Gaybutton

Yes, the opportunity . . . if he wants it. But some well-meaning farang just about force it even when the boy makes it clear that he doesn't want to go. That's when the trouble starts and the boy and the farang usually both end up miserable. I would offer him the opportunity, but let him make his own decisions. If he says he doesn't want to go, then I wouldn't try to browbeat him into it. I think a major consideration should be taking an honest look at who it's really for - the boy or one's self.

Baht's Ok but Tourism Suffers Published: 27/04/2010 The escalating political crisis has not affected the value of the Thai currency, Bank of Thailand (BOT) deputy governor Bandit Nijthaworn said on Tuesday. "The baht's value has not been hit by the political turmoil as there are no capital outflows at this time. "In contrast, the Thai currency has appreciated as a result of continuous capital inflows to the Thai stock and bond markets," Mr Bandit said. Thailand's credit rating had been recently downgraded but it should not affect the interest rates of foreign loans to the country, he said. "But the interest rates could rise if the country's credit rating continues dropping because of higher risk," he said. The central bank will evaluate the overall economy along with the effects on this year's economic growth and will announce its economic projection on Friday. Baht's ok but tourism suffers

Before you can even think about taking him back with you, first he has to be able to get a visa. I'm not Canadian, so I don't know how difficult it would be for him to even be able to get a visa. Assuming he succeeds in getting a visa, your main issue seems to be food. Are there any Asian grocery stores near you where he can get the foods he likes? Are there any Thai restaurants? Another problem is what he would do with himself all day if you're not around. In Thailand, as a farang life is much easier. So much is in English and plenty of people speak English. Even a lot of television is in English and movies in English have Thai subtitles. Being an English speaking farang in Thailand is not very much of a problem. But how about him? It must be far more difficult to be a Thai in Canada than it is to be a Canadian in Thailand. How difficult will it be for him to go out and do things? What about friends? And if you have experience in Thailand then you are probably aware of how important being within range of the family is. He may love it or he may hate it. If it were me, if he is able to get a visa I would take him for a month, making sure he has space to try doing things on his own as well as with you. That ought to tell the tale and a month should be enough time to see how well he likes being in Canada. Another thing for you to think about - are you sure he really wants to go? Over the years I've heard many stories about well-intentioned farang taking their boyfriends back to their home country. In many cases the outcome was the boyfriend was back in Thailand within a few months, broke and disillusioned. Not that such a thing would necessarily happen in your case, but something you should really think about is whether taking him to Canada is truly for his benefit or for your own.

There are several of these stories appearing. Here are links to some of them: Red shirts block highways University lecturer complain red shirts try to search students' test papers Red-shirt checkpoints arouse anger in provinces Abhisit has ordered the police to break up these illegal roadblocks within three days and supposedly the police have agreed to do so. Of course, it remains to be seen whether anything really will be done or whether Thailand degenerates further in a direction toward anarchy and civil war.

It's hard to know what a different outcome might have been, but I can understand someone bringing along a friend the first time until he gets to know you better. I have a feeling that he may have had previous frightening experiences and learned not to take any chances with someone he doesn't know all that well just yet. If you were wrong about anything, I would say you were wrong to take it personally. I think he would have done that with anyone. I would also say he was wrong for not having asked or informed you first that he is coming with a friend. Looking at it from another perspective, did you consider the possibility that he may have been interested in a threesome? I'm not joking about that. Maybe that was the reason for bringing along a friend. However, under any circumstances I think he was wrong to bring someone else along without letting you know that was what he intended to do. I would have given him another chance and would have told him this time I want to see him alone. Several months ago I had somewhat of a similar experience. A boy from Bangkok with whom I had been chatting online and by telephone said he would like to come to Pattaya and spend the weekend with me. He brought along a friend too and I had no idea he was going to do that. I met him at the bus terminal and nearly told him to take the next bus back, but instead I decided to go for it. It turned out to be a great weekend. We had a lot of fun together and I'm glad I did it. You know who was the one who came on to me? The friend!

I hope you're right, but things keep getting worse every day. I have been reading news reports that now in several areas the Red-Shirts have set up road blocks and are forcing people to stop and have their cars searched, which is completely illegal. Only the police have the right to stop and search vehicles. The reports say that the Red-Shirts can be sued for such actions, but I don't know how practical that would be to do. Who would you sue? What it amounts to is use of illegal intimidation tactics. If you are traveling by car and are subjected to one of these searches, I don't know what you could really do about it. I don't think I would be afraid of being physically harmed, but I can certainly envision the possibility of having valuables stolen. It is certainly making me think twice about planning trips by car any time soon.

Don't leave us in suspense . . . after you got it back did you make any "arrangements" ?

I am well aware of that, but I'm talking about if soldiers refuse in massive numbers to obey. I don't know whether that has even a remote chance of happening, but if they receive orders to start shooting their own people, I can see it as a possibility. I have no idea whether there is any truth to this, but I have heard rumors that one of the reasons Abhisit has not yet actually called in the military is because he fears the possibility of something like that actually happening.

I've been around long enough to realize I'll never know how everything works . . .

I'll give him just a bit more to remind him that name calling is against posting rules here. "You bloody hypocrite." Gooooooooood. With that he gave me license to put him on moderated mode any time the whim strikes me, or strikes any other moderator for that matter. Just think, if any of us do put him on moderated mode he'll never know which one of us did it.

Yep. That's me. Absolutely right. A bloody hypocrite . . . with real blood too. How dare you write something positive about me! DanT won't like it. Come to think of it, he won't be alone in that . . .

