Where is everyone? [Archive] - Sawatdee Gay Thailand the oldest and most popular gay forum on Thailand and South East Asia

a447

February 17th, 2017, 14:01

"I'm assuming you're alluding to me."

Well, as a matter of fact, I wasn't.

But if the shoe fits, wear it.

I asked you a while ago if you were posting using speech to text, but you never replied. It's just that it seemed very odd that if you were, the software was somehow able to distinguish between a word used in its normal sense - "crispy" - and the same word used as a trade mark -"Krispy ". No matter how hard I tried I couldn't get speech to text to make that distinction. I mean, how would it know??

So I'm presuming you are typing, despite being blind. (although why you wouldn't use speech to text is beyond me.) And that leads to other rather obvious questions.

How come "into" appeared as "omtp" and yet you had no trouble spelling "obituaries"? If letters were going to be typed out of place, then surely it would happen when you type a long word which is relatively hard to spell.

Why did you spell "where" as "wherere"? To do that, you would have had to deliberately type 2 more letters at the end of the word. Why would you add more letters to such a common word?

And you also neglected to answer the question I asked regarding how someone who had lost their sight all of a sudden would have nothing better to do than to continue to post on a gay website as though nothing unusual had happened to them.

Nothing you have posted so far about going blind makes any sense at all. It's pure farce.

Stevie Wonder is, apparently, going to make some kind of important announcement later this year, after he was filmed miraculously catching a falling microphone firmly in his left hand. It was an instinctive reaction so he didn't have time to think.

Perhaps you should think about making a similar announcement.

werner

February 17th, 2017, 14:28

Yes, activity does seem slow and scant....

arsenal

February 17th, 2017, 16:52

A short while ago I noticed that I had started something like three out of the top six threads. So I'm on a sabbatical.

arsenal

February 17th, 2017, 17:35

But I do notice that quite a few members here start threads on other boards but not on this one. Shame as some of them are very interesting.

Manforallseasons

February 17th, 2017, 18:30

I believe S.G.T. loss of posters and posts began when the old board became this one.

Brad the Impala

February 18th, 2017, 02:25

I believe that a number moved to new pastures during the previous regime and haven't been tempted back. Thinking of posters like Trongpai, always a source of interesting well presented information. You have to go to the dark side to catch up with him now.

fountainhall

February 18th, 2017, 06:39

I'm not sure how the Boards used to work, but many posters now seem not just to cross over quite regularly, they also post the same post on two or more boards. There used to be quite a degree of Board loyalty. That seems to be no longer the case. My guess the basic reason surely had to be the subjects being posted.

gerefan2

February 18th, 2017, 09:05

Maybe it's all been said before...

Oliver

February 18th, 2017, 09:24

.....and by the same posters. There has been a problem for many years in this respect; a dozen or so regulars communicate with each other, resulting in the discouragement of occasional and new posters.
A decade or so back, that communication was characterized by verbal abuse, leading me to suspect that these few posters involved knew each other, probably drank with each other and were playing some sort of game with the rest of us..
Now the abuse is markedly reduced, the impression still remains that some posters are friends or acquaintences and that the forum is just a gay Thailand version of LINE or Facebook.

Manforallseasons

February 18th, 2017, 09:36

Gaythailand and Gaybutton thrieve and S.G.T.'s lose has been their gain. Gaythailand is strictly for sexpats and sex tourists and is full of up to date info. for their needs as well as a considerable amount of photos, Gaybutton's forum I believe caters to an older crowd that prefers to discuss current affars in the U.S. and gives helpful info to those living and traveling mostly to Pattaya, having said that I am not sure what void S.G.T. fills.....There is also a 360 degree disconnect between this forum and the travel log part of S.G.T.

cdnmatt

February 18th, 2017, 09:47

"I'm assuming you're alluding to me."

Well, as a matter of fact, I wasn't.

Then who were you alluding to? There's latin, and I think we all collectively dislike him, myself included, although I still don't think that's justification enough to ban him.

Then there was recently that SGlad guy who was here for a while. I have no idea if he was Beachlover or not, nor do I really care, but I at least thought he made some decent contributions. Nonetheless, fountainhall seems to have fucked him off rather quickly.

Aside from that, who else would you consider a troll? After all, there's only about 15 of us here.

Oh, and as for your speech-to-text question, I didn't answer as due to previous comments you made directed towards me, I decided it wasn't worth dignifying. No, I don't use speech-to-text at all on the computer. 60% of the time I'm typing code, I bounce around applications too much, don't really care about typos in personal messages, and for work related messages wouldn't trust its accuracy enough. I just use a screen reader called Orca, so it reads the screen out to me, plus every time I press a key it speaks what character I typed.

The reason for things like double L's is because when typing a non-work message like a SGT post, I generally type closer to my normal speed, and screen reader can't keep up at all. So when it says "L L" in ~0.2 seconds while I'm typing away, I usually won't even notice. Then when having it read back to me to proofread it, the words "result" and "resullt" will sound exactly the same, so I won't notice then either. There you go, mystery solved.

Oh, and "b" is the keyboard shortcut to select the next push button on the page (ie. Post Quick Reply), but obviously I forgot to unfocus from the textbox at first. Then I have no idea why "n" is there, but I'm assuming because it's beside "b". Other than that, if you ever decide to act like a respectful, mature adult and ask properly, maybe I'll take the time to answer in kind. Otherwise I could less what you think, but it would be really nice if you had the decency to use your 'silent voice".

fountainhall

February 18th, 2017, 12:05

Then there was recently that SGlad guy who was here for a while. I have no idea if he was Beachlover or not, nor do I really care, but I at least thought he made some decent contributions. Nonetheless, fountainhall seems to have fucked him off rather quickly
Not true! Initially I stood up for sglad despite reservations and others including Christianpfc outright stating he appeared a troll. I was soon proved wrong. His more recent posts could never have been made by a young 20s from Singapore allgedly studying in Chiang Mai. The comparisons with BL were similar in some respects, but I have a feeling he was not that near destroyer of a Boards but another old groaner who does in fact live in Chiang Mai area.

AsDaRa

February 18th, 2017, 12:58

The problem with this and the other boards is that it isn't friendly to new posters.
I wouldn't be surprised if the majority of new posters are accused of being a troll within the first 2 weeks of their posting here.
People read that and think "Don't like these fights, I not go post".

I would say give new posters a few weeks time, after a few weeks it should be clear if someone is a troll or not. Don't start accusations in the first few posts of a newby. It really discourages. (Unless, it is as clear as daylight someone is a troll indeed)

arsenal

February 18th, 2017, 13:15

If everyone who had given a reason why there are few new posts recently had posted a new topic then this discussion would not be taking place.

fountainhall

February 18th, 2017, 13:34

The problem with this and the other boards is that it isn't friendly to new posters.
I wouldn't be surprised if the majority of new posters are accused of being a troll within the first 2 weeks of their posting here . . . I would say give new posters a few weeks time, after a few weeks it should be clear if someone is a troll or not. Don't start accusations in the first few posts . . .
I don't believe the first part is true, but agree with the second part. I first started posting on gaythailand more than 10 years ago. I read the forum for a few months before I summoned up the courage to post. There was not much backbiting on that board at that time but I was never sure how new posters would be received.

But I also think we have to be realistic that forums like this, gaybuttonthai and gaythailand are essentially vehicles where older westerners give their views on topics of interest to an older age group. Unfortunately this means there are few if any non-westerners becoming members. I believe gaythailand has two, one who posts he is around 55 and I believe the other is a bit younger - and wish this forum had some. But we need to be realistic to a certain extent. How likely is it that any mid-20s post-graduate student allegedly from Singapore is likely to be interested in becoming a regular contributor on any of the three Boards? Perhaps an occasional post to find out something about the gay scene, but as a regular poster? I don't believe I have heard of any in the last 11 years (other than Beachlover who was a troll par excellence who pulled the wool over moderators' eyes for far too long)! In any case, there is a Singapore-based chat room with vastly more members and threads that include extensive information about Thailand and all parts of Asia.

And as a final note, I am not breaking any Board rule when I say I wrote to sglad early on in his correspondence to inform him I'd be in Chiang Mai and would happily meet him to show him around. Since it was a PM I can not reveal what he replied. But no meeting - not even for a quick coffee or drink - took place. That of course proves nothing - but suggests a great deal! After all, Beachlover also turned down every offer to meet up, even for a free dinner with Michael who owned gaythailand at that time.

arsenal

February 18th, 2017, 13:49

I wouldn't meet with any members either. Free dinner or not. And I'm certainly not a troll and nor am I Beachlover.

fountainhall

February 18th, 2017, 13:55

I wouldn't meet with any members either. Free dinner or not. And I'm certainly not a troll and nor am I Beachlover.
Well let's face it, there can't be many members in the depths of China :yahoo_mini:

Funny thing was, old Beachlover had several times said in posts he'd like to meet Michael.

arsenal

February 18th, 2017, 14:44

And having spent literally hundreds of days in Pattaya I find it difficult to imagine that those who live there or are there on vacation can't find something interesting to post every couple of days in terms of general chit chat. It doesn't have to be profound or an essay, just a line or two.

Manforallseasons

February 18th, 2017, 14:56

I wouldn't meet with any members either. Free dinner or not. And I'm certainly not a troll and nor am I Beachlover.

Strange, I always thought you were B.L.

arsenal

February 18th, 2017, 15:01

MFAS wrote:
"Strange, I always thought you were B.L. "

Really! Why?

Manforallseasons

February 18th, 2017, 15:24

MFAS wrote:
"Strange, I always thought you were B.L. "

Really! Why?

Merely in jest as an attempt to keep this thread going or would you rather discuss the Tartawan Hotel?

arsenal

February 18th, 2017, 15:26

Please God no. Well I am a beach lover but not the Beachlover. Haha.

AsDaRa

February 18th, 2017, 16:32

But we need to be realistic to a certain extent. How likely is it that any mid-20s post-graduate student allegedly from Singapore is likely to be interested in becoming a regular contributor on any of the three Boards? .

In general I would say it isn't that unlikely to be in your twenties and have the desire to pay Thai boys for sex. Not every 20-something year old from Europe (or Singapore in this case) looks attractive, or can easily get the type they want for free. Why wouldn't they use these boards to find out about the go go bars etc? I have seen Farang in their twenties in Soi Twilight last year.

If he was not from Singapore, but from Europe, it would make it unlikely for me for one reason only: most students don't have the money to travel each year to Thailand for sex. So that is why it is unlikely many of them are a member of a sex tourist forum. They don't have yet the means to be a sex tourist. So indeed if a 20 year old European student becomes then a member that is reason for some suspecion.

But in the case of an exchange student from Singapore? Not sure what to think.

Nirish guy

February 18th, 2017, 17:19

Merely in jest as an attempt to keep this thread going or would you rather discuss the Tartawan Hotel?

The TARTAWAN hotel ! WHAT !!! They've changed the name from Tarntawan !!? OMG this is shocking, and is obviously a sign that the premises are continuing in their steady decline !

Right, that's it, I think we'd better start a thread to discuss this shocking revelation of an enforced name change ( did they keep the old staff on from the old Tarntawan I wonder ?? ) and whether we're happy about it or not and most importantly how this shock might affect our members here re their long term mental health and well being. ( Mind you for some I think THAT ship sailed a LONG time ago now ! :-)

fountainhall

February 18th, 2017, 19:57

Why wouldn't they use these boards to find out about the go go bars etc? I have seen Farang in their twenties in Soi Twilight last year.
Ah but you forget! Sglad is not in Bangkok and so Soi Twilight would not be for him. He is - so he tells us - a student in Chiang Mai. Further, he told us in an early post he's not interested in the Chiang Mai commercial gay scene. Of what specific interest, therefore, is a gay chat room dealing mostly with the commercial gay scene in Bangkok and Pattaya?

And further, as I have said, why would he join a Thailand based site where the posters mostly relate their tales with money boys when there is a much larger Singapore-based site with a great deal of information on all things gay in Thailand?

And why is it that over the last ten years or so there has been, as far as I am aware, only one Singaporean who has joined any of the three Thailand chat rooms dealing frequently with gogo bars and sex tourism? Young Singaporeans have their own chat rooms, their own travel guides and their own network. Very few are interested in offing boys from bars. Their scene is far more saunas and massage spas.

cdnmatt

February 18th, 2017, 21:02

Well, I don't know. I would have started posting in Summer / Fall of 2009, making me 27 or 28 at the time...
b

Manforallseasons

February 18th, 2017, 21:24

Christain PFC who has left his mark here has become an avid poster on Gaythailand.

francois

February 18th, 2017, 22:47

No doubt about the authenticity of Christian, PFC, he is what he says he is unlike so many others.

lego

February 18th, 2017, 23:03

I feel very tempted to say that this thread is living proof that it's sufficient to check this board for news once per month nowadays... A sad state of affairs, really...

fountainhall

February 19th, 2017, 06:55

Christain PFC who has left his mark here has become an avid poster on Gaythailand.
Quite a few who post here also post on other sites, in at least one case using three different handles. Does that suggest the topics on other sites might hold more interest?

Re Christianpfc, didn't he start his posting career on gaythailand?

pong

February 19th, 2017, 11:46

as for your Q: Right now, after a good meal of khao-man-khai-tord for 35 bt, sit in an internetcafe in one of the many RamKamHaeng sois @ 10 bt/hr. Yes, since late last yr this once lively forum has been overtaken in quality, quantity etc by the other GayTh one. Even the usual bitches recently seem to have left.
Sadly there is one more forum even more dead, which used to have much more interesting points as all that all-the-same-all-the-time newbee questions, and thats not gaybutton.

christianpfc

February 19th, 2017, 12:38

I have been accused of driving members away with my racist and anti-Semitic jokes.

It'll be a few months, but planning to relocate us to Chiang Mai soon. Who knows, in my new home city, maybe I'll have a better chance of meeting of our many esteemed members.
A misrepresentation of reality. I hope nobody in Chiang Mai falls for your deceptions and tricks, or if they do, they report here. Allow me to post our email-communication leading to our not-meeting in Khon Kaen?

Maybe it's all been said before...
Indeed. I have been on the forums since 2009, and the same subjects are discussed over and over.

Re Christianpfc, didn't he start his posting career on gaythailand?
Yes indeed. By recommendation of a friend, I started posting on gaythailand in 2009. Since 2013, when I started my blog, I rarely start topics on the forums, but reply to existing topics. That's why my activity on a forum is proportional to activity by others.

fountainhall

February 19th, 2017, 13:15

It's my impression that in addition to a larger number of posters the various chat rooms used to have, there was a much wider range of subjects than is the case now. I haven't posted on gaythailand for a few years but I seem to recall that the Beer Bar in that forum used to be almost as active as the main Thailand-related board. Perhaps long-term posters like Christianpfc, pong and BKKguy can confirm if this was also their impression. Now gt.com has become much more of a visitor's report card of daily sexual activities. Clearly there is a market for this as the number of posters has definitely increased over, say, 3 years ago.

gaybuttonthai was always a Pattaya-centric board ever since GB started his Board after it had been announced that gaythailand was closing. Perhaps ironically its posting volume has mushroomed recently thanks almost exclusively to an active thread on Donald Trump.

I really cannot speak for this Board because I did not post much here until quite recently.

