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mmm I have no idea... I hope that I will be able to come often but actually as life becomes more and more complicated I think it will take a while until I can come again for a long visit. In addition, my next trips will not be solo and my BF does not want to come to SE Asia so I want to see as much as I can but not too much for one trip. Actually, I didn't even think of Cambodia as an option and after reading your advice and reading additional information online it sounds like a good option! Thanks! maybe I'll skip this time on Seoul and instead do Cambodia which makes more sense..

Hi, I know this is a Thailand forum and I hope it's OK to ask a more general question here. About half a year ago I returned from my first visit in Thailand. I knew when that trip ended that I will soon return. This forum and the people who advised me aided me a lot so I would like to consult with you guys on a trip I am planning this summer. I'v decided there is no better way to celebrate my 30th birthday than to go on a 45 day trip to SE Asia. Bangkok will surly be included. I am traveling solo. I will surly have many questions regarding each destination I choose to visit but I first want to get an impression on nice places to visit in SE Asia. I want to book the direct flight from Tel-Aviv next week since prices are increasing and the sooner I order the flight the - the better. That is the only flight I plan on booking before I leave. All the rest of the flights I will book while traveling and depending on the whether. My trip Will start on the beginning of August and end in the middle of September. I think I want to start in BKK so that settles one part of my dilemma. My problem is that I am not sure where do I want to return from. Direct return flights to TLV are only from Hong-Kong, Beijing, BKK. Since I want to visit several countries I think I might return from a different destination than BKK, maybe Beijing. I want your opinion regarding countries that I should visit. One the one hand, I don't want to visit too many places and then feel that I am running from place to place and on the other hand, I won't have many more chances to have this kind of trip so I want to make the best and most out of it. I was thinking about: BKK, Saigon, Hanoi, Manila, Maybe another Island or place in the Philippines, Taipei, Seoul. Am I missing some other important place? Is it too much? I am also looking an option to enter Bali but apparently the Indonesian government is not thrilled about letting someone in with his Israeli passport. Japan is not an option since I promised my BF we will go together next year. Just a bit about what I want to do in my trip: Visit the big SE Asian cities, See some nice beaches, Maybe day trips to beautiful places, I am not planning on backpacking - I prefer spending the night in a nice hotel so sightseeing is more than welcomed but only on day trips. Of course, I am gay so I wand to enjoy the gay life of each city. I know that BKK probably has the best one so i will keep my expectations low for the other destinations. I'v saved for this trip about 220 USD a day (excluding the direct TLV flight and including everything else) so this must be taken also as a consideration when planning the cities I want to visit. Also, Weather speaking, I know it's not the ideal time to visit SE Asia but only in these months I have my semester break. So the dates can't change but my destinations can and I would like to know from your experience what's your opinion regarding my plans. Thanks! P.S If someone wants to join parts of my trip, you are more than welcomed to send me a message.

Hey guys, Sorry to have opened a new thread but my thread has been locked before I had the chance to comment on the recent posts there. Original thread: http://www.gaythailand.com/forums/topic/9167-my-first-thailand-trip/ So just a few words back to the one who doubted me: 1. Lets get the details correctly, I stayed in a 400 USD room (for just one night) but shared it with a friend (not my BF - he did not join this trip), so it was actually 200 USD for me. 2. Maybe an average Israeli student cannot afford my trip. I could, I have a good job. 3. I still cannot understand, what motivation could an individual possibly have to share his experiences regarding Thailand with people that do not know him and to lie about it. I don't really think anyone would take the time doing so. And once again, 10x all for the tips

I don't remember his number, I am not sure he was numbered but maybe I am mistaken... Also his name sounded like the word "soda" but it was difficult for me to get the name properly. I think in the sum total of hooking up this trip, more farangs for me, but not by far. I have been to Siam Paragon (got there good running shoes) and it is really impressive. My mistake was that they were the first ones I visited before going to all the Thai crap areas so I did not buy there much as I was under the impression that I will find nice things in the markets. Indeed I got hooked on Thailand, which makes it a bit difficult landing home and starting my masters degree tomorrow. I came back more tired than I was before Thailand

