blondoz

mostly yes. There's question of how straight actually are guys who go to bed with other men ? 
 

The other perennial question is, if not in Tawan, where and how do you find real muscle in Bkk ?
Are there bodybuilders available through the Apps, and if so which ?

Day 7.25: The T in Thailand is for Threesome
I’d say I’m usually up for things I’ve never done before. Whatever it is, if it sounds good, I won’t hesitate, and will just say yes. If I overthink it, I’ll just psyche myself out. That’s how I felt about the threesome with two Tawan men. The Tawan men, with big bulging muscles and the bravado that goes with it, in my experience, does not translate to particularly mind-blowing sex. This is subjective of course, and you might be all-in to what the hypermasculine have to offer, but I have the most luck with guys with just a tinge of gay in them. On the average, Tawan guys are not these, with a few exceptions, of course.
And this is the first time I'm going to have a threesome with Tawan men. It's hard enough to get any threesome happen in other boy bars, let alone Tawan.  But it was a situation where both men approached me first, showed some interest in making me feel comfortable, and made the suggestion of the threesome to me instead of me to them. It hasn’t even crossed my mind to have this in Tawan. I usually get just one guy and feast on him for the night. And the quality of sex has been uneven. Some have wowed me and do full on kissing and foreplay, others just insist on a muscle worship session and won’t initiate or be passionate. Probably because this is the mystique of the bar, and probably because most of them are straight.
The two that I hired were the classic Tawan type. Even their profile pics on Line are of them competing in bodybuilding contests – all tan and oily and muscly. Not necessarily Tiago’s type. He is bowing out of this off for now. As he has newly acquired fighting gear to try on and admire, that will keep him busy while I am busy.

I’ve been getting Line messages from both earlier in the day and closer to 5 pm. They both asked the address, and confirming our 5PM rendezvous.
Tawan guy #2:

Tawan Guy #1

Fairly professional communication. And at close to 5 PM I got a call from one of them asking for directions, as they were already closeby and wanted to confirm the address. They were on time, a very good sign. I told them I’d meet them at the curb so they know where to go. As I step out of the main gate of the AirBNB I was staying in, I see two big motorcycles, with big muscular dudes on them, literally a house away from me. I wave to them, and they look relieved that they weren’t lost. They parked in front of the gate, and followed me in to the house.
You always get a different vibe whenever you see a bar boy in full street clothes. They were both in shorts, and wearing matching big Nike tennis shoes. 1 was in a fitting t-shirt, with his muscles bulging through the sleeves, and 2 was in a sleeveless shirt with biceps and arm veins prominently displayed. They lumber through the door and take off their shoes, another good sign, and survey the living room where Tiago, shirtless and trying out his boxing gloves, was.
“Two?” 2 asks, pointing to me and him. “No, just me,” I laugh. They didn’t expect a foursome for sure, so I eased their confusion. “Boyfriend!” Tiago then exclaims, in English, standing up, pointing to himself. We weren’t really boyfriends, but I don’t mind when Tiago does this, perhaps to show that we are together, in case there was funny business planned by the two. He pointed with a gloved hand to himself, perhaps to further drive the point that he can mess these two up if need be.  Not that there was any need for that. Tiago is just very protective when it comes to what he feels needs his care.
“You do Muay Thai?” 1 asks Tiago. Translation was needed. Both Tawan guys got a kick out of Tiago. 1 asks where the bedroom would be, so I lead both to the room, and both take turns showering. As I already have showered, I hang out with Tiago until I see 2 in a towel. 2 is actually pretty talkative, telling us about his travels throughout Asia, selling his muscles all over. He said he has a hard time picking up other languages, and he has at least English to lean on, though it is not spoken in all the cities he has gone to.
1 now emerges in his own towel, and we go into the bedroom and I bid goodbye to Tiago.  I was invited by both to strip down, as both take off their towels to reveal their moneymakers. 2 had some oil, and told me we can start by some light massage. The shoulder massage I got from the two last night, was continued, now with both hands touching my whole body. It wasn’t a massge per se, but it was a way for the sex to start, and it was effective. 
2 was directing the whole tableau, as he instructed 1 on what to do, who is now super hard, with a nice thick cock, so feed me his cock, while 1 continued with using his hands all over me, and his tongue to play with my nipples, as he did last night. I was laying on my back, and 1 feeds his cock to me, as he offers up his body to my wandering hands. There was a lot of nice things to touch, as he had a a great ass, giant thighs, and a nice penis.
1 took a break from the pleasuring to wash his hands. After a while he came back hard as well, as he joins 1 with my wandering hands and mouth. Now it was his turn. He was smaller than 1, but he had big muscles and almost no body fat. After a few turns on foreplay on my part, 2 then again goes back to me to jack me off, while 1 continues to press his body against me. It wasn’t long till I came, all thanks to 2.
2 gets a towel to wipe away any of my spillage.  And then 2 goes on to take a shower, as 1 stay behind with a still hard cock. I cuddle beside him, grasping his cock, as I talk to him about the night ahead – he’s heading to Tawan after this as it was a Saturday and it’s going to be a good night to work. A few more cuddles and 2 was done and it was 1’s turn to shower. I excuse myself to shower in the other bathroom. 2 stays behind in bed.
Tiago at this point was shadow boxing, all sweaty and worked out wearing his new gear. “Good fighting,” 2 said, as he emerges from the bedroom, with 1 behind him. I give them what is owed, 2000 baht each, and no pleas for more money, which I expected but it did not come. They put on their shoes and asked me to see them at Tawan tonight. I say maybe, I’ll think about it. They find their motorcycles and off they go to probably eat.
I just realized that aside from my alone time with Tiago, I’ve only had Threesomes with bar boys here in Bangkok. This must be a first.
Tiago asks me about the off. I tell him it was fine, but I didn’t expect it to be as bed-shattering as how I usually prefer it. He asks me why I even wanted it, since he knows how I like it, knowing me very well by now. I tell him that sometimes I want the feel of a man’s body next to me, without the urgency of passion. It can be passionate sometimes, but the appreciation of other men’s bodies was the primary goal.
“I don’t get it,” he says, as he takes off his shorts. “I’m super sweaty and taking a shower.”  Two bouncy cheeks trailed him.  I ask, “Do you want company?” “Come,” he says. I guess he was going to show me how I really liked it.
After cumming twice in a row, I just needed a nap, which made us almost late to have time to have dinner and then a boy bar. But if one is pressed for time, one would only have to go to Foodland Patpong to have a decent and quick dinner, for cheap.  It never disappoints. We taxi it to Patpong, first to Foodland, and then walk to our next boy bar… which ones do we have left to go to?

Day 6.75: If you Think of Happiness, Think of Tawan

The title is the tagline that has permeated my brain ever since I first heard it in 2014. It is also the prominent tagline in one of the last fliers I’ve seen from a Bangkok boy bar back in 2019:

