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I have finally made it back to BKK! It is two years since I was here last, my first time in the city, and I have had to cancel the trip at least twice during that period because of Covid. I long debated whether i would come this time with all the restrictions still in place and the danger of testing positive and ending up in a hospital for 10 days! I arrived at 5am this morning, was in my room and tested by 6.30am. The test results came back all clear at 1.30pm. Not a bad turnaround I suppose. In June last year I picked up an amazing flight deal which worked out at 50% of the normal price of return Premium Economy with Swiss. It turns out that the tickets were in fact Business Class, so probably only about 20% of the usual cost. Swiss Business is not the best in the world, but still comes with a lie flat bad so it was plenty good enough for me, that and kick starting the holiday with very many glasses of champagne, there are worse ways to begin a trip. I have done a similar flight a few years ago to Vietnam and the experience was a smooth as it was then. A short hop from London Heathrow to Zurich and then the 10h30 flight to BKK. I was glad that I had printed off all the documentation - Thai Pass, Pre-departure PCR test certificate, Vaccine certificate, Hotel booking, Health Insurance cover note, as they were scrutinised at 5 different points along the route. And I mean scrutinised! At each point the documents were really looked at to make sure they all checked out. I was a little nervous because whilst I had timed everything within the rules, my pre departure test was right on the line. I could see the check in guy at Heathrow doing the maths in his head.... When I booked the flights, I also found a stunning deal for the Banyan Tree. Whilst the first night is in their "basic" room for the Day 1 test, I was able to upgrade the room for a fraction of the cost. For the week it is working out at about 50% of its usual price. The Day Test here was more expensive than elsewhere, but the service I have had has been extremely efficient. I have now had the all clear and am free to go about my business.... And get to business I have. I just had a guy from Grindr come over which was fun. I am thinking about heading over to Silom to get a massage at Paradis. A boy from there has been messaging me since I opened up Grindr. They don't appear to have had any customers today. I will wander over soon to do my bit for the local economy. After that, I think I will visit @vinapurecommended 5* eating experience and then, depending on the time, check out what the scene is like and what is open. That is, as long as the jet lag doesn't hit hard. I have had quite an exhausting day already.....

Welcome back. Don't forget most bars (sorry restaurants) close at 23:00.

many boy massage places in Saphan Kwai, Suthisan and Ari areas , some of them well discroved in Bangkok section of this forum, I visited one of them in Dec , see my humble and useless trip report from that trip . Not to mention often recently mentioned Sabaidee is technically outside of Silom ghetto although just 1 MRT step away. Jey Spa , also visited by humble nobody me in Dec is in Sukhumvit soi 43, again , roll your sleeves, clean your glasses and read reports some of us laboriously put together for you use. Have fun reading and even more visiting those places.

likely yes , but rest assured, you and your wallet will be welcomes and English to a some degree will be spoken by somebody. Even if not , after all both sides know very well purpose of your visit Be brave and just go !

YouTube Pride Central channel has several gay films. I watched Heartstone, from Iceland. Nordic language with English subtitles. Pretty good film. Teens grappling with sexuality and so forth. Quite poignant if you like that sort of film.

The Last Picture Show has been streaming on Showtime. I did a little research and found the film was released 50 years ago. So perhaps that is why it's streaming now, to remember the 50 year anniversary. I learned it is based on a novel of the same name by Larry McMurtry, who we may know from Brokeback Mountain fame. I was awestruck. For cinephiles I assume The Last Picture Show is considered a masterpiece, especially the cinematography and direction. The term bromance probably didn't exist back then, in 1951 rural Texas. To me the film embodies what a bromance might have been between two straight guys in those times, in the most subtle ways, ways that are lost on modern Hollywood. The story involves more than just those two of course. The cast was amazing. Truly a one-of-a-kind film.

I've made it clear I can't stand Putin any more than I can stand our regime-changing thugs. Putin is as much a capitalist crook and anti-free speech as my US government. He was put in by the US originally to promote capitalism by selling off Russia to billionaires. I don't have to be the US's bitch when it comes to regime change wars that kill so many people needlessly. The net result of the Ukraine/Russia war will probably be an autonomous Donbas which Ukraine agreed to 8 years ago in the EU-written Minsk treaties it signed but refused to comply with. The 14,000 dead in Donbas since then and all the death and destruction of this war were wasted and useless except for the west trying to bring regime change. It's only worth it to the military corporations that run America. I'm sure Secretary of Defense Austin will get a huge bonus for this war when he returns to Raytheon and his stock in it is skyrocketing anyway.

I was a committed traveller to unusual and sometimes risky places across the globe until my late forties....and my advice is exactly the same as vinapu's. "Be brave and just go". The trips , journeys and encounters that stay in my mind are those about which I was a little unsure; perhaps slightly dangerous? difficult to reach? Off the beaten track? Today , they are the ones that provide the best memories for me thirty years on. Thailand is, of course, none of these things but it offers more than just Silom and Boyztown. Explore!

I share your disgust for Biden and USA foreign policy, but you definitely are Putin's bitch.

Thanks Vinapu. I wonder if these others get mainly Thai gays as customers. The gay area for tourists is Silom after all.

Just enjoy the hospitality of the locals during ramadhan. Free food during iftar (breaking the fast) is common. There is no religious restriction on sex during the night though. Of course, gay sex is illegal all year round anyway hehe.

Well, Putin IS a war criminal. I understand abuses by soldiers on both sides, but policy is what makes a war criminal. You cannot defend Putin's systematic bombardment of civilian targets. You are right on pointing out to USA hypocrisy and double standards, but Putting is indefensible.

There are several Theatron strippers on Instagram. Some describe having careers or studying something or other. A few seem to cross over into fitness training. The stripper gigs appear oriented to exclusive or supplementary income. They also appear to be kept in line by agents that dominate the provision of club entertainment assignments, in contrast to the North American dancer scene. The point being is that money may talk if sums large enough to attract attention, and contact may be possible, but my sense is that escorting on the down low is not the MO except those that are cross-pollinated with St M / GEH. You might entice with a trip to Mexico or St Andres / Providenciales etc. Instagram accounts don’t clue you in to the subset that performs at GEH. The chase all comes across as quite labour-intensive. I hooked up a few times with one guy, a gay club staff member, in Bogotá (paid). He importuned for cash donations after I returned home, so there is that dynamic to contend with as well. Another fellow I met, featured at Theatron at some point in the past but had graduated from that role, and with whom there was social interaction beyond intensely hot erotic when I was there did not request additional cash in our follow-up communication. (Off topic) he had offered to arrange a threesome with a hot dancer friend actively taking gigs at Theatron but scheduling did not work out. The compensation expectations were ridiculously low. Then the pandemic a few months later and intentions to return and strike while the iron was still warm fell by the wayside.

Something for Pete1111 (who calls me a lying machine) `to masturbate to; Russian POW's of the Nazi Azov Ukraine army being tortured and executed. Get your poppers ready Pete1111, there's plenty of these being proudly spread around together with vids of dead soldiers' mothers and families being called on their cellphones and laughed at and more of POWs being buried alive (while NUDE !!! oh boy Petie!!)

and a Ukrainian flag you can hang on your wall to make masturbating to your heroes torturing prisoners even more fun Petie: https://twitter.com/ProudSocialist/status/1505763312981655552?s=20&t=zuIzvwLGvBRFD6gmKTH2qw

btw Pete1111/JeffTiedrich?, I find you one of the lowest IQ most obnoxious trolls on the internet and your constant dumb personal attacks just expose yourself. Why do you keep personal attacks up when you're mentally unarmed?