hojacat
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Posts posted by hojacat
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20 hours ago, Aussie1978 said:
Hey friends,
what are the best saunas in Hk ?
hotong used to be amazing. A little sticky but lots of fun.
any other suggestions ?
I just spent around 10 days in HK at the end of May of this year. Last time I was there it was a few years ago and I remembered how great Hutong was. So i definitely wanted to check it out again. My impression is that the facilities continue to remain top-notch and really clean. Crowd-wise though, that allure of exclusivity that Hutong used to have ( and the discriminatory entry policy that came with it) are now gone. Out-of-shape or guys in their 40s and 50s make up a good chunk of the crowd now. (A local twink I hooked up with told me explicitly: "I don't go to Hutong anymore, too many uncles in there"),
Having said that, it still attracts a huge crowd, so you can find plenty of cute local twinks, if you're into that. Plenty of group action or just watching in the inner dark rooms.
Price is a bit steep, around 258 HKD. Went there on a Saturday night at around 7:45 PM. It was already quite full. Peak crowd was reached around 9:00PM. It got so packed, almost should-to-shoulder. People started to leave from around 10-10:30PM. Had fun with 3 guys in cabins but played with 3-4 more in the dark rooms.
Overall, I would still rank it in my top 5 saunas and definitely the best in HK.
A note of interest about Hutong: it has one night when guys U-25 can enter for free. I saw the sign at the entrance advertising that. Most of it was in Chinese, so I just assumed that day was actually Saturday. However, I was with a local guy on Monday night and as were on the bed talking, i mentioned Hutong and he goes and says: "well, you should have gone tonight, young guys enter for free" I replied by saying that I saw the sign and that I assumed that was on Saturday. He replies: "It's definitely not Saturday, I think it's Monday" So If I was you I would do more research and then maybe try to also go on a Monday, beside the weekend.
The next day after Hutong, I also visited two more saunas in HK, both near Causeway Bay. The first one, My Way sauna, according to what I read online was supposed to be popular with the young and in-shape crowd that weren't happy anymore with Hutong. They recommend to go on a Sunday evening as it's naked night. The reviews also mentioned that it was the most "sticky rice" of all the saunas. I get there around 6:00PM. The place is actually quite small, but what was worse was that there weren't more than 15 people in the whole sauna and around 5-6 of them were definitely not young but more around in their late 40s. Everyone was in-shape at least. Stayed there around 1.5 hours. Only 3 more people came during that period. There was pretty much no action in the whole sauna. Just people standing and walking around.
Left a bit disappointed and decided to head to Soda Sauna, 5 minutes walk from My Way. The online reviews for it were also very good. Found the place not much bigger than the previous sauna but there were around 50 people in there. However, I ended up being the youngest guy in there. Mostly were mid-to-late 40s, but you could see some in their 60s. Stayed only around 35 minutes in there. Only when I was all dressed up and handled my key, a cute twink enters the sauna. We exchange looks for a good minute but it was already too late for me.
So it's clearly I had the best time at hutong but there is a chance than the other two saunas are also good ( and cheap, in both I paid only 100HKD) and I just went at the wrong time or day so you might want to try them for yourself. I have read that Gateway sauna is also quite popular. HK has quite a high number of gay saunas actually, quite the opposite to Taipei where Soi13 has no direct rivals (Han's Men aims mostly to mature guys). This though sometimes it's not advantageous as it just spreads out the crowd, while in Taipei you know where to go if you are into local young guys.
Anyway, if you end up going to any sauna in HK, please write a report on this site, as it's definitely lacking that kind of info for a great city like HK.
- MunichCut and khaolakguy
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4 hours ago, PeterRS said:
Royal Caribbean has revealed artist's renderings of its latest mega-ship/restort, the Icon of the Seas. When its stern section was unveiled -
- it instantly became viral with many expressing the same thoughts that I have - ghastly in the extreme. A "monstrosity", a "pile of decadence", "intrically tacky and vulgar." Some compared it to a vision of hell.
When it sets sail on its maiden voyage in January it will be the largest passenger ship afloat with almost 10,000 passengers and crew.
The image of the ship has not been helped by being described as "5 times bigger than the Titanic." Not only did that mega-ship end up at the bottom of the ocean on its maiden voyage, the recent implosion of the underwater vessel taking paying passengers to see the wreck can not have helped. The candy colours make the ship seem like Barbie's home from home while others suggest that so many crammed into one space will feel very claustrophobic.
