Londoner

Correct....but you may well get an extra (and heart-felt) kiss if you don't do anal. The majority of guys- not all, I emphasise- prefer to avoid it, even those identifying as bottoms.

Didn't that place appear in the film about Filipino go-go boys, "Midnight Dancers"? I miss the cute guys in the mens' clothing dept. in the Silom Robinsons.

Yes....I remember that, too. On my first visit to Bangkok (as opposed to Pattaya) I'd dine Soi 4 and the song was ubiquitous. It was 1997. I forgot to provide a link to Broken- hearted Woman.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlWcmcw02oc

Easy for me;1996, my first visit to Pattaya. Every bar seemed to be playing a song I later discovered to be called "Broken-hearted woman."

Dylan was a supporter of the vile racist Meir Kahane who inspired the Hebron massacre.

I disagree with that statement but I'll say no more on this forum.

Agreed. And don't make the mistake of thinking that the monarchy is uniformly admired in Thailand. Perhaps it once was but times have changed.

I'm a regular at Ambiance- have been for sixteen years. There are aspects I could criticise but the quality of the cleaning has remained consistently excellent. Helped, no doubt, by the fact that some of the cleaners have been there for as long as I remember.

I agree with traveller123. My boyfriend and I were in Chiang Mai last week- our fifth visit- and enjoyed every minute of it. Temple visits, the royal gardens, the river... Of course, the gay scene there is no longer on our minds, though we did have so-so massages in Paradise (a number of cute guys available there, by the way). My first trips were solo , in the late 90s and Adam's Apple was then in its heyday. Barely a seat available....and many of the audience, students from CMU, were as cute as the dancers. Nowadays what I appreciate about CM, despite its large number of tourists (mainly Chinese- who were 90% of our large hotel) is that it's a Thai city to which tourists are an addition. Without us, there'd be a Chiang Mai. Pattaya, on the other hand , exists only because of the tourists.

Is The Strangers (Soi 4) a host bar? I've been eating at Balcony for a couple of days and my gaze has continually been drawn to some cute guys working there. I'm much too shy to ask them whether they are available! By the way, the selection of hosts in Soi Twilight is a lot better at the moment than on recent visits...in my opinion.

When I was there a few months ago, Oscars had hosts in the afternoon. The Copa guys mentioned above are for massage..

I understood your post perfectly well. You should hear my French! As for my faltering attempts at Thai in public, my boyfriend shrivels in embarrassment.

My boyfriend insists that I speak "proper English" but I find myself reverting to Thinglish constantly....and it take a few days to get over it even I'm back home.

I may have to return to the issue raised by firecat69 if the changes at Tarntawan force me to change after sixteen years' patronage.

The advantage is that you can take a good look before sitting down. The disadvantage is that there aren't so many guys available- though those that are tend to speak some English.

The gogo bars are usually so empty nowadays that a punter is likely to find himself alone or at best with a few others to share the unwanted attention of mamasans. I know when I'm in for a bad time when the doorman sees me about to enter and rushes into the bar clapping his hands to rouse the dancers from their slumbers....and their mobiles. In these circumstances, I feel as if I am the centre of attention and should be the one on the stage. Unbearable! that's why I prefer the host bars in Soi Twilight- where the drinks cost a lot less.

I enjoyed the report, too, particularly since I'll be in Soi Twilight next week for two evenings before my boyfriend joins me. I was wondering whether Classic would be worth a visit but that mamasan has put me off. May I ask blueshrimp whether he saw much activity in the host-bars?

Years ago, when Arena was in its old premises, there was another gay massage joint a little closer to the Silom Road entrance. I can't remember whether it was on the 2nd or 3rd floor. Could this be the same place?

Interesting....I no longer go to Sansuk, despite liking the restaurant's Thai food, because falangs seem to outnumber the Thais to such an extent that the pickings are very slim for me. May I deduce from this that things have changed since I was there last? that was about fifteen months ago.

I'm a little annoyed when I buy a drink in a bar and see that five or so the dancers (invariably the best-looking) have been taken out of circulation and are clustered around a punter "splashing the cash." A year plus ago, I was there a little late at a Boyztown bar and there were only twelve or so guys left....of whom five or six were sitting with a falang playing with their phones.

Westerners have thought that they have a right to other peoples' countries for nearly one thousand years. After the theft of Palestine in '48 which most of us are pretty embarrassed about, we now prefer to meddle, massacre and then moan about the human results of our actions.... who end up as refugees.

There are escape ladders on the balcony outside the penthouse rooms.

Saudi Arabia is atypical of Islamic countries in that its theology is Salafist...that is, fundamentalist. The Saudis are no more typical of their religion than the US evangelicals who shout "God hates fags" are of Christianity, and the nationalist Haredim in the Palestinian colonies are of Judaism.

There are also deep social and quasi-ethnic divisions which became particularly apparent during the events that led up to the coup. Prejudice against Isaan natives and other working-class and northern-based Thais, often based on skin-colour, was a feature of the anti-Red Shirt demagogues who ushered in the (very white-skinned) generals. And how many shelves in the supermarkets groan under the weight of skin-whitening creams?

My recent concern with Romeo has been the use of enhancing software that can make some of the photos extremely misleading.