vaughn

One question I have is what will be the requirements for the members only area? Will it be based on approval after X number of posts or is there some other criteria? Thanks for the update.

Yeah it seems like they made some wrong turns from owning an apartment and by the sounds of it living a fairly comfortable life to where they are now. I am curious about what the catalyst was that got them to this point as well, i would usually assume drugs or medical issues but i guess a low pension and living beyond your means for long enough would do it as well. As you don't end up having to deal with two squatters who won't leave.

That is a really bad situation for them, and my greatest fear for when i (hopefully) retire to Thailand in the future. It sounds like a combination of poor money management, some bad luck, and a reluctance to help themselves. They need to find a way to get accommodation in their home country and take up the embassy on their offer before they become homeless, that will turn their situation from terrible to unbearable for the remainder of their life. Under no circumstances should you allow them to stay with you when they are evicted, that call from them is inevitable and will be the most difficult to turn down, but given their refusal to leave the rental it would be a very bad move for you. I hope the situation works out, and you're a kind soul to help them as much as you have.

Interesting video. I already use HA serum in my skin care, i alternate between HA and a vitamin C serum. I was recommended it by a friend who is a dermatologist, i just follow his advice with no knowledge on the science (i trust him not to give me bad advice and ruin my face haha). Even with my simple regime i've noticed really good results, following it morning and night for 6 months so far: 1. cleanse with a good face cleanser, dove sensitive skin soap is a cheap option that works well, 2. a couple of drops of serum on dry skin, I alternate HA and a vitamin C serum for morning. The brand 'The Ordinary' makes great reasonably priced options, 3. moisturize with a light non-oily moisturizer, 4. Sunscreen, this is a must every day to prevent damage from sun and pollutants, something light and non-oily. I like 'La Roche-Posay' because it is anti-shine and non-perfumed. I went down a path of buying the expensive brands for a while, but i honestly didn't see any benefits over the cheaper brands like The Ordinary

That's fair, i agree there are times it can be our own expectations that spoil it for ourselves, or our mood at the time etc. The gamble is really just my outlook towards finding boys and performance. I don't worry too much if there are a few duds, i go into it knowing that there are no gaurentees.

I would say from my experience the second time the service is often better, mostly because i will only repeat if there is chemistry, and there is less time needed to work out what our preferences are in bed so exploring new things becomes easier. That being said, i've had a repeat turn out to be a dud on the second or third encounter a bunch of times. It's always a gamble, you win some you lose some.

I'm sorry to hear the loss of your friend, and a member of the community. Rest in peace Firecat.

There is no timeline set for any return to mass tourism (without hotel quarantine) yet, it is unlikely that individual traveler vaccination status will change that in the short term. The vaccine effectiveness against transmission is still unknown, these vaccines have been developed to prevent severe disease. Until we get health data analysis back from the next few months of vaccine rollout, we will not know the true real world effect on infection and mortality rates for vaccinated populations. When we start to see the results coming back in to public health surveillance networks and risk models have been applied by governments, then it is likely we will start to hear information about timelines for return to tourism. Maybe the vaccines will be extremely effective with plummeting infection and mortality rates. Maybe vaccine effectiveness is moderate and we are stuck with some retention of COVID controls. Maybe we have mutations that lead to vaccine escape variants and we get hit with a whole new world of pain. The good news is we are potentially much closer than we could have ever expected to be at this point in time, i hope we are on the home stretch to getting this under control.

What a difference a year can make. I was in Boyztown and Jomtien last NYE.. admittedly Jomtien still only had about 15-20 customers that i saw at 9pm, but BT was pretty packed and walking street was just chaos. I hope Sunnee holds on long enough for me to finally visit. Thanks for the report z909! Happy new year everyone, hopefully 2021 brings better news for us all to make Bangkok and Patts mission possible again.

I've had money in cryptocurrencies since about 2012, made a few mistakes selling early and re-buying too high. I would be a multi-millionaire if I had of just held on to it all, but hindsight is 20-20 as they say. BTC and XMR are the only two i hold onto now, It's an interesting investment/gamble, but very high risk.

Sweden being in that list is interesting, after i have returned to LOS to confirm this for them, i might need to venture over to Sweden in the future to uhhh investigate these claims :)

I love a good spy novel, added to my reading list! RIP

I do share the same fears, but I try to stay optimistic, with change comes opportunity. we might return to a skeleton of what was once the best location in the world for our interests, but there will be demand and i'm sure lots of tourist money waiting to be spent. When those borders open and tourists can flock back in, there is going to be a mad rush, i predict hotels booked to capacity and prices going pretty high with that initial demand. I wasn't around when Soi Twilight went through it's shutdown, but i assume many of the same fears were around at that time.. some will close, some will move, and in this case some will hold on for dear life until the return of the market.

