Gaybutton

Please see the article in today's PATTAYA MAIL for details: http://www.pattayamail.com/current/news.shtml#hd1

Personally, I don't care which market they are seeking, if indeed they really are seeking a straighter market, as long as the quality of the food and ambiance doesn't diminish. Of course, if the prices diminish, they'll get no argument from me . . . The part that's on my "I Don't Get It" list is the firing of the manager, if indeed that actually occurred. Why would they do that instead of simply telling him they want to go another direction and let him handle it? The only reason I can come with would be if he refused to comply with their wishes, but I can't picture him making such a refusal. He is a fabulous person and put his heart and soul into making that restaurant a masterpiece. If he has been fired, I hope he will be ok and I hope he'll open a restaurant of his own and remain in Pattaya. That's exactly what happened when Eric left Clubber's for whatever reason. Now the Clubber's restaurant is closed and Eric opened Sammy's right down the street. He has done a marvelous job with it and I think it's even better than Clubber's was. If they have really done this to him and if they are really 'changing direction,' then that's right up there with, "If it ain't broke, break it."

Thank you atri1666. I wasn't aware of that web site and thanks to you now everyone can see the schedules and fares.

Yesterday I was at Pattaya's main bus terminal on North Road. While I was there I got the schedule for the buses that run from Pattaya to Suvarnabhumi Airport. The buses run at the following times: 6:00 AM 9:00 AM 11:00 AM 1:00 PM 3:00 PM 5:00 PM 10:00 PM The fare is 150 baht. At some point I'll try to get the schedules from the airport to Pattaya. I have no idea why they don't include schedules conducive to so many international departures and arrivals that occur between 11:00 PM and 6:00 AM, but there it is. If the schedule won't help you, then you'll have to go by taxi (800 baht, including tolls to the airport. From the airport runs 1400 baht on up), limo, hotel car, or whatever. There is also an airport bus that runs from Soi Chaiyapruk (very far south on Jomtien Beach Road). It is located on Soi Chaiyapruk, about half a block from Jomtien Beach Road. I came to Pattaya from the airport on that bus and the fare is 106 baht. I imagine it is the same price to go to the airport from Pattaya, but I'm not sure. That bus also stops at the secondary bus terminal on Sukhumvit Highway, just south of Central Road (Pattaya Klang). Sorry, I don't have the schedule for that bus. I'll try to get it.

I have deleted a thread that began with "That's what I wrote to a guy I naively thought he was a friend of mine" Before another brouhaha starts with regard to me and the other moderators of this board being trigger happy about deleting threads, this particular post was in flagrant violation of the posting rules. I understand this person posted the same message on other boards and the thread has been deleted on at least one other board. My apologies to those who had posted responses, but the board software provides no means of deleting the first post without deleting the responses along with it. Once again, this board is not the place for people to fight their personal battles. I suggest to the person who wrote the original post, since you are obviously well acquainted with the person with whom you have a dispute, take it up with him personally or contact him via email or PM.

According to the article, these umbrellas will be going to Jomtien Beach. Technically, the gay beach area is in Dongtan Beach, so it remains to be seen whether the concessions in the gay beach area will receive any of them, but here's the article from PATTAYA CITY NEWS: _____ 540 Beach Umbrellas Presented to City Hall by Group of Local Business Operators On Tuesday Morning at Pattaya City Hall, Khun Wootipon, the Director of the Permanent Secretary’s Office welcomed a group of local business owners from the Alcazar Show Theatre, the Bali Hai Plaza, Nordic Hill Village, SP Village and the Permsub Taweegas Service Station who presented 540 Beach Umbrellas which are to be used on Jomtien Beach. The Umbrellas feature the telephone number 1337 which is the four digit number for the Pattaya City Call Center. The donation was gratefully received and the Umbrellas will now be passed on to 22 Deckchair operators on the Beach.

I have been unable to personally verify this information, but today I received a message from a highly reliable source, who prefers to remain anonymous. He has provided much information over the years and thus far has never been incorrect. So, for what it's worth, here's the message: _____ The manager of Manhattans restaurant has been fired. The owners want to take the restaurant in another direction which doesn't include (name of manager), but may include more female staff and aiming their product at a lower class, straighter market.

