Question about Pattaya and the Gaythailand forum

[PattayaMale]

It seems that GayThailand has very few announcements about parties and openings in Pattaya. I have wondered why other boards have so many more announcements.

 

I realize that there are 2 other boards that have these type of announcements. The owners of those boards have made good contacts with venue owners who email them or put up announcements on those boards themselves.

 

On this GayThailand Board there seems to be only a few active posters. Why has this board not kept or attracted a more diverse posting group? The Domain Name seems to be perfect..Gay Thailand. So anyone doing a search about gays in Thailand might think it is a good board to go to.I have thought "Why do I not post more often on this site?" The thoughts I have may not be justified, but a few are:

• The sign in does not happen automatically. Some times I read a post which can be done without signing in. I find the topic interesting and click to make a reply which then tells me I ma not logged on. Then when I go back to log on I have started at step one. I loose interest and go to another board
  
• I use the boards more to learn what is going on at gay venues and restaurants, rather than posting. Content on here on this board is lacking. Yes I understand that if I posted about events I hear about it may help, but it also seems that current members are not so interested in Pattaya...my view
  
• I was a little upset when the new owner took over and had a contest then changed rules then cancelled the contest after many of us had spent time posting many posts. Time has gone by and I should be over that...but sometimes I am too stubborn.
  
• I am not fond of the "Flirt" advertisement at the top of the board only because it takes so much space. After having seen it so many times, I ignore it anyway but still must scroll down to see content. Also the guys are not Asian. People who have newly found the board for the first time may think it is just a porn site and not realize the board the board has some good information. It probably is the only thing that generates any income for the owner and I think the owner made a large investment when buying the board...I have no idea really.
  

Anyway, valid or not those are my thoughts.

 

Two things I really like about the Board is that there are not post about "should I change my condom when have a group orgy", Which I feel are really stupid and degrade a board.

 

Also, I think this board is a place a person can feel comfortable posting without being flamed or belittled.

[Guest Geezer]

Clicking the "remember me" option when logging in avails nothing . Logging in anew with each visit to the board is tiresome.

 

It is even more frustrating when, after signing in, one is required to click a second time if not wishing to wait longer to view the next screen. It should proceed to the next screen automatically, and have those who like to wait do the clicking.

[Bob]

It is even more frustrating when, after signing in, one is required to click a second time if not wishing to wait longer to view the next screen. It should proceed to the next screen automatically, and have those who like to wait do the clicking.

 

I, too, considered that irritating but, since the new software changes took place in the last week or so, the second "click-in" for me is no longer there. And I use my dinosaur IE.

[Guest fountainhall]

1. Why has this board not kept or attracted a more diverse posting group?

 

2. I was a little upset when the new owner took over and had a contest then changed rules then cancelled the contest after many of us had spent time posting many posts.

 

1. I think that's an issue that concerns the owners and some posters alike. The unfortunate fact is that about 18 months ago this Board was first going to be dispensed with in the absence of a new owner, GB then started up his site and took quite a number of regular gaythailand posters with him (many of whom have not returned), and then we were told the Board had in fact been sold and would continue.

 

Unfortunately, the period of uncertainly seems to have led to a permanent loss of some regulars. Perhaps most of these were Pattaya-based regulars, for I am sure GB will admit his Board is more Pattaya-centric - even though he frequently expresses a wish that more posts about other parts of Thailand be made. For some reason, this site seems to attract more who are based outside Pattaya and overseas. And since several of the regular posters also post on or read one or more other sites, maybe there is less need for Pattaya news here. Merely a thought.

 

2. The first competition run by the Board (2009, I think) seemed to be a big success. The second had different criteria for the prizes which, in most posters' view, only served to flood the Board with hundreds of one-line, often meaningless, posts - all made to try and qualify for the top-posting prize. I certainly felt it was destroying the integrity of the Board - but that's just my view. It certainly attracted a lot of criticism.

 

Any competition based on posting volume will inevitably lead to a host of irrelevant posts. The key would be, I suggest, to try to find a competition format that not only attracts interesting posts but helps to bring new members who thereafter post on a regular basis. I haven't the faintest idea how to achieve that!

 

I also agree wholeheartedly with your last two comments about the nature of posts here, and I certainly hope this Board stays that way. But I also wish it could attract more posters, especially those who do not necessarily post elsewhere. The Board has a huge membership list (although I have zero idea how current it is) and its threads are read by considerable numbers. I wonder what it is that stops new members posting?

[Guest]

To get announcements, all that's needed is one or two members "in the loop" in Pattaya to receive the latest information & be willing to post it. I guess other boards have that, sometimes from just one very active moderator/owner.

