Maple

Per a reliable BoyzTown source, Funny Boys was sold to a new Thai owner in May or June.

Po Pot will be closed for a Songkron holiday 13 April to 20 April.

Thais4Life is a charity located in Pattaya that was founded by Gay men. It is known primarily for helping a Thai man named Somporn obtain a new kidney years ago, allowing him to live. Much of the charity's work currently focuses on helping destitute patients pay for medical expenses and providing scholarships to destitute children. Thai4Life operates a bookstore which raises money for its charitable efforts. Location: Soi Yensabi Condo off Soi 17. Website: http://www.thais4life.com/

Getting back to the subject of this thread... I have eaten at Chez Vickie Restaurant 6 or 7 times and have enjoyed the food every time as have my friends dining with me. I typically order from the set menu which offers four main courses: pad thai, grandmother's style chicken stew, pork chop with mushroom sauce, and beef bourguignon. There is also one other daily special on offer. Soup, salad, main course, and drink (like water) total 380 Baht. BTW, the "tuna salad" is actually nicoise salad and is superb! On a recent night, there were 24 customers including two 6-person tables of French Canadiennes. Chez Vickie is now one of my favourite restaurants. For bookings, call Vickie at 0890123633. Location: opposite Bordeaux Restaurant on Soi Day-Night 2.

JimmJimmyJames A Go Go Bar is now on the market. Located in Sunee Plaza in Pattaya, the bar is a double shop house on offer for $2 million Baht with a monthly rent of 10,000 Baht. For information and photos of the bar, go to: JIMMJIMMYJAMES BOY A GO GO THE BAR and click on "For sale by Owner".

Today's update on fees for foreign ATM cards: no 150 Baht fee is (yet) charged by Bank of Ayudhya (yellow ATM). However, Kasikorn Bank (green ATM) now charges 150 Baht per transaction.

ATM Fees: no 150 Baht fee is charged (yet) by Kasikorn Bank (green ATM) nor Bank of Ayudhya (yellow ATM).

I have purchased many of my tickets to Thailand from Rhonda. She always has cheaper prices than I have found on the Internet. Another consolidator that has low fares to Thailand is Thaifly at http://www.thaifly.com/ They have offices in Chicago and Bangkok.

The new name is "Ina's Piano Bar". The owner is a German woman. Most of the time, the only person in the bar is the piano player.

At noon today, two workers hoisted a large cloth sign from Googie's canopy. It said the name of the new restaurant will be "Mushroom" and that it will open on 16 February. There will be an "opening promotion" offering a 20% discount and free coffee. I seems there is a trend to name restaurants in the Day-Night/Center Condo area after vegetables with Cucumber and Chill Pepper restaurants located on Pattaya Tai.

Heard from a reliable source who was there that Sansuk Sauna on Beach Road was raided a few nights ago by the BKK police and that the owner, Punya, had to pay a 30,000 Baht fine. Anyone have more information?

Thai Red Cross ends separate screening for gay blood donors 11 April 2008 BANGKOK (AFP) — The Red Cross of Thailand said Friday that it would change its screening process for blood donors to address concerns from activists who said the system discriminated against gays. The Red Cross requires donors to fill out a form to assess their risk of disease. Gay-rights activists had complained that one question, which was meant to target people more likely to have diseases transmitted by sex and drugs, had effectively blocked all gay men from donating by only asking about same-sex relations. "We didn't mean to hurt anyone," said Soisaang Pikulsod, director of the Thai Red Cross National Blood Centre. "It was just to ensure the highest possible safety of our patients." The Red Cross will rework the form to include more questions about all types of sexual behaviour, gay or heterosexual, that could increase the risk of diseases such as AIDS, she said. Nathee Teerarojanapong, a gay activist who complained about the questioning, urged the Red Cross to focus on screening out anyone with risky sex and drug habits, instead of singling out gay men and women. "Sometimes gays want to do good things too," he said. In Buddhist Thailand, donating blood is an important way of earning religious merit, which Thais believe will help them in their next life. Soisaang said concerns about infected blood donations grew after the agency found HIV in blood from 500 donors in 2007. The Red Cross notified the donors of their infection, but only one third of them returned for further counselling, she said. Half of them said they were gay and half said they were bisexual, she added. About 28 percent of gay men in Bangkok had HIV in 2005, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In Phnom Phen, there is a Gay bar called Blue Chilli Pub. The website is http://www.bluechillipub.net/ One of their staff is Oak; he is Thai and used to work in Pattaya. He speaks very good English, so look him up! See their ad in the current issue of "Spice!" magazine.

There is a front page article titled, "FBI In Pattaya" in the Pattaya People Newspaper for 1-8 March 2008. Tucked in the end of the article is the following sentence: "The FBI and American Embassy are also interested to get closer to the Pattaya community regarding investigation of illegal activities and wrong doings of US citizens here in Pattaya." I would be interested in Hedda's thoughts and opinion on this.

I understand that Terry was diagnosed last year with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) which is a combination of chronic bronchitis and emphysema.