PeterRS

I was in Hong Kong for 3 days in early January. There were absolutely no controls apart from mask wearing which everyone was doing religiously. I'm so used to it in Thailand that it really felt like it was no restriction. But with the hot humid weather on the horizon it's a perfect time to get rid of the mask mandate.

I'd suggest you are not comparing like with like. New ideas like the development of Patpong replaced agricultural land which affected a very small number of farmers. Canary Wharf was basically just a series of wharfs which had all closed by 1980. It was to all intents and purposes dead land. One Bangkok on the other hand has displaced a huge number of people. Earlier I forgot to mention that BEC Tero had created a 4,000 seat theatre in the Night Market site which enabled medium-level pop concerts to go ahead right in the centre of the city. Had the developers of One Bangkok had any interest whatever in serving the people of Bangkok rather than purely profit, they would have made space for different types of entertainment - like the Joe Louis Puppet Theatre (which I cannot priase too highly), a theatre for smaller-scale concerts and a replacement for the extremely popular Thai kick boxing arena. That plus the addition of a major gallery or museum would have resulted in the loss of just a tiny fraction of the total commercial space but made it a true centre of Bangkok. As an aside, I did not enjoy the sex and sleaze around Times Square - but then that's perhaps because I was robbed in a porn cinema! Besides, i think the New Amsterdam Theater on 42nd Street and the fabulous restoration by Disney is a rediscovered gem. As USA Today claimed, "It's like walking into a dream."

Just for info, the weather in Hong Kong in August is foul - excessively hot and as humid as it can get. It's also bang in the middle of typhoon season. Mind you, Taipei in that month is virtually the same. Taiwan in April should be lovely!

I'll not comment on the second line with its vitriolic and quite uncalled for stupidity. As for the first line, this boy was fulfilling his dream. I have no doubt he was deliriously happy to be achieving that. If we all stayed home, what a boring, moronic lot we'd all be!

Having just stayed in a hotel with wonderful Verbena toiletries in small bottles, I do much prefer them over dispensers. But if it was just the usual little bottles with what i'd call ordinary shampoo etc., I'd certainly prefer the dispensers. On the other hand, I fully accept the smaller neck of small bottles can can make it difficult to get the damn stuff out - and it can certainly be wasteful as I can never actually empty them!

I used to think Blued was a great site. Founded by a former policeman in Beijing, I beieve it is now the world's largest gay dating app. But it went into partnership with Hornet in 2016 and its founder has now left. It also delisted from Nasdaq. I wonder if it is the Hornet influence that has resulted in its huge difference from a few years ago. Certainly on my recent visit to Taipei 10 days ago I found it a total waste of time.

But exceedingly easy to be a total idiot by showing any commercial sex worker a wad of money and then leaving it alone even for a few seconds. Reminds me of the scene from that wonderful movie "Thelma and Louise" where Louise beds the handsome Brad Pitt character who then steals the brown packet containing $5,000 for the girls' getaway when she idiotically leaves him alone in the room to tell Thelma what a ball she's had with this stud!

