This is a suck ass site

[Guest]

Unless of course it mutates by general enthusiastic witticisms into something far more interesting than Hat Yai.

Yes, but that would not be fair on the original poster.

Anyone who makes a reasonable request for not widely available information deserves a period where the topic is respected. If we allow wit or insults to take over immediately, the original poster will not get a relevant answer.

Of course, for people who want wit there's a board that does it (rather well) and there's another one which seems good at just the insults. Plus a few boards where a topics are respected. We try to be one of those.

[Guest xiandarkthorne]

Unless of course it mutates by general enthusiastic witticisms into something far more interesting than Hat Yai.

 

In the unlikely event that someone had a lot of decent info bout Hat Yai "we" no doubt would be all ears.

 

 

I did. http://www.gaythailand.com/forums/topic/7223-hatyai-gl-sauna-and-gogobars/page__hl__hatyai

[Guest]

I did. http://www.gaythaila...age__hl__hatyai

That's probably the best write up on Hat Yai on the entire web too, or at least the best English language info.

[Guest fountainhall]

With the changes now starting on this site, I trust that one issued can be clarified, as it seems to me to represent a huge change in direction.

 

In addition to the Flirt for Free photos which have been up at the top for months, looking carefully at the bottom of the page, I see there is now a Gay Thailand Pay-per-View and Gay Thailand Videos section. I fully accept that the owners of any site will be looking to generate revenues from it. My real concern now is that GayThailand.com looks like it is starting to veer more and more in the direction of a site that will increasingly promote commercial pornography. If that is the case, then it opens up a number of issues.

 

First, to me it smacks of hypocrisy in more ways than one, especially given the quite strict Message Center Policies which take a dim view of photographic attachments involving even artistic nudity.

 

Secondly, how can the owners promote pure porn on one part of a site, and still expect a membership which will openly and frankly discuss a wide variety of issues, the vast majority of which have absolutely nothing to do with porn, on another? I, for one, see an obvious danger that the Message Board will increasingly become a forum to air pornographic issues. Frankly, I have absolutely zero interest in being part of a what has become a relatively serious and informative Message Board - if, in future, it is to be part of a site promoting commercial porn.

 

I should add that it is not just the porn element. Under the Help & Info Quick Links Section, for example, there are more new additions (at least, to me they are new) such as Gold and Silver Supporters, and Top 20 Paid Members. What precisely are these? Is gaythailand therefore going to become a paid site?

 

When he decided to give up the site, Michael generously gave members the option of joining an escort site, an invitation I turned down. When the Board was then sold, we were told that eventually there would be exciting changes over the longer term.

 

We have now been waiting for a very, very long time for some communication from the not-so-new owners about the direction in which they plan to take the site. I would like to invite them now to give the membership a clear and concise view of their medium- to long-term goals, both general and specific, for the site. In particular, how far is this emphasis on commercial pornography going to go, and how do they see this as in any way compatible with the existing Message Board?

[TotallyOz]

Fountainhall,

 

A few comments.

 

The links to the aebn porn site have been on this site since 2006. That is not new. If fact, I use to have them in banners at the top of the site.

 

The paid member area has always been on the site since 2006. That is not new either.

 

The flirt ads have been on and off the site for years and that is not new either.

 

I did not see any change in direction. That being said, porn has always been a part of this site, just not so obvious to people who are on the message boards.

[Guest]

I saw the artistic new header, but was kind of oblivious to any changes in content (or non-changes, as the case may be).

My bookmark takes me direct to the forum and Adblock leaves a nice quiet grey space between the main menu and the forum.

[Guest thaiworthy]

My bookmark takes me direct to the forum and Adblock leaves a nice quiet grey space between the main menu and the forum.

 

Z, thank you for telling me about AdBlock. I had never heard of it. It is now installed and it was easy to do. I like the quiet grey space, too.

[Guest fountainhall]

Michael

Many thanks for clarifying what had I had simply not noticed before. Maybe it is the fact that the revamp currently underway is much more extensive than anything we have seen before that I am scrutinising parts of the site in more detail. The Flirt for Free photos have always been very visible both times they have appeared. Were the porn vdo elements always at the foot of the Message Board page? If not, were they always visible when members were on the Message Board? If not, where were they located?

 

My concern about hypocrisy remains, however. I have always been aware of the Personals, even though most seemed long out of date. Indeed, it was the personals that first drew me to the Message Board. I assume these require some sort of registration and therefore control.

