faranglaw

Interesting. I taught English in Japan and hung out with students and other gaijin, but not salarymen. On weekends I went to the boring ni-chome gay scene. There seemed to be numerous subcultures in Japan, and as a foreigner, one needed an invitation to join one of them. Lucky you to be asked to join that one!

Really? I'm very skeptical. I lived in Japan for four years and never heard anything like this, except perhaps the very ritualized summer festival linked here: https://www.insidejapantours.com/blog/2009/05/28/naked-japanese-men-the-japanese-festival-of-hadaka-matsuri/ In my years there, I saw no evidence that "when guys get drunk one of the first things they do is get naked." Not that I think it's a bad idea, mind you!

According to Theravada Buddhism, it will be there until it's not. :-)

Thanks Anddy, very helpful.

For me it's street food whenever possible. I'm not familiar enough with Silom to comment, but the street food on Suan Phlu is wonderful. The Isan style place near Mybed hotel has the most divine grilled pork, very spicy somtam you can ask them to dial back, and many other wonderful dishese. Sit there with a beer and flirt with the Vietnamese waitstaff, watch the people parade--nothing better. On Soi 8 there are a number of good places, the one with loud music has good roast chicken, again with somtam. For dessert you can go up the street and stop at the ice cream cart. One should always top off coconut ice cream with corn, wouldn't you agree? And on the other side of the street, my Vietnamese friend Linh whips up cheap and delicious crab fried rice. Also there are a number of good places along Ngam Duphli, where The vile Malaysia Hotel sits. Up the street next to Pinnacle is a Chinese reataurant I like, and then around the corner on Rama IV lots of noodle shops. Cross the pedestrian bridge to the other side of Rama IV and try some of the really cheap places the massage boys go to. Too bad it's a bit far from Silom.

...and you think this is a good reason NOT to learn Thai? For myself, I can hardly think of a better reason!

Thai partners are not necessarily good teachers. Dear Husband does not have much patience with my clumsy attempts at Thai; after all, he wants to communicate, and his English is good, so why bother? But then when I get to Thailand and spend a few weeks to months there, which we do every year, I stay with his family. I want to communicate with them! DH's 80 year old Mom speaks not a word of English and never will, so I need at least some rudimentary Thai to communicate with her. And his sister and others have very limited English, so I need to make the effort. So now I can at least have the standard conversations--where you from? Do you like Thai food/girls/country/boys/beaches, etc. Thai acquaintances appreciate the attempt, and last year, I reached the point where I could jump on the back of a mocy taxi and tell the driver in Thai where I wanted to go and how to get there. I was also navigating a number of other situations alone without needing to rely on him all the time. DH was impressed--and, I think, relieved!

You can explore the world on Hornet without paying for a premuim membership. I've been doing it for a couple of years now.

I had excellent luck with younger guys at Babylon right up into my early sixties. And yes, low season can be terrific. At 63 I had several wonderful connections during an unusual visit in July. The other saunas seem to be sticky rice and not interested in farang, mostly.

Yes. The taxi seems an unnecessary expense. I have taken the coach from the airport to Hua Hin. Comfortable and cheap. We actually took a taxi to Swampy from our house in On Nut, simply to catch that bus. Well worth it. Saves the price of an extra Short Time!

350k baht? Really? That seems very cheap.

vinapu: "It was 4 when he left and I went to bed cursing Thailand and her boys, vowing not to put my foot here again. Yes , honest to God I did that, but seriously , after getting angry looks from one , previously handsomely paid guy, with another one no-show for a long time appointment , third one dumping me mid-bar and massage boy with great body not even interested in massage what I was supposed to do? Sing?" I love your honesty here, vinapu. I think many of us have felt the same but may not want to admit it as LOS is supposed to be the perfect sexual playground. Thanks for your great reports!

Desr Husband does not think it is possible for farang to get mortgages. Also very doubtful you can get a centrally located apartment for $50K US. Fifteen years ago, maybe.

Dear Husband informs me farang can buy a condo but not the land. We own a condo very near Babylon. We rent it out year round, which unfortunately means we can't use it during out three month winters there. But you are right, it is starting to pay for itself and has gone up in value. When and if we retire there full time, we'll have the use of it. The office in the condo building arranges renters for us. The current ones were just walk-ins, and we didn't need to do anything to start the rent rolling in again.

