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Felt the same thing when I visited there the first time over 20 years ago as well as more recently. I see a lot of Farangs sitting at a bar alone with a sad, blank look on their face. To be sure there are others out that seem to be enjoying themselves but I wonder what happened to those people that ended up in Pattaya seeming so sad and alone.

I have lived in Thailand for almost twelve years now, and I have a work pension of 60,000 Baht a month and next year I can claim my old age pension. What has hurt me a lot was the UK vote to leave the European Union. The day before the vote the exchange rate was 56 Baht to the UK pound, the day after it fell to 36! Currently it is around 44 so still a serious loss of income.

They keep finding new boys at Dodo Bar and they are getting more playful every day.

10 years ago, I decided, for me, Thailand is a place to visit and to have fun, not a place to live.

The current single pension in Australia is $1032 per fortnight. You can own your own home and have $200,00 in savings or investments here and still get the full pension. There is a rental supplement available for those not owning a home. There are discounts for most things for pension card holders, including transport, medical treatment at hospitals, bulk billing general practitioners (doctors) electricity and even council rates. You can continue to claim the pension if you move to Thailand , but forgo all of the other benefits. If you rent out your property in Australia whilst overseas then that income affects your eligibility for a full pension. Profits fro the sale of your principal place of residence are tax exempt, but capital gains tax applies when you are renting the house out on any profit that you make. The married pension (even for gay couples) is somewhat less the double the single rate. Hence the reluctance of older gay couples in Australia to marry. Two sharing an owned property in Australia can live a decent existence and save money. The tax planning in the years prior to full retirement is crucial .

This is very true and I have seen it more times than I care to remember. But then I have lived here more than 2 decades. As I have posted elsewhere, i never intended to move to Bangkok until retirement, even though I had purchased a condominium in 1999. With the finances of my small business in Hong Kong crashing through the floor when the effects of the Asian Economic Crisis hit Hong Kong last, I virtually had no option but to move to Bangkok and run the business from here. That actually worked far better than I expected even with almost monthly commuting and I kept busy with that till around 2017 when I finally closed it. For much of the time since then I have had a partner which means life is never boring. I also do some freelance work overseas. We have a small circle of close friends, two of whom I knew for decades in Hong Kong. So what with a bit of work, socialising and reasonably regular travel, I keep myself quite busy. If I had to live here on a minimum income and depend on money boys for company, I certainly would suffer from crashing boredom and loneliness. All I can add is that i knew Bangkok and Thailand extremely well before I decided to move here. I would always suggest that anyone even remotely thinking about moving here first come here for at least two extended visits of several months each. Get rid of the illusionary glitz and glamour of the country before considering moving to settle down here.

It's good you still have a hobby to keep yourself engaged.

My feelings exactly. Having made as many visits as I have I think I know Thailand is not the place (for me) for longer than a few weeks. It's great when one's focus is a sexcapade. Not a place for settling down and dealing with cultural differences, language and bureaucracy. As Olddaddy pointed out, one will need something else to do besides boys. I like the thrill of looking forward to a visit and arriving. Staying will not give me the same thrill.

government pensions are not meant to provide for living , are meant to prevent dying from hunger

as I said already, by moving there permanently one deprives himself one of great pleasures of live - annual trip to Thailand

