vinapu

he never saw me looking at his ass- no mirrors or
reflective surfaces. he was turned around.
just glanced up later as he walked by me.
 
unmistakable. not a "not my type" look

Time to get this thread back on my adventures with Boys.  So last night I repeated with the last boy I reviewed in the GayRomeo Forum.
 
This is the 5th time I have seen him. He is consistently on time and always fun in the sack.  He is the photo in the green shirt..  He is better looking then his photos on Gayromeo and this is one of the better face shots I have seen of him. Funny how some boys do not transfer their good looks to photos.
 
Now I woke early this morning and felt the need. ( Guess why?).  No where else in the world is it so easy. Went on jack'd and found a cute boy within 15 minutes and he arrived 30 minutes later.  This is at 530 in the morning. Amazing Thailand!!
 
The other two photos are of him. Turns out he works at Toyboys and he was just what i needed to start the day. Who needs Coffee?

The only caveat to all this discussion of GoGo Bars is that for someone who has never visited Thailand, they will still have the same excitement that we did when we first visited.
 
The ability to walk into a bar and find 40 boys onstage in underwear and be able to say I'd like #23 to come home with me is still an exciting attraction for many. It even remains a strong attraction for some multi-time visitors who enjoy the Bar scene.
 
Just because I have become somewhat jaded to the bar scene , I would not want that to discourage the first time visitor .
 
You will feel the same excitement we all did and the need to constantly return to Thailand and even possibly retire here.
 
Maybe you will continue to enjoy the Bar scene or maybe you will use it with GayRomeo etc but the one thing I am sure of is that I have never known anyone who viisted Thailand that was not planning their next trip before their first trip ended.

Congratulations! My experiences with gayromeo this year can best be described as disastrous. But you have to take into account that I'm not looking for moneyboys.
 
Last week I met a boy, it took just 1h10min from initial contact until we were in his room, which might be all-time fastest hook-up on gayromeo. I took a taxi to his place (40 min due too rain and traffic jam), he hinted that he needs money during our chat on gayromeo, so I gave him 500 Baht when I left. Pictures were photoshopped, in real life he was "would have sex with for free". Sex was so-so, for 500 Baht I rather go to Saranrom and take a boy I really want. But at least he had a sexual interest in me, even if sex was interrupted by him asking me if he could use the mobile Wifi hotspot of my mobile phone to access internet (or whatever) on his phone. First I pretended not to understand (all conversation was in Thai), then I switched on WiFi hotspot on my phone and he did something with his phone. What goes on in that brain, to ask during sex if he can use WiFi hotspot? And this is an encounter that I call "promising"!
 
I asked, he said there are plenty of gay students at his university. I have heard this from other boys (for other universities) as well. I just don't know how to access this pool which fits my prey scheme (right age range, some higher education). Interestingly, he studies tourism, but does not speak English (or insufficient for even a simple conversation). I should have asked about other foreign languages.
 
In order not to sound too harsh: most boys I met on gayromeo were decent people who I would recommend to friends, it just didn't work out between us.
 
Addendum: far too often I go to boy's places (but only after checking if their room is free). According to Euclidean Geometry, his place is exactly as far from my place as my place from his place. I am going to pay for taxi fare anyway, so if he is too lazy to come to my place, why should I go to his place?
 
Sorry for derailing this thread, I had these things on my mind and took this occasion to write them down.

Rather obvious to me. If you were illegally in a given country and a stranger (let alone anyone else) in a bar asked you where you were from, how would you answer that question yourself?  You'd either not answer the question or you would do your best to fudge an answer.
 
We have supposedly a million or two undocumented "guests" up here in the boonies and almost none of them will tell anyone other than someone they really trust about their true status.  They sure as hell aren't going to say: "Well, I and my family are currently living in Chiangmai but we're actually here in Thailand without permission." 
 
Your use of the word "lying" is technically correct; however, I think that using that word given the background/context of the situation is a bit harsh.  They're just trying to be smart and protect themselves, their friends, and their families.

As I understood it, the exit fee of 500  baht which we used to pay directly upon departing was shifted to the airlines (the airlines through their tickets collected it from travelers to/from Thailand and then the airlines paid it directly to the Thai government).  And, unbeknownst to me, the departure fee was later increased to 700 baht.  I'd note the following language comes directly from the Suvarnabhumi website:
          "Since February 1, 2007 the 700 Baht international departure tax was included in the price of flight tickets."
 
