Adam's Apple

According to their newsletter that they just have sent me, Adam's Apple would already be open - contrary to what I wrote below. However it would be only a soft opening before the Grand Opening Party on October 9th (private party from what I read on Thaivisa.com), and probably a full closure on election days in Chiang Mai (October 4th).

For me the opening will be at the end of next October and I cannot wait to go and see their show ...

In-trend

The in-trend destination for gay sex tourists this year will obviously be Chiang Mai – and you know what ? In about five weeks I will be there too - although I usually carefully shun everything "in-trend".

First there is this Lavender Lanna Hotel / Power Boys gogo bar and other businesses, which are due to open in October among growing controversy. Some tell that this will be a great improvement for the town, others including gay activist Nathee Thirarotjanapong fear that the complex will be located in a too visible location and will bring a bad light on Northern culture, especially because of the wide advertising all over the world. What do I think of this ? Well, erased threads, heavy insinuations, banned posters and conflicting viewpoints do not allow to have any opinion on this when you are 9000 km far from the spot, except that many businesses are probably feeling that their interests are seriously threatened by the new venue. There is likely still more to this, as I understand that Chiang Mai is currently preparing local elections. What I know is I did not choose to come to Chiang Mai for this place and I am not even sure I will have the time to visit.

What is more interesting is the opening of Adam's Apple which is scheduled on Octobre the 9 th after a dress rehearsal yesterday. I have great memories from this bar and can only hope the format will not be too different. In the same Chang Phuak area, another sleazy place is said to open soon near Viang Bua Mansion (Happy Dicks is the more recent name) ; and there is also the older bars like Freeguys where I already know I will "off" someone because these Thai Yai boys are really my style.

What worries me is the fate of some other bars. Those in the small alley near Night Bazaar seem to be still there : they will remind me the sudden surge of adrenalin I felt three years ago when facing unexpectedly a young Tai Yai boy in the common toilets. A similar bar is Yum Boi Boi which had just opened in Santitham Plaza – also north of town. It seems they had available hosts, unlike other gay bars in the area which are more thai-oriented. However I just had the news that they have closed until early October ; hopefully this will not be a permanent closure, as they are said to have promising young lads.

. . . Yummy guys in Chiang Mai (thai-eyes website)

What is also new about Chiang Mai these days is the great updated information you can get on the net through nice websites such as the already well-known ratchada.com, and also asiancoop.com, chiangmaichimes.com (Nightlife section), thai-eyes.com and the gay section on Thaivisa.

Homework is so easier when you have good updated information . . .

Things to do

This morning I spent at least three hours choosing a hotel in Lampang where I will stay only for one night … and here I was once again roaming the streets of the small town, trying to locate the house of boys and another bar where there could be boys for rent … The hotel also had to be not too far from the bus station as I will use a bus for coming from Chiang Rai and for going on to Chiang Mai as well. And close to the song thaew which will bring me to the Wat Phra That Lampang Luang which will be the highlight of my short visit. Finally I will stay at the Phin Hotel which gets rather good reviews everywhere and is conveniently located in downtown Lampang.

So I am gradually working out the schedule of the trip, at least regarding transportation and lodging. The rest will be left to instant decision making depending on the boys I will meet, the rain, and a famous virus which hopefully will not destroy my so long awaited stay.

However this is the list of things to do for this trip …
- helping Tam to overcome his sadness after his mother passed away … he should like Loi Krathong in Chiang Mai
- climbing the Samoeng Pass near Chiang Mai on a bike (already on the list two years ago and left undone)
- recovering from my trip in one of the Suriwong massage places, preferably Twinks Massage on Soi Anuman Ratchathon
- exploring Pradiphat Soi 21 where a little advertised boys bar is said to have opened recently
- expanding the list of the provinces where I have already already spent at least one night … 20 so far and counting… good excuse to go to Potharam in Ratchaburi province …
- finding the gorgeous boy met on Romeo … 19 y/o and a body to die for, not working in a bar but in the @~~##88$` Restaurant in Pattaya - and trying to "off" him (he is not the guy on the picture above).

So many things to do and so little time ..

