peter991

Maybe you can stay ONE night ... how I remember those words. And ... FOUR YEARS later ... you are still here.

As a guy born in the 1950s, I went to school in the 1960s and discovered sex in the 1970s. I am so glad when I arrive in Thailand every few months. It's like taking off army boots and putting on a pair of slippers. For a GWM, Thailand would have to be the most un-homophobic country I have ever visited. Okay - as I have found out - the higher the education level of Thai people - the higher the homophobia.

Correction - that's not the correct word. Let's just say that (some) university educated Thai guys I have met are paranoid about family and workmates finding out they are gay. Just like Australia - when I grew up - except here it was the opposite - the rednecks hated the gays and the university-educated people were often gay.

Peter

Airline plays host to first mile-high gay wedding

SCANDINAVIAN airline SAS said it plans to host the first-ever in-flight gay wedding in December, and is searching for a suitable couple to walk down the aeroplane aisle.

"It will be a very traditional wedding,'' SAS spokesman Anders Lindstroem said.

"There will be wedding cake and dancing in the aisles."

SAS is accepting entries from gay couples who wanted to celebrate their nuptials mid-flight from Stockholm to New York on December 6, with the winning entry will be chosen by an online vote.

The airline said it would pay for the winners' tickets, hotels and honeymoon in Los Angeles, and cater the on-board banquet, albeit with a special wedding menu instead of normal passenger fare.

Mr Linstroem said SAS was playing catch-up to US airlines, who have spent years courting gay, lesbian and bisexuals in the United States with targeted marketing and sponsorship campaigns.

The ceremony itself would need to take place in Swedish airspace, where gay marriage is legal, he added. The wedding couple and their guests would have the entire business class section closed off, in part to avoid offending any other customers who might not approve of the mile-high matrimony.

"We don't want to offend anyone. We hope we won't offend anyone. It is the year 2010 after all,'' Mr Lindstroem said.

girlfriends because he had so

Maori (New Zealand) Legends

Wiremu, had long heard the stories of an amazing family tradition.

It seems that his father, grandfather and great-grandfather had all been able to walk on water on their 18th birthday. On that special day, they'd

each walked across the lake to the tavern on the far side for their first legal drink.

So when Wiremu's, 18th birthday came 'round, he and his pal Rangi, took a boat out to the middle of the lake, Wiremu, stepped out of the boat ... and

nearly drowned! Rangi, just barely managed to pull him to safety.

Furious and confused, Wiremu, went to see his grandmother.

'Grandma,' he asked, "It's my 18th birthday, so why can't I walk 'cross the lake like my father, his father, and his father before him?"

Granny looked deeply into Wiremu's, troubled brown eyes and said, "Because your father, your grandfather and your great grandfather were all born in July when the lake is frozen, you were born in December, ..............."

A lady goes to her priest one day and tells him, 'Father, I have a problem.

I have two female parrots, but they only know to say one thing.'

'What do they say?' the priest asked.

They say, 'Hi, we're hookers! Do you want to have some fun?'

'That's obscene!' the priest exclaimed,

Then he thought for a moment.....

'You know,' he said, 'I may have a solution to your problem. I have two male talking parrots, which I have taught to pray and read the Bible...

Bring your two parrots over to my house, and we'll put them in the cage with Francis and Peter.

My parrots can teach your parrots to pray and worship, and your parrots are sure to stop saying ... That phrase ... in no time.'

'Thank you,' the woman responded, 'this may very well be the solution.'

The next day, she brought her female parrots to the priest's house.

As he ushered her in, she saw that his two male parrots were inside their cage holding rosary beads and praying.

Impressed, she walked over and placed her parrots in with them.

After a few minutes, the female parrots cried out in unison: 'Hi, we're hookers! Do you want to have some fun?'

There was stunned silence.

Shocked, one male parrot looked over at the other male parrot and said: 'Put the beads away, Frank, our prayers have been answered!'

I have a couple of thoughts on this.

