Short or Long Visit

[Matthew285]

Hi all,

I made my first visit to Bangkok in February for 10 nights and it was fantastic, I am heading back in November for 15 nights.  I am now looking for 2025 and as I still work in the UK only have 3 1/2 weeks holiday to take, I prefer November to February so the bank holidays dont help.

My question is it better to do two maybe three shorter trips of say seven nights, taking into account the extra air fair, of to go the whole and stay for the 3 1/2 weeks in on go, probably February knowing it will be another 12 months before I can visit again.

thoughts and comments appreciated.

Hope this is a sensible topic for the forumn.

 

[macaroni21]

There's no better or worse; a lot depends  on what you're wanting from a visit. While you have explained your leave situation, it might help if you also said something about what you found fantastic from your February 2024 visit. Were you mostly enjoying the clubbing scene like lots of younger gay travellers? The commercial sex opportunities? The cruising saunas? Or were you going around the historical sites, the shopping malls, and soaking in the different culture, cuisine, traffic gridlock or air pollution (OK, maybe not the last two 🤪)?

Are you hoping to get out of Bangkok to visit other parts of Thailand or neighbouring countries?

There are some on this board who stay 3 to 6 months at a stretch and love it. Others choose more frequent but shorter stays - and also love it. A way to figure out what *may* work better for you may be to see if your interests align more with the long-stay fellas or the short-stay fellas.

Personally, while I have done stays of several weeks, they always involved travelling to other parts of Thailand or a hop over to Laos or Cambodia. I can't imagine staying more than a week or 10 days in just Bangkok. So, I am a short-stay kind of guy, but I also have an advantage - work takes me to Southeast Asia regularly, and from wherever I am on one of these trips, it's a short hop to Bangkok.

[Matthew285]

As it was my first visit there was a lot of sightseeing and exploring, enjoying the sights and weather.  I used a guide for a couple of days to help with that.  My time was all in Bangkok and my next visit will be all Bangkok as well as i think I just scratched the surface.  I finally got to the bars Moonlight, Jupiter2018 towards the end of my trip and had fun offing on about 4 nights mainly from Moonlight.  I think on my next trip I want to visit as many as i can.  

I did not do saunas or massage so there is that to add to the list.

the more i list the longer i think i will need to cover it all.

This was my first trip at 54 so not a young traveller.

 

 

 

 

[kokopelli3]

I was 60 on my first visit so , in comparison, you are a young traveler! Enjoy every minute of your adventure.

[floridarob]

2 hours ago, Matthew285 said:

My question is it better to do two maybe three shorter trips of say seven nights,

yes, or 2 longer...better than waiting a year until the next one, too far off on the horizon.

[vinapu]

Since you are in UK from where it, s relatively  short hop to Bangkok, at least when compared to North American' s ordeal to get there, I'd go for more frequent, shorter trips. As floridarob mentioned, waiting whole year for the next trip may be a chore. 

[Londoner]

It depends on the health and resilience of the traveller. I was just under fifty on my first trip and so dazzled was I at  what I experienced that I booked up another two flights  on my return. However, I was still working then and the best I could do was one week, of which two days were devoted to the flight.

From London, door to door, including waiting at the airport, the journey was about seventeen hours each way. And at that I age I coped.

Now? no chance! I find the journey absolutely worthwhile and regret nothing.....but, the truth is, I struggle even now when I use Business Class. 

So, if you are young (under sixty, or whatever!) and are full of beans ((as we Britons say), go for a long weekend if you like! And good luck to you

[Olddaddy]

I would say split the trips, especially if there is 1 year between!

You will get bored doing 3 week,too long one in one place

split it to shorter ,you would be more inclined to have a good time plus look forward to the next trip closer 😁 

The only negative is the extra airfare 

[Tomtravel]

I met recently in Berlin a guy in his late 30s who arrived from US on Thursday and left on Monday, only to screw around. He was very efficient and focused. Supersexy and handsome stud, great southern personality.

[Matthew285]

thanks for the input, two visits for me seems right, after taking in everything, waiting until November will be a pain, but atleast i have three weeks in Vietnam in August, work visit, but it will give me a boost until then.

[gerefan]

The other place you need to consider visiting is Pattaya. I go there for 3 months in the winter and six weeks in the summer. I know you haven’t the time available at the moment.

