Londoner

I wonder where Cambodians come in this "league"? Or what about Isaan guys as opposed to Songkla or Chiang Rai ones? As for character being based on the conduct of heaven's sake, I'm British! how would you like to be judged on that basis?

The rats we saw in Surawong three weeks ago were congregated in piles of food refuse from street vendors' stalls. There may be issues with refuse collection.

I go along with that. And we need younger posters, just as gay Thailand needs younger gay visitors. Look at it this way; any new poster may be trolling. Maybe. However, some may just be not well-versed in the conventions and appear naïve. So what? If there is one chance in twenty that the newbie is genuine, give the poor b***** a break and see what happens. Who gets hurt by being generous?

I noticed those a couple of weeks ago....but BKK didn't compare with Pattaya and Jomtien in this respect. South Pattaya, I should emphasise, rather then the posh part around Dusit and Terminus 21. And, like those in BKK, hardly a customer to be seen.

i had my first gay experience at forty-five. And I'm not alone among my generation; we lived the best part of our lives at a time when gay sex was illegal. At least in the UK. My first significant experiences with men occurred in Pattaya. And I met other guys in Boyztown who were in the same poition than me. I knew little when I arrived. And there were no forums like this to help, just a couple of gay guide books. In short, I prefer to accept that these are bona fide questions , even if the internet provides more information nowadays. After all, we- this forum- represent the "horse's mouth" when it comes to gay sex in Thailand.

My first trip to Thailand was to Pattaya. Subsequently, i tried Phuket, Bangkok, Chiang Mai, all of which had promising reports regarding encounters with Thais, and each proved to have its own distinctive charms. However, none has replaced Pattaya. The one thing that continued to drew me to Bkk was Babylon. Specifically the "old" Babylon. But even the new one gave me hours of pleasure- and often surprising delights ("Does this guy really fancy me? Me? Surely not!"). It was the best sauna I've ever attended. And I've tried quite a few around the world. Now that it has gone, there remains just one Bkk experience which ensures that I always spend a day or two there; the sheer thrill of arrival at the airport and then the drive into Surawong...the clammy heat as the doors slide open and I look for a taxi, the sights, smells, sounds. After nearly eighty visits, it still sets the pulse racing. And the bars? I 'm years out of date but i was (and remain) a twink-lover and this was a good reason to prefer Pattaya. Not that there weren't once enjoyable twink-bars in Bkk, but to me they just didn't compare to what was on offer in Pattaya. From what I've read here, Bkk still seems to be more suitable for admirers of hunkier guys.

That makes two of us in Thailand....pleased I'm not alone.

UK posters in particular may be amused by this Thai woman comedian on Tik tok which my boyfriend has just shared with me. She has replicated the Liverpool accent remarkably well...and others, too. Tik Tok Crispy FrOiD

Food in most restaurants remains excellent value. The set meals in Japanese places like Fuji and Yayoi particularly so. We find it hard to pay more than 7/800 bht anywhere, though neither of us are drinkers and so that makes a difference. Dinner prices in London restaurants always shock me when I'm just home from Thailand!

Two days drop in succession....just at the wrong time for me!

Even if they do wait and win big, the situation will remain exactly the same unless the Senators' role is changed. Thai democracy, sadly, is screwed for the foreseeable future.

Anyone to get rid of the junta. I just hope that they don't give in to the royalists, as has been suggested by some.

Near the Jomtien sign-board which refers to "ganga" is a cannabis shop called "Bong" , opposite Dick's. "Bong" is another word which was used by Rastafarians during my time in Jamaica and Brixton. Although it may be derived from a Thai word "buang" which refers to a bamboo tube. However, its cannabis association- the pipe used for ganga smoking- is surely derived from Jamaican culture? The term was certainly in common usage in the 70s,and 80s. incidentally, the Bob Marley connection was made again today for me. As I was taking my early-morning walk near the police box on Dongtan Beach, an old guy me wearing a purple jacket bearing the legend" Bob Marley; one love."

