Leaderboard

Took in the show at New Twilight Tuesday. I was greeted outside and escorted to a front seat on one side of the large stage. The seating very much resembled that of Lucky Boys (comfortably padded black sofa style) with narrow table running along the front. Four dancers performed most of the acts. They’re still learning their moves but moved with energy. Costumes were cabaret style and it appeared to me that management is—at least for the moment—adopting a conservative approach to to the presentation. At one point, attired only in briefs, dancers moved into the audience for up close and personal show. The size of crowd surprised me, considering the quiet and darker soi outside. After I entered, a mixed group of about 10 Asian tourist arrived, swelling the audience to over 40. My pleasant waiter was from Vietnam and sat and chatted with me as his duties allowed. I brought him a beer and tipped him on way out. My overall impression was that this new entry is very reminiscent of Lucky Boys in style, lighting and sound. A gaggle of 17 boys presented themselves in a sort of rotation after the show. I got the impression that, for many, it was their first. Time on a stage. Dressed in jeans, they smiled a lot to each other and the audience. They seemed to be representative of Asean. Generally I’d say they were boy-next-door type who, once they lose their self consciousness of being in the spotlight, will attract more offs. Even the restroom reminded me of Lucy Boys: you share it with staff. Overall, I believe this is going to survive. And that has to be a good thing for the Bangkok gay scene. As I walked away, the veteran mamasan/bartender who’d be familiar to Fans of Golden Cock, smiled at me from his new perch outside Nature Boys and said, “nice to see you, again.”

Recently went to Thailand (mid May) and here are a few observations on what was a different Bangkok but also reassuringly familiar. Thai Pass so easy and airport arrival and entry smoother and faster than ever. Bangkok is still really quiet, which brings advantages of low accommodation costs and always getting a seat in a restaurant. At times it is too quiet, that buzz of a big city and nightlife not there, but then there are advantages….. I thought I was done with the Grand Palace and Wat Pho but an instinct it might be crowd free led to an 8.30 arrival with board member vinapu. And what a visit. It was like a private viewing! We were less than six people in total viewing the Emerald Buddha, and had the hall of the reclining Buddha and many courtyards to OURSELVES. I now have some amazing photos recorded digitally such was length of time since last entry. When we caught the boat back they had to radio for it to stop so few were the passengers waiting to head downstream. I enjoy the show bars for the entertainment rather than the taking off and here they were largely reduced in spectacle but the glass half full were how many were trying their best to get going sometimes with very low audience members. In Jupiter there were perhaps 25 brazing the air con at best and Moonlight on a Saturday had 15 at best and a much shorter show from only the models themselves. There does seem even more of a clear demarcation between the more no holds barred (Tawan/Hot male) and the fashion model parade (Moonlight, Jupiter, New Twilight). Be interesting to hear what relaxed opening and bigger visitor numbers brings. New Twilight has some money and energy behind it and is the most comfortable viewing experience, be interesting what next for them. maybe half the massage shops are empty or gone but plenty of choice at the others and walk in spaces at Prime which is the quality offering. MBK really shows how hard times have been with less than half the units occupied esp the smaller outlets I have some Thai friends and this saw a visit to Fake Club. This required a 120 baht swab test for entry with a nurse administering on the door. Felt very down beat on entry to be literally first customers at 10.20pm, buy by midnight it must have been 100 plus and was good fun with lots of time to chat to some very attentive models including Spai who appears to have transferred from Jupiter. A visit to DJ station on a Friday night with several Thai friends was the other extreme as it was so busy there were times you literally couldn’t move. It was like a subway train in peak rush hour. But this novelty was kinda fun after nearly three years. Bit bizarre to wear a mask all week on empty streets then no mask in a packed, indoor night club. As ever good to meet some new faces as well as the irrepressible @vinapu and also to catch up again with super guy and knowledgable @paulsfand @anddyover the week My last night saw all bars closed for an election, so took chance to try the local Sauna Mania. It was very busy and 120 baht to enter and as probably the only Farang there lots of interest and opportunity with no feeling of exclusion. I did find the heat and humidity a bit constraining and wouldn’t rush back in May but once again found my time in BKk, and the few days spent exploring the North, as rewarding as ever. So my advice is you only live once. go now before the world has come back, enjoy the quiet, and add to those special memories.

As Vinapu has mentioned, it’s a glass half full right now. 1-1/2 hours boys are standing on stage in Jeans. But then for 1-1/2 hours at show time, you will see nothing but skimpy underwear and nudity. In conversations last couple of nights Clubs are expecting the long pants rule to go away next week. But then again nothing is certain till it happens.

