Feast

I am upset everytime I come in Pattaya … I hardly have got out of the bus and it seems that the whole atmosphere is loaded with beauty and sensuality … Bangkok has its fair share of nice boys in the streets but you don’t always get the feeling that you could actually sleep with them … too much civilised, too much normalised …

But all over the streets in Pattaya, wherever you look, you will see nice lads … be it riding a motorbike, working on a building site, waiting the customer in front of their shop or being a bell boy or the pool attendant in your (not gay) hotel. Why ? Probably because the booming economy in Pattaya lures many young men from all over the country – and I do not mean only for working in the sex industry. And that makes you getting an eyeful of cute boys when you walk along the sois, any time in the day and in the year .

The most beautiful face I saw during my last trip was from a motorbike getting me to Jomtien … it was 5 pm in the evening, the boy was packed in the back of a truck among other fellow workers, probably coming from some building area where they had been working hard the whole day . It lasted for fifteen seconds, and then our ways branched off …

Everyday life in Pattaya - spot the cute one

Another one was among a bunch of roadworks workers who were mending the sewage pipes on the road leading to Jomtien … What stroke me at first was that despite the deafening noise and the stench, the guys were laughing at what they were doing – a perfect illustration of what sanuk means for the thai. I quickly noticed that some of them were real cuties under their dirty clothes, especially the one who was leaning against the truck. No saucy adventure to relate, but the simple memory of one of this short moments that make living in Pattaya, among other things, a permanent feast for the eyes …

Bangkok extras (2)

Saphan Kwai

I already already wrote how much I was impressed by the selection of the boys there ; I dropped in on most bars with a preference for Be High (the only gogo bar in Saphan Kwai) where the boys are nice and friendly. Nothing new about the venues except some not too good news :
- Collection Boys was the name of a bar next door to Street Boys, but although some activity was to be seen inside during daytime, it did not open during the period I was there
- Eagle Pub, which is located on Pradiphat Road near Karmanee Hotel still has some good-looking boys and a friendly mamasan, but they told me they will turn to a karaoke at the beginning of the year ; this will leave only Charmming as a host bar in the area, all others are more or less karaoke (fortunately not all customers come there for singing and some evenings are very quiet)
- Hippodrome was a small karaoke place on Soi 12 and seems to have closed.
- Do not go to First Karaoke, which could be mistaken as a boy karaoke on the little soi leading to the gay 39 Sauna (near the BTS station) : this place is in fact a dump with overpriced drinks and absolute no boy to be seen.

Since last year, Saphan Kwai has also grown as a great eating place, with food stalls lining up along Pradiphat Road, all busy with customers, which is a sure sign of tasty food (and how convenient when you come back hungry from your short-time hotel and the coffee lodge of your hotel is closed ... ). There is also a great open-air restaurant in front of Pradiphat Hotel (on the northern side of the street) which is called Rakhang Thong (golden bell) to which I like to treat the boys I am with. Many farangs to be seen there, probably coming from the neighbouring Mido and Elisabeth Hotels.



Saranrom

I went there once again on my last night in Thailand. This time I did not want to depend on the willingness of the taxi drivers - who often drive past the boys too quickly, so you do not have the time to see them. So I went on foot along Sanamchai Road to the Saranrom park, then back around the whole main area rectangle, and then near Tha Chang along the Wat Phra Kaew compound.

I was some times among the boys, sometimes on the other side of the street ; the experience was a little bit intimidating, as most boys will hail you and ask you to go with them. I nearly accepted to go with a sturdy 20 y/o lad who accepted to spend the whole night with me but I changed my mind at the last minute, as he did not look trustworthy enough. Others wanted to go short time, some begged for money to eat.

Not a lot of people walk around the area at night but at least on the Sanamchai Road, there are some pedestrians, street hawkers or people waiting for the bus, making you feel almost safe. I also found that speaking thai was almost mandatory when walking, so that the boys assume that you know the ropes and you are not a rookie making an easy prey for some bad trick.

So much for my 2007 Bangkok observations ...

