PeterRS2

I doubt if it is of much interest to anyone, but after posting on this Board and its predecessor gaythailand.com for 20 years, it is time to call it a day. For my first 13 years I wrote so much about the gay venues in Bangkok – and several other Thai cities – as like many on this Board sex was a major interest. But far from my only one, as those who have criticised my longer posts know only too well. I have posted a large number of photo essays of the trips I have made, both within Thailand – as for example the amazing Ubon Ratchathani Candle Festival, the equally fascinating Dansai Ghost Festival and the gorgeous beach at Khao Lak as well as the trips one can make from there. Photo essays have included a host of countries near Thailand like Nepal, Bhutan, several from Japan, and further afield like the Iguazu Falls, Patagonia, the Arctic Circle, Talinn, Petra, Iran, New Zealand, several on Taiwan and quite a few more. Having been partnered for six years now and with no desire to visit my old gay haunts in Thailand like my partner, I restrict myself to occasional gay posts about Taipei and perhaps a couple of other cities outside Thailand. I no longer fit in with the interests of most Thailand posters. My curiosity about Japan where I lived for some years and other Asian countries is now almost totally restricted to my own interest in history, culture and society which really demand longer posts which some posters just do not like. Fair enough! This is not a blog site. Let me add this is not a sudden decision. After thinking about it for several months, about ten weeks ago I wrote to inform @TotallyOz whom I met a couple of times in our go-go bar visiting days. I thanked him for running this Board and letting me contribute regularly all this time. Long may the Board continue.

And another @floridarob post from earlier this year. Not quite four paragraphs but very long for that poster. Members 6.3k Posted February 21 Could happen the other way around too.... room allocation depends a lot on the front desk when they block or check in rooms. When you buy a room from one of the OTA sites, look somewhere in the fine print, it should say that bed and room types are not guaranteed. They buy ROH, run of the house rooms... so you could end up anywhere. But a good front desk manager or agent that blocks rooms, will give the best rooms to "their" guests, then will look at the rates you paid and assign accordingly and others just hand them out as you arrive and what's available at the moment. When you can book with the hotel directly, you should. Because then YOU are their customer, otherwise, Agoda or Booking.com is their customer and you are Agoda or Bookings customer. Most chain hotels will only give you your "status" benefits when booked directly with them, you might find a manager or a hotel that will honor your benefits, but they're not obligated to. Hotels in Asia are weird, they seem to prefer that people book online and put their own rates too high, I don't get that strategy.... not when so many use the internet. Chris at The Venue, will usually give the same or better rate than what the online sites are giving as does Classroom Suites when you book directly with them and some food credits, that logic I understand because they get their money right away from you and pay no commission. No doubt @mauRICE pays zero attention to these because they are way beyond his attention span as he has already informed us yesterday! LOL

Funny what one little search can bring. He who thunders at posters for various reasons, including length, clearly forgets his own contributions. Now @floridarob lie again and say you did not write this. Below posted by @floridarob on March 22 in thread title Recommendation for Tokyo agency? FUCK… spent over 2 hours catching up on here after being off for a couple of days. Feels like walking into the office on a Monday with a pile of work waiting 😆 So… after ~40 hours of travel, including an 8.5-hour layover in Tokyo, I finally made it to Jakarta. Currently recovering from a long night with a guy I’ve hooked up with before. Wasn’t even planning it, but he hit me up on Grindr and… yeah, that turned into a long night, he's on the bigger size 🍆 for an Asian and always pleases. Side note… I’m REALLY glad I was in business class for that journey. I honestly don’t know how people do these long-hauls in economy anymore. Lately I’ve been buying my tickets originating in Asia or India, roundtrip, and keeping it under $3K USD. The mileage earning alone is worth it too… almost enough for a free one-way business class ticket. Makes a huge difference when you land and still have enough life left in you to actually… enjoy the destination. Now, Tokyo… Thanks @macaroni21 for the tips. I ended up booking someone from JAM: https://www.jam-2014.com/profile/_uid/7836/ Not gonna lie, not someone I would’ve picked out in a bar or a go-go lineup, but… ended up being a surprisingly good time. Taller than my usual type, very polished, very “Japanese professional,” and clearly knew how to handle himself and keep things… "engaging" and on the "edge" Getting from HND into Tokyo was about an hour by train. Super smooth. Staff everywhere helping, everything insanely punctual… you almost forget travel can actually be civilized and so punctual! I booked 90 minutes, and I’m glad I did. Between Google Translate and figuring each other out, there was a LOT of back and forth at first. I asked about massage, didn’t seem like that was really his thing. Also asked if it was more "action-focused", and he basically explained that a lot of his clients book hours just to talk… with a little fun on the side. We probably spent the first 30 minutes chatting/typing, which honestly felt longer than it was. But once things shifted… very different energy. Told him I’m shy and not much of a talker… he bought it 😆 He was really into taking his time, building things up, drawing things out in a way that made it a lot more intense than just jumping straight in. Very controlled, very deliberate… you could tell he knew exactly what he was doing and how to keep things going. Overall, definitely a fun experience and worth doing. Next time I’d plan it better… try a couple of agencies and line up someone a bit more my type, now that I know how it all works. Let's see if I can upload a pic of the room, was comfortable, had heat as it was a little chilly and light rain outside....plus a bathroom not shown, where he showered us at the beginning , he got hard fast and at the end, he washed me again, I thought.... I hope the nursing home will be this good 😝

