macaroni21

Thai journalism! Here's what I think transpired at a meeting called by the minister, at which the President and representatives of ACTF participated: Minister: "I am sure we all agree that Thailand should be seen by others as a first world country with high moral standards..." He turns the pages of his folder, accidentally revealing a stash of cash hidden between pages; he quickly closes the folder and continues with narry a skip, "... and we should be not be associated with sex tourism and illegal gambling." ACTF: "Yes, minister, we must take initiatives to achieve that." Minister: "Indeed, we should have ideas and proposals for that." ACTF: "We propose that we do that." Reporter scribbles into notebook: "Pattaya’s tourism operators have put forth a proposal to the tourism minister, aiming to transform the city’s image into a family-friendly destination, distancing it from associations with sex tourism and illegal gambling. However, no details were presented." (Editor would later scratch out However, no details were presented.) Minister: "We should talk more often on this. Maybe I can make a working visit to one of your golf resorts and check out the greens, and hold the next meeting in Pattaya itself, perhaps over some fine dining that the city has to offer." ACTF (wondering about whether their association's budget allows for it): "Yes, minister, that is a very good idea. Collaboration is key to success." Minister: "Thailand's economy in all other areas is not in good health. Our exports of agricultural products decreased 8.3 percent year-on-year in December 2023, and for this year, our overall GDP growth is likely to be sluggish, at a forecasted 2.4%. Tourism is our only bright spot otherwise we will lose the next election because More Forward will win even bigger. Then I won't be able to come play golf or dine with you if I am no longer minister. So, we must boost tourism and rebrand the city." ACTF: "You are so, so right, minister. We must boost tourism and rebrand the city." Reporter scribbes into notebook: "The ACTF and the minister discussed plans to collaborate on boosting Pattaya tourism and rebranding the city." ACTF president adds, "Actually, we have already evolved from being a nightlife hotspot to a more family-friendly city with a diverse range of activities." Reporter scribbles into notebook: "Thanet Supornsahasrungsi, President of the ACTF, highlighted that Pattaya has evolved from being a nightlife hotspot to a more family-friendly city with a diverse range of activities." Minister: "It's not in our best interest to say that we have already evolved. We have to say that it is a goal and a continuing campaign is needed, otherwise our ministry will not be able to argue for budget allocation from the Finance ministry. Without a budget, many things are not possible." ACTF president: "I'm sorry, my previous statement was badly phrased. I should have said 'Pattaya has the potential to become a city of various attractions and a hub for investment as well as world-class events'... yes, I think that's how we should say it." Reporter scribbles into notebook: "ACTF president clarifies that 'Pattaya has the potential to become a city of various attractions and a hub for investment as well as world-class events'.”

Nine Spa or Master Gallery - and what's the URL for Master Gallery's website?

The Master Gallery is very far from downtown. It's in Udomsuk, but not even close to the Udomsuk BTS. From the BTS station, it's another 2.5km up Udom Suk Road. It isn't clear either whether its prices are before tips. I suspect they are. Nor can I see any indication of expected tipping levels. Would be adviseable to get more details via Line before going.

I think a week is plenty. I guess the flight time is 9-10 hours? That's quite easy to do, espeically if one leg is an overnighter (so you don't lose a day). Moreover, there's only a few hours time zone difference so there's no jet lag to worry about. If you do something like what @vinapu does, you can squeeze in 18 encounters (6 days x 3 encounters a day). That should leave you happy enough. One cost consideration would be if you absolutely must fly business class. Honestly, I don't see what's so difficult about economy class, but yeah, if that is a non-negotiable requirement for making a trip then it can make a difference to your calculations. As for my own thinking, a week is about the maximum I can withstand in Bangkok. More than that, I'd be getting bored and restless.

To be fair when making such comparisons, one has to be rigourous in comparing like with like. In Japan, you were referring to escort agencies whereas in your second paragraph, you were referring to gogo bars. The typical escort agency in Japan expects customers to pre-book from an array of photographs. One can either use their in-house rooms or ask the manager to send the boy to your hotel. I am more familiar with in-house rooms so I will restrict my comments to this. The equivalent in Bangkok would not be the gogo bars but the brothels of Saphan Khwai. There too, customers browse and book via their photo arrays, and have a choice of in-house rooms or having the boy come to the hotel. As you noted, a typical rate for a one-hour session in an in-house room would be 14,000 yen. I'd say that is the lower end, and an average of 15,000 yen might be more realistic. This fee includes the room cost. What would be the equivalent cost in Saphan Khwai? I'd say a VIP room (see next para) would cost an average of 500 baht for one hour, and the boy might ask for 1000 - 1200 baht (say average = 1100) for one hour. So total cost would be 1600 baht. Why VIP room? Because the in-house rooms in the Japanese agencies come with private bathrooms (most of the time, at least) so using the principle of like-with-like, I shouldn't use the Saphan Khwai rate for the basic rooms, where the shower is down the hallway and shared with other customers. No doubt, some other posters would point out that in Jey Spa, etc, the boys expect much more than 1000 - 1200 baht for one hour. True, but again like-with-like. The type of boys the Japanese agencies offer are almost always twinks when we're talking about the 14,000 yen rate. So Saphan Khwai is a more appropriate reference than Jey Spa or Aurora Massage. Now let's do the currency conversion. At today's exchange rate of 4.15 yen to one baht, 14,000 yen would be 3,373 baht; 15,000 yen would be 3,614 baht. That's slightly more than double the Saphan Khwai cost averaging 1,600 baht. So let's not be too quick to sing the praises of Japan. That said, Japan still offers good value when compared to the ridiculous pricing in many Western countries. But then again, Japan offers good value in respect of food costs, public transport, healthcare and hotel costs, etc, compared to the crazy West. Now I will hand over to the experts from Latin America; would be interesting to hear of a similarly rigourous comparison from there.

