Why not retire to Thailand?

[Mavica]

On 7/29/2022 at 11:33 AM, floridarob said:

The more I looked into in, Mexico was the clear winner. Easier to get residency and no reporting BS and no keeping money in their banks. Once a resident in Mexico the only thing you have to report to immigration is any change of address. 

Mexico, though, has an income/asset test/requirement in order to obtain a residency visa.

[Mavica]

On 7/31/2022 at 1:04 AM, PeterRS said:

With younger gay tourists seemingly wealthier and travel hopefully soon to become less expensive, I'm rather surprised that there seem to be no tour companies around organising gay tours to several countries on one trip. Many will recall the Utopia Tours company which was based in the Tarntawan hotel lobby. It did organise multi-country tours. Sadly it became the subject of a scandalous court case (the scandal surrounded the judge!) and later shut up shop. I believe it was reincarnated as Purple Dragon Tours. But even that no longer exists. Anyone wanting to know more about that case can check here -

https://web.archive.org/web/20050606015724/http:/www.yawningbread.org/arch_2005/yax-435.htm

I know that Siam Roads provides excellent guides around the region.  But it does not include Malaysia, Hong Kong or Taiwan nor make transport and hotel arrangements. Once the covid entry restrictions in all countries are removed, I expect the gay scenes in these cities to be fully open to tourists again. Perhaps the new breed of sex-related tourist might wish to include at least 2 if not 3 destination countries rather than always sticking with Bangkok and Pattaya.

I don't know that "younger gay tourists seem wealthier".  Not post-COVID.  Travel costs more today than it did several years ago.  The worldwide economic situation is not favorable for many, currently.  North American gay tourists seem to more frequently visit Mexico, Brazil, etc.  It's closer, less expensive, and there seem to be plentiful opportunities to find play for pay relationships.

[Olddaddy]

I just watched a YouTube vid a farang who lost his job in the UK ,51yo,had enough of the UK,  moved to Dumamagette in the Philippines  (farang area)to be with his GF  and after 7 months was so bored and got sick of the culture he has moved back.

Now that's someone who I guessed went for his yearly 4 week vacation and loved it , and then tried it full time and couldn't lead the " normal life" there .

 

[PeterRS]

41 minutes ago, Mavica said:

I don't know that "younger gay tourists seem wealthier".  Not post-COVID.  Travel costs more today than it did several years ago.  The worldwide economic situation is not favorable for many, currently.

I did qualify my remark with "seem" 😵. Obviously I have no statistics. But I was talking about a very small group of possible tourists who would be using the services of an agency that covers travel, hotel and other general travel costs for trips to two or more countries. I suspect the number that a small tour company could handle in a year would not be more than a few thousand. While the majority of gay tourists will inevitably have suffered as a result of covid and now as a result of higher prices, there must be a group from various countries spending pink dollars who are considerably wealthier than the rest of us and who like the idea of a company doing much of their travel planning for them. At least that's my hunch.

[floridarob]

3 hours ago, Mavica said:

Mexico, though, has an income/asset test/requirement in order to obtain a residency visa.

Is a pretty low bar, I made it 😉

They had/have a program that if you overstayed your tourist visa and it wasn't your 1st visit to Mexico, you could "normalize" your status and become a temp resident without any income requirements. It started during Covid and as far as I know, is still in place.

[pong2]

From my previous job-admittedly ended some years ago now in happy retirement-on the side of what some call ´the travel industry´ I can clearly state that about any of the dedicated gay tours agencies etc. did not see any remote ´market´ interest from enough people, and not even talking about that time would suit them etc. to organise such trips as Mavica describes. But that comes from ´the continent´ of EUrope. Even organised short time tours to such well-known gay resort like places like Mykonos in summer, Ibiza, Canarias etc were more often cancelled due to low interest as running.

