Gaybutton

I'm sorry your birthday was spoiled. I hope the next one will be a happy one. I know this is no consolation, but if I knew I would have definitely wished you a happy birthday. In a way, it is a happy birthday. In your previous posts I had a feeling this relationship would not work out in the end. I'm sorry it didn't, but for your sake I'm glad you got out of it before you were completely trapped. It may be difficult now, but you'll quickly get over it and be able to move on with your life. That may turn out to be the true birthday gift. I agree with gonefishing. While mutual trust is very important in a relationship, asking to examine someone's bank account is not appropriate. You had mentioned that you were financing his education. I do think checking up on that is appropriate because you're the one who was paying for it. But a person's bank account is a completely different thing. In any case, I think you have learned not to rush into a relationship with anyone and not to be so generous with someone you hardly know.

Note from GB:: I had originally posted this message saying that this hotel is at Sunee Plaza. LetMeTellU pointed out that is not correct. I had the location wrong. I sincerely apologize for my error. The following appears in THE NATION: _____ Six foreign Tourists Injured in Pataya Hotel Fire Pattaya - Six foreign tourists were injured after a fire raged through a hotel in this seaside town late Monday night, police said. Police said the blaze broke out at a room on the fourth floor of the six-floor Marine Plaza Hotel at 20 minutes past midnight. Eight fire engines took about half an hour to control the fire. Three tourists were injured after falling from the building while climbing out to their room balcony to escape the fire. Three other became sick after inhaling smoke. Police have yet to determine the cause of the fire. The Nation

The following appears in THE NATION: _____ All Calm as Baht Nears 8-year High Exports Should be Only 'Slightly Affected' The baht climbed close to an eight-year high yesterday, but the government's financial chief saw little to fear in regard to Thailand's competitiveness. "The strong baht will slightly affect exports, but there is still no concern. I believe exports will continue to grow as they have done so far. Currency appreciation has been common in the region," Finance Minister and Deputy Premier MR Pridiyathorn Devakula said. The baht opened at 36.50/36.52 to the US dollar before climbing to the day's peak of 36.38, a level unseen for almost eight years. It closed at 36.40/36.42, breaking the key resistance level of 36.50. Investors have sold the dollar in offshore markets after several countries said they would diversify their international reserves rather than hold mainly greenbacks. Dealers said the baht would edge up almost every day and likely pass Bt36 by year's end. Pridiyathorn said it was not that the baht was that strong, but rather that the dollar had weakened. The central bank has already taken good care of the baht's value, he said. Exports will expand 11-12 per cent in value next year, he said. Kirida Bhaopichitr, an economist in the World Bank's office in Bangkok, said the baht would appreciate further next year by 1-1.50. Usara Wilaipich, senior economist at Standard Chartered Bank (Thai), believes the baht will top 36 this year and continue upwards until the middle of next year. Kirida also said the economy would grow 4.6 per cent next year, slightly higher than 4.5 per cent this year, due to a slowdown in exports and moderate pick-up in domestic demand. The economy is likely to grow 4.5 this year, the slowest pace among Southeast and East Asian countries, except Japan. She said the high oil price, slowdown in global trade and uncertainty surrounding the government's policies could threaten the economy next year. Although the oil price has retracted, it remains high and is expected to average US$60 (Bt2,200) per barrel. The global economic slowdown, with growth of only 3.3 per cent predicted for next year, should cause world trade volume to improve 7.3 per cent. Private investment next year is likely to increase only 5 per cent, compared with 4.6 per cent this year, because business confidence has not fully recovered, due to high production costs. Kirida said investors, particularly foreign investors, had become more cautious and postponed their investment decisions until the government's policies became clearer. The Business Sentiment Index of Japanese companies operating in Thailand, put out by the Japan External Trade Organisation, has been in negative territory since May and declined last month. The Board of Investment saw net applications by foreign firms and joint ventures for the first 10 months of the year drop by half from the same period last year, to Bt260.4 billion. Kirida said public investment was expected to accelerate next year, due to the 11-per-cent increase in the central government's investment budget and 4.5-per-cent hike in state-enterprise investment for fiscal 2007. But next year's mega-project investment will be Bt366.1 billion lower than planned. Aberdeen Asset Management deputy CEO Robert Penaloza said most foreign investors felt more conformable going forward after key ministers explained the government's economic policies during their road show last week. Aberdeen is still overweight in the Thai market, with $1.6 billion worth of investments earning an average annual return of 14-15 per cent. From next Monday to December 1, his company will introduce the open-ended Aberdeen European Growth Fund. Anoma Srisukkasem, Somruedi Banchongduang The Nation

At my age I'm envious of a stiff wind.

