Gaybutton

I try not to post these things without confirmation. I just received the confirmation. This has been confirmed by the Pattaya police. Peter, the owner of the La Dolce Vita bar in Jomtien Complex, was found hanged this morning - inside the bar. Nothing had been stolen from the bar and murderers usually don't commit the crime by hanging people, so it's obviously most likely a suicide. At this point I have no further details. I will post what I can find out.

Speak for yourself. As far as I'm concerned, there aren't enough fem boys. If you're looking for the more macho, muscle types, Sunee Plaza is the wrong place to look. You're much better off trying the Pattayaland bars.

What's for dessert? Does coffee come with it?

I should have mentioned that 1-2-Call has a web site: http://www.ais.co.th/12call/en/index_th.html#

Usually yes. I expect they will unlock your account while you are speaking to their agent. Let us know what happens. If you are able to find out why it was locked, let us know that too. It might help prevent others from having the same thing happen to them.

I've had a couple questions about 1-2-Call, the most popular SIM for mobile phones in Thailand. First, where do you get the SIM card? Any phone shop or convenience store such as 7-Eleven carries them. If all you need is the SIM card, ask for the 'Max 99.' That's what it costs - 99 baht for the SIM card. It comes with a small amount of time, but you really do need to add some time immediately if you intend to use your mobile phone. Again, you can add time at any phone shop or convenience store. If you have a Thai bank account you can also add time from an ATM or from online banking, if you have it. If you have online banking, you can probably access your account from your mobile phone if it has Internet capability, and add more time right from the phone itself. You can add as much time as you wish, starting with increments of 50 baht. If you have a Thai boyfriend and he knows you have online banking, chances are he also knows you can add time to his phone even if you are in your home country. I wouldn't be at all surprised if many of you already found out the hard way that he knows all about it. Some people are concerned that you'll lose the telephone number if you're in your home country. That's right, you will. A solution to that, if you have online banking with a Thai bank account, is to add 50 baht once a month until you return to Thailand. Then you won't lose the phone number. Another solution is to have someone in Thailand add time for you with his own online banking or at an ATM. You can't get him to add time by buying a time card because your phone has to be present in Thailand and operational in order for that to work. The worst that can happen is losing the number. When you return to Thailand, right there in the airport there are convenience stores. You can buy another 99 baht SIM card, put it in your phone, turn it on, and now you have a working phone again, although you now also have a different telephone number. I suppose there may be other ways you can retain the same telephone number, but I don't know what they are. Maybe someone else does and can post additional solutions. I imagine it all works essentially the same way if you prefer services other than 1-2-Call, such as DTAC. I don't use 1-2-Call myself. As a long term resident, I much prefer a system by which I don't have to worry about topping off time. To do that you can open an account with some phone services. I use DTAC. I simply receive a bill once a month. I can pay it online via online banking or at any DTAC shop, and there are plenty of them. The trouble is that a farang cannot open an account unless he has a work permit. I think that's ridiculous, but that's how it works. So, you have to get a Thai to open an account for you. It will be under his name, but you can arrange to have the bills sent to your Thai address. If there is some reason why you cannot personally receive the monthly bill, you can simply go to a DTAC shop once a month and they'll check how much you owe and you can pay right there.

Chinese Companies 'Rent' White Foreigners By Lara Farrar, for CNN June 29, 2010 Beijing, China (CNN) -- In China, white people can be rented. For a day, a weekend, a week, up to even a month or two, Chinese companies are willing to pay high prices for fair-faced foreigners to join them as fake employees or business partners. Some call it "White Guy Window Dressing." To others, it's known as the "White Guy in a Tie" events, "The Token White Guy Gig," or, simply, a "Face Job." Chinese companies 'rent' white foreigners - CNN.com

Every year in Thailand, all banks close for a banking holiday on July 1. This affects only banks. All government offices will be open. ATMs will be working and mini-branches, usually located in shopping centers, will be open. Most banking transactions can be done at mini-branches, but since main branches will be closed you can expect long lines at the mini-branches. If you are expecting to receive money via foreign transactions or direct deposit on July 1, the funds will not appear in your Thai bank account until Friday, July 2.

Well, maybe that's what he cooks at home. But to me, it looks like too many of those breakfasts and you'll soon need a heart surgeon.

That's what we thought too, until we were inside. Apparently people park on the street, although they do have a small parking lot. Also it's right on a baht bus route, so people probably get there that way too. We arrived about 7:30pm. Only three tables were occupied. By the time we left, many more tables were occupied. Not bad for low season.

Yes, often what you say is correct. But I have also had times when the chat ended through no fault of their own. Remember where you're talking about. All to often, in Thailand the Internet just suddenly stops. It happens to me too, and as Murphy's Law would have it, often right in the middle of a good hookup chat! For reasons I don't have any idea about, I can almost count on my Internet freezing up at about 6:50pm just about every day. I have to restart my computer to get the Internet going again. I have no clue why that happens, but it happens. Also, many of these boys advance pay for a specified amount of time when they're in Internet shops. When the time runs out, they're instantly cut off. They rarely are back the same day because they can't afford to pay for more time that day.

