daydreamer

Hard to say....Mike has three hotels in Pattaya that I know of, plus the shopping arcade that spoon mentioned near Boyztown. Also the Mike mall between Beach Rd and Second Rd, and at least one gym.

For long term hook ups including travel, I have always paid the regular daily long time tip. I make it clear to the boy the amount he'll receive per day when asking him if he wants to travel with me. I don't negotiate the tip or the off fee. Nearly always, the boy is eager to go. Of course I pay all expenses, too. Often the expenses include airfare and rental cars. I also tell the boy he can have free time, but usually they stay close to me every day. It depends what you have planned. If you've rented a car, the boy certainly won't want to miss out on driving around in air conditioned comfort, and exploring new areas. I used to have a few regular boys I would often see when my home was only a two hour flight from Bangkok. After a few nights in Bangkok to survey the scene, I would usually take one boy for the BFE for the entire trip. I have traveled to many areas of the country with different boys. The only times I have received a discount on off fees was years ago from Saphan Kwai bars, and a couple times in Chiang Mai. The discount was always offered by the bar if offing the same boy for a week or more. Nowadays I don't think a discount is common for multiple-day offs. The bars are struggling to survive, so I think off fee discounts are more rare today. As far as how I pay the tip, yes I pay every day unless the boy has asked to receive the money at the end of the trip. One boy wanted to get his money every two days. On my most recent trip one year ago, I paid the boy every day, and he took most of the money to an ATM several times during the trip to deposit it to his bank account. Every baht has been money well spent, and it has made for some beautiful memories of my travels. I like to try to see at least one part of the country during my vacations. It's not always a new place, but I like to travel a bit. One month in Pattaya and Bangkok is a bit too much for me without a side trip thrown in. Milk78, you may be interested to read my trip report from February 2020 on this forum. I traveled with a boy from Pattaya. It's at gayguides.com/forums/topic/12788-koh-chang

Bernie Sanders isn't in the photo?

Over the years, I have had a few guys I would off every day during trips to Thailand. A couple of the guys I saw over several years until they had moved on. If I find a guy that pushes my buttons, I look no further. As far as performance, if the boy's service declines, I just move on. However, on some vacations to Thailand, I have done the butterfly routine with a new guy nearly every day. If I am lucky enough to find someone I like, often after a few days with him - to be sure we're compatible, I'll ask him to travel somewhere with me. I did this on my last trip in Jan-Feb, taking the boy to Koh Chang for five days. I like the BFE experience, if I can find it. (In this case, BFE means Boy Friend Experience, not Bum Fuck Egypt).

I believe that is correct. The answer is revealed if you google "who owns Siam concrete".

There are two sensors. They are located on the outside of the cockpit, below the pilot side windows. All large aircraft have these. What was missing from the Indonesian and Ethiopian 737 Max aircraft were the angle of attack indicator (not sensor) and the disagree alert to alert the pilot if the two sensors do not match. Boeing made these items optional. Both would have been present in the cockpit if the airlines had purchased the options. Only a few airlines purchased both options on the 737 Max. United Airlines ordered 137 of the aircraft and none of them are equipped with either of the two options. United says they use other data to fly their planes. More detail can be read at the following links: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/21/business/boeing-safety-features-charge.html https://www.reuters.com/article/us-boeing-fix/boeing-says-optional-737-max-alert-was-not-activated-as-intended-idUSKCN1S5233

I have been using World Remit to send money to a friend in Bangkok since the pandemic has put so many people out of work. I like World Remit, as it allows you to send a cash pick up at a bank, no bank account required. It also allows you the choice of several different banks to pick up the money. My friend said he had a slight problem with a teller at one bank, so the next time I sent him money, I just chose a different bank. And the money is available at any branch of each bank. The boy only needs to show his ID and the transaction number which they will send by SMS to his phone, or you can email him the transaction number. Very easy, and I think I paid $3.99 to transfer the funds, and he pays no fee on his end. The exchange rate is fair, and they send you an email telling you exactly how much is available for pick up. The money is usually available within 20 minutes of the time it is sent.

