Isaan escapade (1)

It would be a boring holiday should I have to spend all my time in Pattaya or in Bangkok … this time, my side-trip was a short escapade to some isaan towns, with an aim to see the wats of course, but also to feel the atmosphere. And also to make some progress in my lifelong duty to spend at least one night in everyone of the 76 thai provinces.

The first stop was Udon Thani which has more and more farangs living there and roaming the streets mostly with their thai girlfriend. I had chosen the Thai Airways flight to go there at a time when Nok Air was not too well, and although paying more, I did not regret my choice : Nok had cancelled their midday flight on that day.

As always I chose to stay at the Charoen Hotel close to the main bus station and also within walking distance to the quickly growing entertainment area. Unfortunately there is no boy bar in the two new complexes in front of the Railway Station ; only girlie beer bars and it is hard to see how they could all survive for long.

I went searching the Antz Bar in the Ton Yang Yai area where it should have been but could not find it ; so I guess the only place for people like us still remains the Boy Boy Bar in a small soi not far from the Bus Station (west side of the soi where the Silver Reef Guesthouse is located).

I went there at 20.30 and was really surprised by the quality of the boys in this bar, especially one who was absolutely stunning : short hair, 18 y/o, beautiful face and deep eyes. I invited him, we chatted about his life (very few English spoken here …), I did not tell him he would have been a star in Pattaya as he was still a student in Udon (at least this is what he told me). Finally we agreed on going to a local disco with another of the boys (more dark-skinned, something “gothic” in his attitude but still more beautiful eyes) .. and here we went, three on the same bike along the busy Udon streets … my guy was much too young to be allowed to enter the discos, so we finished drinking our whisky in a less careful place, not too far from my hotel.

Alas what could have been a wonderful night with a magnificent guy failed and I still don’t know why … I had noticed he was smiling to someone else in the second bar but could not see whom (girl ? boy ?). Eventually he brought the second boy to his home after having carefully wrotten down my room number, but he never came back. I had not yet given any tip to him nor to the other boy, so I am still wondering why I spent the night alone … Unfortunately I had not the phone number of the bar so could not get any further news from him. Lesson number one : when you really fancy a guy, go immediately to the essential because precious jewels are the most easy to lose…

I could have staid one day more in Udon as I had no real schedule ; however I chose to go further and my next stage was in Sakhon Nakhon, a completely farang-free place. My hotel was the Dusit Hotel, clean and convenient for 350 THB with the most smiling and careful staff in Thailand - those who would feel ashamed if they paid less than 3000 THB a hotel night in Thailand do not know what they miss.

No boys bar here, but this is the town where someone I had known in Geneva is living, and we had agreed to meet on the day I would go there. I spent a great evening out with him and his delicious wife : great restaurant, and then two late night pubs where I was openly solicited by a (female) friend of his wife who had joined us. Axa Pub is a new pub and they have a band of male students who appears for singing every night. Believe me, the singer is an absolute stunner and gazing at him was enough to make made my evening very enjoyable.

Wat Phra That Choeng Chum in Sakhon Nakhon after the rain

Recovering

Beach delight

Pattaya is also the place where I come for the sun, and this 5-days stay was not really up to what I had expected. I had never seen any serious flood since 10 years I come here, and this year I saw 2nd road under the water three times … a sign that the end of the world is near or only bad luck ?

However the rain could not thwart my nightly activities and I could visit most of the Sunee bars, including Happy Boys which was quite interesting. I had read about it on the boards but you never know before experiencing by yourself … So I fell for this 19 y/o Nong Khai guy and he did not wait long to invite me to go upstairs where there was no one. Another boy joined us uninvited, which I found somewhat upsetting, but this guy was probably the appointed specialist when it comes to giving a blowjob. So went the trousers down, me sucking the boy I had chosen and the “expert” doing me very skillfully. Useless to say the climax came soon enough, despite (or because) some other boys regularly passing in front of us going up to their own rooms.

