Leaderboard

Jomtien Complex is not one of the designated entertainment zones, and therefore is not permitted to stay open until 4am, they must close at 2am. All of the bars were informed of this by the complex.

That has absolutely nothing to do with issue, So much to cover here, I won't waste it with any more of these 🙄, because there would be a lot . You think that the mid 20's, raging hormones is only with you?? your Rose colored glasses maybe? SO you're not the angle/saint that you try to portray, perhaps these days with lower Testosterone you are, but during the 80's, lmao Maybe to customers but to other gay boys??? If you say yes, refer to the Rose colored glasses.... When did I ? Guess us "East Coast" guys aren't great with punctuation, but we get comedy and sarcasm....I took it as a joke. And you were there to know everything that happened, or heresay, like I said? If it's about wines, you don't seem to have a problem, don't apologize here to try to maintain your sainthood 🙄 (I couldn't resist, it needed this emoji for the west coast people)

A high class typo!

Steven, you are brilliant and agree wholeheartedly. However, you will never convince some people of the truth. Two things can be true at the same time. Yes, Putin is a butcher. Yes, some of his people love him. I don't know what that says about them but it says a lot of following leaders regardless of their decisions. I am a true pacifist and hate all war. But, others things that a strong leader is one who kills or berates their enemy.

I'm afraid that I don't make it to 2am, let alone 4am!

I think it's the assumption that any Thai man in Soi Four is for sale that is offensive. Sadly that belief also discourages gay thai men who are not for sale from visiting and it becomes a self perpetuating myth.

Of course it was a joke, Peter; lighten up. Hope this doesn't come as a shock but older men proposition young men on Soi 4 many times a night. That's why not all but many young men go there in the first place. You told us yourself that you avoid the bars in Bangkok but when you travel elsewhere in Asia that you're on the prowl for young men. So I wouldn't be too quick to put down what other men in your age group are doing in Bangkok's best known gay street just as no one in Taipei will put down you. The first bar I went to on my first bkk trip was Balcony. A young man seated on the opposite side of the bar smiled at me and and I returned it. Thirty seconds later he took the seat beside me and placed his check bin next to mine. He was my first date. Half and hour later he slipped into bed beside me at Tarntawan Place. The game really hasn't changed a lot since.

From CNBC A federal jury on Friday ordered Rudy Giuliani to pay over $148 million to two Georgia election workers for falsely claiming they committed ballot fraud in the 2020 presidential election. The jaw-dropping figure includes $75 million in punitive damages, along with awards of $20 million to each of the two election workers for emotional distress and more than $16 million each for defamation. Giuliani was in court as the verdict was read aloud by a federal judge. The defamation damage award is the latest in a series of legal blows to Giuliani related to his service as the top campaign lawyer for Donald Trump in efforts to reverse the former Republican president’s loss in that election. Giuliani, Trump, and 17 other defendants were indicted this summer on state criminal court charges in Georgia in connection with their attempts to undo Trump’s defeat. The civil verdict by the jury Friday came a after Giuliani’s lawyer said he would not testify in the case in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., reversing his supposed plans to do so. The plaintiffs in the case, Ruby Freeman and Wandrea “Shaye” Moss, who are mother and daughter, sued Giuliani in 2021 for defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress and civil conspiracy.

From The Thaiger Thailand, hopeful for a Chinese tourism resurgence post-pandemic, faces an unexpected plot twist as a surge of Taiwanese visitors, in particular, reshapes the narrative. Saichon Chounchou now handles a 20-person group of Taiwanese tourists. “Now my clients are Taiwanese. They are regular clients and generate revenue for many local communities as opposed to many Chinese on a zero-dollar tour.” Zero-dollar tourism, a longstanding bane in Thailand, involves Chinese tour companies steering visitors exclusively to Chinese-run establishments, depriving local businesses of potential earnings. In contrast, Saichon’s Taiwanese group opts for opulence, staying in a five-star hotel for five days at a whopping 100,000 baht per person. Government data shows that the Taiwanese influx is no fluke, with approximately 585,000 Taiwanese visitors to Thailand in the first 10 months of this year. With a new visa-free policy for Taiwanese visitors, this number is expected to soar. However, Thailand’s overall tourism revival post-Covid is unfolding more gradually than anticipated. With Bangkok aspiring to host 28 million international visitors this year, compared to the pre-pandemic high of 40 million in 2019, the projections seem optimistic. Saichon’s observations echo the sentiment. “Chinese tourists are concerned about safety in Thailand, and the Thai government just can’t crack the code of why Chinese have not come as much as before.” The shift in tourism dynamics isn’t merely a case of preference but is entangled with safety concerns, economic factors, and even negative narratives circulating on Chinese social media platforms. Reports of safety concerns and unmet expectations have prompted Thai officials to engage in damage control. While Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin’s push for visa-free entry for Chinese nationals was a bold move, it hasn’t yielded the anticipated results. Projections of four to four and a half million Chinese arrivals this year have been revised to a more modest three and a half million by year-end, reported Benar News. As Thailand grapples with this tourism rollercoaster, the spotlight is turning towards other potential markets. India, with its burgeoning tourism numbers, has become a beacon of hope, said tour guide Patcharee. “If the free visas didn’t work for the Chinese, it worked for the Indians Despite the uncertainties, industry experts like Bill Barnett, managing director of C9 Hotelworks, affirm Thailand’s enduring appeal. “Absolutely, this is the start of a new cycle, and Thailand remains a favoured global destination.”

