Londoner

I understood your post perfectly well. You should hear my French! As for my faltering attempts at Thai in public, my boyfriend shrivels in embarrassment.

My boyfriend insists that I speak "proper English" but I find myself reverting to Thinglish constantly....and it take a few days to get over it even I'm back home.

I may have to return to the issue raised by firecat69 if the changes at Tarntawan force me to change after sixteen years' patronage.

The advantage is that you can take a good look before sitting down. The disadvantage is that there aren't so many guys available- though those that are tend to speak some English.

The gogo bars are usually so empty nowadays that a punter is likely to find himself alone or at best with a few others to share the unwanted attention of mamasans. I know when I'm in for a bad time when the doorman sees me about to enter and rushes into the bar clapping his hands to rouse the dancers from their slumbers....and their mobiles. In these circumstances, I feel as if I am the centre of attention and should be the one on the stage. Unbearable! that's why I prefer the host bars in Soi Twilight- where the drinks cost a lot less.

I enjoyed the report, too, particularly since I'll be in Soi Twilight next week for two evenings before my boyfriend joins me. I was wondering whether Classic would be worth a visit but that mamasan has put me off. May I ask blueshrimp whether he saw much activity in the host-bars?

Years ago, when Arena was in its old premises, there was another gay massage joint a little closer to the Silom Road entrance. I can't remember whether it was on the 2nd or 3rd floor. Could this be the same place?

Interesting....I no longer go to Sansuk, despite liking the restaurant's Thai food, because falangs seem to outnumber the Thais to such an extent that the pickings are very slim for me. May I deduce from this that things have changed since I was there last? that was about fifteen months ago.

I'm a little annoyed when I buy a drink in a bar and see that five or so the dancers (invariably the best-looking) have been taken out of circulation and are clustered around a punter "splashing the cash." A year plus ago, I was there a little late at a Boyztown bar and there were only twelve or so guys left....of whom five or six were sitting with a falang playing with their phones.

Westerners have thought that they have a right to other peoples' countries for nearly one thousand years. After the theft of Palestine in '48 which most of us are pretty embarrassed about, we now prefer to meddle, massacre and then moan about the human results of our actions.... who end up as refugees.

There are escape ladders on the balcony outside the penthouse rooms.

Saudi Arabia is atypical of Islamic countries in that its theology is Salafist...that is, fundamentalist. The Saudis are no more typical of their religion than the US evangelicals who shout "God hates fags" are of Christianity, and the nationalist Haredim in the Palestinian colonies are of Judaism.

There are also deep social and quasi-ethnic divisions which became particularly apparent during the events that led up to the coup. Prejudice against Isaan natives and other working-class and northern-based Thais, often based on skin-colour, was a feature of the anti-Red Shirt demagogues who ushered in the (very white-skinned) generals. And how many shelves in the supermarkets groan under the weight of skin-whitening creams?

My recent concern with Romeo has been the use of enhancing software that can make some of the photos extremely misleading.

I don't advise it. It's close to the gay scene-in fact it towers over it, huge and ugly. But it is primarily the haunt of Chinese tour groups. We used to stay at Rendez-vous (French-owned- naturellement) and basic but clean and quiet. It served the best coffee and croissants I've ever had outside France. It's one hundred metres from RPH....and is gay.

Thinking of security in hotels, a few years ago there was a claim that gay (or perhaps all) hotels in Pattaya were recording on CCTV visitors who pass through reception. A brief discussion ensued on the the forums and then....nothing. Was it really happening? or perhaps it was just an idea? surely not now?

Arena has always been , for me, a full service joint... I've never considered negotiating. And, as I said previously, the guys are always naked from the start....something of an invitation, don't you think?

Robin Maugham's novel The Wrong People, set in Tangiers in the 50s, is precisely about this subject.... and although a work of fiction, some of the characters are based on real members of the gay community back then. Worth a read, if you can get hold of it.

I've used Arena many times. The masseur is always naked from the start; this is a clear indication that sanuk is expected. The fact that he is not naked (at other establishments) does not mean the opposite, of course.

I have the impression that a number of the Sawatdee posters know each other and use the board to pursue issues that have their origins in their personal lives. This situation has much improved under recent ownership; before Neal's time, there was a lot of abuse; it was sometimes as though I was intruding on some sort of private argument, fuelled by alcohol.

I have little to add since you have identified the significant differences. My memories of Blue Boy et al are positive and one or two of the guys I met were not only more technically adept (some of the Thais aren't) but pleasant company. But, as you suggest, the best of the Thai guys are looking for more than an hour of sanuk and are more open and warm than the ones I met in Amsterdam. Of course, they are influenced by the "respect your elders" Asian culture. I had no bad experiences over the two or so years I was regularly visiting Amsterdam but only twice did I engage the same guy more than once. In Thailand, I became more emotionally involved....and I suggest that this is true of the working guys ,too.

Perhaps you could develop your ideas on the differences between Thai mbs and European rent-boys? My first experiences of commercial sex , when I was in my late forties and had previously only experienced straight sex, were with rent-boys in London and Amsterdam, not just at Blue Boys but at the place next to Man to Man cinema and Boys' Paradise, just down the road. When I first came to Pattaya a year after this I was struck by how different the experience was. And I don't mean just the cost. I'd be interested to hear your views on this before offering mine.

Which of the massage places are currently the best for twinks? The Soi Twilight ones are either closed or almost deserted in the afternoons.

Were many of the Arena masseurs twinks?

Hiv is not merely a chronic illness, at least in Thailand. There are problems with medication for those who are reliant on the basic "free" service; it keeps victims alive but the quality of life is severely restricted.it can stabilise rather than raise CD4 levels. Even those who can afford more expensive medication (and the best is very expensive indeed) sometimes need to change or augment it. And this is before considering the social exclusion that victims suffer, particularly in rural areas. Many guys continue to keep their condition secret and their only counselling comes from social media. And it is important to avoid suggesting that it is "merely" a chronic condition, such as diabetes, because doing so encourages unsafe sex. And further to a previous post, this subject has often been discussed before but I'll say yet again that I would never indulge in unprotected oral sex because of the risk of Hiv infection, however slight. AYOR, as Spartacus used to say.