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A few minutes before 10pm when I walked in, Dream Boy had about 30 patrons, making it 75 percent full. Nonetheless, a good seat had opened up and I was shown to it. Two things struck me immediately, though I had been pre-warned by other members here. (1) The boys, while shirtless, were in jeans. (2) The music was loud. The waiter was helpful in explaining the charges without my having to ask. That's good; it suggests a degree of staff training. My drink would be 450 baht, a boy drink would be 400 baht, the off fee would be 500 baht and the recommended tip for short-time was 2,000 baht. I would later ascertain from the chosen boy that his share of the boy drink was 100 baht. There were about 25-30 boys divided into three rotating groups, with an average age over thirty. Some had maintained their form, but not a few were losing the battle with either Covid or the passing years. In the thirty minutes watching the rotation, I could only shortlist four guys whom I might take. For someone like me who is not especially picky and who has a rather broad acceptance range for body types in my partners (also known as "slut"), four out of nearly 30 is a poor ratio. Visits to other bars in the subsequent evenings would confirm that Dream Boys has an aging problem compared to the others. I have no problem with taking a boy over 30, and in my experience, they can be better in bed, being more experienced in the arts of pleasure, but it would be nice if they were in reasonable shape. Watching the scene before the show, a few more things struck me: (3) with years, the boys seemed also to acquire more tattoos. There was one chap with full-body Yakuza-like work. No doubt, an ink aficionado might appreciate the skill and artistry there, but I find large tattoos way too distracting in bed. (4) about all the waiters must have been at least fifty. Perhaps one or two could have been sixty. The show began almost promptly at 10:30pm, by which time the bar was nearly full (about 40 -45 patrons). It had eight "acts". Four were performed by lip-sync cross-dressers, and four by the boys themselves. The music got even louder! The first of the boys' acts had three coyotes, one of which was among my shortlisted four. He turned out to be the best dancer of the lot which was more than enough reason for me to tuck 100 baht into his briefs. He was cheeky. He pulled the briefs open (forward, not down) and guided my hand deep into it till I was able to wrap the red note around his cock. At that moment, I kind of decided that I would off him later, but after the dance item, I saw him go straight to sit with another customer. I was too late! The second of the boys' acts had three guys in briefs, and soon enough, their joeys (baby kangaroos) were poking their little heads out above mamas' pouches. The last of the four boys' acts was a copulation show. I off'd one of the four from my shortlist, but it didn't turn out well. Back in the room, he was in a rush throughout, saying "we cum together" barely five minutes into playtime. All in all, I think he spent less than 40 minutes with me. He's best forgotten, so the less said here, the better.

I had a dire need for a haircut, and as I arrived at Saladaeng Station (coming from the airport), I noticed a "David no.5" barbershop right where the steps from the station reach the street level (on the same side of Silom Road as the massage shops). The following morning, I enquired how much a basic haricut would be. The guy at the door said 350 baht. For Thailand this didn't sound right and so I declined. I walked around the Silom area a bit and couldn;t see any other barbershop. Stupid me forgot about the upstairs barbershop on the opposite side of Silom Road which I had patronised many times before. See what Covid does to one's memory of Bangkok? I can't recall what its charges were but I'd be mightily surprised if they were anything like 350 baht. Back in the hotel room, I surfed the net and found a recommendation for a place in Sukhumvit Soi 23 charging "local prices". I went there; it was not hard to find, only about 100m northwards from the junction of Sukhumvit Road and Soi 23, and about two-thirds of the way towards Soi Cowboy. Here's a map and a photo of the shop sign. Lex Barber had 2 barbers working there and no one waiting. So I was attended to immediately. It's an old-fashioned barbershop with nothing fancy, but they gave me a nice enough haircut the old-fashioned way. That's all I needed. I was out of there within 15 - 20 minutes and only 150 baht poorer. Then as life has it, I began to see barbershops all over the place. You know how it is. You look and look for one thing, and as soon as you have found it, you start seeing a similar thing everywhere you turn. Immediately on walking out of Soi 23, I saw a barberhop right across Sukhumvit Road. It's name was "G Club". Hmm, interesting choice of name, I thought, so I crossed the road to take a closer look. And what did I see? On its glass front was its price: 600 baht. Madness! Then on my way to Sabardee Spa, walking from Lumpini MRT station, I saw another barber shop "TJ Design". This one was on the southwest side of Rama 4 Road right where the first overhead bridge is after crossing Soi Ngam Dupli. A paper sign on its door said 200 baht. I can't read the Thai words but I reckon it refers to a haricut. I carried on walking up the overhead bridge, down again and into Soi Plukjit. Not 100 metres into the soi I saw yet another barbershop. Then another, and another. Altogether there were five within a stone's throw of each other. I didn't enquire about their prices, but looking at how they're tucked away behind phone stands, clothes sellers and food stalls in a shantytown, there's no need to ask. Haircut adventures were not what I planned for this visit to Thailand, but it's interesting - and fun! - when it happens. None of the barbershops looked busy. In only one case did a customer walk into one, sit down and begin getting his hair cut while I was taking pictures. A big farang guy went into G Club. Yes, the shop charging 600 baht. And here I was going to write, "I wonder how they stay in business with those prices?"

Day 3.5: Growing Pains The bar tonight was New Twilight. I was actually excited to go here. It’s not everyday a Bangkok Boy Bar is newly added to the dwindling slate of bars in the landscape. In these uncertain COVID times, it’s fairly bold to open up a new entertainment venue. When this report actually happened, I haven’t been keeping up with what others have been saying about it, just that it has opened, it where it was, near the Mango Tree restaurant. It would have made sense to eat at Mango Tree instead of G’s because of proximity, but something to look forward to in the coming days. As we make our way through Soi 6 to make our way to Soi Than Tawan, I opted to take a peak first at one my faves, Tawan Bar, just to see it from the outside, to check out the new location across the street. Actually Mango Tree, Tawan and New Twilight are within 2 minutes of each other. Kudos for Google Maps to have all three locations be searchable on their website: We arrive at Tawan and see this colorful rainbow flag: But Tawan was not our destination, but New Twilight. We get there soon enough. Good job on the outside signage: Entering the facilities, I was impressed by how spacious and well thought out the whole setup was. The stage had a center area and a runway, something that is working well for Jupiter, and not the static one center stage concept that Moonlight and Dreamboy has. Jupiter uses that runway to its full effect by showcasing the boys and its cool that New Twilight sought to do the same. As we got seated, I notice that seating is plentiful, though a little bit far from the stage. I like my bulges hanging over my head, and not need those mini binoculars one uses at the opera to see them. There were about 4 parties in the bar, which is fine I guess for a Tuesday night. We were asked drinks (again coke and rum cike – which was pretty weak). There was New Twilight branding everywhere, including the tissue dispensers: There was a huge stage backdrop screen that covered the entire backdrop of the stage, which was pretty impressive as well. As seen in this promotional video posted recently: TWBar.mp4 The boys on offer: there were about 6 boys on stage when we first got there. All were in jeans and tennis shoes. I took notes in my phone to remember the details of this bar, and I see in all caps: WHY THE PANTS?????? Some were cute but no one really interested me. No obvious stars. Noone on stage was catching my eye, tho a good number of them where trying their luck catching Tiago’s and my eye. The waiters were nice though. I think the waiters were much better looking than the boys onstage. There were two that I liked, one twinky one and one sort of hunky one. The stage numbers: kind of amateurish. The dancers were average at best, both in looks and in choreography. How new was this bar? Maybe they need more practice? There were some drag numbers which were fine. There was a teacher and student number that was just ok and clumsy. There were some sensual numbers, some actual smoking onstage which was funny. Tiago was yawning. He saw me catching him yawning and apologized. “The number are actually quite ok, but the other bars are better,” he said. “The boys in other bars are better too.” Since we were in Hot Male, Jupiter and Moonlight the nights prior, I’d say that is true. I was sort of keen to off someone here tonight, but no one was trully holding my attention. I asked Tiago what he thought and he commented on how nice the screen was and how high tech it was. I told him I was asking about the boys. He said they were a little bit “girly” for his taste. I laughed. Should we get you a real man? Because Tawan is next door. He laughed and said that he has nothing against more femmy guys but he wouldn’t necessarily want to pay for sex for one, even if I was paying. We decide to order another round of drinks, just to settle in and get into the mood of things. The two waiters I liked were unfortunately sitting with other customers. So, we tried, but unfortunately it was not meant to be. We pay for our drinks and head out into the night. --- I am just going to chock it up to growing pains. The bar is new. They are trying to find their identity. They are starting from scratch, developing numbers, building a boy base, and starting on a challenging time post-pandemic. Fortunately, time is on their side. It is late June (the time this report occurred), and high season starts in December. That’s 6 months worth of tweaking and perfecting before they find their voice. The good news: the bones are there - the venue is nice, the staging and seating are one of the best I’ve seen in Thailand. And the place is not that hard to find, and is close to Tawan, a bar with firm voice of its own. One glimmer of hope was this July 13 post on their Facebook: They have b-boys, and they look great. This takes me back from the b-boys in the Pattaya boy bars. And their message: So yeah, if you're in Bangkok, or planning to go in the near future, please go! It'll give them the necessary support to grow, and it'll give you a chance to report back on this board your opinion on the bar and tell us if they are changing for the better. But there was no off today sadly. But I did have on trick up my sleeve, next.

