PattayaMale

I posted that I would tell about my experience using the guide service that was recommended on this site. I have been a bit hesitant to do this because it was not as positive as I had hoped, but that does not mean others should not give it a try, One disappointment is they had No idea where the gay massage or areas were, They told us they were all closed. But when we called one on our own, they said they were open. I have noticed that there is another one (GGG) that Nikon said is close to the Royal City, where we stayed, but again Saw Maung did not seem to know of any. The city of Mandalay and the Mandalay Royal City were nice. The hotel staff was excellent! So this post is only about the guide service from our point of view. Those involved really want to do a good job I believe. They are honest and friendly, but not as knowledgeable or as professional as we had hoped. Saw Muang turned the job over to his "brother" and another friend. First, we learned that Saw Muang does not really answer his emails by himself. He has a friend that is a licensed guide that does this for him. If he is out of town or busy guiding, there maybe a delay. This was not much of a problem at first. But we had asked for an itinerary as we were sent a 5 day itinerary but we were only there 3 1/2. We also wanted to check so logistic things like currency. Last time I was in Burma (Myanmar) the local currency was not used. I asked if this had changed and if it was easy to exchange Australian dollars as the person I was travel with now live in Australia. We received no reply and no itinerary or communication the 3 days before our trip. When we arrived at the airport, on time, there was no one to pick us up. We waited 20 minutes, and were about to take a taxi to our hotel when Saw Muang and his "brother" showed up. He apologized and said his car had to go into the shop for a motor problem a few days a go so his brother ( who had a very comfortable car) would drive us. Saw Muang helped us get a sim card for our phone and we changed some money and then went off to the hotel. The driver was very good and the car was really new and nice. Great air conditioner. We asked about the itinerary and Saw Muang told us he would tell us at the hotel. The hotel was basic but good and right across the street from where Saw Muang has his motor bike stand. Saw Muang told us he would take is to see some sites in the city as soon as we took our shower and were ready. So we left about an hour later about noon. He did indeed take us to see many sites. But he just dropped us off and told us to go in and look. After the 3rd site I said they usually the guide goes in and explains the site to us. This is when he told us he could not go in because he is not a guide. Has no license. But the next day his friend who had a license would be with us and Saw Muang would drive his brother's car. He also asked us for an extra $100 dollars but we declined because we had already agreed on the price. He was ok with that but asked if we could pay 1/2 of the entire price now because his brother needed to put gas into the car. So next day came and Saw Muang introduced us to the person who would be our guide for the next 3 days and then told us that his brother would actually be the driver. The person that became the guide did try to explain things to us, but it was hard for me to understand his accent. He seemed to know his business as he had water in the car for us to drink (we did bring two 3 liter bottles because we did not have any the day before. On our third at lunch we were dropped off at a river crossing and the guide and driver wanted to eat on one side of the river and sent us by boat to the other side. A waiter accompanied us and took us to a place to eat. No one else was there. They brought is menus and we ordered. The waiter came back and said they had no pork dishes. We changed to chicken. He came back and said the only had beef that day. I ordered rice. My friend ordered a fried mixed vegetable....both we terrible...the bottled beer was ok, So we left and found a place that had many other tourist eating. I went in and aske how the food was and the 2 tables I asked said very good! We looked at the menu and the price was 50% less and true...the food was very good! When the guide caught up with us 2 hours later, I explained that and he said ...Ok, I guess I will not send tourist to where I sent you again. I do not want to dissuade snyone from going to Mandalay. It really is a wonderful place to see. And we found some great places to eat there. Also the driver and guide spent a lot of time with us, I hope that Saw Muang and the guide he provided take the time to find out a little more about what gay travelers may want to know, And if the massage place are closed, can be up front about this before we arrive. And certainly communicate . Remember in the last few years tourism has risen dramatically. They are still learning how to deal with foreign tourists.

Sawmaung contacted me and will be picking us up at the Mandalay airport and taking us to the hotel he suggested, Royal City Mandalay. He quoted a price of $100 USD a day. I am not sure of the itinerary yet, but am going on blind faith of the poster that recommended him on this board. I will do a report when we return.

I was happy to see this post. I did send an email a few days ago and received a prompt reply about an 8 day tour. But he did not answer any questions about hotels or the areas to stay in which I needed for my online visa. I sent 2 more emails with dates we will be in Mandalay and asking if he is available or if he can suggest someone else if he is not. Again asking for hotel advice and the type of hotel we prefer. No reply yet. But if we do end up using him, I will let others know how it went

I liked the pics of the mushrooms and the picture of the golden statue. It has been about 12 years ago since I had been there. My Thai friend took me there. Can you guess why? I am sure you did!