The following appears in the BANGKOK POST: _____ Americans in Bangkok Hold Little Super Tuesday Americans eager to select candidates for their next president trooped to the polls on Tuesday morning - in Thailand. About 1,500 US expats were likely to vote at early primary polls in Thailand today. Because of the time difference, they will be voting 12 hours or more ahead of their compatriots in the United States. In Bangkok, the Democrat Party poll was set up at a Starbucks outlet. There are other polls in Chiang Mai, Nong Khai and Udon Thani for members of the Democrat Party, most of whom will be choosing between Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama as their party's next candidate. In the United States, Super Tuesday is the primary - or selection - poll in 22 states simultaneously. It is possible that by Wednesday evening Thailand time, the final candidates for the November 4 presidential election will be known. Registered Republicans in Thailand also will vote, but not at semi-official polls and on the Internet like elections sponsored by Democrats Abroad. Because Republicans Abroad is not an official part of the US party, Republicans will have to vote by mail - a choice also open to Democrats. Overseas voters will be represented at the official, rubber-stamp Democrat Party convention in August, where the presidential candidate will be annointed. Expatriates will have 22 delegates at the convention. The first Americans to vote in Super Tuesday are those in Jakarta. Democrats opened the polls at midnight last night, enthused by the idea that one of the leading candidates, Barack Obama, lived in Jakarta from the age of 6 to 10. "There is a bit of rooting for the hometown boy," said Tristram Perry, the public diplomacy officer at the US Embassy in Jakarta, as more than 100 voters began gathering at the J.W. Marriott Hotel in the bustling capital. "It is the first time someone who grew up in Indonesia is running for president," he said. An early tally at the hotel gave Obama a resounding 75 per cent of the votes to 25 per cent for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.

That's just the problem. It will never happen. That's because it would make sense. Sometimes I really think there must be a law that says something to the effect of "If it makes sense, then don't do it that way." That goes hand-in-hand with the other law: "If it ain't broke, break it."

That makes about as much sense as most of what the powers-that-be come up with. In just about everywhere else in Thailand the water splashing lasts one day. Pattaya is the only city I know of in which the water splashing goes on for an entire week. When Pattaya was suffering through the severe drought, most of the central and northern areas of Thailand were getting torrential rains. The last thing they needed to do was conserve water. The water splashing in those areas lasted one day. In Pattaya, where a terrible water shortage was happening, the water splashing lasted a week. Welcome to Thailand . . .

I may be wrong, but I seem to recall something about the city considering just that the last time there was a water shortage, or limiting it to only one day, but it never happened. Naturally, just today Pattaya and surrounding areas had quite a downpour. I don't know whether it finally rained, and rained hard, because I started this thread or because I just had my car washed. I'll bet it was one or the other . . . That's the secret. If Pattaya or anywhere else is in need of water, they don't need pipelines or even a rain dance. They only need for me to wash my car. It never fails. I wash my car and within 24 hours it's sure to rain. I'll bet if I lived in the Sahara Desert, all that would be needed to bring on the rain would be for me to have a car and get it washed.

Actually, it may be even longer than that. I don't see it as a conspiracy or someone trying to make money. I see it as a lack of foresight and planning. In my own neighborhood, so far I've been lucky. All the water I want. But just a few blocks away, that's one area where people are getting nothing. One of the things the water company has been saying, according to the media, is they can't supply enough pressure to provide water until the pump is repaired because some areas are on a hill. My home is on a hill and I have had no water problem at all. Sometimes people are supplied intermittently. Letters-to-the-editor are common from people who aren't getting water. The most recent letter-to-the-editor in the PATTAYA MAIL appeared in the January 18 edition: _____ http://www.pattayamail.com/755/letters.shtml#hd7 Editor; I am writing to you regarding the continuous problem of town water off Soi Country Club across from Lake Mabprachan. I have a house with my Thai wife in Eastern Park across from Lake Mabprachan on Soi Country Club. 1. What is annoying is that the water board is doing nothing in terms of telling their customers what the problem is. Example: last month out of a total of 30 days I received water in about 5 of those days. They are quick to demand payment (245 baht, company house rates), but the service is terrible. In the end I have to buy water to maintain a certain standard of living (shower, cleaning and bathroom facilities). What I would like you to do is write about this and see if the water authorities will wake up.

