ChristianPFC

Why is that? I have the idea that airspace at the altitude of commercial passenger flights is free worldwide. For China, there is just geographically no reason to fly over, unless you want to fly into China.

I adjust my frequency of visits to prices. In Bangkok, I go only to one bar, and only a few times per year, when friends from abroad are in town. Let's make that 4 bar visits per year. In Pattaya, I visit 3 or 4 bars per night, sometimes two nights in a row, once per month. In both Bangkok and Pattaya there are bars that I don't visit at all because their business model does not fit my preferences.

Gayromeo has lost considerable and is only worth considering in Bangkok and Pattaya (I haven't been to Phuket or Chiang Mai for a while, so I don't know how active it's there). When I go to the provinces, I first open hornet. But that's only because with a free account I can see a limited number of profiles, whereas with blued you can go around the world if you have time. The video advertising on hornet is really annoying. If I had to choose one of the three, it would be blued. A friend reports good results with grindr, some day I will open an account.

For X-Boys Pattaya I have recent experience that you can have a boy sitting with you and get away without buying a drink. That's not my normal mode of operation, but here how it came: I'm not a fan of X-Boys Pattaya and haven't been for over a year. But I spotted a cute boy Ball online, and he works in X-Boys, and after over a year it's time to re-assess the bar and their show. So I went shortly before show to see the boys on rotation first, and then the show after. Before show started, lights went off and all boys left stage, and Ball came to sit with me uninvited (important; if I invite a boy I always buy him a drink). I think three staff asked me if I would buy him a drink, a firm "no" and they left me in peace and the boy sitting on my side. As there were only few other customers, I didn't feel he loses on opportunity for an off, and tipped him 100 when I left. The audition was positive, and some day I might meet him before or after work. I freely admit I'm a cheapskate. Under certain circumstances I can justify paying 280 THB for drink for me, but I cannot justify paying 300 THB for a boy drink. And if staff had told me the boy cannot sit with me unless I buy him a drink, I would have replied "then he will have to sit somewhere else", and taken all communication with the boy online. If a boy sits with me uninvited, and he is not my type, then no drink and no tip. X-Boys Bangkok, I haven't been for years (?) and cannot tell. But I clearly remember I offed a boy from Classic Boys about 2012 without even entering the bar, just asking at door if he is in, pay off fee, and go (after boy dressing). And similar elsewhere, but with entering the bar and drinking, call the boy over, ask him "do you want to go with me?" (no details about activities or money) and send him back to dress.

I like it! On gayromeo I know that someone has blocked me, which I find more honest than Line or hornet or facebook with "content not available" or other similar messages. Worst is hornet, where the chat is gone.

I had a look at craigslist personals when it was running, but nothing caught my interested. I'm happy with gay online dating (blued, hornet, gayromeo), and gay groups on facebook (in Thai language) and the occasional check on gboysiam (in Thai language).

I have been living here on prepaid for 6 years. I spend about 8 months per year in Thailand, and with a contract I would not know if I loose minutes or data during the time I'm out of Thailand. Anyway, prepaid is without paperwork, which I favor.

I voted "no" "too dangerous" "too far". "Too far" is not a valid argument, as from Germany distance to Brasil is similar as to Thailand. In principle I'm interested in Brasil, however: I speak Thai already and know my way around here (SEAsia), safety is a big issue for me (I want to be able to walk anywhere anytime without safety issues), and my impression is that Brasilians are more hunky and more hairy (and I don't want someone who shaves, or use depilatory cream, I wanted natural absence of hair where it doesn't belong) than SEAsians. And anyway, my time is completely consumed between Thailand, Germany, Taiwan and Myanmar. There is no chance of me going to Brasil anytime soon. Another point is: have those who have been to Brasil paid for sexual services or was it free? Nowadays, most of my encounters here (SEAsia) are free, whereas in Brasil I would probably have to start by paying to get an impression what's available and what's possible.

