Gaybutton

For those of you who enjoy saunas, there is a very nice one just outside of Pattaya. I imagine most of you will never go to this one for two reasons: 1. It's not a gay sauna. It's open to men and women and there are no privacy rooms or dark rooms such as one would expect at a gay sauna. 2. It's out in the hinterlands, east of Sukhumvit Highway and east of the railroad tracks. Without transportation you'll have a rough time getting there, although I do notice on their flier that they have a taxi service. This sauna has a web site at: http://www.pattayasauna.com I went out there today and had a look. I liked it. Whether you will like it or not depends on individual preferences. The hours are 10:00 AM - 10:00 PM. Although the web site says the price for men is 200 baht, their flier (see attachment) says 150 baht. I asked and the admission price is 150 baht despite what it says on their web site. You can stay all day if you like. Massages are not included in the admission price. You'll have to pay extra for those. Somehow I doubt that the massages are "happy ending" massages. The telephone number is 038-410-735. They do speak English fairly well. If you have no transportation, but wish to give it a try, then I suggest giving them a call. I'll let the flier and their web site speak for themselves. I realize that most of you are probably not interested, but I posted the information for those who are.

It's low tourist season in Thailand now. It's a wonderful time to be here. There are no crowds at the beach. On most days, if you drive, parking is readily available at the beach just about any time you get there. Baht buses are far less crowded. Restaurants and hotels that are usually packed and require reservations are mostly easy to simply walk in and be accommodated. Domestic flights and traveling by bus or train is much easier now - easy to get tickets and good seats. More and more boys are showing up at the beach, looking for farang. Many boys go home for Songkran and decide not to return. That's when many have had enough and decide to remain at home with their mothers and do whatever it is they do there. That means this is a time of year when many new boys start showing up, seeking their fortune. There never really was much in the way of crowds at many of the bars even during high season, but now there is even less. Less farang and more boys. Not bad at all . . . The traffic problems do not seem to be any better now than they were during high season, but that makes sense in that those who drive probably live here year-round anyway. Fortunately for those who reside in Pattaya, a couple days after Songkran ended we started getting heavy rain showers daily. That means Mother Nature is filling the reservoirs and there is a very good chance there will be no water shortages this year. On another thread I pointed out that the only thing necessary to bring on the rain is for me to have my car washed. I had my car washed the third morning after Songkran and by the same afternoon the rains came and they haven't stopped since! It really is low season now and it will remain that way for the next several months. If you can get to Thailand, this is a great time to come. You have a good chance of finding lower airfares now too. I know two gentlemen who just arrived from the east coast of the USA. They got round-trip airfare that cost them just above US $900.

Ok, I now know that Sunee was closed, but Boyztown was open, although not serving alcohol. From what I understand we can expect the same next weekend. If I hear of any changes I'll post them. Everything should be open in all locations and operating normally as of this evening (Sunday).

This evening I ate dinner with friends at Sammy's in Sunee Plaza. Every bar is closed. All of them. I imagine it is the same in Pattayaland, but I did not go over to check. The bars will be open tomorrow (Sunday) night. I imagine it will be the same next weekend, another election weekend, as well.

I'm sure many of you know Robbie, of Le Café Royale hotel in Pattaya. I am sorry to have to report that I have just been informed that he has passed away as a result of his long battle with cancer. I understand he was in Amsterdam when he died and that is where funeral arrangements are being made. I also understand a memorial service will take place for him in Pattaya, but I have no information yet about a date, time, or place. If anyone is able to obtain any information before I do, please post it. It is so sad. So many people have passed on so recently. Both Ians from Le Café Royale are gone, WowPow, and now Robbie. My condolences to his family and to his many friends. It is yet another terrible loss for us all.

Once again, folks, I don't make these things up. I'll let you read it for yourself: http://www.pattayadailynews.com/shownews.p...NEWS=0000005780

I have to apologize. I misunderstood Hugh's closing date. The restaurant is still open. The final day will be Wednesday. So, if you've never been to the Symphony Brasserie, you still have a few days to get there and try it. If you get there, I think you'll hope, as I do, that Hugh will decide to open another restaurant. We're going to lose a marvelous restaurant, but you still have a few days left to enjoy it.

