there are very few red buses. You're much better off using a motorcycle taxi, renting a motorcycle or car, hiring a baht bus for private use for a few hours, or even using Shank's Mare. Or, as I said above, you can also contact me and I'll be glad to take you through myself if I'm available. Given my usual social life, I'll probably be available. However, I will expect anyone who asks me to take him to return the favor by at least putting some fuel in the car.

There can be any number of reasons. The fact that your particular flight was 'standing room only' doesn't necessarily mean all flights are like that. It could be that the airlines are not running as many flights as they were a year ago. The real question is how many hotel rooms are occupied this year in comparison to a year ago. How much money is being spent in comparison to a year ago. Apparently, not nearly as much is being spent. Thai Airways recently reported huge losses. Another factor is the way people spend their money once they get here. Are people staying in the more expensive, luxurious hotels or are they now opting for less expensive accommodations? Are they eating in the better restaurants or eating in the cheaper places? Are they spending as much on entertainment? Are they spending as much in the shops? Are they staying as long as a year ago? All those things, plus much more, have to be entered into the equation.

Now that the brouhaha about this seems to have settled down, I'm wondering if anyone who recently renewed was actually asked to provide additional proof of income, beyond the embassy statement.