Gaybutton

I'm optimistic about it. I believe the strengthening of the baht is short term, but just how much longer this will go on is anybody's guess. I just don't see how this trend can continue for very long. My interpretation of what I have been reading is that the primary reason for this is large amounts of money pouring in from investors. Sooner or later, I believe, the investors will feel that whatever profit-taking they can do has run its course. That's when they'll start pulling their money to invest elsewhere. When that happens, the trend will reverse itself. That's what I think, anyway. I don't predict another Great Depression of 1929 hitting Thailand, but I do predict a major reversal of the value of the baht. I think the wheel will turn. I hope it will happen soon. People like me, living in Thailand and dependent on the exchange rates, are taking a real beating because of this. The dollar has lost 26% of its value since I moved to Thailand three years ago.

The rates I quote come from the Bank of Ayudhya web site. They update the rates several times each day, while Bangkok Bank publishes the rates only once per day. There is some minor variation between different banks, but not significantly so unless you are exchanging huge amounts of money. I pay no attention to web sites such as Oanda and others because they quote offshore rates. I have yet to ever see the rates you actually receive when exchanging money within Thailand on those sites. The Bank of Ayudhya web site is quite reliable. The URL for current exchange rates is: http://www.krungsri.com/thai/exchange01.aspx# _____ BoT Urged to Actively Supervise Baht as it Strengthens BANGKOK, July 4 (TNA) The Bank of Thailand should attempt to manage the baht effectively to ensure it is not so strong that it negatively impacts the export sector, the Federation of Thai Industries warned Wednesday. FTI chairman Santi Vilassakdanont said he had met with exporters to discuss the overly quick appreciation of the baht to its strongest level in a decade, which is not welcomed by the exporters. Most expressed concerns that the stronger baht would affect Thailand's export competitiveness. Should the baht currency continue to strengthen during the coming weeks, he said, FTI representatives would seek to meet with top BoT officials asking them to adopt measures to manage the baht to ensure it does not appreciate too rapidly. He said the exporters understood that the baht appreciation stemmed from an inflow of foreign capital into Asian stock markets including the Thai bourse. But they wanted the central bank to do something because they had been affected by the stronger baht since last year. The exporters had attempted to maintain their customer base in the second quarter of this year by continuing to export, but they failed to gain profit from their shipments. Should the situation last too long, he said, their business would be definitely hit hard. Boonkit Chitngamplang, president of the FTI's Precious Stones and Ornaments Club, said the baht had strengthened too rapidly in the past two days. The currency had already appreciated by 15 per cent since early this year. So, Mr. Boonkit wanted the central bank to supervise and intervene in the baht's movements to ensure its stability. He said the stronger baht made operators in the previous stone industry earn less revenue. In addition, they had been affected by the removal of the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) by the United States and higher costs of raw materials. Should the baht continue to appreciate without any action by the central bank, more business operators would be hard pressed to survive, he said. (TNA)-E005

The exchange rates, as of July 4 at 8:30 AM, are: US Dollar: 34.05 Euro: 46.215 British Pound: 68.535 Australian Dollar: 28.9425 Canadian Dollar: 31.91

You forgot to include that new telephone directories are being published because they are removing everyone with the surname 'Wong' from the listings. After all, they wouldn't want the foreigners constantly calling a Wong number . . .

Recently, a friend brought me a little gift . . . a package of dried soup. I haven't read the list of ingredients yet, but I have a feeling I'll like it . . .

The following appears in the PATTAYA CITY NEWS: _____ English Man Loses 20,000 Baht in Cash in Ladyboy Theft Case in Central Pattaya In the early hours of Saturday Morning, Mr. Thomas George aged 66 from England made his way to Pattaya Police Station to complain about a theft which had taken place in Soi Diana Inn near the entrance to Soi Beokeow. The man who had been drinking all night was approached by two transsexuals on a motorbike as he walked along the street. They approached Mr. George and in the process “picked his pockets”. Nearly 20,000 Baht in cash, a credit card and other personal items were stolen from his pockets. A full description of the two suspects was given to Police and a search is now underway. _____ Unless these particular pickpockets were exceptionally good, since he apparently lost much more than cash and had been "drinking all night," my guess he was quite intoxicated and easy prey. I've lost count of how many times posts have appeared about what happens to many who keep large amounts of cash at home or on their person. This is just one more example. What's the hard part about figuring out that if you're going out for a good time, then don't carry more cash then you'll need and carry that in a manner as safe as possible? And yet we see stories like this regularly. If this man really lost 20,000 baht (he says he did, but I'm a bit skeptical of that), but had been drinking all night, then he must have started out with a lot more than 20,000 baht. How much cash do you really need to carry for a night on the town? I wouldn't advise carrying more than you truly need and I wouldn't carry credit cards at all unless I anticipated needing to use them.