Mack - to answer your questions: Yes, the bungalow was a duplex. The room was square, and the bathroom was tucked around, added onto the back side, not visible in the photo from the front. The front deck was thoughtfully offset to provide privacy so the residents from the other unit were not visible when they were sitting outside. As for food, we ate every meal at different Kai Bae restaurants. There was plenty of variety, lots of seafood places, regular non-seafood Thai food, and a number of different options for western food. There was even a Thai buffet place where you cook your own food at your table, it looked popular with locals and some tourists. The only western meal we ate was pizza one night, so I can't really speak to the quality of the western food, although there was a highly rated Mexican restaurant very close to the bungalow compound, but we didn't eat there. There are quite a few small restaurants down the side sois off the main road. As I said in the report, meal prices were reasonable, not inflated like on some islands. Most places are open air, typical of a beach resort. Here's a typical restaurant right on the main road in Kai Bae where we ate breakfast one morning. Note the parrot sitting in the tree in this photo. In addition, there was a place specializing in burgers, one serving Greek food, and the usual western fare of Italian, plus Indian restaurants that seem to be everywhere in Thailand nowadays. There were no Indian tourists, and it looked like the Indian restaurants were starving for business. There was even an Indian tailor shop offering to "make a nice suit for you, sir". Seemed kind of out of place on a laid back tropical island. The restaurants I just mentioned were all at Kai Bae within a short walk from the room. Lots more food options at the other beaches not far away, but we were satisfied with what we found at Kai Bae. The tap water was fine. I brushed my teeth with it, and no strange odor or discoloration in the water. I know what you mean, I remember staying at the Tropica Bungalows at Patong Beach in Phuket about 20 years ago. The tap water contained tiny red worms I could see coming from the tap against the white sink. And this was no budget room, Tropica Bungalows is right on the beach road, directly at the corner of Bangla Road in Patong Beach. I suspect some water gets contaminated from being held in those large storage tanks many places use. The water sits in the heat in those storage tanks, and who knows what grows in the tanks. Yes, I remember when many places on Koh Samet used generators for electricity, before there was a stable power supply. The place I stayed 20+ years ago on Koh Samet would turn off the generators during daylight hours, so no power all day. I agree, the tap water was dodgy on Koh Samet back then, but things have improved a lot in the last couple decades. Of course this was before the internet. Could you imagine today not having wi-fi access 24/7, or power to a cell phone tower when the generators turn off all day? It wouldn't bother me, but the way many people are glued to their screens all day, I think they wouldn't know what to do with themselves with no phone access. There is a sign on the wall in the Balcony Pub in Silom Soi 4 next to the bar that reads "We have wi-fi, so you don't need to talk to each other". Sad, but true. Yes, the sea was clean. No sign of pollution. When we drove to the far side of the island where it's sparsely populated, I noticed a large sewage treatment facility, so they are trying to keep the sea clean. This was many miles from the beaches on the west side of the island. They're doing a lot better at keeping the water clean than Hong Kong is. There are approximately 200 ships in port in Hong Kong daily at anchor and various moorages in the harbors. Raw sewage is regularly pumped from the ships directly into the sea in Hong Kong rather than transferring it to sewage barges for proper treatment. The photos of the beach were taken at Kai Bae Beach. White Sands Beach is a few miles north, and is the nicest and largest beach on the island with the best sand, although the most crowded with people. We went to White Sands one day to swim, but like I say, it's far more crowded. At Kai Bae, there were plenty of places with chairs or loungers tucked back under the trees. No masses of chairs and umbrellas like they have in Jomtien. One more thing to note - public access to the beaches is becoming harder to find. Like many places in the world, resorts buy up big swaths of ocean front land, denying the public access to the water. This is widespread at White Sands Beach. Take a look at the satellite view on Google, and you can see how resorts are blocking off entire beaches from the public. Of course the beaches are public up to the high tide mark, but in some areas of Koh Chang, try getting to the water without trespassing. In Kai Bae, there is open public access to the beach, with a road leading right to the water. That's how the elephants access the beach every day to swim.