There was a two-page article in Business Traveller Magazine some years ago about how Tripadvisor and other such similar sites manipulate reviews. Basically it claimed "Don't trust them!" Any review comprising one or two lines will always be suspect in my book. I recall writing to Tripadvisor in North America after I had spotted what were certainly fake reviews - about 20 of them. More than half relatively quickly disappeared. All concerned the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, that mighty monolith with the rooftop pool stretching across its 3 towers. (I stayed there 11 years ago when a guest at a Conference. Ghastly hotel - 25 minute wait for check-in, 10 minute waits for lifts, 20 minute queue for breakfast, a pool with half of Singapore behind watching you and a premium non-smoking room with cigarette burns all over the place). But that hotel is one of the city state's key projects. When its powers-that-be realised it was the lowest ranking 5-star hotel in Singapore on Tripadvisor by quite a margin, it obviously got all its contractors, PR people and others to write these silly fake reviews. Sadly they worked. The hotel jumped from over 60 in the rankings of all hotels to the mid-30s. I see that today it has fallen back to #47. The point is that many reviews in gay travel magazines are equally not to be trusted. Not because they may be false. More because many gay travellers have very different expectations of what a bar or especially a sauna should be like. I think one reason many older regular farang liked Babylon in its second incarnation was that it was as much a social hang out with its bar, restaurants, pool, gym and plentiful cruising. Sex was almost secondary, whereas for the younger crowd sex was probably the prime reason for visiting. Take Travelgayasia, a site which I believe gets a lot of things wrong. As others have said several times, by far the most active and fun sauna in Taipei is Soi13in. That site claims it used to be the Rainbow sauna. Wrong! That sauna's latest review has this - "“Went lat [sic] night and the steam room was cold, the dry sauna was cold, half of the rooms were closed and even after asking the staff, they said it could not be open. Yet you pay the full price!! Avoid this place, it is a scam to make money and deliver no service!!!“ Admittedly this was inserted during covid on 24 June 2020 but within Taiwan the island had basically not been affected by covid then. 4 reviews later you find this from 6 December 2019, "I've visited many gay saunas in Asia but surely I will vote for Soi13in is the best of the best." Almost all reviews are on the lines of this second one. It will have been noted that neither of the above reviews is from a recent patron (although @hojacat in the Taipei thread has posted much more recent rave reviews). The review posted by @reader of 39 Sauna in Bangkok above is also very dated - it's virtually 4 years old. A great deal can happen in 4 years. I do not trust a site with no more recent reviews during the rest of that pre-covid year and the more recent opening up. I'd much rather trust the latest reviews from members here.

5 more luxury hotels, endless new office space, endless upmarket apartments, presumably a major mall or two. All of which Bangkok simply does not need! Would that the night market with the superb Joe Louis Puppet Theatre, its plethora of cheap eating sna shopping places and the Lumphini Boxing Stadium were still there. These would be fsr more appealing to residents and tourists than virtually anything in Bangkok One.

For many Taiwanese, age appears not a major factor. I am close to what would have been called old age some years ago and it is clear that some Taiwanese have no interest in younger guys. Unfortunately attractiveness is in the eye of the beholder and so I can't speak about that. But in a dark room or a sauna that is hardly likely to be a disincentive.

This must be one of the most heart-wrenching stories of the year. Just as we wept when all 13 of those trapped in the cave were miraculously rescued and had witnessed the help given by so many Thais from all walks of life and others from all over the world, now we weep at the death of this young man who had cheated death once only for him to succumb a second time so soon thereafter. I do find it curious, though, that the cause of his sad death is still not known. The BBC website reports the inquest into his death opened and was adjourned yesterday. An expert claimed that the cause of his death was now known but could not be released due to "continuing enquiries." It will finally be revealed at a hearing on 6th July. I wonder what "continuing enquiries" means, the more so when all investigating the case have stated they believe the cause of his death was not suspicious. And surely this is an extraordinarily long time to wait for a result. Apparently he was still conscious when found but ater died in hospital. The abbot of Wat Phra That Doi may well be correct in suggesting he had sustained a head injury. A teenager receiving a blow to the head may not consider it important but older people will know it can set off trouble in the brain which without treatment can result in death. But this of course is mere speculation and it's no doubt best not to speculate further for now. In the meantime I am sure we all extend deepest condolences to the young man's family, his community and all those who were rescued and enabled that rescue to take place. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-leicestershire-64732942

I heard of a bar called HUNT which I had not known about before although it seems to have been around for some years. Unfortunately it was at the end of my stay and I could not visit. It is close to The Red House area and seems to have regular gay theme nights. Themes include underwear nights, yukata nights (where all clothes come off apart from wearing a yukata which always welcomes wandering hands), small towel nights, fundoshi nights - and I heard even nude nights although I have absolutely no confirmation of this. Seems it also has a dark room. I wonder if anyone has visited? I am not on Instagram but I found this from an Instagram site on wikipedia. https://www.instagram.com/hunt.taipei/?hl=en

