PeterRS

That's a question that has been asked in this forum for many years - over more than a decade. I suggest it is in part the government and the elite. They have increasingly disliked Thailand being called the sex capital of Asia and have taken action to clamp down on it. This was the primary reason for Interior Minister Purachai's Social Order campaigns two decades ago. Restrictions were then placed on nightlife. While this may have resulted in little change over the longer term provided the increasingly fat brown envelopes were regularly handed over, it did make in particular the gay venue owners think twice about their businesses. It is also in large part due to the bar owners themselves. They had a business model. When business fell off the only way they knew how to adapt was to raise prices to cover their shortfall. The attitude of the bar owners to a certain extent reflects that of Thai society as a whole, in my view. Having done business in this country for many years, there is clearly an in-built reluctance - some might say fear - of change. In one Thai company in which I have been involved over almost four decades, I have seen overseas consultants and experts brought in to write reports and offer constructive suggestions for change and development. In large part it has been money down the drain for so few recommendations were acted on. When I have asked top management the reason, I always get the response, "They don't understand Thailand!" It is a recurring refrain I hear with some frequency. Similarly, I believe bar owners are afraid of change in case it brings their business tumbling down. Then there was the drying up of the supply of young Thai guys ready and willing to be bar boys, especially in the go-go bars. The country's rapidly rising economic growth offered lads from up country more opportunities for gainful employment away from the rice paddies and village stores. Those prepared to work in the bars expect considerably more for their services than in the past. Thus the gradual influx into the bars of young guys from neighbouring countries, many without proper visas. The question I have never seen asnwered, though, is this: why is it that the gay venues have been reduced and yet it seems the establishments offering the services of young ladies continue to thrive? Or so it seems. Is this because the majority of new customers for gay bars, especially those from North and South East Asia, are much less interesting in offs from gogo bars? They tend to be younger than the westerners who mostly frequented bars two and three decades ago and much more interested in a spa experience followed by a bar show followed by dancing somewhere.

100% no!

I for one certainly don't feel in the slightest bit bitter about the past being gone. I'm just glad I was in Bangkok in those particular years and have so many extremely fond memories, some great. Nostalgia is part of our existence. Thankfully we all move on and experience a myriad of new things as we age.

I'm sure it is. But you mentioned your interest in being transported back 25 years when there were quite a few more bars staffed with lots more guys much more skimpily dressed than is the case today. Same with the best-known massage spas which have disappeared, many fondly remembered like Hero, Albury and Adonis each of which (if I remember correctly) usually had quite a few more masseurs. Same also with gay saunas, with Babylon being the most lamented casualty. Going back an extra few years, some months ago a member posted a list from one of the free mags that used to be available in many gay venues which listed even more bars with more bar boys, and not all in the Silom-Suriwong axis . Taking just one, Barbiery on Suriwong opposite the entrance to Soi Twilight often had 100 young guys working at the week-ends. Nudity and more adventurous, fun shows were the norm. Not sure if Twilight had as many guys in 1993 but it certainly had 60-70 a few years before then. But times change, society changes, government regulations have changed and the economics of gay venues have changed particularly in the face of competition from the apps. Also, as I have mentioned before in several posts, the customer base has changed. 30 years ago Thais virtually made up a majority of bar customers. We live in different times.

Note that the present Prime Minster is on record as saying he plans to change the law back to what it was within 6 months - i.e. medical use only. https://edition.cnn.com/2023/09/29/asia/thailand-cannabis-clampdown-what-next-intl-hnk/index.html

While we're at it, let's make it 30 years when the Bangkok gay scene was really hot and humming.

On the few occasions i visited Pattaya 15-25 years ago, there was always the possibility of finding attractive guys on the beach wearing skimpy trunks, especially in the late afternoons. In addition to the boys who came down to play a sort of volleyball, there was usually the accasional cruiser. There was also a host bar - Bamboo Bar? - located around the corner from the Police Box which was open in the afternoons. The gay area of the beach was then quite busy with cheap drinks and food available.

And that then becomes the bank's fault?

Sadly not so easy or cheap in many Asian countries like Thailand.

