Gaybutton

That is something I didn't know. It was my understanding that the letter requirement applies only to those who don't have the 800,000 baht in their Thai bank account. I have now edited out the portion of my post that contained the misinformation, so there should be no confusion now. Apparently, since they asked for the letter from you too, it is required of everyone.

No. I didn't notice that until your post. The names have now been replaced with asterisks.

Apparently you have missed out. That regulation has been in place for quite some time now. Anyone who is obtaining or renewing a retirement visa, who is also using the proof-of-income statement from the embassy, is required to produce a letter from his Thai bank. That letter, from what I understand, certifies that one's income is generated from a foreign source. I don't know why that letter is required, but that's what Immigration requires nevertheless. Without the letter they will not grant the visa. I don't know what the letter actually says. It's written in Thai and I can't read Thai. I've never bothered to have the letter translated. It's just another piece of paperwork Immigration requires. All you have to do is go to the bank (usually you have to go to the branch where you opened your account) and ask for the letter for Immigration. 200 baht later, which is the fee most banks charge, you have the letter, whatever it says.

That is certainly true. It would have been nice to find good information about bus services posted somewhere, but it seems that you have to find these things out for yourself. I guess I was just lucky. I knew about the express bus to the airport from Pattaya, so I simply assumed there must be the same bus available for returning to Pattaya from the airport. I turned out to be right and I was lucky that my arrival time was just perfect for catching the express bus. While I was at the airport I inquired about the fees for parking at the long-term parking lot. I was told the fee is 150 baht per day. Apparently you parked at the airport parking lot. Is that the amount you were charged for parking? Was there any difficulty finding the parking lot entrance or getting to and from the parking lot?

Can you tell us more about this? Is this bus available at the airport? If yes, where do we find the bus? Do you know what hours they run the bus?

My recent trip out of Thailand was my first experience at Suvarnabhumi. I don't understand why so many people are complaining. I had no problems at all. One of the common complaints is about the distance you have to walk to get to your departure gate. The distances didn't seem any longer to me than at most other major international airports. I also had no problems at all with customs or immigration, either coming or going. When I arrived back in Thailand, as soon as I exited the customs area, there were the taxi touts. "Where you going?" To Pattaya. "Ok, we can take you there 1800 baht." Yeah, right. I decided to take the express bus. It's on the ground floor. You take the escalator or elevator all the way down, then turn to your left while facing the airport exit. It's almost at the end of the terminal building. The bus costs all of 106 baht. When you get to Pattaya, it makes a stop at South Pattaya, on Sukhumvit, near the main bus terminal. The next stop is also on Sukhumvit, just beyond Central Road (Pattaya Klang) at the secondary bus terminal. You can easily catch a baht bus from there. The last stop is on Soi Chaiyapruk, half a block from the beach road. That's pretty far down the beach, in the vicinity of the Nong Nual seafood restaurant. You can easily catch a baht bus from any of the stops. So, there's your choice: 1800 baht for a taxi or 106 baht for the bus. However, the last bus leaves the airport around 9:00 PM, so if your flight is coming in later than that, then you're in the taxi. I don't know why the bus doesn't run 24 hours a day, but it doesn't. If you are arriving during daylight hours, the bus is a very good cost saving choice. I found it very comfortable and it is air conditioned. Obviously it is less convenient than a taxi, but to save 1700 baht I'll take a little inconvenience.

Today I was helping a friend obtain the documents necessary in order to obtain the retirement visa. One of our stops was his bank, to get the letter required by immigration. He was asked if he is going to apply for the visa with use of the proof-of-income statement from the embassy. The answer was yes. The next question was whether he already has the statement. The answer was he is going to the embassy to get it next week. He was then told that he needs to get the letter after obtaining the proof-of-income statement. That's because Immigration will not accept the letter from the bank if it is more than one week old. I did not know that before. I did not know there is a one week limitation on the letter from the bank. The advice was to obtain the letter either one day before or on the same day he intends to apply for the retirement visa.

Many of you are probably familiar with the GayRomeo web site at http://www.gayromeo.com . They have published the following open letter: _____ 11 Jan: Is YouTube homophobic? As you might have read on our startpage, we had more trouble with YouTube over Christmas. Our Christmas video and the whole GayRomeo account was – once again - deleted without any prior warning. Unfortunately YouTube hasn’t reacted to any of our inquiries. So we have decided to write an open letter to YouTube. We do not think it is acceptable that YouTube should rate and remove a harmless non-sexual video as “inappropriate” - just because it shows openly gay artists. To draw attention to this situation, we have written an open letter to YouTube and we give you our permission to copy, forward or publish this letter as long as you do not edit or modify the text in any way. Thank you for your support, Mother and her GayRomeo Team

Heyyyyyyy, very good. You figured that out all by yourself? But not in other words. Those are the perfect words. The bars are about to become a smoke free environment. Why not follow suit and have this board become a troll free environment? So, since you say that we're going to ban people based solely upon whether we like what they say, and since you're obviously doing your best to be a troll here, three guesses who's most likely to be next . . . Still bored?

I hadn't thought of that. You may be right. Even if they are allowed to open I can't help but wonder who is going to work there. I would think that most locals will be afraid to work there. If the store does eventually open, I believe it is only a question of time before we'll be reading articles about attacks or even murders involving those who work there and/or those who patronize the store.

That applies to any poster. When someone consistently, flagrantly, and intentionally violates the posting rules, no matter how many times he has been asked to stop, has been given warnings, has been placed on moderated mode, etc, it finally gets to a point at which we realize our wishes are going to continue to be ignored and the only way to put a stop to it is to enforce the posting rules, ban the violator, and anything else he posts when he comes in under another guise. We give the violators every reasonable chance before resorting to a ban and it is not done lightly. Unfortunately, sometimes with some people there is simply no other alternative. If such people want to find someone to blame, they need only to look in a mirror.