It seems as if several people are interested in obtaining the Thai driver's license. There have been several requests for my article about how to get the license. If enough people are interested, I will be glad to set up a mutually acceptable date on which I will meet with a group of people who want the license and personally walk you through the whole thing, from start to finish, including helping you get the documents you need at the Immigration police office and taking you to the driver's license bureau to complete the process. The Pattaya Expats Club also has days set aside for people who who want the license. If anyone is interested in that, please send an E-mail to me at gaybutton@gmail.com .

Isn't that just terrible? How dare this board support gay venues in Thailand! Since the complainers choose to voice those complaints on other boards, and not this board, then I see no reason to pay them any attention at all. As I've said, no matter what a board owner does, somebody won't like what he does. Tough luck. If they don't like it, they don't have to read it. Many people do like seeing the advertising. It lets them know what's going on, and where and when. Most of the threads that contain ads are quite clearly titled. Those who don't want to read the ads can bypass those threads. Those that do want to read them can do so. I fail to see a big problem in that. Sometimes I think people complain only because they enjoy having something to complain about. You can bet that if this board hosted no ads at all, those same people would find something else to complain about. They probably will anyway.

The last time I spoke with Punya, about three weeks ago, he said that he is hoping to open by the end of November. That, he said, depends on whether the workers complete their tasks on schedule. He said Thai people have just as many problems getting quality, on-schedule work completed as "farang" do. Perhaps someone else has spoken with Punya more recently.

That depends on the family. I'll never forget when my grandmother passed away. The family vultures were at her house arguing over who gets what even before the funeral.

I don't understand any better than you or anyone else, but if I've learned nothing else through observations of what the currencies actually do compared to the predictions, it's that it seems nobody is ever able to accurately predict anything.

BANGKOK, Nov 14 (TNA) Thailand's baht currency unit appreciated to plateau at 36.39 to the US dollar Tuesday morning, its strongest in eight years, boosted by a dumping of the greenback and a capital inflow into the Thai bond market, according to a Bangkok money dealer. Pattaravadee Chinkulkitniwat, the money dealer of Kasikornbank Plc, said the baht had continued to strengthened in the same direction with the Japanese yen, which appreciated to 118 from 117.55 to the US dollar since the economy expanded more than expected. The strengthening of the Thai currency also stemmed from capital inflow into the bond market in large amounts. The next scheduled support levels of the baht is 36.30, 36.20, and 36 to the US dollar. "Today, the baht has appreciated in the same direction with other regional currencies including the Philippine peso, Singapore dollar, Taiwan dollar and South Korean won, which is the strongest in nine years," Ms. Pattaravadee said. However, she said, the Bank of Thailand would not remain passive in response to the current baht movement because the currency had appreciated too rapidly. The central bank had closely monitored the baht' s movement in the past. So, she believed it would come up with a measure to curb the stronger baht. Under the current circumstances, Ms. Pattaravadee said, she wanted exporters to count on financial tools such as forward or spot contracts to hedge against the currency exchange rate volatility. (TNA)-E005

For something as important and complex as this, the last thing I would even think of doing is listening to the advice of the "message board attorneys." I would recommend consulting an attorney both in your home country and in Thailand and let them be the ones who tell you how best to handle it.

It's hard to say which one is best. That is a matter of individual preference. However, whichever of the two, or any other Thanksgiving dinners around town, if you do not already have your reservations I suggest making them as soon as possible. These dinners get booked very quickly and the longer you wait the harder it will be to find one with space still available.