I guess if it was for occasional gay cruises, it might be a huge best seller. And for families it will no doubt be a success. But you won't get me anywhere close to it.
I have been fortunate to be a non-paying passeenger on three cruises, thanks to invitations from my long-time best friend. In the summers he lectured aboard vessels, but only the small top of the line ones like Silver Sea and Seabourn.
When his wife could not accompany him, he would always invite me to join him for part of a cruise. With a bottle of champagne put in the cabin fridge every morning and free booze in the bars, they were mostly very enjoyable if for a week or so. But I found a 17 day cruise around the Caribbean and then 1,600 kms up the Amazon to Manaus way too long, even though a highight was visiting the Opera House built in Manaus by the rubber barons at the end of the 19th century and featured in the movie Fitzcarraldo.
But as a Royal Caribbean spokesman said of Icon of the Seas, "“That ship’s gonna take in $10 million a week.”
https://edition.cnn.com/travel/viral-icon-of-the-seas-cruise-ship-photo/index.html
This is definitely going to be a hit with the gay crowd of the Atlantis cruises. They usually use the Oasis-class ships of Royal Caribbean for their cruises from Fort Lauderdale/Miami in early February. It's definitely their most popular one. It gets sold out months in advance.
- Mavica and floridarob
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17 hours ago, alvnv said:
There’s a difference between daddies and grandpas, and it’s not all age related but more so determined by overall health, agility and virility.
As a slim guy in my early 30s who loves going to gay saunas all over Asia, I would consider guys between 45-60 yo, in-shape and well-endowed as my main competitors in there when it comes to scoring on bottom Asian twinks. I find myself on the losing side or waiting longer for my turn more often that I would like to admit, so there is definitely a demand for sexy Western daddies in Asia. I also see every time I go saunas like soi13 in Taipei or R3 in BKK, 2-3 guys clearly over-70 and in what can be considered bad physical shape. Not sure how successful they are in there. I always assume they just go for the atmosphere and the great eye candies offered in those places, but who knows.
- floridarob, vinapu and alvnv
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1 hour ago, PeterRS said:
Getting back to the OP, CX seems to be having some difficulty filling its flights from Bangkok. It has been reducing fares and they are now about the cheapest I have seen for years.
That's actually a great. Personally, I always found CX to have the best food among the 5-stars airlines, even slightly better that the gourmet meals you can order on ANA.
There is also this:
I guess a good reason to visit or revisit HK, if all the reasons we mentioned above weren't enough.
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On 8/6/2023 at 9:38 PM, PeterRS said:
Depite the doom and gloom in my earlier post, I do think Hong Kong is still worth visiting for stopovers or short trips, the more so as there are fewer tourists and crowds. The sights are still well worth seeing, shopping remains competitive with most Asian cities due to the absence of any sales tax (except on perfumes, liquor and tobacco products), the gay bars and saunas are especially busy at the week-ends and some of the guys are stunning. Historically It also remains a fascinating city.
I agree. Returned over there in May for a week after a few years and still had a great time. The city, the landscape, the food and definitely the guys are all amazing. focused more especially on the new venues in West Kowloon which were still under-construction when i last visited HK.
You will end up paying the same as in Singapore, but I prefer HK over it. If you choose the right time of year the weather is also much more pleasant than in Singapore.
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26 minutes ago, kokopelli3 said:
In Pattaya there is SWING on South Pattaya Road which offers free testing and very inexpensive medicine. We did go there but, as it turned out, it was too late to do anything for Sone.
That's pretty sad. Seems like he had a pretty aggressive form of infection. I hope this event encourages his friends and others that knew him to get tested more often and take care of themselves.
- kokopelli3 and Phoenixblue
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On 8/16/2023 at 8:06 PM, PeterRS said:
Babylon apart, was this the norm for most of the gay saunas in Bangkok? It is certainly true of my one time favourite Chakran.
I would consider Mania as pretty farang-friendly for what is worth it. Being in Silom, there is always a good number of westerns and I always found the local guys always being pretty welcome to them. It's kinda small, though and the facilities are a bit subpar. I think it's only worth it during their event-nights.