1. The phone number given for Australia is a Sydney (NSW) phone number. I have an international dialing card, so it's cheaper for me to phone Thailand (from Australia) than to call from Perth (west coast of Australia) to Sydney (east coast of Australia) on my mobile.

2. I have DFAT (Dept of Foreign Affairs and Trade) website continually updated with information on all 'trouble-spots' around the globe.

3. If the information is in fact LIVE (and not a recorded message), how honest is the information given out. When my partner's Thai passport only had 4 months validity and he wished to return to Thailand to renew it, he was told by the Thai embassy in Canberra (Australia) that he could only fly with Thai Airways (Thailand's national carrier). Lies! He could have travelled with ANY airline (Thai was $AU1200 PER-BKK-PER, JetStar was $AU468).

Peter

No one believes seniors . . . everyone thinks they are senile.

An elderly couple was celebrating their 60th anniversary. The couple had married as childhood sweethearts and had moved back to their old neighborhood after they retired. Holding hands, they walked back to their old school. It was not locked, so they entered, and found the old desk they’d shared, where Andy had carved “I love you, Sally .”

On their way back home, a bag of money fell out of an armored car, practically landing at their feet. Sally quickly picked it up and, not sure what to do with it, they took it home. There, she counted the money-fifty thousand dollars! Andy said, “We’ve got to give it back.” Sally said, “Finders keepers.” She put the money back in the bag and hid it in their attic.

The next day, two police officers were canvassing the neighborhood looking for the money, and knocked on their door. “Pardon me, did either of you find a bag that fell out of an armored car yesterday?” Sally said, “No”. Andy said, “She’s lying. She hid it up in the attic. Sally said, “Don’t believe him, he’s getting senile”

The agents turned to Andy and began to question him. One said: “Tell us the story from the beginning.” Andy said, “Well, when Sally and I were walking home from school yesterday ....” The first police officer turned to his partner and said, “We’re outta here!”

A man is driving down the road and breaks down near a monastery. He goes to the monastery, knocks on the door, and says, My car broke down. Do you think I could stay the night?

The monks graciously accept him, feed him dinner, and even fix his car. As the man tries to fall asleep, he hears a strange sound; a sound like no other that he has ever heard. The next morning, he asks the monks what the sound was, but they tell him: We can't tell you because you're not a monk.

The man is disappointed but thanks them anyway and goes about his merry way. Some years later, the same man breaks down in front of the same monastery.

The monks again accept him, feed him, and even fix his car.

That night, he hears the same strange mesmerizing sound that he had heard years earlier.

The next morning, he asks what the sound was, but the monks reply, We can't tell you because you're not a monk.

The man says, all right, all right. I'm dying to know.

If the only way I can find out what that sound was is to become a monk, how do I become a monk?

The monks reply, you must travel the earth and tell us how many blades of grass there are and the exact number of grains of sand. When you find these numbers, you will become a monk.

The man sets about his task. Some 45 years later, he returns and knocks on the door of the monastery. He says,I have travelled the earth and devoted my life to the task demanded and have found what you had asked for. There are 371,145,236,284,232 blades of grass and 231,281,219,999,129,382 grains of sand on the earth.

The monks reply, congratulations, you are correct, and you are now considered a monk.

We shall now show you the way to the sound.

The monks lead the man to a wooden door, where the head monk says, the sound is behind that door.

The man reaches for the knob, but the door is locked. He asks, May I have the key ?

The monks give him the key, and he opens the door

Behind the wooden door is another door made of stone. The man requests the key to the stone door.

The monks give him the key, and he opens it, only to find a door made of ruby. He demands another key from the monks, who provide it. Behind that door is another door, this one made of sapphire. And so it went on until the man had gone through doors of emerald,silver, topaz and amethyst.

Finally, the monks say, This is the key to the last door .

The man is relieved to be at the end. He unlocks the door, turns the knob, and behind that door he is astonished to find the source of that strange sound. It is truly an amazing and unbelievable sight.

..... But I can't tell you what it is because you're not a monk.

DON'T SWEAR AT ME. I'M STILL HUNTING FOR THE IDIOT WHO STARTED THIS !