Bangkok extras (1)

During my last stay, I did not go to many places in Bangkok, except for my usual Saphan Khway bars and for my new-found playground in the Sanam Luang area ... However I thought it could be of interest to give a short report about the gay places I went.

Lao tourist in Bangkok

Silom/Suriwong area

I went there once with my lao friend who had never come to Bangkok before. After a long day visiting some Bangkok tourist attractions (read : Wat Arun, BTS and the mobile phone zone in Mahboonkrong ...), I asked him wether he wanted to visit the gay places. He was OK and after Dick's Cafe we headed for Classic Boy - nothing to write home about - and X - Boys where we staid for the show. The room was full with customers - a big part of them being asian. I liked the show which was very professional, with a wide range of different scenes and different boys. 

We also liked the Balcony, probably because they sell Beer Lao and the atmosphere is very lively ... and less noisy than before, which I really enjoyed. 

Other places in the area were visited on my own because they are not places where you would bring neither your grandmother nor your boyfriend : Nature Boy for a short time of sleaze with the long-haired Chiang Rai boy (I was astonished he remembered I was French, although I had not visited for one year ...), the infamous Super A which remains true to form (with perhaps a better selection of boys than before), and the new Nice Boys below which has still a long way to go before matching its name. I also paid a visit to Solid where no one catched my fancy, and to My Way on Rama IV where the boys dance again on a small stage, which allows you to see them better than when they are heavily busy with other customers.

For my last evening in Bangkok (my flight left at midnight), I was also as free as the air, as Tam had already gone back home. I thought it would be a good idea to have a last massage and I headed to Suriwong at about 6 pm... The boys had not all come yet, so there were noone to be seen in front of Bonny ; I walked on and a guy in front of Red Massage tried to push me inside saying : "young boys, many boys" ... He was himself quite attractive but I chose to walk on to see more. Around the corner from the soi, I was again in Rama IV Road, I walked past K-Why where I saw only one boy.

At a loose end in the afternoon ... go to Soi Twilight ! . . . . . . . .

I suddenly remembered a less-known massage place along Suriwong ; the cute face of one of the two boys sitting on the street was enough for me to climb upstairs. The name of the place is Eve House, it is not expansive but the boys are not as friendly as in Bonny and will ask upfont for a minimum 1000 THB tip for a "special message". However Kai, a 19 y/o from Khon Kaen was quite good except that he did not want to kiss on the lips. He knew how to press on the right buttons and I thought it was a nice way to leave Thailand ...

(to be continued)

Making up with my boyfriend

I generally spend the last ten days of my stay in Thailand in Pattaya ... relaxing, tanning, stocking up on impressions, images and feelings before the never-ending bad season at home.

So I came in Pattaya on November the 3rd to stay for ten nights and then going back to Bangkok for the last night before flying back home (or being executed, the feeling is about the same). No need to say that I lived these ten days to full capacity .. I read a thread in which someone explained his daily routine in Pattaya, I would not even dare to use such a word about my time here !

During the first five days, I spent most of my time alone or with the lao boy I already wrote about ... a fresh and genuine boy, an easy-going lad with whom you feel immediately good. And a smile which lights his face up about every minute or so ... Listening to him telling about his life in Laos was fascinating .. the life of a child living in a very small village in the middle of the jungle, his father killed by the Hmong rebels when he was still two years old, his mother killed by I do not know which insect in the forest ... perhaps true, and certainly very different from your ordinary thai boy.

Sunee Plaza during daytime

I "offed" some other boys too, all from Sunee bars and all above legal limit if you want to know. One of them was a guy from Roi Et ... nice guy, good sex ... he came back to the hotel on the following afternoon and we had some romantic time near the swimming pool at dusk ... This could have been the beginning of a nice story until he asked me money for his time : 1000 THB for no sex and no invitation from me ... I gave him 500 THB as he did not seem to want to go back to his bar, and I did not see him again despite his numerous phone calls begging for more ... is this the new isaan generation ?