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5 hours ago, PeterRS said:
Illustrative of what many medical related websites have been saying. The reduction in education about HIV in Thailand is resulting in some young pepole growing up unaware of the risks. For example, we know that condoms are much less in evidence in the young Thai-for-Thai saunas that have spread around the outskirts of Bangkok. I know some readers will slam me, but this young man's life was probably cut short due to some form of unprotected sex with others, one of whom could have been a farang. There are still farang who press their young Thai boys du jour for bareback sex without first ensuring the boys are fully aware not just of the risks but of the availability fo PrEP and PEP. Perhaps they should even pay the boys for the cost of that medication in addition to their tips.
Wouldn't though in this day and age be safer to have bare sex with a farang than with a local guy? You would assume a farang that can afford to travel or live in Thailand, has the wisdom and can afford to get tested, take prep or get medications and become undetectable if he is already HIV+. However, it's also true that in some farang groups, like Ukrainians and Russians, who have a big presence in Pattaya, HIV+ rates tend to be high as the stigma associated with homosexuality and HIV in their countries make them less prone to get tested or treated.
I guess it's even more difficult for non-Thai guys, with sometimes not fully-legal immigration status. They can't access the free or subsidized Prep and treatments that Thai nations can. I wonder if there is any NGO on the field that does community outreach and offers free services to everyone?
Since gay saunas were mentioned, I remember both Soi13 in Taipei and Hutong in HK offering free rapid HIV tests in their rest areas during the busiest evening hours.
Haven't seen something like that in any gay sauna in Thailand but I don't go that often in those kind of venues in Thailand.
Maybe some of the more regular customers can tell if it actually happens.
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3 hours ago, PeterRS said:
Yes, it was a police raid that closed Obelisks for good and I think it was probably the first of Purachai's Social Order casualties. It was one of the first batch of gay saunas but located near Thonglor which made it a longish tuk tuk ride in those pre-Skytrain frightful traffic days. I did visit a few times in the late 1980s. It was a tall narrow building meaning you needed good leg muscles especially to get up the 10 floors to the very nice rooftop jacuzzi. There was a tiny lift that could squeeze in about 5 guys but if you'd just missed it you could wait ages for it.
While it was more elegant than the earliest sauna I remember (Volt in a soi off Asoke in the mid-1980s), it did have a small restaurant, bar, gym and a tiny maze. But with floor areas being so small, it really was not on a par with the original Babylon. Also once Babylon opened, most tourists and farang could not be bothered going what seemed so far out when Babylon was all but on their doorstep. More than a decade later, for a while the other recently opened gay sauna Chakran on Soi Aree with its Moroccan theme, small pool and plenty of cruising areas became almost as popular as Babylon. It was certainly as beautifully laid out and very popular with the younger Thai crowd. After years of visiting the original Babylon, I never really took to the new larger version further down the soi. I then preferred Chakran which happily also welcomed foreigners. Sadly within a few years it had begun to change to being much more Thai-for-Thai/Asian.
The original Babylon opened in 1988 in the building on the corner of Sathorn Soi 1/Soi Nantha-Mozart. Perhaps ironically much of that building is now occupied by the long-time French restaurant Le Bouchon which for decades was located on Patpong Soi 2 where many of the gay go-go bars can now be found! !t was founded by the son of a very rich family who wanted somewhere for professional gay Thais to relax away from the pressures of life for gay men in Bangkok at the time. The lobby had full-length glass cases filled with Thai antiques. The coffee shop had a guitarist or soft live music at the week-ends. All the staff seemed to me gorgeously handsome. Off the coffee shop was a massage room. Oh, the number of great times I had with Khun Gung who always seemed to be on duty there!
I particularly enjoyed sitting having drinks at its rooftop bar watching so many cute guys pass back and forth in their towels from the showers at the end. It very quickly became so popular that on Friday and Saurday evenings there were always queues waiting to get in. For a few years, almost all were Thai. When word eventually got out, more farang started to discover its pleasures.
As to your question about why Obelisks died yet the larger Babylon further down the soi remained open. Surely that had to be fat envelopes for the BIB! The Babylon owner had tons of cash. I doubt if Babylon ever made much if any profit, but he ran it more as a service to the gay community.
Thanks @PeterRS for this long reply. Btw, here is an article about the author I mentioned above talking about Obelisks and its closing. It's pretty much the same as what he describes in his book. It contains some of the points you talk about like Obelisks being far, Purachai's campaign etc.
