PeterRS

I have never been on a Vietjet flight that was less than 4 hours delayed. Never take it now even if the fare is lower.

Then why complain about it here? Are any of our posting members qualified in the various forms of cancer you routinely think you have? Unllikely, I suggest. If you think you might have cancer and you do not go to a doctor or hospital to have it checked immediately, you are merely trolling this Board - and I say that with repsect because I value some of your contributions.

Very few Thais will appear at public gay events in the country. This has been proven time and time again. The annual Pride Parade was stopped in the early 2000s because virtually the only participants were boys from the bars, massage spas and lady boys. Good on them, but you will rarely if ever see a professional Thai take part since Thailand remains a very conservative society. In 2009 the Chiang Mai Parade had to be abandoned when those watching it hurled abuse at the marchers and it threated to become violent. I heard that the Bangkok Parade which was reinstated this year did have a better turnout, but it is still mostly organised by gay venues rather than individuals. Even with few tourists taking part as the easing of covid restrictions came to late, this year's Taipei Gay Pride Parade had 120,000 participants. Clearly the vast majority of these were ordinary Taiwanese men and women, far from all of them gay since traditionally parents have brought their kids to take part. Bangkok's public gay displays will never take off until the culture of the country changes.

What a ridiculous article! On the one hand "Thai tourism may take a sharp downturn next year", yet later it claims "authorities in Thailand remain hopeful that tourism revenue will continue to increase next year." I accept that tourist numbers and tourism receipts are not the same. But the artucle is full of "could", "fears", "believe" etc. In other words, no one has a clue. I'd certainly like to see statistics of European travellers spending longer in Phuket because of the 45-day stamp. Presumably these are backpackers or retirees since most working people do not have much more than 30 -day annual vacations, if that.

So the truth - in part - begins to come out. Previously the Qatar government had admitted to less than 10 deaths. Detailed studies by several organisations and media outlets had put the number at far closer to 7,000. Since the Qatar government refused autopsies, it was clearly a deliberate attempt at a cover up. Most of those workers had to pay recruiters large sums to get jobs working on the World Cup infrastructure. With their deaths, the Qatari's have offered no compensation. The country claims the deaths were by natural causes such as heart failure or respiratory failure. So the families of these workers are left with major debts. Forbes Magazine and various other sources have put the cost to Qatar of hosting the World Cup at $200 BILLION! Yet, it refuses to pay the relatives of those who died preparing for the event even a few thousand $$. The Qatar World Cup has brought a new word into the lexicon - sportswashing. Quick to get on the bandwagon has been Saudi Arabia which is now hosting a number of major international events in the Kingdom. Along with its neighbouring countries, it owns several of the world's top soccer clubs including English champions Manchester City, Newcastle United and French League leaders Paris-Saint Germain. Emirates, Qatar Airlines and Etihad also plough hundreds of millions into clubs through sponsorship. The latest sport to be upset by Arab investment is the Saudi backed and financed LIV Golf breakaway Tour. It has lured top golfers away from the US PGA and European PGA tours by offering absurd amounts of money. Sign on bonuses of well over $100 million have been paid to Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson (Mickelson has been reported in London's Financial Times as having received $200 million even though he had previously declared the Saudis "scary motherfuckers to get involved with", that he ackbowledges they killed Adnan Khashoggi and "have a horrible record on human rights.") LIV Tournament Prize Money vastly eclipses anything offered by the other regular tours. The LIV tour is estimated to be costing Saudia Arabia's Sovereign Wealth Fund $2 billion - annually. https://www.ft.com/content/b5b110a6-9280-4d7a-a0b6-09ef2a423c7a

Still on the subject of the World Cup, where is the man who succeeded the corrupt Blatter, Blatter being an individual who started his career selling women's underwear and who has encouraged women players to wear much sexier, skimpy shorts to attract more spectators? Giovanni Infantino was thought to be a nameless bureaucrat who would clean up the game. A lawyer by training, he has consistently stayed in the background when it came to Qatar's not following FIFA rules. He did nothing to help the tens of thousands of migrant workers who worked for slave wages and many of whom died building all the new soccer stadia required to host the World Cup. He has said nothing about compensation for those who died. He has said amost nothing about gay visitors. He has banned players from using armbands promoting equality of the sexes by threatening those who did so with virtual bans from playing in the tournament. This is a man in the pocket of the Qataris.(In his 20s he could speak Arabic!) At his one press conference on the eve of the tournament, he gave a 50 minute monologue about there being nothing to accuse the Qataris about. Instead he claimed Europe should spend the next 3,000 years apologisiing for all the wrongs it did to other peoples on the planet over the orevious 3,000 years. Clearly FIFA has yet another idiot in charge. Whether he is corrupt or not, remains to be seen. Given the corruption rife throughout FIFA, I suspect @Olddaddy will soon place a bet that Infantino will be up on some criminal charge sooner rather than later.

