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An electrician was installing fixtures Monday night. When I asked “when open” the reply was “maybe one week.”

It began when a cat decided to explore the top of an electrical transformer on the second level of Patpong 2. It was rapidly dispatched to mell heaven and multiple venues were plunged into darkness, including Hotmale. Screwboy narrowly escaped but many of the smaller restaurants and lady bars on the first floor weren’t as fortunate. Leave it to the ladies, however, who lit candles, giving the bars as romantic an atmosphere as you’re going to find in Patpong on any given night. A half dozen utility workers arrived on a huge flatbed truck equipped with a crane. They proceeded to remove three old transformers with a single larger one. This was no easy feat. The team, several quite easy on the eyes in their hard hats and the thumping background music, created a modern Village People high-wire act to the delight of passers by. One of the bar girls, waving a plastic bag, appealed to them for the remains so she could give it a proper burial. Some of the Hotmale guys could be seen shirtless, viewing the nearby action from their second floor perch opposite Luckyboys.

In 17 years and 40 or so trips, I’ve had three guys ask me via email for money. I told all the three the same thing: when I’m in Bangkok I can help you but I never send anyone money because I need to save it for my next trip. They didn’t ask a second time. There are a lot of things this young man could be thinking. But if you choose to see the glass as always half empty you’ll never be able to view it as half full. You’ve come a long way to meet guys unlike those you meet at home. Carpe diem.

Thank you, Peter, for a fine contribution. The FCCT presentation, coupled with your analysis, do a great job of bringing the man to life. The last—and I believe most recent (2011)—book on Thompson that I’ve read was “The Ideal Man: the tragedy of Jim Thompson and the American way of war.” Here’s a review from The Asian Correspondent. https://asiancorrespondent.com/2011/11/review-of-the-ideal-man-the-tragedy-of-jim-thompson-and-the-american-way-of-war/ Although Thompson was many things to many people, I believe some members of this forum share one thing in particular with him: a love of Thailand and its people. I think readers may well find it difficult to read about this man without identifying just a bit with him.

The Jim Thompson House is a unique piece of modern Thai history and well worth the effort. He was a fascinating character in his own right and the mystery surrounding his disappearance remains.

Good things those mattresses can’t talk. Lol. Each one must have 30+ years of tales.

The location on Surawong near Sap rd. has closed. I was a frequent patron. Always found the food very tasty and the prices reasonsble, presented in a handsome dining room. Unfortunately it was situated in the commercially dead zone between soi Tarntawan and Sap rd.

The mattresses, that were tired when I stayed there on my first trip in 2002, are being carted out as I write.

Yes, I agree that your comments have both of these characteristics. Now if you only had wit.

Point you may wish to ponder: you’re not in your “home” country. I don’t think the kid was permanently damaged by seeing his father naked. Hope that you weren’t, either.

Inadvertent duplicate post

One of the traits I really admire about Thais is their ability to get along with others. I believe it comes about naturally at a very early age because they coexist in close quarters. They find themselves dependent on highly developed social networks of family, friends and neighbors. Children learn to share before they can walk. Parents who work in Patpong bring their youngsters along. You can’t help but notice how they acclimate to what might seem to us to be an impossibly hectic environment. Yet somehow they find themselves looked after by the other vendors. The spirit, and the need, to cooperate is imprinted by these experiences. They’re better socialized beyond anything I’ve seen in the west.

Update on Nakarat since immigration police raid in June: As regulars are aware, Vietnam guys had a strong presence in this shop. Their departure has thinned the ranks but new faces from other shops are appearing. Like many shops, you can expect the perennial question (as Vinapu noted), “how much you give me?” Fair enough. But I think it’s also fair for customers to respond in the manner of their choosing. Lately, when asked the same thing regardless of location, Ive been replying, “you will make out better if you do what you say and trust me to be fair.” Granted, I often have to resort to google translate but I manage to make the point. If the guy continues to haggle I’ve been simply making it a straight forward massage and tipping accordingly. I’ve become less tolerant of bargaining in my old age. But when the guy leaves the compensation up to me, I tip at the top of my range. i’m not recommending this to everyone; just saying what I’ve found works best for me.

This shop enjoys the primo location at Silom rd. And soi 4. The facilities, all located on the third floor, are clean and serviceable and at 450 an hour for an oil massage, it’s a great value. Have been using it since it opened and have never been shortchanged on the clock. Since I get a lot of massages, I’ll offer this bit of business advice to the otherwise personable staff: get your eyes off your phones and on to passers by. That one, simple act is guaranteed to immediately improve your chances of getting at least one more customer per day.