Nevertheless I have to say that the "highlight" of my stay was getting together with Tam again ... his friends in Pattaya had of course told him I was in town and he wanted to see my face again ... no objection from me, and so we met in front of my hotel on the 8 th ... I will never forget his broad smile when he turned round to me, the same cheerful face as when I met him four years ago in Threezone Bar. He staid in Pattaya for the five remaining days, which did not prevent me from offing one or two boys and having another nice massage in Royal House. I brought him to X-Ray with one of the boys I wanted to sleep with, and he was the most delightful companion he could be. We also spent more time together at the beach where everyone had asked about him.

I know now that I love him much more than I was thinking, but very differently from before : less time together, less sex than before, but a very strong friendship and the impression that you are close to someone who is very important in your life.

Tam is still at home with his mother ... he told me he has no boyfriend or girlfriend but "some girls like me very much" ... which I would translate as "I know a girl with which I will perhaps marry". He is now a farmer in his village, and I do not know if I should be sorry for not having been able to change his life ... If we had not met, perhaps he would be now an under-paid worker in some factory in Lamphun like most of his friends ... or perhaps he would have staid longer in Pattaya and met a much richer farang who would have fully supported him ...

Tam is now happy and free, he has a home and soon a wife and children, and he knows there is someone who still misses him. And I know I have got back my freedom without losing the boy I love.

Love of Siam

My must-do list included seeing the Phuan gay movie ... but it had already disappeared from the screens when I arrived in Thailand. Looking at the advertising in the BTS, I quickly noticed the promising trailer of a new movie, only to discover that it would be launched on November 22 th, so more than one week after my return to Boringland...

This new movie is called "Love of Siam" ("Rak haeng sayam") and seems to get great reviews by those who have seen it. Love of Siam refers to Siam Square, a popular teenage hangout in Bangkok. It’s there that Tong, a popular and handsome boy, meets his childhood friend Music again. Tong’s affections wander from his girlfriend, to his boyfriend Music.

Love of Siam

See review at http://blog.nationmultimedia.com/wisekwai/2007/11/22/entry-3

The movie is presently to be seen all over Thailand, so do not write it on you must-do list, but go and see it ... an you will tell me about it OK ?

Khorat

Cutie posing in front of Suranari Monument

One of the reasons why I love Thailand is that besides the Big Four (Bangkok, Pattaya, Phuket and Chiang Mai), there are around ten towns where you can find gay venues with boys available. Khorat is one of them, besides being known as the gate to Northeast. And we all know what Isaan means for those who like cute, willing and dark-skinned young men.

I had not gone there since so long that Khorat was on my schedule this time. I went for only one night and I was not disappointed. Sure the bar I went was nothing to write home about but the atmosphere, the faces in the streets, and the three hours trip in itself was a real enjoyment.

The change of scene begins at Morchit : if the first floor (buses to the North, the East and Pattaya) is quite farang-friendly, the second floor (in fact the third one if you use the lift or the stairs) where you will find the departures to every nook and cranny in Isaan is an all-thai place with hardly one word not written in thai. And of course there is always the cute face of some young man entering your field of view. There is a bus to Khorat / Nakhon Ratchasima every 20 minutes or so, so you will not to wait for a long time. If the first part of the trip in the unending suburbs from Bangkok to Saraburi is quite boring, you will then enter the mountains with some nice views along a lake and in the ricefields.

I arrived in Khorat at about 2 pm, put up at the Sripattana Hotel (615 THB breakfeast included with swimming pool, which is probably one of the best deals in the whole Thailand) and then walked along the streets. I went to The Mall where everything is still really cheap and the boys come in droves after the end of the school ..... free eye candy for everyone.

The only bar I went to was the Buddy Boy which is an old host bar near the Ningnong crossroad - rather difficult to find, walking on Suranaree towards the railway station, shortly after an hospital on your right (Khorat Memorial Hospital) and facing the Osaka karaoke building, there is a small dark soi forking on the right - walk about 200 meters and you should see on your right a white sign mostly in thai at the entry of a 100 meter long alley between houses, walk along this alley and there you are. Buddy is a host bar and they had only two boys, one of them a soldier from Ubon ; not really my style but they were very nice to chat with : they told me two other guys use to come but they did not come to-day (it was on a Wednesday night), and also that they had quite often farang customers, mostly local expats. 100 THB/drink, off fee 300 THB.

