Losing it slowly , one day at the time . Summer trip to Thailand and Cambodia in July 2026

[vinapu]

Getting there

I was really planning trip in the last decade of August  but when spoon  told me  he just boked trip for last decade of July I decided  to change my plans even if airfares this year are prohibitive indeed.  But who cares. Trump may have his fun I may have mine, specially when my friend is there  said I and soon I had a ticket. Positive side   was that it was unusually cheap to  select desired seat , 10 $ vs usual 50 $ or so  and hotel prices very affordable . so something for something.

 

Another reason was that my 2 most favorite guys D and L  were in Bangkok so was third one  I had  high hopes to meet. About week before flight all hopes were ruined . In short sequence , first L and few days later D  went home to Cambodia for the same reason – mothers landed  hospital. I got pictures of mother on hospital beds , but no, none of boys asked for any assistance. That was reason I keep extremely  discreet about me coming to Bangkok as I did not want D to do something stupid  out of financial need i.e. coming to see me in Bangkok. L case was easier as he informed me that he is planning to stay home till at least mid November.  Instead I did something smart and purchased return ticket to Phnom Penh. Same Trumpian story  - expensive ticket  but at least hotels were  priced for poor pensioners.

 

Departure time was very pleasant just past noon and arrival not bad at 10 pm, connection in Toki was smooth and arrival in Bangkok even better as our Thai aircraft parked at the gate  practically across from immigration so it was very short walk to Priority Line where only few people were waiting. I travel light so no luggage to claim  but I managed to buy 15 days SIM card and in exactly 21 minutes from leaving the aircraft  I was on the escalator down to train station  - always one of most pleasant moments of every trip.

 

[vinapu]

Day 1

 I had even enough time to exchange some money  in train station exchange booths. What I noticed there are few more of them and very important  - Kasikorn Bank booth to the right as we enter station area which so far had the same rates like rest of kiosks in the airport, now  has the same  rates like station exchanges.  On the train I announced my arrival to  spoon and former member “reader”. Spoon told me he is heading for Good Boys and will wait for me there. Soon after he send me a picture of him sitting  with one of their boys known to me  - one who once arrived on motorbike to my hotel but on departure still asked for taxi money. You may recall the story . Lets call him  FuBoy , short for funny boy. Promised to wait for me.

 When walking through Thaniya on that steamy  night I noticed dearth of tourists.

 Raya upgraded me  to bit more spacious room, I showered, shave and at about 12,30 am marched to Good Boys. Reader , upon learning I’m heading to GoodBoys, recommended me one of their boys , knowing I’m looking for muscles.  Bar was full when I entered with show going on

 Joyful reunion in the bar , with both spoon and FuBoy     and when I told him about readers recommendation , spoon  told me  “ boy is standing right in front of you “. Indeed he was so making him seat beside and ordering him drink was easy and instant. Lets call him GMB (Goodboys Muscle Guy) . he agreed to an off immediately. Hey  even with bar full there were more boys than patrons, clingy and kissy , excellent introduction to my trip. Soon all 4 of us went to Foodland to eat something and then parted ways with spoon and his boy. He impressed me  indeed. At one point of night    he went to bathroom , I heard bum gun running and then he went to shower  to clean himself even better, That earned him 500 extra tip on dismissal.

[vinapu]

Day 2

After he left at 5 I thought I will sleep a bit but no , my sleep pattern was ruined by the jet lag. So as soon as they opened breakfast room at Raya at 6 I was there.

 At 11 am. I visited spoon in his hotel to catch up with news as we did not see each other for good 2 years. Upon learning his friend YT is coming from Malaysia tomorrow I asked to ask him to bring me pack of excellent Malaysian lose leaf tea BOH. It was quite a long walk back to my hotel , I went to XONE to exchange some money and around 4 pm exhausted by jet lag, long walk and heat I collapsed on the bed . Slept soundly till 20.30.

 After making myself handsome again I went to Midnight bar, P the waiter was not there  but I have also another object of adoration , their new Lao host . ( to be exact he was new in January) . Since boy is super skinny one may wonder what’s going on but I like his face. Bought him a drink  and soon Spoon arrived . We decided to try Tawan today. Not exactly crowded but not empty either .  Plenty of boys outnumbering patrons 2 to 1. Many veterans including once very famous Mekhin.

