Bangkok -Mission Possible

[Guest]

Bangkok December 2020

Boy#1  Agreed to meet one of my old favourites via Grindr.  He's from a neighbouring country and returned to Thailand 5 months ago.  After crossing the border illegally, he took a domestic flight to Bangkok.  Apparently they never check passport stamps.    His plan is to wait until the border is open again, then return home illegally and then cross the border in the correct manner.

 

Boy #2  I agreed to meet a slim 25 year old Khmer lad via Grindr.  When it came to the money, I said is 1000 OK  ? The reply was "Wow.  Can I come now ?".    
 He only had a photo of his passport, as he's apparently applying for a visa..  As he's clearly over 18 I said OK, if the hotel accepts this.  He foolishly asks the security guard outside the Tarntawan, who says no.   What he should do is go up to reception with me.
He then proposed a nearby hotel that does accept his passport copy, with 600 for the hotel and 400 for him.   I didn't like that and said so.   He then proposed another hotel at 800 for the hotel and 200 for him, not realizing my objection was the low percentage for him.
I then decided to try the original hotel, having found it for 500 baht on Agoda.  I made sure they accepted his ID and since I needed to book online to get the price, booked it right then on the app, one click.   The hotel is known to several board members and we stopped using it for poor maintenance, but the room was OK.  
The Khmer lad looked better than his profile pictures and is very slim.  Not having money for food might be a factor.   He was fairly good, so I naturally increased the tip
 

Bars
Fresh Boys.  About 10-12 boys, of which 2 or 3 were very attractive.  Wearing plastic face visors.  The underwear is still made of thin white material. This leaves less to the imagination than most gogo bar outfits and wins my award of "best gogo bar outfit of 2020".   Beer 350 baht.  About 4-5 customers.
On the subject of revealing outfits, further down the street, some young ladies were outside their bar and the rear of their knickers was just slightly wider than  a G-string.    The gay gogo bars really ought to copy a few ideas.
Screw Boys
Probably about 8 boys, of which, one was almost exactly my type.  Although he clearly hasn't tried any press ups for weeks, if ever.
Another looked very cute, but would benefit from losing just a couple of kg.  Was engrossed in his phone, probably a video. No sign of him on an app.  One other table with customers, occupied by some very large Thai ladies.  

Tawan - Seemed to be signs of life, but as I was being propositioned by a masseur who was a long way removed from my idea of the perfect boy, I didn't look too closely.

Super A  -Closed.  One guy inside who told me it would be open tomorrow.  Surprising, since this was a Saturday evening.

The Golden Cock
Permanently closed. Signs removed, but keep reading.....

Nature Boy
Appeared to be open.  The tout outside was so engrossed with his phone that he didn't notice me walk past.   The bar now has two signs outside, one is the "New Nature Boys" sign and there is also  "Golden Cock" sign.   Dual branding ?

Massage
The number of male massage places between Prime and the BTS line seems to have increased, with several adjacent to each other

Hotels
Lots of hotel discounts.   I'd like to support my usual hotel of the Baan Silom, but their pricing is ABOVE what I paid in Dec 2019, whilst many others have large discounts.  They need to compromise slightly.   
There is a new hotel called The Quarter, located between Tawan and Prime Massage.  One wing is open and building work continues on the other.   Theoretical full rates are over 2000 baht, but in these difficult times, rooms are on offer around 500.   I e-mailed them and they confirmed joiners are accepted.   Rooms have glass fronted bathrooms, which could appeal ☺
However, I decided to stick with my booking at the Tarntawan for 707 baht.   Very comfortable bed and quiet location.   My first time here.    I went to drop my bag off early in the morning.  I didn't ask for early check in and they didn't gain any goodwill by offering it, although payment was taken in the morning.

Other
I'm pleased to see The Kerk coffee shop is still open,  Serving very nice tasty coffee and croissants.   Highly recommended.   
Nearby is a vegan restaurant, called Bangkok City Diner.  Food quite tasty, in the 250 baht ballpark.  The food at the veggie food stall near Nature Boys is almost as tasty, for 40 baht.   Now only one veggie stall, instead of 2 in previous years.  Weekdays until early afternoon only.
Among the lesser coffee shop options,  along the main drag towards Sala Daeng, there is one more Starbucks. The True coffee shop is closed.   
The building work by the Le Siam hotel still isn't above the site hoardings, so slow progress in the 10 months since I last saw it.

