vinapu

so from bkkguy opinionated response it looks that it's best to leave to Thais themselves to sort amnesty quagmire out . If Thais are politically divided it doesn't mean admirers of their sons should wade into dispute too unless they live in Thailand permanently.

certainly he is right on this one "We [people who are fighting] will soon be gone. It is our children who will take our place and they will have to live in a bruised and battered country because of what we do, because we just want to win" / quotation from his interview above /

When I saw new posts in 'some models' I knew you feeling better now. Hope you will be able to report a little I bit more, this was one of best threads for long time, kind of addictive. As for pace settling down a bit toward end I think this is normal. Novelty value wears out and pocket starts showing bottom but never hurts to have one or two relaxing massages as good bye Thailand kiss. Smart move with being closer to Swampy, last time was leaving hotel during the deluge, it was pretty unpleasant drive from Silom and can imagine would be outright dangerous from PTY if one is in a hurry. Unfortunately almost all North American flights are arriving and departing at such crappy times of day. Last night in Asia I usually keep some company and sleep very little if at all, noticed that this helps to sleep better during those long flights and jet lag is manageable-wonder if other have some experience ? How are rains?

Not true , it happened to me on Christmas day of 2002 on Charoen Krung near main post office and I'm still in state of shock and disbelief

Sorry to hear about your troubles at end of such entertaining trip. It could be so called stomach flu, vaccine probably doesn't work for that. Drink plenty of fluids as it can dehydrate you fast. And have mercy on boys for few days as if I'm right , it highly contagious / Devint case ?/

Long time dream of mine to visit the place but I will be in Thailand right after ICJ verdict and not sure how it will be taken by Thai side, thye are closing border there quite often and as you noticed , not a good place to be stranded there. Possible taxi from Kantharalak is not a bad option, need to investigate.

possibly z909 meant other clients in the bar, not employees . It looks Christian than as far as entertainment value goes you were much better served by Hulapampong boys then Scorpion ones based on your reports

Never hurts to try, on quite a few occasion actually married guys kept their part of the deal and stay till morning. They may not be gay but with family responsibilities some have better understanding of benefits of proper client service and difference short and long term rates are making to family budget. Thank you for warning but never hurts to invest short time tip in order to disappoint ourselves on our own account. Although I'd say for some reason second pictured boy from Abomb, one on motorcycle drew even more of my attention. So hope mmjmmj invests in first one and I in second and we can tell firecat if 200 spent on tips for them was money well or not as well spend. Certainly for eye candy it was spent well.

That's the problem of many travelers, they do not do even minimal research before departure and assuming that everywhere is the same, visa on arrival, ATM and exchange counters open, food available in the airport etc Then all of the sudden stress-ATM non existing , moneychanger closed or offering lousy rate, taxi drivers and restaurants don't want other than local currency and airport personnel on strike . All easily avoided with few question researched before departure

Insurance will cover your loss eventually but when we are robbed first inconvenience is we are deprived of cash immediately and if cash is in the same place credit cards are we may lose them too in the same heist. So two more lessons -do not exchange all your money at once / I suspect this is a case of those robbed of thousands / and do not keep all your valuables in the same place. Like Rogie said -use your head and eyes I add

Thank you Rogie, you promised , you delivered. Did you take organized trip or just went there by car / train ? International Court of Justice ruling is expected on Nov 11, hope it will not be any commotion in BKK over this as nothing is expected to change status quo.

Welcome and do not forget about us when you will be back from Pattaya. If you pay more than going rate you are not cheated, you may be naïve and not know what rate is or better still - you paying more because you are extremely happy with the boy and you think he deserved higher tip. I wish second case will be one in your adventures there ! And thank you firecat for your answers as I'm next in line and looks that mmjmmj is looking exactly for the same type I'm / muscular and long time /

This is cost you are paying for saving money by using train/bus versus air. Your description fits Poipet crossing to Cambodia very well.

You should type all this great post in capital letters, I read this 3 times with increasing pleasure each time as this exactly reflect my feelings. All this musings about great bygone bars of yesteryear my be accurate but in such a concentration are a bit depressing so finally you put some level to it. My grandmother used to say ' some people still believe that when they were younger even water was more moist than it's now '. I miss bars of old and their prices too but I chose to cherish more of what we have access to now and when entering bar I don't think what I used to see there 5 years ago but still feel this curiosity of what I will see there in second.

In order to see how other people live as added bonus for a shag

I wonder if this is decline of bars / clubs/ venues in LOS or our optic changed over years with age and number of visits somehow extinguishing novelty value. For my personal use I see improvement - noticed I like my boys better now than before. Always butterflied and never thought about returning to hire the same guys next trip / with one exception of cutie from Aqua few years ago /, now when I return I will be looking for at least 3 from my last trip. Honestly I don't know, am I less demanding / really never was /, more sentimental , quality of boys improved or it was just luck last time but fact is I'm happy to proclaim dissenting opinion : I like it better now

I don't want to step on anybody's toe but well before influx of Russians I heard the same words about all farangs in Pattaya and Kho San in BKK. It's why I never bother going there and hoping to correct this mistake in few weeks.

I remember only exit fee of 500 charged at airports

Consider it sealed, no sane government will forfeit revenue of such magnitude at cost of few fee collecting booths at border points. Hope Thai treasury minister did not read this post

Absolutely trouble free and fast visa on arrival issued at Luang Prabang airport last May so may be you just had a bad luck / or I had good one /

This is what governments and businesses are always saying when raising taxes and prices. "In order to serve you better", so they simply used this time tested formula not even thinking anybody will believe it anyways. While I agree with Moses and you that for most visitors 500 is just a drop in the bucket I still rather spend it at say, Nature Boy than Swampy.

Everywhere in the world if you emerge from ATM or exchange counter you are marking yourself as man with money and prey / not always easy but still prey /. For this very reason in less known places I'm always limiting my trips to bank machine and prefer to take more in one shot and then stash it in hotel's safe as Rogie suggested. Never been robbed but have 2 cousins robbed while emerging from ATM , both in supposedly safe cities / Melbourne and Zurych /. I was followed once in Yogyakarta / Java / after I left machine but guardian angel sent me taxi I could jump in. On another hand never , ever felt uneasy in BKK , day on night so I'm surprised with Devint adventures but again, ChristianPFC was threatened with knife at Saranrom while ago so we can't go low on guard So my advice would be handle you cash way you feel comfortable with. If you not planning to go right back to hotel use Rogie's approach, better pay 150 baht per withdrawal even couple times a day than swallow lead. If you need to exchange lot on money try to use few booths as this limits your time there. By time you count 30000 baht half Silom will see you standing at the counter. But again , do what you are comfortable with. And never keep all the money in one pocket, use shirt with at least 2 and trousers with 4 and spread money between them.

Rogie , stop talking about me, I'm shy guy and don't like publicity. LOL Well said nevertheless, thank you for expressing nicely in short sentence why we love LOS even if factor X doesn't work sometimes as hoped for.

you are right big time on both counts, he is trying to eat cake and still have it

I'm surprised too that he did not drown by accident somewhere mid-river.