Absolutely ! On another hand things never will be the same, covid or not. Handsome boys are getting wrinkles, slim ones gaining weight, 1000 baht buys less and so does 100 pounds but also stars, once selective with clients, may be more accommodating, new talent shows up all the time. Things as always, are moving in all directions. So nostalgia for good old days is misplaced and not only they never were that good as time passage makes them to look from a time distance. And even if great, old days are long gone and indeed old. My late father used to say " of all old things only violin and wine is good"

I had a very similar experience. I am not one for temples, but thought if there ever was a time that I was going to do Wat Pho is was when I was there in April. The place was deserted and I had a private tour with, at most, 4 other tourists in the grounds. I too had Reclining Buddha to myself! It was good to make the most of the quiet. On reflection, I probably should have made more use of the fact BKK was empty and done more of the tourist sites. Planning my next trip now for November!

@readerThanks for sharing. I really hope they ditch the jeans after June 1st. If it seems to be replicating Lucky Boys, then guys in briefs is necessary. Though I'm more interested in @vinapu's camp of men, I enjoy seeing guys (hunks or twinks) in briefs enough that a trip to Lucky Boys is welcome. I hope that's the experience NT delivers in the near future. At the very least, they need short shorts found in Jupiter's and Moonlight's pasts.

Indeed. Medellin is full with boys from Venezuela. Many of them are still Illigaal and could not get a normal job. Those who work "normal" jobs are often underpaid and this affects the colombians who are looking for work too. Don't forget that many of the sex studios are in Medellin. Not saying that the webcamers are all prostitutes, but many are. Enjoy your trip!

“The violence in Sao Paulo is very location-specific. São Paulo (the capital city, not the state) has 96 districts. 33 of those districts have a homicide rate smaller than the USA (4.8 per 100 thousand inhabitants). On the other hand, 28 districts have a homicide rate higher than in Nigeria. Some districts, like Jaçanã, are more violent than Mexico. Other districts, like Jardim Paulista, are safer than Germany.“ https://expatriateconsultancy.com/is-sao-paulo-safe/

You raised some excellent points. When I first went to Rio in 2005 the standard of hotel accommodation was atrocious. In more recent times the Copacabana Palace has been renovated and the Fasano and Emiliano are welcome additions. When you consider the size of the city the pickings are still lean. I know only too well the question of safety. In 2005 I was mugged at knife point by 3 thugs almost in front of the Copacabana Palace. I have become very fond of São Paulo over the years and agree that the vastly superior accommodations and restaurants are an incentive not to mention the delights of Lagoa and Fragata. I have been to Brazil 9 times and have always spent more time in São Paulo.

Sunday & Monday, 2 days celibacy, well, not quite. Spent Sunday afternoon at Ipanema watching sunset. Cute local boys hang around in groups or solo, rolling joints, drinking, having fun. So so sunset. After so many trips to Rio, almost everywhere I go now making me remember a friend or a boy. Need to do something new, so I booked DIY bus trip to Teresópolis to hike in Serra Dos Orgaos national park. It was 1 hour drive away from Rio, two hours on bus. Nice views and solitude on a Monday hike. Had the 360 view point all to my self. You can recognize some major peaks of Rio from 50km away, sugar loaf and Corcovado. Only run into 7 other people. Walked from the park back to bus station as i had 2 hours to kill. The city itself looks rather middle class neat. If there is a boy sauna, I would love to retire here. Just by luck, I booked 4 pm bus returning to Rio. Had some wonderful sunset views. Change hotel tonight. After 13 hours on the road, nice to shower and rest. Turn on grindr, this boy who is vacationing with his parents staying in the same hotel messaged me that his parents are away shopping, do i want to meet up. Had a chat at the pool, then had some fun in my room. Not the cutest, but the boy can deepthroat! putting all the working boys i met this trip to shame😅in the end, i am too tired from the long day to keep a hard on for fucking though. Maybe another night.

I relish my role as Trades Union Rep for bar boys....and so, "long term" doesn't mean (or shouldn't mean) a night and early morning in bed with appropriate remuneration, then hours visiting temples or beaches without pay. Post-coital extra time should be rewarded.... as I'm sure all of our experienced contributors recognise. And yes, I have it on good authority from more than one of my union members that some "LTs" are very long indeed!

