NIrishGuy

My My what an internationally jet setting bunch of whore mongers you / we all are it seems, I LOVE it, keep up the good work and the reports as they make for interesting reading ( plus lots of useful travel info detail too of course )

If booking Tartawan Place ( which I to also end up going for for the reasons already listed) personally I always book a Sarong deluxe room at the least, This is for the big of extra space you get in room but also mainly for the EXTRA large bed that you can ASK FOR ! to ensure that you (both) still get a genuinely good nights sleep even when sharing with a stranger without having to lie on top of each other - except when you want to of course :-)

These pics just remind me why I NEVER feel the need or wish to go to Tawan, but each to their own and all that I guess.......

"In any case a night in the police cell amongst the Burmese, Cambodian and other immigrant boys would be quite fun" Ha i like that attitude, if life gives you lemons make Gin and Tonic - I would have said lemonade but fuck that, gin and tonic wins every time in my book ! :-)

"If you don't want to carry your passport this week, then don't carry it. I fail to see the point of arguing about it." Well ffs then stop banging on about it then - it's like your personal mantra, often repeated and never changing and for WHAT - we all know "the law" the same as you THINK you do and are all adults and are quite capable of making our own decisions re whether to bother doing that or not without being permanently reminded of your (HUGHLY INFLATED) view of the potential ( totally negligible) risks IMHO So yes, you're right, carry it or don't but as I and as far as I know almost no one else on the boards have ever ACTUALLY been asked for their passport on the street - and even if they were that wouldn't be something that couldn't be resolved in 15 minutes if t was an issue, then I''ll still definitely decline carrying such a highly difficult document to replace on the streets "just in case" I'm ever asked thanks not to mention the chances of it being stolen by someone when out / with a boy etc. Which takes us nicely on to your prostitution point then - so what, now you're only chosing to follow the laws that you perceive are enforced eh, ah ok I see, just like me and the passport thing, i perceive there to be almost no risk so I chose to ignore their law ( which I'm not even sure IS a law actually about carry you're ACTUAL passport as I've yet to see it) .......so, care to move the goal posts any further about "following the law" there while you're at it ? Like Anon I carry a copy of the main page of my passport and on the back I also have details of my medical insurance along with a line in Thai saying "In case of accident I AM FULLY INSURED - call the number listed below for more details" to ensure I get to the right hospital as speedily as possible. For me this is plenty and if and when the police ever arrest me I'm sure it'll be sorted out quickly and with the aid of a 2000 baht bung as usual in good old corrupt and rotten to the core LOS.

" I also disagree with NIrishGuy's comment that these checks will hurt tourism. I don't think so." Yeah because tourists who are free to soend their money visiting any country they chose to ensure they have a nice relaxing beach holiday are well known for going to places where it's possible that tin pot corrupt police men are likely to arrest them on the street simply for not carrying their very important and full legal passport with them 24/7 - or maybe a copy, but even though the government have said that's ok, maybe it's not, who knows - yeah RIGHT, because thungs like that definitely wouldn't hurt tourism at all for sure - right !? "I don't see much room for complaint if people are not complying with the law." Since when did people in Pattaya, expats or tourist, start giving a shit about the law I wonder ? Only the laws that suit them Im guessing maybe. I trust we'll all be stopping offing boys from bars and paying them for sex any day now then eh as hey, we really should be abiding to the laws of the Countries we visit or live in - shouldnt we ? Or is that just the laws that suit that we're talking about now perhaps ?

Ah this old chestnut again........of course the law has always stated one should carry their passport when in Thailand, ready for inspection by the powers that be at any time required, in reality most people don't / never have and have absolutely no problems. Likewise it's assumed and I believe has been tried and tested many times where if the issue every DOES arise that a PHOTOCOPY of your passport carried in your wallet is sufficient to get you thorough most situations and if its a serious issue that has arisen police can and most certainly then would be free to accompany you back to your accommodation to see the original document. It wasn't stated in the article but judging from the pic of the guys in the back of the police pick up being taken for further ID checks ( and I'm GUESSING here) but I only see Arab / black gentlemen there and a severe lack of 50/60 something white farang from the US or Europe so I'm guessing that the polices' hunches / racist/ism gut feeling ? profiling were perhaps was more to do with who were detained for further investigation in view of the polices wish to be perceived to be securing the area of walking street before New years etc?

Keep that shit up they'll be needing a lot more of it once tourist numbers REALLY start falling !

Just for people who may perhaps read this post later on in the year and wonder - thankfully it appears that the fire didn't relate to Mosaik at all, which seems to be still operating away all just as normal.

