Gaybutton

I am not familiar enough with Phuket to answer, but in Bangkok, assuming you do not wish to "off" boys and have to pay for sex, I suggest trying the Babylon Sauna. Their web site is http://www.babylonbangkok.com/home.asp . In Phuket, I suggest going to the Connect Guest House in the Paradise Complex and talking with Ulf, the owner. I'm sure he will be happy to provide you with advice for Phuket. Connect also has a web site at http://www.beachpatong.com/connect/index.htm . For someone your age, if you enjoy discos, those are also good places to cruise. Other than that, most of the cruise areas with which I'm familiar have plenty of boys, but they are there to engage in prostitution, which means you will be expected to pay for it. Perhaps others can give additional advice.

Now you're talking! Seriously, though, I think everyone should have a right to a fair trial, with a non-biased, non-prejudiced jury, and I think these men should be entitled to that. I certainly have no disagreement with you about that issue. Obviously, even if juries existed in Thailand, I would not be a good candidate for their jury because I do believe these men are guilty and would be coming into it prejudiced. However, what I or anyone else believes doesn't change the facts. Maybe there really is an explanation and maybe they're not guilty of any wrongdoing at all. So, you're right. At this stage it's all allegation and they are suspects who have not yet been found guilty of anything. Unfortunately for them, they're the ones who will now have to prove to a Thai court that they are not guilty of the allegations. I believe, but I'm not sure, that you don't get off on technicalities in Thailand, such as police searches without search warrants. In any case, I'm glad I'm not in their shoes. When I wrote, "When will they ever learn?" I was trying to bring out that despite repeated arrests and repeated warnings on the web sites, there are still an extraordinary number people who come to Thailand and try to get away with it. Whether these men are actually a part of that number remains to be seen.

Not in Thailand. In Thailand you're guilty until proven innocent. Suspects? Technically, yes. Meanwhile, according to the article, their own embassies provided records of child abusers. I think it's a fair guess that they were on those records. Child pornography and video equipment for making porn were found in their apartments, and the Child Protection Centre of Pattaya filed complaints, but I'm prejudiced. Well, yes, I guess I am. Of course, I concede the possibility that these men, from three different countries, were set up with cooperation from their own embassies to do so, but somehow I doubt that scenario is likely.

The article doesn't say whether they were arrested in connection with male or female minors, but since all four arrests occurred in Pattaya, it wouldn't be far fetched to guess that at least some of these were gay pedophile arrests. The article appears in the BANGKOK POST: http://www.bangkokpost.com/topstories/tops...s.php?id=117531 _____ Four Foreign Paedophile Suspects Held in Pattaya Bangkok (dpa) Thai police arrested four suspected paedophiles from Britain, Finland and the United States over the weekend at the notorious beach resort, initially charging them with abduction of minors. Police said on Monday they arrested the four men on Sunday, after complaints from the Child Protection Centre of Pattaya. They identified the men as British nationals Maurice John Praill and Stephen James Ellison, American Glenn Richard Allen, and Finnish citizen Ilkka Ylikojola. The arrests were by the Crimes Against Children and Women Suppression Division, which carried out the arrests. All four were arrested in police raids at their rented flats in Pattaya, which has become notorious in the past decade for its nightlife and sex industry. Child pornography and video equipment for making more porn were reportedly found in the four men's separate apartments. If convicted, the four face up to 20 years each in prison. "We made these arrests by coordinating with the embassies of the UK, US and Finland, which have provided records on child abusers from their countries," said Pol Maj-Gen Kamronwit Tupkrajang, commander of the special police division. All four suspects were initially charged with abduction of minors but may face further charges as the investigation into their activities in Pattaya unfolds, said Pol Maj-Gen Kamronwit.

I found the following story in the PATTAYA CITY NEWS to be quite interesting: _____ Local Pub Owner

I'm not sure what all the fuss is about. There is a Tesco Lotus Express right around the corner from the Pinnacle Hotel in Bangkok. It's the same thing as any 7-Eleven. As a matter of fact, I didn't think it was as well stocked as a 7-Eleven. There are 7-Elevens practically everywhere you look in Pattaya and I don't see anyone complaining about them. There are also a large number of Family Marts in Pattaya and they're the same thing. So, what's the big problem about yet another franchise, other than the fact that Pattaya is already over-killed with convenience stores? These convenience stores don't even sell the same products the complaining vendors sell. I don't get it.