Overall an interesting reading: https://dooneyscafe.com/a-spanking-for-sin-city/.
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On 8/13/2023 at 6:44 PM, PeterRS said:
I was living in Bangkok when this raid occurred. It was during the Interior Minister Purachai's Social Order Campaign and one of many that took place in gay venues. What gave the Babylon one so much publicity is that Purachai himself led the raid. At one point in full view of the cameras, he picked up a used condom. He then said something along the lines, "You see. Illegal prostitution takes place here." No one in the Health Ministry thought to go public by adding it was an excellent thing that condoms were actually being used! 207 patrons and staff were detained that evening and subjected to urine tests. 20 tourists tested positive for drugs.
As @reader points out, Purachai's campaigns were particularly popular in the country. He himself was one of the very few politicians who was incorruptible. A devout Buddhist, he named his children after Buddhist precepts. (His boss, Thaksin, on the other hand, named his children after the word for "gold"!) Allegedly Purachai was shocked by what he found on his nighttime raids. He looked back fondly just a couple of decades when Thai children obeyed their parents and even holding hands in public was rare. He blamed the influx of western ideas for the rise in glamorous night clubs, drug use and prostitution. When criticised by the western media, he lashed out and termed his crusade a "social evils" campaign. Even the much esteemed General Manager of the Oriental Hotel, Kurt Wachtveitl, criticised Purachai's campaign and the effect he believed it would have on tourism.
Ironically, as one lawyer and senator Thongbai Thongbao was quoted as telling the Los Angeles Times, "He has popular support, but no one in government is on his side!" And so we have this single individual for the laws which thereafter changed gay nightlife.
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-jul-07-adfg-moral7-story.html
Wasn't a police raid what caused the closure of the gay sauna called "Obelisks" in Bangkok, though I think it happened a few years earlier than the raid Of Babylon you're talking about?
I just remember reading about it in a book called "The Rice Queen Diaries" by this gay Canadian author that worked 3 years in BKK for The Nation. He was there the night of the raid and describes it in one of the chapter of his book. Seems like "Obelisks" was one of the highest-ranked gay saunas of the time, probably on par or even higher than Babylon. wonder what was the reason that Babylon survived the raid and Obelisks didn't? Was it the perseverance of its owner, his political connections or just that the advent of the internet had already transformed Babylon into an institution for gay tourists?
Because of my age I don't remember hearing or reading about any of this events. The only police raid in Bangkok of a gay venue that I know is of G.O.D, which was closed because of the high activity of drug use happening in there.
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If you read my postings about Vietnam , you know I recommend big international chains when it comes to hotels because some of the smaller local boutique ones end up having strange rules for guests, close reception after midnight, etc. It's also worth noting that because there is a smaller presence of international hotel brands in HCMC sometimes their rates might end up being even higher than BKK, even though overall HCMC is cheaper than BKK.
I would recommend Intercontinental in Saigon or if you want to stay close to the river, then Le Meridien. Wouldn't recommend walking around too much around that area at night though. Have heard bad stories from some of my friends.
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On 8/6/2023 at 7:14 AM, twoguysacam said:
Reading through the forum posts, I see that some of the sex clubs like Krubb bring in models when they have orgy events or foam parties happening. Assuming that playing with these models are covered in the cost of entrance fee and not something you have to shell out once inside. I’ve also read that many of these guys are on OF. Do any places post prior to they are bringing in… think it’s extremely hot to watch a guy online prior to fucking/getting fucked by him (them).
Both Krubb and R3 (and sometimes Mania, which is owned by the same people as R3) throw Orgy parties which usually go for 1-2 hours on a regular schedule. In both cases the price of entrance covers the entrance to the party and the right to have sex with performers, though the performer can say no to a paying guest if he really doesn't like it. I think Krubb put more on their website about which models they are having a given night. For the ones at R3, I guess you can ask the staff. I asked once a performer if he wanted to exchange line accounts, but he said no and if I wanted to see him again, I should have to go to R3 again. I'm kinda young though and don't pay for sex. I guess if you mention that you want to pay him, the answer might be really different.
Personally, I prefer the o-parties at R3. I've only been to Krubb once, in August of last year on an orgy night but felt that their party was a bit disorganized, plus you don't have mattresses where to have sex on like you have at R3.
On a side note, what's the mask situation at BKK's saunas at the moment?
