PeterRS

Try the Blued app. It requires a short selfie video for photo verification purposes before your profile photo is posted. Many thousands of of Thai guys are moving to this app because it has built in Thai/English translation.

What you say is very reassuring. But there have been quite a lot of reports about open hostility to young gay men and women resulting in death in a lease one case last year. We have also had reports here about raids on massage places and saunas. Seems even the venerable Blue Boy bar/club was raided the other evening for the first time in its long history. One report mentions this being something to do with a more hardline approach to appease Muslim parties before an election - is that next year? When I lived in KL 25 years ago Blue Boy was the most popular gay meeting place in town. This time it was stated the raid was to find drugs. Isn't that always the excuse authorities use? On the other hand, one Minister has said it was to stop the spread of LGBT culture in Malay society. I wonder what happened to the 100 or so patrons who were in the bar at the time of the raid. Even though Shariah Law only applies to Muslims, the ban on homosexual activity covers everyone - or at least it used to. Not a very comforting place to visit now.

It might have helped if the British had removed many of their laws before their rush to grant independence to former colonies. It was certainly a mad rush. It had no cash any more and massive debts. But as it was getting round to considering possible changes to its own sodomy law, it was obviously quite happy to leave it in place in much of the rest of the world. We may think Muslim nations are bad when it comes to punishing gay sex. Homosexuality remains illegal in nearly 80 countries. But most of these were British colonial possessions. Some like Nigeria, Sudan and Somalia actually increased penalties after the British departed. There we can now be subject to capital punishment. I cant see any easing of the law being possible in our lifetimes.

I think you are overly optimistic dear Vinapu. Have you seen what has happened in Muslim Brunei? Shariah Law introduced for gays. So now you can be stoned to death if you decide to visit there and are accused by four people that they have seen you have sex with another man. Whether they have seen you or not is really immaterial. People can say anything for any reason these days. Fake facts? Aceh Province in Indonesia seems not to go the stoning route, but they will happily break into your bedroom. If you are having sex with another guy, you will be given a good 100 lashes in public. In the greater Muslim Indonesia, there is a fast growing anti gay movement with none other than the Defence Minister claiming homosexuality is a "threat" and akin "to a modern form of warfare." A Parliamentary Committee in Indonesia is even considering a proposal to ban all sex outside marriage. According to Deusche Welle, the PSeaker of the Indonesian parliament said legislation is needed to curb "homosexual excesses, such as murder, HIV/AIDS and paedophilic." If you think that a couple of Islamic countries making it more difficult for gay people will result in another majority Muslim country like Malaysia easing restrictions, sorry but I suspect you need to rethink your position.

Wasnt he outed on another Board and banned as a hydra? If I recall correctly his alter ego who had been posting before sglad appeared was as Sugargranpa. Strange both names prominently feature S and G. And wouldn't you know both are still members of this Board! Is there a hydra here

Ghastly idea! Sounds like a hideous hamburger eating contest.

Surely it also depends on your budget? With no limits, I would hop over to the Sukhothai hotel on Sathorn for the best and most extensive breakfast buffet you can find in the city. A little shopping or cruising and then a simple light street stall lunch. By mid afternoon you will be peckish again, so head down to the Mandarin Oriental for its splendid afternoon tea in the Authors Lounge. A light nap followed by cocktails at the Bamboo Chic Bar on the 4th floor of Le Meridien Hotel. then an excellent Thai dinner at Ruen Urai in the Thai-style house at the next door Rose Hotel. After that you will be all set for an evening of revelry in Silom Soi 4, Soi Twilight or wherever takes your fancy. That presumes you have some cash left, though

Seems a rather dramatic thread headline when the police do not suspect foul play! But then we know the BIB are now always right

I always find its best to look at other international flights arriving at around the same time. According to the airports arrival/departure page, the Qatar flight arrives at 6:55 am. Luckily there is no international flight arriving for an hour before then. The nearest is from Chengdu at 05:55. So if your flight is on time and others are not early, Immigration should be a breeze. There is an Emirates 777 arriving at 07:20 followed immediately by three short haul international flights. I reckon you will be fine unless your flight is delayed. https://www.phuketairportonline.com/flight-status-arrivals-departures/

I read somewhere that Thailand only grants around 100 non-Thais permanent residency in each year, but I cannot guarantee the accuracy of this.