Having physical fliers nowadays seems pretty quaint in today’s all digital world. Kind of like those business cards that I’ve had printed whenever I go to work conferences or work travel. Nowadays it’s just “add me on LinkedIn,” and coupled with the phone app, I must admit, is a way more efficient way to send your contacts to another professional. The analog to boy bars and fliers is the social media presence. Moonlight is the king of this, doing regular Facebook lives to give us an almost daily reminder of its existence. Fliers are nice to hold in your hand but to also ultimately throw away with the rest of your airline boarding passes (another example of something going digital) after your trip. Social media notifications however, are eternally pushy, to the point that one gets numb to their existence.
I can say that Tawan as a Boy Bar falls into this “pretty quaint” category in the grand scheme of boy bars in Bangkok. Yes, it has tried to modernize a bit, as evidenced with its growing social media presence, since everyone is doing it. And they were giving out Tawan-branded alcohol gel to sanitize your hands. But generally Tawan has stayed true to what it has always been. Still the same muscular guys who some have probably been there 10+ years (and calling it a BOY bar is a misnomer). Still the same tired gogo numbers. Still the same chuck wow act that admittedly has the wow factor for newcomers, but as a veteran myself, find the tips pushing a little grating. Indeed, Tawan was showing its age even when I first started visiting 8 years ago. Going to it nowadays is like getting into a time machine, harkening back to a Bangkok that was grittier, dirtier, and maybe more fun(?), instead of the Disney-fied tourist paradise it is now.
But even if you are not attracted to Tawan’s brand of boys - the rugged older muscular daddy types with the occasional pumped up younger pups - you have to admire its stubbornness to keep true to its identity, despite the success of the more recent crop of flashier, more popular, and better-attended bars that cater to the lowest common denominator: to try to appeal to everyone by sacrificing individuality. It’s like what gentrification has done to the character of our urban spaces, or former gayborhoods paving the way to kids in strollers instead of gays in tutus, Tawan still clings to its identity – even if it is to a smaller audience. Count me in as a fan, even after all this years.
---
It is now 11:20 PM, and I head back to Tawan to hang out there while Tiago delivers my luggage back to the house. I figure he’ll at least be gone 30 minutes, accounting for the round trip back to here, so it’ll give me time to get to know the men of Tawan. Upon entering, the last of the numbers was ending, and at this point, the boys were milling around the room, and the stage, trying to get a sale. I head over to my old seat, and order a new drink. Rum coke as usual – and boy was it really strong. They know how to dose their drinks!
I survey the landscape and I see probably about 10 boys still around, with about 5 I can see having fun with. At this point I wasn’t necessarily looking for a bottom, just someone who I can do a “muscle worship” session, like with some nice foreplay, and maybe someone to top me. I’m not sure Tiago will be up for anyone here, because I know what he likes, and he is not a mega slut like I am (even accounting for his Brazilian-ness). There are a million other bottoms out there in the boy bar landscape. I’m here for the muscle.