No one asked to see my vaccination certificate when I checked in for my flight. To my surprise, no one at Suvarnabhumi asked to see my vaccination certificate either, so I entered Thailand with no one knowing that I am fully vaccinated (and boostered). Things are even better than pre-Covid. Although the cabin crew gave out TM-6 arrival cards while we were enroute, and I had dutifully filled out mine, about the first sign I saw as I approached the immigration queue - it wasn't too bad, only about 6 - 7 persons in front of me - was one that said "TM-6 not needed" or something to that effect. So, one fewer piece of paper than pre-Covid. Brought a smile to my face. Travelling light, I decided to take the airport rail link to Phaya Thai. It cost 45 baht. The train was full. By the second or third station after leaving the airport, it was standing room only. At Phaya Thai, the first of the post-Covid hiccups began. I had two Rabbit cards from my previous visits to Thailand. I was quite certain both contained money value, but as it had been more than two years since I last used them, they had since expired. I had to queue up at the customer service counter to get the matter solved. Indeed, the clerk said both had expired but he could reactivate them and the money value would remain intact. That was good. I learned that there was about 140 baht in one card and about 180 baht in the other. In those two years, I had even forgotten what princely sums I had in them. I reached Raya Hotel (thanks to some of you for the recommendation) almost exactly an hour after touch-down. Pulled all the curtains open and took a nice hot shower in the fully transparent shower stall in full view of Bangkok. No better way to announce my arrival.

Writing this on my way to BKK airport, still can't believe how amazing this trip was! Off-ed boys for 5 consecutive nights, one of them whom I first met 3 years ago... It was my 4th night, when I visited Dream Boys in Bangkok around 10:15pm. (First two nights were in Pattaya, I will come to that later.) Despite being a weekday, there were close to 30 boys on stage (topless in jeans), almost half of them had their cocks out during a "cock parade" show segment (surprise surprise!). As I scanned the stage, two off-able hunks immediately caught my eye: a tall Korean-looking boy, and a bearded man with the body of a Greek god. Just as I was pondering whom to off for the night...he appeared. Yes, the boy I first met at Screw Boys 3 years ago. The boy I added on LINE but had not kept in contact. The boy who blew my mind in bed, one of my best offs ever. Yet, he looked kinda different. Was it the hairstyle? Was it the new tattoo? Was it the buffness? We made brief eye contact...it seemed like he recognized me. Or didn't he? Before I could react, the lights dimmed, the boys scattered, and the show began. Just then, I received a LINE message from him: "How long you stay in BKK?" OK IT'S HIM. He remembers me (and also my name in his LINE contacts)...even though I put on quite some weight during the pandemic. That moment, I decided to tease him a little. I did not reply him, and continued watching the show. Until an hour later, all boys returned to the stage after the show. I acknowledged him with a cheeky grin, and signaled him to come sit with me. He hugged me real tight, and whispered in my ear: "I think you forget me." HOW COULD I? He pecked me on the lips, and gazed right into my eyes. At that moment, I knew I was definitely off-ing him. But still, it was such fun teasing him. We held hands with fingers interlocked, while watching the guys on stage. I told him playfully: "Number XX looks like Korean, so tall and cute." He pouted slightly and hesitated before asking: "You off him tonight?" HAHA ALRIGHT. enough with the teasing. I caressed his thigh: "You come hotel with me?" He smiled widely, almost with a sigh of relief. I paid for our drinks (450B x 2) and bar fine (400B), and off we went. [to be continued...]

I just returned from two months in BKK and walked Silom, Surawong and Patpong nightly. The scenes presented above represent a moment in time and do not reflect my recollection of what it actually looked liked as a whole during that period. Below are some clarifications to put this discussion in context. MASSAGE SHOPS -- There were at least six massage shops on Surawong when I left July 12. And for the record, Urban Thai does have some male masseurs on staff. Long-running Adam Massage on Soi 4 is open as are at least five on Soi 6, including Prime. And soon Senso (on Soi Saladaeng) will be reopening. CURRENCY EXCHANGE -- As Min pointed out, Superrich is open weekdays. I went in there July 8 and it was so crowded I walked out and ended up at the jewelry shop on Surawong (right beside what was once the Family Mart at the corner of Soi Twlight. For rate comparisons, they were offering $35.65, K-Bank $34.89 and Superrich $35.90 for the USD. Superrich has other locations open weekends, including Central World that I used a few times. But for convenience purposes, I'd recommend the jewelry store because there was no waiting and the transaction was completed rapidly. Kudos to Vinapu for making me aware of this place. (Btw, the airport exchange rates are no longer competitive with what you can get in the city). OVERALL -- I'd echo what z909 says above, "Everything I need in Bangkok is open." Boy69, have you actually walked these streets lately? Many members, myself included, have and you're saying that we've created a false impression. Our impressions are of those actually on the ground. I was a 5-walk away from Surawong for eight weeks. I can tell you that Patpong 1 had only three bars open when I arrived and five when I left, not counting one on an alley that connects it with Patpong 2. There are another six lady bars open on Patpong 2 along with three boy bars: Hot Male, Freshboys and Dreamboys. Life may not be back to normal as our pre-covid memories but it improves by the week. It's low season right now. There's no magic switch that going to be turned on and suddenly places like Lucky Boys and Screwboys are going to spring to life. That's going to be determined by how many punters actually decide to return to Bangkok and start spending again. But ask any member who has returned whether or not they had a good time and I'd be amazed if even one responds in the negative. Or just read Dankfq's recent post in this forum.

I am totally blown away when I try to think of space, the big bang and how it is that we come to be living in such a vast universe. I simply cannot comprehend what happened and continues to happen 'out there'. So I am staggered by the early photos from the Webb telescope. That these images were taken just a few hundred million years after the big bang is to me just unbelievable. Images: NASA, BBC, CNN

The Bangkok Tourism authority should be deeply grateful to @numazufor his efforts here which encourage people like me to return to Thailand.

I still contribute to Sawatdee. I suppose that the fact that my country has invaded and bombed- or helped to bomb- a number of countries over the past few years makes me wary of casting the first stone at citizens of other countries.