What a day to run out of likes!!!

Apparently diversity is to be mocked.

Check out Politics section - you’ll be amazed!

Not likely Just senile

Indeed, I fear that that is the future.

I don't drink wine.

From Coconuts Bangkok A popular market fair is ordered to close down after a fire had completely destroyed over 120 shops. The Huai Khwang district office has ordered the shutdown of the Jodd Fairs market behind Central Plaza Rama IX until renovations are completed when a fire broke out on Wednesday afternoon. Investigators are still trying to find out the cause of the fire, which destroyed over four blocks of the market. Police believe the fire was caused by an electrical short circuit. The Jodds Market fair is a popular tourist night market, home to over 700 shops full of food, drinks, and fashion boutique stores. A second Jodds Fair market opened in May of this year at the former Dan Neramit amusement park, offering similar food items and clothing, with lots of bean bags for customers to rest in the open green field and numerous photo spots for social media.

No, you didn't answer it. Nor, will you. The simple fact is that you are blind to the misgivings of your own country. At least that is what it seems to me. I am not blind to the faults of my own country nor to I make up BS just to prop it up.

You forgot Chat-GPT-generated.

Somehow boss Beer still manages to get a steady flow of handsome young new recruits to her bar. Although not all can handle the in-bar service requirements 😂 My boyfriend and I were completely smitten by one new lad called Chon last September and we offed-him long-time for about 12 days straight until the end of my holiday. Just hope he is still there in January 😍

Yes. That explains why Trump was elected. ☹️ There is clearly an authoritarian trend in the world. The US is hardly immune from it. Some would argue the US is leading it. There was just a great interview of Fiona Hill in Politico where she talks about what is at stake in Ukraine. And the wave of anti-US sentiment all over the world. I suspect some of that has to do with the fact that we urged Ukraine to take on Putin. And by "take on Putin" I really mean fight back, instead of submit or try to walk a very thin tightrope of neutrality. And now many Americans are suddenly weak in the knees. And since I am talking among friends, I should note that W. going after Iraq, just because he could, helped to open Pandora's box. That said, Putin didn't really learn the lesson of Iraq. Or Afghanistan. People like to own their country. If Putin wants to understand the long term consequences of what he has done, he need only look to those two countries. Afghanistan beat both the USSR and the US in the long term. Putin doesn't stand a chance. The nice thing about @Moses is he reminds us what is at stake. And why sticking to our principles is important sometimes.

Ended up going to New Meio Mundo instead. The place is still the same size but ‘upgraded’. Proper steam room, bar and cabins. Cabin looks clean but small with double bed. GPs are still the same types. I saw one garoto with an ankle bracelet. Busier days are Monday and Friday.

Thanks to Putin's attack on Ukraine, those "clowns" now have the 30 other members of NATO committed to their defense. From NATO website Finnish cooperation with NATO was historically based on its policy of military non-alignment and a firm national political consensus. This changed in 2022, following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

I feel a song coming on...

See my thread. I was in Doubleshot tonight when it was raided at exactly 04.00.