I have a couple reactions to this. The first is for GayThailand. Why even tell anyone at the bar that you are taking the boy "off" for a long period of time? Why not just give the "off" fee to the boy each day and tell him to take care of it himself? That way you wouldn't be involved at all. Wowpow, I think you should have given the boy 20 baht. You didn't order the drink, but you gave him 200 baht to buy a drink if he wanted one. If the drink was 220 baht, then you had already covered 200 baht of it, hadn't you? If there was an issue, then why didn't you talk to the owner yourself and tell him you were served a drink you didn't order? I've learned that it's best not to get involved with these sorts of disputes. I understand that you don't intend for the boy to end up having to pay, but if a waiter comes over to me with a drink I didn't order, then I wouldn't even let him serve it. I would tell him I didn't order that and would tell him to take it back. If my bill comes and that drink is on it, I would tell him to take it off the bill. An honest mistake is one thing, but this sounds to me like it was intentional.

It would require an attorney to give you an answer you can truly rely on, but my inclination would be to guess that it can't be done. If the house is in his name, then it's in his name and in his control. The only way I can think of to do it would be to buy the house in his name and take out a pre-paid rental contract in your own name for the maximum number of years allowable, thirty I think. You could have some sort of stipulation in the contract that renders the contract null and void if anything happens to you. You would definitely need a Thai attorney for that because the contract would have no validity unless it's registered in the land office. The boy couldn't cheat you by refusing to sign the rental contract because all of it is done at the same moment before any money exchanges hands. The house would remain in your control for the duration of the rental contract and he would not be able to sell it or mortgage it, at least not legally. Just make sure the original "chanoot," the deed, is kept somewhere under your control where he can't get his hands on it until you say so or if you die. The reason for that suggestion is because the boy could collateralize an illegal loan from one of the local loan sharks with it. If the loan shark registers it with the land office, then the house belongs to the loan shark if the boy hasn't paid off the loan by the time your rental contract expires.

Everything's relative. In Pattaya if someone said, "I've had 15 sexual partners," I'll bet the typical response would be, "Is that all?"

I wish I had seen your question earlier. We had dinner at Clubber's this evening and I had a look at Duc's. It is closed. I think Threezone is open, but I didn't really pay any attention, so I'll try to confirm that next time I'm in Sunee Plaza. Again, if anyone else knows, please post.

I'll have to check on Duc's Bar. Maybe someone else knows and will post before I have a chance to check. Regarding your other questions, Jim Jimmy James is the same as it has always been, as far as I can tell. Sundance still remains closed and, so far, no outdoor bar. I have no idea what became of the doormen. They most likely moved on to other bars. The new bar across from Krazy Dragon is Good Boys. In my opinion it is a typical Sunee Plaza go-go bar, filled with cute go-go boys. It's a nice bar, but in my opinion nothing much different from most other go-go bars.

Have you ever wondered what the Royal Family eats? If you are present in Pattaya, now's your chance to find out. The following appears in the PATTAYA CITY NEWS: _____ Exotic Thai Cuisine Exhibition Opens at the Central Festival Center At the Central Festival Center in North Pattaya and as part of their “Central Plaza Wonderful Weekday Special 2007” a fun event was held on the ground floor of the center called “The Exotic Thai Cuisine 2007”. The event was opened by Khun Nueng, the Great Great Grandchild of a former King of Thailand and Khun Ronagit, Deputy Mayor of Pattaya. This event will conclude on 27th of this month and will feature food which is prepared in the Royal Household and is part of a National exhibition which features in each of Central Plazas outlets around the Kingdom.

No problem at all about the incorrect attribution. As for your opinion about being in a Golden Age, I hope you turn out to be correct. I'd love to be able to agree with you, but I'm just not seeing it the way you do. I hope developments change my opinion.

I hate to break the news, Wowpow, but the quote you attributed to me belongs to Gay Grampa, not to me, although I completely agree with him.

Despite the fact that I'm a smoker, I'm delighted that Monty is taking the first step in the right direction. I'm well aware that others do not appreciate someone else's smoke and I see no reason at all why smokers, including me, can't step outside to smoke. I hope other bars and venues follow suit. Personally, I wish smoking and the sale of tobacco products would be banned altogether. That way I'd be forced to quit.

