Thailand Trip Report February/March 2026

[jimmie50]

Greetings from the Land of Smiles!  I am now in Bangkok after spending five days in San Francisco visiting old friends and colleagues.  I do not plan to report as detailed as I did back in October/November, but will share some tidbits along the way.  Since I will be here for seven weeks, a detailed ‘blow by blow’ (pardon the pun) feels like it will be boring and tiresome to read.

Although it was cold and wet in SF, I did enjoy getting to spend time with my friends, eating at some of my favorite restaurants, and even managed to take in a play.  I was shocked by the overall condition of San Francisco these days.  So many businesses have closed.  Entire blocks filled with empty store fronts.  Even the entire Westfield mall in downtown was completely shuttered.  Market Street was more like a ghost town than a bustling hub of excitement and energy.  To be honest, it was quite depressing to see.

Flight on Singapore Airlines was great, although we did experience a fair amount of turbulence the first couple of hours due to that severe weather system hitting California.  The cabin was very comfortable and service exceptional.  I believe I said this on my previous trip as well, but the customer service of Asian carriers is superior to anything you find on US carriers…even in first class.  The long 17+ hour flight went far quicker than I thought, and we actually arrived in Singapore about 30 minutes early.  My connecting gate for Bangkok was in the same terminal and an easy 7 or 8 minute walk.  Could have easily made the short connection, but after being confined for 17 hours it was good to move around and explore the airport.  So much to see and experience.  Flight to Bangkok was a short 90 minutes, although what seems to be more the norm at Suvarnabhumi these days, air traffic control had us circling for a good 15 minutes before the actual landing.  Immigration was packed and seemed to be short on staff.  I opted for the seniors priority lane which only took around 20 minutes.  No problems, and got my stamp for 60 days.  Had to wait less than ten minutes for my luggage to appear, then off to the limo service, S & P, recommended by a forum member.  I used them in October and it was a great experience, so opted to use them again.  Aside from the usual Bangkok traffic, I arrived at the condo and was ready to get settled in.  For the short stay in SF I was living out of my luggage, which I hate.  In the condo I was actually able to unpack, put things away, and get myself organized.  Since my flight arrived at 11am, I was determined to stay awake all day so I would sleep well that first night and my body clock would adjust quicker.  I discovered that trick back in October and it worked well.

You all might remember that I made quite the connection with a therapist from Paradise in October.  We have stayed in touch since then on a somewhat regular basis.  He will usually text once a week.  Most of the time he has initiated the ongoing conversation.  Not once has he asked for anything.  So, it will come as no surprise to  any of you that my first visit on Friday was to Paradise.  He knew my itinerary and was expecting me.  I didn’t really go to the shop for a massage.  The plan was to meet him there, then we went to dinner, followed by a visit to the condo for some male bonding and reconnecting time.  lol.  Was a glorious evening for sure.  Just as good as I remembered…if not better.  He wanted to meet again on Saturday, but my friends who have the condo I am using made plans for us to do some fun stuff around Bangkok for the day.  I didn’t get back to the condo until late and was too tired to venture back out for any entertainment.  I will meet up with him sometime later today or this evening.  May see what other mischief I can cook up this afternoon before meeting him.  Thinking about checking out the new Prestige Sukhumvit location.

[macaroni21]

I have never been to the Sukhumvit branch of Prestige Massage -- it's some distance away in Onnut, I think -- but although I too was interested to check it out, a boy at the Chong Nonsi branch told me that the rooms in the Sukhumvit branch did not have ensuite bathrooms. This made me hesitate. Would it be worth the trouble to make the trip?

[Keithambrose]

11 hours ago, jimmie50 said:

Greetings from the Land of Smiles!  I am now in Bangkok after spending five days in San Francisco visiting old friends and colleagues.  I do not plan to report as detailed as I did back in October/November, but will share some tidbits along the way.  Since I will be here for seven weeks, a detailed ‘blow by blow’ (pardon the pun) feels like it will be boring and tiresome to read.

Although it was cold and wet in SF, I did enjoy getting to spend time with my friends, eating at some of my favorite restaurants, and even managed to take in a play.  I was shocked by the overall condition of San Francisco these days.  So many businesses have closed.  Entire blocks filled with empty store fronts.  Even the entire Westfield mall in downtown was completely shuttered.  Market Street was more like a ghost town than a bustling hub of excitement and energy.  To be honest, it was quite depressing to see.