Thank you. I am glad you have figured out that Russia's occupation of Ukraine is bad. Can you now convince your butcher/sadist leader of that? In terms of a double standard - yes, you do have a double standard, as @Marc in Calif has noted. Why are you a hypocrite that supports a butcher/sadist? I despise both Netanyahu and Putin. They both killed peace. Netanyahu killed peace in Israel, and Putin killed peace in Ukraine. That said, as a butcher Netanyahu does not measure up to Putin. Putin has killed maybe 500,000 Ukrainian soldiers, and turned hundreds of thousands of his own people into fertilizer. Just because he is a butcher, and he can. So I can be against both butchers. And I am. Why aren't you? Why do you support a butcher and sadist who engages in mass slaughter, while going after Israel? The double standard is yours, @Moses. Go ahead and call out Israel all you want. But the way Putin butchers soldiers, women, and children is even worse. Putin has turned Russia into a gas station and butcher shop. Other than that, your economy sucks. Xi Whiz is playing your butcher leader to be his strong man and sadist. But don't be surprised down the line when Xi Whiz finds it convenient to abandon your butcher and sadist. Even Xi Whiz, let alone Putin, can't change the fact that the US came out of COVID the strongest economy in the world. Notice how the Dow just broke records, while your economy is a dumpster fire? And everyone smart who can is leaving Russia, since they don't want to be Russian fertilizer. You might want to think about your double standard. It is not working well for you, or Russia.

When I heard about it, I was probably more appalled than they were at the elderly farang's behaviour. To assume that two guys in a bar for a drink and to people watch were money boys, to say so to their faces and then suggest he'd pay for their company for the night is disgraceful. I told the guys they should just have thrown their drinks over him!

A superb multi-post report. As you have discovered, Thailand never ceases to surprise! My partner who basically put himself through school and university while working at various jobs, including a factory, had never been to any gay bar or other gay venue when we met. Through his relatively recent best friend, a gay Thai of his own age also at university, he had learned about the apps. His friend knew of places like Soi 4 and DJ station and one evening persuaded my partner to have drinks at Balcony Bar so he could see at least a bit of nightlife. Both guys are attractive. While they were having a drink at the bar, an elderly farang came up to them and said "hello!" He then added, "How much to have the two of you for the night?" They were actually appalled and hastened to leave the bar. My partner's friend is desperate to meet a mid-40-ish German and hopes to end up married in Europe. He meets quite a number of guys on the apps but all seem to want just sex (surprise!). But he had rarely gone to gay venues and never wants to return!

It's about that time you, nasty fukcers! Packing and preparing for the end of year trip to Rio. Just received this message from airbnb and got excited all over again. Don't worry about no Being there. You're my FREAKY FRIENDS so I will being the action to you daily becauseeeeeeeee, that's what friends do. Here are some text between me and my brazalian connection. Also a text from a blk guy I met last year in rio. We met at the sauna and stayed in contact with each other. The procurer I used for rio last year put me in contact with the stud in the video that attached. Stay tuned..I will provide plenty of pics and videos for you whores. I actually have 5 friends going with us this year. If you are there and see 7 blk guys walking in the sauna together I'll be one of them. InShot_20231216_135537761.mp4

There's sometimes the "I Expat better than you" posts, now I guess we have to add "I tourist better than you" (but am/was secretly a whore but shhh) 🙄

Sawatdee Gay Thailand - once very busy forum, fallen victim to its admin’s political views and managing style

Only takes 1 time to be murdered, doesn't matter where you are.

Do not derail, question was about stamp collection!

Yet another piece of trite nonsense. Grow up @reader! Not everyone is like your good self. And that is precisely what you wrote when you were attacking my posts a couple of years or so ago by suggesting nobody lived in Bangkok and did not go to gay bars etc. You have obviously forgotten that I sent you a PM and suggested we bury the hatchet - as it were. You agreed and thanked me for suggesting it. But guess what? Now it all comes spilling out again. I am not like you, thankfully, and I do not try to live the sort of life you live! Similarly, although you may not like to admit it, you are not like me. Everyone on this Board is different and we should be relishing our diversity. But you just will not accept it and your method is to attack! So quit the name calling and the incorrect assumptions just because they do not fit your idea of what an older expat in Bangkok should be doing!

From The Nation Five industries experienced significant growth this year, while three others were suffering huge contraction, the Ministry of Commerce’s Department of Business Development said on Friday. Department director-general Oramon Sapthaweetham said that the five industries that saw the biggest expansion in the past year were: ▪︎ Tourism (growing 64% year on year), including tour guides, travel agencies, hotels, resorts, spas, and foreign currency exchange ▪︎ Real estate (up 36%), including real estate developers and real estate agents ▪︎ Herbal products (up 33%), including herbal medicines, fragrances, and spices ▪︎ Electrical and electronic installations (up 25%) ▪︎ E-commerce (up 19%) The three industries that contracted in the past year were: ▪︎ Plastic packaging and chemicals (down 30%), including chemical fertilizers and inorganic compound manufacturing ▪︎ Offline retail (down 12%) ▪︎ Industries related to fossil fuel (down 5%), including petrol service stations, wholesale of frozen/liquid fuel, and mining. The department also forecast that in 2024, the following businesses would see growth: ▪︎ Tourism-related businesses, including MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) hotels, resorts, apartments, guesthouses, tour guides, travel agencies, restaurants, and foreign currency exchange ▪︎ Health-related businesses, such as personal care products and services, aesthetics clinics, hospitals, specialised clinics, pharmaceutical retail, and senior care ▪︎ Lifestyle businesses, including pet care, pet food and equipment, recycling, and environmental consulting ▪︎ Digital businesses, including online retail, digital payment, website development, software development and consulting