No. Anyway, it depends on what you want to learn. My main interest is in reading, so I can understand what's written. Whereas most students, and subsequently most courses, focus on speaking and listening. I'm interested in grammar and history of a language, which I get from internet and books, but not from classes. And finally, there is this wonderful tool of the International Phonetic Alphabet, which I have never seen used in class (neither at school nor at adult education). Once you have a certain level, language exchange is something to look into. The experience in Taipei (Chinese-German) was positive. In Thailand I haven't tried it yet as I travel a lot and cannot plan more than a day in advance. The question is rather to study in class or individual courses. Both Thai (in 2011) and Chinese (in 2018) I started in class, but found large parts a waste of time, nay detrimental (when you talk with your classmates in the target language). I would say, the higher cost of individual courses is offset by having the full attention of your teacher and not being subjected to wrongly pronounced target language. Pronunciation is actually the only part where I need a native speaker. And it took me a bit to get my teacher in Taiwan to understand not to stop correcting my pronunciation when she understands what I'm saying, but when it is correctly pronounced. Everything else I can study on my own, with books or internet.

"Short time" translates as ชั่วคราว chûa kraao (short time, temporary), whereas what we call "long time" is ค้างคืน káang keun, literally "over night".

Your boyfriend loves beach or the beach in Pattaya/Jomtien? I'm not a beach person, but even I can say that the beach in Pattaya/Jomtien is not the finest Thailand has to offer. And if I had a boyfriend, I wouldn't go to Pattaya with him (because, apart from the gogo bars and a few tourist attractions, I don't like Pattaya).

Extension of validity varies greatly from one provider to the other. Maximum validity for AIS is 365 days. Registering your number does not help. I did so in 2012 (?) hoping that would keep the number to my name, but the time I came to Thailand for holiday, it was beyond validity and I couldn't get the number back. Between AIS, you can transfer validity or balance for a small fee. @ChristianPFC is using these machines (I never have) and can advise more These machines do indeed come with or without service fee, as high as 5 THB for 100 THB top-op, i.e. you have to insert 105 THB. There is an interesting problem related to expiration of SIM-cards. I have saved someone's number, his validity expires, the number is assigned to a new SIM-card and bought by a new person. The network detects activity, and LINE adds this person. I message him/her, hoping to find a long-lost friend. Usually it's pretty quick to figure out it's not the person I'm looking for, but once I ended up with a Thai woman who insisted she loves me and wanted to marry me, and when I told her that's impossible because I'm gay, she wanted to borrow 20,000 THB.

I don't like the entire idea of making appointments with service providers and popular boys (a very short step to attitude and unreasonable expectations). I want to be the one in high demand and who is popular, and I will go to places where I am (Pattaya gogo bars, street trade). Daydreamer's report reminds me of my recent (Dec 2018) survey of Myanmar massage shops. No appointment, but I had name and address of a shop, but with unclear numbering I walked past twice, and there was no sign. Asked a local for help, and he called the number, and someone waved out of a window above us. So I went up, and still no sign, but door was open and I was asked to come in. The selection of massage boys was poor, so I made an excuse, said Thank You and left.

Has Good Boys closed permanently? On Friday I walked past, it was closed and I couldn't the see their sign.

AFAIK their data packages come at different maximum speeds. Maybe you are just in a slow package?

As you wrote: "once". Saphan Kwai is in decline as well, and here I assume it's not rising rents or lack of foreign customers. When you are looking for prostitution, gogo bars and massage shops provide that. For free encounters, gay saunas and discos could provide that, but my success rate is low. Online has everything: free and paid, and 90% of my free encounters are from online. There is just no brick-and-mortar place that could provide such a selection. Online, I can fish in entire Thailand. I'm just back from a nice encounter in Sakaew. I went there for sightseeing, and meeting a local boy at night was the icing on the cake.

I had a few video chats after which I decided not to meet the boy. Should do video chat more often.

I have been to both sport fields (there are supposed to be more, but the footage is fake or an artist's impression). One I passed recently, and it's a great example how something that was created with good intentions became a failure due to poor construction and lack of maintenance. About one year after construction, cracks appeared in the ground, and it turned into a giant dog toilet, and is now used as general storage area. The other one I have to check next time I'm in the area. Worth a full article with pictures on my blog some day. The one in picture above is/was real, but now looks like a garbage dump.

Cars are to blame for many evils, but not for this. There were as many cars and traffic jams 6 months ago, without such pollution levels. And you have to consider that there are 12 million people who belch, fart, vomit, smoke, piss and shit and prepare food over open fires. Those fumes from kitchens burn in the eyes when then the wind blows them into the area where customers sit. And incense in temples. (My mother does incense for Christmas, bordering on chemical warfare, but I haven't been in Europe in winter for years so it doesn't affect me.) The problem is the weather conditions that trap all the pollution in the city. But there is nothing we can do about the weather, only produce less pollutants.

