macaroni21

My last visit to the bars was in December 2023, with I think just one visit (to Dream Boy) in January. For January's Dream Boy, my notes (see https://shamelessmacktwo.travel.blog/2024/02/28/the-supermarket-stacker/#more-4022) say: Customer drink: 500 baht, Boy drink: 400 baht, Off fee: 550 baht. For December, my notes in relation to Banana Room say First drink 500 baht. Boy drink 300 baht. Off fee 500 baht. In relation to Hotmale, First drink 500 baht. Boy drink 400 baht. Off fee 500 baht. See https://shamelessmacktwo.travel.blog/2023/12/22/three-bars-three-obsessions/ I'm in no position to say whether there have been further increases as I haven't been back. I don't know what you mean by "were hitting over 400 baht per if tip is included in the transaction." Tips have always been separate from drinks and off-fees. As for the boys' expectations, budget for 2,500 baht short time, but if you time your visit right and the boys need you more than you need them, 2,000 should be the right level. And for me too, the attractions of Thailand are gradually fading.

You can try saying you're in a long-distance relationship with someone in Brazil. Boyfriend or girlfriend, take your pick.

+1

From BBC Weather (https://www.bbc.com/weather/1609350) I see predictions of thundery showers in the coming week for Bangkok. Daily maximum temperatures are indicated to be 33 degrees Tuesday to Friday. But of course weather forecasts are fickle things.

...which can be a problem, as my story here will show. This was from years ago. Chosen boy from gogo bar and me got into a taxi starting from Surawong Road towards my hotel in the Sukhumvit area. Along the way, the boy asked the driver why he was taking the scenic route. In response, the driver said something offensive about him being a sex worker. A heated argument broke out, and it was obvious we had to alight from the cab before things got worse. On the sidewalk, boy said sorry but he was too upset to be a companion tonight. He would go home. I didn't have to tip him, he said. We parted ways, each hailing separate cabs to our separate beds.

If only the gay bars of Patpong had something of this standard for their shows, it might actually be worth the 500 baht they charge. Then again, I noticed the investment in technology...

Hmm, my recall is that I had far more boys to choose from last year than is now shown on the list. Their roster has shrunk, it seems.

Oh, forgive me. I had a report on my visit to this place, but obviously I didn't link it here. It's at https://shamelessmacktwo.travel.blog/2024/01/14/went-river-fishing-for-aroma-caught-thai/

If it was me, I'd avoid the complication and not meet up at all in Paris. See him next time in Rio.

https://shamelessmacktwo.travel.blog/2023/12/26/map-of-saphan-khwai-and-sutthisan-winitchai-area-december-2023/

Yes, you are right. I knew this board's group intelligence is a valuable resource. Sake Pub is alive and well, but it is now located on the Thonburi side of the river. The valid Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/SakePubnew (note the word "new") complete with recent photos and video clips (poor quality). Its address is stated to be 89/3-5 Arun Amarin Road, Bangkok Noi, Bangkok, Thailand, Bangkok.

This bar needs to be checked out. Its Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sake-Pub-สาเก-ผับ/341416052585697 where its address is stated as 60/1 Soi Damnoen Klang Tai. This seems to be a tiny road 250m south of Khaosan Road and 350m east of Sanam Luang. I reckon it is in the vicinity of Google Coordinates 13.756346380428468, 100.49797434403985. There are some interesting pictures on its Facebook page around April 8th or 9th. Here's a Songkran poster from April 12th: And on Youtube, a video from 2019: Almost certainly a bar for Thais rather than foreigners.

Ah, that is helpful information if anyone is going to Chengdu or Chongqing. Such is the Youtube algorithm that I find another video by the same pai pai guy, this time about a gay bar in Beijing called Destination. The thing that comes across is how different gay culture can be in different countries.

The bar is called "Pose". Near the beginning of the video it says one can google "Pose Chengdu" to find its location, but doing so didn't give any result for me. Instead, Google fed me "Hunk" bar at these co-ordinates: 30.63923713404091, 104.09020340885925, also in Chengdu city. I'm not saying they're the same.

So, what does all that mean? Did Sky Massage hack into and steal OneSpa's line account and client database? There was an outage not along ago, no?

Yes, that will explain it. I wonder why a small business even needs AI chatbots. After all, the incoming requests will still need to be relayed to the nominated boy and to ascertain whether he is available, then check whether a room is available, etc etc. So a human will still be needed for coordination. Just stick with a QUALIFIED human and forget about the latest fad of AI.

When I went, which was perhaps 10years ago, the monkeys were numerous but they minded their own business. I guess they are still like that, and fighting among them is probably a rarity - this why the video above was newsworthy. I could walk around the ruins but frankly the ruins were not worth one's time. Phimai and several other sites would be more worth the effort and time. However I was always on guard among the monkeys. You never know when one might come real close to snatch your bag or hat or phone just as you were taking a photo. So, I didn't feel relaxed and it wasn't a pleasant day. That said, if you look at the video above, even as the two gangs of monkeys were confronting each other, they largely ignored the humans.

I had a similarly perplexing experience with OneSpa (now Sky Massage). I think whoever handles the Line account is barely able to read English and clearly unable to say more than "Yes" or "OK". I also have a suspicion that whoever it is does not even know how to use Google Translate. I don't recall much difficulty with Kman Spa (but maybe the staffer has since been replaced?). The two that impressed me were River 365 and Nine Spa. A lot has to do with whether the digital receptionist can speak any English at all. One needs to be able to at least read English to check if Google Translate has done the job properly.

What happens when Bangkok sinks into the sea? "... Greenpeace says almost all of Bangkok will be vulnerable to floods in the scenario of an extreme sea level rise by 2030. Under this extreme projection about 96% of the city will be below the mean sea level." https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2499786/bangkok-is-still-sinking-and-fast- Of course, Greenpeace tends to focus on the extreme scenario, but nobody (outside of the lunatic fringe) disputes the fact that Bangkok is subsiding and sea levels are rising.

Fortunately, gang members weren't carrying weapons other than sharp teeth.

We heard in an earlier report that high-pressure water guns were banned because they might cause injuries. But the city had whole trucks instead?

The LINE account has changed its name from OneSpa to The Sky Massage.

Cooking, assuming the heat is high enough and long enough, may kill the bacteria, but while the food was sitting in the humid heat, the bacteria would have produced toxins. Some toxins, such as that produced by Staphylococcus, are heat resistant, so cooking or reheating does not denature them.

I have no idea what this event is, and there's probably nothing gay about it. But I thought I'd share it here for the visual pleasure of those members who like some meat on their men. The video description mentions Tondo, which is generally a slum area in Manila. Some parts of Tondo are only grubby, other parts are positively dangerous.

It was at such a stand where I caught the worst food poisoning in years. In hindsight, the skewer must have been left on the stand too long in the warm Thai air. Ever since then, I avoid such food stands though I am conscious (at a rational level) that the same can happen in the kitchens of the nicest restaurants.