Doesn't sound like fast run if it took 20 years. But,.... My question is simply, is it now for Russia to now not occupy the territories it occupies?

That has absolutely nothing to do with issue, the more so when in this forum there has also recently been a discussion about older men walking around with guys very much younger. You can take it that the two are in their mid-20s and are exactly the same age to within about 4 months. 60 years before that I was at junior school! So your question is immaterial! As for my time from university onwards, I have never written anything other than I have enjoyed the life of a gay man to the full. I was never an angel! And having discovered Bangkok and much of the rest of Asia from 1979, I have written qute a few times that I was always a regular in go-go bars, saunas and latterly at host bars in quite a number of Asia's cities. I have never once tried to disguise that. Indeed this forum has many posts I have made not only giving guides about gay venues annd events (my several reports with extensive photographs about the annual Taipei Gay Pride Parades, for example) but also extolling the virtues of certain gay establishments, posts that others have found useful! So, again I ask, what is the point of that question? But when @reader writes - - he is not only making more than one incorrect and demeaning assumption, he knows perfectly well from my previous posts - and he has previously questioned with incorrect asumptions on my decision not to visit gay establishments here - that since I settled down in Thailand with my present partner I have never stepped into a gay establishment in Thailand other than once when with a dear friend from the UK who, following an excellent dinner, wished to see Telephone bar. That is just over 5 years. Given that virtually everyone anywhere close to my age on this forum who visits Thailand heads for the gay venues almost as soon as the plane lands, I suppose those elderly farang find it strange that someone who has lived here for so many years can elect not to do likewise for quite a few years. That I don't fit the presumed sex-starved stereotype here, then I am certainly not going to apologise for it. Insult me if you wish and if you are wrong, I will give as good as I get. But as no one here knows a thing about him other than what I have written, my partner is totally off limits, the more so when others start to assume he will act as they would react in a situation like that which occurred in Balcony. What a totally idiotic statement! You're like @reader in writing words I never stated! When did I ever write that my partner and his close friend were "drunk" or even "exaggerated" what they told me? I didn't! They weren't! And they didn't! They were having their first drink. End of that piece of rubbish. Don't assume @floridarob! And why would you even consider that two young Thai men who are inteligent university graduates making their first ever visit to any bar in any gay street would exaggerate something as disgusting as an elderly farang propositioning them? As I wrote very recently in the thread "Offing a guy from a bar (but not for sex)", many Thais have a natural in-bred modesty. What right does any bar patron have to assume anything about another bar patron - unless it is a specified host bar or go-go bar? No right whatsoever! When they returned to my apartment soon after, they said they felt like pieces of meat! And before you make any other wrong assumptions, my partner's friend sleeps on the sofa bed in the living room when he is here! Lastly I apologise to @revengeboo that the assumptions and comments from @reader and @floridarob have meant I have had to disrupt his thread of truly excellent posts.

Well I never said it was. I was there for two hours so not bad. But that was just drinks, tipping guys it came to over 2,000 baht. Still not that bad but I leave thinking I could have a guy or two in my room for that price. Then again in my room goes faster so sometimes it’s nice to just hang out in a bar and mingle with whoever is interesting at that moment. im even thinking of offing a guy there and bringing him back to my room. I rarely do that but this one is super sexy.

OK, so I had a very nice time in Sofia, but there is really very little action going on. Grindr had no one advertising services or approaching with offer of services. Rentmen had only expired accounts. There is however quite a few bars that were well frequented, and it was possible to pick guys up there. A nice city, but not that gay friendly if I'm honest.

It does not mean anything. I know at least one of the performers listed in their advertisement, he regularly works as a GP at 117 and is a known local pornstar. If a GP told you that you will find GPs in this place, you may want to believe him.

How did this thread turn to fine wines....guess I shouldn't feel bad when I take a post to a totally oposite direction 🙄

Why not tell your dictator where he should go?