For the past few months the weather in Pattaya has been beautiful. Cooler temperatures, nice breezes, low humidity, and hardly a drop of rain. That's the trouble. Two years ago, during the summer dry season nearly all of Pattaya was hit by severe water shortages when the reservoir finally went dry. For months, the only way to get water was to buy it from the water trucks. If you lived in a house with no water tank, then you had no water at all. At my home, my usual water bill runs about 100 baht per month. During those dry months it was necessary to have the trucks refill my water tank at least two to three times per week. The cost of one refill was 150 baht. I have no idea what it would cost this year if it comes to that. The way it works is large tankers bring water in from Sattahip and Rayong, neither of which is very far from Pattaya. The water trucks get their supply from those tankers and then resell it at the going rate. Even now, there are several areas of Pattaya and vicinity that get no water at all, and they haven't had any for months. The water company's excuse is a major pump broke down and they are waiting for a new one to come in from Hong Kong, or Singapore, or wherever. It's been at least six months. They could have built a factory and manufactured their own pump by now. Victims of this are furious because of the inconvenience of having to get their water from the trucks, let alone the cost. Obviously, the water company's foresight and planning leaves, shall we say, something to be desired. After the water shortage fiasco a couple years ago, all kinds of promises were made that steps would be taken to see that such a problem could never happen again. Major water pipes were supposed to be installed from far away, areas where water is always plentiful, to be piped to Pattaya. The local reservoir was to be dredged out to allow for much more water to be stored. Needless to say, neither ever happened. As far as I can tell, the reservoir is just the same now as it was two years ago. The water piping was never completed. I suppose the powers-that-be decided to just trust to luck that there would be plenty of rain to assure this problem can't happen again. Based on the weather lately, their luck is running out fast. Meanwhile, for the past two years we've all been given assurances that there will never again be a water shortage in Pattaya. Ok . . . The average tourist has nothing to worry about. All the popular hotels have water tanks and they don't let them run dry. You won't need to change your travel plans if a water shortage occurs again. So, how is Pattaya preparing for the worst? A campaign to get people to install water tanks and keeping water trucks on standby 24 hours a day. Well, thanks a lot Mr. Mayor and water company. That's certainly reassuring . . . The following appears in the PATTAYA CITY NEWS: _____ Water Shortage Preparation Meeting On Friday Morning at Pattaya City hall, Khun Niran, the Mayor of Pattaya chaired a meeting to prepare for the forthcoming summer months which often lead to water shortages around the City. This year, the Mayor would like to prepare for the potential water supply problems and this meeting discussed ways in which they will do this. A public campaign to save water and to install water tanks will take place. There will also be water trucks on standby 24 hours a day to deal with any emergency water supply problems. The Mayor did mention that the Maprachan Reservoir is suffering from months of no rain and the situation could become worse in the coming months.

