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How Can We (Re-)Activate The Board?


elef

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I thank you, Dave. A very gracious and thoughtful reply to my post last night which was, I assure you, in the spirit of debate and discussion as you've detected. Thanks for that! Foiled again!

 

I was sensible to the fact that - as elef pointed out - the topic was dealing with the future and not the past. The thing is, I can't address one without reference to the other; perhaps a personal foible. It's like giving the punchline without hearing the joke. I found myself being drawn to that very foreign country where they do things differently. In my defence, surely a human enough weakness particularly as one gets older.

 

I've always thought that this site was the classier end of the Thai discussion boards. I still do.

 

I remember well - and much to my embarrassment - that when I visited Thailand as a tourist I felt frustrated by the Thailand residents on the board and their obsession with the mundane. "How can you live here and not be down in Nana Plaza every weekend? Are you mad?", I thought. Crazy people!

 

Oh, how I squirm now (my biggest concern today being two mango trees that really need trimming down before the end of the week...)

 

But! And I have to say this now in case someone reads this and thinks 'oh, no, here we go': the magic and the feel of those days is still there for me. I probably visit that Thailand only as often as I did 8 years ago. It's still as good, still as much of a mystery, still as thrilling and surprising and still - importantly - still a whole world away. I'm not just talking about sex and hookers. There's not a town in Thailand where that can't be found if that's a deal breaker. It won't be. I could not care less. I have mango trees.

 

Bangkok still fills the senses. The air is still that Bangkok air. The buildings still impress. That man with the goitre on his neck still sells giant Zippos in Soi 4 (surely?) Chequers is still a great place for a free read of the Daily Mail and a pretty good breakfast, and so on...

 

That's what I could not have - and quite rightly should not have - 'got' in Gulliver's when I rushed from the 'plane to the hotel and straight out just in case Bangkok disappeared. And that's what the guys who listened to my excitement understood. And they just smiled and changed the subject. Thanks, fellas!

 

So, when I get fractious about the site - having my little whinge and my little moan in my whinging, moaning little English way - digging deep I'm not really mourning the demise of a website, I'm having a little weep for my own past.

 

Proust never had a hamburger in Woodstock. Fact.

 

And those bloody trees need doing or they'll have all the power lines out if they come down in the next storm.

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In 2001 after a few months on the board I became moderator of Shopping - one of 42 (maybe 40 or 41?) moderators. It was chaos, flame wars, trolls and big traffic. The most eccentric mod was WA (Wild Alaska), he was "crazy" in how he edited and deleted, but still he was like a landlord in an english or irish pub. And the Board Bar was probably as big as GD!

 

I'm thinking that maybe we need to have a host in each forum, members who are willing to answer questions, comment and just create a nice and cosy atmosphere. Just hosts not moderators.

 

Any comments?

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Pretty sure we have mods elef, only they don't wear the badge anymore - while they are "real" people/posters, when they pop up as a mod it says Moderator 1, 2, 3, etc...

 

As for hosts on each forum - not a bad idea, could work. I think most of the "regulars" will answer questions in any thread though, the shortage is in new people asking them.

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Pretty sure we have mods elef, only they don't wear the badge anymore - while they are "real" people/posters, when they pop up as a mod it says Moderator 1, 2, 3, etc...

 

 

Actually I was Moderator 1 long time ago. I don't say we don't have mods, they don't have anything (or almost anything) to do now. As an old admin and mod I can see if threads have been edited and so far I've seen none in the weeks I've been back.

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So, when I get fractious about the site - having my little whinge and my little moan in my whinging, moaning little English way - digging deep I'm not really mourning the demise of a website, I'm having a little weep for my own past.

 

Proust never had a hamburger in Woodstock. Fact.

 

And those bloody trees need doing or they'll have all the power lines out if they come down in the next storm.

 

Say, you're not a journalist or something, are ya? :) (Have no idea where that came from).

 

I think we all have that little weep, I constantly rag on the people around me --> don't go the fucking nostalgia route, only to find myself trekking it in usual hypocritical fashion. And while I try to deceive myself into believing I'm still the young lion - looking in the mirror and noticing the grey tips, the crows feet, the slight belly -- all a reminder of mother nature's cruel sense of humor (that once you're established enough to really appreciate what youth offers, it's already slipping away). 21 turns 30 turns 39 turns 40 in August. How the fuck did that happen?

 

Yeah, I'm getting carried away, sorry.

 

So anyway, I'm clicking on those similar topic links and I come across this thread by Cent trying to figure out who submitted a story. It's a 6 year old thread: http://t2.thai360.com/index.php?/topic/34619-will-this-ever-happen-again/

 

And reading some of the old stuff you do get a sense of greater camaraderie and activity here in the past. I can see people wanting that to rise again like a Phoenix. So fuck me for saying otherwise.

 

Incidental - was also weary of the 'Gay' meme that was serially abused here over and over and over ad nauseum. I mean Jesus Christ. That said - genuinely miss Old Hippie, one of the guys I would've liked to have met. And in reading that thread just mentioned, it took me about a paragraph to peg him as the writer. While that's never revealed in the thread or his name mentioned --> I'd wager on it without hesitation.

 

OH- if you're out there, drop by sometime. Also - your story starts off strong, surprisingly so -- good shit son. :) But you get a little fragmented trying to wrap it up. You've got 'the stuff' or whatever you want to call it. Tighten it up a little and...

 

Hey.

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uhhhhhhh. uhhhhhhhhhh. god-d#*n #@#%$^%^$%##@!

 

I posted a link to the wrong thread. No, I don't think old hippie wrote a wiki entry on the christmas truce of WWI. That's what you get for getting cocky and not checking your shit before posting. Next thing you know I'll be a Republican political speech writer.

 

This was the link intended: http://t2.thai360.com/index.php?/topic/43345-ok-how-about-this-one-the-days-slide-by/

 

That is what was referenced. THAT story reeks of old hippie. I can smell the slimy son of a bitch from the other room. B)

 

 

Ps. Did you ever try mango sprinkled with lime juice, salt, and chili pepper? Beautiful thing.

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Hi,

 

Thanks for the feedback, guys. Couple of quick thoughts / comments from me in no particular order.

 

- Yes, I wouldn't mind seeing an increase in activity here, but I have given up on trying to change things as inevitably I/we lose as many as we gain. Or in bad cases, lose more as those who might like the new changes won't know about it until they show up. (Did that make sense?)

 

- Moderation: There has been virtually no need for me to moderate anything more than deleting an occcasional spam post that got through. A big benefit of having a small core group of long time posters is that they all know what they can and cannot get away with. Definitely a big plus for me.

 

- I think that the decline in posts is not just due to changes in the board, but very likely also due to people having drifted away for personal reasons. Also social network sites like Facebook and Twitter have likely caused a decline in forum members (and not just this one in particular).

 

- And finally, to put it bluntly, I cannot be arsed to chase after traffic. The board is not making much money and it never will, so I am much better off to leave the board to its own devices (within reason) and concentrate on building up my real business. As I said, would love to get more traffic, but - certainly at this time in my life / career - the cost / effort ratio is such that it isn't worth to spent a lot of time on increasing the traffic here. Perhaps not the best attitude for a board owner/admin, but after running this for roughly 15 years I have tried it all and found that not much I do has a real influence. Shit just happens :)

 

Sanuk!

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