Londoner

Transactional sex can be mysterious. Our mood and the way we communicate can differ by the night, but that is also true of guys on the scene. I certainly remember occasions when I offed a smiling, seemingly enthusiastic guy from a bar and, on the way back to the hotel, realised that It wasn't going to be good. It was like meeting two different guys. Sometimes our style just doesn't work. For example, an old expat friend, now sadly departed, on one of my early inexperienced trips raved about a particular guy and advised me to meet him. I did and couldn't get any response him- he seemed uncomfortable. The assignation was my shortest ever! What surprised me was that I had seen my friend be quite aggressive, even overwhelming with the guys while I'm a lot more gentle. I assumed that a guy would prefer my style. I was obviously completely wrong. It was long ago but it taught me something.....that the guys on the Pattaya scene, like us, are not all the same. And that also like us, their attitudes, wishes and preferences can vary even by the day.

Why should anyone want to when there so many gays available? Isn't mutual enjoyment preferable?

I was fascinated by their childhood experiences in Isaan and so on. About the arrival of electricity to their homes, twenty or so years ago and its impact. And where applicable, their experiences when they did their "monk duty". I wanted to learn about their reactions to their arrival in Pattaya and (if they were forthcoming- not all were!) about their feelings when they were first offed. And of course, about their lives in Pattaya, where they lived, how they lived....so much! Some guys weren't communicative of course and many lacked the necessary English but those who could express themselves taught me a lot.

I learnt very quickly when I became a Pattaya regular that older guys were more fun, that they were more likely to be able to converse in decent English and that their experience of sex made them better practitioners. And that they kept their looks.

Can the Thai tourist industry survive long-term without Chinese visitors? and how can the gay scene return to former glories if the tourist industry as a whole doesn't flourish? chiang Mai was certainly suffering badly in November. And parts of Pattaya are pretty depressing too. As far as Bangkok is concerned, I was interested to discover that money exchanges in the Silom and Surawong areas are almost non-existent. I had to queue up at a bank.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/dec/19/girl-7-raped-at-thai-factory-supplying-clothes-for-tesco-while-mother-worked More disturbing....some may say disgusting....revelations.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/dec/18/workers-in-thailand-who-made-ff-jeans-for-tesco-trapped-in-effective-forced-labour

It's not parties that are the issue; it is parties that impinge on the rights of other people, parties which entertain a small minority and screw-up the evenings and nights of others. Sorry to sell The Good Old Days, yet again, but decades ago when go go bars operated until the last customer left, noise wasn't an issue because the d**n places had doors. And walls. This was one of the reasons why I objected to the BT aural pollution; the guilty bars were the biggest in the soi and could easily have accommodated the party-goers within their buildings. JC is different. Noise cannot be contained by more than two or three businesses. And so it behoves the owners to behave in an appropriate manner, one which allows punters to talk with guys and each other.

Yes, Koreans much in evidence. The Korean restaurants were usually the only mall-restaurants that were full. Apart from MK, of course. I tentatively suggest that there may have been fewer Indian guys in November than July.

Like Macaroni, I'm a noise-refugee from BT. One of the many things that annoyed me was that the noise was for the benefit of owners and their friends. The worst of all the nights I endured was when the owner of a well-known venue in BT had a birthday party not in the bar, not at his home but outside my room. I wasn't invited! And then, another owner put on a show for a friend's birthday outside Panorama rather than in his own bar. I had a look at about 01.00. An amplified singer was performing-loudly- for an audience of four. Yes, I counted.

I can't comment on the bars but, in general terms, I thought the difference in terms of the number of falang visitors, between my July and my November visits seemed minimal. I would qualify that by noting that Agate was busier though that was reflected in more straight guests. I must confess to having been a little disappointed, particular by BKK; I'd hoped to see the first signs of a High Season.