Don't forget Lafite! Or Mouton Rothschild. I was treated to Lafite by a client in Paris! You are right about Italian meals. We once had a meal in a charming hilltop family restaurant, overlooking Vicenza. Beautiful day and lovely meal. We had a bottle of red , which was bottled by the restaurant. Tasted fabulous. Took a bottle home. In rainy Hertfordshire it tasted terrible!

I've been trying this for most of my life, unsuccessfully. I've yet to get or be able to get another guy pregnant....yet. But I won't give up trying......

The first episode was so cute! This two just have a different chemistry that is not found among the other gmm couples.

Try this other theory of change for size: I can't remember what its proper name is but I shall call it the tipping point effect. Applying it to Sunnee (and one might apply it to Jomtien host bars though they're at a different point in the trajectory for now), it goes like this: the market did not suddenly vanish. It declined gradually as Sunnee lovers aged or died. Plus, as @floridarob suggested, the fear of being caught up in the moral panic over paedophilia caused some to stay away. In the early stages of the decline, the businesses stay open, albeit with more and more red ink. However, because the neon signs remain lit, the impression one gets is that the market is healthy. It takes close observation of foot traffic to spot signs of strain if one has no access to the financial figures. Eventually a few business can hold on no longer. They close. That's the tipping point. Once their neon signs are switched off, the ambiance of the place changes. Customers notice and some of them decide to give the district a miss. With reduced traffic, more businesses close and the vicious cycle accelerates. On the visible surface it may look like a sudden collapse, but under the surface it has not been healthy for a long time. This is an overarching theory of change. Even the fall of the Soviet Union followed this path. Its decline started some 20-25 year earlier as Brezhnev and his circle consolidated power, but only became noticeable in the 1980s with Poland's Solidarnosc.

I don't mean to sound unkind, so please don't read judgement into my choice of words. Sunnee, I have long observed, was a kind of fetish place. Almost uniformly, the bars both indoor and outdoor had fem twinks, some bordering on anorexic. The clientele, almost uniformly, were white men. They were the first wave of rice queens whose erotic desire was shaped by mid 20th century Western stereotypes of Asianness as caring, submissive... i.e. feminised. (We still see that in Hollywood where Asian male characters are often emasculated while the Asian female is prized for her exotic beauty). This unique form of erotic desire naturally doesn't carry over to either the subsequent generation of westerners nor to gay male Asians. So when the first generation of Sunnee lovers died off, no one replaced them. Quite unlike the Bangkok gogo bar scene where gay Asians are the majority clients today.

Are you still thinking of buying a bar??? Not just in Pattaya, in Bangkok too, though it's pretty clear that Pattaya's gogo bars are in more dire straits than the capital city's. It's a real mystery to me. Considering these observations I've made (and I think most of us have made too): - 20 customers a night at best in a Pattaya bar; 40 customers as best in a 2nd-rung Bangkok bar; 70 customers at best in a top-rung Bangkok bar; - average spend per customer on drinks maybe 300 - 800 baht in Pattaya; 500 - 1000 baht in Bangkok; - average number of offs, maybe 10 - 15% of customers, at about 500 baht each time... The top-rung's numbers look viable, with revenue about 60,000 baht a night. Bangkok's 2nd rung bars look borderline, revenue about 35,000 baht a night. The Pattaya bars don't look viable to me. On the cost side, rent in Bangkok is way higher than Pattaya. The shows they put up also costs money. However Hotmale does not use external performers (read: gatoeys) for its shows, and some Pattaya bars don't do shows at all - so they save costs this way. Now that you mention it, 15 - 20 years ago, a Thai anthropologist whom I met at an AIDS event shared with me his theory (or likely inside information, more than just a theory) that at least some of the Soi Twilight bars were not primarily intended to make money from their operations. They were owned by wives of influential people, and the black money that these influential power-holders received in the course of their "work", were booked as sales revenue in these bars. You see, these bars are all cash-based, and thus perfect vehicles for laundering dirty money. The power-holders were also in a position to protect these businesses though there was some sharing with the local police precinct, to keep everyone happy. I'm just repeating what I heard, but it made sense to me then. Of course, I cannot swear it to be the truth.

Wrong again. That is because you are in Thailand but if you were in the USA or many other countries, hated for those would exist as well. (But, not the Brazilians)

Migrant propaganda is being used across the west at the moment to generate hate against migrants and energise their voters. While there are countries that have a very real problem, it isn't generally the ones who are simply using it to promote their far right agendas.