[Cabinet approves tourist fee of 150-300 baht for all foreign tourists]

wait until they figure out to calculate our individual carbon footprints - then the tax will be relative to our individual carbon footprint scores.

[BURAPA - Back to the Culture and Ride for Peace 2023 festival in Pattaya]

Lucas, from the Pattaya Youtube channel = Rides 4 Kickz, just posted a 2023 Burapa video - from the point of view of someone who rented a booth in the marketplace.  He also shows some of the daytime events.

 

[BURAPA - Back to the Culture and Ride for Peace 2023 festival in Pattaya]

2 hours ago, TotallyOz said:

Thank you for the great report. I have been before and loved it. I wish I had know in advance.

Next year I will remind you - and perhaps we could go there together  :>))

[BURAPA - Back to the Culture and Ride for Peace 2023 festival in Pattaya]

Burapa – 2023 – Back to the Culture – Ride for Peace motorbike parade

Background
Being a new retiree in the Pattaya / Jomtien area I am trying to experience many of the unique Thai cultural events that take place in my new home country, Thailand.

This report is about the annual BURAPA Bike Week event that takes place each year (except during the pandemic years) in Pattaya.

How did I find out about this unusual event? I am a member of the PCEC (Pattaya City Expats Club) and on 11 January 2023, Richard Rhodes, one of the founders of Burapa, was invited to give a talk about their annual event.

Pattaya Mail article about the PCEC presentation of BURAPA

I do not own a motorbike and I barely know how to drive one. So, I was not driven to see this event because of that but instead to see/learn about a different kind of not well known Thai happening. The below PRIME video gives a good summary of what they are about.

Prime Video - Burapa: Bikers of the East

Logistics
I don’t own a car or motorbike, so, with 2 of my local friends (Thai / Laos – they were featured in my earlier New Year’s week events posting here), we took a BOLT taxi to the event. My Thai friend has a car – but he wanted to be able to drink and that is why we took a BOLT taxi.

The Burapa Bike Week event is held at the Eastern National Sports Training Center in what the locals of Pattaya call, “the dark side” = Eastern Pattaya – east of the railroad tracks. Below map indicates where it is on the right hand side. It was a 120 baht fare from the Jomtien Dongtan beach area, and took about 35 minutes. Unfortunately, Google took us on a wild goose chase where for the last part of the trip it sent us on long and windy dirt roads that circumvent the northern part of these large grounds in true darkness – as there were no street lights. However, there was a ton of traffic – so it was slow going.

    

For the return trip back to Pattaya – we made the mistake of trying to get a BOLT taxi from the northern point that we entered at – which is dark and on a dirt non asphalted road. The first 2 BOLTs that we called gave up – even though my 2 friends who can speak Thai tried to navigate the BOLT drivers to where we were – it was just too dark to find us – even though there was a ton of traffic all around us. So, now I know where the “Dark Side” of Pattaya originates from.

I prepared the below map for all of you so you can avoid our mistake – which was caused by Google navigation that the original BOLT driver used.

I strongly suggest that you arrive and depart this event from the SOUTH part of these grounds on the well lite Chaiyaphruek 2 Road. See the below 2 exit points indicated in green. The third BOLT driver that eventually found us where the above RED X is indicated on the below map – explained to us that for future visits we should always wait for a taxi on Chaiyaphruek 2 Road – as it is asphalted and well lite. Our trip back to Pattaya (Jomtien) was a breeze and quick.

       

Ride for Peace
On the third day of this 3 day event was the annual, “Ride for Peace”, where hundreds of motorbikes drive from the fairgrounds in eastern Pattaya down Beach Road in Pattaya City, and then continue onwards to Jomtien Beach Road and then return to the fairgrounds.

So, around 3:30pm, yesterday (11 Feb 2023), with my 2 friends we walked over to the Police Box at the beginning of Dongtan Beach to wait and watch for the arrival of the motorbikes. Some had said that 500 would come – but I estimate that around 200 motorbikes passed us on Beach Road. It was kind of exciting – more for the surprise of the many unaware tourists who were going about their beach business and for all of the bahtbuses that were blocked from moving until the 200 motorcyclists had passed by. This made me aware of the fact that this event is not well advertised / known outside of the motorcycle community. We even asked the local motorcycle taxi guys if they knew when the parade would start and they did not even know what we were talking about. So, my Thai friend went into the Police Box and they told us that they were already on our way as they had already left Pattaya City and were heading for Jomtien. In about 10 minutes the entire thing was over. Below is a photo from the short film that I made (notice the motorcyclist riding with a LARGE live snake).

