PeterRS

Defintely do not offer any tip and I certainly would not request any photo if the rules say no photos! Japan is Japan, not Thailand. You then put the boy into a very embarrassing situation. Since he works for the agency, he will obey the agency rules before he agrees to anything. The best you can probably do is cut out his pic in the agency's main site.

I have lost count of the number of hotels around the world with doors to all rooms that audibly click shut. It can be so annoying if others in the corridor are leaving very early or arriving very late. All the more so when the answer is so simple. A strip of felt around the interior of the door frame makes closing almost silent.

Surfcrest owned Sawatdee. There is/was an owner of Gay Thailand named Michael for many years, but I think it is for him to say whether or not he remains iinvolved in Gay Guides. I think you must mean about 15 years. Beforehand he had been very actively engaged as a moderator in Gay Thailand. His site is clearly useful as it has quite a number of readers, but most seem to be lurkers. The posting membership is very small and very Pattaya-centric.

The number of these rather childish groups on Stripchat is increasing. As @Foolish points out, they do precious little other than silly little games, but I note there is now more nudity. Not that that means much as few bother with erections! Yesterday I was astonished that one viewer tipped one group of 5 boys 9999 tokens. That one tip earned them just a dollar or so short of US$500! In total that group amassed over US$750 during the day. There do sometimes seem to be some handsome guys on that site but most seem to struggle to reach US$25 in tokens. I wonder what they think of the new groups of Chinese getting all that cash?

This seems yet again to open the door about homosexuality in sports and the tiny number of athletes who have actually come out as gay. Women's tennis appeared to have opened that door decades ago with the likes of two of their top international players of Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova. And there are others in most other sports, but they seem to be very few and very far between. I read a comment by a figure skater recently that many of the men are in the closet. We know that Britain's Olympic Gold medallist John Curry who died of AIDS and Canada's double Olympic Silver Medallist Brian Orser was/is openly gay. And we know that Brian Orser trained one of the all-time skating greats, double Olympic Gold medallist Japan's Yuzuru Hanyu. Many assume that Hanyu-san must be gay, not because of his stunning skating but for his appearances away from the rink. As he is a near-iconic figure in Japan, it is doubtful if he ever would come out - certainly in the near future. In general, though, in the rough and tumble of most sports, there have to be many who are gay but will not come out, at least during their playing careers.

Soon after she took office, Japan's new Prime Minister publicly stated that Japan might have to act militarily if China took Taiwan by force. This infuriated President Xi whose stated goal (which may not be enforceable for a whole bunch of reasons) is to reunite Taiwan with the mainland. He repeated this is his New Year speech. I suspect the Japanese PM had no real idea of the muddy waters she had suddenly stepped into (which all her predecessors had wisely avoided), but China has made its fury felt. Thousands of flights have been cancelled and hotel bookings cancelled. in January it is estimated that 2,195 - 40.4% - flights from China have already been cancelled The continuing loss of tourism revenues is really hurting the Japanese tourism industry now, with the consequent effect for the rest of us of lower hotel prices.

I'll bet you would have loved to join them! Parking used towels outside a room - and a suite in particular - is gross. I cannot understand why they just did not ring housekeeping and request more. That afterall is housekeeping's job. On various travels I have occasionally requested an extra pair of towels which have always arrived quickly. There was one utterly memorable day/evening in Taipei when, quite unplanned, I had more visitors than expected. The request for extra towels started with just two, and then increased considerably. The housekeeping staff seemed quite happy to keep bringing them and taking away the used ones. Had they been cute Taiwanese guys, I would have invited them to join us 😀

I decided when I reached 60 that this was far enough! So from then on my age would go into reverse. Sometimes it's good mentally for thinking I am younger. At other times I can't keep this up as the time will come when I will need plastic surgery and a great deal more energy to maintain the fiction in the eyes of others. Before lots of hotels had been constructed on the river, it was easy to see the fireworks close to the riverside. Then the host of new hotels were constructed along with Icon Siam and each tends to have its own little display. Some years ago, about ten friends and I hired a small boat so we could be closer to the fireworks. But police boats kept us quite far back from Saphan Thaksin. With so many other boats on the water we actually did not see nearly as much as we expected.