Pretty soon, one of the muscular hunks sits beside me (let’s call him 1). I am guessing he is early 30s. Very very muscular, as in like one of the guys in the photo above. He had a nice face, classic asian features. He extends a hand to shake mine. He asks for my name, and then asks where I am from (I get “but you are Asian” reaction, maybe it’s just easier to say I am from some generic Asian place), and the other stock questions. He didn’t ask for a drink or anything, but he did take my hand to guide it to his groin. He was direct, which bodes well for me. I take liberty to squeeze the muscles, and he gives me a light massage on my neck and shoulders.
Another equally muscular man heads over to me (let’s call him 2), and then sits on my other free side, opposite the guy who is massaging me. He is handsome, muscular cut, probably 4% body fat, and very strong thighs and nice abs. He tells me he has seen me before (no doubt), and asks me if I was well and all that. The massaging guy interjects something in Thai to the guy, and it seems there was a little argument going. They settle down and now the other guy is massaging me. I’m getting the treatment from both guys. They are angling for tips, which is fine, that’s why I’m here.
Now 2 becomes even more direct. He puts his hand in my shorts, and expertly massages my groin until I am at attention. Again, very direct and showing really good signs here. I am glad I am semi-secluded by the stage from other customers, otherwise I’d be a little bit modest. 2 then puts his hand in my shorts and massges my cock. Wow, is this normal here? 2 then lifts up my shirt to suck on one of my nipples. Darn, this is really direct and, sudden. LOL. Not that I am not enjoying. I am also glad that I’ve had two of the strong rum cokes to make me a little bit less inhibited. 
So before things got out of hand, I ask 2 how much for short time. He stops the sucking of the nipples and the hand job to think about it, and quotes 3000, but with a sour face. That was odd. And I am not beyond paying 3000 if the sex was good, but at the time, found the price a little bit steep. 1 was just staring into space, probably incensed that he was customer-blocked by 2. The captain goes to me and asks me if I wanted to off both guys. I hesitated, not sure about all this. The captain then says that they have a room upstairs if I wanted to do the deed here. That was interesting, though I don’t think the two I have are into that idea.
I get a text from Tiago, saying he is ready to come back. Oh that’s right Tiago is with me still lol. I get a Grabtaxi for him and send him a screenshot of the Grabtaxi detail so he knows which taxi to take.  I seriously haven’t thought about the logistics of me doing a short time session without Tiago, but now I will need to think about with these two musclemen beside me.  Though I was eager to open my luggage at home and check if my stuff was still in there, since Bangkok Airways opened it.  
When the captain leaves, 2 asks me when I will leave Thailand. I tell him three days from now. I then ask him if he does home visits. 2 says yes, and asks me when and where I wanted it to do it with him. I think about it and say before dinner tomorrow, around 5 pm. That’ll give Tiago and I time to do our errands in the day, and then sex with 2, and then dinner. 2 then wakes 1 up from his reverie, and then utters a few sentences in Thai, and 1 seems to agree with 1. 2 then talks in English to me, saying that 1 can also come, and it will be 2000 each. A threesome with Tawan hunks? That was new. I immediately say yes, and upon exchanging Line, I set a date for them.
After more strokes from 2 (I am close to cumming) and some massages from 1, I get a text from Tiago. He said he just got dropped off Soi Than Tawan and is heading back to Tawan. Since I had a date with the two Tawan guys tomorrow, no need to have them suffer further. I take out 500 baht for each guy, and they seem pleased with the tips, and confirmed the time with me again tomorrow. Pretty soon I see Tiago emerge from the door of Tawan. 1 and 2 say their goodbyes. I'm still seated, because I still had a hard on, and waited for it to die down, though the sight of Tiago heading back to sit with me certainly didn’t help. I told Tiago what transpired, and broke the news of the 5 pm rendezvous with the Tawan guys tomorrow. He seemed unfazed by this. He told me he opened the luggage and all seemed to be in order. I was relieved.
When I have calmed down, we decide to head over to Patpong again to check out what’s up there. Upon arriving at Hot Male, the tout there welcomes us again, and we talk for a bit about the crowd he’s seen so far. He says it has been picking up, but they have a ways to go from pre-COVID days. He then asks us if we wanted to go in the club. I told him maybe not. He insisted, saying that since there is not a show anymore at 12 midnight, he is going to charge us only 250 baht each, and we can check out the boys. That was a good deal. 
So that’s what we do, another late night Hot Male visit. There was still about 5 sets of customers in the vicinity, with boys sitting with them. There was about 5 boys onstage, and they were pretty nice looking. Tiago puts his head on my shoulder, probably signaling he is ready for some cuddles. No boy was really screaming at me to be offed, though there was one delicious one that I entertained the idea of offing for a minute but ultimately I didn't invite him to sit with us. One by one, the customers leave. And before we knew it, it was 1 AM, and it was time to leave. We see the boys putting on clothes, and the staff slowly clean up the bar. We pay 250 each as promised.
As we leave Hot Male, I take a few snaps of the surrounding bars. Some closed, some abandoned. I was still looking for some kind of entertainment at this hour, but were was Screw Boy when you need it?


I ask Tiago if he wanted to go to a club, maybe to see if G.O.D. is open, I wasn’t sure. Tiago said no. He just wanted a Netflix and chill after all the luggage saga today. So that’s what we do.
For there was two muscular men to contend with tomorrow, next post…

