bobtpa1614502761

This is a very hard question to answer. 
After living here for almost 4 years - here in the Pattaya/Jomtien area, this is what I perceive:
There are 3 types of foreigners in the expat community, as follows: Seasonals - they own or rent a place here during high season and come to stay for less than 6 months - thus avoiding to become a tax resident. Tourists - they come for 30 days or less and are generally passing through Pattaya heading onto somewhere else. Full Time Expats (FTE) - they live here all year round and Thailand is home for them. Of these 3 groups - my sense of it is that the Seasonals are the most happiest, then the tourists, and then the FTEs*  However, I assign one important caveat that can put the FTE into first place - that is to be in a full time relationship and in love and enjoying the Thailand experience to its fullest. I am in the 3rd category, FTE - without a partner.  I have tried on 2 separate occasions to have a Thai partner - and during the initial phase of each distinct relationship, life was great.  But in both cases things fell apart due to the usual issues about constant requests for money due to extended family issues.  Unfortunately, the dating pool in the Pattaya area is full of guys who are not from Pattaya - but moved here out of financial necessity - as they come from poor families where there are not good opportunities for success.
Those FTEs that I see and know who are the happiest are those who have found a true Thai partner and the relationship works without the money issue becoming problematic.  Those kinds of partners, in my opinion, are very hard to find here.
Another strange thing is that most of my farang friends are in the Seasonal category - as I tend to get along with that group the best.  So, when they are here for the 5 months of the year - life is good.  But when they return to their home countries, during the 7 months of low season - life becomes more difficult and lonely.
I have had very limited luck with making true friendships with the FTE category of people who live here full time.  They tend to be in 2 different camps:
reserved and closed off to new friendships - as they have been burned by other FTEs in the past, alcoholics and want to drink alcohol at a rate that I cannot sustain - nor do I want to. Sometimes I refer to them as, "farang sit farang drink". Anyone else have a similar or different experience in Thailand?

Does anyone have hotel recommendations for Tokyo--hopefully something mid-price range that wouldn't create a fuss over a short term visitor?

The Avarin shop that is not next to Tarntawan Hotel has massage rooms on the ground floor just behind the foot massage lounge.
Chaichana on Patpong Soi 1 has massage rooms in the basement, just one floor below its foyer. The stairs down aren't difficult.
Prime has ground floor rooms in its third building, though Prime is not known for offering a milking service to conclude a massage.
There is also one shop on Silom Road under Saladaeng station that has ground floor rooms but unfortunately I can't remember which one it is. But you could easily walk that 100-metre stretch and ask the boys out front of each shop if their rooms are on the lower floor.
Further afield from Silom, Prince has ground floor rooms as does Jey Spa.
The above is based on memory which may be a little faulty, so please double check my information with the shops themselves.

Hahahaha
This is NORMAL modus operandi for many of these guys.
No shame.  No guilt.  No self control, No financial responsibility, etc.
It is just amazing.
After living here as a new retiree here for more than 2 years -  I now see how to survive here psychologically and mentally --> in that you just need to become a grumpy non-heart cold jaded old bastard expat retiree.
So sad, as I had not envisioned to have this kind of existence in the last years of my life.
 

It's been a long time since I was there. My first choice would be up in mountains in Baguio, it's not the prettiest city around but I like the climate there (never too hot and I have never needed air con when up there even in the wet season), it's a 5 hour bus ride to Manila on Victory Liners first class or deluxe bus service (even the overnight sleeper royal class). They also have a private hospital up there just in case medical is required, not in the same class as those in Bangkok or St Luke's medical in Manila but good enough for immediate needs. Cebu in my view is little more than a mini Manila and is congested traffic wise so a no for me. Can't say much about Davao as I've never been there but friends are split 50/50 on it, some say it's good because they feel safe there other say it's boring.

I am about to embark on this adventure at the end of this month.
I am currently a retiree in the Pattaya suburb = Jomtien - a small establishment directly on the Gulf of Thailand beaches with hirise condos all along the beach.
Due to the new Thai government recently implementing unfriendly tax laws - I will scout nearby countries for alternate retiree solutions.
I am trying to find the Jomtien equivalent in the Philippines - and this has been an enormous challenge to find beaches in the Philippines that have hirise condos directly on the beach like in Miami, Da Nang - Vietnam, and here in Jomtien - Thailand.  It appears that most of the beach communities in the Philippines are underdeveloped and do not have clusters of hirise condo buildings with direct sea access.
So, I will start my 2 month scouting adventure in Cebu City (near IT Park) - as it has the closest potential similarity to Jomtien - Thailand in nearby Mactan (island) Newtown Beach - as shown in the below map.
If one would live in the heart of Pattaya City and wanted to get to the Dongtan gay beach then depending on traffic that would entail anywhere between 15 to 25 minutes.
My preliminary research shows that to get from IT Park in Cebu City to the Jomtien area on Mactan island at Newtown beach entails 45 minutes depending on traffic.
So I will live for a couple of weeks in Cebu City and then go over to Newtown beach and rent a place in one of the hirise condo towers there so that I can assess how similar it is as the retiree destination that I currently have here in Jomtien.

