Gaybutton

If you are someone who likes to "eat street," then over the next several days, during the Vegetarian Festival, I strongly urge you to read the following story that appears in the PATTAYA MAIL: http://www.pattayamail.com/current/news.shtml#hd4

It's sad, I think, that the first place they look for a pedophile is Sunee Plaza. Now that you mention it, that very well may be what was taking place. I would tend to think that Sunee Plaza is the last place a hunted pedophile, assuming he knows he's being hunted, would show up. I doubt he'll be found in Pattaya at all. Somehow I doubt that sex is foremost on his mind at the moment. He's probably trying to hide. My guess is that he'll be caught either mixing in with large city crowds, disguised, or he'll be found out in the rural boondocks somewhere, a place where he has a chance to find accommodation, but won't have to produce a passport. I'm also guessing that it's likely he's probably trying to find a way out of Thailand and into Laos or Cambodia somehow via an illegal border crossing. Thailand has issued an arrest warrant for him. We'll see.

Their web site is: http://unicograndesilom.com

I believe what you are saying, but I'm having a problem figuring out their logic. Of course, figuring out Thai logic at all is usually an enormous task, but I wonder who they think is going to see them in the coffee shop. You can't see into the coffee shop at all from the street unless you are seated in the outdoor section, and even then someone would have to struggle to see who is seated in the outdoor section. Whoever they fear might see them would have to be someone else also entering the Malaysia Hotel's property. Am i wrong?

This information is second-hand. I was not in Sunee Plaza last night, but when I heard about this I contacted a friend who was there and my information is coming from him: Last night all the Sunee Plaza go-go bars closed down, except for two of them. The reason, I am told, is because a tip-off came in about another raid about to occur. From what I understand, when the bars were tipped-off they quickly closed because the last time there was a raid the police drug tested all the boys. Any boys who tested positive caused the bar in which they worked to be forcibly closed down. For reasons that go beyond me, apparently the powers-that-be are holding the bars responsible for the behavior of the boys even during non-working hours. I don't know how the bars can be expected to control whether the boys use drugs when they're not working, but welcome to Thailand. It is also my understanding that the bars will be open again tonight as usual.

You've come up with an excellent point that is not often addressed and it does often cause problems and awkwardness. It is quite common for people to go to a bar, end up taking a boy "off," and now the boy thinks he has a permanent boyfriend. Typically, when you return to the bar, the boy thinks you came back just for him and he immediately plants himself next to you, expecting to be taken "off" again. This can often happen elsewhere too. The beach is a good example. Often, "farang" end up stuck with a boy he only wanted once or twice, but now it's difficult to get out of it gracefully. I'm sure others will have their own suggestions, but my way is to prevent the problem before it happens. I might call a boy over to sit with me, let him know I'm interested in taking him "off," and also make sure to do something such as point out a couple of other boys and say, "I like them too. Next time I will "off" one of them." That usually does the trick. If it's already too late for that method, then it can be a tougher problem. Most of the time these boys are well aware that the "farang" is a "butterfly" and they don't come over to sit with you uninvited, but sometimes they don't realize that and they become a pest. In that situation, I would simply tell the boy that I like him, but I want to try other boys too. You have to tell him sorry, maybe next time and send him away. Usually, when a boy plants himself next to you, a waiter or mama-san is there an instant later trying to get you to buy a drink for him. I would say something such as, "Not yet. I want to look at other boys first," and then send him back.

I believe you will find the information you seek at the following URL: http://www.utopia-asia.com/acccm.htm#cr Let the page fully load. The top part of the page deals with Chiang Mai, but if you wait for the page to completely load from the above URL it will place you on the Chiang Rai information area.

