DenverDude

I have been there many times and trust me stuff does go on. In the steam room, sauna and in the little room next to the one with the the big marble slab. If you are still in Istanbul then checkout Davutpaşa Hamamı. Get a private room, you won't regret it.

I presume a trip report is forthcoming? 🙂

Thank you @vinapu for providing reading material while I recover from covid after my trip to Turkey. Always enjoy your trip reports.

+1

I don't have any suggestion but just wanted to say I am jealous that I don't have that kind of energy. I'd be done after the Arena encounter 🤣

One more thing, if you are checking your bags, even with a 16 hour connection, they may be tagged through to the final destination. This was the case for me once on a 14 hour connection (that wasn't in BKK though). You might check with Thai Airways to see what their policy is, you may not need that luggage storage.

Why don't you just book an inexpensive hotel? The Quarter Silom (right by the Tawan Bar location) is only like $50 a night. Then you would have a place to take your offs, not to mention be able to get cleaned up before you go back to the airport the next morning.

LOL I'm pretty sure it was not him but thanks for the laugh. 🤣

Recently I witnessed a guy pass out a few seconds after taking a sniff of poppers. Scared the crap out of me, I thought he had dropped dead. I never had any desire to use them and surely won't ever use them after seeing that.

That too! 🤣

I want to say that 39 Underground sauna had something like what you described. If my memory is correct on the top floor there are two patios. On the smaller of the two patios there is like a ladder that goes up to another level where I think there were some mattresses setup. I didn't go up there because there was plenty of fun stuff going on everywhere else in the building.

On my, they are gorgeous! I think I will have to finally make my way to Cambodia this year.

I must have missed the underground floors. I'm pretty sure I only went UPstairs. I need to pay more attention next time!

I thought all of the massages were given by guys at Prime, am I wrong? Would be good to know for my next trip.

Yeah I was kind of thinking 1500. I'm embarrassed to admit though how much I tipped on my last visit to Arena. 🤣

I would recommend giving the masseur his tip privately in the room. That's what I've done and didn't have this sort of reaction at the door.

I have a question for those more experienced than me (I've only been to BKK 3 times) - is the minimum tip appropriate for the service that was described? I would have thought this deserved a higher tip. I'm not being critical, just for my future reference for my next trip.

Wow, you have a lot of energy. I'm jealous! I don't think I did that much during my 5 day stay in October.

I'm from the US and when I arrived on the 9th of October I was given until the 7th of November. I did not apply in advance for a visa.

I agree it's not clear. Perhaps something @Moses could add to the FAQ page? I hired Mac on a previous trip and agree he was very knowledgeable.

Thanks for the offer Moses but I don't want a refund. I was simply pointing out that things don't always go as planned even with a licensed guide.

No, it was Esso. It was in October 2018. I recall him telling me he had just returned to Thailand from abroad so maybe (at that time) he wasn't up to speed to on the Grand Palace entry requirements ..

Sorry but I just have to comment on this.. One of your guides (this was a long time ago, like ~6 years) was not able to enter Grand Palace with me because he was not dressed appropriately. From your comment I would have expected him to be aware of the dress code for a place like that. Apparently not all guides have a lot of knowledge and experience ..

If you Google "Krabi Male Massage" there is one place that comes up that looks promising. I was in Krabi (Railay beach) in 2018 and found one gay massage place on the main road leading away from Ao Nang beach but I'm not sure if it is still there. Also got a couple of massages from a Grindr guy at his apartment. In October this year I was a Koh Lanta and it was really disappointing, all the massage places seemingly were staffed by girls only.

I think I used this system on my ANA flight two weeks ago. I was asked at the check in counter if I would grant permission for this (which I did) and then used a dedicated line to enter the security screening area, and if my memory is correct it was also used at the gate when boarding the flight.