I think Tobi is right regarding travel information - it's accessible from lots of sources now, covers all venues, and you can usually find something bang up to date. No need to consult forums for this.
The main thing that SGT has going for it a sense of camaraderie - even if it sometimes manifests itself as bickering and bitching - I'd be sorry to lose that
As for me after living in Thailand for many years the thrill is gone, I've been there done that so I am not interested in a board that talks about ashtrays in a Go Go things are soooo different here then they were that when I read travel reports My reaction is "you should have known it when I first came. The natural response is why do you stay here simple It is still dam cheap to live, have a nice social life, and never see a winter. All I expect from a board is banter and somewhat intelligent exchanges. I've enjoyed my short return to SGT and I hope nothing much changes because the fist board is stifling, the cheesecake board is pathetic and gaythailand is like a coffee table surrounded by the same 4 people.
"In the land of the blind the one eyed man is king"
I agree with a lot of what you say. Maybe I missed it, but context on your comments would help if we knew your home country? Although I use Trip Advisor and agree there are now many comments on Gay Establishments , I find the site can be very unreliable since they allow posts with no way of verifying their personal knowledge. This is especially true in regard to Hotels where anyone can post a review whether they actually stayed there or not. I find Booking.com reviews much more valuable because you have to paid and checked out in order to post a review.Originally Posted by Tobi
I disagree. It's more that in the last few years specialised sites have become much more inclusive and now cover topics and places of interest to the lgbt community. You can find reviews for gay bars and short time hotels on Trip Advisor. Likewise, if I want travel info. flight comparisons, reward schemes or "best" airlines, then I'll go to a site that focuses specifically on that. There's also the general lgbt travel review sites like Gay Cities.
From my own limited experience, the visible sex industry worldwide appears to be undergoing a sea change, contracting to become more of a tourist attraction than anything else, just something a bit naughty to be visited once during a fortnight's holiday. There's also the cost, what with entrance fees, drinks, off fees and tips, I noticed the total price in Bangkok easily reaches $100, more if you're paying for short time accommodation as well. The hookup apps not only provide better value, you also don't have to wait for a noisy smokey bar to open. I also imagine that for many people the pricing nowadays means there's less incentive to travel half-way-around-the-world when $100 will buy you an hour-or-two a lot closer to home.
I guess these changes means there's less to "discuss" on a board such as this.
I enjoyed my time in Thailand, and will returning for a short visit shortly. However, I didn't find anything unique that made me feel I'd want to become a regular visitor, let alone live there. I felt I'd probably missed that vibe by 20 years or more.
Sorry!
Of course I have eliminated Hotels completely in my travel on any trips of 2 days or more. I find I get far more value out of VRBO and Airbnb. Better places at less money and usually much more helpful owners then Hotel personnel.
The value of recommendations on a small membership board , you can find which members actually give worthwhile information and once you have taken advantage of that info you can seek comments from the same member .
I'm based in the UK.
I agree about sites that verify hotel stays, and no doubt there are a lot of fake reviews on Trip Advisor, but in truth they're pretty easy to weed out. If someone has only posted one review that's the red flag in my book. I also find what gets-the-goat and a 1-star review from a lone-female traveller may well be a major plus to me!
I've benefitted from forums such as Sawatdeenetwork but I also appreciate the up-to-the-minute info. on other specialist sites too. I also think forums are not the easiest format to glean info. from especially where threads meander across topics or get derailed entirely. The younger generation especially will expect an instant answer from a search, not having to sift through a lot of often irrelevant dross to find those few nuggets of gold.
I remember visiting San Francisco back in the 1970s and like Mary Ann in Tales, thinking "wow, yes I could live here". I visited again a few years ago and couldn't wait to leave, the place and vibe had changed beyond all recognition. I feel the same way about London. I undoubtedly missed the boat with Thailand. Please don't get me wrong, it's definitely a fantastic place to visit, I loved Chiang Mai, but for me "scene-wise" nothing currently beats a Sunday afternoon shopping expedition to Farme beach in Ipanema.
After a long career that entailed much globetrotting I limit my air travel to 3.5 hours one way direct, and I only stay where others I know and respect their opinion as for restaurants Trip advisor is useless how many "wonderful " Fabulous, The best place" can people write? After going to a few "Wonderful " eateries posted on trip advisor I don't bother looking at it anymore.
"In the land of the blind the one eyed man is king"
Agree with you Scotty about camaraderie, it would be a loss.
Two things:
Firstly, living in Thailand, I'm well familiar with Thailand's criminal defamation laws. "Telling others how he really was" can actually constitute a crime in Thailand, unlike in many (most?) other countries. So in that case, Neal did unfortunately have leverage, and he benefited from the fact that Thai law protects even crooks against a loss of face.
Secondly, I might not fully appreciate how evil he was, but he'd have had a hard time trying it on with me. I wouldn't have given him any legitimate grounds as described above, obviously, and whatever baseless threats he might have issued wouldn't have impressed me much.
It's a bit like with the famous jet ski scam. It works well on tourists who don't know how things work in Thailand, and you cannot really blame the victims for feeling intimidated. But I wouldn't exactly call the perps criminal masterminds either.
Yes, grandpa, I know it used to be more fun 30 years ago...
Ah well Lego, it must be great to know everything.
Unfortunately I'm only 99% of the way there.
Fair point, and one I had overlooked. Yet, does it not merely reinforce the point I was making? Surfcrest has done a great job, but what I wonder is the benefit in this day and age to any new owner of ploughing cash into a Board, supervising and moderating it, spending more cash updating its technology from time to time etc. when the number of active posters interested in being members of what is a club/fraternity call-it-what-you-will is, let's be honest, minuscule. Obtaining cash advertising for a site that has only a few dozen posers is surely impossible, unless it's a case of friends of friends. And without advertising, surely the cash and time outlay is only of interest to someone with a very personal interest in keeping the site up and running?
That said, a board focussing on all things gay in Thailand really ought to have a much, much larger market. No-one yet seems to know how to achieve that!
I have no idea whether or not this would work, but personally, I'd say turn it into more of a high-quality dating site focused on Farang-Thai relationships (and Thai-Thai of course). Folks like Grindr and Hornet already have the hook-up scene taken care of, so concentrate on something a little higher quality, more involved, with a good sense of community. SGT has lots of English speaking gay guys who love cute Thai guys, and there's still a good number of Thai guys looking or Mr. Right Farang.
Revamp the forum, but also restructure everything so the forum is only one aspect of the site, instead of the entire site itself. Add a bunch of social media bells & whistles -- online chat, ability to follow people, each user has their own timeline they can post to, mobile apps to allow things like instantly posting images you've taken with your cell phone with one button, etc. Allow more extensive profiles with full stats, journal / blog, photos, etc. Maybe allow people to post events, and ask for RSVPs. Then obvously, multiple Thai language sections as well.
Attracting people may not to be too difficult, depending on your moral compass. Just write a few bots to scrape all the profiles off Gindr, Hornet, and GR, then spam them to let them know about the site. "Find the farang / Thai of your dreams" type of thing. If the site took off, income for the new owner would be an non-issue, as you'd probably have tons of dating sponsors lining up to advertise on your site.
Problem with this is it's a massive project, plus a complete gamble, and one of those projects that could easily suck the soul right out of you. Once the initial revamp is done, you could easily get stuck in a downward spiral because you're adamant on making it work, so continue devoting time and resources to at. At the end, it could be all for nothing. On the flip side, if done properly, it could also turn into a very vibrant community that produces good income.
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