Looking at  boys on display old saying came to my mind  ‘ one can chase boy from bar but can’t chase bar from boy” there were at least 3 new , very attractive guys , including one quite heavily tattooed and another one who was top in , you guessed rightly,  ‘special ‘show. Unfortunately  typical Tawan disease of palms outstretched and asking for tip on every turn killed my mood quite a bit even if I liked all 3 new guys a lot. I don’t mind tipping  but rather do it on my own will , not because I’m nagged for it.  My parting 100 baht for best looking guy got that  heavily tattooed and  it was met with applause so I suspect  he may be very new there.  It was fun even if bit upsetting one. 

 At midnight we went to Dreamboys  but since bar was to close in less then 1 hr many boys were already taken but evens from those left on the stage I’d pick up few. But I did not as I had hopes about that Lao host. Unfortunately he was already sitting with somebody so I went  to Foodland  for my 62 baht soup , then  made walk through the area, even passed by Moonlight but two mamasans sitting outside told me they are already closing – come tomorrow. So I returned home empty handed but looking at bright side – pockets not exactly empty.

 

[jason1975]

1 hour ago, vinapu said:

At midnight we went to Dreamboys  but since bar was to close in less then 1 hr many boys were already taken but evens from those left on the stage I’d pick up few. But I did not as I had hopes about that Lao host. Unfortunately he was already sitting with somebody so I went  to Foodland  for my 62 baht soup , then  made walk through the area, even passed by Moonlight but two mamasans sitting outside told me they are already closing – come tomorrow. So I returned home empty handed but looking at bright side – pockets not exactly empty.

Not necessary to off a guy back to hotel every night and since it was only your second night, good to start things slowly at beginning of trip.

[vinapu]

9 hours ago, jason1975 said:

Not necessary to off a guy back to hotel every night ...

really ?

[vinapu]

9 hours ago, jason1975 said:

Not necessary to off a guy back to hotel every night and since it was only your second night, good to start things slowly at beginning of trip.

it was simply because no suitable candidate appeared.

[jason1975]

8 minutes ago, vinapu said:

it was simply because no suitable candidate appeared.

I believe if you had waited for Laos waiter, he would have gone with you. He was occupied drinking with customer. Customer was definitely not offing him. Once customer left, you could have offed him.

[vinapu]

 

Day 3

Breakfast at 8 a.m. . then I had urge to do some touristy stuff so took the boat to Grand Palace area to explore markets there.. Nothing interesting so again  pockets on return not exactly empty. Returned to Saphan Taksin by the boat as well then walked to soi 49  hoping for change of status of Madrid Café but no. definitely looks it’s closed for good.

Then to Foodland as I was  supposed to have lunch there with reader. In the morning I was thinking about sending message to Kiwi306 as I suspected  he may still be in Thailand. When we finished lunch and headed for the exit  who , whole in smiles is seating at the last table ? Kiwi306 himself. Very nice, unexpected  reunion, we had a chat and agreed to meet in the  evening afternoon.

Then rain started so I parked myself in hotel, waiting for FuBoy from evening one to arrive for  short time stamp collecting seminar. Really funny guy with no boring minute while with him.  He is pressing me for long time  and for sure we will have one but I decided to take things slowly with him.

Rain stopped when he left  and at 21.30 I walked to Midnight bar for a meetup with spoon and kiwi306. None of m favorite waiter was there   , Lao guy showed bit later but was already reserved for tonight by guy he walked in with.

We decided on Moonlight for tonight.  It was quite crowded , rare feast there recently , at least dozen of models including long time not see Khun, certainly back in shape, perhaps even in the best shape of them all. Babe  was absent. There was dearth of floor boys , just 5 only  but as I say all I need is one bar and one boy . In this case  Y, not seen there for a while . We both recognized each other immediately so I invited him for a drink and placing him between spoon and me as spoon knows him as well.

Of course LT time deal sealed  immediately , this time no excuses he needs to go at 3 am like last few  times . But before we retired to hotel all of us went to Happy Beer Garden enthusiastically welcomed by Joy , the waitress.

Time in the room was like old good days, Y is definitely a gem of the boy and I made sure he was properly  compensated for his efforts.

 

[vinapu]

44 minutes ago, jason1975 said:

I believe if you had waited for Laos waiter, he would have gone with you. He was occupied drinking with customer. Customer was definitely not offing him. Once customer left, you could have offed him.

not my style. How I could know if customer wont be offing him and even if not , how long they will be drinking and sitting together ? 