I have just returned home from a one month vacation in Thailand. I decided this time to plan a side trip to Koh Chang. Here is a brief report of my recent adventure. After spending a week in Bangkok, I stayed in Pattaya for ten days, so I was ready to hit the road for a break. In Pattaya I rented a car for the trip to Koh Chang. I have rented vehicles many times in Thailand, because I like the freedom driving a car gives me. I took a boy from a Pattaya bar with me, he was eager to travel with me. It was a good break for him to get away from the bar for a few days, while still making a guaranteed long time tip each day. I have always paid any boy traveling with me the going rate for long time tip daily, and of course I paid for all expenses. I always let them know if they want free time away from me, they can have it, but I have found they usually want to stick with me every day. When I ask them what they would like to do, the usual response is the ubiquitous "up to you". Believe me, if you have planned something a boy thinks is boring, or not fun for them, they won't be shy to tell you. Total travel time from Pattaya to Koh Chang was about 6 hours, including the ferry ride. The first part of the trip was from Pattaya to Laem Gnop in Trat province, that's where the ferries depart for Koh Chang. The drive was about 4.5 hours, very enjoyable, going through Sattahip, Rayong, and Chantaburi. As you can see in this photo, Koh Chang is very close to the Cambodian border. Because Koh Chang is a very large island, I wanted to take the rental car on the ferry to use to get around and explore the island. The ferries run frequently. Tickets are 80 baht for each passenger, and 120 baht to take a car. The ride takes about 40 minutes. After driving aboard, all passengers go up to the second deck lounge for the transit to the island. There are snacks and drinks available on the second deck from a small store and a coffee stand. I had made a reservation for Seabreeze Bungalows in Kai Bae Beach for five nights. I chose the deluxe bungalow, and it was 1,850 baht per night, including all taxes and fees. Not a bad deal for a good room on an island in January during high season. This price was locked in long before the current coronavirus was news. Upon landing on Koh Chang, it took about 20 minutes to reach the bungalow, driving south along several beaches on the way. The further south from the ferry pier, the more rustic the small villages along the beaches are. White Sands Beach is the first beach coming from the ferry. It is the largest beach, and the most developed on the island, something I wanted to avoid. After leaving White Sands Beach, the road begins to narrow, and the atmosphere becomes much more tranquil, with less development, and fewer people. I decided since Kai Bae Beach was located in between White Sands beach and Lonely Beach, it would be a good location to stay. Lonely Beach is the most popular beach with backpackers, and is known for very loud parties every night at different bars that go till dawn. Kai Bae turned out to be a good choice, a very relaxed area, but with a good assortment of small restaurants and bars. There was a Filipino band that played every night at the open air bar and restaurant at the Seabreeze Bungalows where we stayed. This is the bungalow where we stayed. This is the main road running through Kai Bae Beach. If you travel without a car, there are songtaews, making it very easy to get around the island. They charge a fixed rate based on how many beaches you pass. The songtaews meet the ferries, and they strap any large bags on the roof for transport to your hotel. One day we rented kayaks, and paddled about 20 minutes to an uninhabited island offshore from Kai Bae beach. When I first mentioned this, the boy I was with thought that sounded like fun. It included getting up early to rent the kayaks and be on the water by 9 am. I have heard many people say that it's impossible to drag a bar boy out of bed early, but if there's something they want to do, they'll make sure to be ready. There are several waterfalls, and we had planned to hike up to one, but figured since it is dry season with little rain that there wouldn't be anything to see. Each day we went to a different part of the island to explore using the rental car. One day I bought us masks and snorkels. The boy I was with said he liked snorkeling, as he had never done it before. He told me afterwards it was good, but he didn't get to see any fish. There are a few 7-Eleven stores on the island, and a small Big C, and a small Makro. Another reason I chose the Seabreeze Bungalows is it was only a short walk to a 7-Eleven store, very convenient to buy snacks and drinks. Most motorbikes buy their gasoline from stands selling it in used liquor bottles as you still see in some areas of rural Thailand and other parts of Southeast Asia. There are many small restaurants, and unlike Phuket, the prices for food were reasonable, about the same as on the mainland. The air quality on the island was great until late every night when a local resident decided it was a good idea to set large piles of leaves on fire, letting them smolder all night. There was an elephant camp just steps from the bungalows, and every afternoon, the mahouts would take the juvenile elephants down to Kai Bae Beach to swim and allow tourists to swim with them and take photos. The salt water didn't bother the elephants, as they were having fun spraying the tourists with water from their trunks. Koh Chang was a good break after being in Bangkok and Pattaya. Five days was a good getaway. It's a place I had wanted to see for some time. It's well worth the taking the time to travel there.

