anddy

note: talat (or talad) = Thai for market, so that's not the name of the market. I looked it up on google maps and according to that the second to last stop on the canal is called "Talad Bobae", or ตลาดโบ้เบ้, so that's probably it then.

great report, kinda similar what I don in BKK hehe ;-) Looking forward to more! If you like massage as you do, I highly recommend doing 1.5 hours instead of just 1. Makes a big difference I find. That's for "just" massage, no HE or anything (I know vinapu always does 1.5h to have plenty of time for unrushed extras), I just find it much more effective in achieving what it is supposed to achieve, i.e. relaxation. As for tips, I usually tip 100, too, for a normal massage without extras. If the massage is really good, I give more. I have one guy at The Prime I book sometimes, and he gets 500 for a 1.5 hour oil with no extras coz I like his work so much.

for what it's worth: as coincidence would have it I just met a Swiss guy last weekend who had just spent several weeks in Phuket to learn diving, and was about to go back there for more. He said it's very good there. Didn't go into any detail. so can't name a school.

what's your room number? haha ;-)

the risk of oral is generally considered VERY low, but of course not zero, which doesn't exist in any activity. Having said that, oral with condom is ZERO fun (to me) so never bother to do that.

get award tickets for business class, as suggested by fedssocr. By FAR the best use of miles, i.e. most value for points. On one program I'm in, a one-way upgrade from Europe to Asia is 40k miles, i.e. 80k round trip. AND that requires a typically rather expensive upgradable booking class in economy. Whereas a round trip award ticket is only 135k miles. Much better use of the points IMO. As for ANA, their business class on the 787 in the Tokyo-BKK leg sucks, not fully reclining seats, not comfortable at all. On the Tokyo-SFO leg it was good, standard lie-flat seat. But better than economy obviously, if that's what you might end up with on an award ticket given limited availability. Very important re award tickets: book that WELL in advance to increase you chances of any availability.

tip: single most important item to have/buy for Songkran is the waterproof, transparent pouch for your mobile phone. EVERYONE has it, and they are on sale EVERYWHERE for next to nothing. The more useful ones have are transparent on both sides, so that you can take pictues with the front AND the rear camera of your phone.

yeah speedos are perfecty fine on any beach in Thailand that is frequented by foreigners, i.e. any beach you are likely to visit. Thai people have an entirely different idea of a day on the beach. They spend it FULLY clothed, preferably with long sleeved shirts so as to avoid any risk of their skin getting any sun (and thus "black", as they call it), sit in the shade and eat, drink and play music. There you would look and feel odd in speedos, but the probability of a foreign tourist (especially first timers) ending up on a Thai-Thai beach is zero. Are you going to a beach? Which one? From some other post you made in this thread I got the impression you're in BKK only....

true it's no big deal, but again, risk of exactly what? Getting odd looks? Big deal, too. Nobody will do or say anything. It might be a matter of courtesy not to do too much (such as kissing in public outside the "gay ghetto") so as not to offend the perceptions of the people of a country one visits, but that's more common sense rather than avoiding any "risk". We are not talking about Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia here, where actual risks exist. As for musfair's logic "there are transvestite shows, therefore homosexuality is accepted", I agree with a447a, that is absurd. The same goes for naked and fuck shows in the gogo bars. All those have ZERO relevance as to the acceptance by the general public of (a) homosexuality in general and (b) the display of personal affection by both straight and gay people. In fact, those shows and especially the naked/fuck parts are unknown to many many Thais. Many Thais are also utterly ignorant of the existence of the (in)famous "ping-pong shows". It is rather one of the many contradictions within Thai culture, that on the one hand they are conservative, but on the other hand rather lenient letting things happen. As long as it is not TOO public and not talked about, things are tolerated easily. Anyway, to OP hueydavid, just don't place too much weight on a discussion like this which can blow things out of proportion and make believe there are issues which you won't see at all upon arrival. Just relax and have a good time, which you are basically guaranteed to have. Welcome :-)

oh, and on dehydration: my personal favorite drink is fresh coconut where available. Highly recommended. Delicious and healthy. Also comes with a dessert included for after your meal, i.e. the coconut meat inside.

