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Thank you for your very clear and thorough explanation, @daydreamer. I wasn't aware of the difficulties US credit card holders faced when making bookings from outside Thailand. I can't use my home cards while shopping on some Thai online platforms for èg, Shopee Thailand. No problems with the big stores such as Central - my favourite. Thankfully I have a Thai bank account which I opened twenty years ago! Or I just get a Thai friend to shop on my behalf and reimburse them accordingly. I understand it is much harder - but not impossible - for foreigners to open a bank account in Thailand now. I imagine it would require some kind of long-term residency status.

I agree. I'd rather read your thoughts, @floridarob, than reading the output from an AI machine.

Either I couldn't find any direct website, or those hotels were not able to accept US credit card payments online. Some of the smaller hotels are not prepared to deal with accepting online payments from foreign customers. I have found a number of times that many Thai travel related businesses are not able to accept credit card payments, for US credit cards (online). Not only for hotels, but on my most recent trip, for a rental car booking, Bangkok dinner cruise tickets, and Nok Air tickets. For the rental car from Drive Rental Car, a Thai company, I was able to book through Trip.com, a Chinese company. For the Nok Air tickets, I booked through Traveloka, a Singapore based company. The week before I arrived in Thailand, I tried to book the boat tickets. I gave up trying to book the boat trip from outside Thailand. After explaining the payment issue, one Thai agency did offer to allow me to make payment at a Thai 7-Eleven, but that option was only available for 24 hours, before my arrival in Bangkok. The problem is the Thai payment processor that the majority of Thai travel companies use does not take US cards for internet bookings. I have run into this issue for years. Not only me, but there are oodles of similar complaints on the web. BTW, this affects not only Nok Air, but Thai Airways also, for internal flights, when attempting to book online from outside Thailand. I have credit cards with three different banks, and I have contacted them all to ask if my cards were blocked for Thai transactions. They always say no, it is on the Thai end - it is the payment processing company inside Thailand that is blocking the payments. The majority of Thai travel related companies use 2C2P, a Thai payment platform company for international credit card transactions. It does not work for US credit cards (when outside Thailand), and has been that way for years. Unfortunately, the Thai businesses either don't know or don't care to fix the issue, or switch to a different payment processing platform. So I frequently use booking agencies outside of Thailand to make bookings. I am speaking of credit cards, not debit cards. My credit cards work fine inside Thailand, the issue is internet payments from outside the country. Inside Thailand, credit card receipts show a Thai bank, usually Bangkok Bank or Kasikorn Bank is the payment processor, not a third party platform such as 2C2P. So in many cases for me, the only option is non-Thai booking agencies for making travel bookings of any kind, when outside Thailand. A few years ago, I booked a hotel in Khao Lak, and they could only accept an international bank transfer, not the simplest or cheapest way to send money. Interestingly, I was recently checking hotels on Koh Samet. I found a direct hotel website on Google, but when clicking the booking button, it opened up a Booking.com page to make the reservation. I don't know if this affects people in other countries, this issue is for US cards, when used outside of Thailand. So until many Thai hotels, airlines, car rental companies, etc decide to accept online US card payments, they will have to pay a commission on each sale to foreign travel agencies that are clever enough to accept US credit card payments.

Into the old smelly shoe fetish I see👟🥿👢👞nothing wrong with that dear

Update. Had to visit TukCom today, so took a Walkabout and popped my head into the local establishments. Bad news for @Olddaddy I'm afraid, Royal House Massage for Men and their Men-Only Karaoke bar are both closed. Somjit had 3 elderly Twinks on duty, all doing the phone thing. See below for current menu options. Relax@Me had 3 boys on duty, mid to late 20's. Helios had 10 pairs of shoes outside, and I counted 6 boys and the Mamasan. They have a promotion, which is 5% discount on card payments.

Perhaps he got wind that you were chasing after him...😅 What kind of show does Castro have?

His last name isn't Hilton, is it? ☺️

Presumably the magic calendar is on his magic carpet!

I've said it before, but I FEAR that pretty, nubile, Daddy's girl IVANKA may have been ABUSED by Daddy too ? And, he is STILL sexually obsessed with HER ! The man is sick, cant people see it ? No INNOCENT man fights so hard to keep stuff hidden, and Trump really isnt the type of dude that CARES if his "friends" go down.... It's all about HIM, always, and contrary to Savannagh Chrisleys claims that Trump IS NOT A RACIST this week on The view, he IS a PEDOPHILE ! And THERE IS PROOF, bucky.......

"but the customer service of Asian carriers is superior to anything you find on US carriers…even in first class." I didn't know that US carriers provided customer service?

I have never been to the Sukhumvit branch of Prestige Massage -- it's some distance away in Onnut, I think -- but although I too was interested to check it out, a boy at the Chong Nonsi branch told me that the rooms in the Sukhumvit branch did not have ensuite bathrooms. This made me hesitate. Would it be worth the trouble to make the trip?

I'm afraid not. I managed to find current bars with guys for hire.

Makes @Olddaddy look sane!

Perhaps unusual?

Well, he is an insider!

Sorry, Baedeker was the European guide of choice for the Victorian Grand Tour. See it appearing in the film of "Room with a View". The books were bound in red linen, and had many priceless comments. Such as," for a small fee you may employ a boy to push your bicycle up the hill". They had very detailed maps, and descriptions of hotels, restaurants, trains etc. I built up a small collection, mostly 1890s, many years ago, when they were cheap. Now they are sought after. When I went to Venice, the Baedeker was very helpful, as the sights hadn't changed! I followed instructions to go to a church, down a small alley, and was told there was a Bellini behind the altar. Indeed there was! Restaurants, etc, had changed a bit!

Yes, I usually check. I'm trying to build up points with Marriott and Accor! Also, I sometimes find a wider selection of rooms, if looking at hotel website.

Government enforced homophobia is a voluntary policy of African governments to keep mostly uneducated population excited (sex is understood by all people) and avoiding discussions of real social and economical issues, including massive corruption.

I try to book direct when I can, even if slightly more expensive, but when there is this much of a price difference, it's really a no-brainer.

With Aunty Vin's magic calendar, rest assured it'll be sooner rather than later. 😉

Thanks for taking the time to share your adventures. Glad to have been a small part of your trip - may our paths cross sooner rather than later!

Berlin police department had then unit called „Thieves and Male escorts“. And indeed, prostitution was drivven by economic reasons, same as Patpong.

Can the mods move this thread into the Pattaya section?

Of course we must as good citizens in this world community show empathy if not sympathy to the old , well let me tell you sweetheart times are a changing and no one cares to give you empathy anymore , Go to the gym , even I can run up several flights of stairs and I'm 89 , push your yourself past the borders of meridian, past the threshold of age,and past the New World order World order is kicking in and you will be laying on the ground in all your pity whilst a nurse stands over you with her arms folded shaking her head at your weakness !! And trying to give you an injection 💉 Oh you poor old man ...oh 😭 Gym !! Do squats ! Survival