I then used a tuk tuk and went walking along Ratchadamnoen Road and found street hustlers, some with nice faces but I really did not feel secure even after chatting with them (thai only). You should find them at about 11 o'clock near the outdoor games for children (more or less facing the Cathay Hotel).

There are other gay places in Khorat but I did not visit because I was unsure about them and especially their location (I had to look around the Buddy Boys during daytime to avoid wasting too much time finding it at night). A reader on Ting Tong webboard went to a new-opened karaoke next door to Sima Thani Hotel called "Handsome Boys", a poster on the Thai Male Massage Board had heard rumours about a newly-opened bar near the "Hua Rotfay" market, and the massage place called "Tantawan" seems to be still operating in the Phailin Square area (opposite Sima Thai Hotel).

Guess I have to go back ...

Chiang Mai details

Accomodation

I staid in Novotel which is located north of town, in a rather trite area but very convenient to one of the two gay districts in Chiang Mai. The area is somewhat out of town but there is a Tops supermarket next door - but not the bike shop I had hoped for. Novotel arranges a free shutttle to and from the Night Bazaar at night, do not forget to reserve.
I had no problem bringing guests to my room ; I only regretted that the bell boys and other male staff members had to wear a ridiculous uniform making them look like residents of a psychiatric hospital, they seemed really cute and smiling but this outfit was a complete turn-off.
You will get a good deal booking through their website with their "City Breaks" rates (no change, no cancellation, minimal stay 2 nights) : I paid 1080 THB/night, breakfeast and taxes included, no joiner fee.

Moving around

In fact moving around in Chiang Mai is not really convenient, so I think staying within walking distance of one of the two gay areas is a must. From Novotel you can walk very easily to the Chang Phuak gay bars (Freeguys, Doy Boy and Circle) ; for Golden Ball, My Way and the massage places in the area, you will have to walk for about 15 minutes along streets where you will be the only pedestrian : it seems that in Chiang Mai everyone was born with a motorbike between his/her legs ... can be annoying especially at night fall.
It could be difficult to find one's way at night, so better check the area out during daytime on the first day. You can always ask for tuk-tuks to bring you if you are lazy or fear the trafic (there is always one in front of the hotel, asking for the usual - outrageous - Chiang Mai prices).

Golden Ball Restaurant

This would be one of the three must-go gay places in Thailand if you ask me. First of all the food is really delicious, I was especially impressed by the freshness of the meat, and this for very low prices. Then there is the all-male staff, more than ten young and cute northern boys eager to chat with you, and that you can off if you want to know one better. Golden Ball is a little bit difficult to spot at night, go to their website and print the Google map they offer, it could help you (although Google is not the best for its maps ...). This is an open-air place that you will perhaps find a little bit untidy at first sight, but the atmosphere is really unique. Choose a place in the middle of the yard, or you won't be able to look at all the boys.
This concept of restaurant with offable waiters seems to spread in Thailand as I have been said there is currently similar places in Phrae and in Sukhothai.

Golden Ball website (which also has up-to-date information about Chiang Mai) : 
http://www.radchada.com/

Chang Phuak bars

Freeguys is for me by far the better place although they charge Bangkok-like prices (200 THB for one drink). It is supposed to open at 20.00 but you will not really see the boys before the beginning of the show at 22.30 ; the show - mostly by the boys - is quite interesting although on the raunchy side if you like it. The boys are known to be 18/22 y.o cute boys from the North with seemingly many thai yai lads.
Doi Boy is more quiet with only 8 boys on the day I went, mostly ordinary guys. Do not come before 22.00, when they begin the show - which is in fact gogo dancing.
Circle Pub seems to appeal more to thai customers, it is more a host bar with a somewhat stilted atmosphere.
Garden Bar (near Lotus Hotel) : typical beer bar where I did not go very often ; never saw any hustler there.
New My WayA little bit further than the other bars ; I could not go there but read that they have cute but pushy boys.

