Soi Twilight closing....what?

[PeterRS]

If the Thais were more ambitious, refused to acceot corruption and did not just live for today, there could be an improvement.

Thais refusing corruption? Sorry a447a, thats rather like trying to convince me that the moon is made of cheese! Corruption is completely endemic in this country from the very top to the very bottom. Even the Anti Corruption Commission, a watchdog with rubber teeth, has admitted the rate of corruption on official government contracts has risen from between 10% to 15% in the 1990s to between 25% and 50% now!

 

I agree that it is partly a cultural thing going back to the time when people asked others for favours and were then rewarded with small tokens on thanks. Now it is pure greed on a monster scale. Since governments are only in power for short periods of time, minsters and their cohorts aim to make as much extra corrupt income as they can from buying up land where they know a high speed train will be routed to more straightforward cash in hand - huge bundies of cash as discovered the home of the Permanent Secretary for Transport after he had reported a robbery to the police. What a dumbfuck! He stores something like 1 billion baht in his basement and calls the police over a robbery of some trinkets! Then theres the case of the present Deputy PM having a stash of expensive watches costing over 1.5 million US$ - on a military salary? Puhlease!

 

It was only thanks to eagle-eyed reporters spotting all those watches in different photographs that the Corruption Commission is considering the Deputy PMs case. Will he suffer consequences? Thats probably a joke!

 

And lest we forget, there is the malodorous stench arising from the case of the Red Bull heir who murdered a policeman six years ago and has avoided every court hearing since then. This spoiled brat worth billions is living it up around Europe and elsewhere but the government cannot get Interpol to find and arrest him, The reason given to the Thai media? They need to give Interpol an address. WTF! Thats utter nonsense. But of course money buys everything in this country.

[Guest abang1961]

Money makes the world go round..

No money, no honey.

 

Musical memory from Cabaret.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PIAXG_QcQNU

[vinapu]

. But of course money buys everything in this country.

thank God access to  bodies of well built boys in included in that ' everything" 

[bucknaway]

The closing of the soi may be a blessing in disguise.  Having everything gathered together in one soi allowed for inflated prices just as mall prices tend to be higher than shop prices found on random streets.  Bars will have to earn customers rather than try to muscle them in as they gawk at the bars as they travel through the gay entertainment habitat known as soi twilight.

 

Sure, some bars will close and other will take their place.  It happend to Jupiter 2002.  They opened in soi  4 which all thought to be impossible.  Maybe gogo bars will return to soi 2?  No matter where they open, it will reduce the average cost to customers as the bars try to rebuild their following.

 

Since there is nothing I can do to stop the closure, I will embrace it, welcome it and anticipate what tomorrow brings.

 

If I am wrong and they find a way to increase prices, I'll be one unhappy customer 

[vinapu]

It was / is nice to have a place where gay people could congregate freely with abundance of consolators in bars and nourishement options like Dick and Maxi thrown in so  I will be mourning soi it it really will be closed and demolished but I see point in what you said above bucknaway,

 

Nothing we can do,  other than hope change will be successful like one with Jupiter's move.

[bucknaway]

There is still soi 4, jomtien complex, paying, boystown and Babylon is a complex all by itself.

 

And we dont onow what tomorrow brings. Heck, I'm now using my Google home to turn on and off lights and control my TV's. Things are only getting better.

 

Another gay area may appear with fresh bars, restaurants and services for the next generation.

 

These will be their good old days

[vinapu]

 

. Heck, I'm now using my Google home to turn on and off lights

Switch on the wall does that trick for me, no need to employs spies hidden behind the Google

[Guest abang1961]

Knowing how enterprising the Thais are, they will definitely set up shops somewhere nearby. Remember Silom is a very long road and landowners would want to invite them to start business there...

[paulsf]

I was told tonight by “a fairly reliable source” that Twilight will be open thru Songkren of next year.

So again, time will tell.

[bkkguy]

Songkren

 

I always thought it should be Songkram (สงคราม) but if it keeps Twilight alive for another year what's a water war between "friends" ...

 

bkkguy

[bucknaway]

If I had a bar in twilight, I would be looking for the best new location to move too and get out while the getting is good. I would hat to be the last bar standing in a dark and empty soi.

[paulsf]

Tonight Twilight got off to a great start for the holiday weekend. By 9:30 Dreamboys was turning people away. Many of those customers went to X-Size and FreshBoys. They had full houses for their shows. Many boys offed tonight.

Maxis so full they were sitting in the aisles. At midnight a few people started to try to use water guns, but were shut down by much of the staff on the street. They were told to wait till tomorrow. It will be a financially successful weekend if the next couple of nights are anything like tonight. Lots of spending.

[aussie_]

I remember seeing all the massage boys in Soi Twilight with their shirts off dancing and playing water late afternoon in the middle of the soi a couple of years back. Quite a sight.

[Jasper]

Deleted

A7B02FE4-8B04-4F61-88BE-6E1D72161549.MOV

[Jasper]

Try uploading video again F15DA88B-83F8-437A-A51B-89DA1B094E5F.MOV

[vinapu]

thank you, both uploads worked fine for me

[Jasper]

thank you, both uploads worked fine for me

Oh really? Somehow I cannot view myself.

The video was taken Friday night.

[vinapu]

Oh really? Somehow I cannot view myself.

The video was taken Friday night.

No idea why, I just clicked and it uploaded without glitch.

[abidismaili]

Singepore has a big advantage: it is a city state. Small souvereign states are almost always wealthy.

[vinapu]

Singepore has a big advantage: it is a city state. Small souvereign states are almost always wealthy.

welcome back after long absence

[abidismaili]

Thank you. I was very busy with some creative work in my free time and then I just forgot about it. By not checking the forum for about 3 weeks it slowly faded from my mind. I also lost interest a bit to be honest. 

And today I thought 'oh, long time I have checked the forums, lets see what is happening'.

I also had a brief check after my recent March trip, but I didn't post.

[vinapu]

 

....my recent March trip, but I didn't post.

that's outright  grave sin

[Guest abang1961]

Singepore has a big advantage: it is a city state. Small souvereign states are almost always wealthy.

May I know what is this remark for?

[abidismaili]

May I know what is this remark for?

 

When you are a very small souvereign state it is easy to become a wealthy country. Almost all very small states are wealthy (yes there are exceptions, like some remote Pacific Islands (Tuvalu, Tonga), but maybe the remoteness is key there and mismanagement). Hong Kong, Singapore, Monaco, Liechtenstein, Luxemburg, Kuweit, Qatar, Bahrein, Brunei all rich. If a country like Russia or China was governed the exact same way as Singapore or Luxemburg, it would not become as rich (they would become wealthy, but not as rich as small countries). Smallness has advantages.

The richest states in Europe are the smallest ones (Luxemburg, Monaco, Liechtenstein). Each richer than Germany, France, my own country (the Netherlands) etc. There is only one reason: their smallness.

 

The discussion was that it could take a long time for Thailand to become as rich as Singapore, and various reasons were given. But one big reason for the success of Singapore was not mentioned: its smallness. 

 

If you have big country A and very small country B (city state level small) and they are both equally well governed then B will have it far more easy to become much richer.

[Londoner]

Is it not the case that  the less well-paid jobs in Singapore are done by foreign workers, who are "cheap" and unprotected by Trades Unions? It happens in plenty of places, not just Singapore. Many workers from  the Philippines, Bangladesh and even Thailand are exploited. When Israel expels Palestinians from their own lands, they need people to do their dirtiest, least well-paid works. Their fares are paid but their wages are so low that it's worthwhile. Financially, that is.