I don't know if he is there and I don't know his name. I don't recognize him. It's been months since I ate there, but once you are in Pattaya it should be simple for you to find out. The Boat Bakery is on Second road, almost directly across the street from Soi 3, the entrance soi to The Ambiance and Le Café Royale. You can't miss it. Since you have a photo of him, take it with you when you go. If he is not there when you try, ask people who work there. He might work a different shift. If he left, someone might know where to find him or might even have his name and telephone number. Good luck. Let us know if you find him. I hope the story has a happy ending for you.

Children are used in movies, television, commercials, magazine ads, clothing models, etc. I don't see many people getting upset over those things. When I was a kid there were newspaper routes and school safety patrols. When I was 7 I had a lemonade stand. I had hopes for General Foods buying me out, but the deal fell through at the last minute. Oh well . . .

This one definitely makes it onto the list of the top 20 most moronic crimes I've ever heard of. It's almost too stupid to be believable, but there it is. See http://www.pattayadailynews.com/shownews.p...NEWS=0000004009 for photos. _____ The following appears in the PATTAYA DAILY NEWS: _____ FOREIGNER STABS CAR SALESMAN AND STEALS BMW A German university student, armed with a knife, allegedly, attacked a car salesman and stole the car that he was test driving. He threw the staff member out of the car and drove off in the stolen BMW. He tried to sell the car, but ended up getting caught. On 10 October 2007, at 11 AM, Banglamung Superintendent Police Colonel Sarayut Sa-gnuen-bpokai was notified by Mr.Suthee Phongsomboon (30), a staff member at Pattaya Car Center, located at 211/5 Moo 6, Nongprue, that a foreign man attacked him with a knife and stole a blue BMW 323I, license 2654, Bangkok. The incident occurred in front of the Thai Military Bank, Naklua Branch. Police rushed to the scene and met with Mr. Suthee, who was quite frightened and shaken up. He had numerous stab wounds on his body. His left hand palm was cut, as well. Police sent him to Banglamung Hospital for treatment of his wounds. Mr. Suthee reported that the thief was a foreign man who pretended to be interested in buying the blue BMW 323I, license 2564, Bangkok. They had agreed on the price of 890,000 baht. The man asked for a test drive. Mr. Suthee sat in the passenger seat. The thief pretended that he needed to change his Euro currency into baht at the Thai Military Bank, Naklua Branch. He went out and pretended to talk to the bank staff. When he came back, he told Mr. Suthee that the bank didn’t have enough money and he had to come back in one hour. The robber suggested that they have something to eat at Royal Garden Plaza, South Pattaya and then come back to the Thai Military Bank when they were finished. However, in front of the bank, the thug pulled out a knife and tried to slash Mr. Suthee’s neck. Mr. Suthee moved out of the way and grabbed the knife, but still sustained several cuts. Mr. Suthee tried to open the car door. The robber pushed him out of the car and drove off. Later that day, at about 4 PM, the perpetrator tried to sell the car to Mr. Pheerasut Homchuen, the proprietor of Rod Dee Mue Song used car shop, in North Pattaya, opposite Bangkok Pattaya Hospital. Mr. Pheerasut was suspicious of the man and called Mr. Suthee from the original car shop, discovering that the car was stolen. Mr. Pheerasut tried to stall for time, but the robber was alert that something was amiss and jumped on a baht bus before Mr. Suthee arrived. Police Lieutenant Colonel Suphachai Pui-gaew-kam, from the Crime Suppression Center, tracked the robber to D&K Apartment, 678/15 Moo 5, Naklua, Banglamung, Room B2; and was able to find and arrest him. After more investigation, the police determined that the alleged perpetrator was Mr. Robert Bertram Gerhard Demel (31), a third year university student in Giessen, Germany. Mr. Demel denied the charges and claimed that he had paid for the car. He refused to say anything else. Police detained Mr. Demel and took him to Banglamung Police Station for further interrogation.

