PeterRS

Thanks for the info. Thats great to hear. Seatguru shows there is no biz class on the 737s flying the BKK to Beijing legs. So I just wonder if you are on a transpacific biz ticket, do you get an automatic upgrade to F out of BKK? I know seatguru is sometimes out of date so is there now a dedicated biz class cabin on the aircraft? My only concern would be booking transpacific and then discovering there were too many biz passengers transferring to transpacific or other long haul with the result some might then have to be downgraded to economy inter Asia. That Id hate. If its guaranteed F class to and from Beijing Ill have no hesitation in using the airline in future.

Ive thought about Hainan Airlines a few times and am impressed that Skytrax has given it a 5-star ranking for at least the last couple of years. The price is always great. The problem for me is it uses Beijing as its international hub rather than Hainan. Whenever Ive checked this has meant a 5 hour overnight flight from BKK to Beijing in a 737 with no biz class and only 8 F class old fashioned recliner seats, a very long transit time and then the 787 on to various US cities. Does a biz class tkt out of BKK guarantee F class to and from Beijing? Even then, after the flat bed seat from Chicago or wherever, Im not sure Id be so happy spending 5+ hours at the end of the trip either in cramped economy or in an F seat with just a small recline. So Ive stuck to other airlines for now.

A late 20s guy is able to move to Bangkok? Good for you. Guess you either have lots of savings or have a job there. As for Soi Twilight, I think its possible you mean the touts who try to get you to come into their bars. There are lots of them and they are persistent and can be annoying, often grabbing you by the arm. But they are harmless. Just smile, shake your head and say no. As calluna15 says dont lose your cool. In Thai eyes it makes you look stupid. In many years of visiting that soi I have never had any tout trying to sell underage. I really doubt thats the reason.

These offers are almost exclusively provided by banks to customers in the USA. The offers have been around for many years, each gives you a ton of miles for minimal guaranteed expenditure, you can close the card account after about a year, and theres absolutely no reason why they should stop any time soon. US citizens can also get the same sort of deals with cards associated with hotel chains. Those outside the US can only look on with envy!

Take away the trip reports and what is now left? Precious little. The Beer Bar used to be popular forum here. Now its all but dead. The first page has threads going back to January. Gay Asia a lot less. Gay Businesses have few posts except those about Pattaya. The information pages at the start of the site do offer some useful info for newbies but far too much of it is out of date. One of the listed restaurants died about 4 years ago. Going back to the reports, the level of detail has been raised to a new level in one member's recent reports. He reminds me of one poster who split the membership years ago by flooding the Board with hundreds of photos of ladyboys from a Pattaya bar. Since this poster admits he's bisexual, perhaps he's the same guy. I have no idea. I suppose if you don't like them you just put the poster on ignore. But ignoring posters often ruins the progress of a thread. I'm frankly with the OP. But I assume were in the minority because readership here certainly seems to be on the increase.

Im a little confused. I thought the Board rules were quite specific and pointed them out a few posts ago. Unless a barboy has given permission for his photo to be shown here along with his name, such photos are not permitted. Isnt that perfectly clear? Its not really a matter about identifying bars but identifying boys. One poster said he was sure Vessey had obtained that approval. I don't know how true that is or was. Sorry Vessey, Im not pointing a finger specifically at you. Just want to know what the Board will tolerate. If its against the rules then I guess a moderator should step in. If rules are now being broken then surely the one about no frontal nudity should also be abandoned. That strikes me as the stupidest rule of all. This is a private members only site yet anyone can go on to any number of tumblr sites and see nudity to their hearts content. Why the ban here?

Thanks for letting us read that again. I found much sounded true (and I take your word that it was) except the rape episode. The farang had offed the boy before, been a regular at the bar and so word would certainly have got round the other boys about all his personal and sexual habits, become a friend of the boy and the boy clearly liked him. I find it difficult to understand why that guy suddenly has a desire to organise and indulge in a date rape orgy and drug his "friend". Wanting to be top is one thing. But in tat dreadful manner? Of course three years had passed and who knows what depravities the farang might have found he enjoyed during that time. If he did organise that rape, I hope he is now locked up in the Bangkok Hilton or six feet underground.

The best prices on Qatar are usually offered in a 4 or 5 day window during the Thai Interational Travel Fair in mid-February. Last year Qatar had three short sales between about mid-November and the Travel Fair with prices dropping further each time.

