Tik's birthday & cool local kindergarten teachers and friends......

.... at a rainy but beautifull friday evening here in Patong at Backstage!

Last week, yea yea, I know I run somewhat behind, but with good reasons (but thats a story for another day) Tik celebrated her first birthday (20 years!) at our Backstage. After Achiia's birthday a couple of days before we decided to make it a more modest affair. Also Tik is much shorter here with us at Backstage.

Tik is, what they call here a kathoey, or in english, a ladyboy, but with a pleasant caracter and as such she fits in beautifull in the Backstage-staff!
At first I had my doubts if she would fit in, but luckily I now feel different and am happy we have her on board:-)




Left: Tik with part of our staff after she received her birthday cake (and yes, also for her it was her first one!).
from left to right: Beng, Clarck (one of 'our' teachers, Tik, Max, Ole (our cook), Achiia and Mos.



Left: Our teacher-friends Clarck and Kim, enjoying our karaoke fascilities with their Australian friends, 3 sisters!
It was touching to see how these 3 cared about eachother and fussed about that one of them would get back to the hetel safe when she felt she needed to go back to her room!




Right: It was a world upside down! Normally its the Thais who sit inside singing their hearts out with our karaoke but now it were our farangs ;-) BUT the Thai enjoyed for a change a quiet chat around one of our round tables (I enjoy round tables more then those square ones) ...but they enjoyed, as in allmost every circumstance, a photo opportunity, specially for ones birthday. Here Tik with staff members of Backstage and Superboys, our neighbours here in Soi Yaiyui.



Right: Of course, they enjoy to celebrate, and thats what they did, till late I have to say.... here you see Max, Tik & Achiia enjoy some karaoke

A shock & crossdressing by staf !

SHOCK

The other day I got a SHOCK while checking our weblog again...I discovered I had last written an entry to report the Queens Night celebrations at Backstage.
I admit, thats bad ..... not that a lot exciting things happened since then BUT even then I should have kept all of you updated nonetheless. An excuse may have been that on our FACEBOOK page though I reported regularly and commented on all kinds of different things..... FB is getting distracting when it comes to updating our Weblog, so I appologise for that ;-)

I can recommend though to follow us on Facebook (FB) for the short and quick reports, reactions and mentioning of worthwhile things as we (or I) see it because often they are not suited for the weblog set-up ;-)

A Cross dress fun adventure at Backstage by our Staf

Now everybody who knows me, knows I like men, uhum or haha ... but most of you who know Kik, knows he likes dressing up as a woman, as do most of our staf.
Its part of what one can say is "being gay in Thailand". Butch men who are openly gay here are hard to find...but like in our own world(s), they are there sure enough but sadly more hidden then the more feminine guys.
Some butch guys teached themself to develop some feminine behaviour so they can get accepted by their surroundings as being gay.
So, all of you who have been wondering howcome you see so few butch gay men here, thats one of the reasons... Thai society has a hard time accepting butch gay men, or as one sometimes also say masculine ;-)

Now, one recent night Kik organised our staf to dress up like women with some stricking results I have to admit.. and we had a ball I can assure you!!

I had a hard time selecting one picture of every staf member and the one we made as a group... here they follow:
By the way, the pictures were taken by my iPhone and as such has no 'red eye' protection device so that may at times explain why some of us might look somewhat strange with their eyes but we did our best to affoid them ;-)



Right: The exception on the rule, Schia, as a guy ... he never has dressed up as a woman and I (or we) wonder if ever he may do so ;-)




Left: And well, Max showing like a stage diva ;-)








Right: The big surprise when doing the transformation was our Beng, who I called spontaniously the Thai Ophra Winfrey !



Left: Yes, even our Sit, or as I stubornly call him Cid, after El Cid the famous warrior from the fight in Spain against Muslim kingdoms of that period (and wonderfully portayed by Charles Heston in the movie classic El Cid , didn't escape the make over adventure ;-)



Right: Tom wouldn't be Tom not to participate BUT clearly with a wink, because he;s the man in the house and he like to joke and make fun as well !



Left: And well, who can resist our Lady Mos, in whatever outfit (s)he might show him-/herself in ;-)



Right: The first time he showed himself transformed, and what a wonderfull surprise he gave us all: Ton!












Above: The Backstage group together with yours truly in the middle and Kik behind the camera/iPhone (sorry, this is the best we could produce with all in the picture ;-)
As one can see, Cid and Ton changed back to 'normal' and with Shia and me brought balance back, at least for the picture here that is, haha.
From left to right: Max, Cid, Ton (below), Rob, Tom (below), Bneg, Schia and Mos!