Correction. It was.

"John Marshall has made his decision; now let him enforce it." - Andrew Jackson I have said many times that I'm a smoker. I have also said that I have no problem with a smoking ban in the bars. I don't have any problem at all about stepping outside if I want to light up. However, I have a feeling that the regulation is going to, in the end, mean about as much to the bar owners as the 90 decibel music volume limitation regulation. I hope the ban really works, but I think it definitely rates a "we'll see."

How do I win with some of the posters here? If I post too often, I get criticized for posting too much. If I don't post enough, I get criticized for that. The fact is that I have been out of the country for the past couple of weeks and only checked the web sites a few times while I was gone. I just returned a few hours ago. For those who are bored by this forum, there are several others for you to read. Good or bad, the "almighty moderator" has returned. For the sane, the board trolls might get one or two more posts before they get dumped. For example, one poster seems to be convinced that I am receiving a salary for moderating. I have already said that is not true, but you go right on persisting anyhow. Of course, since you seem to be convinced of it and want to keep saying it, ok . . . prove it.

Thank you, Jim. For those who enjoy Elvis impersonators, a very good one is also at the Captain's Corner restaurant, I believe on Wednesday nights. Maybe this is the same one who will be at La Cage, but I don't know.

The most popular SIM card is One-Two-Call, available at any phone shop. The time cards are available at any phone shop or convenience store throughout all of Thailand. Most people seem to prefer One-Two-Call because it works well just about everywhere and is the most readily available.

Most of these places have at least somebody who speaks enough English to understand what you want. If you can explain that you have a sore back, or whatever, you can ask that person to explain to the masseur that you want special attention given to the specific problem. I've done that and they do an excellent job. I didn't know about having something done at the hospital. That had never occurred to me. Personally, if it was simply a case of sore back after a long flight, I'd go to the blind masseurs first. I'd probably try the hospital if the problem was something more serious.

Of course, none of the Thai masseurs are doctors, but the ones that seem to be the most skilled are the blind masseurs. From where you are staying, the one that is probably easiest to get to, with an excellent reputation is TBMI (Thai Blind Massage Institute), located in the Jomtien Complex. If you are going to be in Bangkok, one of the most famous massages in the world is the massage done by the monks at Wat Po.

And to all a good night . . .

Sheeeeesh! I wonder who those people are. I also wonder how it is even remotely any of your business or anyone else's, other than GT and myself. However you asked for an honest answer and here it is: If I was being paid, I don't think I would have resigned. Now, if GT wants to start paying me, I wouldn't insult him by saying no, but he has not offered and I have not asked. However, you and your friends 'in the know' go right ahead and believe anything you want.

That is true and it never was the case. But if I had not come back you would have not done the Manhattan's dinner? Well then, if I ever resign again I guess I'll have to wait until after we eat . . .

Well, What can I say? That was certainly a short lived "retirement." Before people start posting that this whole thing was probably planned out between GT and GB just to draw attention or something, I assure you that was not the case. I resigned and I meant it. I really did not expect or intend to return. Meanwhile, much has been taking place behind the scenes. GayThailand and I have been in communication since I resigned. We have been working together to resolve the problems that caused me to want to resign. Those problems have now been settled to my satisfaction, to his satisfaction, and I think many participants on this message board will also be pleased with the outcome once certain aspects of it becomes apparent. GayThailand has asked me to return as moderator and I have agreed to do so. I thank all of you for these kind messages, well most of you anyway. For those who are disappointed that I have returned, that's life . . . I have many people to thank regarding my decision to return, but there is one person who I wish to thank publicly most of all. Rainwalker. Quite frankly, if it wasn't for Rainwalker's patience, understanding, support, and encouragement I never would have agreed to return. I owe him a debt of gratitude. I also owe GayThailand a debt of gratitude for considering my participation here important enough to resolve the problems, some of which were resolved in a way he probably did not wish to do, but did anyway. So, good or bad, I'm back.

I really appreciate all the kind comments. You are all making me feel like Johnny Carson on the day he retired. But I'm not going anywhere. I'll be right here posting as always (whether you want me or not). I merely do not wish to be placed in the kind of position having official status places me in anymore. Other than retiring my official status, nothing is going to change.

Effective immediately, I am resigning as moderator for this message board. My reasons for this are many, but mainly I reached this decision because continuing as moderator is causing problems between me and too many of those who I consider to be my closest friends. I keep getting caught in the middle of disputes between others on these boards, disputes that have nothing to do with me and are beyond my control. Some of these disputes have become serious. I live here among my friends and I do not want to be forced to take sides. I have repeatedly asked that these disputes be kept off the message board, but that request continues to be ignored and quite frankly I'm tired of dealing with it and ending up caught in the middle of the very thing I keep trying to prevent. I fully intend to continue posting as always (although at the moment I'm unable. My Internet service has been out since Saturday and I'm still waiting for the technicians to show up to fix the problem. I'm posting this from a friend's apartment). Anyway, all I want to do is live my retirement life in peace and remain friends with everyone. It is no longer possible for me to do that in the capacity of moderator, and I have therefore decided to resign. I intend to continue to help GayThailand to the best of my ability, but not in the role of moderator.

Whatever the answer is, that ain't it. They want the boys to look alive? Great! When do they start looking alive? Most boys in most bars I've been do the "one-knee shuffle" and that's about it. If it takes music at that volume just to get the "one-knee shuffle," then I'd prefer no music at all and the boys can just stand there. That's pretty much what most of them do anyhow.