ChristianPFC

There are buses as well between Bangkok and Chiang Mai. I have taken the overnight train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai about 5 times (and back, except one return by bus). It's no fun, I can't sleep well with the shaking of the train. And you have to plan for delays of 1 or 2 hours. With flights on average not much more expensive, and travel time much shorter, and generally no delays, it's a no-brainer: take the plane! I continue to take the train because I like train travel, carry a pocket knife (don't want to check in luggage on plane due to higher costs and having to wait for luggage). In well over 10.000 km of train travel in Thailand, I have seen only a few errant cockroaches on trains.

Shameless Mack, a blogger about South-East Asian gay venues and especially massage place, who suddenly went offline and nobody knows what happened to him. Only fragments of his work remain, I collected them and put them here: http://christianpfc.blogspot.com/2013/10/shameless-mack-fragment-found.html

I travel a lot, and when Thai boys message me and ask "What are you doing now" / "Where are you", the follow up is inevitably "Who are with". I do not understand the importance of traveling alone or with someone, although I notice that Thai boys rarely go somewhere alone, I even saw two boys at a hairdresser, one got a haircut, the other was just accompanying his friend.

For me it's the opposite: when I don't have time to play the online (slow communication, finding place and time to meet - actually place should be my room and time now, but how long until the boy is here?), then I go to bars and massages. Even if I don't find someone, it's more entertaining than texting. Try saunas. I don't know of any websites, and discos are more 20-30 year olds. Smartphones now have programs to process phones, and they are widely used by the Thais. But often you can see that the face does not look natural, it has been processed ("beautified").

The 3 boys returning home might just be a coincidence. As far as I know, many of these boys are here on tourist visa or visa exemption and have to go home regularly. Where and how did you meet the Myanmar boy who cannot go further than Chiang Rai? There is little or no information about Chiang Rai and Mae Sai on the gay Thailand forums. Details about sightseeing (off the beaten track, I have been to White Temple and Black house near Chiang Rai in Feb 2014) and gay activities would be welcome, as I am tentatively planning a trip Phrae-Nan-Chiang Rai-border to Myanmar for the next months.

Great reports! Only time you enter the place is missing (to give an indication how many boys are available at what time of the day). @whall: You can save the thread with your browser, or if you want just the op's post copy and past into Word or similar.

It depends on what you want to do. For sightseeing in the provinces, I prefer to travel during week (when the locals are working and everything is less busy than on weekends). For saunas, I prefer Fri-Sun when locals visit in large numbers. My trips from Bangkok (where I stay most of the time) to Pattaya are usually during week (less traffic than on the weekend and no competition (hotels, public transport) from Thais who go to Pattaya).

Not about boyfriend, but often when I tell a Thai friend I am going to see a friend (without specifying nationality, but usually White), he will ask if it's Thai or foreigner. Probably some hidden jealousy or to see if it's competition (Thai) or not (Farang). In your case, Thai would be perceived as competion, or create awkward situation (different social background, education).

Mankind is split between those who love it and those who hate it, I belong to second category. Even without having my passport stolen in 2013 it would have been a poor experience, full story here: http://christianpfc.blogspot.com/2014/04/repost-my-songkran-2013.html Prepare for pedestrian traffic jams (like 1 meter per minute) and queues. All that while being splashed with water of temperature between 0 and 40 degree Celsius, and water guns often deliberately aiming for your face. I recommend not going further than walking distance, as it will be impossible or costly to get a taxi, or long wait at public transport.

I vaguely remember, I read somewhere rent for one shift is 500 Baht (which is probably cheaper than car rent, did someone ever get the idea to rent a taxi instead a car for private driving around?). I recently forgot my bag in a taxi*, called 1644 and reported all details, but they didn't call me back. The monetary value (to replace it, resale would be close to zero) is about 500, but some items of sentimental value. With Uber or Grabtaxi, I would have know which car and driver it was in. That raises the question: why does a taxi driver not report a bag that has close to zero monetary value except for the person who lost it? It was on the back seat, next passenger might have noticed it. *Simplyfied, here full story. I was traveling with a Farang friend. I had umbrella, backpack and tote bag, so I gave tote bag to my friend so I have less stuff to deal with when getting in and out. When getting out, my friend forget my bag in the taxi. I could blame him, but it was just bad luck. I didn't think about my bag either until a minute later.

If you have gayromeo plus, you can select not to be seen by other members. Then you can browse profiles, but they can't see you looked at their profile. Most boys who are in the trade should speak enough English. Make contact by "Hello, how are you?".

(My underline) I was aware that Uber might not be legal (but still widely available and operating openly). How much is a taxi licence, and which part of operating costs does it present?

Thank you for sharing your report and praise you for mentioning prices. Assuming 200 Baht drinks and 300 Baht off fees were the average in 2004, and 350 and 600 in 2015, I calculate an inflation rate of 5.2% per year for drinks and 6.5% per year for off fee.

