anddy

easy to find, in the same Soi as R3 Sauna. When you stand in front of R3 and looking at R3, then it is 50m to your right. I usually take the MRT to Phra Ram 9, then take the shortcut through the car park of Fortune Town: walk into the exit lane of the car park, then turn right and just follow the lane, you'll come out right at R3, just walk on to Dr. Bear (on the same side of the Soi as R3). Or you can go into Ratchada Soi 1 right next to Tesco Lotus, then turn left into Dr.Bear's and R3's Soi. I have enjoyed the massages there very much. Also, I like the way you can design your own massage package by using an order form they give you. You can select the massage items and their respective duration by circling them of the price chart, select your pressure preference, the massage oil, as well as indicate any areas needing extra attention. Takes less than 1 minute to complete, but is a very effective way of arranging and customizing your massage. Here is the price chart from their facebook page:

you could make up for the bad title by meeting one or more board members during your stay in BKK and actually treat him/them to some free wine or beer ;-) Unfortunately, though, I'm currently out of town for another 6 weeks or so. Maybe someone else?!

sounds similar to what happened early March, when the day before an important Buddhist holiday a police order came out for all dance clubs to close at midnight. The night before the holiday that's normal, but the order was supposed to be effective for the next 2 weeks. No reason given, no reliable source. Apparently, individual clubs were just told by "their" officer. No formal announcements, nothing. Then 3 days later, the whole thing was called off just as out of the blue as it had come. The best explanation for this and the current Soi Twilight issue IMO: this is Thailand, 'nuff said.

you can actually go from Mandalay to Bagan by boat on the Irrawady river. That obviously takes a long time, too, in fact it is an overnight trip, though I can't remember how long exactly it took. But it is a peaceful, slow mode of travel and maybe a welcome change of pace. I especially enjoyed the tranquil, almost magic moments of experiencing sunrise on the upper deck (though it was freezing cold and I only had a light sweater). I actually did this in 2006, so no idea if and how it works today, so google for more information and current boat schedules.

new, modern and upscale condos already have that. mine does, at least.

15:00 - 24:00 source: http://www.travelgayasia.com/bangkok-gay-massage-spas/ so I can't vouch for it. Sounds reasonable by Bangkok standards though.

A property is not supposed to recover it's price in rental income in a certain number of years. The question is what is the yield earned from the rent and will there be a price appreciation at least in line with inflation. And the difference between renting and buying is, when you rent the money is out of the window, just gone. When you buy and finance it with a mortgage (cheap these days) you pay maybe roughly the same every month, but in the end you own the place. Having said that, I am totally in the rent camp too, especially in Thailand for a number of reasons: 1. I tend to agree with Bob on the bubble being in progress. 2. As for the value of the condo in the future when you may be willing to sell, even if there is no bubble and no downturn, will a 20 year old condo really be worth that much? Looking at existing, older condos versus brand new ones in Bangkok it appears obvious that the older ones are much less desirable and hence lower in price (makes sense to me). And besides, selling (at a decent price) is always more difficult than buying. 3. Renting gives you so much mor flexibility to move for whatever reason. Maybe you finances have changed and you can afford a better one or only a cheaper one, maybe you want to change location, etc. etc.... 4. Given the political situation, or uncertainty, rather, in Thailand I wouldn't want to own anything there. A certain event may lead to even more political division and unrest, the extent of which may depend on who is in power at that inevitable time. That could lead to a sharp economic downturn and market decline or collapse for property (at best) or even the need to leave the country in a hurry at worst.

so I take it he is out to his parents, correct? How is the acceptance there, in Jordan in general and with this ethnic group in particular? Are his parents especially open or is that quite common there?

uhm, why carry your actual passport (instead of a photocopy) around town at all???????? Even more so on crazy messy Songkran??? I don't understand....

exactly, the saunas are an excellent way of getting boys for free as is the gay scene where normal local gay guys go, such as DJ Station. I've always found it super easy to pick up (or be picked up by) a guy there, always not for money. If you're Asian yourself, the bars in the gay area of Ratchada might be an option, too

I see your point. But that's why I have multiple emails for different purposes. One is decdicated for use with un-trusted sites, and I don't care if and how much spam goes to that email. With that one I also subscribe to various newsletters I may have a real or passing interest in, so it get's quite a lot of mails, most of which I actually never read, but I don't care. This allows me to do all sorts of things on all sorts of websites, including maybe to vote on the $20 bill ;-) My main email I handle in a similar manner to yours. Though having said all that, I find that the spam filters work really well these days, be it on gmail or hotmail or yahoo, so that actual spam almost never finds it's way into the inbox. So another reason for me not to care about spam. Let the spam folder gobble it all up ;-)

why not? Don't you have an anonymous hotmail or similar email that you use for stuff like this and where thus most spam goes?

a good place to look for info is www.travelgayasia.com The "standard" gay hotel is of course Tarntawan, where I used to stay when visiting. Even more gay is of course BBB Inn, which also has massage boys on premises 24 hours and further more even rents out short-time rooms (I think 4 hours or so) for 500 or 600 Baht. Unfortunately, can't meet you during your trip as I'm out of the country. Have fun at the full moon party, though last time I went overall I found it way too commercial, full of way-too-drunk australian teenies. There were still some pockets of non-commercial music, cool people and fun to be had as well, though.

good point farangyai, I would do the same in your situation. given your description of yourself, maybe you should change your name to farangyaimaak hahaha ;-)