Picture impression of Rin's birthdayparty at Backstage, 15/16 th of April 2011

This picture impression of Rin's birthday looks somewhat less then normally but they were made not only late at night but with iPhone ;-)
The order in which they are placed here is more or less backwards, lol.
It was truly a fun little cozy birthday party where our Backstage friends were free to be themselfs and one gets the honest impression that they indeed enjoyed.
Ofcourse, if one serfs onwards to our facebook page then one can see all the pictures......BUT for now and for a change I let the pictures talk for themselfs.
(and if you look for me, well I was holding the iPhone, so you do not waste your time to look for me;-) hehe)






The extra fun for our guests was in the fact that they were allowed to use our costumes which we collected over the time to be able to start our own little cabaret.... and mor eoften we allow our customers to do that...it enhances their fun, thats for sure ;-)

We hope Rin enjoyed his personal start of his New year and that we will be able and fortunate to enjoy his company for long time to come in good spirits and health! ;-)

The return of the Max! ;-)

He stayed with us the last 2/3 months of 2010 before he felt he had to go back to Koi Samui all of a sudden at the beginning of the new year. We ourselfs and customers were surprised by this sudden move, but then again... this is Thailand, Amazing Thailand.... and to hold that thought:
Guess who came to The Backstage today with his stuff: Max!

He allready announced early last week that he wanted to come work for us again and after we expressed no objections, he surprised us by actually arriving back today, in the middle of the rain.
So Backstage is now back on, as we like to call it, full staff mode............ little bit ironic with the unexpected (?) early start of the low season, but then again, who speaks of low and high seasons these days?

Backstage likes to be their for all our (potential) customers full year round with little regard for high or low season because Backstage is were one can relax when one gets off his or her stage, and that's not bound to any season!;-)

Introducing: New arrivals at Backstage ;-)

Since today our staf has grown with two guys, we can hardly call them boys ofcourse, who started work today at The Backstage.
They start with looking how things go ... seeing and observing first how we work here at Backstage before actually jumping in themselfs.
Before they came to us, these young men worked at Boys & Boys, opposite My Way in paradise Soi..... That bar suddenly closed down earlier this month and we were happy to welcome them in our modest little venue.

We honestly hope that soon enough they will feel very much at home in their new home away from home, and become true members of our little backstage family ;-)


Left: Dael, also called Bil(ly), he's 27 years old and hopes to celebrate his 28th birthday on the 1st of May

Right: Bo, he's 28 years old and celebrates his birthday on the 10th of June!

We hope that they will help to make our customers feel at home, and that all of you who in time visit us, will feel happy to be served by either one of them and will feel able to close them in your hearts as part of The Backstage bunch ;-)

For the naughty ones among you readers a special Xmas greeting ;-)

Fist Me This Christmas

Think its really funny, heard it before though, so might you, but then it popped up again and I had same reaction as before, laughing...
and laughing is healthy, so I decided to share it this time with you guys, enjoy!!

The Nation, one of Thailands influential English newspapers condems Thailands role as chairman of the UN Human Rights Council !

Today, in its editorial, The Nation speaks out strongly against Thailands role as chairman of the UN Human Rights Council in its stand on rights for Gays, Lesbians, Bisexuals and Transgenders.
Thailands position comes just after the first time ever petition of GLBT-activist to Thailands governement on the rights of the GLBT- community end november in Bangkok (see our earlier 'report'!

It makes again clear the difficult road ahead for the GLBT-community here in Thailand as in a lot of other countries, IF they are indeed serious in their desire to try to get things changed for the better, because Thailand is less tolerant then we sometimes think and think we experience when on holliday, etc. in this Buddhist country.
Amazing Thailand all over again, sadly a missed opportunity !

But who knows, the editorial of The Nation also signals that maybe actually there's something better in the air for the GLBT community ;-)
Can't wait, because it would really simplify life here!
All of us non-Thai should support oour Thai brothers in their more then worthwhile struggle for equal rights in Thailand!!

Below the inegral text from the editorial as published today in The Nation!


EDITORIAL
There's nothing partial about universal rights
By The Nation
Published on December 17, 2010

Thailand has shamed itself at the UN and ignored its own Constitution on the issue of gender rights; there is no excuse for this intransigence

One would imagine that it should be easy for everyone to agree that taking someone's life because of who they are is reprehensible. One would also think that a predominantly Buddhist country considered by many as tolerant'would condemn the senseless killings of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders (LGBTs) based simply on their identities. Sadly, that's not yet the world we live in, and that's not the Thailand many think they know. Last month 79 countries voted to successfully remove a reference to sexual orientation as a ground for protection in a UN resolution condemning extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions. The amendment effectively says it's permissible to kill LGBTs for no other reason than they are homosexual, bisexual or transgender.

Thailand, in its role as chair of the UN Human Rights Council, chose to abstain rather than vote against such a repugnant initiative like the 70 nations that do insist on the right to life of LGBTs - including India, Nepal, Bhutan, Timor Leste, Japan and South Korea. Fortunately for gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgenders worldwide - whose lives continue to be threatened by homophobic traditions, laws and governments - the majority of people don't want a world that permits the killing of a minority group because of prejudice and ignorance. They remember the disturbing photographs of a public hanging of two gay teenagers in Iran five years ago. They are also shocked by recent developments in African countries like Uganda, which is pushing ahead with a bill imposing the death penalty for same-sex relationships. Is this really how far we have advanced in the 21st century?

"Today, many nations have modern constitutions that guarantee essential rights and liberties. And yet, homosexuality is considered a crime in more than 70 countries. That is not right," said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in a high-level panel discussion on "Ending violence and criminal sanctions on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity" to mark International Human Rights Day last Friday.