When I entered Thailand through Suvarnabhumi immigration last month, the fingerprint scanner screen would not work for me. I repeatedly attempted to scan my fingers, following the instructions. Finally the female immigration officer stepped out of her cubicle to see what was wrong. She went back and got some glass cleaner spray and a paper towel, as the glass screen was filthy with greasy fingerprints and obviously hadn't been wiped clean in some time. After returning behind her computer, I again slowly attempted to scan my prints several times, and nothing. Once again, she left her booth and came around to my side. She brought a small squeeze bottle of orange gel with her, and squeezed it onto both of my hands, telling me to rub it onto my fingers. After this, the scanner worked flawlessly. Those scanners are a major source of germs, considering how many people touch them. I always carry a couple Wet Ones brand individual hand wipe packets in my pocket when I travel by plane. As soon as I was processed through, I wiped my hands, removing the orange gel. This was before the news of the corona virus. If you aren't familiar with the Wet Ones brand, they kill 99.9% of germs, including the Norovirus. Wet Ones contain a chemical called Benzalkonium Chloride, making them effective against both bacteria and viruses. I like them, because since they are wipes, they also remove dirt (or orange gel) from your hands, whereas hand sanitizer would only spread dirt around on your hands. Regular alcohol wipes will kill some viruses including flu viruses, but are ineffective against the Norovirus. Wet Ones will kill both flu and Norovirus, so they are my choice. The individual packets are small, about the size of a packaged tea bag, making them convenient to slip into your pocket, or in a carry on bag. The gold standard is still soap and water for at least 20 seconds, but that's not accessible when you're at the immigration checkpoint. Here are sources to verify Benzalkonium Chloride is effective: https://www.romper.com/p/why-wont-most-hand-sanitizers-kill-norovirus-theres-only-one-that-will-36063 https://writersblock15.wordpress.com/tag/wet-ones/

Utopia did have a shop on Sukhumvit Soi 23 back in the 1990's. Their business was on two floors of a building on the corner of an intersection. They had a small book store, LGBT information center, a cafe, and a small guesthouse above the shop with a few rooms for rent. I stayed at the guesthouse once for about a week. The taxi driver was dismayed that I wanted to stay there, I guess after he spotted the rainbow flags when pulling up in front. I remember the Utopia cafe served khao soi, the delicious Lanna dish, which was difficult to find in Bangkok in the 1990's. The shop was run by John Goss. John was one of the prominent partners in Utopia. I have a book he contributed to titled "Very Thai: Everyday Popular Culture". John Goss took the many excellent photos that appear in the book. He also authored some travel guides. There is an article about John C. Goss on Wikipedia. It mentions that he started the Utopia Center (soi 23) in Bangkok in 1994, and then in 1995 he created the online site named Utopia. Here is a scan from The Rough Guide to Bangkok from 2001 that gives the address of the former Utopia shop:

When someone takes the time to write trip reports or otherwise share their experiences, a few people like to criticize their choices because they don't agree. Whether it be the boy they chose for the night, the hotel they stayed in, or how much they paid for a tip to a boy, or a tip to a waiter or mama-san, a few people seem to delight in condemning the original poster by either "correcting" the writer or otherwise humiliating them for the choices they made. I have seen this many times, most recently with Vinapu's trip reports being criticized over prices he paid and tips he gave, and now 12is12's reports are going through the same wringer. "That boy is not handsome, too old", or "You paid too much" are really uncalled for and unwelcome. Would you say that to the person at the next table in a bar when another customer offs a boy or gives a tip? If every time someone writes a recommendation, or takes the time to report about their good times and adventures, and then their words are picked apart by the vultures, I believe the trip reports and other useful suggestions will stop being posted. Perhaps the critics can share some of their own reports of their experiences with us since you know best? Personally, I appreciate the time and effort people put into reporting their adventures. I believe the information is useful to many readers who may not spend a lot of time in Thailand every year. The bars they visited, amounts tipped, the hotels and restaurants, prices paid, transportation taken, etc are enlightening and helpful to many of the members of this board. Continued criticism and derision will only dissuade others from sharing their honest thoughts. Now it seems there is interest in making a private club to share information. This will further serve to remove from this board the incentive to freely share information here. Discussion of the reports and recommendations is expected of course, but when it insults and offends the person willing to share their stories, it only deters them from further reporting. I sometimes feel bad for the original posters because of the rude manner in which their posts are treated. I suspect that if this trend of harsh critiques of recommendations continues, this board will slowly fade into irrelevance as posters will find other less hostile places to share their personal thoughts and experiences.

Absolutely correct. I was in a Sunee Plaza bar once, and offed the DJ.

The Jomtien Palm Beach Hotel was originally named the Royal Jomtien Resort Hotel. There was a horrific disaster at this hotel in 1997. Today many people consider the hotel haunted, as more than 90 people died in a very bad fire there. I remember seeing the blackened, charred hotel in the summer of 1997. It was spooky looking, with large burn marks and smoke stains going up the outside of the high rise building . It took a long time to renovate, and it was re-named the Jomtien Palm Beach when it re-opened. It is in a good location, close to Bamboo Bar and Jomtien Complex. It might not be a concern to some people, but I would not consider staying there, no matter how good a deal they offered. Here is a link to the story: https://pattayaunplugged.com/the-story-behind-the-jomtien-hotel-fire-in-1997-that-killed-102-tourists-with-video/

I found a new site (new to me) for comparing the cost of money transfers to Thailand and other countries. I have read that many members of this board, plus members of Sawatdee and Gaybutton boards use Transferwise to send money to Thailand. I just did a comparison, and Transferwise came in least favorable in the comparison. Yes, Transferwise may offer a bit higher of an exchange rate, but after their transfer fee, other options offered may give you a higher amount of Thai Baht. Here's a screenshot of what I checked today - I used a 3,500 USD amount as an example, transferred and exchanged to THB. Just put in the amount of currency you want to check or transfer, and see for yourself that there may be better options to transfer your funds. The website is https://www.finder.com/international-money-transfers Scroll down the page a bit, and you will see this box: It's not a huge savings, but maybe this will be helpful for some people. Don't get hung up on the exchange rates, the bottom line is how much baht you will receive after the fees on the Thailand end. You may find that other options are better than Transferwise. The amount received column on the right side shows what you will receive from the different companies after the various exchange rates and fees are computed. Also note that some of these companies have minimum amounts they will do a transfer for. It looks like the larger the transfer, the more companies there are making offers. Another nice thing about this comparison site is it tells you the expected amount of time the transfer will take, I noticed one of the options is within the hour, that's fast. In the example I used of 3,500 USD to THB, the best transfer option was XE giving you 741 baht more than Transferwise. That's about $24.70 more on that transfer, so it may be worth it to take a look. I would rather have the 741 baht to spend in Thailand, than to give it to a transfer company. I know everyone is looking to save a little here and there, given the climbing value of the baht. This may be helpful to you.

Once in a while I check a website called bangkokeyes.com to see the latest nightlife news. The August 2019 edition has a few snippets about Chill Out Boy Bar in Patpong 1 being closed with a photo. It also mentions Bangkok Massage moving from Soi Twilight to Patpong 2 (with photo), and this - "The newly relocated (from Soi Twilight 2 months ago) Hotmale Bar Beer is in the process of renaming themselves the Midnite. Located next to Pinocchios. We'll attempt to get some comprehensive pics next issue.... " If you've never visited bangkokeyes, take a look. It's predominantly aimed at the straight nightlife venues, but they don't discriminate. Their archives are extensive, and there are many old photos taken on Soi Twilight showing the lighted signs of the bars that were there. If you scroll to the bottom of the page, the archived page from 01 JUN 2019 has a whole article dedicated to Gay Patpong and Soi Twilight. I am copying a couple photos from their website here. I hope I'm not violating any rules in doing so. These photos shown here are the property of Bangkok Eyes, not my own. This last photo is a map of Patpong showing the gay businesses. The lavender colored ones are listed as gay in their website as of April 2019. I think by posting this here, it will boost the readership for the Bangkok Eyes website.

