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Yes, the website Utopia and the gay and lesbian Utopia complex off Sukhumvit were both operated by John Goss. Utopia had a building with a bookshop, guesthouse, and a cafe on Sukhhumvit soi 23. The building currently houses a Thai restaurant named Jutharos. It is located a couple blocks from soi Cowboy. The exact location can be seen on Google maps at https://tinyurl.com/ybnb8jvn I stayed in one of the Utopia guesthouse rooms in either 1995 or 1996. I had offed a boy from the Hippodrome Bar in Saphan Kwai, and we stayed at the Utopia guesthouse room for a few days before we traveled together to Ko Samui. Incidentally, the boy that stayed with me at the Utopia guesthouse turned out to be a model featured in Midway magazine, one of the publications mentioned earlier in this thread. I remember the Utopia cafe served a very tasty khao soi, the Lanna Thai noodle curry soup that is somewhat difficult to find outside of northern Thailand. John Goss also took the hundreds of excellent photos for the book "Very Thai: Everyday Popular Culture" by Philip Cornwel-Smith. The book is available on Amazon. It is worth a look if you are interested in Thai culture and everyday Thai life.

OVERDUE TRIP REPORT Hi guys. This trip actually happened in January but now I am just getting around to writing about it! Unfortunately it was only a short trip, and also unfortunately I had some health issues come up which prevented me from doing everything that I had planned, but I will write about some of things I got up to. Arrival Not much to write about, but upon disembarking and going into the airport, the door going into the airport was locked so we all stood around for a bit whilst someone came to unlock it. Immigration was fairly close to where I was (and very busy) but I had to visit the toilet first, after which I found another immigration section which had considerably less people. Went through pretty quickly only needing my passport and boarding pass (no TM6 needed), and then went to collect my suitcase which took a considerable amount of time, and to put icing on the cake, the luggage tag on my suitcase must have fallen off or been ripped off in transit as it was not there. Shame, as I liked it. Pattaya (Jomtien) In the past I had taken the bus every time I had been to Pattaya, but I thought for this trip I would try go by car. I booked Mike Taxi via the form on their website and communication was quick and efficient. 1000 THB to Pattaya. Found the representative at the arrival area, was told to wait for a bit before being sent off after being told the licence plate number and to go to the '2nd lane' which I had no idea what she meant, but then figured it out once I got outside. The trip was non-eventful (the driving was probably a little fast for my liking) but we made it there in 1.5 hours. As I looked out the window whilst driving through Pattaya I noticed more foreigners than Thais which I guess is a good sign that tourism is returning to normal. Arrived at Agate, which is beautifully presented and quite spacious (and for me, much better than Zing), went for a walk to TT and 7-11 to get some supplies. Had a decent foot massage at Burirom Massage and got some grab food for dinner. Note: the body wash at Agate smells divine. Other things I got up to in Jomtien included walking the length of Dongtan Beach all the way to the view point, hanging out at one of the gay concessions at Dongtan Beach where I lazed happily reading a book (on my phone) and admired some handsome French men who were at the same concession, had a 'massage' at one of the places in the complex (I cannot remember the name, but it was the 2nd of the two that are on the same road as the Agate) which was kinda nice but not totally satisfying, did a morning walk of some of the length of Jomtien Beach (up until the boat ramp) and turns out that many people also had the same idea. I did do a lap of the complex on one of the evenings, but no-one really 'jumped out at me' so to speak, Grindr was also a little quiet for me, but I was not feeling 100% so I didn't mind. To Bangkok Upon checking out, the driver from Mike's Taxi was already waiting for me. I think next time I will take the bus - this driver drove also quite fast, was eating a mandarin, talking on the phone, texting on the phone, and at times talking to himself. Stopped twice so he could go to the toilet (totally fine) and another in Bangkok where he bought some food at a roadside stall down a random alley. But we made it safely. It took about 2.5 hours, and cost 1200 THB. We arrived at about 2:30pm and I was getting a little worried as I had an appointment and Cutey and Beauty at 3:00pm. Checked into the Tarntawan with a 'welcome back', turns out my room was not ready yet, not to worry I said I would go to 7-11, to which they told me it was being renovated. Not to worry, I went to the other 7-11 (the big one) to buy a few things, back to the hotel and