Echoing Ban's remark, US ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, said she was "incensed" by the vote, announcing that the US will move to restore the reference to sexual orientation when the resolution comes before the UN General Assembly on December 20. Other countries are urged to join this important effort.

This is not the first time Thailand has sat on the fence on the issue of sexual orientation and gender identity at the General Assembly, the UN's most important body. In 2008 our UN representation also chose not to endorse a statement affirming the human rights principle of universality and non-discrimination regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity. At that time, LGBT activists met representatives of the Foreign Ministry to hear an explanation as to why the ministry thought it acceptable for LGBTs to be singled out as a group deserving of state-condoned violence. The excuse they received was that the abstention vote was made in deference to the country's relationship with the Organisation of Islamic States.

That excuse cannot stand up to scrutiny. If Thailand wants to keep criticism from Muslim countries at bay, the right way to do it is to promote accountability, justice and human rights in the deep South - not by condoning violence against another minority group in the name of cultural intolerance.

The Thai government is not being asked to side with one group of countries or another. It's only being asked to be on the side of universal human rights. It's being asked to abide by our own 2007 Constitution whose Article 30 prohibits discrimination on the grounds of sex, which explicitly includes sexual identity, gender and sexual diversity.

As Ban officially said, "It is not called the 'partial' declaration of human rights. It is not the 'sometimes' declaration of human rights. It is the 'universal' Declaration, guaranteeing all human beings their basic human rights - without exception. Violence will end only when we confront prejudice. Stigma and discrimination will end only when we agree to speak out."

It is time for Thailand to speak out. And Thais - LGBTs and the many who support social justice - will be listening this Monday.

New and english gay (GLBT) magazine OUT for Thailand will appear first time on, hopefully, 2d of January 2011!

Last saterday, representatives of the english speaking owners of gay businesses here in Patong on Phuket, met with Ian Chenoweth, Marketing Director, of the new gay magazine for Thailand, aimed at the foreign and english speaking visitors and expats here in Thailand. This magazine wil be named OUT Magazine.

After the fiasco of SPICE magazine, which went belly up last month under very strange circumstances, Ian had to overcome some sceptisism from all attending.
We all left though in a pretty good mood and believe the arrival of OUT and the way it sofar wants to work, is what is actually needed badly.

Thai Puan is now the only national magazine with reasonably up to date information and was/is far better then SPICE Magazine in that respect, BUT it also, totally justified, targets the Thai market and as such is not serving the same target group as a whole.
Partially the target group of OUT magazine and Thai Puan will ofcourse overlap but we feel they wil not seriously bite eachother.
They might though, keep eachother sharp in a positive way;-)!

The first publication of OUT Magazine, will take place on 2d of January 2011... this launch has been put forward several months not only because of the unexpected collaps of SPICE, but also because now its high season and two (!) Gay Pride festivals comming up (IN Pattaya as well as Phuket). It was the only way to fill a gap which needed desperatly filling-up on such short notice!

We at Backstage will support the efforts of OUT (ofcourse), hoping they will be a much better replacement of the now former SPICE, for all the visitors to Thailand and expats living here in Thailand!

Ofcourse we optimistically agreed to support OUT with a half page advertisament, which you find below ;-)


If for futur publications you have suggestions for our advertisaments, please feel free to sent us your comments!
After all we are no professionals at this and we hope, with your help/support we can improve our effectiveness over time!

Finally: Thai LGBT activists state demands to government

Very happy that finally some people start to try to get same sex issues on the agenda and in the end hopefully realised here in Amazing Thailand.
A report I copied without any additions or whatever from FRIDAE, a Singaporian based group for the empowerment of gay in Asia.
The content speaks for itself!



NEWS
30 Nov 2010

Thai LGBT activists state demands to government
by Douglas Sanders
For the first time activists in Thailand have formulated a set of demands in the form of an "Open Letter" to government. The demands were launched at the end of November in two events in Bangkok. Douglas Sanders reports.

The Sexual Diversity Network held its second Rainbow Umbrella March in Bangkok on Saturday, November 27. 150 people with identical rainbow umbrellas snaked through the busy Siam interchange shopping area, ending on the plaza in front of the Bangkok Art and Cultural Center. There they read out their new "Open Letter to the Government."

On Monday, November 29, the letter was again formally presented, this time at a workshop at the offices of the National Human Rights Commission. The workshop may mark a new beginning of interaction with the Commission. The Commission was reorganised two years ago in ways that were sharply criticised by local and international activists. It has had a low profile. Two commissioners attended the workshop, and a few government officials. Observers came representing the embassies of France, Germany, Denmark, Norway, the Philippines and the EU. The speakers at the workshop were LGBT academics and activists.



Open letter to government

The government and/or relevant authorities must undertake programs of awareness-raising using educational systems, the media, appropriate policies, regulations and guidelines to promote, in a concrete and effective way, a balanced public understanding of the sexualities and identities of people with diverse sexual orientations and gender identities.