I think perhaps we have a tendency to forget that some will have retired here in the late 1990s/early 2000s - maybe with a nest egg pre-full retirement and the start of a pension. And the Thailand they then knew and loved has changed dramatically during the intervening years. It's not just the bars - although the changes there have been radical. The country has been through major political and inflationary changes. For what I expect is a good few, it is no longer the same country. I have written some time ago about two English expats who moved in to the apartment next to me around 2002. Neither had more than a small state pension but one had been left a considerable amount of money in his mother's will. So they decided to retire to Asia, a continent they hardly knew. At first they fancied Singapore as they had been there before. Once their one year rental was up, they knew the city state was far too expensive for them. So they moved into a studio flat off Saladaeng in the hope of finding somewhere suitable in Bangkok. Eventually they did. My building has several apartment sizes. For whatever reason, they purchased by far the largest at over 200 sq. meters with 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, kitchen and huge living room - for what I believe was then around 7 million baht. They lived quite frugally, hardly ever travelled, cooked their own meals. One really enjoyed nightly visits to Telephone Bar, but only for a drink and to chat to expat friends. The other would troll around Silom Complex hoping to meet up with guys from time to time. But like many, after the financial crisis of 2008, their nest egg had reduced more than expected. At that time they should have seen the writing on the wall. If they did, they just decided to do nothing about it. By around 2012, though, they realised they had to sell the apartment. But such a big space in a quiet residential district quite far from public transport is too large for most Thais. Even with a number of Embassies and Consulates nearby, it is also too big for their staff. Thus the apartment remained unsold for 3 years. When they did manage to sell it, instead of the 13 million they wanted, they let it go for 9.3 million. It went to a middle-aged expat. After a year he decided he did not like it much and put it on the market. Unlike the two previous owners, he gave it to Thai rather than expat agents to sell. Pretty soon he got 16 million for it! Those property woes aside, the two expats idiotically moved into another large rented flat, still not far from Telephone. Soon they were in serious financial trouble. By 2019 I expect they bribed agents to come up with the 1.6 million they needed for annual visa renewals. Then something went seriously wrong. Exactly what, I never found out. But within 3 months of getting those renewals, they were unable to pay their rent. Soon they were borrowing money from anyone who would lend them anything. Next it was begging for money for food. Over the next 6 months from roughly November until the next visa renewal in May, the landlord cut off all water and electricity. When the visas could not be renewed, it took Immigration just a few days to locate them, put them into custody and then deport them. Since neither had any form of accommodation in the UK, I hate to think what happened to them. Both were in their mid-80s. A cautionary tale, to be sure. But it illustrates how some visa dodgers can now be quickly located.

As a slim guy in my early 30s who loves going to gay saunas all over Asia, I would consider guys between 45-60 yo, in-shape and well-endowed as my main competitors in there when it comes to scoring on bottom Asian twinks. I find myself on the losing side or waiting longer for my turn more often that I would like to admit, so there is definitely a demand for sexy Western daddies in Asia. I also see every time I go saunas like soi13 in Taipei or R3 in BKK, 2-3 guys clearly over-70 and in what can be considered bad physical shape. Not sure how successful they are in there. I always assume they just go for the atmosphere and the great eye candies offered in those places, but who knows.

Look , I met many farangs in Pattaya who were happy in 50k a month One man who I spoke to regularly in a bar was on the Australian pension of 44k a month and told me he still saved money He rented a studio in jomtien and told me he cooked all his own meals. I didn't ask him how much rent he paid and he didn't offer ,I imagine the 10k mark??? Apparently bought most ingredients from the markets and cooked himself ,had a hotplate in his room ,he had vegetables with him when I was talking to him and doesn't buy at supermarket,he was complaining Foodland at jomtien were robbers so never shops there he filled his day with Netflix he told me ,mind you he was in his early 70's . Not sure the cost of Netflix in Thailand but I did notice him use the bars wifi so maybe he just buys a drink to use the wifi 😄 He hadn't been to a Go Go bar in years because of prices He seemed to frequent the same bars so may have got a discount perhaps,he seemed to go home at around 8pm to He told me over the course of a few meetings he bought used shoes from the bukhao market for 100 baht and t shirts 40 b and they looked good too I must say He goes to the sunday markets up on some busy road Thappraya? Buys all his food from some markets ,he told me there was some French bread shop up near the traffic lights in jomtien that sold 2 bread in the evening for one price ,and he buys chicken and rice for 40 baht so anyway obviously he knows how to survive I guess he has the requirements of 800k in the bank So he said to me he spends less than 44k a month So that's his life I guess ,living in a studio room and it may suit him , he looked happyhe says he sits on the small balcony every morning with his coffee But me , I probably would get bored during the day ,wake up in the morning go to the gym ,then what ,? Watch Netflix like he does ? Whether that is a life for all of us I don't know ,I guess it's better than living in Australia or the UK though

I know your not only talking about gay expats as such and this is both gay & straight, but despite there being a lot of boys for hire etc and gay bars there is still...... Lonilessness!!! Paying a money boy for a hour and he is gone then the expat sit in their bedsitter watching tv or whatever., It was exciting at first then after awhile it just becomes another business transaction between you and the moneyboy The next day the same I guess if your life is the same in Sydney or Manchester then it's better to be in Thailand,rather than be in cold England But if you have friends ,hobbies etc wherever you come from your going to leave all that behind to live in a studio in jomtien hiring money boys and sitting at beer bars staring at people going by ,you will soon tire & getting bored everyday , so careful thinking going from one life to another Friends & family are not around ,sure WhatsApp video but not the same , I guess as an expat you need a hobby , something to fulfil your days ,other than bars and money boys ,your going to tire of that , your going to have to make friends, unfortunately some in places like the flybird & Nirun condo can be seen early morning drinking alcohol boredom and Lonilessness can creep in after awhile

I guess top floor of one of 5 star hotels will be his prison. It must be close to Silom as Foodland Patpong is only 7 star restaurant in Bangkok so my guess is his meals will come from there.