Gore, U.N. body win Nobel Peace Prize By DOUG MELLGREN, Associated Press Writer Former Vice President Al Gore and the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize Friday for their efforts to spread awareness of man-made climate change and lay the foundations for counteracting it. "I am deeply honored to receive the Nobel Peace Prize," Gore said. "We face a true planetary emergency. The climate crisis is not a political issue, it is a moral and spiritual challenge to all of humanity." Gore's film "An Inconvenient Truth," a documentary on global warming, won an Academy Award this year and he had been widely expected to win the prize. The Norwegian Nobel Committee said global warming, "may induce large-scale migration and lead to greater competition for the earth's resources. Such changes will place particularly heavy burdens on the world's most vulnerable countries. There may be increased danger of violent conflicts and wars, within and between states." Gore said he would donate his share of the $1.5 million that accompanies the prize to the Alliance for Climate Protection, a bipartisan nonprofit organization devoted to conveying the urgency of solving the climate crisis. "His strong commitment, reflected in political activity, lectures, films and books, has strengthened the struggle against climate change," the Nobel citation said. "He is probably the single individual who has done most to create greater worldwide understanding of the measures that need to be adopted." Gore supporters have been raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for petition drives and advertising in an effort to lure him into the Democratic presidential primaries. One group, Draftgore.com, ran a full-page open letter to Gore in Wednesday's New York Times, imploring him to get into the race. Gore, 59, has been coy, saying repeatedly he's not running for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008, without ever closing that door completely. He was the Democratic nominee in 2000 and won the general election popular vote. However, Gore lost the electoral vote to George W. Bush after a legal challenge to the Florida result that was decided by the Supreme Court. Peace Prize committee chairman Ole Danbolt Mjoes said a possible Gore presidential run was not his concern. "I want this prize to have everyone ... every human being, asking what they should do," Mjoes said. "What he (Gore) decides to do from here is his personal decision." However, when asked about the 2008 U.S. elections, he said: "I am very much in support for all who support changes." The last American to win the prize or share it was former President Carter in 2002. The Nobel committee cited the Panel on Climate Change for two decades of scientific reports that have "created an ever-broader informed consensus about the connection between human activities and global warming." Members of the panel, a network of 2,000 scientists, were surprised that it was chosen to share the honor with Gore, a spokeswoman said. "We would have been happy even if he had received it alone because it is a recognition of the importance of this issue," spokeswoman Carola Traverso Saibante said. The panel forecast this year that all regions of the world will be affected by climate warming and that a third of the Earth's species will vanish if global temperatures continue to rise until they are 3.6 degrees above the average temperature in the 1980s and '90s. "Decisive action in the next decade can still avoid some of the most catastrophic scenarios the IPCC has forecast," said Yvo de Boer, the U.N.'s top climate official. He urged consensus among the United States and other countries on attacking the problem. Climate change has moved high on the international agenda this year. The U.N. climate panel has been releasing reports, talks on a replacement for the 1997 Kyoto Protocol on climate are set to resume and on Europe's northern fringe, where the awards committee works, there is growing concern about the melting Arctic. Jan Egeland, a Norwegian peace mediator and former U.N. undersecretary for humanitarian affairs, also called climate change more than an environmental issue. "It is a question of war and peace," said Egeland, now director of the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs in Oslo. "We're already seeing the first climate wars, in the Sahel belt of Africa." He said nomads and herders are in conflict with farmers because the changing climate has brought drought and a shortage of fertile lands. The committee often uses the coveted prize to cast the global spotlight on a relatively little-known person or cause. Since Gore already has a high profile some had doubted that the committee would bestow the prize on him "because he does not need it." Gore's climate change effort has had its share of criticism. A British judge said in a ruling published Wednesday that some assertions in his documentary were not supported by scientific evidence. The case involved a challenge from a school official who did not want the film shown to students. The ruling detailed High Court Judge Michael Burton's decision this month to allow screenings of the film in English secondary schools. The judge said that written guidance to teachers, designed to ensure Gore's views are not presented uncritically, must accompany the screenings. In recent years, the Nobel committee has broadened the interpretation of peacemaking and disarmament efforts outlined by Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel in creating the prize with his 1895 will. The prize now often also recognizes human rights, democracy, elimination of poverty, sharing resources and the environment. Two of the past three prizes have been untraditional, with the 2004 award to Kenya environmentalist Wangari Maathai and last year's award to Bangladeshi economist Muhammad Yunus and his Grameen Bank, which makes to micro-loans to the country's poor. The prize also includes a gold medal and a diploma. The prize for economics will be announced Monday.