The government and/or relevant authorities must stop stigmatisation and discrimination on the basis of sex, gender, sexual orientation or gender identity.

The government and/or relevant authorities must foster free association of people of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities in an environment that is safe, secure and free from threats and violence.

The government and/or relevant authorities must not deny or in any way hinder the access of people of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities to public services, education, job recruitment and promotion.

The government and/or relevant authorities must stop employing notions of public morality, public security and traditions to discriminate against people of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities or in any way impair their full enjoyment of all human rights.

The government and/or relevant authorities must play the leading role in providing education on human rights and sexual rights, put in place and into concrete action legislation promoting human dignity and equality including the Yogyakarta Principles on the application of international human rights standards in relation to sexual orientation and gender identity.

The government and/or relevant authorities must amend or enact legislation to guarantee that people of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities fully enjoy all human rights on an equal basis to heterosexual men and women. This includes, but isn't limited to, legal recognition of same-sex marriage which guarantees the same benefits as opposite-sex marriage.

The government and/or relevant authorities must take into consideration and guarantee the participation at all levels of people with diverse orientations and gender identities in all spheres of life - whether social, legal, political, economic, educational, public health, media, traditional or cultural – in a non-discriminatory, equal and fair manner.

Source: Sexual Diversity Network

For our Dutch readers and or visitors,this info might be usefull/handy!: Finally also the Dutch now have a Honorary Consul on Phuket! ;-)

Het onderstaande is zonder enige wijziging en nader commentaar door ons overgenomen uit de Phuket Gazet, internet versie, van heden de 1e december:


Netherlands Ambassador to Thailand Tjaco van den Hout (left) with Seven Smulders, the Dutch honorary consul for Phuket.

PHUKET: Netherlands Ambassador to Thailand Tjaco van den Hout last night praised the work of honorary consuls, saying it was a “thankless” job requiring the consuls to be available at all hours to attend to often “grizzly” affairs.

“I am so happy to have a consulate here to take care of an estimated 1,500 to 1,800 Dutch residents in this part of Thailand,” he said.

The number of Dutch nationals coming to Phuket and neighboring areas is continually increasing and is currently more than 200,000 a year, he added.

The ambassador was speaking at the official opening of the Netherlands Honorary Consulate in Phuket, marked by a party at Centara Grand Beach Resort Phuket last night.

Addressing Phuket’s top government officials, local Dutch residents and other honorary consuls gathered for the occasion, Ambassador Van den Hout voiced his high esteem for Seven Smulders, the Netherlands Honorary Consul for Phuket.

“It’s not just his great pedigree and fine experience which makes him suitable for this role, he has actually held a very prominent position in the field of national promotion and he has done that with great distinction,” he said.

“The role of honorary consul is a thankless one. It requires you to be available at any moment day or night and for very little reward, because it is an honorary position,” said the ambassador.

Mr Van den Hout pointed out that Mr Smulders had been acting as the de facto Dutch honorary consul for the past 18 months. “In that short time he has had to deal with some grizzly consular tasks, and he has done that in that very proper manner,” he added.

Mr Smulders passed the compliment on to his counterparts. “I would like to express my gratitude to my colleagues, other honorary consuls. I feel privileged to be officially a part of this formal association and look forward to working with you in the future.”

The Netherlands Honorary Consulate is located at the Dara Hotel on Chao Fa West Road Tel: 076-304096-7. Mobile: 084-8529279. Email: dutchhonoraryconsulphuket@gmail.com

In response to the growing need for Gazette readers to contact their consular representatives on Phuket, the Gazette Guide now includes contact details for all 17 active honorary consulates on the island that co-ordinate through official meetings every three months.

If you want to read the 'original' publication, you can paste copy the link below and you get connected to the right page of the Phuket Gazet, and as such also give you opportunity to learn more about what goes on on Phuket.

Now on request and when ofcourse available, Backstage offers among other things: OYSTERS!

We are happy to announce that since this evening, the 22d of November, we have made an arrangement with an oyster-seller that he can come to our bar on request if customers (or we ourselfs, uhum) would like to have some oysters.

Left: Our Oysterman (in reality he really looks better, was just experimenting with my iPhone4, uhum) as I now cal him, busy preparing some oysters for us...and as you can see he sometimes also have mussles and clams on offer!





We sampled his oysters (what a punishment), and they were, in one word, delicious!
You can eat them ofcourse in any style you like, but our vendor (=seller) has all the Thai trimmings to enjoy with your oysters.

And maybe even more pleasing to know, they were cheaper then I have had them anywhere else sofar in Thailand, and that in Patong....! But ofcourse that was today and before we made our deal with him for the futur, and hopefuly the joy of all of you when you come to Patong and pay us a visit!



Right: Our Oysterman in front of Backstage... his oysters, mussels and clams are so atractive that once in a while even our stafmembers (in this situation it was Max, can not resist and go for it... for still an affordable price for them (and do not worry, our customers pay same price as the Thai do here!