Many were not even born in Thailand. The border in the north of the two countries is extremely porous. Many people can and do just walk across daily. I understand the coach was born in Thailand to parents from Myanmar but that a mystery illness wiped out the rest of his family when he was about 10. He was sent to a monastery and spent many years there. The papers proving his nationality at birth appear to have vanished. The parents of the boy who speaks English, Adul, are ethnic Wa people from Myanmar. It was reported he was smuggled across the border when he was six and left at the door of a Church. Schools at the border routinely take in all youngsters without asking for paperwork.

Why do you say " as long as one of the parents is Thai"? These kids entered the cave as a team, survived as a team, all the boys are being educated in Thailand. They have been invited as a team to visit several very famous football clubs in Europe. I am certain the other boys will refuse to go unless they can all go. It would be a relatively simple matter for the Thai government to make an exception and grant citizenship to the four who are stateless, regardless of their parentage. That hill tribe area close to the border with Myanmar has hundreds of thousands of stateless children and adults who were probably born in Myanmar but fled to escape the continuing hostilities in that country. These did not start with the Rohingya. They have been going on since independence. Without citizenship they cannot get passports, ID cards, they have few rights and almost no legal protection. Thailand has accepted many of them but will not grant them citizenship.

You seem to have lost far too much weight in too short a time and still feel bad. I hope you have been to a doctor and if he recommended it also to a specialist. Get better soon.

How much extra are you prepared to pay a boy for that pleasure?

I guess I must be old fashioned, I cannot understand why anyone would want to see a vdo of himself having sex with another. But I fully accept we all have our own fetishes. IMHO It should not be a question of litigation. There have been tales on this forum and others about boys who have been paid specifically to permit photos or vdos being taken with them. Years ago I met one young guy who was paid 30,000 baht for a series of photos which he knew would be published and put on the internet. He had signed an agreement and he was quite happy about it. But surely this should not be an issue of law. It is primarily a question of making sure you make it perfectly clear in advance to the the boy you are with what you are doing and why you want to do it. Then of the fee you are prepared to pay him for this extra service. Additionally he has to be told that you cannot guarantee that this vdo will not be seen on the internet. Only if after that he is happy with what you are offering, go ahead. No matter your best intentions mistakes happen. Its perfectly possible that you could upload the vdo when uploading something else. Or you lose one device where the vdo is stored. Or you send to a friend who again could accidentally upload it. The boy you are with has to be protected and it is your responsibility to ensure that 100%. Again, thats just my view.

I cant stand Starbucks in the UK or USA. The stores I have visited seem boring and the service as bad. But in Thailand it is a different matter altogether. I find the atmosphere in most Starbucks outlets very pleasant. The coffee is OK although a bit pricey, but the baristas are always smiling and good looking (especially the guys!) and the relatively young clientele offers great eye candy. If there is a group of cute students at the next table lingering over their drinks whilst working on computers, who am I to complain? I am perfectly happy also to spend a long time over my drink enjoying the view!

You are very kind, Vinapu. That is far more information that I had sought but I am sure it is very helpful to those planning a trip. Thank you. Incidentally I entirely agree with you about tipping. It depends entirely on the experience and the service we receive. It then becomes a matter for each individual.

Thank you from me Vinapu. Although i am not much of a massage guy I do appreciate your reports. I am amazed that two massages a day is quite common for some posters. May I ask a rather personal question and please do not answer if you do not wish others to know or feel its just none of my business. I wonder very roughly how much you spend on a 13-14 day trip including accommodation, meals, all the massages, bar hopping and tips and so on. Just a total amount rom arrival in Thailand to departure, not a detailed day by day list as Christianpfc sometimes does. I think it might help others in generally budgeting for trips.