What you describe was very common in Japan in the decades following WWII when communal bathing was virtually the norm. With its vast economic gains, most homes soon had private bathing facilities. There are still communal bathing facilities but they are relatively few nowadays. Hot springs in Japan, Korea and Taiwan are very different. You shower and thoroughly cleanse yourself before getting into one of the pools. These will have varying temperatures from extremely hot to freezing cold. Most guys seem to favour the moderately hot and cool pools. But once you have got used to the extremely hot pool, it's almost as though you fail to feel the heat and instead get a pleasant muscle massage.

None is exclusively gay - and definitely not the one at the expensive hotel. Occasionally you will stil see a father with a couple of his kids at Huang Tzu. It's rare in my experience, but I have seen it. And let me stress again, these are not saunas, even though most have a small lit sauna and a steam room. If you stay after midnight, there may be a bit of action in the steam room. But your problem then is getting back to the city. The subway closes just before midnight and getting a taxi is far from easy. There is a telephone line to a taxi company at the front desk (where no one speaks English!) but good luck trying to find anyone on the line to speak English. You will then have a long trek up a steep hill to the main road and unless you are prepared to wait a very long time for a night bus, you'll have a walk downhill about 2kms before you come to built up areas which might have roaming taxis. Your best hope is to chat with a guy who got there by motorbike and who will give you a lift back down the hill. Alternatively, walk across the bridge to Chuang Tang, make them think you have been at their Spring and ask them to call a taxi. They do understand a little English and I used them to call cabs in the old days when I patronised that Spring. That Spring across the llttle bridge used to be the one which gays patronised. When the ownership changed about 8 years ago, gays became much less welcome. Then there was one nearer the main road named Huang Ding (the one you refer to, I assume) which seemed totally gay oriented. There was always action in the steam room and in a darkish area in the level below. For about 3 years it would be packed. Then it was closed by the authorities because it had consistently taken no notice of warnings about the poor quality of the water. Much to the disappoitnment of the gay community, it never reopened. Gay guys then migrated to Huang Tzu nearer the bottom of the hill. Yes, I do like the crowd there. I reckon about 90% of the clientele is gay - most in their 20s/30s and in good physical shape. Many will go in groups but there will still be lots of guys on their own. Unsually chatting is not difficult as most will speak at least some English. I have several times set up meets for another day.

Personally I doubt it - just as I doubt the original "rumour" as printed in Thaiger. The World Cup is huge in Ecuador. That their national players could be bribed seems utterly far fetched. Like all "secret' arrangements, it would have come out and the players lives would certainly have been in danger. Not that Qatar has been immune from bribery on a massive scale in respect of the World Cup. There is no doubt that political and financial interests seriously affected the bidding process. Qatar would never have been awarded the tournament without a great deal of cash changing hands. FIFA itself was then a den of corruption - and may still be, although to a lesser extent now that Sheik Blatter is out of the picture. If not, how was it that many involved in FIFA itself and the bidding committee in particular ended up under criminal indictments in various countries or even in jail? Why FIFA departed from usual practice by awarding two tournaments in 2010 - 2018 and 2022 - instead of just 2018 started the rotten smell of corruption. That the first should be be in Russia was less controversial than the second to Qatar, a state with few stadiums, far from enough hotels, a tiny population for a World Cup and strict anti-alcohol and anti-gay laws. Encouraging the development of mass soccer in a host country has always been FIFA's stated priority. Hence the USA got the Cup in 1994 and it was split between Japan and South Korea in 2002. Since 2010, the world has learned some of the extent of Qatar's massive efforts to get the tournament when it should never, if only as a result of its tiny size, have even been considered.

