vinapu

that's steep , specially for such a big market. I can imagine some may balk at such cost, specially for repeated visit.

While pathetic It may work other way. It was in one of pre-covid trips , I noticed that one of guys I hosted manipulates his phone strange way moving it from one end of table to another and when I asked ' are you trying to record us ?" he did not bother with any answer. Did not protest when I cover it with something either. To this day I'm not sure it was just coincidence, my hyper sensitivity or something sinister.

I noticed that too. I don't think we will have much choice in choosing airports, they close one and open another. I don't believe story about effect of planes on ancient monuments, airport was close but not THAT close. Somebody made a lot of money of selling land and construction itself. only hope is they organize some form of cheap transportation to the city , otherwise we need to swallow taxi prices

lucky coincidence, I was there 2 weeks ago and saw some phone under Mermaid's tail without realizing it was Ketihamrose's

hopefully one day trains reach Mor Chit bus station

it looks that eventually we will have rail linking new airport and city of Siem Reap. When ? who knows . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjrzCq4EuEc But when I was in Laos in 2013 talk about railway from China border to Vientiane only started and seemed like pipe dream and now we have it

I don't , but hope and pray you are right and I'm wrong. As I said above my yearning to be there before end of 2023 has price tag. 2024 is different story

yes , as long as fares drop to my acceptable level

about time

In case he wants to change his mind ?

don't tell us it was Mermaid

correct although my post covid observation from 3 trips there this year is that Thais , like other nations, got fond of working from home and I did not see such crowds like in say 2019 that at times platforms at Siam were filled to capacity, scary sight or train left the airport already filled past capacity.

not necessarily, They can change things only if they are in power so it may be just tactics, nasty but just tactics.

I will try although I set myself strict limit on airfare about 1200 USD which at the moment looks almost impossible to achieve but who knows ? Nov/Dec not this year as I have another, quite firm, plans for that period I was first I think that the reason, not enough flights, it won't change until big Chinese airlines return to the skies en masse, at least for Asian direction

To summarize I must say it was one of the best trips. Social component was certainly best of them all with three members there most of my time so almost no day went without common meals, coffees and gossips. We encouraged each other and gave some leads and I’m sure all had good time. As for boys this trip strategy was not to be too adventurous and settle for tried and tested .It worked amazingly. None of those tried companions disappointed and they all did their best. Wing nights (first and last ) were bit different and boys while performing very well still managed to piss me off a bit by rushing up. Don’t blame them , business is business , they did not read me as good as veterans and still earned their keep but I’d be happier if first one wouldn’t be so greedy and last so speedy. Kao adventure proved that fun can be had outside of scene is we have open eyes and thread carefully but with goal firmly in sight. Him and Y were certainly stars of that trip but S, SK , A , Nuk from Arena , Maii from Jey and MJ’s friend who visited me in the room were equally great Novelty for me was settling down when come to accommodation. I like to change hotels every 2-4 nights but this time I was domesticated in just two. It is more homey feeling when one unpacks for 9 days as opposite to just two. Disadvantage is that if something doesn’t work ( 2 noisy nights at Quarter) we are stuck and need to mitigate things using other means than just moving out. I underutilized Foodland this time since for first 9 days I had excellent breakfast included in the rate and somehow for dinners we steered more toward G’Bangkok but still managed to dine there few times. With new Foodland in the basement of Silom park we will see if those two supplement or will compete with each other . I like new store better but prefer old store’s restaurant not only for memories but also ability to see who is inside while passing by. Exchange rate was better than expected and hold up throughout with XOne still my favorite place to get the baht. I regret only one thing, that I missed that new #4 from Tawan I was sitting with one night and hoped to off the next one. I should handle it differently by booking him in advance for next day but this trip on principle I decided not to do any advance bookings so I fell victim of my own orthodoxy. With at least 5 twinks those days Tawan certainly is no longer just a muscle kingdom. I hope for another trip this year although my hope is dimmed by fact that acting on airfares substantially increased I set internal limit of how much I’m willing to pay. I monitor fees almost daily for various time frames but so far nothing even close to my number. But I play 6-49 regularly , it may help I hope.

don't try to be an asshole if you already are

That's beautiful and very accurate Ode To Arena

Day 13, last All things, good and bad , are coming to an end and so is this trip. I still have full day though as my flight is at 11.50 pm. Because of Kao’s message yesterday I kind of knew how it will look like. Free of company I had good sleep and woke up only at 9.15 , no doubt in subconscious anticipation of sleepless night on the plane. At the same time message came from MJ, he just landed on his first leg of his way home. For few last day I’m exchanging messages with Keithambrose , we are trying to meet but out schedules are not aligning. I had some medicine to buy and his hotel is on the way so messaged him that I will be passing by in 20 minutes, fortunately he was in the room and had time so we met for a handshake and chat in his place’s lobby. Mindful that Kao will show up at 3 pm I made sure I was in the room. Unfortunately fortunately right after he arrived it started to rain , at times heavily. So instead of taking meal brake from our activities he brightly suggested we order a meal from KCF of all places. He professed to liking their food beyond measure and yes , commented that I look like KFC. Not my kind of food but it was actually quite very good. I felt sorry for soaked delivery guy but made sure he received proper tip to dry out. Our time was mixture of activities and quiet moments and mindful I need to pack at one moment I actually put him to sleep, he was looking so sweetly, LOL. I utilized that time to tidy of and pack and at 8.30 pm we executed proper good bye rites. He went home and I, in bit of drizzle marched to Sala Daeng station to go to Swampy. All went smooth. I left Thailand for 30th time without a glitch and on time , as always curious when it will be next trip. In Jun on departure I had no idea I will be back in 4 weeks. Best part was that even if plane was full I managed to sleep in one go about half of that, rare treat for me. I post summary in hour or two

my visa terms prohibited me from going to massage places in LadPrao soi 101 on last full day of my trip so I did not want to take a chance

I don't like it but getting tired , no , once a trip is almost rite of passage to go through lost key stories. It's almost included in price

No massage boy , no matter how muscled he is , will force you to get massage. Bring your family pictures and he will be glad to look at them with you for length of session paid and tip agreed. Or whatever other activities you have in mind, what you call it ? oh, sex . try Arena, Sabaidee , Apollo or Jey Spa or bars ( Tawan ,Moonlight Jupiter ) or Grinder

financially yes , fair deal but I still feel cheated as I wanted long time, not just 60 or 90 minutes. I guess in bar he read me well that if he declined long time he will not get shot time either, LOL but there's half full of glass, boy was nice and I got good night sleep.

last "The Economist " which I received just today had 2 articles about Thai politics and one is titled "Thaksin Shinawatra shows his true colours" with subtitle : A grubby political compromise with the army has enraged Thai voters"

Nantra Silom or Baan Silom but they still can be stopped by reception or night guard and asked where they go. Be nice to your boys and at least greet them in the lobby and escort them from there or as minimum tell reception ' My friend is coming in 1 hour , please let him in, my room is 212"

just go, website or not they are very much in operation. Arena rarely , if ever disappoints. If you don't know who is available , even better, creates additional buzz for exploration. And main advantage, is right there in Silom ghetto so even if disappointed it's just short walk back to civilization