Remember the name LOL. That place doesn't have a name. While I call it a "restaurant" it doesn't mean in it is housed in a building or even a shack or anything at all. It is just outside right on the sidewalk. Even their Thai menu does't have a name on the front page, just something to the effect of "super super delicious" and their phone number (yes they can be called on a mobile and actually do delivery using mocy taxis). Follow my description of the location, just inside Soi 9 the first on the corner (there is a second one behind it apparently specializing in duck laab, but haven't tried yet). Impossible to miss. The wai guy: I agree, was glad I found him by simply googling ;-) yeah seriously, don't worry about hand holding. No idea what kind of "risk" whall is talking about in his post that it's not worth taking.... As for food safety, my theory is that street food can indeed be more safe than restaurant food, for the simple reason that you can see everything that's going on in the food preparation, whereas in a proper restaurant you cannot look inside the kitchen. Having said that, there are better places than others. A good rule to follow is to go to places that are full of Thai people. There is a place on Convent that is always busy, but mostly with foreigners (not only farang). In fact, I got the runs from that place once. Whereas NEVER from another place around the corner from that (right around the 7/11) in Saladaeng Soi 2 as well as the Silom Soi 9 one I recommended. I have taken MANY foreign friends to both places, never any issues, even with first time visitors. I have a feeling the potential risk is overrated by westerners and travel guides, but then of course some people are indeed more sensitive to these things so for those being more cautious is probably a good idea. Another comment about this: there is a difference between just getting a simple diarrhea and actual food poisoning. The former is pretty harmless and can either just be let run it's course (for me on the two occasions I had it in the last two years that involved going to the toilet one, maybe two times only, end of it) or treated with Imodium. The latter is more serious and needs treatment by antibiotics, best after consulting a doctor (easy to do here in the outpatient departments of the hospitals here). That the ice cubes are the culprit of any diarrhea or worse is actually a myth. That was true many many years ago, when restaurants or bars or whatever used to make their own ice, possibly using dodgy water. Nowadays NOBODY at all EVER makes their own ice. It is all industrially manufactured and purchased in bulk by restaurants, including street food restaurants. There is no risk whatsoever in the ice. Yes, farang is the Thai word for westerner, but not only whites, interestingly actually includes black people as well. Thai guys into white guys? Yes and no, just as everywhere in the world everyone has different preferences. Not all farang like Asians, despite the impression one might get from just browsing this forum LOL. The thing is that the Thai gays that frequent the Silom gay area are indeed very likely to like farang, whereas there is a huge population that doesn't and thus tends to stay away from Silom. You can notice the difference in saunas, too, for example. Whereas in Babylon virtually all Asians will be into farang, at locally frequented saunas (such as the new-ish R3) this is distinctly not the case (speaking from own experience). Bottom line: if you go out in Silom your statement is correct hehe.