(Photo upload failed)

 

 

[spoon]

Great trip report! That hotel price near christmas and new year is unbelievable. The new hotel near prime definitely intrigued me, since i like my previous stay at nantra silom location but not fancy their cleanliness, and glass windows into the bathroom seals the deal for me lol. Never stayed in tarntawan myself but at 700+ baht, i wont hesitate to try too. 

[hank75]

Such a pleasure to read a full report. We have been starved all year 

[TotallyOz]

Yes, great report! Thank you.

[firecat69]

7 hours ago, z909 said:

Bangkok December 2020

Boy#1  Agreed to meet one of my old favourites via Grindr.  He's from a neighbouring country and returned to Thailand 5 months ago.  After crossing the border illegally, he took a domestic flight to Bangkok.  Apparently they never check passport stamps.    His plan is to wait until the border is open again, then return home illegally and then cross the border in the correct manner.

 

Boy #2  I agreed to meet a slim 25 year old Khmer lad via Grindr.  When it came to the money, I said is 1000 OK  ? The reply was "Wow.  Can I come now ?".    
 He only had a photo of his passport, as he's apparently applying for a visa..  As he's clearly over 18 I said OK, if the hotel accepts this.  He foolishly asks the security guard outside the Tarntawan, who says no.   What he should do is go up to reception with me.
He then proposed a nearby hotel that does accept his passport copy, with 600 for the hotel and 400 for him.   I didn't like that and said so.   He then proposed another hotel at 800 for the hotel and 200 for him, not realizing my objection was the low percentage for him.
I then decided to try the original hotel, having found it for 500 baht on Agoda.  I made sure they accepted his ID and since I needed to book online to get the price, booked it right then on the app, one click.   The hotel is known to several board members and we stopped using it for poor maintenance, but the room was OK.  
The Khmer lad looked better than his profile pictures and is very slim.  Not having money for food might be a factor.   He was fairly good, so I naturally increased the tip
 

Bars
Fresh Boys.  About 10-12 boys, of which 2 or 3 were very attractive.  Wearing plastic face visors.  The underwear is still made of thin white material. This leaves less to the imagination than most gogo bar outfits and wins my award of "best gogo bar outfit of 2020".   Beer 350 baht.  About 4-5 customers.
On the subject of revealing outfits, further down the street, some young ladies were outside their bar and the rear of their knickers was just slightly wider than  a G-string.    The gay gogo bars really ought to copy a few ideas.
Screw Boys
Probably about 8 boys, of which, one was almost exactly my type.  Although he clearly hasn't tried any press ups for weeks, if ever.
Another looked very cute, but would benefit from losing just a couple of kg.  Was engrossed in his phone, probably a video. No sign of him on an app.  One other table with customers, occupied by some very large Thai ladies.  

Tawan - Seemed to be signs of life, but as I was being propositioned by a masseur who was a long way removed from my idea of the perfect boy, I didn't look too closely.

Super A  -Closed.  One guy inside who told me it would be open tomorrow.  Surprising, since this was a Saturday evening.

The Golden Cock
Permanently closed. Signs removed, but keep reading.....

Nature Boy
Appeared to be open.  The tout outside was so engrossed with his phone that he didn't notice me walk past.   The bar now has two signs outside, one is the "New Nature Boys" sign and there is also  "Golden Cock" sign.   Dual branding ?

Massage
The number of male massage places between Prime and the BTS line seems to have increased, with several adjacent to each other

Hotels
Lots of hotel discounts.   I'd like to support my usual hotel of the Baan Silom, but their pricing is ABOVE what I paid in Dec 2019, whilst many others have large discounts.  They need to compromise slightly.   
There is a new hotel called The Quarter, located between Tawan and Prime Massage.  One wing is open and building work continues on the other.   Theoretical full rates are over 2000 baht, but in these difficult times, rooms are on offer around 500.   I e-mailed them and they confirmed joiners are accepted.   Rooms have glass fronted bathrooms, which could appeal ☺
However, I decided to stick with my booking at the Tarntawan for 707 baht.   Very comfortable bed and quiet location.   My first time here.    I went to drop my bag off early in the morning.  I didn't ask for early check in and they didn't gain any goodwill by offering it, although payment was taken in the morning.

