Nikom

Just to let everyone know that the Valentine Party at the San Francisco club was a great success. There was a private party there in the early evening then later open for everyone. It was packed! Another club that was packed that night was Channel V but I don't yet know where it is. Just somewhere near the University. Most of my friends went to Channel and did not get home until 3:30 am! Every time some guy writes from Myanmar he expresses surprise that there are so many gay boys in the city. The interent has really opened the gate!

Here is another gay club in Yangon. It was packed with guys on Valentine night: Channel V This is now about five that I know of. I have heard of a new on in Mandalay but can not confirm.

During the past 20 years a new middle class has grown in Myanmar and two generations have matured during this time. Many of the members of this class go to school in Thailand or Singapore. Well educated, into business and education, they are the primary group that the NGO are working with in the country. For the past ten years most gay men in Yangon met at night clubs attached to upper class hotels. These clubs are very mixed and accepted by everyone there. Many of these type of men on the web site show up at these clubs and are very friendly and open. This system is slowly changing. More and more clubs are opening up that are very mixed or gay and many of the lower middle class students now also have an outlet for their desires! The interent has provided methods of contact and the boys in Yangon are using it! A check of Romeo or DAR or a number of other sites will confirm this.

virus alert Not sure what kind of virus alert you got. I have accessed this site from three different computers, all with virus protection. Nothing?????

AND the Catholics, Mormons, and the Southern Baptist!

Strangely, even after all the hundreds of year of being neighbors, their language is nothing like Thai. Some of the ethnic groups [there are 7 to 9 major ones] that are near the Thai border know some Thai.

If you have a free night in Yangon, especially on the weekend try this lounge/restaurant. Great eye candy and who knows what else. 1Two 4 DJ Lounge Restaurant No. 262-264, Dagon Center, Pyay Road Just remember, Myanmar boys are shy only because of their fear of using the English language. Speak to them first. They will respond! .

For those interested in Myanmar guys try this site: http://myanmarhunks.blogspot.com/ Many, many pic. Go down through and check out the boys! So much to see! .

fountainhall, apparently they have been told, "NO cameras or mobile pic"! I did check on this but this has been the policy at other 'gatherings' in Yangon. There was a big gay party at a small lounge in the Dagon Center on January 30th. The crowd was overflowing and the manager was so happy that he invited them all back! My friends ran into boys they had gone to school with and never knew their 'true feelings". One guy in the group found that his next door neighbor was there! The party at the San Francisco DJ Club is being sponsored by a resident of Yangon but he is from Singapore. Rich fellow! Some of the guys don't like him. Whey you ask why they say, "Chinese"! The Chinese are not liked because they have so much control in the country. Not from the residents but from the country of China.

. Currently there are 60,824 males in Bangkok between the ages of 18 and 35 who are on Hi5 ! .

"I wonder how long the generals will allow this club to remain open." This is a good question. Notice they said "gay friendly", meaning a party for all. There are many night clubs in Yangon, mostly open in upscale hotels, that are "gay friendly", especially on the weekend. They have been opened for 10 to 12 years. There you see straights, lady boys, and gays. The guys I know going to this Valentine Party are all college students or have finished. All except one are Burmese, not members of any of the other ethnic groups in Myanmar, and many of them have some family connection with members of the government. .

Sounds like you are talking about Thailand???

For those interested in following trends or for those who go over to Yangon: Gay Valentine Party on 14th Feb 2009 Where: Yangon's first gay friendly club, 'San Francisco DJ Club' Time: 11pm till 2am Place: San Francisco DJ Club next to TARMWAY PLAZA DRESS CODE: WHITE TICKET: K 5000 - INCLUSIVE 1 BEER OR SOFT DRINK MUSIC: RETRO 70s & 80s TEL: 01-725615 (After 8pm)

"My question for now is, do you believe in black magic?" If you belive in some form of Christianity then you believe in black magic! Having lived in West Africa I can tell you that there are things that the Western world doesn't have a clue about! Why didn't you go with your boyfriend to take his father to see the doctor?

Have you ever had anything stolen in Thailand? YES, MANY TIMES!,, MAANY TIMESSSS! My heart!

Maybe they don't exist anymore. I heard about this group several years ago in Chiang Mai. Recently a contact in Yangon ask if I could make contact with them. For those interested in 'the cause', gay life is growing fast in Yangon and now Mandalay. Next month will be the first 'social' that the gay boys have ever had. Will gather at a restaurant to eat and meet. An even bigger 'meet' is being planned for the New Year in April. We plan to do spread the word much wider. Sorta waiting to see how the first one goes!

