Gaybutton

The following appears in THE NATION: _____ Attack Was Meant to 'Intimidate the Media' Daily News executive Pracha Hetrakul described yesterday's bomb attack on his newspaper office as an attempt to intimidate the media in general. The bomb blast erupted in the compound of Si-Phya Publishing Co, which operates the Thai-language newspaper, at around 1.30am yesterday seconds after another training grenade landed in the Rama Gardens Hotel's car park next door. The blasts caused minor damage, but no casualties. "I believe this is intimidation against the media," Pracha said, adding there were no reports or opinion pieces in the Daily News that could have singled it out as a target for attack. He said if such intimidation tactics worked, the people would lose because the media delivered information to them. Democrat Party's secretary general Suthep Thaugsuban also believed the bomb blast at the Daily News office was intended to intimidate media circles. "We must condemn such intimidation," he said. Without naming anyone, Suthep said the person who used to be in power might have been upset that the media did not kow-tow to him anymore. "That person controlled the media for five or six years," Suthep said. An informed source also revealed that before the coup took place, Surayud - who was then a privy councillor - once asked an executive of the Daily News to arrange a meeting between him, the then deputy premier, and the Thai Rak Thai's deputy leader Somkid Jatusripitak. The source said when the pair met Surayud said he thought Somkid was an appropriate choice for the post of prime minister. As of press time yesterday, police were still trying to determine who fired the two training grenades into the Daily News office and the hotel's car park - from where and why. "We have yet to determine the cause of the bomb attacks," Assistant National Police Commissioner Lt General Jongrak Juthanont said. There are also differing opinions as to where the grenades were fired. While an investigation team at the Metropolitan Police Bureau (MPB) believed the grenades were fired from the elevated Don Muang tollway, another team at the Crime Suppression Division (CSD) suggested the grenades might have been fired from a deserted school next to the Daily News office. The MPB team said they were pursuing leads from video recordings retrieved from a surveillance camera. It said the recordings showed a car suspiciously slowed down on a portion of the Don Muang tollway at the time the two grenades could have been launched from there to the two targets below. "There were not many vehicles on the tollway at that time. We should be able to track down the owner of the suspicious vehicle," an informed source quoted an investigator as saying. According to the source, the crucial recordings showed the driver of the suspicious car and its registration plate. Because inspections at the blast scenes pointed to an M79 grenade launcher being used in the attacks, the source said investigators were looking into which agencies possessed such a launcher. "The person who fired the grenades must have been an expert too. Based on the information from a security guard, the two blasts went off just 10 seconds apart," the source said. So far, the CSD team said it was more likely that the grenades were launched from a deserted school building next to the office. "Local people said they heard dogs barking in the middle of the night, followed by the bomb blasts," the team said. Thung Song Hong police station's inspector Lt Col Manit Kasemsiri, believed the blasts did not cause serious damage because they were only training grenades. National Police Chief General Kowit Watana also inspected the scene. "I have reported the incident to the Council for National Security. I have ordered police officers to step up security measures," he said. He also called on people to watch out and alert the authorities if they detect anything suspicious. Currently, police have yet to complete their investigation into eight bombs in the heart of Bangkok on New Year's Eve in which three people were killed and dozens more injured. Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont declined to comment on the cause of yesterday's bomb blasts. "Police will investigate and identify suspects," he said. He insisted the latest bomb blasts would not prompt the government to re-impose martial law in Bangkok. Martial law was removed last Friday.

We'll do our best . . . .

I received the following in an E-mail. I am posting the significant portions of that E-mail. Also, by sheer coincidence, last night I was dropping off a friend at the condo at which both he and GP reside. At that moment Ken (GP's Thai boyfriend) and GP were coming out of the condo. It was obvious that he was in bad shape again. That was a difficult moment to bear because only a few days before, just after his operation, he seemed to be in such good shape and good spirits: _____ He is very ill again and has gone grey faced even more than Monday when I saw him. Wally, Ken & Wayne were there today and Allen has lost all brain power cannot remember safe or cards pins or numbers and they were out of food again. A safe man is on his way to get in it for allens cash and cards??? Ken took Allen to see Doc yesterday and had to pay 6500 baht. Just had enough in his pocket. It now appears that the 10% is only for IN-patient care nothing to do with his outpatient bills which he has to pay. We have authorised a payment of 50000 baht to cover immediate bills and Ken and Wayne are sorting this but as for the long term Wally has his doubts, but Allen has recovered before. All we can do now is see to immediate bills and pray for the best. He goes to hospital again tomorrow.