I'm not so sure how well that would work if hundreds or even thousands of soldiers refuse to obey the orders. I don't see how the military could punish large numbers of soldiers. That would be a hell of a lot of courts martial. Still, the military obviously does something to convince soldiers to obey. I think about the past situation in Burma, when soldiers attacked their own people people who tried to rise up against the government. My thoughts were those soldiers have families too and it's hard to imagine that loyalty to a few fat-cat military leaders would supersede their feelings about the suffering of the poor, which probably includes their own families and they themselves. Maybe fear of courts martial plays a part, but I just can't imagine that in itself is the only factor that motivates them.

I think I prefer somewhere in between. I dislike bars at which you wait forever for more boys to get on the stage, but I also dislike bars at which they change positions so quickly that you really don't get enough time to give them a good looking over, make eye contact with a boy who catches your interest, and have at least a couple minutes to decide whether you want to call him over. For me, three or four minutes is just about right before the boys shift positions.

Now they're getting smart. I'll bet Happy Boys will have plenty of customers while other bars that won't budge about their policies and fees will continue crying for customers. Maybe Happy Boys won't make as much profit per individual customer, but sheer volume will most likely make up for it and then some. It will be interesting to see if other bars start offering promotions to gain customers.

I just tried it. It worked fine for me. It was probably a temporary glitch.

I hope I am speaking for all the moderators when I say your post is very much appreciated. A post like yours doesn't come very often and it makes all the crap we put up with worth it when we know at least some people appreciate what we do. I, for one, have tolerated years of complaints, put-downs, accusations, flame posts, hate posts, name calling, hate Email, hate PMs, threats, and even blackmail attempts. Meanwhile I'm still here and I don't plan on going anyplace. If some people dislike this board, my moderating style, or me personally, tough shit. Go elsewhere.

Last night I was chatting with some of the boys working in the Jomtien Complex bars. Several of them said they are working only temporarily, from between the end of the rice harvest season until the beginning of the planting season. The boys with whom I spoke said they do this every year. It's a way to make some money when there is little or nothing to do back at the rice farm during the "between" season. And "Every boy want to have farang" one said. They made it clear that their goal is to make some extra money and the lucky ones will hook up with a "good farang" during that time and possibly even hook up with someone who will take them away from the rice farm life entirely. A couple of them said that a common problem is the boys do find someone to "take care" them and that person sends money to them every month, but then it stops without warning. One boy said he really did love the farang he met, but the man stopped communicating with him seven months ago. He said he had no idea why. He said he never asked for anything more than the man said he would send each month. He said it lasted for a while, but all communication simply stopped. He said that happens to many of the boys. They were also complaining about the lack of customers. Some said they come to Pattaya and work the bars like this every year, but this year is the worst they've seen with regard to customer numbers. "Customer not come." The rainy season normally begins not long after Songkran. When I was a kid I used to love when my grade school teachers would read the same children's stories to us every year. We could count on 'Stuart Little,' 'Charlotte's Web,' and 'Mary Poppins.' Mary Poppins would tell the children she would stay until the wind changes. The boys say they will stay "until rain come." That's when many will go back to the rice farm. That's the beginning of planting season - when the rains come. ____________________ Tracking the Asian Monsoon Analysis by John D. Cox In the bestiary of powerful climate regimes -- El Ninos, La Ninas and other oscillations of one kind and another -- the Asian Monsoon is in a class by itself. Its rainfall feeds half the world's population. Its failure can bring down dynasties and, in a stroke, remove several million people from the rolls of living humanity. Beginning with the British mathematician Sir Gilbert Walker in India in the 19th century, scientists have devoted great time and energy trying to understand what makes the summer rains come and go -- or not. http://news.discovery.com/earth/tracking-the-asian-monsoon.html

For some the novelty wears off and for some it doesn't. But other considerations include medical care availability and quality, availability of the foods you like, shopping, grocery stores, transportation, cost of living, proximity to immigration offices (some people have to make long trips every 90 days just to report their address), banks and ATMs, Internet availability, activities, etc. All of those, plus more, are things to check before coming to a decision.

I agree with every word you wrote.

"Let her gush and jabber. Let her be enthused. I cannot remember When I have been more amused." - Gaston, 'Gigi', song: The Night They Invented Champagne On the list of things I give a damn about, guess where DanT's complaints are . . .

I hope I'm wrong, but that's exactly what I think they're going to do. I also think saying they're only blocking a few intersections is oversimplifying the problems resulting from this, but I hope it doesn't take a bloodbath to resolve it.

I think the same as you do. But it is interesting to see what people are saying they would do if they are ever forced to leave Thailand.

I guess I should have followed the word 'imminent' with a question mark. The news reports make it seem as if something is going to happen, and very soon. The way I see it, the Red-Shirts are not going to give in. The Abhisit government is not going to give in. Now the "No Color Shirts" are planning a mass demonstration. There seems to be no end to it and Thailand can't afford to let this just go on and on as a never-ending stand-off. To me, it all seems to be heading in just one direction - the military. Unless something changes, the only way I can visualize this coming to an end is military intervention. I hope it doesn't come to that because it would mean more injuries, more deaths, more hatred, the possibility of martial law being imposed, and an outcome satisfactory to no one. Only a short time ago I was sure nothing was going to happen at all and that I hoped I wouldn't end up having to eat my words. Unfortunately, I've had to chow down on those words. I never expected the situation to degenerate to what it has become. I really didn't. My predictions couldn't have been more wrong. I can only hope my predictions about military intervention turn out to be just as wrong.