This site takes a new more streamlined look today. Not many startling changes but we have moved server and are gearing up. Coming soon will be some new additions – like ‘Flying Sporran’s’ ‘The List’ and ‘Gang Warily’ – a new Due Diligence service we are in the process of setting up to keep the uninitiated out of trouble in Thailand.
Welcome to the new and slightly revamped website. We are heading now to hopefully break even within a few months so at last we are getting our advertising sorted. To be quite frank nobody was dealing with it before. We’ve created two new half banners at the top and can do the bottom either as a full banner, or two half banners too. All banners rotate – to a maximum of three in one spot. Another coming new addition will be ‘Flying Sporran’s’ – ‘The List’. Got bored of reading glossie magazines and their fawning revues of
hotels, bars and restaurants. We’ll we hope to be taking you around Thailand and Asia and the region’s best, but not necessarily expensive hotels, B & Bs, pubs, clubs, etc., through the eyes of Flying Sporran himself, and hopefully a wide range of journalists from the region itself. Expect some ripping yarns. You won’t see reviews like this anywhere else.
To get on the list obviously an establishment has to have a special quality. It does not even have to be expensive – even Bangkok’s ‘Cheap Charlies’ outside bar might make it even though with time of course he is’nt so cheap any more.
The site is becoming more and more popular and with an intelligent readership. It’s widely read by journalists in Bangkok and of course diplomats and local businessmen, and convicts too apparently so you’re in good company, and it has continuously month on month attracted more readers.
So if you want to support the Flying Sporran and have an honest business to advertise get in touch. We hope the prices are low but,
like everything I guess, we can discount on bulk! Oh and finally – the comments section has changed. We have paragraphs!
UPDATE – 5/5/2555!
The site is still being worked on but most functionality is there now. A new feature is being introduced – User registration. This is a requirement in the future for commenting on the site. The reasons for doing it are mainly – Building a community, keeping members up to date with the latest news and information and cutting down on spamming or trolling comments.
What do you think? Your feedback is much appreciated.
The first thing I noticed Andrew is that the count box has gone, I and others will think this is important in our quest to get the leading stories high in the google rankings.
Looks excellent so far! and Thank You!
Excellent news.
Decent restaurant reviews are as rare as hen's teeth in Thailand. The warning index will be a valuable aid and I assume you have a retainer arrangement with your own legal team. Perhaps you, too, should negotiate a discount rate in preparation of the possibly higher volumes of actions from disgruntled restaurateurs and dodgey Brit builders/estate agents/knife grinders et al.
Any chance you might back pedal a bit on the old Caledonian connection? I try to ignore the sweaty connections but it's becoming increasingly difficult.
Make a section for "most read" or even by alphabeth D for Drew Noyes of course. It will save us readers and posters from wandering all over, especially if you are afflicted by a failing memory;-) As you are known to censor put up rules so we know what and how. We do not all live by the same rules you must know.
Excellent Andrew. Much better surfing here than on Thaivisa Teakdoor Subzero and Farangtalk. Refreshing to have honest and acceptable moderating and much more civilised not to have to read lots of flaming posts. All credit to you
Looks good. Get a spell/word checker but….we'll…well ..!!!
By the way, just a little marketing advice…the banners down the bottom will rarely ever get seen in my opinion. Suggestion…if possible, move the comments into the middle of the column and then the big white space…at least on my puter…between the comments and the banners on the right side, would then be on the left side and not wasted and prime advertising space.
and again…if down the left side not possible…at least move the 2 bottom ones to above the listed old articles and just below this comment box….that way it forces viewers past the advertising and to see them when viewing the old article list.
Hi,
Thanks for the feedback
@Khonmask – Thanks for that too, I'll setup the comment count now. Would it also be useful to add the page views count back to the posts?
@Pat Angko – Thanks for the ideas, you can filter posts by the tags that we use on the site, at the top of the newer articles you will see a tags list, click on one and a screen will give you a list of all the posts with that tag. The tagging system is new and has not been applied to most of the posts on this site, just the latest ones.
Dear K. Andrew
Well done. I think you should not forget social media. A simple facebook 'like' link at each story would allow your readers to help you attracting even more visitors to your website.