I returned from my Taipei trip last night. Frankly, to anyone worried about covid testing and quarantine - forget it. The whole trip was a breeze. I took China Airlines. We had to wear masks on the flight other than when eating the meal. No preflight checks at all. On arrival, every passenger was given a box of 4 self-test covid kits. You are supposed to test yourself in your hotel on arrival and then every two days. If your test is negative, you just throw the test kit away in the enclosed plastic bag. No need to report to anyone. You do get a note with your kit with the number fo call if you test positive. I never did and so just threw it away. Throughout the country, it is mandatory to wear masks other then when eating, drinking, attending a sauna or hot spring. I never saw anyone without a mask on public transport or in the malls or when walking on the streets. From the accents I heard, there were a lot of European tourists. I went to two hot springs, the gay one and one more upmarket one in a top hotel. Only saw one guy wear a mask there - and he looked pretty stupid. For anyone wanting to get to the hot spring frequented mosrly by gay guys, the name card for the taxi is posted above. Since there are about 10 hot springs close together and the taxi will drop you about 100 meters away, you can spot Huang Tzu with this sign at the entrance. Price remains NT$250 and you need two NT$10 cooins for the locker. The Red House was busy at the week-ends. One bar had a party with this enticing sign at the entrance - For my last Saturday, there was heavy rain and with most of the bars being outdoors albeit with canvas roofs there were not many customers around. If the weather is fine, the eye candy can be spectacular! Prices for the mid to lower end hotels seem to be slightly less than 3 years ago. I had no trouble bringing guests to the rooms I had in two different hotels, but then I did not have anyone stay overight. I cannot imagine it being a problem other than in the very top end establishments.

Wherever the constituency, you lost - dare I say again? Gamblling is a mug's game. The bookies and the House always win. That's how they stay i business and make pretty good profits.

Neither! I have views on several topics including this one.

Another disgrace and another perversion of justice due to family wealth. He joins the Red Bull heir murderer and I am sure many others.

With respect, that's a dumb comment. I suppose you haven't noticed the disastrous times the hotel industry in much of the world have faced over nearly 3 years now. I have a friend who has been lucky to remain employed in Thailand but on a much reduced salary. He despairs that so many of his friends lost their jobs as hotels either shut or tried to stay open with very few visitors. I also have a friend in Vietnam who lost his great job at a Six Senses Resort for two years and worked on his parents farm. I'll happily pay a little bit more to help keep them and other staff in work and hotels back into profit. I frankly doubt if anyone is remotely concerned if @BiggusDikkus stays at a Bill Heineke or any other hotel again. Another silly comment given what the world has gone through over three years. No one has to stay at any Bill Heineke Hotel - or any hotel that has surcharges. There are so many of them around. If you think you're going to be left with a bad taste in your mouth, don't stay! It's perfectly simple. I wonder if @dscrtsldnbi and @BiggusDikkus take a similar view of the surcharges which have piled up and will continue to pile up in the airline industry as it tries to recoup its massive losses. Given their views, I suppose they will just decide not to travel. Then of course they won't have to stay in any hotels! 🤣🤣

Not sure if it's been said already but avoid the Montien. It used to be very unfriendly with joiners to the extent of not permitting them. It's been a long time since the Tawana Hotel on Suriwong was a Holiday Inn. In those days there was a desk at the lifts checking on those no registered as guests. You could still take a boy up to your room but if not actually registered by name they charged a fee. I am sure others have stayed there since and will know the present policy.

He is all over the free gay porn sites. No need to pay. And I agree. Some of his regulars are very cute. I liked one named Tyler Wu who also appears on the free sites although he has his own paid ones. Until he got what I believe is called a Prince Albert - a ring at the tip of his cock. That's such a put down for me. Went right off him!

Ghastly thought! Not of seeing the boys again - of seeing my body in the vdos!

I asumed you were talking only about Taipei. I have been to Kaohsiung several times but it was always to spend time with a good friend. Never been to any of the gay places there. I am been twice on business to Taichung and hear it is pretty active but I just had no time to find out. Maybe this trip!!

Had it been a few years later it might have been Cocktail Boyz 1 by Nicky Stewart. Sorry don't know any others from earlier. Crystal Boys is the famous book about growing up gay in 1970s Taipei. A fascinating book and a look back into what life was like in the bad old days! It has been made into a TV series.

From what I read and what my friends tell me, there are now no restrictions in hotels. And I believe - and will confirm on my return - that your self tests are only to be reported if you test positive. As for Hi-Man sauna, in all my many years of visiting Taipei and learning about Taipei gay saunas (about 28 years!) I have never heard of Hi-Man. Are you sure you are not referring to Hans Men Sauna? If you are, then avoid it. It's easy to get to as it is just 100 meters or so from The Red House. Travelgay informs us that it "has nice clean facilities". Nothing could be further from the truth! It's old and run down. If you go to the TV relaxing room (the TV only shows regular TV channels), I hate to think what bugs are lurking in the duvets! The clientele tends to be 40ish and above with only occasional younger guys and students from the relatively near university. Very hit and miss - and more usually miss!