Go go dancers and hosts in gay bars are mbs; other guys aren't, unless they are on sites like Romeo,hornet and Blue'd and make their motivation obvious.

Not to mention your own mood.

Thanks. Very interesting and informative. However, I do take issue with one of your assertions, namely the Rastafarian influence in Thailand. I've seen photos of bands playing in various Pattaya bars in which a musician (or musicians) wore dreadlocks and sported Ethiopian- Rasta- colours. I've also seen the woollen hats , characteristic of Rastafarians, in markets. And Bob Marley was certainly well-known ,at least among young Thais, a decade back. If he retains his popularity now, I really don't know. However, my boyfriend certainly knew his songs back then. So the question remains; would the word be in general usage (it's on a billboard outside Jomtien Complex as I write) without its appearance in popular culture? Convincing as more academic analyses of the derivation are, my view is that the popular culture influence may be the more potent. However, i have to admit that there was some Asian immigration into Jamaica in the nineteenth century, specifically Chinese businessmen. They remain a small but powerful community there . Many Black Jamaicans' surnames are "Wong and "Chin", indicating mixed-Chinese ancestry.

Railay beach is accessible from Aonang by taking a narrow path across the cliff which divides to the two beaches. As long as you are able to frighten away the monkeys which guard it, demanding a toll in food! i spent a lot of time in the Caribbean prior to falling in love with Thailand (or Thais)...and always liked to compare the beaches. The Caribbean's were immeasurably superior in the main. At least, until I went to Railay. The Rasta beach in Jamaica was called Hellshire, presumably the site of some bloody battles. It was a miserable place but the Rasta community was very welcoming and served us delicious lobster.

I'm convinced that more of the guys working in JC are twinks than there were pre-Covid. I recall posting back then that I though twinks were in short supply- real twinks , that is- and this has certainly changed. The bars on the corner, before you turn into the main bar area, are full of them.

Thanks....news to me. However, the contemporary usage is undeniably Jamaican /Jamaican diaspora ......isn't it? And Is the word used in other Asian cultures? I suspect that the popularity of Bob Marley et al may have something to do with it.

I often stayed in Jamaica in the 90s and this, together with years spent in Brixton- London's Caribbean homeland- made me laugh when P told me that the Thai word for cannabis is "ganga". His explanation of the word was nonsensical and so I explained its origins among the Rasta communities of Jamaica. Surely other Thais are aware of this derivation?

I've argued ad nauseam for years that the cutest guys I see are working in 71 l and Big C. Perhaps it's the uniforms.

True enough, but I'd rather go alone.

There had indeed been a massage place on the site but it was well before Lockdown. The site was gutted in March and the builders just moving in. It has many more masseurs than the previous place. The two "teams wear different coloured shirts. This morning, the masseurs consisted of three women, but after lunchtime, the guys arrived. Yes, I've stayed loyal Tarntawan for sixteen years and see no reason to change. The prices are considerably lower now.

Not only has Surawong a new 7 11 but a new place for massage....at least , it wasn't there three months ago. It is on the corner of the Tarntawan Hotel soi, next to Green Massage. Many young men , some cute and even two or three women for the less fortunate of our brethren. But here's an odd thing. At about 2100 as I went to the hotel to sleep off my jet-lag (unsuccessfully, as usual), at least ten of them were lined-up on chairs on the pavement and each was fixated on his mobile. You'd have expected some interest in a single falang, a winsome smile, a "would you like a massage?" or indeed any acknowledgement that a fat wallet was passing-by.....but nothing. It was as though they were posing for a photograph. Come to think of it, it would have made an amusing one. Anyway, for lovers of massage, there are now perhaps twenty available guys only metres from Tarntawan. And a 7 11.

At BKK yesterday, there was an airport worker standing at the bottom of the escalator from arrivals to taxis.I wondered why....perhaps this story explains it. I was so intrigued by this that I fell over my suitcase and was only saved by her kind-proffered hand.