I do not think it was bad luck. It was the fact that very few Thais are able to read a map even when it is in Thai. Those who can seem incapable of communicating the information on a map to other Thais. It is just a national trait. Assuming you can read a map, getting around is not difficult. But it does require you to do two quite simple things. Get your hotel to write the name of your destination as clearly as possible in Thai. Then all you need do is learn four very short Thai phrase - turn left, turn right, straight ahead and stop here please. You then become the navigator. If that is too much trouble, locate the nearest hotel or large office building and have your hotel write that in Thai. There is a very good chance a motorcycle driver will know that location. You then get very close to your destination and only require a shortish walk from there.

Not sure the new trains will make much difference as their introduction coincides with the opening of a lot more stations on that line. Why the BTS authorities are like ostriches beats me. The obvious way to reduce congestion is to add one more car to each train on that Line. They steadfastly refuse to do this.

Please correct me if I am wrong but I thought that one of the objects of ASEAN or APEC was the introduction of mobility of labour within the region.

Sorry to hear you are not well and best wishes for a speedy recovery. I am curious why Singapore guys are abandoning Thailand in favour of Taiwan. What do you think are the reasons for this?

You are "sure", but you are not certain. Its a free magazine. Like you I have no idea how profitable or otherwise the magazine might actually be. Do you really think those ads from bars and saunas bring in much cash? I mentioned another free magazine ThailandOut. I have no idea about its finances. All I know is that it had some inaccurate listings. It also had ads. It cannot have been profitable because the print magazine ended and it became an online publication. Then that died and the publisher fled Thailand. Whether or not the two events are related I don't know. Its immaterial here. There was also another similar free magazine available in many of the gay venues. It too died. I think z909s suggestion was not that anyone become a scout. That takes time and trouble. Being paid for that would be very reasonable. But it only takes a few minutes at most to contact a publisher to point out what is wrong and/or what is missing. That way you provide a service to the rest of the gay community. Not doing so but complaining about it sounds somewhat hollow IMHO.

I am in two minds about maps and listings. On the one hand I get pissed off when one or other (or even both) is wrong. On the other I accept reality. Given that gay venues now open and close with greater frequency than before it must be a huge problem obtaining information and then, worse, keeping it all updated. Years ago there was a rather good gay magazine ThailandOut in English published by a farang in Chiang Mai. Its maps were pretty good but still not fully accurate or fully comprehensive. It did act on comments from readers and obviously tried to update them, but it could never get up to date. I wonder how many posters realise that this site is not just a chat room. It has a great deal of information on its home pages for gay residents and visitors. Much of it is extremely useful. Even so, some listings are considerably out of date. In the Bangkok massage spa section Albury, Aqua and Fan Club are listed. Not sure of the dates but I think all closed about 3 years ago. Under Pattaya bars, Krazy Dragon, Wild West Boys and Yaya are listed. Again, all closed their doors probably at least 2 years ago. I mention this only because the whole business of obtaining information, checking it and getting precise locations must take a great deal of time. This is even more true now that many gay venues in Bangkok are spread quite far from the city centre. Once the basic information has been obtained, how do you keep it up to date? Do the publications have enough cash to pay someone to do that? Unlikely IMHO. Will the venues themselves tell you when they close down? Why should they bother? I havent seen Thaipuan for at least a year. From a quick look online, the basic listings seem pretty good, although oddly there is no listing for Sauna Mania in Bangkok which has been around for years. There is also no listing for the trio of bars close to the Mango Tree - Super A, Golden Cock and Nature Boys. But surely that illustrates how difficult obtaining the information for listings must be especially now when gay venues sit on constantly shining sands.

That is not what i said. The point I was trying to make was really very simple. If you live on the west coast of the US and want a vacation that includes meeting up with other guys whether they are Asian, Latin American or of whatever nationality, it is now easier and faster to fly to South America or Australia than it is to Thailand. So the gay tourist holiday world has grown a lot larger than it was a few decades ago. sglad is absolutely correct in mentioning the arrival in Thailand of many more Chinese and Asians. When compared to the western tourists of yesteryear the problem for the bar owners though is that it seems they go to bars primarily for one drink and to see a show. More than one mamasan has told me that so far they are far less interested in offs. One reason for drinks prices having shot up. The majority find their sex in the saunas, gay massage spas and I assume the apps. But sglad is spot on in his final sentences. The gogo bar business model is outdated and needs to change to survive.