When I went to Krubb, 95% of guys was wearing a mask inside. It was better when I went to the o-parties at Mania for NYE, but even there you would see about 25-30% with a mask on, even when going into a foam party where you could hardly breathe. In May, I saw way less people wearing a mask on the streets and malls of BKK, but didn't go to any sauna. Hope using a mask in a sauna is a thing even in BKK now. At the saunas in Taipei and HK that I've been this year, you could only count 2-3 guys in a total that were still wearing a mask.
- twoguysacam and Mateo_37
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6 hours ago, PeterRS said:
In the blurb at the start of its website it makes very clear that the Travel and Leisure readership is the luxury market
Which makes that list even more difficult to comprehend, as a lot of those destinations can't really be associated or considered destinations attracting high net-worth individuals. I mean you would imagine to see St. Bart's or the Cayman Islands instead of Oaxaca and Guadalajara, with all due respect for those two places.
7 hours ago, PeterRS said:Given that readers here are almost all residents of Thailand or visitors, I wonder what their list of top 10 destinations have been/would be on their existing budgets (excluding Thailand)? I find it incredibly difficult to limit my list to 10 but I'll start the ball rolling in no particular order (have visited all but Santorini).
Tokyo, Istanbul, Petra, Paris, Torres del Paine National Park in Chilean Patagonia, Madrid, Florence, Isfahan, Sydney, Santorini.
Personally if I have to come up with this kind of lists, I would definitely have them divided by category: big cities, small towns, big natural park/attraction, big historical/cultural site as you can't really compare Petra where you would spend at the most 1-2 days with a place like Paris and Tokyo. They are just two different things. A bit like comparing a poem with a historical saga like War and Peace.
- vinapu and floridarob
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9 hours ago, gayinpattaya said:
Lol. He's a tourist.
Reminded me of this:
- ChristianPFC, PeterRS and Shonen
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6 hours ago, PeterRS said:
As with all polls, who votes and how the votes are collated are important in deciding whether the poll results are suitable for each individual. I have never purchased Travel and Leisure magazine but used to read it when magazines were available on aircraft. I know I visited two destinations simply because I had read about them in the magazine. After all its writing is principally about travel destinations.
To that end, readership of Travel & Leisure has a median age of 54, 77% own their own home with a median value of US$345,809, a median household income of US$110,478 and a female to male ratio of 59/41. Clearly it is the wives who make many of the travel decisions!
That said, over my many years of travelling i have visited 17 of the 25 listed cities. At the time I visited, I could not argue with any of the findings. But then I could also add several dozen more!
Judging by the high number of Mexican destinations, I would conclude most the voters were Americans and/or Canadians. Personally in Mexico, I only enjoy CDMX. Other places and I've been both on the Pacific and the Atlantic coast, don't appeal much to me. Maybe because I'm not really into neither Mexican food or guys. Plus safety is always a concern.
I have been to 20 of the places mentioned in the article, but only I would consider only 2-3 of them in my personal Top 25 and I think there is a universal agreement among the people of this forum that BKK is in the list of each of us.
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5 hours ago, Shonen said:
Isoprinosine tablets to provide immunity, never heard of that. He should have started with the Gardasil vaccine first.
Also, most warts are not cancerous, unless one has one of the four cancerous strains. One popular guy at Nice boys has a big wart right on his Willy. Whether it’s the cancerous version who knows. But it’s rather a turnoff.
Gardasil works best when administered to a person who hasn't become sexually active yet. It's efficiency diminishes a lot when given to a person already infected with HPV.
Yes, it's supposed to lower the frequency and severity of the warts outbreak, even on a person already infected with HPV but not that significantly and works differently from person to person. That's why I think it's a bit of a hard sell for most of the Thai guys we meet (including those that don't engage in transactional sex). To the best of my knowledge, there is no Asian country that offers Gardasil for free to adult males. It has to be bought privately and the price can be a bit steep.
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I visited Koror and Tivat in 2021. As Russians and Ukrainians used to make the biggest portion of that country tourist base, Hornet was the app to use. Remember meeting this cute Russian couple but who were living in Germany. Not sure where the tourists are mostly from now with the war going on.
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On 7/13/2023 at 9:55 PM, PeterRS said:
The Italian version is merely the original French version dubbed into Italian. Finally found it on youtube as the one posted does not work.