Day 6.5: There is such a thing as too much technology, or A Numazu’s Guide on How to Not Experience Tawan 
There are a few things I carry with me on travel that I can’t live without. Apple Airtags (GPS trackers) are essential, and I have one on every piece of luggage, backpack, wallet, passport folio, and even in my car when I park it at the airport parking lot, so I can use my iphone to track all my belongings on any given time. Saved my bacon a few times when I left my wallet at home for example, and my iphone pings me saying it is not with me, or whenever the airline loses my luggage, at least I know where it was left, and can track its journey back to me.
Having a power bank is also essential, for times when my cellphone dies and I need a quick jump, or if there are not enough outlets in a hotel room, and with my ever growing number of technology pieces that travel with me – cellphone, tablet, work laptop, wireless headphones, smart watch etc etc etc, having my power mobile is also essential. 
But sometimes having technology could screw you over.
At Suvarnabhumi Airport, as we disembark from our plane and head over to domestic baggage claim, Tiago and I were just chattering away, trying to figure out the remaining things we wanted to in the 3 days remaining I had left in Thailand. We get to baggage claim 2 and see a Bangkok Airways agent waiting in front of it, with a piece of paper with two last names on it. My stomach turned. One of the last names was mine.
“I’m Numazu,” I tell the agent. The agent apologizes, and proceeds to say that my luggage was randomly inspected back at our original destination, and they found my power bank inside. The agent then said that they could not put the bag in the plane without taking out the power bank, and needed my permission to take it out of the bag, so the rest of the bag can fly to BKK, so they just waited till the plane landed to tell me. I asked him if it was at all possible to have informed me while I was waiting to board the plane. I remember waiting 45 minutes to embark, so it would have been more efficient if they could’ve informed me then. The agent said he didn’t know if they did a notification of not.

We were lead to the Bangkok Airways baggage office which was just next to baggage claim. While the agent left us to get some forms, I looked at my phone to use the GPS to track my bag. Yup, sure enough, it was still there at the previous airport. I was at least relieved that I knew where it was and I could track it. There is no worse feeling than having lost luggage.  The agent went back with a form. I began writing my information on the form. “For telephone number, I have a US number, do you need a Thai number?” I ask. The agent confirms, so I look at the phone for contacts and put down Tiago’s Thai number. Thank goodness for having that. I put in the address of our AirBNB.
As I give the form back to the Agent, the agent asks what I wanted to do about the power bank and my bag. Since I need my clothes and stuff I ask him if the bag can get on the next flight to BKK.  He informs me that I can get the bag today, because there is another flight arriving in 2 and a half hours from our origin, so it can make the journey to BKK then, but they need to take out the power bank. I tell him to leave the damn power bank there and put the bag on the next plane. The agent then asks me if I will wait for the bag at the airport or have it delivered to the house.
I turn to Tiago and asks him what to do. Tiago says since I can track the bag that just having the bag delivered will enable us to at least spend the time at the house instead of the airport, since it was going to be a 3 hour wait. I tell the agent that delivery is our option. The agent informs me that the delivery fee was 500 baht. Since it was my fault, I gladly pay the fee. The agent takes the money, gives me a receipt and a copy of the paperwork, and tells us that the bag will most likely be delivered at midnight. I thought this will work great, as we can have dinner, see a boy show at 10:30 PM, and then go home after that to receive the bag.
So we make our way to the taxi stand. At the ride home Tiago takes my hand, as he perceives that I am worried about the bag. Every once in a while I check my phone to see if my bag is still where it was, or if it is magically finding its way to the house. It was still where it was. Tiago started yawning and says he is hungry. Tiago suggests we get something delivered at home instead of going out to dinner, and if we can get it now while in the taxi, so we don't need to wait for it at home that long. So I look for some options on Grab and settle for McDonalds, which was a treat that Tiago and I partake of once in a while. Tiago is looking at my phone as I scroll through the burger options. He finds it interesting that there is fried chicken offered at McDonalds here, so he asks for some of that and a Cheeseburger without pickles. Our order is 541 baht ($15):

We get home, and 10 minutes later I get a call from the delivery guy saying he is at the house gate with the order. That was fast. And all the items in our order arrived in good condition, which is great. Tiago and I chow down (we have been pretty hungry). I was still worried about my luggage and I keep checking my phone to see where it is (it hasn’t moved), and Tiago always assures me that it will arrive today. It was only 7:30 PM so Tiago recommended that we take a nap so I can relax a bit and forget about the bag. Tiago always knows how to calm me. With AC in full blast we take that needed nap.
At 9:30 the alarm goes off and I immediately look at my phone. Success! The bag is now in Suvarnabhumi! The smile on my face told Tiago the news. He takes my phone to see for himself. He then makes us both coffees and then we shower to get to our bar for the night, Tawan.
Old map, still interesting:

We take a Grab taxi and it had Tawan as one of the locations. Familiar tout at the door. I was curious to see Tawan in its new digs. I’ve heard that it was a smaller space than previous location. Upon entering I see a single row of seats to the right, and the stage to the left. It was indeed small. We were lead to the set of chairs towards the back, close to the bathrooms.  There were some muscular boys sitting on our chairs but were quickly shooed away by one of the staff. 
I am quickly reminded what made me like this bar in the first place. Muscular guys in skimpy underwear running around the place. Some of them were flexing onstage, some were milling about, some were sitting with customers, and others just in the back with us, sitting down. There was probably about 15 boys in total. Not a lot but I figure enough for me, from the looks of it
This bar was probably the singular bar that made me want to visit out Thailand. I was always curious about all the Bangkok boy bars, but Rush’s Bangkokbois blog (@ggobkk now I remember extensively reading it, once I googled it) has heavily featured Tawan, and it had captured my imagination ever since. And the bar has delivered on its promise of muscular boys to have sex with. So I kept going to Tawan. Even when the sauna Clube 117 in Rio de Janeiro came into my life, and thus replacing Tawan as my main source of good looking muscular guys, and the sex was superior to anything that Tawan could give me (i.e. having bottoms for starters), Tawan would still be an occasional haunt of mine. Even after Moonlight and Jupiter have eclipsed The Sun in my muscular Asian dreams.

The show started, but I don’t remember any of it. I wasn’t paying too much attention to the action onstage as I was always looking at my phone to see where my luggage was. I can get pretty obsessive about things. Tiago, on the other hand, was reacting pretty openly on what was happening onstage. Gasping at the S&M parts, fascinated at the too perfect and pretty drag queen, and when the chuck wow session began, who could not believe his eyes. “Why are they jacking off?” he asks me. I tell him to notice the people with a collection cans asking for tips. “They are asking for tips, and if there is enough money collected, they will cum.” Tiago could not believe. “Fucking Thailand, man!” he exclaims.

"Well the, put some money in!" Tiago excitedly tells me. I fish out 100 baht to add to the pot, to help hasten someone to cum, and to gross out Tiago more. After a few minutes, someone does cums, and Tiago watches jizz fly out from one muscular guy’s penis and land on one of the tables that was occupied by customers. I hope it missed the drinks. Or maybe the customers were into that. The stage is now so close to the seats that this was possible, as opposed to before that the tables were far enough that cum will just fall to the floor. #Tawan problems. Tiago was enjoying every minute of it.
I check my phone and gasp. The luggage was mobile! And approaching Silom! And it was only 11 PM! I map out the location and see that it was 10 minutes away! I begin to panic. Should we leave and go back to the house to pick it up? I didn’t want to cut our time at Tawan. A few minutes later Tiago’s phone rings. Maybe it was the delivery driver that had our bag. Tiago hands me his phone and I go to the bathroom to answer it. It was indeed the driver. He tells me he is almost at the AirBNB. I tell him that we were not there, but if he could drive to Soi Than Tawan, we can meet him here. He agrees and hangs up. 5 minutes later he calls again, and upon answering tells me he is at the curb of the Soi.
I tell Tiago that the bag has arrived. I quickly pay for our drinks and we leave Tawan. I wanted to spend more time there but this is more urgent. Sure enough the driver was there. He was in a van, no doubt delivering left or lost luggage all over Bangkok. He confirms that I was who I was, and then opens his van and produces my precious bag. I breathed a sigh of relief.
Tiago then tells me to go back in Tawan to finish up the show. He will take the bag to the house and then come back to Tawan. He knows that I wanted to spend more time in the bar. He knows me very well by now. I fish out 200 baht out of my pocket, since Tiago did not have any Thai money yet, so he can get a taxi to the house. There are several taxis in the area, so we flag one down and I showed the driver the Thai directions of the AirBNB that was left by the owner. Tiago was on his way.
So next post, I'm not gonna let technology ruin my time, is the rest of my time in Tawan, ALONE…

