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The bar is just a bar as noted above. I'd say probably more "gay friendly" than strictly gay. It is located on the road along the Nam Khan river sort of northeast of Phousi. They show movies there frequently I gather. Last night was The Bourne Ultimatum. People lounging inside the bar were watching the movie. Folks at a couple of tables outside were chatting. The bar is owned by an American and his Lao boyfriend. They also own the Lao Lao Gardens restaurant across the street. Very cute wait staff, but that is the case at pretty much every restaurant in town. The young men here are adorable. I don't believe that any of the waiters were "offable" in the traditional sense. As noted the gay scene here is very lowkey. But we pass a lot of "sisters" on the street who know my guide. I saw a ladyboy working at the main Wat yesterday. For a town this small there seem to be a lot of gay folks, but I suppose all of the western tourists may be part of the reason. I get the feeling people are much freer here than they would be in a small traditional village that has little or no contact with outsiders. I think Luang Prabang is definitely worth a visit, but not for the gay life. As for what I am paying at 3 Nagas, I can't really give you an answer to that. I am booked through Purple Dragon so it is part of their tour module. I think rates are at least $140/night though. One other drawback of being here is that it is right on the main street so it is very noisy with motos and tuktuks. The earplugs are necessary. Another thing I would note is that much is made of the monks' procession each morning to collect food from the people. I have seen it described as a very sacred and spiritual experience. But I have to say that yesterday morning at least it was very much like an assembly line. They send out the young novice boys to collect the food. There is no chanting or praying. They just move as quickly as they can. Of course it has been quite chilly, the start of cold season apparently, so those poor kids are probably trying to get back home to the monastery as quickly as they can to warm up. Walking barefoot in nothing but a little monk's robe must be tough.

I am in LP at the moment. It is really beautiful here and the weather is just gorgeous. Warm during the day but not too hot and chilly at night. I am staying at the 3 Nagas which is very nice, but there are a million little hotels and guests houses all over the city which also look very nice on the outside at least. Frankly I think 3 Nagas is overpriced for what it is, but the staff are nice. Breakfast is very good but there isn't enough of it. Sorry I can't be of much more help. There are tons of gay men here in Luang Prabang. Either that or they are just really friendly. My gay guide seems to know a lot of them though. We are going out to the gay bar tonight.

well, he still has his place in Hong Kong, right? I assume he will end up there for a while.

I haven't really shopped for clothes in Thailand so I am not sure if they would be any cheaper. For sure if you are in the giant malls the prices are probably comparable to what you pay at home. You will find cheaper stuff in the local markets. But depending on your size you might have a hard time finding "farang sized" clothes. I bought a "large" t-shirt last year that would be somewhere between a small and medium in USA sizes.

It's different in that they are not at the same time. I think Laos' is in October.

I enjoyed a place called Fan Club on my trip last year. It is on a small sub-soi off of Convent Rd near the Silom end. It's on the same little street as the Indigo restaurant. Nice, more upscale place. Good shower in the room. Big bed. Very clean. My masseur did a rather short massage before the "extras" began. He was a nice, sweet guy. But if you want more real massage first you probably want to ask. Adonis always has a big selection. They are at the Sathorn end of Convent. I had a decent massage there from a skinny little guy once I got him to stop using so much hard pressure on my legs. I was in agony briefly. Unfortunately dirty, moldy shower was off-putting.

I am staying at the Settha Palace Hotel in Vientiane. It looks pretty nice and has mostly good reviews at http://www.tripadvisor.com. It's an old French colonial building. It is fairly small by the number of rooms. I will know more in a couple of weeks after I have been there. I read recently that there are lots of new buildings and hotels going up there.

Lao Airlines also flies from BKK to Luang Prabang and Vientiane. But I don't know if they are any cheaper. I think they are basically charging the same as Bangkok Airways.

I am a little bummed that I will miss it this year. I will be in Laos at the time and oddly their Loy Krathong isn't the same as Thailand's for some reason.

I will be in LP in a couple of weeks for the first time. I will be staying at the 3 Nagas. tripadvisor.com is a good source for hotel reviews.