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) Actor Jack Palance, who won an Oscar with his comedic self-parody in 1991's "City Slickers," died Friday. He was 87, said spokesman Dick Guttman, and died of natural causes in his home in Montecito, California, surrounded by his family. Known for hard, grizzled roles in numerous Westerns during his six-decade career, Palance gained a second wind of fame when he won the best supporting actor Oscar for playing Curly in "City Slickers." The actor clutched his Oscar in one hand and dropped to the ground for a round of vigorous one-handed push-ups. The Academy Awards crowd laughed and applauded as he said, "That's nothing, really. As far as two-handed push-ups, you can do that all night, and it doesn't make a difference whether she's there or not." It was a magic moment that epitomized the actor's 40 years in films. Always the iconoclast, Palance had scorned most of his movie roles. "Most of the stuff I do is garbage," he once told a reporter, adding that most of the directors he worked with were incompetent, too. "Most of them shouldn't even be directing traffic," he said. Palance was born Vladimir Palaniuk in Pennsylvania. His family was Ukrainian and his father was a coal miner. He was a professional heavyweight boxer in the early 1940s, but his career in the ring was halted by a stint in the military. Palance was wounded in World War II and received a Purple Heart. His acting break came after the war as Marlon Brando's understudy in "Streetcar Named Desire." He replaced Brando on stage as Stanley Kowalski, a working class construction worker with a fierce temper in Tennessee Williams' classic play. According to the Internet Movie Database, Brando asked the actor if he would work with him on a punching bag but wound up with a sore nose when Palance missed the bag and hit the superstar. Palance's portrayal of Kowalski earned him a contract with 20th Century Fox, the IMDB says. He went on to positive reviews in a film career that included "Young Guns" in 1988 and "Batman" in 1989. Palance also made guest appearances on numerous television shows, such as "The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour," "Playhouse 90" and "Your Show of Shows." Palance was nominated for an Academy Award in 1952 after portraying the ardent lover who stalks a terrified Joan Crawford in "Sudden Fear." In 1953, the Academy nominated him again for his role as Jack Wilson, the swaggering gunslinger who bullies peace-loving Alan Ladd into a barroom duel in the Western classic "Shane." Palance also won an Emmy Award, for a role on "Playhouse 90," in 1957. He is survived by his wife, Elaine Rogers; two children by his first wife, Holly Palance and Brook Palance Wilding; his brother, John; sister, Anne Despiva; and three grandchildren.

I don't know, but I am guessing that the answer is yes. Tom, the manager, told me the reason they were not yet able to take credit cards was because of Thai banking regulations. A business has to be established for a full month before it is eligible to accept credit cards. It has been more than a month now, so they probably do take credit cards. Still, it wouldn't hurt to ask before making the assumption unless someone can confirm the whether they do or not.

I haven't seen them yet, but something I have been wondering about is what became of the city buses? Remember those? The red, green, and yellow lines, or whatever the colors were at 30 baht a ride. Has anyone seen any of them lately? I haven't spotted any in quite some time. Either I'm blind or they have simply disappeared.

As "Fuji," from McHale's Navy would have said, "Oy vey!"

Well, Ear Wig, I'm still waiting for you to answer my question about where you are getting your percentages from. After all, on another thread you wrote, "Everdentally the good heart is there, its just that you have a hard out side, protecting a soft inner shell, I dont assume anything, I have documented proof. I can always prove what I write, even though some of the articles have seemed to be pure fantasy to be always in the future true, even the last post you deleted which is the Gaythailands prerogative and I respect that." Those are your words, aren't they? Ok, you don't assume anything. You have documented proof. You also can always prove what you write. So, prove it. After all, we wouldn't want the super star of the Internet to come across as full of baloney and less than credible, would we?

I advise seeing a Thai attorney quite often and when it comes to wills, if you are living in Thailand I advise the same thing. Even if most of your assets are in another country, it still is advisable to see a Thai attorney and perhaps make a Thai will or at least make sure as to what kinds of complications your beneficiary might have to deal with in order to receive your bequest. Also, life insurance policies are available in Thailand. You might want to check into that. Something else to consider is the way assets will be doled out. As so many of you know, the typical Thai boys, even when they get into their 30's, 40's and so on, still have absolutely no concept of saving money. I have heard stories several times about "farang" who left virtual fortunes to the boyfriends and within a year the boyfriends were broke again. They went right through the money, as usual, despite the fact that it was huge sums of money. You might want to consider setting up a monthly allotment.

BANGKOK, Nov 11 (TNA) Ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra--now staying in Beijing--has no plan to return to Thailand until the overall situation returns to normal, his legal advisor said Saturday. Noppadol Pattama said he had talked to Mr. Thaksin by telephone and that the ex-premier told him he did not intend to sneak into the country, but would fly to Bangkok and disembark at Suvarnabhumi airport in a dignified manner if he returns. Mr. Thaksin, toppled in a bloodless coup on September 19 while he was attending a United Nations meeting in New York, had given much attention to building the airport before its recent opening. He said he would prefer to step down at the airport rather than sneaking into the country secretly, Mr. Noppadol said. Rumours spread earlier that Mr. Thaksin would make his way into Thailand secretly, overland via China, or crossing into Thailand from a river in Myanmar, but these rumours were unfounded, he reportedly told his legal advisor. As a Thai citizen, Mr. Thaksin can return to this country any time he likes, but he has decided not to until the situation in the country returns to normal, Mr. Noppadol said. He asked people who had spread such rumours to stop doing so for the sake of reconciliation among people in the country. When asked whether there is a possibility that the former prime minister would return after the end of martial law, Mr. Noppadol said he believed normalcy in the situation was the key factor. He said Mr. Thaksin had told him that it was unnecessary to create unrest by using pressure in a democratic country and that he would quit politics as his family also wants him to spend more time with the family. (TNA)-E111

Then don't read it.