Night Bazaar Bars

Behind the Night Market and D 2 Hotel, a row of small beer bars that you will spot from the numerous motorcycles parked in front : Secrets, C U and Cruise on the left, Dragon King and Cream on the right ; toilets at the far end of the alley.
The boys here are mostly hustlers from Burma and of dubious age, who go from one bar to another when they do not play billiards in the two front bars. A delight for the eyes, especially when you find yourself face to face with a gorgeous 16 y.o burmese cutie in the toilets - you have really to keep control on yourself in hot situations like this ... I did.
It seems the place is patronized mostly by regular customers (not all being decrepit retired guys ...), and in fact I had the impression that the boys were not really interested by new-comers - probably because they know well that tourists cannot bring them to their hotels. So I guess you need time to get accustomed to the place. I still have to understand if the toilets could provide a provisional shelter for further activities, but I doubt it as the place looks like a trap in case of police check.
I offed a 22 y.o Thai Yai who explained me how he had to hide from the soldiers in his village, located near the Chinese border (three days needed from Mae Sai ...) ; good sex, nice attitude and great personality.

Climbing Wall bars

A cluster of open-air beer bars which are Friendhip, MTVee, Paradise Bar, Cupid Bar and Chez Nous. No freelancers here but waiters that can be offed, so a less commercial atmosphere than in the Night Bazaar row. Most of the bars seemed very quiet except Paradise Bar.
The boys there are definitely older and more feminine than elsewhere in Chiang Mai.

Wall-to-wall sunshine

This is how our late friend David described the weather in Pattaya like it is to-day... and this expression made me drool over it more than once. To-day I am there and I can live it to its best.

Before coming in Pattaya I had another trip to Saranrom, and as it was on Friday night, I expected to see plenty of new faces. In fact I saw mainly a heavy police presence on my first trip at about 22 am ; the daxi driver explained me that it was often like this on the first week-end of each month ; potential customers having just gotten their monthly wages would rush in droves to see the boys, the boys would rush to service the customers and police would be ready to welcome everyone ...

I went back at about noon and the area was much more quiet except for the numerous cars rounding the place and picking up the boys in numbers ... one trip too much and the boy you had noticed was already gone. So I went back to the hotel alone - which was my first intention anyway, only to fantasize about the floor boy who takes his service at 1 am and that I would like to know better.

One warning about the Saranrom boys : on Friday I saw too many VERY underage boys especially on the west side of Wat Phra Kaew and I guess I can believe my taxi driver whan he warned me that some were used as live baits ...

Two days already in Pattaya and I staid the whole time with my new lao friend - I told him that I do not want to fall in love again and he accepts it but he makes abolutely nothing to help me in my courageous decision ...

Dek wang

I had gone there many years ago but was not impressed ... then there were some threads on the thai and farang messageboards and even some first-hand reports ... and finally I took the chance to go there myself. If it would be exagerated to say my life has changed, at least it is as if I had discovered a further reason to go to Thailand ... the street hustlers in the Saranrom area  in Bangkok.

I went there on Tuesday night at about 22.30 pm ; going out of the infamous Super A in Silom (where I had an almost platonic talk - only some dirty touching but no kiss and nothing else - with a shy guy from Udon Thani), I was excited enough to hire a taxi who understood very quickly what I was looking for ... and there we went.

From the Defence Ministry to Saranrom park, they were 30 or 40 rent-boys standing alone or in small groups. And most important, as Gaybutton wrote once, all "good-looking, VERY good-looking" ... and no one of the lady-boy kind that clutters the bars and streets in Pattaya.

After two or three trips around the magical rectangle, I chose a short-haired boy who happened to be able to come with me to my hotel (the boys there generally prefer short-time meetings), so we had time to chat along the way and in the room. He is still a student (Mor Sam if you want to know but I guess he has repeated one or two years), and goes very often to sell himself as his parents do not support him any more. So you will understand that the age limit there, if higher than in Sunee Plaza, seems to be lower than elsewhere... and this does not seem to be a problem to the thai customers (when they relate their experiences on the boards, they quite unshamefully write that their boy was a 17 years old or less).

