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I had a non-Turkey Thanksgiving celebration with Reader in 2019. I departed the next morning intent on returning in April. And 1257 days after that meal I’ve retuned to a familiar but slightly different world. It’s not as different as when I did a return in 2012 after a more than a decade disappearance. I landed at Swampy at 4:58 AM. After walking a mile or so from the gate, I cleared immigration in about three minutes. I didn’t have to resort to the special one for diplomats, monks, and the aging. My suitcase was the actual last bag off the plane so that added an increasingly stressful moment to what had been n easy but long journey. As I needed to add a visit to Beijing to this trip, my routing from California to Bangkok took me east via Zurich and on to Thailand. So I was in an aisle seat on a 777-ER on United and then on Thai from Zurich. Total time in the air 21 hours with a two hour Swiss layover. So bag on trolley I walked out into the terminal, after noting the increased number of communications services that has moved into the arrivals area. They outnumber the money changers. And there were even more of them in the public areas. I checked with the limo service to see what one would cost and 1700 THB was quoted. I continued to the taxi rank. (VInapu, I couldn’t use the rail line as my suitcase is one of the big ones - needed for brining tea to China). Once in the taxi, the driver started negotiations. We settled on 600 THB which covered the tolls. Following reports, comments, and gossip on the Forum I booked Quarter Silom, paying for my room from the night before my arrival so I could check in when I arrived. The driver after making a U-turn in a pedestrian crossing on Silom entered Soi 6 even at this early in the day had two way traffic which blocked our progress. Then arrival at the hotel. Very austere and up to date looking. Check-in went smoothly, into room, moderate in size compared to The Raya. I resisted the need to sleep, took a shower, and headed down for buffet breakfast which was similar to every other one in the world. I checked email and some headlines…found too many of one and too much I didn’t want to know in the other. I decided to go for. Walking look around. I headed toward Surawong noting that this stretch of road looked remarkably cleaner than I remembered. Where are the massage parlors, Tawan is much smaller and advertising it’s Tawan BDSM location across the street. There is an upscale definitely gay friendly (note flag) coffee shop directly across from Tawan. (Coffee Grinder Silom). The 7-11 mentioned in another section of the forum has absorbed the amulet shop and the entrance to the Tarntawan Apartments. The pharmacy that was just before turning the corner is gone with contractors working. Suspect it wont be a massage venue. So many new building and/or business switches along Surawong. Still many massage parlors along the way some in what were restaurants, small businesses. Note: Checking exchange rates the shop in front of the Siam Heritage hotel was at 34.6 to the $ which was the best I’d seen.. Airport shops were at 32. At MBK it was in the 33 range. I tuned in to see if pay homage to Screwboys. Which, when I was arriving via Tokyo back in the pre-Covid days was usually the only place open when I arrived. Thought fondly of Yoyo my companion of many moments. Then to Hot Male road where the first sign of life was Vinapu’s breakfast location for sending his journeymen stamp collectors on their way. I noted that much of the space from the entry down the may is taken by Mary Jane - not sure (at this hour) what it does ( other than the Mary Jane connection) and then my eyes shook my brain awake and started to spot the number of marijuana businesses. There is one big change. Over on Silom, I saw huge construction projects and altered much of what I remembered. The Dusit Thani project which was beginning in 2019 is still underway and will further upscale the area. I guess that sums up what I was seeing an upscaling of familiar haunts. I got on the BTS and went to MBK to both check out the exchange rates (see above) and to browse. Prior to leaving home I was scrolling the forums for insights on massage spas etc. One that kept being mentioned was Kman Spa (K-Man?). So, I diverted my return to Silom to check out its location. Reader sent me a link with some location information. NOTE: the material from the spa says to get off at 2 at Saphan Kwai and enter the 2nd alley. This does not tell you that once you land of the street level turn immediately left and then walk into the alley that’s right there. I didn’t and had a long stroll until I asked google. My original intent was to just find the location so I wouldn’t waste time when I would come by after LINE-ing on who was available. However, i had spent so much time looking for K-Man, that it was now just after 12 noon and the shop was open. I went in and introduced my self to the manager. He told me who was still working there from the photo gallery that it on their blog spot, I said I’d like to set up a massage with one of my favorites from the gallery. If that worked out then maybe arrange a 4 hand massage, as the video on the web, was “intriguing” (ask “hot”). While all this is going on, boys/men are arriving. One of them from a room overlooking the lobby starts to smile (Vinapu rule V-64a) and play visual games. To cut to the chase, I decide to have a massage and not wait to hear from the “favorites”. The massager of the moment was Mr Sam who introduced himself to me as Sun. A twink from Laos. Massage room two floors up, shower down the hall. I showered and then he did, dropping his towel when he returned from the shower. Yes he could massage with some degree of excellence but neither of us waited long for what is euphemistically known as “afters”. Quite a bit of “aftering” requiring some tasty cleanup and then back to finishing the massage. What a great way to spend the lunch hour!. One thing to note: Mr Sam’s photos on the Spa’s site would not cause me to want to book him which would have been my loss. He knows his business (as we negotiated a tip for special “after” services). He began his trade at Bangkok Massage on Twilight but he doesn’t look old enough to have been there - but the highest authority (Reader) confirms. Sun and I exchanged Lines and as he is a 4 hand veteran asked him to suggest another therapist to join him in caring for me. And with that…I will conclude this installment of my report as it is already too long.