Now you say that this departure fee was only temporary and is no longer in effect.  What information do you base that on?
 
Since I haven't read anything about the elimination of the referenced departure tax, I presume it's still in place.  The new 500 baht fee is in addition to that (although it's not in effect as yet) and the Thai government calls it not a departure fee/tax but an entry fee/tax.  And this new proposed fee (as reported in the papers) relates to the Thai government attempting to force foreigners in general to pay into a fund to compensate the hospitals for the fees foreigners don't pay or can't afford to pay.
 
There's little doubt that people who travel abroad to Thailand can in fact afford an extra 500 baht; however, that issue (whether any of us can afford it) isn't the gist of the original post or most subsequent/related comments.
 
P.S.  The justification of the new arrival fee/tax, as noted, is that foreigners aren't paying their full tabs to the government hospitals and The Nation recently reported these bills that foreigners don't pay add up to "over 200 million baht annually."  Well, in spite of the fact that I consider that amount to be somewhat minor in the grand scheme of things, let's analyze that.  Let's say (I think this is about right) that Thailand has about 55 million international entries per year.  If my calculator is working correctly, a 500 baht fee tacked on to all those entrants would raise 27.5 billion baht a year.  Maybe a little bit of an overcharge? 

Have no idea why so many noise about this fee. Fee existed for long time in past and has been temp. off just in Jan 2009 after world crisis 2008. Now it is back. Thailand now discuss visa exemption for Chinese ($25) and will substitute it with fee. The only nations which will be affected by fee - low budget travelers from Cambodia, Laos, Burma and Malaysia. Who cares abut 500 bahts?

Years ago, one had to pay 500 baht to leave the country (Thailand), it being collected just before you entered the immigration-exit room.  What I've understood is that the Thai government made a deal with the airlines where the airlines all collect that amount and pay the Thai government (i.e., we still pay it although indirectly).  I never knew (or can't remember) what the justification was for that 500-baht fee.  [Yes, it was the "departure" tax/fee that  koko and vinapu mention above]
 
Now, they're struggling to figure out how to pay what they claim is the amount foreigners don't pay the Thai hospitals for services.  I've seen the claimed total somewhere but I actually didn't think it was very much.....certainly far less than the amount the Thai hospitals profit from treating us foreigners! 
 
Another one of those "TIT" moments, I suppose.

I am often amazed what I read. I have never read in any newspaper or message board report " . . . and the tourist was robbed of 500 baht". No, it's always far in excess of that. Thousands of dollars very often. 
 
Good advice Devint: take out what you need little and often (at least I think this is what you meant). ATM's are every few yards in many parts of Pattaya. The only downside I can think of to that is the 150 baht (or has it gone up recently?) surcharge Thai banks impose users with foreign cards. In that case the odd hefty withdrawal during the daytime in a safe area (not the Western Union at Big C!!) and stashing the bulk in your room safe or hotel safe and just taking what you need out with you should work.

Well said, you are a lucky so-and-so to be only 28 and sensible.
 
Many people do not get to live the way they want until very much later in life. Sometimes early retirement, but more often working until 60+ in order to save a nice nest egg in order to enjoy an idyllic retirement. For those yearning to spread their wings that might mean an endless round of cruises to exotic locations. Others decide to flee the nest and put down permanent or semi-permanent roots in another country. I am often intrigued what it is that's the deciding factor when they decide to relocate. Perhaps for many, Thailand scores because of its cheap cost of living plus that evasive factor X. . . the ability to make you feel younger, more alive. So although you may be 28 Devint, many ex-pats and foreigners more than twice your age feel a lightness in their step enjoying the company of 20-something boys and girls. 

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

I like your post but story is appalling and no wonder your boyfriend doesn't like assholes like one you described. One of those I mentioned above acting like they own the place and it's people.
 
Do not think how much it cost you but count all those merits you earned by taking those boys there, money well spent.

Well, we lived in Pattaya for a long time and he mostly dislikes Pattaya Farangs. But, I think that has to do with the constant BS a "taken" boy gets from others trying to woo him away.
 