Other
I'm pleased to see The Kerk coffee shop is still open,  Serving very nice tasty coffee and croissants.   Highly recommended.   
Nearby is a vegan restaurant, called Bangkok City Diner.  Food quite tasty, in the 250 baht ballpark.  The food at the veggie food stall near Nature Boys is almost as tasty, for 40 baht.   Now only one veggie stall, instead of 2 in previous years.  Weekdays until early afternoon only.
Among the lesser coffee shop options,  along the main drag towards Sala Daeng, there is one more Starbucks. The True coffee shop is closed.   
The building work by the Le Siam hotel still isn't above the site hoardings, so slow progress in the 10 months since I last saw it.

(Photo upload failed)

 

I must nave missed in the last few months that you are currently in Thailand.  Shame on me!!

7 hours ago, z909 said:

 

 

 

[Guest]

2 hours ago, firecat69 said:

I must nave missed in the last few months that you are currently in Thailand.  Shame on me!!

You didn't miss anything, as I'm a relatively recent arrival.

Photos:

1   Patpong1 -night market. A huge improvement !

2 Golden Cock (closed). Not that I ever spent more than about 5 seconds in the bar when it was open.

3 Nature Boys now has 2 names !   Last time I offed a lad from here, I was staying at the Om Yim.  That's a few years.

[firecat69]

DId u have have to quarantine ?

[ggobkk]

Really a pleasure to find a trip report...realized how much I missed the reports.  I also miss writing them about my visits!

 

[Guest]

11 hours ago, firecat69 said:

DId u have have to quarantine ?

Yes.  I obediently followed all the quarantine rules in order to help keep Thailand covid free.  

Meawhile, the government turned a blind eye to illegal immigration and now has a covid problem.  Whoever is in charge of policing that should be executed.

[TotallyOz]

1 hour ago, z909 said:

Yes.  I obediently followed all the quarantine rules in order to help keep Thailand covid free.  

Meawhile, the government turned a blind eye to illegal immigration and now has a covid problem.  Whoever is in charge of policing that should be executed.

I really don't think they turned a blind eye. Those of us that live here have said all along we love the quarantine rules for airports but there is no way to control the borders. There is no way for the Thai government to do this. It is just not possible. I have met people from every neighboring country in Bangkok that are here crossing borders illegally. It sucks for sure. It is not right. But, I don't think it is controllable in the current situation.

[spoon]

2 minutes ago, Michael said:

I really don't think they turned a blind eye. Those of us that live here have said all along we love the quarantine rules for airports but there is no way to control the borders. There is no way for the Thai government to do this. It is just not possible. I have met people from every neighboring country in Bangkok that are here crossing borders illegally. It sucks for sure. It is not right. But, I don't think it is controllable in the current situation.

From huge borders thai have amongst their neighbour to the lax of enforcement for border control of both thai and neighboring countries, to corrupt immigration officers taking tea money to allow border crossing illegally, it does seems impossible. My selfish self wish malaysia wouldve been as bad so that my favorite boys can come here to work (vietnamese, indonesian, thai) but nope, none have come nor brave enough to try.

Malaysia thai border are also complicated with lots of jungle in between, though in recent news, illegals crossing both ways are mainly caught at sea. But yeah, border control has been complicated issues here as well, and our third wave which is still on going is believed due to illegals from indonesia and philippines came to the borneo state of Sabah by means of sea travel. When lockdown happened and legal way to enter has been blocked, it only make way to more people taking risk to cross illegally, especially during difficult time like now. Sadly, other neighboring countries arent doing so well either. 

[Londoner]

Gay bars have depended on foreign workers for many years;  and  the same is true of the Thai economy generally. Cheap, un-unionised, easy to get rid-of, often ill-treated....

now it's all their fault. Who made money out of "illegals" , to use Trump's favourite word? Yes, the workers- but not very much. More went into the pockets of their employers, corrupt  officials and politicians.

And remember that the first immigration-dodgers who brought Covid into Thailand  - in Chiang Rai- were  probably Thai women who'd been working as bar-girls for rich Burmese in a posh hotel.  Or perhaps the smugglers and enablers.

As always, "it's the poor wot gets the blame."  It's not as though they wanted to be infected; I suspect that a more likely explanation is that they had family to support.

 Another example of capitalism exploiting the poor and then blaming them for the consequences.

[Guest]

I don't blame the illegal migrants, but I do blame the Thai government.  They heavily regulated the flow of people in tourism, whilst ignoring identical risks in other sectors. 

The way to control illegal immigration in a pandemic is to:

1 Increase border controls

2 Do random checks at employers and fine them heavily or jail them if they have illegal immigrants

3 Put in a subsidized low cost quarantine facility for migrant workers.

4 Allow long term visa extensions for those who are here legally.

 

[Guest]

Sunnee, Boyztown and Jomtien Complex on New Year's eve.   Jomtien about 17:50pm, when there are normally some signs of life.  The other photos at about 20:00 and 21:00.