The guy from Freshboys I had seen years back. He said, "you can fuck me all night." I said, I'm old now. He said, "I can fuck you all night." To me, that showed drive and determination and he got a nice tip. But, I did plan to go back for him until I met the love of my life in Tawan.

One more tip (pun intended). A great way to tip your programas and the guys who are friendly and entertain you even if you do not want a fuck, it is paying for their sauna fee. They truly love this one.

Becasue he's done it personally in his life so many times, he thinks it's the same for a country, to just walk away from debt.

As I was living in Cairo, it turned out to be my home. Through parties of friends, I met new people who knew people. Cairo attracts people from all over the country. When traveling south, the hotspots of Aswan and Luxor have been mentioned on this forum already. Both cities are awesome in terms of sights and (hook-up) vibe. A couple of other things to do: - When going to Abu Simbel, stay overnight. Once all tourists leave, you have the locals for yourself. - In between Aswan and Luxor, you might hire a private taxi and tour the different temples at your own paste. - Go on a White Desert overnight (multi-day) tour. - Siwa, the oasis close to the Libyan border, is a must-have-experienced adventure. Pick a local place to stay and immerse yourself in the 'traditional massages' and 'overnight pool jumps'. Enjoy!

I slept through the coronation. That doesn't mean it didn't happen.

1 mile is exaggeration but not by much , from furthest gate to immigration it may be as much as 700-900 m I guess. After sitting who knows how many hours in the plane you will be grateful for the walk , believe me. There are toilets on the way and conveyors if you not inclined to walk . Don't exchange money until you will hit railway station level in the basement unless you really must. Rates in air terminal are worse, not disastrously so but worse. no restriction in luggage but OP concern was likely hauling heavy luggage down and up the stairs on BTS (overhead rail ) and MRT (underground ) I agree with reader , you will be hitting rush hour so taxi is not necessarily fastest option and being stick in traffic is almost guaranteed. Getting from immigration to railway station is easy - there are escalators , just keep going down and down. Booth with good exchange rates are right at railway station to you left, at least 4 of them. You can but ticket for train (45 baht ) in the machine which gives change or in ticket counter. Rabbit card is valid on BTS only ( two thick green lines on your map) . Airport train ( thin red line) and MRT ( everything else ) has separate ticket system and so do two SRT train lines not on your map and so does BTS Golden Line , two stops only to Icon Siam mall 9 short appendix on your map along the river. Buying transit ticket is no problem but at times , specially on BTS there are substantial lines so Rabbit card is good idea, it costs 100 baht and you must load it initially with at least 100. After that you can add value on every BTS station. It is valid 7 years and I'm still using one I purchased before Covid. there's also day ticket valid on BTS only any questions , just ask

I can’t believe this is even a conversation. Tip service workers, you cheap ass muthafuckas. Especially in developing countries. Who cares if they ask or remind you about it? They work for so little. Take an extra roll of small bills to the saunas with you and use them for tips. If breaking a 50 reais ($10 USD) into smaller bits and disseminating it to those who provided you a non-sexual service is going to break you, then maybe you shouldn’t be traveling or even leaving your house at all.

Sheesh. I do have something to say about paradox. Irrespective of the very questionable legitimacy of your example, your example describes a dilemma not a paradox. A paradox might be something like the assertion that all thread post contributions have merit because no post contributions lack merit. Or let’s say you yourself instruct the reader to not pay any attention to you. You dissed the Russia example, the content of which is actually paradoxical as opposed to a dilemma because a situation with only one possible side is inherently untenable. It was rendered succinctly and beautifully. The writer had everything to say about the American situation because the contrast and polarity track.

It is definitely new. Unquestionably gay, flag, management team check all the boxes. And the young wait staff are very cute. It’s my refuge when the temperature hits the mid 30s (94F) and the drinks are cool Sign of change as i remember this location as having been a gay club with boys wearing numbers and then pre-Covid as a massage shop.