I went on a boat trip to the River Kwai a few years back. It was organized by a group of Pattaya expats and they charged a price for the boys to go but provided some whiskey etc and guaranteed the boat. I took around 20 guys with me. That means I paid for them, paid for their ticket, their transportation and liquor. I won't even begin to say how much this cost. But, one of the sponsors of the trip took a liking to one of the guys I brought. He was insistently following him around and hitting on him. The young lad was nice but kept saying no and moving on. Finally, the older farang said, "I am one of the sponsors of this trip and you must go to my cabin with me." Many Thais would simply do as asked but he turned back and said as he pointed at me, "That is my sponsor for this trip." The old man came over and asked my name and I chatted with him and he asked if the boy was taken and I said, "Yes, he is." Truth is that he wasn't but he had already filled me in on the guy. The man said, "well, I pay a great deal for this trip and guys like him should not be invited."
 
The story is simple. There are many like that from guys I know. When a farang treats a guy with such disrespect, it is often taken against the whole lot of us. Sad, but true.

I'm surprised nobody has picked up on Michael's comment regarding his friend disliking falungs. Ok, he wrote 'many farangs' but that definitely implies he doesn't like the majority of 'them'. It depends on what is meant by the term 'many' I guess. 
 
Sometimes you read that foreigners (note to any readers new to Thailand: farang is the Thai word for foreigner - when I write falung that is just a common written variant that supposedly reflects the way Thais pronounce it) don't like being referred to as a farang, but then foreigners do the same referring to others as Thais. I think the problem is when a foreigner thinks he ought to be referred to by his name, Johnny, Pete, Steve, or whoever, rather than being de-personalised by use of a catch-all expression, although to be fair I have never been called farang to my face, it tends to be used between Thais speaking amongst themselves when referring to you. 
 
Certainly, once a group of people become referred to in a particular way, they can henceforth be seen to 'be all the same'. Hence some foreigners feel being referred to as falung pigeon-holes them. The same could be said for nationalities, we sometimes use the expression TiT (This is Thailand!) and its many variants. Russians and Arabs, fairly or unfairly, tend to be all lumped together (see recent comments on the Thailand wants to sock it to Tourists thread) and so on. That's fine if any particular group has a good reputation, but if it's a bad one, you're a marked man already! I think I know how Peter Lorre must have felt in M. (famous 1931 film directed by Fritz Lang).
 
 
 
 
Taking this a stage farther, I wonder just how many Thais actually like pizza. Don't we sometimes make the mistake of assuming because we do that everybody else does? Probably in the case of pizza that's a fair assumption, especially amongst younger Thais now that pizzas are so readily available, almost an international food along with hamburgers and the like. Be that as it may, it is probably worth simply asking any young Thai(s) you intend to invite out for a meal "do you like pizza", and if the reply is "up to you" you know it means they aren't too keen . . . not a cast iron way of interpreting it, but very often true.

You are right, drink is just our admission ticket.
 
Before one would gather meaningful statistic sample ' in situ '  to answer your question his budget would be busted and liver ruined / in your case kidneys as I gather you do not drink alcohol /.
 
When I watch now  cold rain outside I 'm sure I'd gladly pay those inflated prices we are discussing here  just to be there. 
 
And really we can always vote with our feet like we do, you are good hunting non-moneyboys and have stable source of cheap company at Saranrom, firecat returned to Pattaya nad immediately found smiling tiger and  I should shut up completely as I like massage over bar boys  / last trip 7 out of 9 /.
 
Thus attendance in bars is owners problem , sometimes one client leaving upset over something is just creating empty chair for next one entering door  at the moment

The same happened to me in May in Jupiter 2 nights in row. And I liked it because I was ignored completely by mamasans other than first drink.
 
Imagine , good hour in the bar without familiar pestering, just this is worth 300 baht drink.

Many Lady Bars have signs No Russians.  You can draw your own conclusions!

Some interesting facts. Didn't know that there are bars elsewhere where the boys have to pay to work there.
 
I think I read on stickmanweekly that price structure in girl bars is completely different (drink price, off fee, tip).
 
It is clear to me that I don't pay for the drink, but for being allowed to enter the bar. I go to bars to watch boys in underwear with the intention to off one. There is an influx of customers when the show starts, I usually leave the bar when the show starts. It might be that the show is the expensive part of running a bar, that would mean I pay for something I don't want. Luckily, there are some bars without shows.
 
An interesting question: does one group of customers (those who only come to watch or those who come to off) subsidize the other group? What is the ratio of these two groups in different bars, Asian and Farang customers, tourists and expats?