But I bet you send it on

The ultimate travel challenge

Source: news.com.au

* Travel agents, websites and airlines tested

* Bid to find out which is cheapest

* Convenience, time also taken into account

IT'S an age-old question which has baffled even the most seasoned traveller before they set off on their trip: When booking a flight, is it best to book a) through a travel agent, a travel website or c) direct through the airline?

While price is still the deciding factor in the majority of people’s thinking, there’s also time spent researching, convenience and peace of mind to take into account. And that’s before you’ve even decided if the three-leg flight with nine-hour stopover in Myanmar is worth the $97 you’ll save.

Our travel challenge is to see which of the three options scored best overall when it comes to booking an international flight.

You can click on the link for the full story. Suffice to say - how do YOU book your travel? If you get a Secretary to book - how does he/she do it? I am asking this to see how you get value for money when you travel overseas.

Peter

Trying to keep layover time to a minimum, I did a search using Skyscanner using September 2010 as the base date(s). The best I could find was $US1173 (return including all taxes) from Chicago to Bangkok. As other posters have stated - if you really want to come to LOS, save hard first (sounds like you are doing your best). You are doing the right thing in my books by asking on this Forum and shopping around.

Peter

My Resimay

To hoom it mae cunsern,

I waunt to apply for the job what I saw in the paper.

I kin Type realee qwik wit one finggar and do sum a counting.

I think I am good on the fone and I no I am a pepole person.

I no my spelling is not too good.

My salerery is open, I kin start emeditely.

Thank yoo in advanse fore yore anser.

Sinseerly,

Tiffanny

PS : Becauze my resimay is a bit short

I sent a pickture of me.

Employer's response:

Dear Tiffany,

It's OK honey, we've got spell check.

See you Monday

Note: Why is it whenever I see Scottish jokes - I immediately think of ThaiVisa's JockStar ... hope you appreciate this one :-)

True Friendship ... SCOTTISH STYLE!!

(None of that Sissy sh ## e )

Are ye tired o those pish weak 'friendship' poems that always sound good, but never actually come close to reality? Well, here are a series o promises that actually speak of true friendship.

You will see no cute wee smiley faces on this card ..........

1. When ye are sad -- I will help you get pished and plot revenge against the bastard who made ye sad.

2. When ye are blue -- I will try to dislodge whatever is choking ye.

3. When ye smile -- I will know ye are thinking of something that I would probably want to be involved in.

4. When ye are scared -- I will take the pish oot o you every chance I get, until you're NOT.

5. When ye are worried -- I will tell ye stories about how much worse it could be until YE STOP YER WHINING!

6. When yer confused -- I will try to use only wee words .

7.When ye are sick -- Stay the f*** away fae me until ye are well again. I don't want whatever ye've got.

8.When ye fall,I will laugh my heed aff at you, you clumsy arse, ... but I'll help you up..

9.This is my oath ... I pledge it tae the end.

'Why?' you may ask;

Because you are my friend. Friendship is like pishing your pants, everyone can see it, but only you can feel the true warmth.

Send this to 10 friends,

Then get depressed because ye can only think of 4 !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Two Paddys were working for the city public works department. One would dig a hole and the other would follow behind him and fill the hole in. They worked up one side of the street, then down the other, then moved on to the next street, working furiously all day without rest, one man digging a hole, the other filling it in again.

An onlooker was amazed at their hard work, but couldn't understand what they were doing. So he asked the hole digger, 'I'm impressed by the effort you two are putting in to your work, but I don't get it -- why do you dig a hole, only to have your partner follow behind and fill it up again?'

The hole digger wiped his brow and sighed, 'Well, I suppose it probably looks odd because we're normally a three-person team but today the lad who plants the trees called in sick.'

SEX AFTER DEATH

A couple made a deal that whoever died first would come back and inform the other if there is sex after death.

Their biggest fear was that there was no after life at all.

After a long life together, the husband was the first to die.

True to his word, he made the first contact:

" Marion ... Marion "

"Is that you, Bob?"

"Yes, I've come back like we agreed."