Emotional

I do not like to post links to songs I like because there would be too many of them and it is generally very boring for the readers.

This post will be an exception for a thai song that deeply moves me everytime I hear it. I first heard it when it was the the theme tune of a Thai TV programm about schools in the poorer areas of Thailand. And I burst into tears when my thai-swiss friend sang it in a karaoke in Saphan Kwai many years ago. This "rongrian khong noo" is simply one of the best songs I have ever heard.

It tells the life of schools in the mountains, far from anything and without too much money, where a lonely teacher dedicates himself body and soul to the education of the mountain children. It tells the will of the thai state to bring education into the remotest parts of the country, it tells the sadness of traditional life and culture being forgotten and in the same time the hope for a better life for these poor children.

It tells the feelings of my father and mother seventy years ago in the Alps ...

The lyrics of this thai song are simple and incredibly touching, and the tune is also fantastic especially in the version linked below with an amazing flute player. May I say that tears still come into my eyes because of such a beautiful melody ...



My School by Phongsit Khamphee
โรงเรียนของหนู (พงษ์สิทธิ์ คำภีร์)

Too long

Meeting my "sapecs"

Eleven months is really too long when this is the time you have to wait between two trips to Thailand.

Should I believe what is written on the boards, I should be cheated or assaulted at every street corner, laid up in bed by whatever virus, and stuck in an airport. Being a hardcore Thailand fan (should I write : sex tourist), it would take much more to give up a long-awaited trip.

What I fear much more is closed bars and too few boys – so just in case I opened a Gayromeo account ; I have to say I am favourably impressed by what I can see … no date for the moment (too early …) but a nice collection of boys who meet exactly my sapecs (specifications). And also some nice chats – some in thai, some in English with above average cute lads who are obviously looking for customers.

The schedule is now ready and flights are already booked … Air Asia had a promotion for flights priced at 700 THB including taxes … who could resist to that ? So it will be two days in Chiang Rai (I am booked at the North Hotel who is gay-friendly, ideally located and not expensive), one in Lampang just to find the house of boys I read about in the TMM webboard and five in Chiang Mai where I will stay in Mercure (former Novotel) : I had to weigh up the pros and cons of this hotel against the Viang Bua Mansion for a long time, but Mercure – although more costly – has a pool and is closer to the main street, which could be convenient at night. They also have a shuttle bus to the Night Bazar at night ; I just hope that the sleazy joints overthere will hold out till next October.

The remaining weeks will be spent between Bangkok and Pattaya – I am already dreaming about my next visits to the Saranrom street hustlers (no way I will be deterred to go there by some unverified reports), to some massage places near Silom and some promising bars in Sunee Plaza.

Sorry not to give any report for the time being ; be sure I keep in touch with everything going on in Thailand so that I can waste as little time as possible once I am there.

Mourning

Tam's mother has passed away … I had a phone call when going to work and I did not realise immediately, but had the confirmation when I phoned back four hours later. She was a heavy smoker and it was no surprise that she died of lung cancer - despite being still young at 58 y/o. 

She was a tiny and feeble woman that I had met twice when going visiting Tam's house in Phrae province. She had probably some worries with her only son when he was a teenager ; recently they were living in the same house and they seemed to go along very well again.

Tam seemed to be very greatly affected by this death ; I am too because this woman was a shy but very nice and thoughtful mother. And her death made me realise how lucky I am to still have my own mother who despite being 82 y.o is as healthy as ever.

Tam had got his good looks and his strength from his father but she had given him her sweetness and her honesty. I hope that he will overcome this event with the help of his friends and his family ; what I hope too is that he will not sink into discouragement, especially as the bad economic situation does not allow him to find a job which would have helped him to forget this loss.

He did not ask me for money but I sent some for helping him with the ceremony. We will meet again in Chiang Mai for the Loy Krathong festival, and though I still want to have some free time on my own, I think I will spend more time with him than last year.

Revival

Northern thai boy

More than five months since I last updated  … I have been really overloaded with work this year and did not have time to think of new subjects. In fact my only contacts with Thailand were through the news and the webboards. I also had some phone calls with Tam who is going well despite a broken arm, and also with the two boys from my last stay in Pattaya : the beach seller and the young looking freelancer ; both are now back home because of the poor number of tourists in Pattaya.

