daydreamer

The Jomtien Palm Beach Hotel was originally named the Royal Jomtien Resort Hotel. There was a horrific disaster at this hotel in 1997. Today many people consider the hotel haunted, as more than 90 people died in a very bad fire there. I remember seeing the blackened, charred hotel in the summer of 1997. It was spooky looking, with large burn marks and smoke stains going up the outside of the high rise building . It took a long time to renovate, and it was re-named the Jomtien Palm Beach when it re-opened. It is in a good location, close to Bamboo Bar and Jomtien Complex. It might not be a concern to some people, but I would not consider staying there, no matter how good a deal they offered. Here is a link to the story: https://pattayaunplugged.com/the-story-behind-the-jomtien-hotel-fire-in-1997-that-killed-102-tourists-with-video/

I found a new site (new to me) for comparing the cost of money transfers to Thailand and other countries. I have read that many members of this board, plus members of Sawatdee and Gaybutton boards use Transferwise to send money to Thailand. I just did a comparison, and Transferwise came in least favorable in the comparison. Yes, Transferwise may offer a bit higher of an exchange rate, but after their transfer fee, other options offered may give you a higher amount of Thai Baht. Here's a screenshot of what I checked today - I used a 3,500 USD amount as an example, transferred and exchanged to THB. Just put in the amount of currency you want to check or transfer, and see for yourself that there may be better options to transfer your funds. The website is https://www.finder.com/international-money-transfers Scroll down the page a bit, and you will see this box: It's not a huge savings, but maybe this will be helpful for some people. Don't get hung up on the exchange rates, the bottom line is how much baht you will receive after the fees on the Thailand end. You may find that other options are better than Transferwise. The amount received column on the right side shows what you will receive from the different companies after the various exchange rates and fees are computed. Also note that some of these companies have minimum amounts they will do a transfer for. It looks like the larger the transfer, the more companies there are making offers. Another nice thing about this comparison site is it tells you the expected amount of time the transfer will take, I noticed one of the options is within the hour, that's fast. In the example I used of 3,500 USD to THB, the best transfer option was XE giving you 741 baht more than Transferwise. That's about $24.70 more on that transfer, so it may be worth it to take a look. I would rather have the 741 baht to spend in Thailand, than to give it to a transfer company. I know everyone is looking to save a little here and there, given the climbing value of the baht. This may be helpful to you.

Once in a while I check a website called bangkokeyes.com to see the latest nightlife news. The August 2019 edition has a few snippets about Chill Out Boy Bar in Patpong 1 being closed with a photo. It also mentions Bangkok Massage moving from Soi Twilight to Patpong 2 (with photo), and this - "The newly relocated (from Soi Twilight 2 months ago) Hotmale Bar Beer is in the process of renaming themselves the Midnite. Located next to Pinocchios. We'll attempt to get some comprehensive pics next issue.... " If you've never visited bangkokeyes, take a look. It's predominantly aimed at the straight nightlife venues, but they don't discriminate. Their archives are extensive, and there are many old photos taken on Soi Twilight showing the lighted signs of the bars that were there. If you scroll to the bottom of the page, the archived page from 01 JUN 2019 has a whole article dedicated to Gay Patpong and Soi Twilight. I am copying a couple photos from their website here. I hope I'm not violating any rules in doing so. These photos shown here are the property of Bangkok Eyes, not my own. This last photo is a map of Patpong showing the gay businesses. The lavender colored ones are listed as gay in their website as of April 2019. I think by posting this here, it will boost the readership for the Bangkok Eyes website.

Yes, I posted the map, and rollingstone is correct, it was Up2U bar. Here's the map again - saved from the old Dreaded Ned's website from 2002:

I don't understand how holding onto blood for one month would help in this case. If that were to be, wouldn't the blood donor also have to be retested one month after donating the blood, and those results cross checked with the re-tested blood donated one month previous? I think the disease is more likely to progress and be detectable in the infected donor's body in a one month period, than in a bag of refrigerated blood during that same one month period.