Touch

I haven't been to any of these venues and I was not aware of this web site until you posted about it. However, upon reading what is on the site, whoever authored it seems to know what he's talking about. It all seems to be worth a try.

In both cases you did exactly what, in my opinion, you should have done. My guess is the boy in Hat Yai knew why you were giving him the heave-ho, but I'd guess the boy with the phone in Bangkok left completely puzzled as to what he had done wrong. I'd guess it never even occurred to him that the person who took him "off" doesn't really appreciate it when right in the middle of a sexual encounter the boy answers the phone and holds a conversation. Have you ever had a boy actually initiate a phone conversation in the middle of a sexual encounter? My, how stimulating! I finally learned to ask boys to shut off their phone once we were wherever we were going. Many of these boys have never been taught anything about telephone etiquette. Many "farang" have probably noticed that most of the time the phone conversation simply ends, without so much as a bye-bye. I'll bet I'm not the only "farang" who suddenly realized he is talking to himself because the person with whom he was talking simply hung up.

Speaking of food items, in Pattaya I've learned that if you shop around at the various food markets, such as Carrefour, Tops, Friendship, Foodland, etc, most of the time you can eventually find most of what you're looking for. If they ever get it built, a Villa Market is coming to Pattaya, where there should be even more (and a thank you goes to lvdkeyes for telling me about Bangkok's Villa Market) because they carry quite a number of import items. You're not going to find everything you want, but you can come close . . .

Try this for size: Your post included personal information about someone. He has already made it clear to me that he did not appreciate it. On this board you do not post personal information about anybody, period. If he wants it posted, he'll do so himself. That's just one violation. There were others as well. Your post will not be reinstated. As I said, if you really are going to try to get bar owners to make positive changes, then you'll have full support from me. However, if your posts are going to cause the same kinds of problems as you used to cause, then those posts will be eliminated. In the future, starting right now, if you have a problem with the way I moderate this board, take it up with me by PM. We're not going to have public arguments about it and if you try I'll eliminate those posts too.

You folks can take my post as an unwarranted sneer if you want to. That's your decision. I'm quite impressed that you think you can read my mind. The truth is that I meant what I wrote. I really will support EarWig if he can do something to get the bar owners, even if it's just one, to make positive changes. I said that and I meant that. If you don't believe that was my intent and you wish to assume that I meant anything different from what I posted, that's your problem.

On this very thread I wrote, "How about that, EarWig, a miracle (and on the Ides of March too) . . . you actually posted something about which you will have my support, if you can really pull it off. Maybe the bar owners will listen to you. They don't seem to be listening to anybody else." As for the rest of your post, you have your opinion and I have mine. I don't much care what you or anyone else thinks I meant by my post. "The world must construe according to its wit. This court must construe according to the law" -Sir Thomas More, 'A Man for All Seasons.'

I thought I answered it. Didn't I? It seems pretty clear to me . . . "I have advised them to extend the show not only nakedness but some fun dancing and action as well. No one will make there fortune if the staff are miserable and happiness comes from the Top. Ill have to start charging for my advice on how to make a fortune in Go Go bars Ive just had a phone call from Nui who use to be the Mamasum of Crazy Pub asking what he should do to make a good Go Go bar he wants to take over the small shop and next to it opposit Krazy Dragon and the half of the restaurant as I reported 6 months ago now bought by KAOS, as a Go Go bar."

An unkind sneer against such a well thought out post? Whatever gave you that idea? I know of nothing I wrote that ought to be interpreted that way. I believe I already wrote that EarWig will have my full support on this if he can pull it off. Don't you think, as I do, that EarWig is going to be able to get the bar owners to change things? While we're at it, why don't you point out where I said anything about "all the bar owners"? Nothing has been deleted. As for what a moderator would be harsh about, well . . . that's a matter of opinion, isn't it?

Ohhhhh. And here I was thinking the bar owners were waiting for you to come back and show them how to do things right. "Ive just had a phone call from Nui who use to be the Mamasum of Crazy Pub asking what he should do to make a good Go Go bar" That is what you wrote, isn't it? Well, that's at least one bar that will be an especially good one as a result of your advice. It will, of course, be the most popular bar in town.

I don't know why you feel that way. After all, EarWig is going to change all that. He's going to advise the bar owners. Surely we can expect these changes to take place in the very near future.