Hey guys, writing this on the plane home L This is my Hong-Kong / Macau update. Arrived the first day to Hong Kong at the very late evening (bought a SIM card in the airport – 80 HKD). My friend (which joined on my last night in BKK) and I stayed at the ICON hotel. This is not BKK and expectations should be lowered: prices are higher and service is poorer. Our hotel was a 5 star so it was nice but incomparable to Le Meridian in BKK. I think we paid 150 USD each night. First night just arrived at the hotel at 22 PM so we just took a taxi to the nightclub areas and had a drink a sandwich and a bit of dancing in the area of the Hard Rock Café. The areas was surprisingly alive until very late. The area's vibe is entirely straight. Second day in HK we did what everybody does: Shopping. This is not Thai crap shopping but real and sometimes expensive shopping. We went to Harbor City via the hotel shuttle (10 mins). I actually managed to buy a lot of clothes which in Thailand I was less successful. The malls in Harbor city are huge and had tons of shops. After discovering the Armani Exchange 70% sale I think I can say I have enough clothes for a lot of time. Also bought Bose earphones – It was a bit cheaper than back home. After finishing our capitalistic session in the mall we went to visit the famous Buddha statue. The cable car to the statue is located about 30 minute subway drive. Went up the cable car (150 HKD – 25 minutes). The statue is located very high and the cable car drive allows you to have an amazing view of HK city. The status itself is also very impressive and I think is a must see going to HK. After returning we went to see HK famous light show – every day at 20:00. The show displays near the harbor and is about 15 minutes. The show is called "Symphony of lights" and during the shows the buildings of HK are lightened to fit the music that is being played. It's rather cool. My friend who is a sauna junkie wanted to go to the sauna. And having not found yet anyone that I wanted to hook up with I joined him. We went by advice of people in Jacked and Grindr (GR rather dead here too) to Alexandria Sauna (150 HKD). The sauna is rather small compared to Babylon and also I thought that it's less clean. People there were all local and we were the only tourists at that time. This situation was ideal since being the only tourists there we were the attraction of the sauna and people really were after servicing us. Unfortunately neither my friend nor myself found anyone that we wanted to stay for. We had some fun with some people but decided not to stay for long and went back to our room. That night I had what I call a bad "App" night. Some suggestions, some offers, and a lot of negotiation concerning what to do and not do and where to do it and in the end I got tired of it. We also got an offer from a hot local massage guy for 500 HKD (he started at 1500 HKD) but we decided to save the money to the casinos and went to sleep. The next day we took the ferry to Macao (159 HKD). HK SIM did not work in Macao. I recommend anyone going to Macao from HK to leave the luggage at the HK Hotel. Travelling light to Macao is much nicer and the hotels allow you to leave your luggage for free. Since it was our last night before returning home we decided to book a nice room in the Venetian. After discovering that the most expensive suite costs 3000 HKD (about 400 USD) and since we were sharing the bill we decided to book it. The suite was 170 SQM which was quite monstrous. Actually the suite also resembled the hotel: they were both very big and the decoration was kind of cheesy. But no complains here, it was a very nice suite. As we sometimes do, we told the reception my friend and I were on a honeymoon and we got a nice honeymoon cake to the room and a late checkout. After my friend went to rest I decided to "App" a bit and got hooked up with a local guy which lived a 10 minute drive from the hotel. Grindr and Jacked were also active in Macao but traffic was lighter than HK (and much lighter than BKK). After returning to the hotel we had dinner at the four seasons which was really good (~600 HKD each) and then on to the casinos. This was the first time for me in a casino (gambling not legal in Israel). My friend had a lot of Vegas experience and said that the lowest entering bids in the roulette are much higher than Vegas. As a statistics expert I knew that we will lose everything we gamble so should try to spend not too much money. After about an hour we lost 500 HKD each and decided that was enough fun for us. Last morning went hotel strolling. The Macao "Strip" – "The Cotai" is nice, lots of shops and nice hotels. Although Vegas's Strip is nicer. We Checked out at 4 PM and started our journey to our luggage in HK and then to our Tel Aviv flight. I still cannot stop thinking about my BKK days last week. I will surly go back to BKK soon and maybe even bring my BF with me and have fun together. Thanks for all the tips!