Correct - although thats certainly not for the lack of them trying to buy a few, including three just as recently as this year from the Chinese, but for both (mainly) economic and also political reasons it appears that that deal may well sink too ( pun totally intended)

"Thailand has an aircraft carrier without any aircraft" That's nothing, the UK will shortly have TWO ! ( well at least for a while anyway it seems - and only until we probably sell the second one anyway once t's complete as we never could really afford it and probably won't be able to keep up with the monthly repayments anyway )

Any update on this ?? Hopefully all under control now and no injuries !???

Funny i'm guessing they say EXACTLY that about us too ! :-)

In my experience no, it's the exact opposite - a Thai guy can call you old, ugly, fat or worse, you name it, no problem, it's just "cultural" - but just you go and try calling HIM even just one of those things and watch the major huffy fit and drama act that ensues thereafter. He'll instantly starting moaning and complaining and asking "why you say that about me !" and setting out to get you back later, preferably in front of other people just so "save face". So no, in my experience they can give it ( oh it's just cultural, I no mean bad to you) but they sure as hell can't take it ( why you say that to me, fuck you, farang you can fuck off, I not need you, many farang in Thailand better than you, you OLD, FUCK YOU" - and that could be over something like "hmmm those shoes you're wearing tonight don't seem go with those trousers very well are you sure you want to wear those when we go to the nice restaurant ??) !! Or maybe I just always find the drama queens :-) - ( and if so fuck them as I can out drama queen the lot of them too when it suits with a highly offended, ok, I think better you go find new farang, you not good for me........and count the seconds until the "No, but I want YOUUUUUUU" kick in as he sees his rent money rapidly disappearing before his very eyes ;-)

Hmmm interesting - so, if your Government issues a travel warning to a particular country for a set time it's widely accepted that such a warning generally invalidates your travel insurance should you choose to ignore that warning and so on. So, I wonder does then does this "worldwide" warning mean that if you're a US Citizen that you're screwed now no matter where you choose to go as US insurance companies will now be able to use this as one of their many catch all "well you should have read the small print of your policy Sir" rules as they try to look for one of their many "how to fuck you over when you most need it" clauses each time it suits them ?

I can honestly say that Lek's massages are the one thing I miss most about Thailand ! If I was one of those super rich guys that could fly their masseuse in from anywhere in the world on a private jet for a quick going over then Lek would be my masseuse of choice. We've known each other a while now and he knows exactly the right spots to stretch and pull and push to make me hop and skip out of there feeling 10 years younger I highly recommend him and his various skills.

Sounds like a man with "issues" - the man he doth protest too much I think !

As long as it's only your nose thats dripping then you're fine, anything else and THEN you've really got a problem ! :-)

Thank goodness, for a second I thought this post was going to be about so how many active ( and passive) members do we have.......as that question opens up a whole host of possible answers :-)

Actually for the sake of accuracy ( and you may have meant this perhaps but autocorrect kicked in ?) but his reply when asked in 1924 by a New York Times reporter as to why he would want to climb Mount Everest etc his reply was " Because it's there". Actually although he's famed for those 3 words his full reply was " “BECAUSE IT’S THERE… EVER­EST IS THE HIGH­EST MOUN­TAIN IN THE WORLD, AND NO MAN HAS REACHED ITS SUM­MIT. ITS EXIS­TENCE IS A CHAL­LENGE. THE ANSWER IS INSTINC­TIVE, A PART, I SUP­POSE, OF MAN’S DESIRE TO CON­QUER THE UNIVERSE.”

Re Christians "in short" I would just add that that is obviously "his" in short and I wouldn't concur with his "the bars are horrible" view etc, but I guess it all depends whether you're going to a bar to be social and sociable and to meet new people and have a laugh and a good night out or just attending the bar to further am aim of picking up a guy to meet your ( strict) criteria and then go back to your room - which I'm not knocking, each to their own and all that but there's lots of ( genuine non sexual ) fun to be had in the ( few) gay bars in Bali IF that's what you go out to go into bars for.

Nightlife wise I agree re Kura. Scenery wise I agree re getting out and about and guy wise there's definitely something and someone for all tastes.

If anyone is stuck for accommodation suggestions I have a contact in seminyak who works privately for the Australian owners of a few select villas in the town and he can offer good prices on them and take good care of you whilst there ( I mean re collecting you from the airport and tours etc etc .... the rest, well that's up to you both I guess lol). I that's of interest PM me and I'll forward you his email address and you can take it from there. Needless to say I'm in no way involved with this apart from passing on his details and verifying he's a nice guy and dependable etc.