I ruled out Manila as it is too big, crowded, congested, and a general traffic nightmare.
For Davao, I could not find any seafront neighborhoods that have a Jomtien hirise condo on the sea feeling to it.
@bobtpa1614502761 If you are aware of such places in Davao - please let me know.
Thanks.
 

wars between technical colleges? Leading to fucking gang murders on the streets? 
Just when I think the market for crazy humans is saturated, a new entrant pops up.

I only stayed there for a few days during a trip through the coffee region from Bogota to Medellin. 
I stayed in an airBnB close to that hotel (near the big shopping center). It is one of the better neighborhoods to stay in. 
Grindr was popular and the quoted prices were the lowest in the coffee region (50mil - 100mil). Actually everything was cheap in Ibague (restaurants, accommodation, ..). 

'Very safe': in my perception and confirmed by a grindr contact, Ibague was one of the less safe cities in the coffee region, compared to Pereira, Manizales, Armenia,... but a lot safer than almost all other cities in Colombia.  As long as you take your precautions (no walking at night, keep an eye on belongings during the day, keep your rolex at home..), you will be fine. 
The whole coffee region is beautiful and a paradise if you like hiking and nature. I can see the appeal for retirement, but I would also visit the other cities in the region.

Correct. It is the capital city of Tolima departmento.  Best known for its conservatory of music, it is often referred to as the music capital of Colombia.  It is a small city, but not without it's charms. Tolima is actually the largest coffee production region in the country, so much of the departmento is rolling hills and coffee farming.
Central Tolima where Ibagué is located is best known for hiking/nature/glamping.  The city maintains much of the original buildings and architectural influences from the Spanish colonial era, meaning lots of small parks and squares around the city.  There is a small, private university in the city as well so plenty of students around centro. Have not been back for a few years so don´t know about current scene. You should know that Ibagué is home to national fútbol hero James Rodríguez and the large fútbol stadium just south of centro is epicentre of the city.  Enjoy.

Trump for 4 more years. Unimaginably horrible and atrocious. 

The inmates are now running the asylum.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/america-puts-coup-attempting-convicted-103347156.html
Donald Trump, who attempted a coup to remain in power the last time he had the job and is now also a convicted criminal, is now projected to return to the White House.
A sea of his supporters in the cavernous Palm Beach County Convention Center hall let out a roar when Fox News called the race for him at 1:47 a.m. Wednesday. Many wore the red “Make America Great Again” hats the campaign had handed out as they arrived early Tuesday evening.
“We overcame obstacles that nobody thought possible, and it is now clear we’ve achieved the most incredible political thing,” Trump said a half hour later from the stage. “Look what happened! Is this crazy?”
    Trump, as he read from his teleprompter, hit standard victory speech themes of unity and healing. “I want to thank the American people for the extraordinary honor of being elected your 47th president and your 45th president. And every citizen, I will fight for you, for your family and your future.”
Then, as he often does his in his rallies, he veered off topic ― describing at length the landing of a SpaceX rocket booster, for example ― which led his supporters to start streaming out the exit about halfway through his 25 minutes of remarks.
The former president will retake office on Jan. 20, allowing him to dismiss two outstanding federal indictments against him and almost certainly delaying both a Georgia state prosecution against him and any prison term he might receive at a sentencing later this month in a New York state case.
More ominously for supporters of American democracy, his return to the presidency gives him the tools to attack the foundational principles of the 236-year-old republic from within. He came to appreciate those tools only in the final weeks of his first term, when he tried to order officials at the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security to help him steal the election he had lost. He had months earlier seen top military officials state publicly that they would have no part in the coming elections and were loyal to the Constitution, not to the president personally.

Nope. It is small indoor pool with wooden sauna cabin in the corner for 4-5 persons, huge window to hotel's yard and few training machines. And it is unisex. Public nudity prohibited including space of sauna cabin. At least it was like this when I visited it before covid. They had idea to change it to spa zone. There zero left from past Ganymede gay sauna.

