Lycees

Alex Kerr's 2009 book Bangkok Found has been updated and re-published on 1st July this year with a new name "Another Bangkok". I am not sure how much of the material is new (but it does cover the Covid crisis). It is published in the UK by Penguin at £9.99 and should be available internationally I assume.

The selection of escorts for Bratislava on GayRomeo is very thin and uninspiring. There is another guy Falling-Angel, who lists himself under Vienna but actually lives in Bratislava so is available there as well. Falling-Angel has lots of positive reviews and some good photos but he is over 30 and the reviews rather die out after 2013. I wonder how up-to-date the photos are and what he is like as an escort now, rather than three years ago. I imagine Falling-Angel is well-known to some of the readers of the Prague thread so maybe they have an opinion on him if you are interested.

Can I just second what mscleovr said. Many London escorts advertise less than £150 and even those that do will often readily agree to accept less. Most people would want to tip a guy at a massage parlor assuming they have been satisfied but if you agree a rate with an escort, a tip is generally not expected. In other words, there is not much, if any, saving.

I was really only suggesting that a manual check could be done on escorts due to be put in the "Featured" column to ensure that their links were active. I understand it would be a big - and never-ending - job to ensure all escorts listed had correct details but just doing a check on the Featured escorts to make sure links to their websites were still working would only take a couple of minutes each day and would give the site much greater credibility. As it is, a new visitor can take a look at the Home Page, click on a Featured Escort, see that the links do not work and get a very poor first impression. On the other hand, if someone goes to the list of all escorts in, say London or Paris, they are unlikely to be so surprised if quite a few of them are not up-to-date.

I know there have been various comments in the past about cleaning up the lists of escort profiles to ensure they are up-to-date. I suspect this is much more difficult outside the US where this site is maybe not so well-known and escorts are less eager to maintain their listings. The only real problem is when some of the inactive European escorts are shown in the daily "Featured Escorts" section because it does rather advertise the issue. There have been several retired European escorts featured in the past weeks - today's is Adam Tremadoc who has not viisted MER for nearly two years and lists a link to an inactive website. I do not recall seeing an ad for him elsewhere for a long time so I presume he is retired. Clearing up the full escort lists would be a big job but it would certainly help the credibility of the site if only active escorts were featured.

Firstly thank you to Oz for the sensible remarks. I do know of sites that have got themselves into big trouble when an affiliate company went bust or ran off with money but, as you say, you would probably have heard about that. If the obvious answer is correct, it does leave rather a sour taste in the mouth. As to StuCotts' comments; I have posted a couple of reviews (under two names) and I rarely contribute to forums because I do not always feel there is much that either I can, or wish to add. This was an exception because the subject was more important. Invariably when I do contribute, some smart ass comes along with a comment that reminds me why I prefer to stay away.

I had to laugh when I read this. Oz was trying so hard to avoid controversy and be nice to the other site but he just could not resist the dig about comparing donating pixel hearts to Nigerian bank scams! Joking aside, it still leaves the question unanswered as to what is happening. I think most people would agree that we need Daddy's site. To the casual observer, the curent site is much the same as ever. A few less posters on the forums but the same number of reviews. I guess a few less hits but still enough to generate an income. There can be only two possible answers: - The people running the site have made a mess of it behind the scenes and/or there has been some sort of fraud/bankruptcy with one of the companies they were involved with. - The plea for assistance is a sham. My feeling is that if they want their plea for help to succeed they will need to be more forthcoming about what has happened.

Firstly, thanks to Oz for the explanation about the finances of these sites. I did find it rather strange that Daddy appeared to be in such a state since, like most others, I had always assumed Daddy's made a decent profit. I am certainly concerned about the future of Daddy's site because it is a resource that escorts and clients need and, just as Hertz needs Avis, so we all need this site as well. Much better to have two sites than one. Personally, I would not mind making a small contribution to keep them both in good health. However, from what Oz has said, and from my own knowledge of other sites, such contributions should not really be necessary. Free sites are much more likely to grow and with a review site, the more that participate, the better. Now, I wonder if that is the root of the problem... I have just seen a post on Daddy's saying that the Forum is quieter than it has ever been in the summer and I have certainly noticed this. Is traffic dropping off so much? Are people no longer interested in escorts - or, at least, interested in discussing them? That is a big worry because any review site depends on being able to attract a good number of contributors. Fewer reviews, fewer readers, it is a dangerous spiral. Both clients and escorts need to breath some life into both sites to keep them active.

It is hardly worth my while coming to the defence of my fellow Englishmen on this subject because by far the majority of escorts you will find in London are not English so the question is not important. There are a large number of Latins and I would suggest considerable caution with these. There are a handful of really good ones but the majority (especially those linked to agencies or dealing through some form of pimp who can be hard to detect on-line) are poor to average. There are some decent East Europeans, a handful of Australians and other Europeans plus the occasional visiting American. The real British guys tend to divide into two groups: the long-established escorts who will have some form of track record and the new ones who are maybe just trying it out for a few weeks. As with escorts anywhere, caveat emptor!