Again without sounding mean I would suggest NOT going with the same wallet out automatically attitude as one MUST have in Pattaya as it's just not required, as I've said the guys are genuinely more up for a good time overall and not just about getting the last rupiah out of you. Needless to say pay for all ancillary items like food and drinks etc of course and pay for their mates too - and not because you have to but just because it's the nice thing to do and unlike in Pattaya where you get zero appreciation for that as it's "expected" the guys in bali will think well of you and you'll be well received and remembered for it - and in my experience the second your done with your shag de jour the same mates that he was out with will be approaching you to "try you out" too - but not for money but for fun :-) One thing ( perhaps not so unlike Pattaya) Bali is a small place and the local gay scene is small and the guys DO gossip and bitch about each other and even more than Pattaya their reputations are everything to them so be careful not to bad mouth anyone or they'll soon find out from whence it came ! But the gossiping does tend to be about themselves not us and even if it IS about us that doesn't tend to lessen their interest as long as you're not perceived as a bad or a mean guy as I know I ended up with a bit of rep as ( there's no polite way of saying it) a bit of a slut lol and I can assure you that reputation didn't lessen the guys interest in me in ANY way, in fact it may well have increased their interest as the guys knew they could have a good time with me both in and out of bed and there would be no gossiping or comeback from me and even though they all knew I was banging their friends they still wanted to "try the white guy so THEY could say they were too" .......god that sounds very arrogant and I don't mean it to, but it was just what happened and I'm not suggesting it was anything to do with "me" personally as I'm sure ( I KNOW) it's the same for every other boule who goes there who plays the game. So my main advice, go, but don't think you're in Pattaya nor treat the guys / situations like as if you were that as it's just not necessary and the guys react better if their not treated like money boys ( as most are not in the same sense on Pattaya ! ) and if you do that you'll have a ball - and if you use gay Apps etc you phone will ping NON STOP for the duration of your entire trip of that I assure you ! :-) Oh and if you meet a nice guy you click with and are happy to spend some time with and want a quality day relaxing take him to "Potato head" - he'll love it / appreciate it and will post being there on Facebook no doubt and you can lie back and enjoy it too ( even though it is overpriced compared to the rest of the island) - but still damned cheap for what it is.

In Bali 300 Rupiah ( 300,000 actually i.e. about £15 stg ) is about the norm and there doesn't seem to be too much difference between long and short time, if short time that's fine and the guys will naturally just head off after you're done, whereas long time the guy genuinely is happy to stay around, not just for the money but for where you're maybe taking him the next day for lunch or a trip or whatever ( so he can put it on Facebook and impressive his friends that he's out with a Boule ( (white guy / farang to them). Of course you can give a little more if you feel like it and it'll be gratefully received but in my experience it will almost never asked for nor expected as Bali is a LOT less money driven than Pattaya and in fact I could count the number of times I felt gently required to pay out when in Bali on one hand and I was there for nearly a month ( and I was busy the whole time :-). And before anyone moans about "oh that's not right etc" trust me if it was called for or expected I would be the first to pay out but Bali IS different and the guys there are on the whole out for drinks and a laugh and some company and yes many a little help them along with the rent money ( MAYBE), but that is a bonus and taken as a genuine help thing rather than the cold hard "ok we're done, you pay now mister, plus I'll come back at you with another attempt at some guilt ridden scam too" attitude that you may get when you're done in Pattaya and for those that think I'm wrong I had the same guys coming back time and time again for the "pleasure" of my company and many who are still Facebook friends etc today so if I got it wrong they certainly didn't seem to think so. I went to Bali for a month and came home with ( quite a lot ) of spending money left over - that NEVER happens in Thailand and I spend more ( bored) in my one last week in Pattaya than I did in almost three weeks in Bali - and trust me I was out eating, drinking (and the rest_ a LOT the whole time I was in Bali. NB I should add that the above " all for fun" excludes the simple grindr type short time " ok come now" deal where things are clear cut between you both at the time of hook up, but trust me the 300 rupiah is correct and those asking more, tell them to "do one" as they say these days, but also you'll find a lot of the grindr guys DO just want to cum free anyway ( in both ways) for the reasons already listed or that they just want to fuck with a white guy ! ( thank you Jesus !!) Oh the dancers in the various bars etc may ask for 1 million rupiah ( about £50 stg) to go and like everything thats all negotiable too of course. Enjoy.