 

Fair Grounds
This place is HUGE – so dress accordingly – in shoes/sneakers that are good to walk in and you do not mind walking in the dirt. They laid down hay everywhere to reduce the dust and this was very effective. The main attractions are:

1. The two BIG concert areas – structured on opposite sides of the fair grounds. One is exclusively Thai rock bands and the other one is foreign falang rock bands coming from the UK, Australia, USA, and Europe. There are plenty of places to sit and/or stand to watch the concerts and nearby are places to buy drinks (Chang beer was one of the main event sponsors), including cannabis infused drinks, like ganja.
2. Performance area – where the motorbike guys show off their very interesting motorbikes – they slowly ride back and forth amongst the crowds. It makes this event very exciting – as if to be in a movie or Medieval or Renaissance festival. There were many sexy motorbike guys – especially the young ones.
3. Market place – this was my favourite part of this festival. On the outer perimeter of the above mentioned areas, there are these narrow winding dirt paths FULL of individuals / organizations selling their wares. Including; t-shirts, leather wear, motorcycles – even Italian Vespas, Harleys, etc., pottery, knitwear that was very ornate and detailed – some of it was in native Indian style, places to eat, cannabis, tattoo shops, jewelry, food, drinks, opportunities to have your photos taken with various artistic types with a motorcycle emphasis, chances to sit ontop of horses and have your picture taken with native Indians (Thai people), visit Indian tepees, boot shops, etc. I was totally amazed of the potpourri of offerings that were available in this marketplace, as I had never seen anything like it before in my life.

In conclusion, would I go again?

YES, but I would be better prepared – from a transportation point of view. Also, since this event is held over 3 days, I would try to arrive earlier – we arrived around 7pm – to instead arrive around 4:30pm – just to see some of the daytime shows and to see what the fair grounds look like during the day.

I highly recommend this event to all of you. Note that the entire access to the fairgrounds is FREE – great value for money. You only spend if you want to eat/drink or buy merchandise. The concerts and entertainment are ALL free.

I share some of my pictures below.

 

[First day in Bangkok]

5 hours ago, Tartegogo said:

2 weeks in Bangkok (arrived an early Monday morning, left a late Saturday evening) 

I tried to sample a bit of everything, the Grindr boys, a boy from every famous bar and a masseur from every famous spa, and got each day an average of 4 or 5 orgasms (which all either happened in spas or my hotels)

Total spent just on boys (*) THB 131,000

So we are talking about 12 * 4.5 = 54 orgasms, which gives me an average of THB 2425.

Great analysis - from a budget point of view.

It puts what I pay my offs into perspective - thanks for sharing this valuable monetary statistic with us!!

I only met you for a fleeting few seconds when you passed through the Jomtien Complex - and I have to say that 4 or 5 orgasms is quite impressive.  Bravo!!!  I wish that I had that kind of stamina!!

[Why don't we post Grindr profiles?]

All this interest in Grindr I find interesting because:

Recently, I was discussing with one of my Thai friends how we can increase their visibility (for marketing purposes) in the Pattaya / Jomtien gay falang community.  We noted that this type of marketing is done much better in the Bangkok gay falang community than it is here in Pattaya / Jomtien.  In fact, the masseurs are often marketed by the massage shops that they work in with individual profile names that include a QR code that allows for the end-user to obtain additional information and to make a direct booking.  

Below is an example from the K Man Spa shop where each masseur has his own distinct profile with his contact and booking details.               https://kmanspa.blogspot.com/p/kmanspa.html

Why doesn't this type of approach exist here in Jomtien / Pattaya ?

