Gaybutton

I had the same problem when I was living with a boyfriend. My solution was simple. I told him any food I find stored on a shelf instead of properly stored in the refrigerator will be thrown out. And that's exactly what I did. He didn't like it, but after I threw it out anyway a few times he finally got the message.

Here's the first thing that I'm putting on my "I Don't Get It" list. The article says: ". . . offered the chance to clear the debt by performing indecent, sexual acts, with largely foreign clients. Photographs and videos of the incidents would then be uploaded onto the internet . . ." ". . . Mr. Bunphasong subsequently informed police about various clients involved with the operation . . ." Unless I'm missing something, this indicates to me that the foreign "clients" at least knew they were being photographed and videoed. Whether they knew any of it was going to end up on the Internet, I don't know. Also, if Bunphasong is now informing police about various clients, that indicates to me he knows who they are and has contact information that he most likely verified. Why on earth would these "clients" allow that to happen? They let themselves be photoed and videoed while indulging in these incidents? They gave Bunphasong personal information? Am I getting this right? It's bad enough they are doing this sort of thing at all, but if I'm understanding this correctly, then they must be crazy or stupid or more likely a combination of both. Don't these people know if something ever happens, the first thing Bunphasong would do is turn in every one of them in an attempt to save his own skin? Don't they know that by allowing photos or videos, then they're virtually lining up to be caught? That has to be one of the top ten on a 'stupid' list. But good! I think tdperhs is right. Even if they manage to escape Thailand, it's only a question of time before they find themselves trying to explain their actions to a judge in their home countries.

I hope you're right and I hope they're already gone. I also hope it scares other pedophiles from either coming to Thailand for the first time or returning to Thailand.

Yes, there is a place at which he can be given a free room and free food if it is discovered he is living in Thailand under false pretenses - jail. Why would Thailand or an embassy provide any kind of support system for a farang who is broke and has no place to go? I suppose he could always try going to a Wat and becoming a monk. Failing that, if he has no money and no way to obtain any money, he would have little choice other than going to his embassy, explaining his situation, and hoping for some sort of favorable outcome. As far as I know, the embassies are not responsible for extending what would amount to welfare for someone who is living in a foreign country and then finds himself broke. I know of no such obligation. And certainly Thailand has no obligation to provide financial assistance. Also, if it turns out that he is living in Thailand under false pretenses such as lying about his income, which may explain why he is broke in the first place, then going to Thai authorities or the embassy could easily result in making his situation even worse. The only practical solution I can see for someone in such a situation would be, while his passport and visa are still valid, to try to get a job that could provide him with a work permit and sufficient income to legally remain in Thailand. Failing that, then as far as I can tell: "The days of our kind are number-ed." - Nicol Williamson (Merlin), 'Excalibur'

Yes, when you're dealing with a corrupt official there's no denying that you're right. What should have taken place was, assuming the man was in Thailand legally even if it was the 30-day privilege and also assuming he had the necessary paperwork, a 1900 baht fee to convert to the 90-day visa and a second 1900 baht fee to convert the 90-day visa to the retirement visa. That's how it is supposed to work and I have personally witnessed it being done that way by that retirement visa officer who has been with the Pattaya immigration office since forever. I don't think that particular official is corrupt in any way. So, what should have cost the man a total of 3800 baht ended up costing him 17,000. He got scammed.

Well, if it happens to be the right boy, I can think of worse mistakes to make . . .

Your guide told you right. That's one of the first ones I learned during my first trip to Thailand. I also took a guided tour of the more famous temples in Bangkok during my first trip. Of course, every two minutes we're putting on shoes, taking them off, putting them on, and so on. I asked the guide to explain the tradition of removing one's shoes when entering a temple or a home. I expected to receive a lecture about significance of feet, matters of respect, religious rites, and so on. Well, I received no such lecture. What I did receive in response to my question about why shoes must be removed was, "Keep floor clean."

Wow! If that immigration officer ever gets caught pulling a stunt like that, he's not just up Shit Creek without a paddle. He won't even have the boat. It seems like a risky scam to me. What's to stop someone from getting the fixer to put the 800,000 into his account and then skipping out with it? I wonder how much the fixer charges for this "service."

That is precisely the point. This would hardly be the first time making zero sense at all would be the case in Thailand. I don't have any idea whether I'm correct or not. I'm only suggesting a possibility. Whatever is going on, I can't help but think it is all going to end up on my "I Don't Get It" list, but we're not quite there just yet.

Also, I don't think any of us really know what the Thai authorities would do. It's entirely possible the embassy could be the least of the problems. One thing is certain: When it comes to immigration issues, Thailand doesn't play games.

