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The impression I have from reading a good bit about South Korea lately is that it is not exactly a gay mecca. Lots of homophobia thanks to the strains of Christianity Americans brought there. If you're into the whole Hallyu thing at all though I think it's almost a must-visit. I think 4 days in Seoul is probably not too much time, but in general I am not a big fan of going to too many places in a trip so that is just a personal preference type thing. The country seems to have a lot of nice natural sites as well. I hope to spend some time there in the next couple of years.

I always say no one can make you cry like the Thais. Those insurance commercials that keeps popping up on FB all the time just won't go away. :-)

No, I wouldn't call it a happy ending. But I think it could have been more tragic. Pitch certainly is a good crier though! I read that he said in some interview that he doesn't want to play any more gay parts because now everyone thinks he's gay! Sweetie, it's not the gay roles that make everyone think that! I just want him to be happy. If I am reading the Google translation correctly the "real" Boss will be featured on this week's Club Friday program talking to the two hosts. Hopefully that will be translated at some point as well.

the ending was less sad than I expected

The season finale is here

In keeping with my recent theme of everything on Thai TV being gay, I just binge-watched a Thai youth drama series from last Fall called Love Sick the Series. All 12 episodes are on YouTube with English subtitles. The actors are mostly first-timers but the leads are very good. The first episode is a little messy and there are too many peripheral characters but it gets better as it goes along. I don't want to spoil the story too much. Basically it's set in an all-male college (hs) in Bangkok along with the girls' convent school next door. There are 7 gay/queens who are mostly provided as comic relief but there are other gay or maybe-gay characters. I thought I would just watch a couple of episodes today but ended up watching them all. Series 2 is supposed to start at the end of April with the same characters and (mostly) the same cast. It will be interesting to see what direction they take things in as apparently it's a new production company otherwise. I think it ended up being a bit of a hit. http://youtu.be/k7VSUOCeRcU http://youtu.be/HPzBjzkodvo

Most of them are probably Lao, Cambodian and from Myanmar.

The arguments are essentially straw-men. I admit that I don't read every post or thread on every message board, but the article is such a caricature as to be divorced from reality. I've never read anything here or elsewhere denying the existence of non-moneyboy middle class (or other class) Thais. In fact I'm sure I've seen that discussed in many places for years...talking about the clubs and bars that cater to Thais who mostly go out in groups for example. All of the insults and putdowns just come across mean-spirited and don't do anything to further any discussion. It paints with such a broad brush that's almost meaningless.

It's a weird diatribe. Not sure what his agenda is exactly.

Who are these queens? And why are they feeling up these hunky boys?

episode 3 is posted now. According to GMM episodes are put up on Mondays at 18:00

And here he is singing with his co-star. They look very happy together

And here's the ep4 teaser Doesn't look good.... Looks like ep3 might be up tomorrow. There appears to be a video marked "private" on YT which should be it. Lots of people up in arms waiting for it. Apparently all of these stories are based on true stories. So, we'd better prepare ourselves for a let down. I guess the other programs in the series that have been about gay characters have had sad endings.

Well, clearly. But acting in a part as a gay person is certainly also the case.

Big h/t to NIrish who pointed this out on another forum... Witwisit "Pitch" Hiranyawongkul who played Mew in The Love of Siam is acting again in a series called Club Friday Series 5 put out by GMM. In it he plays a gay college kid trying to find love and himself. The episodes are posted on YouTube with English subtitles. Pitch looks gorgeous (of course) and his singing is still beautiful as well. In episode 1 he develops a bit of a crush on one of his classmates who is a total HUNK (see below!). The style is fairly fresh and the HD looks great on my TV. Check it out. So far the first two episodes (of 4) plus a teaser of episode 3 have been posted. I suspect ep 3 will be posted in full soon and ep 4 should be next week. ep 1 ep 2 ep 3 teaser

Watch this program and tell me that these guys don't come across as totally G-A-Y This group is called U-KISS. Their difference is that they have a couple of Korean-American members.

Obviously this is an old thread... But I've been getting more and more into this subject lately. I am now totally obsessed with Korean rock band CNBlue. In addition to being in the band they all act in various Korean dramas. And they seem like really sweet guys. I get a real gay vibe off a couple of them based on how they interact. But that could just be projection. But they write (most) of their own songs in Korean, Japanese and English and they're pretty talented musicians which puts them a cut above the pop groups who are grown in a lab and launched with arena shows in my opinion. They basically started out busking in Japan. I am endlessly fascinated. There may be a trip to S. Korea in my future.

I visited Sands Spa a couple of times on my recent visit. It was basically across the street from the Intercontinental where I was staying. Decent massage ++. Similary type of experience to any gay massage place in Thailand,Taipei, or HK. It was a bit more expensive, but not terribly more. Utopia has a fairly extensive listing... http://www.utopia-asia.com/tipssing.htm

The prices are good until the end of schedule. If you have flexible dates finding lower fares is possible. But I would imagine that seats are selling fast so once the US-AUH legs go then you get into higher fare classes.I found $3150 IAD-BKK. And the IAD-AUH legs are on their 787 with their latest business studio seats. But I hear that the US preclearance facility at AUH is a nightmare for the legs to the US. And as firecat notes, US to AUH is a long flight so the overall time is a lot longer than going up and over the arctic.

re: crossing the streets in Vietnam... I always just shadowed a little old lady. I figured if they lived that long they knew what they were doing.

All I can say is...good for you! Looks like I should have spent some time at a sauna in Taipei.

I always have too much luggage to want to bother with the ARL. Taxi is the way to go unless you are arriving during morning rush hour. Tell the driver to use the meter. And you'll have to pay the highway tolls in addition. I typically just arrange a car transfer in advance. Costs a couple hundred more baht but the cars are more comfortable and drivers a bit more cautious. 4 days isn't a huge amount of time. For sure the Grand Palace/Wat Po complex is a must-see. You can take a taxi or as noted you can take BTS to Saphan Taksin and then take one of the river buses. Beyond that it kind of depends on the sorts of things you like to do. There's a temple about every 10 feet if you are into visiting them there are many to choose from. Le Meridien is a great choice for the gogo bars. And it's a relatively short walk to the BTS. And it's just a very nice hotel in general. For that area it is the top choice IMHO.

46...47 soon-ish

Yeah, the taxis that wait around Surawong always ask for 100. I usually just walk up the road a bit (towards Tawan) and typically find a moving taxi fairly quickly. The guys out driving (i.e. not parked and waiting for customers) have never not used the meter in my experience.

I really enjoyed my time in Singapore last November...so much so that I am headed back there for several days on the way to Indonesia in October. Hoping to see more of the gay scene this time around. I really liked Gardens by the Bay. The night time light show was very cool. Certainly home to some of the best looking men anywhere. Too bad about the humidity though! I post some pics from the dragon boats races last year. So many hot uni boys! http://www.gaythailand.com/forums/topic/9307-singapore-dragon-boat-racing/