Rogie

The Bangkok Post yesterday had an article on a new gay Vietnamese film. It's title is Hot Boy Noi Loan, which translates as Lost in Paradise apparently, although that seems a bit strange as Hot Boy isn't Vietnamese I wouldn't have thought! Unfortunately I cannot find a link to it on-line so cannot post one. The film is due to be aired at the Berlin Film festival next month, and the article thinks it should be available on dvd later in the year. Homosexuality is not often discussed openly in Vietnam and so a film featuring two gay men has raised a few eyebrows.

That's what Scooby wrote in the New skin and what else? thread. Seems reasonable to me, although I agree the visible changes are minor and wouldn't have been worth implementing on their own, i.e.had there been no security aspect. As far as I am aware there was no warning the software was to be updated (but I was offline for a few days so may have missed it) - that was a mistake IMO and regular users deserve to be told as if and when problems arise they are more likely to be supportive and sympathetic.

Good advice. I assumed at first the underlined wording was a link, but I guess not. We often hear about safety on baht buses but more often from a security perspective, folks falling foul of pickpockets in the main, so it's good to be reminded of the risk of riding on the platform - there's also the risk you might fall off. Being the worse-for-wear through tiredness or too much alcohol can make you more vulnerable in many instances.

Excellent report! For those of you viewing the photos, if you click on any of them it will enlarge the photo to full screen, you can then toggle back and forth between them using the 'Prev' or 'Next' keys. Can you go inside any of the sculptures? Any idea how long it would take the sculptors to complete one of them? It would be really interesting to witness one being sculpted - that'd be fascinating if somebody ever took one of those time-lapse sequences to show the various stages. Thaiworthy wrote: Could they be a tour group having a bit of harmless fun dressing up in colourful animal costumes - would've kept them warm and snug too, although I guess the headless one was taking a breather!

I quote these snippets to make the point that not everybody has a perfect grasp of sex-related etiquette. I agree some men are genuinely stingy and jolly well know they under-tip, but there must be a fair number who are do not know and have to make a guess, in the process either under or over-tipping. There are many reasons for this: the most obvious is that he may be new to the gay scene in Thailand - not everybody reads message boards such as these and even if he does discussions about tipping only surface every so often so he may not see any and quite possibly has given no thought to tipping beforehand. He could quite likely be overwhelmed by so many new and strange experiences, and in the bar setting at least, suddenly realise he's expected to give a tip, feels a flood of embarrassment and makes a fool of himself by under-tipping. Or prosaically, he could just be drunk. How many of us can honestly say he has always known the exact amount that's appropriate for all situations? I look back and wince when I think how I made a few under-tipping mistakes in my 'ignorant' early days in Thailand.

Re; Maggie Thatcher: That's a fair assessment. Re: the quote above: does that verbal exchange feature in the film? I'm familiar with the well-known comment Maggie made that Gorbachev was a man she "could do business with", but not the one you quote.

Good report. All human life laid bare on the beach, I wonder if people are more open there to share a confidence with a stranger . . . those 30 baht deck chairs are the perfect place to unwind. A pity some people can't seem to relax, perhaps the 'abnormally careful' guy had been stung by one of the beach salesman in the past and as a consequence regarded everyone as a potential conman (I have to say I have never had any problems with any of the salesmen, most seem good natured, and I would hope, reasonably honest). Do the 'noisy drunken' Russians carry on from the night before or do they spend all evening in sobriety, only to let their hair down in precisely the kind of place where most other users are looking for a bit of peace and quiet?

Life will go on at Dongtan beach as it always has, the boys and the girls, the gays and the straights, the Russians and the masseurs, the video peddlers and the Akha tribeswomen, all blissfully unaware there has been such a brouhaha on Gay Thailand.

What a shame. Seems like it's a vicious circle going on here, less fun bars equals less customers equals lower profits equals disheartened owners equals unmotivated boys. Maybe others have a more intellectual grasp of the situation but that's how I read it.