Try reading the whole post before commenting, please. I specifically mentioned Buddhist fundamentalism too. Thanks.

The word "nasty" comes from the name of the political cartoonist Thomas Nast, who published his political cartoons in the late 19th Century in the New York Times. In my college days ca 1970, it was fun to browse through the microfilm of the NYT ca 1880 and see the hair-raising political insults and fake news flying around then.

We go around in circles here on the issue of Islam. We don't want to be bigoted, but we have to deal with the obvious fact that a small minority of Muslims commit awful terrorist acts complicated by a Fundamentalist (mis?)interpretation of their religion, which is stronger in their religion just now than in the Christian of Jewish or Buddhist religions, although very present in those groups too. The way out of the circle that makes most sense to me comes from an interview in the 80s with Michael Harrington, a Democratic Socialist from the US. He stated that the Islam world is going through their Dark Ages now, similar in its rigidity and intolerance to the Dark Ages in the Christian World, ca 500AD-1400AD. During those Dark Ages it was the Muslim world that advanced education, science, mathematics, and an overall tolerance for other religions within the lands it ruled. When the Christians took over Spain in 1492 and expelled the Jews, it was the Muslim world that took them in. So just as the Muslim empires upheld science, reason and tolerance during the Christian Dark Ages, we in the nonMuslim world should uphold these same values while they go through their Dark Age. And those values would, IMNSHO, include not stereotyping the religion of Islam as supporting hatred or terrorism.

Almost. She drives a 1999 white Cadillac (aka the boat), my 5'2" Mom in a big Old People's car left behind by her third husband. She has oulived three of them!

Thanks for your concern Vinapu but she'll be fine. Her sons visit frequently and test her driving. So far she's fine. She says she'll stop if we tell her to, and I believe her.

"I've seen Westerners retire with their Thai BF to some country community and, personally, I think it a mistake. You'll need a local expat community to buttress you with your cultural needs and locally sourced advanced healthcare. If you move, consider that." I'm a bridge player and have already made some connections through the bridge playing community, so there's some hope for connection there. And we found a condo in the Babylon neighborhood through meeting people poolside there, and I love that neighborhood, so that could work,out well, too. Health care will be an issue, even if right now I am disgustingly healthy. If anyone knows of reasonable health insurance, I'm open to heaing about it. But since I hauled DH to North America for twenty years, and we are married, till death do us part, for better or worse, etc., I do feel some obligstion to honor his desire to be near his aging Mom. He has done admirably well here in Canada but did not necessarily sign up as expat for life. Six months here, six months there might work. I expect this will unfold given time.

Ah yes, Tony Dow. And when I was a teenager I thought the Rifleman's boy Mark was awfully cute. These days Dear Husband is addicted to Perry Mason. Raymond Burr was gay and Canadian, so that's two good points in his favour. Sometimes the defendant is heart meltingly adorable and Perry is especially sympathetic.

vinapu: "Four Japanese dining beside, all handsome . At one moment one walked to the washroom and not only my eyes followed him but also waitress's. Guy in charge noticed and smiled knowingly" I felt a sudden urge to pee. Did you?

OK I just googled Milo. I stand corrected. He qualifies, but only if he's lying down.

Fair enough. But if he's taller than me (5'10"), then he can't be a twink. It's all about me, you know... ;-)

I think the most underrated issue in growing old is community. It's vitally important to have a community of friends and neighbors. My Mom is 96 and living independently in Massachusetts. The closest of her three sons is a two and a half hour drive away. But she is not lonely. She has her garden, her cat, and lives in a seniors' neighborhood with wonderful neighbors who look out for each other. When she needs a ride to the doctor, she has one. When her forgetful friend Myrtle, 97, needs a ride to bingo, Mom reminds her that it's today, and drives her. Dear Husband wants to move to Thailand eventually. My one fear about it is not having that kind of community. It does seem though, that many of you living there have developed a pretty good group, but I think vinapu's comments also make a great deal of sense. By the way, Mom just renewed her driver's license. They gave her another five years, until she's 101!