I'm sure we've all read the news about Paris and how bedbugs seem to have taken over the city. Now sightings are reported on the London underground. Unlike Bangkok, Hong Kong and many other cities, London's Tube cars have upholstered seating. Ideal for bedbugs to lurk and then climb on to whatever you are wearing. Before you know it, they have crept on to your bed, found a nice little niche and start to breed. They bite but to most people the bites are painless. They just leave red marks on the skin. The problem is essentially twofold: they breed like crazy and they are very difficult and usually expensive to eliminate. Bangkok is not immune to their infestation. Anyone who travels has a high chance of having bedbugs in their hotel/B&B beds. Put your clothes or suicases on to the bed and they will hitch a lift. Next thing you know you have brought some of these highly resilient buggers back to your home. Never put your suitcase and clothes on the bed and always keep the case firmly closed. As the following article from The Guardian points out, bedbugs "are incredibly good hitchkikers." The fact is that bedbugs have been around in most countries for centuries. The present rise in numbers seems to be associated with climate change and an increasing resistance to insectocides like DDT which was used to eliminate them decades ago. If you think you have found one or more, strip the bed and immediately get the bedclothes to a professional cleaner. Also get a pest control company in fast. It may not get rid of it/them at the first cleaning. That's why it can become quite expensive. Leave it too late and they will find their way into your furniture. As the article points out, we live in "a bug's world." We'll never get rid of them all. But we can take precautions to make sure this lot do not take up residence in our homes. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/oct/11/french-bedbugs-britain-insects

Sorry I cannot remember despite having been there several times. Each time i was in dark jeans, a Polo shirt and sneakers. No probems. I suspect Hawaiian shirts and shorts may not be not permitted.

True! I got in at the seniors price but had to pay a great deal more for my partner! Drinks at Vertigo, the open air bar on top of the Banyan Tree Hotel on Sathorn, are not cheap but you get mostly the same view for considerably less than going to the top of Mahanakhon. No glass bottom though 🤣

I would hate to break up a relationship in the manner you suggest. It rather implies - at least to me - that boyfriends can be picked up and then dumped as though they never meant anything to you. I mean by boyfriend someone who has been with you for a considerable time and who is not paid for his time (other than meals, transport, vacations etc.)

Many thanks. I had never heard of it before.

For 2 or 3 years now, anyone living and having a private residence address in Thailand who returns after a trip outside the country has had to complete a computerised TM30 form and send it to Immigration within 24 hours of arrival. This was true even before arrival cards were dispensed with. It's a total pain in the neck and I fail to understand why it is necessary! Those staying in a hotel, B&B or guesthouse do not need to complete the form since the manager of your accommodation automatically does that. Recently we were informed that the website has been changed and everyone has to re-register. As usual with official forms, I got confused by the English on the first page and failed to get beyond that. My partner is away and so I had a Thai friend help with the re-registration. It took him the better part of 20 minutes to work it all out. Immigration should have informed everyone previously registered by an email with the new website. For anyone who has not received it, the site is - https://tm30.immigration.go.th/tm30/#/login On the opening page, all you need do is click on Register and then start on the new page. You will need to upload a low resolution copy of the information page of your passport.

As I posted on another thread, I was at Paragon last weekend. There was no security whatever at the entrance near Siam Centre. I have also been in Silom Complex with no security at 4 entrances. None of these entrances/exits had metal detectors either. Some years ago and also during covid there was security in shopping malls. But it is certainly not common now and I do not think there is really any need for it. Paragon would require a lot of security personnel if it was to cover all the entrances. And what would they do? Search everyone? Insist on backpacks being opened if the metal detector pinged? Some time ago the MRT had guards for security checks prior to entrance to stations. But the checks on backpacks were laughable.

Years ago Manila did have two or three gay go-go bars where the boys often stripped right off. The most 'outrageous' was the huge 690 Retiro Strip with catwalks running through the large audience area and always about 100 plus good-looking guys. I have not been to Manila for nearly two decades and I expect everything has been toned down now with nudity not permitted. Just my guess, though.

And I wonder what Anutin plans to do about the 10.3 million guns which were held mostly in private hands, legally and illegally, as reported a year ago? Will there be a government buy-back programme as in Australia? Or is this just one issue which has been conveniently put on the back burner?

I've been a points and miles junkie for almost as long as the schemes have been running. And I have had lots of freebies at great places along the way - many upgrades and business class tickets, stays at the Park Hyatt in Tokyo and the wonderful Marriott on Phu Quoc etc. When covid started, Marriott Bonvoy clearly in need of cash had an offer of a 70% addition to purchased points. So I bought 100,000. As I expected, following covid the number of points required for stays at Marriott properties jumped. For the Phu Quoc property at almost exactly the same period (and keeping clear of major public holiday periods), they have jumped 60%. I will still pick up whatever points and miles are offered, but no longer save up for specific stays or flights. It just takes too long now.

