JaiDee

Saw this on Thai Visa yesterday......actually it's surprising we don't see more of these kind of busts as these operations are quite common in BKK and Pattaya, and, apparently, Issan! Based on my limited experience with these webcam set-ups, I would be willing to be that the anonymous tip came from a webcam model; she wasn't getting paid properly or was maybe pissed off at one of the farangs running the deal ....maybe an ex- GF of one of these western guys who wanted some retribution, etc.....all it takes is one Thai to talk to the cops and for them to check it out and the place is shut down. I always thought webcam was a great option for the LB's; gets them out of prostitution and doing something less dirty and dangerous, but many are too lazy to spend 6 or 7 hours behind a cam chatting.

Montreal is indeed one of the nicest cities in North America, and I would dare say the whole world! I feel extremely fortunate to live here now, especially with the fall coming on and the weather being absolutely perfect.

Yups, this list was based more on vacationing than on living, and I can understand how BKK would be a cool place to visit for the uninitiated; the sights, smells, sounds and the basic assault on the senses can be very exciting indeed. For myself, I am looking more at livability; I am tired of doing the 6 months in the west and 6 months in the east deal; the plane rides are killer and I need to find one place to settle down post-50. Many cities on the list are attractive to me, and if you expand from the top 10 they list 30 more, including Venice, which would be an amazing place to live. Amsterdam and Prague made the extended list, but with the CZ becoming part of the EU soon I know I can't afford it there and as you say the winters would be rough. BKK is on my short list, but most likely I will settle someplace further south which has nice beaches and no traffic.

I enjoyed it at first; being from small-town new england originally, I found it exciting and loved the action. I also had a good job which kept me really involved with the LB community, and I enjoyed the nightlife and had a lot of friends, cheap rent, good food, etc....it was all quite intoxicating. But that wore off fast and after 4 high seasons there that was enough. I wouldn't consider it number one, not by a long shot; personally I like Amsterdam, Prague and even Montreal nicer and better in so many ways, and in the states I would put NYC and probably even Boston ahead of it. Not sure what the criteria was for the people who made up the list, obviously they haven't sat in rush-hour traffic for what felt like an eternity or gotten sick from street food multiple times.

"Real time with Bill Maher" returns to HBO on friday after a month-long hiatus, yaaayyyyy!!!!! also, just 10 more days before I get to see him live at the St. Denis theatre, can't wait....

Hey Archie.....would love to get an informed opinion from someone I know and like who just happens to be a right -winger, IE; YOU, about how you feel about Michelle Bachmann and Sarah Palin. as someone who is a rightie and also probably a registered republican, what is your true opinion of these 2 total nutcases? Bachmann is also a liar and is dangerous.....she denies that her husbands clinic say they can "cure" homosexuality and she also announced yesterday that the HPV virus can cause mental retardation, something the CDC denies whole-heartedly. any thoughts on Caribou Barbie and her scary cousin from Minnesota?

http://travel.yahoo.com/p-interests-40677569 this list is kind of surprising, IMO.....I lived there for 4 winters and wouldn't call it the best city in the world; it's a cool place and everything but for me the negatives just about equal the positives!

Archie, you obviously have a short memory! Seems like just a few months back, well before weinergate, one of those right-wing nutjobs got ousted from the congress for trying to meet girls on Craigslist! In your very state, but a little further west in the snow belt. Yes, the married Christopher Lee, pictured below looking buff {??} was forced to resign and when his seat went up for grabs in a special election it was won by a DEM.....and only because the Repub ticket was split between a 'normal' conservative [whatever that is these days] and a Tea-bagger, those hardcore, semi-retarded branch of the Repubs who believe whatever Mother Sarah and Pope Rick Perry them! {Remember the all-time classic photo of the Tea-bagger holding the sign "Keep your government hands off my medicare?" You can't even make up that kind of comedy.} Me thinks that over the next 10 years or so, before the Tea Party surely goes the way of the Dodo bird, many more elections will be split like this. Moderate conservatives like John McCain and Ron Paul want nothing to do with those uneducated, gun-toting, bible-thumping toothless creeps, and because of that it will be hard for the Repubs to win *anything* anytime soon. Thank God.