I agree with that, but I also think it is a mistake to stereotype the bar boys to the degree that everyone simply assumes that all bar boys are dishonest, come from the farm, and the only thing they want from a relationship with a "farang" is money. All bar boys are uneducated farmers who want nothing more than money from a "farang." Boy "A" is a bar boy. Boy "A" is an uneducated farmer who wants nothing more than money from a "farang." I concede that is the case with the majority of bar boys, but I don't think that syllogism is valid. There is also still that minority out there. The trick is finding them.

First, a tip-of-the-hat to Geezer for pointing this out to me. A Dr. Suwit Wibulpolprasert, special advisor to the Minister for Public Health, has come up with an interesting idea: If Thailand doesn't receive flu vaccines, part of what is likely to happen because of the Thai government's policy on pharmaceutical patent breaking, then just hold foreign nationals hostage until they do receive them. Now that's an idea . . . Hey! I can think of worse things that could happen. If Thailand really decides to do something like that, they don't have to hold me hostage. I volunteer! This is being discussed on Thaivisa.com ( see http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=110793 ) The article appears in the WALL STREET JOURNAL ( http://users2.wsj.com/lmda/do/checkLogin?m...ain_europe_asia ) And here it is: _____ Time for a Thai Apology March 13, 2007 It turns out we're not the only ones concerned about Thailand's radical statements in the halls of the World Health Organization. The U.S. government has now lodged a formal protest with Bangkok, requesting an apology for Dr. Suwit Wibulpolprasert's call to seize foreign nationals in the event of an influenza outbreak. The good doctor proposed holding Western tourists hostage until Bangkok received needed flu vaccines. Dr. Suwit's comments at the WHO's January executive board meeting in Geneva "appear to contravene the spirit and provisions of the revised International Health Regulations," Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt wrote in a letter dated March 7, referring to the WHO's rules on how countries cooperate to curb the international spread of diseases. "Voicing support for these counterproductive policies at a multilateral, intergovernmental meeting...can impair global influenza preparedness efforts." This isn't the only bad public-health idea Dr. Suwit has supported. As a special adviser to the Minister for Public Health, he was an important voice advocating the government's recent seizure of foreign drug company patents. As Ronald Cass explains, that decision could potentially undermine a carefully struck balance between protection of private property and provision of emergency drugs in times of crisis. The implications stretch far beyond Thailand's shores. The military government in Bangkok isn't accountable to the Thai people through elections, and neither are their political appointees. Thais deserve more eloquent and enlightened representation in the WHO.

It seems that once you get away from Pattayaland and Sunee Plaza, the gay venues rarely succeed. I'm not sure why, but that's the way it's been. For a while, Soi Day-Night seemed to be up and coming, but most of the gay venues there ended up closing. For a couple of years there were several gay go-go bars on Soi Day-Night. Now there are none at all. There are still gay host bars both in Soi Day Night and the Jomtien complex, but I don't exactly see customers flocking to those venues. I wonder why that is.

