Mavica

Even though I'm retired now, I have some community management responsibilities and can't stay away for very long. So, I'm in the same boat as you. Travel time from my USA departure point is l o n g, and the airfare now is approx. $1,500 all-in. For less than a several week visit it just doesn't make practical sense to me. I can travel to Mexico in less than 4 hours for under US$500 all in, non-stop. I've been continually checking on fares to BKK, but the Trump War impacts are disrupting travel planning and pricing.

Interesting discussion of information sources. Yes, there is no inclusive, up to date guidebook ... be it a gay guide or one of the Lonely Planet's. Most of us regularly posting here almost certainly consult multiple sources as we travel because the internet affords us those opportunities and information changes so frequently. These gayguides forums are probably the most reliable resources because of participants generously sharing recent personal experiences. I think that sometimes we take it for granted we will have this space and know so many of us are grateful for this resource.

Indifference to terms, or awkward comments: Consider this: a guy (or gal) we know dies and there's open casket visitation at the funeral home. In front of the open casket is a kneeler, like there is in church; enough room for two people to kneel side by side. We're kneeling when someone else kneels down next to us and says a quiet prayer. The other person then glances at the deceased individual, turns to us and says, "He looks good, doesn't he." Really, looks good? He's dead! But it's a comment made frequently. Just a stock remark when we don't know what else to say.

Thank you for the comments. Let us know during the visit if your early expectations regarding Grindr are fulfilled.

That's an apples to oranges comparison, though.

Yes. Before the broader proliferation of the www and gay informational websites/guides such as this forum ... Spartacus guidebooks led us to our world as we traveled. I'd pack it together with my Lonely Planet guides when I headed out. You've been around for a long time, right? Did you ever post to the Dreaded Ned's gay Thailand forums or take advantage of the gay guide information that was part of that site?

I came across two SEA trip reports unrelated to the gay travel / hook up scene the comments in which I found interesting to read and consider: 5 Months Solo in Southeast Asia -- A Trip Report (Pt 1) by u/TheLeopardMedium in solotravel 5 Months Solo in Southeast Asia -- A Trip Report (Pt 2) by u/TheLeopardMedium in solotravel

I was such a newbie in BKK in the early 1990's. Dreaded Ned's was the go to web guide / forum for BKK (anybody else here a contributor to that forum?). Spartacus guidebook did a good job covering the city, as well. Harry's was the first BKK gay bar I entered; a collection of expats frequented and were helpful. DJ Station was in the same Soi, as I recall. And there was a bar above Harry's with twinks for the picking (Garden Bar?), without charge for them to accompany back to the hotel (I was at the New Trocadero Hotel). Across the Soi was a "Beer Bed & Boy for $5" bar, the concept of which I totally misunderstood. A friend and I entered that bar, had our beer, paid our US$5, took the boys upstairs, fucked them and left without paying anything to the boys. It was my first experience abroad with pay for play. I've regretted my lack of sensitivity (to the boys) since.

For context: Protesters set vehicles and homes on fire as violence flares over knife attack in Northern Ireland - KTVZ

LGBTQ rights in Rwanda - Wikipedia Is Rwanda Safe for Travel RIGHT NOW? (2026 Safety Rating) Edit: Of course, the current concern about Ebola in that part of Africa would cause me to hold-off visiting at this point in time.

IDK, there's a lot of what happened leading up to this incident we're not seeing - and the driver may have provoked the incident. We just don't know. The driver is speaking in a language I don't recognize.

Your comments remind me of a time I was sitting along a beachfront wall in Essaouira, Morocco, 1979. I’d taken a day tour to the beach from Marrakech where I was staying at La Mamounia. As I sat on the wall two attractive young men approached me. We couldn’t communicate well but they sensed my interest in them (my eyes feasting on them gave me away!) and motioned I should follow them to a seemingly abandoned structure on the nearly deserted beach. I almost followed them - before common sense got the better of me. Sitting there with an expensive new camera in my hands, I thought: Would they drop their drawers and let me blow them, or bend over for them … or would they attack and rob me of my camera and whatever else? I thanked them and returned to the restaurant where the tour group was having lunch and gathering for the trip back to Marrakech.

This David Essex?

In both Mexico and Ireland where I've lived or traveled, room/air temperature shower water is the norm. When I was living in Mexico City, I successfully fixated on elements of the military and those wonderful young men preferred room temperature showers because their barracks didn't have heated water. In Ireland, an uncle of mine I'd stay with didn't have heated water and I bathed outdoors, taking water from a 55 gal. drum below a gutter downspout. Ouch! Nowadays, though, my family there has heated water. When I visit certain parts of Mexico the water is unheated, even today (Pacific Coast, mostly).

So, what do we do when the blush is off the rose? Vacationing somewhere is vastly different than living full-time in that destination. While an early arrival may hit the bars nightly / frequently upon arrival and off the boys ... it's likely that changes over time. Eating out at restaurants regularly? That becomes lesser and lesser over time. The ability to speak/communicate in Thai makes a transition easier but not having that ability can isolate us and cost us. Hopefully, over time ... we develop regular callers, therefore making trips to the bars less frequent - but the financial commitment not much less. What else, though, will occupy our time there? Expat network? I've been an expat outside the USA previously (not Thailand), and I know that the grass is not always greener on the other side. Ok. when are you making the move?

IDK, but my sense is it isn't a scam.

Thank you for the video. Some alluring bodies! My favorites are located at: 4:59 > 5:28 and 12:15 > 13:15

Thank you for the report, and the photos!

Thank you for your commentary. Question for you: What's the lure (for you) to repeatedly visit Marrakesh?

Though those two Mexican communities may have limited assisted living opportunities, neither is particularly known as destinations for such services by the vast majority of expats who relocate there .... from what I know. The residency visa requirements to live in Mexico require either substantial investments or monthly income in excess of US$50K annually - and the requirements rise yearly. A couple of additional challenges to living in much of Mexico is finding healthcare and facilities that compare with what's more easily found in either the USA or Canada, and the inability of many expats to speak/understand Spanish.