As promised, here is my Bangkok update. I am also kind of using this platform as a personal trip journal since I am not sharing with no one or writing my experiences nowhere and I do wish to remember them. Hope it is OK. I stayed at the Le Meridian hotel. This was an extraordinary hotel. In room dining was the best, hotel staff was kind and friendly, concierge that really knew what he was talking about and always making sure that the taxi drivers know how to take me there, and no one cared whenever someone entered with me. And of course, it was cheap. For 115 USD it is really the most you can get comparing to anywhere else in the world. I arrived to the hotel late at the late evening and after a rest I went to the Tawan bar as someone here recommended me doing. It is what I expected it to be. The bar has a really nice muscle show some of it is with live sex. The show is mostly sexy. The men themselves are very muscular and sometimes even too muscular to me (and I rarely say that) but I think that if you are a muscle loving/worshiping person - This is the place to be. I put my eyes on a certain guy that night that saw that he attracted me and we smiled to each other but that night I have decided not to off him (yet). Be advised that I am 100% sure that most of the cocks of the men there are extended by add-ons so they are actually much smaller than they seem to be on stage. After Tawan I went to dance a little at Dj station with some friends that also came to Bangkok. This is a very nice disco. It was a Thursday night so it was not packed with people but it was quite full. Music is pop trash mostly which I can enjoy. At the second morning my feet started to heart since I've put flip flops the entire journey. I decided to go the Siam Paragon mall to buy real running shoes that I can use for the rest of my journey. Prices there are same as Israel and all the stocks same genuine. After that went to the mall every Israeli told me I must visit: MBK. That mall is a bit overrated. A lot of Thai crap that you see everywhere in Thailand: tank tops, fake underwear, etc. There were a few nice stores that I did manage to find nice cheap things to buy in them. From there I took a Tuk-Tuk straight to Babylon. The ride can be a nice experience but with the Bangkok air and the way they drive I decided that it was the first and last drive using that means of transportation. It is also a rip off and taxi with meter is the best option. At Babylon I decided before entering to get a message. I told the guy there that I want to pick the masseur (as I read here someone did) and he called them all. I found one muscular that I liked and decided to have an oil massage (500 BHT). 2 minutes into the massage I already got really turned on and the guy noticed that and gave me a "Happy Beginning". After that, I was really calm and the rest of the massage was nice. He also let me touch him the entire time which was really nice. At the end he got me aroused again and he gave me a "Happy Ending". I gave him 500 BHT and went back to the hotel. After resting a bit I then returned to my unfinished business with the guy from Tawan that I kept in mind since the day before. During the show after he finished his part he came and sat with me. I bought him a drink (350 BHT) and we talked a little. I offed him for 500 BHT and his price was 2000 BHT. I think this is considered really expensive In Thai "offing" rates but I really wanted him so I decided to go for that since it would be the only time I do it this trip. Also, when converting it back to NIS it's kind of cheap. We went to my hotel, had a smoke and a drink at the lounge. Afterwards we went to my room. I skipped the massage that he originally offered since I had no interest getting another massage. He let me oil him up and rub his entire body. The only thing he didn’t want to do (I knew that since I asked I advance) is to let me fuck him. After about an hour we both came and I escorted him out of the hotel. Awesome experience. Later went to the bars of Soi 4 and had drinks with two nice retired Irish men who came to live in Bangkok and also gave me some tips. The morning of my third Bangkok day started with a trip to the king's palace. Went by taxi to the river and by boat to the palace. The boat ride was really nice and allowed you to fully enjoy the Bangkok view. The palace itself is very impressive and I spent there about an hour. Coming back from the hotel I decided to try a local guy that wanted to come to my room and which I found attractive. I don’t know if all Thai men are that way but that guy was really all into making sure I have fun. And so I did. After That I went to the weekend market (via sky train). Endless counters of more Thai crap. Got a bit dizzy from the amount of merchandise over there. It’s a nice experience but all and all I bought very few items and spent there about 4 hours. On the way back I got an offer on Jacked from an American Expat living in Bangkok to come with him to an Egyptian rapper's concert. Not sure where that was but it seemed a bit underground and we were the only foreigners there. The concert was really fun and had good energy and atmosphere. Afterwards went to spend the night at his place. I was really amazed by the buildings that the foreigners are living in. It resembled the Meridian in every way: beautiful building and apartments, pool, room service etc. Arrived back to my hotel at noon the day after. Had the best Pad Thai in the hotel, packed my luggage and checked out. I moved for the last night to the "Sofitel So" to join my friend for the rest of my trip that was already staying there. This hotel is trendier than the Meridian and the room and atmosphere are a bit nicer but I don't think it's well located. Afterwards we went to Babylon together, this time to the sauna. I usually don't like these places as they are a bit too dirty and the whole situation usually is too weird for me. The Babylon sauna is the cleanest I have seen in the world. It was Sunday eve so the place was not full but there were a lot of people from all the kinds and colors. Hooked up with an Austrian man and went there into a room with him. Considering the fact that I usually dont like saunas, this one was relatively nice. Continued on to DJ station with the Austrian and then to his room. After I came back to the hotel I checked the weather in Samui Island and discovered that we might have a lot of rain for long periods of time. After a short consultation with our friends we decided to book a flight to Hong Kong instead. 300 USD each with Air Asia and also an additional 60 USD for my friend that had overweight since he bought an additional luggage filled with Thai Crap. We booked the Icon hotel for the first night 250 USD. The prices are no longer in Thai standards Final morning concluded with a quick shopping session and off to DMK - 400 BHT taxi. Regarding apps - GR is dead in Bangkok. Very little traffic. Grindr and Jacked were equally active. There was almost always very high traffic in the apps and the amount of traffic in Saturday eve was really something that I never saw before. So this concludes my Thailand experience. The past week was insane and I will surly return! Thank you all for the wonderful tips. p.s we are also looking for some Hong Kong (or Macau) tips. We are staying in Hong Kong / Macau 3 days and then were heading home.