[vinapu]

 

Day 4

 When I tried to book Raya  for more days  Agoda showed  no rooms available. So I book next three night at Baan Silom.  Now I know why . Today they are changing transformer so hotel  will not have electricity from 10 am  till who know when later  during the day. So  before 10 I packed and  walked to soi 3. Room was not available  and they asked me to return in 2 hours so I left luggage on reception  and go about the city . I visited Central Rama IX  , walked Sukhumvit from Asok to Nana, dropped at MBK, exchanged money at Xone (recurring theme, exchanging money , lol ) and finished at Foodland with my staple chicken rice soup. Jet lag started showing up a so as soon as I returned to the hotel  I collapsed on the bed. That jet lag is purgatory for me indeed , Not surprising considering time difference and length of flight but that is no consolation. What is surprising , regularly is much more severe  when in Thailand and much milder when I return home . It must be comfort of my own bed or what ?

Again today at 21.30 meeting with kiwi306 and  spoon at Midnight bar. Out of my two favorite guys only  P was present  but  Lao boy was not. Saved me pleasure and expense of buying him drink  - that’s bright side. Lao showed later but with somebody already  so obviously he was occupied. I treated P with drink  and then our forum trio went to Dreamboys . Tons of boys on the stage but surprisingly  not too many  to my liking. Spotted one guy I observe on Grindr  - unfortunately in the flesh he is much more skinny  than I imagined n based on pictures there.

Next station – Freshboys . Bar quite full inside with show already on. One of guys seemed to recognize me from January  because smiled broadly even if all we did together then was  distributing and collecting a modest 200 tip.  So I decided to invite him for a drink and subsequently  to off him.

Spoon collected his guy from  Goodboys and we went to Foodland to eat something. Soon two reader and Andy303UK  appeared , my first time I met Andy.

After  meal we parted ways and I walked with my boy to soi 3 . He mused that wants go home soon , preempting my question about Long Time. I did not expect that soon  though. In the room jumped into bed declining shower and brushing the teeth. That’s very rare although it needs to be said I didn’t detect any odors. Right after the deed jumped into shower and before I managed to towel myself he was already dressed . had nerve to ask to extra 500 and taxi money  but I used word NO decisively. So he left. It was kind of disaster  but it needs to be said it was only bad encounter this , otherwise fabulous trip, Clearly money wasted , on drink, off fee , meal and tip . Oh well, shit happens thought I going to sleep.          

 

[jason1975]

I am surprised you didn't confirm with guy in advance whether long time. He must have charmed you in the bar!

[vinapu]

1 hour ago, jason1975 said:

I am surprised you didn't confirm with guy in advance whether long time. He must have charmed you in the bar!

indeed this is what happened

[vinapu]

 

Day 5

I slept till 8 . Breakfast in style as spoon invited me to his hotel. In the afternoon we both  went to check on art market near Saranrom park in Grand Palace area. Nothing spectacular but still interesting.  Then long walk along Charoen Krung to Wat Mongkon MRT station.  Then  back to his hotel to  partake in happy hour in lounge there .Memorable visit for 2 reasons  - one of waiters was super friendly and handsome and they had  normal bread  , like I’m used to eat at home  so treated myself with 2 slices with cheese – that makes it double treat.

Gulping no less than 4 cocktails , two of them double strength made that afternoon even more memorable.

Not sure who came first with idea but since he had other plans for tonight and his favorite Jupiter guy JW  had day off today he contacted hm asking if he would be keen on accompany me tonight .

We met before and JW even claimed he remembers me so fast we sealed the deal.

At 9pm  five of us  - spoon , his boy , YT , his newly arrived friend, kiwi306 and me dined at G’s in soi 4 and then we decided to check in Banana Club across the soi. Today and tomorrow due to religious holiday  most bars are closed  but somehow  they remain opened. It was well patronized for that reason. At one point , whole  in smiles,  JW  joined us , squeezing in  beside me.

 Around midnight we all went our ways, JW and me to my hotel . ewe had some talk  over the beer and then retired to the bed . Today JW was perfect companion , even much better than last time and I had fabulous time with him, worth every minute and every penny.

 

[khaolakguy]

6 hours ago, vinapu said:

One of guys seemed to recognize me from January 

Alarm bells ringing at this point, given you normally have such a good memory....

[floridarob]

22 hours ago, vinapu said:

at about 12,30 am marched to Good Boys

I think you add this every now and then to see if I'm paying attention or because you were a "Man on a mission"..... or both 🧐

[jason1975]

1 hour ago, khaolakguy said:

Alarm bells ringing at this point, given you normally have such a good memory....

Everyone recognises @vinapu They tell him KFC man or Mr KFC

[jason1975]

How was it possible for Banana Bar to be open during religious holiday? The other bars were closed.