Grief , sorrow and consolation. Trip to Bangkok in November of 2024.

[vinapu]

Day 1

He was losing the battle. Talking  to him daily by video call on WhatsApp for last 3 weeks I could see him getting weaker and weaker and our talk was shorter and shorter. Even if he kept his mental faculties intact he was losing strength inch by inch. His last words I heard were ‘ thank you ‘ presumably unfinished ‘ thank you for a call “ . And then next morning message from wife “ he left us last night”.

Even if I’m quarter of world away I knew that I need attend his funeral , simply because I felt I owe it to him and his family I was so close to for that last 44 years. Fact that we were the same age  , to a month,  was kind of warning signal ‘ you are somewhere in the line man”.

Is not easy to get last minute decent prized flight but Guardian Angel was on my side I found one although requiring stay there over one week past funeral date, option I was not keen on for few reasons. Then moment of enlightenment came ‘ see if you can find something to Bangkok for that week”. After all I was to be half way there already.

An hour later I had a ticket for some obscure airlines, Pegasus and Air Arabia,  carry on up to 6 kg and food for purchase   only but price was right.  And since I travel light anyways it was not obstacle.

That way instead of January of 2027 or perhaps even 2029 I found myself  landing in Swampy mid Nov of 2024 via  Istanbul and Sharjah. For those who are curious about those dates -my August trip was  partially disappointing and I did not have any immediate plans to return any time soon as result.

But lets be honest , if one is stressed and want to get away from it all while looking for calm and consolation there’s no better place than Bangkok urban jungle , at least not for me.

Arrival at 4.30 pm was very convenient, immigration was a breeze, weather quite pleasant and rates in the exchange kiosks by the train station  quite digestible. It was already darkening when I walked from Sala Daeng to Red Planet, my hotel for first 2 nights.

Budget option but recent price raises of BKK hotels were substantial so I decided to look for cheaper options this time. Room was on smaller side but had all amenities  one needs, AC and safety deposit box were working , everything was clean and bathroom was of proper size, one can say almost as big as room itself. Only thing in short supply is place to hang your stuff , only 3 hangers provided but since I travel light , I managed anyways.

Best thing about Red Planet is discretion. Reception is on 2^nd floor so it means when coming to the room alone or with somebody one bypasses it entirely, the same like in Raya. No breakfast provided but on ground floor facing street there’s  7/11 and walk to Foodland is not that long.

At 9 to Foodland to eat something , soon reader  showed up since I reported to him my arrival  from the train .

After sharing news we parted ways and I went to Hot Male but S was sitting with somebody who looked is serious about offing him but was nice enough to allow him to come and shake hands.

Seeing that I don’t source any consolation there after finishing my beer I went to Jupiter , at mouth of soi enthusiastically greeted by Guido, owner of G’Bangkok restaurant  and both barkers from Banana across the soi.

At Jupiter I wanted to check one guy  strongly recommended to me by one of our members and I spotted  him immediately , impressive indeed and 127.48 % of my type. Soon there was walkabout so I gave him red note but during second walk he did not even look at my side so I abandoned  an idea of approaching him tonight. I have my rules but it needs to be said , he impressed me indeed so no hard feelings.

Modern technology helped as my phone buzzed. Hoping it was S I went to bathroom and indeed it was him saying he is free already. Soon we met in Foodland and after a meal we walked to Red Planet. On corner of soi 6 K from Tawan eyed me and asked for a tip so I gave red note to him resolving at the same time to skip that bar this trip entirely.

S is rock sold quality and performance so indeed he was somebody I needed to be with after such sad last several days. He noticed I’m in different mood and tried to be as romantic and gentle as he could and it worked. This trip started well, very well I’d say.

[jason1975]

Sorry for your loss. You are a good friend.

Happy to read that you had a good first night. Always good to go with tried and tested regulars.

[vinapu]

Day 2  

In the morning breakfast in Foodland together, greeted by knowing smiles of staff there but those were nice , not contemptuous knowing smiles.

In the early afternoon jet lag made me collapsing on the bed for few hours and when I woke up I decided to check GLAM, new shiny and upscale massage place  near Suthisan MRT station. Bkkmfj visited that place and started thread about it in August .