My enjoyment of this current trip started within twenty minutes of landing at BKK.....the many cute young guys who work there immediately reminded me just how different -and better-Thailand is for such as I. And then my rather long wait at the luggage carousel was made bearable by the presence of two handsome young airline reps, my mask hiding an admiring smile. My holiday was off to a flying start.

Just speaking for myself, I don't think I was ever saying in my current trip report that things are back to "normal" whatever that means anymore. I remember saying that "Bangkok is back" and indeed it is. It might not be the cheek to jowl crowd that you can only see anyway during peak season, not on a rainy July, but it is indeed back. And I had a blast! And "gloomy post covid area (sic)" can be applied to any number of locations in the world, if that's how you view it, since none are "back to normal". Like others have said, everything you need in Bangkok is open. You can get your rocks off, you can eat the amazing food, BTS/taxis/tuk tuks are plentiful, and boy bars are open. If you'd rather stay home holding on to money while waiting for the world to get back to "normal", you might be waiting a long time.

Final thoughts And just like that, my trip is over. This particular trip was special because not only for the fact it was my first international trip after a 2.5 year absence, but because it provided me an escape as I had been going through some shit in the weeks prior to my trip. Now being back home, I need to deal with reality again, and more than ever yearning to be back in Thailand. December/January could be an option for my next trip. My final 2 nights were spent in Dreamboys, and since I had been there a number of times I was becoming more familiar with the staff - I don't know the name of the mamasan, the smaller, older guy, but he was really nice and always knew my drink order. My 2nd final night I spent with a dreamboy, not my regular one, but another one that I had my eye one. He was decent though and softly spoken. He also took me back to the hotel on his motorbike, which by the way I am deathly afraid of, but it was only a short distance and I told him to go slow which he did. My final night was spent with my dreamboy regular for the 5th time. I've spoken about him before but he is excellent and my favourite. I even told him that - I said that even if I go with 100 boys, he will always be my favourite. Since I had an early morning flight, after he left, I spent some time packing and checking out at about 3:30am and going to the airport. The flight back home was pretty non-eventful but I was pretty wrecked as I hadn't slept that night and I have a lot of trouble sleeping on planes. Things I will miss: Prime massage - I lost count the amount of times I have been here, but it is always a good quality professional experience. I've tried the oil, Thai, and foot massages and they are all good. There is even a room with an actual massage table with a face hole which I hadn't seen before. So so so many stairs though lol. I know that Thai massages are not meant to be sensual, but when you and the masseur are contorted into all these shapes together, you cannot help but get a little aroused! Tip - if you go earlier in the day you are more likely to get seen straight away as a walk-in, I tried once at night but there was a 2 hour wait as I didn't have an appointment. The weather - going out every day in shorts and a shirt was delightful when it is the middle of winter in my country. Our winter's are pretty mild but I would still prefer the heat. 7/11 - I loved being able to get decently priced snacks and drinks 24/7, and seemingly seeing the same cute guy(s?) serving me no matter what time I am there (I frequented the 7/11 just in front of the Tarntawan). Tarntawan Hotel - it's showing its age, but it is a nice hotel and very conveniently located. I like the safety aspect how guys need to leave their ID at reception. Staff are always friendly. Bum guns - going back to just toilet paper seems gross now. Public transport - being able to get to a BTS/MRT station and having the train show up within a few minutes, and not having to rely on a train timetable is amazing. Food - so much variety and at so many price points. You want a cheap meal? Sure thing. You want something fancy and expensive? You can have that too. And of course the guys - some are better than others, but it is always nice to spend time with these young men. Anyway, thanks for reading, and whilst waiting patiently for my next trip, I look forward to reading many more trip reports now that international travel is becoming easier and easier.

Unfortunately, there is a paywall. If you can access The Washington Post, they published a very educative annotated slides show with some Webb's photographies. https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/interactive/2022/nasa-webb-space-telescope-images-explained/?itid=sf_article_list I am pasting a screenshot with a quick sample: Screen Recording 2022-07-18 at 5.53.17 PM.mov

I've come to Thailand about 40 times since 2011 so I have seen a few things but I've had new experiences in the last few days. Today I went to the massage shop behind Tukcom. I got the man's clothes off in the end for kissing and wanking. When I tipped him 700bt he said: 'Too much'. Most massage men when it comes to 'extras' say 'how much you give me or '1000'. I didn't reduce his tip, which I thought was fair. I googled for a laundry near Jomtien, took my favourite pants and about 5 t shirts. The next day the laundry woman said a falang had insisted my clothes were his clothes. He didn't return them over the next few days so the laundry woman said she would pay me. I suggested 1000bt which she agreed to. If I'm back in 3 months and my clothes are returned we can reverse this. A Thai man I have known for years visited my hotel in Jomtien. Reception asked to keep his id card while he was there. (The night before reception had photocopied another man's id when I brought him back.) We left for a drive and he discovered 50 km away that the hotel had given him someone else's id card. He said that he should have checked when the hotel gave it back to him, but didn't. Happily, we rang the hotel and his id was still there. But suppose it wasn't, his id had been given to someone else and was now 200km away. Or what if it was the passport of a man we had taken back to the hotel, who had no visa and was here illegally, which was given to the wrong person? For this reason I now prefer a hotel which does not keep passports in this way as I no longer think I can trust hotels. Maybe I can trust laundry women despite some crazy falang about.

Richard Barrow takes readers on a trip to the famous Railroad Market. Using photos and a video clip, he tells us how to make the trip and what to expect on arrival in a manner his fans have come to expect from the full-time teacher and part time Thailand promoter. https://www.richardbarrow.com/2022/06/day-trip-to-the-market-on-the-railway-tracks/

There are roll-down blinds, so boy-du-soir can shower without me ogling and salivating from the side of the glass. 🤣

I know I made a lot of controversy here but I didn't mean to, I don't suggesting anyone what to do or not to do I just said that personally for me it will be very sad to come and see the consequences of the Covid and I am not sure I can ignore it and have a good time because it might be too devastated for me too see the closed bars which I liked ,the closed markets, businesses and street stalls so I prefer to wait for better times to come.

I wish he was just a stupid clown, but the Putin creature is a war criminal. That is not a joking matter. While the Russian army continues to murder countless numbers of innocent civilians the civilised world must continue to isolate Russia. The rape and murder of a one year old boy is the report that still rings in my head and makes me sick.

Best we just enjoy Bangkok as it is today. I question that it will ever be as it was in the early years of 2000, but that is history and Covid has changed things around the world. Not just in Thailand. I am happy to have what we have now and, hopefully, it will get even better. Regardless, I think that this thread is very active and this is good. Just different opinions.

You post is great and informative. There was one poster who tried to derail it and he was put on a week time out. Please carry on!

Oh dear, I fear my opening post might have been made into something it was not intended to be. In any case, as with many things in life, the flux of life (and economics) is seldom amenable to being reduced to a simple dichotomy: good and bad. I didn't mean to give the impression that it's all doom and gloom. In fact, if you read my opening paragraph, you'll see me saying let's get the bad news out of the way. Also, I stressed that we're only 2 weeks out of the Thailand Pass. Am I enjoying myself? Yes, yes and yes. Choices may be more limited than before due to the closures, which may well be compensated for by new openings in due course, but for a short holiday, how many choices do I need? I have only so many days. But I hope in my opening post to have described a baseline post-covid. Perhaps a year later in July 2023, someone will describe the scene then and we (fingers crossed) will have a measure of the improvement and be glad we are here to witness the recovery. And be thankful Thailand offers what we don't get in our home cities.

