TotallyOz

It was a very interesting trip for me to Thailand this year. I did not go for the bars, Clubs, massage parlors or anything of the sort very many times. I made this trip to Thailand and order to get into shape and to lose some weight. All in all, I spent slightly less than two months in Thailand. I stayed in three different hotels, visited three different fitness centers, and had approximately 15 Thai massages. When I first arrived in Thailand I stayed at the Intercontinental Hotel in Bangkok. I have stated this hotel many times over the last 10 years. It is one of my favorite hotels in Thailand. I like the convenience of being close to all the malls and easy access to the sky-train. From this hotel I am able to walk to at least four or five major malls. And I also enjoyed being able to recover in this hotel after a long flight to Thailand. The majority of my time I stayed at the Ascott Hotel near Chong Nosi. The boys and I got a two bedroom two bath apartment unit. It was an executive two bedroom apartment. It was approximately 2000 ft.². The hotel includes a fitness center called the Cascade Club. The Cascade Club is one of the best fitness centers in Bangkok. The cost for month for the apartment was 90,000 Thai baht per month and that included everything but there was a limit on electricity and we ended up paying about another 5k per month for that. I have stayed at The Ascott 4 times over the years and always loved it. This time was a bit different. A hotel has to live up to certain standards to get my business. The most important thing to me is the Internet. This hotel is a bit older but having stayed here in the past, I did not have any problem and thus, all my great past reviews of The Ascott. But, on this trip, the Internet was horrendous. The Internet was so bad that I called to the front desk to complain over 47 times in 2 months. I had to go downstairs and talk to them 16 times. In other words, the Internet was so horrible that often I could not even access websites or do any work. Skype was impossible and I could not get through one call without the call being dropped or the Internet freezing up. After 6 weeks, they sent a letter to all guests that they were upgrading the system and it would be down for a few hours while they did that. I was thrilled and saw this as a way for the hotel to redeem itself. It had the opposite effect. The "new fix" made it even worse than before. If I thought it was just me, I might be a bit more positive. But, I had conversations over the 2 months with over 15 other residents who said the exact same thing. They were all shocked at the hotel having the worst Internet they had seen. I will have to say, that I have stayed here in the past with no issue. The issue must reside in their current Internet provider as they changed companies. But, they went from something that worked to something that was totally useless. After one week, I was ready to go. If I had not paid for the 2nd month in advance, I would have just left. But, after 2 months staying at the hotel that I have praised in the past, I can say that I am more disappointed in the management of this hotel for failing to come up with a solution to a crisis that existed for at least 2 months. They may respond and say it is all better now, but the truth it, they told me that repeatedly over my trip there and I was deceived. As I have traveled across Thailand and stayed in very small hotels in the middle of no where, it is sad when a huge hotel in the capital of Thailand has worst Internet service than any other hotel I have stayed at in over 10 years of visiting the country. On all my other stays at The Ascott, I was wishing I had booked longer. On this stay, I could not wait to get away. The hotel was a major disappoint and the lack of action spoke a great deal of managements lack of having ears that listen to customers. The staff was apologetic and nice but they were helpless to do anything to fix this. One-Hundred percent of this blame goes to upper management and their inability to solve a crisis situation. They should have fired the company providing the Internet or came up with another way for residents to get a decent connection. Having said that, the owners of the hotel must either pay more attention to what is going on at their properties so that the great reputation they have build up is not destroyed based on incompetent management of one property and for my stay, the management not only underachieved but turned one of my favorite properties into one I doubt I'll ever visit again! I only went to Soi Twilight on three or four occasions. I went with a friend for him to see his boyfriend. And I went a couple more times on my own. This area is not as enjoyable to me as it once was. I tend to get bored in this area very easily and to stay in the area for a long period of time is not something I have enjoyed for many years. I want to Hero Massage about five times. All but one of those times I had a good time. On one occasion I didn't find what I was looking for and my regular massage boy was not there so I took a walk down to Banana Massage. At Banana Massage I found a very handsome Vietnamese boy that I had a very good time with. He was extremely sexy and he was also new to Bangkok. I enjoyed spending time with him. The massage was not great and the sex was not great but I still had a good time as he was so adorable. There was a three-week stretch that I did not even leave my hotel. The hotel has three different restaurants inside and I enjoy each of the restaurants. But the boys and I ended up cooking the vast majority of our meals as I was trying to eat in a more nutritious way than most restaurants will cook. We did our grocery shopping once a week at Siam Paragon Mall and we would stock up on all the fresh vegetables and meats that we needed for the week. I was also able to visit Chiva Som for a five day spa vacation. Chiva Som is one of the best spas and all of the world. It is extremely beautiful, extremely serene, and unfortunately is also extremely expensive. I booked a five day program that included several massage therapies per day as well as some personal training sessions. I also upgraded to one of there larger rooms. The cost was 265,000 baht for the 5 days. That is an extremely high rate to pay but I was doing research for a company and my expenses were covered. I visited 3 different fitness centers near Chong Nosi. My hotel has the Cascade Club inside so that is where we spent a great deal of time. But, Richard Branson opened up Virgin Fitness next door to us in Empire Building. One of my former trainers works there and invited me over for a week. It is very very nice and I'd really consider joining on my next trip. They also opened up a Fitness First right near the sky train entrance. It was also a great gym and great facility. So for me, there were 3 amazing fitness centers all within about 5 minutes walk of each other. I am not sure why they did this but I am glad they did. This area of Sathorn is filled with traffic and often hard to get a taxi but they keep building more and more condos and hotels. The Ascott is right across the street from the new W Hotel in Bangkok. The area has tons of great places to visit and eat. I did not venture out to many new restaurants but did eat at several that I had eaten at before. I spent most days at the pool at in the afternoon or evening and I really enjoyed the lack of tourists. I had the pool to myself for many days and I would swim a few laps and just swim around in the water for hours. Near the end of my stay, it started to get a bit rainy and windy and that drove even more people from the hotel. I was there during the coup but that did not affect me in the least other than the lack of foreign news, etc. that others experienced. I didn't post blow by blow of my trip as I have written about most places I visited on this trip in the past. Other than the disappointment with my 2 months stay at The Ascott, I had a great time. I have 2 amazing guys that take wonderful care of me. I ended up loosing a bit over 40 pounds in 2 months. I also was able to meet up with old friends from days gone by. I still love Thailand but I think over the years I have grown to love the slow pace of life much more than the high speed of the bars and clubs. I spent less than 4 hours total in all the bars on this trip. So, more time was spent just enjoying life. The biggest treat for me was Chiva Som. I have been there 2 times in the past and I love the place. I would live there if I could afford it but the cost is just over the top. I took Delta both ways. I like their service and I sat in Business Class. I always buy a cheap ticket and upgrade with miles to business class. My return cost 1700 USD plus 30k miles. Other than one day in Pattaya, 5 days in Hua Hin at Chiva Som, I spent the rest of my time in Bangkok in the Sathorn area. It was a fun 2 months!