I'm a little surprised to hear that they don't. If the boy has a bank account, then it shouldn't be a problem for their service to simply deposit the funds into his account.

Sugar in wine? That's also a new one to me. I can't even imagine someone paying for wine and then putting sugar in it. To me that sounds about as appetizing as a salami and whipped cream sandwich. But I suppose everyone's tastes are different. I think we've all probably run into people who, if there is ketchup on the table, will put it on something. For me, that would be like ordering steak tartare . . . well done.

BANGKOK, Jan 30 (TNA) The Thai Public Health Ministry confirmed Monday that it has issued compulsory licenses for the production of two drugs, one for the treatment of HIV/AIDS and another for a cardiovascular drug, paving the way for immediate production and imports of lower-cost generic versions. Thai Public Health Minister Dr. Mongkol na Songkhla announced that the drugs are Kaletra, an AIDS drugs produced by US-based Abbott Laboratories and Plavix, the blockbuster anti-clotting agent, sold by France

The following appears in the PATTAYA CITY NEWS: _____ The Chonburi Tourist Visa Launches at Pattaya City Hall A press conference now from Pattaya City Hall chaired by Khun Montien, Deputy Governor of Chonburi Province who was joined by representatives from the Region 3 office of the Tourism Authority of Thailand and Khun Niran, the Mayor of Pattaya to announce the new Chonburi Tourist Visa program which is part of the Chonburi Attraction Club. The scheme will involve Tourists purchasing the cards for 100 Baht which will offer discounts of between 20 and 50% at 25 tourist attractions around Chonburi Province. Some of the local attractions where the card can be purchased and used include the Underwater World Park in Jomtien, Mini Siam, The Sriracha Tiger Zoo and Ripleys. If you would like further information on this discount card, you can contact the Tourism Authority of Thailand on 038 391 671.

I'm somewhat mixed in my opinion of what you wrote. I can understand why "out-call" service would be more expensive, but you definitely should have been told the price at the time you made the arrangement. Also asking 200 baht for motorcycle taxis is far too much. You can go from any "Point A" to any "Point B" in Pattaya for no more than 60 baht. Since Cartier is only a short distance from the most popular gay hotels, I doubt that the boy has to pay more than 30 baht each way. In all honesty, I don't understand how Cartier expects to stay in business. I don't understand why they decided to put a gay bar at that location in the first place. It's nowhere near any other venues the gay community is likely to frequent and I know of nothing they do to make the bar more attractive in order to get people to go there. I see little difference between that bar and anything else you can find in the popular locations. People who have been there keep telling me the bar is almost always empty of customers. Maybe one or two other customers and that's it. That was also my experience the one time I went there. Charging inflated prices is not my idea of how to attract and keep a clientele. I'm usually very supportive of gay venues, but if one is going to charge inflated prices, that's the end of my support.

At least they weren't trying to be like Manuel (who I think of as the predecessor to Borat). I think hotels are like just about everything else, in that some people are going to like them and some are not. I've stayed in the Tarntawan Place and I think it's a wonderful hotel and would highly recommend it because it's a nice place, excellent location, attentive staff, and the fact that it caters to the gay community. When I go to Bangkok, I almost always stay at the Pinnacle. The rooms are usually quite nice, just as good as anything else you'll find in Bangkok unless you are looking for luxury accommodations. The hotel is gay friendly. It's an easy walk to the nearest MRT subway station. Their smoking rooms are on floors completely separate from the non-smoking rooms. The staff is friendly and helpful. It's a 35 baht taxi ride to the Silom-Suriwong-Patpong area gay scene. It's within easy walking distance (or a two minute motorcycle taxi ride) to the Babylon Sauna. There are exchange banks and ATM's less than a block from the hotel. It's very easy to get to and from if you're driving a car. Best of all is the price. If you book through Jimmy, the current price is 1170 baht per night for their deluxe rooms, about US $30 less per night than the above mentioned hotels. Breakfast is included in their price, but in my opinion their breakfast buffet is just like most Bangkok breakfast buffets . . . lousy.

I'm not a beer drinker, so I didn't even know there is such a thing as 'lite' versions of those particular beers. There are other drinks and cocktails I was, at first, surprised that you don't see in the bars. You have to remember that the bartenders in most of these bars are highly skilled at pouring what comes out of a bottle and even mixing it with soda or tonic water. However, anything beyond that seems to be largely unheard of. I'm guessing the reason you don't find these 'lite' beers in the bars is because there is not enough of a demand for them to warrant keeping them in stock. By the way, some of you may not be aware that in Thailand, beer is almost always poured over ice. I don't know about other countries, but most people from the USA are surprised by that when they first encounter it. If you do not want ice in your beer glass make sure you tell the waiter "no ice."