Take it as it is, but gays seem to be a most individual type of people and if they would even consider to go in a group what seems to matter most is that he+he+him etc are not in that group-an utmost impossible task for an agency to organise and still make some profit. They also seem to have no real ´midmarket´-it is either superdeluxe does not matter what it cost or barebones bekpekking.

THis is not at all my own preference, I am here just passing on from sources well into this type of business how they feel about it

[Olddaddy]

Look I'm going to be honest , my Filipino boyfriend suggested  sometime  we should go on a cruise in Alaska that he looked up.

I asked him if it was thru a "gay travel company"?

No he said ,"Does it matter?

Yes , I'm going to feel very awkward on a cruise with a man (Boyfriend)who has boyish looks and is 30yo whilst I'm 62 and  mostly  retired  European &  American couples on the cruise who may judge/not judge 

I won't go on something like that, cruises etc , that means I have to be open and introduce my partner etc only to be laughed at behind our backs or judged etc ,no not for me unless it's a gay travel agency 

 

[alvnv]

Don’t go on a high-end cruise line, but rather opt for lower-end cruises or, better yet, free-style cruising like Norwegian (ncl.com) where there are no assigned tables or meal-times - you may not have to interact with anybody but the cruise personnel.

[Olddaddy]

52 minutes ago, alvnv said:

Don’t go on a high-end cruise line, but rather opt for lower-end cruises or, better yet, free-style cruising like Norwegian (ncl.com) where there are no assigned tables or meal-times - you may not have to interact with anybody but the cruise personnel.

🤣"You may not have to interact with anybody ....

It doesn't sound like I'm sociable I know 😅

[vinapu]

47 minutes ago, alvnv said:

Don’t go on a high-end cruise line, but rather opt for lower-end cruises or, better yet, free-style cruising like Norwegian (ncl.com) where there are no assigned tables or meal-times - you may not have to interact with anybody but the cruise personnel.

+1

I was on Norwegian cruise to the Caribbean and indeed, you  are free to mix ot not mix with anybody. 

In case of big age difference, if somebody asks you are traveling with your grandson or son in law. 

Even on higher end cruises you can skip fixed meals and tables easily by dining in  you can eat cafeterias with benefit of gaining less weight. 

[vinapu]

2 minutes ago, Olddaddy said:

🤣"You may not have to interact with anybody ....

It doesn't sound like I'm sociable I know 😅

You still may be, after all vacations are from everything, including being sociable.

  I just arrived from 4 weeks trip during which I checked my email grand total of 2 times and I did not feel I missed anything important ( lottery did ot send any winning notification emails) 

 

 

 

[fedssocr]

There are some gay cruises out there but they tend to be circuit party type things. Not all of them but that's the reputation. Cruises these days are generally much more casual than they used to be. Lots of gay couples on mainstream cruises - they all have YouTube channels

 

[scott456]

5 hours ago, Olddaddy said:

Look I'm going to be honest , my Filipino boyfriend suggested  sometime  we should go on a cruise in Alaska that he looked up.

I asked him if it was thru a "gay travel company"?

No he said ,"Does it matter?

Yes , I'm going to feel very awkward on a cruise with a man (Boyfriend)who has boyish looks and is 30yo whilst I'm 62 and  mostly  retired  European &  American couples on the cruise who may judge/not judge 

I won't go on something like that, cruises etc , that means I have to be open and introduce my partner etc only to be laughed at behind our backs or judged etc ,no not for me unless it's a gay travel agency 

 

You and your Filipino bf will be judged in both heterosexual cruises and gay cruises for age difference and race. 

[alvnv]

2 hours ago, scott456 said:

You and your Filipino bf will be judged in both heterosexual cruises and gay cruises for age difference and race. 

Furthermore, if you’re jealous type, you may have a hard time on a gay cruise with your young boyfriend getting all the attention and being hit on constantly.

[scott456]

18 minutes ago, alvnv said:

Furthermore, if you’re jealous type, you may have a hard time on a gay cruise with your young boyfriend getting all the attention and being hit on constantly.