This is also my favorite version. It's actually a French/Italian co-production, something very common between the 60-80s. Tognazzi is one of the biggest name of Italian comedy, even though he is not much known internationally. Some of his characters like Il Conte Mascetti from the movie Amici Miei are universally known in Italy with movie quotes still used in everyday language. The soundtrack is from the great Ennio Morricone and the beautiful cinematography from Armando Nannuzzi who also did work on Visconti's Ludwig and Zeffirelli's Jesus of Nazareth.
The translation and the Italian dubbing is also of very high quality. Italians have one of the best dubbing schools in the world as up to the late 70s they used to dub not only foreign movies but even Italian ones. Great masters like Fellini, De Sica will only add sound and voice in post-production. Plus, the cast of actors tended to be very international, so even later one dubbing in Italian movies was deemed necessary. Just a Youtube video from the dubbing of Fellini's Casanova. Just to show the intense work that used to go into it (sorry, it's all in Italian):
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2 hours ago, ichigo said:
I stayed here on my most recent trip - such a classy hotel and very near to Taipei Main Station. Would stay again, but is a bit on the pricier side.
The restaurant in there is also very experience, much more than other 3-stars restaurants in cities like Hong Kong and Singapore. I guess being the only one in Taiwan with that recognition lets them go away with it.
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4 hours ago, YoungWesternTop said:
Would Prep be worth taking if one is only engaging in oral sex though?
I think you should, since you are so worried about catching diseases. Start taking it a week before heading to Thailand and continue till at least one week after you're back home. So at least you don't have to worry about catching the most serious of all the STDs.
As for using a condom for oral, it's truly up to you to decide what's an accepted pleasure-risk ratio.
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2 hours ago, khaolakguy said:
Thanks Peter, all very helpful, appreciated.
I just enjoy being either in or a short walk from gay areas when I go to an infrequently visited city. It's 30 years ago that I was last in Taipei, so I think that counts as infrequent. So when in Paris stay in Marais etc
So I guess based on your shared experience and my research I'm looking at something like a three star in Ximending
You don't have to stay in Ximending but doing so gives you the same advantages as when staying in Silom in BKK.
First, it's the best place to do some "twink watching" as it's not only a gay area but truly the center of the youth culture in Taipei. Second, as you said, gives you the possibility to be able to simply walk in most of the gay venues and third, as a consequence of the second, you make it very convenient for the guys you meet in bars and more importantly on apps to come to your place. In Ximending, I would recommend the WestGate hotel, which is right at the MRT exit. CitizenM is also pretty good and quite new. Popular with young crowd. It's about 10 minutes walk from the RedTheater. I have also stayed at a hotel inHouse Heritage. it has good reviews on Agoda and the rooms are pretty decent but they don't offer much view. Plus, didn't really like the breakfast in there. I was surprised to hear it was one of the hotels recommended by the Taipei pride organizers. Don't recommend Airbnb in Ximending as buildings tend to be quite old.
If you end up not staying in Ximending, the area around Taipei Main Station has a few hotels. Probably the most famous is Palais de Chine, which also hosts the only 3-star Michelin restaurant in Taiwan. Never stayed in their rooms though, so can't really tell you. I have stayed a few times in Zhongshan., a relatively big neighborhood north of the main station with a mix of residential and commercial parts. It's pretty enjoyable walking at night over there. Especially the area close to the Soi13 gay sauna.
If you really want something modern, then definitely stay in Xinyi, which contains also Taipei 101. The area attracts big crowds of all ages during the day. Most of the big 5-star chains are located in there though I would recommend the W Hotel. Super popular both with the local and the visiting Asian gay crowd.
The good thing is that hotels in Taipei, no matter the number of stars, never have a problem with you bringing over any number of guests😉. Plus most of the staff I've encountered has always been very polite and friendly.
- khaolakguy and eurasian
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2 hours ago, PeterRS said:
Finding information certainly seems more difficult than it was a few years ago. There used to be the section of a website titled AVERT which did publish statistics, although I believe it covered a more general msm percentage. I can no longer find it. A Paper issued by Australia's CSIRO in the Sexual Health section headed The Continued HIV Epidemic among men who have sex with men and transgender women in the ASEAN region: Implications for HIV policy and service programming, states re Thailand -
"HIV incidence among MSM under IBBS (integrated behavioural and biological surveillance) decreased only in Bangkok from 28.6% in 2014 to 10.3% in 2018."
https://www.publish.csiro.au/sh/Fulltext/sh20134
This is clearly illustrated in a graph showing the rate of increase/decrease in 7 major Asian cities.