There is another reality when dealing with Western Union. The recipient on the Thailand end also gets ripped off on the exchange rate he receives. Western Union is one of the more expensive ways to send money. Unless you give a boy his own ATM card with which to receive money, I think the best deal of all is the Niddy's Nook deal. Maybe some people did not like the cheeseburger or their advertising methods, but their deal for sending money to a Thai boy is about the least expensive method of all and absolutely reliable.

Exchange rates for Monday, January 29: Closing rates: US dollar: 35.62 Euro: 45.835 British pound: 69.585 Australian dollar: 27.3725 Canadian dollar: 30.0075 I'll continue to monitor the exchange rates. I'll post again if any significant changes occur.

Exchange rates for Monday, January 29: Opening rates: US dollar: 35.65 Euro: 45.88 British pound: 69.675 Australian dollar: 27.375 Canadian dollar: 30.03

Based on the following two news items, don't be too surprised if you turn out to be correct: The following appears in THE NATION: _____ SUVARNABHUMI Decision Today on Shifting of Flights Theera Says Services Will be Affected; Don Muang Likely to be Recommissioned The immediate fate of the troubled Suvar-nabhumi Airport will be decided at a top-level meeting headed by Transport Minister Theera Haocharoen today. It may elect to transfer some flights back to the decommissioned Bangkok International Airport at Don Muang. The multi-billion-baht new airport has suffered a series of setbacks disrupting services over recent days. "We have to admit that the repair of Suvarnabhumi Airport taxiways and runways will affect services," Theera said yesterday. He believes recommissioning Don Muang will ease air-traffic congestion at Suvarnabhumi. Last week, it was confirmed that Suvarnabhumi has cracks on runways and taxiways. On Thursday, repair work forced some flights into holding patterns over the airport and others to refuel at U-Tapao airfield in Chon Buri. As many as 11 aerobridges at Suvarnabhumi Airport cannot be used owing to cracks on their surfaces and partial cave-ins on a runway. Temporary repairs have commenced. Tortrakul Yommanak is leading an investigation into the problems and has estimated that permanent repairs could take as long as one year. The Tortrakul-led probe is expected to conclude the causes within two weeks. Tortrakul is a board member of Airports of Thailand (AOT). According to a Transport Ministry source, the AOT board had already approved the transfer of some flights back to Don Muang. The old airport was closed to commercial traffic once Suvarnab-humi Airport was fully operational. "The AOT-approved plan allows point-to-point domestic flights to return to Don Muang. The transfer of services is not mandatory. Each airline can choose to transfer back to the old airport, or not," the source said yesterday. Bangkok Airways and Thai AirAsia are willing to return. The image of Suvarnabhumi has suffered serious blows time and again since its opening. On Saturday, water was discovered leaking into the passenger terminal from broken pipes. Reports said domestic aviation authorities have refused to extend an international safety certificate. They said the Department of Civil Aviation decided on Friday not to renew the airport's interim safety certificate that expired on Thursday. The airport can, however, continue to operate without the license. __________ And this, from the BANGKOK POST: _____ Authorities Mull return to Don Muang Airport (TNA, BangkokPost.com) The government and airport executives are considering whether to reopen Bangkok's 90-year-old airport at Don Muang as attempts to fix the brand-new Suvarnabhumi Airport are causing disruption. On Saturday morning, one of the two runways was closed for repairs. About 100 cracks were found at the new airport's taxiways and runaways and damaged sections are being closed off while repair work is carried out. Transport Minister Admiral Thira Haocharoen told reporters the possibility of moving some flights back to Don Muang is being considered, especially for point-to-point domestic flights. Don Muang was decommissioned as Bangkok's main airport in September when the new airport was officially opened but support for reopening the Don Muang facility is gaining momentum as more troubles are reported at Suvarnabhumi. The minister said that the move would speed up the repair work and help ease traffic congestion at the new airport, adding that government agencies and airline executives will discuss the issue next week. Adm Thira maintained that Thailand would not shut down Bangkok's spanking new US$3.8 billion international airport completely. He admitted there were doubts about whether it was appropriate to carry out repair work in sections before a detailed study of the damage at the new airport has been completed. The cabinet on Tuesday decided to convene a panel of "independent" experts to determine how serious the cracks are and what has caused them. The head of the panel is a board member of Airports of Thaland, which runs the facility. The airport, which was officially opened in September, was designed to handle 45 million passengers a year. The minister said problems at Suvarnabhumi would not only disrupt air traffic for several weeks, but also undermine the confidence of both the public and airlines. More disruption was forecast for Saturday as the airport's east runway was closed from 2 to 6 a.m. for repairs, said Passakorn Surapipith, deputy director of the Suvarnabhumi Airport. He added that the 40 incoming and outgoing flights scheduled would use the west runway.