Looks great Andrew, I miss the counter & how many comments have been made on a specific story. Also a link to your youtube and would love to see your flying sporran logo as your favicon. Why not take the bottom and add google ad words, (I know I know it is yucky and people hate it) but I'll click on a few to buy you a singha. Maybe a "Like" button so when people comment we can support them ? like TV.
Please Andrew, do a forum where all views, presented in a respectful manner are welcome. I've just been banned from Lie-viaza for the eighth, or is it the ninth time?
A I to be relegated to the … ? What choice is there, really? The rabid one? Or the sub rabid?
Since you asked….I'd like to see your Thailand paid sponsors vetted and even open for complaints from customers and have the results aired for all to see. That would be a first in Thailand and would make for a loyal following for those sponsors…IMO.
I am way behind the 8 ball when it comes to using Credit cards or paypal…(just don't like using CC on line & I can never remember how to use paypal). Maybe you could make your local Thailand bank account number public and those of us who live here could help with a few bucks once in a while by donating to your bank either on line or in person.
Great site & keep up the outstanding work.
Good Luck with this Andrew. I second KRR and suggest that there are links for Facebook, Twitter and also Email.
a comment on the comments section – why do you run them newest to oldest? To follow the flow of conversation, replies etc means you have to start at the bottom and work your way up. I'm curious as to the reasoning and if it's something you had intended.
Am out of town at the moment – getting down and dirty – we're continually updating and correcting. Some stories, videos are missing, so we are putting them back in etc. Will consider ALL suggestions. Best AD
This is the first site I open in the mornings,holding my breath for more Noyes exclusives.
Great work Andrew
Hi Andrew,
Well done on the new look, but I notice all the old links are dead ie: "http://andrew-drummond.com/view-story.php?sid=437" .. this should be easy to fix with a script, I'd hate to see the progression through search engine ranks reset when you search for "Drew Noyes"
I take your point Horse doctor. I believe AD's success and the ensuing benefits to expats here stem from his open and unbioased moderation policy. The existing forums such as Thaivisa have outlived their usefulness as information centres because of their modding policy. Newer ones such as farangtalk have shown their true colours and are virtually dead in the water. We need an AD type blog and should support him
I was going to post this a few days back, but decided to review your changes first. You can see that it is possible to make posts with a Kindle 3 in zoom mode. Better still, it is extremely easy to view your long and turgid pokes at Rewd Noyes & Sliv Colon (in article mode) – reducing eyestrain, with reading offline also possible. So your site is probably quite mobile-friendly too.
I hope that all moderators will be vetted to ensure that self interest groups are not represented. This guy Rimmer on Thai Visa reminds me of Hitler on a bad day
More great stuff Andrew and very pleased to see things moving in this direction.
Your concept is excellent and i sincerely hope that you have started an informational snow ball.
Really hope that this grows and that you can also make some income for your efforts and balls.
Well done and wish you success as you define it.
Phil
GDawd & others, for your information Paypal used to be difficult to use and required an account to pay or receive funds. The way Andrew set his support button up doesn't require one to have an account with Paypal. I'm sure you are aware when you click on a site that is HTTP it is NOT secure but when you see HTTPS that is a secure site and your URL bar will usually change to green ensuring your data is SAFE SAFE. Paypal has 232 million users and 100 million active & owned by eBay, I use it lots and not once have had any issue. If you do happen to have a Paypal account when you click support you can either sign into your account and transfer funds or you can simply click PAY and use your credit card of choice. PayPal is 1000% safe to use and between Paypal and your bank you can trust the service. When you pay using Paypal NO one will know any details about your credit card or personal data, only that an amount of XX was received from email johnd@XXX.com
Finally you will notice Mr. D has his default currency set to pounds, that is because he is verified in the UK – when you support in pounds don't worry Paypal is almost like a bank and the conversion rate to your home currency is on par with other banks etc
As for posting bank account details online I am old school and wouldn't like some people to know where Mr. Drummond even banks for security reasons.