Like Fountainhall, the drug issue would be clear cut in my mind. The HIV positive situation is a real predicament and once again Fountainhall has covered the ground pretty comprehensively. However, there are so many possibilities that generalisations cannot cover all eventualities and in the final analysis you may be unlucky and find yourself tussling with your conscience because the situation is neither black nor white. I would say probably not. Others may disagree but IMO farang helping a Thai person who is a stranger or one he hardly knows to the extent he is landed with both financial and considerable emotional costs should be the exception rather than the rule. I would go so far as to say it should be confined to situations where the medical condition is one that is not easily treatable or where there are serious complicating factors, so that would exclude treatment for HIV under normal circumstances - however if the person in need of HIV care and treatment was for some reason incapable of accessing suitable care (such as may have been the case in the early days in Thailand), perhaps because he is mentally disturbed, some may think that warrants help. To be honest, I really do not know, I am floundering here, these are just a few thoughts - I have no personal experience of helping a Thai person in such circumstances.

The 'conservative religious elite' guy has missed a trick here. No more need those superfluous knickers end up twisted. If the bitter & twisted cleric had only decreed women's underwear an abomination, at a stroke he would have avoided the terrible peril of women drapers. Let the blue touch paper ignite the mountain of banned lingerie and watch the sparks fly. Long live the Arab spring!

After another eventful year in Thailand, I wonder what will happen in 2012. Your thoughts anyone? I thought it would be interesting to come up with something you would like to see happen, and / or make some predictions. For myself, as in some ways Thailand is a very unequal country, I would like to see a narrowing of the gap between rich and poor, and for my prediction: Thailand will win 3 Gold Medals at the London Olympics this summer.

Maybe not, but he's taken a shine on you judging by that lovely smile on his face, at least that's how it appears although I realise you may have used your trusty zoom. Your rather dry and technical description (at least to me, well over my head) cannot hide the fact that you clearly get a lot of fun out of your photographic material

In photo #4 in post #9 the young man on the right is partially obscured by some rigging - what a shame! He is not wearing speedos but has captured my imagination! Please, any chance of a repeat sighting and full exposure?

It's always good to see some classic beach photos. May I enquire if you have any more where those came from? The standard is very high. It's great to see young men enjoying the beach, even though we know it's hardly paradise to see them is very uplifting.

Speaking in very general terms now, one thing anyone considering involving himself cannot do is to dither. A short period in which to consider your position is reasonable but after that I feel you must clearly give your wholehearted backing or say sorry, I cannot help. So it is vital anyone deciding to help is fired up with determination. However, quite likely there may be low points to cope with along the way and that is where as Fountainhall has so eloquently written, the determination of the parties involved can make such a difference. And that includes the professsionals too, the doctors. But that's easier said than done, I would imagine. It cannot be easy for a doctor working in a government hospital in Thailand. They must become thick-skinned to all the suffering so that it would seem natural to me they would also suppress their emotions and, unless careful, may come across as distant and, at worst, uncaring. However, I do not wish to dwell on government hospitals as it is probably less likely a farang would be closely involved - I would imagine if the hospital can successfully treat the patient then, whilst still an emotional cost, there are unlikely to be significant financial costs. It is when, such as in Fountainhall's case above, the patient needs medical expertise beyond the capability of a government hospital such that private treatment is needed that the issue of money will arise. Next step, the farang(s) gives the go-ahead. I would argue money opens up vistas unreachable to those without. Fair? No, of course not, but that's how it is. The Private hospital is driven by profit, so if the customer has money, he can start the ball rolling. In fact as long as the money lasts, he knows he, or the person he is sponsoring, will get the best treatment possible for their condition. What a boost that must give you. An automatic high. It may be short-lived, you may be given bad news but at least you will know that news for what it's worth. But assuming the prognosis is a decent one, maybe 70% as in Fountainhall's case he reports above, that gives you (and the person being sponsored and his family in such cases) fair hope to cling to.