Google is not a good way to source this type of information. This forum is. Be assured that Hot Male is alive and well on Patpong 2.

So where did you decide to go and how was the trip?

It’s probably worth viewing this through a wider lens—the political one. The nation is still experiencing the upheaval of much contested elections and it will be a while before things settle. Individuals, parties and private interests are vying for power and influence. This is nothing new in the history of Thailand, whether the change in government resulted from a coup or elections. If you go back about 16 years, under the Thaksin regime, police staged a very well publicized raid on Babylon sauna. The media was there in force and if I recall correctly the justification was that the premises didn’t have a license to operate as a hotel. But it occurred in the larger context of a “social order” campaign. It came as a surprise to many because the owner was a quite wealthy and influential individual. Popular gay venues have always been popular locations when a point is to be made because few will rise to their defense. It’s perhaps worth noting that the raid on Prince was publicized only in the Thai media. No English language site has reported on it to the best of my knowledge. Similar social movements emerge periodically but particularly when a regime desires to make a point that lends legitimacy to its rule. These events can be popular among certain segments of the population while alienating others. But they all have one thing in common: things tend to regress to the norm in time-honored Thai fashion. Thailand—like many nations—is experiencing its own surge of nationalism. And that nationalism challenges the ASEAN ties built up over time. If history is any predictor, the needle will slowly fluctuate back to the norm, driven by economic and social factors, and of course, politics of the day. It’s probably wise not to make too much or too little of day-to-day events in trying to discern the long-term direction of a government. Successful prior governments have proven adept at maneuvering through political minefields to keep the economy on track and the masses mollified. Until, of course, they don’t.

The new imm hotel received a huge water storage tank the other night.

Maybe, but the “off” experience is more perilous. Lol Btw, noticed you had no qualms about taking US carriers to task but somehow managing to avoid any of the dreaded Euro carriers in your own backyard. A bit myopic, no?

With less competition from the ASEAN countries, the odds are better for the locals. Maybe customers became exasperated with Prince’s practice of adopting the 45-minute “hour.”

You didn’t read what I wrote. I said Jet Blue allows you to carry on (not check) two bags free. This is the same practice for Southwest Airlines, the largest Low cost carrier. They, along with Alaska Air, usually take the top three in passenger satisfaction surveys (and yes they still serve free drinks and snacks). The majors sell their tiered products (pay for only what you want) because passengers may bitch about the add ons but continue to pay for them. It’s charging what the market will bear. Having said that, flying today is little more expensive than it was a decade.ago. That makes the majors profitable without government subsidies. Asian carriers have lower personnel costs with fewer benefits so it’s understandable that they can comp you coke and peanuts . lf you want a smile with your nuts, you’re better off going to Luckyboys.

That’s a lot of crap. US carriers are the most profitable and there plenty of competition. The seat pitch on Jet Blue is among the most generous in economy anywhere and you can carry on two bags free. If you’re headed for Asia, don’t think you can beat the major Asian carriers on price and schedule. And for service, ANA and Singapore stand out among the crowd. For convenience of connections from the US east or west coasts, Cathay Pacific offers the best en-route times to Bangkok.

Malaysia’s struggling flagship carrier has unexpectedly agreed to explore a partnership with its fierce Singaporean competitor While there has been resistance against a future merger on grounds of national pride, some analysts say such an alliance makes good business sense https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3016531/does-singapore-airlines-and-malaysia-airlines-partnership-clear

At the risk of misjudging the readership of a gay Thailand forum, isn’t that among the key reasons this board is so successful? It provides, among other things, erotic thrills. And I don’t think massages are a totally series of random events. Most experienced masseurs learn what works consistently best and tend to repeat the process.

From Bangkok Post (11 May) Bumrungrad admits transfusion the cause in HIV case The Thai Red Cross Society confirmed on Friday that its procedures for collecting and dispensing blood are in line with global standards, as fears of HIV/Aids being accidentally transmitted by the organisation have skyrocketed in the wake of a disclosure by a leading hospital in Bangkok. Bumrungrad International Hospital issued a statement on Thursday claiming one of its patient had become infected with the autoimmune disease from blood given by the society, the country's top blood donor. The Thai Red Cross said that while it followed world best practices, there is a ''window period", usually in the first several weeks, during which a donor may have contracted the disease but it is not yet detectable. It claimed there was no technology in the world able to detect the disease at such an early stage, and urged donors to inform officials of the truth if they have engaged in any risky behavior in the weeks prior to donating Continues at https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/1675608/hospital-in-hot-water-over-hiv-case