Gaybutton

There is a row of ATMs on the second floor at Carrefour too. I think there might be an Aeon machine on that level as well, but at the moment I can't remember whether one is there or not. The row of ATMs on the ground floor is just outside the entrance corridor to the restrooms. There is definitely an Aeon machine there. Agreed, of course. I can't be sure whether that fee originates from Aeon or the bank that issued the ATM card. If it originates from the issuing bank, the fee may be different from what we were charged.

Surely you can't possibly think anyone would ever want to 'muck' poor, misunderstood, kindly, ol' me . . .

This morning a friend and I tried an Aeon ATM. HeyGay is right. There was no fee. Actually we were charged a 25 baht fee, but I think that came from the issuing bank end, not from the ATM because there was nothing on the screen or receipt about a fee. Normally, when the local ATM charges any kind of fee, something does appear on the screen and receipt to tell you that. The Aeon machine we used (the one at Home Works) issued only 1000 baht notes. I don't know whether that is standard or whether the machine we used had simply run out of 100 and 500 baht notes. We were there early in the morning, so perhaps 100's and 500's were already gone before the machine had been refilled for the day.

Here are the ATM locations in Pattaya: Lotus North Pattaya (Pattaya Nua - North Road) - ground floor Lotus South Pattaya (Sukhumvit) 2nd Floor Home Works Pattaya - just outside the store (next to Big-C, Pattaya Tai) Carrefour - 1 ATM on each floor For other locations in Thailand, click the following link: http://www.aeon.co.th/lang/en/menu/Service_Location/region/off/option/atm#branchATMForm

By 2020 the road work on Tappraya will be a little closer to completion. Boys who are currently celebrating their 7th birthday will be heading for the bars trying to find farang. Some of the beach umbrellas will be replaced with new ones. Construction will have begun on View Talay 116. ATMs will be charging 2000 baht per foreign card transaction. GB will weigh 527 kilos. GT will be on his bicycle tour from the Aleutian Islands to Jakarta. GB will have banned his 864th board user and deleted his 12943rd message. The police will be drug testing boys for ya-babaloo. The powers-that-be will have imposed 9:15pm to 10:30pm as legal bar operating hours. But the bars will be, with the exception of more name changes, just as they have always been. That's my 2020 vision . . .

I don't think it's a very good idea to take medical advice from a radio station doctor.

Message from Mike: _____ Although a bit short notice you may like to know that Mikes Bar La Cage will be running a minibus to the first ever performance of Brahms German Requiem at the Assumption Cathedral, Bangkok, on Thursday 3rd. September. Limited seats available so please contact mike as soon as possible. Full details attached.

Incredible! You, who had no way of controlling what the boys did during non-working hours, face a 90-day closure or face going to court and a large fine. But the boys who actually used the drugs have to spend a week sweeping the streets or collecting garbage or something. It doesn't seem fair to me. And you had to guarantee they wouldn't run away, something else you can't really control.

I agree. Mark has given us a lesson in Thai law. For whatever bizarre reasons, apparently under the law he has to at least show evidence that he is making a reasonable effort to prevent drug use from taking place at his establishment and apparently he has to do so at his own expense. I doubt the law would stand up under most western court systems because, the way I read what Mark is saying, there are no guidelines for him to follow. What he is doing may be enough. Also, maybe it isn't. What's more, what may be enough this week might not be enough next week. Apparently 'probable cause' doesn't enter the picture at all. The whole situation makes very little sense to me. He has no way to know if a Thai court would consider what he is doing to be enough, and it would cost him plenty if he ever again has to find out. It even seems as if you would have to be lucky enough to get the right judge. Apparently, the whole thing is without guidelines, which makes the outcome dependent on the whim of each individual judge. If nothing else, Mark's post seems to me to rule out the notion that bars would intentionally drug the boys. He's damned if he does and damned if he doesn't. If any of the boys show a positive drug test result, then bar owners like Mark are going to get a visit from the police and have to face the decision of complying with a 90-day closure order or go to court. It must be like trying to decide whether to jump into boiling water or jump into boiling oil. Mark, if you're reading this now we know what happens to you. What happens to the boys who fail drug tests administered by the police when they raid?

We're close to being agreed. This is the only area at which we still disagree. I think law enforcement officials should have to supply the test materials. But no matter who pays for it, I don't think the bars should be held responsible, financially or otherwise, any more than any other kind of business should be held responsible. To me, if the bars have to pay to start drug testing their employees, then every business in town should have to do the same thing. It would be hard to convince me that the only businesses in town that have drug users on their staff are bars. I don't see anyone trying to get other kinds of establishments to drug test their employees at their own expense. Why should bars be singled out as an exception? I'm all for drug testing. I all opposed to the bars having to foot the bill for it.

That aspect of it, at least, is not so much of a problem. Bangkok Bank permits you to designate someone else to handle the bank account if you become incapacitated. They require a letter from the doctor as evidence you are incapacitated.

I'm glad to know that. It is quite rare for a bar boy to reject an off. I believe the boy really was telling the truth. A farang would have to be awfully disgusting before many boys would reject their chance for a tip. Getting customers to take them off is why they're working in the bars in the first place.

