traveller123

In Thailand it goes without saying you will remove your footwear when entering someones house.
In my part of Isaan you also remove them when visiting the Doctor (except at the hospital), Dentist and various other places.

The choice between Jomtien and Boyztown is the big one. Too much to say in a brief post but I recommend you read through many posts on the site which will describe the differences.
A couple of suggestions. Why not split the time between the two? We did this a few times And it worked. However, over the twenty-years I've been visiting both my partner and I have become "Jomtien" people, regarding the Agate Hotel in Jomtien Complex as our favourite in Thailand. And it's nowhere near the most expensive. Others feel differently and there are certainly some things in Pattaya we miss. Bear in mind that we're not "bar-goers"; those that are may well think differently.
Of course, you can do what we do, that is stay in Jomtien but take the bus into Pattaya in the evening. Floridabob's recommendation is seconded; I stayed at the Ambiance happily for twenty years. We moved to Jomtien because the area became too noisy for us after midnight when our routines changed. 

New review on Pete's tours in Ho Chi Minh (Saigon)
Pete's profile and more photos are here: https://siamroads.com/pete-tour-guide-saigon-ho-chi-minh/
 

Years ago, I'd always end my encounters with a reminder to my Thai partners to wear a condom and I provided them if needed. Three years ago, a friend of my boyfriend, someone whom I've known for over a decade, forty years-old,  a university graduate from a middle-class family and not on the scene, was found to be positive. He was quickly medicated.
However, two years ago he was taken seriously ill with a series of ailments, one of which was life-threatening. He was in hospital for months. The doctor told him the symptoms were Hiv related. He's better now, but still suffers distressing after effects from his illness.
I've never doubted the importance of safe  sex but even I was surprised by what happened to him; after all, there is a belief in some quarters that new medication makes the condition manageable, like diabetes 2. I know now that it remains life-threatening, and probably will continue to be so for many years.
Sorry for the homily , but I feel passionately about this. I could relate the story of another Thai friend who was diagnosed in 2007 but it is till too painful for me. 
For heaven's sake, everybody, take care and if you  are enjoying the company of Thais on the commercial scene and  be aware of their needs too, remembering that sometimes they are desperate for money. 

I've just returned after what must be my eightieth (more or less) trip. And I'm pleased to say that there was no loss of enjoyment, though the twenty hours travel is increasingly stressful. As is the "recovery time"....longer now than it was when I was younger.
Of course, a major factor for me is that I have someone I love awaiting me. That reunion is something I look forward to.  We continue to take pleasure from the most mundane activities; walking the beach- this time in Lamai ( Koh Samui) as well as Jomtien- deciding where we're having dinner, me watching P make his devotions in the temple, and so on. Even having a shared breakfast. I'm always conscious that I  smile more and laugh more when I'm with him. 
I sometimes wonder whether I'd still be travelling to Pattaya if I was still playing the bar-scene as I was twenty years ago. Reading posts about bars does cause some nostalgia but, overall I think that what I have now is better, though not without the inherent tribulations  of a long-distance relationship.
Anyway, the good news is that the next trip is only fifteen weeks away. And where to go this time before Jomtien? Krabi? Chiang Mai? Bangkok? Chiang Rai? Decisions, decisions.  I am certainly fortunate, and my determination to spend my last years living as disgracefully as possible undiminished.
And yes, I suppose  I should admit that a particular activity remains fun, just in case the more prurient of our posters were wondering!.  

Going back I guess 10 years I invited the guy, who is now my partner, to come to the UK to experience my culture, to improve his English and as it was getting serious to see how compatible we both were.
He was flying on Qatar and was pulled at BKK and asked for the credit card used for the booking (mine) and a copy of my passport.
Panic stations as I was at work in the UK, fortunately I managed to get home and faxed them (it's that long ago!) the copies they required in time for him to make the flight.
I still remember his smiling face when I picked him up at Manchester Airport where customs had opened his bag and laughed at him bringing for me a couple of gay male magazines.