I have not yet made the trip. How many days would you recommend? Can you also recommend an itinerary?

I don't disagree about that at all, but bitching about the problems, frustrations, and shortcomings is fun, at least for me . . . . But one thing has been true and remains true: I can't think of anywhere else on the entire planet I'd rather be than right here in Pattaya.

It never fails. Every year there are torn up road problems just when high season is about to begin. If you have a car and want to drive from Sukhumvit Highway to Second Road via Pattaya Tai, forget it. You can do it, but you could get out and crawl quicker than you'll make it in a car. That's due to the torn up road referred to in the story at the beginning of this thread. If you drive, the only practical way to do it is to detour around on Third Road, from Central Road (Pattaya Klang) or via Soi Korpai, Of course, Soi Korpai is much too narrow and it too is full of potholes. Topmanb is right. It certainly isn't limited to Pattaya Tai road. There are plenty of other places available to experience the joys of being stuck in traffic, dealing with torn up roads, trying to avoid potholes, etc, while also dealing with motorcycles going the wrong way and coming from out of nowhere to cut you off, cars trying to cheat their way through by creating their own bypass lanes, tour buses trying to make an impossible turn into a narrow soi, cars double and triple parked, baht buses picking up and dropping off passengers, and plenty more to add to the festivities. Often, you really don't have to worry about the potholes. That's because the traffic is so jammed and backed up that you can only move at a snail's pace to begin with. Here's one for the "I don't get it" list. Remember the red, green, and yellow line city buses (or whatever the colors were)? Anyone seen any of them lately? What happened to them? They seem to have disappeared. If they're still around, I never see them anymore. Another item on my "I don't get it" list is the fact that streets in desperate need of repair, and have been that way for years, are completely ignored while streets that were no problem at all are constantly torn up, repaved, torn up, repaved, and so on ad infinitum. There are several instances of streets on which repairs were started, but never finished. I know of one street that was in the process of being repaved, but the work simply stopped. It's been sitting there unfinished and it has now been five years. If you happen to be on that street and are unaware that the street suddenly just ends, then you're liable to wind up in a ditch. Several cars have done just that. There are so many potholes that sometimes I think Pattaya intends to sponsor a craters of the moon exhibition. Sometimes the potholes are repaired, but that's only once in a month of Sundays. Even then, the work is almost always so shoddy that the first hard rain washes away the repairs. Not only do we end up with the same potholes, but we get even more to go with the old ones. Of course, the most serious potholes remain either unmarked or the warning markers look as if a kindergarten class made them. They are virtually useless. Other than that, driving around Pattaya is a breeze.

The following appears in the PATTAYA CITY NEWS: Story and photos: http://www.pattayacitynews.net/news_10_11_49_3.htm _____ Two Italians Arrested and Accused of Sex with Minors The Tourist Police work constantly on cases of pedophilia and we now report on one such case now which occurred in the early hours of Friday Morning. Police Lieutenant Colonel Wootishart along with Police Captain Siam and a team of undercover officers conducted an operation in Soi Nokow in Central Pattaya to arrest two Italian Nationals accused of conducting sexual acts with girls aged under 15 years. The arrested men are Mr. Magini Massino aged 32 and Mr. Buoguerricri Tullio aged 57. They were detained after a complaint was received from an anonymous source who claimed that the two men who stayed in the same apartment would often be seen with young girls. The two suspects were taken back to the Tourist Police Station where Mr. Tullio confessed to befriending a 14 year old girl who studies in Sattahip. The girl, who cannot be named, told Police that she would often sleep with foreign men for the money to assist her with financing her studies. She slept with both Italian men on two separate occasions. The case will now be transferred to Pattaya Police Station and the Italian Embassy is also involved in the case which will now be heard in court.

I'm still waiting for the answer to my question. Where are these percentages coming from? What is the source?