Gaybutton

They don't look hot to me under those flashing lights. If the room were on fire they still wouldn't look hot to me under that kind of lighting. Maybe I'm alone in my opinion (it sure wouldn't be the first time). I wonder what others think.

There seems to be something wrong with the PM system. Since yesterday, when I try to open a PM sent to me, instead of opening the PM, it just opens the box to send a PM. In other words, if you sent me a PM lately, I can't read it until Stef and GayThailand can fix the problem. Instead of sending me a PM, please send an Email to me a gaybutton@gmail.com . If you sent a PM to me recently, but received no response, that's why. I imagine others are probably having the same problem. I suggest avoiding the PM system until our programing gurus can fix the problem.

I think the Pattaya Players has a lot of potential, so please take my post in the spirit in which it is intended. I mean this constructively. I believe the two biggest mistakes you made with Niddy's Nook were over-advertising and hyping it up beyond what it actually was. I believe those were the main reasons why it eventually failed. I believe you are making precisely the same kind of mistakes with the Pattaya Players, and it's going to cause harm, rather than be beneficial, to Pattaya Players because so many people find the over-advertising annoying. My unsolicited advice is to advertise the production just once, about two weeks before ticket sales begin, and leave it at that. People can read and I think they'll appreciate it much more if you handle it that way, rather than a barrage of advertising and hype posts. Up to you . . .

No need for apologies. I am not an owner, but I hold a 30-year prepaid lease on my house, which essentially is the same thing when taking monthly expenditures into consideration. Obviously, since my lease is prepaid, I don't have to worry about a monthly mortgage or rental payment. I don't think any of that is even taken into consideration. I know some people who pay rent as low as 3500 baht per month and some people who pay over 100,000 baht per month. As far as the minimum monthly requirement is concerned, for visa purposes it doesn't matter. If you can show a proof-of-income statement with at least the 66,000 baht minimum, as far as Immigration is concerned that's fine no matter how much your monthly expenditures may be. How much you pay for mortgage or rent, or how much your other average monthly expenditures are, is not even asked.

Friday, May 23: Opening rates: US Dollar: 31.76 Euro: 49.84 British Pound: 62.76 Australian Dollar: 30.25 Canadian Dollar: 32.0675 _____ Closing rates: US Dollar: 31.88 Euro: 50.065 British Pound: 62.99 Australian Dollar: 30.4925 Canadian Dollar: 32.185

I just tried to do that for you, but I don't have access to an area of the web site at which that is possible. I suggest sending a PM to both GayThailand and Stef. Maybe one of them can do it for you. Failing that, you could always re-register under 'Khortose' and use that handle from now on.

It turns out that I was wrong. Today a close friend, someone who would know, informed me the actual minimum is 66,000 baht per month.

I don't know if this would be of any help, but if no one responds, maybe a starting point would be the Chiangmai Mail ( http://www.chiangmai-mail.com ). They do have online classified ads, including real estate ads. Also, perhaps if you contact the Chiangmai Mail via their Email, maybe someone will respond.

Obviously it's quite a project. Has there been any word yet about their projected opening date?

Once again, if you are traveling to or from the USA I suggest calling Rhonda at Norcross Travel, the travel agent I have been recommending for many years, before you commit to another price. She almost always is able to save you hundreds of dollars, no matter what you find from any other source. Her toll free number is 1-888-888-7157. Make sure you are speaking to Rhonda, not someone else.

I hate to be a party pooper, but I didn't like the video. The constant flashing of strobes and color changes drives me crazy. What's appealing about that, whether live or on video? Can't they just shine a steady light? I'd much rather it be that way than the changes nearly twice per second. Maybe the rest of you like it, but it doesn't appeal to me at all. All it does for me is to give me a headache. Other than pushy mama-sans, overpriced drinks, and overpriced off fees, I can't think of anything much more annoying to me than that kind of lighting. The boys might be particularly hot, but if the presentation of the go-go boys includes that kind of lighting, I'd be in that bar for about two minutes before I'd go elsewhere.

Thursday, May 22: Opening rates: US Dollar: 31.64 Euro: 49.88 British Pound: 62.34 Australian Dollar: 30.3575 Canadian Dollar: 32.03 Once again, the Canadian dollar has surpassed the US dollar in value. So far, with the exception of the US dollar, which is now in decline, the other major currencies are still increasing in value. __________ Closing rates: US Dollar: 31.70 Euro: 50.01 British Pound: 62.52 Australian Dollar: 30.3825 Canadian Dollar: 32.06

I make it seem easy because it is. There's nothing difficult about it at all. I have no idea what the Australian embassy requires. Thailand requires a minimum income of 72,000 baht per month, as I recall. I could easily be wrong about that figure. I'm relying on memory, and my memory has seen better days. Since you are still in Australia, a phone call to the Thai embassy could get you an accurate answer. None of it has to remain in your bank account. You can spend it as you wish. You don't have to prove how much goes into your bank account, if you are using the proof-of-income method. Thailand merely requires that you have a Thai bank account at all and that funds go into that account from abroad. That's what the letter from the bank certifies. The letter says nothing about the amount going in. As far as your actual income is concerned, whether through cash, shares, or anything else, that's what the proof-of-income statement is all about, so that depends on what the Australian embassy will accept. Assuming you can prove your income, if nobody with experience at the Australian embassy responds, I advise either bringing documentation with you or simply springing for a call to the Australian embassy in Bangkok and asking them what they require. Maybe they just take your word for it too.