I agree that if you cant enjoy bangkok and pattaya boys without its old glory, stay away. Why spend money for a vacation you will not enjoy. On the other hand, for a place to return to its old glory, tourists needs to start going there, or itll never get its full recovery. So for those early adopters who went there and enjoy themselves, i would like to thank you for your contributions, not just the lovely trip reports, but to thailand's economy recovery. Just my crappy 2 cents.

Day 3: Temple, Tailor, Scorcher, Tie This trip, I’ve been more animated with exploring Bangkok more than previous trips, probably because I had the secondary task of showing Tiago the country. He is seeing the country as a newbie, as I was when I first visited in 2014. It is always nice to go through the newbie experience again with someone, seeing the country through their eyes. And Tiago’s natural inquisitiveness always had me on my toes, so it was a treat for me to see this place again in that sense, after having taken past trips for “granted”. We had plans to go to the gym today but opted to sleep in instead (how many times has this happened to me in my life), but we did have plans to do an organized private tour of some temples in Bangkok, as well as to see other sites. I’ve done various versions of this tour in the past (with various friends, boys etc), and have been to these places with boys to observe how they worship, but seeing these temples again and again never seems to get old for me. It was also important for me to show these temples to Tiago. So we wake up at 10 am, which isn’t super late, but too late to entertain a gym session. Some coffee, a shower, and getting dressed, and we head over to a nearby Coffee Club. I’ve always liked Coffee Club, and seeing one always reminded me of my stays in Pattaya, where there was one at the Royal Garden Plaza, usually a fairly short walkable distance from any AirBNB or hotel I would stay near Boyztown. And they are more than just coffee, for me they were a consistent source of a savory breakfast. I of course got my cholesterol on a plate with eggs, bacon and sausage: Tiago, with his sweet tooth, got some pancakes. We had to fuel up, as we had a big day ahead. We go back to the apartment to wait for the tourist guide. For ideas on where to get a private guide, I usually go to Viator.com, but I instead contacted a prior SiamRoads guide that I hired 7 years ago to see if he was still available. Turns out he is retired from tourism, but recommended a reputable Tour company. He forwarded my Whatsapp number to the company, and two nights ago got a WhatsApp message from the tour company, asking me what I was looking for in a tour. I told them just a quick temple tour, with a private vehicle with AC, and was quoted $110 which I thought was reasonable. At 11:50 AM I got a Whatsapp message saying that the van taking us was parked by the curb in front of the apartment. We meet our guide, who was waiting for us at the curb. He was pretty friendly, and when we get seated, I explain to him that Tiago was Brazilian and did not speak much English, but I will translate whatever he told me. This is a running theme with most of the Brazilians I’ve taken with me to my travels, when we find ourselves in an English-speaking situation, like tours. I’d never thought I’d end up being a translator for Brazilians, but it inadvertently allows me to practice the Portuguese even outside of Brazil, trying to explain a certain country’s history or a monuments meaning, for example, stuff that is beyond the usual casual conversation. The tour guide showed his cards when he commented how handsome Tiago was. I had a hoot translating this to Tiago. Tiago just rolled his eyes. We had three main stops today, all temples. All chock full of history. 1. Wat Traimit, with the glistening architecture and the Golden Buddha: Wat Arun with the Hindu elements: And Wat Pho, with the reclining Buddha: The guide gives a side note on Thai Massage History, and how it was based on the concept of invisible energy lines running though the body. There was even a mural of it in one of the temples. Arena Spa was not mentioned tho, and no invisible lines pointing to where a happy ending would be located: I always like it when we get a temple to ourselves, and we get to sit on the floor (thankfully with fans blowing air throughout the facility), and we get to have a few minutes of peace and meditation while admiring the Buddhist elements of the room. Tiago said it was a highlight of his tour, and he would like to visit Buddhist temples more often: Overall, the guide was really knowledgeable. And Tiago absorbed all the information the guide had for us. As we drove around Bangkok, the guide would point out the important landmarks. While I pretty much been to all the places he mentioned, it was good to be reminded of them, and to tell Tiago about my impression of those places. It was a good jog down memory lane. I mentioned to the guide that I had certain things I wanted to accomplish in Bangkok that I haven’t gotten to yet, that I may not have time for. The guide asked me what they were, I told him, and one of the items the guide said he could help with – finding a tailor, could be our next stop. My usual tailor, Excelsior Tailors, was closed when we went by it yesterday afternoon. They might have pandemic-reduced hours, and they had a sign with a phone number in the front of the store, but I decided not to bother. The guide offered to take us to his recommended tailor. He told us that he trusts this tailor, and he has recommended this to other guests of his, and has been highly recommended by them as well. He then said that most of the tailors found in Silom or shopping malls usually outsource their work to another, central tailor. He was taking us to a tailor who did their own work, and it is a work of quality. He then said that if we had any problems with the tailor, then he will fix it. We arrive at the tailor shop named "James Fashion" (not "James Tailor" – they missed a golden opportunity here) in the Dusit District of Bangkok. We were expected, as one of the tailors greeted us at the curb and asked us if we wanted water or beer. We opted for coffees. I told him what I wanted (2 sports coats and three shirts) as well as Tiago, who I promised to also get one sports coat. We were shown some fabrics and we got to feel the material, as we chose our picks. We got measured, prodded, and the whole thing took only 15 minutes. The tailor then said asked when were we leaving Bangkok. I told him 6 days from today, so we made an appointment for a second fitting 3 days from now, and have the clothes delivered 2 days after that. I paid (fairly reasonable prices) and as a thank you, we were given two ties each as a present, to be delivered with the clothes on final delivery. The traffic was horrendous (Bangkok is back!) so we get home at 6 PM. Sitcky and gross after a half a day of walking in sweltering heat and humidity, we shower together, which led to some hanky-panky (his idea) which led to us exhausted after cumming, and which led to another nap. I was smart enough to have the alarm set at 9 PM, to wake us up for the night ahead. A couple of cups of 3-in-1, and a Grab Taxi later, we find ourselves back on Silom Soi 4, to have dinner at G’s Bangkok. Before we settle at the restaurant, I take a quick peak at the bars further down the Soi. It was busier than yesterday, and there was a good-sized crowd of farangs in the mix of all the revelry. I see Jupiter at the end, with the tout waiting his chance to convince people to come in. The tout by Banana Bar has already done that to us, and failed, to get our attention. Judging to the size of the crowd, Soi 4 seems to have the makings of a Soi Twilight. If they can find a way to replace some of the restaurants with more boy bars, and build out to the end of the Soi, we can get there. Interesting to me though, that any online guide describing Silom Soi 4 never mention the boy bars in the Soi, only the “normal” bars. Why is that? See article below titled "Bangkok's Best Gay Street": Anyway, we get back to G’s to have a hearty dinner. Tiago opted to eat some Thai food, even with the blander Bavarian options in the menu, and the danger of the food being spicy. Thankfully, the food we chose were tolerable to his unaccustomed tongue. To finish it off, he asks for a volcano cake which we shared, to satisfy his sweet tooth: At 10:10 PM we were on our way to our selected Boy Bar. Which one was it, next…

Nor have the stalls along Silom and Surawong Roads returned. And quite a few shopfronts are shuttered too. There used to be 6 or 7 massage shops along Silom Road (all of them with a significant number of male staff) east of the Thaniya junction. There are now only 3. There used to be another 5 or 6 massage shops along Surawong Road in the stretch between Patpong Soi 1 and Soi Tarntawan. There are now 3 too. Those three however seemed to have differentiated themselves more starkly. Urban Thai is all-female staff while Green Massage is all male staff (in, confusingly, orange shirts). Only Olivia has mixed gender staff. But take a look at this picture. It's a different stretch of Surawong Road, opposite Raya Hotel, between the alleyway to Moonlight (left edge) and Happy Beer Garden (to the right). It used to be always busy, with every shopfront lit up. The gay part of Patpong Soi 2 looked bright by comparison. But it's only that 50 metres or so. Go a bit further from where the photo was taken and it's forlorn again. As others have reported, Lucky Boys does not look as if it's coming back. Nor Bangkok Massage. To the left of the picture, Screw Boys remains closed. Silom Soi 4 was a bright jewel. Nearly every table was taken; there was a buzz about it that felt good.

