fedssocr

I would certainly monitor things closely, but I'd be shocked if the curfew lasts more than a week or two. Too much business at stake. The whole point of the coup was to introduce some stability to a deteriorating situation. The 2006 coup (during my first visit to Thailand!) shut things down for a couple of days and then things were back to business as usual fairly quickly.

I think most Chase cards have been moving to no fees. I believe it's also possible that your credit card issuer could charge you a foreign transaction fee even if it is billed in USD if it is done in a foreign country (presuming that your card has foreign transaction fees).

I think Thailand is beyond the point where a military take over would be accepted by most people. [but make no mistake, the military is still pretty firmly in control in Myanmar, however] Neither side has a monopoly on corruption. And both sides are so entrenched in their beliefs that they are right and the other side is wrong that it's impossible to see any solution to the current situation. I don't think there are enough neutral parties at this point to implement any sort of workable solution. My guess is that things will continue to bounce along as they have been for a while.

I agree with that. I think the OP is looking for some one who will be very difficult to find. In addition he wants this person to teach him Thai as well. That will be no mean feat. Good luck!

Keeping within mainland SE Asia will minimize travel for sure. So I would suggest Laos rather than the Philippines with the only caveat being that the culture in Laos will be similar to Thailand and Cambodia while I believe the Philippines is a very different sort of place (I have not been there). Personally I really enjoyed Taiwan. Taipei doesn't have to be expensive. Last year when I was there I rented an apartment for a week via travelmob.com for about $100/night. It was in a little neighborhood about 2 minutes walk from MRT. There is a good bit of stuff to see and do in Taipei. Public transport is very good and very cheap. The east coast of Taiwan has lots of great nature spots like Taroko Gorge. I really like Singapore too. The humidity about killed me, but otherwise I thought it was great. There is more to see and do than most people think. And the young men are gorgeous. I spent several days there in November and am headed back for several more this year before I head to Indonesia for a couple of weeks. But I think if you are going all the way to SE Asia then seeing the sights like Angkor and Luang Prabang are certainly more than worthwhile. Spending time in the slower paced places gives you a better feel for the culture. If you haven't been up to Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai and the north of Thailand they are also worth a visit. As is Sukhothai and even places in Isaan. Of course August/Sept are rainy season so you might run into some floods here and there throughout the region that time of year. I love cities too. But big Asian metropolises are a lot like big metropolises everywhere. Same international brands everywhere. Lots of traffic. I would definitely suggest doing time in quieter places. Given 6+ weeks you have lots of time, but you know the weather can really slow you down so don't try to pack in too much.

I visited GC only one time a few years ago. I think I must have just been there at an odd time, probably too early in the evening. It was empty and quiet. It seemed clean enough to me. I sat at the bar to have a drink and was eventually surrounded by a couple of boys I wasn't interested in but who wouldn't take no for an answer. Chatted with the bartender a bit. Didn't stay long. Just not my scene I guess.

The frequent flyer game has definitely changed for the worse the last year or so. It was fun while it lasted.

I'd guess this probably goes along with the note above about not really knowing the answer to your question but not being able to admit that. Maybe ask them to take you there? Most likely they knew it wasn't close by so it must be "over there" somewhere. So you could start your search and ask some one else... I also agree with the sentiment above that most American kids couldn't read a map these days either. It's definitely a lost skill since everyone figures Google maps can just take them wherever they want to go. I find that sad as a geography/map geek.

You might want to try Grindr or Jackd. But, not to be facetious, Thailand is full of handsome guys everywhere. So I think meeting them is not so difficult. Now, finding gay ones might be slightly more challenging. :-) Be friendly. Smile a lot. Learn some Thai as the language barrier is likely to be your biggest obstacle. Do things you enjoy and meet people doing the same. It's really no different from anywhere else in the world.

I was actually the one concerned we were going over time last visit. He was very determined to cum though, but it took him a while.

Thanks for that. I always kind of wondered what Dickman was really like. And telling a guide the sorts of things I want to do and having him provide suggestions is the kind of trip I like to take. I have enjoyed having private guides all over Asia and think it's the best way to travel.

Definitely a place on my list as well. One of these days... I've always liked South Asian young men. :-)

There can be little denying that Thais (like many Asians) associate darker skin with being lower class (i.e. farmers who spend all day in the sun). And class structures are very much in place. Hence the prevalence of skin whitening creams among other things. The Thai standard of beauty is basically as white skin as possible (and Chinese features). And you hear stories all the time of Indians being barred from various establishments in Pattaya for example. This is not one isolated thing.