It's easy if you try

But you haven't said what you think of his first term?? It would be hard to say he has been effective, by any standard; he passed a watered-down health care bill which doesn't do shit and he got us deeper into Afghanistan and STILL hasn't gotten us out of Iraq; 2 things he strongly campaigned on. He is weak and ineffectual and caves in to the right way too much. Sorry, I like the guy personally, but I don't think he has the leadership qualities or the balls to govern a country this size with our myriad of problems. Trust me, I am not a Repub and I don't like those Christian whackjobs one bit either, but at least if one of them gets in we can finally shut up those annoying twats like Coulter and Hannity and Breitbart who are saying the country is going to hell because Obama is in there; because you can damn well bet none of them will turn this mess around! If you want a good laugh out of Mormomnism and want to keep wondering how a supposedly educated man like Mitt Romney could follow that voodoo-like religion, read "Under the Banner of heaven" by Jon Krakauer. BTW; my oldest brother was an air traffic controller; he was only 24 years old and on the job for 2 years when Reagen fired him from a supposedly secure, lifelong job at Logan airport in 1981. He has never been the same since then and has probably lost $1/2 million in income over those 30 years.

Yups, it sure was.... I turned my TV on at about 915 after both planes had already hit and it was wall-to-wall coverage on every channel and network. I was out of work that day because I had had an appendectomy in August, ruptured, which kept me out of work for a month....otherwise I would have been working from 8-5 and missed the whole thing.

woke up like any other normal day at about 9am and prepared to start my day, cereal and milk, etc......I was in New England and not Thailand because it was September, the best month of the year weather-wise.....I had my PC on and back then I had AOL which had a chat feature and one of my buddies from Florida was on and we started chatting....he had seen it first and texted me to turn on the news; I went to CNN and was amazed and transfixed for the whole day, of course. I guess the 9/11 day is our generations' ''what were you doing when you heard JFK was shot?'' moment. Good thread, BB

agreed, TC......a lot of guys wouldn't like the skinny arms and flat chest, but to me that is the perfect body as well. in my serious mongering days this was always the type I ended up sleeping with, yummmmm check out how she is covering her small tits, femboys and girls who haven't had their boobs done yet always pose like this because they are embarrassed not to have tits yet. If she had a set of Pamela Anderson knockers on there you could damn well bet we'd be seeing 'em in that photo!

to be honest, I'd like one of the Repubs to get in.....Romney or Perry maybe, not one of the Barbie dolls. and I'd like to see them gain control of the senate and the house also; basically I wanna see one of them try to fight this uphill battle and see if they can do anything to turn the USA around. if they don't and just keep fucking things up, left-wingers and moderates like myself can say "told ya' so" - and if they revive the country and make us a world-class power again [we are a laughingstock now], well that is only a GOOD thing. I don't give a fuck who the hell gets in there these days, as long as they can do something to right the sinking ship. Barry hasn't impressed me at all, certainly a case of buyer's remorse there, and I don't think a 2nd term would be any different; he gets no help from a repub-controlled house and he is too much of a pussy to go toe-to-toe with them. Ya' think Reagan would have just caved in to the other side as much as this guy has? doubtful... I've been following politics for 35 years now and have never seen such a partisan split, it's nauseating. These people have to start acting like adults and do what's best for their constituents, not their fucking party and certainly not for their lobbyist pals.

wow, that is really a damn shame! I remember when Patong was heaven on earth, not all that long ago either; now reports like yours are all too commonplace I still need to check out the island in general, to either count it in as a potential place to live permanently or to cross it off my list all together. I spent the last 5 high seasons on Koh Phangan but have now tired of the place, it's time to find a new island or city to start calling winter home. BKK, Phuket or the far north, the Chiang Rai area, are in the lead right now. *Check the Thai Visa forums if you want to read more discouraging reports about the Tuk- Tuk "mafia" [what a joke] in Patong; they have one of the worst reputations of any group of people in Thailand for ripping off falangs! 9 or 10 of 'em just put a Swedish guy in the hospital with serious injuries by kicking the crap out of him for trying to only pay 100 of a 200B fare. I think the taxi drivers on Samui are just as bad, damn thieves.....as usual, 'cycle rentals rule the day.

Bill Maher's twitter feed for today; ''Bill Maher If Bush was cancer, and Obama chemo, Rick Perry is what it looks like when the cancer returns.''

The good news about Phuket is that they have about 30 miles of west-facing beaches, which get the sunset every night at about 630 and are absolutely beautiful. Take your date 5 or 6 miles either north or south from Patong and you will find [relatively] quiet paradise; Kamala and Surin to the north and Kata/Karon and Rawai to the south. Above Surin the high-end resorts have bought up a lot of that land and have monopolized the place; Laguna Phuket and The Palms and several others cost between 5000 and 10,000 baht per night and paupers like us are not allowed to use their beaches. Damn shame, I remember not long ago when they were all virgin beaches for the taking. I need to do some investigative work on the island, it's been a while so I think I will spend 2 weeks there this winter at some point and really give it a look-see; will report my findings back here.