Apart from subject matter, though, the question still remains: what happened to the loads of posters who either no longer contribute or do so only very intermittently. Is it because posting has just become boring? Is it because, as christianpfc points out, the same topics seem just to go round and round and round? Are the Boards, like the go-go bars, on a slow irreversible decline? Has the rapid increase in the number of websites giving details of gay activities in Thailand reduced the need for personal information from members of chat rooms? And on that subject, could or should the Boards be doing more to provide much more easily readable, detailed and accurate up-to-date information for gay visitors without the need to troll through endless threads? Just thoughts.

AsDaRa

February 19th, 2017, 13:49

Apart from subject matter, though, the question still remains: what happened to the loads of posters who either no longer contribute or do so only very intermittently. Is it because posting has just become boring? and accurate up-to-date information for gay visitors without the need to troll through endless threads? Just thoughts.

Maybe a lot of old timers have died? Lets face it. the average age of Farang go go bar visitors is above 50, if not 55. So from all members who 10 years ago were 65 and up:
1) Some of them must now be dead
2) Some are now too old to bother posting (it is all less important, have seen it all, have read it all)
3) Some have lost their libido (or most of it, if they still can get an erection), so they have quit visiting Thailand and do not post anymore

So I wouldn't be surprised that the bulk of members who were 65+ ten years ago, have vanished now from the forums.

But where is the new generation?

I am 44. I started my sex tourist life a bit more than 2 years ago, when I first visited Thailand. In Europe it is impossible to have at my age free sex with a hot 20 year old twink. And if you get free sex, it is with a type way below what you really want (you settle then for your number 10 in stead of fucking your number 1 preference). In Thailand you can have sex with your number 1 preference for not much money. But I am an exception among my generation. I not really understand why that is. Who doesn't want sex with his number 1 type? And what is 1500 baht? Its nothing.

The question we must ask is: where is the new generation of sex tourists? If they come into being, then they also will become members of these forums.

Maybe my generation has less money to spend? Many people in my country with a job do not have much money to spend when the fixed monthly costs are subtracted. My generation is the first one in ages in Western Europe who is less affluent than the previous one. That can explain why there aren't many gay sex tourists around 30-40 in Thailand, but there are many 55 and up.

Manforallseasons

February 19th, 2017, 14:00

I believe from what I've read lately there are still a few "dead people" posting, mostly about the Tartawan Hotel.

bobsaigon2

February 19th, 2017, 19:50

AsDaRa's suggestions above are, unfortunately, too close to home for me as I experience my 76th year.

1) Some of them must now be dead .... Does not apply to me.... yet
2) Some are now too old to bother posting (it is all less important, have seen it all, have read it all).... Applies to me
3) Some have lost their libido (or most of it, if they still can get an erection), so they have quit visiting Thailand and do not post anymore.....Applies to me. Doctor says I can't travel because of weak lungs. I say, what's the point of travel if I can't do anything once I get there?

All the best to my younger colleagues on SGT. Enjoy while you can.

Nirish guy

February 19th, 2017, 20:07

I think I'm going to print your post out Bob and stick it on my wall and every time I'm thinking "ah why should I even bother myself" just re-read your words, especially the enjoy it while you can part and sit up and think again perhaps !

All I can say to you is that life's not over until it's over and until you breath your last breath keep on going just as best you can and still try to enjoy every day. ( easier said than done I know and talk and platitudes are cheap I know, but hey it's not a bad ideal for us ALL to try and live up to I guess.

So, my best to you and YOU TOO enjoy while you can :-)

a447

February 19th, 2017, 20:15

Bob, you're an inspiration!

Manforallseasons

February 19th, 2017, 20:44

Bob, you're an inspiration!

I concure. I believe the last poster to openly dicuss "loss of libido" was Catawumpascat.

Magnum

February 19th, 2017, 21:12

I think this board was more entertaining with posters like LMTU, Kommentariat or Tim...

Sugargrandpa

February 19th, 2017, 21:40

I concure. I believe the last poster to openly dicuss "loss of libido" was Catawumpascat.

Was this before or after he was neutered?

AsDaRa

February 19th, 2017, 22:01

I agree. And that is also my attitude. Enjoy it while you can.

This year, my third year as a sex tourist, can already be my last if I loose my job. You don't need to be old for the fun to end.
I hope it will last as long for me as it has for some of the forum members here, but I am fully aware it isn't guarenteed at all. A well paying job is a precondition.

Sugargrandpa

February 19th, 2017, 22:04

...In any case, there is a Singapore-based chat room with vastly more members and threads that include extensive information about Thailand and all parts of Asia...

And as a final note, I am not breaking any Board rule when I say I wrote to sglad early on in his correspondence to inform him I'd be in Chiang Mai and would happily meet him to show him around. Since it was a PM I can not reveal what he replied. But no meeting - not even for a quick coffee or drink - took place. That of course proves nothing - but suggests a great deal! After all, Beachlover also turned down every offer to meet up, even for a free dinner with Michael who owned gaythailand at that time.

I don't find any of the forums repetitive or boring. I don't post much but I enjoy reading the forums and thank all who contribute. If I see something I don't like, I simply move on.

Fountainhall, could you tell us more about these Singapore-based forums with "extensive information about Thailand and all parts of Asia"? A few links would be helpful. They might be useful to us too if not directly relevant. More information is always good, especially from the perspective of Asians which I find seriously lacking. Asians speaking for themselves.

I enjoyed reading sglad's posts but I think it's bad manners for him to stand Fountainhall up like that particularly as Fountainhall had gone all the way up to Chiang Mai to show him around. Quite disappointing.

Surfcrest

February 19th, 2017, 23:16

Members,

Sugargrandpa and sglad have been banned as they are one and the same poster...or a hydra.
As you know, I don't ban members very often and certainly not without violating any of our few posted rules.
Having two user names though is enough to be banned...not that I believe this poster, or any other is Beachlover.

Surfcrest

fountainhall

February 20th, 2017, 05:37

Sugargrandpa and sglad have been banned as they are one and the same poster...or a hydra.
As you know, I don't ban members very often and certainly not without violating any of our few posted rules.
Having two user names though is enough to be banned.

Surfcrest
Thank you. And my apologies to christianpfc, rollingstone2 and the others members who had sglad tagged as a troll/hydra some time before I saw through him.

Interesting that Sugargrandpa's first post on November 12 was somewhat similar to that of sglad -

I'm looking for recommendations for a good school to learn Thai in Pattaya, preferably some place where you have personal experience with. I already speak enough Thai to get by but would like to improve myself and perhaps take up reading and writing.
This is so obviously at odds with one of sglad's earlier lists in January when he alleged he was studying in Chiang Mai -

I've never been to Pattaya - my Thai friends are always telling me not to bother
This is not intended as criticism in any way, but given that sglad was marked out to the owners as a troll of sorts and that this Board is said to have very sophisticated technology, how did it take so long to,finger the two acting as a hydra? I'm just curious.

a447

February 20th, 2017, 08:17

Having two user names though is enough to be banned.

Then how come Kommentariat - aka Beachbunny, homintern, lurker, Brisbaneguy, sooty, frequent, (ricondog?) etc, etc- wasn't banned? For a long while he was posting as Kommie, Brisbaneguy and sooty simultaneously.

Often, he was talking to himself. In one thread i remember he came on as "lurker" and called Kommie a "comic genius". (Lol) The same 'lurker" in the same thread posted that "Kommie has spoken", referring us to a thread where Kommie had expressed his definitive opinion for all us mortals to read.

Such behaviour makes a mockery of the board and probably discourages others from posting.

Your access to ISPs and that map showing where members are posting from would tell you. So what other handles has he used?

And does said technology not allow you to see what posters at the moment are using multiple handles?

Perhaps now is the time to have a general clean-up. It would be interesting to see how many of us would be left.

fountainhall

February 20th, 2017, 08:49

With all respect to the owners who had been told some time ago about sglad being a troll-like figure, I suspect I managed to flush him out with this post which he did not answer -

And if that's the basis on which you base your conclusion, you have totally blown it. Note the language you use, sglad, and the references you as an alleged student make. It's all just blowing wind!
So a few days later I repeated it. Again no response. I then made a post about young Singaporeans being far more likely to check about things gay in Thailand on one of the much larger and more active Singapore chat rooms. The fictitious sglad hadn't a clue what I was talking about. Thus his alter ego sugargrandpa had to ask the question above which sglad dared not for fear of giving the game away.

The largest Singapore chat room is named BlowingWind! :yahoo_mini: :yahoo_mini:

But as a447 asks, how is it that trolls/hydras etc. are still able to access the site, become members and then start trashing other members?

BonTong

February 20th, 2017, 20:35

I'll stay out of the troll debate except I've never been to Pattaya, and went to Phuket once 17 years ago with no wish to return. Is that enough to prove I'm not Beachlover?

I now scan the forum every now and then and might occasionally add a comment in one of the very rare threads on Chiang Mai or Northern Thailand. Just doesn't seem to be much interest in those subjects anymore.

Some of the BKK threads are of marginal interest, but decreasingly so as my enthusiasm diminishes every time I visit. And the Tarntawan: never stayed there but it was always a good place to get a last beer and breakfast at around 5 a.m after a good night out. Always amused by the looks of envy disguised as disgust we used to get from the early rising Germans ("we" typically being me and more than one good looking boy LOL - all suitably inebriated or worse). All credit to the Tarntawan, back in the day you could have walked in with a buffalo and they'd have just pulled up another chair and poured more beer.

christianpfc

February 23rd, 2017, 00:44

Has the rapid increase in the number of websites giving details of gay activities in Thailand reduced the need for personal information from members of chat rooms?
What websites are you talking about? There is travelgayasia which does a good job, but everywhere else is incomplete or outdated.
Full overview of websites about gay SEA here: http://christianpfc.blogspot.de/2015/02/gay-forums-blogs-guides-and-encounters.html

(http://christianpfc.blogspot.de/2015/02/gay-forums-blogs-guides-and-encounters.html)
I think this board was more entertaining with posters like LMTU, Kommentariat or Tim...
(Tim = Timmberty and possible furthers identities) Yes indeed, and let's not forget Bruce_NYC. All four of them valuable contributors in my opinion, not necessarily for facts, but at least entertaining.

bobsaigon2

February 23rd, 2017, 06:45

Sorry to disagree, but IMHO: LMTU was just annoying, if you could ever figure out his grammar. Kommentariat and Timberty were unabashedly vile personas. Bruce was/is a charlatan.

fountainhall

February 23rd, 2017, 07:12

Sorry to disagree, but IMHO: LMTU was just annoying, if you could ever figure out his grammar. Kommentariat and Timberty were unabashedly vile personas.
The reason LMTU and his other incarnation were annoying is that he knew perfect English and had been an English teacher. To write continuously in such a childish manner was just pathetic IMO. The other two were destructive. One or possibly both became a regulars on one or more of the odious bitchboards.

BonTong

February 23rd, 2017, 08:26

What websites are you talking about? There is travelgayasia which does a good job, but everywhere else is incomplete or outdated.
Full overview of websites about gay SEA here: http://christianpfc.blogspot.de/2015/02/gay-forums-blogs-guides-and-encounters.html
(http://christianpfc.blogspot.de/2015/02/gay-forums-blogs-guides-and-encounters.html)
Well, I can think of a couple of websites about Chiang Mai that are very up to date - indeed, more so than Travelgayasia, which only really seems to be interested in flogging Hotel rooms. Not that I'm biased of course :))

fountainhall

February 23rd, 2017, 09:41

I quite agree. I find Travelgayasia considerably out of date in regards to many countries/cities.

christianpfc

February 24th, 2017, 19:03

Well, I can think of a couple of websites about Chiang Mai that are very up to date...
Which?
I only know www.gayinchiangmai.com and http://www.radchada.com/.
(http://www.nickysgaychiangmai.com/ domain for sale)

loke

March 11th, 2017, 01:23

The problem with this and the other boards is that it isn't friendly to new posters.
I wouldn't be surprised if the majority of new posters are accused of being a troll within the first 2 weeks of their posting here.
People read that and think "Don't like these fights, I not go post".

I would say give new posters a few weeks time, after a few weeks it should be clear if someone is a troll or not. Don't start accusations in the first few posts of a newby. It really discourages. (Unless, it is as clear as daylight someone is a troll indeed)

Exactly thats whats happening here, this forum is like a private club for 10 members , new members will be accused of being trolls withing the first 3 posts. The moderator should be aware of this and do something.

frequent

March 11th, 2017, 04:18

Exactly thats whats happening here, this forum is like a private club for 10 members , new members will be accused of being trolls withing the first 3 posts. The moderator should be aware of this and do something.

It's an Echo Chamber, loke, and has been for some time

fountainhall

March 11th, 2017, 08:05

new members will be accused of being trolls withing the first 3 posts. The moderator should be aware of this and do something.
An odd comment coming just a short time after one new member has been outed by the moderator as a hydra and two posters banned! Granted that new member seemed genuine for a while and most posters accepted and "liked" him before he started throwing knives. And gaythailand seems to have had a bunch of new posters banned as being trolls.

a447

March 11th, 2017, 08:40

Too many bored old queens with far too much time on their hands. They don't realise it, but they are basically telling us they are leading very sad, lonely lives.

They need to find a hobby

Or some friends.

fountainhall

March 11th, 2017, 08:55

fountainhall

March 11th, 2017, 09:03

Exactly thats whats happening here, this forum is like a private club for 10 members . . . .
Perhaps instead of coming out of the woodwork to make a total of 16 one- or two-line posts (goodness, so Beachlover-like! :eek:) with very personal - and often inaccurate - comments, loke might consider reading through complete threads first. After all he has a lot to catch up on. Loke hadn't posted anything since December 22. That's 79 days!

Manforallseasons

March 11th, 2017, 11:32

AsDaRa

March 11th, 2017, 11:47

I am afraid the boards will die out when the older generation - which has experienced the heydays of gay sex paradise Thailand - dies, or becomes sexually impotent. What is the average age here of the active posters? 60 plus?

Since as we know, there aren't that many gay sex tourists in the bars below age 40, and even not so many below age 50, it doesn't look good for the future of these boards. I am almost always one of the youngest in the bars (I am in my 40s).

fountainhall

March 11th, 2017, 12:09

When the smoke clears 2 oh so different from eachother forums are likely to survive....Gaythailand & Gaybuttonthai......what niche does Sawadtee fill, other than being a sounding board for 2 or 3 dieharts. Gaythailand for reasons that elude me has totally eclipysed this board.
Both conclusions present an interesting conundrum. Seriously what niche do any of the forums now fill? When this and others now dead started, the internet was not as widely consulted and so they presented a major source of information for expats and visitors alike. They also gave groups of expats (mostly) a forum for a general discussion of their lives that was pretty much closed to outsiders. Inevitably that evolved to become Pattaya-centric, if only because expats in Bangkok tend to be far more spread out around the city and less 'clubable'.

I'm not sure what plans Surfcrest and Moses have for this site, but both injected cash and so presumably it's not a personal plaything like Gaybuttonthai. That will presumably only last as long as gaybutton is happy to run it. I posted for several years on gaythailand when it seemed to cover a much wider range of topics than nowadays. It was then not just the Thailand forum - the Beer Bar was also much more active then than now. Where gaythailand seems to beat the others is the number of new/recent posters. Is that because it now has a lot more graphic trip reports? Probably.

I used to like the gaythailand Board policy. Before it was easy to read. Now it's been reduced to one massive block of difficult to find tiny text and how anyone finds out what the rules are totally beats me! But it does say this -

The Gay Thailand Message Center forums are provided as a venue for the discussion and exchange of information about Thailand and other related issues. It is a place to submit queries and share experiences, information, concerns, news and views, and maybe even a little humor for the benefit of members . . .