                

Together we designed some prototype business cards and web page prototypes and when we got to the various social media items to include - we were able to have a profile name for ALL of the various social media (Line, Facebook, Hornet, PlanetRomeo, Blued, Instagram, Twitter, Telegram, TikTok, Whatsapp, etc.), EXCEPT for Grindr - because Grindr does not contain a Profile Name and/or Profile ID - like Hornet and Line do.

So, Grindr was the anomaly and cannot be easily inserted into someone's desire to market themselves.

[Santo Domingo - 1st report - Grindr]

oh 12is12,

I am so sorry to hear about these disappointments.

You had such a great time here in Jomtien / Pattaya - where I believe that there was only 1 disappointment (guy who came was not the one in the Grindr profile).

But there was NO yelling and screaming and need to involve hotel security and/or reception.

I have never been to this part of the world - Latin America and the Caribbean so I can not express why this kind of behavior is happening.

Could it be because poverty has increased in this part of the world and more people than normal find themselves doing this type of work that they do not enjoy and consequently they resort to aggressive behavior as a result ? - with no intention on fulfilling what was promised - as they just want the money and are not interested in the customer being satisfied ?

[First day in Bangkok]

5 minutes ago, Tartegogo said:

Given that it was 10:30 pm when we left dreamboys (a time at which we should expect it to start getting be busy, no?) and that there only one other customer left in the bar, I really struggle to understand how the whole bar survives on ~15 drinks and 2 or 3 bar fines per night. I mean they have to feed 8 or 9 boys + 3 mamasans, pay rent etc. 

and for us that live here - this is the dilemma that I cannot understand - how do they survive and break out of the constant poverty due to the variability of their income.

[Pattaya Koh Larn island trip report November 2022]

oops, I forgot to add a NEW restaurant that we tried on our first night - which was Racha Buffet, which is next to the One More club on the main road heading south out of the Na Baan port village.

https://www.facebook.com/people/บุฟเฟ่ต์ราชาปิ้งย่าง-Racha-Buffet/100066811082230/

This was a NEW concept for me.  It is like the MK restaurants Hotpot concept but instead is a BBQ buffet type of restaurant.  The front of the place is a HUGE selection of fresh caught seafood and vegetables and eggs, which you select for yourself and place in plastic containers and bring back to your table and you cook them on these very hot BBQ coal fired clay type of ovens.  Koh Larn was full of these types of restaurants where the prices were from 280 baht to 299 baht for All-You-Can-Eat!!!  Truly a bargain and a fun experience.

For our second night restaurant, we returned to the Klom Klom restaurant mentioned at the beginning of this trip report thread.  Again, there was a live concert, great food and fancy mixed cocktails.  Fun was definitely had by us.

https://www.facebook.com/people/กลมกล่อมเกาะล้าน-Klom-Klom-Kohlarn/100064826403085/?mibextid=ZbWKwL

 

 

[Pattaya Koh Larn island trip report November 2022]

Yesterday 03 Feb 2023, I just returned from my second trip to Koh Larn.

I won't repeat any of the above details - as this trip was an 80% repeat of the November 2022 trip.

However, I will document below, additional details (as many of you requested) and an additional beach that we went to visit.

 On the first day, we returned to my still favorite beach, Tien Beach, where I was able to get additional lodging information which I can share with all of you now.

There are 4 places for lodging that exist on Tien Beach - of which 1 is closed and out of business - a 2 floor wooden motel like structure.  The other 3 are open - of which, 2 are owned by the HardTien restaurant, which are the 2 pirate looking ships that are situated on the northern most part of Tien beach, and the 8 rooms, which are above the HardTien restaurant.  And lastly, as reported above at the beginning of this post, there are the 3 lovely bungalows available at:

          https://www.facebook.com/tiennara.kohlarn/      and for booking:  https://reservation.roomscope.com/1694/en

--> Note that these 3 bungalows (listed above) are the MOST expensive - at 4,500 baht per night.

Below is the business card from the owner of the HardTien.  Rooms are 1,800 baht per night - on the steep side - but you are on one of the most beautiful beaches of Koh Larn which is in a secluded and remote part of the island - thus making it extra special and subject to premium pricing.