"That's wonderful! What's it like?"

"Well, I get up in the morning, I have sex. I have breakfast and then it's off to the golf course.

I have sex again, bathe in the warm sun and then have sex a couple of more times.

Then I have lunch (you'd be proud - lots of greens). Another romp around the golf course, then pretty much have sex the rest of the afternoon. After supper; it's back to golf course again.

Then it's more sex until late at night. I catch some much needed sleep and then the next day it starts all over again"

"Oh, Bob are you in Heaven?"

"No...........I'm a rabbit in Arizona"

Geography is not a strong point with many people ... how many Americans have been overseas?

I remember reading some time back about the $100 laptop that was about to revolutionise communications and education. This particular one would be powered not by batteries, but by winding it up - similar to an alarm clock. I don't know what happened to that one, but Breaking News suggests India has 'invented' the $35 laptop, with plans to get the cost down to $20.

Looking at the brief video, it looks to me a lot like an iPad. If this is for real - it would be wonderful in Thai schools as an education aid.

Source: http://www.wimp.com/indiacomputer/

Edit: Topic SHOULD read: India INVENTS a $35 Computer

Thanks for keeping open what could be a very explosive topic. I know many of us have strong feelings on the topic. As a gay guy who is a regular visitor to Thailand, I have male friends who work in bars, university-educated male friends and other guys who are 'regular' guys from Issan.

Probably the most amazing thing about Thailand - and something that amazes all first-time visitors to LOS is the attitude of Thai people to sexuality. Thais see it as something as natural as eating, sleeping and breathing. They do not have the same hang-ups we Westerners have about sex. It would be unthinkable to meet a straight guy for sex in a Western country. In Thailand, I would estimate the majority (of males working in gay bars) are straight guys with either a wife or a girlfriend (who often works in a straight bar).

Yes - there are gay guys working in gay bars - but to many, it is an occupation only. Where else can an uneducated Issan boy earn 30,000 baht a month?

FREE KITTENS

A pretty little girl named Suzy was standing on the sidewalk in front of her home. Next to her was a basket containing a number of tiny creatures; in her hand was a sign announcing FREE KITTENS.

Suddenly a line of big black cars pulled up beside her. Out of the lead car stepped a tall, red-haired, grinning woman.

"Hi there little girl, I'm Prime Minister Gillard. What do you have in the basket?" she asked.

"Kittens," little Suzy said.

"How old are they?" asked Julia.

Suzy replied, "They're so young, their eyes aren't even open yet."

"And what kind of kittens are they?"

"Labor supporters," answered Suzy with a smile.

Julia Gillard was delighted. As soon as she returned to her car, she called her PR chief and told him about the little girl and the kittens.

Recognizing the perfect photo op, it was agreed that the prime minister should return the next day; and in front of the assembled media, have the girl talk about her discerning kittens.

So the next day, Suzy was again standing on the sidewalk with her basket of "FREE KITTENS," when another motorcade pulled up, this time followed by vans from ABC,Channel 7, SBS, Ten & Nine.

Cameras and audio equipment were quickly set up, then Gillard got out of her limo and walked over to little Suzy.

"Hello, again," she said, "I'd love it if you would tell all my friends out there what kind of kittens you're giving away."

"Yes mam," Suzy said. "They're Liberals."

Taken by surprise, the prime minister stammered, "But... but... yesterday, you told me they were Labor supporters."

Little Suzy smiled and said, "I know. But today, they have their eyes open."

I haven't been that bad since I was 21yo. That's a L-O-N-G time ago.

Interesting topic. Sure, it's easy to find gay guys in tourist areas (Bangkok, Pattaya, Phuket etc) but there's a lot more in the countryside. You just have to look a bit harder. Thai people are naturally friendly, love gossip and are curious. The secret is to make eye contact and trust your gaydar. While some lingering looks and smiles are just 'I am friendly - but not interested' there's a lot of guys interested in getting close to a farang.

It certainly helps to have a Thai friend as there's a huge language (and cultural barrier) in the countryside - but patience and politeness work wonders.