That Message Center members shall be expected to behave as adults is not an undue burden. The expected conduct standard for the Gay Thailand forums is the same as that observed everyday in society by adults in our neighborhoods, towns, and cities. It is based on straightforward mature behavior, civility and courtesy that you find in a neighborhood Pub or Tavern where neighbors and acquaintances joined by occasional strangers come together to socialize in good temper, to share conversation, and to hoist, in moderation, a glass of favorite beer or wine or a cup of coffee or tea. These forums are NOT presented for abusive arguing and name calling, score settling, thread stalking, or general cyberspace blood sport for the chronically bored.
I cannot believe this represents a description of either gaythailand now or this site!

Given the number of Boards and other more general information sites which started up and then have collapsed and died, the present 3 must be doing something right. As to their future, I have zero idea.

aussie_

March 11th, 2017, 13:17

Where gaythailand seems to beat the others is the number of new/recent posters. Is that because it now has a lot more graphic trip reports?

It seems that those graphic and very interesting trip reports have caused the posters to receive some very negative and hateful messages in private and in my opinion unnecessary criticism in the public forum. It is doubtful the trip reporters will bother spending the time and effort to write a report in the future. The forums can self destruct quickly as is happening at Gaythailand recently..

frequent

March 11th, 2017, 13:39

It seems that those graphic and very interesting trip reports have caused the posters to receive some very negative and hateful messages in private and in my opinion unnecessary criticism in the public forum. It is doubtful the trip reporters will bother spending the time and effort to write a report in the future. The forums can self destruct quickly as is happening at Gaythailand recently..

I still value the 4 trip reports that were made about a "SE Asian Sojourn (http://sawatdeenetwork.com/v4/showthread.php?16802-My-SE-Asian-sojourn-(Introduction))" with a447 and the author of those posts in January 2015

a447

March 11th, 2017, 13:44

A strange comment coming from one of the more prolific posters with 1,726 posts so far!

You've totally missed the point.

I was referring to guys who post with numerous handles. Frequent, aka a dozen other handles, comes to mind.

Surely they are the ones with too much time on their hands. One handle should keep you busy enough on a forum.

You also missed another point - those 1726 posts were made over 11 years! That's an average of 3 posts per week.

And another point you've missed - many of my posts come in bursts, like when I'm somewhere writing and posting a trip rrport. In that case I'm posting once or twice every day. For 3 or 4 weeks. With at least 4 trips per year the number of posts soon adds up.

But if my posts indicate that I'm leading a "very sad, lonely" life, so be it!

I'm sure it's a life many would be happy to lead. (Isn't that right, frequent /Kommie?)

Aussie wrote:

The forums can self destruct quickly as is happening at Gaythailand recently..

When the regular posters decide to leave then that's the end of the board.

Tintin

March 11th, 2017, 14:03

You also missed another point - those 1726 posts were made over 11 years! That's an average of 3 posts per week.

With all due respect, the prolific poster with 1,726+ posts so far is fountainhall himself!

Your posting history consists of 2,453 posts, if I see that correctly.

:yes:

a447

March 11th, 2017, 14:10

Yes you're right. Fountainhall did indeed quote his own number of posts.

So add another post to my weekly total!

Lol

Tintin

March 11th, 2017, 14:10

May I add that I enjoyed to read them.

aussie_

March 11th, 2017, 14:39

And i hope a447 and Fountainhall keep posting as often as they like.

Manforallseasons

March 11th, 2017, 14:47

Seriously what niche do any of the forums now fill?.

Thats simple, Gaythailand is about Sex....where, how and when, Gaybutton has veered away from largely gay subject matter to non sexual topics including everything from politics to movie and restaurant reviews leaving Sawadtee where (Indigo review aside)?

AsDaRa

March 11th, 2017, 14:51

And i hope a447 and Fountainhall keep posting as often as they like.

I am very angry you dont mention me. But I forgive you.

scottish-guy

March 11th, 2017, 15:26

Well I don't.

The bastard.

:D

fountainhall

March 11th, 2017, 17:48

You've totally missed the point.
Seems I have missed quite a bit more than that today! And how could I possibly have underestimated your number of posts? An eye check is clearly called for or the magnifying glass I use needs to be stronger. :D

When the regular posters decide to leave then that's the end of the board.
Two questions. Why should that be? Why is it not possible to attract more posters? This site - and I assume the others, too - states that it has large readership. Assuming that is correct, what is it they want to read and yet do not want to contribute? Curious!

And then, would it really be the end of this Board? I assume Moses bought into the site for a specific reason and not to throw money away. He has his own travel business interests which presumably could/would continue in some form.

MiniMee

March 11th, 2017, 18:37

When the regular posters decide to leave then that's the end of the board

The most interesting regulars have already left, virtually left, or been banned.

All we are left with today in the way of 'regulars' is a small clique of nasty egotists who 'like' each other's posts, even when absolutely nothing of note is posted. They shout 'Hydra' the moment a newbie has the temerity to post. They feel compelled to comment on every thread, even when they have nothing of relevance to contribute and hence disenfranchise the remainder of 'irregular' posters, who might otherwise be inclined to post more frequently.

scottish-guy

March 11th, 2017, 18:48

The most interesting regulars have already left....

As your continued presence amply demonstrates

francois

March 11th, 2017, 19:10

The most interesting regulars have already left, virtually left, or been banned.

All we are left with today in the way of 'regulars' is a small clique of nasty egotists who 'like' each other's posts, even when absolutely nothing of note is posted.

Speak for yourself, MiniMee.

scottish-guy

March 11th, 2017, 19:21

I liked your post just to annoy the fucker

:D

arsenal

March 11th, 2017, 19:41

Minimee: Anyone is free to join the clique (nasty,,,really,,,coming from you?) and that includes you who spent the best part of this century harassing SG about his holiday plans. All it requires is to be a sane and balanced poster. Doesn't mean you can't dig, be snide, be rude and chuck insults and in fact have big fuck off argument both on the board and via pms. But if that's all you want to do then it's hard to see why you remain a member.

a447

March 11th, 2017, 19:59

Two questions.

Why is it not possible to attract more posters?

And then, would it really be the end of this Board?

I've posted a number of times in the past as to why I believe we can't attract new posters. As long as we have members who spend most of their time here personally attacking others instead of focusing on the content of the posts, why would they want to? What's in it for them?

So what do they do? They join gaythailand.com or gaybuttonthai.com instead, neither of which tolerates such behaviour.

For some reason, the powers that be seem think keeping someone who constantly insults fellow posters is more beneficial to the board than attracting new members.

Recently there has been some discussion about the future of the boards. All three seem to be sustained by a small number of regular posters. Some of our previous posters have now moved boards. (Remember bucknaway? He hasn't posted here for ages.) As fountainhall points out, the others are content to just read and not contribute. So once that small cohort stops posting, who is going to fill their place?

A more important question would probably be: what incentive does this board offer to potential posters to entice them to post here, as opposed to them choosing the other boards?

arsenal

March 11th, 2017, 20:08

Less and less and less gays are going to Thailand or retiring there. So there are less and less and less people to contribute to these forums.

scottish-guy

March 11th, 2017, 20:18

AsDaRa

March 11th, 2017, 20:30

....and, of course, the very idea of message boards/forums does not appeal to younger people who prefer the instant self-gratification of Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, and a host of other things I've haven't even heard of

But you need to know these people. In a forum you can ask a question to the world, in your Facebook to your friends only.
A forum can not be compared to social media. The younger generation will also have demands which only a forum can fullfill.

Say you want to know which dildo is best, you will ask that in Facebook for everyone to read (including family)? No, you will ask it in a forum under an anonymous name. Forums fulfill a need, also for the younger generation.

a447

March 11th, 2017, 20:30

Arsenal, SG, I was referring to those...err...older people who read this site but decide not to contribute.

They choose the other boards instead.

Nirish guy

March 11th, 2017, 20:56

Say you want to know which dildo is best, you will ask that in Facebook for everyone to read (including family)?

Awww, what sort of mean family do you have that they wonder answer such a question when asked ? How very mean and selfish of them keeping such information to themselves.

AsDaRa

March 12th, 2017, 10:50

Awww, what sort of mean family do you have that they wonder answer such a question when asked ? How very mean and selfish of them keeping such information to themselves.

Well it has more to do with privacy darling. Not many people are comfortable asking their mother or grand mother which dildo to buy, or telling them in al honesty what they all do in Thailand. Etc.

For some topics forums are used, not social media. Also by the younger generation.

fountainhall

March 12th, 2017, 13:20

As long as we have members who spend most of their time here personally attacking others instead of focusing on the content of the posts, why would they want to? What's in it for them?

So what do they do? They join gaythailand.com or gaybuttonthai.com instead, neither of which tolerates such behaviour
I don't like being attacked. But then I have not been immune to attacking one or two posters, so I'm as guilty as the others. But when I am 'got at' on the basis of lies, I will hit back, as I did with Sglad. MiniMee thinks we don't give newbies a chance. Well I did give this hydra more than a chance when others saw through him before I did. When he attacked me, I laid a trap about a Singapore chat site which every young Singaporean gay student would know about. Yet he didn't, and he could not answer the question without betraying his troll status. So his alter ego SugarGrandpa did - and in so doing not only exposed Sglad as a total fake but got him banned!

So yes we need to be careful with new posters. But then new posters should also take into some consideration how their posts will appear. And I think new posters should spend just a little time looking over recent threads and posts to familiarise themeless a bit with what is being posted and how. When questions are asked about a hotel, a general "what do you recommend?" is patently somewhat stupid when no indication is given of approx. desired location and particularly price. Yet this happens a lot more than it should!

As to one-time members here moving over to the other Boards, Gaybutton certainly keeps his members from attacking each other with his iron fist. But gaythailand now seems to have little or no moderation. Take a quick look at recent threads and it is clear there have been quite a few personal attacks in recent weeks, leading perhaps the most interesting relatively new poster to say he won’t post again because of attacks. That Board seems to lack any moderators now. Yet it still managed to get rid of a clutch of trolls not so long ago.

Frankly I can’t see much difference between the two, other than gaythailand is definitely more active and perhaps less Pattaya-centric.

Less and less and less gays are going to Thailand or retiring there. So there are less and less and less people to contribute to these forums.
I’m sure it’s true to suggest that there are less older gays visiting Thailand and perhaps even retiring here. But the fact is that the posting base here reflects only the tip of the large iceberg of those who actually are already retired here - and most of that tip either lives in Pattaya or spends most of its time there. Yet in Bangkok there must be many thousands of gay expats who never go near a chat forum. A few years ago there were 3 retired gay expats living on the same floor as me in my condo. I asked each if they read any of the chat forums. Not only did they not read them, they had never even heard of them!

....and, of course, the very idea of message boards/forums does not appeal to younger people who prefer the instant self-gratification of Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, and a host of other things I've haven't even heard of
But for many younger guys, that is just not the case! Especially here in Asia. Take Singapore for example. I caught out Sglad with my references to a Singapore gay chat site Blowing Wind. That has 35,000 members with a vastly higher number of posting members than any of the Thailand Boards. It also permits guests to post and so its number of threads and active posters puts the Thailand Boards to shame! It also has about 5 moderators who do keep the posters from attacking each other. They also have a flaming room which, I believe, used to be the case here. Would it increase participation to open the forum up to non-members?

Judging from the content, the average age seems to be somewhere between 25 and 35 with a lot of young guys who are in the 18 - 22 range (a lot of talk about being gay and having to go through the 2-year National Service training). I can't be bothered checking on its background and it's clear that some of the posts are very much geared to a far younger generation. Yet its subject layout is interesting. One is the Travellers Hut section. This has 27 pinned threads on different cities/countries, including Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phuket and as far away as Australia, Japan and even Dubai!. But, surprisingly, not one pinned thread on Pattaya, Cambodia or Laos. So young Singaporeans clearly have very little interest in Pattaya. I know from my young gay Taiwan friends they feel the same. So if Asian youngsters in general have no interest in Pattaya, is its long-term future as a gay sex destination doomed? And yet, in the last 2 years on that site, there have been 41 pages of posts (and there are lots on a page) just about Bangkok!

Surfcrest

March 12th, 2017, 16:34

For some reason, the powers that be seem think keeping someone who constantly insults fellow posters is more beneficial to the board than attracting new members.

No.

The powers that be, simply pay the bills and moderate based on what few rules govern this Board. If you want more rules, please let me know! If you'd like to buy the site and make your own rules up, let me know!

I said this before, I will say it again...please leave the CIA work up to me. Provided someone isn't currently posting as two members at the same time, they are not breaking the rules. Some members have been banned and have come back under new names. One member in particular has been banned so many time, he could easily be mistaken for a hydra if you put all those personalities together here at the same time...but that didn't really happen.

The reason new members don't survive here is because you pounce on them, thinking they are either Kommie, Homintern or Beachlover. Beachlover has not returned, Homintern is dead and Kommie is back under a new...or not so new name. Just because you hate him, doesn't make it within our rules for me to ban or muzzle him.

If you're unhappy with the rules or the lack of rules...I can't help you without the rest of the members being onbaord with the idea.

Surfcrest

a447

March 13th, 2017, 15:16

Some members have been banned and have come back under new names. One member in particular has been banned so many time (sic), .....

So, now I get it.

If you are banned, all you need to do is re-register with a new name and you're back on again!

And you can just keep changing your handle , time and time again!

Awesome!

Just because you hate him, doesn't make it within our rules....

Has anyone seriously ever suggested that - that it's a kind of popularity contest?? I don't think so.

Criticism from others is to be expected, as it goes with the territory. Not everyone agrees with what we post. If you don't like critiscm, don't post.

However, harassment is a totally different type of issue. I thought it was against the rules, but obviously not. Silly old me!

fountainhall

March 13th, 2017, 17:57

I'd better read the rules for I fail to understand how any member can be banned and then unbanned! Is there something like a sin bin where, after a period in the wilderness, one is allowed back? It seems now to be the case here. It was certainly the case on gaythailand. The poster LMTU was banned. But being a good friend of Michael, the owner, an exception was made and he was permitted back under a different name HeyGay, despite his unique (read "puerile") style of posting and the facts he always claimed to be the truth being, shall we say, more than a little dodgy. And then he had to banned yet again!

I have written on another thread that Beachlover fooled moderators and was tolerated for far too long. It finally took a Board revolt to get him kicked off gaythailand despite the owner liking his posting and wishing to keep him as a member. Yet even BL found his way back to that gaythailand Board - as unearthed by the poster Khortose. And under this different handle he remains today a member in good standing! To be fair, after a typical Beachlover posting blitz in early 2013 he retreated into the undergrowth. But his handle remains as a member.

But I am not a Board owner and would not wish to be one. So I have to accept that this forum is run by others and they make the rules.

Back on topic, though, I will set myself up to be shot down. I believe, as the gaythailand rules state (the ones that no-one can now read and few seem to bother reading), discussions on a forum should be akin to a group of people/friends having discussions in a pub over a drink. I always rather liked that simple analogy. Yet discussions involve differing points of view and backing each up in some sort of reasoned manner. In an internet chat room - the many that I have seen, not merely those involving Thailand - once posters get to know each other in the forum, reasoned discussion often goes out of the window in place of the 1- or 2- line put down, quip, piece of one-upmanship that is usually a sort of I-know-that-better-than-you ego trip. Yeah, I know. If we didn't have egos we wouldn't be posting. But it's my belief it is these 1- and 2-liners that turn potential readers from becoming members and members from finally giving up.

loke

March 13th, 2017, 22:54

A forum like this could survive even for young people , as already been discussed you can't ask any questions on Facebook unless you want the whole world to know,
So anonymous forums do have a future , Young guys that want to hook up will use the apps anyway , but for information from experienced travellers to Thailand nothing can replace a forum and it would still be my first choice if I want to ask questions .

fountainhall

March 14th, 2017, 12:35

I agree. But where is the younger generation of posters? I know we have a sprinkling of 40s and 50s here, but are there any members younger than 40? And are questions ever raised by those in their 20s? Should there be a special section of the forum for those under, say, 40 - or even 30?