I think the Ambiance cannot be accessed by car as Boystown is car-free (at night for sure, during day I don't remember cars there). And I had similar situations elsewhere, where the hotel was marked between two roads in google maps and it was not clear which road is the entrance to hotel. When I take a taxi, I know exactly where I'm going and can give directions. It happens that taxi driver does not know the place. But tourist who does not know directions and does not speak Thai has to rely on luck, that either google maps is correct or taxi driver knows the place. Jomtien vs Boystown. I'm not interested in beer bars, so I spend only little, if any, time in Jomtien. Boys in underwear on stage are more interesting than fully dressed boys sitting, from that alone there might be a bias in attraction. However, I saw a few cute boys in Jomtien, and my current and all time favorite works there.

Full of tourists (Chinese tour groups!!!) and a waste management problem? In Chonburi province there is Koh Si Chang (not to be confused with Koh Chang) and Bang Saen which I find interesting places.

There is one masseur No in former Lomchoey, now Zy massage in Soi Ngamduplee, who is my type but was only so-so when I had massage with him some years ago, who is on hornet with a profile mostly in Thai, but having "no sex" in English. It puzzles me why someone who works in gay massage would put "no sex" in his online dating profile. If I didn't know him, I would skip him for that reason.

Great reports! I still clearly remember when I was about 15 and my parents went with me to Scotland for holiday, the hotel was labyrinthine, but I forgot how many turns and steps up and down it took to get from my room to my parents'. Fake disco has a lot of steps, from stage going up to the wall, which might help to give everyone a view of stage, but has disadvantages when walking there drunk and without seeing the floor. (Before someone asks: I'm talking about my observation of others, not personal experience.) And the gogo bar in a side soi of Bua Khao in Pattaya that closed around 2013, there was a step of a few centimeter, invisible in low light and dark tiles, on the way to toilet, where I hurt my toe. And many more construction and interior design mishaps. Taxi at airport. The last years, I always took the ARL from airport to town, and in some cases took taxi from ARL station closest to my room. If I were ever to take a taxi from airport, I would do at departure level to save the 50 THB fee. They built turnstiles to prevent people from doing so, but the last time I did (2014?) the turnstiles could turn in both directions! I think that last time I took a taxi from there, despite agreeing on use of meter when I asked first, when we were on our way the driver asked for fixed fare, which I refused, so he sent me back to the same spot. That together with several other mishaps taxi from and even taxi to airport, was enough to give up. ARL is clearly cheaper, takes about the same time, I am strong enough to carry my luggage, and my departure and arrival times are when ARL operates, so I don't bother with all the taxi bullshit any more. Grab. All reports are positive, I might try some day. But I assume their maps are based on google maps, which has plenty of mistakes. If you have no local knowledge, and the location on google maps is wrong, you can't blame the driver. I just checked and Tuk-Com is correct on google maps, I have no idea why your trip went wrong. There is a multi story car park somewhere behind Tuk-Com which could be the place your driver took you. "Parking Garage Parking couvert Tuk Com" on google maps.

I logged in here once, and stay logged in without doing anything more. Firefox, and when I'm done reading I sometimes close the tab, sometimes leave it open, it does not make a difference. It was the same on gaythailand.

Poor pictures is a general problem. As is picture is not the profile owner. If in doubt, ask for more pictures. Or rather I send him a clear face picture of myself from recent sightseeing, hoping he gets the hint to send a clear face picture of himself. "Sensory overload" is the key word here. When I watch a movie in English with Thai subtitles, or in Thai with English subtitles, I cannot translate the Thai in real time and compare it with the English. A boy who is active on social networks cannot process all the data, and unless he is very horny or very in need of your money, once your chat falls behind, you are out of sight and out of mind. In 2013, I took a boy from Banana Bar Soi Twilight overnight for 2000 THB. About 2015, I still saw him working there and on the apps. I considered taking him again and asked to see his private pictures to refresh my memory. His reply was "You know already.". That was the end of our conversation. I wish more people posted on the gay online dating forum, so we can avoid the problem cases and reward the good ones with more business. And I find other people's experiences, matched with pictures or links to profiles, highly interesting and it's one of my favorite with to talk about with friends. Those who like this kind of conversation, we go through all the boys we had since we last met.