I arrived a little early at Dodo Bar and the boys were warming up for the night ahead... 20230820_201035.mp4 20230820_205216.mp4

with dentures on or removed ?

UK pensions, when paid in Thailand, are locked at the rate when you retired. They do not rise when the pension rates in UK rise.

The blush on the rose of being in paradise isn't long lasting for many expats, no matter the country - particularly if the expat hasn't prepared himself for the cultural and language differences - and if financial insecurity circles overhead. One can only spend so much time in a bar offing MB / garotos, cruising public spaces, surfing social media / sex sites. There's more to life. 😁 And if the expat doesn't have a partner or a steady, loneliness and depression can and will set-in.

rare situation, biggest party in parliament bypassed from forming government. That and 11 parties in cabinet doesn't seems to promise stable government. As for lese majeste law , law is not a problem , what counts is it's how it's applied.

You weren't simply criticising. I'm not going back through your posts as the sexism, racism, lies and random fluffing and felching of Trump you do in them turns my stomach. You really need to read up on the first amendment. You can say pretty much what you like. You can lie about what you like and both you and Trump do that far too often. Once Trump starts phoning and texting people to pressure officials into changing a vote. Once he engages in a conspiracy with others to overthrow an election, post fake electors and pressure officials it is not free speech and not covered by the first amendment. At that point it is a crime. Georgia, and other states, have robust legal challenges that can be made if you have proof that there has been election corruption or mistakes. Trump's lawyers lodged over 63 different lawsuits but provided zero evidence to back up his claims. Only the incredibly stupid keep going on about a "fixed" election. Funny thing is though, even if there had been provable problems with the election, Trump has failed to prove anything of substance, his actions would still be illegal.

This also highlights the appalling level of UK pensions. Like a lot of members here, I worked in the UK all my life, good job, and paid literally millions in Insurance contributions. I was happy, just about, to pay these, but my state pension after all that is £791pm, even after the recent inflation rise. Around THB 34,000.

I really wonder how true this now is. Until about 4 years ago, the 800,000 minimum had to be in the bank account for 3 months. Immigration demanded a copy of the bankbook updated on the date of application to check this. (All major banks have ATM machines in the basement at the immigration Department for this purpose). I can't imagine visa agents would be prepared to cough up 800,000 for 3 whole months. If I am correct, then it must have been crook Immigration officers who turned a blind eye to this mandatory requirement in return for a substantial brown envelope. But the situation now is even more of a problem for those taking the 800,000 route. I made a slight error in an earlier post. I believe now the requirement is that 800,000 must be in the bankbook for 2 complete months prior to the date of appication PLUS 3 months following that date. Thereafter the amount goes down to a mandatory 400,000 for 7 months. In the first year, a retiree can obviously get away without those 3 additional months. But if another year is required, the total of 5 months is essential. Again I cannot see agents lending retirees that amount of cash for such a long period, but perhaps I am wrong. I think the big concern for all existing retirees is that the amounts of 65,000 monthly/ 800,000 annually have been in place for many years. Given that Thailand Elite is raising its fees by at least 50% and some senior Immigration officers have been calliing for higher payments from retirees, how likely is it that these amounts will continue to remain at these levels? The outrage and anger shown by existing Elite members when told existing benefits would be unilaterally withdrawn did result in the Elite organisation facing an embarrassing climb down. As one who took the 800,000 route prior to becoming an Elite basic member 3 years ago, I think I might now be concerned. No amount of retiree outrage will change a future government decision if that raises annual retiree payments, of that I am 99% sure.