Not quite sure what you mean. Love to know more about the interesting history. This is from a Bali information website - "The Kecak Dance is one of Bali’s most prominent cultural showcases, but it isn’t exactly an ‘ancient’ tradition. The dance was created back in the 1930’s, a collaboration between Balinese dancer Wayan Limbak and the German artist Walter Spies. "The Kecak dance had existed prior to this, but as a trance ritual and far from what it has become today… essentially the two artists adapted the famous story of the Ramayana into a theatric display of Balinese dance, with elements of its original ‘cak’ and other incorporations." https://www.nowbali.co.id/kecak-fire-dance/

Our friend @vinapu being ever hopeful as usual. Nothing wrong with that but this is Thailand! It's why there are so many tolls on the expressways within the city. No one politician (oops!) can be given the total contract. It has to be parcelled out to various pals so each can first buy up the land and then make profits from part of an expressway.

Interesting! I'll definitely try to return to a 2-wheeler once the present case dies.

There are usually a few posts in Gay Guides about Thailand in years gone by with some posters (myself included) writing lovingly of the old days in the 80s and 90s when the boys in the bars were all Thais from upcountry, when nudity was de rigueur in the bars and shows were much more fun. I fully accept these must be quite boring for those whose experience of gay Thailand does not extend that far back. But as one who visited Bali 10 times in the first half of the 1980s, always staying at the same simple guest house just outside Ubud, and was totally seduced by its people, customs, their arts and wonderful friendliness, I often wonder how the mass influx of tourists has changed the island since those days. I believe it was the gay German artist Walter Spies who settled in Bali in 1927 who helped create the vision of the island being a gay paradise. Indeed, although i did not know it then, my guesthouse had been Spies' home for most of his time in Bali. He threw himself into virtually all the island's many artistic activities and helped develop the particular Balinese naif style of painting. Allegedly he and an Indonesian friend also choreographed the popular all-male Kecak Dance. Tourism at this time was almost totally new. In 1930, there were only about 100 visitors arriving each year. During his years on the island he hosted many famous artists, writers, musicians and actors, imparting to each the joys of living on the island and what it offered to Europeans like himself. Yet I wonder if it ever really was that exotic gay paradise. Was it in fact more a result of the increasing anti-homosexual propoganda coming out of Nazi dominated Europe that prompted Spies to stress Bali's freedoms for gay men? Or was it more sinister, for one writer has suggested that Spies was actually concealing the fact that he was a sexual predator seeking relationships with young Balinese boys? However true or otherwise, what is not in dispute, whatever Spies' motives, is that in 1938 he was arrested in a crackdown on homosexuals. Hauled before a judge for committing sodomy with a minor, the boy's father told the trial judge, "He is our best friend, and it was an honour for my son to be in his company. If both are in agreement, why fuss?" But Spies could not escape the law for long. Eventually convicted as a pedophile, he was being transported to Ceylon when his ship was sunk by a Japanese bomb in 1942. From what I have read, the Balinese obviously had a much more liberal outlook on things like nudity and sex, even though there were I undersand no gay bars as such when i was there. I once visited the studio of a nearby artist Antonio Blanco and all the young women assistants in his house were topless. Yet 30 years earlier the governor of Bali had banned photographs of topless women and young girls as views about western morality started to take hold. Were Balinese women finally shamed into covering up their breasts only because this was happening all over other parts of Indonesia? Even so I recall so vividly seeing men, young and old, going to a stream or water spigot around 5:00 pm after work, stripping off all their clothes and bathing themselves before returing home. One young man who was a regular at a spigot on the grounds of my guesthouse was a particularly glorious sight! I was once even on a DC10 leaving Bali for Hong Kong and seeing a young man strip off and dip into a stream near the runway! Scholars have written that homosexuality had existed as part of life in Indonesia for at least a thousand years. As in Thailand, there had been no word for homosexuality in Indonesian until the 20th century. Only around the 1970s did it become an accepted term for a certain type of sexual behaviour. There is an interesting book published in the 1970s "Jalan Sempurna" which gives graphic descriptions of the feelings between one 20-year old student for another of the same age. Even though it relates to another part of Indonesia, it is perhaps indicative of the feelings also of some men in Bali. Here is an excerpt – "I walked by the front of the Regent’s residence, intending to keep going past the railway station. But only a few steps after I passed the Regent’s residence, a young fellow suddenly stepped out of an alley. He looked to be about twenty years old, but was still in school, judging from the schoolbag that he, like me, was carrying. The second our eyes met, my heart started to pound. I felt as if the blood was hissing (berdesir-desir) through my body. 'Hey, why is your heart thudding like that?' I asked myself. Never in my life had it pounded so. And, at that moment, I lowered my head, puzzling over the beating of my heart . . . “'Why is he like this?' I thought to myself. I was sure that his desire was awakened. But why was I, too, aroused? Unmistakably, it was because his body was really amazing. Wherever I laid my hand, his skin felt so smooth and soft. Even though he was another boy, at whatever part of his body I looked, my desire and passion grew stronger. Especially, if I looked at his face. If I didn’t quickly lower my head, my desire would surely explode. I would surely lay my head by his. I longed to nibble at his lips and kiss them. His body was like silk to my touch. Even this morning when I first met him, my heart was already pounding, as if something was beating inside my chest." Bali's adherence to its own form of Hinduism is no doubt one reason why it was relatively isolated from the other islands of Indonesia and why it developed differently, including in terms of sexuality. But was it indeed a gay paradise then - or even now? I just do not know.