Ideally yes, they should help, but it is understandable if sometimes they choose not to. Let me explain. I saw the original post from Traveller Jim with the photo of that poor child and earnestly hoped he could be treated successfully. As I do not read that message board every day it was not until Fountainhall started this topic earlier today I was aware that the child's condition was terminal. Thank you Fountainhall for starting this topic on this message board and opening it up for discussion here. Traveller Jim is clearly a very kind and compassionate man, and his friends are to be similarly applauded. However, we cannot all be of the same caliber. After seeing that photo it kept coming back to me at intervals throughout the day, I tried to put it to the back of my mind; it preyed on me. Clearly there was nothing I could do except sympathise and hope the matter had a happy outcome - after all, all I'd done was read a message board and yet here I was all keyed up. I think the reason why I reacted in that way, apart from any normal human reaction most people would feel, is because firstly, the situation was unfolding before us on the Forum in real time, and secondly although I do not know Traveller Jim, I am aware he has an excellent reputation and was acting in the way I would have hope I would, given a similar set of circumstances. I think if you participate (i.e post as well as read) for any length of time in some of the gay message boards you quickly tune in to what makes them tick, and, corny it may sound, to their beating heart. But there is a terrible price to be paid and it isn't necessarily financial - I am thinking of the emotional costs. Not everyone can soldier that burden, the burden of expectation, the burden of hope. I do not know If I would be able to do that, to start the ball rolling not knowing how it will all end. The possibility of disappointment and dashed hopes would quite likely make me pause and, horror of horrors, come up with excuses. Lame excuses, maybe along the lines such as we have heard already, but in a rational world, the world outside, cold reality may win in the battle raging in your mind. Last night I watched an old film from the fifties on DVD, Giant. In it the female lead, Lesley, played by Elizabeth Taylor and married to the boss of a huge cattle farm in Texas played by Rock Hudson, called on the home of one of their Mexican Indian servants. The home was in a sort of shanty town, off limits to the pampered white Americans. The mother was lying in bed, clearly exhausted, her baby crying inconsolably in its cot "the child is sick, my milk is no good" the mother explained. It would have been understandable if Lesley had said she was sorry, made her excuses, and left. Instead, at great personal cost (to her social standing) she managed to persuade their own family doctor to go and visit the child. He did so and the baby lived to grow into a fine young man. Of course the doctor's intervention may have been to no avail, bit at least the effort was made. So, to answer the question, ideally yes, but any situation of this nature needs a thorough assessment before you intervene. If you feel you must, ask yourself if you really can see it through. _______________________________________________________________ Z's post came as I was still writing mine. My comments below: Yes, that is a good comment, and if unheeded could possibly amount to a bit of a nightmare scenario for most of us. If we choose to get involved in a personal capacity such as the case of the child from Sattahip, it's not going to always be an open and closed case. We know where it starts, but do we know when and how it will end? Can we with any confidence put a price on it? Yes, I would say it is conceivable a well-meaning farang could end up paying more than he could really afford. In this case however, and in the majority I would imagine, it is the time one invests that is the main feature. If the farang is retired and has time all well and good, but if the farang is a working man and he has to take time off from work (as must apply to many parents with sick children the world over) that could be very awkward.

I would respectfully suggest the OP who is a total unknown on this message board be given a further 24 hours to explain himself, and failing that the topic be deleted. Posting a request in perfect English and leaving a phone number which is answered in Japanese and then ended in abrupt fashion is most uncivil. It is possible the OP may have been out when Fountainhall made his two calls but I'm not holding my breath, and that would only apply if that number is a landline. I would assume it is a mobile number in which case I would also assume the OP would answer - after all, if you post on a message board and leave your number you are going to be making jolly sure you answer it personally.

The Armenian massacre / genocide is in the news once again: Here is a good BBC article on the subject: http://www.bbc.co.uk...europe-16352745 The International Association of Genocide Scholars I know nothing about but with the French government toying with the idea of making it an offence to deny it took place it'd be a brave neutral person who sided with the Turks on this.

Maybe my hero's the UN can ride to the rescue! http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2011/02/07/palestinians-ask-u-n-recognition-for-bethlehems-nativity-church/

Singlish! I like that expression, not heard it before. Can't say I'll make a special trip there just to hear it though! I'm not sure whether I am thinking of the same thing as yourself FH. I was thinking of the tendency for some younger people in countries such as Britain or countries such as Australia, where it's more widespread across the age spectrum, to end some of their sentences as though asking a question.

Sorry FH, can't say I get too excited about those photos. I do like the black limosines though.