Hey guys, when you arrive at the airport just go to one of the cellphone stores and ask for a sim card with unlimited internet coverage for a month (about 400 BHT). Use the internet to communicate with home and you should be OK for the rest of your trip: skype, whatsapp etc. Just did that for the past week and worked fine for me.

As promised, my updates regarding this trip. I am actually writing this in the plane so I have the time to write and update regarding my Phuket experience. I arrived to Phuket after a total of 15 hours of journey (10 hours TLV -> BKK + 2 hours wait + 1 hour BKK -> HKT + 2 hours minibus to my hotel). In my opinion taking the minibus was a mistake. It costed 180 BHT instead of the 800 BHT a taxi would have cost but I did not know that it first stops at a dropping point and waits until all the passengers present their tickets and ordered by dropping point. So what should have been a one hour drive turned into a two hour drive. When you think about it its only 20 USD difference and its not worth it. I stayed at the Kee spa resort and hotel. About 110 USD for a very nice room. I highly recommend staying there. It's right at the heart of Patong and an 8 minute walk from the gay zone near paradise hotel. I arrived at evening and very tired from the journey but I did not allow that to overcome my desire to see and do. Arrived to the gay zone at about 10 PM. It's rather small. I was first shocked by the way the Thais were pushing me towards entering their bar or get a massage. I decided to leave since it was too much for me. After returning to the hotel I realized that I need to learn to deal with a few over pushy Thai boys and decided to give it a second chance. Upon returning in midnight the area was quite packed (more than before) so the boys had less time to be pushy. I entered one of the bars and met a cute Philippine. After dancing (nice music) and getting a bit drunk we left to my hotel and had a really good time. I read here a discussion regarding additional fees when bringing someone back. They told me at the hotel that they charge 1000 BHT if i bring someone but I never said anything to them and they didn't ask when I came with another person. After waking up I wanted to see the beach. Patong beach was a bit disappointing to me. It reminded of Tel-Aviv beach which is nice but not the "postcard" beach I imagined. I talked to a french man on GR that lives in Rawai which is a village in the south and he advised me to come and meet him and see the beaches I imagined. I rented a scooter (400 BHT a day with full insurance) from an Israeli scooter place called "Haleluya". It's located 10 minutes north from Bangla road. He was very kind. The price is considered expensive but I preferred him than the Thai places. The drive to Rawai beach was really nice and amazing views. A bit weird driving on the wrong side of the road but you get used to it really quick. Thais drive like crazy and without a helmet. The beach was everything I expected. Beautiful, sandy and empty. We had very nice time together than I returned to the hotel in the afternoon. I than decided it's time for me to try a massage. I went to Paradise zone in the early evening and all the boys did not have customers so I had a lot to pick from. At first I did not find anyone to fit the type I wanted. They were all too slim and young for me. I think some of them are underage. I then saw a muscled 28 years old Thai that also looked at me back and smiled. When he saw I am interested he invited me in. Then the man in charge was very nice and explained me the rates: 600 BHT for the massage and if I want more 1000 minimum for the tip. I paid in advance 1600 BHT and we went to the room. The room felt a bit cheap but i did not care since i was really turned on by that guy. I had a really good time with him. It was more than I