A short note about the apps in Taiwan. On my two recent visits (November and last week), I noticed that Grindr and Jack'd are much more active than Hornet. Blued for some reason was a disaster whereas it used to be very productive. This may be because I gave up Blued for a few years and then downloaded it again. I may have downloaded the wrong version (if there is more than one).

I note that like many hotels the floor is not carpeted. In Asia I have little problem with this as most guests take off their outdoor shoes when entering, but I have noted that hotels in other parts of the world (not merely beach hotels) have started abandoning carpets. This obviously makes cleaning simoler and cheaper, but I have learned through experience to avoid them where possible. Noise from above has a nasty habit of filtering down and noise is one issue I want to avoid when i am trying to sleep. Case 1 was a hotel in Hong Kong. The man in the room above did not take off his shoes when entering his room and i heard every clump, clump late in the evening and first thing in the morning. Case 2 was a Holiday Inn at Helsinki airport where I spent 2 nights before and after flights up beyond the Arctic Circle. Once again, whoever was in the room above wore heavy shoes as he strode around the room and every step was heard in mine. Then at 5:30ish in the morning he was clearly packing his bag when it dropped on to the floor and woke me up. I then heard him shower and a few minutes later he dropped his keys on to the floor. Carpets carry a risk of tiny bugs but I'll take them any day to noise from above.

Isn't age a factor? As I wrote some time ago, about 6 years ago on one of my regular visits to Taipei, I had an orgy of hits on a couple of the apps. One day I had arranged two hook ups - one at lunchtime and one late afternoon. Then after breakfast, another guy wrote that he'd be passing by my hotel at around 11:00 and pleaase, please could we meet! We did and he was great. By early evening I was already quite exhausted when a student from the nearby University asked if he could come round about 9:00pm. He looked ridiculously cute and I gave in. Another great encounter. Four times in one day was and remains a record for with age creeping up I certainly could not do that now. Nor indeed do I have the interest for meeting up with more than one guy each day when away from Thailand. Thankfully a heart MRI scan last year showed absolutely no abnormalities and so I am on no medication! Just a sex drive!

Much probably depends on how often one travels. A few years ago I used to travel far more regularly than now - at least 50 flights a year. After an old Samsonite hard shell case which had given me many years of service finally died, I bought a new Samsonite medium sized soft shell case. It's first outing was a long trip with stops in Hong Kong, Moscow, London, Edinburgh and than all again for a second visit on the return. Wiping the case down after my return, I noticed the shell had been punctured twice and had a longish tear. I took it to Central Chidlom where I had purchased it and asked for a new one. They refused and said i had to take it to a Samsonite repair shop. After accusing them of selling defective goods, I insisted they refund the purchase price and left the case with them. That obviously left them in a quandary. End result, though, was I got my cash back. I then went to Emporium and noticed they had a 40% off sale on certain Tumi hard shell cases. So I purchased one. It did sterling service until it got badly dented after about 4 1/2 years. Since Tumi had a 5 year warranty, I had my pick of a new case at no cost! It is this free replacement case that has the new wheels that extend out from the case shell and clearly take the brunt of any force when hitting a hard object at some speed. I'll get the broken wheel replaced after I return from the UK in late March. If thereafter another wheel breaks, I'll take @vinapu's advice and just get a cheaper one with more recessed wheels.

