I'm not as excited anymore

[Olddaddy]

In a few weeks I'm off to Pattaya on my yearly 2 month trip 

I sat in my apartment here in farangland listening to a song I first heard in Pattaya 20 years ago called "Take me to the clouds above "

I first heard it in those Go Go bars in PattayaLand Soi 3 was it where wild west boys is .

Forget the names of the go go bars then , 

I just listened to that song   tonight and it brought back memories of Pattaya back in 2004

Times have changed and i looked over my old diaries to see I was going to Pattaya back then every 3 months for week long trips,  and according to my diary I was very excited weeks before 

Even taking sick leave from my work to go

Fast forward 20 years and I'm not that overly excited,

I could even put it off until later in the year if I wanted ,not that fussed actually 

I don't know if it's me changing ,maybe I'm getting old , or if it's Pattaya .

I do plan to retire there within the next 10 years 

The shine is still there but I miss a lot of the past ,and that's not a good thing because I like change 

In a way it's great not to be overly excited as I was 20 years ago , those days I was counting down , and it was antsy pants until departure day ,antsy antsy pants !

Now I don't care as much 

 

[Mysteryman]

Dragostea Din Tei was the first song I heard in 2006 as I stepped out of the bus at the hotel on top of a very smelly sewer drain. Likevise I am not as excited as before, and we are the same age.

[floridarob]

2 hours ago, Olddaddy said:

that's not a good thing because I like change 

It's a big world, there's more than Pattaya.....

[Keithambrose]

4 hours ago, floridarob said:

It's a big world, there's more than Pattaya.....

But that doesn't mean that it can't  still be fun!

[Olddaddy]

10 minutes ago, Keithambrose said:

But that doesn't mean that it can't  still be fun!

And is it as fun to you as it was 20 years ago?

 

[Olddaddy]

5 hours ago, Mysteryman said:

Dragostea Din Tei was the first song I heard in 2006 as I stepped out of the bus at the hotel on top of a very smelly sewer drain. Likevise I am not as excited as before, and we are the same age.

Lol, just listening to that !😂

Yes ! It was playing continually back then I remembered it 

Base to base ......

[Marc K]

Dear Old, It's called hormones my dear. They tone down after a while and sex no longer becomes the biggest driving force in one's life. When that happens you can see the world a little bit more clearly, not being clouded by continual lust and not being driven to take amazing risks which we should have avoided in the first place. Travel becomes even more sweet -- you can enjoy a flash of a smile, a sweet embrace, seeing an old friend and catching up, ... well enjoying life as a more multidimensional experience. For me Pattaya is just as exciting as it was 20+ years ago because, besides sex, I enjoy so many other things -- a 30B mango shake from the night market, a walk to the "end of the earth" (Pratumnak), the cooling off after a tropical rainstorm, ... well just so many things which I would have ignored in the past. Luckily we were young enough to enjoy the hedonistic ways of Pattaya's past. I think if I were young now I would feel cheated out of not having been able to experience Pattaya of the past (Adam and Eve bar, Memory bar, old Twilight, ...) so many things that just don't exist any more. SO I don't know if it is because _I_ changed, or because _Pattaya_ has changed, perhaps both?

[vinapu]

12 hours ago, Olddaddy said:

I don't know if it's me changing ,maybe I'm getting old , or if it's Pattaya .

 

all three I guess

12 hours ago, Olddaddy said:

 

The shine is still there but I miss a lot of the past ,and that's not a good thing because I like change 

 

wailing over past will not do you any good unless you like bitter taste. However fabulous, past is gone. Better focus on anticipation of new trip. And if you like change , do something different like start your trip in Bangkok.

Every trip to add some spice I try to do some small things bit differently , one trip it will be changing hotel every day, another staying in the same whole trip ( which I don't like), off all boys from the same bar - I call it monodiet trip or have my first offed boys being twink, itself horror of horrors. Then you will wait with anticipation how it will work for you   

[vinapu]

5 hours ago, Olddaddy said:

And is it as fun to you as it was 20 years ago?

 

I don'y know about Keith but for me it's more fun now as I did not like Pattaya initially, only when some member g here urged me to "give her a chance " in his words I started likin it better and better .

[Olddaddy]

1 minute ago, vinapu said:

all three I guess

wailing over past will not do you any good unless you like bitter taste. However fabulous, past is gone. Better focus on anticipation of new trip. And if you like change , do something different like start your trip in Bangkok.

Every trip to add some spice I try to do some small things bit differently , one trip it will be changing hotel every day, another staying in the same whole trip ( which I don't like), off all boys from the same bar - I call it monodiet trip or have my first offed boys being twink, itself horror of horrors. Then you will wait with anticipation how it will work for you   

Vinapu your right.

I may do a bit of Bangkok this trip.

For years I avoided Bangkok but it may be a bit of change I need , as for changing hotels I hate lugging my suitcase to keep changing but I stayed in like 4 different ones in Pattaya my last 2 month trip.

More expensive mind you ,if you stay in  different ones 

I want to try the Classroom hotel this trip 

[vinapu]

5 minutes ago, Olddaddy said:

I want to try the Classroom hotel this trip 

you will be happy there, rooms are big and entrance very discreet and card operated

[vinapu]

2 minutes ago, Olddaddy said:

Vinapu your right.

 

tell me something I don't know 😁

[Olddaddy]

Just now, vinapu said:

you will be happy there, rooms are gin and entrance very discreet and card operated

I need a balcony though 

I will look on Agoda to see what they have 

Did you book through those hotel apps?

[vinapu]

1 minute ago, Olddaddy said:

I need a balcony though 

I will look on Agoda to see what they have 

Did you book through those hotel apps?

they have rooms with 2 types of balcony , small and bigger one with stone table and bench.