expected. After we finished and had a shower together I decided to give him personally an additional 500 BHT. I did not know if the "Tip" money goes entirely to him or how much he gets of it and he deserved it. I think I also did it to silence my ongoing bothering conscious regarding the boys that work at these places. After returning to the hotel I realized that I actually did not get a proper massage and got one at the hotel. It was very nice and relaxing. After the massage I met with a South African guy (from GR) and we went together for drinks to Paradise. After two drinks we went to one of the shows. These shows are the same all over the world: Bad lip syncing. But it is entertaining. The show also had a sex show of two fit and hung Thai boys which was surprisingly hot. After the show ended we went to my room to finish what we started during the show. When we woke up it was badly raining and was supposed to be cloudy the rest of the day. After having a second massage at the hotel (2 massages for 1000 BHT) and using the hotel's gym which was well accessorized I decided that it is my time to leave for Bangkok and left for the airport a day early than planned. I'm sorry but I don't remember any of the names of bars and massage place there but they are all located at the same small zone so just go there after a 5 minute stroll you can get an impression of all the places. Regarding the apps: GR, Grindr and Jacked had a lot of people in them mostly Thai but some tourists as well. Interestingly, most of the people only used one app so it is good to use all three and enjoy the variety. A lot of traffic in every app. So I am now heading to BKK. I ordered the flight and the hotel during the ride to the airport (1000 BHT for the privat taxi from the hotel). Booked the Meridien (115 USD from HotelCombined) as one of the members recommended. I am very satisfied from Phuket and I would definitely have stayed another night if the weather was better. That's it for now. If you have any last minute tips for Bangkok let me know

Regarding luggage I am coming with a rather large and very light suitcase since i think ill buy most of my clothes there. From what i have heard you can buy shorts and tank tops really cheap in the markets. As to money, I am taking ~1300 USD with me (flights and hotels payed in credit) but i don't understand why take TWICE as much money. Surely there are ATM's that I withdraw money from in case i'll get short on cash. I don't understand the advantages of traveling with large amounts of cash.

Hey guys, so it seems that my trip is going to be Phuket (3 nights) -> Bangkok (3 nights - weekend) -> Samui (4 nights). I just ordered the first domestic flight to Phuket but the rest of the trip is still fluid and I will decide on the spot when and where I continue. I am starting my trip next Monday so I should probably book an hotel for Phuket soon. I wanted to book "La Flora "but it is full and also a bit expensive (250$ a night) so does anyone have a good recommendation for a fine hotel near that area? I know the current path is rather strange but i want to be in BKK in the weekend so i do not see any other options. Thanks

Again thanks all! just got my profile up. The GR web site is a bit inconvenient comparing to other stuff i know. Anyway, just want to make sure of something: Should I assume that every Thai boy is there for money? How can i tell the difference between pay and non pay without directly asking (which i can do but i don't know if it is too straightforward)? For example one nice guy just offered to show me around BKK. This is probably for money, but is it OK to just ask him? fedsoccr - I know what you mean... I am trying to decide which hotel is nicer and they all seem good and fair priced and that makes the decision much harder. Probably I should just pick one and stop looking