That's not necessarily the case. The rule is not yet in place, which means maybe it won't even happen. But if it does happen, so far that would apply only to Penang. There is a way around that, and many of you are probably eligible. Get the retirement visa. Once you have it you don't have to worry, assuming you'll be making at least one trip per year to Thailand to get a new proof-of-income statement if you are unable to keep 800,000 baht in a Thai bank account. Even if you can't make the trip in the space of a year, and your visa expires, you can always get another one when you return. Once you have the retirement visa, figure out approximately when your next trip will be and then get a re-entry permit for a date around that time. The re-entry permit is valid until your annual visa expires. It's a bit expensive to do it that way if you are arriving on the 30-day visa-on-demand, because you'll have to get the proof-of-income statement from the embassy, which costs 1200 baht. and then pay Immigration a total of 3900 baht to have them make the conversion to a Type"O" visa, followed by an immediate conversion to the retirement visa, followed by 1000 baht for a re-entry permit. In most cases, the least expensive and most convenient way to do it would be to spend at least a night or two in Bangkok upon arrival in Thailand. That way, you're already in Bangkok in close proximity to the embassy to get the proof-of-income statement. Once you have it, now you can move on to Pattaya, Phuket, Chiang Mai, or wherever you wish to go. Immigration offices are in most major cities. If you have the retirement visa, you can stay in Thailand as long as you want. All you have to do is report your address every 90 days. Also, if you have a re-entry permit along with a retirement visa, then you will not be asked to produce a ticket out of Thailand when you arrive. Most Thai banks will allow you to open an account provided you have at least the Type"O" visa. Most Thai banks will not allow you to open an account with the 30-day visa-on-arrival anymore. However, Siam Commercial Bank, a major Thai bank, still allows it. You must have a Thai bank account in order to obtain a retirement visa. So, you're looking at spending about US $190, at current exchange rates, to do all this, but it sure beats having to make a trip to Penang or anywhere else. Just about anyone at least 50 years old will be eligible for the retirement visa.

Most likely the sports bars will do it. The one place I know for certain that will air it is Jameson's. See http://www.jamesons-pattaya.com . Jameson's is quite easy to find. If you are going north on Second Road, pass Central Road (Pattaya Klang) and look for Soi 4 on your right. Soi 4 is where the main branch of Bangkok Bank is. That's Soi 4. Turn right on Soi 4 and follow the road as it curves to the right. You'll see Jameson's. You can't miss it. By the way, Jameson's is also a great place to eat.

This may be a misprint. I don't know. Until today all the publicity I've seen states that the ban will begin on February 17, however the following article in today's PATTAYA CITY NEWS states that the ban will begin on Monday, February 11: _____ Smoking Ban in Bars and Other Entertainment Venues from 11th February On Thursday Morning at Pattaya City Hall, Khun Niran, the Mayor of Pattaya along with his Senior Adviser, Khun Itipon chaired a meeting of Entertainment Venue Managers and Owners from around Pattaya to discuss new legislation which is about to come into force and previous legislation which City Hall must enforce. The main issue discussed in the meeting was a new law which is coming into force on 11th February. From this day Smoking is not permitted in public venues including bars, offices and markets. The maximum fine which can be imposed on individuals who are caught breaking this law is 2,000 Baht. The bar owners were told about this new law and how they must ensure it is enforced in their venues. The owners and managers were also reminded that regulations regarding music levels and industrial waste control are still applicable and checks will be made over the coming months to ensure that venues are adhering to these existing regulations.

As an aside, please continue to cut and paste whether others like it or not. I have yet to ever see a cut and paste you submitted that wasn't well worth reading. Most of the people who criticize you for it never have anything to contribute beyond put-downs and snide remarks. It's rare to see any of them write anything useful. You always do your best to try to provide useful information, which is much more than most of the critics ever do.

I hope that is incorrect. First, there are other modes of transportation besides air. Second, what's their problem about Malaysia or Vietnam? I wonder if that would also apply to Laos, Cambodia, and Burma. It doesn't make much sense to me, but then again they never asked me . . .