my room still wasn't ready and it was approaching 3:00pm (I did tell them I had an appointment), but at the last minute it was ready, I put my stuff in my room and headed to Cutey and Beauty and made my appointment on time. The owner or manager was out the front presumably waiting for me (as he greeted me by name), and I was ushered in and introduced to the attractive guys that would be attending to me. I firstly had a mani/pedi then a facial then a haircut. It was quite relaxing to be pampered. Cost THB 1500. Afterwards I went to Prime to make an appointment for either that night or the next day but turns out they had an appointment available in 25 minutes so I went back to the hotel for a bit then went back to Prime for my 1 hour foot/1 hour Thai which is my favourite combination. High quality as usual. Walked around Silom a little, had dinner at Bon Chon at Silom Complex, and later went to Dreamboys where I got to see their new premises for the first time. I had been there before but when it was Lucky Boys. Sat up the back (my preferred seating) watched the show for a bit, saw my favourite dreamboy to which he noticed me, came over, we caught up and went back to the hotel together. It was getting late at this stage so by the time we finished having fun he said 'good night' and that is how my first accidental long time eventuated. I much prefer short time, but because I had offed him a few times in the past it was fine. Other things I did in Bangkok included walking around Lumpini Park, eating at Sunrise Tacos on soi 4 (which was quite nice), Somtum Der (also very nice), went to Senso for the first time where I had a great time - most of the guys there are hunks, but I ended up choosing a guy who was more of a twink because as he was super attractive. Went up what seemed to be never-ending stairs, showered separately beforehand, the massage was fine and the afters were quite good - his dick was shaped nicely and hit all the right spots. Showered together afterwards, and exchanged line details. Would definitely repeat, not cheap though. The premises/ambience was quite nice. Also went to Dreamboys again, this time earlier in the evening to do a short time with my favourite so that he could be back in time to do the show. Sent him off with some goodies from 7-11 that I couldn't take with me. Trip back home By this time I was feeling quite unwell and just wanted to get home so I could recover. But alas, it was not meant to be. Turns out that I somehow had mixed up the time of my return flight and only realised my mistake when I was on the train to the airport and the flight had already departed. I talked to a few staff but nothing much could be done, so I tried to book another flight from my phone and was nearly successful apart from when I had to provide the 'one time password' which is sent to my regular number (I had a travel SIM in my phone at the time), so swapped SIM cards to get the code, and swapped back and by that time the whole thing had timed out, so I gave up and decided to go to the airport hotel (which was very nice, but cost an arm and a leg) and deal with it all later. Under normal circumstances I would have just jumped back onto the slut bus back to Silom and continued my holiday for a bit longer, but I was just not feeling it. So after checking in and having something to eat, I searched around for a suitable flight, found one which departed a few days later and booked it. What I decided to do in the days leading up to the flight (inspired by Vinapu) is stay at some different hotels along the airport rail link. Hotels First up was the Baiyoke Sky Hotel (which is close to Ratchprarop station). It is very tall and I stayed on the 67th floor. The view was amazing (although the room I got only had 2 small windows, rather than a floor to ceiling view, maybe I chose the wrong room type), but that is all that is going for it to be honest. The hotel was a little tired and probably needs some renovation. It was quite roomy though. Next stop was the Nasa Hotel (which was near Ramkhamhaeng station). The reviews were not very good, but I decided to try anyway. I booked the most expensive room type and when I got there, I was wondering if this is the most expensive, then what would the cheaper rooms look like? Anyway, it was only for a night and I just wanted to try. And finally the next hotel was The Silver Palm Wellness Resort (near Hua Mak station). This was quite nice actually. It was like a resort style nestled in the middle of a bustling city. Finally the next day I caught my flight successfully on Cathay Pacific. The lounge at Suvarnabhumi was not open so I got to use the KLM lounge which was not amazing, but okay. The lounge in Hong Kong was very very nice though. I made it home finally, and recovered well and decided maybe not to go to Thailand for at least a year. However, that idea was short-lived as I will now be there next month lol. I'm going to do it better this time and enjoy myself more!