The Pattaya International Magic Festival will take place from October 17 to 21 at the Big-C on Second Road, from 11:00 Am to 9:00 PM. Admission is free. There will also be magic shows taking place at the Alankarn theater. Admission at the Alankarn isn't free. Click the links below for details, times, and prices. http://www.pattayamail.com/current/news.shtml#hd14 http://www.pattayamagicfestival2007.com

Can you be specific about which Big-C, in which city, you are talking about?

No, actually I do not jest at all. I don't dispute a word of what you say, but I can only tell you I have never experienced anything of the sort and I don't know anyone who has.

There is a very nice video of the 2006 Gay Pride parade in Bangkok on YouTube. It's 9 and a half minutes long. The URL for it is:

That's what I meant when I wrote, "In Pattaya, certainly the beach is a prime cruising spot." I'm sorry if that wasn't clear. It can be good in the day. There are usually a few non-money boys around, although not very many and usually much older than the usual money boy, but I also include money boys when trying to locate good cruising areas. Night used to be very good at Jomtien as well. Unfortunately, crime has pretty much finished off that area as a nighttime cruising area.

If your friends are living in Bangkok, then they probably don't have to worry about a hotel at all. I would presume they are living in a condo or house. Wherever they're living, it probably isn't a hotel. Where does the type of hotel at which someone is staying fit into your argument?

Perhaps so, but I'd like to see responses a little more specific than that.

The subject of cruising spots hasn't been discussed here for some time. In Pattaya, certainly the beach is a prime cruising spot, along with the Sansuk Sauna, Walking Street, Beach Road (especially if you are looking for lady boys), and the Beach Road entrance to Royal Garden. In Bangkok, the places I know include the Babylon Sauna, the Robinson's Department Store entrances at Silom, just outside of the Malaysia Hotel, and Saranrom Park ( see: http://www.gaythailand.com/forums/index.ph...amp;hl=saranrom and http://www.gaythailand.com/forums/index.ph...amp;hl=saranrom ). I am wondering if anyone knows of other cruising spots in Thailand that are usually good.

You might be right, but if you are it comes as news to me. I've never heard anyone say a Thai boy, for any reason, refused to come to a "sex tourist" hotel. I don't know what constitutes a "sex tourist" hotel. Both the Pinnacle and the Malaysia cater to both gay and straight. I've seen plenty of heterosexual couples, including Thais, staying at both. In Pattaya, that would mean these same boys would refuse to come to the Ambiance, Le Café Royale, Howard's, or Don Plaza. Aren't these boys gay too? Why would they refuse to stay at a gay friendly hotel? Would they prefer a gay unfriendly hotel? A Thai boy, whether money boy or not, would advertise himself on a gay web site in hopes of meeting a "farang," quite often placing shirtless or even nude photos of himself within his ad, but then refuse to stay with him because it would be in a gay or gay friendly "sex tourist" hotel? That doesn't make much sense to me. If it really happens, then that's something I would find truly remarkable, even taking "Thai logic" into consideration. I don't dispute that it may have happened, but I would guess that boys who really would refuse to stay in these places are either a very small minority or using that as an excuse to get rid of the "farang" because of other reasons.

