Marc K

No one. Look guys we have to come to terms with the fact that the bars from the ‘90s are artifacts of the culture of  OUR age and are not appropriate for the new age. The youngsters are not interested. The evidence is staring us in the face. 

No one. Look guys we have to come to terms with the fact that the bars from the ‘90s are artifacts of the culture of  OUR age and are not appropriate for the new age. The youngsters are not interested. The evidence is staring us in the face. 

It was indeed a glorious time. It was liberating, exhilarating and fun to come to Thailand and be able to at least partially drop one’s inhibitions. The old Soi Twilight. The old Saphan Kwai. The old Boystown (yes with an ‘S’ not a ‘Z’). Ah nostalgia, yes. Nice memories. But now we live in a different world and we must adjust. 

It was indeed a glorious time. It was liberating, exhilarating and fun to come to Thailand and be able to at least partially drop one’s inhibitions. The old Soi Twilight. The old Saphan Kwai. The old Boystown (yes with an ‘S’ not a ‘Z’). Ah nostalgia, yes. Nice memories. But now we live in a different world and we must adjust. 

It was indeed a glorious time. It was liberating, exhilarating and fun to come to Thailand and be able to at least partially drop one’s inhibitions. The old Soi Twilight. The old Saphan Kwai. The old Boystown (yes with an ‘S’ not a ‘Z’). Ah nostalgia, yes. Nice memories. But now we live in a different world and we must adjust. 

No one. Look guys we have to come to terms with the fact that the bars from the ‘90s are artifacts of the culture of  OUR age and are not appropriate for the new age. The youngsters are not interested. The evidence is staring us in the face. 

It was indeed a glorious time. It was liberating, exhilarating and fun to come to Thailand and be able to at least partially drop one’s inhibitions. The old Soi Twilight. The old Saphan Kwai. The old Boystown (yes with an ‘S’ not a ‘Z’). Ah nostalgia, yes. Nice memories. But now we live in a different world and we must adjust. 

No one. Look guys we have to come to terms with the fact that the bars from the ‘90s are artifacts of the culture of  OUR age and are not appropriate for the new age. The youngsters are not interested. The evidence is staring us in the face. 

No one. Look guys we have to come to terms with the fact that the bars from the ‘90s are artifacts of the culture of  OUR age and are not appropriate for the new age. The youngsters are not interested. The evidence is staring us in the face. 

No one. Look guys we have to come to terms with the fact that the bars from the ‘90s are artifacts of the culture of  OUR age and are not appropriate for the new age. The youngsters are not interested. The evidence is staring us in the face. 

For those of you (us) who fret over the demise of "the gay scene", now you know the answer There is a cohort of visitors who are willing to splash money around as if they are in Kirk Straat or Berlin, paying 5x or more the going rate, and creating the illusion among venue owners and staff that there is another flight arriving tonight with a plane full of overspenders. The OP's post felt as ludicrous to me as would be a post from a first time visitor to Amsterdam offering the trade 30 euros.
Be generous, be kind, be human but this kind of outrageous extravagance strikes me as both pretentious and boastful. And this comes from one who lights his cigarettes with 100 euro notes. Not.

Dear Old, It's called hormones my dear. They tone down after a while and sex no longer becomes the biggest driving force in one's life. When that happens you can see the world a little bit more clearly, not being clouded by continual lust and not being driven to take amazing risks which we should have avoided in the first place. Travel becomes even more sweet -- you can enjoy a flash of a smile, a sweet embrace, seeing an old friend and catching up, ... well enjoying life as a more multidimensional experience. For me Pattaya is just as exciting as it was 20+ years ago because, besides sex, I enjoy so many other things -- a 30B mango shake from the night market, a walk to the "end of the earth" (Pratumnak), the cooling off after a tropical rainstorm, ... well just so many things which I would have ignored in the past. Luckily we were young enough to enjoy the hedonistic ways of Pattaya's past. I think if I were young now I would feel cheated out of not having been able to experience Pattaya of the past (Adam and Eve bar, Memory bar, old Twilight, ...) so many things that just don't exist any more. SO I don't know if it is because _I_ changed, or because _Pattaya_ has changed, perhaps both?

Dear Old, It's called hormones my dear. They tone down after a while and sex no longer becomes the biggest driving force in one's life. When that happens you can see the world a little bit more clearly, not being clouded by continual lust and not being driven to take amazing risks which we should have avoided in the first place. Travel becomes even more sweet -- you can enjoy a flash of a smile, a sweet embrace, seeing an old friend and catching up, ... well enjoying life as a more multidimensional experience. For me Pattaya is just as exciting as it was 20+ years ago because, besides sex, I enjoy so many other things -- a 30B mango shake from the night market, a walk to the "end of the earth" (Pratumnak), the cooling off after a tropical rainstorm, ... well just so many things which I would have ignored in the past. Luckily we were young enough to enjoy the hedonistic ways of Pattaya's past. I think if I were young now I would feel cheated out of not having been able to experience Pattaya of the past (Adam and Eve bar, Memory bar, old Twilight, ...) so many things that just don't exist any more. SO I don't know if it is because _I_ changed, or because _Pattaya_ has changed, perhaps both?