FWIW, Purple Dragon did survive for many years before going out of business in 2018 or 2019. To say Douglas was bitter about the whole affair would be an understatement. A TAT governor who was instrumental in the case ended up going to jail for a long time over another matter, which Douglas was quite happy about. I believe when I first contacted them before my first visit to Thailand the company was still called Utopia tours but changed names before I actually took my trip. As Purple Dragon they put together many great trips for me all over SE Asia before their cashflow problems caught up to them. I think I took one of the last trips they arranged for anyone before shutting down. I used to pick up those little magazines at Dick's Cafe for something to read while watching the world go by on the terrace

Let me start by saying how much I really enjoy @macaroni21's posts and longer comments on the shamlessmack site. I still have copies of his guide to masseur types and the ground plan he posted years ago about his ideal Bangkok go-go bar. if only someone could have taken him up on his suggestion! As for Bali, I agree with his comments about Ubud. I now find it much overrated but then my memories go much further back, although not nearly as far as @Marc in Calif. My first trip there was in 1981 when I stayed in the Campuan Hotel just over the bridge at the end of town on the way to Sayan. It was merely a large wooden building which incorporaed the admin offices and an open dining room. Each accommodation was a simple hut on the hillside with gauze for windows and buckets with holes in the base for showers. The hope was you could raise the bucket high enough to get some water before it emptied! Yet I loved that hotel and its wonderfully friendly staff. There was a western style bar nearer the bridge and just over it Murni's Cafe with superb honey drenched yoghurt with fruit! I returned 10 times over the next five years. Wandering through the rice paddies you could make out the sound of gamelin playing in several villages. There was virtually no sex but it was the culture of the island that totally gripped me. Yet it was starting to become clear that more and more tourists were visiting. So I stopped going. The charms of Bangkok had won me over some years earlier and so I concentrated my future visits in Thailand. I did return in with my bf in 2005 as he was desperate to see Bali. I was reluctant but gave in. I found the island almost overrun and the peace I had enjoyed two decades earlier had all but disappeared - even in Ubud. But then that is just how tourism works. I was saddened by that visit, but remain thrilled at my meories of earlier times.

That would dissuade me. I think I’d just show up cold and take my chances.

thanks for the report. I think if I had an unsafe driver like that I would be contacting the manager/owner of the company

And we all know how culturally/politically correct you are 😱

Multiple member suspended for 6 months. Follow our gentlemen rules or don't come here. Warnings will not always be given. We are a kind and tolerant group, but follow the Roadhouse Rules (reference to Patrick Swayze) "Be nice" or hit the road.

I’ve been following this shop on Line and find myself impressed with videos. LINE: Apollo Massage BTS Bearing

it's crazy how many beautiful boys are available!

The people who run these companies want to know if you had a poor experience so they can make corrections. You don't need to write a 3 page letter, but if the driver is doing unsafe things the owner should want to know about it. If something bad happens it would ruin their company

I like Ha-ni as well and I think they are one of the easiest to contact and make arrangement. Their location is easy to get to. But I also like the guys at JAM a lot http://www.jam-2014.com/top/ in tokyo or http://www.jam-2011.com/top/ in Oaska.

I've always found a good fantasy to be the safest, easiest and cheapest answer to such problems.

Yes, X Boys show at 23:00 in Pattaya.

I stayed at the agate and discovered something new. They have a tuk tuk and can send guest to the nearby jomtien bus station. I will be back beginning jul and will definitely stay there again.

The stuff that will haunt your dreams.

Website at X Boys says show at 11:00/23:00. I will ask my friends who went and enjoyed the show.

Not Bangkok, but in Pattaya heard that X Boys has a sexy show.

And write a 3 page complaint letter 👍

Yes, it did dissuade me. But, Tawan asks for this too. I am not sure if this is going to become the "thing" for the future of these shops. Most of the guys work for various places and independently. One guy I met on Hornet wanted 5k minimum. So, I booked him through Jey for 1500 and met him there. Sometimes it just pays to research.