Other bars were more standard but the standard in Pattaya is what you dream about all the year long. There seems to be a constant flow of “new boys” in Villa Rouge, which keeps the interest going. I invited one of these – or so he was described to me – for a drink .. completely illegal, cute as an isaan god, bud hardly any interaction – he did not even asked my name and I had to make all the conversation.

Look Boys and Sundance were also on my list but there were really too many too young lady boys in most. The really cute ones (the real boys if you prefer) seem to be in the minority, or work as waiters or doormen… a pity, as it seems obvious that they are in higher demand than the ubiquitous skinny underage ladyboys. I had the luck to find one – the muu katha guy – and I still dream over his carefulness, his charm, and also I must say about what seems to be an everlasting hard-on. Sorry I have not fallen in love – yet.

Please do not tell anyone that I went to Minou, although the place has slightly improved from the pit it was last June ; it is also briefs down over there (at least the boys’ones).

It is nice to recover from all this craziness, and this is why I am now in Bangkok for three days. Wasted time perhaps but the town has its charms and it also allows some shopping with a much wider choice than in Pattaya.

However boy shopping was not what it used to be in the Saranrom area : I went there last Monday but the display was really disappointing : very few guys, some of them too young to be honest, and not the good feeling I had last time. One of the boys I spoke with, explained that one of the reasons why not a lot turned up was the activities of the motorists gangs (dek waen) who sometimes come at night in the area.

Timeless city

As soon as I set my feet in Pattaya, everything has changed. The time has now come when you look at your watch when you begin your evening (and it is generally 8 o'clock), and the next time you look at it, it shows 3 in the morning and you wonder what you are doing sitting in a karaoke place surrounded with cute boys, half of them you do not know even their name.

So the updating will be much looser from now on, due to an obvious lack of time. Those wanting to come here should know that not much has changed, except for the quick decline of euro and the steady increase of dollar.

My first day in Pattaya was on Thursday, it began with a too long trip with the bus dropping off passengers every 500 meters or so - but this is the price to pay when you want to go local, and at least you may meet nice people during the journey. I visited several bars in Sunee with only Euro Boys having about the same boys as in June, which tells a lot about the quality of management there. I also went to Good Boys and Nice Boys which are the typical Sunee bars no one wants to speak about.

New friend from Threezone Bar

And I finally took a guy who freelanced in the Threezone Bar - young looking but with an ID card which could not possibly have been forged. We ended the night in a small thai "mou katha" shop where he had worked before - thai boys often bring you to the place where they are known, a matter of face-saving I guess but most often this ends with a good experience.

The choice had to be good because the second day was a rainy one, like I had never seen in Pattaya (but I am only a tourist). And we both staid in the room recovering from a long night out ; be sure the TV was not much used on this day. The evening was devoted to Butterfly karaoke with 5 young lads eager to sing and to have sanuk together. Among them the lao I had met last year ; he is really more sexy than ever and he has the same easygoing nature.


Sunshine has come again to-day, which allowed a first visit to the beach. Many people there, as everyone has really missed the place since it has been raining for quite a long time from what I understand. I did not stay too long because some people heavy smokers sitting close - and I am not an anti-smokers fundamentalist.

Life will continue like this for three days, the greatest worry being what shirt you will wear at night, and then I should go back to Bangkok and then Isaan. Probably a huge change of pace from the Pattaya atmosphere.

Bell boy

My second day in Thailand began rather late in the day as I wanted a good night sleep to recover from the trip. I also needed more coffee than usual, which provided the best excuse to visit the small stall with the nice boy ... however he seems more interested in his very cute girlfriend than in my repeated glances ...

I spent the evening in Sanam Luang where there was a royal ceremony with a huge attendance from thais of all ages and all conditions. HM the King attended and it was a great relief to see him in rather good shape. You will understand it was not the best moment to go to the area around Saranrom park for the boys, as the place was brimmed with policemen.