I had a few weeks staying in L’Geixample this quarter. I attended Thermas using two iterations of 5-pack entrance cards. The selection of escorts was dreadful compared to several visits 2013-2019. Had I been armed with this knowledge previously, I’d have stuck with Fri/Sat exclusively. One of those weekend nights on one of the two weekends, I forget which, featured an improvement in offerings and transferred my spa blue-balls state to an overworked state, capitalizing on the availability. Overdoing it on the one occasion, unfortunately, seemed to trigger a subsequent rare episode of benign prostate hyperplasia shortly before the trip ending. I had always spread out the experiences on past trips. The basic trick rate seemed to be consistently 50 as in the past. I would not have accepted free sex with most of them. A few attendees recognizable from site ads, eg Hunqz, Telechapero, Morbototal wanted to pull up-charges. They were more attractive and perhaps wanted to try to split the difference with ad-based rates that seem to be generally 150-200. That’s a significant gap in payment structure that does not necessarily correspond to a 3-4-fold commensurate difference in physical appeal factor. In any case, these few appeared to be using Thermas if their other client source was slow. Obviously, one cannot generalize based only on my experience and perhaps some of these cross-over guys just abide by the fees that most clients likely think should be locked in to the setting. I did spring, unexpectedly as it is not my usual plan, for a few Hunqz hires. However, I was aware of their true identities for the sake of security. There were certainly a lot of what I thought were very appealing profiles. I believe the rule of thumb is 150 incall 200 outcall but I got those I wanted to visit me for 150. These were worthwhile sessions and it is understandable that most of these providers would not be putting out at low rates at Diputació, 46. I would definitely repeat with them in my home city if such types were available. Moreover, at Thermas they would be regularly exposed to a few tiresome obnoxious high-pitched screeching escort regulars horsing around or huddling in NA meetings, an aspect of the environment that clients and lower-key co-providers alike must endure. Counterintuitively, the spa offers no area for relative tranquility. Perhaps this has always been the case, but I suppose that is not a problem unless one is killing hours at a time waiting for good matches to appear. —— At Thermas I observed on at least one occasion a queue of towel-bearing clients at the reception wicket. I am not sure what transactions were occurring. If I have this right, other than possibly trying to make change from large to small denominations to pay for encounters, I think that some were using credit cards through the house payment system to issue funds to providers. Ordinarily, the credit card device would be employed only when dressed entering and paying or dressed paying one’s residual tab leaving.

Ha ha ha.

I've spoken to 4 boys and one mamasan these last days that have just returned to repectivily Bangkok and Pattaya. Historically it is not the best time of the year for tourism in Thailand, but I wonder if we can see an influx of boys the coming weeks. Most have been away for 2 years now. anyone noticing some positive movement in that direction?

Mine was I have to feed my dog. 555

Thanks for clarifying @paulsf Sounds like it will still be an enjoyable experience then. Now I just need this pesky holiday to actually begin. 3 weeks from now!

I didn't stay with a guy more than one evening in the nine years I was a butterfly , that is before P came into my life and changed everything.

Apologies, I had intended to post above in the new soi 6 bar thread.

After I read your report I'll finalize plans.

The famed 117 Tuesday. Spent about 2 hours there, no hit, but some interesting findings and thoughts. 1st, full house and very happening. Yet, since music doesn’t reach from the club to the entrance area so it feels a little down when there are not a lot of traffic. 2nd, B, the boy I fancied in 202 last year and just paid dearly to get to my hotel on Saturday is working here. I guess he didn’t tell the whole truth. Seems he has several regulars here. Soon he went up with a dad/son pair. 3rd, a very handsome slim masculine white boy very much my type. Actually I could say the same for a black boy who works both 117 and 202. Sadly both are strict top only. 4th, a slim handsome middle class looking Brazilian boy came in, an old guy tried to feel him up as they walk by each other at the entrance, he moved away. Turned out he is a client. And the white working boy I just drooled over is his regular! They quickly went away together cuddling over drinks. Checked out without action from 117, I can’t help but think there must be tons of bottom clients at 117. Both B and D I first met at 202 were good bottoms, but once they start working at 117, their bottom skills diminished quickly. The reason I prefer 202 and fragata is that there I can find slim handsome masculine boys I like who might hate bottoming naturally but learn to somewhat enjoy it for money. how I wish I learned to be versatile in my younger years! There would have been so much more options 🥹

Well I am not forcing any boy to do long term if they don't want to , Maybe because I am into 18-22 y.o. guys whom have less commitments and I myself not elderly and like traveling around , swimming and shopping they find it interesting and none of them felt miserable as far as I know exept the Vietnamese boy I had more than two years ago he decided to go after 4 nights but it was because he had very jealous boyfriend in Bangkok who made a scene and asked him to come back immediately but after a week he came back and we stayed together another week at Ayutthaya and Kanchanaburi and had great time . In general I had very positive experience with LT . If the boy sleep overnight and go I don't see it really as LT but an extended ST . I personally never did it because if the boy doesn't want to stay more than a night or if I don't find him attractive enough to spend my vacation with I prefer to cut it up as soon as possible and send the boy to his way after one or two hours.

