I only log-in here to check if there is any news about Pattaya , new bars etc, and other information .
The rest is focused on a few members arguing about silly things . Yes, this is a stoneage board and will probably die on its own sooner or later.
I only log-in here to check if there is any news about Pattaya , new bars etc, and other information .
The rest is focused on a few members arguing about silly things . Yes, this is a stoneage board and will probably die on its own sooner or later.
Given that you've made THREE HUNDRED AND SIXTY posts, reasonable people would assume you find this forum at least somewhat interesting.
I believe Loke is more at home in the sanctuary where the "Fist" reigns; you can even get recipes there!
"In the land of the blind the one eyed man is king"
Out of curiosity, I checked the posting list on the members site. Seems there are approx. 790 actual members of which 26 have made more than 1,000 posts and a further 141 have made more than 100 posts. (This excludes 6 deceased members but includes the largest poster of all - Beachlover with over 5,000!) Given that many of the remainder made less than 10 posts and many have not posted for over a year, the posting membership is somewhere around 167.Originally Posted by scottish-guy
Much more worrying for the future, I suggest, if that roughly half the membership joined 5 or less years ago. Of these, four have made more than 1,000 posts ( believe two had returned after an absence) and only about 23 more than 100. The remainder are mostly either in single digits or have made no posts.
Assuming the figures on the membership page are accurate, the site is definitely being carried by long-term posters. For whatever reason, the vast majority of those who joined since January 2011 are not finding reasons to post. That surely is not a good omen for the future.
Nothing to do with the actual topic of this thread [pardon me] but does anyone on this board have any clue what happened to Beachlover.
His last post was almost two years ago now [March 1, 2014]. This quote below was his last post; short and sweet -- not normally Beachlover's MO, he was a mouthy bugger -- and certainly not a post containing any drama. A tiny bit of funny insult to Brisbane but not enough to send him off a cliff.
Mate, I think you ARE one of the peasants in your own country... hahahahaha.
Shirley someone has a clue to this minor mystery.
Just another reason why I love living in Thailand
No. I wasn't. :P
Is the join date accurate? I think I've been posting here longer than the stats say. I for one hope this board stays around, even though I don't post much anymore.
After he was banned from gaythailand.com, one member (not me) wrote that he had reappeared under the name Snapshot. Certainly the posts were very much in the BL mould, two being from Aug 2012 and Jan 2013 -
what I see is a bunch of 60yo+ farangs obsessing and fretting over a dynamic young guy who gets their hearts racing. :P- Soon after, Snapshot disappeared from that Board.One thing I'm finding more and more spending more time in the higher end 5-star hotels (as opposed to the lower end of the 5 star range) is they tend to give you the minibar for free, or at least soft drinks and beers. I think it's cool!
I don't get through much, but it's nice to know it's there. And cool to offer friends a drink when they visit.
The other thing I'm liking more often is having a Nespresso machine in my room. I love that! The next best thing is having a butler service with free tea/coffee any time.
In my opinion, the demographic coming to Thailand has changed and we haven't caught up. The older guys that are coming to Thailand to enjoy the fruits of the commercial industry are in decline. As Thailand modernizes, fewer Thais are participating in the commercial industry and more Thais through social media are aware of that aspect of their country's business and the negative attitudes associated with it. Someone may have been able to leave their village, be a barboy and not be found out...but I suspect that's not so easy anymore, hence the increase in foreigners from neighbouring countries in the business, replacing the Thais.
When I first came to Thailand in the early nineties, most of the people I met here and became friends with were American. When I first bought into the Jomtiem Complex, most of the residents in my building were Italian. Over the years, through the political events that have happened...the Americans coming to Thailand have whittled away. I still have the same American friends in Thailand, but they are getting on in years now and are probably enjoying the sun and the sand more so than the boys anymore...so the topics here aren't always relevant. Most of the Italians in my building have been replaced by straight Scandanavians and there is a sharp increase in Thais owning AND staying here. The Gay beach isn't as gay as it once was and so the draw as a gay beach destination isn't really there anymore...especially with the amount of pollution in the water. Dontang Beach was a wild and crazy place...once upon a time! So was Pattaya...so was Thailand.
But it's not all doom and gloom...just the sunset of one era and the beginning of another. People still travel to Thailand and because of their income status, gay men love to travel and tend to spend quite a bit of money when they do. While us Canadians and Australians are struggling with a low dollar, the gay men with two incomes are still able to break through the cost barrier and travel, especially in pairs.
I live down in Vancouver's very gay neighbourhood, it's the place to live, not just because it's the most beautiful part of the City where all the beaches are, but because us gay people like to stick together. If it isn't hanging out together, eating in restaurants and sharing some drinks in the bars it's hanging out nearby to catch a glimpse of who's hot, or who's being towed around these days by who's hot. The need will always be there for us to be together because that's where the sex is and you never want to be far from the watering hole. (no pun intended...lol)
So gay men are traveling, they are traveling to Thailand...but this new generation of men coming may not be coming for the commercial scene. Probably about 9 out of 10 new members that take the time to register, have a look around...and we never see them again. The front page articles that we publish here promote all aspects of Thai tourism and attract interest, but it's not always interest that has them staying. It doesn't help that some of the front page widgets are not functioning anymore, giving the initial impression that the site isn't sharp and professional...as is expected these days with the amount of competition for people's attention. There are probably visitors that never even make it to the forum or who leave through exit links before exploring the whole site. The traffic on the Board is very different than the front end. It's two separate groups of readers and so the key is to capture that interest and to retain it.
Some of the conversations here have been about Forum reorganization. I've had several suggestions on Forum reorganization and I've done that many times...even recently by moving the Flaming Room, The Sunday Funnies and Thailand Resources out to the Shop. All of this is easy, but while doing one thing makes someone happy...it will be sure to make another unhappy. If you have something you want me to adjust, I can. The reality though is that I have bigger things to fix and I've never been here so many hours of the day lately...working towards that. I am starting to make some good progress finally on some of the technical things I'm working on.
I've had some good discussions with some members that have expressed interest in purchasing the site. As I said when I first started this thread, I wanted to put the idea out there for people to give some honest thought towards. I am going to continue working on improving the site, whether or not a sale happens in the near future or not. The site does indeed have a purpose, especially as world population grows, the one in ten factor applies and Thailand continues as a popular destination for tourists and expats in the world. If this site is going to continue to be meaningful in the landscape of Thailand and being Gay in Thailand...it needs to evolve with the demographic and that will continue to be the direction I take the site. My first priority is to reduce the monthly costs, updating the software and reintegrating the information better to make it more one site, than two ugly Siamese twins. :-B
Surfcrest
Haven't you heard? He is all washed up. Somewhere in Australia I believe.
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