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At Mandarin Oriental Residences next to Iconsiam

Pent up demand and the JPY hitting long-time lows vs the USD and other currencies. I guess there is a lot of complaining by the locals about overtourism. I think the government is trying to get people to venture beyond Tokyo-Kyoto-Osaka I'm headed there for a couple of weeks in October

yep, the missionaries flooded in, especially after the Korean War. Quite conservative society. Seoul is a great city. And it's enormous. There are so many things to see and do.

don't some of them use some sort of service to run their accounts? Your local porn star might just provide the content to somebody else who does the uploading and account maintaining. Especially if it's a big account. I'd guess they probably get lots of messages

Luang Prabang is nice if you want a slower pace for a few days. Easy to wander around the old town. Some nice places to visit outside of town including Kuang Si waterfall which is one of the most picturesque in the world and some places you can go on the Mekong. It's been several years since I was last there so I don't know about the gay scene but it's a big tourist attraction so I presume there are at least some guys there on the apps. I think Vientiane has grown quite a bit over the last several years. Siem Reap is quite interesting from a historic standpoint. Lots to see if you're into that sort of stuff. Saigon is big and chaotic but I liked my time there a handful of years ago. I would not go to Myanmar at this time. I like Singapore if you haven't been there. Not cheap but I didn't find it outrageously expensive. The most humid, tropical place I've ever been. Some of the most gorgeous men I've ever seen. Taiwan is great. Taipei is a big metropolis with plenty to see and do. Several gay massage shops if you like those sorts of places. Plenty of info in the appropriate forum. The Yen is in free-fall so Japan is more affordable than ever, but a bit farther away. I guess the Won is collapsing too so South Korea is in the same boat and a little bit closer to Thailand.

sounds like a lottery with a 2500 baht entry ticket

I think flying to Siem Reap makes a lot more sense unless you have a whole lotta time. But there is a lot to see outside of Bangkok so it's not a terrible idea if you want to see more rural areas and some of the regional sights. Airport transfers are easy to organize on your own. Either by taxi or one of the many car services. I've used to SP Limousine (splimousine.com) for many years. I have a friend who is a licensed guide. He's put together lots of great trips for me over the years. He's in Saraburi now teaching English most of the time but can get time off here and there to guide some guests. We went to Ubon Ratchathani for a few days back in January. I think there's some sort of network that allows guides and drivers to find each other. I can see if he's interested in working with you.

I agree that communication is a problem these days. You're right that your insurance agent should have changed his outgoing voicemail. But I also know from personal experience that sometimes you just forget when you are hurrying to get things done before a vacation. I recently hired a contractor to remodel my bathrooms. His communication issues were a yellow flag before I signed the contract. And have continued to be an issue since. I have confidence that the job will be fine in the end. I think it's a small operation and he's a little over-extended. But he takes longer to respond to messages than I would like.

From the looks of their lineup I'd say they are a branch of the Zoo Spa/Malepark group. So, I presume very high prices for not so great service.

That's good to hear. Transferring between the current domestic and international terminals is a bit of a pain. So hopefully the new terminal makes that a smoother experience.

I'm always a bit leery of booking flights with these sort of sites. If anything goes wrong with your flights having to contact them for customer service might be difficult.

I would imagine that these rules can easily be changed by the guy in charge

I thought the Russians were taking over Phuket. I believe China has plenty of sleaze so maybe the Chinese gays don't feel a need to leave home for it. At least all of those videos of Chinese karaoke clubs that circulate on the internet are very sleazy.

you might enjoy this channel on YT

Last time I arrived I was in the so-called fast-track (thanks to traveling in business class) and it took forever because the guy ahead of me had some sort of problem with his paperwork and visa. I tried another line when they called for a supervisor but that line took a while too. But my bag was already on the carousel when I got there so at least I didn't have to wait there. It's interesting that the PM seems to want to be the transport minister.

How are these people allowed to work?

I feel bad for the innocent kids who struck out in the parent lottery.

I wonder if the anti-junta people could take over from the inside. Seems like giving weapons to people opposed to the military government might not be too bright

I'm not sure Thailand is willing to confront their many issues. There's plenty of wealth, it's just concentrated in the hands of a very few. People are smart enough to see that having children is an expense they can't afford. They could offer a path to citizenship for the many immigrants who are already living in the country

you can get SIM cards to make calls as well. But I think most of these places have little forms on their websites to contact them. I think you can probably also use something like Whatsapp to call them. That's what I used in Hong Kong back in the day I used Mobal when I was in Japan last year because I needed a local phone number in order to get concert tickets https://www.mobal.com/japan-sim-card/?fbclid=IwAR3UUnbWeDaVGXbHqJs3XRx5NZsIrvqZIf0qn8WyZtT637QVU344QV2T1bg

it's a fascinating place. I didn't realize how densely populated it is until I went there. I remember how hot is was in the October I visited and have no idea how anyone survives there in summer

As mentioned up thread, there's not a lot to do in Negombo. It's easy to arrange a car and driver for a private tour around the island. I have a couple of friends who are guides. I spent about two weeks on my first trip and was going to spend the same on my second trip before I had to leave in a hurry due to covid. If you send them your time frame, interests and budget they could come up with an itinerary. There are lots of great national parks if you like nature and animals. Or plenty of historic sites if you like that. As for "rustic" hotels, there are many upscale hotels around, but for a couple of nights I can deal with pretty much any sort of place. I have not been to Gomez Place, but from the photos it looks more "basic" than "rustic" to me.

Not a surprise, I suppose. But still a sad day.

I stayed at the Sukhothai a couple of times a million years ago. It was quite nice, but agree that the location is less than ideal.

maybe you're just shopping in the wrong places. My problem is that I discovered EveandBoy and now I can't help myself. The nice thing is that so much of this stuff is pretty cheap. But I might need an extra bag for all of my Asian skincare