anddy

from the Meridien page on booking.com: Free! WiFi is available in all areas and is free of charge. would have surprised me if it wasn't free, as that's standard throughout much of Asia

bkk

by the way, I saw you Wednesday night in BKK as you left the restaurant. Before I knew it, you were already out, so too late to say hi. Was with a friend, too, still eating.

- go to Bang Kra Jao, rent a bicycle there (only 100 Baht/day) and bike around the green lung of Bangkok, enjoy it's scenery, temples such as Wat Bang Nam Peung and a floating market (talad nam bang nam peung) - go to Koh Kret, also rent a bicylce there and ride around this community of Mon people and enjoy the local foods and crafts along the way. - to an off-the-beaten track guided bicycle tour around Bangkok, with companies such as www.bangkokbikeadventure.com or http://www.covankessel.com

Speaking of boat trips, I'm reminded we took an overnight boat (taking 8 hours if I remember correctly) on the mighty Irrawady river down from Mandalay to Bagan. That was not exactly the most comfortable mode of transport, but going outside on the deck to see the sunrise over the river banks was somehow a very magical experience, despite the freezing cold and having only a (very) light sweater. Agree on the U Bein teak bridge, great experience with lots of photo-ops, from the serene to the slightly absurd lol:

being out of excuses can only happen when you try to make a new one for every trip. If you stick to the same one (or combination of several of the very good ones already mentioned here) then it becomes more credible. In fact, then you can claim you have found the love of your life in terms of travel destinations, which is actually true (never mind that the love has also to do with more carnal things lol). For me, the reason has always been the whole package consisting of - the culture - the friendly people - the amazing food (which always high on my agenda for any country I visit) - the climate (which I do like, I like hot climates) - the beauty of the country, be it beaches, temples, mountains, ... - the amazing and super inexpensive massages - the ease of doing just about anything (the Thai expression would be sabai-sabai for those who know what that means) These are enough reasons for some people (including myself) to permanently move here. No one ever doubts these reasons are real (which they are) Yes the boys and their liking for the westerner are a HUGE bonus, but by no means the only or even a sufficient reason to move here. With boys I mean just regular boys I can pick up, say, at DJ Station or on the apps, not paid sex, which also has never been and still is not on my agenda (though it does happen, too, of course, or else I wouldn't be frequenting this board lol, but it doesn't have much priority).

OMG, what a difference! The mode of transport in Bagan in 2006 was this (my own picture):

Wholeheartedly agree with above statements. Not only provide you reports great factual info relevant to any keen traveller, they give live info on the gay perspective you can't get just from reading gay travel websites. Yes they have spicy sex in them, but also a lot of romance which make them all the more enthralling to me. As has been said a few times elsewhere about your reports, they are like reading a good book - only better as they are real stores with your characters not only coming to life for the reader (as ggobkk correctly remarks) but being in fact alive, real people. Will be eager to get addicted to the next season of the numazu travel series (and possibly starring in it as well in a minor supporting role haha). I would have to disagree with this, having visited Burma myself, although that was an incredible (almost) 11 years ago in Jan 2006, so I don't know what Yangon is like today. Back then it was still pretty sleepy and charming, so that has probably changed dramatically. However, the attractions of Mandalay, Bagan, Lake Inle, will surely be just as beautiful and fascinating as they were then. Looking forward to a fresh view on all these places from the vivid writings of numazu

glad you had a great massage at Prime. In my experience they do have a business pilocy of having well-trained staff, so my massages there have always been at least good, usually very good, sometimes excellent or outstanding. Never had a really disappointing one there.

EXACTLY!

welcome to BKK

the Bangkok Post article has a bit more detail in that it states the planned visa fee of 10,000 Baht, which is very reasonable. I'd totally go for that. http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/tourism-and-transport/1141756/10-year-visa-for-senior-tourists

In Bangkok, (almost) EVERYONE is still wearing black or b&w. I haven't checked out much in the way of bars yet, only went to one music/dance bar in Ekkamai last night, which kept running until an astonishing and pleasantly surprising 4:15am. G.O.D. has reopened and said on it's facebook page they'd be open until 3:30am Friday night, so almost normal again too. In addition to public buildings many many bigger business such as hotels as well as all shopping malls are draped black and white which I presume will remain for the full year.

ah glad you remind me of that so I can update on this: unfortunately, that restaurant has moved out from there (after only having moved in from Silom SOi 9 in June) :( They are now inconveniently located on the Thonburi side, though still easy to get to as they are located right next to the BTS Station Pho Nimit, which is the 3rd Station on the other side of the river. But takes an extra effort to got there, unfortunately a casual visit is no longer possible.

don't get me wrong, the seats on the TG 787 were still ok, waaaayyyy better than Air Asia would have been! Just not as good and roomy as the older 777 seats.

slight correction: this is Silom Complex, not Silom Plaza. Silom Complex is the one right next to BTS Saladaeng. Silom Plaza is the mostly dead semi-open mall that is further down on Silom, just after the big intersection where the BTS makes the bend towards Chong Nonsi Station. Silom Plaza is also where Arena massage is.