It really would be quite interesting to know the average age of those who do post even occasionally.

Manforallseasons

March 14th, 2017, 13:46

It really would be quite interesting to know the average age of those who do post even occasionally.

This very question was possed to the membership of Gaybuttonthai.
Members were asked to state their age(voluntarily)1 or 2 stated they were under 50.....some as high as 76..... most who responded fell in the age group of 60-67....Only a guess, but I imagine those statistics wouldn't change much if the same question was possed here.

scottish-guy

March 14th, 2017, 14:47

Wait, these are gay guys you're talking about - and not just that but gay guys on the Internet !

If they admit to being 50 you can be damn sure it's safe to add 10 years to that, and maybe even 20!

Therefore any conclusions based on stated ages must be taken with a very large pinch of salt

:D

Nirish guy

March 14th, 2017, 16:26

I'm 29, a multimillionaire, have an Asian BF, own many apartments throughout Thailand and fly everywhere first class.........oh, no, wait, that's Beachlover I thinking of !! lol

Seriously.......I'm 48......I don't see why people would object to sharing that information with others or feel the need to lie about it - oh no again wait, as SG's says it IS the internet and a gay forum......hmmmm yeah so as I said I'm 38. ( No I I really am 48 ! :)))

But i should add that that's only 48 and 7 weeks and 2 days.......so a LOT closer to 47 than 48 really....... can you tell someone hasn't QUITE got their head aound being 48 yet !! as I'm still at the WHAT I'm 48 !!! WTF !! As based on my previous partying and general debaucherous lifestyle I didn't even expect to live to 40 and now I'm 48 ! How the hell did THAT happen !! :-( Mind I should just be pleased that it did. Now, if only I could stop various bits falling off me and breaking down every day when I wake up now it seems I'd be delighted.

francois

March 14th, 2017, 19:03

Seems I am the youngest poster here, just celebrated by 19th birthday this past Feb. 29.

Marsilius

March 14th, 2017, 19:16

...this forum is like a private club for 10 members...

...and yet if you take a look at the page listing the various forums, you will see that it says "Threads18,224. Posts 215,271. Members 1,046. Active Members 421".

That begs the question as to what make a SGF member "active". That he is still, perhaps, breathing?

fountainhall

March 14th, 2017, 19:26

The number of "active" posters can't be much more than 10% of the stated numbers.

Moses

March 14th, 2017, 20:50

The number of "active" posters can't be much more than 10% of the stated numbers.

Newer say "never".

Statistics works in according to setup. If you will setup statistics module "show active for past 10 years" then module will show you 90% of total as "active". Here we have setup "show active" who has log-in at forum at past 6 months.

a447

March 14th, 2017, 21:13

The number of "active" posters can't be much more than 10% of the stated numbers.

The actual number of 'active' posters here is dwindling.

One by one.

I have had enough of "fake news" and "alternative facts."

fountainhall

March 14th, 2017, 21:47

Here we have setup "show active" who has log-in at forum at past 6 months.
I think the question then has to be - how is it that the vast majority of those members either have not posted or have made a few posts and then disappeared? I really would like to see more posters but it is not happening. And suggesting that new posters are sometimes thought to be trolls surely does not account for the "new" members failing to post. Of course we have to remember that there are reasons for joining SGT other than posting. Siam Roads must have quite a number of guys joining up. But without new posting blood, this forum will merely soldier on with a few regulars keeping it alive - or until it just dies due to lack of interest!

loke

March 15th, 2017, 01:47

Well young people travelling to Thailand and who are gay might post questions in bigger international forums like tripadvisor or other travel forums , I think there is also a LGBT forum for travellers. You can still be anonymous if you prefer.

And a forum named sawatdeenetwork is maybe not the first that will pop-up on google if you search for gay + Thailand..

TaoR

March 15th, 2017, 07:52

"logging in" to a forum and "posting" to a forum are two very different things. So basically over the last 6 months this forum has 1,046 members of which 421 have logged in in the last six months (that means they have logged into read posts) and you probably have 10 to 15 who post regularly.

In regards to the internet those aren't bad stats. The reality is rather than focusing on people who "post" you might want to focus on increasing the number of total members. Increase that number and you will see the number of logins increase and then the eventually the number of people who post increase.

Its kind of like advertising on the internet. You place an ad on a site, like Facebook, where it gets seen by like 750,000 people, of which 150,000 click on it (and that is considered awesome) then you get three people to actually buy something (and that is considered REALLY awesome).

The truth of the matter is you might have to advertise the site, and the best place to place ads to start might be on gay porn sites; I am sure there would be a few friendly new members visiting these sites who might be interested in traveling to Thailand.

I am not sure about Google search, not sure how many people google "gay thailand" in a day and how much it would cost to move up the food chain as paid content.

The internet is a wonderful thing in so many ways but you got to realize that there are over a billion websites and its easy to get lost when you are one in a billion. Then when you complicate the search by realizing that most people are searching the web on cellphones nowadays, which are not really conducive to search you got to be up on the first four or five of listings to even be potentially a link that could get a click.

Then you compound the problem by the fact that you are in reality a forum about traveling to Thailand/Asia and then you realize the following:

One of the problems you have as a forum is that it is dead within the forum here in the United States during the day as most members who post or might post live in Asia, which is 12 hours ahead of the United States, time wise. So, when you all wake up and log on we are going to bed and vice versa.

Second problem, you are all freelancers; everyone can pretty much say and do what they want. There is not a SawatDeeForum "Welcoming Committee" and thus, the forum owners have no way of controlling the perception of the product to new members and no way to get long time members to post something every now and then.

Moses

March 15th, 2017, 08:42

We been moved to new forum almost year ago. Before moving SGT had 802 registered users (old statistic is here http://sawatdeenetwork.com/forum/ )

After "cleanup" members who wasn't active over 5 years we made transfer to new forum about 580 members, now forum has 1000+ members. Year ago we had 200+ "active members", now - 400+

Manforallseasons

March 15th, 2017, 09:45

Those numbers however true are misleading of the "400 active users" the real number is more likely in the realm of 20.

Surfcrest

March 15th, 2017, 09:51

So, now I get it.

If you are banned, all you need to do is re-register with a new name and you're back on again!

And you can just keep changing your handle , time and time again!

Awesome!

Participating in this thread, are several members who have been banned or quit and came back as something else. While I would love to take personal credit for all of that, I cannot. The majority of the members were banned at one time by someone else and were invited back when I took over the site. Two of the members, AsDaRa and Khor Tose were banned by me. When we updated the software, AsDaRa was automatically reactivated by the system and so I decided to give him another chance, provided he does not break the rule he broke before. Same with my dear friend Khor Tose, who published something he shouldn't have on the Protests thread. I am happy to have both members back, Khor Tose goes back to the beginning with us.

Back when we had the previous software, I had several added on security features that were designed to protect the site from Neal and Ron.It allowed me to protect the site from single hackers trying to have fun with us or register as a member and be up to no good. Now a days, the threat is much bigger and comes from an army of hackers and so our defenses, thanks to Moses are more automated. Even a lot of the moderation that I used to do manually is done by automation and I'm only really needed for site promotion and reviewing new members for spam etc...

I'm here everyday working on stuff, but I don't read every thread. Things get flagged to my attention to take a look at.

I have a lot of things going on in my private and business life. If I were on vacation in Thailand, I might be here everyday posting and participating in all the discussions, but I simply don't have the time these days. I turn 55 this year and am thinking about retiring and so this may all change. Until then though, I'll continue to pay the bills and keep things running with my dear friend Moses.

This is your Board, the members. It's what you want it to be. I'm simply donating time and money.

Surfcrest

TaoR

March 15th, 2017, 09:52

So now with that data, thanks to Moses, this forum has doubled in size in a year and doubled the number of logins in six months.

THAT paints a totally opposite picture of what everyone else is claiming.

Hmmm, makes me wonder....maybe the gay bar scene in Thailand is booming and better than it was in the past..... :))

fountainhall

March 15th, 2017, 10:02

"logging in" to a forum and "posting" to a forum are two very different things. So basically over the last 6 months this forum has 1,046 members of which 421 have logged in in the last six months (that means they have logged into read posts) and you probably have 10 to 15 who post regularly..
Is that in fact correct? Surely you don't need to log in just to read posts? I believe anyone can read posts. The only things non-members can not see are attachments.

One of the problems you have as a forum is that it is dead within the forum here in the United States during the day as most members who post or might post live in Asia, which is 12 hours ahead of the United States, time wise. So, when you all wake up and log on we are going to bed and vice versa.
I can see this would be of interest in a thread where that is moving very fast. But I have no problem responding to posts that are 12 or more hours old. I just can't see what the problem is.

everyone can pretty much say and do what they want. There is not a SawatDeeForum "Welcoming Committee" and thus, the forum owners have no way of controlling the perception of the product to new members and no way to get long time members to post something every now and then.
As to the first part, again isn't that just the nature of the internet and every chat forum? The civility of face-to-face conversation simply disappears and it becomes open-season. It's easy to get worked up and go over the top. Reply to a post after a night out in a bar and you are likely to use considerably stronger language than in the cold night of morning. I don't see that is ever going to change.

But I wholly agree with the second point which I see as being part of brand imaging. Brand image, enhancement and value is a vital part of most businesses. Yet when it comes to chat forums, it's hard to see that it actually exists beyond a few infinitesimal ways. Having a product that is in some way "unique" so that it stands out from the others is part of this. And I hope SGT can develop a few new ideas that encourage more posters - and especially more younger posters. That may mean that regular posters have to give them greater leeway than at present. And perhaps TaoR is right: a section of the site for new posters where the usual put-downs, one-upmanship of regular posters is withheld for a certain time. I remember it took me months before I started to post on gaythailand and I was actually quite concerned how my posts would be received.

That said, stopping trolls and hydras like sglad will always be difficult. Sglad's first posts were perfectly reasonable - unless, as some did, you found it inconceivable that a 20-something Singapore student in Chiang Mai would even bother posting on a Board where the average age is likely to be in the 60s! The red flags should have gone up when he started attacking other posters with clearly fake arguments. Yet they didn't! So moderation would have to be more active. Would the owners/current membership accept a greater degree of moderation in such a section of the site?

PS: Surfcrest's post above was posted as I was composing this. I am certain we are all more than grateful to him and Moses for keeping the site going and developing it. As he says, he is very busy and cannot read every post . I am sure the same is true with Moses - until a post or thread is red-flagged to them. So again I wonder: would the appointment of another moderator help?

Manforallseasons

March 15th, 2017, 10:13

Surfcrest

March 15th, 2017, 11:40

So again I wonder: would the appointment of another moderator help?

http://sawatdeenetwork.com/v4/showthread.php?16020-GOODBYE-From-John-Albert-Jeffries-(jinks)&highlight=jeffries

Once upon a time we had a wonderful moderator who did a thankless job for years and years.
I think of him often :heart:

Surfcrest

frequent

March 15th, 2017, 11:49

Is that in fact correct? Surely you don't need to log in just to read posts? I believe anyone can read posts. The only things non-members can not see are attachments.

Absolutely right. In fact before the latest incarnation of software you could subscribe to RSS feeds and not bother visiting at all. Moses as I recall said he's be reinstituting those feeds but to date they haven't reappeared

a447

March 15th, 2017, 12:28

Manforallseasons

March 15th, 2017, 12:55

A447...I hope it wasn't in reaction to the pic I posted of the two naked old guys😎

francois

March 15th, 2017, 13:33

MFAS, that selfie of yourself and a447 in the throes of love, were just a bit too graphic.

scottish-guy

March 15th, 2017, 14:50

When I first saw that series (yes *series*) of pics maybe 10yrs ago, there was actually *three* old guys.

Maybe one of them expired during the photoshoot, but for anybody who might be interested (necrophiliacs maybe) the series is called LEMONPARTY - and I'm sure the rest of the pics are still out there

fountainhall

March 15th, 2017, 17:03

No comment - because comment is superfluous. Do you MFAS ever wonder why gaythailand is gaining a considerable number of new posters and this site is losing them - at some rate it seems. It's because of posters like you who are here simply to take the piss and make utterly stupid, fatuous one-line comments you think are funny but are in fact crashingly boring.

Have you ever started a thread that was constructive, interesting and worthy of discussion? I doubt it. The only post you've started that I recall is about a French restaurant run by one of the biggest homophobes in Bangkok.

Enjoy your dining. Enjoy this forum. As I've said, thanks in part to you others are leaving.

Manforallseasons

March 15th, 2017, 17:20

arsenal

March 15th, 2017, 17:28

a447s reasons for leaving (temporarily suspending I hope) are exactly as he has stated. So no one need blame anyone else.

fountainhall

March 15th, 2017, 17:57

Actually F.H. I thought it was you who aided A447's departure....And by all means lets keep posting the same oh so boring posts that will insure the growth of membership and keep existing members here!
Why on earth would you think I was referring to a447? Because you just don't think? For your information, I wasn't.

And I agree oh so much about all those oh so boring posts. So best that you give up posting! :yahoo_mini: I'm still waiting to find out any post you have made that was actually constructive, interesting and worthy of discussion.

Manforallseasons

March 15th, 2017, 18:20

Lol,

fountainhall

March 15th, 2017, 18:22

And that illustrates precisely your level of childish communication.

Manforallseasons

March 15th, 2017, 18:31

You can send me all the pics that you want, It will not change my mind!

arsenal

March 15th, 2017, 20:15

MFAS and Fountainhall. Compared to some of the ding dongs we've had here you twos' is rather boring. Could you both sharpen up your act. Thank you.

Surfcrest

March 15th, 2017, 20:37

Manforallseasons

March 15th, 2017, 21:20

I'm not here to fight your battles or muzzle other members for you or for anyone else here.

Surfcrest

Good for you!

a447

March 15th, 2017, 21:26

How would you suggest I leave "quietly?". Start a new thread, perhaps?

All I said was:

A). We had a disagreement (i.e. we didn't agree!)
B). I'm going elsewhere

Just those two simple points. Read my post again. I would think that would qualify as leaving "quietly."

I did not mention "status", "rules" being "created", "muzzling" members or 'privileges". You did.

Your dishonesty in your post above is breathtaking.As an example, what rule did I ask you to create??

arsenal

March 15th, 2017, 22:21

Suggest v a447 is already more interesting than MFAS v Fountainhall. And it's only been going for three posts.

fountainhall

March 15th, 2017, 22:33

by all means lets keep posting the same oh so boring posts that will insure the growth of membership and keep existing members here!
With 82 'likes', it is reassuring to see that MFAS is so popular with other members. It would seem these other members consider my contributions considerably more interesting!!

scottish-guy

March 15th, 2017, 23:45

Isn't there an "ignore" function?

:confused:

latintopxxx

March 16th, 2017, 06:28

a447 is leaving?!?!?!? Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.....

a447

March 16th, 2017, 06:45

Well, come on Surfcrest. You made some scurrilous accusations above. Where's the evidence??

Can't tell us what rule I allegedly wanted you to create? Too hard, was it?

