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Don't know which spa this was, but it's disappointing to read that the cops in HKG don't have anything better to do http://www.fridae.asia/gay-news/2016/10/10/13553.hong-kong-police-arrest-gay-massage-owner

I'm not surprised. We don't do world news here very well here in the USA. Not even a mention on the ABC "World" News last night. BBC World has been on the story much more thoroughly, but of course most Americans don't watch that either.

I think the entertainment "toning down" is supposed to last for this first month. No "festivities" I think I read somewhere. I know that some music festivals and high profile concerts are to be canceled or postponed. It's still the first day so I think it will take some time for everyone to figure out what's going on. I did read in the Post that all TV channels will be broadcasting the official palace video in monochrome for a month, including foreign satellite channels. But the internet is supposed to be operating as usual.

I stayed at Ambiance my first couple of times in Pattaya. Not luxurious, but certainly in the middle of it all. Which can be a blessing and a curse. If you don't want to stay out all night you will hear the loud music from BBB below. Every time you go anywhere the massage boys who sit outside will hit you with the constant "Massage, sir?" It might be charming at first, but gets a little old. But you are right there for going out and if you pick up a boy at one of the gogos you don't have far to go. I've stayed at the Barraquda a couple of times. The location is good, but I find the rooms to be pretty moldy. And I am quite sensitive to mold. As for "walking distance" to the baht buses, I guess it depends on how much you can walk. :-) But I walked from there to Sunnee Plaza in about 15-20 minutes. So the bus stop is 10-15 minutes I'd say. I might stay at the Hilton at some point but it's a bit of a hike to Boyztown. I've also stayed at the Aya Boutique Hotel a couple of times. But, while it was quite nice when it first opened, it wasn't especially well maintained. Good location though. It's been a few years since i was there so I might check more recent reviews to see if they've cleaned it up.

Bangkok has such a huge glut of nice properties, both Western chains and others. I would choose based on location. I've read that others have had good luck with AirBNB which might be a good way to find a nice apartment for not a lot of money especially on a long stay. And probably less chance of problems with "security". I've stayed at the Siri Sathorn apartments several times. It's quite nice. Operated by the same management company as the Sukhothai Hotel...or at least it was. Location is a short-ish walk from Silom. I brought a boy back there once and did feel like we were being watched pretty closely when we walked through the lobby. But nobody gave us any real trouble. Also stayed at the Frasier Suites Sukhumvit 11 which was also very nice. One of it's best points was it's close proximity to Hero when it was open. But, like I said, the city is just full of really nice hotels and apartments.

I was there last December and had a great time too. LP, cruise on the Mekong in the south, Bolaven Plateau. It could be a great "eco tourism" destination with some marketing.

I believe it was about US$50 to the shop for the massage and then whatever you decide to tip the masseur. From what I read on TravelGayAsia and what Ted told me a simple handjob is about HK$200 (US$25) or so and anything more than that is HK$300 (US$39) to 500 (US$65).

To answer my own question.... I ended up changing my flights to avoid the east coast storm and have had about 24 hours here in HKG. Sadly much less than that now. I had forgotten how hot the boys are here. Ended up at Aloha Spa last night and had a great massage and a delightful happy ending with "Ted". Great body, nice guy, good English, surprisingly large package. I may go back again this afternoon. It's just a short walk from the hotel so it's pretty convenient. The guys listed on their site all seem to pretty much be my type...young, fit. Massage prices here are a bit more than Thailand but still quite reasonable.

To answer my own question.... I ended up changing my flights to avoid the east coast storm and have had about 24 hours here in HKG. Sadly much less than that now. I had forgotten how hot the boys are here. Ended up at Aloha Spa last night and had a great massage and a delightful happy ending with "Ted". Great body, nice guy, good English, surprisingly large package. I may go back again this afternoon. It's just a short walk from the hotel so it's pretty convenient. The guys listed on their site all seem to pretty much be my type...young, fit. Massage prices here are a bit more than Thailand but still quite reasonable.

They want them in the bar to attract more people to come in and buy drinks. Gay bars all over the world hire hot guys to work there to attract people to go there to drink or hang out. Plenty of bars everywhere have shirtless bartenders, for example, that would never allow their staff to just leave in the middle of a shift because some guy wanted to take them away. Not every gay bar is a brothel. If you want that sort of thing it sounds like you found another place that would provide it. Even stripper bars in places like Montreal don't allow you to take their dancers out of the club during their shift. If they want to make arrangements to meet you later that's up to them to do or not do as the case may be. It's entirely possible the hunks in your bar are straight and not interested in having sex with you or any other guy.

On my way to Colombo next week I will have a long-ish (6.5 hours) connection at HKG. Originally it was going to be 3 hours but the schedule changed. So, I'm thinking with that much time it might be worth popping into town for a massage. Currently I think Touch by 17 looks like a good candidate as it will be fairly easy to get to by the Airport Express train plus free shuttle. And it's got good reviews on travelgayasia.com Any other favorites? It's a shame they don't have photos of the masseurs but I expect they will be fine looking.

there are not gogo type bars in Cambodia as in Thailand. There are a couple of gay bars in SR as well as in PP. The usual apps are relatively popular there as well. I tried to hook up with one cute boy who contacted me on Grindr or Hornet but our schedules never meshed. Tons of hot guys in SR. Many gay guys work in hotels and restaurants. I'd imagine if you're very discreet you'd be able to meet them. A friend of mine apparently hooked up with a waiter or host at one popular restaurant down by the river. There are a couple of massage places in SR. I visited the one associated with Linga bar. There were 4 or so masseurs on duty when I was there. I didn't get to pick my masseur. Mostly big muscle guys. The whole experience wasn't especially memorable. There was a more mainstream massage place on the main road near pub street that had cute guys out front. I wish I had gone there instead. Utopia-asia.com has good info as does travelgayasia.com

everyone seems to agree that the biggest customers of the Thai sex industry are Thais. So this whole alleged crusade by the tourism minister would seem a bit misplaced.