Does anyone have a contact [email, etc.] for a reportedly gay Myanmar group in Chiang Mai? Do they have a web site? I have been told that they have been there for some time apparently with western security funds. I am trying to get in touch with them.

"I saw so many amazing temples across Thailand and my desire to learn more about them and the people who live there increased dramatically. I have never studied the Buddhist religion and I do want to learn more about it." There is Buddhist religion and there is Thai Buddhist religion. I would strongly suggest that you first read several books about the religion in general, and then about Thai Buddhism. Understanding Thai Buddhism is key to trying to understand Thai culture and society. Just jumping into a month of living with monks may not teach you much about the religion, but about daily tasks. Without some background you will not have the faintest idea of what is happening. Do your reading first and then decide.

Another new restaurant in Yangon: DEE DEE THAI RESTAURANT The best Thai food in Yangon! Not expensive! Not in the tourist area. Menu not in English - ask for Tun the manager. He speaks good English and is MORE than happy to help. Located near Dagon Centre and near the Myaynigone bus stop [everyone knows this stop] No. 152/A, San Choung Street, Shinsaw Pu Quarter. Tel: 510898 [Located about ten steps off of Paya Road, the main street.] Many cute waiters and friend staff!

Myanmar Trip Report, 2008 Sorry this is late. Jet lag and getting back into the swing of work has taken some time! I originally was due in Yangon in the same week that the hurricane / cyclone Nargis hit. A week later my driver/guide emailed me that the main part of the storm hit the delta region and not Yangon, and that the electricity and water was turned back on in the city. I left a couple of days later. Yangon: I located all of my friends, including the one on the other side of the river that I was concerned about. Yangon did not suffer from floods, but instead high winds. Very few buildings were damaged but the city lost many of the beautiful old hardwood trees probably planted during British colonial occupation. These trees, which lined almost every street and the University of Yangon campus, are mostly gone. Just toppled straight down towards the north across roads, streets, sidewalks, and walls. The University of Yangon was the hardest hit as the campus has many trees. Here some of the buildings, especially the older faculty houses, were damaged because of falling trees. The other parts of the campus had little damage as these buildings are much newer. On the drive in from the new airport there were hundreds of workmen and the National Guard out clearing roads, streets, and sidewalks. In summary, Yangon now looks much different with so many of the trees gone. There are still many tropical trees as they were not damaged. The worst hit part of Yangon was New Township where the working class of the city lives. Most of their houses were of thatch and most lost their roofs. Mostly repaired now as the citizens of the city all went out to help repair and rebuild the houses. The day we went out to this area many of the businesses, companies and wealthy families had sent money, supplies and workers out to repair the whole area. The National Guard was there helping to cut and remove trees and clear roads. The whole day was almost like a festival as there were so many people there building roofs and making repairs, and local groups served free food and water to everyone. All over the city there were cleanup crews. Some Army, some private. The falling trees also broke many of the stone fences so these are being repaired also. Many new jobs opened up for clean up crews! Wood from all of the trees was stacked along the road and people come by and pick up to use for cooking. All of my student friends were involved in the relief effort. The university and high school students formed themselves into teams and went around their neighborhoods collecting food, clothes, tools, building supplies, money and rice. When they had a load they would charter a truck and head south. Reaching their destination they distributed what they had brought and then stayed a couple of days helping with repairs. I got a special permit to go across the river to my friend’s village. We spent two days re-roofing his family home and helping repair several others. We bought the zinc and had it delivered and many in the village came to help with the work. Consequences of the storm: Because so many trees blew over the price of wood to make charcoal for cooking and the price of charcoal itself all dropped drastically. As so many trees had toppled over on walls and fences around property and as these trees had to be removed and repairs made hundreds of workman were employed to do the work and make repairs. Many of the satellite dishes in the city blew away. Those merchants who had a stock of dishes were making a pile of money! On our way to Bago we saw three truckloads of dishes heading towards Yangon, probably from Thailand. Previously I had taken the train or flew to Mandalay. This time we went by car for a long two-day journey. Saw parts of the country I had never seen before, went past the new Capital of Myanmar, before we reached Mandalay. Stayed overnight about halfway at Mother’s House Hotel in Taung Ngu. My driver knows all the good local restaurants and tea shops along the way, which added a plus to the trip. Mandalay: It seemed that everyone in the city was in someway involved in storm relief. There were collection centers for money, rice, clothes, tools, etc. all over the city. Much of the collecting, as in Yangon, was being done by the university students. I checked out a couple of new restaurants and went across the Ayeyarwada River to Mingun to pay school fees for my student. Because Mandalay Royal Hotel was still closed we stayed at Mandalay View Inn. A very nice hotel with great services. We were made to ‘feel at home’! Stopped by and chatted with the girl at Mandalay Royal and was told that they would be opening ‘within a few days’. I had never been to Monywa before and while I was not impressed with the city nor their hotels [nor being attacked by huge gangs of monkeys at the caves] the visit to the Thanboddhay Paya was very much worth the visit and should not be missed. Lonely Planet guidebook says, “There are 845 small stupas that surround and rise up to the richly decorated central stupa reportedly containing 582,357 images”! On the way back from Mandalay, at Bago, we headed east to Hpa-an, an ancient capital in Kayin State. This area of the country, next to the border with Thailand, has some of the most beautiful natural scenery in the country. Tall jagged mountain peaks in a tropical flowering forest with plants which seems moist, growing, and blossoming. We drove on into Mon State to Mawlamyaing, one of my favorite cities in Myanmar. Located on a wide river at the mouth of the Gulf of Mottama, the city has great seafood, many very old temples, and is near the beach. All along the river is a wide sidewalk and street which in the evening becomes a walk way for the city residents. Kids run up and down on their motorbikes, lovers meet here, and many people exercise here. This year Setse Beach, south of the city, was almost deserted. Many folks from Mawlamyaing have stopped visiting on the weekend as many bodies have washed up from the delta region. Those bodies that could be moved were taken for cremation at a nearby cemetery but some were in such bad shape that they had to be cremated right on the beach and then the remains taken back to the cemetery. I walked only about one km on the beach and counted 29 spots where bodies had been burned. The area around Bago is a large palm tree area and the area where a lot of thatch for houses is made. Both on our way to Mandalay, going to Mawlamyaing, and returning to Yangon we saw hundreds of people making thatch in the yards of houses and loading the sheets of thatch onto hundreds of huge trucks. The trucks, many private and many army, all were headed for the Delta Region. In almost every loading area we saw a military person with a bag of money who was paying on-the-spot for the thatch and also paying the truck drivers. Back in Yangon the city still seemed so different without all the trees! ~~~~ During the Cyclone Nargis relief some ‘misinformation’ was published in the West. [Many political opinions too but I will not go into those.] - Nargis hit the Delta Region of Myanmar only. Not the whole country. This region comprises less than 8% of the whole country. - Yangon is the commercial capital of the country. It has doubled in size every two years, both outward and upward, since ca. 1997. Anyone who took the circle train around Yangon five years ago went through forests and rice fields. Now you go through sprawling suburbs and new factory areas. - The current political capital of Myanmar is Naypyidaw. It is located in central Myanmar on the vast Mandalay plains in a rice and corn farming area. It is not, as BBC claims, in the jungle in the mountains. Yangon was never the capital before British occupation and colonization. It remains the business and commercial capital. - Over 2000 international visas were issued for relief work following Nargis. [Published by Asean]