I suppose they didn't have enough problems. Now a ruptured water pipe managed to ruin luggage. Maybe they need to exorcise the ghosts that must be plaguing the airport. The following appears in the BANGKOK POST: _____ Water Pipe in Suvarnabhumi Toilet Comes Loose Baggage Damaged by Leak on Lower Floor A pipe in the toilet of a passenger terminal in trouble-plagued Suvarnabhumi airport came loose, causing water to leak and seep down to the lower floor and damage baggage, the airport director said yesterday. The problem adds yet another concern to the growing question of the reliability of the three-month-old airport. It has been plagued by a host of problems, the most serious of which include runway and taxiway cracks. Suvarnabhumi director Somchai Sawasdeepol said a connecting joint in a pipe in one of the toilets on the third floor of the terminal came loose. Water then leaked, some seeping down to the baggage storage room on the second floor below. The water damaged some bags and their owners would be compensated, the director said. Airport workers turned off the water valve and mopped up the area. Also yesterday, a worker in the construction project building a train link to the airport was crushed to death by falling metal scaffolding. The body of Rungchai Moongpulklang, 18, was pulled from the wreckage. Police suspected the accident, which occurred in Lat Krabang, was caused by scaffolding bearing too much weight. Meanwhile, Democrat party deputy spokesman Apichart Sakdiset demanded the government express regret over the resignation of the Bangkok Post's former news editor Chadin Tephaval, and the dismissal of senior reporter Sermsuk Kasitipradit due to a Suvarnabhumi runway cracks report in 2005. Mr Apichart said the Bangkok Post was the first newspaper to expose the cracks but was rebuked harshly by then prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra for being unpatriotic. The Post front page story on Aug 8, 2005 quoted a source as saying a team of US experts hired by Mr Thaksin to inspect Suvarnabhumi airport had found cracks on the runway. The paper retracted the story and apologised the following day. On March 13 last year, the Criminal Court opened the first hearing on the case in which Bancha Pattanaporn, acting president of Airports of Thailand Plc (AoT), and New Bangkok International Airport company (NBIA), sued Post Publishing Plc as publisher of the Bangkok Post and its editor Kowit Sanandang on charges of defamation over the paper's runway crack coverage. Mr Apichart said the discovery now of cracks in the runway and taxiways was a national embarrassment. ''Who will be responsible for what happened to the Bangkok Post and the fate of the two senior staff?'' Mr Apichart said. He added the Thai Journalists Association and the Press Council of Thailand must take the issue as a case study of political pressure on the media while the Bangkok Post should also reconsider the punishment ordered against Mr Chadin and Mr Sermsuk for the sake of the working morale of its news staff. Mr Sermsuk said in an interview on iTV that he had no hidden agenda in reporting the runway cracks story.

You get the Thai rate.

Gentlemen, you're all having a stroke over something that simply does not exist in Thailand. These 33 and 34 baht exchange rates, about which so many are having apoplexy, are OFFSHORE exchange rates for the baht to US dollar. Those are NOT the rates you get within Thailand. You only will get rates like that if you've buying baht outside of Thailand. This afternoon, just to make sure, I went to a Bangkok Bank and looked at their exchange rates personally. The rates to the US dollar are still in the 35 point something range and this is what the rates have been for the past several weeks. That still sux, but at least it has not appreciated to the rates causing conniption fits for some of you. Not yet, anyway. On Monday I'll post the exchange rates current for the most commonly exchanged foreign currencies.