I've only been to Thailand once, but I haven't found anywhere quite like it with gogos and host bars. I have had good experiences in Hong Kong, Macau, and Shanghai but the boys all work through the apps (grindr, blued etc), price is fairly comparable but the age old problem of the picture matching who turns up is still an issue. Accommodation and overall travel costs were higher than Thailand, especially HK. I'm planning to wait for Thailand to open before i go overseas again for a holiday, but I am curious about Prague and Kiev as destinations in the future.

Climate may play a small role, but i think it much more likely that the results of their low transmission rates comes down to acceptance of rules imposed on the public, and previous experience with epidemics like SARS et al. I'm no expert on SEA politics and cultures, but i don't really hear of people in Bangkok trying to fight a Walmart employee for asking them to wear a mask for example.

I didn't know that, but it should be ok, i'll be sure to find some entertainment for a dry night

I was waiting to see how this all unfolds over the past few weeks, but today i made the call to reschedule my trip, mostly due to the risk of quarantine because my flights transit Hong Kong. Thankfully Cathay Pacific allow a free booking reschedule and i didn't pre-pay at Le Meridian so I have re-booked for June, hopefully things are a little more settled by then but I will have to wait for another year to see Songkran.

I might take grab some cheap shirts and shorts, at least that way I can just ditch them in the bin at the hotel rather than ruining clothes i like.. I can see how it'd get annoying for expats that have it going on every year though, it might lose it's appeal after a few years haha.

That's definitely on the list for my next Pattaya visit! I appreciate all of the suggestions, great info thank you! I agree, wasn't much of a problem with N, he was pretty good at taking a hint when i wasn't interested in going to certain places. There was one moment where i got confused on the night we went to see his friend he said "where you go now" which i thought he meant he wanted to go off alone, I was initially a bit annoyed thinking I'd paid for him to come and he was going to run off with a friend... I ended up saying "uhh what, where you go now?" and he replied "up to you".. then it clicked he meant "where DO you want to go now" haha. I'm 31, and happy to see how it goes. I'm not a massive fan of getting soaked all day and night but when in Rome.. I'll join the party and have some fun. I'm a pretty easy going sort of guy, so even if I'm not enjoying it at the time I'll be able to find somewhere to make my own fun, but i have a feeling I'll love it even just for the experience.

Thanks Is Songkran really bad? are the bars still open for business during that holiday? it is right in the middle of my stay. I saw a few youtube videos etc, I figured it might be interesting to see.. hopefully i don't regret it.