If you wanna meet up maybe, PM me

Hi guys, welcome to Thailand. As a general rule, just be friendly and smile a lot and you will have a great time for sure. to your questions: - don't worry about holding hands. While traveller123 is right that Thais are quite conservative regarding public displays of affection, this is not much of an issue in Bangkok. In the countryside, even straight couples wouldn't really do it. But in Bangkok I see it all the time, straight couples, lesbian couples (quite often in fact), and to a lesser extent gay couples. In the "gay area" of Silom, nobody cares at all. In other areas, people may find it odd, but this is Bangkok and again, nobody really cares. And even if they do care, they ignore it rather than do or say something, because (a) they want to avoid confrontation (this a a very confrontation-averse culture) and (b) avoid making you lose face for your faux-pas. And on top of all that, foreginers are forgiven many a cultural faux pas simply because they are foreigners and don't know any better. Maybe just don't do it inside a place like the Grand Palace, but that's about as far as I would go. - Bar/clubs/shows: well depends on what you like. A usual night out routine is go to the Bars of the almost entirely gay SIlom Soi 4 (it is a short dead-end Soi (Soi = Thai for small street) maybe 100m long only) first for drinks (mostly outside seating with great people watching). Then continue on to the 100% gay Silom Soi 2, which is actually not really a Soi/street in the real sense of the word but an opening between to adjacent buidlings. It is less than 50m deep and houses 5 or 6 gay bars as well as the famous DJ Station (in the far corner). When that closes (depending on the day of the week and the current mood of the local police, sometime between 2 and 3 am) everyone moves on to G.O.D. (standing for Guys On Display) in Silom Soi 2/1, which is just a block from Soi 2 in the direction of Soi 4 (i.e. between the two). That is open until around 5 (give or take). So you see this is all very condensed and makes for super easy bar hopping. Shows: what kind of shows do you have in mind? DJ Station has a drag show I think at about 11:30 or midnight. Then there are the boy shows and boy bars of Soi Twilight (off of Surawong Road, which runs parallel to Silom and is a max 5 minute walk away), which is an entirely different scene from Silom Sois 2 and 4. Here everything is about commercial sex, and the shows are sexy boy shows, depending on the current Police mood including some actual fuck shows. This forum is mostly about that commercial sex trade. There is nothing wrong with that and many western misconceptions about prostitution should be thrown overboard. Then there is a whole other gay area along Ratchada Road (where Fake Club mentioned in the post before is), but that is almost entirely local and hardly any foreigner finds his way there. Tat may be fun, but my feeling is for first timers like you, the Silom area is probably the place to go, lots of fun, and lots of local guys who like an international scene are there as well. - holes in the wall restaurants: there are so many you can't even begin to even think about recommending any. I'd just venture to mention two places: A popular place at night when/after going to DJ Station is a Khao Man Gai (chicken rice) stall right outside Silo Soi 2 (you literally stumble on it as you exit Soi 2). Thais seem to be hungry 24/7, so this is super busy especially around 1-3 am. One of my personal favorites is a street food restaurant in Silom Soi 9, right the first one on the corner as you enter the Soi from the main Road, very easy to find. They have a full menu of many many favorite Thai dishes including Tom Yam Goong, curries, Pad Grapaow (chopped up meat (usually chicken of pork) fried with chili and Thai basil leaves), etc etc. Their HIGHLY recommended specialty though is steamed fish in a spicy lemon sauce (you can specify the degree of spicyness), the best in town. And CHEAP to boot (I think the fish is only 200 Baht, or less than USD 6). The Thai way of dining is to order several dishes and share them among everyone, so that's what you should do to be able to sample various dishes at the same time. The food at Soi 9 is amazing and you will be shocked as to how low the bill will be. They do have a menu in English as well as a picture-menu on a Samsung tablet, though the English menu unfortunately is only a shortened version of the actual, more comprehensive menu in Thai. I take ALL my foreign visitors there an everyone LOVES it. - shorts and tank tops: not an issue, just in temples and such, so maybe bring some light long pants (or buy a pair of the light very loose one on sale at the street market in Silom at night for max 200 Baht hich tourists like to wear). At the Grand Palace appropriate pants can (and must( be borrowed, not sure about shirts, so maybe better bring a regular t-shirt for this one and other temples. Other customs: probably many, but as said above, just being friendly and smiling goes a long way in Thailand. And don't use the "wai" to greet or thank anyone, as you are 99.9% guaranteed to use it in a wrong way and with a wrong person. Simple friendliness is sufficient for the foreigner. Wai: pressing the palms of the hands against each other and raising them towards the face.

that's what I said, the buffet is in the morning only, but a la carte should be / used to be available 24 hours

There's one on Convent Road, not far in from SIlom, I guess roughly where the Starbucks is

You obviously got it from the wrong place, a khao man gai place is a khao man gai place, you should get the kaa moo from a kaa moo stall! Just cut off the fat if you don't like it or even better tell then you don't want any when you order. The meat just melts in your mouth, amazing!

