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Trip report - Chiang Mai - 29 Dec - in progress

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Flew Bangkok Airways from BKK to CNG Chiang Mai. Flight was delayed 30 minutes due to late arrival of aircraft. Flight is short and pleasant, about 55 minutes. Fun began at the Chiang Mai airport - luggage quickly arrived but there were NO taxis and there was a huge number of people waiting for the limited number of taxis. After about a 50 minute wait, I was in a taxi and within 15 minutes I was at my hotel, Club One Seven - C17.

 

http://www.clubonesevenchiangmai.com/

 

Hotel check-in was quick and easy - they only have 11 rooms. The guy brought me to my room but this being an antique 130 year old Lana Teak House you need to remove your shoes and I leaned on the side railing of the stairs to leverage myself and I immediately broke one of the wooden teak slats with my fat ass. How embarassing and what an awful way to begin my 6 day stay. I guess I need to continue dieting - the last time that I checked I was down to 78kg. But in typical great Thai "save face" style the manager said to me, "mister, it ok, house is very old".

 

I have a nice room that overlooks the Ping river with a small outdoor terrace. The room has a large 4 poster bed. You feel as if you are staying in the country side. Breakfast is served outside in the terrace alongside the river. Prior to 5pm you feel that you are in an antique gay hotel but after 5pm the place starts to transform as the sauna activities start to pick up and all of a sudden we have many new cute Thai "guests". I have not yet tried the sauna yet - sorry guys - there hasn't been any free time yet with all there is to do in Chiang Mai.

 

Unpacked my luggage and headed off to the "old walled city with a moat" which was about an hours walk away as the C17 is pretty far away from both the historic centre and popular Chang Phuak gay zone. I arrived on Sunday so that I could take advantage of the 1 time per week Sunday Walking Market. I think that this is the biggest open air market that I have seen in my life. It was packed with people just walking around enjoying the many concerts, handcraft shopping, art, performers, religious ceremonies, and incredible "food courts" that were set up in each of the grounds of the 3 or 4 Wats (Buddhist Temples) that I visited. I ate wonderful things that I have never eaten before. It was truly delightful to have seen this event for the several hours that I was able to. If you do visit Chiang Mai try to make sure that your visit includes a Sunday evening on the "Walking Street". I was so exhausted afterwards that I took the first tuk-tuk that I could find and payed the asking price of 200 bahts back to the hotel. Sauna already closed so I did not encounter any action (I would have been too tired anyway).

 

Next day after the wonderful breakfast I headed off by foot to discover the Nimmanhaeminda and Chang Phuak gay zone. It took about a 2 hour leisurely walk to get there and it was nice to see the contrasts in the various Chiang Mai neighborhoods. The gay zone is in a nice newer part of Chiang Mai with nice shops, bars, and stores, with many new condo buidings being constructed. I had hoped to have lunch in one of the gay restaurants but it being both a monday and also a government holiday (making it a 5 day weekend) the ones I had hoped to go to were closed for lunch. So walking back towards the centre I ate lunch in the big mall (Kad Suan) on the Huay Kaew Road - it was full of falangs which I found interesting.

 

Again exhausted, I took the first tuk-tuk from the mall to the "2 Brothers" massage place which is in the cool hippy backpacking hangout area of Chiang Mai which is near the main gate to the old city. To no surprise I chose the 4 hand 2 hour massage from 26 year old O (โอ) and 24 year old Aok (โอ๊ค). Showered alone and awaited their arrival in the small room with a low futon bed. Their massage was an excellent intense deep tissue massage for over 1.5 hours which is what I needed after all of the 2 days of walking. The "happy ending" was in the remaining 30 minutes and was less intense but ok. Then we showered together which was a lot of fun.

 

Afterwards, I told them that I wanted to buy them a drink in the downstairs bar and we hung out for about an hour together before they were taken by new arriving customers. It was great because I got to see how the other massage guys are chosen by the other customers. I realized that my choosing style is very polite and shy like while I saw other customers reject and then re-select the same guys that they already chose. Maybe it was a power thing. I tried to get the various massage boys to help me find a gay tour guide as I want to go out of Chiang Mai to see the mountains, jungle, elephants, and possibly the famous white Wat in Chiang Rai. With their limited English we did not get very far - but it looks like we are close to finding a gay guide who can drive and speak English.

 

http://www.2bmassage.com/

 

Wanted to take a short nap and either try out the sauna or head over to the Adams Apple go-go bar but my body slept until 23 - so I could not try either - so I wrote this trip update. Tomorrow is New Year's Eve and they are having a party here - so I will check it out...

 

hopefully my report was not too boring. This portion of my trip will be more cultural as Chiang Mai does not have a Twilight zone like in Bangkok.

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thank you for report, not boring at all. I never visited  Chiang Mai  so reading your updates with great interest with view of future visit there hopefully.

Funny thing , 50 minutes flight and the same wait for taxi but this may happen everywhere.

 

House must be old as 78 kg is not weight piece of wood should broke under, manager was right and both faces saved. No need for dieting as I'm under impression  from carefully reading posts your  weight  puts you in skinner half of readership of this forum right there with this youngster ChristianPFC.