At night I visited some Saphan Kwai bars and found that the boys there are as cute as ever. In every bar I visited I could have taken one or two, especially - and this is not surprise - in Charmming ; they have really good-looking guys overthere, and more than this the mamasan often boasts their "big thing' as they say in thai. I already checked in the past that this was no lie.

Another enthusiastic mamasan works in U-Turn, you just have to tell him what kind of boy you like and he will scour the neighbouring bars to find one matching your specifications.

I visited Eagle Pub, U-Turn, Charmming and Waterloo (which is currently on repair but has opened opposite in what is usually a girlie bar called Swan) and Adam was full due to a party. That leaves only three bars to visit and I should go next time I am in Bangkok ; for the first time in ages, their doormen invited me inside - sign of harder times ?

I am now in Pattaya where a strong rain in the afternoon has flooded some streets. The bell boy who helped with my luggage will be my impossible mission for this trip ; he told me "see you later" when leaving my room and these three words made me completely randy.

First night in Bangkok

Welcome in Thailand

It was an uneventful trip that I even managed not to find too long. The KLM plane landed 30 minutes ahead of scheduled time, but the extra time was quickly lost due to my choosing the wrong queue at the immigration (you should never forget to check whether the counter is single or double manned BEFORE entering the queue) …

The taxi driver made his job to bring me safe to my hotel in Saphan Khwai using the quickest route which is longer but uses much less time, so the 337 THB - toll fares and airport tax included - became 400 THB in his pocket.

Arriving at one in the afternoon leaves plenty of time to buy all forgotten items and get slowly accustomed to the local way of life ; watching over the holes in the pavement when gazing at the cute boys you encounter is one of the most challenging novelties here (in my country there are no holes in the pavement and hardly any cute boy walking).

You also will have to check the new interesting features in the neighborhood and this generally leads to good and bad surprises ; for example the boy who worked in the khao muu daeng food stall has disappeared, so I guess he was not the owner’s son but only an assistant. On the contrary there is a very good looking guy now working in front of my internet café, who provides free eye-candy when the connection is too slow. He sells coffee and it happens that I am a real coffee lover ...

At 6.30 pm I decided it was time to go for a skytrain trip to Silom where I only wanted to look at the atmosphere. After a nice meal in Dick’s, I walked along the bars and the massage places but no one took my fancy ; the new restaurant facing the Bangkok Boys Massage Place will be my next choice because it seems to be an excellent viewpoint over what is on offer opposite.

A tout wanted me to have a massage in K-Why ; I could get rid of him walking further to Soi 6. I walked in front of Tawan Bar where I never set a foot since I come to Thailand and hurried up to Solid. However I chose a new gogo bar first ; it is located on the first floor (or is it the second one for some), and is called Flower Shower or something like that. What I saw on the scene was quite pleasant with some very good looking lads. I invited Art to sit with me : a dark-skinned playful 20 y/o Bangkok boy. We flirted a little but I decided not to take him because he could not spend the night – mi thoora, so he told me, which of course I did not believe.

I went then to the infamous Nature Boy bar where they have six or seven lads ; one of them was taking care of another farang while three isaan citizens sat at my table. No tasty detail here as it was only hands on the pant, some hard dick showing and not much more. The shiest guy was the cutest. 

Getting out of the bar, I was once again called by one of the doormen in the message place almost opposite, which is called Taurus. I had noticed a young guy that seemed perfect for a first night, so I chose him for an one hour and a half oil massage. This barely legal Roi Et cutie gave me a massage that was too soft and without too much imagination, and after only twenty minutes he asked me to turn over and proposed to take care of my virility. I should have told him to massage my legs first but the boy was too hot and I was too horny … so I guess I will have to wait some more for a real massage.

It was 10.30 already and I felt too tired to continue my exploration in the Silom area ; moreover I had to update my information about Saphan Kwai venues for a thread on Sawatdee forum. I arrived back in Saphan Kwai at 11 pm and headed for my all-time favorite Street Boy Bar ; being the first bar in this non sheltered soi, it was a good idea as it was now pouring with rain. There were five boys on duty on this Sunday evening, including one with long hair, nice face, and who was a real boy according to the owner.