This guy being so exciting with his manly attitude (although being gay, so he told me), I had a good time with him ; sorry he did not want me to take a picture so you will not see him (above picture is of another boy on the net).

I went back yesterday (Thursday) ; less boys, as I went earlier but still a lot of good-looking lads ; among them a wonderful student-looking guy with the typical hair cut (very short behind the head and longer above). When I asked him the price, he answered : "muan doem ngai !" ("same before" in thainglish)... him he was again, I had not recognized him with the new haircut he had to do because he had entered the school for the second term. But I had identified this guy once again as being exactly my type.

He could do only short-time because he had to go to school this morning ... and so I could discover the (in)famous short-time hotels I had read about in more than a few messages on the thai boards. He brought me to the Rose Inn on the Thonburi side, which has dozens of short-time rooms with car parking in front of each room and a curtain hiding them - the thai call them rongraem maan root (hotel with sliding curtains) - 290 THB for three hours. The atmosphere was so sleazy and he was so exciting that I had another good time with him.

This should not prevent the readers to be aware of the risks of messing with these guys ... some are probably bad boys and you have to remember you have no protection at all ... some are underage and this is illegal in this country (like so many other things you involve into both here and in your own country) ... and it is still better to speak enough thai to be understood by the taxi driver first and then by the boy, as any misunderstanding could turn into something very nasty ...

For further information :
- dek wang means the boys of the wang (Saranrom) area
- the going rate for short time is 500 THB, 1500 THB for the whole night

Males

I have just come back from 4 days in Chiang Mai ... and as Nok Air had cancelled the CNX-UTH flight I had reserved, I am now in Bangkok instead of going to Udon Thani ... not worth the trouble and the additional time even if the alternative proposals I had from Nok were quite acceptable.

I loved Chiang Mai even if I could not do all what I had planned to do ... the bike shop which should have been near the hotel was no more, so I gave up riding up the mountains and instead chose to hang around in town... and god I was not disappointed ! Nice faces everywhere, treasures at every corner especially as long as school had not started again.

Same same in the bars : Chiang Mai venues are almost ladyboy-free, at least in the bars where I went, and everywhere there was a flavour of masculinity which was a nice change from Pattaya... And they are not too hysteric about the famous age limit which would divide sick paedos from healthy gays ... some boys in the Night Bazaar bars are probably borderline, and if I did not take any of them, it is because I found a serious and loving 22 y/o guy from Burma who made my evenings. The younger ones were pleasant eye candy though.

And last but not least, I had the nicest massage in a not well known place on Chang Phuak soi 2 ... Marn Maai Chai Kha or something like that, easy to spot with the Golden Ball maps in hand ... I entered there at 3 pm not knowing if there will be anyone, and from 7 or 8 guys I chose Art, a 19 y/o male (and I mean, male) who had just come from Mae Rim. The massage was sensual but serious, the boy was not too keen to go too far with the happy ending but his skin and his face were so arousing that it did not take long for me to be sent very high in the skies. I guess that he will be already less shy when you will go there.

A more complete review will follow, but for the time being, I plan to rent a taxi to hang around the Sanam Luang surroundings, and perhaps have one night in Khorat to get my fix of Isaan atmosphere.

Gems

I am now in Pattaya and will go back to Bangkok as soon as to-morrow ... not that I do not like here but I won't want to be in a hurry for the flight to Chiang Mai next Friday. And there is another reason which has just appeared this afternoon in the person of a young lao beauty who has never been in Bangkok ... I will happily be a guide for him and show how you get on the subway, where is MBK and how the Silom bars look like ...

Lao beauty

So sorry for bringing him far from Pattaya (where he had just arrived) for two days : it is only temporary, well that is at least what I am thinking now some minutes before meeting him again. I just hope no farang has already picked him, he his a semi-god with the greatest smile I ever saw in Thailand and the softest voice you could dream of. You will find him from Friday onwards in the #~S¨%<,, Bar.