Ok. Let's move onto another one, shall we?

You mentioned "privilege" although you didn't include a verb so it's difficult to see what you are getting at. Did you mean I asked for some kind of privileged treatment? Is that what you meant?

Put up or shut up Surfcrest. Post the evidence.

One you've done that, I'll then ask you where I asked you to fight my battles for me.

Surfcrest, you have gone out of your way here to blacken my name. You know full well that I never asked for any of those things. Never.

You've now painted yourself into a corner. You've only succeeded in exposing the fact that you have blatantly lied to the members.

I never realised it at the time but Kommie's scathing criticism of you in various posts over the years was spot on. It even tallies with Neal's description of you, before he lost the plot.

Your post above demonstrates that you are indeed a despicable, dishonest and dishonourable person.

I've got more to say. I've only just started.

a447

March 16th, 2017, 06:57

a447 is leaving?!?!?!? Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.....

Read my post carefully. I said:

I will no longer be an active poster on this board (unless the need arises)

The need arises whenever you appear.

Sorry to disappoint you!

scottish-guy

March 16th, 2017, 08:30

..Neal's description of you, before he lost the plot..

Well I have to stick my oar in here - irrespective of your disagreement with Surfcrest, I have to suggest that Neal never fully HAD the plot.

If you recall when he first appeared on this board he had at least 3 different handles and soon was even posting as a customer saying how good his bar was.

He started off unbalanced and ended up psychotic

Manforallseasons

March 16th, 2017, 08:47

I do hope AK47 rethinks his decission, as I enjoyed his input on many topics even though he is best kown for the balls on his face trip reports!

frequent

March 16th, 2017, 10:27

You call that quietly? There is no disagreement a447. You think your status here deserves you the right for rules to be created just for you.

I'm not here to fight your battles or muzzle other members for you or for anyone else here. If you think that's your privilege, then I guess we do disagree.

Surfcrest

a447 is and always was a bully. Why has it taken you so long to wake up to that? And like all bullies, when he's challenged he slinks away

francois

March 16th, 2017, 12:29

I do hope AK47 rethinks his decission, as I enjoyed his input on many topics even though he is best kown for the balls on his face trip reports!

a447 also posts his trip reports on other forums such as GayThailand.

fountainhall

March 16th, 2017, 13:01

As does MFAS with his reviews (word for word) of restaurants run by virulent homophobic old Frenchmen :yahoo_mini:

In fact, exclusively in chat forums seems like it has disappeared with the popularity of the go-go bars.

fountainhall

March 16th, 2017, 13:54

MFAS and Fountainhall. Compared to some of the ding dongs we've had here you twos' is rather boring. Could you both sharpen up your act. Thank you.
On the question of sharpening up acts, I agree. Let's do that arsenal. I'd appreciate your comments. The point at issue here is how to encourage new posters and not having existing posters leave.

How about we look at some facts?

In the 12 months from mid-March 2015 to 2016, MFAS started 54 threads in this forum. In the 12 months from mid-March 2016 to 2017 he has started all of 4 - and the first post in one thread consisted of merely three words.

So let's look where else he posts. From 12 August last year he has been a member of gaybuttonthai posting, as he has written, under the name "undaunted". What about his posting history there? In those 7 months he has started 89 threads! Many of his posts there are long paragraphs. Here they are generally one-liners.

So gaybuttonthai - 89 in JUST SEVEN MONTHS. Sawatdeenetwork - 4 in A FULL 12 MONTHS. Oh, and 1 of those 4 posts was a word for word copy of a post in gaybuttonthai!

Does anyone now have any doubts as to where MFAS' loyalties lie? And why his constant one-line carping, put-downs and negative criticisms are consigned to this forum?

arsenal

March 16th, 2017, 14:35

Fountainhall: Undaunted has been a member of GB for many years, at least since 2010. You'll find he didn't post anywhere for a long period of time but upon his return he continued to enjoy way more leeway than say Thaifarang who was banned this morning for being very naughty. Haha. You're welcome here Thaifarang, we like naughtiness even though we pretend we don't. Now "loyalties'...it's a message board, not a war so that's an over dramatic word to use I think. Basically I'm enjoying the current spats enormously so can I say to Surfcrest, a447, MFAS and your good self. Guys...knock yourselves out.

Surfcrest

March 16th, 2017, 14:47

You mentioned "privilege" although you didn't include a verb so it's difficult to see what you are getting at. Did you mean I asked for some kind of privileged treatment? Is that what you meant?

Put up or shut up Surfcrest. Post the evidence.

One you've done that, I'll then ask you where I asked you to fight my battles for me.

Surfcrest, you have gone out of your way here to blacken my name. You know full well that I never asked for any of those things. Never.

You've now painted yourself into a corner. You've only succeeded in exposing the fact that you have blatantly lied to the members.

I never realised it at the time but Kommie's scathing criticism of you in various posts over the years was spot on. It even tallies with Neal's description of you, before he lost the plot.

Your post above demonstrates that you are indeed a despicable, dishonest and dishonourable person.

I've got more to say. I've only just started.

You asked me to muzzle Frequent, a member you allege to be Kommentariat. You didn't appreciate Frequent's reference to some posts Kommentariat wrote long ago. You began your request by quoting the number of posts you've made and how many years you've been a member.This sounds like privilege you're sliding across the table at me.

http://sawatdeenetwork.com/v4/showthread.php?18420-Where-is-everyone&p=214722&viewfull=1#post214722

The following link directs you to our Rules & Guidelines.

http://sawatdeenetwork.com/v4/showthread.php?15945-POSTING-RULES-amp-GUIDELINES

If you'd like a Rule changed, ask the Membership, not me! I only pay the bills and absorb the abuse.

Surfcrest

.

fountainhall

March 16th, 2017, 14:48

Fountainhall: Undaunted has been a member of GB for many years, at least since 2010.
Your comments re appreciated. But why does it clearly state on the gaybuttonthai board that undaunted's date of joining was "Fri. Aug 12, 2016 8:47 am"?

Now he may have decided to cease membership and rejoin. I have no problem whatever with that. But you have actually failed to respond to my specific points.

The facts remain as I stated. MFAS's loyalty is clearly with gaybuttonthai to which he contributes many positive (and perhaps not so positive - I just don't to know) posts. Since joining gaybuttonthai, he has hardly posted here - and what he posts are one-line put downs, carping and negative criticism. Odd that in a thread dealing with the fact that some posters have been driven away and new posters are not joining, MFAS posts comments that are seemingly calculated to drive posters away. You did not answer!

And did I actually say "war"? If so I can't find it.

As for Thaifarang, you really can't be very observant. It's perfectly clear he has been posting here and on gaythailand for some time using different handles in each forum! Same basic questions, same writing style - very obvious.

Manforallseasons

March 16th, 2017, 14:54

Thanks Sherlock,

arsenal

March 16th, 2017, 15:09

Fountainhall:

1. I don't have to respond to any particular points. I'm not the one winding himself up like a hungry boa constrictor.
2. I don't read gaythailand, just this one and GB.
3. Many of MFAS posts on GB are specifically designed to poke certain individuals (barmy army, the cheap meat loaf crowd, balloon chasers, the Sunee set etc.) So, in that respect it's obviously going to be more effective to do it on GB than here because that's where they live.

Still enjoying both ding dongs fellas. Carry on Haha. :clapping:

Surfcrest

March 16th, 2017, 15:18

The facts remain as I stated. MFAS's loyalty is clearly with gaybuttonthai to which he contributes many positive (and perhaps not so positive - I just don't to know) posts. Since joining gaybuttonthai, he has hardly posted here - and what he posts are one-line put downs, carping and negative criticism. Odd that in a thread dealing with the fact that some posters have been driven away and new posters are not joining, MFAS posts comments that are seemingly calculated to drive posters away. You did not answer!

I tend to agree with fountainhall's comments. MFAS's goal, this time around does indeed appear to be driving members away...
What do you say MFAS? Has climate change made you irrelevant?

Surfcrest

Manforallseasons

March 16th, 2017, 15:33

Manforallseasons

March 16th, 2017, 16:04

Surf, I will also add to my previous post that a member who is always caught up in the drama of consiracy theories and constant complaints of other members does nothing to foster growth or the maintainance of the current membership.

fountainhall

March 16th, 2017, 16:12

How rude! Haven't you heard Climate change doen't exist? Actually I don' t wish to drive anyone anywhere, and I don' t believe members should obsess over other members and new members motives...handles...etc. and should only worry about reading and posting!!!
A typical non-response answer which will no doubt be followed by a typically meaningless photograph. Nothing you contribute here is constructive - yet it is over on gaybuttonthai. That is clearly where your loyalties lie - as I have proved conclusively - even though arsenal will not confirm it. Your posts here are basically destructive in nature - clearly something you enjoy. It is damaging to the forum.

a447

March 16th, 2017, 16:12

You asked me to muzzle Frequent, a member you allege to be Kommentariat. You didn't appreciate Frequent's reference to some posts Kommentariat wrote long ago. You began your request by quoting the number of posts you've made and how many years you've been a member.This sounds like privilege you're sliding across the table at me.

Really? Are you sure?

Here's the pm in question, in full:

Kommie's link to bogus trip rrport
I refer to Kommie's post #73 in the thread 'Where is Everyone?"

I was under the impression that, after much discussion on a thread started by me and devoted to Kommie's bogus trip report -"Is blatant deception ok?" - a decision was made that the original post would remain but there was to be no link to it in the future.

You posted:

"I will add a Rule that no member can talk about the individual behind a handle, about anything they do outside of this Board without their specific permission or unless that person has mentioned whatever it is that they have done, here on this Board already. "

I thought Kommie had moved on, but he is re-opening old wounds, apparently in breach of the new rule.

Surfcrest, I've had enough. I won't put up with it any longer.

Please enforce the rule or publicly stage on the forum that the rule no longer applies.

A447

I asked you to "muzzle Frequent" did I? That's strange; I can't find any reference to any such request. Please feel free to point it out. All I can see is that I asked you to "enforce the rule."

(And while you're at it, point out where I began my request by mentioning the number of posts.)

So Surfcrest, who is telling the truth? Eh? You or me?

But let's pretend for a minute that I did ask you to "muzzle" him.

Tell me, have you ever mentioned anything about deleting Kommie? (And please do not insult the members' intelligence by suggesting Kommie and Frequent are different people). If you have, then you're worse than me! I apparently only asked you to "muzzle" him m whereas you spoke about deleting him.

I've got more to say. If you want to keep this up, bring it on!

Surfcrest, you have not been truthful. You have gone out of your way to paint a completely false picture of me. I'm at a loss as to why you would do that, especially as we have not clashed in the past. Was it because I mentioned gaythailand 's success in attracting nrw members?

Manforallseasons

March 16th, 2017, 16:23

Surf, just imagine if you were a visitor looking at this last page in its entirety do you think you would want to become a member?

a447

March 16th, 2017, 16:39

A visitor would not have to continue on until this last page. The answer can be found on page one.

And in your constant negativity, mfas.

pennyboy

March 16th, 2017, 16:39

What a lot of fuss about nothing. If A447 thinks having a disagreement with the owner is a reason to stop posting, so be it but I dare him to publicly attack the owner on one of the other forums. At least here it was aired openly. Sadly A447 lost all crediblity with me when he used Neal to back up his disagreement with Surcreft.

fountainhall

March 16th, 2017, 16:48

Surf, just imagine if you were a visitor looking at this last page in its entirety do you think you would want to become a member?
What a typically idiotic comment! Surfcrest already gave his verdict -

MFAS's goal, this time around does indeed appear to be driving members away...

Surfcrest
'Nuff said!

arsenal

March 16th, 2017, 16:54

If I remember correctly Surfcrest wrote that he deleted Kommie by mistake and invited him to rejoin. I think this was when the board moved. I cannot either confirm or disprove any member loyalty or dis-loyalty.

fountainhall

March 16th, 2017, 16:58

1. I don't have to respond to any particular points. I'm not the one winding himself up like a hungry boa constrictor.
2. I don't read gaythailand, just this one and GB.
3. Many of MFAS posts on GB are specifically designed to poke certain individuals (barmy army, the cheap meat loaf crowd, balloon chasers, the Sunee set etc.) So, in that respect it's obviously going to be more effective to do it on GB than here because that's where they live.
Apart from chickening out of giving a response to my post #146 - after all, what response could there be other than to agree with what are facts - you totally misread the point of my post. As undaunted on GB's site, MFAS actually posts positively on a lot of topics, many of which he starts himself, So why would his goal over there be to "poke" members? He saves most of the "poking" for this forum - and thereby contributes to its inability to attract new posters, to encourage posters who have interesting comments, trip reports, news on gay issues, travel threads - and so on. He is utterly childish, totally self-centred and purely destructive - and anyone who fails to see that simply cannot read!

a447

March 16th, 2017, 17:03

I dare him to publicly attack the owner on one of the other forums. At least here it was aired openly.

The other owners have not posted blatant lies about me on their board.

On gaybuttonthai.com it would not have gotten to this stage as harassment of members is strictly forbidden.

As for gaythailand.com, I have no idea who the owner is. But again, they are a nicer, ftiendlier bunch of guys over there so the situation would not have arisen in the first place.

So it's a mute point you make.

The reference to Neal was not made to back up any disagreement with Surfcrest. It was to back up my opinion of him as dishonest. There's a difference.

But you are correct, as is Scottish guy. I'm sorry I wrote that and withdraw it unreservedly. It was written in extreme anger.

Manforallseasons

March 16th, 2017, 17:07

F.H. I have never confronted you in a totally serious manner as I do not think of you at all however, being that you can't let up let me unwrap this puppy and tell you to get a life other than the one you have on this board.

a447

March 16th, 2017, 17:09

cdnmatt

March 16th, 2017, 17:31

a447 lost all credibility with me when he began publicly berating me every time I made a typo, because he's still totally perplexed as how a blind guy can read, write, and use the internet.

He's seems to do this quite often. Go around the forum publicly berating people, and picking fights with members for no real reason. Then complains to Surfcrest that this or that needs to happen, or he's going to stomp his feet. I'm not sure, what does he expect to do? Mold the rules and membership to his personal likes and dislikes?

It's a forum, you're not supposed to like everything or everyone, as that would make it a pretty boring forum. When you see something you don't like, just ignore, and continuing enjoying the threads you do like. For example, I know many of you absolutely love a447's trip reports, where as I personally find them distasteful. However, you don't see me in this threads complaining, or berating him over it. I simply don't participate in those threads and continue postingon SGT as a happy camper.

How ironic this thread is titled, "Where is everyone?".

arsenal

March 16th, 2017, 17:34

I'm going to lighten the mood by changing the topic completely and posting about a subject that should be in another forum. The very very liberal 'rules' that we all enjoy on this board (compare it to the public beheading on another one recently) fully allow me to do this.

The first time I visited Siem Reap I stayed at The Angkor Paradise Hotel. 4 stars and very nice too. This time and probably for one trip only I'm in a place where the guests sit around the pool and smoke weed, funky music is played until midnight and you can get a really nice meal with a cold Angkor beer for $2.00. Anyone interested should pm me. All pms replied to but only after I've left because I don't want anyone coming up to me and asking if I'm Arsenal.

fountainhall

March 16th, 2017, 18:43

let me unwrap this puppy and tell you to get a life other than the one you have on this board.
What a real loser! That is just so predictable!