My last visit was for “Be High” gogo bar where there is a fair selection of masculine boys again, proving that my previous reviews had to be updated for the best. I chatted quietly with a guy from Khemmarat (Ubon Ratchathani province) which is one of the most remote places in Thailand and he understood that I was not in the mood to take him to my room.

At 0.25 it was time to call it a day and I went back to my hotel – alone, but I had seen more cute faces in 10 hours here than in eleven months at home.

On the road again

KLM, I love you

I did not think it could arrive ... still twenty minutes and I will hop on a car which will bring me to the airport ... and to-morrow at noon I should step once again on the thai soil. Pii thii sip song, khrang thii yiisip (twelvth year and twentieth time).

World crisis ? Which world crisis ?

Titanic

My last post sounded very pessimistic but how can you see brightness in the short-term future – at least when you are a worker - when every news you read in the papers or listen in the radio talks about unemployment, failures and recession ?

This never-ending economic crisis was probably the price to be paid for all the greediness in this world, with our governments as accomplice. I guess we will still have to wait a little bit longer before seing all the benefits that globalisation and unregulated business were due to bring to everyone – at least that was what self-proclaimed experts were promising and you were immediately labelled as a has-been or a communist if you did not agree with these crooks.

A cure for pessimism

This economic system looks in fact more and more like an easy smokescreen whose only aim in our countries was to make the rich always richer. I fear this world is too rotten to draw the lessons it should draw from this mess and to make a little more room for human beings in the future …

Four weeks in Thailand will be the more efficient way to escape all the bad vibes that are now invading the world ; I trust the thai boys to be able to make all my worries disappear.

I promise to act in Thailand like the guys on the Titanic … partying as if there were no to-morrow. A la thai, sort of.

From bliss to darkness

Five weeks and I will land in Suwanaphum for another happy and carefree holiday … I should of course jump for joy but why is it that I am not as blissful as I should be ?

However hard I try to deny reality, I just cant'help thinking that every trip could be as well be the last one. Some personal concerns especially regarding work, and many more general problems ranging from rising flight costs, weakening euro and thai prices going up, lessening numbers of boys due to the economic crisis … the outlook for the sex tourist's future in Thailand is rather bleak now. The current political turmoil is of course not taken into account by this seasoned traveller, but the security concerns in Bangkok and Pattaya could be.

These grim thoughts are another reason why I will try to make the best out of from my one-month trip … like I have always done. I have planned only a short sidetrip to Isan with one or two nights in Udon and then one-night stays in three or four towns like Roi Et and Khorat … hoping for nice encounters or fulfilling my lifetime mission to visit everyone of the 76 thai provinces, I don't know…. But some words I got from boys saying there are now gay bars in Sakhon Nakhon and Buriram did not fall on deaf ears for sure !

For the remaining time, I should stick to Bangkok and Pattaya ; you also will have to tie me firmly if you do not want me to go to Hua Hin for one night, trying to meet one (or all) of the three isan cuties who were in Faq Thong massage place last June … Tam will probably join me for my last days in Pattaya : I hope that this will help him to overcome the hard times that the chao naa like him have to face now because of the unusual amount of rain this year …

This will be my twentieth trip to Thailand in thirteen years. And this is also my hundredth entry in this blog .. thank you to all for taking the time to read it and I really hope there will be another hundred and more in the future.

Thai Blog

I have just come across a blog that I did not know. It is called Dekwang Saranrom which could be translated as "Hustler boy from the Saranrom area" ; I have still to establish whether it is written by one of the boys who come there or by someone else.

The blog is in thai language but has some english text too and nice male pics, some of them X-rated. For what I have read and understood for the time being, the blog has stories of the Saranrom hustlers, newpapers reports about male prostitution, AIDS warnings and more. For those who can read thai, it is rather well written - meaning : intelligible but with a good dictionary within reach.