The following appears in the PATTAYA DAILY NEWS. See http://www.pattayadailynews.com/shownews.p...NEWS=0000003995 for photos. _____ LADYBOYS BRAWL IN FRONT OF WAT CHAI, SOUTH PATTAYA An older katoey hired four teenagers to beat up a younger ladyboy due to a previous dispute. They had both been working in the same area. The ladyboy that was beaten up asked her friend to help find the older ladyboy and beat her up as revenge. On 9 October 2007, at 3:30 AM, Pattaya Police Lieutenant Aniwat Thicharn was notified that a group of katoeys were brawling in front of the entrance to Wat Chai Temple in South Pattaya. It was reported that there were injuries. Police officers, along with Sawang Boriboon Rescue, rushed to investigate. At the scene, two younger katoeys were attacking an older katoey with a long club and a fluorescent tube. The older katoey was alone and had a box cutter in her hand. Although there were many bystanders, the katoeys were fighting ferociously. The two younger ones were pulling the older one’s hair and hitting her on the face. Police officers stopped the brawl, immediately, and confiscated the weapons. The two younger katoeys were Mr. Athitaya Roongroj, nickname “Amy” (21), from Ubonrachathani Province, and and Mr. Praphan U-parn, nickname “Khing”, from Petchboon Province. They both had scrapes and fingernail scratches on their bodies. The older katoey, who got the worst of it, was Mr. Jakraphong Suriyasing, nickname “Ice” (31), from Ubonrachathani Province. She had scrapes and bruises all over her body and a large, open wound on her left cheekbone, which was bleeding profusely. Police questioned all the combatants and determined that they all worked for a “service” along the beach. Earlier the same day, at around 1 AM, Ice got into a row with Amy and Khing. Later, Ice hired four teenagers to beat up Amy. Amy sustained head injuries and contacted the police, but her anger was not assuaged. Amy asked her close friend, Khing, to help her look for Ice. They eventually found Ice in the Walking Street area. Ice was alert to their presence and ran away. However, the other two caught up with her in front of Wat Chai and started to extract their revenge by attacking her. Police detained Mr. Arthitaya or "Amy" and Mr. Praphan or "Khing and charged them with assault with injury to another person. Mr. Jakraphong or "Ice,” the “victim,” was sent to the hospital to have her wounds taken care of before further investigation.

I gave up trying to second guess what goes on in the mind of a Thai guy a long time ago. I've been sleeping a lot better at night ever since. A rich sugar daddy doesn't necessarily spend his money on luxury hotels or fancy rooms. A person could be staying at the Malaysia merely because of its proximity to the Babylon, because the Pinnacle or other accommodation is full, because of its proximity to the embassies, because of its proximity to the expressway, simply because he likes it there, because of its gay friendliness, or for any number of reasons. If a Thai guy gives me the heave-ho because of my choice of hotels, then that's a Thai guy I wouldn't want in the first place.

They ask me if I'm going to arrive by 6:00 PM. I tell them yes, and if I'm going to be any later than that I will call and let them know. So far I haven't had any problems. As far as I know, most Thai hotels, including the Malaysia, will hold the room for you if you contact them and let them know you will be later than the arrival time you originally gave them. If not, after a period of time they usually assume you're going to be a no-show and they'll give away the room to someone else.

Based on that I'm glad I stayed at the Malaysia. They are having work done on the air conditioning system, but they at least have plenty of signs telling people about it and they also told me about it at the reception desk, before I checked in. I never heard any noise from it at all and the air conditioning was working just fine. As a matter of fact, if it wasn't for the signs I wouldn't have even known there was any work being done. Also, despite the fact that major construction is going on just across the street, I never heard any of it at all while in my room. I still like the Pinnacle, but I think from now on my first choice will be the Malaysia. Based on what you wrote, even with Jimmy's prices a room at the Pinnacle is going to be more than 500 baht higher than the price at the Malaysia. I can think of a lot of things to do with 500 baht more in my own pocket rather than in the Pinnacle's pocket. While the Pinnacle's rooms are larger and nicer, the Malaysia suits me just fine.

I'm glad the dog is ok. I believe he does know where he belongs. It's the bank that doesn't know where it belongs . . . . .