I arrived back yesterday afternoon around 4:30 pm. The airport was far busier than I have seen it in 3 years with long waits for luggage. Yet at Taipei, the advance baggage check in line for two flights was all but empty, even though my flight to BKK was virtually full and the security checks upstairs had very long lines. I have an expensive Tumi suitcase. On arrival back yesterday one of the wheels had broken off. This is the second consecutive flight from Taipei in 3 months when a wheel has broken. All four were perfectly fine in Taipei and so the break happened between departure from Taipei and arrival at BKK. I noticed the speed at which baggage comes off the belt onto the carousels at BKK is faster than at most other airports. Also the bags hit a sold metal surround rather than the usual rubberised surround. I can well imagine that if a bag hits wheel first, some are going to end up with those wheels broken.

As I understand it, Interpol never posted a Red Notice request. I remember reviewing around 7,500 details of those placed on a Red Notice and the Red Bull murderer was not one.

This is the Thailand forum. Most readers don't "speak English?" Funny thought! If you were posting in the Beer Bar or the South American threads, maybe. But not here! Most speak English and have understood English many years before before this Board became Gay Guides.

I've done this as well to boost mileage and status points. But it can sometimes backfire. A dozen years ago I needed more miles to get to South America biz class for a month's vacation. So on a round-the-world ticket which allows for a lot of flexibility I flew BA from London to New York using a roundabout route. London to San Francisco, overnight at the airport Hyatt using points, early morning American San Francisco to Miami, change to American to New York. But . . . all went well till the flight neared Miami. There was an electric storm near the airport and so the airport virtually closed. After a bit of circling we finally landed - and then just stayed on a taxiway. No flights were taking off and the gates were all full of planes and passengers. I thought no problem. I had allowed 2 1/2 hours for the connection. As we sat on that taxiway, I occasionally looked at my watch. After 15, 30 even 45 minutes I was not worried. But that damn storm was still around and there were no flight movements. After 75 minutes, I could see some flights taking off. I assumed all would still be fine. It wasn't. By the time we had crawled to the arrival gate, I had 15 minutes to change terminals and get to my departing flight. Still I was not overly worried as almost all flights had been subject to long delays. As luck would have it, my New York flight departed on time. After racing through the terminals, I arrived just as the aricraft was being pushed back. At the lounge, the very nice lady who was being bombarded by screaming passengers with missed flights offered me a flight the following day via Charlotte. But this got me into NYC in the afternoon and I had an important business lunch. From experience I know there is absolutely no point doing anything other than being nice. So I explained this to the lady and asked if she would "kindly" etc. do her best. She gave me a couple of drinks coupon and said she'd page me if a seat on the last flight to NYC opened up. Sure enough, it did. And sure enough, she remembered me and I got that seat. When we arrived at 10:30pm I was desperatey tired, but I had got the points and mileage. That was not the end of the troubles, though. Half the bags appeared on the LGA carousel in reasonable time. My bag and the others did not. After an hour in a nearly deserted airport, some of us found an AA rep. She explained that the aft cargo door on the 757 had stuck but engineers were working on it. I got my bag having waited 90 minutes. The taxi took no time to get in to the city and I could not wait to grab a shower and sleep. At the hotel where I had a pre-booked, pre-paid reservation, the young man looked at my booking, checked his computer and then said since I was so late they assumed I was not coming and had sold the room. The hotel was full! Just before I finally lost it, he added. "But don't worry, we'll put you in the top floor Westminster Suite for your three nights."

Looks like an interesting event worth making a trip to Pattaya to see.