More, that is the excuse that all losers always trot out when confronted with reality. Any sensible poster on this site will know from the many, many posts I have made regarding my life, career and all the places I have visited and continue to visit all around the world, many of them the subject of reports here (and since you also post of gaybuttonthai over there as well - as you will know), will have been vastly more interesting, fulfilling and enjoyable than your miserable existence with your pathetic childish put-downs in the depths of Pattaya's sin city.

Care to take up a challenge? Tell the other posters all the exciting and fascinating things you have done and all the exciting places you continue to visit and I will do the same. We'll then let them make the judgement on what a "life" really is. I'll even put money on it! But you won't move a finger to take me on. Incidentally, I'm off on my next 10 days international trip on Saturday, I don't spend my life in bars.

Manforallseasons

March 16th, 2017, 19:08

For me to take up a challange firstly I would have to care about where you have been or what you've done.

fountainhall

March 16th, 2017, 19:12

See, as I stated, you will not even rise to the challenge - for the obvious reason you know the result. I'd win before you got off the starting line. Fine. Other posters will make up their own minds about the life you suggest I should start leading and the one you lead.

Oh - I forgot! If you prefer, why not give us links to posts of all the trip reports you have made to all the places you have visited in North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East, Japan, China, Australia . . . I'm game! I could go on but it would just be more embarrassing for you. :yahoo_mini:

Oh and I was not writing about what you think. It was specifically to give other posters the ability to make up their own minds.

fountainhall

March 16th, 2017, 21:57

Looking over at gaybuttonthai, it is obvious that MFAS is sedentary. Spends all his time bar one short trip per annum in Pattaya (several bars no doubt). No wonder he will not go near my challenge!

From gaybuttonthai Tue Mar 14, 2017 10:24 pm

I have been here for nearly 14 yrs

From gaybuttonthai Thu Mar 09, 2017 9:18 pm

I have just booked my yearly escape from Pattaya.....This year it will be Hanoi.....Qatar Air non stop round trip $154.00
To paraphrase your words MFAS, "get a life other than the one you have" in sin city Pattaya. You might even learn something about the world!

Surfcrest

March 16th, 2017, 23:05

Recently, Kommie re-opened an old wound in one of his posts. I reported the post but nothing was done about it. I then pm’d you but you didn’t even bother to reply.

As I understood it, it was decided last year after much discussion in one of the threads that the original offending post outlining a trip Kommie took with me would stay but that a link to it was not allowed. Therefore, I expected that post (not the poster) to be deleted. When I checked today, it was still there.

I understand you can’t please everyone and sometimes a choice must be made. In this case, you chose to support Kommie’s post and allow it to stay on the forum, rather than protecting the right of a member not to be harassed. So be it.

Leaving the post on the board means I cannot remain here. It is not a decision I have taken likely, but I’m not going to go through that whole harassment thing again. I’m sorry, but I’ve had it up to here. Criticism is fine, but not harassment. As I wrote in my pm, enough is enough!

So I will now cease being an active poster here into the foreseeable future (unless the need arises), and concentrate on posting on the other two forums.

I’ve been a member for 11 years, have made over 2000 posts and written innumerable trip reports from Japan and just about every country in S.E. Asia (and a couple in Europe). My trip reports alone have gathered countless thousands of views over the years.

I hope you continue to enjoy Kommie’s posts, especially if you are into fake news and alternative facts. I’m sure you will see my leaving and Kommie's offending post remaining as a good deal for the board.

But I'm not sure all the members will feel that way.

You know a447....as I told you before, you're looking for attention from the wrong guy.

Surfcrest

Magnum

March 17th, 2017, 01:25

Surfcrest: "Beachlover has not returned, Homintern is dead and Kommie is back under a new...or not so new name. "

Sorry, I missed the point. Kommentariat is now Frequent? I hope a447 will cool down again, I love his trip reports.

Brad the Impala

March 17th, 2017, 02:03

As "quiet" departures go, this has certainly been pretty raucous. Why not just stop posting if that's what you want to do.

scottish-guy

March 17th, 2017, 03:58

Welcome to our forum

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHNciS9I1Wo

a447

March 17th, 2017, 15:08

Allow me to answer Brad and Surfcrest and hopefully that's it.

As "quiet" departures go, this has certainly been pretty raucous. Why not just stop posting if that's what you want to do.

Well, it was quiet, buried deep in this thread, until Surfcrest posted his reply, accusing me of saying things I didn't. That's when it became "raucous". He chose to shout at me and make false allegations as I proceeded towards the door, rather than just let me leave and not have to defend myself.

Surely I can’t be held responsible for his decision to make those comments.

But he didn't even need to reply. I simply said there was a disagreement which I purposely didn't go into, and left it at that. There was nothing in my post to reply to. No criticism of him. No accusations. Nothing.

If Surfcrest wanted to reply, all he had to say, if anything, was "bye!" Instead, he chose to go on the attack, posting fake news and alternative facts in an attempt to blacken my name.

How is that in any way a reply to my post? What is the good of attacking the messenger, rather than the message?

I thought PMs were exactly that; private. It began with Surfcrest drip feeding information to members from a PM, which is a despicable act. (It’s even worse when the information is not true.) This led to my posting of my PM to him. It's mine so I can decide whether or not to release it.

But now Surfcrest has committed a cardinal sin on internet forums - he has released my other PM without my permission!

This betrayal of privacy has not been seen on the board since Neal was in control. A dangerous precedent has now been set.

This man has no scruples.

Surfcrest, you reveal the contents of PMs at your own peril.

Now Brad, at the moment I’m just replying to the posts which refer directly to me. Like this one. Are you denying me the right of reply, a right you are quick to exercise yourself? And quite robustly, at times?

Surfcrest, if I wanted attention, either from you or anyone else, wouldn’t I have begun by posting the details of the disagreement on the open forum? And in a separate thread?

Also, I imagine I'd be bombarding you with PM'S. In reality, PM's between us since you took over the board have been few and far between.

All I ever asked of you is that an existing rule, which had been broken, be applied and that you stick to what was previously agreed. Nothing more. How is that “seeking attention”? I was seeking action from you, not attention. There’s a difference.

And in any case, why would I seek attention from someone who hardly ever posts on the forum?

Finally, you suggested that I was after some kind of privilege, or wanted to be treated differently. I’m not sure what you were saying, as you omitted a verb.

But it is not me who is being given privileged treatment. It’s Kommie/frequent, who you have decided is exempt from the rules.

Surfcrest, have you ever stated that you were aware that Kommie was also posting as Brisbaneguy and Sooty at the same time? Think carefully. Have you?

If so, then you are giving him special treatment. In a recent thread you stated that posting with more than one handle meant that you were banned. You told us you banned Sglad for that very reason. You had no qualms applying the rule to him.

Last year, on two separate occasions, Kommie attempted to sabotage this board by making posts where he added links to newspaper articles containing highly defamatory comments about a certain high profile Thai figure and his son. Fortunately, the posts were caught in time and quickly deleted.

By allowing him to remain on the board even after that, you are suggesting that the transgressions by Kor Tose, AsDaRa, kjun12, et al are more serious than any attempts by Kommie to destroy the board.

He can do it again.

Kommie has Surfcrest by the balls.

Brad the Impala

March 17th, 2017, 15:36

After a disagreement with Surfcrest I've decided I can't stay on this board any longer. So for the foreseeable future I will no longer be an active poster on this board (unless the need arises), but will concentrate on posting on gaythailand and gaybutton, both of which had seen a resurgence in popularity recently, it would seem. Gaythailand,in particular, has been rejuvenated with a large increase in new members.

I want to leave the house quietly and not storm out slamming the door behind me, so that's all I'll say.

As many members here have also joined the other boards I'm looking forward to chatting to you over there. Although I'm leaving the house I am not handing back the key so I can continue to exchange PM's with others.

No hard feelings.

Cheers!

A447

A447, this post is your initial farewell. Despite your attempts to portray it as such, it is not a quiet departure.

You are at a party, you have a disagreement with the host, how should you leave? Yes, quietly through the front door.

However you have to make an announcement to the other guests that you have had a disagreement with the host which is driving you away from the party, then tell everyone that there are better and more popular parties down the street, where other of his guests have already gone!

Any host would respond to that provocation.

I have enjoyed your posts, and took your side when there was discussion about Kommie's fake posts about his holiday with you. However in arguments you have a tendency to twist the truth to suit yourself in a pretty insincere way.

Stop whining, and enjoy the other parties.

arsenal

March 17th, 2017, 16:00

Kommie...Brisbaneguy...Sooty...all three of them were tossers. Frequent too has been a tosser up to now although as long as he remains a member can always always alter their online persona.

Manforallseasons

March 17th, 2017, 16:15

L.M.T.U. was a close friend who introduced me to the boards. In his time he took alot of abuse inturn he probably gave more...Upon reading some of his posts and some replies I said John does none of this bother you, his reply was simple....he said never forget this is virtual....and if you do stop posting!

a447

March 17th, 2017, 16:24

You know some of my posts over the years have been quite lengthy (like the one above) so I could have written so much more had I wished to do so. i actually thought I was quite restrained in my comments.

Any host would respond to that provocation

What? By broadcasting private information about me to the other guests?

You don't have a problem with the owner of an internet board releasing private messages?? That is an unforgivable breach of trust,and yet my "provocation" is more important to you??

You don't think that Surfcrest has 'twisted the truth to suit (himself) in a pretty insincere way?" I mean, you read the accusations he made. I presume you have read the PM'S. And you say Im acting I sincerely?

Anyway, I do hope to be enjoying the other parties - if I can make it out the door!

fountainhall

March 17th, 2017, 16:55

Upon reading some of his posts and some replies I said John does none of this bother you, his reply was simple....he said never forget this is virtual....and if you do stop posting!
I only knew LMTU and his latter incarnation as HeyGay on gaythailand. I never knew the man personally. I know he had many good friends and I was genuinely saddened when he died, especially the manner of his death. I am happy for him that he had friends to take care of him since he could not return to the UK for treatment.

I never enjoyed his posting. Some certainly was informative and I have no doubt some found it very useful. It was partly the childish English he used - clearly deliberate as I know he spoke and wrote English to the manner born. It was partly also the "tips" he would give out as facts when in fact they were not facts at all. He frequently suggested that if any "fact" was proved wrong, he would stand the one who discovered it a nice dinner. Well, as just one example, he certainly got his knickers twisted in the Air Hanuman fare episode - but absolutely would not back down. Yet he was just plain wrong!

But it is the comment about "never forget this is virtual ...and if you do stop posting" that certainly summed up some of his writing and which I find objectionable. The fact is that if you use a forum to spread rumour, gossip and, let's be honest. sometimes outright lies (and I stress I make no reference to any specific poster), then the whole point of a forum is not only massively devalued - it becomes worthless. I could spin any number of tales of adventures in Taiwan, Japan, Bhutan, Singapore, wherever, yet never having been to any of them. If my view was "this is virtual", I could lie in every sentence. Then if any member found themselves in those countries using my travel posts as a guide, they would be up shit creek.

Treating a forum as a personal plaything may seem great fun to those with far too much time on their hands. Occasional banter between members is quite different. But I maintain that unless there is a strong thread of honesty and respect for what is posted, forums will die sooner rather than later.

arsenal

March 17th, 2017, 17:29

Ditto to Fountainhalls' entire post.

bobsaigon2

March 17th, 2017, 17:50

Contentious posters permitted to remain on SGT, or encouraged to return to SGT after they have been banned, and their previous posts on SGT allowed to remain in tact. They post with the very clear intention of denigrating other board members. It is no wonder that SGT is now less attractive than other gay sites.

a447

March 17th, 2017, 19:40

They post with the very clear intention of denigrating other board members. It is no wonder that SGT is now less attractive than other gay sites.

That was the very point I was making when in my OP I said I was heading off to the other boards. I also made the point that they were attracting new members and were being rejuvinated.

But one poster thought that was provocative.

Maybe it was, but like bob, I was only stating the bleeding obvious. That's what this thread is about, isn't it? Posters leaving and no new people bothering to join?

But I don't have to worry about that any more.

Finally, there is one post in this thread which I haven't responded to. I was going to let it pass but will offer a quick reply.

It concerns the blind poster, Matt. He's upset because I don't believe his story and do not understand how a blind man can post on the forum.

Matt, your hilarious attempts at making "typos" have given you away, time and time again. You just can't seem to pull it off. If we analyse the "mistakes" it becomes obvious that they are deliberate.

Your life as a blind typist became even funnier when you explained that the keyboard sounds out each letter as you type. That's how you know what you've typed. But then you proceeded to type a series of random letters. That's when I suggested that maybe you had gone suddenly deaf. If not, it would mean that you sat there at the computer as it sounded a series of consonants and you actually thought it was a real word.

What exactly did you hear as you typed "morrre " or "Qw'll aww qhT Gppwna I fuwaa"?

You've refused to explain the inconsistencies because apparently, I don't ask you politely enough!

And I'm the one who has lost credibility, not you?

Surely, you jest.

bobsaigon2

March 17th, 2017, 20:09

No offense intended, but I don't think Matt is meant to be taken seriously, though he may be existing in a seriously delusional world that he has created in KK. His posts are not objectionable so he's best left to the ongoing creation of his parallel universe. IMHO

cdnmatt

March 17th, 2017, 22:00

For fuck sakes...

I guess I'm with you a447. I'm out of here too. Although I won't do the same as you, and cause a shit storm out of it.

I have 7 years of posting history here, so go ahead, find a lie. I'm sure I've exageratted a few times due to having a few too many drinks, but not once have I ever lied, or at least not to my recollection. Simply because I don't lie.

Whatever, doesn't matter....

Gee, where did everone go?

Manforallseasons

March 17th, 2017, 22:40

Anyone remember the Bitch Board?
https://youtu.be/4_1RWDtj1uM

arsenal

March 17th, 2017, 23:12

MFAS and Fountainhall get together to discuss their differences.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-OVqacJVIII

Manforallseasons

March 17th, 2017, 23:23

arsenal I am not sure if humor is permitted anymore on this board as I suspect F.H. has leaned heavily on surf to stop it.....having said that years ago I actually posted that same clip...not sure but I think it was directed to a former member with the handlle sanook...BTW we have already dicussed what the best color would be for F.H. and it was firey red.

arsenal

March 18th, 2017, 00:16

Well being chaste and pure of thought, soul and deed I would be dressed in either friar brown or perhaps popey purple.

And if one thing is clear since the smooth and friendly takeover by His Organic Majacastical Holy Weariness Monsieur Surfcrest it is that he can't be leaned on.

scottish-guy

March 18th, 2017, 00:36

..Matt...may be existing in a seriously delusional world...he's best left to the ongoing creation of his parallel universe. IMHO

Wow , Bob - immediately previous to that post you criticised un-named individuals for "denigrating other members", then hardly pausing to draw breath you go and do the same yourself!

I'll order up another gross of those custard pies.

Khor tose

March 18th, 2017, 00:47

Allow me to answer Brad and Surfcrest and hopefully that's it.
I thought PMs were exactly that; private. It began with Surfcrest drip feeding information to members from a PM, which is a despicable act. (It’s even worse when the information is not true.) This led to my posting of my PM to him. It's mine so I can decide whether or not to release it.

.

Come on A447, Surf did exactly the same thing with me and you did not say a word. Posting PMs is only bad when it is your PM? All I can say is that I told you guys a long time ago that Surf was Neal in another form and no--you didn't believe me. So in MHO you have no bitch. Ignore Brad he was always a bit dumb

bobsaigon2

March 18th, 2017, 01:24

SG: read it again. I said No offense intended, and I meant it. I just think Matt needs more contact with English speaking residents of KK.

scottish-guy

March 18th, 2017, 02:00

Oh I noticed the "no offence" right away, Bob

I've used that device too - usually right after something like:

"You look like someone poured petrol on your face, set it on fire and then beat out the flames with a baseball bat"

In your case you say you mean it when you add "no offence" - whereas I almost never do!!