I don't know if here's any sport with such a long tradition that has survived to this day. Cave drawings found in France are dated to 15,000 years ago. When you think about it, it has all the things we fantasize about: close physical contact with a well-chiseled body, frequently changing positions, the unpredictable erection, lots of heavy breathing. Only once encountered a guy (in a Saphan Kawi massage shop) who enjoyed a more tame version of it. He turned off the AC and and began to playfully grab me and roll around. Wasn't long before we were both sweating. It was about then he put both hands on my head and the rest is just a pleasant memory.

Whatever it is, I am sure that a deal, with appropriate emoluments has already bee done!

This is definitely going to be a hit with the gay crowd of the Atlantis cruises. They usually use the Oasis-class ships of Royal Caribbean for their cruises from Fort Lauderdale/Miami in early February. It's definitely their most popular one. It gets sold out months in advance.

There’s a real sexy twink called Foxy at Somjit. He used to work in jomtien massage shop. I can’t go there because my boyfriend knows all the guys that work there.

I wish that d**n moustache would! Don't misunderstand me, I Iove Thai guys but moustaches on twinks just don't "work" on them!

The other day I watched a biography of Al Capone. 📺 👀 He had roughly the same respect for state and federal law as Trump has, and there was no shortage of folks trying to get him in front of a jury. What I found interesting is that Capone never once hollered 'Witch Hunt' nor did he accuse anyone of 'weaponizing' the judicial system against him. He just played a straight-up game of 'Catch-me-if-you-can.' Which they could and which they did. Early on, he did time at the Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia, where he had a pretty sweet setup. The warden would come to his cell and listen to the radio. Eventually the Feds got hold of him on tax evasion and figured it would be good PR to send him to their new federal prison on Alcatraz. He didn't do so well there, as they soon diagnosed a long-untreated case of syphilis which had begun to rot his brain and left him confused and delusional. After a long stay in the prison's hospital wing, he got an early parole to go home and be with his family in Miami Beach. I don't know why I bring all this up in a thread about Donald Trump. I guess their lifelong devotion to skirting the law is one thing that binds them together. And the years of mayhem they left in their wake. But Capone never spent all day every day bellyaching about being treated 'unfairly', and Trump never managed to find a good haberdasher. Not so far anyway.

Agreed. Please spare a thought, though, for pensioners of the UK government. When I left the UK decades ago, I was promised a full government pension if I continued my contributions to what was then called the National Insurance Fund whilst overseas. I did so. I completed the full payment over the 30 or so years I spent abroad. And what do i discover has happened without any government department informing me? If you live overseas for 6 years or more, your pension is frozen from the time you start taking it! Anyone with a UK pension taken out since around 2009 will probably not have suffered much with inflation so low. But they will certainly be hit hard now. I believe this is less true now. As I understand the law, agents cannot certify a pension. Only the relevant Consulate can do that. So agents usually opted for the 800,000 annual route. But with those funds having to be held in an account for a minimum of 2 months prior to application and to remain there for a minimum of 3 months thereafter, I suspect it is now more crook Immigration officials who are bribed to look the other way.

I always wonder how these guys get their retirement visas because the minimum monthly inward remittance from a recognised pension scheme or social security by law has to be 65,000. About 4 years ago there was a big fuss among many of the retirees when the immigration Department decided too many retirees were getting visas illegally when going the lump sum annual 800,000 route. Although this was supposed to be in the bank account for a minimum of 2 or 3 months prior to applying for the next year's visa, we were informed that in future the 800.000 had to be locked untouched in a bank account for 7 months with a reduction to 400,000 permitted for the remaining 5. Have one satang less - bye bye visa. The rationale for this move was that there were too many crook agents and Immigration officers. So rather than clean out the mess in the Augean Stables, the Director of Immigration put the onus on to retirees. Unless those living on 43,000 have been saving part of their 65,000 monthly remittances, I can only assume that they took advantage of the crooks to obtain their annual visa renewals. The idiocy of the Immigration Department has recently again been seen with the scandal of the withdrawal of certain key benefits from the Thailand Elite 5-year Easy Access membership. Given 3 weeks to make key decisions involving a considerable cash outlay or find oneself without the possibility of renewing for 15 extra years, there was a huge outcry with on one day a near riot at the office of Thailand Elite on Sathorn. The end result of that idiotic decision was that less than 24 hours before the self-imposed deadline, Thailand Elite withdrew the decision. We are told that the upcoming reorganistion of the Elite programme is also partly to get rid of crook agents and Immigration officers! So what have those clowns been doing over the last 4 years? Look more closely and we note that as early as February 1 questions were raised in parliament that there are already too many of the Chinese triads who have inflitrated the country by purchasing the Elite visas. This time it may not be the Immigration officials at fault since they have no jurisdiction overseas. But why have international criminal records not been checked? When I first applied overseas for the O-A visa prior to obtaining a retirement visa, I had to go to the police for a certificate confirming I had no police record. Why one rule for not very wealthy retirees and another for mega-rich Chinese criminals?