 

 

Some people mentioned is unusually cold in Chiang now but you did not mention anything so I guess is not that bad.

 

How are massage prices and tips there in comparison to BKK , any difference ? 

 

And no harm done in immersing yourself in Thai culture there , use this opportunity as your next step is Pattaya if I recall correctly, very cosmopolitan place in terms of access to local culture to put it politely. 

 

Since you are already on New Year's Eve day enjoy festivities and happy New Year 2014 with 4 hand massage daily !

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Guest trailrider

Excellent and detailed report.  Wish I had the talent.  You should be a writer.

 

Unfortunately, you were ripped off by the tuk tuk driver.  It should have been no more than 50 baht.  Unless you can speak Thai it is difficult to take the songtau (red trucks) but that cost only 20 baht.

 

This is the first good report I have seen concerning club One Seven.  It was apparently severely damaged by the big flood a couple of years ago.

 

Again, thanks to your report.

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Vinapu - it has been chilly in the evenings with the temperature dropping down to 11 or 12 degrees and you need a jacket or sweatshirt/jumper. During the day it reaches 26 with nice blue skies, so a t-shirt and shorts are just fine.

 

oops, I forgot to put one of the most important details in my report = PRICE. Prices are MUCH cheaper than BKK. The massage place wanted 1,200 baht for the 2 hours and the recommended tip was only 800 baht per guy for the 2 hours. In BKK it was often 1,500 per guy. I tipped them 1,000 each instead of the suggested 800.

 

Happy New Year to you!!

 

Trailrider - I knew I was ripped off - but my legs were tired that I was willing to pay any price to not walk another step. I see the songtau (red trucks) everywhere and I did not understand how they work.

 

do you just hail one down and tell them (or show them the desired destination on your smartphone map) where you desire to go? or do they follow a fixed route and you hope off when you are close enough?

 

thanks for the compliment.

cheers,

m.

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Happy New Year to you!!

 

Thank you, 

 

you weren't ripped off by tuk tuk driver, he just gave you short lecture as to how free market works.

 

Reminds me my way to airport in May during  deluge at death of night, driver wanted almost twice of meter rate which I agreed to instead of being soaked completely.

 

Nice to know that prices in CM are so user friendly.

 

Watch your alcohol intake during tonight's celebrations    

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I knew I was ripped off - but my legs were tired that I was willing to pay any price to not walk another step. I see the songtau (red trucks) everywhere and I did not understand how they work.

 

do you just hail one down and tell them (or show them the desired destination on your smartphone map) where you desire to go? or do they follow a fixed route and you hope off when you are close enough?

 

I'm not sure what you paid the tuk tuk guy (I either missed that in this thread or the amount was stated in another thread) but paying a tuk tuk driver 50 baht to go anywhere up here is pretty much history.  To go anywhere at night, you'll likely pay 80-100 baht.  During the day, at least 60 baht.  I'd note that you'll do better flagging down a tuk tuk from the street versus using one that is parked out in front of several "controlled" pickup joints (like in front of both malls, Thaepae Gate, in front of Tesco on Nimmanhaemin, etc.).

 

But the red baht bus system is rather easy to use and cheap (20 baht) and you should give it a try.  Just flag one down (just stick out your arm - palm down - and they'll pull over unless they're full or more likely on a special trip for somebody).  Just go to the passenger window and tell the guy where you want to go.  If he says "okay" or nods "yes", get in and he'll get you there (although it's pretty much up to you to know when to get out). If he shakes his head "no", then he's not going there and you'll have to flag down the next baht bus and try again.  If you limit your location to a major tourist location [Wararot Market or "Kad Luang", any of the five gates, either mall in the city, etc.), 90% of the time they'll say okay.  During any fairly unbusy time, you can hire one of them to take you to a specific location not normally on their usual routes but they likely (but not always) will ask for more than 20 baht.  By the way, if the driver doesn't mention any price, it's 20 baht and they don't expect to be tipped.

 

If by chance you want to go to other far-out locations, one normally can go pretty much anywhere using one of baht busses of different colors (other than red).  If you want that info, say so and one of us will explain the color system to you and where to pick up those baht busses. 

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For New Year's Eve day and night I decided to relax and at the suggestion of the wonderful C17 staff decided to remain on site.

Had a nice leisurely breakfast and had a great conversation with a 50 year old already retired farang from the UK (yes I am jealous). He is preparing for his relocation to Thailand and he bought a condo in Pattaya that is still under construction and he hopes to move in later in 2014. Since I am also very interested in retiring in Thailand I seized the opportunity to ask my million questions - mainly, "why not retire in Chiang Mai?" (since he was raving about CM). He said he chose Pattaya because it is on the seaside and it is very oriented towards the ex-pat community. He felt that CM did not yet have the same level of ex-pat infrastructures and by him living in Pattaya he could easily fly over to Chiang Mai when he would want. I sensed that he had a preference for the CM guys over the Pattaya guys.

 

does anyone reading this who lives in Chiang Mai have any comments/opinions on what it is like for an ex-pat to live in CM?