Going back I guess 10 years I invited the guy, who is now my partner, to come to the UK to experience my culture, to improve his English and as it was getting serious to see how compatible we both were.
He was flying on Qatar and was pulled at BKK and asked for the credit card used for the booking (mine) and a copy of my passport.
Panic stations as I was at work in the UK, fortunately I managed to get home and faxed them (it's that long ago!) the copies they required in time for him to make the flight.
I still remember his smiling face when I picked him up at Manchester Airport where customs had opened his bag and laughed at him bringing for me a couple of gay male magazines.

Going back I guess 10 years I invited the guy, who is now my partner, to come to the UK to experience my culture, to improve his English and as it was getting serious to see how compatible we both were.
He was flying on Qatar and was pulled at BKK and asked for the credit card used for the booking (mine) and a copy of my passport.
Panic stations as I was at work in the UK, fortunately I managed to get home and faxed them (it's that long ago!) the copies they required in time for him to make the flight.
I still remember his smiling face when I picked him up at Manchester Airport where customs had opened his bag and laughed at him bringing for me a couple of gay male magazines.

Going back I guess 10 years I invited the guy, who is now my partner, to come to the UK to experience my culture, to improve his English and as it was getting serious to see how compatible we both were.
He was flying on Qatar and was pulled at BKK and asked for the credit card used for the booking (mine) and a copy of my passport.
Panic stations as I was at work in the UK, fortunately I managed to get home and faxed them (it's that long ago!) the copies they required in time for him to make the flight.
I still remember his smiling face when I picked him up at Manchester Airport where customs had opened his bag and laughed at him bringing for me a couple of gay male magazines.

Going back I guess 10 years I invited the guy, who is now my partner, to come to the UK to experience my culture, to improve his English and as it was getting serious to see how compatible we both were.
He was flying on Qatar and was pulled at BKK and asked for the credit card used for the booking (mine) and a copy of my passport.
Panic stations as I was at work in the UK, fortunately I managed to get home and faxed them (it's that long ago!) the copies they required in time for him to make the flight.
I still remember his smiling face when I picked him up at Manchester Airport where customs had opened his bag and laughed at him bringing for me a couple of gay male magazines.

From Pattaya Mail

Dr. Siwat Boonkerd, Permanent-Secretary of Pattaya City, and other distinguished guests attend the official launch ceremony of the ‘Seedlings Project for Sustainable English Language Education for Youth” at Wat Boonkanjanaram Meditation Centre.
An English language education programme was initiated at the Wat Boonkanjanaram Temple Meditation Centre in Jomtien on March 16. Aptly named the “Seedlings Project for Sustainable English Language Education for Youth” the initiative aims to empower local youth through comprehensive English language instruction, fostering both educational development and cross-cultural understanding.
At the heart of the project lies a commitment to provide local youth with valuable English language skills, enabling them to communicate effectively and participate in diverse cultural exchanges. By offering English instruction as a productive leisure activity, the initiative seeks to enrich the educational landscape and open doors to future opportunities for the youth.
Central to the project’s implementation are volunteer foreign teachers who will conduct lessons every Saturday from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Periodic evaluations will be conducted to gauge progress and explore avenues for expansion. Plans are underway to extend teaching sessions to Sundays in the future, contingent upon the success of the initiative. The initial education session equipped 43 students with learning materials to support their educational journey, marking the beginning of a promising chapter in their language acquisition.