Dear Old, It's called hormones my dear. They tone down after a while and sex no longer becomes the biggest driving force in one's life. When that happens you can see the world a little bit more clearly, not being clouded by continual lust and not being driven to take amazing risks which we should have avoided in the first place. Travel becomes even more sweet -- you can enjoy a flash of a smile, a sweet embrace, seeing an old friend and catching up, ... well enjoying life as a more multidimensional experience. For me Pattaya is just as exciting as it was 20+ years ago because, besides sex, I enjoy so many other things -- a 30B mango shake from the night market, a walk to the "end of the earth" (Pratumnak), the cooling off after a tropical rainstorm, ... well just so many things which I would have ignored in the past. Luckily we were young enough to enjoy the hedonistic ways of Pattaya's past. I think if I were young now I would feel cheated out of not having been able to experience Pattaya of the past (Adam and Eve bar, Memory bar, old Twilight, ...) so many things that just don't exist any more. SO I don't know if it is because _I_ changed, or because _Pattaya_ has changed, perhaps both?

Dear Old, It's called hormones my dear. They tone down after a while and sex no longer becomes the biggest driving force in one's life. When that happens you can see the world a little bit more clearly, not being clouded by continual lust and not being driven to take amazing risks which we should have avoided in the first place. Travel becomes even more sweet -- you can enjoy a flash of a smile, a sweet embrace, seeing an old friend and catching up, ... well enjoying life as a more multidimensional experience. For me Pattaya is just as exciting as it was 20+ years ago because, besides sex, I enjoy so many other things -- a 30B mango shake from the night market, a walk to the "end of the earth" (Pratumnak), the cooling off after a tropical rainstorm, ... well just so many things which I would have ignored in the past. Luckily we were young enough to enjoy the hedonistic ways of Pattaya's past. I think if I were young now I would feel cheated out of not having been able to experience Pattaya of the past (Adam and Eve bar, Memory bar, old Twilight, ...) so many things that just don't exist any more. SO I don't know if it is because _I_ changed, or because _Pattaya_ has changed, perhaps both?

Dear Old, It's called hormones my dear. They tone down after a while and sex no longer becomes the biggest driving force in one's life. When that happens you can see the world a little bit more clearly, not being clouded by continual lust and not being driven to take amazing risks which we should have avoided in the first place. Travel becomes even more sweet -- you can enjoy a flash of a smile, a sweet embrace, seeing an old friend and catching up, ... well enjoying life as a more multidimensional experience. For me Pattaya is just as exciting as it was 20+ years ago because, besides sex, I enjoy so many other things -- a 30B mango shake from the night market, a walk to the "end of the earth" (Pratumnak), the cooling off after a tropical rainstorm, ... well just so many things which I would have ignored in the past. Luckily we were young enough to enjoy the hedonistic ways of Pattaya's past. I think if I were young now I would feel cheated out of not having been able to experience Pattaya of the past (Adam and Eve bar, Memory bar, old Twilight, ...) so many things that just don't exist any more. SO I don't know if it is because _I_ changed, or because _Pattaya_ has changed, perhaps both?

Dear Old, It's called hormones my dear. They tone down after a while and sex no longer becomes the biggest driving force in one's life. When that happens you can see the world a little bit more clearly, not being clouded by continual lust and not being driven to take amazing risks which we should have avoided in the first place. Travel becomes even more sweet -- you can enjoy a flash of a smile, a sweet embrace, seeing an old friend and catching up, ... well enjoying life as a more multidimensional experience. For me Pattaya is just as exciting as it was 20+ years ago because, besides sex, I enjoy so many other things -- a 30B mango shake from the night market, a walk to the "end of the earth" (Pratumnak), the cooling off after a tropical rainstorm, ... well just so many things which I would have ignored in the past. Luckily we were young enough to enjoy the hedonistic ways of Pattaya's past. I think if I were young now I would feel cheated out of not having been able to experience Pattaya of the past (Adam and Eve bar, Memory bar, old Twilight, ...) so many things that just don't exist any more. SO I don't know if it is because _I_ changed, or because _Pattaya_ has changed, perhaps both?