Sorry, I didn't get today's opening rates. Wednesday, May 21: Closing rates: US Dollar: 31.71 Euro: 49.795 British Pound: 62.28 Australian Dollar: 30.3575 Canadian Dollar: 31.9075

It's somewhere between 'not a pot to piss in' and 'a mint of money.'

This was sent to me by a friend who represents the Weekly report: _____ "Three Sunee Plaza A Go Go bars are closed for 30 days after receiving notices on 14 May from the police: Villa Rouge/Kaos, Good Boys, and Minou."

Who knows? Whoever you ask tells a story different from everyone else you ask. You know when we'll know when these bars will really reopen? When they reopen.

I noticed there is an announcement that the Minou bar was closed, but nothing was said about when they will reopen. One of the mama-sans there is a friend of mine and told me the bar was ordered to remain closed for a month. If that is correct, then they should reopen around mid June.

You've noticed that too. It is also quite rare to hear about raids on any of the girlie bars. Every so often a group of bigwigs in law enforcement takes a publicity walk through Walking Street and that's about it. It seems obvious to me that the gay bars and gay farang are the primary police targets. Just why that is would be debatable, but that's the way it is. You would have to go a long way to convince me there are no heterosexual pedophiles in Thailand, no Thai pedophiles (you never hear about any of them being arrested), and that every girlie bar fully complies with the laws and never hires under-age girls.

I called the US Embassy this morning. I reached someone in American Citizens Services and explained what is on their web site. He said, yes, there definitely must be some mistake because the embassy doesn't even have a consular visit scheduled for Pattaya at all in May. He asked for the URL of that announcement, which I qave him, and he put me on hold. When he came back he said, "Sir, I don't know how you got that URL, but what you are looking at is our announcement for May, 2007, not May 2008." He gave me the URL for the latest correct announcement, which is: http://bangkok.usembassy.gov/embassy/wwc/r...may-9-2008.html So, the announcement above would be just fine if you enter a time machine and go back a year. Just so nobody is confused, there is no consular visit in either Pattaya or Phuket this month, and the Udon Thani visit has already come and gone. The posted announcement is incorrect.

About ten years ago I would have made the same assumption. Now I'm not so sure. Much has changed over the years and I don't think it's so easy, if one has enough money, to buy one's way out of this kind of trouble anymore. What I do know is that in certain criminal matters, it is legally possible in Thailand to reach a financial settlement with the victim and/or the victim's family and end the matter that way. What I don't know is whether that applies in pedophile cases. I think it's been about six or seven months, or so, since two farangs who live in Pattaya were caught in Khorat engaging in under-age sex. According to the news articles these two would make visits to Khorat on a regular basis for that purpose. Shortly after the major publicity died down one of them started showing up at the beach almost daily. I have no idea whether he bought his way out of trouble, was released on bail, or what. I haven't seen him lately. I haven't seen him for about two or three months. I have no idea whether he simply stopped coming to the beach, was able to leave Thailand, is in jail, was deported, was prosecuted in his home country, bought his way out of it, or what ended up happening to him. These cases are reported at the time of arrest, but I never see any follow-up publicity regarding the final outcome.

See: http://www.pattayapeople.com/default.asp?F...IdArticle=11864 I'm beginning to think there must be a convention in town.

Those dates are all Sundays, not Fridays. Unless the embassy has somehow managed to cause Sundays to actually occur on Fridays, I'd say somebody at the embassy made a slight error. It's midnight in Thailand at the moment. I'll call the embassy in the morning and see what I can find out.

Right. It was explained so clearly on that thread. How could I possibly have failed to realize?

Here is something I didn't know until today. Did you know that if you have a Thai bank account, you can add to your One-Two-Call time at an ATM or through your online banking? It never occurred to me you could do that until I spotted a woman in front of me, on an ATM line, doing it. Until now, I always thought you had to buy a time card at a convenience store or mobile phone shop. You can buy additional time in increments of 50, 100, 500, and 1000 baht. You can do this at any ATM that represents a Thai bank with which you have an account. If you have a Bangkok Bank account, then you have to do it at a Bangkok Bank ATM, using your Bangkok Bank ATM card. It won't work if you are at, for example, a Bangkok Bank ATM, but are using a Bank of Ayudhya ATM card. Just put your card into the ATM, enter your code, and press the button for "payments." You'll easily follow the rest. Out of curiosity I checked my online banking. Sure enough, you can do the same thing online. It's not just One-Two-Call. All of the phone systems that require time cards can be done at ATMs or online. Actually, I don't use One-Two-Call. I have an account with DTAC and I receive a bill once per month, which I can pay online or at any DTAC shop. I prefer DTAC to One-Two-Call because of the convenience of a monthly bill, rather than having to run out and buy time cards all the time. Also, DTAC's per-minute charge is less than One-Two-Call. I still prefer DTAC to One-Two-Call, but at least for me, One-Two-Call just became a lot more convenient if for some reason I ever switch over. By the way, a farang can use DTAC in the same way One-Two-Call is used - with time cards. A farang can only open an account in which he is billed each month if he has a work permit. If you want to do it the way I'm doing it, then you need to find a Thai (he must be at least 20 years old) who will trust you to pay the bill every month. He has to take out a DTAC account in his name, list your address as the billing address, and give you the SIM card.