I think my mother and perhaps some of my co-workers would say that I am since I will be returning there for the 3rd time in 3 years next month. Of course I don't tell them about ALL of the things I do there! I'm not sure addicted is the word I would use. I definitely enjoy myself there for the most part and I enjoy going there. And I start planning the next trip as soon as the current one is over. But I don't only go to Thailand. Last year I added Cambodia, this year I will be adding Laos and also going back to Cambodia. So maybe I am addicted to SE Asia. I think I would rather say that I have a great fondness for SE Asia, the people, and the culture. I suspect that with the world economy going the direction it is that it will become very difficult to travel internationally before very long. I will be sad if I can't go back to Asia, but it's not like it will kill me. My trips tend to be pretty short so there isn't really time for me to "fall in love" with any particular boy or boys. And I am just cynical and wary enough so I think that will probably never happen, especially with anyone I might meet in a gogo bar. I also hated and was disgusted by Pattaya on my first visit. But I did go back last year to give it another try and found myself liking it better...at least well-enough that I will be returning again this year for a few days. I don't believe I would ever be able to spend more than a few days there at a time. I am more of a big city type of person.

They ended up having a hard time selling the A345's so I guess instead of having the planes sit idle they must have decided to just go ahead and start flying them again.

my trip for this year was pretty much all paid for months and months ago. I will just have to pay for food and "incidentals" on the ground. Personally I have a very good job and plenty of money in the bank. I figure it makes more sense to enjoy myself now while I am still young and vital. :-) And since no one may be able to go anywhere before long I plan to pack in the fun now. Once the world goes bankrupt traveling most likely won't be as much fun. I am thinking of Bhutan next year maybe. And spend a little time in BKK before and after since Druk Air flies from there to Bhutan and it is the only option. But we'll see...

A problem for the dollar is that all of this bailout money has to come from somewhere. And that "somewhere" is largely thin air. So, putting that much more money in circulation drives down the value of all the rest of it. This latest scheme to have the taxpayers buy all of this worthless debt is probably just prolonging the inevitable. I think the long-term prospects for the dollar are not so good. But then again the whole world economy is going to be slowing down so maybe it is all just relative. I plan to enjoy this year's vacation to SE Asia as much as I can because it could very well be the last one for a while.

yeah, my investment account is really getting killed. Hopefully by time I am ready to retire everything will have rebounded. But as noted above the whole thing is one big house of cards. The worst is yet to come.

the dog in the basket is a fantastic photo! great depth of field. And that fluffy little doggy is just too adorable.

my guess would be that the rate isn't going to change by all that much so trying to time it is probably pointless. The rate has been hovering between 34 and 35 for a while now. Even if it went to something like 36 that is only a very small percentage.

I believe the Reuters report noted that the food in question was coconut soup with salmon. You're right though that it is an incredible story. Could it be a bizarre way for everyone to sort of save face? I don't understand why the whole cabinet would be forced to resign. They weren't cooking with him...

I would imagine the original is likely a better film. I don't get why studios remake these Asian films with white guys in the lead.

I agree that this sounds very dangerous. If it were legit you would be able to get a straight answer to questions about exactly where she would be working. The Bt30000 for the plane ticket cost will likely then also turn into tens of thousands of a baht a month for housing and other expenses. So she will end up in indentured servitude if not outright slavery. You read all the time about people from poor countries who end up in human trafficking situations.

what do they hope to gain by marching on the Brits??? these people are idiots. The wheels of justice turn slowly, it's only been a week. I am sure the British government isn't going to be pushed around but a bunch of people marching in the street of BKK.

I see that the latest speculation is that they are headed to England and that their children have already gone there. I read that there was a teary goodbye at the airport before they left for china with many large suitcases. It will be interesting to see if the Thais request their extradition if they are convicted in the new case that goes to trial tomorrow. Apparently the court will proceed to try them in absentia since their testimony is not a requirement. I would guess that fleeing doesn't look too good to the court either. What happens to his Man City ownership if that is the case? Will the EPL throw him out?

who would give them exile status though? aren't they really fugitives from justice? Does China have an extradition treaty with Thailand? Pojman has already been convicted of one of her crimes. I can't believe they let her leave the country in the first place. Altho perhaps the opposition would prefer that Thaksin live in exile outside the country so he can't stir things up inside. Maybe some sort of deal was struck behind the scenes.

in the end will they really "clean" anything up? Or will they just push the issues to another neighborhood/area? If they really are sending all of these addicts to treatment that would be great. But even the best treatment methods/facilities aren't always especially effective. I can't imagine that there is funding for real intensive treatment. So these kids will just end up doing the same thing somewhere else. Same thing with the underage issue. It might go a bit more underground but it won't go away forever. Too much money to be made.

"Deckchair operators said that they have increasingly observed these saucy goings on and have also found large numbers of used condoms scattered around the area." Now if this was gay sex would they call it "saucy goings on" or would they call it immoral sinning?