Things are going to improve for me and I should now have some more free time. Unfortunately I will go to Thailand only once this year, because of too short holidays. And I have now begun the process of planning and booking – the best part of the trip they say, but surely the most important when you do not want to waste your time. In fact I am already booked on a Swiss flight, a company I have never tried before and I am thrilled to test it for the first time (especially as I could have time enough for a drink in my favourite bar during waiting time in Zurich).

What stays in my memory after a Thailand trip is mostly the visits I make in the provinces, more than my stays in Pattaya. This year it should be up to the north once again ... In fact I cannot forget the wonderful Shan boys since my stay in 2007, and I also want to ride a bike in the mountains.

So my intention is to visit Chiang Rai for two nights, and Chiang Mai for four nights. Accomodation is not booked yet but I have read good reviews about The North Hotel in downtown Chiang Rai (they have a roof terrace too ..) and Wiang Bua Mansion in the northern part of Chiang Mai … close to Adams Apple which should have reopened.

I also will make a short stay in Lampang, for the horses and for the wat … and also to look for a house of boys which was mentioned on a thai webboard … just for my own general knowledge of course.

I have yet to think about how Tam will fit into the schedule … I would like him to be with me for the Loy Krathong Festival and will get out of my way to be in any other place than Pattaya on that day. Loy Krathong is so romantic in any place in Thailand except Pattaya where it has turned into a commercial fair that I want to avoid at all costs.

Now four months and a half and counting ...

Central Mall

I have read on the boards that the new Central Department Store has just opened in Pattaya ... a good news for me as the hotel where I usually stay in Pattaya is very close.

This said I wonder wether the sales attendants will be as cute as the construction workers who were there last November ...


BTW I have just introduced some minor changes to the blog layout ; I especially hope that it will be more Firefox-friendly than before.

Greetings

Eternity

I am back in Farangland since six weeks but it seems like an eternity. It is very cold here and we had a lot of snow, which should be good for business but not for heat lovers.

Of course everyone including my boss was delighted that I could escape Thailand one week before the airport closure … I would not frankly agree on this, because being stranded in Thailand is exactly what I was secretly hoping. This being said, I had to suffer a three hours delay at the departure from Bangkok and did not really like it so I guess things are not so simple (and I would have been in a f… sh… had I arrived two weeks late at work …).

The airport closure was a torment for my mind, because of the bad image it gave to the country that I love (and which made one of my fellow worker cancel a four-people trip planned for Januray). And also because I was thinking of all the boys in Pattaya – and all Thailand workers - who were deprived of good business due to these well-to-do thugs blocking the airport only to maintain their egoistic privilege. I got another stab in the heart when I read the news that H M the King would cancel His adress to the nation, as I was really looking forward to hear His kind ans wise words. 

Since then, I regularly get in touch with Tam, and much more often than before. To-day is his birthday – he is now 28 y/o but he still has the spontaneousness and the enthusiasm of a young guy. I guess our story is still far from the end and I am very happy with it. And I thought I was interested only in twinkies … 

I have also kept in touch with the Threezone freelancer as well as with the beach seller. This one had to go back home for a while because of a lack of business. He has comme back to Pattaya now and I hope that he can sell his stuff without being too spoilt by his customers – call it jealousy ? I get a thrill everytime I hear his fresh voice and I really hope to see him again, even if I have to go to his place – it would be good as he lives in one of the provinces that I have still to visit.

What helps me a lot too is reading the reports of a cycling tour that a member of the Gay Thailand webboard is currently riding. Travelling with a bike is my other lifelong passion along with travelling in Thailand so you can imagine how this ride from Chiang Mai to Phuket is a fascinating story for me – even if I would rather travel alone to have a better contact with the locals. But of course this is now only a dream at least for the five years left before I can hopingly retire …

Leaving

Sunday 16th was my last day in Pattaya before … not too long, this is at least what I hope. The beach seller had absolutely wanted to see me in the hotel for my leaving and I had to promise to see him again … I think I will because this boy really turned me on despite (or because of) his shyness. I almost felt some tears in my eyes when the boy walked away.