Pattaya has much to offer, a huge gay scene, beaches (or a sort) and is not as busy a city as Bangkok.

You will find you have done the gay scene in Bangkok soon and Pattaya is well worth a weeks visit (or more). 

[Olddaddy]

2 hours ago, Tomtravel said:

I met recently in Berlin a guy in his late 30s who arrived from US on Thursday and left on Monday, only to screw around. He was very efficient and focused. Supersexy and handsome stud, great southern personality.

What do you mean by "very efficient and focused""

[Tomtravel]

He basically moved from one cruising bar to an other one, did not spend too much time socializing over a beer, had a lube in his pocket and had strategically selected hotel, where he slept 4-5 hours. He was really busy to utilize his time.

[floridarob]

1 hour ago, Tomtravel said:

He basically moved from one cruising bar to an other one, did not spend too much time socializing over a beer, had a lube in his pocket and had strategically selected hotel, where he slept 4-5 hours. He was really busy to utilize his time.

Sounds like a few flight attendants I know 😆

[macaroni21]

5 hours ago, Matthew285 said:

thanks for the input, two visits for me seems right, after taking in everything, waiting until November will be a pain, but atleast i have three weeks in Vietnam in August, work visit, but it will give me a boost until then.

Based on what you described as the the activities for your February visit and what you seem to be looking forward to, then I think you are right in deciding on two shorter visits of about 10 days, within a year. The sights are seldom as much a wow thing the second time compared to the first. In any case, there aren't enough sights (not in Bangkok, anyway) to fill three and a half weeks.

There's an endless supply of sex, but my experience is that desire will peter out after a week or so. The thrill wears out, it becomes a routine and soon enough, a boring one.

And yes, you should try the massage offerings. But let me give you a bit of advice here when venturing into this area: There are roughly three kinds of massage parlours and it is hard to tell them apart from appearances.

1.  Places that offer real massage and no sex (at most, if you are lucky, a handjob)

2. Places where the management pretends it is a real massage place, but most of the boys don't know the techniques, and are more interested in selling sex for big tips.

3. Places that have "massage" or "spa" in their name but are basically brothels. You may get a simple, reasonably satisfying massage or the boy merely goes through the motions (or sometimes don't have a clue how to perform a massage) and you need to think of the "massage" more as foreplay. Depending on which brothel you're patronising, the expected tip can vary tremendously.

To make matters even more confusing, there are no hard and fast boundaries between one type and another. There are places kind of in-between. However, I find it easier to think in terms of these three types and classify the various places accordingly in my mind. Why? Because the business transaction operates somewhat differently depending on whether it is 1, 2 or 3, particularly the tip (or what I call the service fee). Closer to November when you are ready to dip your toe into Thailand's gay "massage" business, maybe you can ask for more information about how to navigate ths confusing sector.

By the way, are you heading to Hanoi or Ho Chi MInh City in August?

[Matthew285]

Ho Chi Minh but in district 1, i understand from pervious post that distict 10 is where i should be heading to.

[spoon]

Im more a shorter stay guy, mainly due to work but recently, i tried going for a 2 week long in thailand, and i didnt regret it one bit. Granted, i do split my time between bangkok and pattaya. The last few visits, i rarely did bangkok or pattaya sight seeing anymore, so i added in side trips, such as chiang mai, vientiene, hua hin, kanchanaburi etc. 

I do have an advantage of living near to thailand (2.30 hour flight) so shorter trips is more desirable but sometimes work schedule make it easier to just take leaves at the end of the year, when most people takes their leaves. Thus the longer trip. 

I just finished a work trip that is 3 long weeks, and i pretty much cant wait to return home. I guess 2 weeks or less is my sweet spot. 

[macaroni21]

20 hours ago, Matthew285 said:

Ho Chi Minh but in district 1, i understand from pervious post that distict 10 is where i should be heading to.

I have always stayed in District 1 and didn't think it to be a problem. In fact that's where the tourist- friendly cafes and restaurants are. Outside of it, you may find it difficult to even get an English-language menu.

I have been into District 10 a few times and I agree there are a number of massage parlours there. But I wouldn't want to stay there. It's an ugly part of Saigon (roads with no pavements, repair shops for bicycles and home appliances, etc) with few allowances for foreigners. If I need to go there, I get a Grab car in and a Grab car out.