It seems that after being called KFC, now next round of abuse was thrown at me by well known to me massage guy during our session. He saw me marching with 3 boys last night and suggested I should change my name to Casanova. Jealousy at work I guess

Long terms are problematical for the guys. P and his friend were taken to Koh Chang by a falang a year or so before I met him. It must have been about 2002. They had a great time and loved the chalet/hotel right on the beach. Being with a friend was very important. It's important that the guys have time-off...that is, time to socialize with friends, go the laundry, clean the room, talk to Mama or just relax without being with the falang all day. One of P's friends related a tale of woe which involved his spending a week as an appendage to an elderly falang, given no time off while remaining in Pattaya. For much of this time, he said, he just sat around, the falang not being very active. Yes, he was well-paid....but very miserable. If only, he said, he'd been allowed a couple of hours a day to do his own thing. And by the way, I know another guy who was taken to the Banyan Tree in Bkk (very nice too) but walked-out after two days, despite the financial loss, for much the same reason.

Sooner the better, neither us nor boys are getting any younger

In meantime Thailand is still waiting for your arrival so better rush up

hmm...when I was in Budapest in Oct there were plenty of hot guys advertising in Hunqz. Yeah, some guys desperate for money will settle for 10-15,000 HUF but most guys will charge higher than that. You can ask if they have lower rate for 30min; many will offer that upon request. Gym fit/musle hot guys (many will be used to traveling to Zurich, Vienna etc for work so they know their market value) will charge 100-120 Euro an hour. Above is based on my Oct 2021 observations from staying a few days in Budapest.

I was there a few months ago…. Not good. Lagoa in SP is much better. I did have a good time in Porto Alegre but not at the sauna.

I also don’t inquire about PrEP use when in a sauna. The guys I have met in Brazil on Instagram or Grindr or at the beach or exchanged WhatsApp with and reconvened with outside the sauna…. I would say about 90% are on PrEP. That’s just my personal experience though. One 19 year old I met on Grindr last trip had been on PrEP for as long as he had been sexually active. He made a joke about only having ever worn a condom the handful of times that he had had sex with women. He was very well educated and from a well off family though so certainly an atypical example. The comment did make me feel old though. Very, very old.

I guess it also depends on how quickly you get through Immigration & Customs. If there is a line of people awaiting processing, perhaps you can walk to the head of the line. If challenged, just say you have “a sauna emergency”. There shouldn’t be any argument but if there is, feel free to add that you are “sexually incontinent” and any delay may cause you to burst open. Good Luck @Canadianbtmguy

Oh hell no. I want very much to have a longer holiday there, but no. Very, very no.

Possibly. But not for certain. It’s normal practice in Latin America to check the ID of any unregistered person going to an hotel room. Just bear in mind that hotel staff have ALREADY seen EVERYTHING in their working lives. So live your life to the full and don’t worry about what others may, or may not, think.

