Londoner

One of the lessons I learnt on my second trip in 1996 was that many of the the guys I had met on my previous trip or had noticed before and planned to get to know this time were no longer working. "He go home, long time."

The boutique was, I believe, the project of the previous owner, an Australian guy. Oscars is undoubtedly a good place to watch the action. I stayed at Ambiance in January and it was doing quite well. There have also been some improvements in decor . My boyfriend and I have no objection to being in a gay ghetto. Next time (thanks to Travellerdave's recommendation), we are also spending a few days in the Jomtien Complex. After two decades in Boyztown, the comparison should prove interesting..

The Ambiance is taking bookings now via Agoda and Booking.com.

At what time do these bars open?

The bars open at 2100 or so.....way past my optimal-performance time. with hornet and Romeo, I can find a partner in the afternoon when Pattaya and Bangkok are too hot (and,usually uninteresting) for me.

I share other posters' pessimism but there is one example of an expanding gay presence in Thailand; the Jomtien Complex. I appreciate that the situation in Thailand's capital is entirely different in terms of costs and clientele but Is the Jomtien's Complex's success founded entirely on cheap rents? or are there business models there that could be applicable to Bangkok and Pattaya's Boyztown and Sunee ?

In the shower....where else?

Following recommendations on this site (for which I'm grateful), I had a look at Agate last week in preparation for a visit when I'm next in Pattaya in June. Any further comments on your experience there? Good luck with the infection. A long time ago I cut my foot badly in Chiang Mai and stitches were required. I found that using a condom enabled me to shower.without getting them wet.

There's only one place where I have had regular problems getting in....and even more so, getting out; Israel. Friends have been imprisoned in Tel Aviv airport's underground prison because they are involved in political and Christian organisations. Others strip-searched for the same reason. I'm questioned by Immigration as to where I plan to go in Israel- obviously I don't admit to travelling in Occupied Palestine- and as to whom I know. I don't mention Palestinians in case they are arrested. My Christian background makes me an expert on Christian and New Testament history and so I can answer all the questions I am asked about the Holy Land well. I carry a Bible so that it is the first thing that is found when my bag is searched. I stopped daring to take a camera, or a lap-top for fear of arrest. I took some videos once in about 2005 (cassettes) and felt constrained to take two different "editions"....one of tourist sites in Occupied Jerusalem, the other of life under military occupation for Palestinians. I kept the first in my camera for examination and hid the latter. I was lucky and got away with it. I was too nervous during later trips. The visits were between 2004 and 2016. I can no longer travel there due to the banning of Christian and Socialist groups. We are blacklisted.

He baited me when over a million were dying in Iraq by saying how much he loved GWB. I know I shouldn't respond but there are limits.

Focusing on the OP's mention of saunas, I wouldn't recommend Babylon Sauna- and I suspect other saunas would be much the same .The guys who frequent it tend invariably to be straight-acting. I have seen a lady-boy there- co-incidentally, only two weeks ago but she looked forlorn and unappreciated despite being good-looking, at least in my estimation.

When an Afro-American praises a red-neck buffoon who has obvious contempt for non-white people across the world, I reach for my sick-bag. James Baldwin will be turning in his grave.

. "Things are looking good?" Where?

Thanks for the pm. There appears to be a problem with my pm box so my reply may not reach you. If not, thanks for your help.

I appreciated the recent posts about Agate. Are there any other recommendations for gay/gay-friendly hotels in Jomtien? 4* star standard.

Is it fair to suggest that those who prefer twinks prefer Pattaya?

Arrived today to find the longest queue at Immigration in over twenty years.of visits A separate queue had been formed outside the Immigration Hall to control access. Despite this, it took me only fifteen- plus minutes to make it to luggage retrieval.

I have just one opportunity for a Bangkok massage in a couple of weeks time and don't wish to make a mistake.; which of the Silom/Surawong .places would you recommend for twinks?

It sounds attractive but I wonder about travel into central Pattaya. Sometimes, the queues for the bus outside the school are very long in the evening.

Rely neither on numbers, nor on many of the guys you see still working at the same bar during the next visit. This was a lesson I learnt painfully on my second trip to Thailand in 1997. All those plans! The same is true, by the way, of hornet and Planet Romeo.

Vinapu's question is apposite; airport rates are higher than those in the city. Best to change-up only what you need to get to your hotel.

The mamasan whom I saw in Prisma a few weeks ago was Joe. He had formerly been at Powerboys. Previously, he was at Lucky7 and many years ago, Throb. He's plump with long hair and has hardly changed in fifteen years. A very nice guy, well respected by gogo dancers .

That is the correct attitude to take. "A soft word turneth away wrath." We are visitors in a very foreign country; we hold many of the aces (money in particular) but a graceful and benign response is sensible for both offender and victim.

All over the world, entities have been created without the consent of the indigenous people. We in the West have done this for financial and political reasons in the Middle East- the current troubles result from decisions taken by the UK and France in 1917 and subsequently in the 30s and 40s to which the views of the largely "darker-skinned" natives were considered irrelevant., while the "states" that we left behind in Africa were nonsensical ethnically. Again a source of troubles years after the evnt. The first time I visited Mae Salong about fifteen years ago (it's a settlement of Chinese nationalists who fled after the civil war) I was intrigued to pass a school where military band music and a running commentary by someone or other was being broadcast across the area. I assume that the idea was to turn ethnic Chinese into good Thais. The hill-tribes are another matter, of course.

That's an interesting question. In the twenty years that I've been visiting Thailand, the gay scenes in both Pattaya and Bangkok have changed enormously; but Chiang Mai's is unrecognisable. As far as the Chinese tour groups are concerned, it's true that they dominate now; but the decline in CM's gay scene began before their arrival . I'd suggest that it was apparent by 2004 or so...but that's a guess. For me, CM's appeal as a gay destination ended when the old AA closed. Whether that closure was a symptom or a cause, I don't know. But I do recall that many of the punters at AA were students from CMU; where do they go now? Night clubs of one sort or another I expect. CM has flourished as a destination; you need only to look at the budget airlines and their popularity and the new hotels. The Lavender Lanna -which had an undeserved bad press, in my view- was the last attempt to resurrect the gay scene. A decent go-go bar with some cute guys, relatively cheap accommodation, and a roof-top restaurant which I always liked....and it failed, with tragic consequences for the owner. I now visit annually with my boyfriend; and the gay scene is irrelevant to us. But I regret its passing if only because it was so distinctive. .