Tiago has been living in Thailand for a number of weeks now, so everything still feels new. But he says that cost of living is lower, and food, transportation and entertainment is cheaper. Plus things that have to do with his work - gear, gym time etc, are cheaper. He can also get compensation with teaching Jiu Jitsu in Thailand teaching either tourists of locals that he says is more than what he can get in Brazil, probably because there are fewer of him in Thailand with his set of skills so he is more in demand. He is already looking at staying longer than his planned 6 months and looking at his visa options. So yeah he likes it in Thailand better but he is looking at it through the lens of someone working. My take is complicated (always). I have my own preferences that may be different than yours. Sex - @floridarobhas alluded to this. I've had sex with duds in Brazil so that exists, but I found that a Brazilian's average minimum effort is still much more passionate and more to my liking than what I get in Thai. I get that in Thailand too, but I am more assured that the sex will be more passionate and I am left satisfied, sex-wise. Depends on the situation of course. Cost to hire - It's just cheaper in Brazil. No escaping that fact. I'd say basic short time fee in Brazil is $30 vs $40 in Thailand, and you get more for your money. Grindr - I've had way more luck in Brazil, but my Generic Asian Face™ is more of a novelty there relative to Thailand. Gay saunas (not for pay) - Brazil saunas are hotter and wilder Food - Thailand is way superior to that of Brazil, in my book. Food is also way cheaper in Thailand. Tourist Infrastructure - Thailand is more developed hands down. There is a reason Bangkok has toppled Paris as the most visited city in the world in 2019. Just the ease in which you get basic stuff like SIM cards (airport in Bangkok with clear pricing and GB vs not as easy in Brazil), taxis and hotel staff with English speaking drivers, the Tourist police etc., is superior than what you will find in Brazil. I've said before that Brazil has a steeper learning curve, though if you have a patience to see it through, it's hard to let go. Thailand was just love at first sight for me. One night in Silom and I was hooked forever. Safety - Advantage: Thailand. No way out of this. But I must say that if you know what you're doing, its fairly easy to keep safe in Brazil as well, as I have after a million trips to there. But yes, advantage: Thailand Shopping - Slight advantage to Thailand. Lots of cheap finds in both places but I think Thailand has better variety (MBK and Chatuchak are gold standards). Massage - Huge advantage to Thailand. Not even a question. Beaches - Beaches in Thailand are prettier and better, but Brazil's are more fun and more lively so, depends on what you like. Rio's Copacabana and Ipanema are obvious strengths, with Bangkok not having a comparable analog, but Phuket and Samui are stunning places to visit once you get there. Festivals - toss up. Songkran is fun, Carnaval is fun. It's all fun. Nightlife - both have their advantages, boils down to what you prefer or are looking for. Language - For me, Portuguese is way easier for me to learn, i.e. I learned it vs I will probably never learn to speak Thai because English is widely spoken in Thailand. There is some utility to learning the language in any country as you get to know it in a much deeper level. Even if Thais more or less speak English, I suspect I missing something by not speaking Thai. My 2¢. I love both. Will continue visiting both. Will account for the shortcomings and enjoy the strengths of either place. It's good to have these two wonderful options to choose from!

I am one of the longest surviving members of Sawatdee that has refrained from posting recently due to the vicious bile posted by the owner.

When Moonlight first opened, it was the talk of the town (well, our little town, anyway). It was new, bold and had quickly became a must stop for all. But for me it lust a bit of the luster over the years. Nevertheless, I certainly would prefer that it survives in the same way I hope newcomer New Twilight manages to sustain itself because the Bangkok scene very much needs variety. The problem Twilight has at the moment appears to be indecision: does it want to be another Jupiter or Moonlight or does it wish its own, unique identity which so far doesn't seem to be catching on all that well. Personally, I'd hope it adopts the Lucky Boys approach. It has the stage and lighting to put on the same type of floor show entertainment along with the ever-popular rotation of 30-40 guys representing a cross section of ASEAN. I really miss that place.

As we all know by now dope is now legal in Thailand. That is great for those who like to use it. The only problem is that the shops selling it have decided that they will make their first million on it by charging outrageously for it. I know that the one sold in the US is much cheaper than here in LOS. Perhaps as time goes on these guys selling it will have more and more competition and the prices will drop. But, for now those who use it will pay, pay and pay for it.

Let's begin with the bad news. Hopefully, the later reports will be more cheery. After all, we're only two weeks from Thailand doing away with the Thailand Pass and the insurance requirements. We can't expect tourism businesses to spring back to life that quickly. Nonetheless, one wonders if some things that we were familiar with - so familiar we almost took them for granted - will ever come back. It's been reported by others that Patpong Soi 1 no longer hosts a night market. This is what the street now looks like. I've never been fond of obstruction caused by the stalls, but the dreary look of the street now is even worse. I've never really counted how many girl bars used to operate on that street, except a sense that the number of bars have been declining slowly over the years, but it looks as if only the King's Castle bars have reopened.

Just for the record and as a matter of public interest, which bar was that, please? and which year? 😀

Thanks again young11 for this great new report. I'm afraid it's being overlooked having been tacked on to Santiagodc's wonderful long original post. Maybe it should have it's own thread?!

Haven't yet but I will probably because I liked the other stuff of those 2 guys. With limited time available, having nice weather etc. etc. currently I am watching not many series. Also popping up 5 new series every day, it becomes harder to choose which ones to watch. And it kills a bit the fun of writing about them, because everyone now is watching different ones - it's a bit like the Netflix / Amazon Prime / Disney etc. problem. When there was only TV, everyone watched the same film on the same day, and it was fun to talk about it the next day. I just finished Kinn Porsche and will post a few more pics soon.

cash-and-tuck person

New Twilight looks lovely. I like that area and don't mind stopping for a bit to eat at Mango and then going around. Thanks for the heads up about the new bar. I have not been there, but will give it a try.

They’re too kind- I get more of an It or AHS clown vibes from him

Every penny counts

Thank you for cheering us up

You got it right

Another sci-fi (parallel universe) Thai BL series “Vice Versa” seems promising; featuring some very (and a couple not so) familiar faces from Bad Buddy, Enchante, etc. This GMM 25 series airs on Saturdays and is available on their official YouTube page. Episode 1 of 12 aired yesterday.