I don't disagree with anything you wrote. All true! Have you seen the photos posted on the Gay Ting and Tong board? ( http://www.gaytingtong.com/topic2684.html ) They made me realize that the only Songkran experience I have is right here in Pattaya. Now I'm thinking about going to a village somewhere next year.

They did. I guess this thread is going to be a dual subject now. To answer your question, yes English is taught in the schools. The trouble is that so many Thais lack the opportunity to obtain more than a few years of education and a great many of the Thai English teachers can hardly handle English themselves. I'm surprised that so many Thais do manage to handle English quite well. I'm also surprised at your comment that you've been here a month, yet never encounter Thais who speak decent English. You haven't been talking to the same Thais I talk to. Most Thais I meet do speak a fair amount of English. As a matter of fact, I find it quite rare to meet Thais who can't speak any English at all. You can survive quite nicely, at least in major cities, without learning a single word of Thai. Many farang do just that, but that's all you can really do . . . survive. It doesn't take much effort to learn a good bit of Thai. I suggest trying. You say you stay in Thailand six months each year. If you make an effort to learn you'll be surprised at how that makes things much easier and will enhance your life. You don't have to, but if you do I'll bet you'll be glad you did.

According to the PATTAYA MAIL, the bars can remain open, but alcohol sales will be prohibited. See: http://www.pattayamail.com/current/news.shtml#hd6

Ok, my latest information is that alcohol is not going to be permitted this weekend and also next weekend. That information is second-hand, so there is still the possibility that I could be wrong. I still have not heard whether the bars will be allowed to open at least on a soft drinks only basis. Once I know, I'll post what I find out, but at this moment I do not have any bar information yet. I haven't seen anything more about it in the PATTAYA CITY NEWS or any other local media, but the new edition of the PATTAYA MAIL will be out in a few hours. Maybe the details will be there. That's the best I can tell you, for now.

I second the motion. I have always felt it is much more obligatory for farangs to learn Thai than it is for Thais to learn English. It is helpful for Thais when they do learn enough English to at least effectively communicate, but I agree with TOQ. I lived in the Miami, Florida area, where there is a very large Cuban population. A major area of Miami is known as "Little Havana." Many of the people living there make no attempt to learn to speak English at all, despite the fact they are living in the USA. There are many areas in Miami where if you can't speak Spanish, then you can't communicate at all. I always thought their refusal to try to learn to speak English was a bad idea and I still think so. It limits them and it limits those who cannot speak Spanish. In many ways you end up with that house divided against itself that Abraham Lincoln warned about. To my mind, if a foreigner chooses to live in Thailand, then it is his responsibility to try to learn at least basic Thai communication, not the other way around.

There's the solution to your problem. Call Killin. He can recommend what you need. He probably knows exactly what that device is too. If he doesn't know, he does speak English, good English, and can easily find out and can also tell you if Tuk Com is selling it at a reasonable price, whatever it is, and he can get answers to the questions.

I just received a telephone call from Hugh Millar. To set the record straight, yes he is closing. Actually he already has closed and is in the process of finalizing everything. He says he is not leaving Thailand at all. He intends to remain here in Pattaya, but has not decided what he intends to do next. He will let us know once he has made his decisions. In any case, the Symphony Brasserie is now history.

One of my favorite restaurants in Pattaya is Cherry's, located on Third Road, just across the street from the X-yte disco. At some point in mid-May (they're not sure of the exact date yet) they will be closing down their present location and moving, literally, around the corner. Also directly across from the X-yte disco and on the corner north of Cherry's is a fairly new Indian restaurant (which I understand is also quite good, but I have not tried it yet). The soi on which that Indian restaurant is located is the soi to which Cherry's will be moving. The new location will be about 100 meters up that soi. When I get a chance I'll go over there and see if I can provide better directions, but I doubt that anyone will have any problems finding the new location. The reason for the move is that the restaurant is a success. It has become so popular that now they need a larger venue. It will be the same food, the same service, and the same prices. I certainly wish them luck in their new location. The present location will be open until they actually make the move. If you've never tried Cherry's, then you're missing one of the best restaurants at some of the most reasonable prices in Pattaya. If you've never been there, I highly recommend adding Cherry's to your "Must" list when in Pattaya.