Next to oysters, we can serf/arrange a range of relative simple, but tasty Thai food for extremely decent prices (mostly between the price of half a bottle of beer (if you could get that) and a full one ;-)

Ofcourse afterwards you can order from our coffee/tea-menu (allways available when open!) and everything else ofcourse you like to enjoy with your coffee/tea!

Well, now you know, we try to become your home away from home, where you can relax and unwind, meet up with your friends, or make new ones.

Backstage now on Facebook!

Since a day or so, The Backstage made her first carefull steps in the facebook-community.

You most likely end up on the right page if you paste this adres in your browser:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Phuket-Thailand/The-Backstage-Purple-Meeting-Point/128153483901105?v=wall

but if not, you can allways get there if you search "The Backstage - Purple Meeting Point"
or surf to my own facebook page "Rob J. Vermeer"

See you on facebook, I would say ;-)

The soft start we now hope end of the month ;-)

Right: Our businesscard as we finally approved it and are now starting to use. With a handsome little map so we can be found more easily ;-)

Nextdoor

The addition of nextdoor of The Backstage, which has to become a great advantage to make our place work, has trown things same time also a little back in our planning. Not surprising though ;-)
To choose style, do we want to change things in the building or keep everything as much as it is, do we go for new furniture or more for the 'old', more cozy/homy look (at least try to).

We decided to only change the terreraceroof of nextdoor, make it same as the rest of The Backstage and 'unify' outdoors as much as we can without standing out too much in the soi we are in ;-)
Indoors we'll decided only to paint the walls in a light orange color, which should look nice with the (old)wood furniture we plan to use over time inside. We cleared lots of stuff from upstairs.

Today we bought an old receptiondesk we plan to use as bar, a glas cabinet, some mirrors, two small round tables, two very high but also small part glass kabinets, etc. We also bought, as a try-out, two different purple color cloth to use as (fake)curtains to hang on the walls...and more of that kind of stuff.... in the hope that this maybe somewhat weird combination might just bring that atmosphere that would make people feel at home.


Left: The old receptiondesk we plan to use as (part of) our bar. Gong is sitting behind it, checking out its contents ;-)


We can only hope we can achieve that on that location.
But we can only really achieve it if we ofcourse get the customers to come to us to enjoy it. ;-)

Also some delay because of religious and natural causes

Monday & tuesday were very special Bhudda days and lots of people got free from their work. Result: also our contractor had to delay start from monday, as agreed, to wensday....LOL, it seems a strange disease that most THais seem to forget when a national holliday comes up... most of them only start to think about it the evening before of the morning itself, when they discover they have to go to Temple.

We also had a period of pretty big rainfall here, and these last days it was so bad that really nothing could be done. Gong and I had to stop driving on our way to Phuket Twon to do most of the planned buying of the stuff mentioned earlier and we simply could not go on! Simply too heavy rain, too strong winds. We had to get to a dry place and had to wait several hours there before we could turn around and drive back over the mountain into Patong.....ofocurse these rains also efected the work on the outside as wel ;-)

Right: The clouds decent on Patong ... normally the hills behind Kik & my house are lush green and much higher.. now they are covered in clouds and the first drops were falling when I made this picture ;-)


We as farang are slowly used to these causes for all kinds of delays.
Also reason why the 'side-show' as they call the name of The Backstage which will go up on the outsite so it can be seen at nights from the mainstreet, has been somewhat delayed.

Ergo, the whole real start of The Backstage shifts somewhat because of all the above.

Sadly, but some things can't be helped ... but we are counting on the fact that we wil be able to create a relative comfi home away from home for all our friends, guests, and ofcourse ourselfs ;-)

In one or two weeks time we finally wil be able to start seriously!

Left: Kik as "Man One woman" with Rob, from the biggest to the smallest stage of Patong... just an example of what may happen at The Backstage in the futur

The final hurdle seems to have been taken, getting the basic staff to open up The Backstage.
It will be a mix of old and new and from there we expect to slowly grow the number of staff in a way thats pleasant for our futur customers as well as The Backstage.

Opening hours will in principal be from 4 pm till 2 am, though in the beginning we might decide to change this to every other day, till we have enough qualified staff to be open every day from 4pm tillll 2 am.
So, in theory this means that say on 1,3, 5, etc of the month The Backstage will open around 7/8 pm and on every even day, 2, 4, 6 etc it will open at 4 pm!

Also we seriously consider to rent the next door venue and create with that a big 'outdoor' terace protected agains rain and sun for The Backstage. ALso we consider to have a smalll simple kitchen there where food can be surfed. Not a lot to choose from though... we intend to surfe only one kind of meal a day.
By doing this we can keep our prices low and quality up/high (I/we hope ofcourse).

Kik and I are considering moving as close as we can to The Backstage, so we can be quickly present if we happen not to be around ;-)

We recommend everybody to try as much as possible to become "follower" of The Backstage by simply folow the instructions of the weblog for this. You willl receive automatic email with every new entry and as such you will be kept in tough of 'everything' that happens in and around The Backstage!

The times are not at all good for the tourism industry. Lot of tourist decide to spend their hollidays this year closer to home then before. We do understand this!

