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That is Sopheap, the boyfriend of Xavi, the Spanish owner. Both are lovely hosts. He has changed - I hardly recognise him! When I was a regular there, the clientele was gay, straight and everything in between. And just about all the gorgeous guys working there were straight. Afaik, nobody was offable, although one guy there said he could introduce me to a guy after the bar closed. I didn't bother.

Vinapu, your post about the Space bar brought back wonderful memories of nights sitting out on the deck, champagne in one hand, dick in the other. It was a few years ago and the staff has completely changed, although I presume the Spanish owner is still there. My favourite guy there was Virat and we had lots of groping sessions under the table. Unfortunately, we didn't go any further. I feel a return trip coming up!

I like to stay out of political discussion here, but I couldn't resist. I wouldn't give the nuclear codes to this guy, either!

Yeah, nah. Couldn't be Aussies. 'Fuck' is usually every second word. Sometimes it's the only word.

At first, I really enjoyed songkran, especially the party atmosphere in Silom. I looked forward to visiting Thailand every April and especially remember a wonderful time I had in Pattaya. A few friends from Eros suggested I come with them for some fun, so I bought the biggest supersoaker I could find and got right into it. We dropped by every 7/11 and I bought beers and snacks for everyone. But I started getting annoyed when farang would start songkran a few days earlier when I was not prepared to get wet. So I decided I'd had enough and decided to give songkran a miss. I would divide my time in April between Bangkok and Pattaya and was able to escape songkran due to the differing dates in both cities..I'd hang around in Pattaya until the 18th and then head up to Bangkok where it had already finished. Last year I took part in the celebrations in Bangkok for the first time in years. I had a great time with some friends from Golden Cock and Natureboys outside the bar. I was planning to go back this year but am now going to Japan instead.

I bet 99.9% of their clients are Japanese men, not foreigners. Lots of guys in Japan in their 20s look like teenagers, and this is natural to those who hire them. It's what they would expect. I can understand how foreigners might see things differently, but that means they'd have to look for guys in their 30s if they weren't interested in teenagers. At least they would look as though they were adults in their 20s.

What makes you reach that conclusion, Marc? I didn't see any pre-teens, only a few who were 18. The majority were over 20.

A while ago I visited the Yushukan military museum, which is within the confines of the Yasukuni shrine in Tokyo. Just inside the entrance there is a steam train on display - it was used on the Thai -Burma railway. Yet there is no mention of how the railway was constructed. Ignorance is bliss.

I had a similar problem in Pattaya on my last visit. For a numbet of years I would have a massage by the same guy every day of my holiday. When Covid struck he returned home and I thought I'd never see him again. Then on my first night, as I walked through Boyztown, I heard my name being called. I turned around to see him rushing up to me. I was really happy to connect with him, and he was happy because his walking atm had arrived. He gave me a long sob-story - some of which was no doubt true- and told me he was desperately in need of money. So I said I'd be back around midnight and he could come back to my hotel. When I went to pick him up, he was sitting drinking with his friends at the massage place. He told me he was to drunk to do anything. But.,.but...I told you I would come and pick you up tonight! Never mind. I'll see you tomorrow night. Same,same. Sorry, I'm drinking with my friends. Next day I get a request for 3000 baht. When I explained that I wasn't a charity and that he'd have to earn it- I had already given him 2 chances to make some money - he got very angry and stormed off. We never spoke again.

Skyscanner has tickets on Malaysian for $4400. I've flown with them to Japan a number of times recently and found them excellent. Their business class lounge is KL is pretty awesome, too.

I just checked Thai Airways prices for a trip in April. Business class return was $3728, but that means catching the direct flight back to Perth at 07:00, which means getting to the airport by 0500. The next return trip offered was via Melbourne (!!), taking 17 hours and costing a ridiculous $8,215. That's around $3000 more than I paid for my recent trip to Japan on Cathay Pacific. Unfortunately, I got what felt like food poisoning on the flight home on Monday. When I reached Perth I couldn't catch a taxi home because I was vomiting and had diarrhoea. I had to wait several hours until the symptoms subsided a little before I could call a taxi. It was a very anxious trip home! I think I'd look for another option to fly to Thailand, rather than Thai Airways.

Yet the local media has not mentioned them. As far as the Japanese are concerned, the flight attendants were simply doing their job. No need to single them out for praise.

This, along with the earthquake yesterday, has locals wondering if these are portents of what's to come in Japan in 2024. I was down near Mt Fuji when the earthquake struck and although I didn't feel anything at all, my train back to Tokyo was cancelled and it took an extra hour to get back home. Knowing Japan,they'll have the airport opened by tomorrow. They don't mess around here.

I find it hilarious that people on a forum like this try to claim the moral high ground. There isn't any. We are all in this together. (Were they piano players in a brothel in a previous life?)

It was interesting but certainly not "great". The guys were lovely - they were often totally naked in the bar and the sight of their large, soft uncut cocks was a real delight. But any fun with them was ridiculously expensive and only 1 guy managed to get hard during the jerk-off show during the week I spent there.

Well, there is only one photo but the text says there are multiple guys working there, although they don't turn up every day.

I dont carry a lot of cash when I travel. I'm off to Taipei and Tokyo tomorrow and will be carrying $100 worth of Taiwanese currency and the same amount of Japaan yen. I always rely on using the ATM machines with my Visa card. I'm more concerned about my passport so I keep it in a small bag around my neck at all times. I wouldn't leave anything in an overhead locker.

Well, I didn't exploit anyone. On the contrary, as a "rich" foreigner you could argue that it was I who was "exploited"!

They are probably not on this board.

Mmmm......not much to write home about. Can't do much with the bush. I've had some interesting experiences at Escape and Drakes in the past. Drakes had a cruising area downstairs. There was a cage set up and a naked guy was inside wandering around showing off his wares. Upstairs there was a strip show in the bar but the guy didn't take it all off. Such a shame that Prague has gone downhill.

The Vintage website says the masseurs are Korean, not Japanese. Not a problem for me!

Brazil's population is 3 times that of Thailand which goes some way to explaining the difference in the number of murders.

Actually, I've been to Bali more time that I can remember. It's so close to Perth that friends and I would often fly up there for dinner, stay the night and fly home after lunch. I've also enjoyed longer holidays where I met the guys on Kuta beach for some fun times - so much so that I bought a condo. I speak Indonesian and really liked sitting on the beach chatting with the locals. Yet in all that time, I've never been asked that question. Mind you, I did shower a lot every day so I'm sure I didn't stink like an Aussie backpacker. These days I don't go to Bali - I much prefer Thailand. And Sri Lanka is on my radar.

In which case, you'll need to take a lot more than $100 I'd imagine!

"...........but as you said your 76 the bright side is you won't be suffering for much longer" Apparently not.