So we are Winding down another 4 days here in the Dominican Republic and I have to tell you I am mentally drained and tired. We've been here since Thursday and HIT THE GROUND RUNNING with the beautiful men in this country. I don't post any videos to my OF Or JFF over the weekend but a member from that group asked me to post some video shorts to keep them apprised of how the filming was going I should have known that once I posted the video of KING DONG fully erect and feeding his MOSTER MEAT TO A HUNGRY BOTTOM through some home security bars that they would beg for me to post that video IMMEDIATELY! I obliged and gave them a little bit and told them that I would go home, edit the video then post Monday morning. The models are beautiful and young (I'm their 20's) and love to perform. I'm not going to lie. The scene with KING DONG feeding his thick DICK to the hungry bottom made me want to put down my camera, knock the bottom over and start sucking him myself. About an hour before KING DONG, came over he told me HE HAD a lot of milk for ME and HIS dick is going to be THE BIGGEST I'VE EVER SEEN IT. He was so confident. He even said, "if my dick goes soft then you won't have to pay me." I knew he must have taken something because his dick was LONG HARD AND THICK. My husband even said he couldn't belive how BIG AND HARD HIS DICK WAS. Of course the hungry bottom wanted to stay on his knees for hours to suck and worship his MASSIVE DOMINICAN DICK. we moved over to the hottub to change the scene and before we could get the camera ready the bottom looked over and saw how stiff KING DONG was and began to suck him again. I guess he knew what he wanted and he wanted it NOW. He was enamored with KING DONG and when KING DONG released, the bottom made sure to swallow his seed. My husband and I looked at each other in shock while he sucked him dry. It's been so HARD KEEPING UP WITH MY FAST growing twitter accounts. OMG! It's an all day REWARDING experience because I get to play with these beautiful men. also and they put on quite the performance when the camera was on. My Twitter page has attracted the eye of some producers in California and Atlanta. Also a lot of porn stars who want to collaborate. Im not bragging. I'm shocked and very thankful to say the least. People are actually offering to pay to advertise on my Twitter page most popular page @BlakSuperMan2 I still can't believe the exposure and interest the pages are receiving. Continue to wish me luck and I will continue to post 10 second clips on my Twitter pages @BlakSuperMan2 and @HungDRHombres. I can't post the 20-25 minutes of filming to those pages so I have to post those sex videos to my OF Or JFF accounts. I hope you all are safe and well. InShot_20220717_090535944.mp4

Heartened to hear that you're enjoying yourself.

Even though many places have not reopened, it's still worth going to Bangkok. I was glad that I went last month during my leave. Air tickets and hotel rooms were so cheap. Prices for December are double!

Don't forget, I banned all Republicans on this board. jk But, I do try to ignore them.

Agree! I just came back home yesterday and I had a blast - it is not yet at pre-covid levels, but there is still plenty to do. I went to dreamboys a few times and some of the nights, particularly weekends the place was packed. Grindr is active, many massage shops open (particularly on soi 6), and lots to eat. I would recommend that this would be a great time to go! They need us! Proud to have somewhat contributed to the economy!

Another view of the former soi twilight site:

Day 2.5: Heavenly Bodies I am unclear on the origins of why Bangkok boy bars are named the way they are. Maybe the thought process is to have your bar name be as descriptive as possible, so customers know what they are getting when they want to go to that bar. So all your boys and males are either Fresh (boys), Hot (Male), Dream (y) (Boys) or Lucky (Boys), or you may want to Screw (boys) them, or want to play with their Bananas (bar). Then there are the bars that are named after heavenly bodies or phenomenon – Moonlight, Jupiter and Tawan (Tawan ตะวัน = Sun). These bars, more or less, have their specialized brand of boy bar, probably what sets them a little bit apart from the ones mentioned previously. I’d say these three bars indeed have “heavenly bodies”, and as such, have boys with more mass i.e. more meat on their bones than those bars that have predominantly twinks in them (those Freshboys really are fresh, for example). This is a generalization of course, Dreamboy had a lot of more meatier boys than twinks the night I was there (at least my definition of what Thailand meaty is), but generally you will not find any traditional twinks in the Solar System bars. Don't ask me about New Twilight. I don't know how that boy bar fits into things. Interestingly, to me at least, Tawan’s naming is more consistent with how most Brazil boy saunas are named. Tawan’s street is situated in Soi Than Tawan, from which I am assuming Tawan was then named after. In Rio de Janeiro for example, Clube 117 and Pointe 202 addresses are in 117 Rua Candido Mendes and 202 Siquiera Campos respectively, which means they are named after their street addresses as well. Various other saunas in Brazil do this (the ones in Salvador and Recife come to mind, etc.), and even if the name of the current street of the famous Sao Paulo sauna Lagoa is different from its name, originally it was located in a street called Borges Lagoa before its move to 130 Pedro Taques. So we find ourselves in one of the Solar System bars – Jupiter. My description of it in 2016 is here: Still, I do remember at least two memorable offs from Jupiter in the past. Both were the typical Jupiter type: tall, muscular athletic, fair skin and handsome. Both I’ve had trepidation offing in the past due to my preconceived assumptions about the aloofness of the Jupiter boys, and hence, both exceeded my expectation when it came to the off, further fueling my desire to go back to the heavens more and more. My whole off with MuscleBoy here: And a snippet of my off with Korean Boy: --- We emerge from a sex-induced slumber at 9:30 PM, after a half day of running around Bangkok and seeing the sights. Tiago, as goal-oriented as he was when it comes to going after his dreams, surely knows what he likes doing during vacations: lots of rest and lots of sex. He admitted to as such while we were traversing Dubai. As a result, we have missed a tourist spot or two that was on my list of must-see things to see. Still, my method of running ragged of wanting to see as many things as possible and to sleep with as many boys as possible, combined with his more leisurely pace of stopping and smelling the roses, and establishing deeper connections and sacrificing certain opportunities as a result, worked for both of us and benefitted our experiences. Quality over quantity was essentially the result. Still, he knew that it was important for me to go see a Boy Bar every night we were in Bangkok, so when the alarm went off to wake us up that night, he darted out of the bed and did a few shadow boxing exercises to wake himself up and get the blood flowing. I fired up the water heater and made two cups of those delish 3-in-1 coffees, and pair of showers later we were on a Grab to Silom Soi 4. 71 baht. We arrive at Soi 4 around 10:15 PM, and the familiar sights of the street were still there. I noticed a new (to me) boy bar called Banana Bar, with their tout enticing us to come in and partake of their fruit stand. Perhaps on another night. We passed by the usual bars, notably the renamed Circus Bar, formerly Telephone Pub – I am not too familiar what precipitated this name change. There was a good-sized crowd seated in almost all the bars, with a good showering of farang tourists, perhaps a sign that the tourist numbers are rebounding at a good clip. But we had our goal today – Jupiter. We were greeted by the sharply dressed tout who didn’t bother with his spiel because it looked like we knew where we were going. Inside, the outer seats were taken, some full with rowdy Thai revelers, others with more reserved farangs and Asian gays. We were seated at the very front. Tiago plopped himself on the seat, ready for the show. Regular coke and rum coke (pretty decent). Onstage where 3 or 4 boys at a time, rotating through their roster, a trick I’ve seen in almost all the bars that had more boys than a stage can logically contain. I am reminded right away of Jupiter delights: the preppy, handsome, clean cut, masculine fair boy. Tiago noticed this, and commented that the offerings were pretty enticing, and handsome. Perhaps Tiago was also a Jupiter man. I was overjoyed when I say MuscleBoy and Korean Boy still working here, as if nothing has changed through the years. They both still looked gorgeous and fit. There were other stunners as well, well-documented in the Jupiter facebook. They feature each of their models fairly well on FB, and some even have studio-quality photoshoots that highlights their best features. What impressed me was the number of guys that were on offer. If you want an idea of many guys are available on a given night, watch this: ParadeJupiter.mp4 Also, this was were I was seated, where the red dot is: So I was up close and bulge level to these fine specimens, so I was having a blast. I would highly recommend seating up there for maximum viewing. Not sure why the other customers here preferred sitting further away from the action. They are missing out. The show soon starts and it’s the usual drag queen/boy number combination. The drag queens were pretty polished, moreso than what I’ve seen elsewhere in Thailand, or even Brazil. Also, there were numbers with drag queens and boys combined, and I remember this was a thing before from pre-pandemic: With all this happening, Tiago was seemingly entertained. My hunches about this bar were right, that this was a bar that is easy to show to first-timers, or your girl best friend, that had enough distractions and hot boys to entertain pretty much anybody. I know a lot of us here prefer a less refined, more hardcore experience with Thai boy bars, and I do miss that type of atmosphere, but there is a place for these kind of bars both in the boy bar landscape, and in every one of my travel itineraries. There was the question of offing tough. I was thoroughly smitten with one of the guys in that clip above. Everyone in the bar was looking at him. Maybe it was the grinding and the dancing he did. I was about to look for him but saw that he sat down with some clients and I missed my chance. Still, there were a lot to choose from. I could choose from any number of tall, fair, lean muscular boys. There was something about that guy with the full body tattoo (see video). He looks like he would know a thing or two about a good time. Plus, in perusing Jupiter’s FB posts, he is figured in a set of photos that seem to show another, more fun side of him: I ask Tiago what he thought about that guy. He said he was more interested in another handsome lad, as he tells me his number. I recognized the guy from Patpong. He must’ve belonged to another bar but is now working in Jupiter. He was the Jupiter type. He had really white skin, very smooth. Boyish handsomeness, abs and muscles. He fit the type that I liked, so I motioned to him to sit with us once the show was over. He was in jeans and shirtless. He sat in between Tiago and I. A waiter quickly comes to us to ask if the boy wanted a drink. He asked for a coke. He recognized me from the pre-pandemic days, and asked me the usual stock questions of name, where you from, how long Bangkok and all that good stuff. I of course had to translate for Tiago, who was rubbing his leg and looking at him closely. He was Vietnamese, and Tiago found that fairly interesting possibly because it was the first time he has ever met a Viet guy. After a few more pleasantries, VietBoy asks if we wanted to off him. I then asked what he was into. He said he is all top. I translated this to Tiago and then he promptly grabbed his dick to see. More questions. 5000 for short time because we were two people, so double the price he said. Then I asked if he kisses. He said no. He said he was straight. I then translate this all to Tiago. “E hetero?” he said, sort of disappointed. “Quanto custa,” he asks. I do some quick math and tell him “130 dolares ou 700 reais,” I answer. Tiago makes a face, ”E caro demais,” he replies, thinking the price was a little bit too steep. He then asks me that its up to me, but I already knew my answer. After a few more pleasantries, and as he finshes his drink, I gave him 500 baht and bid him farewell. It was just not meant to be. To Tiago, a sexual partner who doesn’t kiss, let alone doesn't do it passionately, is not worth it, and life is too short for that kind of BS. I tend to agree. He later said that for 130 dollars, he’d do way more than just top. While all of this was going on, Jupiter turned from a Boy Bar to a lounge, and it was actually enjoyable. Customers were having a blast with the live singing, boys were joining the fun, drinking with customers, and it all looked like fun: Jupiter2018 - Everyday After Midnight It’s Time To Party 🎉... By Jupiter2018 Everyday After Midnight It’s Time To Party 🎉 With All The Jupiter’s Model 🤩 #jupiter #silom4 #bangkok.mp4 There is someone in the video clip waving some money in front of the boys. I figure that the video is at least accurate in that sense, as it will take that much money to get the boys to act happy to be with you. I didn’t even try to look for another boy to off. I tried, it didn’t work out, and that was that. I didn’t even feel that I was missing out. I had good memories of this place, and will continue to make more in the future. Right now it was about me and Tiago. He might be the ultimate cock block as he is giving me more than probably any of the boys in this building ever could, in arguably better physical attributes, among other things. There is a time and a place to “settle” for a more chill sexual encounter and I am willing to adjust to the task at hand. Sometimes that it was I need, other times, like right now, it is Quality over Quantity. After another round of drinks, we leave the celestial confines of Jupiter. While it weird for me to not off a guy form this bar, truth is Jupiter will always hold a special place in my groin. There will be other nights in Jupiter, to look for this guy, for example: We then head over to Footland Patpong to have a late dinner. After that we decide to make that 25-minute walk back to the apartment, since it has cooled down a bit. Tiago asked again if it was safe to walk at 2 AM in the morning in Bangkok. I said yes it was. He commented that if this was central Rio we would be assaulted many times over. i laughed, because it was true. And even Tiago had a hard time avoiding comparing Brazil to Thailand, but this time, he was noticing something that Thailand had an advantage over Brazil. “That’s why we are here Tiago,” I tell him. “We are here to forget about our troubles in Brazil. We are in Thailand now.” We should make the most of our time here, as Thailand has a lot to offer. And we do just that, next post.

