jason1975

Another forum member and I will be there that afternoon cheering the parade participants. I think it's wonderful there is a parade!

I found out who he is! I asked my guy and he told me. My guy is not close to him. They don't go out with the group of Viet guys to drink beer together after work. He didn't ask him to our party. I suppose he can't wait to rush home to his wife and cute baby! I have seen him in Fresh Boy before but never spoke to him. Maybe I should buy him a drink when I go again next month.

What a shock! We could have met for drinks or a meal together yesterday if I had known you were in Bangkok @jimmie50. I am now at airport. End of weekend trip. I am happy for you and your guy. Wishing you great times and unforgettable experiences. I will be in Bangkok again in 2 weeks time, for Pride Parade on Sunday 31 May, which travels along Silom Road.

I know most Viet guys working at Fresh Boy are married but I never expected any one of them to be married to a Thai wife! I am curious to find out who!

Most of the guys were half drunk when we ended party at 4am. I believe only 2 of them could still continue drinking. They have formidable reputation of drinking. My guy was definitely half drunk. He was talking very loudly. He definitely needed to lie down and sleep. Even I needed proper sleep. I had been up for close to 24 hours as I had gone to work the previous day. We both agreed he should go back to his room and sleep till late afternoon. I would meet him on Saturday evening.

Not all of the guys arrived at 1am when we started the party. Those from Good Boy came after 2am as their bar only closes at 2am. One Dreamboy guy came at 3am because he went with customer to DJ Station. Some of those who came at 1am left midway as they have other prior engagements. But most of them were there during happy birthday song. Besides celebrating my birthday, the dinner was also a farewell to my guy. His two month visa is up next week and he is going back to Vietnam and continue with construction of his house. The new rules only allow two 60-day visits in one year so he had to strategise and he decided on April-May Songkran and December-January Christmas New Year high seasons. He will try to obtain a one year work visa next year in 2027.

Total cost of the party was 9400 baht. Half was on food and the other half on beer. Happy Beer Garden didn't offer beer towers so we ordered big bottles of Leo beer (150 baht each). Every time we finished the beer, we ordered one round of 5 bottles. I paid with ten 1000 baht notes. I gave 100 baht tip each to the 3 staff assigned to serve us.

As long as the window faces Surawong Road, the traffic noise is unavoidable even if the room is at a higher floor. I was given room on 6th floor. Last year, I was on 3rd floor. I see the mugs and the hairdryer which my guy was happy to use to blowdry his hair!

We were allowed to smoke in the upstairs area. Most of the guys smoked. I had a chance to see and try Vietnamese cigarette. Thin sticks but strong taste. And cheap! One box is equivalent of 20 baht! One of the guys brings cartons in as he prefers them to cigarettes sold in Thailand.

My guy got me a slice of cake from Foodland supermarket and he organised a happy birthday singalong. Even the Happy Beer Garden aunties joined in! 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰

Happy Beer Garden has an upstairs area in case all tables are full downstairs. It can also be used for private party which is what I basically did. There are two long tables with benches on both sides which was perfect for our gathering of ten - four from Dreamboys, three from Good Boy, two from Freshboy and me. There is also a television and connected sound system which my guy could connect his phone and play Vietnamese songs instead of default Thai music. We were there from 1:00am and stayed until closing time at 4:00am.

56 Surawong cost US$40 per night. Other hotels cost more than US$50. A new addition to the room is the safe deposit box. I don't remember it being there last year. Great location but not for light sleepers due to Surawong Road traffic. After my guy and I finished our reacquaintance, we headed out to Prime for massage. Alas, fully booked until midnight so they closed the shop. So my guy and I went to Urban Thai and we got Thai massage side by side upstairs by two male masseurs. We finished our massage after midnight. When we went downstairs, the staff were closing up. I went back to hotel room as I had to take my medication while my guy went to meet his friends after they finished work at their bars. We had arranged an after-work party at Happy Beer Garden.

Writing this from McDonald's Silom Road branch after lunch and waiting for massage at 4pm. My guy was supposed to be away in Vietnam from end January to October to build his house. But prices of construction materials increased this year and he needed to fork out more money so he decided to return to work in Bangkok during Songkran. It happened to be my birthday a few days ago so I decided to come to Bangkok for a weekend trip to celebrate belated birthday. I got off work at 2:30pm then took 5:30pm flight from Singapore. Arrived at 7pm and took leisurely ride on airport train and BTS to Silom. I met my guy who was waiting for me outside his bar Fresh Boy. I paid for 2 nights off fee and off we went to check in at 56 Surawong to be reacquainted...

Not possible to put out a May issue. I can try to do a June issue during my 2 weeks in Bangkok. Trip report but done in magazine style and using AI to edit. Article contributions from wise forum members are welcome!

Created using AI. Not a real magazine. But knowing the talent among forum members, it's possible for contributions to articles!