The last statement is obviously correct. It makes no sense to pick carriers based on aircraft type, as the seating configuration has nothing to do with that. As a case in point, and referring to TMax Thai Airways 787: you may have found that good, which is true is seen in isolation. BUT: I have flown TG from BKK to Bali and back a few weeks ago. Outbound was a 777, back a 787. The 787 seats were noticeably worse than the (older) 777 seats, both in general comfy-ness of the seat.AND seat pitch (I am 6ft as well and all I care about in economy on long haul flights is legroom, couldn't care less about service; on a shorter one of 4+ hours I don't care too much about either, then the main criterion is flight time, not going to take 7am flights!) So to OP's question: most important for you will be seat pitch, so check what they have, which may differ from aircraft type to aircraft type within the same airline. Check out www.seatguru.com to compare specific flight numbers that you would consider (though I was told it is not as up to date as it used to be)

never occurred to me to do that when I renewed my pp earlier this year. Will do that then, thanks for this!

thanks, guess will try that some time then, although I generally don't go to the full-service gay massage shops as I like the suspense of whether or not things will happen haha.... Had a great one at the new Art massage next to Tarntawan last week Baan Tewa is in a convenient location too though, not far from me. So you're in BKK now, hi B&W BKK, yes but will see if and to what extent it changes back to color tomorrow after the 30 days expire. For a minimum I expect the large LED-billboards which are everywhere will spring back to life from their slumber (or rather their showing only or mostly B&W images of the king and scenes from his life as well as the usual messages that he will forever stay in peoples' hearts etc etc). People's clothing, we will see....

I like their black-and-white checkered briefs - I have a boxer short with the exact same design haha

great reads again numazu, like someone said recently somewhere, don't need books anymore with these reports Looking forward to learn how the BurBoy love-story continues. I always find your descriptions of your personal relationships with the boys so endearing, especially CB, DTG, BurBoy....

I actually saw him at Mixwell briefly in that costume, he came over to say hi, as we had our tour with him a couple of days before. Nice guy and SUPER responsive (using whatsapp) with all inquiires

there is still a Robinson in Bangrak, near BTS Saphan Taksin and the Shangri La Hotel

Well in my opinion there is no "Christmas spirit" in Bangkok or any other country or city in the region. As a westerner you may perceive such spirit because of the xmas decorations and the xmas carols being played everywhere, but if you're Thai (SE-Asian) I don't think you'll feel any sort of xmas spirit that my this year be squashed by the mourning. Christmas is a purely commercial affair here IMO. As for big NYE events, yes that remains to be seen. Given that WP is behind closed doors I'd think that it can go on with no or at most very limited scaling down. That kind of thing is happening even now while we are still in the 30 mourning period.

I don't think anyone said it does not exist, but only that it's difficult to find. A gogo boy only needs to meet two of your criteria, one of which you can already gauge right in the bar, so only the other remains to be seen in the room. With massage, you can't really gauge any of the criteria, as one doesn't spend time with the guy over a drink first. So that and the added skill required make it logically more difficult to hit the jackpot. But not impossible, which where DM's frequent sampling advice comes in At Prime seriously do not expect a HE. Yes it does happen, maybe even often, but I've had guys there stubbornly ignoring a raging hard-on during the massage there. I'm not the guy asking for it, I just go with the flow, i.e. if he starts doing it (or asks) I go for it, of not, then not. Having said that, my good-massage guy there is Rut, been 7+ years with Prime. However, what's a good massage is also a matter of taste, you may like a different style than I do. I go for his oil massage (tried him on Thai massage once just to see, but wasn't so impressed), which is very strong and deep, with lots of elbow use on the back which I sometimes need. He is no stranger to HE, in fact I got it once or twice from him, on another occasion he offered it but I declined, but generally I don't really want it from him, it's his massage I want. Need to book in advance. Banana does have a line up, the one time I went maybe 6 months ago it was maybe 20-30 guys. Given the single visit, I'm not in a position to make a recommendation. Prince and Arena have been mentioned yes, but don't make any decisions before yo heard from vinapu haha. In fact I know he also likes Senso, which is small and on the expensive side, but from his reviews and comments I remember he has always had a good time. I can confirm that somewhat in that I took a US friend there who wanted what you want and he was very happy. He followed my advice (i.e. vinapu's) to pick the most smiling guy. That carries little weight, though, as it is only a single sample and only indirect, you may call it hearsay. But again, wait for vinapu... With BurBoy that would be expected to be passionate, being (temporary) bf's already. Jasper was presumably talking about a massage shop situation of course And now to vinapu..... when he resurfaces lol