Very true. Originally it was Gay Thailand which then got merged into the larger more western-based Gay Guides (I assume that was its name - and it surely really doesn't matter which merged into which. It is as it is, although perhaps longer-term posters like me tend to regard it still as more of a Thai site). I think some will not know or remember that there was a three-week period some 12-15 years or so ago when it was announced that Gay Thailand would close. @Gaybutton had been a moderator since the early days and he decided he would then start up his own Board. All we knew was that Gay Thailand was to be purchased by an American couple who would be moving to retire to Chiang Mai. In the fullness of time we realised this was a posting member @firecat69. However, he and his partner finally decided not to retire to Chiang Mai. I believe it was then that @TotallyOz reversed his decision and decided to keep Gay Thailand running. Some will recall another site based in Thailand which tended to cover more general international political subjects - BahtStop which eventually merged into BahtStop 2. No idea why it folded. We should remember, too, that before the chat rooms in Asia came internet dating sites - or at least sites where you provided your personal details and hoped to find someone who would respond. I read one site a lot for my visits to Thailand and did meet quite a few very willing partners. If I again recall correctly, that site was purely for individuals who were looking for sex and not cash. Eventually I discovered gaydar. While not good at providing information for companions in Thailand, it was really great for hook ups in Taipei and Tokyo.

. . . and to start on that stamp collection all over again! What joy!

I know I have been somewhat adventurous during my career and taken a good few risks, but I have never understood why some people find extreme and danegerous outdoor activities so attractive to them. Sure, I'd love to see the world from the top of Everest, but I have seen it from a tourist plane flying a little higher and that was good enough for me. There was a documentary some years ago about two or more groups trying to climb up the horribly narrow Hillary Steps near the summit with many stuck because of the queues. When you depend on oxygen and tanks don't last too long, that would horrify me! I have watched through binoculars rock climbers in Switzerland suspended a few thousand meters up and almost horizontal. Same with extreme skiing where more than once I have also watched it start avalanches. Overcoming the fear of danger must surely have something to do with it.

I hope this is correct but I think there were something like six chat rooms at one time - and that does not include several bitchboards which suddenly appeared and then thankfully just as suddenly disappeared. As far as an owner dying of covid, was this not the owner of another site who died en route back to North America after becoming very ill in Pattaya? That I think was pre-covid.

In Japan during December and to celebrate the upcoming year, virtually every orchestra gives performances of Beethoven’s famous Ninth Symphony with its “Ode to Joy.” So on this first day of 2026 it is appropriate to play just a small part of it. But this is a special performance that was created by one of Europe’s most influential choreographers Maurice Bejart who happened to have been born exactly 99 years ago today. Bejart decided the Symphony is so universal with its themes of brotherhood and unity it should include dance as an essential visual element to add to the symphony orchestra, four soloists and large chorus. So he created a version to be performed in the round having added 90 dancers that was first performed in Belgium in 1964. Bejart called his “a Ninth Symphony for the 20th century.” The packed audience gave it 16 minutes of applause. Since a performance requires around 300 artists in total and a very large stage, Bejart’s version has only rarely been performed. In 2014 to mark the 50th anniversary of its creation, it was given a unique performance in Tokyo. It was unique in the sense that it involved not just Bejart’s company which is now based in Lausanne. Never before had it co-operated with another dance company. For this performance which took almost three years of preparation, consultation and finally rehearsals, the Tokyo Ballet company (with its fabulous looking male dancers!!) was integrated fully into the performance. That company also just happened to be celebrating its 50th anniversary that year. This is just a short three-minute excerpt from the start of the second movement with dancers from the Bejart Ballet – yes, the gorgeous Japanese male soloist is part of that company, not the Tokyo Ballet. To me, it is extraordinary not only that Beethoven was deaf when he composed the symphony but how in his dramatic interpretation Bejart has captured the humanity of Beethoven’s masterpiece. You can just make out Zubin Mehta and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra raised behind the dance floor. For those interested, the full performance with a prologue can be seen here. The Symphony proper starts at 8’00” and the boys and girls of the Tokyo Ballet are featured in the first and last movements. Just click on the youtube link.

I believe the one-way way ticket on the luxury Eastern Orient Express train even with its gourmet meals and stunning cabins is cheaper than the Ayutthaya converted rice barges. Maybe something else for @Olddaddy after his next stay at the Capella

As far as I am aware, there was no report about damage in Chatuchak or any other low lying area in Bangkok - only the shaking of some buildings. The worst effect was the destruction of a high rise that was not complete. This was the subject of an enquiry into poor quality of building materials.