No, you don’t get it, besides which “alibi” is used incorrectly.
A board member posts points of view that other members disagree with and that other members have the prerogative to refute. Frankly, I don’t follow all the themes related to the discourse among this particular board member and others here because polarized views are part and parcel of social media and often go on at length without resolution. Partisan positions are often articulated clearly and eloquently in the face of opposing perspective and mutually potentially expand thinking among the readership. 
However, I witness that a board member with his index finger crazy-glued to the downvote key puts forward the strategy that a concrete punitive measure outside the chatroom boundaries be levied against the first aforementioned member, be operated in coordinated fashion by the board membership. We don’t do that here. Such lobbying is nothing short of a temper tantrum. 
Subsequent to this, the board member whose livelihood is threatened simply indicates that undermining his activities is essentially an own goal due to the negative cascade effect that could ensue. He adds that the sabotaging proposition mirrors the approach taken by the entities the strategy is intended to suffocate.
What you just did is assert that that he implied that whatever might be salutary about his businesses justifies his points of view in a separate arena, that they somehow exist in a zero sum equation. This is a fallacy of logic, as if he buys into the notion, for example, that Hitler’s fondness for dogs and babies offsets the egregious. He made no such type of connection whatsoever.
He did not suggest that one corollary of his employment structure and activities was the privilege of an opinion. He simply intelligently opposed the shenanigans of another board member whose obvious antipathy and overzealous and usually misapplied cancel-culture bent led to idiotic scheming and a salvo that, as it turns out apart from having no legitimate place here, would lack intended impact.

From The Nation

 
Ko Muang Phet, a magnificent albino buffalo owned by Damrongsak Morakot in Phetchaburi province, recently made headlines when it was bought for a whopping 18 million baht. Renowned for its striking beauty and colossal size, the buffalo is known for its remarkable breeding capability because 90% of its offspring will be born with albino traits. This means, nine of 10 calves produced will be albino, which makes it a significant asset in the buffalo breeding industry.
Adding to its fame, Ko Muang Phet also made a mark in the entertainment world, starring as the character Ai Khlaow’s buffalo in the most recent version of the popular “Mon Rak Luk Thung” TV drama.
Despite being just about five years old and standing at an impressive height of 180 centimetres, Ko Muang Phet has earned the title of Thailand’s top giant breeding buffalo, remaining undefeated in competitions for years.

WTAF?! Plotting to sabotage livelihood, egging on other members to do so, is but a shaky and odious proposition. That’s a hard no from me.

Sorry I missed it. I see you can hop on the Gold Line going north from Krung Thon Buri BTS station. 
Yaowarat Road in Chinatown is fun but might be too intense. I was tipped off to it watching Netflix 1st season of Somebody Feed Phil though of course it’s mentioned in all guides. It’s only a few Metro stops northwest of Si Lom station, then short walk south, so it would be easy to backtrack to Patpong if not to the guests’ liking. 

and Convent road has own share of street food stands but Patpong 1 is the best option as it has plenty of seating although it fills up 

I like jodd fairs. I find that it is one of the newer and cleaner night market. There are plenty of food and shopping options. Just take note that they have 2 locations. The original location is very close to rama 9 mrt station but is more crowded. The new location is slightly further from the nearest bts (ha yaek lat phrao) but I find it more spacious and might be more suitable for you.

I second @Keithambrose suggestion. Since you don't often go to the big city, you may not realise how Patpong road has changed. This blogpost from last December should give you an idea, complete with a few photos: https://shamelessmacktwo.travel.blog/2024/01/16/patpong-night-market-now-has-food/

+1
You might also wish to take them on a short field trip. Go down Surawong and pass by the massage shops. Plenty of cooked food vendors and attractive masseurs (or masseuses, depending on preference) along the way. If they seem to enjoy themselves, turn left on Soi Tarntawan (at 7-11) and continue to Soi 6 to complete the tour. I do it almost nightly and never seems to lose its charm.

You might get some ideas from this YouTube vlog.  Night markets for food and shopping.
https://youtu.be/ZITJZ-TJirY?feature=shared
 

Patpong 1, no traffic!

Icon siam 

Trouble was that I was so busy checking-out the boys that I wasn't really listening to the music haha 

This old Ringo Starr song from over half a century ago came up on Sirius XM The Blend while we were driving in our car. I said to my fiance "Now, there's a song which would be shocking if it came out today!". He said, "Hey, maybe we can play a modified version for you at our wedding. Just switch 'you're sixteen' to 'you're sixty!' 😄 🤣."