Unless he is girly(not masculine), or not in good shape, or not good looking.

[Londoner]

I'm sympathetic to Olddaddy's concerns. A few years back, P and I took a boat trip from Krabi to Phi Phi and found  being  confined to the company of  falang straight, elderly couples dispiriting. The jaunt included a lunch on Phi Phi in which we found ourselves forced to share a table with a couple whose disdain was palpable. We made our excuses, as they say, and left.

it was the last time that we took a group tour.  

[Olddaddy]

1 hour ago, Londoner said:

I'm sympathetic to Olddaddy's concerns. A few years back, P and I took a boat trip from Krabi to Phi Phi and found  being  confined to the company of  falang straight, elderly couples dispiriting. The jaunt included a lunch on Phi Phi in which we found ourselves forced to share a table with a couple whose disdain was palpable. We made our excuses, as they say, and left.

it was the last time that we took a group tour.  

That's what I don't want to go through.

I guess as time goes by however the younger generation will have different thoughts.

But.....a gay couple the same age is probably more accepted than some "Daddy and his son " and people judge that 

[Londoner]

I don't blame you; our discomfort was measured in hours, not days. And, so I believe, on cruises you are forced to share a table with the same people for the duration, whether you like it (or them) or not. 

 

[scott456]

5 hours ago, Londoner said:

... share a table with a couple whose disdain was palpable. We made our excuses, as they say, and left.

it was the last time that we took a group tour.  

You should have stood your ground and kiss P in front of them. 

[a-447]

16 minutes ago, scott456 said:

You should have stood your ground and kiss P in front of them. 

And let them know that you guys have more sex in a week then they have in a year, and neither of you ever get a headache!

[vinapu]

1 hour ago, scott456 said:

You should have stood your ground and kiss P in front of them. 

What if they escalated it and took out their dentures at the table ? 

[fedssocr]

5 hours ago, Londoner said:

I don't blame you; our discomfort was measured in hours, not days. And, so I believe, on cruises you are forced to share a table with the same people for the duration, whether you like it (or them) or not. 

 

Depends on the cruise line, but most of them have stopped forcing people to dine with strangers, especially in the aftermath of Covid

[reader]

I've heard gay men my age express concern about being seen with a younger man in a restaurant in Bangkok. If there's any place on earth where this more of a non-issue, I'm not aware of it.

I frequently offer to take a guy out to eat and I can't recall the last one who declined the offer.

I've come to look at this way: if I'm not at peace with my sexuality now, how many more years will I have to wait before I am.

 

[Olddaddy]

1 hour ago, reader said:

I've heard gay men my age express concern about being seen with a younger man in a restaurant in Bangkok. If there's any place on earth where this more of a non-issue, I'm not aware of it.

I frequently offer to take a guy out to eat and I can't recall the last one who declined the offer.

I've come to look at this way: if I'm not at peace with my sexuality now, how many more years will I have to wait before I am.

 

Places like Bangkok or even the whole of Thailand doesnt concern me in that regard, even though I could count a few times there's been a few remarks made in Pattaya when I have been out & about with a boy or two 

As for the Philippines I travelled extensively with my Filipino BF and actually forgot about being "gay",nobody asked (except his family and unfortunately he had to lie and say I was his employer)😣

But unfortunately the Western Countries can have people who are very judgemental especially people our age group and above and even some quite nasty "Karen's" who won't mind their own business.

 

[Londoner]

As a newbie, in olden times, I was diffident being seen in a MB's company. When I offed a guy, I whisked him into Ambiance or wherever as fast as I could.

After years of this, I met P and recall taking him to Tuc Com to buy a phone-  yes, yes, I know that's a cliché- and suddenly realised that it was the first time I'd ventured out of Boyztown with a companion.

Now I don't give a d**n, whether it be Thailand, Laos, Bali and (I hope) London soon.  But the memory of that couple on the Phi Phi trip still vexes me. And P as well, who'd been looking forward to that day for a long time.