PeterRS

Given your earlier posts, that's a highly unlikely thought!

And as you have shown in your Escort in Prague post just 3 hours ago, you write perfectly well in English. Like a native Englih speaker, in fact. Quit the cute childishness!

So youwrite perfectly well in English. Therefore quit the extremely childish and silly behaviour of writing in French. It makes your contributions completely tiresome and boring!

Plus you trashed the owner and his establishment on this Board, the very readers who visit Seoul who could have been his next customers. Now you may well have put them off. How do you plan to compensate the owner for any losses caused by your tantrum resulting from your own tardiness?

Once again you pettily write in French on an English-writen site! Some people never seem to learn!

This is an English written site - not a French one.

This is a site written in English. If you cannot write in English, go to a translation site before you post - please!

And @Suckrates response immediatey above is assinine!

Lots of Indians to be seen in Bangkok, many in the up-market shopping malls carrying designer goods bags. Recently in Paragon, Em Quartier and even Terminal 21 we have seen many Indians. Most are couples or in small groups.

WIth all due respect there is no "normal" time of being late. We are either on time or we are late. Being in a foreign country many of us have a tendency to believe that what goes for "being late" with constant updates on timing is the same as in our own country. We also assume that the English language in all its complexity is as well understood as we think it is. Neither is! Then there is the traffic issue. I do not know how @12is12 planned to arrive by his appointed hour - the one he proposed at the outset. Did he consider first using Seoul's excellent subway system at least close to his destination? DId he just assume that the horrendous traffic in the city which he must have observed particularly as rush hour arrives would merit a car ride and still enable him to arrive on time? Did he consider leaving earlier? Did he consider that Korean society has a very different set of manners and obligations compared to those in his home country? Clearly not, for he would then definitely not have walked out. Sorry, but I still regard his actions as unbecoming and rude by any tourist in any gay establishment in any foreign city, particularly an Asian one.

Many Chinese tourists have been put off by what they regard as Thailand's bad reputation for violence and tragedies like ferry boat disasters. I do not have access to statistics - I am sure @Moses does - but from what i read, Vietnam is now one of the favoured destination for less well-off Chinese.

I cannot imagine any Day recognizing the sacrifice of so many as "happy". And although the USA may regard the day as being one honouring the sacrifice of its own citizens, it is I suggest pertinent to recognize that tens of millions all over the world sacrificed their lives in defence of precisely what those brave American man and women died fighting for. I accept that other countries have their own armistice day. Is it not time for one world day when all who died worldwide are honoured?

I notice @Keithambrose gave this post a "sad" emoji. His personal opinion and to which he is perfectly entitled. But if anyone has a responsbility in his profession for being on time, I imagine it would be the one he practices. I am reasonably sure that judges have somewhat strong language for lawyers being late for court!

Grindr worked well for me.

@a-447 will loathe this vdo (understandably given his preference stated in another recent vdo post) as well as I imagine quite a few others. But cruising youtube I found another vdo, this time about a new Bangkok cruise bar i had never heard of before, Boy Camp. It's in the Silom area, has a policy of your stripping down to your underwwear (clothes bags with names are left at the counter), is of medium size and with music at a tolerable level. As the very camp narrator says, it's a bit like midway between G.O.D. and DJ Station. It also has a cruising area upstairs with a dark room at the end which is not as dark as some - in that you can make out faces and bodies.But the usual dark room activity goes on. The narrator says it's more Asian-oriented. I wonder if any poster has been and can post his experience.

An issue made in the OP is one everyone should consider. If an appointment is made to suit an individual client, it is as much the responsibility of that client to be on time as it is the service provider. Regular messaging updates about bad traffic is hardly an excuse, the more so when the appointment time is at rush hour. And this is as true in Seoul where the traffic is horrendous, as it is in many other major Asian cities. Surely the OP could have got himself to a coffee shop, hotel or at least somewhere hear the massage spa in advance so as to be on time for the appointment he himself had made? Trusting what is assumed to be an agreement by a phone operator in Seoul about bad traffic is, as the client discovered, of little use. To offer to pay only two thirds when it was the client who was late was demeaning, especially in a very Confucian society. And then just to walk out even more so.

I came across this recent vdo this morning with three popular youtube guys discussing their favourite gay saunas in Asia. While sauna going is a matter of individual preference, these guys agreed that top of their list is Adam (Nadam) Spa in Ho Chi Minh City. This is followed closely by three in Bangkok - Sauna Mania, MaxWell Spa and Ensen Onsen. In Taipei they rather dismiss the popular Soi13 purely because of it entry price for foreigners (around NT$1,000 - approx. US$32) and have a sort of general preference for the new Hans Mens Sauna. In Tokyo they feel 24 Kaikan in Tokyo has become a bit dated. The two main guys have more similar vdos on the net.