 

Of course, there is a limit to how much a board can gain by duplicating the offering of other boards. After all, the "network effect" will apply to discussion boards & if all the gay boards have the same flavour, traffic will gravitate towards the most popular. Of course, there are subtle differences between the forums & some of the traffic we do get is probably from people who want a debate without personal attacks. A couple of boards seem to thrive on such activity, whilst a couple of others others ' don't tolerate it.

 

[To demonstrate the "network effect", look at the way people sell on e-bay just because that's where the most customers are.]

 

1 Why join the board? Good question. All the content can be read by non-members, so that's not an incentive to join. Perhaps some selective restrictions on pictures or archived content might encourage more people to actually join. Some other boards do this.

 

2 Joining the board. The process needs to be clear & smooth. A few years ago, when I originally joined, there were technical issues & I only actually completed the process some months later.

 

3 The first post. Having joined, if someone reading the forum does want to comment on an issue, they might just be that much more likely to reply if they're already registered & logged in.

 

4 Automatic logging in might marginally help with traffic over the longer term. The established "customers" will see no problem logging in, but "floaters" might just go elsewhere or not bother posting.

[TotallyOz]

Thank you so much for all the input on the website. The only way we can make it better is if we have feedback.

 

We have been in discussions with a programmer about the auto login. They want to study this and try to find a solution.

 

I hope that others post about events in all cities. We welcome those posts and I hope everyone does that. If it will be helpful to others, I can post the events I hear about on the boards. I get newsletters and updates from venues throughout Thailand and will do this more often if that is what the membership wishes to see implemented.

 

I apologize for the contest changing. It was not something we wanted to do but we got a great deal of flack from long term posters that it was destroying the website. We made a decision and tried to make the best one possible. I am sorry that some were offended by the decision and it was not our intention to alienate anyone.

 

The Flirt advertisements bring in revenue for the site. For over one year we had ads for businesses in Thailand but they were not paid ads. They were put up as a courtesy and the businesses we approached said they would not pay for something they can get free on any other site. So, we brought back the Flirt ads. I know they do not have a great deal of Asian guys on them but many of the clients from Asia like them.

 

The site is popular for visits and we have a constant flow of new member profiles. That is one of the main reasons we are going to spend more money to make the profile section better.

 

Currently for the Alexa Rankings:

www.gaythailand.com 278,872

www.sawatdee-gay-thailand.com 626,517

www.gaybuttonthai.com/ 3,378,009

www.baht-stop.com/ 3,275,852

 

We have dropped about 100,000 in the ranking since taking over the site but are trying hard to bring the numbers back up. We don’t feel we are in competition with any of those sites as we are a member dating site and not just a forum. We remain popular in that arena. We are lacking in the forums and not sure what to do in order to fix this. We have great moderators and great posters. We also have far too many lurkers who read and never post.

 

For search engine placement and clicks, we are at the top of all the keywords we have been working on. I bring this up only to show we are trying to get new members and new posters. We are always open to suggestions and comments.

 

I hope I answered most questions in this thread. Thank you for reading.

[Guest fountainhall]

Perhaps some selective restrictions on pictures or archived content might encourage more people to actually join. Some other boards do this

 

I have always included my pics as part of the post, and so they can only be seen by members. I did not realise there was another way! I do agree that withholding the right to view pics might be a way to encourage more to join.

[Gaybutton]

We are lacking in the forums and not sure what to do in order to fix this. We have great moderators and great posters. We also have far too many lurkers who read and never post.

I don't see that as a problem or something negative. It has always been my opinion that numbers of posts are meaningless. I believe the whole point of these boards is to provide information about Thailand. That's what the lurkers are getting.

 

I don't see much of a reason for anyone to post just for the sake of posting. Unless they have questions or something relevant to contribute, what would be the point of them posting? I'll be the majority of the lurkers have never been to Thailand and are interested in whatever they can find out from reading these boards. I'll also bet that within that group, many can only dream about coming to Thailand, but probably never can.

[kokopelli]

Without posters providing info there would be no lurkers. In the, sense that success breeds success, the more posters leads to more lurkers who then become potential posters. Although not being a board owner, I would assume an increase in membership and posters would be gratifying.

 

For me I do appreciate the info provided on the various forums but also enjoy the interaction among the various posters regarding opinions and thoughts and even, on occasion, the food fights which can be entertaining unless they take a nasty turn.

[Guest thaiworthy]

Also, I think this board is a place a person can feel comfortable posting without being flamed or belittled.

 

Amen to that.