I hope you realise that paticular journey is crashingly boring! A very good friend who adores trains and train journeys did it. Said it was a total waste of time and money. I've travelled around Europe by train and enjoyed amost all the trips. I've also treated myself to two non-European extravagant train trips. First was the two day Rocky Mountaineer from Vancouver across the Rockies to Banff. The Gold Leaf service with Panorama cars up top and dining underneath was magnificent. Meals were delicious and beautifully served. Passengers don't stay overnight on board. Instead we were put up in a hotel in Kamloops. Sometimes you never believe your luck. I put on an app the fact that I'd be in Kamloops for one night. Extraordinary! One young Chinese gay guy who lived there saw it and came over for dinner and afters. On my visit to Peru three years later I treated myself on the journey from Cusco to Machu Picchu by taking the Hiram Bingham train. This is more or less the equivalent of the Orient Express or the one that plies between Singapore and Bangkok - although much shorter. Fantastic experience! It leaves later than the other trains. Mimosas served before embarkation. Full a la carte breakfast in the dining car. Snacks in the open car at the back. Also last train to leave in the late afternoon, preceded by a proper afternoon tea at the hotel by the entrance to the site. Four course a la carte dinner with wines and then a jazz band playing in the back car. Extravagant? Sure - but one of the little luxuries that help make life exciting! I found Cusco one of the most fascinating cities I have visited. I'm sure most of us know the city's flag is the rainbow flag. The sense of history is stunning. Now I wish I'd spent more than 3 nights there. Were I to return, I'd love to explore more of the other valleys near Cusco.

I am going on Friday for 17 days. There is no longer any quarantine and very few restrictions. The only covid related issue seems to be a need to self test for the first 7 days. I don't even think these need to be reported uness you test positive. Some mask wearing also seems necessary. But I'll give a longer reply once I return near the end of the month. The weather is certainly colder. Not often rainy, but when the winter monsoon blows from the north you'll need sweaters and a jacket. On the other hand, there can also be very pleasant sunny days. Just be prepared for that cold, though. Great days for relaxing in a hot spring alongside so many cute Taiwanese guys! Best months are usually October and November, although October this year was particularly and unusually rainy.

Please take it from me that at 51 you have tons of time to find one or more relationships. I have had two serious long-term relationships since i was that age. Naturally people define long term differently. In my case I put the minimum time down as 5 years. Others will certainly be considerably longer. I have friends who just celebrated 50 years together and others 35 years. Neither started with sex. The former started through a work engagement; the latter through a friend's introduction. I see no reason why a search for a partner and short term sexcapades cannot co-exist until a partner is found. I just happen to believe that short term sex is highly unlikely - though not impossible - to result in a long-term partnership. Since you crave companionship. is it not much more likely that you will find it nearer your own home? A long distance relationship, as I have written elswhere, can be fraught with difficulties and fears. My only other suggestion is that companionship means being with your partner very regularly. It also requires a considerable amount of give and take, and the older one gets and the more set in ones ways, the more difficult that can sometimes become.

I have occasionally looked at the Blowing Wind Travel forum. I have never had a massage in Taipei but it is from that site I see that afters are basically HJs only. I have not seen any report about full service following the massage. Also most of the masseurs will not speak more than a few words of English.

I fear it would now be very boring. I visit Taipei primarily to meet my friends, eat Taiwanese food which I love, go regularly to hot springs which I find a wonderful experience, and do a bit of sightseeing around Taipei. We often go to the Red House for drinks and to watch the eye candy before or after dinner. But I no longer visits gay bars. I was only once in Commander D when a friend took me. It was fun but pretty dark. That's not to say I don't enjoy hook ups. Here I find the apps the most productive. Over the years I have met many guys, some several times over several visits. I can think of only 2 times when a money boy has contacted me. All the others just want to meet a westerner for sex with no cash involved - even transport money. Having a hotel close to a subway station is useful. I am no spring chicken and hardly the best looker, but I once had 4 encounters in just one day. That was never my intention. I had set up two meetings - one in the early afternoon and one in the early evening. Then after breakfast one guy texted saying he really wanted to meet and would be passing by my hotel around 11:00 am as his office was nearby. He seemed desperate to meet up. So I said OK and he was great. After my afternoon tryst, I was relaxing - very necessary! - before the early eveing encounter. Browsing through the apps I saw a gorgeous art student. We chatted a little and I hoped to set up a meeting the next day. But he then asked, as I was near the University, could he come over around 9:00 pm? I slept well that night!