On to Pattaya.. 28/12 Day 9- I had booked Nam's taxi a few days prior via e-mail, 1600 baht one way from Le Meridian to Agate Resort in Jomtien. My driver arrived 10 minutes early and I am on my way in her new-ish Toyota 4x4, the trip took about 2 hours door to door. Nam's is an all female driver service between Pattaya and Bangkok, both trips were comfortable and safe, I'd use them again. Check-in at Agate is easy and my room is ready for me, Superior room with balcony which is ok for the price, the room is clean, 'cosy' as a real estate agent would describe it but big enough to not feel cramped, and looks to have been renovated in the last couple of years. I am pretty spent from last night and the day so i decide to go for a walk around the area to get acquainted with my surroundings, and get some dinner. Food options are plentiful and a lot cater to expats which is good for me tonight after cravings have hit for something familiar. 29/12 Day 10- I start the day with breakfast at Agate, very average in selection but i settle on some toast and fruits to start my day, glance over at a coffee pot i decide I'm more likely to find something drinkable elsewhere so after breakfast i head over to Dick's Cafe for some coffee and people watching, when i check bin the waiter at Dicks asks if i want him to come to my hotel tonight which was entirely unexpected. He caught me off guard on that one, i was a little speechless but graciously declined haha. Caffeine hit satisfied i went for a walk down to the beach, it's pretty packed with a lot of families most of which sound Russian and German and the occasional UK and Australian accents among the retiree expats. I get a lot of stares from the older gentlemen, which was a little uncomfortable for me, a couple of propositions to go to the sauna from some local gay guys who aren't my type. Not being a fan of roasting in the sun for too long i walk back to my hotel past the massage shops, some very friendly guys but again not seeing anyone my type... have i been spoilt in Bangkok raising my standards? perhaps. I decide to go back to Agate and my thoughts shift to N after he messages to ask how my stay is, i tell him I'm a little bored and he asks if i will come back to Bangkok.. i have a better idea, I'll bring the fun to me. I ask if he will come to Pattaya for 2 nights from NYE, i propose a figure and he happily agrees. This saves me having to find someone i have chemistry with for NYE and he really is nice company, but being more of a short time kind of guy this is well outside of my comfort zone so 2 nights of a somewhat BFE could go either way.. I'll take a risk and the worst case scenario is it will be a story to tell for you all to enjoy. First impressions of Jomtien, it seems to be a favorite destination for retired expats, i don't really spot any foreign gay guys around my age for the entirety of my first days out but they might be more toward BoyzTown? Very gay friendly atmosphere, lots of cafes, bars and a few massage places scattered around, much more of a laid back beach town vibe which is ok for a change of pace. 30/12 Day 11- I decided to give the breakfast at Agate another try, I went to the omlet station and made my order, what i got was over cooked and terrible so this will be my last time doing breakfast at this hotel, afterwards I went back to Dicks for coffee and to people watch again and noticed the massage shop next door had 2 guys my type so on my way back to hotel i took a detour for a closer look and let them know i would come back. I come back about an hour later and took A from Issan for 90 minute oil massage B450, not very strong massage but a good blowjob and i was happy so I gave him a nice tip, exchanged line and then we chatted for a bit then i asked to meet up again later that night to finish what we started. He got to Agate on time at 9pm, handed over his ID and we went up to my room, he was nice and put in a really good effort but after my release earlier with him it was just a bit of a workout so i got him off, gave him B1000 and he went off to the markets while i strolled around looking for dinner. I Confirmed plans with N to come to Jomtien and we chatted for a bit on line but he was working tonight at LuckyBoys and said he will leave early tomorrow to arrive in the morning. I sent an email off to Nams taxi to book our return to BKK on the 2nd, then laid back and relaxed for the night. 31/12 Day 12- N arrived in the morning and after getting his passport scanned and added to my room we went off to breakfast at dicks cafe, went for a walk around Jomtien then just spent the afternoon around the hotel, him calling his Mama again with myself as a prop in the background, before getting ready for NYE celebrations. We started the night in Jomtien complex bars, and well, it was a bit boring. We were there between 900-1000pm and there were very few people around, a few bar boys and a couple were pretty cute but having N with me i only got a few looks and smiles, the majority of the crowd were small groups of retiree expats with very little of a NYE party vibe going on so we left for boyztown. We each jumped on a mototaxi and i'll be honest i was a bit drunk and didn't ask for a helmet which i should have, but we went to BoysBoysBoys just before the early show (i think it was 1030) the guys in the rotation were all clothed and lacked energy and only one boy i would even consider taking off, the shows were somewhat more professional than those in BKK but mostly due to the presumedly straight break dancers and performers. The candle show was done nude as a NYE celebration which was good to watch, N and i both looked at eachother and joked that it was almost identical to the candle dance number in banana boys. After the show i wanted to go for a walk to see the fireworks from somewhere and that was my biggest mistake, walking street and beach road were hell on earth! i can not even describe it, it was shoulder to shoulder packed in every direction with people shoving, the heat was oppressive and i felt like i was going to collapse at one point. We found a small clearing to actually enjoy the fireworks at midnight and then the hell began again as everyone tried to leave... it took almost an hour and a half to get to out of the pier area to where we could get a mototaxi back to jomtien and by that time it was about 2am i just wanted to shower and sleep.. it was an experience but i will never spend NYE on beach road or near walking street ever again. If anyone decides to do it, my advice would be get an apartment or hotel right next to the pier area facing the Pattaya sign and watch from the balcony. 