I have been to PA many times and loved it. The weekends are amazing and lots of fun. I have also been there on the weekdays and had fun. But, it only takes one or two for me to have a great time. I need need 5 or 10 per day like others. LOL The apartment rental places you see listed above are good to use. Many use them and seem to prefer traveling that way. I have also been in Rio for the Xmas and New Years break. Great time and good fun. Many of the boys were not there for work but others showed up. Many go home for Xmas and have other commitments. I had a blast in Rio for New Years but I loved the beach and the fireworks, etc.

I definitely see the need for many to have a respite from the net. But, for me, I travel a lot and my trip from Thailand this time was 28 hours. I hate secluding myself for that long. Plus, I have over a million miles in the last few years and for me, I just don't need the time to rest and relax. I much prefer to keep to a work schedule.

I love being able to check email and use the Internet when I get to lounges on stop overs during international flights. I have been saying for years that I just didn't understand why the over the big ocean planes didn't have Internet. I have used the Delta Internet In Flight services when I am in the USA and love it. Now, when traveling overseas, you can also use the Internet on long distance flights. On a recent trip, I opened my laptop and saw a connection for Gogo In Flight. I was a bit surprised and asked the flight attendant if this was an option. She said, "Yes, we are moving this service to all our our long distance flights." I was impressed. The price for the service is per leg. It cost 24.95 from Bangkok to Tokyo. It cost 39.00 from Tokyo to USA. Yes, that is high. But, the speed was great. I was able to access all sites and services. It did go out a few times here and there for a few minutes but quickly returned. I always said that I would be happy to pay for this feature and when I saw it, I did pay for it and the speed was much faster than I expected and the service worked the entire time (minuses a few bumps when it went off and came back on really fast). So, for those of you that love checking email, checking on sites, or posting that trip report on your latest conquest. You can now do this on those long journeys across the Pacific, Atlantic, etc...

I was surprised that both of mine had this. I would not have known had my wifi not been on. I guess they either don't advertise it well or most just think it is only for domestic. Like you, it was well worth it for me.

If you are as good as predicting stocks are you are about this, please please, lets sit down and have coffee!

So sorry, it was 39.00 from Tokyo to USA. So, it is already cheaper by almost a buck an hour.