I just returned from a trip to Egypt. It was on my way to my destination, so I decided to add a stopover in Egypt for a week to explore. 1. Markets: It was very hard to arrange anything. Each shop is next to each other and publicly visible so I am not sure how one can just close the shop and do the deeds...Maybe @Santiagodc can enlighten us? 2. Aswan: It is dead if you are looking for a hot young guy. The boat drivers are all old and there are some young (youngish) horse drivers but very limited. Most of them are skinny guys, not very clean and no place to do, so it was somewhat disappointing for me. I was told that the most young guys moved to north (i think they mean Luxor). This is probably because Aswan doesn't attract as many tourists as luxor. There was one guy who was my type. He looked more like a mix of sudanese and egyptian, nice body: slim but toned with curvy black arse. The funny part is that after arriving at Aswan late at night, I decided just to walk on cornich to see the scene, not to do anything because it was late and I was tired after a long trip. But this guy (mixed looking guy) asked me if I wanted a ride while passing by me and I said no because I really didn't wanna deal with price negotiation at that time. He stopped his horse carriage a bit ahead of my direction and started walking toward me and I noticed he was touching his pen!s casually, as if most guys just do it but quite noticeable for me. He asked for me a ride for free and I said no and then i stopped me on cornice and asked me to touch his stuff down there. I was just shocked because it was on cornice so I said no with a smile and looked around. He then took me to his carriage and he sat on the carriage and showed his stuff on street. it was somewhat hidden but quite visible for anyone who would pay attention. he said I can suck him there and I said no but he asked me to sit inside the carriage and he sat in front of me. I asked for his price and he said 200, which is like 5usd so i sat there and he pulled cover over me and gave me his stuff, in the middle of the cornish road. I sucked and he came within a minute. I liked it as an experience because I did it in front of everything on cornish, otherwise it was not worth. He got my number and asked me to come back next day for full sex and I got it. Then he took me to his friend, who was not my type and recommended him. I just refused and went to my hotel. Next day, he said he has a place and if he fucks me he has to pay for the place, that was 400 and plus 200 for the sex, total of 600. I said yes and he took me with his carriage. Guess what, he stopped at a mosque with a big ground around it and jumped over the fence and asked me to do the same and I followed him to the mosque area. In the ground around the mosque, there was a small empty house, which looked like a guard post under construction and he asked me to do the deed inside there. Trash were everything and it was dark and visible from outside but it was dark and no one was around. He fucked me but it was quick. Again I did it for the experience but not the sex was not good. So I didn't meet him again, though he called me almost million times...Next day, it was so hot, so I changed my plan to explore the city and opened up grindr. Very few guys there and I can easily see guys in Luxor...One of them contacted me and sent me his face pictures etc. I was kinda shocked and thought he sent a fake picture but he was good looking, slim toned guy. I asked him if I can invite him to my hotel, he said in egypt it is not possible but he invited me to his place. Well, it was a day, so i took a cab to his place and he was real....I kinda thought there is a possibility of robbing me but it was a day time in a residential area, so I thought I could seek for help easily. He took me upstairs and we did it in an apartment under construction...I don't know how it works but in the same building, some apartments are completed and people live and some are still under construction without windows...And we did it there and he put some blankets on the floor. It was not that bad as a bed but no toilet facility and people could see us because there was no window...But hey, free sex with a decently hot guy, it was totally worth the risk. I think this sex itself made my trip to aswan worthwhile. The rest was boring: boat drivers are grandpa level old, camel riders are extremely ugly and old or a little child. Some hot guys in the market but they didn't have a shop and didn't have an eye contact with me... 3. Luxor. The market had the same issue as 1 and the sellers are more aggressive there. Luxor has a lot more young guys there but the boat drivers were generally older (daddy level oldness, not grandpa). I think this is because I actually saw a lot more tourists in luxor than aswan. One decently looking guy asked me to take his horse ride for 50 EGP for an hour, I said why not. He kept driving me around without any hint of doing the deed, so I was kinda surprised...But after 20min ride, he stopped at a barber shop and another guy jumped into the carriage. Apparently they share the carriage and this hot was just all over me. As soon as he hopped in, he shake hand and kept caressing my hand without releasing...He was too skinny for my taste but he had a charming smile and decent face, so I kept talking to him and I wanted to know how things work in Luxor. He took me to a house (yes a proper house, proper bed, and proper toilet) and we did it there for 400. The most surprising part was that he didn't care about the people in the house. Many people saw us entering and walking around the house and we used one big room with toilet, so I am guessing everyone else there knew what was going on haha. Surprisingly he lasted quite a bit, so I am guessing he is used to it. Anyway, that was fun and he offered me many things and I said i will think about it. Next day, I explored the cornish and market and boat. More or less the same issue. Luxor horse riders are young but mostly skinny guys, so not my type. Boat drivers are older than my preferred type, market guys are hard to close the deal, so I decided to enjoy the touristy stuff. 4. Cairo. I had a very low expectation for Cairo because of this forum information. a. hotel staff: none of them were my type, either old or too skinny. So I decided to go to the gym. I stayed in two hotels in Cairo, both 5* with a proper gym. First hotel had a gym instructor who is kinda hot but he didnt speak english at all. I was the only person there and I wanted to make some conversation via google translate but he didn't give me any hint so I decided not waste my time. Another was Ritz (former Hilton) because I really wanted to see the infamous sauna there. The gym instructor was older than my type, so I went to the sauna. There was a staff there, who seemed to have given me some hint but he was not really my type, so I just enjoyed the sauna. There was a few locals who use the gym but this is the rich and ugly part of the society so i left quickly. The room cleaner was def into this sort of stuff but he was skinny and there were two of them: one old and one young. I wasn't bothered to mess up with them because the young one was too skinny. b. UBER. this is new and I knew some uber drivers do this sorta stuff from my experience in other countries. But i realized that Uber taxi drivers were older or not so fit, so not my type. Then I thought Uber bike!!! I ordered an uber bike for 5 minute ride from my hotel because my purpose was not taking it but to see the driver. guess what, as soon as I confirmed, the driver messaged me and said "you want a bike or an arab?" this was a google translation built in the uber app...I acted like I don't know what it meant and he just said forget about it and started moving toward me. I acted this way because I wanted to see the guy. Uber shows a face picture but not always the same person and you can't see the body. The guy came and he had a nice face but very skinny body so I didn't give any hints. But I think there are a lot opportunities there to explore haha c. Hammam/massage. I love hammams and massage even without sex so I checked some in cairo. I had two hammams and two massage places. One hammam was just bad: they didn't know what they were doing, they only try to sell drinks and very unfriendly reception etc. I didn't get any hints from hammam attendants and I am happy that they didnt because they were ugly and unfit. Another hammam was very diffent: friendly staff thoroughout and didn't bother me so mcuh with drink sales...The interesting part is that the hammam attendant was going a little deeper than usual into my groin area. And his pen!s slight touched me twice...Well he was not fit or toned so I didn't react. I think one could explore it with some caution. Two massage places were the same like the two hammam places: one good and one bad. The bad one was not that bad, the massage therapist was good but just didn't show any hints and didn't go deeper inside my groin or anywhere near for that matter. The good one was such a surprise. He had an excellent massage skill (hard pressure) so I was already happy when he started from my feet. Then as he goes up, he gets deeper inside my legs without any hesitation. I have never had such confident aggressiveness (in a good way!) in a massage. As he was going through my thighs, he touched my balls a couple of times and we went up into my ass and gave me a proper ass massage haha. Then he fingered me without even asking, just as if it was a part of the massage and he kept doing the massage and sometimes the finger gets into my ass...Oh my, this is a pleasant surprise. He went to my back and shoulders but I could fee his penis on my head. When he asked me to turn around, i was just super hard and he would go around and casually touch my hard penis...And I stopped being shy and started touching him and he didn't stop me but he was not hard. He was nto really my type but the experience was so good. Then his phone alarm went off and he stopped immediately and said the time is up. He asked me dress up and leave, even without asking for a tip....Anyway the change room was in a different room, so I left to the change room. I got my bag from the locker and gave him a tip discreetly. That was probably the highlight of Cairo. d. Grindr/tinder: I noticed apps are very active. Grindr probably has more fake profiles but some people had this instagram linked so I think there are some real guys out there. I was just too buy to interact with them and because I cannot bring them to my hotel, I didn't pay much attention to them. If anyone knows a way to solve this accommodation issue, do let me know, I think I will visit Egypt again