In defence of the 24 hour claim, breakfast at the Tarntawan *IS* actually available 24 hours. I used to see that as a major advantage of the hotel, as I like to sleep LATE and then have breakfast after waking up, regardless of the type of meal the clock would wish to dictate You just must not confuse the breakfast buffet for the 24 hour thing. Of course, they don't keep the buffet open 24 hours, things would go bad obviously. However, the a-la-carte breakfast can be had 24 hours. Just ask for the breakfast menu. In fact the buffet is a somewhat recent addition to their service, maybe about 5 years. Before that, there was no buffet, just the a la carte breakfast, avaibable anytime. Unless they have changed it, this should still be the case. I have to admit I haven't stayed there in 3 or 4 years, so I can't be 100% sure.

sounds like your in town for quite some time. So we should be able to make something work, I'm usually very flexible with days and times as I don't work. I'll PM you my contact details around April 3/4, when I'm back from a trip out of the country I take next week.

getting mad doesn't help, why did you not insist on calling the police or call the tourist police yourself? That may have changed their mind into admitting wrongdoing and returning your money.

best reports ever, great reading - almost like a string of mini-love stories with all the emotion, not just descriptive of the acts. See you in BKK in April, I'll be around

Thanks for report, matches my experiences there. In fact, I do have an annual membership there because I like the high quality of the massages. Also, massages tend to be not only strong (as I like them) but also sensual, though the degree fo sensuality varies with the masseur of course. One guy I like in particular (and keep booking) is really good at that, as well as the expert HJ. As for the membership set-up, that's nor worry for the visitor as the give a free 5 day membership for tourists, see their price chart (bottom left) at http://spabangkok.net/silom/silomservice.htm so you can take advantage of their full services. Which include the "premium menu for men" http://spabangkok.net/premiummenu.htm Promotions both for members and tourists are updated regularly. http://spabangkok.net/silom/promotion.htm As for the HE/sex, in general it is only HJ, but I had one guy there who (to my surprise) said "I want to fuck you. OK?". Well, yes it was OK hehe. Haven't seen his name in the dauly staff updates in Line for some time, so seems he may have left, though he was new only last year. Did a 4 hands massage recently, and (again to my surprise) they didn't remain fully clothed as usual, but were in underwear only. When it came to the HE part, one guy too that off for me to play with his dick, which got hard, too. Not sure if I could have asked for more, simply didn't as I came relatively quickly. Had the odd Christmas music in January as well, but not anymore in February, so obviously picked that again, maybe not really realizing what it is. Probably just sounds like any farang music to them lol. As the tantric requires specific expertise, it is only done by one specific guy (or used to be in the past, now maybe more than one) which is why it should be booked a day in advance to ensure he is there. Not all of the staff do it for sure. As for the limited duration of 20 minutes, that is a result of it being a sequence of clearly definded moves and strokes, they used to have a description complete with the tantric names of those moves on their website. @DM: what was your guy's name (if you asked)?

as TomNg alluded to, these are not just "reports" but more like a novel, amazingly written, engaging to read and with almost tangible emotions. Thanks for taking all this time to write it! Oh, and your mutual efforts to communicate via google are touching, showing the affection. I can relate to that. As for the practical side, it must be really difficult, whenever I use it (which is rarely now as my Thai gets better) the translations are just so crappy...

found one/two FAQ items to be not accurate for practial purposes: Gay tours: Can I be nude in the gay sauna?Public nudity is prohibited in Thailand by The Royal Law. In some gay saunas staff don’t mind if visitor is nude in the steam rooms and in the jacuzzi (under the roof, not on the terrace or in the garden). Will you go naked for the gay sauna tour?Public nudity is prohibited in Thailand by The Royal Law. Well, the law may be the law, but that's just theory, but has nothing to do with practice as we all know from the existence of the thriving but officially illegal sex industry. As for the saunas, nobody cares if someone goes naked, and more to the point, many saunas have explicit "naked nights" or "naked areas" where being naked is actually required.

sorry to say, they do. At least they did when I stayed there quite a long time ago. Not very friendly about it, too, I found..... I hope for you that this has changed.... please report

cool :-) Don't know how you got in touch with the other FM's (or they with you), but I guess you need to make your plans or presence known. Honestly, I see you in this thread for the first time, and you don't have many posts, so difficult to know that you exist and what you're up to LOL. Anyway, please do get in touch in April, I'll be in town from April 5 through 29, travelling a bit before and after. As for the new reports: amazing and super entertaining writing! Thanks :-)