Don't know Rimmer, June; but the moderator 'problem' is widespread throughout the Thai forums. The owners give them personal power in order to give themselves more time to concentrate on the finances. George is the classic example. He won't involve himself in any complaint against a mod.The best way in my view is for moderators to be anonymous and merely do their job of stopping flaming and making libelous comments. And either not to allow the post to appear or to edit it. But never to comment, that only stirs things further
Hi Andrew you need to correct the links all the old stories are dead pages, a lot of people have worked very hard in getting these links at the very top of the google rankings,but its not good that they are now dead links
ANDREW DRUMMOND: WILL BE DOING THAT LATER – BUT IF YOU HAVE ANY EXAMPLES IT WOULD BE APPECIATED
Paypal certainly does not seem to be the innocent little darling painted by JohnD. Many stories of accounts closed and monies not released for various to no reasons and their customer support when trying to sort out these issues…is non existent……As for TV Mods, well, what do you expect from lackies doing an unpaid job for their boss who reaps in all the cash, while they perform the essential and crappiest duties…for free…great business model if you can find the gullible. Rimmer, Ijustwannareacharound, SBK, Rooo and a very special mention to the king of retarted moderators 'Metisdead' all need to go back to mod school and learn how to do it without ignorance and arrogance.
ANDREW DRUMMOND: I was a paypal sceptic. But it has worked very well for me. Even allows me to send back money immediately if somebody pays twice by mistake as has happened.
Andrew, just a point of interest I notice that since the new look was introduced any comments I send to the Forum are posted directly. Despite small print under them stating the comments are awaiting moderation. Is this an error or are they checked that swiftly. Also on May 5th when I entered my e-mail address, the address of Jessica who posts here also appeared. I guess perhaps because this lady has the same first initial as myself. This seems very worrying, though thankfully it hasn't happened since. With respect, not sure about The Viewer Registration, I understand the valid reasons you give, but it just seems a bit elitist. As for trolling comments, they can be very amusing, especially if posted by a 'certain someone', using one of his many easily spotted aliases.
I too have had bad experiences with paypal and if you do search on complaints about paypal there are hundreds of thousands of pages and class action lawsuits against then, Did you know that you are not covered for any kind of software you buy on-line but they do not tell there customers this.
You are only covered with physical things that are posted, there are millions of people conned with no protection when buying software.
I have never had any bad experiences with Paypal at all.
I have had issues with various sellers who either have not sent the goods/inferior goods etc and their Customer Service has been exceptionally good. Their 24/7 call centre is met with someone courteous and helpful and usually the situation is rectified within 10 working days.
ANDREW DRUMMOND:" I was a paypal sceptic. But it has worked very well for me. Even allows me to send back money immediately if somebody pays twice by mistake as has happened."
I did happen to read the enclosed link the other day so I guess the must be two sides to the coin.
http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/552787-sue-paypal-in-thailand/page__p__5278691__hl__+paypal#entry5278691
NB Apologies if links are not permissable, then feel free to remove my post Andrew
Not just Thaivisa though, Sam. Other forums are the same. Not as aggressive, but thailandqa will not support any free speech if it is not 'politically correct'and moves away from suggesting that thailand is not always a bag of roses. You have to tow the party line there and upset the top moderator who is in the uk and you're out. Offensive or flaming or libelous posts should just not be published. And with mod anonymity and no comment. There is then nothing there to start a flame war. AD has got it right in my view. Subzero is the worst for cliquey flaming. Their current topic on Drummond is nothing to do with the AD site at all. Just a small group of posters scoring silly points off one another.
Defamatory Post Removed: Subject to Section 1, Paragraph 12 clause 7 sub part a.. "Moderators must at all times be petty minded Arse****s".. Regards Lee (new drummond moderator)
Avid Reader – Let me check this out. Personally I believe registering is a good thing.
Paypal as a customer is very different to being there client I believe. I can only go by the many stories and complaints you read as I have no personal experience with them yet, but I am thinking and looking for a 3rd party payment system that is solid and reliable now myself….As for this site…why you worried about registration Jeffrey, not like anyone does not know your penchant for redheads. This place is a Blog I believe they are called, as opposed to a forum, they work differently and here the mod sees the posts before they are made live, on forums the posts go up and then a mod reads them later but are immediately viewed by the public. A blog working like this should ensure some self discipline in what you write if you do not want your time wasted. For example, if I was to waste my time, I might reply to 'xxxxxxxxxx' again and risk the 10th post being not posted.