I'm pleased that this issue has been raised. When I was a regular at Ambiance in Boyztown, a major concern became the prevalence of all-night parties- street parties- which apparently demanded the utilisation of huge speakers suitable for stadiums outside the hotels and bars. These parties weren't popular- the number of attendees was never above thirty or so- but among other business-owners , they caused anger. Not only were we residents at the hotels denied sleep, bars like Panorama were emptied of customers as those who wanted to chat with the guys or with friends were unable able to do so owing to the deafening noise. I recall seeing potential punters arrive at the Pattaya 2nd Road end , hearing the noise, and moving elsewhere. BT was built fifty years ago by bar-owners working together and attracting punters to an area which had different bars, encouraging bar-hopping. That co-operation ended two decades ago and it became every bar for itself. We all saw the inevitable consequences. I hope the JC doesn't follow suit.

Christmas arrives in Thailand even before it does here, in the UK. Lotus, in Jomtien, was playing Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer on a loop in mid November. Only the sheer joy of being back in Thailand prevented me from screaming.

Thank God that we falangs never, ever lie on our profiles!

Tarntawan and Agate! I'm envious. They were two of the three hotels we stayed in last month and I'm sure you'll be equally delighted. If you are interested in swimming, try the smaller of the two pools at Agate. The chances are that you'll be on your own. And take a few minutes to look at the hotel's displays in the corridors. Absolutely fascinating....my partner wouldn't go anywhere without gazing lovingly at the quartz, agate and other precious stones.

Vinapu writes,"I don’t like the sober, smile absent look....." We may not agree on what constitutes a good-looking guy but, boy, am I with you there! give me a smile, particularly a shy one, and I'm anybody's!

The new establishments in the Dick Cafe soi and its adjoining corner have done wonders for the Complex as a whole.

Are others a little wary of buying drugs from small pharmacies which may not be kosher? I bought some omezaprole back in November in Pattaya, the price of which was so ridiculously low, compared to those in the UK, that I wondered.

Interesting; my experience, as already mentioned was the same and I too arrived at that time. Are there good and bad times to arrive? I always thought that late afternoon was a busy period.

Not this old chestnut again. Its origins lie in another forum a few years ago and the posts it produced were sickening. I'm not surprised you "saw nothing of that"; it was always a fantasy propagated by a couple of individuals toying with racial stereotypes. I cannot believe there 's a safer place to wander at night than Pattaya....as long as you watch out for all the traffic, not just fantasy Arabs on motorcys! Not to mention broken pavements.

I know-knew- three of them: Tuk Com, Royal Garden top floor and Central. And they are now all gone. For those who didn't try them, they were slightly cheaper versions of MK, minus the cute waiters and waitresses* (they were buffet style) but with the benefit of free soft drinks and , significantly for me, free sweets which included unlimited Panna Cottas. Sadly, not MK's unmissable roast duck though. If a meal for falang+ boyfriend (non-drinkers) in MK cost 800bht or so, Hotpot's version was 500/600. Good value. Perhaps too good to survive. * And now those d**n robots.

I agree with that. I'm no lover of BKK but I find the journey from the airport into the city -traffic notwithstanding- nothing less than thrilling, even if it can be frustrating.

Macaroni21 makes reasonable points but our experiences in Pattaya, Chiang Mai and (briefly) Bangkok weren't different to those of non-gay tourists. We visited temples in and around Chiang Mai and the beaches and numerous restaurants in Jomtien and Pattaya, staying at hotels which were not specifically "gay". And no bars of any kind, by the way. And yes, China is the key. The booming Indian market cannot replace it and replicate its spending power.

It depends on what you mean by a beach view. The row of hotels overlooking Dongtan certainly have uninterrupted views of the sea but you'd have to check whether a particular room has one. Those hotels have narrow beach fronts for obvious reasons, stretching a long way back as far as the Pattaya road where the main entrances tend to be. I assume that the rooms with the best views will be priced accordingly. And will be the most in demand.

Is it being suggested that our experiences in Thailand are so bad that we won't return? Not in my case, anyway. I'm now just ending my second trip since the re-opening, with a third one only fourteen weeks away. Prices are still good-in particular restaurants and hotels- at least the Bkk, Chiang Mai and Pattaya ones we've been in- and, as far as concerned, no suggestion of a hike in prices.