Do you drink beer for breakfast?

[BonTong]

According to this article (http://www.out-in-thailand.com/5-things-they-dont-want-you-know-to-about-gay-thailand/) posters on this and other forums are apparently, "oyster eyed oldies," who, "lurk in online forums, ready to snipe and bitch and advise the newcomer of тАШhow things really areтАЩ".

Just curious how accurate this description is, and if it really describes a stereotype.

:-o =))

[joe552]

Does beer before breakfast signify anything, do you think? :ymparty:

[MiniMee]

You mean beer and breakfast?

That's just greedy.

[Surfcrest]

There is a group of old gay expats who have been in Thailand, some of them, for more than 30 years. These oyster eyed oldies can be spotted drinking beer at breakfast. With too much time on their hands, they lurk in online forums....
It sounds like a smear campaign and very remenisent of our long lost sheep "Beachlover", with the exception of adding that "ladyboy" point. Sad to see that the Gay Thailand folks took the bait right after defending them over their out dated maps.

I do see people drinking beer in the morning, but it's not exclusive to Thailand and has very little to do "oldies" or being a "old gay expat". When in Thailand, I get up early in morning for a swim, a little breakfast and then a short walk to Ritt's. I pass through the little strip mall behind Bondi's and quite often I'll see some people of all ages with a beer on the go. They don't appear to be gay or even old, although some are. It's usually around 9 or 10 AM and these people may have been up for some time already or still up from the night before. On many occasions when I'm walking to the beach chairs, I'll see a group of Thai's in the morning with a liquor bottle on the table and clearly still up from the night before. I was in Munich not long ago and I've see people sitting out on the square enjoying a beer early in the morning. I imagine, when you are on "vacation", having a beer at anytime is perfectly fine.

The problem with this article is that they have really had to reach to make it to 5 points. Judging by the comments to the article, I wouldn't say that they have received a lot of feedback, contrary to their claim unless their readership is responding in Thai to an article written in English.

I wish Out in Thailand well, but clearly their plan to socialize their site in the message board community hasn't worked well for them and that they have now lost a lot of good will with the Gay Thailand membership.

Surfcrest

[bkkguy]

According to this article (http://www.out-in-thailand.com/5-things-they-dont-want-you-know-to-about-gay-thailand/) posters on this and other forums are apparently, "oyster eyed oldies," who, "lurk in online forums, ready to snipe and bitch and advise the newcomer of тАШhow things really areтАЩ".

I'll tell you "how things really are" - clickbait is an amazingly successful marketing tool these days, but at least James has managed to get his tawdry little magazine noticed

bkkguy

[lukylok]

As usual
http://bangkokbois-gay-thailand-blog.co ... -thailand/ (http://bangkokbois-gay-thailand-blog.com/2015/02/26/5-things-james-barnes-doesnt-want-you-to-know-about-out-in-thailand/)
has the right answer !
A pitiful attempt to drum up readership.

It would be interesting to know how many magazines are really printed and how many actually read.
In many places you can see them gathering dust before being discarded.

[Smiles]

In the name of absolute objectivity I tried beer (2 actually) with my breakfast this morning.

Observations: beer does not go with chocolate or whipped cream very well at all . . . and, Thais will look (silently) at you very tingtong-wise as you wash down a piece of burnt toast and raspberry jam with a pint of cold beer. Telling him "this was for science" was of no use whatsoever.

[BonTong]

The problem with this article is that they have really had to reach to make it to 5 points. Judging by the comments to the article, I wouldn't say that they have received a lot of feedback, contrary to their claim unless their readership is responding in Thai to an article written in English.

I wish Out in Thailand well, but clearly their plan to socialize their site in the message board community hasn't worked well for them and that they have now lost a lot of good will with the Gay Thailand membership.
I too wish Out in Thailand well; we have done a lot of work to support them in the past and I hope they continue past this current cost-cutting and redefinition phase they seem to be going through.

However, despite it raising some valid themes, I find the article very disrespectful to their current readership. These type of comments are know in the UK as "doing a Ratner", and I don't think they reflect well on the publication or its editor. Indeed, some who know him might think his assault on sex-pats was perhaps slightly hypocritical, unless he was being a touch introspective, who knows? But enough of that, as per lukylok's link Bangkok-Bois (http://bangkokbois-gay-thailand-blog.com/2015/02/26/5-things-james-barnes-doesnt-want-you-to-know-about-out-in-thailand/) has already made the point far more eloquently than I can. :D

The OiT article was clearly intended to stir up some controversy, and hence publicity; no-one should complain if the feedback is negative. But, as Surfcrest says, outside of the Gay Thailand Board I doubt they receive much real feedback either, certainly not on Facebook anyway. But they have certainly lost credibility and goodwill. :ymsigh: I can understand why they might want to change their target audience, but surely it would be better to wait until that is accomplished before, dissing the existing readers?

The valid fact is that Thailand has changed immensely in the last few years. Something which all ex-pats living here and prospective tourists should be cognisant of, and build into their plans. I wrote an article about this over a year ago: Where did all the nice boys go? (http://www.chiangmaicitynews.com/news.php?id=2852) which, I hope provides reasoned explanations for the gay scene's evolution, at least in Chiang Mai. Although it does concur that there are a small minority who haven't got it yet and, sooner or later, their expectations from the past will be gone. The feedback at the time was largely in agreement with my thinking; even those who didn't like the conclusions.