I personally don't care if you point out my mistakes. I make so many it should keep you busy. I see you tried to be humourous by writing message boards as "messageboards".....I did not catch that though, spell check did...

I never have understood why the grammar and spelling on a message board is so important to some either. The idea in a message that someone posts is more important, at least to me. I am a terrible typist. I hit the wrong keys all the time. I don't do it om purpose. So I agree with Michael. So why do some feel it is so important? I believe it is a medical problem, Superioritis. Almost impossible to cure, but usually not contagious or fatal.

Hmmm. I am an occasional poster. I do not follow the Boards that much. The title of this thread caught my eye so I started to read the post. After reading almost every reply, I have no idea what the point of this thread is. I am NOT asking anyone to explain it to me!! I just wanted to contribute....although I am not sure what I am contributing to. If anyone is looking for a nice restaurant that serves great Thai food in Pattaya (Jomtien) I would recommend "TOO PUMPUY" on Pratamnak soi 5. They also have great waffles for dessert and European food. But it is the Thai food I really enjoy. I am told that it is owned by 2 Thai lesbians, not that that makes a difference. Very reasonably priced.

Either way. Just click "new album"

{Thanks for useful tip. I use dropbox but hadn't thought to use it for photos.} The tip about Dropbox... The other nice thing about DropBox photo is that you can make folders and subfolder. So as an example when my Thai friend and I went to Europe last year, I made a folder titled "Europe 2012" then made sub folders for the countries visited. Since all the pictures were uploaded automatically as Michael said to Camera uploads, it took just a few minutes to drag the pictures from that folder to the correct sub folder Dropbox also allows you to make albums of your favorite pictures to share with anyone even if they do not have Dropbox. The other thing I like is that when you delete a picture from Dropbox, you can recover it at a later time. The pictures are always available where ever you have a wi fi connection. You can also download to any device, such as your smart phone or tablet

I believe the US Embassy Citizens' Services will also help the family in the USA arrange for transport of the US citizen back to the US. The cost is not cheap! The embassy will not make any payments or give financial support. However, they will help with details, I believe.

I wonder if the concept would work in a tourist town like Pattaya? I believe it has no possible chance with all the motorbike, taxi, and baht bus owned "business owners" who would probably oppose it. But the concept is interesting to me.

It has been a very long time since I read or posted on this forum. A friend told me someone mentioned my friend David Brendel and his passing. Since some mentioned they did not know him I would like to note that David came to Pattaya first in the 1990's. He came back and forth for years before deciding to sell his property and moving to Pattaya just over a year ago. After being here a short time he had to return to the USA due to cancer. He had surgery and returned Pattaya, bought a car, and was enjoying life again when he experienced stomach pain and returned to the USA where more serious surgery was done. Recovery was very slow and painful. He started chemo but stopped it when the doctor suggested that it might only prolong his life for a short time. It was then he decided to return to Pattaya. He preferred to die in Pattaya even though he would not have insurance and VERY limited funds. He felt if time came and he ran out of funds, he would prefer to take his own life. He really loved Pattaya and had many Thai friends. Over the many years he visted Pattaya, he was as kind as he could be to those that worked at the beach and in the entertainment zones. He took groups of boys to the beaches in Satahip and bought the beer and food. He did not have money to pay offs for them and the guys understood it. Many times the Thai guys would call him late at night just to go over and crash on his couch. He was that kind of guy. He was not one to brag about what he was doing or gossip about others. He was not political and HATED the boards early on and never posted for years and years. He justed liked to be with the Thai boys. He could understand how people at the different bars and boards would talk so much about others. He only knew about the postings on the boards because people would sit around and complain, at which point he would get up and go to another bar to visit another Thai guy and buy them a drink. It is my opinion that is why he did not have that many farangs who knew him. But if Dave could help someone he would do what he could. He did not judge others. He was too busy living his own life. Maybe a lesson in this. I am reflecting on his philosophy of life. Something I can learn from.

I have the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and really like it. I find it very simple to use. Downloading music and photos is very easy and fast. Traveling with a Tab is easy. I believe it is better and costs less (in Thailand) Apple is a closed system, which I don't care for. But there are many ipads since Apple was the first. And if you like Apple products it probably is a good choice. I believe it is still the number 1 selling tablet

FireFox 10 web browser is now officially released. No more Beta. I would be interested to learn if people that use the new FireFox 10 have problems with this Board as earlier described by GayButton when he was using the BETA version

I too was trying to see how the dating part worked and noticed that my Board name was displayed publicly also. I wonder why this is necessary? It seems to me like it is on the wrong side of privacy. If I use sites like Gay Romeo only the person I have visited will see that I visited their profile. Not all the other users. Why isn't a dating site more private? I think it should be