- Do many here use the massage shops for standard massages as well as full-body/happy-ending massages? If so what is the etiquette? yes, I use the "normal" massage shops in the Silom/Surawong area all the time, in fact I never use the gay ones like Bonny. I think I never had a bad massage, the worst ay have been a mediocre one, but usually they range from good to excellent. I do both Thai massages as well as oil massages. The etiquette: for the Thai massage you change into a very loose fitting shirt and pants they provide. That massage therefore is almost never with any extras. For an oil massage you're obviously naked, and in the Silom area almost everywhere they will also do a HE if you want, especially if you get hard during the massage (an obvious sign that you might want it haha). Some ask if you want it, some ask how much you would tip for it, some just do it, some don't do it at all, it all depends on the individual guy, not the shop. You can always decline a HE when asked if you don't want it, no pressure. - For feet/lower legs massage, just off your footwear and roll up jeans/trouser legs? Do they wash feet first? yes and yes - and head shoulders do they just massage over shirt/tee-shirt or is it top off? I think massage over shirt/t-shirt, as it is usually done without oil. - How long for these massages, oil is usually 1 hour, but foot, head/shoulders, are they normally 30 mins or more? as long as you like. The "standard" time for foot massage is 1 hour, too, though you can vary that as you wish. Head/shoulders I'm not sure, as thst's not offered by many shops (at least usually not listed on the sign boards outside the shop) - And cost? Thai massages: price for 1 hour from 250 Baht to maybe 400; I highly recommend to do at least 1.5 hours though, makes a big difference oil massages: 400-600 Baht/hour foot massage: same as Thai - I assume normal massages always done on the lower ground massage shop on the benches/chairs you can see when passing. Yes and no. The chairs you see are for foot massages only. If you get a Thai (or oil) massage, it is done in massage rooms, usually with a table or on a floor mat, depending on the shop. The better shops have floor mats for Thai massages and tables for oil massages, some smaller shops have only floor mats. Personally, I am indifferent to table vs. mat. - Tips for a 'standard' massage? I think farangyai is super-generous with his tips. Technically, you don't have to tip at all. But as foreigners, we kind of feel bad not tipping, and we might as well support the locals by tipping. Having said that, a 100 Baht tip for a 1 hour foot or Thai or oil massage (without any "extras, of course), is perfectly fine and appreciated. Anything higher than that will be VERY much appreciated, but is not expected in any way. Shops I like for consistently good massages are Pranee (small, relaxed and cheap shop right on Silom, about 50-100m up from Thanyia, on the second floor above the 24-hour Boots pharmacy, right next to the BTS exit) and The Prime (Silom Soi 6).

fully agree, that's an excellent post. Sometimes it seems some people (not on this board as far as I can tell) view the boys they hire as mere merchandise, as objects they own for the duration of the time together. I find that reflected sometimes in requests by money boys in their online profiles to be treated with respect and the like. From my own point of view, I don't understand the necessity of such requests, but unfotunately there is obviously a need for it. Well, they are human beings like the person hiring them, and in fact one hires not the person, but a service they provide. I see no difference to, say, a hairdresser, whose service (a haircut) is being purchased and the person is otherwise treated as such, as a person one can respect and chit-chat and be friendly with. Focussing on the person rather than the money side of the deal is part on the enjoyment, especially in Thailand, as explained so well by farangyai.

it is also a recurring topic in other forums. The question about tips for offing a boy came up recently on another forum I frequent, and given my on complete lack of offing experience I took the liberty to relay tipping information from this forum to the other one. So yes, there is clearly demand for that kind of information. I can't see any bragging in the OP, it is just factual and informative, hence appreciated.

yes it is, thank you :-)

Serviced apartments are also an option. Maid and cleaning service like a hotel (some even with breakfast), but a more liveable room. Very affordble, comparable or even cheaper than some hotels. They typically offer lower rates for rentals longer than just a few days (like monthly rates etc).

that sounds plausible, but at the same time, if you keep your quality expectations low (doesn't have to be professional porn quality) then you won't need to concentrate on it and won't be distracted by it. Then the "intriguing" aspect kicks in gain and is actually a turn on. You can also just do a hand-held vid with your phone, low quality but it's for fun only anyway. I've done both, cam on a table or similar as well as handheld with phone. One boy (in the Philippines) also got quite turned on by the idea of filming it :-) He keeps asking me to see it, but (a) i don't want to give it away for obvious reasons (though he isn't money boy) and (b) sending a 1GB file is not really practical (even with dropbox etc). He'll have to wait until my next trip and watch it on my laptop with me ;-)

Surawong: Siam Heritage is quite nice, almost next door to Tartawan and opposite Meridien. Joiner may be an issue there, though. Bandara Suites seems never fully booked. When looking at it in the evenings I always see only a few rooms lit up. And if the walk to Silom (maybe 500m) to Silom is to fr for layzy BF, they have a free hotel Tuktuk service :-) You also may want to search for serviced apartments in the area, such as Silom Convent Gardens on Soi Phiphat 2 (right next door to Sauna Mania), another one on Convent Road the name of which I can't think of right now, or At Ease Saladaeng by AETAS on Saladaeng Soi 1 (bit too far maye, itäs at the far end of the soi, closer to Lumphini Park).

IOS excuse is false, because the last word starting with "th" you typed before "there" was "though" hahaha spell checker can't really catch mistakes like this, because both are actual correct words, this is a grammar error and I don't know how good spell checkers are at correcting grammar (if at all).

there is never a lack of food in Bangkok, at any time. There will be plenty of street food available along Sukhumvit, catering to all the bar girls and staff who finish working around 2am.

nope not closed, alive and kicking. Just now 2 customers, 5 or 6 boys, ok looking too from what I can tell after a brief glance.

totally agree, too. One of the many reasons to live here. I don't believe the "sapping all energy" part, judging from your recent travel report, seemed to have PLENTY of energy for certain activities ;-) Personally, I love hot climates and don't suffer at all, to the contrary. Yet another of the many reasons to live here But obviously everyone is different.