Guy on reception recognized me from my visits to Jey Spa where he worked  and told me those two are closely related , sharing most boys because one of co-owners co-owns Jey as well. He lead me upstairs where they have glass behind which there were only two boys One of them Mek would be my choice but was waiting for his appointment already and another guy, likely seeing unsightly,  grey haired troll i.e. me claimed is not feeling well.

Mamasan helpfully suggested he nearby  has on call guy named Maii which was  perfect solution as I already met him few times at Jey.  I was ushered to room , very sizable with equally sizable shower so fee of 1290 for 90 mins reflects quality of the place. Waiting for Maii I took shower and soon we had surprised reunion. I was happy to notice that guy’s smile was rather not fake. Another case of known quality so I left happy , upping his minimum tip by 400.

Dinner at G’Bangkok , then meeting with Keithambrose in his hotel  and we went to new bar Dragon and Koi across from Foodland. Keith made already relation from our time there in bar’s thread. We were surprised that there boys started dancing on the  bar bare chested. Since we both liked the same guy we invited him for a drink later on but there was not much of conversation since his English was of Google Translate variety. We did not stay long there as Keith was to leave next morning. On top of Patpong two we parted ways with me going to my most favorite bar – Moonlight.

Cabal of barkers outside greeted me enthusiastically and so did few mamasans not to mention several  smiles from boys on the stage. Some veterans of previous offs , others remembering me from previous visits , they were few who should recognize me but pretended not to. Fine with me.

My favorite Y was there and I wasted no time to call him over for drink. Soon we settled on short time as he is not doing long times ever since he got a girl. Few trips ago A, muscular semi god from there noticed that I look at Y admirably suggested I off both of them.  Tonight story repeated as this time Y recalled I told him last time  I like a lot his compatriot  #10 as asked me why I don’t take them both. Music to my ears.

Dinner at Happy Beer garden , Joy there repeated her mantra that we are the same  ‘ you like boys and I like boys” and then stroll to the hotel. As much as it was enjoyable there were some awkwardness tonight as they are close friends and even if  none of them was shy I sensed that they are not hat comfortable so I threaded carefully and it worked. It can be said I  did not enjoy them together but enjoyed to a greatest degree each of them separately. Fact that Y is very familiar around me  cured other guy initial apprehensiveness. Another great night. At 2 they left and I slept  exhausted and jet lagged till 11.20 am of day 3 without any interruption.

  

[vinapu]

14 minutes ago, jason1975 said:

Sorry for your loss. You are a good friend.

Happy to read that you had a good first night. Always good to go with tried and tested regulars.

thank you. It is loss indeed. 

Happy to report that , with possibly only one exception, all meets this trip were great and my faith in Thailand was reinstated full force.

[vinapu]

Day 3

Waking up at 11.20 only forced me to do morning sprint as I was supposed to leave room at noon.  

Travelling light helped and I managed to gather my meager possessions, shower  ,shave and even have a tea I that time. Noon on the dot I walked to my next hotel , Heaven’s Boutique  in the same Silom Plaza Arena and Best Massage are.

Room was not ready yet as check in time is 3 pm so I left my bag and went to have haircut on Silom in the shop upstairs by BTS station, charge was 160 and I was happy to leave that 40 baht tip. Exchanged money in XOne , went to KFC to buy 500 baht bucket for good reason – my next guy loves the stuff and it our ritual that we feast on that doubtful treat if you ask me but he loves it.

At 3 I got a card and went to a room. Quite sizable , nice change after cramped RedPlanet one.  Again , all worked.

At 3.30 my guy arrived. He is one not from the scene and we meet every trip at day time  . Whenever he has time he lets me know and if it fits my schedule off we go, if not , no hard feelings till next time. Today he was bit reserved for some reason, perhaps boredom with me is setting in, only toward end of our time together it started to be much more romantic. Perhaps he was offended I did not tell him in advance I’m coming as he mused something to this effect. Still it was pleasant few hours, believe me not entirely devoted to munching on that KFC bucket.

He works night shifts so around 7 pm he went to work and I marched to Foodland for a dinner , soon reader joined me there.