Sorry for tarring you with the same brush as me!

:D

frequent

March 18th, 2017, 04:16

Fabulous, an absolutely fabulous thread. I haven't enjoyed myself so much in years.

a447

March 18th, 2017, 11:44

Come on A447, Surf did exactly the same thing with me and you did not say a word.

KT, I can't recall someone ever divulging the contents of anyone's PM., let alone yours. It's unheard of in chat forums.

Did you post about it when it happened or did Surfcrest post it within a thread? If it was the latter, I may have missed it as I don't read all the topics.

Surfcrest 's action is akin to a lawyer posting his client's details, however innocuous, on the internet. Or a catholic priest hearing someone 's confession then broadcasting it to the entire congregation. Imagine the furore that would create.

When Neal was running this board, he once told me that he had the capacity to read member's PM's.

"But, of course, I would never do such a thing!" he said, with a straight face.

I don't know for certain whether he could or not, but at the time he was feuding with me and a couple of other posters, he was able to prevent some PMs getting through and could delete incoming PMs. That suggests he may have been reading them.

He was even able to send me a PM pretending to be Sooty - one of Kommentariat's aliases. Of course, he denied on the forum ever doing that, but he forgot one thing - Sooty was banned at the time and so couldn't possibly have sent it.

Since then I've limited the number of PMs I've sent and been extra careful as to what info I reveal.

But maybe you're right, KT. Members perhaps are willing to accept such a gross breach of internet privacy protocols - until they have a run in with Surfcrest one day, fire up their computers and see their own PM'S plastered on the forum.

Surfcrest has done irreparable damage to his reputation and credibility through a thoughtless act of vindictiveness in an attempt to extract some kind of revenge .

But revenge for what? I'm still not sure.

Is it because of the decision I made? Was I such a wonderful, witty, engaging and fabulous member without whom the board cannot survive? Hardly.

Is it because, as Brad said, I provoked him by mentioning the fact that another board had lots of new members? Hardly, considering I had already made the same comments in the thread, so he was already well aware of them and let them pass without comment.

Even Neal at his worst was able to resist the temptation to post members' PM'S. So you're right - Surfcrest is indeed Neal in a different form. But a worse form.

And like with Neal, you'd certainly think twice before going into business with him!

Surfcrest

March 18th, 2017, 12:30

Throughout this entire thread a447, you have accused me of being dishonest, dispicable, untruthful and blackening your name "a447" by accurately describing to you your request for me to muzzle Frequent. No matter how many times I described what you said, you denied it until I published your request...and now the outrage is about me publishing your PM behind the PM you published in the same thread. What I published proves the real truth...which unfortunately is not your version of the truth. This yelling you describe me doing to you is also not so, when you review the abuse you've thrown at me unprovoked. It's all in this thread, for anyone to review.

Bye

Surfcrest

Manforallseasons

March 18th, 2017, 13:20

A447's retort......

https://youtu.be/WOjhDtWDPz8

aussie_

March 18th, 2017, 14:02

"Where are they now?" might be a good title for a new thread.

a447

March 18th, 2017, 14:45

No matter how many times I described what you said, you denied it until I published your request...and now the outrage is about me publishing your PM behind the PM you published ...

Hang on! You are conveniently forgetting a couple of important details here.

A). I published my own PM. first, to refute your claims. You published the other PM after I'd published mine, not "behind" it! WTF?

B). I am allowed to reveal my own PM'S, as they are exactly that - mine. You went ahead and released a PM which was not your own - it was somebody else's. And on the internet, that's a big no-no.

C). There is not a lot of difference between the two PM'S. Both clearly show that there is no request to "muzzle" - there is a request to enforce your rules. If there was no rule to be enforced, then obviously I would not have asked you to do so. I can hardly expect you to enforce a rule that doesn't exist!

The other accusations you made are nowhere to be found in those PMst, either. Both of my PM'S are up on the board so why not highlight the parts where you say I asked you to do all those things? That shouldn't be too difficult.

For example, where is my alleged request to "create a new rule?" I can't find it, so I'm surprised you can.

And the request for privileged treatment? Funny, I can't seem to find that, either.

And the request to you to fight my battles for me? Since when is asking you to make sure posters abide by the rules - your rules - akin to a request to fight a battle for me?

Surfcrest, are we reading the same PM'S?? We are not talking about interpretation of remarks here ; you made specific accusations, so please post specific evidence.

You've said "Bye." (Don't you now wish you had just said that as a response to my OP and quickly moved on?). But Wait! Come back! You haven't explained yourself properly.

And you forgot to not mention the ethics involved in posting someone's PM.

Brad the Impala

March 18th, 2017, 15:04

When Poster A first requests then subsequently insists that the Moderator substantiate a comment, and that substantiation can only be in a PM from Poster A to the Moderator, then Poster A has implicitly given permission to the Moderator to reveal that PM. Obviously.

Whether the release of that PM does substantiate the comment is a separate issue, but there is enough justification that the Moderator believes that it does and is responding to Poster A's request.

I expect that there are a lot more whiney PMs from Poster A to the Moderator, does Poster A want us to see them all, if the Moderator can be bothered......

scottish-guy

March 18th, 2017, 15:45

Implicitly Shimplicity.

Sorry, but in my view there is no justification in Admins publishing PMs without explicit permission (such as, in the heat of an argument when a member might dare him to do so)

That also ought to apply in regard to PMs between members. In other words, if I send a PM to member A saying that member B is a cunt, member A is not at liberty to disclose that.

A447 mentions the Fat Cunt and his ability and predilection for "interfering" in the PM's of members:

Anyone with a memory of that time will remember me calling him out on interfering with my mailbox - and the result of that was my being banned and my account deleted. To this day, several years of my posting history have been lost - members might be thinking that blessings can come in disguise I guess!

I found PMs either didn't arrive in my Inbox in the first place or mysteriously disappeared from it, with the contents of said PMs known to him. Of course when I went public on that I was threatened with his famous "libel" actions, arrest at BKK airport, physical assault by hired thugs, and exposure of (what he thought) were my personal details including my name, address, and occupation. In that regard if the guy had a brain he would have been dangerous - but he actually convinced himself that I sold car bumper stickers for a living :lol: and was presumably going to ruin my bumper sticker empire! His ludicrous argument was that although he admitted emptying my PM folders (yes, the Admin can/could do that), he was not "interfering" with my PM's because he (allegedly) could not/did not read them first!! Kinda like saying you didn't sexually assault someone because you only wanked them off and didn't fuck them :D

I also have to say that there are members still on this board who at worst supported that sort of shit at the time and at best turned a blind eye. A447 was not one of them and neither was NIrish.

So, I do sympathise with a447 when he complains that his PM has been published and I don't accept that he implicitly gave permission.

On the other hand I understand anybody's frustration when a member says something you believe can be disproved from something he has written in private.

The owner of the forum ought, however, to be above simply publishing a PM in retaliation. The challenge to the member should be put in a public post e.g. "I think you're lying and I can prove it - can I publish your PM?" Thus "implicitly" becomes "explicitly" and there can be no argument,

Of course ultimately the owner can do any damned thing he wishes - but Surfcrest has been a breath of fresh air since he took over and it would be disappointing if members came to think their PMs could be published on a whim. It undermines one's trust completely, and to this day I'm still reluctant to engage in PMs and only about 3 people on this forum know the least thing about me. Only one member has ever met me (although I did spy Francois behind some cushions in a go go bar :D)

I think publishing a447s PM without explicit permission was ill-judged irrespective of how provoked Surfy might think he was

a447

March 18th, 2017, 15:53

Brad, you have totally missed the point. SG hasn't.He's spot on.

My argument was that Surfcrest should not have made those accusations, precisely because he was unable to substantiate their validity. Why? Because he was not able to divulge the contents of my PM! There was no permission given, "implicit" or otherwise. I was never asked for permission. PM'S are sacrosanct - end of story - and certainly not to be released under any circumstances.

What would happen if a poster made very personal disclosures in a PM? Do you honestly believe the contents should be released based on what is considered implied permission? Are you for real, Brad??

If you can't prove something, don't say it. That was my point.

If you were making accusations in, say, a court of law and when asked for evidence you simply said, "Sorry. I'm not allowed to tell you. " you'd be made a laughing stock.

The same basic principles apply here. They apply in everyday life, although perhaps not in yours.

And you need to stick only to the facts, Brad. Don't speculate. Don't imply. Don't hazard a guess. Don't "expect" anything. Concentrate on the facts at hand. (Although I suspect if you did that, your posts would be of a very limited nature.)

You have no idea how many PM's I've sent. You have no idea of their contents, nor whether they are "whiney" or not. Who knows? We may even have exchanged pleasantries, had a bit of a laugh,.....

And why on earth would you suggest I give permission for my Private Messages to be released? What business are they of yours?

What don't you understand about the word "private"?? Go grab a dictionary and look up the definition.

But I'll tell you what - I'll gladly give permission if you post certain private information that I would like to have about you - let's start with your phone number, address and bank account details.

Fair enough, Brad?

Brad the Impala

March 18th, 2017, 16:50

Oh dear, toys out of the pram time now!

Am I really still the same person that you were sending PMs to a couple of days ago, explaining why you were leaving, and calling me your "mate"! What's changed that so dramatically? I disagreed with you, that's all.

You are currently behaving like a monster of self righteousness over a spat on an internet forum of anonymous handles. Good luck when you challenge Gaybutton over his interpretation of his rules. Half of your posts on this thread would have been censored.

Oh my god, I have just made public part of a PM. Shock horror. The information released will doubtless be fascinating to GCHQ.

scottish-guy

March 18th, 2017, 17:10

Suggesting that Gaybutton might censor someone's posts is hardly a reflection on the poster.

I'm sure that at his funeral he'll open the fucking coffin to express an opinion on the obituary and fire the celebrant

:D

fountainhall

March 18th, 2017, 17:31

I can't recall someone ever divulging the contents of anyone's PM., let alone yours. It's unheard of in chat forums.!
With all respect, I reckon everything has been heard of in chat forums at some time. Without dredging up detail, the content of a pm I sent to a poster on another Board was quickly revealed in a post made by one of his pals. The only problem for me was that it contradicted what I myself had written to the owner in the hope of avoiding any conflict and which he had posted a day or so earlier. It was ages ago and best forgotten - but it happened.

a447

March 18th, 2017, 17:35

Yes, you have "made part of a PM public". That's your shame, not mine.

You said I sent you "PM's." Note you specifically said PM'S, not PM.

Tell me Brad, how many did I send you?

Was it one, or was it more than one? Mm? What are you suggesting? That I sent you multiple PM's? A barrage, perhaps? That's what you want people to believe, isn't it.

Weren't you accusing me recently of having "a tendency to twist the truth to suit yourself in a pretty insincere way."?

Well, there you go Brad. That makes two of us.

We refer to people here in Australia as "mate". Even people we don't know, we refer to in those terms. Obviously, a total stranger can hardly be considered a real friend.

But I suspect you already knew that.

If decrying the divulging of private messages is an example of me "behaving like a monster of self-righteousness " then that's better than being a monster of hypocrisy, don't you think?

Your mentioning of gaybutton is totally irrelevant; this thread is here, not over there.

Don't forget to tell us how many PM's I sent you. Ok?

Brad the Impala

March 18th, 2017, 17:49

Suggesting that Gaybutton might censor someone's posts is hardly a reflection on the poster.

It is ironic that Poster A states that he now prefers to post on gaybutton, although most of his posts challenging the owner here, not just in this thread, would never have been allowed on that site! So he actually has more freedom to post here, as does everyone else, it only being the latter that he objects to.

I have a vested interest. I like this site and the freedom and eccentricities that it brings. I think that we should cut the owner and moderator a little slack for providing it in the first place.

I've disagreed with moderator's decisions before and will do so again, but I appreciate being on a board where I can actually express those points of view.

a447

March 18th, 2017, 18:08

How many PM'S did I send you, Brad??

Come on, own up.

You lied, didn't you.

Oh, and I have never complained that I was unable to express my point of view here. I agree 100% with you.

But what on earth does the freedom to express an opinion have to do with the legitimacy of that opinion?

Brad the Impala

March 18th, 2017, 18:10

Yes, you have "made part of a PM public". That's your shame, not mine.

You said I sent you "PM's." Note you specifically said PM'S, not PM.

Tell me Brad, how many did I send you?

Was it one, or was it more than one? Mm? What are you suggesting? That I sent you multiple PM's? A barrage, perhaps? That's what you want people to believe, isn't it.

You are correct that you only sent me one PM three days ago. The original construct of that sentence referred to the fact that you presumably sent similar emails to others, hence the plural. When I edited the reference to others out of the sentence, I should have reduced the PMs to singular.

So how many other people did you send your "Goodbye" email to? It wasn't enough to make an exit announcement on the forum, you also had to email others with your self justification, and to try to persuade them to leave as well by singing the praises of another forum.

You really think that's leaving quietly?!

cdnmatt

March 18th, 2017, 18:15

Brad, you have totally missed the point. SG hasn't.He's spot on.

My argument was that Surfcrest should not have made those accusations, precisely because he was unable to substantiate their validity. Why? Because he was not able to divulge the contents of my PM! There was no permission given, "implicit" or otherwise. I was never asked for permission. PM'S are sacrosanct - end of story - and certainly not to be released under any circumstances.

Wait.... What?... Really, what?!?!

So let me get this straight. You first make a public accusation towards Surfcrest and SGT in general, knowing full well the accusation is false, because you just wanted to stomp your feet in public, gain attention, or who knows. You did this under the assumption Surfcrest would never divulge details of that private conversation, and instead, would allow you to continue on your tirade of berating him personally and SGT as a whole?

Surfcrest is busy, grows weary and impatient of your childish antics, so to put the whole debate to an immediate end, posts a partial section of that private conversation. You then change the narrative, and begin a tirade about how he posted part of your PM conversation, and have seemingly totally forgot about the original accusation you were originally pissed off about.

Did I get that right? Are you for real?

Oh, and I'm the liar, right? You just blatantly lied I'm assuming with hopes of creating a divide within the membership here, or at the very least to hurt the board.

What a dick.

a447

March 18th, 2017, 18:32

Yes, try to get it straight. Surfcrest made accusations against me, not the other way around.

Great typing, btw. Did you turn the sound up? Lol

cdnmatt

March 18th, 2017, 19:26

Yes, try to get it straight. Surfcrest made accusations against me, not the other way around.
Nn
Great typing, btw. Did you turn the sound up? Lol

Yeah, I got a bunch of those huge Issan sized speakers they use for morlam concerts installed at my house today, so everyone within a 3km radius can hear my screen reader now. It's awesome!

Seriously though, there's loads of blind people on the internet. You should really Google them, drop some e-mails, and berate them while demanding answers to why they're capable of typing the word "Krispies". Don't worry, I'm sure they won't find it offensive at all.

a447

March 18th, 2017, 19:53

I wasn't talking about reading the contents of the screen, I understand how a screen reader works.

I asked you what you were hearing when you typed that gobbledygook sentence and why you didn't realise it was not making any sense.

I mean, what use is software like that?

And how come other words in your post were typed perfectly?? If the software is so obviously faulty, all of the words would consist of random letters wouldn't they?

I have no doubt whatsoever that blind people can type as well as a sighted person.