I always book them through agoda

[floridarob]

2 hours ago, vinapu said:

I always book them through agoda

Better discounts and food credits if you book directly, plus they don't have to pay a commission and wait for their money.

[Londoner]

I've just returned after what must be my eightieth (more or less) trip. And I'm pleased to say that there was no loss of enjoyment, though the twenty hours travel is increasingly stressful. As is the "recovery time"....longer now than it was when I was younger.

Of course, a major factor for me is that I have someone I love awaiting me. That reunion is something I look forward to.  We continue to take pleasure from the most mundane activities; walking the beach- this time in Lamai ( Koh Samui) as well as Jomtien- deciding where we're having dinner, me watching P make his devotions in the temple, and so on. Even having a shared breakfast. I'm always conscious that I  smile more and laugh more when I'm with him. 

I sometimes wonder whether I'd still be travelling to Pattaya if I was still playing the bar-scene as I was twenty years ago. Reading posts about bars does cause some nostalgia but, overall I think that what I have now is better, though not without the inherent tribulations  of a long-distance relationship.

Anyway, the good news is that the next trip is only fifteen weeks away. And where to go this time before Jomtien? Krabi? Chiang Mai? Bangkok? Chiang Rai? Decisions, decisions.  I am certainly fortunate, and my determination to spend my last years living as disgracefully as possible undiminished.

And yes, I suppose  I should admit that a particular activity remains fun, just in case the more prurient of our posters were wondering!.  

[Keithambrose]

10 hours ago, Olddaddy said:

And is it as fun to you as it was 20 years ago?

 

I wasn't there 20 years ago!

[reader]

7 hours ago, Olddaddy said:

I need a balcony though

That's not always a good sign in Pattaya. 🙂

Start and finish trip in Bangkok.

[gerefan]

9 hours ago, Olddaddy said:I stayed in like 4 different ones in Pattaya my last 2 month trip.

More expensive mind you ,if you stay in  different ones 

I want to try the Classroom hotel this trip 

Why not stay in a condo if you are there for 2 months? Not a problem in high season and even less of a problem in low season if only staying for a month.

All the condos have a balcony.

[Travellerdave]

9 hours ago, vinapu said:

you will be happy there, rooms are big and entrance very discreet and card operated

I had a week’s stay at the Classroom recently and only moved for my second week because I like a swimming pool. As Vinapu has mentioned there is a side door affording access with the room card, avoiding the reception and the indoor hotel bar. A boy from Madagascar liked this as he seemed nervous about showing his I’d. I don’t really know if it should be regarded as a gay hotel, as is the nearby Ambiance, but one night another guest with a boy shared the lift with me and my overnight “boyfriend”. Bearing in mind its position I did wonder if I would experience overnight noise, but that was not the case.

i would definitely stay there again making the reservation direct with the Classroom using their website.

 

[Lucky]

My last trip to Thailand was one of my best even though I barely visited the bars and the saunas.

[vinapu]

11 hours ago, floridarob said:

Better discounts and food credits if you book directly, plus they don't have to pay a commission and wait for their money.

Not disputing what you are saying, they told me the same but when I was actually booking last time  it still was cheaper by Agoda.

Bottom line is  not to make any assumption and try hotels own website as well as few booking sites  and compare prices not assuming anything. It's not unknown to science that certain hotel may,  say, have cheaper rates mid-week on expedia  but more user friendly on weekend on priceline. I noticed it recently when looking for digs for my incoming European trip.

Another thing to watch is where we are booking from. About 10 years ago my Malaysian friend knowing we will be in Bangkok at the same time  alarmed me about good Raya rates on some website.  I went to check  and there were good but not even close to what he was seeing. Thinking that rooms at his rate are sold out already I booked by what I saw only to be informed few hours later that he still sees his pricing for our dates. 

I also noticed that some Bangkok  hotels are releasing capacity  closer to  date of travel so one planning trip at end of May may see say, ABC hotel booked out but at end of this month all of the sudden few room will show available.

[vinapu]

9 hours ago, Londoner said:

  I should admit that a particular activity remains fun, just in case the more prurient of our posters were wondering!.  

you don't have any shame and good for you !

[vinapu]

4 hours ago, Travellerdave said:

 I don’t really know if it should be regarded as a gay hotel, as is the nearby Ambiance, but one night another guest with a boy shared the lift with me and my overnight “boyfriend”. Bearing in mind its position I did wonder if I would experience overnight noise, but that was not the case.

 

Classrooms is not a gay hotel and few times I shared elevator with guests and their girls but definitely is gay friendly and no eyes are blinked if you are walking even with three boys in tow. How I know? Been there , done that, in fact my only 4some in my entire long life was exactly in their friendly room.

[Flying_Angel]

Haha I hear the owner of this thread. I went to Bangkok the first time in 2013 in my mid 20s - accidentally because I caught a first class error fare and had chance to travel to Bangkok cheap and classy, stayed at Pullman G and had a blast of time in Silom when Soi Twilight still was alive (arguably "Dragostea Din Tei" was already kinda outdated back then)

When I return nowadays I must say that it is somewhat different. I really dislike the Gogo-bars which rip you off wherever they can and do not provide any adequate offering. I rather prefer hook-ups via apps or just go to some 'massage' parlours...it is still fun but is just different. And Pullman G has also deterioated which is a shame because I have still good memories with that place...but then I rather go Banyan Tree, SO Hotel, Marriott Surawongse or Le Meridien....all far better

I'll return to BKK in May for a couple of days and really looking forward to it and what has changed since my last visit in 2022. If anyone has "must go's" which have come up in the meantime that is really appreciated...

 

Best

Flying_Angel