I also did that JAL flight once. Seating layout was quite comfortable at 2-4-2 with pitch at 33 inches. Almost every other airline using 787s has a 3-3-3 layout and pitch of only 31 inches. I guess that means they get in one extra row of seats plus perhaps an extra 15 passengers. So that config adds no more than 25 cheap tickets. They/d be better adding one more biz class row and making economy more comfortable. Read somewhere Boeing designed the 787 for 8 across but the bean counters employed by the airlines decided on 9. as for 31 inch pitch, I reckon its all but impossible for anyone over around 5'10. I save up and look for the best deals on Premium Economy now. Pitch on the best carriers is 38 inches

When I renewed, I had to take both passports - old and new. Also, the new passport details were not automatically passed on to the bank's credit card branch. So if you have a cc you should make sure they also has the details. I received my new one less than 3 weeks before the annual retirement visa renewal. But I still had to have the old visa transferred into the new passport and then the new visa inserted. Total waste of pages.

The issue of photos and identification is covered under the Terms and Conditions of posting. Unfortunately these are just one long chunk of text so its a real pain to work them out. But I reckon this is the right part So if the boys did not specifically agree to their photos being made available here on this site the rules haven't been followed. Michael seems to have greater knowledge about their having given their specific consent to appearing here. Isnt Vessey the only one who can say that?

If Qualityonly is naive enough to believe that everything written on any chat room board is the truth and therefore not worthy of some form of honest rebuttal (in many cases) then he'd probably put most posters on ignore and get on with enjoying life.

Any pics of your exploits in Saudi Arabia? Of course it'd be dangerous for gay friends there but are you allowed to take scenic pics?

I guess Michael registered as a member of the Sunee sect LOL

I frankly doubt becoming a Muslim is anything as simple as that! Its the passport you need to enter Mecca. The paper from the Imam is only proof for the Saudi visa people that you are in fact a practising Muslim from some sect or other and thats what goes into the passport. The paper isnt needed when entering Mecca. The passport very definitely is unless you are a Saudi citizen. But some guys are luckier than others when they're prepared to take risks of that sort.

I do not dispute what is in the post. Just curious especially about the Mecca part. I realise that travel in and out of the country is probably easy if the paperwork for visas is in order and you do not add Israel on one of your trips. But getting into Mecca for a non Muslim is strictly forbidden and there are passport/permit control points on every access road requiring all to show proof being a muslim before entering. I was told that before getting the visa to enter Saudi Arabia a declaration of religion is required. If a Muslim enters from a non Islam country proof of religion and the sect the applicant belongs to has to be provided in letter form with the stamp and signature of an Imam. This info is then included on the visa and is checked everywhere. I am sure guys with the right connection can probably do anything in that country. But even non-muslim ambassadors cant get access to Mecca. It must be an amazing place to visit.

I find it very difficult to believe that Michael did not err in his post about living in Saudi Arabia. Since 2014 he has been a regular contributor here talking about his exploits on visits to Thailand. Was the post perhaps by someone else? I agree with Londoner. Saudi Arabia is an extremist Islamic country and not typical. Why anyone would chose to live there without doing a great deal of research beats me. All of what is in that post must have been available from various sources. As for Islam and gays I have read that there is no specific mention of gay relationships or gay sex in the Quran. There is however one verse about martyrs being attended to by boys in Paradise as well as virgins. Seems the antigay orders came later from scholars interpreting what they reckoned to be in the Quran. Bit like Christian so called scholars deciding what went into the Bible 300 years after Christ died. As for evidence required by sharia law in some countries four witnesses have to confirm they saw two guys having sex. Not sure what punishment is handed out f two guys are seen kissing but it has to be unlikly any guys in Saudi would have sex with four other men standing around.

Beware of the fridae site! I have had technical issues with it for over a year - wrong message page coming up, wrong hearts page coming up. So don't expect to see your pages. Goodness knows who is in fact seeing them. I have written so many times to the webmaster and lately the Technical Director. This lying prick said they could not find any bugs in their system despite endless screen shots I have mailed him proving they exist. Three months ago he said he would refund the latest year in advance I paid. Since them, zilch! The guy replies to nothing and the money hasn't been paid. The site has newish owners. They very obviously have serious problems as they have had many special offers over the last 7 or 8 months. The latest is 50% off. They are struggling. Pity because it used to be a good site. No more.

How nice to dream, for surely dream it was! Cathay's short Bangkok service rarely has the old jumbos any more, although there could be an exception. Now its all A333s or B777s. But lamb on Bangkok is rare coz some dont like it and it tends to leave a smell in the cabin. Afternoon tea disappeared years ago in favour of a cooked snack. Dessert into BKK is universally Haagen Dazs now. Cheeses are never served in biz class on short regional flights. They even gave up handing out those free chocolates some time ago. But its nice to dream.