 

Then I decided to lay out in the sun - the Club One Seven (C17) has a great penis shaped pool. There is the on site bar, pool boy, and massage boys, who could ask for more to have a relaxing day.

 

Then I took a massage with sexy 30 year old Kim. Massage was 90 minutes and I paid 800 to the house and I tipped Kim 1,000 baht. Of course there was the sensual happy ending but it was somewhat mechanical for my tastes and lacked some variety. Kim was obsessed on finding a farang to marry so that he could move to the USA or Europe. He said that the only good farangs are already in a relationship and taken and the rest are butterflies. To kill his conversation and where it was going I told Kim that I was a butterfly to avoid being asked to marry him.

 

Then I had lunch on the terrace on the Ping river which was lovely and I had some great conversations with the wait staff and other farangs. Then off for a nap in my room. Then for the evening I wandered over to the bar and chatted with the staff to see what I should do for New Years Eve. They said that I should remain at the hotel for the naked party. I had been invited back to the "2 Brothers" bar for their party and I had thought to go to the Adam's Apple go-go bar for their celebration. I decided to stay at C17 since I already had a lovely day with them and I had not yet sern their sauna facilities.

 

Disrobed and put on a towel to explore the facilities. I was surprised at how big they are. On the ground level, There is the locker area, showers, dry sauna and wet sauna where everyone was walking around with their towels on. Then up stairs, where you needed to remove your towel and shoes, was the naked zone. There is an inter-mix of cabins, hallways, open sex areas with beds, video porno sala, glass wall looking onto downstairs where you can see the new guests that are arriving and another dark room. Then there is another upstairs to a semi-closed area with a big bed, and a hallway with many cabins. We were about 30 guys of which 6 were falang. The guy from lunch had told me that the prior weeks naked party had 150 participants (speaking to the staff they told me that the exact count was 154). The space is very large and could easily accomodate 154 people spread out on 3 floors. For just 30 of us, the space was too large and in typical gay sauna fashion we walked kilometers in endless stand and model chases. I knew then that I had made a mistake for my New Years Eve choice. :<((

 

However, I did get to watch two hot Thai guys that wanted to show off fuck each other - but I was not allowed to touch them. That was pretty much the entire night - ok to look at the cute Thai boys but you could not touch them (except there were 2 that did touch me but they were not the type of Thai guys that I desired). So in the end, I was only able to play with another farang but after he came he ran away - so no orgasms for me.

 

I am not much of a sauna guy to begin with as I hate the endless chase as it is a waste of time. I guess I thought "this time would be different" - but it wasn't - so I was angry at myself for making a bad New Years choice. It made me remember when I moved to Italy in 1999 when I visited the various Italian saunas and I saw how badly the Asians were treated as they were not desired and made to feel not welcome. Now I know what that feeling is like, "as I felt like the Asian in the Italian sauna last night".

 

After going back to my room and sulking for a while I went outside on the balcony and saw an amazing sight for my sore eyes, the sky was full of kongming sky lanterns which illuminated the sky above the Ping river. They brought tears to my eyes and I was happy to be in "Amazing Thailand".

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You might try Secrets, CU Bar and So Be it, three places behind D2 hotel in the night bazaar area.  Best after 1100 PM.  Especially on Friday and Saturday nights.

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yes, I am still alive.

today is my first day back into Chiang Mai - for the last 2 days I was way up north in Chiang Rai, and then some time at the Myanmar border crossing town, Mae Sai, and then the "Golden Triangle" area with Laos.

Now I am back in Chiang Mai and I will fly to Koh Samui later today.  I haven't had time nor Internet access to finish off my wonderful Chiang Mai trip report.  I promise to do it - I just don't know when - things are moving too fast at the moment....

cheers,

M. :give_rose:

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Wow. You covered so much in the Chiang Mai area. Fantastic story and photos. I love the White Temple.

 

You are very adventurous and your posts do tell me you are willing to go off the regular path that everyone attempts in LOS. Lovely and amazing reports!

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Guest anonone

hello Vinapu,

Koh Samui will be this weekends project. I am back in Italy now and very depressed. I already miss the LOS so much - this last 25 day vacation there was one of the best vacations in my entire life. I wish I was independently wealthy, as I would move there in a New York minute.

You are not alone in feeling like this. I have the same thoughts after every visit.

 

for me, it helps to book the next trip so I have something to look forward to....knowing I will be back helps lessen the depression.

 

I am happy that you enjoyed this trip soo much. Hurry back !

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hello Vinapu,

 

Koh Samui will be this weekends project. I am back in Italy now and very depressed. I already miss the LOS so much - this last 25 day vacation there was one of the best vacations in my entire life. I wish I was independently wealthy, as I would move there in a New York minute.

take anonone's advice above , even if you don't book start planning. When I'm depressed I like to imagine myself decamping at BBB Inn and going to Arena through Suriwong and soi 6,passing by Tawan and Nature Boy,  my usual first steps on most trips and I smile even if , like right now I have no slightest idea when it will happen.

 

Look at bright side - you had a great vacation instead tormenting yourself  with fact they are over

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