Bob, I was in Dream Boys a few months back and the cost was like 360 baht a drink. I was one of only two white people in the audience. The rest were Asian. I was with a good friend who asked the owner about the rates and he said that only the expats cared about it. He said the vast majority of his customers were from Singapore and Hong Kong and they never complain about the cost or the service. He made it clear that he did not care if a westerner came into his places or not as he was just find with the way things were going.
 
I have another friend who use to go there often and order 10 or more drinks each night and the owner knows this. He approached the owner and told him that he would go in for the evening and buy drink after drink if he would lower the price to say 220 baht a drink. The owner said, "No thanks. Find another Bar." So, I guess he is very happy with his clientele which is mostly Asian.
 
Likewise, my favorite Hero is often filled with Thais and other Asians and they could care less if a Westerner is there.
 
It is just the way these particular places make their money. IMHO

Visited said Remington few years ago , beer 4.50 or 4.75 so price with tip will be 6 $=180 baht, you are right , much cheaper than Soi,
Private lap dance was 20$ per song, song lasting 3-5 minutes. Got toughly-feely with very handsome dancer for about 20-25  minutes, 5 songs. Cost 100 $ = 3000 baht. Then realized that this is more then generous  long-time tip in BKK.
 
Since then strictly follow z909 advice above- make adjustments to expenditure patterns at home  and save money for holiday.
 
 
Generally our view on bar pricing depends on whether we are:
 
long term residents- obviously not willing or able to afford those prices on daily basis,
 
people on longer , once a- lifetime vacations who will be more prolific spenders but still watching budget, specially toward end of vacation 
 
and all those Singaporeans  on long weekend hops to LOS or people  visiting Thailand for short period of time / 5 or 7 days in my case/ on the way to, from or between other countries in region whose tolerance for prices is much higher as usually we are on the way to airport before money run out and do not want to waste an opportunity over overpriced 10-13 $ drink. 
 
So no reason to consider anybody cheap Charlie or fools parting soon with money as our motivations and spending patters  are different.
 
I,  for one probably overspend on drinks, boy tips and definitely massages, others spend much more on restaurants, fancy hotels, taxis , discos, saunas etc.  After all those are our vacations and we can treat ourselves however we see fit.
 
Is bad to wake up  in the morning feeling like idiot over spending way too much in the bar last night and also no good to open eyes to empty space in the bed beside over difference in tip's size. 

So glad to be back in Pattaya.  I found Grindr and Jack'd very unresponsive in Bangkok as compared to Pattaya. And of course Gayromeo is much easier in Pattaya also.  I still love Bangkok but it only took me until 30 minutes after my arrival to have this Tiger in my bedroom.
 
Of course also glad to get away from 330 baht diet cokes.  Ridiculous!!!

I don't quite buy the premise that Asians as a group are causing the prices to rise anywhere in Thailand.  Just doesn't make sense to me.  If one had to guess and single out a group that might be doing that, we westerners would get the prize in my view.
 
And I also can't fathom the premise that the Asians will cause Bangkok prices to lower when they figure out it's cheaper to go to Pattaya.  If they're the big spenders, why would they look for a cheaper alternative?

Remington's and Flash in Toronto charge 155 bht (5.00) cover. Bars in MTL don't charge cover. Both T.O. and MTL charge about 187 bht (6.00) for beer/soda and 311+bht (10.00 and up) for mixed drinks. Neither has off fees for the boys but "tips" to take a boy off will run you 3110 - 4666 bht (100.00 - 150.00 or more)in Canadian$. Tips for private dance now run 311 bht per song for no touching and 622 bht per song for touching above the waist. They mix a lot of songs and if your not careful, a 5 minute private "dance" can cost you $60 - $80 Canadian! Safve to say, BKK and Pattaya are a FAR better deal for the money

I certainly hope the good doctor doesn't try to apply her formula finding research to penis size and sexual satisfaction. By the time I finished reading her formula for perfect pizza size I was no longer hungry. If she tried to apply it to sex, most of us would likely fall asleep before the deed was done!

Sorry Christian!
 
Beard backlash: the clippers are out
 
“What a lot of hairy-faced men there are around nowadays,” begins one of the greatest kids' books of all time, Roald Dahl’s The Twits.
 
 
 
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/fashion-and-style/10388072/Beard-backlash-the-clippers-are-out.html
 
(Note to non-Brits, Paxman is an extremely irritating (at least to me!) interviewer on late night BBC TV. On the other hand he is very good at his job.)
 
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/bbc/10249396/Jeremy-Paxman-Its-only-a-beard-but-its-a-big-burden.html