Yes, I posted the map, and rollingstone is correct, it was Up2U bar. Here's the map again - saved from the old Dreaded Ned's website from 2002:

I don't understand how holding onto blood for one month would help in this case. If that were to be, wouldn't the blood donor also have to be retested one month after donating the blood, and those results cross checked with the re-tested blood donated one month previous? I think the disease is more likely to progress and be detectable in the infected donor's body in a one month period, than in a bag of refrigerated blood during that same one month period.

The stage in Screwboys used to run along the wall opposite the door, and it was only deep enough to have two rows of boys. It was rotated 90 degrees from the present layout, and was wider than the present stage. I agree about the poor view now from much of the seating. Maybe a pedestal or mini stage for 2-3 boys, (with rotation of the boys) near the other end of the bar would help. The bar is not shaped well to change much. A pedestal for 2-3 boys would be inexpensive for the bar to construct.

Well, I was one of Pong's no show customers, but not that I didn't try to meet him. This was probably ten years ago (he's been in business a long time, and before he added the music massages). He sent me instructions on how to find his apartment on a side soi off Thanon Petchaburi, about halfway between Ratchathewi BTS station and Panthip Plaza. At that time, he had a website with a map to his apartment. He was also on Gay Romeo listed under Bangkok escorts , before it became Planet Romeo. I made it to his apartment building, went upstairs, but there was some wonky and missing numbers on the apartment doors. I called him twice on my mobile (this was before smartphones). I contacted him on the phone, but he was reluctant to try to find me in the building. I knocked on two doors, but they were not Pong's apartment. I searched the building for about 20 minutes, but was unable to locate him. After 20 minutes and two calls to him, I gave up and left. So you see, not every no show is intentional.

Paborn, I thought I was the only one who used to stay in Saphan Kwai years ago to be close to the nightlife and host bars there. I also spent lots of time in Charmming, Hippodrome, Midnight Cowboy, Apache, Alladin, Stax, etc. I used to stay in the Mido Hotel on Thanon Pradipat, until the Karnmanee Palace was built across from it, then I stayed there every trip for many years until the demise of Saphan Kwai boy bars. I once offed a nice boy from Hippodrome and took him to Koh Samui for a week. He proudly pulled out the then current edition of Midway magazine to show me that he was that month's featured model. He didn't know that I also had the same magazine and had searched for him because of his pictures in Midway. That was back when magazine models would have sex with customers, not just there to be pretty like the cover model on the current edition of ThaiPuan. I agree that the Jomtien bars are not appealing to me, they are set up like Panorama, where most customers sit and look out into the soi. Not the best way to view or meet the boys.

Christian, I believe this was Cartier Boys on Soi Lengkee, which runs from Soi Buakhao to third road. They had some very handsome boys working there, several with athletic and muscular builds, but yes, the interior of the club was quickly thrown together with seating on some old couches and a trip hazard on the floor as you say.

Yes, I think that's the bar. I found it on an old map from Dreaded Ned's site from 2002.

I remember the go-go bar you are talking about, Vinapu. It was on Rama IV between Surawong and the end of Soi Twilight. It was closer to the end of Soi Twilight, not far around the corner from Balls Sport Beer Bar, just off the edge of the map. I think it was only open for a short time, maybe two years or less. I don't know when it opened, but I was only in it one time, the next time I returned to Bangkok, it was out of business. My Way Bar was between Surawong and Silom, just off Rama IV in a small dead end soi as the map shows. This stretch of Rama IV near My Way used to have freelancers on the sidewalk lurking in the shadows looking for customers to pick them up.

I fully agree with paborn on this. I believe this premium pricing has been going on a long time at Tawan. If they can command these sky high prices, good for them as long as some customers are willing to pay that inflated rate for the stars.