Alexx

Many hotels only copy the picture page of the passport, others still get away with not copying anything. When a party of several guests checks in, it's not uncommon for the hotel to only get the details of one person. All that violates existing reporting requirements to a certain degree, but from having seen a list of reported stays for myself at immigration, I know that not even half of my hotel stays are in their system. I'm not aware of any requirement to report income by guest. It certainly doesn't need to be reported to immigration, and my assumption is that information provided to the tax man doesn't routinely include these details either (i.e. they only get to see the individual receipts in case of an audit). I wouldn't be surprised if there's an element of guesswork and surveys involved when compiling these statistics. Relying on surveys would be hilarious, as some nationalities are prone to overstating their expenditure while others tend to understate it... I know I've been surveyed by TAT girls before, but I don't recall if they wanted to know about my spending habits in detail.

I think dating an older Thai guy comes with a different set of potential problems compared with dating a younger Thai guy, but with potential problems nonetheless. Baggage from previous relationships and rabid jealousy come to mind, I've seen some nasty examples of that. I'm saying that not to discourage the OP, just to question the thought that choosing someone from a different age bracket automatically means less trouble. I think it always depends on the individual, so choose wisely and be prepared for disaster.

Sure, as a group these Egyptian tourists don't spend a lot in Thailand, compared with visitors from other countries. But it might still make sense to focus some marketing efforts on them, maybe it's more profitable than marketing Thailand to the masses elsewhere. That said, I don't doubt that these statistics are flawed. They've always been, for various reasons.

Maybe it's not kept in better shape because it works just the way it is. I wouldn't rule out the possibility that it's a shrewd and conscious business decision.

Where, specifically? In Bangkok, Grindr is great for that demographic. Elsewhere in Thailand, Grindr is often pretty much useless. Hornet has mostly young guys, but filtering by age should help you find the older ones easily. If you're not an app guy, you really need to tell us where in Thailand, so that members can tell you where older Thai gays hang out or work.

I have no problem believing that the average Egyptian who travels to Thailand is richer than the average Australian who travels to Thailand. Australia has a sizeable middle class, Egypt doesn't have one. In other words, only rich Egyptians can travel overseas, but your average Aussie can.

Unfortunately I need more reasons to leave my home, not less, otherwise I'd give them a try as well. Every single review about them I've read so far has been positive.

Boy69, your response was a bit disappointing, I fully expected you to say that you visit Thailand for her beautiful temples in the first place. But do carry on.

Well I guess I've just been lucky, I've never been assaulted in all my years here. When people approach me in the street, I usually do acknowledge them with a friendly "no thanks", but I don't stop and just keep walking. In the rare event that someone has grabbed me or blocked my way, I've never had a problem to gently escape their clutches. Responding with violence probably does more harm than good, although I'd agree that it might be well deserved occasionally.

Not limited to bars, I've found that in Thailand it's usually sufficient to reply in a gradually unfriendlier fashion. First I say "no thanks" with a genuine smile, and if necessary it will go downhill from there. That even works with Asoke ladyboys, they're worse than the worst mamasan I've ever encountered.

That's just a warning saying that the site doesn't use SSL properly, which is true obviously. I think it's good that newer versions of Chrome warn about that, but it doesn't mean that the site is spreading malware (there's another warning message for that). Note that the blog hosting platform he's using doesn't even allow you to install plugins - you probably have WordPress sites in mind.

Same here, never anything malicious caught from ChristianPFC's blog, and I'm a regular reader as well.

I managed to visit Bangkok three times without visiting even the most popular sights in and around the city. If nothing else, that "failure" provided an excellent reason to return (again and again).

Worst case scenario, charged with having illegal drugs in your system and sentenced to prison. That would be a very serious situation; you're entitled to a re-test at a hospital, but don't count on police to facilitate that. You would be in a hurry to get yourself legal representation, especially if you think (know) that you are innocent. If you do have illegal drugs in your system, on the other hand, a re-test obviously won't help and just piss off police - in that case entering negotiations would probably be a better strategy. No, I'm not speaking from experience, don't take my word for it.

No, I'd say it's just as bad.

Thanks for the report! I, too, am with you as far as (not) carrying your passport is concerned. I never carry mine unless I travel out of town or know I need it for the bank or something similar. But yes, carrying copies and maybe another form of ID such as DL is a good idea. But what they should really have you arrested for is drinking Blend 285.

I'm glad to report that I had yet another chance to get one of these urinal shoulder massages this week. I politely declined the massage, but I did accept the hot towel I was offered and tipped the guy. Nice list, but a few of the items reminded me more of my first visits than of contemporary Thailand. Toilet paper (outside of toilets) and these pink tissues aren't nearly as common anymore nowadays as they used to be.

Even if MonBoy eventually does indeed return to being a money boy for whatever reason, that doesn't mean that he didn't have honest intentions when he left. Many things can happen, especially to poor and therefore vulnerable people. It's always easy to judge people from a comfy armchair.

Let's just say the combination of both factors makes you very attractive in comparison.

steveboy, on this one I have to back you up, nothing wrong with posting that at all and some of the replies you received in that other thread were plain ridiculous. Sad state of affairs when people cannot make a distinction between (1) young talents putting their talents on display and (2) abusing youngsters (sexually). It's all in their heads, IMHO.

Not sure if I understand the OP correctly, but travelling from Bangkok to Luang Phrabang overland would take quite a long time if that's the plan. Especially if he wants to go back overland, too.

numazu, thanks a lot for another great series of trip reports. As always, it was a BIG pleasure to read about your adventures. I'm already looking forward to your next report!

That's too bad. Hope you'll recover promptly!

You're a man of many talents, Steve. Not only do you filter your own water, you also wax yourself. Wow.

I agree. Many imported products sold at Bangkok's malls are grossly overpriced. That's quite an extreme example even by their standards, but it just shows that it's a good idea to check and compare.