Thank you firecat69 for all the tips. I see the big advantage in landing and then going straight to Pattaya. I think I will go for it! And maybe go to Phuket or Kho Samui after the Bangkok weekend. I actually didn't think about setting up my GR profile in advance and having a feel of the guys. That is a really good idea and should be fun. Now i just need some alone time since i don't want to rub it in my BF's face. I had a lot of research time this weekend since it is "Yom Kipur" in Israel so nothing to do accept planning this trip

Thank you all for replaying. fedssocr - Regarding my budget - I thought about staying in a 100-150 $ per night hotel. I can afford 200$ a night but after seeing all the prices of the 5 star hotels I think 100-150 $ is more than enough for a very nice hotel. I already booked places in the Banyan Tree & Sukkhotai for that weekend and since they are refundable I will cancel one of them or both if you have a better recommendation. What do you think about their location (near Silom road)? Bob - I started searching for info regarding Phuket. I do think this might be a good destination. The beaches there look wonderful. 10x. vinapu - After reading your post i started my research regarding Hua Hin (is it pronounced as an English H or rather an Spanish J?). A strange fact is that Israelis who are usually experts regarding Thailand (but not gay Thailand) are not familiar with this resort at all. I read that this is more of a family / couples resort. Is that true? The impression that i got from the online info is that it is a very calm place. Maybe too calm for me. Thank you for all the Bangkok tips. Do you think it will rain badly in early October? I am not planning to stay in the Khao San arae. I was looking for hotels near Silom road. Is there a better location? I am coming open minded and I will embrace your advice regarding the locals. I usually prefer older men and i got the impression in this forum that the local men to hookup to are rather young. But again, I will surly try everything Michael - First time i hear about the "Jackd" app. Is it popular? Pattaya is certainly an option althoght many Israelis told me to stay away from there since "it is only hookers there". What do you think? Is it beautiful as Phuket? Thanks Again!

Hello everyone, last week I decided to take whats left of my semester vacation and go on a trip to Thailand. Unfortunately, I could only dedicate 10 days to this trip so I am trying to plan the whole trip in advance and make the most out of the time that i have. First of all i would like to thank all the post writers here. I am amazed from the amount of relevant and valuable info this forum holds. 10x. After reading a lot of posts I am still trying to think what is the best route for me. I am landing alone (leaving my BF at home) on a Tuesday noon. The first three days of my trip cannot be in Bangkok since I am meeting a friend of mine there on Friday and i want to visit an island or a city first and then meet with him for a wild weekend in Bangkok. Question #1 - From Tuesday to Friday, where would you recommend that i go? Here is some relevant information regarding myself that might help you recommend the proper destination: I am 29, I enjoy parties with electronic music (but also pop euro trash). At home (Israel) me and BF prefer hookups via Grindr and I am not familiar with selecting and taking guys from bars though after reading some experiences here I am more than willing to try that as well. I am also looking for nice beaches and luxury restaurants and hotels (this is my only vacation this year and since Thailand is cheap i am more than willing to spend my money on this). I have no problem taking a flight to wherever you think would be nice for me. Friday I am arriving to Bangkok to meet a friend from home. We are planning to spend the weekend mostly hunting for shopping and sex. While I think i'v got the former under control, I have several questions regarding the latter. I know we should probably go sight seeing but knowing us both that will probably not happen even if we plan to do so. Question #2 - I have read a lot of posts regarding the bars and taking a guy from them. Are simple non pay hookups less common? How can I tell in the mobile apps which are just simple people looking for a night of fun and which will expect me to pay them? Question #3 - My friend is a gay sauna junkie (I like them only if they are clean). We both think we prefer tourists than locals. Where would you recommend us going? Of course, I am also looking for good relevant recommendations regarding: goof food, hotels, gay clubs, gay massage places. I did get some recommendations from this forum and I will most definitely use them. Last part of my trip will be still with my friend also in another island or city from Monday to Thursday. We can leave Sunday if Bangkok is dead on Sundays like European cities. Question #4 - Is Bangkok alive on Sunday and Sunday eve or should we leave on Sunday instead of Monday? Question #5 - Is there another recommendation to a city or an island for this part of my trip? my friend will be before we meet in Kho Samui so it can't be there. I will probably have more questions later on but i think it is enough for now. Any other recommendations will be gladly accepted Of course, I will write all my thoughts and notes after I return. Thanks.