Fridae.com and Capital Media have announced a joint venture to publish Asia's first comprehensive gay and lesbian travel guide in the first quarter of 2003.

The Fridae Gay + Lesbian Guide to Asia-Pacific will be published by Capital Media Ltd, a member of the Rhino Focus Publishing Group, a leading corporate publishing house, established as a joint venture between two well-established and successful publishers from Australia and Malaysia who have a combined book publishing experience of more than 21 years.

Fridae.com - which is Asia's first and largest non-pornographic gay and lesbian portal - provides original content, online resources, news, entertainment, personals and other community services. The site currently serves six million page views and attracts 230,000 unique visitors a month.

Dedicated to publishing high quality gay and lesbian material, Fridae recognises the need for a comprehensive travel guide to the region.

The move also comes in response to cater to a high demand of a print version of the current online travel guides for gay and lesbian travellers visiting from within Asia as well as Europe and the US.

"There are some pretty good gay travel guides out there but when it comes to Asia, the information provided is usually out-of-date if mentioned at all. There are definitely gay establishments in Asia's capital cities but it's a pain to search high and low for them on the web," says Gerald Wong, a 32-year-old Hong Kong-based executive who travels on business several times a month.

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The Fridae Guide will comprise a set of six books in a box set covering 24 countries from China to Thailand to India and includes detailed listings of gay (and gay-friendly) restaurants, bars, danceclubs, accommodation, events, support groups, community organisations, local publications in addition to write-ups on each country, its people and culture.

To ensure that the information included in the guide is as current as possible, Fridae seeks contributors with an extensive knowledge of their local gay and lesbian scene in the following countries/cities:

East Asia
China - Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou
Taiwan - Taipei, Kaoshiung, Tainan, Taichung
Macau
Korea - Seoul
Japan - Tokyo, Osaka, Sapporo, Kyoto

IndoChina
Vietnam - Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City
Cambodia - Phnom Penh
Laos - Vientiane, Luang Prabhang
Myannar - Yangon

South Asia
India - New Delhi, Calcutta
Pakistan - Islamabad
Bhutan - Thimphu
Maldives - Male
Sri Lanka - Colombo
Bangladesh - Dhaka
Nepal - Kathmandu

Southeast Asia
Malaysia - Johor Bahru, Penang
Indonesia - Jakarta, Bandung, Bali
Thailand - Bangkok, Phuket, Pattaya, ChiangMai,
Philippines - Manila, Cebu
Brunei - Bandar Seri Bagawan

Australasia
Australia - Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Perth, Canberra, Darwin, Hobart
New Zealand - Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch

Please email editor@fridae.com if you are interested; contributors will receive a free set of the travel guide.