Gaybutton

Hmmmmm, sounds like this Soi 33 is quite a street.

As terrible a thing it is that happened to GP, the silver lining on the cloud is that we have discovered that when a serious situation such as this occurs, many of us do as much as we can to help each other. I think it's wonderful to see that we are a cohesive, supportive group after all when those among us find themselves in need. I'll bet that no matter who might have something terrible happen next time, most of the gay Thailand community will be there for whoever it is, doing as much as we can to help. I think this kind of support for each other is a very important thing and it's great to know that we can count on each other in times of crisis.

Both films to which Ear Wig refers are already being sold, pirated versions of course, by the beach DVD vendors and the DVD vendors around town. 100 baht a pop.

If he's getting prices like that for being a tour guide (and most likely that does not include the price of taxis, food, admission, etc, that you would have to cover for him) he doesn't need to sell sex. He doesn't need to become a doctor either . . .

That's perfect. There is a tour desk in the lobby at the Pinnacle, although if it's a gay tour that you want, you're probably better off booking that through the Tarntawan Place Hotel. You're about a ten to fifteen minute taxi ride from the Tarntawan Place Hotel from the Pinnacle and the taxi shouldn't cost you more than 40 baht. That's slightly more than US $1. Also, as Geezer suggested, you're also perfectly welcome to contact me directly when you come to Pattaya. I'm always glad to help people new to Pattaya and will be happy to come to Le Caf

That seems like a highly unusual place for a gay bar to appear, but we'll see. There are a couple of gay massages in the north Pattaya area, so why not a gay bar too? I'll try to check it out and report about it if someone else doesn't get there before I do.

I'll do my best. I would also like to mention, and this really is directed at everyone, that we ask you to please refrain from using anyone's surname when posting messages. Actually, it is best to stick to simply their posting handles. I've already pointed this out to people who posted Allen's surname and the Code of Conduct clearly prohibits use of people's real names. It normally would cause us to take out the message entirely, although we can make an exception in this case since the new "Weekly Report" web site does use his full name. However, in the future, everyone please stick to posting handles. There are people out there who do not wish for their actual names to be used at all, especially when it is not them doing the posting.

I haven't had time to look through Thai Visa. Did any of those reports happen to specify which immigration offices were asking for additional proof?

Today I, and some friends, went to Bangkok-Pattaya hospital to visit with Gaypattayan. We were very pleasantly surprised to see him fully alert, in excellent spirits, fully coherent, and looking great for someone who just came through surgery. He even expects to be released very soon, possibly as soon as tomorrow. His boyfriend was also there, asleep on the couch in the hospital room as he had been there all night helping to take care of him. The room is in the new wing of the hospital. The room itself is impressive. I wish my own bedroom at home was as nice. The nursing staff is also excellent. He pressed the buzzer for nursing service and the intercom was instantly answered and a nurse came in to see him in less than a minute. The good news is, based on our observations during the visit, unless something goes wrong at this point, he's going to be ok. He told us he will not be able to handle the "Weekly Report" anymore, but he was greatly pleased when we told him that it is already being handled and it even has it's own URL. He was very happy to know that the "Weekly Report" won't have to stop because of his ill health.

I know what I would do, if I were you, Mgluyas. The first thing I would do is forget about this guy. He sounds like definite bad news to me, especially is he is already talking about the family tragedies, which translates into "give me money," before you even get there. You're right. You don't need that and you really don't need a guide either. However, I can certainly understand why you might want one on a first trip. I have a few suggestions for you. The first is to have your hotel arrange a reputable guide for you. Your hotel can also book you for guided tours of the city. The second is to talk to an English speaking taxi driver and make an arrangement. Quite often, people do that and are greatly satisfied. The third, and I think best choice, is to arrange a good, competent, professional gay guide via the Tarntawan Place hotel. That hotel would be an excellent place to stay, especially during your first trip. It's a gay hotel, located within easy walking distance to all the gay action in the Silom, Suriwong, Patpong area and they can arrange excellent guides at reasonable prices who are professional and trustworthy. I guarantee you won't end up with some guy giving you a bunch of sob stories. The URL for the Tarntawan Place is: http://www.tarntawan.com .

I'm glad to be able to agree with you. I hope that whenever anyone within this Thailand gay community faces this sort of emergency, people will come together to lend their support, without regard to whether the person is liked, disliked, has made significant contributions to the gay community, or anything else. I believe that when it comes to a life or death situation, that's the time to set aside personal differences and help one another. If we don't support each other in a time of need, no one else will.