There's one guy at BBB who meets your description and when I visited that bar with resident farang he pointed at him and his comment was exactly like yours, word for word. and , what is important for muscle lovers like myself older guys are much better built as it takes a time

If he had meant 43,000 Australian dollars a month as pension, I should be planning to move to Australia. But back to the topic, maybe we shouldn't assume that those on a tight budget are miserable. They may still decide they're happier in Thailand than back home, all things considered. I think of it this way: when younger I travelled on a shoestring budget. They were the happiest times of my life. I don't think I would have the same experience if I had money to splash around.

Wow this board now has expert statisticians as well as bar stool virologists.

Your racism and sexism is pretty ridiculous but fairly typical I guess. I guess you use "wrong" the same way Trump does. When he doesn't have the intelligence to refute an argument and wants to appeal to his base without overtaxing the brain cell they share. If you are right then the cases will be thrown out of court so no need for the abuse, bullying, sexism, threats or even the abuse of the legislature right? Trump is a thug though as are the majority of his sick cult.

Hi guys. Been to Marrakesh a couple times few years ago and tried Agadir earlier this year. I posted how it went. anyone any recent updates on Marrakesh? Seems to be older posts only here. many new tips would be good

some people have all luck in life

"Buy when others are fearful, sell when others are greedy." -- Warren Buffett.

That's a brief but accurate description of the course of events. In the end, the US ended by supporting the wrong side. The south had a history of extreme and consistent corruption at the top. That's not to say that corruption has vanished in the intervening 50 years but the worst perpetrators are getting jailed at a fairly good clip. Some of the credit for the normalization of relations between the countries can e traced to the efforts of John McCain and John Kerry, both veterans of the war who went on to the senate and pushed for recognition. McCain, who was imprisoned after being shot down over Hanoi and parachuting into Lake Truc Bach, was the most powerful voice. At the spot where he was pulled from the water, this sculpture stands.

Got one of them naked on my sofa at the moment. Oops

And that has precisely what to do with Vietnam now? Nothing!

that is one part of equation. Another is enormous transfer of wealth as baby boomers slowly fade into history but are leaving behind their assets , mainly houses but often also substantial savings or investments. So people of quite modest means are inheriting quite a bit from their parents and if they are smart enough they put that money into good use. Chance meeting today on the street with my former neighbour , humble librarian in early 60's prompted my comment. Her divorced parents in late 80's died in short time of each other leaving her and her sister respective houses. Smart girl cashed out and for her share purchased life annuity.

There are advertising some other days also. Best is to follow their IG account mentionned above. I remember talking to one of the boys there who claimed that Sundays were best and then came Fridays and Thursdays ("quinta feira com tesao") ... Not sure though

We have been spelling this wrong. It's THB, not BHT.

The wording in that wikipedia article is pretty much nonsense. Whoever wrote it admits he/she knows precious little about the term and then goes on to equate it with sex offenders. A load of b/s!

Twenty years or so ago, I was investigating the possibility of relocation to Thailand, having just met the love of my life. The UK pound was exchanging at around 73 bht; now it's close to 40 and dropped even lower recently. There's your answer, Scott......who could have foreseen such a rapid and (for some) devastating drop in the value of pensions and assets?

Somjit Massage. Yes, still open, probably same as it was when you were last here. Somjit Massage is still open. Probably the lads there are the same as when you last visited. I have not noticed any significant changes from the past.

Nice video clips there aussie. I wish the bar the best of luck with their innovation. However, it was always said that gogo dancing is not allowed in Jomtien, Of course, those guys are not on a stage, just dancing round. Not sure if that will make a difference with the powers that be.

Georgia Republican lawmaker moves to impeach Trump prosecutor Fani Willis | Georgia | The Guardian If you believe someone is innocent, why go to such extreme measures to disrupt justice?

Place is not listed well on their Twitter. Here is the location: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=13.812847,100.657851