Also, Dongtan beach earlier in the day.

[vinapu]

On 12/30/2020 at 3:54 PM, ggobkk said:

Really a pleasure to find a trip report...realized how much I missed the reports.  I also miss writing them about my visits!

 

# ME TOO , on both accounts, writing and reading 

It looks that slowly but surely we are coming back to life with travel reports appearing 

 

I like guy in  the Jomtien picture, actually I like him a lot! 

[TotallyOz]

Loved seeing the pics. Thanks. I have not seen Jomtien Complex in ages.Thanks for sharing.

[reader]

21 minutes ago, vinapu said:

I like guy in  the Jomtien picture, actually I like him a lot! 

I don't know what's to like. All I see are broad shoulders, a great ass, nice legs and the promise of a fantastic LT.

[vaughn]

What a difference a year can make. I was in Boyztown and Jomtien last NYE.. admittedly Jomtien still only had about 15-20 customers that i saw at 9pm, but BT was pretty packed and walking street was just chaos. I hope Sunnee holds on long enough for me to finally visit.

Thanks for the report z909!

Happy new year everyone, hopefully 2021 brings better news for us all to make Bangkok and Patts mission possible again.

[ichigo]

That roof on Jomtien complex is new right? or have I just been completely oblivious??

[Guest]

1 hour ago, ichigo said:

That roof on Jomtien complex is new right? or have I just been completely oblivious??

Yes.   Brand new.   Or as described elsewhere, a brand new erection.

[vinapu]

23 hours ago, reader said:

I don't know what's to like. All I see are broad shoulders, a great ass, nice legs and the promise of a fantastic LT.

and LT perhaps at discounted price

[TotallyOz]

22 hours ago, z909 said:

Yes.   Brand new.   Or as described elsewhere, a brand new erection.

Well, it is good to know that new erections are still happening all over Pattaya. How does your trip?

[firecat69]

On 12/30/2020 at 12:56 PM, z909 said:

Bangkok December 2020

Boy#1  Agreed to meet one of my old favourites via Grindr.  He's from a neighbouring country and returned to Thailand 5 months ago.  After crossing the border illegally, he took a domestic flight to Bangkok.  Apparently they never check passport stamps.    His plan is to wait until the border is open again, then return home illegally and then cross the border in the correct manner.

 

Boy #2  I agreed to meet a slim 25 year old Khmer lad via Grindr.  When it came to the money, I said is 1000 OK  ? The reply was "Wow.  Can I come now ?".    
 He only had a photo of his passport, as he's apparently applying for a visa..  As he's clearly over 18 I said OK, if the hotel accepts this.  He foolishly asks the security guard outside the Tarntawan, who says no.   What he should do is go up to reception with me.
He then proposed a nearby hotel that does accept his passport copy, with 600 for the hotel and 400 for him.   I didn't like that and said so.   He then proposed another hotel at 800 for the hotel and 200 for him, not realizing my objection was the low percentage for him.
I then decided to try the original hotel, having found it for 500 baht on Agoda.  I made sure they accepted his ID and since I needed to book online to get the price, booked it right then on the app, one click.   The hotel is known to several board members and we stopped using it for poor maintenance, but the room was OK.  
The Khmer lad looked better than his profile pictures and is very slim.  Not having money for food might be a factor.   He was fairly good, so I naturally increased the tip
 

Bars
Fresh Boys.  About 10-12 boys, of which 2 or 3 were very attractive.  Wearing plastic face visors.  The underwear is still made of thin white material. This leaves less to the imagination than most gogo bar outfits and wins my award of "best gogo bar outfit of 2020".   Beer 350 baht.  About 4-5 customers.
On the subject of revealing outfits, further down the street, some young ladies were outside their bar and the rear of their knickers was just slightly wider than  a G-string.    The gay gogo bars really ought to copy a few ideas.
Screw Boys
Probably about 8 boys, of which, one was almost exactly my type.  Although he clearly hasn't tried any press ups for weeks, if ever.
Another looked very cute, but would benefit from losing just a couple of kg.  Was engrossed in his phone, probably a video. No sign of him on an app.  One other table with customers, occupied by some very large Thai ladies.  

Tawan - Seemed to be signs of life, but as I was being propositioned by a masseur who was a long way removed from my idea of the perfect boy, I didn't look too closely.