From Thai Enquirer by Kevin Zhang and Napon Jatusripitak Since Malaysia implemented UNDI-18 last year which lowered the voting age from 21 to 18, it is apparent that young Malays are turning towards the conservative Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition. PN comprised primarily of the Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), which champion for Islam to play a greater role in society, and the Malaysian Indigenous United Party (Bersatu), which seeks to maintain, if not enhance, the existing race-based privileges for ethnic Malays. As Malaysian voters are segregated into various streams in polling booths based on their age, the broad voting patterns for youths can be observed. Based on the available stream data, PN was the most popular coalition nationally among Malay youths, followed by Barisan Nasional (BN) and Pakatan Harapan (PH). The Malay youth vote played a vital role for PN (green) to expand into seats which were previously held by BN (blue) and to a smaller extent PH (red) in the recent 2022 General Election (GE2022). Map 1: Peninsular Malaysia parliament seats before GE2022 (left) and after GE2022 (right) *Vacant seats due to death of incumbent MP. Sabah and Sarawak are excluded due to different electoral dynamics and coalitions contesting. In contrast, Thai youths are gravitating towards the Move Forward Party (MFP), which campaigns on a progressive platform with an anti-establishment undertone. Its core policies include welfare policies, protection of LGBTQ+ rights, military conscription reform, and amendment of the lese majeste law. The MFP is the reincarnation of the now-defunct Future Forward Party (FFP), led by Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, a wealthy and charismatic figure with an overwhelming social media presence and popularity among the youth. The greenhorn FFP arose on the back of overwhelming youth support in the 2019 General Election. In 2019, the FFP secured third place with 6.2 million votes, defying predictions by even the most informed experts. Although support for the FFP among Thai youths cannot be observed directly since polling in Thailand is not segregated based on age, this conclusion can be extrapolated from advance vote where FFP performed incredibly well among the outstation university students vote. After the Constitutional Court dissolved the FFP in February 2020, the party’s followers, many of whom are high school and university students, took to the streets to voice their grievances and resentment against the political system they saw as unjust. This youth-led social movement has created a powerful, progressive force that the MFP is now banking on for the upcoming general election scheduled in a weeks’ time. Continues at https://www.thaienquirer.com/49525/the-curious-case-of-divergence-between-malaysias-malay-and-thai-youths/

What else do you miss.....?

Your impatient patience was noted and a report has been filed. I probably misnumbered one of our rules.

Episode 11 of “A Boss and A Babe” with Force and Book

I took a ride to the heart of gay Bangkok and had a good time. Screwboys is open and had at least 30 boys. All of who I have not seen in other bars. One there I liked and wanted to go back and get but time got away from me. Hotmale had a nice array of more muscle type guys. Freshboys was filled with twinks and gay boys and several I knew and the waiter from Viet I really liked. Had less boys that Screwboys it seemed but still a full stage. Dreamboys was packed with sexy guys but crowded no seats down front and I didn't want to go to the top so I left. I liked the night market. First time in YEARS I went and it was open for business. It made it feel like life was coming back. Tawan not my scene but they have moved locations (across the street) so I went in and found my guy for the night. I had a good time with him. All in all, people who think the area is dead, don't have eyes. It is alive and well and boys are there looking for love (or just a quickie).

I believe you were discussing government based on rule by elders. Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko surrounded by senior Russian military officers during last week's Victory Day parade in Moscow. (photo credit: Reuters)

PS: this is the perfect tip for me because I try to maximize the use of my cash. I can pay all my sauna expenses with my CC, and save the cash for the boys and the tips I cannot pay with CC.

You'll definitely be hitting the airport train at rush hour but taxi would be worse option at that hour IMO. Luggage no problem but at crowded times it gets really tight. But you have the advantage of getting on train at beginning of line so should get seat OK. Easiest to pay with Thai coins or 100 baht bills for airport train and BTS / MRT. Get train on lowest level of terminal.

Or actually maybe not. Latest I saw was that Move Forward is doing better than expected and PT is doing worse than expected

IMO “gerontocracy” is also semantically ambiguous and defies one reductionist meaning but don’t get me started, don’t even get a befuddled aging guy started, let alone someone less befuddled, be they head of state or not, rolling in their grave.

A tiny bit of cash goes a long way. It covers a broad range of service dynamics. Broken down at the get go: 2 bits to an attendant to acknowledge paltry pay and rote mind-numbing routine day after day; 2 bits to later situationally ask for assistance if needed for an unusual issue (eg, misplaced item) from an attendant you had overtly acknowledged as having been ‘seen’ according to the above, or for a touch of favouritism navigating that day’s spa outing; 2 bits for their contribution to your prerogative to transcend the restricting option of routinely mind-numbingly jacking off to porn at home thousands of clicks away; and for good measure, 2 bits as prophylaxis against the outrageous behavioural phenomenon of a gratuity overtly solicited because the concept and principle of equity may have simply slipped your mind when the little head took the reins. That’s a lot of coverage for the cost equivalency of a rubber.