It's not just the F&B businesses. Now other shops such as Walgreens pharmacy, after totalling up the items you're buying, put in an extra question, asking how much you wish to add to the bill by way of "donations"! The other annoying thing about the US is the fact that their menu and sticker prices are before tax. There's no good way to know what the real prices are. I can't understand why Americans put up with this.

Not sure I understand. Why would refusal of entry disproportionately affect international air arrivals from neighbouring countries, and why would these travellers start their journey all over again by land?

They look like parts of CT scan machines discarded by some hospital and dental or ear-nose-throat specialists' lights.

Yet, reports about Hotmale aren't encouraging. What, do you think, accounts for the difference?

I am now totally confused. Are we talking about a new closure (as of now) or are we still speculating about the March closure. Is The One currently open or closed (again)?

And that tells you have safe or unsafe it is?

Haha, I beat you to it. I thought of that already and began using that "system" in the header since the start of this year. Plus I have added a twist. I write the time in a different language and deliberately mis-spell it, e.g "Depart Bkk di-sept vintg" or "Depart Bkk sipjet yee seep." This will work for a while until the Calendar catches on and again tries to do me favours.

Google Calendar allows you to specify the time zone of the time (value) you put into the time field. It just takes a few more steps; the feature was something I didn't realise until later. Whether that value adjusts properly for daylight-saving... is another matter.

Then I got smarter. And still Google Calendar tricked me. After the earlier incident I put departure time in the title of the Calendar event, e.g "depart Bkk 17:20". So even if my phone changes time zone, it won't change right? It didn't, but the newer version of Calendar has AI. Zuts alors. What I recently discovered was that it reads my event title and sees that I had put in a time in the title. It then populates the time field without even asking me. And once I move into another time zone, it adjusts the time field. But this time I could see a discrepancy between the time of departure I had entered in the title (unchanged) and the time of event Google figured should be the case (adjusted for time zone).

Twice, I was almost "tricked" by Google Calendar. I would enter my flight details in Google Calendar, including flight number, departure terminal and departure time. Years ago, I didn't fully realize that how Calendar worked and I simply entered the time of departure without noting the time zone. E.g. , for the return leg of Bangkok-paris-bangkok, I would enter 21:00h when the booked flight was scheduled to leave paris at 9pm. I was almost caught out. After as several weeks in France, I could not remember details of my return flight. No problem. That's why I had put details into Calendar. Except that, the day of my departure, it showed 15:00h. I cancelled my lunch appointment to rush to the airport but once there I realised it was still departing at 21:00. Google had converted my departure time from 21:00 Bkk to 15:00 Paris!

The only date mistake that cost me money, at least as far as I can remember, was a hotel booking I made for the day after my arrival. The mistake stemmed from sheer carelessness on my part. I was flying from HK to the US and I simply assumed, because there would be a period of darkness as the flight crossed the Pacific, that I would arrive on the following day. Wrong! I arrived on the same day which, with a bit of logical thinking, was what one should expect! So I had to book another hotel for one night. My own hotel was full.

Jakarta also has much more Islam. If a boy is seriously looking for this kind of work, he would either go to Bali or Kuala Lumpur.

This seems to be the pattern lately. Some bars lively and well-patronised; other bars dead. Sometimes, the bipolar contrast is the same bar on different nights. @sydneyboy1 reported a nearly-dead The One (ex-Tawan). On another night, I saw a full house. @jason1975 saw a lively Good Boy (ex-Screw Boy). On another night, I saw zero other customers in that bar and I should have fled like @ggobkk from Hotmale. A friend just came back from Bangkok and he said Moonlight had only "fewer customers than I had fingers" during showtime, though reports here are much more encouraging than that.

@roughjock Look no further. The guy in question is here: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=862076422609480&set=pcb.862076659276123

Interesting... You don't mention Thailand. Have you visited yet, 🤣 ?

This kind of business practice would make me hesitate.

Before it became GooGuys, it was Apollo Massage.

Yes, it looks like this one in the lower centre of the map, from the use of the word "masseur". Thanks.

Grand Hyatt, I think it's the one near the Erawan shrine. Latest BBC story says it's cyanide and suggests it's a suicide pact. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3g64ljwp2go