 Then after we exchanged all news and more I climbed stairs to Dreamboys hoping either Handsome Cambodian or Vu Thy will be there. Impressive stable filling stage in two rotations, I could off at least 5 of them. Particularly # 5 looks great and according to mamasan has no shortage of customers.

 Vu Thy was not there but Handsome Cambodian was and soon I called him over. We have a bit of history , not all chapters pleasant but I admit I have soft spot for him so of course we agreed on LT tonight. Which turned  to be great idea as in several offs we survived together tonight he was most clingy by far to a point I was amazed as normally he is more reserved.

  He is bit troubled and lost a lot of his once impressive musculature but still remains one of most attractive guys I ever met and memories of time when I saw him for first time are firmly ingrained in my head. Another happy reunion this short trip. It was quite uplifting for me  to see his enthusiasm as we had our less thrilling moments in the past, always forgiven. Usually boys are complaining about lack of sleep overnight but tonight they were vindicated and when he mused shyly  around 5 am that he wants to go home I approved an idea enthusiastically. Age shows I guess.

Day 3 and I’m still on the roll, praised be the Lord.

[bkkmfj2648]

1 hour ago, vinapu said:

In the early afternoon jet lag made me collapsing on the bed for few hours and when I woke up I decided to check GLAM, new shiny and upscale massage place  near Suthisan MRT station. Bkkmfj visited that place and started thread about it in August .

I am glad that you enjoyed yourself at GLAM and were able to find a good masseur to enjoy.

They have that very large room behind the glass - like the former HERO - and it would be nice to see it FULL of sexy guys - like back in the day.

[bkkmfj2648]

1 hour ago, vinapu said:

Happy to report that , with possibly only one exception, all meets this trip were great and my faith in Thailand was reinstated full force.

Excellent news - as Thailand is the LOS  :>))

[floridarob]

7 hours ago, vinapu said:

Room was on smaller side

 

7 hours ago, vinapu said:

  I was ushered to room , very sizable with equally sizable shower

 

6 hours ago, vinapu said:

went to a room. Quite sizable

 

6 hours ago, vinapu said:

forced me to do morning sprint

 

6 hours ago, vinapu said:

I marched to Foodland for a dinner

You are a room size queen for sure 😝

And I got nervous when you sprinted, I thought the marching would be over, but you didn't disappoint 😉

[srvhakko]

7 hours ago, vinapu said:

 

 Vu Thy was not there but Handsome Cambodian was and soon I called him over.

  

He was with me between November 10 and 17.  We had  a great holiday , 3 days in Bangkok and 4 days in Pattaya 😍

[srvhakko]

By the way, I'm sorry about the death of your friend, I hope he rests in peace.

[vinapu]

1 hour ago, srvhakko said:

He was with me between November 10 and 17.  We had  a great holiday , 3 days in Bangkok and 4 days in Pattaya 😍

mystery solved and by the way this is exactly what I thought

[vinapu]

7 hours ago, bkkmfj2648 said:

I am glad that you enjoyed yourself at GLAM and were able to find a good masseur to enjoy.

They have that very large room behind the glass - like the former HERO - and it would be nice to see it FULL of sexy guys - like back in the day.

unfortunately for me it was just two guys on display but since they organized exactly guy I was hoping to see, no complains here

[vinapu]

2 hours ago, floridarob said:

You are a room size queen for sure 😝

And I got nervous when you sprinted, I thought the marching would be over, but you didn't disappoint 😉

just keep quiet, you know I like big boys so you don't want to run into trouble, he, he.

[vinapu]

Day 4  

 Being right in the middle of Silom Plaza it would be shame not to utilize both Best  and Arena massages.

 I had good sleep after HC left  and barely made on time for hotel provided breakfast – the same like American in Foodland plus small tray of fruits.

 Theirs is guy in Best massage recommended to me by  one of our members and worth the trouble going by the look – I met both of them few days ago in Foodland so early afternoon I crossed the plaza , asked for him and lady on reception was clearly not knowing who I’m talking about. I was perplexed but what we have Line for? Lined member , he made his inquiry with the guy and it turned out he goes by different nick in the shop that his name we both know.

