DivineMadman

What a great report! Well written, succinct, informative. And you have such a good attitude. You've clearly earned your expert badge for the BKK/Pattaya scene. Enjoy your next visits and to Myanmar Laos and Vietnam. (Already "done" Cambodia??). Thanks again.

160/17 Sukhumvit 55 (Thonglor Soi 6), Black Amber Thonglor Social Club (2nd Floor), Khlong Tan Nuea, Watthana Bangkok, Thailand 10110 https://goo.gl/maps/sutbDrPsHem8oyWr7

Hidden Closet Bangkok https://sites.google.com/view/hiddenclosetshop You can also find them on Facebook

The government of Thailand has announced that they plan to do away with the paper arrival/departure card. No time table. Not holding my breath on that one.

I think it is still prudent to follow the standard advice and have a photo on your phone of your passport id page, visa and/or entry stamp and if you really want to be careful your departure card.

The Line message I got from them last night was "Free Souvenir for tonight, We have only 100 shorts as souvenirs for those coming to the countdown with us! Hurry up!!!". I was "occupied" (hehehe), otherwise I might even have run over. Merchandising may well be the next great step for the bars.....

Have a great visit!

Presumably under the good guidance that they should keep their head down for a while, VCK has now taken down the V Club 7 massage spa page (the link now just goes back to the home page). However, I checked with manager Trin at VCK yesterday and he confirmed that they are open for business as usual. (BTW - I'm NOT trying to say that VCK should be on everyones go-to list. I think that VCK has a great selection of the better looking non-twink types, and gets them by charging a premium, but as I've posted before, I always seem to have less than a great time there. I just want to skip it because they more often than not rush everything, not because Big Oud says it's hurting Thailand's reputation. )

PaulSF is correct. At least so far the guys have been charged with working illegally (or at least how the Immigration Police press report reads). At one of the Prince raids a guy did get caught for being in the country illegally or a very long overstay, I forget which.

As PaulSF mentioned, these Immigration "raids" already happen with some frequency at the gogo bars in BKK (gay and straight and ladyboy). No big deal. If it's a phase when the regular police or Immigration police are wagging their dicks around, then the non-Thai guys will wear street clothes in the bars. But over time it all sorts itself out and things go back to normal. The massage shop on the corner of Soi 4 got slapped down a while back for having foreign workers, but things are back to normal. If there was even a whiff of anything underage happening at these places, then - and this is just my opinion - holy hell would break out and the result would be far more serious, which is why I think the BKK gay bars and massage shops are all very careful about that. IMO. Even Big Oud will be replaced someday. All this too shall pass. No guarantees things won't get worse. Best to enjoy it while we can.

The answer is yes they are all the time. Invariably the raids that get the press attention are the ones where there are underage victims of human trafficking found. Once again just worth noting that it's black to business as usual at VCK and Prince - except of course for the time being with only Thai masseurs. I don't think that this is part of an anti-gay anything. (Personally, I think Big Oud is a bigger press whore than Big Joke was and Big Oud finds these particular raids get the extra press attention he so craves. Also I think Prince might be about real estate, but that's pure speculation on my part.) Technically, massage is a licensed profession in Thailand. That was tool reportedly used to put Prince on a time out after two raids earlier this year.

Prince was raided earlier. The Immigration Police “story” is that after they discovered what was going on at Prince - “shocked, shocked I say” - they followed up and it led them to VCK.

I think the raid might have been yesterday and the police press conference was this morning? Still, I’ve received messages this afternoon from Chakran Sauna that they are open as usual for the big party weekend and I’ve received a Line blast this afternoon with the guys working at the massage shop — presumably only Thai guys.

And it was delightful to spend time with you. thank you for making the time. Always nice when friends have a shared interest or hobby. hehehe

With the water it's not so hot. Well, maybe it is hot.

In another thread Jasper kindly posted a photo of Soi 4 Songkran. Here are some pics from a few years ago when water play (water sports?) were allowed during the day.

Two different people can go to the same bar same evening and have different takes on the bar. I have a regular guy from there and end up having to visit there regularly and sometimes the energy at the bar is different on different nights, but I can't say if it's improved or not.

When I stopped by there the other night after our dinner there were about 25-30 guys. (More than 25, but they kept moving around so I can't confirm if it was 30 (more)). Any guys who needed to do visa runs between now and the beginning of next year did them last night, which might explain why there weren't that many last night. Normally if they miss work they have to pay the bar 400, but starting tonight until Jan 2-3 they would have to pay the bar 1,000 (!). [No - that's not the bar fine/off fee.]

Just a quick note about Ganymede. They have had a lot of turnover lately. That's just something to be cautious about. VCK (V Club) has a lot of guys who have been there for some years and, personally, I think that stability is a good sign. But VCK is more expensive than Ganymede. I will admit the guys at Ganymede right now do look great and I'll probably be heading back there soon, but it might possibly be less of a big deal for me if the experience is only "meh" than it might be for you. I don't know.

What Spoon said. You may without embarrassment or worry ask any question you want. The managers want to match you with the a right guy for you, so really you are helping them do their job. Very infrequently there is a shop that might say "we don't answer that" - because they may be more a "legit-only" shop, but not to worry about that as far as VCK (V Club) or Gannymede, Prince, etc. Also instead of asking about a particular guy you can tell them when you'll be in town and what you want and ask for recommendations. ("I'm looking for a tall muscular top with a slightly left-turning cock and an interest French modern poetry." Stuff like that.) They'll usually send a few photos of guys that meet the description. If the guy you might have in mind isn't one they send you, you can ask "what about this guy."

No more Kika. Alas, closed last night.

If you have the time maybe check out Pride Beach Resort in Patong. I have a friend who works there. Nice rooftop bar.

Here is a link to the QR code for general Moonlight Line account. Moonlight Maybe some helpful forummers can DM you the info for a particular mamasan or the contact info for Jupiter or Dreamboys.