TMax

I gave religion the slip when I was a kid and realized it wasn't for me, the only time I go anywhere near a church or chapel is for a family or very close friends funeral service. In the military if you didn't go to sunday religious service you ended up doing work detail, I did a lot of work details.

Porn and an overworked hand😂

You are so right there, I had been reading about the problems for quite a while and had always wondered if the problems were so obvious to everyone why weren't they shut down earlier? Then of course I think of the old saying "follow the money trail" and started to wonder just how high up the trail went and suspect it went very high.

I find myself in a similar situation as you do (small city), my tatses are very simple, my #1 preference is for Asian guys and where I live there are very few gay or bi Asians here and those that are prefer guys closer to their age. Looking at the apps there really isn't much at all in my area that takes my interest and not a lot on offer anyway, maybe I'm just too picky. Maybe if there was a good Asian masseur in Perth that offered full service I would visit there more often. It all makes my trips to Thailand more enjoyable and I am very much looking forward to my 2023 trip.

Not just Thailand, bar owners in the Philippines (Angeles city) have been doing that for many years now (at least since the early 1990's). The moment business drops off up go the prices, funny enough it's the bars that are owned by foreigners that started the trend over there.

I stiil wear a mask here in Western Australia when on public transport or if going into crowded places like shopping centres and I will no doubt wear a mask in Thailand when I go if mandated or not, the risk for me will be restaurants, bars and massage places. My reasoning is simple, underlying health conditions, even a common cold can be bad news for me. If others choose to wear one or not is up to them.

Qantas at #5 is being very generous, I would place them well outside the top 10 now. Of late their maintenance, cleaning and on time departures has deteriorated greatly and their lost luggage percentage has skyrocketed. Domestically their meals are about 1% above garbage, it never was the best but now even worse. What can be the cause of such a deterioration? To put it simply, senior management is the cause, they are driven by cost cutting to the extreme and yet they give themselves (top executives and the board) ridiculous pay rises and bonuses whilst sacking their workers and outsourcing to the cheapest possible alternatives. With so many airlines above them and those improving their services I see a rather bleak future for Qantas. I really feel for their employees as they have to put up with all the cost cutting and rubbish handed down (more like thrown at them) by management. Sorry, rant over.

That answered a question I had in my mind, good to see and slowly getting there.

@emiel1981 nice report on the hotel and thanks for sharing it, that is the hotel I would be looking at for my next trip.

I like Baguio and I used to like Tagaytay for the cooler climate (in both places) however due to the Taal volcano Tagaytay is out of the question which is a pity as it was nice and close to Manila, Palawan is the other option I like but for the opposite reasons (nice and quiet and the people there are the friendliest I had met in the Philippines). Bonifacio Global City would be my choice if I was to choose to live in Manila, more up market and a much nicer part of the city.

The advice I was given by friends many years ago when I was a frequent traveller to the Philippines and considering the Philippines as a retirement option was (as stated above) to go for a lengthy stay first then decide on whether to make the move or not. The second piece of advice I find just as valid today as it was back then is to have something to come back to, a house or apartment etc, things may be all rosey for a while but there is always a chance things can go bad and a person would need an escape route. Things do change and it could be the new lifestyle in a foreign country wears a bit thin, health deteriorates etc. I've been retired for 8 years now, still only in my mid 60's and the thought of making a move is still in my head and is still a possibility in the years to come.

I think I've only been with 2 Vietnamese boys in Bangkok (testing the memory here), had no problems (except maybe their limited english, google translate worked for the most part) and found them very likeable, in fact I loved their strong massage techniques and their smoking hot bodies.

No not that one, north of WA and at least 10 of them over the years.

I did think about the Philippines once, there are a couple of places there that interest me a lot. The main pro to the Philippines for me is the retirement visa, so much easier and less stuffing around and that's the sad part of Vietnam is they don't have a retirement visa or long stay visa option. The big con for the Philippines for me are the typhoons (not to mention their regular brown outs), I had lived in an area in Australia for many years and been through so many cyclones that I would rather not have to go through any more.

Perth, I would love to live in either Thailand or Vietnam eventually but I haven't narrowed down the location yet, there are some places that I really like. My needs on the place are simple, access to good medical, a place with plenty to do and that can be used as a base for travel and with that good internet for studies.

Immediate bucket list is my 2023 trip to Thailand, 3somes 4somes and moresomes, just going to be a slut really.

Yes but only if I go to one of the ladyboy cabarets for a night out with friends

That Ibis Styles looks like a reasonable deal, has me rethinking which hotel.

I have started thinking of my next trip, around March next year and was considering which hotels to choose from. My last few trips I stayed at the Raya without any issues at all but was also thinking to try Tarntawan again but after reading some reports I think Raya may win out. I switched from Tarntawan to the Raya when Tarntawan management changed and dollar for dollar the Raya then was better value but now it seems it may be better to pay the extra and stay there again. After all, missing so many years of travel due to "pandemic" I may just treat myself, got a lot of missed times to make up for.

In Bangkok I believe Lumpini Park used to be an active cruising ground, I had read that it had dropped off a lot compared to what it used to be but no idea what it's like now.

Not too bad an increase, about the only times I use taxis in Bangkok now are to and from the airport or if I'm going somewhere that the BTS or MRT aren't close by or very late at night.

I can say my tastes haven't changed but my thoughts about what I would like to try have changed a little bit (or developed further) but that will stay under wraps until my next trip and I get to try one or two things I have been thinking about. I still go for the fit toned type of guy and never really went for either the skinny or big muscle types. Short times with the massage guys (tops) is still my preference but longer time is possible with the right guy, also I still have a fondness for 4 hands massage and have the guy I choose to select the second guy. Food tastes remain pretty much the same too, G's Bangkok I like to visit a few times per trip, likewise The Mango Tree on Soi Tantawan.

Oh gawd, isn't he the one with all the watches and sleeps a lot on the job?

Yes, some cardio, stretching and some weight training, always try to get the day going with a good morning workout

I agree with that statement completely and find it most unattractive, to me it looks like they practice their version of circumcision with broken glass rather than it being done properly (just the way it looks to me). I'm not against circumcision (being that way myself) but more the way it's done and the end result, I also try to avoid the usual debate that follows that word as whether it should or shouldn't be done.