OP a very nice report; not too long. Await next instalment!

I felt the same way on my last trip. However, once I established myself as a tipper on my first day, they stopped harassing me in my subsequent visits. In 202 it is crucial to tip the towel/cleaning ladies, especially the older and shorter one. The front counter can be messy at assigning rooms, and she always saves you time by quickly fixing the issues.

Lol. Never mind. 🙂 (Have had only one cup of coffee this morning)

Glad you got off to a great start. And pleased that Sun enlightened your afternoon delight. K-Man has been around for a while and has been mentioned in this forum several times and endorsed by a handful of readers. From personal experience, it's hard to go wrong there. https://www.facebook.com/kmanspamassage/

Oh....they'll be indictments! Those are coming. Jail time? Time will tell. Rikers? Guantanamo? No more golf? No more YMCA jiggy? I think so.

Hell no to the umpteenth no. Ducking out …

I'll ask @Riobard to translate it for you 🧐

Interesting to see what the parties are offering. It would have been helpful if he had indicated also the expected percentage vote range for the parties - some of them are polling in the low single digits, while Pheu Thai are polling the best by far. Perhaps that is why they tended to shy away from specifics in their promises. I must admit I had wry smile when Pat said that they are promising to make coups harder in the future. I am sure they would love to implement that one! As an aside, the rest of Pats channel is very interesting for people with an interest places to see in Bangkok.

Strange, since you helped start it!

Last night. Friday. Looks nice from outside. Very tinted glass doors and windows. Cute waiter on soi dragging in people (half heartedly). The owner/manager, ex from 4Sports, brings a few of his ex customers in. A couple of Thai (Thaniya looking) ladies outside on the terrace. I saw a hugely breasted small Thai lady dragging a large elderly farang in. I think not a bar for 'us'.

Not my one! Any other banned day no problem but not election day.. Police very strict (unless it's for them). The trick is to ask the motor bike taxi boys. If there is anywhere, they will know.

that statement supports my advice I always voice often and loudly - go and check for yourself no matter what you hear and read elsewhere. And another - that all we need is one bar and one boy in it as long as it's boy we like

Sounds like erection day restrictions.

I thought soi Thainiya is to provide shortcut from Sala Daeng BTS station to Raya and Moonlight

I know at least two former members who departed but still are reading us regularly. I keep in touch through other channels, it's how I know

via a séance 😳

One thing that is hard for me at places with boys and strip clubs is that often the boys will sit and talk to guys for a long time. In Brazil, the GPs would sit with a guy, they’d make out, the customer would play with the GP’s dick, and then they wouldn’t get a programa. I always feel awkward making small talk and like I’m wasting the GP’s time if I’m not 100% sure I’m going to get a programa so I end up kind of trying to be nice but shooing them away quickly.

Forgot to mention, one of the guys I had a programa with at Lagoa and then saw again at 117, when I was leaving 117 he was walking ahead of me. He was very friendly but I'm not much for small talk, so I tried to get around him without him noticing. But he did see me and ran to catch up, and asked if I was taking the Metro to Copacabana. I was, so we walked there together. A train was arriving, and I quickly scanned my apple watch to try to catch it. He jumped the turnstile, and as we were walking towards the stairs, a police officer started yelling at him and walking towards us. He stopped to go talk to the cop, and I kept going down the stairs. When he did make it down to the platform, he waited for the train a few cars down and didn't try to come back and talk to me, I guess he was embarassed.

I would expect such a dismissive response about cultural differences in sexual identity from an aging white American snap queen. That train is never late. it’s so on brand for Western culture to believe that their identity is the only one that matters.

From Thai PBS World Body of a missing teenage girl found in bushes in Lampang province Police in Thailand’s Lampang province have found the body of a 16-year-old girl who went missing on May 7th, when her Thai-English boyfriend was killed. Police and about 100 villagers searched a forest bordering Kho Kha and Sop Prap districts after the police received a tipoff from an individual who claimed to have seen the girl, known as “Pingpong”, being led into the forest by a man. At about 11am, the search team found traces of two holes in the ground, about 50 metres apart in the bushes. In one of them they found the body of a dead girl. The remains were removed from the shallow grave while the search team waited for the arrival of forensics officers. Police have already arrested a 44-year-old man, who is suspected of having killed a 17-year-old Thai-English boy.