I'm a paper person, if I receive a letter and the sender dies, I still have the letter. I would apply the same to digital messages. In addition, there is not even a note, if I hadn't found out by chance (exchanged messages and profile deleted and all messages gone on the same day), I would have searched for profile and message until I turn mad. On gayromeo and the forums, messages remain even if the sender deletes his profile or gets banned.

Never used Uber and can't see me using it in the future. Where I travel, it's always faster to hail a passing taxi. But friends swear by it and even claim it's cheaper than regular taxi (how can that be when regular taxis have been complaining for years prices are too low?), so I had a look at their pricing scheme: https://www.uber.com/cities/bangkok UberX Base fare ฿25 + ฿1 per minute + ฿4.50 Per kilometer which is indeed cheaper than taxi: http://www.bangkokpost.com/learning/learning-from-news/449490/taxi-fares-go-up-in-bangkok-today regular taxi 35 (base fare and 1st kilometer) + 2 per minute when slower than 6 km/h + 5.5 per kilometer (rising for longer distances) But I'm a cash person and avoid digital and electronics wherever possible, so I will continue hailing down taxis, even it is 10 or 20 Baht more expense per month than Uber. Weird recent experience: I was in a taxi and after about 100 m, taxi driver asked me if I could change to the empty taxi behind us because he just got a booking from Uber. That was no problem for me, and he didn't charge me (then I would have protested). Language note: Uber is from German "über" which means "over, more than, excess of"

I did not notice above average number of cute boys in Malls, otherwise I would go more often. (But on Klong Toey market, which is the opposite: outside, therefore no aircon, dirty, but cute boys in large numbers so I go whenever possible to buy fruit there.) I don't spend much time in Malls (go less than once per week, and if I go it's for eating at their foodcourt or as a meeting point; very very rarely do I buy something in a mall, about once per year, at the moment I remember I bought a phone and two pairs of trousers in 2013).

From experience with grindr and hornet: different program, same shit! I wrote about them here: http://christianpfc.blogspot.com/2014/12/what-fuck.html and can now extend: Why the hell does hornet have 150 MB data in cache? Hornet app on my phone remains total crap. I wrote about spamming my phone's memory; not just that, I have to pay for it was well! When I open hornet and look at a few profiles, I get SMS for my data connection "you have used 10 Baht today already...". Third and further pictures load very slowly, on a friend's tablet as well (so it's not my phone!). Starting at such a poor level, introduction of hornet for computer (works without problem here) deserves praise! However, now there seems to be a problem with requesting private photos. I had two more cases where a boy deleted his profile and all chat was gone as well.

Gaybutton, you should go out more! When I walk around, I often see homeless people with nothing more than they have on their body. Or after sunset, people scavenging piles of waste for recyclables (adults, not in tourist areas, whereas in Siem Reap even children right in Pub Street). However when it comes to slums in Bangkok, it's not as bad as it looks at first. They all have running water and electricity.

You are late to the party, Bruce, everyone is home already! (But I see in last post you now are up-to-date.) I have some of Out-in-Thailand's last issue (April 2015), I recently gave one to an 78-year old friend and told him to keep it for 20 years, then it will be a collector's item.

Burma is on my list of places to go, but with recent visa free entry to Indonesia and Vietnam, these two come first. And then there is the hotel price issue, if I can't get a room for under 20 USD at similar standard and availability as in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Cambodia, I will wait! I vaguely remember, I read somewhere mocys are banned in Burma for individual transport (only for army and police).

Do you remember timmberty? He once told me "I don't post there (sawatdeenetwork) any more" when in fact he has been banned!

Can you elaborate on the sauna in Savannakhet? I have been to basic mixed gender saunas in Vientiane and Luang Prabang, out of total 4 visits combinded I chatted with one cute boy in Luang Prabang in the sauna.

Can you elaborate on boys from BBB? I had an eye on 12, 23, 80 in August. How much did you tip your boys? Were they in a hurry to leave? Was there an bad attitude?

Nice Boys or Power Boys is usually my first port of call when I am in Sunee, usually have a good time there, only rarely disappointmented (low number of boys, but then I walk out and go elsewhere). Eros is second (like to watch sleaze, but most of their long time staff does not appeal to me).

This is only the second time I learn of requiring payment upfront (after from Bucky on SGT) in Pattaya, and charging more than usual in addition. The short-lived Fuse (opposite Soi Twilight in basement of Wallstreet building, did last only a few months, then Bangkok Bounce, now Zip Club gay disco) had a similar policy of charging entry/drink price at the door, I didn't go in. Number and type of boys in Nice Boys (and many other bars as well) can vary considerably. I would not order a drink without having a look, and if number of boys is too low (unless there is a stunner), I make an excuse and leave. Try this: ask doorman if they have a pink unicorn in the bar. Wouldn't be the least surprised if he answered "yes".