paborn

Gee, I can't recall when I last offed a friend of many years standing.

There are boys to my taste in Jomtien, my current and all time favorite works in a bar there. So, why not go? Just curious...

But my advice for myself and everybody else would be talk to the boy in question directly and find out from him. Miracles happen, money speak as well. Damn right. When the rent's due and you're not asking for "full service" lots of guys, from time immemorial, have found themselves up for a cuddle and a blow job.

Exactly! Get a media presence through Facebook, Instagram, etc. Take some good photos and off we go. Frankly, despite all the hype and furor I still think it's likely I'll find my keeper ( at least for a few days ) in one of the calmer bars. MY opinion, but a glossy photo won't change it.

Also, there is nothing that can't be had at a lower price elsewhere. Maybe not a Gucci item, but damn good quality at less cost. But, the bars give us companionship, entertainment, and companions to take home - It's been said a million times but the prices in the bars factor this in - have a drink in a Trump hotel and compare.

Someday I'll spend Christmas in Bangkok ...

Find your Jomtien boy on on Planet Romeo, figure out which bar he works in & then go to visit him. I'm crap with apps, Is it possible to set the app to Pattaya before leaving the US and shop in advance? No answer would be too simple for me, I have some gifts and talents - these apps are not in my tool kit.

Sorry, I don't get this. The photo is of dancers at Moonlight. Moonlight in the spot where Jupiter opened in 2000 - 18 years ago and thrived. Jupiter moved and Moonlight appears to be thriving. All this began while Twilight was fine. In fact, Jupiter began when Twilight was at its peak. Dreamboys was open on two floors with two sets of staff. I don't get the point.

if this fails,if you're sat in a bar with the boys facing the street, at least the boys in the bars across the road are facing you, so it is a good place to plot which bar to go to next. Reminds me of sitting in Dicks ( Bangkok ) and making sure I was always paying by drink so I could take off in pursuit of a lovely lad to ascertain his workplace. Good Idea.

OK, granted. Perhaps, another good argument for getting a line ID?

A good example Andy and, by the way, in many parts of the US the "can" also means toilet.

Thanks, Christian, but how do you handle Jomtien bars?

Witty, what do the boys have to do with a bar closing?

Christian, I have never encountered, other than street signs, romanized Thai. How common is this? Also, when you say that tones are not crucial are you saying that meaning can be inferred from context?

I can't resist going back to language for a moment. I found this in a piece called "the nine tones of hell" in the Los Angeles review of books. "To outsiders, it seems half a miracle that the native Cantonese have learned to speak properly at all. I spent months puzzled by that miracle when my parents plopped me into Cantonese school for the first time in Grade 2, the fall after we moved to Hong Kong from Toronto in 1996. Maybe they assumed that because they spoke Cantonese to each other in front of their kids, I would pick it up naturally. Nope. I burst into tears in front of the whole class on day one, frustrated and flummoxed by my inability to communicate. I got in trouble for falling asleep in class because I couldn’t understand the teacher. While English or French speakers can make a guess at pronunciation thanks to romanization, I had no way of knowing how to pronounce the characters in my Chinese textbook unless I memorized what my teacher said out loud. A handheld electronic Longman dictionary complete with speakers and a stylus became my savior. I would trace new characters (assuming I could guess the strokes correctly) into the keypad, and a robotic pronunciation would bleat back at me."

At one time or another, I go everywhere since you never know until you try. I like classic boys but loathe the mamasans there. I've been to Jupiter and I appreciate their beauty but like a smaller, slimmer yet toned type. Tawan? Last time I was there the guys were muscular all right. But, seemed chubby, some fat - sort of muscled guys too fond of beer. Yipes, I just remembered this is the retirement thread.

God yes. Even in Toy Boys in Pattaya. If a bus of Chinese woman shows up they cuddle and screech and put money in the shorts but seldom off. I just wait them out.

Hank, this is a swastika to you?