Same time we realise we also have to prepare for a difficult start as a result of that...... And we do not make it easier by opening The Backstage outside Paradise ... but at least it will be handsomely situated between the beachroad and paradise complex and easy to find, we hope (next to Superboys, Patong oldest go-go boys & karaoke bar) slowly to recreate a little bit of the oldest gay street of Patong Phuket, where it all started ;-)!

We will also try to focus on long time stayers and/or expats who live in and around Patong/Phuket.

All in all we hope to create a pleasant situation in which all will feel home away from home.
A place to relax and have possibilies of good conversation and or other distractions, if so desired.

Right now we have been busy with 'little' details like business cards, hehe, and with the new menu of coffees, tea, and drinks.
We use the old J&B pricelist as a starting point and willl do our best not to become more expensive and if possible even cheaper.


Above: The last draft of the new business card of The Backstage, but it gives you an example how its looking now, because we slowly start to use the new cards now ;-)


Also after beach hours we hope to make our shower available for those in need of one when returning from the beach and wanting to enjoy after beach drinks and maybe some food..... but we will let you know more about that!

Please, when you have the chance to visit us, not only do, BUT also feel free to give us your comments so in futur we can try/do our best to use your comments to our advantage and that of our other visitors.

We will try to become a truly purple meeting point, purple being the collour of the gays, transgenders and lesbians here in Thailand and as such we hope with our way of work not only to attrackt and make that home away from home for the foreigners/farang but also for the Thais, of whom most live far away from home as well when in Patong/Phuket.

The futur will only be able to tell if we succeed or not, but we believe in our simple concept of creating a fun creative place for everyone AND we start small... and take it from there!

Last remark: Gayromeo

Those who also kept in contact via gayromeo, sadly due to a misunderstanding about which any communication seems to be absolute impossible with gayromeo, we, Rob and Backstage Thailand Club, have been permanently deleted from gayromeo. A customer friendly attitude seems to be a difficult thing to do for gayromeo and because of that we willl stop recommending using gayromeo as a main way of keeping in contact with eachother... simple because to our surprise it fails gayromoe not only to clearly communicate when the need arrises, but also have now shown repeatedly lack of any customer friendly attitude and, even worse, behaves like a monopolist.
A disagreement alone is by far no reason for us to say all this, its the way in which communication about issues is taking place, attitude and such when a problem is brought forward by a cusotmer or if one tries to get a clarification on a statement by gayromeo directed at a customer.

So, feel free, if you are one of our former gayromeo followers/clubmembers, not only to become a follower here but also pass on the word and the information to those you may be in contact with.
So we can enjoy the feedbacks again of all or most of you!

BUT more important, we will have a chance to meet up with you again!!

Take good care
and stay healthy!

On behalf of the Backstage Team,
Rob

Peace and quiet...

Left: A relaxing Didi, our dog, while her boss (me, haha) is away to Europe/Holland on (family) business!


At the moment, your informer about the going ons with The Backstage, is temporary back in his homecountry Holland for roughly 4 weeks.
These last days were rather exciting because at first we were not sure I could get away in time at all... but now I am here in Holland and as such its way harder to report about what is going on at The Backstage.
My apologies for that!

Kik is busy getting the last paperwork in order, but knowing the sometimes typical way things are organised here, ergo not according to western logic but Thai logic, it progresses slowly.
We would not like the idear of us, or you for that matter, being dragged off to the police because something was not as it should have been.
These previous weeks we heard several times of such 'incidents' and except that they are costly, even for us farang, its also a big nuisance... so we decided to run no risk and be sure we comply.
BUT ofcourse, as you might expect me to say: This attitude from us is no guarantee that we actually succeed in that.
We do our best though!

I expect to be back after mid May, but if all goes well, wel before the end of May. Till that time reporting here will be somewhat minimal.

BUT enjoy whatever you are doing right now and hope to see you all son again in Patong!

Cabaret costumes for The Backstage & our new logo!!!

In the picture on the left we see Kik looking at a dress while a friend aaaaaaand maybe fuuuuuutur performer at The Backstage sits between costumes on the floor.
As I wrote yesterday, when we received last minute invitation to the possibility of purchasing a bunch of costumes to support whatever (mini) performances we would like to see to take place at The Backstage.

In the end we purchased around 15 costumes and I believe soon enough we all get a chance to see how they can look on our little stage.... One thing I know, Kik is truly enjoying the prospect of working this new though little stage.
We all realise that such a stage in such small surroundings is much more difficult to play on/in then bigger stages elsewhere. For the performer it also has an advantage, the responses of the audiance is more direct, more critical. The audiance after all sits practically on the lap of the performer and as such makes everything done so much more visable.
In Holland we look at mini theaters as the ideal trainingground for performers, if they survive these small stages then in general they will be able to succesfully perform practicaly anywhere else.
Our greatest performing artists in my home country started in/on such small stages and in such mini theaters...
Now not that I want to compare with the likes of them, BUT I tell this just to let you know that in case of performing, smaller is not at all regarded as easier... its seen as a much bigger challenge.

The Backstage will slowly start with putting on stage small little productions, but in the beginning not at all regular. We also will start inviting other people to come and use our stage, for try-outs etc. .....