Maybe second to last because I wasn't aware of it either. Thank you for letting us know. Great! All this time I've been making needless annual trips to the embassy and it never even occurred to me that it might not be necessary other than the first time. That will save a trip to Bangkok, getting to the embassy at bizarre hours, and the expense involved. How did you find this out?

The new "Weekly Report" is now available online, thanks to the tremendous efforts of those who worked so hard to make sure it continues. You can access it at either of two URL's: http://www.pgweeklyreport.com or http://www.pgreport.com __________ * A duplicate of this post is on the Baht-Stop forum *

If you click on the following link, the story includes photos, one of which is the boy. If you recognize him and know anything about him it would be helpful if you contact the police. The following appears in the PATTAYA CITY NEWS: http://www.pattayacitynews.net/news_23_01_50_4.htm _____ German Drugged and Robbed. His Boyfriend is Prime Suspect Cases relating to Foreigners robbed after being drugged are continuing here in Pattaya. This case comes from the Eastiny Inn Hotel in Soi 8, Central Pattaya. Room Number 211 is occupied by Mr. Ronald Feier aged 42 from Germany, who celebrated his birthday on Monday Night with friends including the prime suspect in this case. Mr. Feier has been seeing a Thai man known as

There are those who just might disagree with that, but I appreciate the sentiment.

I'll let you guess which one . . .

Very good point. Every time I've needed to pass through immigration, even when there are only two or three people ahead of me, I still always end up waiting around twenty minutes for my turn. Then, when it's me, it takes them about ten seconds to stamp my passport and send me on my way. Why is that?

Jinks, how about posting the contact E-mail addresses? Not everybody knows the contact addresses.

You don't have a problem. All you need to do is go to any immigration office in Thailand. Wait until a few days before your visa will expire. They are almost always willing to give you a ten day one-time extension. The fee is 1900 baht. Take your airline ticket with you when you go to the immigration office so they know you are only going to stay three days beyond your visa. That way they won't think you are just another "farang" trying to live in Thailand without a paid visa. You shouldn't have any problems at all about easily getting an extension. Even if you do, you're right. You can simply pay the overstay fine, which I believe is 500 baht per day, when you leave the country. Yes, you can have problems if you are caught overstaying, but unless the police have a good reason to stop you and check your papers, which almost never happens, for three days you will probably be just fine.

One can always live in hope. My luck, if such an offer comes, it will be from a female . . . the worst looking one there.

The following is an excerpt from an E-mail I received this morning: _____ Allen's boyfriend informed me that Allen had surgery last night about 9 p.m. The neurosurgeon installed a shunt which will drain fluid from Allen's brain through a tube which empties into Allen's stomach. He said that Allen was in the Intensive Care Unit but expected him to be moved back to his room this morning.

I received the following and was asked to post this: _____ Dear Friends, Thanks to the co-operation of friends, I think that we can have a reasonable Weekly Report up this Wednesday, thus fulfilling the promise to Gaypattayan to keep the Weekly Report alive and flourishing. In order to make it easy, immediately, to submit contributions to the Pattayagay Weekly Report, an email account has been set up. Material can be emailed, with immediate effect, to: pgweeklyreport@yahoo.com.au (Please note that it is yahoo.com.au - using the Australian server) The PG Weekly Report will be published at: http://www.pgweeklyreport.com every Wednesday - starting this Wednesday, January 24th. Copy is requested to be submitted no later than 8.00 pm every Tuesday. Images/graphics should be in .jpg or .gif format, preferably no larger than 6 inches by 6 inches, and a resolution of not more than 200 dpi. Text copy can be submitted as .txt, .doc, or as straight emails. Thank you. __________ * A duplicate of this post is on the Baht-Stop forum *