The main reason I want to check it out is because of the beaches, they are much better quality than in the Pattaya area; even Jomtien is so-so in my opinion, the beaches on Phuket are all really nice [at least from when I used to go there regularly]. I think the freaks you mention mainly hang around Patong, which has indeed become a craphole lately; too bad, it used to be a great place a while back. When I stop by the island for a week or 2 this year I will probably give that place a wide berth.

I haven't been down to Phuket for a few years; odd considering it used to be my favorite place not only in Thailand, but in the whole universe! At that time, 2007 or so, Patong Beach seemed to be heading in the direction of becoming another Pattaya, albeit with a better main beach. It was much more pricey than when I first found it back in 1999 as well; seems like the secret is long out and the Russkie's and other eastern Euro-trash like spending their time and money there, and the hotel and food/clubbing prices reflect that now. Thinking of giving it another shot this winter, to see exactly how much it has changed and how expensive it is, etc....most likely starting in the south around Kata and Karon, eventually getting up towards Surin and points north; minimal time in Patong but for sure want to check that out for a day or 3 as well. Any recent visitors to Phuket, or even better any ex-pats who have put down some roots there, your comments are appreciated.

I voted Indo ......sure, the P.I. has better ladyboys, IMO even better than Thailand, but the country is a hellhole of epic proportions! For some reason they just can't seem to get their act together. As I have always said, if you could import PI ladyboys to Thailand that would be the best of both worlds; cute girls who you can actually communicate with, in a fun, exciting country. Indonesian ladyboys, Balinese especially, are quite exotic and their country is beautiful; with the exception of Jakarta. If I was chasing LB's in any country other than Thailand I would start there.

Soi Cowboy? Sheeesh, I thought that place died years ago. I guess having an LB bar there would be a good idea, could bring some people up from the Nana area who normally wouldn't go near the place if it was all just ladies. I remember circa 2003-2004 there was an outdoor beer bar for Ladyboys only just off of Soi Cowboy, the only one I can ever recall in BKK.....it was pretty good too, all the freelancers used to hang in there when they were getting chased by the cops; many-a-night was spent there downing beer Changs with the girls 'till closing. Some of you old-timers may also remember the Bluebird lounge; it was [is?] the first bar on the right coming in from the Soi 23 end. They had Lady dancers [and a way-cool glass ceiling for the 2nd-story dance floor] but all the hostesses were ladyboys! Some of the first-ever AsianTS models worked in there, this was around 2000 and 2001. I would say 10 years is long enough to bring some LB talent back to Cowboy!

Not so sure about Toronto but there are TONS of ladyboys here in Montreal! I have been here 3 months now and have 3 more to go, don't plan on going to see any of 'em but if anyone is coming here I could steer you in the right direction and there are a lot on Eros and the Shemale Canada website. There is a place about a mile from my apartment which is open till 5am and does "massages", looks kinda cool....but I have done the Amsterdam short-time room deal before and it's not really my thing; I don't like being rushed. http://www.transzen.ca/intro/nouvelles/ here are many more; http://www.shemalequebec.com/index.php

Bill Maher is the best and smartest social commentator on the scene today.....sure, he is far left, but that doesn't mean he is wrong about what he talks about! I got my tickets the day he was announced playing at the St. Denis Theatre here in Montreal, 3 weeks from now....one for me and one for my 19-year old daughter; it's important to get her started off on the right path learning what is right and wrong in American politics. http://theatrestdenis.com/defn_40776905.html can't wait!!

wow, you learn something every day! I didn't know it was harder to place it by going in under the armpit, but for sure the scar is much better hidden that way.....some of them which are inserted from the bottom of the boob, jeeeesh the scar is so obvious and red and long that it is a real distraction. My one and only GF from the past 10 years {I wrote about her in the extortion story} had 250's installed, one of her sponsors paid for them; they were perfect for her little 5'2" frame. I would guess Bailey Jay above had about the same size put in....if they are 300 or more I think the girl should be at least about 5'8".

In a word; NO believe me, I know the system is fucked....it's also part of the reason I am an ex-pat now; I haven't lived in the states full-time since 2001 and for the past 2 years I haven't lived there at all and don't plan on going back.