The owner mentioned to us that you can be picked up by one of their private speed boats from the Bali Hai pier in Pattaya and brought directly to Tien Beach (1,800 baht one way).  The price is too much in my opinion.  Better to take the normal ferry for 30 baht (one way) and then the bahtbus for 30 baht (one way) or via any of the Bali Hai pier normal speedboat s for 150 baht (one way), and then take the bahtbus or rent a motor bike to get to Tien beach.

           

The below HardTien facebook page displays the photos of BOTH the pirate ship rooms (more rugged but more private if you want to have a party and be more intimate) and the rooms that are immediately above the restaurant.  These rooms are more "luxurious" - modern than the pirate ship rooms.

https://ne-np.facebook.com/people/หาดเทียนเกาะล้าน/100083400457762/?sk=photos

I've decided that in the future I will organize an event here with many Thai friends - as I want to spend 2 nights on this fantastic remote beach - to see it in all of its natural glory after the last tourist boats and ferries have all returned back to Pattaya.

This Youtuber posted the below video about this place which truly helps to appreciate why I like it so much.

Another new discovery that we made at the Tien beach was back in the forest that is behind the beach is a place called, "Goose Beach" and in this large area are the wonderful geese that are let loose onto the main beach once the day trippers have started to return to Pattaya.  As we could stay late on the beach, we had the privilege of seeing these geese run around the beach.

        

Our lodging for the 2 nights was in the southern part of Na Baan - the main port village of Koh Larn - at the same place we stayed back in November 2022.

Ban Lung Khao - Green Bungalow on the sea rental contact details:

https://www.facebook.com/people/บ้านลุงขาว-เกาะล้าน-รีสอร์ท-081-410-5906/100057360703785/?mibextid=ZbWKwL

We spent 2 lovely nights here.  Bungalow is on concrete stilts above the rocky coast with a direct view onto the Pattaya / Jomtien skyline across the sea.

The additional beach that we visited this trip, was the Ta-Yai beach, which is at the extreme northern part of Koh Larn, with a direct view onto Ko Sak island.

         

https://www.facebook.com/tayaibeachclub

This beach was very nice but very small and very crowded.  In fact, ALL of the beach chairs were already occupied as we arrived around 12 noon.  So, I guess you need to arrive early to get good seating.  This is mainly a falang beach - as it is serviced by the Ta-Yai Beach club with typical falang/western beach service.

Consequently, we did not stay long.  We walked to the farthest northern point - beyond the beach chairs - which was very picturesque, where many people were making instagram photos.  Unfortunately, one of my 2 Thai friends slipped on the rocks and cut open his foot so we had to wrap it up as best as we could and then head back into the main Na Baan town to go to the main hospital where they treated it - which put a damper onto our 2nd day activities.  After the hospital visit, we drove over to the Samae beach and hung out at that beach for the remainder of the afternoon.

Ok, this concludes this trip report.  Hopefully, it includes the additional information that was asked by many of you that I could only obtain by visiting this wonderful place again.

 

[How tourism is recovering at Bali Hai Pier]

I was at Bali Hai pier yesterday morning to get a speed boat over to Koh Larn and the pier was very busy.

I will report on Koh Larn in a separate thread.

[Reopening of the Boyz Music bar / disco in Pattaya in BoyzTown]

10 hours ago, gerefan said:

I did a tour of all the Gogo bars in BT last week. Visited them all including BBB but didn’t stay as the boys on stage were wearing a LOT more than I was!! 

well you did not visit X-Boys as they were definitely naked with their cocks on BIG display.

They even did a fuck show where the guy who is being fucked by a stronger guy is brought to your lap - instead of "lap dancing" -->> it is a form of "lap fucking"

https://www.facebook.com/xboyspattaya/

https://www.facebook.com/100064714895257/videos/544059427654982

 

[Reopening of the Boyz Music bar / disco in Pattaya in BoyzTown]

On 1/21/2023 at 11:42 AM, vinapu said:

I think you are in best position to confirm unless you feel sleepy at 1.30 am

 

On 1/22/2023 at 12:19 PM, 12is12 said:

BKK, with ur prmission I'd suggest u hop over there during normal hours, just to inquire.

Taking one for the team - I visited the Boyz Music show bar (part time disco) last night - as I had the occassion to visit Boyztown with the partner of @AndyUK, who are here on vacation and we were hanging out in the Jomtien Complex.  