My counterargument would be that the ostriches don't put their heads in the sand until something actually occurs to frighten them.

I've often stated that I know and understand virtually nothing about economics. I also know little or nothing about wine. All I know is what I like. When it comes to economics the only thing I know is that I have yet to ever see a prediction about what will happen with the exchange rate turn out to be right. Some economists say the exchange rate will crash. Some say it will remain relatively stable. Some say it will improve. A wise old friend of mine gave me a piece of advice many years ago: Don't worry until you have something to worry about. I'm not going to worry about the exchange rate either improving or going to hell until it happens.

As many of you know, there are two election dates coming up. Tuesday, May 29 is the election date for the Provincial Government of Chonburi. Sunday, May 4 is the election date for the Mayor of Pattaya. On election days the bars are often ordered to be closed. Bar owners and holiday makers are already complaining about even more bar closings, but those complaints may be premature. As of the time of this post no decision has been made, or at least nobody seems to know whether a decision has been made or not. Confusion reigns! The following appears in the PATTAYA CITY NEWS: _____ Election Fever Continues Here in Pattaya Election fever has well and truly arrived here in Pattaya with two important dates for your diary should you be eligible to vote here in Thailand. On 29th April the election for the Provincial Government will take place which will be closely followed on 4th May with the election for the Mayor of Pattaya. Canvassing for votes by all parties involved in both elections is now well underway and from the feedback we are receiving from the streets, many voters are becoming confused with who is running in which election. Despite this candidates are trudging the streets of Pattaya at this time to pursued voters to choose their particular group. Concerns from bar owners that two more “dry” days for bars in the Pattaya area have been raised and despite attempts to gain a clear answer from Police and local authorities, we cannot confirm at this time if bars will be forced to close or sell only soft drinks on both election days. We will do our best to get this information to you as soon as we know.

Even if you can get WiFi, that doesn't mean it's going to work. A friend of mine stays at a View Talay condo, 10th floor, and he does have WiFi available. Every so often it actually works. He gets totally frustrated with it. It works when it wants to, and much of the time it doesn't want to. I agree with Travelerjim. Assuming you're going to be staying where you are for a long time, and can be assured of getting the same room whenever you are in Pattaya, it would be far less expensive to have a phone line with ADSL installed. I use Maxnet and it almost always works beautifully. Sometimes it gets slow and maybe once every two or three months, or so, I lose my connection for a day or two, but otherwise it works quite well and is acceptably fast. You're not going to find much of anything in Pattaya just yet that will give you greater speed unless you get a dedicated line, which is much more expensive. If you do decide to go with Maxnet, ask them if they can throw in a router. Sometimes they do or will give you one at a discount. If they won't, you can get a good router at Tuk Com for about 2000 baht. I use the D-Link router and it works just fine. I think it's one of the least expensive brands. I can't remember how much it cost to have the telephone line installed, but it wasn't all that much. It cost about 3300 baht for the initial fees for Maxnet, plus abut 2200 baht for the router. The whole thing came to far less than 15,000 baht. My monthly MaxNet bill is 1070 baht plus 140 baht for the TOT phone line, making my monthly Internet service fees 1210 baht. I don't even have a telephone attached to the Maxnet line, so I have no associated bills for phone calls. I don't know what the guy at Tuk Com is offering, but before I would buy it I would at least want to know just what it is, would want to see it, would want to see it demonstrated, would want to know where he's getting it from and what his own cost for it is, and I would want to know if any additional fees or monthly bills are involved and how much. I would also want to know if the device has a warranty, how long the warranty is valid, and if the device ever does need to be serviced, can the service be done locally. Often, when people take an item that needs to be serviced back to where it was purchased, they end up hearing, "Have to send to Bangkok." If you do opt for ADSL, you'll likely be told it will be about two weeks before anyone comes over to install the phone line. Many people have told me, and it was also my own experience, that everything actually was installed and working within three days. Your message does not say how long you intend to stay in that condo, but of course if you are not going to be staying there over a long term period of time, at least a few months, then you're probably much better off sticking to Internet cafes. Internet cafes may not be as convenient, but they will save you a lot of money if you're not going to be at that condo for very long. As an aside, if any of you ever need work done on your computer, I suggest calling Killin. Killin is Thai, but speaks excellent English. He'll come over to your place and if the service can be done at your place he'll do it on the spot. If he has to take it to his shop you'll almost always have it back the next day or within two days. He shows up at the time he says he'll show up or will call you if he is running late. His prices are very reasonable. I recently had him do some major work for me. At my request he literally gutted my computer and made a new one out of it. He installed a brand new motherboard with dual processors (I still can't believe the difference in speed), re-wired everything, installed a 250 gig hard drive, installed a new and much better sound card, put in the maximum amount of memory my computer is capable of holding, gave me a new tower box, and took my old hard drive and made an external hard drive out of it. He also re-installed my operating system and threw in some excellent maintenance software. He was also willing to re-install all of my software, but I preferred to do that myself. The total price for all of it, including his own fees, was 16,000 baht. At current exchange rates that's about US $510 and I now have what is literally a brand new computer operating at lightning speed, with everything working perfectly for once. If you wish to contact Killin, his number is 081 295 3860. I can't recommend him highly enough.