Flight on Singapore Airlines was great, although we did experience a fair amount of turbulence the first couple of hours due to that severe weather system hitting California.  The cabin was very comfortable and service exceptional.  I believe I said this on my previous trip as well, but the customer service of Asian carriers is superior to anything you find on US carriers…even in first class.  The long 17+ hour flight went far quicker than I thought, and we actually arrived in Singapore about 30 minutes early.  My connecting gate for Bangkok was in the same terminal and an easy 7 or 8 minute walk.  Could have easily made the short connection, but after being confined for 17 hours it was good to move around and explore the airport.  So much to see and experience.  Flight to Bangkok was a short 90 minutes, although what seems to be more the norm at Suvarnabhumi these days, air traffic control had us circling for a good 15 minutes before the actual landing.  Immigration was packed and seemed to be short on staff.  I opted for the seniors priority lane which only took around 20 minutes.  No problems, and got my stamp for 60 days.  Had to wait less than ten minutes for my luggage to appear, then off to the limo service, S & P, recommended by a forum member.  I used them in October and it was a great experience, so opted to use them again.  Aside from the usual Bangkok traffic, I arrived at the condo and was ready to get settled in.  For the short stay in SF I was living out of my luggage, which I hate.  In the condo I was actually able to unpack, put things away, and get myself organized.  Since my flight arrived at 11am, I was determined to stay awake all day so I would sleep well that first night and my body clock would adjust quicker.  I discovered that trick back in October and it worked well.

You all might remember that I made quite the connection with a therapist from Paradise in October.  We have stayed in touch since then on a somewhat regular basis.  He will usually text once a week.  Most of the time he has initiated the ongoing conversation.  Not once has he asked for anything.  So, it will come as no surprise to  any of you that my first visit on Friday was to Paradise.  He knew my itinerary and was expecting me.  I didn’t really go to the shop for a massage.  The plan was to meet him there, then we went to dinner, followed by a visit to the condo for some male bonding and reconnecting time.  lol.  Was a glorious evening for sure.  Just as good as I remembered…if not better.  He wanted to meet again on Saturday, but my friends who have the condo I am using made plans for us to do some fun stuff around Bangkok for the day.  I didn’t get back to the condo until late and was too tired to venture back out for any entertainment.  I will meet up with him sometime later today or this evening.  May see what other mischief I can cook up this afternoon before meeting him.  Thinking about checking out the new Prestige Sukhumvit location.

"but the customer service of Asian carriers is superior to anything you find on US carriers…even in first class."

 

I didn't know that US carriers provided customer service?

 

 

[vinapu]

5 hours ago, Keithambrose said:

I didn't know that US carriers provided customer service?

 

It's not that bad , in last few years I flew American  to Buenos Aires and United to Tokyo and can't say a bad word. Not that I'm very demanding though but still I was happy with them.

[jimmie50]

On 2/22/2026 at 7:08 PM, macaroni21 said:

I have never been to the Sukhumvit branch of Prestige Massage -- it's some distance away in Onnut, I think -- but although I too was interested to check it out, a boy at the Chong Nonsi branch told me that the rooms in the Sukhumvit branch did not have ensuite bathrooms. This made me hesitate. Would it be worth the trouble to make the trip?

The Sukhumvit branch was previously known as The Cloud.  Some of you may have been there before.  While they advertise it is 'near' the Onnut BTS, their idea of near and mine are very different.  It is not a quick and easy walk.  Really requires taking a moto taxi from BTS station to the shop.  Because of that, if I wanted to visit this location again I would just opt to take a Grab, Bolt or taxi directly from my lodging to the massage shop and forget about BTS altogether.  Just my personal opinion...

Facilities are decent, but no elevator and as is the case with most of these massage shops, rooms are on the upper floors with lots of steps to climb.  This may be a deterrent to some people.  No ensuite facilities, either.  Some of the Prestige therapists are available at either shop.  Some only work at Sathorn, while some only work at Sukhumvit.  You will need to clarify with administration when making a reservation who you are requesting and which location they work from.  The reason I ultimately decided to go to the Sukhumvit location is my interest in one particular therapist who only works at this location.  For that reason, and only that reason...he was good enough that I would return!  

[jimmie50]

On 2/23/2026 at 12:30 AM, vinapu said:

It's not that bad , in last few years I flew American  to Buenos Aires and United to Tokyo and can't say a bad word. Not that I'm very demanding though but still I was happy with them.

When I lived in California, I had many more choices for US carriers.  I have probably tried them all at some point in time.  Denver is more limited.  The primary carriers are United and Southwest.  If I choose to fly any other US carrier, I am forced to fly from Denver to one of their hubs and then transfer to my ultimate destination.  Not nearly as convenient.  United has been ok, and also Delta.  When I was teaching, the school district used Southwest or United.  Southwest was much better domestically when dealing with a group of students.  Very accommodating.  Had to use United, though, when traveling international with a group.  That was sometimes a bit challenging.  To be honest, I have many horror stories over the years of traveling with American and have reached a point where I will no longer even consider that airline.  If that is my only option, I drive or simply don't go there.  