 Armed with that knowledge I went back, asked for Frank and we all were home. Great skills and actually it helped as today I was in need to good , proper rub and one of smoothest  guys I ever met. Members recommendations usually work and this one worked big time plus ! .

 In the afternoon I had urge to sample pizza and when it’s pizza it must be from Madrid Café in Charoen Krung soi 49 , formerly Madrid Tavern from Patpong . Decide to go by bus and while standing on the bus stop I saw our member anddy passing by on motorbike. Go figure – rush hour on very busy street and you see familiar face. So I pulled phone and Lined him about my immediate plans  hoping that he will see message soon.

Indeed , as soon as I sat down in Madrid – I don’t place orders there because we have ritual there: ‘usual?”  , ‘yes” which places Chang , no glass – as proletarian I drink from the bottle ,  on my table and cherry tomato and shallots pizza lands in the oven, my phone showed message ‘ I’m on my way .

Soon we were greeting each other and had as usual a great chat over the meal. He was kind to drop me at Silom Plaza and after having a tea in the room I decided to break usual rules of not having massage  after the meal and took stairs to Arena.

There was quite handsome guy talking on the phone outside but he entered in just after me and it was good move. Art, the captain greeted  me with open arms as always. There were about dozen guys of usual Arena quality, all smiling and pointing at themselves. All muscle and testosterone but I decided to go with that new guy who sexily lifted his shirt to show sexy sixpack, not that anybody there lacks in that department. So Chai it was.

There’s old saying  first quoted by Herodotus ( or was it Tacitus ?) “Arena never disappoints “ and it proven gain for 1726^th time . What massage by Chai stood out was coverage . No part of my carcass was unmassaged, literally from toe to head. What a find ! Specially that for some reason as I mused above for some reason today I was in need to really good massage. I think tension of previous week and all those flights made me feeling cramped.

 It turned out that he finishes his shift  now so I invited him for a dinner right after but before we left I wanted secure massage for tomorrow noon.  Reason was I’m changing hotels so need somehow to spend productively those 3 hours between 12 and 3. Captain told me they open at 1 but out of blue Nuk , whom I did not see before appeared and said  “ will come at 12”.  One can’t to better than that !. Inquiring minds may ask ‘ why didn’t you ask Chai?”    but tomorrow was his day off which I knew beforehand.

 Soon Chai joined me for a meal on ground floor and we parted our ways.   

After having two proper and complete massages today I felt quite energized so around 11 pm I decided to see if S will be available at Hot Male but he was already taken so I moved to Banana. Bar was packed but they found me a seat and soon somebody seating beside moved out so I invited two boys seating in shadows nearby to join me for  a drink.

  One of them I already offed twice on previous trips , another one was new and happen to be very clingy. I did not plan to take anybody tonight, after all I had plenty of daytime fun but gin, separated from tonic worked it’s way to my head and I decide to go with known quality , tipped other guy 300 for his time and soon off we went to my room.

Can’t say it entirely worked as intended, perhaps penalty  for dumping other, clingy  guy ? It was clear from beginning he wants to do a deed , cash and go. Even skipped shower part. No he did not smell or anything so fun part was missing , not hygienic thanks God , otherwise we would have  a scene.

It was not that bad but he made whole experience very utilitarian so we had our utilitarian fun, I did no make any attempt to keep him longer, he did not suggested it either. Cash and go type of fun.

 Strangely it reminded me  off of Tum, now model at Moonlight from short lived Boy66 bar at the same location back in Sept 2017. It was exactly the same , I still remember his words ”I make you happy and go” .

 But after such great and fun filled day I could use some decent sleep so just chalked it off and went asleep  fortified in a knowledge that one more guy was removed from the list of future engagements.

Classic , known to science,  case of boys who on subsequent offs feel too comfortable to care much about their customer.

[floridarob]

2 hours ago, srvhakko said:

By the way, I'm sorry about the death of your friend, I hope he rests in peace.

Same here, I got so busy cutting and pasting, I had thought about this, but then my thinking of you sprinting and marching  made me forget 🥺

[Travelingguy]

I am sorry for your loss.  It does seem that Bangkok is giving you physical and emotional comfort during this trip.  You sound so much better than during your previous trip, despite the recent death of your friend.