I don't think the holiday has gotten out of hand at all. I do think some idiotic people, a very small minority at that, have gotten out of hand and they're the ones who need to be curtailed. If I can spot groups of people who are busy getting a thrill by throwing water right into the faces of motorcycle drivers, then I don't see why the police can't spot the same thing. I also don't think the families and friends of those who died would advocate doing away with the holiday any more than families and friends of people who die as a result of New Year's Eve or other holiday accidents would advocate doing away with those holidays. What I think they would advocate is more stringent controls over those who drive recklessly, drive drunk, are violating rules such as no high power water shooters and no ice water throwing, or are out there intentionally causing other problems for those who are doing nothing more than enjoying themselves along with everyone else who are enjoying themselves. I think it's a wonderful holiday, filled with fun for most Thais. It would be very difficult to convince me that the holiday should be curtailed because of the actions of a few. In almost any situation there are the inevitable few who ruin it for everybody else.

Would you mind letting those of us who are clueless, especially me, what's going on in China? Whatever is happening, it hasn't done anything for the US dollar yet. Today (Tuesday, April 22) the dollar closed at 31.31 against the baht.

Ok, Songkran hibernators and escapees, it's safe to come out and come home now. It's all over for this year. Now you would never know it happened. Everything is back to normal. No more water splashing. Businesses open as usual. No squirt guns and water shooters for sale. The only evidence left is there are still a lot of cars out there, including mine, that have a Songkran powder all over them. Today I did try to get my car washed, but for the first few days after Songkran, the best business in town is the car wash business. You can't get in. I'll try again tomorrow. If I succeed, those of you who are in Pattaya will know it. If I get my car washed, you can bet that within 24 hours it will rain. If it rains tomorrow afternoon, then you'll know my car was washed earlier the same morning . . .

Regarding Stronger Boy, either they have changed their target market or they're trying to expand it. What else would be the reason they are handing out fliers at the gay beach, and only at the gay beach, and the fliers are written entirely in English?

I hope that Hugh will not have to close the restaurant after all and I like your ideas, but if the problems at the restaurant are due to low customer numbers, I don't know how much help supporters can realistically be. I can afford to eat there once or twice, but I can't afford to start eating there regularly. I don't know how many people who are reading these messages are actually in Pattaya or shortly will be. From among those, I don't know how many will go to the Symphony even if they are here. If everyone reading this goes tomorrow night, how much help will that actually be in the long run? It might provide a short term solution, but I think, realistically, it would take much more than that to save the restaurant, assuming we are even aware of the actual reasons Hugh is considering closing. I, for one, am only speculating about the problem being lack of customers. For all I know, he's full every night. But I don't know. Perhaps if Hugh would consider informing us as to what it would take for him to remain open, we would be in a better position to assist. I could very easily be wrong, but I just don't think filling the restaurant a few times over the next week or so is going to be the solution. It can't hurt anything, but I think a long term solution is probably what is required.

Thank you, Jim. Those are indeed marvelous photos. I miss the photos David-in-Pattaya used to provide and I miss the photos Boxer used to provide, but I have a feeling that TOQ is going to do a brilliant job continuing their legacy.