"Good News for the Thai GLBT community"; report on

[Gaypattayan]

Paul Causey, 2003 co-chairman of the Bangkok Pride Coalition, who attended the Annual General Meeting of Bangkok Pride Coalition Saturday in Bangkok, has submitted this report to www.fridae.com (http://www.fridae.com) in Singapore, and has authoritzed me to post it also. It details a major change in the organizational structure of Bangkok Pride, and hopefully will assure greater Thai involvement. Limited Thai involvement became a serious concern in 2005, as most of the activities in 2006 were held in, or sponsored primarily by, the gay businesses in Silom Soi 4, Bangkok.

Paul reports:

Good news for the Thai GLBT community and annual Bangkok Pride events!

The Bangkok Pride Coalition, producers of the Bangkok Pride annual events, made some bold changes to the governance structure at the annual general meeting held on Saturday, 21 January, in Bangkok. The community representatives present (over 30 from Thai and expat businesses, community groups as well as interested individuals) decided to change from an тАЬofficer-drivenтАЭ organization that was largely dominated by expat gay business people (тАЬfarangтАЭ as they are know in Thailand) to a much more Thai-style, committee of initiators.

The new тАЬboard of directors/ initiatorsтАЭ, under the leadership of Khun Nikorn Athit, past Pride co-chair and current Executive Director of Bangkok Rainbow Organization, will see that the process of celebrating тАЬgayтАЭ pride in Bangkok continues in a distinctly Thai way. The meeting ended with a lot of excitement over that fact that at last, Bangkok Pride will become a тАЬThai GLBTтАЭ event тАУ by and for the Thai community with support and assistance from, but not domination by, the local expat тАЬfarangтАЭ community.

For information about Bangkok Pride, go to http://www.bangkokpride.org. тАУsubmitted by Paul Causey, co-chairman, Bangkok Pride, 2003

G.P.

I hope that this year more Thais who are neither straight bar boys or katoeys will be seen participating.

[TrongpaiExpat]

It details a major change in the organizational structure


committee of initiators.


I don't know if all that MBA language is what is needed, but I wish them well. Pride 2005 was a sad failure. The owner of the Balcony stated on this forum that the Thai authorities prohibited the Thai boy bars from participating in the parade, so am I to assume that was just some convenient excuse made up by the bar owners or are there deeper problems?

It was clear that the Farang soi 4 business were holding the event together with bailing wire and I have to tip my hat to the lot for hanging in.

Perhaps they rightly didn't want it to become Male Sex Workers' Pride 2005 instead of Gay Pride 2005. Seriously, previous events have probably scared more "normal" Thai gays back into the closet than promoting pride.