It's almost as if those who designed and those who constructed Suvarnabhumi International Airport could collaborate on a book entitled, "How to Screw Up an Airport." It's really getting to be unbelievable. In a thread above I posted about how even the immigration officers have to be trained on simply treating travelers appropriately. Just about everything one can think of is having problems at the new airport, ranging from excessively long distances to and from gates, lack of enough toilet facilities and the locations of them, to check-in and luggage delays, to duty free shops, and the list goes on and on. Now there are obvious concerns about the very safety of the runways and taxiways. And this is going to be the major hub of all Asia? Somehow I don't picture the airlines that service Asia lining up for space at this particular airport. It's just a disgrace. I think they'd be better off closing down the whole thing, creating a park or something, and going back to Don Muang, where everything was running smoothly in the first place. The following appears in the BANGKOK POST: _____ Runway Cracks Widen at Suvarnabhumi Cracks in the runways at Suvarnabhumi Airport runways have expanded and may affect passenger safety, according to the head of a panel looking into the construction of the multibillion-baht facility. "The cracks in the runway and taxiways are truly an urgent matter that could become cri-tical, particularly to the safety of passengers, if nothing is solved," said Prapan Koonmee, chairman of the National Legislative Assembly's Suvarnabhumi Airport subcommittee. Prapan and his panel visited the airport yesterday to inspect the construction-related problems, as well as alleged irregularities in the space allocated to duty-free shops. The panel found several cracks on the runways and taxiways as well as in the terminal buildings and floors, which they believe are a result of construction flaws. "If the airport had been operational for two or three years we could put it down to heavy use. But the current situation shows the problems at Suvarnabhumi are likely to come from its construction," said Prapan. He added the runway and taxiway cracks had spread and as much as 100,000 square metres of tarmac would be affected if nothing were done. "It is crucial that the involved parties find the causes and solutions to this matter," said Prapan. He claimed debris from a cracked runway overseas had caused an aircraft accident that killed 130 people. The subcommittee will conclude its investigation in two to three weeks and then report to the government. It will ask parties involved in the airport's construction to give evidence on Friday.

BANGKOK, Jan 22 (TNA) Some 1,200 immigration officers at Bangkok's Suvanarbhumi International Airport will take a training course on personality development following complaints from foreign visitors to the Immigration Bureau that they were always frowning and unfriendly, according to a senior Immigration Bureau official. National Airport Immigration Division Commissioner, Pol. Maj-Gen. Chakthip Chaijinda Monday signed a cooperation agreement with Suan Dusit Rajabhat University on a behavioural modification training course. Under the terms of the agreement, Gen. Chakthip said, Suan Dusit Rajabhat University will prepare a personality development training course for immigration officers called the "Sawasdee Project." The project was initiated after about 30 per cent of visitors at Suvarnabhumi complained that immigration officers at the airport did their duty without smiling and looked unfriendly. Moreover, both arriving and departing passengers complained about the slow immigration documentation procedures, Gen. Chakthip said. With the cooperation with Suan Dusit Rajabhat University, immigration officers will be trained to use Thai traditional culture to treat visitors, including the Thai traditional ways of greetings -- the wai, greeting visitors with the word "Sawasdee" and saying thank you after the procedure is completed. After the training, he hoped, the visitors would be impressed with the new look of the officials and it can eventually create a good image and positive attitudes among foreign visitors. However, Gen. Chakthip, stressed that the officers would strictly carry out their duties in immigration procedure. He added the the Immigration Bureau planned to expand the "Sawasdee Project" to include Thailand's international airports in Chiang Mai, Phuket, Koh Samui, and Surat Thani province, as well as Hat Yai in Songkhla province, and expected the project would satisfy the visitors. (TNA)-E003

BANGKOK, Jan 22 (TNA) Transport Minister Admiral Thira Haocharoen has threatened to reshuffle the management of the Airports of Thailand should it fail to accelerate the examination of reported taxiway cracks at Bangkok's new Suvarnabhumi Airport. The minister on Monday said he had urged the company's board and management to probe and deal with the cracks initially found in 60-100 spots of almost 10 areas of the airport. An initial examination found the problem might stem from the filling and levelling of taxiway areas with sand that does not meet the standard. However, he said he would wait for details of the examination. Should there be any irregularities, an investigation would be made. Those involved in the irregularities must be punished. Regarding a contractor's plan to seek compensation for a claim from Dhipaya Insurance Plc by citing taxiway cracks resulted from major flooding last year, Adm. Thira said he needed to heed the reasons given by many parties. He could not judge based on information given by a particular party. The minister said he would go to inspect the taxiway by himself late this month. Should there be any obstacle to taking off and landing of aircraft, it would be closed for repair. Whether the taxiway would be partially or entirely closed for repair would be determined again. He conceded taxi-way and run-way cracks would be used as one of reasons for his decision on whether the Don Muang International Airport would be reopened for some flight services. Adm. Thira admitted he remained unhappy with AoT's efforts to solve the problems that Suvarnabhumi Airport is facing. He said he had already urged the tackling of the problems through the board, but it seemed the management was slow in coping with them. Unless its performance improves, he said, the board had authority to reshuffle it. (TNA)-E005