Day 4-6: Fighting for a new life
Today is a new day, and for Tiago, today is the start of a new life. His main reason to be in Thailand is to stay for at least 6 months to get training in Muay Thai, as he had in Jiu Jitsu in Brazil, and economic realities meant that doing this in Thailand is way cheaper than in Brazil. It will also enabled him to get into the Asian fighting circuit that have boasted any number of Brazilians looking for easy money doing what they love to do. 
Having gotten to know him for a better part of a year, first in Brazil, then having him tag along in my travels, I am confident that he has the drive, and the skills necessary, to be a success. Probably not to the top of his sport, but enough to gain the necessary experience to further a career in this realm, to either teach the sport in western countries, or mount a school and/or gym himself in his home country, among other possibilities. He is certainly making the most of whatever physical gifts he has, and taking advantage of his youth and energy, to get to the next level.
I’ve often wondered how boys get into prostitution. It takes a certain intestinal fortitude to withstand the day to day demands to survive the mental and physical toll that is inherent in the profession. One Brazilian boy I’ve known describes it as a constant series of humiliations, being objectified, poked and prodded, facing constant rejection, doing constant negotiating, a lot of chasing, all for the money he will need to pay his bills. He still sticks to it, because it is lucrative, and since he has not gone to school, and doesn’t have any traditionally marketable skills, this is his greatest chance to get the most money that he needs. He knows that he won’t be young forever, so why not strike while the iron is hot? Having a fat 9-inch penis doesn’t hurt either.
Tiago has told me that the rigors of sauna and bar boy life aren’t for him. He is not above selling his body for money, he says, and admits he has entertained the random offers he has gotten when he is, for example, on a Brazilian beach or at a club. But he has a more stable family life and has gotten some support from his parents whenever he needed to get bailed out from a missed rent check or to refill his kitchen pantry. And he prefers using his body for fighting, a love of his that he has cultivated since he was a teen.  After getting good at Jiu Jitsu back home, he has set his sights on Thailand where he wants to spread his wings.
---
We wake up at 6 AM, to catch a 9:00 AM flight to another Thai city, where Tiago’s MMA gym is. We plan on spending 3 days there, to work out his living arrangements and secure his place in the classes that he wants to take, as well as to make sure that he has face-to-face interactions with the staff of the gym to make a determination that this was really where he wants to end up. Before this, all his conversations with the gym people have been virtual, with many video conference calls to the Brazilian part-owner and some of the Brazilian fighters on staff. Nothing beats in-the-flesh interactions, and he has asked me to form my own opinions of what I will see, to help him decide if this is indeed a good decision for him to take.
I get us a Grab Taxi to the airport, which amounted to 427 baht, since I always ask the driver to take highways, and the driver was able to add the 75 baht tolls to the fare:

The plane ride over was fairly quick and efficient. We then took a taxi to our hotel. I splurged a little bit on a resort hotel to at least get some pampering in, while taking advantage of the resort’s many pools, great restaurants, and other cool amenities. After a quick lunch, we quickly head over to the MMA Gym, to get it out of the way. Tiago wanted to spend the whole day tomorrow to just veg out in the resort with me, before we head back to Bangkok on the third day.
Any doubts Tiago had over the gym quickly melted away when we stepped out of our taxi into the gym complex. Most of the workout facilities were outdoors, and with Thailand’s sweltering heat that might not be ideal, but we see a fair number of people working out sparring with each other and with punching bags which were a-plenty.  There were two practice boxing rings that I saw, and a courtyard that had people milling about. Tiago’s eyes lit up. He was impressed. 