Even if Purachai ends up as Prime Minister, I don't know if many of us would notice much of a change. In Pattaya, several gay go-go bars have closed for whatever reasons. Euroboys, KBoys, Gacuya, and a few others are closed. More bars seem to be closing than ever before. I've been saying for years that they will probably eventually fail for lack of customers. Other venues that were gay go-go bars at one time have changed over to other forms of business. Some of you may remember bars such as Nok Nok, Diamond, Boys Studio, Playboy, Lek's, etc. All are gone now or have converted over to other forms of business. I realize Pattaya is in the midst of the low part of the low season right now, but this year's high season resembled previous years' low season. I've never seen a low season as low as it is right now. During the past couple of weeks I visited several bars and there were several times the only customer at all was me. In others there were very few customers. A few bars seem to be popular and fill up with customers, but nowhere near as many as before. The beaches have been virtually empty as well. The long-term resident "farang" are usually there, along with a few who are present on holidays, but other than that you certainly won't have any problems finding available beach chairs. The freelance boys that used to scour the beaches in droves, looking for available "farang" seem to have all but given up. There are a few who still try to find "farang" on the beaches, but most of them are the regulars who are there just about every day. It's been a long time since I've seen many new faces. I haven't been to any Bangkok or Chiang Mai bars in a long time. Someone else will have to let us know the situation in those locales. Not that I'm trying to be a doom-and-gloomer, but the gay life in Pattaya is simply not at all what it used to be. If Purachai does indeed become Prime Minister, I don't see very much that he would change that hasn't already changed anyhow.

I just gave it a try after reading your post. It opened right up for me. I don't know why, but sometimes various sites are blocked by some servers within Thailand and are untouched by other servers. Your guess is as good as mine as to why. I also had a look at the post to which you referred. Part of Elephantspike's message reads: "I'm closing this thread. I'm probably going to close the board soon, too, because most of you guys are complete pricks, and I have better things to do with my time."

Well, we certainly wouldn't want you to be "flabber ghosted." How about pointing to any posting I have ever made - ever - in which I claimed to know "just about everything," since you think it is appropriate to say in your post that I have made such claims.

Would you believe I still have yet to see the photo of the corpse? I'm still getting the same six photos I mentioned above. That's another one I can add to my "I don't get it" list. I agree that nobody, including minors, should be imprisoned if they have not committed any crimes, but I also think that minors shouldn't be left to just roam the streets, completely on their own, with no kind of supervision or care at all. On the streets they're on their own and all too often end up being drug addicts, criminals, gang members, or lord-knows-what. The alternatives, such as orphanages, may not be all that great, but they're not hellholes out of a Dickens novel either.

Just for the record, the Gacuya bar is now closed. I don't know whether it's out of business entirely, closed for renovations, or closed during low season. I have no idea whether the bar will reopen.

I have yet to understand why the insurgents attack schools and teachers. We read about schools being torched and teachers being killed quite regularly. Why? I don't get that part. What do they have against schools and teachers?

As far as I know, the only time an outward-bound ticket is not required is when you are in Thailand on a long-term visa, such as the retirement visa, and you are re-entering Thailand with that visa. Just make sure that if you have such a visa and are going to leave Thailand, that you either have a multiple entry visa or a re-entry permit. Without either one of those, if you exit Thailand your visa becomes null and void and you're back on the thirty-day arrival visa. You might have a second surprise that you don't want if you don't have an outward-bound ticket. You would not only lose your visa, but would also be denied entry into Thailand. The reason they are being much more stringent about checking is because there have been more and more problems with foreigners entering Thailand who have no intention of leaving Thailand. These are the people who used to get by with entering Thailand on a thirty-day visa on arrival, and then just making visa runs every month to renew the thirty days. Thailand wants to put a stop to that, and I think rightly so. "Farang" living in Thailand with legitimate visas pay for those visas. People who were making the monthly visa runs were circumventing the system and paying nothing other than the cost of making the visa run. It was a loophole they have now plugged. So, now those who enter Thailand with the intention of staying in Thailand illegally have to at least have purchased an outward-bound ticket. Whether they use that ticket is their own problem.

Sheeesh! This is getting bizarre. I just had another look and what I saw was the same as I saw earlier this morning - six photos, and every one of them are photos of the meeting without the corpse photo. Your guess is as good as mine . . .

I'm not sure why you would think it would be difficult to find it without a map when it is located right in the middle of Sunee Plaza. It seems to me it would be one of the easiest places to find, with or without a map, even if one has never been to Thailand. Also, in my experience if a hotel 'room' in Thailand has a sofa, now it's a 'suite.'

I think they must have placed the wrong photo on that article. Anyway, that particular photo is no longer included in the article.