 

But these are not hard-core porn. If you open the two vdo sites, there are dozens of hard core porn photos there for all to see. And absolutly anyone clicking on gaythailand,com can open these. They do not even have to register as a member! Yet the Message Board, for which registration is required, is quite severely restricted in terms of topics and visual elements. Indeed, one of the items on the Code of Conduct specifically states –

 

No links to pornographic websites are allowed. Posting these links will result in immediate removal of the post and disillusion of the membership of the poster.

 

Editor: Please note - the word should be dissolution, not disillusion, even though it may result in the disillusion of the member concerned! Better and more accurate would be 'cancellation'.

 

Yet, as I am now aware, gaythailand.com itself is a pornographic website! So anyone posting any link to an earlier gaythailand thread on the Message Board should immediately be banned! (I realise that is taking things to extreme, but let’s be frank - members have been banned and remained banned for less!). Why the rule, therefore?

 

That’s why I feel the membership deserves a clear and concise report from the Board owners of the precise direction this site is taking. I suggest we have been left in the dark for too long.

 

Adblock leaves a nice quiet grey space between the main menu and the forum.

 

How does one access Adblock?

 

PS: As I was about to log out, I noticed that this message was typed and saved without my even being logged it!

[Guest thaiworthy]

That’s why I feel the membership deserves a clear and concise report from the Board owners of the precise direction this site is taking. I suggest we have been left in the dark for too long.

How does one access Adblock?

 

Fountainhall makes a very good point. One I never really thought about till now. Apparently, pornography is not accessible here unless the board makes money from it!

 

I just googled AdBlock and got this. It was pretty easy to install and use. You might have to quit Safari and restart it, and go back to GT.com

 

http://www.google.co...=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

 

FH, I think I read one time you use a Mac. The Adblock I use is for Safari, but they have it for Firefox, too. Make sure extensions are turned on in the Preferences, but you will probably be prompted to do that when you go to download/install.

[Guest]

Adblock is one of the many browser "add ons" or "extensions" available.

This one blocks ads.

I have it installed on Firefox & Chrome.

Looks like it is also available for Opera & I imagine someone might have knocked out a version that's compatible with other inferior browsers.

 

My favourite extension is "Tabmix" for Firefox, which allows me to select when new tabs open.

 

Another truly brilliant extension is XMARKS, which synchronises your bookmarks to a website, so all your PCs can keep the same set of bookmarks. That works with Firefox, Chrome & possibly other browsers, although it the concept originated from the Firefox community. You can also save passwords, but I have that function well & truly switched off.

 

Add ons is under the Tools menu in Firefox, although you could also go to the Mozilla website.

[firecat69]

There are two funny things about this thread.

 

1. Anyone who know Michael would have realized that post was not his. He would have been much more theatrical if he had something like that to say.

 

2. The funniest thing is that post generated more interest and posts then the Board has had in a long time. Frankly I stopped coming here because there was rarely anything of interest.

 

Furthermore those of you who continue to disparage SGT have no idea what you are talking about. Since DaBoss took over most of that bickering is gone and the posts there are far more interesting then any of the other Boards.

[Guest fountainhall]

those of you who continue to disparage SGT have no idea what you are talking about. Since DaBoss took over most of that bickering is gone and the posts there are far more interesting then any of the other Boards.

 

I don't recall ever having disparaged SGT. The fact is that I and many in Bangkok simply cannot access SGT without going through a proxy server, and I just cannot be bothered to do that each and every time! So I have no idea what is going on there!

[Guest fountainhall]

Prompted by firecat69, I looked in at SGT just now. From the few posts I read through, i would agree with him. There are now a lot more interesting posts, some with long and reasoned discussions.

 

However, the first post I visited was one titled Moderation: Too Much or Too Little - a topic that was aired on this Board a little earlier. The results to date are -

 

I think that there is currently too much moderating, deleting and editing of posts – 25%

 

I would like to see more moderation on the board so there are more intelligent posts – 19%

 

I like it just the way it is – 29%

 

Not really much conclusion to be drawn there. What concerned me more than slightly, however, are some of the responses. Here is a selection -

 

- I don't necessarily come here to be "educated" (which is just as well) - I come here for primarily for fun, so whether a post is deemed "intelligent" or not is immaterial to me.

 

- what is wrong with the odd bitch fight ?? if a board is to be like real life then it needs to have disagreements as well as intellegent discussion ...

 

- Who gives a flying fuck about bitch fights (as you call them)? That's entertainment!

 

- For me, the current level of moderation has resulted in a board I have now started to revisit. Frankly, the previous "Insiders Club" the dominated the board in the past made it senseless to come here. Except for the members of that club I doubt anyone else found it amusing to read adolescent put downs fired back and forth between folks no one else knew or wanted to know. I'd prefer those folks self moderate, but if they don't, keep on filtering out their nonsense.

