Maple

Per a reliable BoyzTown source, Funny Boys was sold to a new Thai owner in May or June.

Po Pot will be closed for a Songkron holiday 13 April to 20 April.

Thais4Life is a charity located in Pattaya that was founded by Gay men. It is known primarily for helping a Thai man named Somporn obtain a new kidney years ago, allowing him to live. Much of the charity's work currently focuses on helping destitute patients pay for medical expenses and providing scholarships to destitute children. Thai4Life operates a bookstore which raises money for its charitable efforts. Location: Soi Yensabi Condo off Soi 17. Website: http://www.thais4life.com/

Getting back to the subject of this thread... I have eaten at Chez Vickie Restaurant 6 or 7 times and have enjoyed the food every time as have my friends dining with me. I typically order from the set menu which offers four main courses: pad thai, grandmother's style chicken stew, pork chop with mushroom sauce, and beef bourguignon. There is also one other daily special on offer. Soup, salad, main course, and drink (like water) total 380 Baht. BTW, the "tuna salad" is actually nicoise salad and is superb! On a recent night, there were 24 customers including two 6-person tables of French Canadiennes. Chez Vickie is now one of my favourite restaurants. For bookings, call Vickie at 0890123633. Location: opposite Bordeaux Restaurant on Soi Day-Night 2.

JimmJimmyJames A Go Go Bar is now on the market. Located in Sunee Plaza in Pattaya, the bar is a double shop house on offer for $2 million Baht with a monthly rent of 10,000 Baht. For information and photos of the bar, go to: JIMMJIMMYJAMES BOY A GO GO THE BAR and click on "For sale by Owner".

Today's update on fees for foreign ATM cards: no 150 Baht fee is (yet) charged by Bank of Ayudhya (yellow ATM). However, Kasikorn Bank (green ATM) now charges 150 Baht per transaction.

ATM Fees: no 150 Baht fee is charged (yet) by Kasikorn Bank (green ATM) nor Bank of Ayudhya (yellow ATM).

I have purchased many of my tickets to Thailand from Rhonda. She always has cheaper prices than I have found on the Internet. Another consolidator that has low fares to Thailand is Thaifly at http://www.thaifly.com/ They have offices in Chicago and Bangkok.

The new name is "Ina's Piano Bar". The owner is a German woman. Most of the time, the only person in the bar is the piano player.

At noon today, two workers hoisted a large cloth sign from Googie's canopy. It said the name of the new restaurant will be "Mushroom" and that it will open on 16 February. There will be an "opening promotion" offering a 20% discount and free coffee. I seems there is a trend to name restaurants in the Day-Night/Center Condo area after vegetables with Cucumber and Chill Pepper restaurants located on Pattaya Tai.

Heard from a reliable source who was there that Sansuk Sauna on Beach Road was raided a few nights ago by the BKK police and that the owner, Punya, had to pay a 30,000 Baht fine. Anyone have more information?

Thai Red Cross ends separate screening for gay blood donors 11 April 2008 BANGKOK (AFP) — The Red Cross of Thailand said Friday that it would change its screening process for blood donors to address concerns from activists who said the system discriminated against gays. The Red Cross requires donors to fill out a form to assess their risk of disease. Gay-rights activists had complained that one question, which was meant to target people more likely to have diseases transmitted by sex and drugs, had effectively blocked all gay men from donating by only asking about same-sex relations. "We didn't mean to hurt anyone," said Soisaang Pikulsod, director of the Thai Red Cross National Blood Centre. "It was just to ensure the highest possible safety of our patients." The Red Cross will rework the form to include more questions about all types of sexual behaviour, gay or heterosexual, that could increase the risk of diseases such as AIDS, she said. Nathee Teerarojanapong, a gay activist who complained about the questioning, urged the Red Cross to focus on screening out anyone with risky sex and drug habits, instead of singling out gay men and women. "Sometimes gays want to do good things too," he said. In Buddhist Thailand, donating blood is an important way of earning religious merit, which Thais believe will help them in their next life. Soisaang said concerns about infected blood donations grew after the agency found HIV in blood from 500 donors in 2007. The Red Cross notified the donors of their infection, but only one third of them returned for further counselling, she said. Half of them said they were gay and half said they were bisexual, she added. About 28 percent of gay men in Bangkok had HIV in 2005, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In Phnom Phen, there is a Gay bar called Blue Chilli Pub. The website is http://www.bluechillipub.net/ One of their staff is Oak; he is Thai and used to work in Pattaya. He speaks very good English, so look him up! See their ad in the current issue of "Spice!" magazine.

There is a front page article titled, "FBI In Pattaya" in the Pattaya People Newspaper for 1-8 March 2008. Tucked in the end of the article is the following sentence: "The FBI and American Embassy are also interested to get closer to the Pattaya community regarding investigation of illegal activities and wrong doings of US citizens here in Pattaya." I would be interested in Hedda's thoughts and opinion on this.

I understand that Terry was diagnosed last year with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) which is a combination of chronic bronchitis and emphysema.