Were you referring to cruising 4 s** Com forun website? That was my go to guide when traveling

I like all 3 forums: Gaybuttonthai.com Sawatdeenetwork.com www.gayguides.com I like Gaybutton more for practical information (how to stuff and how to get over bureaucratic issues), I like Sawatdee because it is more focused on Pattaya, And then, the grand-daddy of all of them - this forum, gayguides - mostly for 1.) for within Thailand - more non-Pattaya stuff, 2.) the global boards for information on Europe, South America, and Asia.

Hey guys! I just returned from a month in Medellin. Wish I'd found this forum before I went. Lots of useful tips. While there is a lot of good info here, I wanted to add a few more that I didn't see mentioned which I either knew before I left or learned the hard way there. 1. It may have been said elsewhere, but I'd like to emphasize that you should speak some Spanish. I found very few people who spoke English. Definitely learn the basics and keep trying to communicate in Spanish - translator apps work well and people will appreciate the effort on your part. 2. If your cellphone plan doesn't allow an option for international use - look at Airalo e-sim card. It's an electronic sim. You can download the app before you leave, purchase your sim and have it ready to go when you land. I found out about this when the sim I had installed on an old phone stopped working. Wish I'd known before I left home. 3. Look for a card that allows cash withdrawals without fees. I have a Charles Schwab investor "checking" account. I transfer money into this account and use it for travel. Best exchange rates and ATM fees are reimbursed. 4. Use Rappi - it's a delivery service that will deliver anything - food, medicine, whatever you want. 5. Approach Grindr with caution. Too many guys that seemed too good to be true. Ask for verification photos if you're not convinced. Some words that indicate a financial exchange - liga, disponible, solvente. 6. Use Uber instead of taxis if you can. They are unauthorized, so you sit in the front seat - just a "friend giving you a ride". You can plug in your destination and you know the fare. Their goal is to get you to your destination in the most efficient way, whereas taxis might take the scenic route if they figure out you're not from there. With all cars, close the doors gently. They are surprisingly light. If you use the same force you use at home, it will slam. Taxi drivers are especially unhappy when this happens. 7. Be careful at ATMs - I used the ATM inside of a supermarket. Don't flash your cash. 8. Beware of people slipping you drugs. I didn't read about this happening to gay men (though there were a few gay murders that I think are still unsolved), but I read on numerous forums about straight guys being drugged by women and ending up in the ER - of course with their valuables gone. While I had ZERO problems there, the hotness and availability of the men might lower your normal sense of caution. 9. Look for a local to show you around and help with your Spanish. I paid a guy to be my tour guide. He threw in some extras. I had the best experiences with him. Met him on Grindr. 10. Have fun. Medellin is a beautiful city and the people are lovely. Keep your wits about you, show some cultural sensitivity, and you'll have a great time.