The following appears in the BANGKOK POST: _____ Khalid Admits Bangkok Terrorist Plots (Bankgokpost.com, Agencies) September 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed said that he had put into action twin plans to blow up Bangkok nightclubs and to take over and destroy an Israeli airliner at Don Muang airport in 2003. Neither plan was achieved, he told the military tribunal at Guantanamo Bay prison, but he had active al-Qaeda agents in place and was near plans for the two terrorist actions when he and Jemaah Islamiyah counterpart Hambali were arrested. At the military hearing in Guantanamo in which he took responsibility "from A to Z" for the 2001 terrorist attacks on America, the al-Qaeda idea man said: "I was responsible for planning, surveying, and financing for the destruction of many night clubs frequented by American and British citizens on Thailand soil... "I was responsible for surveying and financing for the destruction of an Israeli El-Al Airlines flight on Thailand soil departing from Bangkok Airport." The transcript of his hearing before a US military court at the Cuban base was released yesterday in Washington and obtained by BangkokPost.com on the Internet. The PDF can be obtained here: http://www.defenselink.mil/news/transcript_ISN10024.pdf or here: http://tinyurl.com/2xea4q Mohammad is known as a braggart. The US 9/11 Commission, established to report on the worst terrorist attack in US history, said he could be "inflating his own role". But Mohammad's claims about Thailand fit precisely with previously known facts. In June, 2003, police arrested a man alleged to be a member of al-Qaeda as he photographed the El Al counter at Bangkok International Airport at Don Muang. He was identified as Basir bin Lap alias Lillie, of Malaysia. Under questioning, it was discovered that the arrested man also had put the El Al office in Bangkok under surveillance. Lillie admitted to Thai police that he had also conducted surveillance on two Israeli-owned businesses in the Banglampoo tourist area known as Khao San Road. Another close al-Qaeda associate Hambali, the JI chief of field operations arrested in Ayutthaya in August, 2003, admitted conducting surveillance of the Israeli embassy on Lang Suan Road, in preparation for a possible bomb attack. In other testimony to the military tribunal, Mohammad said he beheaded Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, according to reports on Thursday. "I decapitated with my blessed right hand the head of the American Jew, Daniel Pearl, in the city of Karachi, Pakistan," said a Pentagon transcript of Saturday's hearing, according to CNN. "For those who would like to confirm, there are pictures of me on the internet holding his head." He said that he planned "new or second wave attacks" meant to follow September 11, which targeted sites in California, Chicago, Washington state and New York City, but were never carried out. In addition to the two Thailand, the list of unconsumated attack targets includes the Strait of Hormuz, the Panama Canal, British landmarks including Big Ben and Heathrow Airport, the New York Stock Exchange, and US or Israeli embassies in Indonesia, Australia, Japan, India, Azerbaijan and the Philippines. Mohammed revealed his role in the slaying of the journalist during a hearing at the US prison Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The transcript was released on Wednesday but the portion on Pearl was withheld until Thursday pending the notification of the reporter's family. Pearl was abducted in January 2002 while on assignment in Pakistan. His body was later found and a videotape appeared showing his execution. The 26-page document, which removed significant passages to protect what the Pentagon said was classified information, quotes a written statement in which Mohammed claims to have been behind major terrorist attacks since 1993 and more than 20 additional, unexecuted plots. "I was responsible for the 1993 World Trade Center operation. I was responsible for the 9/11 operation from A to Z," he said in the statement, read by an unidentified personal representative assigned by the US Defence Department to assist him in the Combatant Status Review Tribunal hearing. "I was responsible for the shoe bomber operation to down two American airplanes. ... I was responsible for the bombing of a nightclub in Bali, Indonesia." Mohammed was captured in 2003. He was believed to have been held by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) at secret prisons around the world until being brought to Guantanamo in September. The transcript was from a hearing held Saturday to determine if Mohammed is an enemy combatant, a definition created by the United States for prisoners in the so-called war on terrorism. Guantanamo inmates were mostly captured in Afghanistan and Pakistan after the US-led invasion in late 2001 that toppled the Taliban regime in Kabul. Washington argues that the detainees cannot qualify as prisoners of war because they were not fighting for a legal, uniformed army, but that they need not be tried criminally because they were captured on the battlefield. During the hearing Mohammed conceded that he fits the US definition of an enemy combatant, a category that did not exist before the September 11 attacks. During one exchange with the tribunal's presiding office, Mohammed denied allegations that he told a reporter from the Arabic broadcaster al-Jazeera that he was head of the military committee of al-Qaeda, the terrorist network led by Osama bin Laden. "I'm not denying that I'm an enemy combatant about this war," Mohammed said, according to the transcript. The Pentagon says that the transcript is verbatim except for redacted sections. The presiding officer, a US Navy captain whose name was redacted, acknowledged that Mohammed had made "a written statement regarding certain treatment that you claim to have received at the hands of agents of the United States government as you indicated from the time of your capture in 2003 up until before coming here to Guantamo in September 2006." "To use your word, you claim torture," the captain said later. Mohammed alleged that the torture came from "CIA peoples." He said it occurred "at the beginning when they transferred me..." but the rest of the statement was redacted by Pentagon officials. Mohammed said in his lengthy statement of responsibility that he had made it at Guantanamo "without duress," and that he has sworn allegiance to Osama bin Laden "to conduct jihad." He admitted to being a "member of the al-Qaeda Council" and to have led the terrorist network's media operations, directed by bin Laden's highest lieutenant, Egyptian fugitive Ayman al-Zawahiri. "I was the operational director for Sheikh Osama bin Laden for the organizing, planning, follow-up and execution of the 9/11 operation under the military commander Sheikh Abu Hafs al-Masri Subhi Abu Sittah," Mohammed said in the statement, which was read into the transcript by his representative. He said that he trained the 9/11 hijackers. "I hereby admit and affirm without duress that I was a responsible participant, principal planner, trainer, financier via the military council treasury, executor and or a personal participant" in attacks including the slaying of two US soldiers in Kuwait.

