Gaybutton

Exchange Rates for Friday, January 26: Opening Rates: US dollar: 35.66 Euro: 46.005 British Pound: 69.95 Australian dollar: 27.4025 Canadian dollar: 29.975

Let's not hit the panic button just yet. The following are the closing exchange rates for Thursday, January 25: US dollar: 35.58 Euro: 46.015 British Pound: 69.805 Australian dollar: 27.52 Canadian dollar: 30.1275 None of those rates are significantly different from the levels at which the rates have been for the last six weeks. I see no such announcement in any of the Thai media that normally reports BOT moves, so I don't know where the people posting on Thaivisa are getting this from. I'll post the exchange rates for Friday, both opening and closing, on this thread when they become available. I'll monitor the exchange rates next week. If I see any significant changes, I'll post the rates.

With all those massages, you must be getting to be like Kobe beef by now. Between the two massage choices, I think NoBody is the better of the two and it's also a little less expensive than the other one, the name of which escapes me at the moment. Even though I live fairly close, I've never been to Madame Ed's other than to simply have a look. Have you been there lately? If yes, what can you tell us?

Actually, NoBody is surviving quite nicely and a second gay massage opened right next door. Loma, from the outside, appeared to be a place that's been around for quite some time. That Soi 33 has several venues, but from what I saw I think Loma is the only gay venue there. I'll try to get there within the next couple of days. The one I don't get is Cartier. I have no idea how they intend to survive. From what I understand, hardly anyone is going there and it is in a bizarre location for a gay bar. Nevertheless, they're still there.

Ok, I haven't been in there yet, but this morning I was in that area. I drove by to see if I could spot it. Yes, it's definitely there. It's called Loma Bar. I was unable to tell from the outside whether it is a go-go bar or host bar or something else, but it's there. As soon as you get to Soi 33, from the Naklua extension of Second Road, you turn into the soi and it's just beyond the corner on the right. You can't miss it. I'll try to get in there and check it out soon.

If you have to view these films within Thailand, there is little choice. These films, at least so far, are not being screened in Thai movie theaters.

I think the fees depend upon which university it is and which courses the student is taking. There is one way to find out for sure whether a young gentleman is actually a university student. Universities issue their own ID cards. Ask to see his.

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.