The stage in Screwboys used to run along the wall opposite the door, and it was only deep enough to have two rows of boys. It was rotated 90 degrees from the present layout, and was wider than the present stage. I agree about the poor view now from much of the seating. Maybe a pedestal or mini stage for 2-3 boys, (with rotation of the boys) near the other end of the bar would help. The bar is not shaped well to change much. A pedestal for 2-3 boys would be inexpensive for the bar to construct.

Well, I was one of Pong's no show customers, but not that I didn't try to meet him. This was probably ten years ago (he's been in business a long time, and before he added the music massages). He sent me instructions on how to find his apartment on a side soi off Thanon Petchaburi, about halfway between Ratchathewi BTS station and Panthip Plaza. At that time, he had a website with a map to his apartment. He was also on Gay Romeo listed under Bangkok escorts , before it became Planet Romeo. I made it to his apartment building, went upstairs, but there was some wonky and missing numbers on the apartment doors. I called him twice on my mobile (this was before smartphones). I contacted him on the phone, but he was reluctant to try to find me in the building. I knocked on two doors, but they were not Pong's apartment. I searched the building for about 20 minutes, but was unable to locate him. After 20 minutes and two calls to him, I gave up and left. So you see, not every no show is intentional.

Paborn, I thought I was the only one who used to stay in Saphan Kwai years ago to be close to the nightlife and host bars there. I also spent lots of time in Charmming, Hippodrome, Midnight Cowboy, Apache, Alladin, Stax, etc. I used to stay in the Mido Hotel on Thanon Pradipat, until the Karnmanee Palace was built across from it, then I stayed there every trip for many years until the demise of Saphan Kwai boy bars. I once offed a nice boy from Hippodrome and took him to Koh Samui for a week. He proudly pulled out the then current edition of Midway magazine to show me that he was that month's featured model. He didn't know that I also had the same magazine and had searched for him because of his pictures in Midway. That was back when magazine models would have sex with customers, not just there to be pretty like the cover model on the current edition of ThaiPuan. I agree that the Jomtien bars are not appealing to me, they are set up like Panorama, where most customers sit and look out into the soi. Not the best way to view or meet the boys.

Christian, I believe this was Cartier Boys on Soi Lengkee, which runs from Soi Buakhao to third road. They had some very handsome boys working there, several with athletic and muscular builds, but yes, the interior of the club was quickly thrown together with seating on some old couches and a trip hazard on the floor as you say.

Yes, I think that's the bar. I found it on an old map from Dreaded Ned's site from 2002.

I remember the go-go bar you are talking about, Vinapu. It was on Rama IV between Surawong and the end of Soi Twilight. It was closer to the end of Soi Twilight, not far around the corner from Balls Sport Beer Bar, just off the edge of the map. I think it was only open for a short time, maybe two years or less. I don't know when it opened, but I was only in it one time, the next time I returned to Bangkok, it was out of business. My Way Bar was between Surawong and Silom, just off Rama IV in a small dead end soi as the map shows. This stretch of Rama IV near My Way used to have freelancers on the sidewalk lurking in the shadows looking for customers to pick them up.

I fully agree with paborn on this. I believe this premium pricing has been going on a long time at Tawan. If they can command these sky high prices, good for them as long as some customers are willing to pay that inflated rate for the stars.

Back in the 90's I was in Chiang Mai in a tuk tuk headed from Thapae Gate to Adam's Apple bar. About halfway there, the driver pulled over in a remote dark area, and cut the engine and lights. For a second, I thought robbery, but no, that was not his intent. The driver turned around and said "you go Adam Apple look for boy. Can you fuck me?" He was not what I was looking for that evening, certainly not attractive to my eye. After I turned down his offer, he started up the tuk tuk and we arrived at Adam's Apple a couple minutes later.

At the same time, pass a law for religious organizations to be stripped of their tax exempt status. The estimated annual total income of religious organizations in Australia is $30 billion. And this is all tax exempt.