 

- If I can't have a 'bitchfight' every now and then I would get rather bored. SG is right. This board is for fun. Leave it as it is!

 

- Good to see our leader getting involved in his very own bitch fight – who needs moderation … ????

 

- Banter and bitch fights are a crucial part of this forum, they should remain. Even if I don't take part, I enjoy reading them (up to a certain point, then it gets boring). It's hilarious when grown up men act like children!

 

- Fascinating this board has degenerated to personal bitching between fag hags.

 

What I do think it encouraging for that site is that it is advertising on other Boards a photo competition with cash prizes. The catch - you have to join the Board. I doubt even if the Board owners know how many they will attract. nor how many will then become posters. But at least you can see they are trying.

 

I have also noted on that Board and others that a lot of former gt.com posters now post exclusively on those other forums. But no longer here. That indicates there has to be something very wrong with this Board - and it's about time we spelled that out! Has anyone checked with them to find out why they left and why they do not come back? If not, why not? At least that might give some pointers to where this Board is going wrong.

 

There is also the issue of posters who have, for one reason or another, been banned. Unlike some other Boards, withdrawal of privileges here is permanent (or so I believe). One strike and you're out. Yet, on at least one other Board, there is a sort of "sin bin". One indiscretion and privileges are withdrawn for a month. Why banning for life here?

 

The subject of how to attract more posters to gaythailand.com has been a regular feature of this message board for well over a year now - yet, precisely nothing happens! Is this Board therefore on its last legs? Will "entertainment" "fun" and "bitch fights" bring in more members? If not, how the hell is gt.com going to get more posters? For without them, this Board will surely die amidst the sea of commercialism that seems to be swallowing it up.

 

And the ever-continuing lack of a any form of positive public statement of direction from the owners (for over 20 months now!) merely adds to all the uncertainty.

 

I regret that I am being somewhat unusually direct. But I think it is time these things are being openly debated - as firecat69 and at least one other poster have recently brought them to the fore.

[Guest fountainhall]

Frankly I stopped coming here because there was rarely anything of interest

 

I forgot to ask earlier. There have been a lot of threads on this Board in recent months covering quite a wide variety of subjects dealing with gay thailand issues (although less on Pattaya issues) as well as regional and more general issues. It would be a great help to know what in particular you are interested in, and what did you not find here that would have encouraged you to "read on", as it were! Where, in our view, is the gt Forum going wrong?

[firecat69]

I forgot to ask earlier. There have been a lot of threads on this Board in recent months covering quite a wide variety of subjects dealing with gay thailand issues (although less on Pattaya issues) as well as regional and more general issues. It would be a great help to know what in particular you are interested in, and what did you not find here that would have encouraged you to "read on", as it were! Where, in our view, is the gt Forum going wrong?

 

FH Turn around is fair play so like you I took a closer look at some threads here and did find some interesting ones. Been awhile since I have stopped by so not sure if the time frame is compressed because of my absence but I will make an effort to stop by more often and post when I have something to add.

[Guest fountainhall]

I'm sure your contributions will be most welcome.

[Guest fountainhall]

Were the porn vdo elements always at the foot of the Message Board page? If not, were they always visible when members were on the Message Board? If not, where were they located?

 

I'd appreciate a reply from someone.

[TotallyOz]

FH, I am happy to answer to the best of my memory.

 

Were the porn vdo elements always at the foot of the Message Board page?

Answer: No, I am sure they weren't. They were initially at the top of the site. I am not sure how long they were there. We had them set up to pop up inside profiles at one point in time and then removed that.

 

If not, were they always visible when members were on the Message Board?

Answer: The site changed a few times over the years. The majority stayed the same but we tried putting video box covers in ads, links on main part of site and links on the bottom. But, the the forum, there are always complications. I know at one point (for several years) all the links at the bottom did not work and were never fixed. If you clicked on them, they went back to forum homepage and did nothing else.

 

To explain further, when you put any ads or footers on the forum page it requires a great deal of customization. The reason for this is the software makers want you to use their ad software. When you create your own, or do any modifications to it, EVERY time you change or update the forums, all that customization needs to be checked and redone. When I had the initial site developed, the programmers I used really did a horrible job at piecing together things and it just seemed like an insurmountable task to fix all the issues. The longer I let things go, the worse they became. I fired the original programmers shortly after they made the site and even though I had other programmers, the code was so poorly done that I never had the courage to make the deep changes that were needed.

 

If not, where were they located?

Answer: I think answered above.