It's just that you have not been able to explain how the gobbledygook got past you. With the technology available these days for blind people, it just would not happen.

Perhaps you were listening to a Morlam concert at the time on those huge Isaan size speakers and they drowned out the sound of the keyboard.

Why don't you ask Brad to help you find an explanation? He's good at twisting the truth to suit the situation.

Just don't ask him about anything to do with numbers. He's not so good at maths.

Brad the Impala

March 18th, 2017, 23:19

So how many other people did you send your "Goodbye" email to? It wasn't enough to make an exit announcement on the forum, you also had to email others with your self justification, and to try to persuade them to leave as well by singing the praises of another forum.

You haven't answered this question.

a447

March 18th, 2017, 23:27

I should have reduced the PM'S to singular

That's right. But you deliberately decided not to.

And so you were caught lying.

Or should I say "twisting the truth to suit yourself in a pretty insincere way "? Lol

(Don't you just wish you hadn't made that comment? Damn!)

As to who I sent PMs to (they weren't emails; please do try to keep up, Brad), again, that's none of your business. You're a very nosey prick, aren't you.

But if you really want to know, why don't you ask them to identify themselves? Just for you?

Stand back, Brad. There's going to be a veritable flood!

Lol

Keep this up, Brad. I'm having a great time!

Impulse

March 18th, 2017, 23:32

My first post in a couple of years. Well I think my first post two years ago was deleted so I gave up posting here.

447 has great content in his post and i understand his displeasure of his private message being made public. But then again It's Surfcrest board so he can do what he wants.

Brad the Impala

March 18th, 2017, 23:53

You haven't answered this question.

Is the reason that you won't answer, that you can hardly claim, as you have, that your intention was to leave quietly, when in addition to your public announcement of your departure, you were also privately contacting multiple posters to denigrate the owner/moderators here.

You were trying to achieve the moral high ground as you flounced out weren't you?

a447

March 18th, 2017, 23:57

Oops! I forgot to reply to this part of Brad's post.

try to persuade them to leave as well by singing the praises of another forum.

You're slipping, Brad. Come on! Pay attention!

Please go to post #120 on page 12. Go to line 3 in paragraph 1.

(Phew! That's a lot of numbers. Do you think you can cope, given your proven inability to count? Send a PM to Matt and ask for help).

You see? It's all been said before! By me, no less! Singing at the top of my voice!

Lol

I've just noticed yet another post. Great! Keep it up.

So now you are accusing me of "denigrating" the owner/moderators! Again, you have used the plural, not the singular. That would be Surfcrest and Moses, right? So yet again, you have demonstrated that you can't count.

Perhaps you "should have reduced the number of people to singular." You know, like you should have reduced the number of PMS you reckon I had sent you.

Look, why don't you just quote from my PM the part where I allegedly 'denigrated' them?

Jesus, you are so stupid! Do you think I no longer have the PM in my Sent Items?

Gawd! What next? I can hardly wait for your next accusation.

Come on! Let me hear it!

GWMinUS

March 19th, 2017, 00:11

So sad to see the Forum going up in Flames.
Just like the old days when each poster had to reply with more and more derisive comments.
We need to go back to "Flame-On" and "Flame-Off" in the subject line of a post...
I do not post often because I seldom get to Thailand any longer. But I do still enjoy reading about things there and the exploits of you guys who do visit. A447's reports will be missed.
Enough said!!

Surfcrest

March 19th, 2017, 04:13

Yes, try to get it straight. Surfcrest made accusations against me, not the other way around.

Yes, I accused you of trying to strong arm me with priviledge by the number of posts you made to delete a post made by Frequent, which turned out to be entierly true. You have subsequently accused other members of lies in this same thread, even though...so far, you're the only one with these alternative facts?

Where haven't I been truthful with you anywhere in this thread or my replies to you?

The more you say the more ridiculous you appear. I'm surprised you're still here, so many posts after you threatened you wouldn't be,

Surfcrest

Brad the Impala

March 19th, 2017, 04:24

Look, why don't you just quote from my PM the part where I allegedly 'denigrated' them?

The part? Oh I think it permeated the whole post. Can you confirm that you are happy for me to share the whole "Farewell" PM?

Although you still don't seem to be willing to say how many posters you sent it to, in your Pied Piper attempt to lead others to your promised land(aka leaving quietly!).

Perhaps you could then leave, being careful not to slam the door on the way out, isn't that how you described your departure? ;):D

frequent

March 19th, 2017, 05:55

The part? Oh I think it permeated the whole post. Can you confirm that you are happy for me to share the whole "Farewell" PM?

Although you still don't seem to be willing to say how many posters you sent it to, in your Pied Piper attempt to lead others to your promised land(aka leaving quietly!).

Perhaps you could then leave, being careful not to slam the door on the way out, isn't that how you described your departure? ;):D

And you were such pals once upon a time :D

frequent

March 19th, 2017, 06:09

a447 is leaving?!?!?!? Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.....

As you may know, psychiatrists often recommend autobiographical writing as a form of therapy - I regard a447's pornographic posts in that light.

frequent

March 19th, 2017, 08:36

For the record I sent a447 a PM a couple of hours ago and he has kindly replied. In keeping with my long-standing practice of not wasting my time, I have deleted his reply unread

fountainhall

March 19th, 2017, 09:03

For the record I sent a447 a PM a couple of hours ago and he has kindly replied. In keeping with my long-standing practice of not wasting my time, I have deleted his reply unread
Such a busy bee is frequent. Or at least so he makes us think. In fact he's just lazy - as evidenced in the antibiotics thread.

a447

March 19th, 2017, 10:19

Such a busy bee is frequent. Or at least so he makes us think. In fact he's just lazy - as evidenced in the antibiotics thread.

It's true; he did send me a PM. And his post suggests he did indeed read my reply.

Of course I won't divulge the contents - but nice try nevertheless -except to say that after my reply he certainly won't send me another one.

Lol

frequent

March 19th, 2017, 10:41

It's true; he did send me a PM. And his post suggests he did indeed read my reply.

Of course I won't divulge the contents - but nice try nevertheless -except to say that after my reply he certainly won't send me another one.

Lol

You have a PM. LOL.

a447

March 19th, 2017, 10:44

Now, back to Brad.

Oh I think it permeated the whole post.

So you THINK it PERMEATED.

That's your reply for my request for specific proof of your accusation? You mean, that's it?

Brad, you are priceless.

You still have no concept of what a Private Message is. It's exactly that - nothing more, nothing less. It's private. There's a principle here. It would be nice to maintain it.

Unfortunately, some people are unprincipled.

But I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll quote from my PM and you can say if my quotes are accurate. That way we can see who is lying whilst going someway to protect the integrity of the concept of Private Messages. So from my PM, whose actual content added up to around 8 complete lines :

Denigrating the owner/ moderators

I've had a run in with Surfcrest

Surfcrest supported Kommie and let his post remain

Singing the Praises of another forum and persuading others to leave

Gaythailand has had a new lease on life since a dramatic increase of new members. It has really taken off.

No mention of Moses, if that's the other person you say I "denigrated."

No begging, asking, suggesting, etc others to leave.

And wow, that is some "praise of another forum!" That will have members rushing for the door! Lol

So, you lied, yet again!

Nothing to see here. Move on. It's all been said before by me in the open forum.

But I loved your party analogy. Do you mind if I borrow it?

I'm about to go to a party across the road (one of the house rules was 'No pissing on the food'. I reported to the host that someone was doing that but he didn't do anything about it) and am talking to a bunch of guys who have just been kicked out by the host. Apparently, they have been pretending to be someone else and the host got upset. Actually, I don't blame him.

Mmm. What's that foul stench? Oh, it's the guy who just pushed past me and went back to the party. He looks like he's on a mission. He's having a chat with the host, who is looking a bit pale.

Hang on! Isn't that the same guy who was just caught trying to burn the house down? Good Lord, that's the second time tonight! Lucky for the host that he was stopped in time.

He's holding what appears to be a can of petrol and a lighter. Don't tell me he's threatening to do it again!

WTF? He's even threatening to alert the newspapers!

That guy is dangerous. I'd be extra careful if I were the host. I certainly wouldn't do anything to antagonise him.

It could mean the end of the parties.

Now to Surfcrest. (This is getting exhausting!)

I have already posted the list of false accusations you made against me. How many times do i need to post them? Both my PMs have been posted here and both show you lied about their contents. All you csn do is try to save face by attemoting to put your own spin on them and read into them things that do not exist; i.e. you are reduced to interpreting them.

You'd make a great politician, Surfcrest!

fountainhall

March 19th, 2017, 11:36

May I make a suggestion.

Let's just agree that whereas PMs are supposed to be just that, it will never be so. Like it or not, mankind is a sociable animal. We talk to each other. We are not bound by the official secrets act (at least most if us aren't - I was advised on this Board by Jellybean who knows about these things some months ago that having signed the aforesaid UK act at the age of 24, it still applies even though I quit the job 16 months later!! - but then that refers only to Her Majesty's secrets and those of her government). In the course of general conversation, the more so in our cups, it is not unusual for us to let slip what perhaps should not be said. So the content of PMs may have a habit of getting out.

Not quite the same as being posted on a thread for all to see, I grant you. But then the whisper campaign starts. "You mean you haven't heard about ____?" The end result is that the content of PMs can filter through. When it then becomes an open "I said . . ." "Oh no you didn't, I said . . ." it then becomes somewhat ridiculous to talk about privacy, the more so if it gets so detailed most other posters haven't a clue what is being said of whom to whom and by whom!

And as if that were not enough, none of us have perfect memories and in the heat of the moment can misinterpret part of what is being written.

The point of all this is a respectful suggestion to a447 with whom I share part of a background in common to quit the badgering of Surfcrest. I hope you don't depart. Others post on 2 or 3 Boards. Surfcrest rescued this Board when it seemed extinction was a near certainty. He is a busy businessman with, I expect, not enough time to moderate and put up with all the issues members throw at him.

Thanks to Moses taking a share in the site, we now have a much better-looking site and a constant link to all the gorgeous guides on his Siam Roads. But most of us are well aware that Moses' native language is not English - and I'm sure he'll agree that many of the subtleties of English are lost on him. So in the absence of moderators, we have to accept that it is our job as members to try and resolve issues. Should we have a moderator? I think so, but I am aware that most almost certainly don't. Remember gaythailand before Michael sold it when the heavy hands of gaybutton and z909 along with the much more liberal Michael ruled the roost?

Besides, who on earth would take on the job of moderator here? It would be a ghastly and time-consuming task that would no doubt satisfy very few. I've been in a few ding-dongs in my time and they are rarely satisfying. Could we perhaps now agree that this thread quickly dies without winners and losers - and that in future none of us relies on PMs as being as confidential as perhaps we feel they should be.

Oh, and by the way, anyone vote for MFAS as moderator?????

a447

March 19th, 2017, 15:09

I tend to disagree with you on the importance of privacy - it should be maintained at all costs. That's why PM function exists, not only here but on chat sites in general.

Apart from that, I agree with all your other points.

After my OP, I thought that was it. But as a consequence of another post in the thread my two PM'S were posted here. From then on, I had nothing more to add. Everything was in the PM'S.

Unfortunately, Brad decided to get involved. Sure, I could have ignored him, especially as my PM to him didn't contain anything I hadn't already posted on the forum.

But you know me. If challenged, I will defend myself. If someone asks me a question, they will always get an answer. I won't let anyone tell lies about me. I expect them to produce some strong evidence.

Evidence can only be used to verify the truth; it can't be used to verify lies.

You know my background, fountainhall. You would be aware more than anyone else how much of a stranger I would have been in my life to aggressive, negative and mindless nastiness. I have had to learn late in life how to defend myself. And defend myself I will.

I think Surfcrest and I have said what we wanted to. We have made our points. If Surfcrest has nothing more to add here, I will take your advice and leave it at that.

Thanks for taking the time to write that post.

Oh, and by the way, anyone vote for MFAS as moderator?????

No, but I'm sure many would vote for you.

cdnmatt

March 19th, 2017, 15:23

So now you're going to try to claim the moral high ground, when you're the one who caused this mess due to your lies, scaring off god knows how many new members? I hope nobody takes you seriously.

Manforallseasons

March 19th, 2017, 15:37

For fuck sakes...

I guess I'm with you a447. I'm out of here too. Although I won't do the same as you, and cause a shit storm out of it.

???

scottish-guy

March 19th, 2017, 16:19

MFAS, you can't possibly leave.

Your clients surely demand maximum exposure for their eateries in return for all the free meals you must get.

:D

Now, do you (or anybody else) have any information about the Tarntawan hotel? I heard something about it has changed management??

Brad the Impala

March 19th, 2017, 16:23

More farewell posts than Frank Sinatra had concerts.

Dear lord, do you think that you are some monarch abdicating your throne? You are not even leaving the country!

You're just going to stop posting here, and anyone who wanted to know why, and who hadn't already received one of your self serving PMs, could have easily contacted you, since despite spewing your accusations all over the board you are
not handing back the key so I can continue to exchange PM's with others.

What an ability to make so much drama out of such a little event.

Manforallseasons

March 19th, 2017, 16:29

Hmmm,

Manforallseasons

March 19th, 2017, 16:52

Oh, and by the way, anyone vote for MFAS as moderator?????

Definatley a thankless job though I would not tolerate Whiners.....and would limit posts to no more than 3 paragraphs! If it can't be said in 3 paragraphs its not worth saying let alone reading.

a447

March 19th, 2017, 17:24

Oh dear, Brad, Have you just realised I wasn't leaving the board entirely?

Please try to keep up! That fact was mentioned 115 posts ago!

Now you're really scraping the bottom of the barrel so you can continue posting on 'such a little event".

Do you often concern yourself so much with 'little events'? I mean, you went back and read through 12 pages - that's 115 posts! - and that's all you could find? What a waste of effort for something so "little."

Lol

You missed my challenge to you in post #229. It was your chance to prove you were not telling lies. A challenge too difficult you?

No need to go back 12 pages for a reason to post. Just go back 1 page!

From now on, if you want a reply to a post from me, you'll need to lift your game.

arsenal

March 19th, 2017, 19:04

No one is leaving. A447 'resignation letter' had more get out clauses than a palm reader and has had more comenacks than Liza Minelli. MFAS has always come and gone and come and gone etc etc. And let's give up the scaring away of potential new members. It always sounds trite, making them sound like baby squirrels.

fountainhall

March 19th, 2017, 19:07

MFAS, you can't possibly leave.

Your clients surely demand maximum exposure for their eateries in return for all the free meals you must get.

:D
Sorry, Scottish. As has been established, it's arsenal that gets all the freebies and cash for his reviews. Makes a good living out of it, apparently.

Brad the Impala

March 19th, 2017, 19:08

I didn't even join this discussion about Poster A's departure until post #174, by which time all kinds of accusations and abuse had been thrown against the owner of the forum, and I thought my post was relatively innocuous!

As "quiet" departures go, this has certainly been pretty raucous. Why not just stop posting if that's what you want to do.

It has just ratcheted up continually since then, for which I take my share of the responsibility, in a way that is probably tedious for everyone, so I am dropping this now, with one final comment.

Whatever the rights and wrongs of who did what to whom, and was it in the library with the candlestick, neither of the owner/moderators at the other gay thailand forums, or the predecessors here, would have tolerated the level of personal abuse that has been directed against Surfcrest, and had I been in his position, I know that I wouldn't have stood for it!

For that he deserves respect, and he deserves thanks for keeping this forum running.