Any book readers here?

[sclivejames]

Sometimes i like to grab a book and sit outside my condo and read in the shade.

Do anyone still read books or do you use the E books now? I still prefer the good old version.

There were a couple of good gay pattaya books written in the past i recall.
One about the history of Boyztown.

I also like the Cambodia culture books.
There's just not many secondhand book stores in Pattaya.Jomtien has a few though,and they are ALWAYS busy so maybe a good business to start with some other sideline.

Canterbury Tales is my favourite bookshop,but quite expensive,secondhand books usually from 180 b ,of course 50 % returnable,but still high.

[sclivejames]

Owner of Canterbury Tales bookshop displaying Gay themed books.

[Geezer]

The Thais4Life Bookshop has many thousands of titles. It is in the Sunee Plaza area.

http://www.thais4life.com/

[sclivejames]

Yes Geezer i forgot about Thais4life,..........i recall Wally running that?
For anyone not knowing Thai4life,it's a bookshop near Yensabai condo;s in Sunee.
Books are 80 b each .

[Magnum]

I've read Bangkok Boy by Chai Pinit, very interesting insights in pattaya male prostitutes. Does anyone know other books about gay Pattaya/Bangkok/Thailand and money boys? In Germany we have tons of books about Thaigirls but not Thaiboys. Thanks.

[sclivejames]

Whole heap here,but there were a few specifically on pattaya and one was a novel about stories of hiring pattaya boys....anyone remember the name?

[peeseua]

Ialways go to Thais4life but don't know how to get to Canterbury from Sunee. Can anyone help?
I read a lot between dips in the sea at Dongtan and while recharging my energies after swimming.

[sclivejames]

You know Soi Buckhao? it's actually near there in a street called Soi Chaiyapoon........opposite a chinese restaurant that the DJ from the Venue owns.

[peeseua]

Thank you. I never realised it was that near to Sunee.

[sclivejames]

Yes just get a baht bus from Soi Bukhao markets opposite tukcom) and go up to OASIS go go,its in the street to the right of OASIS

[peeseua]

Thanks again. I thought I could just walk it if the weather wasn't too hot.

[sclivejames]

my pleasure,so hello to the waiter there...........but i would like to know where to get a copy of "40 years of boyztown" i think it was called?

[lonelywombat]

I think that more than a few gay bars sell second hand books . I know that Bondi, Cafe Royale, one or two in Sunee and posssibly TwoGuys without much thought.

I prefer Kindle for reading, usually on the plane or waiting, but easy enough to put in bag for beach or pool.

There is a very good cafe that sells books in Udon Thani...its opposit , Central shopping center

[bing]

I was a book reader for last 20 years in Thailand when on vacations. But starting a year ago I started with Audiobooks. Look at www.audible.com (http://www.audible.com)
Now I download to my Ipod Nano. At present I have 10 books loaded on it and have two more to read of that list. It is so much more enjoyable than just reading a book to have someone read it to you. Also you can continue listening while on the way to the beach and also on the way back to your hotel or condo. I think I am hooked on the audiobooks now. Also no eye strain and can listen for hours at a time with eyes closed and relaxing or sipping on a beverage or even eating a sandwich. It is easy to fall in love with listening to a book being read to you.

[Neal]

OK so this is downloaded to an I pod. Never bought one and don't know how to do it but I guess some kid can show me and look at me and say something like...Gee mister, this so easy why you cannot do?! Great idea though and get me sort of reading again as I spend a lot of time at the hospital.

[sclivejames]

I would love to know how to use a kindle,are the books downloaded from Amazon?

[Khor tose]

OK so this is downloaded to an I pod. Never bought one and don't know how to do it but I guess some kid can show me and look at me and say something like...Gee mister, this so easy why you cannot do?! Great idea though and get me sort of reading again as I spend a lot of time at the hospital.

You don't need an ipod to do audio books. Any smart phone can have Kindle loaded on it and you can get audio books that run on kindle from Amazon. I sold my Galaxy two and bought the samsung Note II to do all my reading on. It is bigger then a phone but smaller then a note book. I prefer reading to audio books, but if your are just planning to listen any smart phone that is IPHONe or analog based will work. You can even plug in an ear jack and listen without bothering anyone. Oh you can also load kindle on any PC, laptop or tablet, and get your books read from one of those platforms

Sir James, If you have a smart phone just load kindle on it and it will take you to amazon where you can buy books or download any of the thousands of free classics that are available. Also works with any of the above computer types.

[lonelywombat]

Here is a new TV add for Kindle on you tube.

Note the ad leading into this is very long

Look for the skip the ad

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... kHeVJpNix4 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=4kHeVJpNix4)

[sclivejames]

Kindle may be the way to go.........but somehow I still cant give up the hardcover.

[christianpfc]

I love books and buy them faster than I can read them. In Bangkok there is a large selection in Chatuchak weekend market. In Pattaya there was J&K Book near Dolphin roundabout on North Pattaya Road, recently moved to Nakluea Pottisan near Soi 8 (haven't been yet, only read their notice and map on the old now empty location).

[sclivejames]

Christian,have you tried kindle?

[lonelywombat]

Apart from the cost of buying new books for Kindle at a discount and having them charged to your credit card, the big advantage is having all those books stored inside your kindle, when travelling

I have in the past bought books prior to a trip, bought books after I arrived and don't like throwing them away.

Kindle does not save you money if you are looking for cheap second hand books, but is tremendously convenient when travelling.