Next to performing, which is ofcourse part of a theatercafe, annex cabaret karaoke bar, we wil also try to stimulate contact among expats and longstay guests here on Phuket of all kinds of nationalities, as wel as giving the opportunity to meet people from all walks of life, hopefuly not only farang but also Thai, so we can become a truly happy purple meeting point!

Because thats the full name of our place:
The Backstage, purple meeting point
Below you find a temporary logo of The Backstage, which roughly looks as we want it to look, but ofcourse is not yet perfect... hehe... as well as one can make lots of variations on its basic design so this is one of the first of a series of expressions of our new logo ;-)

If you like the challenge: feel free to design variations on our design while keeping in mind the basics, which we simply like to see returned: the purple circle with the name written over it, trough it on a background of , in principal Orange, but that can be replaced by pink on occasion(s). If you go for the challenge: Good luck and we do look forward to receiving your creativity!

Right: a rough design of our futur Logo as Backstage

Does it all fit, what more do we need? haha, nothing for the time being by the look of it ;-)

Picture left: A look from outsite into The Backstage, with left the small stage.

While the temperature was rising, and not only by the sun here on Phuket, we were fitting our small theater/cabaret cafe annex cabaret karaokebar with the furnitur we bought last week after having cleaned the downstairs as good as we could.
The aircon, brandnew, is causing some problems, so very soon we were all as wet as wet can be, like Sonkran had started somewhat early haha. Though ofocurse happy that the temps didn't rise as much as they did in Bangkok.

We try to follow the events there, and be assured that Kik, and most of the people we know involved with the former J&B Bar and lots of others working in and around Paradise, are feeling pretty bad, but also involved, with whats happening in Bangkok. Its like a kind of battle............ we all hope though it will not turn into a battle of Isaan and other rural area's of Thailand and the city elite.. that would be too sad for words.
Maybe, I hope, we can give some distraction from the events there by being so busy with the preparations etc. though its hard to figur out what the efects will be on tourism, on the guys here while thinking of their families back home and or in Bangkok.

As Backstage we can allready tell you that next to purple the other dominant color of The Backstages will be ORANGE, YES!! Not only because orange is also the color of the Dutch and our Royal family (and one of my two favorite colors) BUT it is also a mix of yellow and red, the colors of the two fighting parties in Bangkok.
We hope that in the end compromise will win the day and the conflict, a hard needed honest compromise. Thailand may need its own version of an Orange revolution ;-)


Picture right: A look from the back to outsite. Ofcourse the terrace is not out yet and partly hidden behind and between the furniture indoors.

As you can see when looking at this two pictures of the interior of our Backstage, you notice, like we do, that the walls are prety empty. The need dressing up with posters and pictures of musicals, plays, opera's, concerts, movie and theaterstars, from Thailand and the rest of the world..........so, if you like, feel free to bring something with you from where ever you come from which we can hang on our walls.
We would be proud if our customers would help us in that way to make The Backstage a recognisable 'home' for all!

Latest little news:
Due to circumstances we have been offered a complete cabaret show outfit/costumes to take over. Kik and I will have a serious look at them this night and see if we can use them to make The Backstage even better prepared for all we want or would like to do aaand you might wish us to do!!
Keep you posted if we are indeed crazy enough to make such a bold move at such an early stage! ;-)

The last steps towards the end of Fase I ;-)

Picture left: A last view on a relative empty Backstage, with the new curtains in full view!

The construction/renovationpeople having finished their work in THe Backstage, the curtains all hanging now as they were designed for, and don't they look smart? The place looks very empty, and this will be the last time it will look that way, except maybe when a kind of 'spring'cleaning takes place sometime in the futur haha.
The bathroom with a more then decent, though simple, shower capacity has eben completed satisfactory. The stage and staircase are painted in a warm dark collor.........

Now it is time for the soundsystemguys, to install all the technical bits and pieces to make The Backstage swing on demand ;-).
It took the guys several days to get everything installed and working..... it became clear that some special construction was needed because some walls and ceilings were not too well suited to carry the weight of the boxes and the 42" flatscreen!
But in the end everything was installed and tested to our satisfaction... and we now hope ofocurse that that all will remain as such.
I say that, because during the installation of the soundsystem the newly installed and brandnew airconsystem allready refused to do its work, hence half the evening we had to deal with overheated technicians here ;-)


picture right: testing sound- and TV system, amidst a mess of stuff.

Now we enter the last stage of the first fase: cleaning, placing the delivered furniture, cleaning upstairs where the staff is going to stay, and making roughly everything operational, including fridge etc... only thing we have to agree upon is the small mobile bar we still need to purchase ;-) haha

By the way: The walls are now looking very empty... and they wil stay that way for a while... BUT maybe you, who read this and might come to Patong Phuket: Please feel free to bring old theater attributes with you, theaterposters, musicalposters, etc. so we can use them to decorate our walls!

HUGS,
Rob

Interior decorating and all that jazz ;-) The Backstage's interior being delivered!

