ChristianPFC

Most aircons are set to 25C (I saw thermometers in shopping malls and in MRT), which is at first a bit cold when you come in from outside, but then it is ok. Now living in Bangkok and using aircon I am quite surprised about the energy consumption (with room partition, I have 11 sq to cool from 30 to 25C for about 10 hours which consumes about 4 kWh). The major problem is that all electrical devices in an air-conditioned room produce heat, which has to be removed by aircon. Hot air hand dries in toilets are a multiple considerable waste of electrical energy, as are microwaves or other ways to heat food and drinks in 7/11!

As far as I know, there are not tones in Japanese. After 2 years of study (on average 1 hour per day, the first 3 months in a class in Bangkok, the rest in Europe), I can read and understand general documents (my work contract, electricity bill, announcements in railway stations and so on) to 50%, guess another 25% correctly and the rest is insignificant or can be looked up in a dictionary. This proves very helpful in many cases. At that level, I could switch to reading books that are intended to teach English to Thais (mostly by Pailin publishing house, book stores often have a selection of books reduced to 29 Baht (from originally about 100 Baht). Listening and speaking are a bit more difficult, when I am with a Thai I let him/her deal with other Thais, I can follow partially. I have a few Thai friends whose English is on a similar level als my Thai, with them it is very helpful to switch between English and Thai if necessary. As many of you know, even in the tourism industry or in universities, little English is spoken or understood. Those who do not speak Thai and are looking for a boyfriend who speaks English have at least a positive selection intellect-wise (i.e. if their boyfriend speaks English his education and status is above average). I recently noticed in a Se-ed bookshop that there is plenty of travel literature about Thailand in Thai language aimed at Thai readers (who would have thought?) with subjects/places not covered in English (internet or books), so far I bought three books and I can undestand about 50% (see above). In my neighborhood (Lak Si Bangkok) close to no English is spoken and my Thai is received positively and will surely be the key element to chat up local boys and lure them into my room under the pretext of helping me study Thai. For ordering food in places without a menu in English (most places I eat at don't have a menu in English) like street stalls it is essential to read Thai. (incomplete, just a short visit to gaythailand after long absence)

To be fair: BTS and MRT are working fine (although I don't know if there were any problems during construction), I only wonder why Saphan Taksin has only one track and why the MRT extension does not go north to Royal Palace and Khao San road. I recently noticed that the railway line Bangkok - Chiang Mai has only one track (except for stations), so trains can only drive past each other at stations, which might explain the delay of usually 2-3 hours (once there is an irregularity, the train has to wait in a station for a train in opposite direction to pass).

I think he said: "I will be back." I couldn't access gaythailand for a week, because I took the malware warnings (Avast free antivir) serious. After deleting all cookies (tip on gaybutton), closing firefox and starting it again there are still some warnings left. But with Internet Explorer I don't get warnings.

It's not for free, it's priced in.

If you read these forums for a while, you notice that the same subjects are discussed again and again. Examples are: how much do you tip, SIM-cards, Saranrom park, and many others.

I prefer gogo bars, there are no bad surprises in the bedroom (tattoos, body hair). Totally agree. Getting a glimpse of skin, or even better underwear, is a huge turn on for me.

For reasons of protection of animals I would not eat shark fin soup, bird nest soup, foie gras and whale. Everything else, unless it smells disgusting, is fair game. Even there are exceptions, Durian does not smell inviting, but I tried it (and the taste is so-so). I recently learned about a Thai salad that contains life baby prawns, this is on my wish-list for my next holiday.

The person who is being gang-raped. (When you tell this joke to someone, you can usually see him/her thinking and count the time until he/she gets the joke. The reaction depends on the person's sense of humor.)

Interesting! I thought I was the only person who has this problem: and everyone else would just buy new flip-flops

I was referring to a recent exchange of posts between you and HeyGay where you tried to nail him down (maybe not the best choice of words) for inaccuracies in his posts. I think everyone here knows that HeyGay is/was prone to exaggeration and inaccuracies, so there was no need to ride on that issue (again) and try to get him to admit that was wrong.

Immediately. I voted "No, I have a strong preference for clean shaven", due to lack of "I prefer men without facial hair" (i.e. no need to shave). But I can tolerate some facial hair.

One of my favorite jokes: 9 out of 10 people enjoy gang rape.