Pictures are banging together into my mind, at every street corner you stumble into cuties and even in my straight hotel in Pattaya Tai the bell boys, the swimming pool boy, the waiters seem to be in a raging competition to look more beautiful one than another ... You think you have met a jewel, you go with him, only to find the next day that there is a still more sparkling gem in a place where you did not expect to find anyone.

First hours in gay Bangkok

Sure the first hours in Thailand are not the best moment to update the blog ... in fact I think I will have to do some cheating like for last year's updates : short live messages that will be completed and expanded once back at home (at least if this scared time should happen).

China Town from a Motorbike

My first visit was for bringing some money to Kong, a friend of my Swiss living friend Tok (see posts in October 2006) ; I had met Tok at the airport and he had asked me to bring some swiss francs to Kong. This allowed me to go for the first time in China Town at night, and it was a real mess to find my way among all these busy streets teeming with people.

I then went to the Saphan Khwai bars and was overwhelmed by the quality of the boys I found in Charmming and in Eagle Pub : the word seems to spread out as there were altogether four farangs in Charmming, which I had never seen before. I offed a tall and cute guy from Tak, a real beauty even if the sex was not so good (probably my fault as I had not met a thai guy since so long ...) ; if we were here on a thai weebboard, I could give details especially about his assets which were in line with what the mamasan had described to me before (but they were not the main reason why I took him).

He did not stay the whole night so I went out again in Be High gogo bar which was very quiet : ordinary but nice manly boys, no more than 8 of them as this was late and on a week day) ; I chatted for a long time with a Pathum Thani guy but there was no question of another "off" as I was feeling an urgent need to go sleeping ...

To-night I should visit some places in Silom and to-morrow I go back to Pattaya - for improving my health, as I already explained before. I will perhaps meet Tam, whose status is now "boyfriend-whom-I-lost-contact-with-but-whom-I-still-love". Just in case I brought a gift for him.

Gateway to paradise

The Geneva Cointrin airport (GVA) is a small airport which a lot of rich and powerful people frequently use ... Geneva is one of the few towns in the world which can be described as an international place : its symbol is the famous water fountain which sprays from the lake (you can guess it in the upper part of the picture).

GVA is also a curiosity, being both a French and a Swiss airport : when it was built, the swiss had not enough space for it and had to build part of the runways on the French territory (low left side of the picture) : so there is now a small french sector, very convenient if you are french and your thai friend has no swiss visa ... As for me, although being french, I generally use the swiss part which is much more convenient.

And it is also the place where I should arrive in three hours time, being the first step of a so-awaited holiday in Thailand ...

Cloud nine

Three nights at home, one night on the plane and .. here I am for this so much awaited holiday in Thailand. I should land in Bangkok next Wednesday shortly after noon, and I already know this will be a time of huge happiness.

For the time being, I am on cloud nine, checking once again the boards (so many bars to visit !), packing the bags for endless hours, and wondering what this trip will be like. It is a very special feeling to think that after reading the Pattaya Weekly Report for eleven months from your desk at home, you will read the next one in an internet shop on Pradiphat Road ... or to realise that the boys you see on gboysiam are no more a dream, but could well be a reality at least if you just want it.

By the way my favorite Catmagic (see post from last July) came forward again on the Gboysiam website, but I am a little bit disappointed by his new look ... has no one explained him I am not into boys with a moustache ? He claims to be both top and bottom, and is looking for a maen, meaning he does not like feminine looks. And he is still feeling lonely in Bangkok - can you believe it ?

Bliss

Still seventeen days and at last I should land in Suwanaphum ... times goes as slowly as before but from some facts I can now realise that the so much awaited moment is getting nearer ... ordering travellers cheques, warning friends and work mates that I will leave for one month .. and reading on the boards about events in Thailand that I will be able to attend personnally (not that I shall ...).

Not to be missed ... the "Phuan" movie .....

This is the time when you are in a blissful mood : nothing is important any more except climbing into this plane, closing your eyes and awaiting to see the rice fields from the plane window. Pondering what you will do in the first hours helps you falling asleep more easily  .. in fact the awaiting time is probably better for your health than being there !