No! And if you think so, you clearly don't have much of one.

Again you misquote. In what was a personal matter between you and me, I certainly agreed that we both cease misquoting. And yes, as far as my critisicism of you is concerned, I did suggest I had probably been a little "over the top" but that was specifically as far as our exchanges were concerned, not those of any other poster (where did I state that? I didn't!). But now you have quoted directly from a PM and that is not permitted on this Board. You and a handful of others assume this Board is yours and for the sort of posts you write. That's total B/S! It is for anyone who cares to write posts in accordance with the covenant and those who decide to read it. But PMs are exactly that - private and you elected to break that rule. You say "joking reminder". Perhaps you have forgotten a number of posts - not made by me or you, but others - which in the past referred to joking posts having either a joking emoji or an LOL at the end so that it becomes perfectly clear that it is a joke. You just joke, give the impression it is serious - and then lie. But even you have added LOL to previous posts - as in this recent one dated July 18 Posted July 18 Even when I lived in Florida.... I just found Jamaicans, "different", culturally/mentally, we really didn't jive ..... not about race, God knows I've been with enough black guys, lol Since you break agreemnents, you can comment all you like, and from now on I will do likewise!

With all your powers of persuasion, did you get him to change his mind/position?

I had gone to the beach with friends to kill time before getting a late afternoon flight back to the UK. Trying to get that gunge off your feet when you are already on sand is almost impossible.

Oh, don't be so utterly silly! You and I spoke by pm just yesterday and we agreed that the tit for tat between us would cease. Yet what is the first thing you do? You break it! You break your word! Well, I am not going to change my posting style for other posters who agree on a course of action and then break it.

After a minimum of around 15 years, have you any idea if it will be the same? Looking at several gay sites, I see it got great reviews in 2012, but these do seem to have gone considerably downhill since then.

Before I came to Asia, I remember going to the beach in Nice. Found much the same oil-like substance hidden under the sand covering my feet. No doubt from all the private yachts that plague that part of the Mediterranean.

After posting that rubbish, I hope you had a good sleep. How anyone with any sort of fulfilling life has time to post one so full of misinterpretation, assumption and nonsense, beats me! As for my life, you have absolutely zero clue of how enjoyable it is and your (another) mis-association with my comment about likes perfectly illustrates that. Utterly childish! I have been posting on this and its predecessor forum for roughly 20 years. My posting syle has never changed and I have no intention of changing unless instructed to do so by the owner/moderator. Odd that I never had complaints about length of posts from anyone like @mauRICE until the last year or so, quite some time after the merger. He has been a member for 5 years - just a baby who should move to another forum if he does not like it here.