Update from Pattaya City News, 13 February 2008 "District Officials raid bars in Soi Sunee Plaza, South Pattaya. We joined Khun Mongkol, the Chief of Banglamung District who was joined by Police and licensing officials as they conducted a raid of Bars in Soi Sunee Plaza in South Pattaya, an area notorious for under age bar employees and drug activity. During the operation, 100 bar employees were checked for the presence of narcotics in their systems. 20 people failed the test and were subsequently arrested. No checks were made on licenses on this occasion and the 20 arrestees consisting of 11 men and 9 transsexuals were taken to Hospital for further blood tests to confirm the narcotic present in their bodies."

About 11 p.m. on 12 February, a huge raid was conducted in Sunee Plaza by uniformed Banglamung Police accompanied by personnel in camouflague military uniforms. Police went door to door requiring that all staff members of each bar surrender their ID card. Bar staff were then herded off to the soi in front of the Sunee Plaza bar. Police used the picnic tables on the terrace of the Don Plaza Hotel to process the bar boys. Urine samples were collected in the Corner Bar's bathroom and tested on the spot. There were dozens of law enforcement officials who tested about 200 bar employees. One Thai man in his mid-20s was frog-marched by police to the processing station. All Thais were tested, including those sitting as customers in bars accompanied by a Farang. Those who tested negative received what looked like a "P" on their right hand from a magic marker and released. No Farangs were tested. Several TV cameras were present. Five officials lined up with the crowd of bar boys behind them to hold an impromtu news conference. The official who was the chief spokesman even went so far as to hold the microphone provided by BTV. An estimated 30-40 people were loaded into police trucks and presumably hauled off to the police station. Similar raids were conducted in Sunee Plaza on 9 May and 17 August, 2007.

I heard from some friends that the bars in Boyztown WERE OPEN last night, serving soft drinks. (Boyztown is located on Pattayaland 3 from Funny boys and around the corner to Amor Restaurant.) However, the bars on Pattayaland 1 (Gentleman's Club, Sawatdee, 777, etc.) were open, but quickly closed down around 9 p.m. after a visit by the police. Also heard that eight bars in Jomtien Complex were visited by the police and closed after receiving a fine of 50,000 Baht. Any confirmation?

There is a major problem with providing a copy of both sides of ATM or credit cards because there is a special security code on the back of all cards located on the right end of the signature strip. Once a ne'er-do-well gets that number, they can use your card to purchase things via the Internet. Typically they can purchase items up to $500 USD before the credit card issuer or bank flags these illicit charges. A few years ago, the Pattaya Immigration office asked me for copies of both sides of my ATM card. When I protested that I did not want anyone to have a copy of the back of my card with my signature and the security code, they backed down and accepted a copy of just the front of my card.

"Police Investigate Sunee Plaza Complaints": Pattaya People, 15 May 2007 Deputy Chief of Banglamung District Office – Mr. Phongthasit Pitjanan, together with Pattaya Police Chief, Pol. Col. Sutin Sappuang and officials went out to investigate Soi Sunee Plaza at 10 pm on 9th May, after receiving complaints from residents and tourists that some of the venues there have under aged boy and girl prostitutes. The inspection made that day was based on checking the venues’ licenses, checking everyone’s ID card, and making urine tests. From the 150 teenagers checked that night, the team found 19 people whose urine proved positive for drug taking and 4 venues couldn’t show any proof of licenses. All the people involved were escorted to Pattaya Police Station for further investigation. http://www.pattayapeople.com/default.asp?F...&IdArticle=5691 AND Excerpt from a report on Pattaya City News on Sophon Cable (not posted on their website): Police checked 30 bars. Ten males under 18 years, 20 tested positive for drugs. Several bar owners taken in for having employees under 18. No licensing irregularities found.

Here is the correct e-mail address for Allen (GayPattayan/G.P.): **removed by admin**>

Heard it was raided by the police last night. Anyone have any details?

A friend who was in Chiang Mai recently reported that Adam's Apple Bar was closed down by police action. Can anyone confirm this or add more information?

DOLPHIN RESTAURANT I agree that Dolphin serves excellent food. I have eaten there regularly since it opened for business in May 2006. You can't go wrong by ordering one of their two daily specials priced at around 200 Baht. Included is soup, salad, main course, dessert, and coffee/tea. For those who remember Papa Manop's former "Fongsabu" Restaurant, it is at the same location -- between Ole and Sundance Karaoke.

TRIBUTE TO GAYPATTAYAN on AUGUST 5 A tribute honoring Allen Briggs, a/k/a "Gay Pattayan", moderator of www.PattayaGay.com and publisher of the Pattaya Gay Weekly Report, will be held on Saturday, August 5. It will start at 7 p.m./19:00 and will be held at Niddy's Nook, located on Soi Day-Night 1 between Soi 17 and South Pattaya Road. Allen has been a pillar of the Pattaya Community for the past 12 years and has worked tirelessly as a volunteer for the past seven years to publish the Weekly Report. Published on www.pattyaagay.com, it provides timely updates about important happenings in the gay Pattaya Community. This report is read far and wide around the globe and provides long-distance viewers with a chance to live in Thailand vicariously, while also providing local Ex-Pats with much needed quality information. A special Thai and American Buffet will be served priced at just 200 baht per person. A new designer cocktail, the "Gay Pattayan" will be launched at the event to honor Allen; this new tropical drink will be offered at the introductory price of 90 baht. Please plan to attend this important event by marking your social calendar now.