I'll bet the champagne is not your average Moet et Chandon. Often it can be Louis Roederer Cristal or other much more expensive premium champagnes, all at a very considerable mark up. The women don't care because they are there to be admired and cosseted, and when they make their chosen host happy there is no end to what he might give you - although sex is rarely on the take-out menu. Many have their favourite "boy" and some will even be showered with very expensive gifts - like a bottle of US$111,000 cognac or even a Porsche! This vdo is 7 years old but it describes what host bars were like in those days. I believe some are now more up-market and attract even more wealthy women.

As we approach old age, personal happiness becomes more difficult to find - as some posters here have suggested, especially those with perhaps some personal experience of a happiness they never thought possible in the early days before it started to decrease over time as reality set in. But we are all different, thankfully. I'm with @a-447. You have shown us all a remarkable willingness to share your thoughts and feelings, most quite new to you. Bravo for that! I'll add my own "go for it". Then adapt as may eventually seem necessary. But true happiness is never easy to find and you seem as close as anyone to be in that situation.

I fully accept your advice. But if the much cheaper CT scan can spot a cyst, why would a more expensive MRI be required also to find a cyst? I will ask my doctor when I see her next month.

Small gifts for the family members will certainly be welcome and a mark of respect. This includes for children as well as parents, aunts and uncles. You will no doubt need Cam's advice on this in terms of the nature of the gifts. He may suggest they are not necessary but I think as with Thai families they'll certainly help get a relationship off to a solid footing.

I think Thailand may be somewhat different to some from other countries and using non cash. This country has stated that funds brought into the Thailand by foreign residents who stay for more than half a year will be taxed. (I realise this government statement was made almost two years ago and still there is no word about rates of taxation and whether or not tax will actually be liable - but I have one friend who has a large expensive apartment here who is making sure he is out of the country for half the year as any taxation levied here might cost him quite a lot.) All residents were advised to register with some group so that they would eventually appear on a list for taxation. I live in Bangkok full time. I own my own apartment, have no overseas income apart from money from a very small pension and slightly larger savings pot, and have no intention of paying tax. We do not even know if pensions will be taxed although I understand residents of countries with reciprocal tax treaties may not incur Thai income tax. However, I am taking no chances. Since I worked in Hong Kong for more than half my life, most of my cash is in a bank there and when I visit I take out enough to cover expenses for about three months. For major expenses I use my Hong Kong based credit card (even though that adds 3% or so to the cost, I reckon it will take Thai civil servants many years before they work out how these payments might be taxed.) Given the uncertainty about possible taxation, I object to using my Thai bank credit card even when using the subway or Starbucks since there will always be ways in which these amounts can be checked through pressure on the banks.

Five years ago I had to have an abdominal CT scan done. The doctor informed me a cyst had been discovered on the surface of the pancreas. Whereas a cyst of 5 mm or less is usually of little concern, mine was just over 6. She told me she needed to see underneath the cyst to make sure there was nothing more serious lurking there. So she had me do an MRI. This requires no invasive procedure, merely around 70 minutes or so lying flat in a tube that makes funny noises. That showed a negative result, but she added to make sure I should have five annual MRIs. The last one is due later this year. I understand anyone can avail themselves of them (although they are not cheap). I assume her advice was correct.

Certainly true, but you may need more than just help as you age. Alzheimers and Dementia have already been mentioned. If you have not had your heart checked with reasonable regularilty, a serious heart attack may not be far away. Strokes can occur at any time and I am not sure what preventative measures can be taken. Perhaps @unicorn can advise. I had an old school friend die on the golf course aged 27, the result of a stroke. Another, a very dear Chinese friend in Hong Kong died of a brain aneurism aged just 28. Then there are the less obvious ilnesses like pancreatic cancer, one of those cancers it is extremely difficult to spot early on when it can be treatable, but not beyond that early stage when it mostly becomes deadly. And according to reports I have read, the age at which one should be checked for pancreatic cancer is reducing. Finally, just to remind readers that whereas public hospitals used to offer expatriates the same rates as Thais, in Bangkok at least that is no longer the case. Whereas a doctor's visit used to cost Bt.200, the standard rate has been hiked now to Bt. 800. And that is just a little below the doctor's fee for some private hospitals.

The NHS may function but try care homes. I have a friend sadly suffering from Alzheimers. He has a good pension from his company. But it would in no way cover the cost of elder care facilities - that is if there is a place available. The problem is that care homes in the UK are now enormously expensive! He and his partner moved to Chiang Mai! I'd be interested to note what the visa situation is now in Vietnam. It used to be possible to get a one year visa and I know an Australian who sold up in Thailand and moved to a villa by the beach in Danang. Then the maximum visa was changed to three months after which a visa run is required.