If the chart is accurate, the rate of HIV among msm has decreased substantially. A major concern arising from the chart, though, is clearly the significantly rising rate in Kuala Lumpur and Ho Chi Minh.
There have been several other reports including data from 2014, but they require a great deal of time to analyse exactly what they mean since all seem based on different modelling methods and results which are extremely difficult to compare. Worrying, though, there is one paper dated July 16 2021 in Britain's highly respected medical journal The Lancet regarding an 18-month Study which suggests that "MSM will represent over half of all new HIV infections by 2025." This figure refers only to Bangkok. All reports I have looked at indicate a rise in the number of syphilis cases in Bangkok.
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PIIS2589-5370(21)00313-8/fulltext
The 1 in 3 or 1 in 4 people engaging in MSM being HIV+ in Bangkok is a bit old data. Remembering reading about it before my first trip to Thailand in 2008.
It's true that Thailand was a pioneer in SE Asia about providing antiviral medicine and prep to the the general population, even heavily subsidized or completely free and even though it can be argued that things could have been done better, looks like it has paid off.
Surprised about the trajectory of KL. According to my good Malay friend, prep is free in government clinics. He comes though from a upper class family, so things might be more accessible to him. No surprised at all about Saigon and I actually think the numbers are underreported. BB sex is almost de rigueur over there, but access to Prep and HIV medicines is still quite complicated. I know at least two guys there that became HIV+. Unfortunately there is still a big stigma about poz in Vietnam, even among the medical staff. They have told me quite a few ugly episodes they had to face.
However, syphilis rates are really high in BKK, and that's easy transmissible through oral sex, especially if you engage into deep one. Using a condom though for oral seems like a hard sell to me, if you don't plan to engage in paid sex. cause if it's true one receiving oral sex with a condom on doesn't feel much, for the one giving it is pretty unpleasant. Yes, Thai guys can be pretty accommodating if they like you and you treat them nicely, however not many probably would enjoy the taste of latex in their mouth. I guess if you use one of those fruit-flavored condoms, it might be kinda doable.
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52 minutes ago, Gaybutton said:
If you are only 30 years old and decent looking, what do you need with money boys at all? You should be able to use the hookup apps or just pick up boys just about anywhere in Thailand and not be asked to pay them a thing. I doubt you would have any problems about using a condom and asking the boys to use a condom.
Unless this is just another hoax, you should place yourself, with photos, on the apps right now. You'll have more offers than you can handle before you even go.
I agree. I'm kinda in the same age group and never have had the need to pay in Thailand. Just an advice for @YoungWesternTop. If you are going to use the apps, especially in Bangkok, only discuss money if the guy says he is a MB on his profile or tells you that explicitly. If you assume they are mbs and start asking "How much?", you will get back lots of resentment, even from guys who would otherwise easily accept to have sex with you.
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22 hours ago, PeterRS said:
I'm keeping my options open for the moment. Having been to 7 already and being much less interested in the dance parties and overcrowded saunas and hot springs than in the Parade itself, I may give it a miss this year as I do want also to revisit Tokyo.
Great. I'll head to Fukuoka right after the pride. I've heard of a sauna in there, close to Hakata station but it will definitely be much smaller than the ones in Tokyo and Osaka.
Thanks for your detailed description of the sauna in Shinjuku. It's definitely very useful to a person who wants to go there for the first time, as Japanese saunas are pretty different from saunas in other countries. I focused more on the dark room with bunk beds, as that was the thing that really struck me the most the first time I went there and I really think it's the most unique element in a Japanese gay sauna. I remember though a dark with rows of mattress where people were having sex in gay sauna in Seoul. It was in the Hongdae area.
Your Best Cities with Moneyboys & Where to find them
in Gay Thailand
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It's a tough race to determine who is the most submissive between Thai or Taiwanese twinks.
I'm surprised no one has mentioned HCMC so far. I don't really engage into paying sex, but I'm always surprised to see so many mbs profiles on Grindr and Blued when I'm in Saigon, definitely way more than in KL or Singapore. Also, to the best of my knowledge, the rates tend to be even lower than in Thailand.