Aw they just don't make movies like that anymore. I would normally have chef rustle us up something, but I might give him the day off so beware ! :-)
Aw they just don't make movies like that anymore. I would normally have chef rustle us up something, but I might give him the day off so beware ! :-)
Where would the revenue come from? There's no ads on this site. He goes into his own personal pocket to keep this board running, and for that, we should all be grateful. It's unsustainable though.Originally Posted by Dalewood
He's also spending far more than he needs to. This board could cost around $10/month to run, and I think he's spending around $250/month to keep it online. Up to him
This phpBB software that the Board, here in the back of the site, runs on is unforgiving in it's limits. The WP front end is much more modern in it's capabilities. but doesn't marry well with the phpBB and requires a lot more expertise in the management of both software platforms to keep them integrated with each other. Additionally how media is managed between the two platforms creates redundancies with the amount of files we need to store and managing the storage locations and file libraries, so that these files continue to work (ie. the wallpaper in Smiles" signature).
A few years back I bought vBulletin software for the site that was described to me as a lot more modern for Forums and Message Boards that would address many, if not most of our long standing issues with this site and it's limits. By moving the site from two platforms to one should allow me to shrink the overall disc space the site uses, so that I can move it over to a cheaper server arrangement. I'll also be able to cut the WP portion of the site off and save the monthly fee on that. I'm working on moving us to vBulletin 5 in the near future, which is why I posted the Sawatdee Network Update thread as an announcement.
I'm hopeful that these changes will make the site more manageable for me from a time perspective. more cost effective and more enjoyable for you the user by addressing the issues we've had (viewing the site) and by expanding the functionality of the site for you the membership.
If the site with it's new look and sleek framework becomes more attractive for someone to manage after me, that would be great. I'm going to continue discussions with the one interested party remaining, if he is still interested in taking over the site. If that doesn't pan out then we'll work on making the new site on vBulletin software great, more interactive for you and within the Web to capture and retain the new traffic coming to Thailand.
Surfcrest
Completely agree. Not just social media but even the old TV. I remember going to some villages back 15 years ago, most people lived in wooden shacks with barely a window or electricity let alone TV. Go to the same places now and its modern houses with windows, indoor bathrooms, Satellite TV. A/C and a pick up or two parked outside.
Times have changed, but some of the old die hard sex-pats get quite upset when you point this out.....
Chiang Mai Connoisseur - [url=http://www.gayinchiangmai.com/News/]www.gayinchiangmai.com[/url] and [url=http://www.bontong.com/]www.bontong.com[/url]
I recall spending a few days up in Mai Sai back in the early nineties (I was thirty Smiles...LOL) when there was still gunfire to be heard near the border. There was nothing there back then but paths through the woods and now it's a bustling dusty little border town with big paved roads and all.
Fortunately, the 1 in 10 rule definitely applies in Thailand...maybe leaning more to 2 and if your gaydar is working okay...you should still probably find someone, no matter what corner of the country you're in.
Surfcrest
One simply has to keep up with the times. Entertainment is still easily available, only its moved onto the online platform and I dare say its actually still very very affordable. Sure the peasants no longer live in mud huts but there are more of them thanks to modern medicine and they all want modern shiny objects which can only be obtained via cold hard cash...so onto line, gayromeo, grindr they go.
Sure I do prefer to go to an old style bar where the boys flock around you, treat you like royalty and you get to play/grope several before making a choice, but these establishments are no longer what they used to be as lots of the good stuff is online.
Haven't checked here for a few weeks and find this surprising topic, not really, was mentioned earlier as planned, just not this fast.
It really is a shame that there is nobody out there who actually has the skills and business sense to make something like this work.
That includes the other 2-3 gay Thai forums, just as hopeless.
Somebody mentioned the Singapore website, which I know and in the past sometimes posted on as a guest, which I think is a great feature.
Moderating a forum is done to members if needed, why not guests also. It breaks an extra level which some do not want to take.
Then if I remember correctly, as a new member, your post has to be approved, which can be hours up to a day with 1 moderator.
As I mentioned before and the owner acknowledges, this site is out of date.
My opinion is (not that anybody cares) it is out of date, because new members are not welcomed. View any topic, all gets back to a few hardcore longterm "gay" members, who fight together over about just everything.
Well this is my foolish attempt to get this topic back on track, sorry, I'm a lost cause, always hopeful.
Anyway best to the current and future owner. #-o
PS. I just saw I can not reply to the other topic, it is locked.
I know for a fact my email will not be valid anymore, because for any social media I always use an onetime email address. In this case hushmail, but the free option, that stays valid for 3 weeks. This email address is long deleted in their system, so I guess I will just have to signup as oldfarang2 then or something when the time comes.
[B][COLOR=#0000ff][SIZE=3]Life has no remote.[/SIZE][/COLOR] [COLOR=#ff0000][SIZE=3]Get up and change it yourself.[/SIZE][/COLOR][/B]
I mentioned the Singapore site. I dip in occasionally. Once you sift through the threads/posts geared specifically to the present day's young/very young generation, there are usually some nuggets. I have found more there regarding useful gay travel information about much of the region than on any other Board.
But I disagree about guests. Again from my limited reading, it is the guests who provide most of the troll posts there and some guests' personal attacks seem to border on actual libe!! That's not a result of lack of moderators because they seem to have at least 6. It just seems to be a more open Board policy. But that seems to contradict the policy which states upfront - "BlowingWind Board Without An Attitude. A forum for the mature Singapore GAY man." I suppose it is just inevitable that many of the postings pay no attention to the description "mature".
What I do find extraordinary, though, is the latitude given to that Board by the Singapore government and its censors. There have certainly been threads and comments which could never appear in, say, The Straits Times.
The site is hosted by a company in Chennai, India from the looks of things. The Signapore government can't touch it. I guess they could politely request the hosting company takes the site offline, but not much else, and good chance the hosting company would just say, "we like having our monthly invoice paid, so no, we're not taking it down".
I guess they could add it to their firewall for Singapore residents, but that's about it. And if the average membership is as young as you say, then they probably all know how to get around a firewall.
Just for clarification, that site is openly accessible in Singapore - and everywhere else, even mainland China.
I mentioned it merely because it is a site with a large active membership which accepts members and guests, some of whom - as another poster has pointed out - are non-Singaporeans. However, it is virtually unique around the region in that English is one of the national languages in Singapore. It's therefore both easily accessible and readable by non-Singaporeans. I'm sure the Thai language chat rooms - and indeed those in Japan, Taiwan and others around the region - have equally large memberships understandably restricted almost exclusively to locals. Readership of the few remaining English chat Boards centred on gay Thailand, however, is limited to a tiny clutch of the expats who live here, mostly centred around Pattaya, and a far tinier fraction of the tourists who visit. Surfcrest is well aware of this. I'm sure the owner of gaythailand.com is also. Yet both sites carry on seemingly losing more members than they gain with many topics returning regularly as the occasional new members seek out information seemingly without bothering to search for it (although some past info is inevitably outdated)!
Having been contributing to various sites over the last 10 years, I don't like being a prophet of doom. But looking at all the changes in travel patterns, technology, society, politics etc. that have taken place in that time, looking at how the bar scene is changing - there is a thread today about yet another bar closing in Sunee - and how the younger Thai bar boys, at least in Bangkok, are increasingly being replaced with guys from Laos, Myanmar and other neighbouring countries, at how so much of the fun has disappeared from the commercial bar scene, sadly I don't see the future with much optimism.
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