Are you under the impression that the under-age boys working in Sunee Plaza is a thing of the past? To put it mildly, I would still encourage people to make sure to check IDs before taking some of the boys off from some of the bars. As for the pedophiles having fled, I hope so, but the fact that no names have surfaced - yet - doesn't really mean that much at this point. It could be that the police are not releasing any names until they can start making arrests. It could also be that the media simply isn't reporting names. It often seems that what the English language media publishes and what it ignores could very well qualify for my "I Don't Get It" list. A perfect example is the death of the guy from the La Dolce Vita bar and the fact that a Thai boy has been arrested in connection with it. There still hasn't been one word about it in any of the English language media that I've seen. I have no idea why they're not reporting it, especially in light of the fact that the Thai language media is reporting it, but there it is. In any case, I hope this puts a stop to a lot of the pedophiles. The trouble is, no matter what happens they always seem to manage to find another way to do what they do.

I'm not so sure they would ship him home at embassy expense and I'm not so sure there would be no perjury charges once he got there. I do know who you mean, but I don't want to gossip about one particular person. But whether it's that person or someone else, I don't think I would want to live with the stress of that kind of uncertainty. Under those circumstances, a person is living here never knowing from day to day if this is the day he'll somehow be caught. Under those circumstances a person has to flat out lie to both the embassy and Immigration annually. Under those circumstances he has to be concerned that the day will come when the embassy changes its policy and starts requiring substantiation before they'll issue the proof-of-income statement. Under those circumstances a person is unable to do little more than merely survive, but can't have much of a life, at least the kind of life that attracts most farang to Thailand. Under those circumstances a person may feel that you might very well be correct in your opinion about what would actually happen if he is ever caught, but he has no way of knowing what the outcome would be. If a person chooses to live that way, that's his decision, but I doubt that very many farang would really want to live like that. Another thing the embassy might do is simply confiscate his passport and leave him on his own. I actually witnessed something like that. A couple years ago I was at the USA embassy obtaining my proof-of-income statement. While I was there I heard an argument break out between a man and an embassy representative. Apparently he too was there trying to get a proof-of-income statement. When you do that, you have to hand over your passport and wait for them to call you to the service window to get the statement. When they called this man over, I could overhear the embassy official tell him a check of his records showed he is a deadbeat father who had not been paying child support. They refused not only to give him the proof-of-income statement, but they also informed him they were confiscating his passport until he could show proof that he is current on his child support payments. The man threw a fit, but the embassy wouldn't budge. So, now there he was, without a passport and apparently without the kind of money it would take to pay up on the child support. Your guess is as good as mine as to what ended up becoming of him.

They better be if they want out of this one. This case is too high profile for just paying off the police and now the problems go away. I also think a lot of Thai parents will be out there raising hell if they find out their own children were lured into this kind of prostitution. And it appears quite a large number of boys were lured this way. I hope, if nothing else, this will scare a lot of pedophiles into getting out of Thailand very quickly, before the knock comes on their doors. Damn! I wonder just how many farang pedophiles are actually in Thailand. I suppose I am naive, but I also wonder how the pedophiles manage to find these kinds of operations in the first place.

I agree with z909. Let me ask you something, is there a Gay Romeo boy you haven't met? I think, if you made mistakes beyond what z909 outlined, you were giving far too much money to boys who were not living up to what they were supposed to be doing. They seem to have perceived you as an easy mark. I also think, based on my interpretation of your very comprehensive diary, you were here focused almost exclusively on boys and bars. Not that it's a bad thing, but I think you may have simply been trying too hard and not getting all the results you wanted. I also think you spent too much time with individual boys. If you were here trying to have essentially a sex holiday, you might have been better off taking them for short time, giving them their tip, and see you later. Then move on to the next boy. But I don't understand why you wrote that you may not come back to Thailand again. Aside from a few minor incidents, it seems to me that you had a great time. Also, now that you experienced a number of the negatives, next time you'll be prepared for it, know what to expect, and much better equipped to deal with these things when they occur. I really don't think it's reasonable of you to blame Thailand for the problems you encountered. What I see as where to place any blame would be on your own approach to awkward situations.

A great many of these people already have homes that have been in their families for many years. Not exactly luxury accommodations, but they have a place to live. As for food, many grow much of their own, raise poultry, etc. There are all kinds of things native Thais can do that would be difficult or simply not available to farang trying to live in Thailand under similar circumstances. Also, there is one more little caveat. In order for a farang to be able to get a retirement visa he has to have a minimum monthly income. I forgot how much, but I think it's in the neighborhood of 70,000 baht per month. It is possible to simply lie about it, at least to the USA embassy, but if it is ever checked, now you have a problem. If you become indigent, you can't go to the embassy about it. You swore under oath as to what your income level is. Go to the embassy and they find out you lied under oath, welcome to perjury charges.