Nice boys Was open last time I went.May 
Probably be the last time I go
Pushy Thai owner,I was giving 100 baht tips to meet every guy for less than  one minute 
They all lined up ,the mamasan came over ,the owner wants me to buy every boy a drink if I meet them for the minute 
I said no...sent the boys away that were lining up and paid my bill 
The owner wasn't happy,
4 drinks including 2 boy drinks in  10 minutes and over 1000 b in tips he wanted more ,just cost his staff not him ! 
Too greedy ,cost him my business 
So greed doesn't get you anywhere ,if someone is tipping your staff for a 30 second meet then go with the flow ,dollars is coming in 
My plan is to meet them quickly tip them and if I like buy a drink 
So the mamasan got tipped and several boys ,there was more money in my pocket and more drinks planned ..but...no not good enough for the Thai owner some old guy 
Selfish Thai owner .then mamasan said to me ,"you cum back tommrrw he not here !
Nope I said.. nope 
Similar GREED happened a few years ago in the Jomtien complex a annoying waiter constantly shaking my beer bottle to see how much is in there ,he walked around every few minutes shaking bottles of customers🍾🍾,I noticed very few people in this certain bar(now closed)  compared to others and I knew why , 
Fucking annoying shaking the bottle every 3 minutes and I kid you not ,every 3 minutes!
"You want more drink ? He asked 
"I only ordered it a few minutes ago " I said to him startled 😮 
I finally left, and NO tip ...in fact I shook the black leather thing you put the money in ...right in front of him ...fuck him !
And I know what some of you would think....."oh these poor boys...they're forced to work like slaves ....give them more ...don't complain...give them more and say sorry to the darlings ..think how poor they are compared to you as a farang.....say sorry for not giving them more money oh oh 😭😭😭😭
Maybe you....but NOT this little black duck !🖕🖕🦆
 
As for Winner boys the best owner and BEST business in Pattaya !!!!

I was lonely during my first few visits many years ago because I only interacted with the guys in bars and massage shops.
But after I met some of forum members here, I have not been lonely. I meet forum members and we go for dinner and bar visits while exchanging latest news.

@Matthew285 hits the nail on the head. Gay visitors to Thailand are spread out over a spectrum. At one end would be those who have been regular visitors for years, even decades. So naturally, their point of reference would be the prices that used to be. Moreover, by now they are likely to be older and retired and on fixed incomes, so they will notice how prices have moved.
At the other end of the spectrum are newer and generally younger visitors to Thailand (Thank heavens for them, otherwise the scene would be well and truly dead). Their point of reference would be prices in their home countries. My guess is that the ratio between prices in Thailand and prices the West have not budged very much, though in dollar terms, both prices have moved up. So, the new generation of visitors to Thailand are as delighted with the happy discounts they see today in a similar way as the previous generation saw (and were delighted) back then.

each  country has own regulations when comes to drugs but from your adventure one thing is sure - if one has to have diarrhea it is better to have it in Thailand then Germany

A reminder to be kind. One member banned for 60 plus days for abusive behavior. No need to attack anyone here.

A bit early I know but I shall be sound asleep when the old goes out and the new comes in so I would like to wish everyone a happy new year and may 2024 be the best yet, I'm  looking forward to my long awaited return to Thailand some time in 2024 (it's just a matter of when).

+1

I could get free sex, but I wouldn’t want it. I’m as old as you Daddy, and probably in better shape, but I like young sexy twinks. So I’ll spend my money and enjoy sex. With no regrets because I can afford it.
I doubt the sexy boys I have sex with would do it for free. In fact I find the boys less enthusiastic even when I pay. Because I’m older. Ten years ago I was met with more enthusiasm. I’m not overweight, but my skin isn’t young . I feel blessed that I’m in position to find so many willing to accept my paper for fun.
when I’m dying and probably have half a million in net worth going to my heirs, I might regret I didn’t blow more on the sex.

I used to complain about the complex. Lack of twinks, but I’ve changed my mind. Too many for me to handle.
im wondering if many of the twinks top, or probably mostly bottom.

I just spent 2 weeks in the Jomtien Complex for the third time this year.  Each time I have been overwhelmed by the number of handsome, sexy guys available. All types, including many twinks.  I didn't visit any of the massage places but they also had many stunning guys sitting outside.

I just spent 2 weeks in the Jomtien Complex for the third time this year.  Each time I have been overwhelmed by the number of handsome, sexy guys available. All types, including many twinks.  I didn't visit any of the massage places but they also had many stunning guys sitting outside.

I just spent 2 weeks in the Jomtien Complex for the third time this year.  Each time I have been overwhelmed by the number of handsome, sexy guys available. All types, including many twinks.  I didn't visit any of the massage places but they also had many stunning guys sitting outside.