In most of Southeast Asia, the US dollar actually gained some ground. Meanwhile, in Thailand the baht continues to strengthen against the dollar. The following are the opening exchange rates for March 16: US Dollar: 34.79 Euro: 46.12 British Pound: 67.265 Australian Dollar: 27.295 Canadian Dollar: 29.41 The following appears in THE NATION: _____ Dollar Firms after Wall Street Rebound TOKYO - The dollar gained ground against the yen in Asian trade Thursday, supported by a rebound on Wall Street that helped to restore some calm to other global markets, dealers said. They said players remained cautious after recent signs of trouble in the US sub-prime housing market and the unwinding of "carry trade" investments funded by cheap Japanese yen. The dollar climbed to 117.11 yen in Tokyo morning trade from 116.88 yen in New York late Wednesday. The euro firmed to 1.3227 dollars from 1.3221 and to 154.90 yen after 154.77. "Players bought back the dollar against the yen after confirming the rebound on Wall Street," said Masaaki Fukui senior market economist at Mizuho Corporate Bank. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 57.44 points or 0.48 percent at 12,133.40 on Wednesday, rallying after dipping below 12,000 for the first time since November on concerns about the possible fallout from a weaker housing market. "But this does not mean dollar-negative factors such as the US housing market and the (partial reversal of the) yen carry trade are disappearing," Fukui said. The dollar was jolted this week by news that delinquencies on US home loans rose to a three-year high of 4.95 percent in the fourth quarter and to 13.33 percent in the risky "sub-prime" market. The yen has also recently been lifted by the unwinding of carry trades - where money is borrowed in countries with low interest rates such as Japan in order to invest in higher yielding assets elsewhere. "Players need to stay cautious for now while closely monitoring US economic indicators and keeping an eye on moves on the global stock markets," Fukui said. Among key data to be released later Thursday in the United States were producer price inflation for February, capital inflows for January and the latest Philadelphia Federal Reserve economic survey for March, dealers said. Agence France-Presse

I agree with that. While some of us may consider a cash gift to be tacky (but business people have managed to convince us that gift certificates are just fine), that is not the case in Thailand. I have even been to weddings at which most of the Thai guests gave gifts of cash. It has been my observation over the years that most of the boys don't even want any other kind of gift. I get E-mail all the time asking for gift suggestions and people are often surprised when I recommend cash. But that's what the boys want. Rather than take a boy shopping, you're probably better off simply giving him the cash amount you intended to spend. There is one exception. Most of the boys love getting a mobile phone even if they already have one, but it better be an expensive phone with all the bells and whistles. You can buy brand new mobile phones for as little as 2000 baht, but the boys seem to resent those rather than appreciate them. Just the other day someone was telling me he took a boy he liked shopping for a mobile phone. This boy had no phone at all. The "farang" was willing to buy a phone for him, but wasn't willing to spend more than a few thousand baht for it. It wasn't good enough for the boy. The boy wouldn't even accept it unless the phone had a built-in camera. They're not happy with a phone unless it at least has the camera and MP3 capability. Sheeeesh! I remember when the purpose of a phone was just to talk to someone who isn't with you. Today it has to almost be a way of life and personal entertainment center. If a boy has a phone, see if he goes as far as ten paces without it. Then try the impossible: getting him to at least turn it off during dinner or, better still, during intimate moments. How many of you were in the middle of a sexual encounter and then the boy's phone rang? I'll bet there was a slight "time out" while the boy actually answered the phone to talk to some friend of his. I wonder what the record is for how long a boy actually possesses the phone before he breaks it, loses it, or sells it. I have yet to see a boy have the same phone for more than four months.

I've said it before and I'll say it again . . . I don't make these things up: The following appears in the PATTAYA CITY NEWS: _____ More Details Released for 80 Million Baht Vaseline Event on Jomtien Beach A further preparation meeting now from Pattaya City hall relating to an event which is due to take place on Jomtien Beach on 29th April. The event is called the

In my opinion, no, that wouldn't make sense. I would not agree that financial support should mean fidelity. The exception to that would be if he is living with you on a permanent basis. If you are his source of support and he is also living with you (which means that you are a permanent resident in Thailand), then yes, I think it would be reasonable to expect fidelity if, and only if, that was something both of you agreed to before he moved in. I also feel it is wrong to expect or even want absolute fidelity. If he wants sex once in a while with someone his own age, I see no reason to object to it as long as there are two stipulations. One is that he uses safe sex methods so that you don't wind up with a disease you don't want. The other is that I wouldn't want him to make a point of telling me about it.