lotus123

I've never been pickpocketed in Thailand. The only 2 people I know who have been pickpocketed are Western men who were carrying their wallets in their back pockets.

I would be very sad if for some reason I could never have anal sex again.

These and other clues point to Luang Prabang.

The first time I traveled outside of Thailand with my ex (we flew to Luang Prabang), I knew that it would be his first time leaving the country. He was 32 at the time. Then he revealed it was also his first time flying on a commercial airplane. His only previous experience of flying had been troop transport. We had to take a LOOOOOTTT of pictures of the plane, us in the plane, him in the plane, the walk to/from the plane, the view from the plane, etc. Your upcoming trip together will be a lifetime memory for Bangkok Guy, is my point.

You make some very good points here, @DivineMadman. My suspicion as explained in my comment above is based on another line of reasoning, namely that since the TM30 is about monitoring people's domestic movements, the current rigid enforcement may be aimed at controlling the mobility of migrant workers, who often live in onsite dorms. Their working conditions are often poor and their pay low, but the SMEs that employ them depend on the cheap labour, so they're keen to keep them close and under control.

With regard to the TM30, I suspect that the drive to enforce it is actually aimed at the millions of citizens of the neighbouring countries who work in Thailand doing low-paid and low-skilled jobs. However, the government can't very well enforce the rules for just one expat group and not the others. I predict that the rigorous reporting requirement will eventually go away, but there's going to be an uncomfortable period before it does.

It's so interesting to read everyone's preferences and the reasons for them. I myself take what seems to be a different approach. I stay near Siam Square, close to BTS National Stadium. Although I've tried several establishments in the area, my home-from-home from 2004 to 2016 was the Reno Hotel. The only reason I say "was" is that I haven't been to BKK since 2016 (an involuntary state of affairs). The rooms are nothing special and the breakfast is meagre, but it has a pool, the price is/was right (about 1400 in 2016), and the location is ideal for my daytime purposes. It's walking distance to just about any kind of shopping, food, or non-sex entertainment I might want, the BTS station is a minute's walk, and then just one stop to the interchange at Siam Square, and there is a canal boat stop about 5 minutes' walk away if I want to go to the old city. For nighttime pursuits it's an easy ride on the BTS to Silom-Surawong, and an easy taxi ride back on empty streets in the small hours. I have no idea about the joiner policy because I've never brought anyone back. I use short time rooms for bar boy exploits, and in any case I prefer massage. I should also specify that a major factor in my loyalty to this hotel is that the staff were always nice to my ex, who usually stayed with me for the duration. They treated him as a guest in his own right. There was never any difficulty about him getting the room key if I was not present, for example. There were many other establishments where this was not the case, even when I had written his name next to mine on the registration form. There were also many cases in other hotels of staff members being, shall we say, less than polite to him if I was not standing right next to him.

Its main business was probably short time, so with Soi Twilight gone there's little reason for anyone to go there. I did once stay there for a night or two, I think because my regular digs were fully booked. It was all right for the purpose but I saw no reason to stay there again.

I've long been a fan of this shop. They have a great selection of books about Thailand, sometimes including rarities.

If you ever venture upcountry, you can find a concentration of handsome Africans in Chanthaburi (at the far end of the eastern seaboard). They congregate there for the gem trade. I was with my boyfriend when I went there, but I did detect a certain cruisiness from some of these dudes. Maybe because whiteys are rare in that part of the country?

This has always been my favourite area to wander in. Now it's going to be so much easier to get in and out!

I haven't stayed at the Malaysia since about 2010, but at that time there was no joiner fee if you were in a double room. I hope that hasn't changed...

My one experience with a silicone dick indicates that it's unusable for both parties, though the owner can still pee through it, I suppose.

I don't see what there is to gain from getting married in Taiwan if you don't live there. If same-sex marriage is legal in your country, why not just marry your Thai boyfriend there? If it's difficult for him to get a visa for your country, I'm not convinced that a Taiwanese marriage certificate would make any difference.

The freshness aspect was definitely something I liked about the long-distance phase of the relationship with my Udon guy. We were always very glad to see each other, which certainly helped to keep the romance alive and to fuel the sex drive. I think our month together in Pattaya, which happened about 8 years in, sapped the excitement of our sex life. There's nothing like domestic routine to quell desire!

I had a LTR for about 10 years with a handsome guy from Udon Thani who was working at Jupiter when I first met him. We eventually parted ways, amicably. In essence, I think, the problem was that it was also LDR (Long Distance Relationship). I was living in Thailand when we met, and we saw each other regularly for several months before we decided that we were each other's "fan." I left the country about 18 months later. We had never lived together during that time. He said he couldn't because he wasn't out to his family and didn't want to lie about his living arrangements. What if they called and a farang answered the phone? How could he explain that? After that, we carried on long-distance for another 8 years while I was living and working in other countries in the region. I would go to BKK quite often, up to 6 or 8 times per year, and he would come and stay with me at my hotel for the duration. I briefly owned a condo unit in Pattaya, which he renovated for me. One year I took a long leave and we spent a month there together, the longest time we were ever under the same roof. What I got out of the experience overall is that a long distance LTR is possible, but at some point you actually have to be together in the same place permanently, rather than letting it go on indefinitely. Otherwise, the separation leads to growing apart. That was my experience, anyway.

I've enjoyed reading your thread, @asnstudent. The vicarious experience of re-living my newbie days has been bittersweet but pleasurable. With regard to Arena and other places of its kind, I learned after a while that I don't necessarily have to do things their way. For instance, I've never liked the sit-and-point method of selecting a masseur from a lineup. After a few years, I decided to take a new approach. I walk down the line and say hello to everybody up close. If I particularly like someone, I shake his hand. If he has a firm grip, that's a good sign for me. When I get to the end of the line I turn back to the guy I want and lead him up to the mamasan.

This is a fascinating insight for me, who's never worked in hospitality. Thanks for sharing.

One, two, teen!

For many years I used to make a brief visit in late June/early July. As others have pointed out above, prices tend to be lower, crowds thinner, and the weather wetter. That said, it doesn't usually rain all day. There will probably still be brilliant sunshine much of the time. Enjoy!

Correction: it was June of 1999, not 1997, therefore almost exactly 20 years ago. Gawd!

I arrived in Bangkok for the first time in June, 1997. I had made my very first internet hotel booking for the occasion, securing a room at La Résidence. I think it still exists. It’s a boutique hotel on Suriwong Road about 15-20 minute’s walk from the late lamented Soi Twilight. As a nervous first-timer arriving near midnight, I had booked a hotel car to pick me up from Don Muang airport. I remember marvelling at the elevated tollway, looking at the neon-lit cityscape extending as far as I could see, and wondered whether I had stumbled into a real-life Blade Runner scenario. Once arrived at the hotel, I collapsed into bed and didn’t awaken until noon the next day. In the evening, I dined at the hotel. I didn’t eat much, knowing that I was about to set off for my first gay night on the town. Poring over the Silom-Suriwong map in my copy of Gay Thailand (remember that little book?), I zeroed in on Dream Boy Barbeiry, mainly because it seemed I could just walk in a straight line from the hotel to the bar. I will never be able to recapture or re-create the impressions of that walk. The sights, sounds, and smells would all become familiar, but that first time it was total sensory overload. When I got to the entrance of the bar, I was ushered in by a tout. He handed me off to what I knew from my book was a mamasan, who showed me to a seat and took my drink order. I had previously been to a macho dancer bar in Manila, so I had some idea of what to expect. The show, however, was of completely different order than I what I had seen in the Philippine capital. The number I remember was set to Michael Jackson’s Thriller, and involved a number of boys in monkey suits who had a mock-brawl and ended up fucking each other. After the show, for which I had arrived just in time, a mamasan explained things to me. She had an eye for inexperience, I suppose. I bought a drink for a muscled lad with a large tiger tattoo. His English handle, unsurprisingly, was Tiger. Tiger eventually returned to my room with me for a short time session. As short time sessions go, it was for rather a long time. He, too, knew what to do with an inexperienced customer. After the ritual showering and a quarter hour or so of inconclusive foreplay, he took charge and became my first Asian top. Even though he was not well endowed, he acquitted himself well and I’ve been addicted to Thai (and other Asian) cock ever since. Note: It didn’t strike me as such until much later, but I witnessed something very unusual in the bar that evening. It was a quiet weekday evening and among the few patrons in the place was a very well dressed older Thai woman. She had a khunying-type hairdo and was bedecked in gold jewelry. The staff were extremely deferential to her as she paid her bill, as was the very handsome boy she left with. Never since have I seen an older Thai lady in a gogo bar as a customer, much less offing a boy.

Wow, that map brings it all back in big way. So many places have disappeared. One of my faves in the early years of the millenium was Super Lex Matsuda, specifically when it was being (well) run by Khun Phet. I had a regular there who was the star of the fuck show. He and it were very memorable, but the most memorable evening I ever spent there was during the beginning of the 'Social Order' campaign in 2001. Sex and nudity were briefly banned, so the bars suddenly had to improvise new shows. Khun Phet's solution was to turn the SLM show into a talent show in which the boys, fully clothed, did everything from skits to playing instruments to singing. One boy I'd never noticed before got up and did a haunting mor lam number in Lao, a capella. I've never forgotten it. A week or two later, everything was back to normal. Apologies for going off topic...

I gave up on on this bar many years ago when on 2 visits in a row my drink disappeared while I was in the loo. I had even told the staff (in Thai) that I was just going to the loo. Speaking of the loo, the shoulder massage at the urinal also put me off. I have a shy bladder.

The question to ask is not whether it's possible to live in Bangkok on 30K, but whether it's desirable. I lived on an average salary of about 27K way back in 1999-2000, when the baht went further than it does now. I wouldn't care to try it in 2019.