FIrst the facts. The Study was carried out by Ipsos, the world's third largest research company, in only 30 countries between February 17 and March 3 and involved only 22,514 adults under the age of 75. It is therefore hardly very wide-ranging. But it does seem to indicate a trend. It found that Millennials and Gen Zers were more likely to identify as queer, bisexual, pansexual, omnisexual or asexual than older generations. I think this is hardly surprising as study after study in Asian countries like Japan, Taiwan and elsewhere have identified the older generations as being more anti-gay. This was certainly true in Taiwan where religious and older groups tried hard to block the gay marriage legislation. It is also no doubt true in Singapore where it is the relatively recent rise of mega-evangelical churches which, according to a 2009 Report in the Singapore Straits Times, count for a whopping 10% of the city state's charities. Why these churches should benefit from charitable status beats me, when their shenanigans have included one so-called pastor, Kong Hee of the City Harvest Church, and some of his church leaders being jailed for having misused $50 million of church funds. More than half of that amount was uselessly spent trying to develop the pastor's wife's singing career in the USA. In Los Angeles, this woman rented a $28,000 a month apartment and gave $1.9 million to rapper Wyclef Jean to produce an album - that totally bombed! When Kong was in jail, the congregants somehow permitted his wife to become the pastor! And tens of thousands still believe these thieves and their homophobic utterances. Anothe pastor, Lawrence Khong of the Singapore Faith Community mega-Baptist Church, is a magician - literally. When not screaming about gays and calling "the homosexual act the greatest blasphemy against the name of God", he runs an entertainment company and presents magic shows. Many wish he would include a disappearing act and just emerge in a puff of smoke. Thankfully, despite their best efforts, these bigots failed in their attempts to persuade the government to retain the notorious anti-gay Section 377A of the penal code. Back to the Ipsos Study. 56% said that gay marriage should be allowed legally. Women were more in favour of gay marriage than men. https://edition.cnn.com/2023/06/02/us/adults-identify-lgbtq-survey/index.html The full interesting detail of the survey is here - https://www.ipsos.com/sites/default/files/ct/news/documents/2023-05/Ipsos LGBT%2B Pride 2023 Global Survey Report - rev.pdf

It's def more that 9-10% in Latin countries....just they don't openly admit it to anyone

There are several. I used to see quite a few advertised in one of the large monthly magazines but have not been in Tokyo since pre-covid and no longer have a copy. The problem you will almost always find is that the mamasans and big boys will have little if any English. Point taken. Surely the easy answer is just to call the bar and find out. They obviously speak some English and I am sure will answer your questions.

They ask for a deposit via bank transfer before booking anyone.

You made my point ....

This site doesn't seem to be well maintained any more, but it links to a lot of gay brothels that still have sites of their own. https://boysnavi.jp/sbc/

This is a grotesque comment. Get some grasp of Thai language and you will understand why they are not MEN. In Judaism, you are a MAN at 13, in their culture. Applying Western words and ideas to cultures the other side of the world only shows lack of cultural awareness and intelligence.

There were indeed quite a few of these booklets, often with interesting information. But with respect I think your memory is not quite accurate regarding the Australian taken to Court. If we are referring to the same incident, there is an excellent report of it here - https://web.archive.org/web/20050606015724/http:/www.yawningbread.org/arch_2005/yax-435.htm For those not interested in wading through a very long article, the bare bones were these. Some may recall a travel company in the early 2000s named Utopia Tours with its office based in the Tarntawan Hotel (it actually started business in 1998). It organised gay-themed tours to various parts of Asia with gay guides, although only the guides for the evening tours took patrons to gay venues. I remember it well because it organised excellent tours to Phnom Penh and Luang Prabang for me. In March 2004, police raided the company's office alleging they were on the lookout for companies arranging sex tours for pedophiles. This was total nonsense. It was based on the flimsiest of grounds and only because they had seen some free gay magazines on a table in the shop. It was titled 'Thai Guys'. All the company's computers and files were removed and all but one of the staff detained overnight. As is usual in this country, the following day there was a media conference with the 'evidence' placed in a table in front of the accused directors, Douglas Thomson, John Goss and Robert Scobie, whose apartments had been raided. And again as usual, the police painted a lurid picture of the men engaged in sexual enslavement of children and arranging prostitution. Had it all been so simple and the full facts discovered, perhaps everything might have died down. Unfortunately Robert Scobie had been on the Australian Federal Police Watch List, although his fellow directors were not aware of this. While Deputy Ambassador in Hanoi in the 1980s, Scobie had been linked to questionable photgraphs sent in the diplomatic bag. For several years, according to the article, there had been a "simmering paranoia" about Australian pedophiles in Asia. Questions had been asked in parliament. It was alleged there were at least 20 diplomats engaged in such activity. It seemed that Scobie was being "nailed", rightly or wrongly. For a time the Australian police had a team based in Thailand to investigate the general accusations. It is even suggested that once Scobie had been arrested, the Australian ambassador went to the Immigration Department to congratulate them on the raid on Spice Trade travel (the formal name of Utopia Tours). Goss, a US citizen, and Scobie had their passports confiscated. Eventually they were returned and the case basically dismissed! But the Australians were incensed. Pressure was put on the Thai government and the case was reopened - to be heard not in the High Court where cases regarding pedophilia would normally be heard, but in the lowest Thai Court which would normally hear cases dealing with traffic offences. The trial took place in November 2004 before one judge. Extraordinarily, he gave an order that the media could not take written notes on pain of imprisonment! Scobie's private files from his home were entered into evidence even though they had nothing to do with the Spice Trade trial. At the trial it was established that Spice Trade did not publish Thai Guys. Further that the publishers had not been arrested. In Thailand porn is not acutally illegal. Trading in it is. Yet, Thai Guys was a free magazine! Scobie was sentenced to 7 months in prison and a fine of 10,000 baht; Goss got 8 months and 20,000 baht. But both were suspended and some employees had work visas cancelled. By now the Tourism Authority of Thailand had become involved. It suspended Utopia Tours licence to trade for 6 months. Perhaps oddly, the Thais really wanted the case to disappear. It was the Australians who kept pressing for more and more action. Utopia Tours eventually returned under a rebranded name (I believe it was Purple Dragon). But the damage had been done. It could not last. The company died. John Goss gave his own version of the story with much more detail in another very long article - https://web.archive.org/web/20050731080446/http://www.yawningbread.org/guest_2005/guw-098.htm

