hojacat

you are right. I just saw the copyright and it says 1991. The chapter about Bangkok opened up with a description of Babylon, so I thought it was more recent than that. It definitely has a great historical value as probably describes attitudes, places and customs that are much different from today. I'm sure the book would have felt so exotic in the eyes of the readers of the early 90s when there was no internet and it was difficult to find information about gay life and venues even in a city nearby, let alone around the world.

and that's just the version of Line avaiable outside Asia, but in certain is much more than simple messaging app. It's what is called a SuperApp, similar to WeChat in China. You can use Line to pay for things, to order things online, to watch TV, to play games, etc, etc.

You can add people in Line with just phone number if that's what you are looking for, though most people use the Line ID or the QR code. I definitely prefer Line over Whatsapp, even if just for their endless stickers. I go from time to time to their store in LA (there is always a large number of Asian twinks roaming that place) One thing to keep in mind if you are using Line. It stores the videos and photos other people send you just for two weeks, unless you explicitly save them. Lost a good number of videos from this hot Thai twink and his encounters with farangs in Bangkok, when I first started using Line.

Hopefully not too suddenly as to hurt the boy. These kind of interruptions are such a bone killer for me.

Has anyone read this book? There are two chapters dedicated Bangkok. It's was published more than 10 years ago, before the advent of apps, so the descriptions might sound outdated, but I wonder if it's worth reading it: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1766042.Out_in_the_World

I stayed at a small hotel near Glorietta last year. Some of the guys went through check-in and some didn't. I guess it depended on the hour. Not sure how is the situation at a bigger hotel. Maybe if you go pick them up at the entrance and pass through security together, they don't have to show their ID. In Puerto Princessa, i stayed at Hue Hotel and all the guys went straight to my room. Surprisingly though, none of the Filipino guys complained about. It's mostly in Vietnam where some guys were not happy I was staying at an hotel and that they had to go through reception.

Not really, though it's true that knowing Mandarin might lead sometimes to a higher success rate cause if you start a conversation in local language the guy might be less shy. Overall, It's mostly a game of glances and touches. If there is a match most guys know top or bottom, or you can just use hands to mimic 1(top) or 0(bottom) as these are the terms used in some Asian countries to refer to the sexual position. Sometimes guys starts speaking and explaining themselves in Mandarin when they don't want to go with you, so I guess knowing the language helps learning why you are getting refused 😄

Never had the issue with the guy having to show his ID at the reception in Thailand. I know it happens in some high end hotels like Mandarin Oriental but I have mostly encountered that in Vietnam when traveling to Asia. Airbnb offers more space for your money and usually more privacy though I like to stay in hotels popular with gays and watch sometimes who is bring up whom or just walk the halls and hear those unequivocable noises. The biggest drawback of most Airbnbs I would say is the lack of daily housekeeping. You definitely want new towels and bedsheets if you plan to average a high daily number of guys as the traces of your sluttiness starts becoming too evident.. The guys for sure will notice and tell you, even if at the end they will still end up having sex with you.

They are definitely not my cup of tea but kudos to Thais for dominating and almost monopolizing this type of gay entertainment in Asia. This event, the White party, the Circuit Festival and the XX) attract large paying crowds and have fans even in this forum. I was talking with a Taiwanese friend while visiting Sydney for pride and wondering why Taipei that hosts a nig gay pride, which is the perfect anchor for this type of events, lacks any major gay party.

In a lot of hotels, the guy can go straight up to your room. At the airbnbs I stayed in Bangkok, you had to go pick him up downstairs. Not the best, if you are trying to have a threesome or more, as you have to leave on waiting in your place while you go down to pick up the other.

When are you planning to go? I think I'm going there around mid-May. if you go before then, please drop a report in here about the saunas and apps in there. It definitely used to be. it had much more advanced functionalities when I first start using it around 2017, like you could video callings and live streaming, something Grindr is still missing. Didn't know about their partnership with Hornet. I know hornet was founded in HK, though I think now is based in the USA, if I'm not mistaken. anyway, the amounts of ads on a free account in Blued is too much to make it useful

Though there are guys that are only into younger or older, I think for most Taiwanese age is not the main factor. I would say that would be body shape. If you are tall, have muscles or a wide chest or are well-equipped down there in case you're a top, you will definitely get some attention. From what I have seen at Soi13, tall and in shape foreign guys between 45-55 score really high with the young local twinks. It's also true though that every time I go to soi 13 I see at least 2-3 old white guys (70s and older) and not particularly in shape. Not sure if they are in there just to gaze their eyes in that hot sea of flesh or they actually get to have some action, but you can definitely find them there every weekend.

Yes, I've been. I mention it to the creator of this post in my first reply. It's popular especially on Fridays and Sundays. It can definitely be fun with lost of touching, making out and you can even get serviced orally. Mixed crowd, with a good amount of twinks and muscular guys. However, the dark room is pretty small and it gets crowded really fast. For pride, if you go even after 10:30-11:00 you would have to wait in line for a good amount of time in order to enter and the place gets so packed you can barely move. Overall, my first choice is still Soi13 as I prefer to play on a bed but the Hunt for those nights when you just want to have some light fun. Fun fact: There is even a scene in this movie (the classical Chinese book retold with gay characters and with events taking part in modern Taipei) that takes part at the Hunt. The actual scene was on Youtube but looks like the video is private now.

I noticed a drop of users and engagement with Hornet. It used to be even busier than Grindr before Covid and not just in Taiwan, but also in Thailand and other Asian countries. I don't think it's even worth paying the premium version right now. Didn't try Blued, as that app has so many ads you would need to pay for premium to make really use of it. Was planning to checkout Jack'd after a 5-years break, but with guys from Grindr, the sauna and people I already know in Taipei, I got pretty busy. Glad to see its active. Will give a try when I'm there in May. Wonder if it's the same situation in HK, though I suspect Blued would be #1 in there.