[sclivejames]

Just found the book about BOYZTOWN,Author was Michael Burchall who as we all know later opened TOPMAN GO GO in Sunee Plaza 2003-2005,and later went back to where he now lives in the UK.................now im not sure where to get a copy of his book,I imagine they would now be valuable ?
Can someone get me a copy,i will buy it from you.


Found this write up of Michael's book.

I got to know Michael J Burchall better when he was тАУ in the first years - the chairman of the Pattaya Gay Festival (PGF) which was started in 2001. Years before I had frequently visited his Cockpit Bar and taken off quite a many young butch men from there. I have the fondest memories about those fellows. Personally I did not know Michael then, but knew he was the boss of Cockpit, always being present there or walking тАУ gliding, rather, on a pink cloud - through Boyztown with one of his lovers at hand. I found him a bit ridiculous with all that gold he was wearing and his gold clustered boy and obviously so in love and beaming. But that changed when I sat on the board of the PGF with him. He was a sensitive and intelligent chairman, listening to all the arguments of all sides, but then heading the whole group into a clear direction. To keep all committed was no easy task then, believe me, but Michael did it with intelligence, decision and wit.

For health reasons the chain smoker has retired to his native England a few years back, but is coming to Pattaya frequently for holidays. He has been living and working in Thailand for over twenty years and has now published an interesting book titled тАЬBoyztownтАЭ which is his autobiography and a history of Boyztown in one. The subtitle summarizes the content of this book with 236 pages quite well: тАЬMy life, and the history of Cockpit Bar, Le Bistro Restaurant and the Story of Boyztown, Pattaya, Thailand.тАЭ (It is available at most major gay places in Boyztown for 600 Baht, half of the price goes to the PGF.) As a reader not sharing the same home country as Michael does, I read his account about his youth with little interest, but found all his personal gay stories of great historical interest: That is how they did in those daysтАж And: How nice was the promiscuity then without Aids, only a harmless STD once in a while.

Vividly Michael describes his first visit to Thailand and Pattaya and how he got that Thai bug - everybody living here has experienced similar things and tourists get it too. It is very interesting to read how gay life (and business) was then, how things developed bit by bit over the years and how Boyztown became the place we know today. Many familiar (and forgotten or half forgotten) faces are revoked, characters depicted and funny or tragic stories told. Hilarious when Michael panics about that ice statue melting.

If you want to know the rest, just get a copy of the тАЬBoyztownтАЭ story written down by Michael J Burchall

[christianpfc]

I did not try kindle. I like paper: you can still read the book after it falls down and it doesn't need electricity. Furthermore, I read about a case where due to legal problems (that arose after the book was available and sold online) books were removed from kindle (or another electronic device). So you suddenly sit there with an error message? Not for me!

The problem with paper is I can't take all my books with me, too heavy. But then, most of them are second hand, many not currently in print so I assume not available in digital form. Nowadays, I rarely read novels, mainly literature about language, travel, science, architecture, ...

[kjun12]

Chiang Mai has a pretty good used book shop named Gecko Books. It is very near Thaipe Gate and there are two other locations in Chiang Mai. Bangkok has a used book shop named Dasa. It is on Sukhumvit near Emporium. GOOD READING!

[Maxxy]

I find it very hard to walk past a book store, I prefer real books over e books any day, love reading history books.

[christianpfc]

The world's largest swimming bookshop (Logos Hope) is in Klong Toei Port until 12.03. (last admission on 11.03.)
http://www.richardbarrow.com/2013/02/vi ... ogos-hope/ (http://www.richardbarrow.com/2013/02/visiting-the-bookstore-aboard-logos-hope/)

(i.e. the bookshop is on a ship, you don't have to swim to get there and I don't remember seeing books about swimming)

I went today, about 14:50-17:35. There was a queue and I had to wait about 5 minutes, tickets 20 Baht. There was free cold drinking water in the waiting area. There are signs, from the entrance to the port (Klong Toei) about 5 minutes walk. They leave on 11th of March. I recommend going on a weekday.

About one half of one deck is converted to a bookstore. The books are not second hand, they are new (apart from previous guests scrolling through them) and the price is about half of the original price. Books about religion and the Bible make up about one quarter. Apart from that, there are books about a variety of subject almost exclusively in English, a few in Thai and Chinese. Inside it was crammed, mainly Thais.

I bought:

100 Landmarks of the World, A journey... 480 Baht
100 Cities of the World, A journey through... 480 Baht
501 Must-visit destinations 400 Baht
501 Must-visit cities 400 Baht
The 100 most beautiful cities in North America 320 Baht
Tiffany Masterworks 320 Baht
The big blue book on French verbs (555 verbs) 200 Baht

(This means, already now, together with previous book purchases this year, I bought more books than I can read this year. But I can't help it!)

[Neal]

OK I have purchased my I-pod touch and the computer guy, Choke who has a banner here took care of downloading all this hairy crap so I could listen. I joined audible.com as Bing said and is connected to Amazon.com. First 3 months it was $7.49 a month and then after that it is $14. something so you really need to listen to one book per month. I had hoped that I could buy a book and buy the next book whenever I wanted with no pressure but I don't see that as an option. I have two Stephen King books downloaded, really like Stephen King and will start listening as soon as I can. Have some serious tests I need to have done over the next few days so may not start til Friday. I guess after that I will have to call Choke again because I can't remember half the instructions to download the next book. :crybaby: Well I guess I should not have any troubles with the first two books as they are already downloaded and I hope I can concentrate properly and get back into listening to books rather than reading.

I thank Bing and everyone else for explaining this to me as my eyesight has deteriorated over the years and can't read well. Well off to sleep. :hello2: