forrestreid

Glad you liked it paborn, I believe a film was made from the story later, however I have never seen it.

I must say, I found works of Pira Sudham rather deathly boring. He writes his stories with a particular social message he wants to convey in mind and he tends to bash you over the head with it. If you want to read some short stories set in the north-east Isaan region, I would suggest the "Moonlight in the Morning" by Andrea McNicoll. It is a set of interlinked short stories in a in village life in Isaan where the women are the main protagonists. Another good read is "Mindfulness and Murder", by Nick Wilgus, a murder mystery set in a Buddhist monastery. I would also highly recommend "Very Thai" by Philip Cornwell Smith. It is great book to get you in the mood for Thailand before you go, especially if you have been before and will recognise so many of the things in it. It is like a little mini encyclopaedia of all things uniquely Thai, he has a short chapter on each the little cultural quirks of Thailand, and it is brilliantly illustrated as well with photographs.

Greta trip report Vinapu, relaly enjoyed it!

Just as a bit of push back on this, I went to Athens last year and did not have any problems with taxi drivers or restaurant bills. To be fair, I just used a taxi from the airport, and the Metro after that. I ate a mostly fairly touristy places, the food was fine, wouldn't say foody, but I found the restaurants cheap compared to equivalent Barcelona or Rome. My best meal was the one night I made an effort to go to local favourite in the Psyrri area. In fairness, I did have one bad experience in the Metro- a guy tried a nearly succeeded in pickpocketing me - be on the alert if you are there using it. I hired a guy for a massage for €20 and he gave me a great massage in my hotel room(his day job is as a masseur of a local football team). He actually ended up fucking me as well, but didnt charge anything extra, as he said he liked it! That experience was a bit of a lucky break, I will admit....... however, if you have any interest in history at all, the sights in Athens - the Parthenon, Agora, Kerameikos cemetary etc, are fantastic. I would strongly recommend to go.

I visited Hua Hin last January I did a trip report, it is here: http://www.gaythailand.com/forums/topic/11638-a-recent-trip-to-hua-hin/ Covered both sightseeing an my forays into the (very small) nightlife.

If you are in that area I think Athens should be a possibility too. Plenty of guys on Hunqz and fairly reasonable prices too. I was in Istanbul in January. There was a dozen or so guys in the Aquarius Sauna (the rent boy Sauna) when I was there. Mostly middle eastern straight guys who wanted to do the minimum for the most possible money, but they were some real stunners amongst them Worth going to for the experience anyway. It had a quite laid-back atmosphere, despite the somewhat scammy behavior. I would suggest you discuss exactly what you expect for the prices offered.

Gay bars in Hua Hin There are two gay nightspots in Hua Hin - the New Guy bar and the Red Indian. I went to the New Guy bar on the first night to meet up with Smiles and for a bit of a chat. That night I didn’t really chat much to the boys, of which there were about five are six around the bar, and maybe two or three customers. Later on that evening I went to the Red Indian bar. Smiles had warned me that it is usually fairly quiet but it was worse than that, actually - it was closed. A woman in a bar opposite it said it was closed as the owner gone away for a few days. So I didnt get to visit the Red Indian Bar at all during my stay, So that was the first night. The second night was after my day trip and I was so tired I stayed in my hotel. But on the third night I decided to go back to New Guy bar and maybe off a guy. When I arrived there was maybe one farang and four or five boys. None of them could speak much English other than the owner from what I can tell. I got talking to a guy there who claimed it was his first week. After being told they had a room upstairs for massage I decided to take that guy upstairs as he said he could do massage. The cost to the bar for the room (including the off fee) was 340 baht. The upstairs room who is pretty decrepit - the bathroom had no hot water but at least it had a working light-bulb which was more than could be said for the massage room. The massage was carried out by the light coming in from the bathroom, which in fairness you could say lent a slightly romantic ambience to the proceedings! As expected, the massage was not up to much. The afters were okay, though basically the guy didn’t seem experienced enough to know he should be doing. But he was eager to please and he seemed very happy with his 1100 baht. So I wouldn’t really be recommending Hua Hin as a place to go specifically for the guys, but if you’re there you at least one bar to go to. Back to Bangkok You can get a train and a bus to Bangkok from Hua Hin, but the train takes about 5 hours and the bus is not much better. I booked a taxi guy through Suphot that had me in my hotel in Silom, from a Hua Hin pickup, in about two hours and thirty minutes. Considering I had my luggage with me, I considered it well worth the 2000 baht or so it cost me.

Sightseeing As I was staying in Hua Hin for only a three nights I decided that to get the best out of it I would hire services of a guide named the Suphot to bring me around me for a day. (People who read the other main board might recognise the name as the partner of one of the posters there, Smiles) Suphot picked me up from the hotel around ten and we had a full day out until around six. First step was the Mrigadayavan Palace, the summer palace of Rama VI. It is a few miles north of town. An unusual design, very Thai. Then we went to Monkey Mountain (Khao Takiab Hill), a few miles south of town (right beside where the ferry gets in actually). Has a Buddhist wat on a hill with good views all around and also, as the name suggest, swarms of monkeys. Then headed for Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park, stopping off at a place Suphot suggested for lunch. Aimed at locals, with a menu in Thai only, it is the sort of place I never would have stepped in if I wasn’t with him I got a really nice lunch of pork and rice for something like 40 baht. I had told Suphot I was interested in seeing the Phra Nakhorn cave, within the bounds of the park. I had read about it, it is famous for having a one hundred year old Buddhist Pavilion built right inside the cave. But had not realised how much of a rigmarole was involved. First we entered the National Park which was 100 Baht for me in 40 for Suphot. Then to get to the cave we had to on a boat around a headland to get to a beach nearer it. This involved walking out into the waves to hop into to a long-tail boat that brings you in five minutes around to the beach then go to up the path to the cave. That cost 400 baht return. I had read somewhere that this was half an hour away from the beach. But I didn’t realise until I was on it that it is 30 minutes of a steep climb up steps to the cave mouth, and then you go quite steeply downhill again to get to the pavilion. You need a to have a good level of mobility to manage it. But I was all worth it when I got to the chamber in the cave with stunning view of the pavilion in the middle of the cave as sunlight streams in from he collapsed roof. After that it was on the way back to town, with a quick stop off at Rajabhakti Park to say hello the 7 humongous statues of the old Thai kings that the Thai military has installed as a rather bombastically nationalist new tourist attraction just south of Hua Hin. All on all a very good day. I would enthusiastically recommend Suphot as a to anybody who is looking for a guide around Thailand. Also does multi-day trips for people who want to see other parts of the country . He is a careful driver and his English, although a bit idiosyncratic is fine to understand and he is calm easy-going presence to have around

In my January Trip to Thailand, I spent some time in Hua Hin. I wrote a bit of a report about it for the other gay board. I usually post there, but as I have got useful information on this board in the past too, and there doesnt seem to be much info on this board on Hua Hin, I thought I would do a cross posting here. I will write about my getting there in this post. I will add a bit about a day trip I took while I was there and the nightlife in another post. Getting there - On the ferry from Pattaya to Hua Hin Several times in my previous trips to Thailand I had meant to get to Hua Hin. But I never quite managed it. As the new ferry service from Pattaya to Hua Hin had come into being since the last time I travelled to Thailand, I decided that this trip I definitely would go in the new ferry. I bought the ticket at their offices in Bali Hai pier a few days before sailing. I nearly came a cropper a that point actually as I hadn’t thought bring my passport which you need to book a ticket, but luckily after a bit of begging the saleswoman accepted the photocopy of my passport I had instead. There was a choice of an ordinary ticket for about 1200 baht or a VIP ticket for about 1500. A VIP ticket means that you are allocated a larger seat in the upstairs deck and get a snack. Sailing time was 10 in the morning but I was told to be at the pier at 9 o’clock. I turned up by five past nine - was not sure what you need it all this time for but I thought I had better. As it happened I think if you had turned up by 9.30 it would be plenty of time. The ferry left as scheduled at 10 o’clock. It was meant to take two hours, and as it got into Hua Hin around 12.20 it was pretty much on time. One thing to note, if you are booking. I was allocated a seat on the left hand side of the vessel but as that side is facing south on the way to Hua Hin and I was beside the window the sun was beating down right on the side of my head. Luckily as the upstairs deck was only two-thirds full on my trip, so I was able to move seats once we were underway but in case it is full I suggest asking for seat on the right hand side of the boat, when heading to Hua Hin. The pier the ferry arrives at in Hua Hin is about 5 miles south of the town. Once the ferry got in there was a bunch of songthaws there. Basically what happened was they asked where you’re going and you are more or less unceremoniously dumped into a songthaw with people going to hotels near you and charged 300 bat for the privilege. Some British guys baulked at the price and were just left there beside the pier. I don’t know how they got to town after. I am sure if you have Uber you can make your own arrangements. The Baan Manthana Hotel I stayed at the Baan Manthana hotel in town. This was about 15 minute walk from the beach and about the same from the main gay bar. It was a cheap and cheerful option but the room was clean and it had a pool.