Here is a picture of their new stage, DJ booth, and upfront seating area.

Here is a picture of the bar and the main seating area.

Here are 2 pictures of the various drink price lists.  Note that drinks for the staff are 350 baht - whereas a beer for you is 200 baht.

     

I had a chance to make a very brief interview with one of the workers there.

What time does this place open?  1am

What time does this place close? - he would not say it verbally but showed me with his fingers to be 3am.  As we know the curfew is 2am.  Rumor says that it stays open until 4am.

Is there dancing?  He replied yes.

What kind of music does the DJ play?  Techno, house, pop-techno.  I said, what about retro music for us falangs?  He replied, "can can..."

Andy's partner and I, our real mission was to go to X-boys to see their lovely and VERY sexy show.  If you want to see big cocks, touch them, fucking, etc. then this is your place.  The X-Boys show is MUCH more participatory than the BoyzBoyzBoyz show - which is more industrialized and less hands on.  And the BIGGEST plus is the music at X-Boys is loud but tolerable, whereas, the last time I stepped foot in BoyzBoyzBoyz, with visiting member, @spoon was intolerable as they seated us underneath one of their humungous speakers - and I was nauseous, felt pain in my heart as my heart beats were in conflict with the base beats coming from the speaker and I could not hear properly for 3 days afterwards.

After our X-Boys fun - we passed by again at the NEW Boyz Music place, and it was about 1:15am and their show was about to show and the go-go guys were up on the stage and 90% were fully clothed and looked like the SAME guys who parade on the BoyzBoyzBoyz stage.  We did not stay for the show and we did not stay to see if after the show there was truly the possibility to dance.  The music was that techno trash that I do not care much for - as I am more into retro music where there are real people singing and pouring their hearts out - like the great divas - that is mixed well with a nice dance beat.

Ok, I took one for the team (this readership) - now it is your turn for one of you night owls who can resist until 4am to tell us what really unveils during the night at the newly reopened Boyz Music show bar / disco - located on the left when entering Boyztown from Second Road.

 

[Gaybutton board hacked]

22 minutes ago, Keithambrose said:

Hi. I just accesses Gaybutton, before I read this post, and got straight through,read posts and came out. No warning message! 

me too, but I was using my mobile phone and there were no issues and/or warnings.

However, on my PC my Browser (Google Chrome) started to install an UpdaterBrowsers.rar - malicious program.

I was able to stop it and perform a virus scan - so all is ok.

so, as GB said - please wait until Moses resolves this issue and GB gives us the all clear.

Cheers,

M.

[Pattaya is divided on whether prostitution should be decriminalized]

3 hours ago, reader said:

The situation in gay areas of Pattaya, notably Boyztown and Jomtien Complex, also has to be taken into account. For example, go-go dancers are forbidden in Jomtien which is technically described as a “residential area”. That distinction might be hard to maintain when gay clubs are part of the hank-panky zones.

Let's hope that this distinction evaporates and that MORE fun can soon begin in the Jomtien Complex.

[Site is Slow]

Dear TotallyOz,

Many thanks to you that we even have this forum to participate in.

I am truly indebted to you that you continue to support this forum both financially and from a time commitment point of view.

It is truly aporeciated.

M.

[Gay Bangkok 2023]

The entire OpenAI chatGPT and soon Google LaMDA AI technologies are very fascinating.

BUT, in terms of the way that humans think and can forecast patterns - the AI is not always accurate or returns incorrect answers / logical predictions.

https://www.assemblyai.com/blog/how-chatgpt-actually-works/

However, even with its current shortcomings - I am quite sure that each future iteration will be better than the previous.....

 

[Happy Year of the Rabbit!]

2 hours ago, PeterRS said:

All the guests laughed, but no one would tell me what mistake I had made. It was only in the office the next morning that i was advised to be more careful with my tone levels. What I had said was more or less "I am a sex maniac"!

That reminds me of a similar story when I was learning Italian in Italy.  Each Monday morning we had to try to say what we did during the weekend.  So, I said something like, "Ho scopato tante nuove cose" - I fucked many new things - when I wanted to instead say, "Ho scoperto tante nuove cose" - I discovered many new things....