Thanks Jessica. But if everyone is scared to send me donations by paypal then god help me!! It seems by far the easiest way -and I get an immediate record of who has sent (ie email) so I can thank immediatly and do not have to keep checking banks etc
Didn't mean to start a debate about Paypal just wanted to mention it is safe for those who haven't used it before to click & pay. Sure there are tonnes of complaints about folks who have had their accounts frozen, even happened to me when travelling accessing the site from China- but for click & support/donate with or without an account it is good, selling products etc there are problems for sure. As for registering and moderation no issue at all for me, I'm only a guest here and frankly no one listens to me outside of the cyber world anyway LOL.
Jessica, Thanks for posting that thread from TV.
John D, Thanks for the info on Paypal.
I didn't mean to suggest PP wasn't safe to use, but when I tried to sign up several years ago, it seemed quite confusing to me (maybe because I am an old fart).
Not sure what security issues are involved with providing a bank name and account number for public use. Many organizations use on-line banking. One can open an account with XXX bank in Nakhon Nowhere and access it from any branch in Thailand either physically walking into the branch or accessing it via Internet so I don't understand what the security issues are.
I personally have used Siam Commercial Bank internet banking for all payments for the last two years w/o any problems. When I transfer money to any Thailand bank, SCB automatically sends a text message to a mobile phone of my choice and/or will send an Email to the recipient showing the transaction, kind of like paypal I guess.
Bottom line is that AD will have to decide what payment methods he will use. I hope Internet banking will be an option in the future.
I have accounts in UK, offshore and Thailand.(all with little in them of course) I can be requested by donors who wish to pay individually into these accounts rather than paypall. Many people have paid into the Thai account and others. On paypal, having received the cash I just click withdraw and the cash will automatically go into the nominated bank. But best of all I see immediately – enter the email into my donors log – and from that log in the future we will make party lists, special offers (if we have any etc) Payment to my other accounts also go into the log of course but its a little more difficult than click and move. I need to take advice on actually putting the account details on the net.
Sam, valid points regarding the differences in the posting of comments on Forums and Blogs. Andrew moderating before a comment is posted certainly seems to ensure a high standard of posts here. Thankfully Sam, even some of your comments do make it onto the public stage. Regarding registration, it was not a case of my being personally 'afraid', I was just concerned it might put off the 'occasional visitor' to this site. I am sure in Thailand there must be a few old ex-hippies who might like to 'tune in and drop out' now and again with regard to posting on various blogs. As regards my penchant for 'redheads', I have always had a liking for a much darker hue. One of the reasons for my move to Asia. If I preferred the color you state Sam, perhaps my heart would be 'hunting a dear' in The Highlands, where I believe many a flame haired Bonnie Lassie resides.
Its quite common to see peoples account numbers online for all to see, A few mail order companies have them up as a payment option. But I suppose it would make sense for it to be an individual account for this specific purpose only.
Perhaps open a bank account for this purpose only at the same bank you deal or another branch, and then clean it out monthly/weekly via transfer, or another bank and you ATM the money out. Not trying to be a pathetic scaredy cat but I wouldn't want people to know what branch you frequent.
John D:If Pat approves I will pass it on
Something weird going on with this site, could not get in last 2 days then realised the link from my comp was playing up, then got in and the 'aging popstar' link goes to a download which actually downloads nothing and does not open the article.
Yep – we're still up and down at the moment. Server problem
Hello Andrew YOU SHOULD HAVE MADE A MIRROWED COPY OF YOUR SITE PUT IT ON YOUR NEW SERVER
before moving your new site live everyone would have been happy, get the new one bug free before going live your developer should have told you this
KhonMask- I'm sure Andrew feels the pain more than any of us when the site is down or has bugs. As FOA (friends of Andrew) we should just wait and focus on the news he brings us-glass half full.
Andrew, I apologize in advance if this has already been mentioned but the main article text scrunched to the left (0px left margin) is driving me crazy. Recommend the admin officer change the CSS style file or html to correct this.
Still sorting glitches I am afraid KM – viewer count going up – but will not apply to old stories.
glitches happen! not a hanging offence. i think your supporters are more than happy that you are relentlessly exposing things in thailand (can't say that about tv or the others)
Andrew, I agree with some other posters there have been a few problems with the site since it was re-styled. But I am sure no one among your loyal readership in this instance would apply the saying 'if it ain't broke don't fix it. As they surely understand you being 'short of a few shekels' was the main reason for the recent changes. Andrew, I hope you manage to attract the advertisers you require to continue your excellent work.
OK, I have logged in, signed up.. done all the business… and still no AVATAR!