The link has been added (on the right part of this page) as well as a link to PattayaPassion - a new and welcomed addition to the already numerous boards about gay Thailand.

UPDATE - This blog does not exist any more, sorry

Stiff neck

Looking both backwards and forward may be dangerous and cause a stiff neck, they say. This is exactly where I am standing now, although my neck is quite OK, thank you.

Looking back, I still remember my last days in Bangkok – only five weeks since I came back, but it looks like ages ago … My last evening was spent with Tam who always seems very interested going to the gogo bars in Soi Twilight to look at the shows. Perhaps he is REALLY gay after all… And if it was not with him, I would probably never enter any bar in this touristy and expensive area … So here we went into Fresh Beach Boys, as Boys Bangkok was really too much packed with customers. Show so-so, some nice guys (I had forgotten there could be nice boys in Soi Twilight too).

We then went together to the Saranrom area where there were less boys than before : police seems to make some random checks making it harder for the boys. However as soon as the way is clear, they suddenly spring up from nowhere just to be picked out by the customers … so the whole matter is being there at the right time. Walking along the street, I could spot some guys which I could have taken without hesitation. Just in case, I also saved the phone number of Fiew, one of the most attractive ones.

What stroke me most was that on the following day, Tam went back alone to Boys Bangkok after returning from the airport where he had sent me … like letting steam off a last time before going back home. A feeling that I know all too well.

Bangkok life

Bangkok life is definitely not bad when you are a tourist … Feeling alone in you room ? Just go outside, the streets are bustling with people, and every 30 seconds or so you will run into the nice face of a cute guy … who could well be your next friend if you are daring and lucky.

My hotel is located at the end of a small soi in Saphan Khwai, and I can enjoy the soi life as soon as I set a foot out of my room. At first I walk in front of the boy bars whose owners are cleaning their shop : those who know me as a regular never forget to greet and have a short chat. Further down the soi, there is the half hidden shop where I drop off my linen for washing .. when the laundrywoman prepares my pile of washing, she simply labels it with the word "farang" … I am probably her only non-thai customer.

And then there are the food stalls … they stay in the soi during daytime but as soon as 5 pm, they spread onto the both sides of the main street. Especially on Friday and Saturday nights, Pradiphat Street is a huge open-air restaurant with hundreds of thais enjoying their meal with friends or family. I love this atmosphere, I also love the convenience of a quick and cheap khao man kai when I feel a bit hungry, whatever the time of the night (and No, I never got sick from eating in the street ... )

Eye candy is of course always there in the soi or in the street … The waiters in the Rakhang Thong Restaurant are my current favourites, and I guess I will have to look closer at the workmen hired in the nearby construction site : I already know they leave at 6 pm and some of them are absolute stunners – to the point I did not dare to take a picture of them.

As for the boy working for the khao moo daeng stall at the soi entrance (owner's son probably), I still have to wait two or three more years, but he will surely be worth it. For now, his job is doing the washing up well hidden behind the cart, and helping serving the customers. Spending all his evenings near so many boy bars, it is impossible that when turning 18, he does't consider making use of his good looks ; after thinking over, he could well try his luck and if he agrees, I am OK to be his first customer

Posing

I would not like my holidays in Pattaya being restricted to bar-hopping and boy-offing. This is why I generally get up very soon (at least by Pattaya standards), just to have more time to do nothing .. lazily lying under the sun or just having time to take care of myself – a favor that us working class battlers cannot afford very often.

Nong Nooch garden and boy

Besides this I made the usual trip to Nang Ram Beach near Sattahip, only to find that many russians had already found their way to this little paradise. I guess I'll have to find something else soon.

I had never toured the Nong Nooch Garden and came here a little by chance, guided by one of the boys I had met. Not being mad about flowers and gardens, I was fearing a boring visit, but the place turned out being very entertaining. Go there with a thai boy and a camera and you will be surprised how gifted these guys are when posing for a photo … they really pose like stars but in a totally innate way. As the setting is quite appropriate for this, you should end with a lot of successful pictures.