The teacher barked at me and told me to stay quiet and to sit down!!!

I never made that mistake again even if it was not far from the actual reality of my weekend  :>))

[Updated January 2023 expected tips]

I also like 3some - massages - 4 hands and I don't like to do it in the massage shop - so I pay a premium over what others here in Pattaya / Jomtien pay to do it in the massage shop.

I pay 2.000 baht to each guy - 2 massage guys - so, 4.000 baht.

Some will sure SCREAM and say that I am overpaying for this local market but I do not believe so by much more.

Here is an example if I do the same thing in a massage shop:

 500 paid to the massage shop

1.500 tip paid to guy #1

1.500 tip paid to guy #2

------

3.500 to do it at the massage shop instead of the comfort of my home where I control the music, lighting, oils and lotions that we use, what we drink, fun chat time also on my balcony to know the guys better.  Also, at home I do not need to worry about some things that freak me out at some of the massage shops;

 bugs and insects, where do I put my valuables when I take my shower, strange smells, temperature is too hot or too cold, I do not like the music, etc.

so, for a 500 baht premium I am VERY happy to "order in" for my massage fun...

 

[Very Weird Experience at Fresh Boys]

please update us about Part II - so we can know how this saga continues - and please ask him why the mamasan forced him back to the bar ?

[The only HIV vaccine in a late-stage trial fails]

I personally know how frustrating these vaccine trials can be.

After a high % of my friends died from AIDS during the 1980s, I agreed to be a volunteer for the VaxGen 3 year trial period, which if I remember correctly ran from 1998 - 2000.

It was also unsuccessful - as it was deemed to be only 17% effective.

It was my small way to do something for the loss of life of so many of my friends.

[Reopening of the Boyz Music bar / disco in Pattaya in BoyzTown]

7 hours ago, spoon said:

Pre-covid, around 1.30am, all guys from bbb will move to boyz music.

Hi @spoon - do you know if you can dance there ?

or is it the ever so typical - falang sit and falang drink type of place ?

I saw in one of their pre-Covid videos on their facebook page that people (customers) were dancing - even on the stage  :>))

[Jomtien Bar/Massage recommendations]

2 hours ago, AndyUK said:

I’m visiting for 10 days. Does anyone have any up to date recommendations for massage places or boy bars/bars with rooms in the Jomtien Complex? Thanks x

Hi Andy,

It depends on what types of guys that you are looking for ?

Below is a website of the Jomtien Complex with has various maps of the different types of places (massage, restaurants, bars, etc.)

    https://www.gaysupertown.com/massage

I have only been to 3 of the many massage places - they are indicated below with the orange arrows.

For Soda Massage - they tend to be too feminine for my tastes.  I prefer more the guys at the Foxy Smile and Pattaya #1 Massage shops.

   

Please note that one of the negatives of the above map is that it excludes ALL of the massage shops that are immediately outside of the Jomtien Complex.  There are many - on the street that goes to the beach (Thappraya Road) and also on Jomtien Second Road.

The above map lists 10 massage shops but I believe that there is an additional 10 massage shops on the external perimeter of the Jomtien Complex.

For short time rooms - I heard that if you ask the host guys in the bars that they would know where the various places are within the Complex (upstairs) and outside of it nearby.

 

[Reopening of the Boyz Music bar / disco in Pattaya in BoyzTown]

yes, this is my problem because as you know - I am usually in bed by midnight.

but, if I knew that this NEW club / disco was really operational and open then I could take a disco nap from 10pm until 12 midnight and then head over to Boyztown to check it out.

I would hate to do that and everything is already closed because of the 2am curfew.....

[Reopening of the Boyz Music bar / disco in Pattaya in BoyzTown]

It was reported over in the Sawatdee Gay Thailand forum SGT forum

that the former Boyz Music bar / disco has reopened in Pattaya - in BoyzTown.

Can anyone confirm ?

I checked their former facebook page but it is not updated.

https://www.facebook.com/BoyzMusic2019/

Their pre-Covid 2019 information implies that you can dance there and watch their shows.

Rumor says that it will open from 1:30am until 4am.  (??? special license since the normal closing time is 2am ???)