"Throwaway comment?" That's just you being ridiculous thinking that what you write means nothing! Now we all know! As far as comprehension of others' posts go, if you do not read them - as of course is your right - how can you possibly know if they offer "new insight" or not? You can't! And as for "get a life!" Oh dear me! As has been written in these fora before, that is the most stupid and childish attempted putdown because it says far more about the poster who writes it.

Now, now! @mauRICE. Exaggeration! Your 4-paragraph post earller on this page is pretty long. On average my posts, long though some definitely are, are no longer than some posted by some others! And in case you forgot, you do not have to read any posts. It's entirely up to you. In case you have not read it, @bkkmfj2648 wrote earlier today after two posts by @spoon in the The Seductive Art of Giving a F*ck: A Blind Approach to Having a Good Time which are longer than almost all of mine - "Our writing styles (even with mistakes) is part of our persona, personality, and digital signature - and is what makes us identifiable and family here in our forum." - a post so far given a like by @kokopelli3, @jimmie50 and @khaolakguy!

This looks like a really bad quake. Many have died or are injured and the toll will sadly climb as it always does in these natural disasters. I hope the friends and loved ones of members have not been affected.

The point was his handcuffs had been taken off as the article states -

And why one got a better present than another!

Rather than summarise, I'll just post some of the Report on today's BBC site. Yet another example of police favouritism and, given Anutin's comment "he didn't have to wear handcuffs", bizarelly conflicting official views. I wonder if the perpetrator will ever see jail! A former Thai MP allegedly shot dead a local official near Bangkok, then dialled into a YouTube livestream to inform the host - a political pundit - of what he had done. Former Nonthaburi MP Chalong Reawraeng told the shocked host, Anchalee Paireerak, that he had shot Thongchai Yenprasert, a former police official, outside Thongchai's office on the northern outskirts of the capital . . . Chalong was arrested but then allowed to hold a press conference at a police station where he attempted to explain what had happened while smoking a cigarette. Police say they granted the unusual request so that Chalong could apologise to the victim's family - but once behind the microphone he described his actions in detail for over six minutes. He told reporters that Thongchai was "angry" at him, but did not explain why. He also said he did not intend to shoot Thongchai, whom he described as a "good friend" . . . "When I pulled the gun out, I didn't intend to shoot him. But then [Thongchai's driver] pulled his gun out and pointed it at me, so I fired" . . . Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said on Monday afternoon said the treatment of Chalong, who is a former member of his party, by police was shocking. "The wrongdoer didn't have to wear the handcuffs, had a press conference and acted like it was a normal situation... this is not right." "No matter who he is, he is now a murderer," Anutin said, adding that authorities will pursue "full legal action" against Chalong. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cqx7lje8l79o

Bit of a mistake there - not checked, perhaps? And you expect me to believe what you wrote. Pull the other one! So why you bother going on and on about such a small issue when you are so busy with your travelling seems more than odd. As one who also loves travel, I am sure you really enjoy it. Great! But what have "performances" to do with posts? Or does that somehow refer to travel experiences?

Just a general question. Being a member of a hotel chain clearly has its perks as you and others have pointed out. But I wonder if you ever try to use your hotel points for free stays? We all know that airline and hotel loyalty schemes have changed quite dramatically over the last 10 years, partly a result of covid. In February 2019 I used Marriott points to stay at the lovely Marriott on Phu Quoc during the high season. That required 120,000 points for 4 nights with a 5th night free. Now the points required for a similar stay are 280,000. I see from Marriott emails that while the chain usually offers 20% or 30% off purchasing points, I recently had one offering 40%. Given the number of points now required for more up-market hotels, that still does not sound like a good deal. In the first year of covid they offered 70% off which I purchased. But following covid the free room rates had gone up so much even that was not a good deal. I recently transferred these points to airline miles. Of course the number of miles required have also gone up but not quite as much. When I was working for decades in Asia I accumulated tons of hotel and airline points. And made very good use of them. Now that I travel considerably less, the Marriott perks are nice but I generally prefer to travel on the basis of price to be paid.

You can argue all you want, but I referred to posts made generally by quite a few members. You direct your comments at me on the basis of one or at most two posts. Fine, since you clearly like to track posts (as indeed I do!). But constantly to refer back in your childish way is just boring. Enjoy your little games as you do with other posters..