There probably was. I only had been twice at G.O.D before December and last time was in 2018. People go to it after DJ and by that time I just wanna head to my hotel with my Thai twink of the night instead of just continuing dancing and drinking. Great place for "party animals" though.

I would just use a location spoofing app (like FakeGps on Android), use Grinder or Blued and schedule with a guy for late at night, unless by not wasting a night, you mean doing something beside sex.

It's definitely open though only on the weekend. It got so crowded on the new year's weekend. Guys even when completely shirtless after 2AM. However, now you have to pay an entrance fee.

According to Wikipedia, it was already the biggest gay parade in Asia even in 2010, when had only 30K participants. In 2011, it had 50K. So in 8-years, its number have quadrupled. Quite an achievement. Kinda mad to myself I only noticed reviews and comments about it only in 2016. Yeah, I was surprised with the outfit of some participants the first time. Never thought would see that in Asia. How was Aniki or rainbow sauna in the after-parade during those years @PeterRS?

My favorite was the 2018 parade as I already knew the drill from previous year. In 2019, they head only one parade route, mostly heading down Zhongxiao East Road. However, they only closed one lane and not the whole street so in some parts the sidewalks got really cramped as there were so many people in there. It was amazing at Soi13 and the bars though as people just kept coming and coming. Not sure what they did last year. will ask some of my Taiwanese friends.

Seems also a much smaller crowd. I went there from 2017-2019 and I remember the crowds getting bigger year after year. I knew that in 2019 there were almost 200K participants, but was a bit surprised to read on Wiki that they had 120K last year when Taiwan had just opened up and the entry rules were not very clear, so it was mostly locals. Still it means that there are at least 50K visitors in Taipei during pride weekend. By far the biggest gay gathering in Asia, ahead of the White party and Songran in Bangkok.

Yeah, it can definitely be called the Asia Gay Pride as it's gets around 7-10 more people than other Asian cities that hold a parade like: Tokyo, Bangkok, Manila, etc. Soi13 during that weekend is the same as that hot spring Peter described,. Packed with naked hot bodies. I remember the year before Covid started between the sauna and the apps I got not just local guys but also guys from: Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines, Singapore, Japan and mainland China. All of them were in town just for the pride, so definitely hotels get fully booked and the rates are higher than normal. If I remember it correctly they stopped doing that in 2019. Let's see what the program will be this year. Here are some of my pics from the years I've gone there:

In general, Asians tend to plan longer and more in advance their holidays than Westerners. I guess the believe is that you can get a better deal if you book early. I was with a group of Singaporeans guys this December at the White Party in Bangkok. Three of them told me that they had already booked their hotel in Bangkok for the White party of next year😂. Plus, many hotels in websites like Agoda offer "Free Cancellation" and "Book Now, Pay Later" options so people book just in case and might cancel later. I tend to also book hotels quite in advance sometimes 3-4 different hotels for the same dates, and then later choose only one.

I wonder how many people would be there at soi13 at 1am? Probably not that many. Three weeks is quite an optimal time period to explore Taiwan. I would suggest 7 days in the south, around 7-10 for Taichung and Taipei and then a few days exploring the East coast with mostly guided tour if you don't want to do too much planning by yourself. The HRT makes navigating the island a breeze. It only takes 1.5 hours to go From Kaohsiung to Taipei and it's pretty cheap compared to even Korea and Japan. I am debating with myself if I should go again in May or head to HK, where I haven't been for more than 7 years. I definitely know that I'll be in Taipei for pride week at the end of October. I'm pretty sure Taipei pride will make a big comeback this year. I wouldn't be surprised if the attendance is higher than 2019. It's only February and already some of the most popular hotels in Ximen( like Westgate, CitizenM, etc) are already sold out for those dates. So I don't know when you plan to go but if I was you, I wouldn't want to miss that if you plan to travel to Taiwan. Soi13 during that weekend is close to a heavenly experience. Plus October is usually pleasant weather-wise in much of Taiwan. I would suggest going there possibly together with a local guy. It's a much better experience, especially since it's your first time, though Taiwanese are very friendly people, so there is less of that awkward feeling than other in countries like Japan have you have to go by yourself.

He probably was talking about Krubb.

This one, I think, was the main problem with the old Babylon. I know that sauna had a long history and went through several iterations but I only frequented it in its last 5-7 years of existence when I was a slim guy in my mid-to-late 20s. Yes, the facilities were good but the crowd much less so. I feel that once Babylon got to be known as the place to-go for old farangs, it's decline started. Old Western guys made up most of the customers and those few younger Thai twinks that went there were mostly after them (for one reason or another) than after a younger guy. At Babylon, I mostly hooked up with other Asian tourists visiting the place because of its reputation. I honestly preferred going to the Rama 9 saunas, like R3 and Underground, which even though geared more towards a Thai-to-Thai type of action, had a much younger local crowd who didn't mind messing around with farangs. The only time I enjoyed Babylon was during their Songran foam parties, but even then the ones at R3 were better. As for Krubb, i have been twice, in August and December. As I said in some other posts, there is definitely a big "sticky rice" vibe in the crowd, but Westerners are definitely welcomed, both young and old. You hear a lot of English around but it's usually spoken by other in-shape and young Asian tourists instead of older farangs (Koreans but also lots of Singaporeans, Taiwanese and honkongese). Maybe the owner of Krubb are not trying to be the next Babylon after all. I think they aim more to be the Soi13 or the Hutong of Bangkok. Places known for attracting a big crowd of young and in-shape local guys and a destination for visitors wanting to meet them.