[BonTong]

It would be interesting to know how many magazines are really printed and how many actually read.
In many places you can see them gathering dust before being discarded.
in the media kit on their website OiT claim: "It is the biggest and best gay lifestyle magazine in south east Asia with up to 40,000 monthly print version readers in Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong and the USA"

Later in the document they state the distribution is: Minimum 10,000 in high season and 8000 in low season with pie charts showing the distribution to different cities in Thailand. With the total amounting to 8240 not sure how many that leaves for distribution to Singapore, Hong Kong and the USA :-? For Chiang Mai low season 1520 copies are distributed to maybe 40-50 venues - rough estimate? That means 30 something copies per venue, which is perhaps a higher number than I've see delivered to most places.

According to a former advertising manager with OiT the "40,000 monthly print version readers" is only an estimate based on the concept that each magazine is read by four different people . Concurring with lukylok's observations it is more likely that much less than the 8,000 distributed are ever read by anyone. :-\

[fountainhall]

It sounds like a smear campaign and very remenisent of our long lost sheep "Beachlover"
Long lost? His last 'official' post here was less than a year ago. As some readers noted, he later appeared here under another guise not so long ago asking if iPhones would be a suitable gift for the boys he'd be offing!

And after being banned from gaythailand several readers claimed he reappeared under the handle Snapshot where he chummed up to 'Michael' with stories about all the 5-star hotels they'd each stayed in!

[Smiles]

Long lost? His last 'official' post here was less than a year ago. As some readers noted, he later appeared here under another guise not so long ago asking if iPhones would be a suitable gift for the boys he'd be offing!
And after being banned from gaythailand several readers claimed he reappeared under the handle Snapshot where he chummed up to 'Michael' with stories about all the 5-star hotels they'd each stayed in!
How sure of this are you?

For myself that 'iPhone' thread you are referring to was pretty well off the chart regarding it's basic premise, i.e. an iPhone for every Thai guy he passed on the street, bought a drink for, off'ed from a gay bar, or fucked. A wide field indeed .... unless you're Latinproxx.
The thread was ludicrous ~ obviously so ~ from the get-go.

Beachlover was never that over the top.
He was a boaster and braggart supreme for sure, but not enough of one that I would consider him a liar at every turn: his boasting had more to do with dinners at Le Bua, expensive hotels, and a disdain for mere mortals who off'ed impoverished and uneducated Isaan boys rather than the Chulalongkorn incrowd, of whom he insisted he was part of. A silly bore full of himself, a snob, but not a troll.
He was also, while he was here, a hyper-poster, commenting one way or the other on just about everything. Mr iPhone, I believe, has never returned.
The 'aura' or 'feel' of the two posters (whatever Mr iPhone's handle was) just seems to be not of a one.

The GayThailand reference is, by your own quote, a "claimed" one, and thus just an opinion or guess.

--------------------------

PS ... having searched, Mr iphone's handle is 'Tobi'. Still on the board, only 48 posts, has not logged into the board since Jan 5. Not very Beachlover-like in his prime.
B-)

[catawampuscat]

Beachlover definitely holds the all time crown and title as "the Supreme Flooder".
A virtual tsunami and a titanic bore.

[Nirish guy]

Beer for breakfast - how common ! I wouldn't get out of bed for anything less than a Brandy with ice in a tall glass - the only sure way to start the day correctly !

[fountainhall]

Long lost? His last 'official' post here was less than a year ago. As some readers noted, he later appeared here under another guise not so long ago asking if iPhones would be a suitable gift for the boys he'd be offing!
How sure of this are you?

For myself that 'iPhone' thread you are referring to was pretty well off the chart regarding it's basic premise, i.e. an iPhone for every Thai guy he passed on the street, bought a drink for, off'ed from a gay bar, or fucked. A wide field indeed .... unless you're Latinproxx.
The thread was ludicrous ~ obviously so ~ from the get-go.

Beachlover was never that over the top.
I am not certain - but then I did not make the connection. This was the relevant post -

I'm looking forward to Beachlover's - sorry, Tobi's photos of the rooms at the Kempinski ;)
I certainly followed that up pointing out a thread Beachlover had made specifically about how much he enjoyed staying at the Kempinski with attached blocked out photos, and then a477 added -

People tend to talk about how much money they have to spend, or drop names of high end establishments when they want to impress others. However, apart from a phantom poster named Beachlover, I can not recall any poster over the last 10 years, on this board or any other, ever boasting about spending such ludicrous amounts of money. And ludicrous is the operative word here - you succeeded in outing yourself as a troll . . .
I'd also suggest the back and forth of the discussion was very typical of a BL series of posts. But speculation, granted!

[Brad the Impala]

According to this article (http://www.out-in-thailand.com/5-things-they-dont-want-you-know-to-about-gay-thailand/) posters on this and other forums are apparently, "oyster eyed oldies," who, "lurk in online forums, ready to snipe and bitch and advise the newcomer of тАШhow things really areтАЩ".

:-o =))

I liked Mr Barnes' story about pulling up in his car outside an off boy bar, and when he bent over to examine a flat tyre, thereby revealing his crack, the boys rushed over. Sensibly they preferred changing his flat to filling his crack.

Of course his article about how expats focus too much on commercial sex in Thailand, rather than the other attractions is illustrated by a photo of a naked man rather than one of the other attractions! The hypocrisy of the article appearing in that magazine is hilarious, given that the "editor" makes his living in Thailand from publicising commercial sex venues.

[bkkguy]

In many places you can see them gathering dust before being discarded.

I have actually seen a few venue owners dusting the cobwebs off some of their more decrepit sexpat customers as they droop at the bar over their beer .... oh wait, you were talking about copies of the magazine

bkkguy