 

I think the log-in screen camouflages the existence of a forum. I used to think that gaythailand.com was actually just an introduction site. It took me over a year-and-a-half to realize there was (at the time) a very robust forum thriving here. There is one tiny word marked "Forum" which I missed seeing all that time. And "Click Here for Message Board" led me to believe it was private mail. It just seems misleading to me. Of the 10,688 members here, only a small handful are active posters here. What does that tell you about the site?

 

BTW, here is an example of an unimpressive first-time post from a new member here.

 

http://www.gaythaila...nd-or-any-idea/

 

Although after re-reading the entire thread, it is not surprising to know he has not returned again.

[Guest]

Thaiworthy:

 

1 That's very good advice about the board layout.

 

2 Regarding the example of a one time poster, well he made is one post on the 30th of Dec and has not logged in since. When one member phoned his number, no one could reply in English, so that's rather odd.

 

Incidentally, new members first posts have to be approved by a moderator. I hope the board software explains this, so that the member understands precisely why his post has not appeared. Otherwise they might just think it doesn't work.

[Guest snapshot]

It seems that GayThailand has very few announcements about parties and openings in Pattaya. I have wondered why other boards have so many more announcements.

Maybe there's far more to gay life in Thailand than Pattaya... and the dominating focus on Pattaya and the prostitution industry on other sites is off putting. People on other sites just post as if Pattaya is all there is to Thailand.

 

The users who come to these other sites and are interested in other aspects of gay life in Thailand would probably see 95% of the posts relate to the commercial sex industry in Pattaya, "get the picture" about the site and leave.

 

Their impression is it's not a site where they're going to find out about other parts of Thailand or what normal gay life in Thailand with Thais is about... it's purely about the commercial prostitution side of it.

 

I'm not saying this is a bad thing... seems like this is what most current members are after. I'm just pointing out that it comes at the expense of attracting a broader and more balanced segment of users. Adding more posts about Pattaya and gogo bars here would just further that effect. And the incremental increase in value may be low because this stuff already bombards other sites.

[PattayaMale]

Maybe there's far more to gay life in Thailand than Pattaya... and the dominating focus on Pattaya and the prostitution industry on other sites is off putting. People on other sites just post as if Pattaya is all there is to Thailand.

 

The users who come to these other sites and are interested in other aspects of gay life in Thailand would probably see 95% of the posts relate to the commercial sex industry in Pattaya, "get the picture" about the site and leave.

 

Their impression is it's not a site where they're going to find out about other parts of Thailand or what normal gay life in Thailand with Thais is about... it's purely about the commercial prostitution side of it.

 

I'm not saying this is a bad thing... seems like this is what most current members are after. I'm just pointing out that it comes at the expense of attracting a broader and more balanced segment of users. Adding more posts about Pattaya and gogo bars here would just further that effect. And the incremental increase in value may be low because this stuff already bombards other sites.

 

Maybe, but I am not sure that is correct. The domain name GAYTHAILAND is very good. It would be the first site I believe I would select if I was new and looking for gay info in Thailand. I believe most new gay visitors to Thailand spend a few days in Bangkok because of the airport and then go onto other cities. I have no statistics to back this up, but when I first came here to Thailand, my second stop was Pattaya, then Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai, then Phuket. I understand I may not be typical in that I don't understand the posters point about "normal" gay life in Thailand.

 

Sites about GayThailand usually have reviews about commercial place to stay (hotels, guest houses) and commercial places to eat (food stalls, restaurants, shopping malls) as well as beaches and what to expect at the gay beaches. That is what I believe visitors are looking for.

 

That said, nothing precludes a poster from explaining "normal gay life in Thailand". In fact I hope the poster snapshot will do that. It would be interesting to me.

 

I did make a post 18 Jan about a day trip from Pattaya to Rayong. It received very few views. It had nothing to do with commercial sex and gogo. So I am not sure people are "lurking" to read those things.

 

I agree that the Big ad "Flirt for Free" is not Thai at all. I believe if I was newly looking for info on Gay Thailand for the first time and that popped up I would think the site is not really about Gay Thailand. But I believe it does bring revenue to the owner who may not be able or willing to support the Board without it. Although I do not read Swatdee Gay Thai board any more, I did think the ads there were useful and showed the board as more of a Gay Board about Thailand. I think it is a better way to promote a Board, but the revenue may not be worth it.........Did I get off topic here?

[kokopelli]

I did make a post 18 Jan about a day trip from Pattaya to Rayong. It received very few views. It had nothing to do with commercial sex and gogo. So I am not sure people are "lurking" to read those things.I

 

Although I did not respond to your post on the waterfall, I did put it on my list of things to do while in Thailand. So, yes, people do lurk, look and like.