Gaybutton

Ha! Leave it to Slackersam to come up with a web site like that!

I've seen it. I think the main reason Tom Cruise plays Stauffenberg is because he bears a strong resemblance to the actual Stauffenberg. There is another film entitled "Stauffenberg." It's entirely in German, but I think it's a much better film than "Valkyrie." Also, if anybody remembers the mini-series (I have it on DVD) "War and Remembrance," they did an excellent job of portraying the incident.

There's no way to generalize that answer. That's like asking if all Americans like MacDonald's. Some do and some don't. There's plenty there besides sushi. One of the people with us this evening was a Thai boy. He was chowing down on plenty, but in all honesty I paid no attention at all to what he was eating. I was too busy feeding my own face.

If you really want to make this poll, feel free. Just make sure you include the names of every go-go bar in Pattaya and Bangkok, if you even know the names of them all. I don't.

I would guess that is perfectly acceptable. The Immigration people are well aware of things like that. Again, I'd bet money that very few people are going to be asked to produce additional proof. If Thailand all of a sudden came up with an excuse to start booting out farang without a damned good reason, the embassies would be screaming and the negative publicity about it would be quite harmful. In case anyone hasn't noticed, Thailand is trying to attract farang now. They're not looking for reasons to deny people a retirement visa. They simply want people to comply with their laws. I see nothing unreasonable about that. I really believe this is nothing more than an option available to Immigration if they have reason to suspect the farang applicant is lying. I'm not sure, but I would imagine they have had this same option available to them all along. It certainly doesn't sound like anything new to me. If anyone is having a panic attack over this, again I think you're blowing this way out of proportion. At least postpone your panic attack until we find out whether they actually are asking people for additional proof and what they will accept.

As far as I know, at the end of the day there is only one person truly liable . . . the farang.

Actually I almost didn't go at all. I went to Lotus with a friend, but he almost always prefers to shop at Big-C. We did try it this evening. Because of the promotion, the place was packed. There were four of us. We had to wait over an hour to get in. Usually we won't wait that long, but we wanted to try it and we figured by the time we go somewhere else and get served we might as well wait. If you like "suki" and sashimi, then this restaurant is worth a try. The food itself is similar to the MK Suki chain, but much less expensive considering you eat whatever you want and however much you want. They also have tempura, chicken, various pot stickers, etc. Whatever you want to drink is included in the price. You serve yourself. They also had a variety of fresh fruits, fruit salad, and even three different ice cream flavors . . . all unlimited. If you want to try it, we now know there is one at the Central Festival (6th floor) and now at the Sukhumvit Lotus. Who knows, maybe there are already more, or more will soon come. It certainly looks like a highly successful operation and certainly worth the price, even at the full price. Also, in my original post I was wrong about it all being counter seating. They have table seating too. The only drawback to the tables is that whoever is sitting on the outside either has to reach over the person on the inside to get their food from the conveyor belt or whoever on the inside has to grab whatever the person on the outside wants. That was no problem for us at all. One other thing . . . you better be capable of eating with chop sticks. There are no forks. That hour and a quarter they give you to eat is plenty. We were all stuffed in about 45 minutes.

You're dreaming. If you need accommodations that inexpensive, then the only thing you can do is try to find a room in one of the tenement types of apartments and rent it for a month. You can find places that are as inexpensive as 3000 baht per month. It will be a dump, but you'll get a bed, some broken down furniture and maybe a ceiling fan. If that suits you, those kinds of places are available. Don't forget to tell us all about how the boy you take off likes it when you take him to your room . . . All kidding aside, if you really can't afford decent accommodations, then don't you think you're better off saving your money until you can?

Nothing. I've never heard of a bar supplying boys with fake IDs. If a boy has a fake ID, then he obtained it on his own.

1. I hate to break the bad news, but in order for your posts to be eligible for the contest, you must have a minimum of 150 posts. Before today, you had a grand total of 3 posts in one day, so if you wish to become eligible, you have a hell of a lot of posting to do between now and the end of the month. 2. The proof-of-income statement is acceptable for up to a year. You won't have any problem renewing a month in advance. 3. Your bank account will be active.

In the thread about the new Central Festival mall I wrote the following: Today we had a nice surprise. We went to the Lotus on Sukhumvit. As we walked in, lo and behold there was another Sabushi Restaurant that just opened. It's exactly the same as the one in Central Festival. Some of you may find this one a little more convenient. They are open until 11:00pm. Today only they are having an opening promotion. The price will be 140 baht per person up to 11:00pm tonight. That price is only for today folks, so this might be a good day to give it a try.

Chiang Mai will have a much more traditional Songkran. That would be my recommendation. As for budget accommodations, I recommend the Come-On Place. It's gay owned, very nice, easy transportation, and very helpful staff. They charge about 800 baht per night. Just about anywhere else in Chiang Mai starts at 1300 baht per night. I really like Come-On Place. It's always my first choice whenever I visit Chiang Mai. Their web site is: http://www.comeonplace.net/comeon_index.php

I agree. People who think a great idea is to drink and drive will manage to find a way to drink and drive, even if they can't buy their booze at a gas station.

I think that problem can be solved if you get those people to download and install Thai fonts. The most commonly used Thai font is 'Angsana New.' If they already have it, then maybe they need to do something to activate it. Most Email programs have some sort of a 'settings' feature. I use Gmail. My settings default for display language is US English. It does have a selection choice to set the display language to Thai. Maybe that's what your recipients need to do. Another solution is to write your Email on a word processor first, convert it to a PDF format, and attach the file to the Email. Then they should be able to see the Thai lettering.

