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it's a massage shop so I would guess not likely, but as with everything you can always ask

This place was mentioned in another thread but I am intrigued so I thought I would start a dedicated thread. Prices are very premium, but the boys posted daily on Line are very handsome. If you like defined, skinny youngsters that seems to be their specialty. I will definitely check it out once I get to Bangkok. But if anyone's been there I am happy to hear about it. Close to On Nut BTS. Also would be interested to hear about the onsen aspect

Many hotels will also charge a reasonable amount for a late checkout so you don't have to move hotels. I've paid like $50 for a 9PM checkout at some places.

I've seldom had issues checking in early. It will take a while to get from the airport to the hotel at that time of day. If the hotel has rooms available they will probably check you in. But if you're concerned I would contact them directly to see what their policy is. They might charge a small amount to check in early. In any case probably 99.9% of hotels will be able to hold your bags for you until check in time.

I usually try to arrive late night like 11pm or midnight so I can go directly to bed. This upcoming trip I arrive at 6:30 AM. That is going to be a real test.

It's OK, I'm sure the PRC will be happy to loan them some money to bail them out. Oh wait.

I think depending on my arrival time it's usually day 2 or 3 where the jetlag is worst. Thanks for these great reports. I am about T-8 weeks from Bangkok. Somebody needs to get over to Zoo Spa and Onsen to tell me if it's worth it. 🙂 The boys they post on Line every day are just about all perfect.

still seems a little over-dressed

Given how little money taxis make it's quite likely the drivers just don't know where they're going. It's not like they have to pass that test London cabbies do

those Zoo boys sure are handsome!

exactly, it will be the airlines' job at checkin Richard Barrow seemed to indicate that this will only be until 31 January. But I suppose it could get extended. Maybe they're putting this in place due to China opening up but not wanting to single out the PRC so it applies to everyone

I had a guide in Luang Prabang, Laos many years ago hired via a gay tour company. I think the poor guy was very lonely and starved for male contact as he really latched onto me in a fairly unhealthy way. It took a couple of days before I was able to communicate that I felt like his actions were unprofessional. I did feel badly for him, and if I had been attracted to him I am sure I would have been much more open to his touches. It was a weird situation.

the ignore feature still works well

Some will only respond to messages that include a tip. Apparently some channels are also run by managers rather than the performer himself. I would imagine that popular accounts get a flood of messages so there's no way to even try keeping up with them. Personally I find that too many of these OF channels are too much of a scam - "influencers" who do and show nothing. I presume that you are contacting Thai guys though? So maybe they are different. Are you contacting them in Thai? Maybe they don't bother with messages in English?

US$4800 return seems fairly reasonable to me. Depending on which business class you're getting. If it's the Q Suites and/or one of the A380 flights on on the DOH-BKK leg rather than the old 2-2-2 product on some of the 777s that's good. I booked one way IAD-DOH-BKK for 110,000 AA miles plus some taxes and fees. And after a recent aircraft change it's Q Suites all the way (unless it changes again). I recently paid ANA about $2800 one way BKK-NRT,HND-IAD for a trip this spring with about 10 days worth of stopover in Tokyo. Unfortunately it won't be the super duper business class that OP got to experience, but their fine but not spectacular 787-9 product.

Grindr allows you to search anywhere in the world using the "explore" tab

gotta make money for their new shareholders

9-Teen under renovation already? Didn't it just open?

tell that to all of the dead people waiting in line at the Chinese crematoriums

and then you have to account for the people who eat several pizzas each day

according to this somewhat dated info on Wikipedia, PRC tourists accounted for around a quarter of all tourist arrivals. So without some serious work diversifying their incoming tourist market the industry will really struggle. Of course in addition to Covid the Chinese economy faces lots of issues that might well put a dent in their citizens' ability to travel " In 2014, 4.6 million Chinese visitors travelled to Thailand. In 2015, Chinese tourists numbered 7.9 million or 27% of all international tourist arrivals, 29.8 million; 8.75 million Chinese tourists visited Thailand in 2016. In 2017, 27% of the tourists that came to Thailand came from China. Thailand relies heavily on Chinese tourists to meet its tourism revenue target of 2.2 trillion baht in 2015 and 2.3 trillion in 2016. However, in 2020, it was reported that Chinese tourists now ranked Thailand as third most popular foreign tourist destination, having been the top previously. It is estimated that the average Chinese tourist remains in the country for one week and spends 30,000–40,000 baht (US$1,000–1,300) per person, per trip. The average Chinese tourist spends 6,400 baht (US$180) per day—more than the average visitor's 5,690 baht (US$160). According to Thailand's Tourism Authority, the number of Chinese tourists rose by 93% in the first quarter of 2013, an increase that was attributed to the popularity of the Chinese film Lost in Thailand that was filmed in the northern province of Chiang Mai. Chinese media outlets have claimed that Thailand superseded Hong Kong as the top destination for Chinese travellers during the 2013 May Day holiday. In 2013, the Chinese National Tourism Administration published A Guide to Civilized Tourism which has specific statements regarding how to act as a tourist in Thailand."

completely agree with you about the alms giving having been turned into a tourist circus. The last time I attended it was really awful. Russian tourists shoving their cameras in the faces of the monks... I was quite lucky when I went to Pak Ou. My guide brought along a big pack of candles and set them up all around the cave. Having it lit up by candle light made for some very pretty photos. I've always been fascinated by those decorations on the top of Lao temples

I love LP. Kuang Si is one of the most beautiful waterfalls I have been to. I like how small the town is. But there's so much history packed in there. One of my favorite charitable causes is Big Brother Mouse which publishes children's books in Lao and some tribal languages to get kids interesting in reading. They also run their own school called Big Sister Mouse. Great organization. http://www.bigbrothermouse.com/

As was mentioned the next generation is completely fucked. Social media has warped them in a way that will be hard to repair. As a Thai college professor said in a video I watched earlier today - kids today have no attention spans and little resilience. In Western countries there is a huge epidemic of loneliness. Big percentages have few or no friends in real life. A huge number haven't had sex with another person in over a year. It's not that they don't want to have sex, they're just poorly socialized. All of those sexually frustrated young men (with access to high powered weapons in America) are a big problem. Obviously there are still some places where young people are still boinking (and making lots of babies), but I'd guess that is in places with less access to social media apps and phones. And those places are fewer and fewer all the time

Andrew MacGregor Marshall had the scoop on this yesterday. Sounds like they're just trying to figure out how to break the news at this point. I always appreciate Jonathan Head's willingness to push boundaries talking about this subject