I love being able to check email and use the Internet when I get to lounges on stop overs during international flights. I have been saying for years that I just didn't understand why the over the big ocean planes didn't have Internet. I have used the Delta Internet In Flight services when I am in the USA and love it. Now, when traveling overseas, you can also use the Internet on long distance flights. On a recent trip, I opened my laptop and saw a connection for Gogo In Flight. I was a bit surprised and asked the flight attendant if this was an option. She said, "Yes, we are moving this service to all our our long distance flights." I was impressed. The price for the service is per leg. It cost 24.95 from Bangkok to Tokyo. It cost 49.00 from Tokyo to USA. Yes, that is high. But, the speed was great. I was able to access all sites and services. It did go out a few times here and there for a few minutes but quickly returned. I always said that I would be happy to pay for this feature and when I saw it, I did pay for it and the speed was much faster than I expected and the service worked the entire time (minuses a few bumps when it went off and came back on really fast). So, for those of you that love checking email, checking on sites, or posting that trip report on Gay Thailand. You can now do this on those long journeys across the Pacific!

The government thread is now hidden until we have time to discuss this.

Very sexy guy!

And, now a Fundraising campaign to free him. http://www.gofundme.com/aih9m8

This guy has the Stockton Police Department Facebook page soaring. He is sexy! http://fox40.com/2014/06/18/4-arrested-in-operation-ceasefire-sweep/

I totally agree. He was amazing in that role. He is so versatile in his acting. I really hope he keeps getting great roles!

I am very glad to see Fargo take best miniseries. I never liked the movie and don't normally like this kind of thing but I watched it and thought it was simply fabulous. The acting and the plot and the story were all fantastic. Billy Bob Thornton was perfection from beginning to end. Veep is one show I just can't get into even with all the high praise it gets. Brooklyn Nine Nine - I watched about 20 min of the first show and was done with it. I thought it was horrible.

Personally, I don't care. I believe the acceptance of gays in mainstream society took place so fast because of Hollywood and the TV industry. They kept showing loveable gay characters and their ratings didn't go down so they kept pushing the envelop. I think the more ads the world sees the better. I think the more gay characters on TV, the better. I think Ellen has done a lot for the gay rights movement. I wish I had more gay characters on TV when I was a kid. I do remember Dynasty and the gay son. I thought, "wow, there are others." Honestly, I wasn't so sure there were others till I saw him. I remember watching the show and just dying to see a scene with him in it. They disappointed as he wasn't a big character on there and his gay life was not discussed very much. But, I loved seeing him.

I am glad that more and more companies are catering to us gays. However, does this feel at all like overnight to anyone else? It seems like this "acceptance" just happened overnight. Was it slower than I think? Has this been a build up? Was this part of the recent SCOUTUS decision aftermath?

My boys stayed up to watch this and were very disappointed as they love Spain. I have been telling them the whole time that Brazil would win and they did not believe me. Well, we both may be wrong but at least their team went out quicker than my favorite team does.

You can go to a news site without seeing Amazon's new phone. It looks great and I am sure for many people, it will be a wonderful phone. I liked the 3D imaging and the camera system. What do others think about this phone? And, with the big media giants making and developing phones, etc. do you see a change in the marketplace? I mean I buy all my books at Amazon. I buy most gifts at Amazon. I buy all my clothes there. About the only thing I don't buy there is my fresh food but I am sure they will find a way to sell that to me as well.

I guess I am low so as they say in Thailand. I grew up in the south and McD was a real treat. I still love the taste of the food. OK, so it may not be as good as other places in the taste department but I still prefer it over all the other places on that list. Most of the time, given a choice, I would choose McD over Wendy's even though I like the Wendy's burger better. Maybe I am brainwashed. I don't know. But, I enjoy McD.

Office Suite is free for a short time. If you need something that edits on the IPad and Iphone, this is great. https://itunes.apple.com/app/id675054186

Cameron Fox has died. He was 36 years old and a Falcon model. I not only have seen a lot of his videos but I have met him and spent time with him. He was a very nice guy and he will be missed. RIP Cameron Fox

If you are getting into Bangkok in the afternoon and want immediate action, go to one of the massage places and have a bit of fun. Silom is a great area with tons of guys. But, don't forget that Hero is a short BTS or taxi ride away. Hero should have a lot of guys on a Saturday. Have fun!

a447a, your post was great. Thank you for sharing it. I loved reading it and I love the kindness of good farangs. You help give us all a good name! As for the device, I didn't know they sold dildos in Tuk Com? Is this something new?

I am sure the night will be full of fun and games and sexy boys. This is one of the best run gay gogo bars in Thailand. Drop by and wish them Happy Birthday!

LOL That is great !