The following appears in the BANGKOK POST: _____ Airport Security Gets Serious? By Amornrat Mahitthirook Saprang Kalayanamitr, chairman of the board of Airports of Thailand, told AoT president Chana U-sathaporn yesterday to take tough action against those responsible for airport security over the most serious lapse. Top executives at Suvarnabhumi airport face possible transfer over the security lapse that enabled a Burmese immigrant to sneak into the airport grounds and board an empty Turkish Airlines plane last week. Both airport executives and outsourced firms are responsible for airport security. "The management must not compromise when any officer is not suited to his security-related duty. They must transfer that person immediately," Gen Saprang said on Tuesday. "Those who lack the leadership qualities required for their positions should be transferred to positions that suit them better." An airport source said the AoT executives facing possible transfer include Suvarnabhumi airport general manager Serirat Prasutanond, airport deputy general manager for operations Flying Officer Chaturongkapon Sodmanee, and the head of the airport security department Suthad Chimjarod. However, an AoT source said there had been rumours since late last year that Mr Serirat and Don Mueang airport general manager Anirut Thanomkulbutra might switch jobs. The rumour has it that Flying Officer Anirut is a classmate of AM Chana, which could make it easier for AM Chana to implement his policies through F/O Anirut. A committee was set up to investigate those in charge of Suvarnabhumi airport's security and the intrusion. It must conclude its investigation in seven days, the source said. The Burmese man was a jail escapee from Malaysia and had planned to go to a third country through Thailand. He has been charged with trespassing. Gen Saprang said security is the heart of airport business. He suggested AM Chana immediately take harsh disciplinary action against those who failed to perform their duties properly. Gen Saprang also chaired his last meeting as board chairman of Suvarnabhumi Airport Hotel Co yesterday. He insisted the company's disbursement of the hiring fee for Universal Hospitality Joint Venture, which was contracted to manage Suvarnabhumi Airport Hotel, was transparent. He said the hotel board had been most prudent when preparing the disbursement of the 101-million-baht management fee to the joint venture.

Considering that Brando has been dead for several years, yes . . .

Sounds like a good idea, but it won't be quite as simple as that. It will take several visits to all the bars to be sure. Even though it's high season, and a better high season than the past few years, many of the bars are still quite empty. I went to few bars over the past couple of days. The ones I visited had maybe four or five customers at a time. I think the way to tell for sure is to observe what happens if a customer lights up inside the bar. Until we see someone try it (and I don't volunteer) and we see how the bar responds, we really won't know one way or the other. Also, it will be interesting to see which bars are or are not still in compliance six months from now.

I also have no idea whether a mafia presence is fact or nothing more than rumor. I know what I think, but what I think doesn't make it a fact either way. I have no real evidence one way or the other. But if someone comes along, resembles Marlon Brando, and makes an offer I can't refuse, then I'll know . . .

I'd like to be absolutely sure of this. Have you, or anybody you know, actually filled out, downloaded, and submitted the form in this manner? If yes, was there any problem about Immigration accepting it?

As many of you know, beginning Sunday, February 17, the smoking ban in any enclosed venue will go into effect. I have been reading comments on the various boards, some of which say that if they are in a bar, once the ban goes into effect, and they see someone smoking, they intend to complain to the management, walk out without paying, call the police, etc. I have no idea whether all the bars will comply with the ban. I hope they do, and I'm a smoker. I intend to comply with the ban and I have no problem at all about stepping outside if I feel the need to smoke. As a matter of fact, I can see that as a way of getting rid of a pushy mama-san or unwanted boy. Just excuse yourself to go outside and light up. I hope every other smoker will also comply, but some people out there are awfully selfish and probably won't comply unless they are forced. My feeling is that some bars flagrantly violate the laws about under-age boys. Those same bars are often raided, and yet they still employ under-age boys. It's hard for me to believe that those types of bars are going to worry about smoking rules and it's even harder for me to believe the police are going to be out there enforcing the rules. There is also a rule that says the music volume cannot be louder than 90 decibels. At first, when that rule went into effect, the police really did go around checking and fining bars found not to be in compliance. That lasted about two or three months before it fizzled out. Now, many of the bars blare the music at volumes that far exceed 90 decibels and it's been quite some time since I last heard about any police effort to force compliance. I can't help but wonder how it's going to be with the smoking ban. Despite being a smoker, I really do hope the ban will be rigidly enforced. I can't see any reason in the world why a smoker can't step outside. There are even some people who go into the bars and light up a cigar or a pipe, let alone cigarettes. One aspect of the ban that gives me some hope that it might actually work is the fact that this is the first ban I know of that applies primarily to the customers, rather than the bars themselves or their employees. It will be very interesting to see if the bars all put 'No Smoking' signs in place and instruct their staff to refuse to provide ashtrays and tell the customers smoking is not permitted.

Like I said, this board is and will remain a troll-free environment. Think whatever you like, but this board isn't here for any further personal attacks on people, including me. This thread is now locked. And yes, I will wipe any further such posts. If that upsets you, the complaint department is a PM.