UPDATE: It has been confirmed that the Yellow Line monorail will open for service from Samrong Station to Hua Mak Station, a total of 13 stations, on Saturday and then they will gradually increase the number of stations. Opening time is expected to be 9am-8pm. Stations Open: The 13 stations that will be open to the public for trial use, consist of Samrong Station, Thipawan Station, Si Thepha Station, Si Dan Station, Si Bearing Station, Si La Sal Station Sri Iam Station, Si Udom Station, Suan Luang Rama 9 Station, Srinakarin 38 Station, Si Nut Station, Kelantan Station and Hua Mak Station. News reports also stated that the MRT Yellow Line Project Lat Phrao - Samrong, a distance of 30.4 kilometers (km), is the first monorail line in Thailand with 23 stations. The Yellow Line electric train route starts at Ratchada-Lat Phrao intersection, runs along Lat Phrao Road until Bang Kapi Intersection and turns right onto Srinakarin Road, passing Si Nut, Sri Udom, Sri Iam intersections until reaching Sri Thepha intersection. Then turns right onto Thepharak Road. It ends at the intersection of Sukhumvit Road at Samrong station

Ferchos Masajes, it's a place you can send a Whatsapp message asking for photos of guys who are available that day. The two days I asked it was the same about 30 or 40 guys. You can message back with your choice and time and they confirm with the guy and message you back. You can meet the guy at a place that rents rooms for sex. I can't remember if having the guy meet you somewhere else is an option, I think it is. I can't remember the price. It wasn't much. Both times I think they tried to get me to transfer the money to a bank account, but I don't speak Spanish, so I'm not certain. I said that was impossible with my foreign bank account and went at the appointed time and the guy was there so I guess it's not a deal breaker. (Do you remember the, "that's a deal breaker" sketches on SNL. My favourite was, "if he says his brother's name during sex, that's a deal breaker."} Anyway, the guys in the photos are not male models. But blue collar guys are my favourite and the two guys I booked with great. I asked for tops so I don't know if you would get different photos if you asked for something else.

Well, I didn't make up the quote. It came from a comment you were responding to. I didn't realize doing that would attribute the comment to you. So you didn't make the statement, and I didn't make it up.

You can do whatever you with your money but in my opinion You paid him for 2 hours almost doubled of the min. wage for a month in Colombia. It's a huge sum for ST in Medellin.

I did hook up with a guy in Medellin from Chaturbate in January. It took a lot of arranging and was more expensive and he pushed for every dollar he could get. But he lived up to his end of the arrangement... and more. It was certainly a good time for me. And there were no messages afterwards trying to get more money for which I was grateful. A party with a group of guys like him would indeed be a lot of fun.

Correct. But my problem with the DR is not the prices. 99% of the stories I hear are about the place being a paradise for bottoms. I am not looking for tops and big dicks. Colombia and Brazil have me more than satisfied. The rest of the Dominican culture (beyond sex) seems nice, but it does not inspire my curiosity or desire to visit.

I think this is an overly broad statement.

You think I wanted the last word ? Dont be silly, whatever would make you think THAT ??? Feel free to carry on and knock yourself out, I don't retire until I'm 66 and based on reading your drivel posts YOU seems to have plenty ( WAY TOO MUCH) time on your hands anyway, so I guess if it keeps you occupied you just carry on there my good man !