Some of you may remember the film, "The Bridge on the River Kwai," in which it had turned out the bridge was being built in the wrong location. The ground was too swampy to support the bridge. Now it turns out that a similar of problem exists for the entire Suvarnabhumi Airport, and that's why at least one runway is literally beginning to fall apart, somewhat like streets of Pattaya do following a heavy rain. The following appears in THE NATION: _____ SUVARNABHUMI Rescue Plan for Airport Expert Warned 15 Years Ago Building on a Swamp was Trouble A top architect has suggested ways to save the Bt150-billion Suvarnabhumi Airport. Dr Sumet Jumsai said the increasingly serious runway cracks had to be resolved. "We have to make Suvarnabhumi work because it is already there. "For the runways, repairs to the cracks must continue, but Airports of Thailand should sheet-pile both sides of the runways along their entire length. "This should lessen the subsoil shift and reduce cracks on the apron's surface," he said. "In the long run it may be necessary to pile all the aprons. The new runway east of the existing polder [a polder is a diked area], slated for expansion, might be built sooner rather than later. "In this respect the polder must not be expanded, and the new runway must not be land-filled. Instead the runway should be built above flood level on piers in order to allow flood water to pass under it," Sumet said. "In this way it will not impede water flow or further reduce the flood-retention capacity of Nong Ngu Hao swamp [on which the airport is built]." "There is nothing new in this. You can draw a lesson from the traditional Thai house on stilts standing comfortably in watery terrain. Traditional Thai architecture is amphibious and in harmony with nature." Sumet, who opposed building the airport on the site because of unfavourable subsoil conditions, suggested air traffic at the four-month-old Suvarnabhumi Airport should then shift to the newly piled runway to allow the existing aprons to be piled. Alternatively, the old Don Muang airport north of Bangkok could be recommissioned to accept flights while repairs are carried out. Sumet said his measures would not resolve flooding outside the polder, since the water-retention capacity of the swamp had been severely compromised by the airport. Sumet, one of Thailand's top architects, with many buildings in Bangkok, the provinces and neighbouring countries, recalled how 15 years ago he had fought against the location of an airport at Nong Ngu Hao on the grounds it went against nature. "Nature is now taking its toll in this swamp, and I feel everyone has got it wrong in the ongoing investigation. The bottom line is that with or without corruption - and every government in the design and construction phases is implicated - the runways and any structure not on piles will be subject to differential settlement and cracks," he said. "All you have to do is to look at the Bang Na-Trat Highway. After so many years and multiple layers of compressed sub-base, the road still sinks," he said.

Congratulations to Stef! Stef is in Pattaya and we spoke today at the beach. Without revealing trade secrets, Stef was able to make an adjustment to the message board program that seems to be working to stop the spam from being posted. Since Stef's adjustment, no more spams have appeared. It will probably stay that way. However, we'll still be on the lookout for them.

As opposed to the false facts? I can only speak for what I saw when I was there. The night I was there, none of what you say on your post was the case. I don't dispute what you say, but that was not my experience at all.

What is the source of your information? Mine comes from the Bank of Ayudhya web site ( http://www.krungsri.com/thai/home.aspx ), which is updated several times on weekdays. An opening rate is sometimes, but not always, published on Saturdays, but not a closing rate. I've always found their rates to be accurate and their published rate is always what I actually receive when exchanging money. Both Bangkok Bank and Bank of Ayudhya published the US dollar to baht exchange rate as 35.64 on Friday. I did not exchange any money on Friday. Did anyone exchange money on Friday? If yes, do you know the rate you got? If someone can tell us what he actually received on Friday, that might help to clear up some of the confusion.

Gents, Spam software has become quite sophisticated and today, for the first time, this message board seems to be getting inundated with it. I request that you do NOT send PMs to the moderators informing us when you spot them. Believe me, our eyes work too and we will get rid of them as soon as we spot them. It's pain-in-the-hind-quarter enough getting rid of the spams. There is no need to add to the difficulty by sending us PM's telling us about the spam posts. It's clogging up our PM mailboxes for no reason and then we have to get rid of all the needless PMs too. I request that you send us a PM about a spam post only if you've seen it sitting there for twelve hours or more. If it remains visible as long as that, then we've missed it.

No one has answered one of the most important questions: What kind of a bar is Loma? Is it strictly a host bar? Is it a go-go bar? I'd would also like to know things such as the drink prices, the number of boys working there, their "off" fee, assuming they even have "off" at all, and their business hours. Regarding the location of the NoBody gay massage, it's in the same complex with the Balcony Restaurant in Pattaya. You can't miss it. You simply enter the driveway, which you have to do no matter how you arrive at the Balcony, and NoBody is right in front of you. To get to Nobody from the Boyztown-Pattayaland area, obviously you do exactly what you would do to get to the Balcony Restaurant. You go north on Second Road until you reach the Dolphin Roundabout. Then you go east on North road (Pattaya Nua). You'll see the sign for the Balcony Restaurant on your left. If you get as far as the Tesco-Lotus shopping center, you missed it and went too far.

Exchange Rates for Friday, January 26: Closing Rates: US dollar: 35.64 Euro: 45.97 British Pound: 69.97 Australian dollar: 27.42 Canadian dollar: 29.9875

You don't need to find someone's profile if you wish to send a personal message (PM) in response to a post. Simply click on the recipient's user name to the left of the box that contains the post. A menu will pop up for that user and you will see that one of the items you can select is "Send a personal message." Click on that and the rest is easy.