01/01 Day 13- The first day of the new year, and i woke up happily with N in my arms.. can't complain with that. N suggested we go to Koh Lan for a beach trip, so off we went to the pier by baht bus then tuk tuk and got a speed boat to the far side of the island away from where the ferry stops. The speed boat cost 350 baht return each and takes around 20 minutes by my estimate, but make sure you check the times you can return as we didn't realise we had to wait until 5pm to come back unless we paid more. When we arrived N and i went to a scooter rental place and i let him work his magic on negotiating a good price, he got the price almost half of the initial request and off we went with me riding bitch and him scooting us around the island until we found somewhere for breafast/lunch. I let him order and just ate what was delivered to us, again happy with trying new things but a couple of dishes i let him know were a bit spicy for me or i didn't really like which he happily finished off himself (i don't know how this boy can eat so much and stay so thin, i wish i still had that kind of metabolism). We got a couple of beach chairs in a quiet area and relaxed for a few hours just watching the waves lapping on the beach and a couple of juices and beers between us, before jumping back on the scooter and back to our original drop off point. When we asked when we can return to Pattaya the speed boat operator let us know our return is not until 5pm unless we pay more, so instead we went off and paid for beach chairs and then in to the ocean to swim and splash about for a while until 5pm when we returned to Pattaya. Back to the hotel to shower, then south of Jomtiem to a restaurant N knew from a friends recommendation, i can't recall the name but apparently it is very well known for shrimp and good seafood, he picked a few dishes and this time i picked a dish i knew i'd like so that i had a fallback but everything we had was delicious albiet on the expensive side (still under B2000 but comparitively more expensive). After eating we went over to Boystown and ended up in BoysBoysBoys again, i think he has a crush on someone there but he wasn't giving much away to me, i guess he didn't want to offend me or something. We had a couple of drinks and saw the midnight show this time, i honestly can't remember much from this part of the night but i do recall enjoying it, the big cock show with a sheet with holes cut through it not showing who the dick belonged to was a bit weird. After boystown we headed down to soi 6 where N had a ladyboy friend finishing her shift in one of the bars there, we went back up walking street to 888(?) club and danced and drank for a few hours before i called it a night and we went home. N has had a bit of a stomach/diarrehea issue for the last couple of days so we didn't have sex during the last days of the pattaya stay which was a little disappointing for me, but i was still enjoying myself, he did try to return some of my money for his tip but i didn't let him and i wasn't going to let it ruin our time together. During the night out clubbing i think him and his ladyboy friend had an agreement for her to look after me sexually that night for free, but although she was very beautiful i politely changed the subject, in hindsight i sort of regret that decision, i'm not really into ladyboys but i should have taken the experience and she was very attractive. 02/01 Day 14- This is where the trip comes to an end, N and i wake up at about 10am and cuddle, talk, he calls Mama while i'm showering and packing getting ready to check out. We check out of Agate at midday and Nams taxi arrives on time to take us back to BKK airport, i'll be honest i was a little choked up saying goodbye, it's hard to spend that much time with someone and not get a little attached but i did/do have to remind myself this was a nice experience but in the end i'm a paying customer. I remember thinking 'this is why i'm a butterfly, so i don't get too attached' haha. After N left for home, i went and found bag storage at the airport on the bottom floor where the airtrain services are, I dropped my bag off for 100 baht. I sent a line message to K the massage boy from Amolir, arranged to come to his shop at 4pm and grabbed a taxi from the airport to patpong. 90 minute oil massage, K was better than i rememeberd, great massage and lots of kissing, sucking, dry humping, and playing. he got me off twice and himself off once in this 90 minutes so he got a good tip from me and a promise to see him when i come back to Bangkok. My flight wasn't until midnight so i spent some time eating and walking around patpong with a smile on my face reminiscing about my stay before taking the train/s back to the airport and on to my thai airways flight home. It's hard to be home, and just days after being back I have booked flights back in April to continue my new found love affair with Thailand. My only regret is not coming to Bangkok sooner. I'll post some more thoughts and info on things i enjoyed and some lessons learned in a few days while i gather my thoughts and piece things together. Thanks for reading and the kind feedback.

I do plan to go back, so i might try the opening time next time. thanks for the tip.. waiting around for the hordes of tour bus people to get out of the way was a bit annoying.

I was wondering how often they move between bars and how the owners/management work to keep talent or attract new guys. He didn't give any indication of moving bars the night before then just let me know he was at LuckyBoys with x number now, i didn't ask why.. maybe a question for the future.

Yeah i was a little taken back by the question being asked across the room and i agree there was a 0% chance asking in that way would get any other response, i wasn't too worried though, there were plenty of options on the stage. Admitting to being a first timer was one thing i went in telling myself i was going to lie about, but I'm a terrible liar so I inevitably blurted out the truth immediately Thank you

It does seem like it was a busy Christmas/NY for the Bangkok scene! I didn't make it along to any of the members meet ups but next time I hope to change that and put some faces to screennames