I never stayed at the hotel, but visited the sauna several times. As Babylon is not on a through street, there are usually no empty taxis driving past (I never saw one), but I remember offers by waiting taxi drivers (I didn't check there, but everywhere else standing waiting taxis quoted a flat flee and refused to use the meter). Taxi-wise, the location is poor. You could walk to Soi Suan Phlu or Soi Ngaam Dupli or ask the reception.

2400 is including hotel. About half of my encounters are with money boys and on some nights I go home alone. I will publish some detailed numbers that anser all your questions soon.

I went there by bus several times, but usually go by taxi. Let's say I score one out of five visits to Saranrom (I am quite picky). In Bars I score about one out of 3 or 4 visits, and I have to buy a drink in each bar! It is quite stretched out. It takes me about 30 minutes for one tour, most people drive around in a taxi or their own car slowly and wait for the boys to come to the window.

The Vietnamese boy I had spoke limited English, his spoken Thai was good, but he said he can't read and write Thai. One could argue that these boys come from Vietnam, which incurs some additional costs for visa runs (leave alone working without work permit, and in addition prostitution), so their tips should be higher, but then I come all the way from Europe, which incurs high costs for travelling, so I should get a discount.

I meant "drop these" in a figurative sense (synonymous to abandon), not literally. Or more figurative than literally.

I have never been a Pfadfinder (boy scout) and I unpack my suitcase in my hotel room (degree varying with length of stay).

This is Thai 4 Thai, and by Thai standards 500 Baht is a lot of money (if the alternative is to work 10 hours a day for 300 Baht). This is what they ask for (I don't know if this is a fixed price or a base for a negotiation, as 500 Baht is fine for me I always paid 500 Baht plus money for taxi). Before I take anyone, I have short chat (mainly in Thai) and check their ID for age to see if everything is fine. Then we go back to my hotel (I don't like toilet or outdoor in the dark or short-time hotel sex), where we do everything I would do with a boy from a bar. Not at all. It's just a balancing of advantages and disadvantages as follows: The only disadvantage is that you can't see if they have tattoos (and most of them have). But this is compensated many times: no drinks, no mamasans, no off fee, no loud music, no flashing lights, no shows, and it costs a fraction of what you would pay in a bar. I could even claim that this is the real Thailand, whereas Soi Twilight is set up for tourists. However if you enjoy drinking in a bar and watching a show and being pestered for drinks by a mamasan and listening to deafening music, then Soi Twilight is for you. (My opinion is based on about 10-15 visits and taking home 3 boys, as far as I remember.)

I am on friendly terms with with LMTU/HeyGay both online and personally. That does not mean that I think all his posts added value to the forum, on the contrary, many didn't. He brought some life into this forum (and all other forums where he participated). With a bit of effort, I could understand his posts, so you can to (but I have to agree that many of his posts are not worth putting in effort to understand them). You always need two people to have a quarrel, if he posts irrelevant trash, others have to reply, and that is where the thread is dragged of topic. It needs some self-restraint not to answer these posts. My advice for those who do not like him would be to ignore his posts. This basically means that there are some members who don't like LMTU/HeyGay posting here. Maybe you should start a poll about the matter?

I have a principle not to send money from abroad. I support Thai friends with reasonable amounts of money when I am in Thailand an we are together, i.e. only cash from my hands into his hands. How did he pay his rent before he met you, how would he pay his rent if he hadn't met you? I would answer your question based on your financial situation: if 154 USD is peanuts for you, you should offer to pay his rent continually, that's to make sure he is happy to see you again when you return (and you could even stay with him in the room your pay the rent for). If you have to think and consider circumstances or ask others if you should pay his rent: don't.

There are (or were when I visited in November) two Vietnamese boys in Fresh Boys (others report 3 Vietnamese guys work there). I offed one of them, everything went alright, until he wanted 2000 Baht for short time. I negotiated down to 1600, but it wasn't pretty. I will give this bar a wide berth for a while.

Last time I went, they had these hideous wrestler-style trousers (there has been talk about this on other boards), which made me turn around in the door and anouncing I will be back another day . Did they drop these or do they wear them only on some days of the week (which?)?

Did you consider going by train (there is train service from Bangkok to Singapore), in the sense of the original post? Thanks to the op for sharing. I spend on average about 2400 Baht per day when I am in Thailand for holiday (if you take out bars and moneyboysI might reach 1500 - but the purpose of my holiday is not to safe money, but to have fun). I use public transport a lot, eat mainly Thai food (often on the street) and stay in cheap hotels (not more than 800 Baht per night).