I understand perfectly. I just don't agree with your argument. Yes, random testing is not cost prohibitive and that's what Mark does at Krazy Dragon. But considering the number of boys arrested throughout Sunee Plaza every time there's a raid, I don't think random testing at one bar has much chance of improving anything. Even so, I don't see why Mark should have to pay a single baht to test boys over whom he has no control during their non-working hours. He chooses to do some testing, and I certainly compliment him for that, but unless the other bars start doing the same thing or start testing them all, then I think he's fighting a losing battle and in the end it's an exercise in futility.

Out of sheer curiosity, why? That's what I'm doing and it has been no problem at all. As a matter of fact, I realized there is actually an advantage to it. Every so often we hear stories about someone being ripped off at phony ATMs or by other methods. If you are keeping some of your money in that deposit-only account, the very fact that you have to put in a personal appearance to retrieve it prevents ATM rip-off possibilities.

Your idea of what is and is not cost prohibitive is a little different from mine. If it costs Mark 1000 baht per month to test 10 boys, that means 100 baht per employee tested. He tests 10 at random. Considering the number of employees in the average bar, then if all of them were tested once or twice per month, now the cost of those tests are running into hundreds of dollars. That sure seems cost prohibitive to me. I don't visualize very many bar owners voluntarily coughing up anywhere near as much as that, and I don't think they should have to in the first place. Considering the number of boys who do abuse drugs, then I would agree that they should be tested, but I don't agree that the bars should be the ones to foot the bill for it. I believe the police should supply the drug test kits. Between lack of customers, normal business operating costs, paying off corrupt police, etc, if you start adding drug tests to the cost of running a bar, then soon there won't be very many bars.

Yes, but those are boys who don't go off with anybody at all. I'm talking about boys who do go off. I'm interested in knowing if anyone has ever been rejected by those boys.

Has that ever actually happened to you? I've never had that happen and I don't personally know anyone who was ever rejected, although I've had my share of boys who are all over you in the bar and then duds once you get them in the sack.

Blue. They're not quite as common as others. I've seen them only in shopping centers such as Carrefour and Central. I don't think I've ever seen them in other types of locales, such as connected to a 7-Eleven.

That's strange. A friend of mine used his ATM card at the very same place and he was charged the 150 baht fee. Maybe it depends on which bank is the issuing bank. Who knows? It beats me, that's for sure. I guess all anyone can do is try. Maybe some will be lucky and some won't. I wish I had some idea of how to figure out which cards are going to be charged and which won't.

Me too. I see nothing attractive about piercings at all. "I had nothing better to do today, so I thought I'd have some holes punched through me." Some of these guys pierce anything! I'm waiting for pierced assholes, with possibly pierced hemorrhoids as an added touch. That's probably next. I also don't find tattoos attractive. I have never understood why anyone would permanently, or even temporarily, deck their bodies with images they wouldn't be caught dead putting in a frame an hanging on a wall. I've come to be able to handle and tolerate a little bit of piercing and a little bit of tattoos, but I would be a whole lot happier if they had neither.

I'm glad you said that. Generosity is one thing, but completely spoiling someone is quite another. I'm glad to know that you haven't lost your mind . . . well at least not completely . . .

The last bank that had not been charging the 150 baht fee for foreign ATM withdrawals was UOB. Unfortunately, they too have started charging the fee. As far as I know, now every bank in Thailand is charging the 150 baht fee. It's really a shame they are doing this. I used to recommend forgetting about traveler's checks and just using your ATM card. But since all the banks are going to charge you a 150 baht fee, along with whatever your own bank charges when you do a foreign transaction, it looks like your best bet is going to be coming to Thailand with traveler's checks. That's bad news because now, unless you opt for paying the fees, you're going to have to go to banks or exchange kiosks, during their operating hours, and exchange traveler's checks. That's a pain because you'll have to physically go to the bank and very likely have to wait your turn. Meanwhile there are ATMs virtually everywhere you look. I don't understand why the banks have all done this, especially at a time when tourism is already way down. Don't the banks realize that while they'll take in more money when foreigners use ATMs, they'll also lose quite a bit because a great many travelers are going to take steps to avoid using ATMs at all? So, there we are. It's traveler's checks or the ATM fees. The only other alternative that I can think of is to open a Thai bank account if you don't already have one, deposit traveler's checks into the account, and use their ATM card. The problem is, if you don't already hold a Thai bank account, it's getting more and more difficult to open one on anything other than a non-immigrant visa. Oh well, for years I have been trying to convince people to open a Thai bank account while you still can, but many never have bothered. So, once again, if you expect to make multiple trips to Thailand, I urge you to open a Thai bank account during your next trip . . . if you still can.

5k a week!?!?! How on earth much do you normally give this boy?

What did you have for dessert . . . ?

I do the same. For me it doesn't even have to be a lie. A "red light" is enough for me. I learned the hard way too. Maybe I'm going to the other extreme now, but I have become a believer in the Richard Burk (owner of the Amor Restaurant) Philosophy: "If you want love in Thailand, rent it." For the present, that's the way I feel. Maybe some day that will change. I don't reject anything, but I have definitely become very cautious, perhaps over cautious. In your case, yes. But you know as well as I do that you are one of the extremely rare exceptions and one of the luckiest men in Thailand. I wish your luck could apply to all, but it just doesn't seem to work that way for very many of us.