We were met with a Thai employee. He spoke to us in English, and as before I explained to him that Tiago didn’t speak English well. We were lead to where the living quarters would be, and we found some Brazilians who were living at the gym. Most of them then joined us and the Thai guy to take a tour of the place. There was a stage area, where the public fights happen, we were shown some of the living quarters – kitchen, bathrooms, and the room where Tiago would be staying at. It was a modest room, a bed, a fan, some shelving, closet space. We were told there was wifi all thoughout. Tiago told me this was more than enough for him. The room afforded him privacy, and a comfortable place to rest, which is all he needs.
We then met up with the Brazilian part owner. He rolled up on his motorcycle, wearing Muay Thai shorts and nothing else but his flip flops. A fighter himself, he was 35, and still very much in fighting shape not to mention fairly handsome.  A typical rugged Brazilian. After some introductions, he then takes us to his office to talk business. Tiago wanted me there with him to help with the decisions. The owner was impressed that I can speak Portuguese, and made the remark that when he first got to Thailand, he spoke no English, but learned through living here many years. Tiago then commented that he hopes that will be the case for him too. I mention my journey to Portuguese, and told them all the classes in the world were no match for actual immersion and speaking it with native people.
The owner spelled out how things worked in the gym, the daily routine, how much the classes were, the accommodations, the food. The owner will be able to give Tiago a discount if he helped out with setting up the gym first thing in the morning, and cleaning up at night, since he was short-staffed. He then tells Tiago on how he can earn money with helping to teach MMA to western farangs who come to the gym to learn as well. He says that with Thailand reopening, he has seen student numbers tick up again, and is expecting to be really busy going into the high season. Also, there will be some opportunities to fight locally, in Bangkok, and overseas in Cambodia, South Korea, and other nearby countries is also a possibility, to earn some extra pocket money.
This all sounded good to Tiago, and to me as well. After this we were shown some gyms with weights and cardio machines that Tiago can join to maintain muscle, and to a local fighting gear store where he can get his boxing gloves, tape and others things. The owner commented that it was more expensive to buy it here than in Bangkok, and recommends that if we were heading back to the capital that Tiago do his shopping there. We then sit down for some coffee (at the air conditioned gym thankfully) and just shared stories about Brazil and Thailand. The owner is very charming, and seems to be a really awesome guy, and he shared his take on how it was to live in Thailand as a Brazilian.
As Tiago and I went back to the hotel after all this, we had a long conversation about all the information that was presented to us. Both of us had a good feeling about it. Tiago’s brain was already swimming with all the things he intended to get accomplished here. Once we step of the taxi at the hotel, Tiago holds my hand as we walk back to our room, and once we were in the room he hugs me, telling me that he is grateful for this opportunity, and it wouldn’t have happened if I didn’t buy his plane tickets. I told him that it was his vision that got him here. I only greased the wheels.
Plane tickets for Tiago: $453 one-way from Sao Paulo to Doha, 10k + 40k Avios points from Doha to Dubai to Bangkok. Gratitude that Tiago has shown me: Priceless
We actually went back to the MMA gym later that day, because there was a public fight scheduled that featured 5 fights. I got to talk to the other Brazilians as well. Thank goodness for hot Thailand weather.  All the fighters were shirtless, and I’ve lost count of the abs that I’ve seen total. The fights were well attended, with some farangs sprinkled in a mostly Thai audience. They sold some food and liquor during the fights, which I bet is a money maker for the owners.

As promised by Tiago, we spent the next day just vegging out. The pool, strolls around the resort complex, pool, sex in the hotel room balcony, pool, hit the buffet and the pool bar, and then a nice dinner in one of the resort restaurants. Even if there was a whole city outside this resort, I picked it to take advantage of the amenities, and also to take a break from all the running around we’ve been doing this past 3 weeks.
The next day, recharged because of the relaxing day before, and renewed because of the knowledge that Tiago will be in good hands once I leave him to his own devices next week, we were in good spirits. Tiago left his big luggage behind at the gym since he was coming back, and left with just the necessities for the rest of my stay with him in Bangkok. We consolidated all of our things into my big luggage including some in my carry-on, and then checked my big luggage at the airport for our flight to Bangkok.
That was a mistake, as I left something in the checked bag that almost ruined my night.  That’s next post.