If anybody liked Osborne's style he had an article in the Guardian last week on Bangkok. https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2018/feb/03/bangkok-thailand-street-food-ban-lawrence-osbourne-blade-runner Covered much the same ground as his NY Times article, but in fairness he didnt recycle everything. I enjoyed it anyway. Dont know why I like Osborne's style so much, mostly I think it is because we both feel a nostalgia for the more disorganised old Bangkok that seems to be disappearing, such a street food and seamy bars.

Well Done Divine Madman - A very useful resource!

Found it on Line. You have to search by inputting "leospa" (without the quotation marks) in the search box. Although the Line homepage of it says "leo-spa" you have to search for it without the dash for some reason.

Thanks joshb, great report. It is nice to be reports from out of the Silom area from time to time. I will be in Bangkok myself next month, and will seek some of them out. One question. I went on the Leo spa websites and I didnt see a link to their Line account. Do you have what their name is on Line?

There is a laundry service at the Hilton Tailors, right beside the Glitz Surawong hotel. I have used it before and found it reliable, although it is not the cheapest.

Here is a sketch plan. I haven't been there myself, but this is where I have figured it out to be from descriptions and Google streetview I have highlighted TukCom and the Siwalai City Place, the nearest landmarks

I dont think Seldz is back yet...he posted on the 27th November that he was going in " a few weeks" Hopefully he will have a report for us in January perhaps...

I remember reading once the suggestion that the notion of white skin being associated with wealth and power (in Thailand and Cambodia at least) was to a considerable degree due to fact that such a large proportion of the elite, particularly the business elite, from the 18th century onwards were of largely Chinese descent. Therefore they tended to be paler than the average, and they also tended to intermarry with the local nobles, which meant that by the later 19th century, the elites in Thailand and Cambodia were on average, from purely genetic reasons, quite a bit paler than the peasantry, Of course, the whiteness of the Europeans in colonial times reinforced this, but it was the Thai-Chinese and Cambodian-Chinese that started off the association of whiteness and the "hi-so"

It is very new. The most recent Google Streetview photos for that area are from just last February, and it want even started then.

Thanks for the update on that Aussie. Is the building it is in newly built?

Thanks for all the comments guys. As the two establishments seem to be more or less the same I think I'll go for the on Ambience (a room one step up from the cheapest room) as it's a bit cheaper . Obviously, as I was considering BT options, I understood I would not get a very early night anywhere on the Soi, but if the karaoke in the Cafe Royal goes on until 3am it might be that is another point that in favour of the on Ambience. Also the prices for the Cafe Royal all include breakfast, where as you can get a slightly cheaper price breakfast-free option in the on Ambience, so I think I am happy enough with that as I am happy to have a bit more flexibility where I breakfast.

Just wanted to ask people's opinion on this question. I have been looking at the two places for a stay and they seem very similar, but as the Cafe Royale is a bit more expensive though so I was leaning towards the on Ambience, but then somebody told me that the rooms in the Ambience are not quite as as nice as the Cafe Royale. Also I believe the food is better in the Cafe Royale. Anybody able to offer an informed opinion on this? Or even an uninformed prejudicial one?

Double post. Double tread Please delete this duplicate tread.

Just seeking some advice about the best apps at the moment. I already have Gayromeo and Hornet. I was debating whether it's worth while downloading another one - I don't want them all but I think perhaps I will try a third. So, for those of you that have them, which is best out of Blued, Jackd or Grindr? I am thinking specifically for meeting Thai guys in Bangkok and Pattaya. Is there one of them which is particularly good for meeting money boys? Just about the apps in general, do people have a feeling that amongst those apps there are some currently on the up in terms of popularity, and maybe one which is on the slide? I get the impression that people think Gayromeo is past its peak, which is a pity as I quite like the layout of that app, ( well, more the layout of the classic version and on a PC). But I'll be interested to hear what people think.

I just want to add my voice to those are being praising Vinapu for his trip reports. For the last two weeks or so I have enjoyed reading the next instalment every evening. I must admit I like to see somebody who gets out and about on their holiday as well as visiting the bars. He has an enjoyable written style as well and the fact that he enjoyed his time with the boys really comes across. A several times I have planned to write trip reports after my journeys but have usually not got around to it after a few short pieces about a few bars etc. Reading the accounts off Vinapu inspires me to want to repay the debt by hopefully doing a better report after my next trip. Thanks very much Vinapu for two weeks of reading pleasure!

That sounds like a rather complicated scheme, clumpt, but I like it! I am sorry I will not be in Pattaya for the night. To get value out of the occasion, you should shell out to rent a decent place with a pool, maybe? Something like this perhaps: https://www.tripadvisor.ie/VacationRentals-g293919-Reviews-Pattaya_Chonburi_Province-Vacation_Rentals.html