I was there a couple of years ago. I agree about the "scene" but thought the apps seemed to have a lot of guys. I met one moneyboy on Grindr. Not a great experience. The Seminyak scene wasn't for me. Music in the bars was ear-splittingly loud. I didn't stay long. I enjoyed Ubud much more. I stayed more or less in town so wandering around in the evening was easy. The hospitality was spectacular. I booked my trip through a mainstream travel agency so I had a guide/driver most days and also went to Yogyakarta which I loved and recommend. Lots of beautiful scenery both in Bali and in Yogya. Go for the culture and beautiful sights.

It was a long time ago. But I recall the bed being hard as a rock and the bathroom being very badly in need of updating. And there was no view of anything out the window. I also found breakfast to be kind of depressing...not very good food and lots of old guys and their boy from last night sitting in awkward silence.

The city has such a glut of nice hotels. I stayed at Tarntawan only one time 10 years ago and felt it was not very comfortable. This Courtyard looks pretty nice though.

I made the mistake of visiting Classic on my trip last December. They have really jacked the drink prices up through the roof. I should have asked in advance but I was shocked when I looked at the check. All I could do was shake my head, pay the price and vow to never return. Between the high prices and the cigarette smoke I will find my fun elsewhere in future visits.

Not wanting to be "in the middle of everything" is interesting. It's Bangkok, isn't everywhere in the middle of everything? :-) I stayed at the Hansar on my last visit which is near the St. Regis and Ratchadamri noted above and the street was surprisingly quiet. The walk to Central World is even not so bad from there if the weather isn't oppressive. I did ride the BTS from way out near the end at Udom Suk back into the city when I went to visit Rama IX park. Still some expats living way out there of course. But the ride back to the center takes a while. And it's quite a different sort of feel.

IMHO Singapore has the hottest guys of anywhere I've ever visited. And tumblr is full of sites devoted to them. :-) It's a real melting pot of cultures which makes for some really beautiful people. And the young guys are very fit, partly due to national service and also due to the popularity of swimming. When I was last there Grindr seemed fairly popular. So I would probably use that plus hornet and jack'd. I don't recall how active Planetromeo was. I spent a good bit of time on Grindr trying to reel in this gorgeous Indian guy, but to no avail sadly. It was fun to chat with him though. I visited the Sands Spa massage place a couple of times, partly because it was right around the corner from my hotel. http://thesandsspa.com/ The second guy was very interactive but was mainly interested in blowing me. I think many of the guys there are Malay. I know a lot of people claim Singapore is boring but I really like it. I want to go back but haven't fit it into my travel schedule. The humidity is unbelievable though. I don't think I've ever sweat so much in my life. One evening I was at the Esplanade theater photographing the Marina Bay laser show. On the way back I took this underground passage way that was full of HOT young guys practicing their b-boy dancing...shirtless and dripping with sweat of course. (They do the same sort of thing in public places in Taipei which I found fascinating there as well) Have fun!

Me too. I was there in December and they gave everyone a cloth bag to put your shoes in and carry them with you. My nice hiking shoes were stolen in Bagan when I visited Myanmar a few years ago. My guide was horrified and took me to a shoe store in town where he bought me a pair of sandals. If you can stand to walk around in cheap sandals that is probably the safest route to go.

All seats seem to be getting more narrow these days, even up front. EVA is supposed to have a very nice premium economy. I've only ever flown them in business class. Same with Cathay Pacific and ANA. They all offer decent connections, but Cathay and ANA probably do not offer premium economy on the regional configured aircraft for the BKK leg. If you have 70K miles at each of AA and UA, you could book business class awards (if you can find availability). You could fly Cathay Pacific or JAL business class (which is very nice) with your AA miles for 70K one way, and use UA miles in the other direction for business class on ANA or EVA. But it looks like UA requires 80K miles for partner business class so you'd need to collect some more miles.

exactly. There is such a huge glut of nice hotels in Bangkok. Shop around.

Yeah, I wouldn't worry too much. I had a couple of massages at one of the gay massage places. The guys working there didn't have any issues with providing a happy ending to me. There are a handful of saunas. Lots of guys on the social apps. I think Singapore's reputation is much more conservative than reality on the ground. And so many smokin' hot guys.

where do you find the hot drivers? Most of the ones I see on the corner are not very attractive (to me anyway)

I've had a couple of massages there in the past. Hit or miss like most of the others. One boy was a very sloppy kisser which was a turn off. The other guy was a very sweet little guy with a huge cock. The showers were fairly dank and the massage was just on a mattress on the floor. I've often wondered a bit about the whole pool playing thing and whether it's just the guys sitting at the front who are masseurs or if all of the boys in the place are.