[jimmie50]

Next installment:  Showed up at Paradise at the scheduled time.  I think everyone there knows me by now.  lol. None of the other guys even try to get my attention or persuade me to give them a try.  They all know who I am there to see.  He was waiting for me inside.  This time I was actually there to get a massage.  I was still feeling a little travel weary after the long flight and thought it would relieve some of the stress and stiffness.  Wanting to spend as much time with ‘my guy’ as possible, I requested 120 minutes in the VIP room.  Hopefully that would be a real treat for both of us.  He is really quite good at massage and helped my aching body a lot.  The extras are becoming much more intense and with feelings…if that makes any sense.  He isn’t just going through the motions and it is certainly not mechanical by any stretch of the imagination.  Far more intimate and connected.  Needing to be very careful with my emotions with this one.  I am easily becoming smitten.  As we were getting dressed and preparing to go for dinner, I casually said to him that ‘I enjoy spending the time together and really like you’.  I tried to choose my words very carefully.  To that his reply was ‘I love you’.  Wasn’t expecting that, so needed to spend some time processing everything once back in the condo.  Did not respond in kind but gave him a kiss when he said it.  Thoughts or comments?

We went to dinner at a Lebanese restaurant.  I have never had Lebanese food before, so I don’t know how authentic it really is, but the place was very busy and for me the food was quite good.  It is located on Silom in Silom 64 building directly behind the McDonald’s.  Name is Beirut Restaurant.  They have a very small sign that does not light up directly below the golden arches.  I would certainly go again.  We had Chicken Shawarma, Lamb and Beef kabobs, Crunchy Fried Shrimp, served with lemon rice, naan, sliced tomato & cucumber and three different dipping sauces.  After dinner, I headed back to the condo.  It was still early and he needed to return to work.  The original plan was for him to join me at the condo after the shop closed at midnight.  However, as often happens in Thailand, plans changed.  It seems Paradise is actually owned by a Chinese gentleman.  Not sure if he is from Mainland China or from Taiwan.  Towards the end of the working day, the owner had lots of food and drink delivered to the shop for the employees to celebrate Chinese New Year.  Needless to say, my guy wanted to stay and party.  That was fine with me.  I knew he would be drinking way too much beer and in no condition to do anything other than pass out if he did join me, so we just agreed to chat the next day.  To be honest, it is probably a good thing.  I need to be careful about spending too much time with him.  We have already talked about possibly taking a short 2 or 3 day trip outside the city next week. I also have other shops I want to explore this trip, as well as some of the clubs in the evening.

Treated myself to a little pampering yesterday by getting a manicure and pedicure.  Never had a pedicure before, but decided to give it a try.  Was a very relaxing experience.  There is a shop near the condo I have walked past hundreds of times but never stopped.  There was only one other customer inside today when I was walking by, so on a whim just decided to treat myself.  I thought it was very reasonable at 1000 Baht for both.  That is around 30 USD.  In the states, I would pay 45 USD for just a manicure.  No idea how much the cost of adding a pedicure would be, but my guess would be at least an additional 30 USD.

Trying to pace myself this trip since I have seven weeks.  Think I will venture out today and try a different shop.  Want to avoid Soi 6 shops as I don’t want anyone at Paradise to see me and report to a certain someone.  lol.  Thinking about Senso, Prince, or possibly Arena.  Curious about Titan, but not willing to pay that high price if simply an S shop.  Any recent updates on this place?

To be continued...

[vinapu]

9 minutes ago, jimmie50 said:

I casually said to him that ‘I enjoy spending the time together and really like you’.  I tried to choose my words very carefully.  To that his reply was ‘I love you’.  Wasn’t expecting that, so needed to spend some time processing everything once back in the condo.  Did not respond in kind but gave him a kiss when he said it.  Thoughts or comments?

 

don't read too much into it. He may be sincere but also he may be just saying it for lack of better words. "like", 'love" , for non-native speaker may actually mean the same.

[Travelingguy]

I think that trying to be subtle and careful about how you like a guy, but you don’t want to go over the top with love and entanglement is going to be a very difficult needle to thread with someone who isn’t really fluent with English.  You were hedging your statements and he said “I love you.”  

I think being clear in your own mind about what you want makes it easier to respond to the situation.  “I really like you and enjoy the time that we spend together, especially the sex.  But I am not looking for a relationship (or a long distance relationship) at this time.”