Picture:The interior of The Backstage slowly getting into shape with delivering of the furniture! Gong, our housekeeper and to some known as a former dancer at My Way Cabaret, sitting on some free space on one of the black couches

Slowly. or now, more accuratly, very fast our new location is getting into shape.
Today the furniture was delivered to The Backstage, mostly indoors, but also 12 chairs and some tables for outdoors. The very comfortable outdoorchairs will follow soon.
Also today, actually it is happening while I am typing this little entry here on our weblog, the whole music installation is being put into place, including everything needed for karaoke and life performances!
In total 6 musicboxes are being installed, 4 indoors and 2 on the outdoor terrace. Now originally I thought we could simply be happy with just a somewhat strong stereo set and a tv screen, BUT well after a barrage of arguments, laughing and all else you can imagine by the Thai here, I surrendered most, at least thats how I look at it, hehe. And now the soundsystem is being screwed to the ceilings and walls. A 42" TV screen is being hung on the staircase wall. A karaoke system being installed. MOst likely the Thai are now able to put up the volume to their hearts desire, which means that we farang might starts screaming or stare with sounddumb eyes in front of us while waves of music engulf us..... BUT that will only happen well after midnight, AND only if the special karaoke permissions have been handed out to us AND we managed to pay for the musicrights!

This last one seems to be tricky.... these last weeks their has been a severe crackdown on the bars, etc. in Paradise complex (at least) aand the lowest fine handed out was 50.000 baht. A small fortune for the Thai here, as most of you readers might know.
But Kik is our specialist in that area and for suck matters the Backstage liason officer, haha... and he knows it! All in all he agrees with me, we will only start using everything to its full potential. when we have all our bases covered!
Which doesn't dissapoint me, because Kik and I agreed to take our swet time in getting everything right with the backstage before offcially opening!
Ergo, this means that most likely a few weeks after my return from The Netherlands ( sometime in may) we will have a modest soft opening, as they also call it.... and later , sometime October/November, when everything is as it should be, then we will try to stage that grand opening everybody seems to long for, haha...Question: who in the hell is "everybody"?

For myself, I most look forward to start with The Backstage and come up with a fun, entertaining and atractive little program for The Backstage, to play with its posibilities. And can only pray that with the feedback from the customers, we will get it right in the end and as such will be able to provide all of you with that entertaining home away from home.
The real challenge for us is, to create a place that not only is attractive to our foreign visitors (farang as they are called here) but also our Thai visitors and locals!

Ha, when I think about it, maybe we can allready slowly start operating in the next few days... not al the hours yet, but slowly starting up... mmm, would be a plleasant idear.....

Most potential staff members have made it clear that they would love to come and work for us BUT that they even more like to celebrate the Thai New Year, Sonkran in their respective hometowns and cities.... something we can truly understand and appreciate. For the Thai its THE holliday and only time in which they al try to go back to their families to celebrate.

So we will discover how we'll slowly start up our operation !

"Backstage Thailand" calling for first time!

Kik checking the outsite of The Backstage, though not everything ready yet, its slowly getting there!

Back to where the gay (night)life started here on the iland of Phuket:

It won't be more then a couple of days now, till we will start operating the successor of J&B Bar, THE BACKSTAGE (purple) meeting point, here in Patong Beach on Phuket, Thailand!

The Backstage will become a small theatercafe where customers and management of The Backstage can stage allmost everything they want, from lipsing/playback, karaoke to life music, stand-up comedy and everything else what might fancy your and/or our mind! ;-)

It is also our dear wish that The Backstage will become, small as it may be, the prurple meeting point here in Patong Beach/Phuket where gay men, and their friends, from of all walks of life and from all nationalities can meet and while away from home, will feel very much at home. Where they will feel free to talk about whatever they would like to talk about with whomever they enjoy!

Together with our customers we will have to try to create just such a place, a creative home away from home!!

In the next couple of days, maybe week(s) we will try to report as much as we can around the progress of the realisation of The Backstage.
And be assured, we will leave more then enough room for you to comment on :-)))

O, and this evening, Easter Sunday, Kik and I bought 8 chairs for outdoors....we think they are cool, and once seeted it might be hard to force yourself to get up again! But ofcourse we will also buy less comfortable outdoor chairs just in case you do not like to get too comfortable!
Tomorrow we will go hunt again for indoor furniture.

Same time tomorrow work on The Backstage will continue: They wil move the aircon installation to the location Kik and I originally had chosen, haha, and as such will create the right location for the 42" TV screen.
If all goes well they also will finish work on the bathroom with showerfascilities, also for our customers when they come back from the beach (!!), paintwork, etc. and the day after the technical guys will go in and installing the soundsystem, combined with TV etc.!

All in all, when everything is finished we hope to become a small iland where our customers/friends will feel free and at home in a most pleasant surroundings in an otherwise very normal avarage little Thai street! A street which in the beginning was THE street for the gay nightlife here in Patong Beach, but then we talk about many many years ago!

Feel free to ask any question and if possible for us we will answer it here for you and all other readers to read!
And as our old J&B customers know, we will only remove reactions and pictures which are negative in mindset, BUT positive critical pieces will never be subject to such actions of removal, etc.