Super A  -Closed.  One guy inside who told me it would be open tomorrow.  Surprising, since this was a Saturday evening.

The Golden Cock
Permanently closed. Signs removed, but keep reading.....

Nature Boy
Appeared to be open.  The tout outside was so engrossed with his phone that he didn't notice me walk past.   The bar now has two signs outside, one is the "New Nature Boys" sign and there is also  "Golden Cock" sign.   Dual branding ?

Massage
The number of male massage places between Prime and the BTS line seems to have increased, with several adjacent to each other

Hotels
Lots of hotel discounts.   I'd like to support my usual hotel of the Baan Silom, but their pricing is ABOVE what I paid in Dec 2019, whilst many others have large discounts.  They need to compromise slightly.   
There is a new hotel called The Quarter, located between Tawan and Prime Massage.  One wing is open and building work continues on the other.   Theoretical full rates are over 2000 baht, but in these difficult times, rooms are on offer around 500.   I e-mailed them and they confirmed joiners are accepted.   Rooms have glass fronted bathrooms, which could appeal ☺
However, I decided to stick with my booking at the Tarntawan for 707 baht.   Very comfortable bed and quiet location.   My first time here.    I went to drop my bag off early in the morning.  I didn't ask for early check in and they didn't gain any goodwill by offering it, although payment was taken in the morning.

Other
I'm pleased to see The Kerk coffee shop is still open,  Serving very nice tasty coffee and croissants.   Highly recommended.   
Nearby is a vegan restaurant, called Bangkok City Diner.  Food quite tasty, in the 250 baht ballpark.  The food at the veggie food stall near Nature Boys is almost as tasty, for 40 baht.   Now only one veggie stall, instead of 2 in previous years.  Weekdays until early afternoon only.
Among the lesser coffee shop options,  along the main drag towards Sala Daeng, there is one more Starbucks. The True coffee shop is closed.   
The building work by the Le Siam hotel still isn't above the site hoardings, so slow progress in the 10 months since I last saw it.

(Photo upload failed)

Great reports but unless I missed it again, there was no report on the specifics of your Quarantine  which I think many including me would find very useful information??

[Guest]

Well if you know anyone who wants to do the quarantine, send them to the Thailand ASQ page on Facebook (it pains me to recommend that platform, but it's where the information is).  Tell them to spend several hours reading, as the answers to almost every question will be there.

1  At Suvarnabhumi, it took about 30 minutes to get through all the processes and collect my luggage.  I then had a wait of about another 30 minutes, as someone else on the same flight had booked the same Internment camp, so we were sharing transport.

2  I paid 50,000 baht, which included 3 meals a day and transport from the airport.   The cheapest options are about 35,000 baht.   Some complain about the pricing, but the hospitals take almost 20,000.  So the hotel is about 2000 per night, including 3 meals per day.   Looking at comparable pre-packed meals in Tops Silom, I reckon the meals are worth about 100-140 baht, so 1600-1700 for the room.  I estimate the room I had would normally be in that range, so the pricing is fair.

3 Some hotels have terrible refund policies, such as 72 hour limits for changes.   No use at all if you fail the covid test, the day before departure.   My hotel had very reasonable rules, with my liability at something like 2.5% in case of cancellation.

4  We had covid tests on day 5 and 12.   Anyone failing gets sent to hospital, so make sure your Insurance covers asymptomatic cases.  Or develop symptoms the moment you hear it's a fail !   Beware some British and German insurers are bastards at interpreting the terms.   Read every damn line of the policy.   I used Axa Thailand. 

I did hear one person was sent to hospital for an "inconclusive" result.  That must be a nightmare for insurance and I would have been demanding to see the rules.

Anyhow, thankfully I passed.    I also refused to allow the cleaners in to my room for the dduratio, as I didn't want cross contaminatio .

5  Despite a comfortable room and some melatonin, from those lovely iHerb people, sleeping in quarantine was difficult.  This miraculously improved on day 16, after leaving.

I had a few activities to keep me going, such as walking, reading and watching You Tube videos, on a raspberry pi hooked up to the TV.   You need to think about this.

Alcohol is not allowed, but of course they wouldn't dream of searching your virus infested luggage, so a bottle of spirits could easily be taken in.  I decided to abstain.

The food varied from edible to tasty. They screwed up my special meal twice, but very rapidly rectified that.   What it lacked was dietary fibre, so I should have packec some.

 

[hank75]

Could you share what hotel you were in? Did you get to choose?