OK. I agree to some extent with everything you're saying. But, let me say for one final time: Anyone, moving anywhere has to take submerging themselves into another language and culture very seriously indeed. I will check out this learning method as before moving to the corporate world I was a teacher and the idea of effortless is a little hard to accept. You're right that literacy and language are not the same it was the statistic I could find and for lack of better information, I believe that a ven diagram would show an intersect of the two issues. I have no doubt that tones will come for most of us. My German, for example. is rusty. I'm never sure if I'm switching into Mom's Wienerisch or high German. I do know that I'm horribly rusty as my parents are long gone. But, yes it would come and all the genders of words would work out. Your last sentence is the only thing I heartily disagree with. Language comfort and acquisition is a retirement out of the country issue and must be given consideration. Otherwise, this was a great chat and, everyone please forgive me, much for interesting to me than a discussion of the merits of the hunks at Moonlight or Jupiter. Please don't everyone pile on at once and I hope Vinapu does not read this.

Agreed. But, a factor to be considered when doing an honest self-evaluation about living abroad.

You've convinced me. I was hesitating because on my last two trips which were direct to Pattaya the car pre-booked by the Ambiance did not connect to me. The service says they were there. !st time. I searched that airport like the FBI and could not find him. The second time my luggage was lost and I was late coming out - he left. Two years in a row I ended up with a Taxi anyway.

tone-deafness for music seems to me a different thing from language tones. If that were true that 1 on 20 (i.e. 5%) have difficulty distinguishing tones, then 5% of the entire Thai (and Chinese and others, for that matter) population would have difficulty understanding and speaking their native language properly. I don't believe it. Having said that, it may be true and a valid point that you might never get to the desired proficiency to discuss medical conditions and legal affairs in the foreign language. However, that's non concern at all to me as doctors in the private hospitals (in BKK) all speak English. Andy, to a certain extent, I agree with you. But, I do question your remark that this language acquisition is "effortless". You discount the fact that there is an effort. Even the effort to find a good course, a good teacher, etc. Commitment is a big thing. Considering what a retiree is willing to commit to needs to be considered. Honestly saying, " hell, I'll never do that." is not a fault it is a good self-awareness. Yes, you can find professionals who speak English. However, I spent my consulting years working with lawyers to make sure that the governing language of a contract matched exactly what my company was agreeing to. A good negotiator has to make sure that we are never litigating over a comma. I do not want to rely on someone else providing the interpretation to me of the contract I'm signing. I can't ask "good" questions about a Thai document I can't read. Let us not forget that written Thai has 46 characters, 23 diacritical remarks and spacing only after sentences. ( If I'm wrong about this - my apologies ) Thus, it is even more difficult to master. A careful reading of my house insurance alerted me to its lack of coverage for a pipe bursting. Instant renegotiation - this concerns me in Thai. It is, I'm sorry, something to be considered. My insurance agent did not mention it. Excuse, "well most companies in our state don't cover water damage." Ok, But I want it and , more importantly, don't want a nasty surprise. Yes, there is a difference between music tones and spoken - but far less a difference in an Asian tonal language than in English. Are 5% of the Thai less than fluent in their own language than the other 95%? I would hazard a guess that that is true - even in this area, we can't repeal the bell curve. In 2000, the last year I found data for Thai literacy was 92% Somewhere in that 8% are many reasons for issues - could the complexity of their own language be a problem? Even the literate vary in their abilities - take a sample of people in the street in any country and be the judge. Comedians do this all the time - Finally, I have no doubt that with the course you recommend most of us here would be able to speak passable Thai. But this thread is about retirement and those thinking about retiring to a foreign land need to consider language proficiency as a factor in their lives.

I only use pre arranged taxi from the airport to my hotel these days. Why prearranged? Not arguing, just looking for the best most convenient method not cheapest. Is there a problem with the taxi stand at the airport?

"The Cure For Tone Deafness and 'Pitchiness' Unfortunately, there is no known cure for tone deafness. The truly tone-deaf individual - for whom amusia represents a cognitive deficit - is someone who will never be able to learn to distinguish between notes and thus correctly sing the melody of a song." It is my understanding that 1 in 20 has at least very great difficulty in distinguishing tones. Western sentence tonalities are minor and, almost, laughably simple compared to the five tonalities for each word in Asian languages. I never said; however, that it is impossible. But, I did say that I did not want to be discussing medical and legal affairs with professionals in a language I stumble in. Even if you can learn in two years of diligence it is a factor to consider when choosing a place to retire. One might be very sad to have not given it due thought.

It's been a long time since I stopped in Bangkok. Can you tell me something about the rail link - where to catch, where does it go?