Haha! You equate proofreading posts usually made in haste for a chat room with what could be a matter of life and a serious illness or death. Silly!

That's a long time. Was it to the earlier Gay Thailand site? I've been on it and this for more than 20 years, but of course GT was going for longer. So I defer to your longevity.

My bank arranges the cover through my credit card but the insurance is placed with either Zurich Insurance or Allianz and these companies provide the policies. And yes I have read the detail and am happy with it - so far!

The 2025 Department of Health Service Report reported - Reviewing statistics on school violence undermining the mental health of Thai youth in 2025, the Department of Health Service Support found that 65.54% of Thai youth have experienced bullying. The Consumer Council revealed survey results covering four dimensions of school violence. The data is gained from relatively small groups - physical violence (337 respondents involving hitting, punching and kicking), verbal violence (335 respondents involving emotional abuse, gossip and sarcastic remarks, mockery of body shape or personality), social violence (337 respondents involving mocking and shaming in front of others, spreading rumours, exclusion from groups), cyberbullying (336 respondents involving posting insulting or derogatory messages, spreading rumours, exclusion from online groups). Various sectors made the following six proposals to the Department of Education to promote Thai schools as a safe environment for all pupils - 1. Establish accessible mental health care systems by allocating sufficient resources, training teachers to provide in-depth student support, and implementing monitoring systems for at-risk individuals. 2. Improve infrastructure safety by enhancing security measures in schools, such as secure restrooms, strict control of e-cigarettes and drugs, and prevention of unauthorized persons. 3. Address cyberbullying seriously by incorporating online rights and violence issues into curricula and training teachers to understand these problems. 4. Protect children's rights and create participatory spaces by providing safe complaint channels and enabling students and student councils to monitor and communicate issues. 5. Strengthen family roles in mental health care by educating parents on depression and risky behaviors to make homes safe environments. 6. Develop sex education and sexual harassment prevention by training teachers and students on bodily rights, sexual diversity, and establishing counseling centers in schools. These proposals stem from collaboration among various sectors, emphasizing that creating safe schools is not the responsibility of any single party but requires joint effort to ensure children grow up effectively and safely. https://en.thairath.co.th/scoop/infographic/2951346 If the Education Department is anything like some government departments of which I have direct experience, I fear little if anything will change! I also suspect the above is not dissimilar to many other societies, yet does not explain why violence is quite deeply rooted in parts of Thai society.

I am sorry I cannot help because I know virtually nothing about schools in the Thai educational system. What I do know is that once kids get out of the main school system there are certain secondary vocational and technical colleges particularly in Bangkok where groups of students are virtually in open gang warfare with one another. Frequently the police do not want to get involved, even though students are sometimes killed. I find this quote from The Taipei Times shocking! Two years ago, a gunbattle in broad daylight at a gas station, involving a motorbike chase, left one student dead and two other people wounded. Au, a 19-year-old studying to be a car mechanic at Thonburi Technical College, was one of those who fought at the gas station. “It’s not about politics. The fight is just to prove that we are better than them. It’s about dignity. We can’t stand their insults,” he said. Prosecutors decided that Au and his friends acted in self-defense, so no case was brought against them. Police have little appetite for tackling violence among students. https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2023/11/04/2003808682 I can also recall the case from 2018 when a student who was helping his mother at her roadside stall was shot and killed by a student from a rival college driving by on a motorbike. The 21-year old in this article below was killed with a gunshot to the head. He was a student at the Rajamangala University of Technology Tawan-ok Uthenthawai Campus. There students seem to have a particular rivalry with students at the Pathumwan Institute of Technology whiich is near the MBK Center. https://www.vice.com/en/article/student-shot-dead-as-thailands-strange-trend-of-university-gang-violence-resurfaces/ This vdo of a brawl involving knives was between two sets of students at MBK Center last year. With the police more or less having given up on trying to end this 50 year rivalry - yes, it has lasted that long - my only advice is run if you see groups of students seemingly on the warpath. What I have outlined goes way beyond bullying, but I suspect the Thai education system has to tolerate it if school leavers end up in gangs.