Firstly I want to say that I am very happy MER was started and is still going strong. It is also very pleasing that the owners should seek the opinions of users on how to improve it. There are just a couple of points I wanted to mention. I have to agree with Tampa Yankee that very short reviews are virtually useless. We don't need porn stories but we do need to have just a bit of background information. The real reason for this post though is to query the use of the "Featured Persons" section on the home page. I accept that many escorts will only visit MER once to put up a profile and rarely visit after that. The fact that they have not logged in for a year or more does not necessarily indicate they are out of business. However, quite a few escorts (especially the European ones) are out of business and this could have been checked before they were featured. There is a good example today (6/27) - "tomescortparis". Click on his profile and the phone number shows a line of 0's, then click through to his website and you go to a parking domain. I am not sure whether or not this escort is still working but that is not the point - on the basis of the information shown, he is definitely not worth featuring! The same has happened with a number of London escorts - you click through to an expired Gaydar profile. There are other European escorts being featured who seem to have been registered by agencies that have closed down as well. I realise that keeping a check on all listed escorts is impossible and we have to accept that many escorts listed will have left the business or changed their contact details. All I am really suggesting is that before an escort profile is featured on the front page, a quick check is done to ensure that, as a minimum requirement, any website listed is still valid.

All I can say is I agree completely. Well done TY and well done StuCotts for highlighting it. Enough is more than enough!

And as a rely to Epginos - I certainly would not give up on either Prague or Budapest - there are some good guys in both cities. The point made by me, and others, is that you need to be careful. In Budapest, whilst I have no personal experience of them, I know that Mr Alex, Roberto Giorgio and Mishi are all well-regarded and should fit the bill. All of them are on Erados and I have already suggested Mr Alex. Anyway, Prague and Budapest are two of Europe's loveliest cities and it would be a shame to miss them. It is very easy to combine one or both with a trip to London. If you do that, you should have a great time and find some interesting boys - just don't visit either city with rose-tinted glasses!

Goodness, what is it about these message boards that makes everyone so angry? For no reason, it seems Boston Guy is jumping down my throat! In response to a couple of requests I made some general comments on escorts in Prague, Budapest and London. Charlemagne appeared to agree with some of my comments and backed them up with his own. I never said that all the escorts in Prague were scam artists - but I do repeat that you should be careful. It is untrue to say that escorts cost much less in Prague than in London. The going rate in London for an hour is £100-120. In most of Europe it is around €150 (about the same) and it is the same in Prague and Budapest - except that some agencies charge a little more. Of course, you can get boys in some of the clubs for less but I am comparing like-for-like: escorts advertising on web sites. The big problem is that €150 is a great deal of money in Prague or Budapest and is a much higher percentage of a monthly wage than anywhere else. Inevitably, people are tempted into the business who would not be in it in London or Paris. There is also a bit of a cultural problem with even a few escorts who are gay being unwilling to admit it and claiming to be bisexual (normally it is the other way round). Many of the old Hooboy reviews have disappeared but you would have seen a fairly mixed bag of reviews for the few boys that got mentioned. My overall advice was, and remains, that there are some great looking guys in Prague but you do need to be careful and try to go for someone who has been recommended by a reliable source. BG has recommended one particular guy - fine. I am very happy to offer advice and opinions in a friendly way to other MER readers and will try to continue when I have something worth contributing. However, I would hope that such comments are taken in the friendly spirit they are given. The fact that someone else's experiences might be different is not a reason to attack the original poster. Lycees PS Now I am beginning to feel sorry for Scott Adler! Maybe it is not worth posting at all...

They all use several names. Most have a porn film name, another name they use for private escort work and a real name. Gaytailored Tours also use different names to make it look as if they are different to the same escorts advertising through other agencies. I suggest looking at www.erados.com for a list of who is actually working. Best use the direct ads rather than the agencies but you might find Gaytailored Tours helpful in giving advice and setting something up - but of course you pay more (and the boys get less). Bear in mind that all these boys are straight. "Kissing" might mean a peck on the cheek. Oral will be with a condom. Of course, they are all very good looking. Fernando/Atilla is the biggest star and is in London at the moment. He has always been reviewed well so maybe he is worth a go. Jonathan/Peter - I tried him once and could not recommend him. We fixed up a date a week in advance, it was confirmed twice by email and on the phone. When I arrived in Budapest I left him a message to say I would see him later as agreed. He did not turn up. I phoned and he barely apologised but said he would come in an hour - but he had an appointment later. He came and spent not much more than forty minutes with me. Nice looking but he really did not give very much. Even giving him the benefit of the doubt for the "confusion", he could not be recommended - unless, maybe, you wanted a gentle S&M master which I think he might get into. Rick Bauer - if you read between the lines, my feeling is that he is not very interested in the sex part. He talks a lot about offering personal training and massage which rather suggests he would prefer to concentrate on that. One escort who does get very good reviews on Erados is Mr Alex - a silly name but a nice guy. He is straight but seems to have a genuine "work ethic" and wants his client to have a good time. You should browse Erados and look at the Guest comments as well. Many are fake but they do give clues.

For anyone interested in Prague it might be an idea to look at this blog - http://homo-superior.blogspot.com It is a fascinating study of a young American amongst the rentboys of Prague and I have a feeling the author might be prepared to offer some guidance for anyone looking for one of the better escorts. As a general note, many of the boys featured on MER might well not be working any longer. If you use www.erados.com you can see the date they last visited Erados and that should give a firm view as to whether or not they are in business (also, note that any escort who has disabled the Guestbook might have done so for a very good reason!) Since most of the posters here are American it might be worth pointing out that many of the London escorts listed might not be current. In particular, the Brazilians and Latin Americans tend to come and go at great speed - www.gaydar.co.uk is a reliable guide to who is actually around. Finally, there are quite a lot of people in London who have had bad experiences with some Brazilian escorts. Most are straight and one or two can become threatening over money. Unless you know of one who has been well-reviewed, I would suggest visitors stick with British, South African and Australian escorts who tend to be a safer choice.