 

Unfortunately, I don't remember all the answers to your questions. I wish I did. I do know that money was made off of the video links for years. Where those links came from on the site, I don't remember. I don't remembers a great deal about the way it worked. I also had a partner on this site for years and then it was just me. As it was only me for several years, I let things slide more than I should have. I should have been more diligent in many areas of the site as it is a site that I cared about and still do.

[pong]

I don't recall ever having disparaged SGT. The fact is that I and many in Bangkok simply cannot access SGT without going through a proxy server, and I just cannot be bothered to do that each and every time! So I have no idea what is going on there!

THIS ALSO has been adressed-around 1/1 of this year and is now resolved. It (as I understand it) even negotiations with TRUE had to be done to remove some blocks (or so-I am no geek to know precisely about all those things).

And of course besides SGT-which as others before me have also rightly mentioned has tremendously improved, there is that very own private site of GB, khun GayButton, definitely with a Pattaya twist, but without any ads or indecent foto's. And seriously enough for most.

In bisnis it always seems to me that when 3 compete, 1 of those eventually, sooner or later, folds down and I am afraid its quite clearly this board. Even without it being taken over by 1 of the others

[Gaybutton]

when 3 compete, 1 of those eventually, sooner or later, folds down and I am afraid its quite clearly this board. Even without it being taken over by 1 of the others

That might be true if 3 are competing. I don't know where you got the idea that this board, Sawatdee, or my board are competing. Competing for what? The most members? The most posts? Winning a "my board is better than your board" contest?

 

The fact is all three board owners fully cooperate with each other. Whenever I have contacted Scooby or z909 about some sort of problem, they have never failed to respond, and quickly. The owner of Sawatdee and I are friends. I have even been to his home helping him with some problems he was having on his board. Whenever the management of this board or Sawatdee has asked me for help or cooperation, I have never refused it and probably never will.

 

The boards are not competing with each other. They're cooperating with each other. You know who is competing? Some of the board members. It's those folks who are playing the "which is the best board" game, and that's something the board owners don't do.

 

To me, trying to decide which is the 'best' board is utter nonsense. There is no such thing. Each board offers its own unique attributes. If you prefer one over the other, that's fine. If all three boards were the same and operated under the same sets of rules, the same moderating styles, and were virtual clones of each other, then why not just consolidate all three into one board and save the web surfing time?

 

If people want to play a "the board I like is the best board" game, that's up to them. Go right ahead and play it. Meanwhile, I'll bet most of them read all three of the boards.

 

In any case, if there really is some sort of competition going on, include me out. I'm not interested and never was. And I don't think any of the board owners are interested either.

[Guest thaiworthy]

In bisnis it always seems to me that when 3 compete, 1 of those eventually, sooner or later, folds down and I am afraid its quite clearly this board.

 

In business, this is true. But I don't see any of these boards as "businesses" competing with each other. No one is trying to "sell" anything. I read and post anything I see relevant and of interest to me, whether it has a Pattaya twist or not. There are rivalries among people, not boards.

[Guest thaiworthy]

There are two funny things about this thread.

 

1. Anyone who know Michael would have realized that post was not his. He would have been much more theatrical if he had something like that to say.

 

2. The funniest thing is that post generated more interest and posts then the Board has had in a long time. Frankly I stopped coming here because there was rarely anything of interest.

 

Furthermore those of you who continue to disparage SGT have no idea what you are talking about. Since DaBoss took over most of that bickering is gone and the posts there are far more interesting then any of the other Boards.

 

I basically agree with Fountainhall. FC-- me thinks thou doth protest too much!

[Guest fountainhall]

THIS ALSO has been adressed-around 1/1 of this year and is now resolved. It (as I understand it)

 

Not so, pong. I am absolutely unable to access sgt from my server in Bangkok unless I use a proxy!

[Guest fountainhall]

Were the porn vdo elements always at the foot of the Message Board page?

Answer: No, I am sure they weren't.

 

I don't recall any vdo porn links on the actual Message Board/Forum page. Whilst I can understand the commercial reasons for including them on the site, surely the Message page is not the right location - given the Message Centre Policies? If they have to be included, they should be on another part of the site.

 

Whilst on the subject, why is there a box "Click for Message Board" on the home page, yet everywhere else the Message Board is referred to as "Forum"? Small point, but unifying the terminology avoids possible misunderstandings.

[Guest fountainhall]

In bisnis it always seems to me that when 3 compete, 1 of those eventually, sooner or later, folds down and I am afraid its quite clearly this board

 

Despite what I have been saying about this site, I see absolutely no logic in pong's conclusion. A Board is basically dependent on its contributors. I suggest it's only natural therefore that someone like pong who posts a great deal more frequently on other sites - and not just the three mentioned - will presume to suggest that this Board will therefore perish.