They are indeed! I voted for #2. Moses, please note that you have a wrong spelling in all of them - the spelling is GENUINE.

Re your comment above, I do believe that quite a number of the investment bankers involved in the toxic asset scandal knew perfectly well that they were taking wildly excessive risks with their bank's money, risks that went beyond the guidelines. Somewhat like the rogue traders Nick Leeson, who doomed Baring's Bank, Jerome Kerviel, the futures index trader at Societe Generale, and others, my view is they deserve to go to jail. As voldemar rightly pointed out, some of these crooks used even more of their banks money to bet against the products they were peddling to the public. And that was not just a normal hedging operation. They knew perfectly well that the market crash was coming and they were trying both to save their own skins and increase their own profits/bonuses. To hell with the clients. If there was deliberate misrepresentation and/or criminal negligence, I would certainly seek to sue and have him thrown in jail. And I hasten to add that deliberate misrepresentation in my view (and I believe in the view of courts in most jurisdictions) would include an inadequate or false evaluation of the risk I'd be taking if I accepted his advice. We're pretty far apart in our assessment and I think debating the issue here is not likely to reach much resolution. So having made these comments, I'll leave the floor to you and thereafter just agree to differ.

Interesting. I had no idea about the Crown Property Bureau having any kind of shareholding in the Kempinski Hotel Group. According to the Bangkok Post, the Bangkok Property - http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/economics/34604/siam-kempinski-ready-for-june-opening I also thought Natural Park had gone bust! At one stage it was planning to build a major theatre behind Paragon and announced the engagement of heavyweight London producer Cameron Mackintosh (Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera etc.) as consultant. That project certainly died. Presumably the company found a way to stay in business. The Crown Property Bureau website lists it investments, including Siam Cement in which it has a controlling interest. But surprisingly there seems nothing there about a shareholding in either the Bangkok hotel or the Kempinski group as a whole. According to its Mission statement - http://www.crownproperty.or.th/en/about/obligation.html If it owns investments outside Thailand, I guess it must be similar to a sovereign wealth fund.

It is certainly not a complete listing, but it's a place to start. I'm not sure you can say it is not up to date. It has quite a number of users comments posted in October, November and December this year. Cruising for Sex has some extensive threads, but it's so long I find it takes a lot more time to obtain the information you might looking for.

Beachlover might have a hard time agreeing with the Switzerland regulations. Oh, those poor bankers. Just because a tiny fraction of the world's population, a bunch of rich, greedy bankers, all but bankrupt governments around the world by sending their economies to the dogs for years through forcing them to pump a gazillion dollars into the banking system to keep it afloat, beachlover believes we should have sympathy with the bankers because they were only doing their jobs. I for one don't agree that those who packaged toxic assets where just doing their jobs. They were driven by greed. They wanted to ensure their fat bonuses kept growing fatter at an exponential rate. They also knew they were gambling, That's fact. They were gambling that house prices would keep rising. After all, ins't that what had always happened? So what if most of these new mortgages were thrown like confetti at people who would not meet their bank's minimum credit worthiness regulations? These crooks were absolutely no different from those who cram the tables in Macao, SIngapore and Las Vegas. Lose your cash at roulette, and you pay the consequences. Lose your firm's cash in a crap shoot, and to hell with the consequences if you bet wrong. The crooks knew they wouldn't be the ones to suffer. To hell with the little town in Norway which was persuaded by suits from one of the world's top banks to move its town's long term savings into toxic assets. Its citizens will now pay for this folly for decades. To hell with the millions thrown out of their homes. To hell with hundreds of millions who now face austerity measures for years. But of course it's not the bankers fault. They were only doing their jobs. Blame the governments! I am not talking about investors, although I think there is not a great gulf between them and Madoff's victims. At least Madoff's victims look as though they will come out a lot better off than many banks stockholders - those who did not kill themselves, that is. Those like that honourable investment banker, Thierry de la Villehuchet, and quite a few others. To say nothing of Madoff's own eldest son. I may not know one of these banker crooks, as perhaps beachlover does. Frankly, I don't want to know any of these "human beings" inbeachlover's description. They and their banks should be prosecuted and many of the individuals thrown into jail for a long time - if only pour encourager les autres. Plain and simple.

Totally agree. The land presently occupied by Paragon and the Kempinski was once part of a royal palace and so is Crown land. Before Paragon was built, it was leased to the company which built the first Intercontinental Hotel in the city. The hotel had wonderfully extensive gardens but was pretty run down by the time its lease was up in 2002. The Paragon and the Kempinski land is leased for 30 years. I assume (but do not know for sure) the Crown Property Bureau has no actual shareholding in the operating companies.