Dear Old, It's called hormones my dear. They tone down after a while and sex no longer becomes the biggest driving force in one's life. When that happens you can see the world a little bit more clearly, not being clouded by continual lust and not being driven to take amazing risks which we should have avoided in the first place. Travel becomes even more sweet -- you can enjoy a flash of a smile, a sweet embrace, seeing an old friend and catching up, ... well enjoying life as a more multidimensional experience. For me Pattaya is just as exciting as it was 20+ years ago because, besides sex, I enjoy so many other things -- a 30B mango shake from the night market, a walk to the "end of the earth" (Pratumnak), the cooling off after a tropical rainstorm, ... well just so many things which I would have ignored in the past. Luckily we were young enough to enjoy the hedonistic ways of Pattaya's past. I think if I were young now I would feel cheated out of not having been able to experience Pattaya of the past (Adam and Eve bar, Memory bar, old Twilight, ...) so many things that just don't exist any more. SO I don't know if it is because _I_ changed, or because _Pattaya_ has changed, perhaps both?

Dear Old, It's called hormones my dear. They tone down after a while and sex no longer becomes the biggest driving force in one's life. When that happens you can see the world a little bit more clearly, not being clouded by continual lust and not being driven to take amazing risks which we should have avoided in the first place. Travel becomes even more sweet -- you can enjoy a flash of a smile, a sweet embrace, seeing an old friend and catching up, ... well enjoying life as a more multidimensional experience. For me Pattaya is just as exciting as it was 20+ years ago because, besides sex, I enjoy so many other things -- a 30B mango shake from the night market, a walk to the "end of the earth" (Pratumnak), the cooling off after a tropical rainstorm, ... well just so many things which I would have ignored in the past. Luckily we were young enough to enjoy the hedonistic ways of Pattaya's past. I think if I were young now I would feel cheated out of not having been able to experience Pattaya of the past (Adam and Eve bar, Memory bar, old Twilight, ...) so many things that just don't exist any more. SO I don't know if it is because _I_ changed, or because _Pattaya_ has changed, perhaps both?

Vinapu, Thanks for the reminisces. That style of place also reminds me of the venerable Suriwong Cafe of yore, and Malaysia Hotel of yore. I guess that kind of meeting place has now been superseded by the apps alas. 😢

For the past umpteen years I have used the "yellow bank" ATMs. I always got a near-current exchange rate (a 1% currency conversion fee) and it allows a daily withdrawal of 30k baht. The service fee (200B) has always been refunded by my bank back home, so I was always happy.

Last night, for the first time, a new screen appeared just at the very end of the ATM withdrawal process which asks if you want THEM to do the conversion to US dollars? I foolishly pushed "ACCEPT" which was a BIG mistake -- the receipt slip informs me that they took an additional 5% currency conversion fee for the privilege of doing the conversion!! This means I lost more than $40 on that transaction! I am really pissed!

I knew the moment I pushed ACCEPT that I had made a mistake, but there is NO WAY to cancel or reverse your choice once you push that button (which is far bigger than the other buttons). I was in a hurry and it cost me dearly.

So please, any Americans out there, please be careful with this raunchy (at best!) business practice. I was going to go back to the Yellow Bank to complain this morning but I realized it would do me no good. SO please be careful! (I don't know if this scam, and yes it is a scam, is also being done for pounds and euros, I hope not.)

Good for Rob. That type of sneaky "theft" really needs to be called out! As for me, I was withdrawing quite a lot of money (30k) and I didn't want to dawdle near the ATM for obvious security concerns, and I was not expecting that stealth screen, so I rushed, which cost me dearly alas.

A smile is indeed pivotal. The smile can be read in a myriad of ways -- a) thank goodness I will get relief from my boring job, b) some much needed money might be coming my way, c) this customer seems like an honest, "jai dee" person, or d) I've learned that smiles are good for business. Of course you never quite know which of these meanings to attach to the smile, until you try. Of course one would hope it is meaning (c).

A smile is indeed pivotal. The smile can be read in a myriad of ways -- a) thank goodness I will get relief from my boring job, b) some much needed money might be coming my way, c) this customer seems like an honest, "jai dee" person, or d) I've learned that smiles are good for business. Of course you never quite know which of these meanings to attach to the smile, until you try. Of course one would hope it is meaning (c).

For those of you (us) who fret over the demise of "the gay scene", now you know the answer There is a cohort of visitors who are willing to splash money around as if they are in Kirk Straat or Berlin, paying 5x or more the going rate, and creating the illusion among venue owners and staff that there is another flight arriving tonight with a plane full of overspenders. The OP's post felt as ludicrous to me as would be a post from a first time visitor to Amsterdam offering the trade 30 euros.
Be generous, be kind, be human but this kind of outrageous extravagance strikes me as both pretentious and boastful. And this comes from one who lights his cigarettes with 100 euro notes. Not.