Howard's has an excellent breakfast although limited menu. Coffee good too! This way you sit at the front of Howards and watch the morning crowd going to work, or the night crowd going home!

Sorry fellows that I did not answer some of your questions about the storm in Myanmar. I was in Bangkok when the storm hit Myanmar and went in the following week. Will write a short report later but have some new tourist data to share. There is a new meeting place for local boys in Yangon. Every evening, but especially on the weekends the local gay boys gather on Sule Paya Road starting about 4:20/5:00 at an outside tea shop. Facing the front of Cafe Aroma there are two cinemas to your right, or south. Next to the second cinema there is an outside tea shop with a blue awning. That’s it! Go up take a seat and smile at one! This is a expansion of the restaurant list posted in Part I: The Ritz Cafe is a short walking distance over the rail lines from downtown Yangon. Address: No. 296/1 Shwedagon Pagoda Road, Dagon Twp. Tel: 253680 and 243934. This is a small quiet place for food, drink, and talk. Western and Asian food. Part of the Cafe is rather dark and you can see friends meeting there. If you are with a local person turn right when you enter as there is a nice room there. 365 is a new 24 hour cafe next door to Thamada Hotel within sight from the front of the Rail Station. Western and Asian food and drink. In fact this is the breakfast cafe for the hotel too. A good place to grab something to eat before heading back to your hotel. This place is always busy as you will see the teenages of the new Myanmar middle class here in numbers. You will also see many gay couples including local/frarang. Some of the waiters are gay! Contacting Local boys before you go: The best place to contact Myanmar gay boys is on Manjam.com. The local Yangon boys use this site to find local lovers but are open to contacts with tourist. This is the only site that also has contacts in Mandalay.

Another good contact site for Yangon is >> http://in.guys4men.com/index.php This site is based in India but covers the whole world! One of the posters on this site even has some "nice" pics! Enjoy!