Apparently the pedophiles had a friend in a Thai "gentleman" running a pedophile ring and luring young boys via his Internet gaming shop and also apparently several internet shops are involved. Lord only knows just how widespread this might be. This is one of the more sickening stories yet. _____ Paedophilic Internet Café Scam Investigated in Pattaya Following the high profile arrest of Mr. Mikhail Pletnev, the internationally renowned Russian musician, Pattaya Children & Woman Protection Center revealed the discovery of an intricate network of paedophiles operating in Pattaya. Pattaya, the 9th of July 2010 [PDN]: At approximately 1:00pm on Friday, Mr. Supphakorn Noja (Pattaya Welfare Protection & Child Development Center Director) revealed the successful discovery of a network of paedophiles operating through various “front” internet café businesses. Investigators have since obtained a statement from a victim of the alleged scam, who revealed that the operation involved largely foreign clients with Thai men acting as intermediaries. Mr. Noja explained that the Children & Woman Protection Center investigating the cases of Mr. Traiphop Bunphasong and Mr. Mikhail Pletnev, uncovered a network of paedophiles that had been deceiving young children into committing indecent acts having innocently used various internet cafés for gaming purposes. Photos and the rest of the story: Paedophilic Internet Café Scam

What I meant was disappearing from Thailand. He's back in Russia. The Russian embassy apparently believes his story or at least that seems to be the indication, so I imagine the Russian powers-that-be will not extradite him if they are requested to do so. I think they would be far less likely to extradite him if they do believe the allegations. From the Russian point of view I would think they would prefer to let the situation remain status quo rather than deal with the embarrassment that would be caused if one of their most famous musicians ends up convicted on pedophile charges. I would guess they would figure, and rightly so, that within a few months the incident will belong forgotten. I'm wondering if any of this even saw the light of day at all in the Russian media. Unless Pletnev can prove his story, I doubt he would voluntarily return to Thailand to stand trial.

How else can he transport all of his evening gowns? And speaking of bags: "I knew a girl so ugly - how ugly was she? - We used to call her a 'two-bagger'. You put a bag over your face in case the one over hers breaks." - Rodney Dangerfield Must have been Imelda Marcos's nephew . . .

Sometimes they give bonuses to frequent users, customers in general, in response to complaints, etc. Usually you would receive a text message from them to that effect. It probably was in Thai, so you didn't realize what you received, assuming they sent a message to you at all. As for why you would be credited for less than the amount on the phone card, I have no idea about that one. I would suggest calling their customer service number and ask. They do have English speaking customer service personnel.

That's over 1000 baht more than the US embassy charges. Their fee is 1200 baht. Even if the price hikes change the 1200 baht fee by 35%, which would mean 1620 baht for USA citizens to obtain the proof-of-income statement, UK citizens still end up paying 695 more than USA citizens.

I've been to Wat Po several times. I don't even have any long sleeve shirts. I was not stopped or questioned by anyone. I think what happened in your case was not whether you were wearing a long or short sleeve shirt. I think they didn't like the rolled up sleeves. Yes, that's absolutely right. I'm embarrassed we overlooked that one until now because that's one of the most important of all. Even on airplanes I've noticed that when food is being served, if a male cabin steward is not present on the flight, but a monk is, then the female cabin stewards always ask a male passenger to give the monk his food. I didn't spot how it works when it's time to take the food tray from the monk, but I imagine a male passenger would again be recruited. And there is no way a monk will be seated next to a female passenger. They pre-board monks and they try to seat them alone, without any other passengers occupying the adjacent seats. I've also seen that in the mornings, when the monks are going about seeking food for their begging bowls and other offerings, if a female wishes to give something to the monk, but a male is not present, she will put whatever she is offering into some sort of container. The monk will take it from the container, but never directly from her.

Is anyone going to answer? How much do UK citizens have to pay for a proof-of-income statement from their embassy?

Oh, don't worry. I'll find one. Besides, I don't see anything that prohibits the moderators from entering, so you never know. I just might enter, doctor up the results if I have to, and go home with a bottle of whiskey. Well, on second thought, no I won't do that. I don't drink whiskey anyhow. Now, if GT gets some boys to draw the winning name out of a hat, maybe after all you'll take the whiskey home. I'll take the boys . . .

Yes, they could have been. That's a risk I don't think I want to take. I suggest buying pharmaceutical products only from reputable sources such as hospitals and pharmacies known to be fully legitimate, such as Fascino.

Maybe, but since he left Thailand, chances are he won't even be found . . .