To my knowledge, that's right. In your case I would advise contacting the Thai embassy in your home country, explain your circumstances to them, and see what they tell you. The last thing I would do would be to rely on message board advice. If you don't already have a retirement visa, then you might be better off obtaining a first visa in your home country, rather than coming to Thailand to try to obtain it here. That way you will know all the requirements and be entering Thailand with the visa already in your hands. Part of the problem is that the regulations seem to change quite often. At this moment nobody really knows just what is going on, if anything. So far, nobody who posts here is saying they have been asked. I think people are blowing this up all out of proportion. For whatever reasons, sometimes it seems as if people start to panic over nothing. If Immigration really does ask for additional proof, what's the problem? I doubt it would take much to satisfy them. I truly believe what they are trying to do is find a way to catch people who lie about their income level and end up causing problems for Thailand. Since people do seem to be getting concerned about what would be proof enough for Immigration, then don't wait until the last minute to renew the visa. Apparently you can renew up to three months in advance. So, it seems simple enough to me. Renew several weeks in advance. That way, if they really do want additional proof from you, you're leaving yourself enough time to obtain it before your current visa expires.

Why? I don't see much point in doing that. Everyone has his own favorites for a variety of reasons. There is no way I could narrow my own choice down to just one bar. There are bars many may not have even been to yet, and that includes me. I fail to see what difference it would make as to which bar would get the most votes. Run the same poll two weeks later and you would likely get entirely different results. If you wish to set up a poll that includes every go-go bar in both Bangkok and Pattaya (and I remind you that the Silom-Surawong area is not the only area in Bangkok with go-go bars), feel free, but it seems rather pointless to me. Personally, I would prefer to just let people write about their personal favorites.

What it means is you have to be able to show sufficient evidence that you have an income that averages to (I forget the exact figure) at least about 65,000 baht per month. If you do the math, that works out to just about 800,000 baht per year. Immigration couldn't care less about where the money is coming from other than the requirement that it is coming from a foreign source. I would guess that monthly statements from your Thai bank account plus the letter from the bank, along with a proof-of-income statement from you embassy will probably suffice. I am also guessing, for those who have a Thai bank account, but don't make much use of it, will have to show evidence of your income in some other way, if they ask. What we need to find out is whether they are asking for additional evidence and what sort of evidence is acceptable to Immigration. So far I haven't seen anything to show just what kind of evidence they want. I have a feeling that people are getting themselves all upset over this for nothing. I doubt very much that they're going to ask for additional evidence unless they have reason to suspect that you're lying about your income. I'm going to stick my neck out and guess that very few, if any, of the retirees reading this message board are going to be asked at all. Time will tell. If nobody is able to provide any answers, then next time I'm in the Immigration office I'll see what I can find out. So far, only Lvdkeyes has posted about renewing his visa and, if you haven't noticed, he wasn't asked to provide anything other than the same documents he provides every year.

You're starting to get into 'what ifs' and 'maybes.' Between your own scrutiny and that of the hotel staff, that's the best you can do. If that still isn't enough for your peace of mind, then the only thing I can suggest is to take the boy to the police station first, have them check his ID, and have them give you a written, notarized statement that the boy is 18+ years old. Either that, or stop taking boys off at all. There comes a time when caution begins to lapse into paranoia.

I'd love to live to see that day come. Part of the problem with the Republicans, in my opinion, is that in reality they couldn't care less about anyone except themselves. They put getting themselves re-elected as priority number 1, ahead of anything else including the national interest. They'll continue to support the white collar criminals who have no problem about treating themselves like royalty and live lavishly on obscenely high salaries and severance packages at the expense of everyone else, including helping themselves to other people's retirement pensions. The Republicans will continue to support them because they rely on their money to get re-elected. It sometimes seems as if the laws are designed to get the criminals off the street as long as that street isn't Wall Street.

I agree, but with one slight change. Anything that works and curtails DWI is welcome. I doubt this is it.

Who comes up with these brilliant ideas? Here's another item for my "I Don't Get It" list. Gas station convenience stores won't be able to sell liquor. Is whoever the person is who came up with this proposal blind? There are more 7-Elevens, Family Marts, and other local convenience stores in Thailand than Carter's has Liver Pills. Even in the rural boondocks there are 7-Elevens all over the place, and most of them have nothing to do with gas stations. Maybe I'm wrong, but it sure seems like a strange idea to me.

That's all part of what it takes to be a good, effective politician. You have to look good on television and you have to be entertaining. I'm sorry he wasn't entertaining enough. He needs to learn that you lose people if you take more than 30 seconds to answer a question, especially if you can't include a couple catchy one-liners within the answer. I'm sure many people thought the same way . . . that time is much better spent being entertained by watching 'The Simpsons' or reruns of 'I Love Lucy' than watching the President explain his new policies during his first press conference. Well, that's ok. I'm sure plenty of people will contact the White House and ask that he intersperse his next press conference with a magic act, spinning plates, and a sing-along. That'll be sure to hold everyone's attention.

Of course not. Just as everywhere else, they have to use a rope . . .

According to Wikipedia: _____ The word Golf in its English form, was first mentioned in writing in 1457 on a Scottish statute of forbidden games as gouf, possibly derived from the Scots word goulf (variously spelled) meaning "to strike or cuff". This word may, in turn, be derived from the Dutch word kolf, meaning "bat", or "club", and the Dutch sport of the same name. The idea that “golf” is an acronym from "gentlemen only, ladies forbidden" is false - this is a folk etymology.

Who cares about him licking his own tool? If he wants to lick mine, that's a different story.