I really cannot call this a restaurant "find" because it's been there for over a year already and many of you have already tried it. Last night I finally tried it too. I'm sorry I waited so long. Everything about this restaurant is superb. The food is excellent, the staff perfectly trained and attentive without being overbearing, beautiful ambiance, and a marvelous dining experience. For smokers, they even have a separate dining room just for you. Rather than try to describe everything, I'm going to refer you to their web site at: Alois Restaurant What they don't have on their web site is their nightly set menu. Last night the choices were a fish, pork, or steak dish. 550 baht for the fish or pork dish. 750 for the steak dish (Australian imported prime beef). My friend was charged 70 baht for a soft drink. I drank only bottled water and was not charged for it. There is no imposed 10% tip. The tip amount is your decision. The set menu includes an amuse bouche, starter, soup, sherbet, main course, dessert, and coffee or tea. Their bread basket contains an assortment of different breads and 'crunchies.' If you finish off the basket, the waiter is right there offering more. We each tried the pork dish and loved it. This is one restaurant I highly recommend putting on your "must" list when visiting Pattaya. My only regret is failing to have tried it before last night, but we're definitely going to make up for that mistake. We'll be there often. I think, once most of you try it, you'll be doing the same.

Well, I guess it's always nice to have an erection . . . Supposedly they open tomorrow night. If you go, let us know if you spot anything there that might provide one.

Are you leaving out the best part of the story? You met him, and then . . . ?

We won't know that until they open. My guess is they've already gone elsewhere. I doubt that any of them can afford to just wait around until the new bar opens. Whether they come back or not remains to be seen.

I don't know. I hope not.

Not long ago I had a conversation with Geezer about the idea of making joint accounts with a Thai boyfriend, assuming you can trust him to that extent. Geezer definitely trusts his boyfriend. I know his boyfriend and I can honestly say he is one of the very few people, Thai or not, who I would ever trust with a joint account. The thing is, Geezer offered to do that, but the boyfriend rejected the idea. He said if his name is on the account, now he'll have to start paying taxes on it. I assume he knows what he's talking about. You might want to contact Geezer for more details, but I wouldn't do it through this board. He hardly ever accesses it anymore because he says it takes forever for the board to load for him, so he almost never bothers. Besides, you're probably better off speaking to a Thai attorney about the financial implications for a Thai boyfriend if he has a joint account with you.

Click the link for photos _____ Pattaya Water Crisis Looms? On Thursday Afternoon, we made our way to the Maprachan Reservoir located on the Eastern outskirts of Pattaya following an email received from a local resident who informed us that despite the daily rainstorms here in Pattaya, the water level at the Maprachan Reservoir, one of the main sources of water here in Pattaya, is at a critically low level. We were shocked to see that the reservoir is now virtually non-existent. Pattaya Water Crisis Looms? | Pattaya One News __________ City officials keep saying there is no crisis and there is plenty of water. They say that the reservoir is not the only source of water for Pattaya. I hope they're right. It would be bad enough for residents, but if the city does indeed run out of water, it is predicted to happen right in the middle of high season, another blow Pattaya doesn't need.

I never thought of that. What you said makes sense.

I think I can answer that one, based on experience. Both Lvdkeyes and I had a mutual friend, an attorney from Florida who died far too young. He died in the USA, not Thailand, about 4 years ago. Meanwhile, he had planned to buy a View Talay condo and had set up an account with Bangkok Bank. He wanted statements sent to him each month, but since he had no permanent address in Thailand he asked to use my address for mailing purposes. He kept 5000 baht in that account. The statements arrive at my place each month. I would always scan them and send them to him via Email attachment. After his death, his family never did anything about closing out the account. It wasn't worth a trip to Thailand to deal with 5000 baht. His sister found his ATM card for that account and wanted to send the card to me, have me withdraw the money, and send it to her, which I was willing to do, but she couldn't find the PIN number anywhere, so that never took place. If there were other ways to get the money out of the account, she never pursued them. The statements never stopped coming. For a very long time there were no changes. Only a few months ago they started charging a monthly service charge and they take it out of the account. It's a very nominal amount, but of course there is less and less money in the account every month now. I would imagine the service charge will eventually clean out the account. I do know that Bangkok Bank's policy is if an existing account has a zero balance, if it remains dormant for a year, they will close out the account.

That's for sure. Whenever he visits me, he always follows me into the bedroom when I've got a boy over here. He keeps a close eye on me because he wants to learn to beg . . .

And not for illegal reasons either . . .

Yep.

Sounds good to me. When are you going . . . ?

Only to this extent - if something happens to me, hold a seance. If I'm not too busy offing boys in the great beyond, I'll drop by and let you know how it played out. And if I'm going where I think I'm going, the boys there will really be hot . . .