The challenge is differentiating effects among the variables of orientation, transactional sex for any of these, and regularity of condom use. This article below reveals that uptake among eligible gay-identified men remains very low in spite of free access the past 5 years. I wrote a bit about it here a few years ago as well. Transactional sex as a factor among gay men does not influence the odds of taking PrEP. Their HIV knowledge increases the odds while degree of internalized homonegativity decreases the odds. Your questions are essentially all over the map (not your bad) because the cartography is so complex. Just what is it you want to know more about? So let’s turn to one subgroup that you referred to and represents the majority of my experiences, straight-identified garotos de programa, mainly in brothels, with whom I engage in transactional sex. I don’t inquire about their HIV status. I don’t ask what medications or gym supplements they consume. I assume they have at least one current or continuous STI on board, general unverifiable rule of thumb. To access PrEP they must go to a dispensing centre and declare belonging to either the MSM or transactional sex category. The latter may be ambiguous as it could connote being a provider to females, but stepping up to the PrEP access is basically self-stigmatizing for many. It would be hard to assess patterns among male commercial sex workers as a whole or stratified by orientation. I find that condom use is the default they impute to me for receptive anal intercourse. If they offer their ass, the assumption is insertive intercourse would be reciprocated with condom use. They either automatically obtain condoms that are charged to my tab or I pre-empt the charge by producing my own. I don’t ask whether there is scope to not use condoms because that would be superfluous information predicated on mere curiosity unless they happen to offer the option on request; I simply live with not knowing and I don’t ask other punters either. A declaration from the escort that he consistently uses condoms would not influence my own use. I assume that, to their way of thinking, my asking them if they fuck guys condomlessly would simply mean I may want that too. They are generally oriented to getting down to business, not engaging in a dialogue related to sexual practices … unless the constituent elements relate to a potential upcharge. So this has all been worked out ahead of time according to my preferences and standards, and I don’t waste time on the ground imploring for particular privileges. Now you may get somebody piping in that all their sexual contacts are extremely knowledgeable and on PrEP … ergo all the hooboys are taking it. Wrong. https://pdf.sciencedirectassets.com/779101/1-s2.0-S2667193X21X00075/1-s2.0-S2667193X21001484/main.pdf?X-Amz-Security-Token=IQoJb3JpZ2luX2VjECwaCXVzLWVhc3QtMSJIMEYCIQCKHN2EpO1bGlaSU2CGbq9xW5YWipB%2F0Ul09c2vCegWygIhAPqJbSIFZUIu0U1jTRPLbIYorLGTupKPnGox3fx1qvspKtIECBQQBBoMMDU5MDAzNTQ2ODY1Igwdn4seqtTu7nRwXAEqrwQqIaq0lNhXAUEbx8cwp5I5aHn13wTeQe0qu4IbKeB87LUDfHzjvULREuRX01xinFId0xjcI83tLfVovFv1tWIWzdoJzLxJvL1rQy%2B0v7pwnQQEYPa4hLhCexQFD8Mc3ft2F8R%2BYy4UWX1wAAltAE06ipqNEFq2cjeuP03aMbXOtnAt%2Fv4jxv%2BHYnBqri7no%2FqoCmx562u33KTi%2F0kBM8jmUYonFlowxtfDnda2T61LiHRoaUhaUKASsahnXaVTyps99GtdELwHU6aX88%2FVqyzL2JWnFZUeJPZXSBf8nV6VYY19swX8zojwZI6VRnY94GxRMWRc6Kp6xgfeuypHjmrMfRZdGUU55GaRORwymxswNVjGMyE6WHORtkLlsake33RV4fidnuUXwCeJWTo5efONivhbDRhF9EfcOVDGeY0P8Mmohos1GT6%2BMc4Z%2Fi1V9TY%2BbiRxqtzmJK5JstP5k2z%2B6YsOpxmWwOi4Z6%2F2pcWPP66WQhxuOvpQmiAClnb2Aja9vHdd2%2B4PZyNxIz0eADpnC3mI1Dnp8FvJn35V%2FIzFeUzlvgH1SjAioSLqCCo7x50ryyyiFYRsRONZuu6QYUsU5EJSDxRATf4NU22%2F5pYRZUyKiqyBbgCPfwx8Fi5pVgUj4kIH3c9BbZ%2FvdcYjyo35yObRR7qfSu28UBRJvdsgzmTdgSO1bwXCGWqqFS3EcNDC2z2k9SZlRsvpqG4pMdQcwJpkDBZfb30G3GRydL8mMNLtnZQGOqgBFLnk8F5LrbyBf6jHFCZmVCwktU%2FGDDCcF6Yr9JNEKcp7snsuwwW4DWQDc19ZFau4vfuCoAQ%2BU%2Ff3Bt0ni3RgfQ8i4F4Zib1GU01euYQ2yg%2FsQkvGz%2Bh%2FUX1QOwE57Dc75IomL9Jif8RhUZa7Y%2Fyk9DnB4k0u3yrNPLcKx%2FAfWv%2FB6ufxHDujnV6Moh%2BFsg%2BeVlcpoIakWqEdN2tFkC64fPlhm8Hk8v0g&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Date=20220520T121827Z&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Expires=300&X-Amz-Credential=ASIAQ3PHCVTY5ALRUNGD%2F20220520%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Signature=7c1309b92817fa1231f5e4623a539929e8ae8c40c39bcc150382a0394b17d5a0&hash=9e34e6bdad80012466d2e98c3ad6d881e13e1a9ab911f5c63830343adcf6876b&host=68042c943591013ac2b2430a89b270f6af2c76d8dfd086a07176afe7c76c2c61&pii=S2667193X21001484&tid=spdf-7edec2ca-a2d3-465b-bab2-a5e1a466e75f&sid=5b2bdea79a06d14ae28ac712c53bbbac78dagxrqa&type=client&download=true&ua=4d55015350540400555c&rr=70e503db489e8c6b

If you have so much displeasure, and you are paying so high prices (compared to other South American destinations), why are you planning to return? Why do you not switch to Brazil or Colombia instead of RD?