Temporary monument for Royal Cremation

Back to Bangkok, Tam and me went to Sanam Luang to see the Monument erected for the Royal Cremation, but we both had forgotten to wear black clothes and besides this it was raining again. At night, I could not help going a last time to the Silom area where most bars were open despite the mourning. We went to the bar where I had offed Art ; I did not invite him but slipped him a small tip when leaving, which sparked off some whispering among the other boys.

The last day was the usual race to enjoy the slightest minute left, with a lump in the throat especially this time as it could be – who knows ? - my last time in Thailand … We visited Sanam Luang again, duly dressed in black and admiring the place among hundreds of thais. Back in the hotel, we made the usual last day chores, and then had a last drink in Dick's Cafe. I prefer not to remember the trip to the airport, and the time came for us to part.

After a last Singha beer, Tam went back alone to the hotel ; it made me feel as if I had one night more with him. And I passed the immigration, only to discover that the flight would be late and that I would miss the connection to Geneva. The hassle was beginning again ….

Rays of sunshine

Tam arrived on the 10th although we had first agreed to meet for Loy Krathong on the 12th … but the busses from Phrae were full because of the Royal Cremation, so he had to come earlier. As soon as I saw him, I was sure that I loved him more than any one, more than the beach seller or than the Threezone freelancer. He was tanned from the works in the fields, he was smiling like always and he had the same radiant attitude which made me fall in love five years ago.

Being rather more educated than your average thai friend, Tam is open to everything and he really loves eating foreign food … he enjoyed the meal I had planned for our reunion in a good French restaurant (Freelax, Third Road behind Buffalo Bar). Be sure the red wine had the place of honour including for this thai country boy. We then went to Threezone where he is as popular as ever, and he did not mind going to Butterfly karaoke with other boys including the freelancer I had "offed" more than once already … what a change from his former obsessive jealousy.

We staid together on the second day too and went visiting some gay bars in Boyztown ; we enjoyed the Wild West Boys show as well as the boys : for now this place is by far the nicest among the bars I visited in the area, be it for the atmosphere, the service and did I mention the boys ?

The third day was Loi Krathong day … a day that I have always enjoyed to the deepest when in Bangkok but that has yet to impress me when celebrated in Pattaya. The atmosphere in Jomtien was the same as in a commercial fair, there was little to be felt of the incredible beauty of this tradition that you meet in less touristy places. A lot of pictures were taken but I swore Tam his picture would not appear on this blog …

There was then another visit to the beach chairs, with a nice weather for the fourth day in a row … my boyfriend had brought the sunshine with him and he made no bones about reminding me of this. The beach seller gave a massage to both of us and we then had a nice meal in my favorite open air eatery (Nong Jai, along Pattaya 2nd near Mike Shopping Mall, some nice male staff too). I could not help thinking while eating that I was there sitting at the same table with the two boys I liked the most in the world. Like a caring older brother, Tam brought then the beach seller back home on the motorbike we had rent, as the boy was living very far away in the Naklua area. I had not asked anything to him and it was impressing to see Tam taking care of this young guy which he could as well have considered as a possible rival. This day was the last one before the three mourning days, so I wanted to visit some more bars in Sunee while Tam went seeing some movie in Big C. In fact I went to Le Gun Bar where the cutest boy by far was one of the waiters just arrived from Khorat.

What can I do for you ? (gorgeous waiter in Bang Sare seafood restaurant)

The last two days in Pattaya took place in a very special atmosphere because of most gay bars being closed and most boys being off-duty ; we went in the countryside out of Pattaya, and I particularly liked the Buddha Image in the Mountain, where two busloads of school students from Nakhon Pathom were also visiting. We had another meal in Bang Sare (Rim Nam Restaurant, first one when coming from the Bang Sare beach (so with Jomtien in your back). Quiet atmosphere, great seafood and view over the sea and Jomtien : despite a very strong wind, it was another enjoyable time with my lover. The cute male staff (see above) was an unexpected bonus....