Myanmar: Want to help bring about change? Currently the middle class in Myanmar is growing. There are new business opening all over the country. Cities are growing. Many citizens go to Singapore and Malaysia to work for a few years, save their money and return to start a business. It is the middle class in any country that brings about lasting change. It starts small, grows, and then starts pushing for change. For those tourist truly interested in helping to bring about a change in government in Myanmar here are some ideas. 1. Adopt a school. Schools are poorly funded and the staffs work out of dedication. Ask your driver, or friend, or guide to take you to visit a school. Visit the school several times and get to know the staff. The best way to help the school is to take the headmaster or a teacher on a ‘shopping trip for educational materials’. One of the primary centers in Yangon to buy educational supplies is Bogyoke Aung San Rd to the west of the Central Hotel. The street venders sell about everything educational here. If you go down the side streets of this area you will see textbooks being made, and sold. If you spend only 20.00US you will be surprised about how much you can buy for the school. And this will be more than the school has ever received. 2. Adopt a student. School tuitions vary but about 30.00US will pay a student’s tuition for the whole year. For senior high schools the fees plus books are about 100 to 150US. Currently I pay the school fees for a primary student in Mandalay, the university fees for a student in Yangon. I paid the fees for a high school student for two years and he won many honors for his work and is now attending school in another Asian country. 3. Start a business for a boy, or his family. Make him independent and teach him business. To start a tea shop for a friend costs about 100US to get started. Another 100 puts it on a good foundation. The same for a rice shop. Three years ago I give a friend money to start a rice shop. It has now doubled in size and he has brought his aunt into the business too! AND of course I get free tea at ‘my’ tea shop too! 4. If you find a new restaurant or small hotel owned by local people advertise it on the internet. Help bring them business and help keep tourists informed of non-government places to stay and eat.

Several people have asked for a general guide of what to see in Myanmar. It is my own. Others I am sure have good ones too! A Mini Tourist Guide to Myanmar There are two major places to visit in Myanmar. Two places that everyone should see during their life on this earth! 1. The Shwedagon Paya A Buddhist shrine, temple, wat, seated on a hill overlooking the City of Yangon that some claim is over 2500 years old. Probably started in the 6th century its great golden dome can be seen for miles. For Myanmar Buddhist it is a the most sacred Buddhist site of all. Everyone hopes to visit the Shwedagon at least once during their life. Large groups of Buddhist from Thailand and other SE Asia countries travel each year to Myanmar just to visit and pray here. Rather like Mecca for Muslims. 2. Bagan A small 42 sq km plain on the banks of the Areyarwady River is filled with over 4400 temples, some Buddhist and some Hindu. Started in 1044 by King Anawrahta, almost all of the following kings built more temples and shrines. From several of the taller temple you can look out over mile and miles of shrines. Bagan is said to rival Angkor Wat. Other places of interest for the history and culture of Myanmar: Yangon, the former capital, is the business, trade and banking center of the country. Many interesting temples and sites to be visited. Perhaps two days is enough. This is where you meet people and where more people speak English. Mandalay its self is of little historical interest, with the exception of the royal palace. However, near by the city are the ruins of several previous royal cities. Mandalay is currently the center of increasing trade from China and India. A visit across the Areyarwady River to Mingun, another royal capital is required. The trip over the river and back is fascinating, as is the ruins at Mingun. When you leave the boat and walk up to the main road you will turn right to reach the ruins. If you turn left a walk a bit you will see on your left an art gallery that has a sign saying something like, “Tourist Stop”, Visitors Rest”. There is at times an art school in training there and the teacher and the students will give you a warm welcome and a nice rest! Inle lake is a lake high up in the mountain and surrounded by mountains. The people here are of a different nationality than the Shan who live nearby. All of the transportation to the villages is by the lake. You will see the school boat taking students to school, rice boats, cattle boats, etc. In addition to the lake itself many man-made canals have been constructed to connect even more villages. You hire a guide and his boat and he will take you to the various markets, temples, and villages. You will often see people swimming in the canals, some clothed and some not! The beaches in Myanmar have not been, yet, over built or over run. Ngapali Beach on the bay of Bengal has a whole row of small beach cottages or small motel type hotels along the coast. All very laid back. Many local owned restaurants along the road connecting the beach hotels. Most of the tourist here are Asian. Chaung Tha Beach is more rustic, even more laid back and less crowded. This is where most of the local folk from Yangon go because it is less that an day’s bus ride. Ngapali is a two day drive. For tourist going to Ngapali it is best to fly. To cover all of this you will need about three weeks for a good trip to Myanmar. Most first time visitors do two weeks but do not cover all of the above.