Silly question. I guess you are not aware that now all actors are called actors, including those we used to call actresses.

You don't tip in Japan.

Don't forget your bikini! 🤣

Agreed. So why not start by tackling the easier part which is some form of gun control? Oh, I know the arguments! Trot out the facts about the fundamental changes in gun control laws brought in by the UK and Australia following the gun massacres in Dunblane and Port Arthur and the consequent major drop in gun deaths. The gun lobby will twist arguments to pooh pooh these! Those against gun control bring up Switzerland which has more guns in private hands that almost any other country outside the USA. What they then fail to mention is that under Switzerland's historic militia system, there is only a small standing army but a large number of conscripts. All are encouraged to keep their service weapons in their homes. In the last 50 years there have been 11 gun related incidents resulting in 2 or more killed. Another argument is that cars kill, so why not ban cars? Well, I can't see a car crashing into Paragon to kill people or one coming up to my eight floor apartment to kill the occupants.

I cannot say I have been in a similar situation, but I have found myself in one which was difficult and somewhat the same. At the age of 25 I switched jobs and moved to a different city. I loved the new job. It was very different from the one I had left and I had to learn very fast. For a month we had a visiting professional who was almost at the pinnacle of the profession. I knew he was gay and also that he had a long-time partner who was not with him on that visit. He had been accommodated in a serviced apartment rather than a hotel. One day he invited me to join him for dinner. I was gay but not 'out' at the time and so I doubt if he knew I was gay although his gaydar may have been working! He had cooked a very good dinner and we consumed a nice bottle of wine. For me, it was fascinating to learn more about the business from him. I was happy I had gone. After we had tidied the table and placed the dishes in the kitchen, I was surprised and somewhat shocked when he came up to me and put his arms around me. It was obvious what he wanted, but I had zero feelings for him and no intention of having sex with a man twice my age. Fortunately he was not the predator type and on my basically saying "please, no" and "I really have to get home", he got the message and we parted amicably. For the rest of his visit we both acted as though nothing had happened. The difference, I suppose, is that had I slept with the guy I would have gained no immediate advantage in my career. Not that that had entered my mind. I went to learn. Perhaps I was naive and on a different occasion with a more determined man I would have had difficulty getting out of the situation. But this thread has reminded me of a very short relationship I had with a 23 year old Thai around 20 years ago. He was exceedingly intelligent having degrees from 2 UK universities including Oxford. He had applied for a post with a United Nations Agency. I went with him to the interview and just waited in a nearby coffee shop . When he returned, he had a rather amused look on his face. There had been three on the interview panel chaired by a 50-ish westerner. After the interview had gone extremely well, the Chairman asked if they could have a private word outside. Bascially he told my friend that he would almost certainly be offered the job. "And by the way," he added. "I'm top! What are you?" My friend was utterly shocked that an interview Chairman would be so brazen with an interviewee. He did not take the job and instead went to Germany for a post graduate degree in European Union law!

This shooting in a public place comes almost a year to the day after a madman massacred 36 mostly children in a day care centre in Nong Bua Lamphu Province. In 2020 a former soldier went on a rampage gunning down 29 people in a spree that ended in a shopping mall in Nakhon Ratchasima. Perhaps "rare" compared to the plague in the US, but as this chart from wikipedia shows, there have been quite a few in Thailand of which most of us have not been aware - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_massacres_in_Thailand Whenever we hear about this sort of senseless killing, lawmakers in the USA - and perhaps in Thailand, too, for all I know - target mental health and the need for much more vigilance in finding and treating those who might be in danger of using guns. Many such murderers obviously have psychiatric problems, but this to me is a huge cop out when it is the proliferation of guns that is the root cause of the problem. How does any law enforcement agency identify a young person intent on murder? How do parents monitor their teenage children's activities on the internet? How many parents are bothered even to think about doing that? Even if they were aware that their child was harbouring 'dark thoughts', would they report that child? After all, it could indicate that as parents they have not brought their child up properly? How many school children think about contemporarites who are loners or who betray anti-social traits? And so the questions go on - and the killings never stop.