Yes, the Thais are racist. http://50shadygays.wordpress.com/tag/gay-travel-in-thailand/ They also basically look down on anyone with darker skin.

Yep. I like eating at Maxis to watch the boys across the soi at Bangkok Massage and the gogo next door. Also eating or having a drink at Dick's is good for flirting with the boys next door at Bonny Massage and the boys across the street at the massage place/pool hall.

I honestly don't remember. It was a few years ago.

I think it very difficult to judge just by looking at a guy who will give a good massage. One of the first massages I had in Thailand was at Adonis several years ago. Skinny young guy who damn near killed me because his pressure was soooo hard. My calves were sore for days. One of the best massages I ever had was an older guy at Fan Club. Handsome enough. Looked mid 30s so he was probably 50. (Just kidding) Very strong arms but lean waist. Fantastic technique. Not my usual type at all but tons of fun. I even tipped him extra because I enjoyed it so much.

Yeah, Canada has given me a hard time over the years as well. It's like they don't believe anyone would want to visit their country on holiday.

I read some analysis in either the Bangkok Post or The Nation the other day that indicated the banking expert interviewed suggested 33 or 34 were likely to be hit within the next few months.

A lot of Thai music videos come with a karaoke track that is Romanized. Some of them also have an annoying melody track added in though too. You might want to just poke around YouTube searching for Thai MV. I noticed a link to a playlist some one set up called country MV 2013 that you might want to take a look through. My own taste runs more to Thai indie/rock bands (moderndog, etc) so most likely not what you are looking for. I spend a couple of hours when I am at work each day listening to Thai radio online. I use an app called TuneIn radio but there are many others out there. You can search for stations in a number of ways including by country. I usually listen to Fat Radio (104.5) but there are others when their stream is not working well.

Actually US economic growth has been revised upward for much of the year, meaning stronger growth than originally thought. Now that people are finally starting to focus on the gigantic gap between the top and everyone else it will be interesting to see if anything gets done about it. But apparently the Fed's announcement during the week that they would consider slowing down QE helped boost the USD. All of the emerging market currencies took a hit. I have a fair bit invested in SE Asian market indexes (and some other emereging market funds) and they have all really been slumping. But they are long-term investments so hopefully 20 years from now they will be booming.

Get Global Entry and you don't have to deal with any of the officers at arrival. You do have to go through a background check and perfunctory interview to get the status. It also gets you a "trusted traveler" number which should get you Precheck through security at U.S. airports. I returned through JFK (terminal 4) last month and there were plenty of Global Entry kiosks open. Was through to baggage claim in about a minute. (But there were also no lines at the regular immigration either so I am sure most of those folks got through fast). You get a little receipt from the kiosk that you hand to the customs officer and they basically wave you through.

Minimum Connect Time at NRT is actually only 45 minutes for this connection. But that assumes everything is on time. I flew via NRT a couple of years ago in F. It was a TG to UA connection. I was met at the end of the jetway by an ANA rep who walked me through security to my gate. Boarding was already nearly complete by the time I got there. I think it was supposed to be about 50 or 55 minutes connection time but we were late departing BKK and I was freaking out a little bit. It certainly helped that I was flying up front and the agent could radio ahead to let them know we were on our way. My bag made it no problem. Since you're flying in economy I would try to get a seat as close to the front as you can and let the crew know you have a short connection. They may let you get off right after business class. I would maybe also check TG's schedule and see if they have any flights that have a bit better connection. Since it's all Star Alliance they should be able to book you with them instead.

I always try to arrive in Asia in the late evening so that I can just go to the hotel and go to bed. That way I get onto the new time pretty quickly without much jetlag. For me the problem is that once you've flown "up front" it's nearly impossible to go to the back of the bus again. I've been using miles to get to Asia for the last several years. I just booked next year's trip using the rest of my UA miles and a big chunk of AA miles. I've still got enough US miles in the bank that I should be able to book one more F class trip for 2015 once the merger is finalized as long as the new AA doesn't really devalue their miles. After that I'll be at near zero unless some mileage windfall comes along in the meantime. It was all a fun game while it lasted. I'll probably end up going to Europe more instead of Asia since the flights are so much shorter that even if I have to fly in the back I will be able to survive it.

Theoretically they could also book you on TG from NRT instead of NH for people flying on the BKK. With all of their unfriendly changes I am glad I spent all of my miles. Now I need to figure out what my strategy will be going forward as far as picking a plan to collect miles in. None of them is probably all that great these days.