I am now in the process of writing down my "must do" list ; it includes seeing the "Bangkok Love Story" ("Phuan") film, riding my bike up to the Samoeng pass, buying a new keyboard for my computer, updating my blog, completing my collection of (thai pop music) Single Hits CDs.

And also trying to snap more pictures for the blog, doing my best not to be involved again with a boy, enhancing my suntan before the long european winter, updating my blog, trying to keep the record and to review all the bars in Pattaya, Chiang Mai, Udon Thani, Khorat and Saphan Kwai (and somme massage parlors too ...). And, if I have some time left, going on the whole railway trip to Samut Sakhon (and not stopping it lazily at Samut Songkhram), exploring the backstreets near Saranrom Palace at night, avoiding Aedes Aegypti mosquitos, renewing my wardrobe and, of course, updating my blog ...

Blogging issues

I am far from being a computer expert and when I come across the slightest problem with my blog, it is as if the sky is falling.

I had lost my template for some hours and the blog appeared without any frame as a plain white page. I thought it was a Blogger problem, but in fact I could fix it like an expert (a matter of dead link), and so everything is fine now.

As a reward for my fine work (modest, ain't I ?) and for your understanding, I thought I could post a picture of this VERY cute boy (you will guess I like skinny ones...)

Thank you all for stopping by and keep coming back ....

Evening rainfall

This picture was shot on last Sunday and appeared on the 2Bangkok website ... nothing exceptionnal about it apart from the fact that I have been looking at it for many minutes. Why ? It looks more or less like what I can see when I am in my hotel room in Saphan Kwai ...

It is 5 in the evening, I have just come back from some strolling round the town and I begin to think of what will be my evening ... should I go to Big C to have a small meal (while peeping at the cuties working in the shop opposite) .. or rather go to the internet cafe for updating my blog among the students who have just come back from school ?

And what shall I do to-night ? It seems that it could rain so I should perhaps stick to the local bars ... To-day is Friday so there will be a lot of boys and lot of thai customers ... I will avoid Charmming which should be full, and rather go to Eagle where the boys are ALWAYS cute.

Well OK, I have decided now ... shower, reading the Nation, looking at the news on TV 5 -the thai channel, my hotel doesn't provide the french namesake - and then Big C if rain has stopped ...Then back to hotel for another shower, one beer at Street Boys and then straight to Eagle...

Thank you to 2Bangkok to have given me the opportunity to feel like being in Bangkok for some short minutes ... and justified your slogan : "almost like being there ... "

59 days and counting

Booking is the second step after planning ... and here I am surfing the net for my next trip to Thailand. The flight ticket had been booked about two months ago, and this is fine : the rates seem to be higher as the departure date is coming closer.

It's now time to book the domestic flights : Nok Air has currently a promotion for flights before October 27th and booked 21 days in advance (990 THB anywhere in Thailand) : so well for the journey to Chiang Mai. Moreover Nok has just opened the booking for the winter period : the same price will apply for the Chiang Mai / Udon flight (October 31st). Another great news is that you can again pay with an international credit card ... and it works !

Four nights in Novotel Chiang Mai are also in the bag at a very affordable (but non refundable) rate from their own website (novotel.com). And yes I will stay in Khorat especially after having read some promising information on the TMM website (that I forwarded to some boards).

When you are waiting for 330 days before going back to Thailand, booking makes you touch the reality of your next trip : it is no more only a dream, it becomes a schedule with dates, prices and places. All this stuff looks probably childish for all of you who live in paradise or go there very often - but I am sure you still remember how time was slow when you had still two months in Boring Land before landing in Bangkok.

Tam phoned me two weeks ago but we had no time to chat very long ; he is still home with his mother who had undergone a hospital surgery, and then he should go working as a waiter in a Pattaya restaurant. I think he now understands that this time, I will spend most of my time on my own, but I cannot bring myself to break with him. Lack of courage ? Or something which cannot disappear and is called "love" ?

Euro 2008

The final tournament of the Soccer Euro 2008 Championship will take place in Switzerland and Austria in June 2008 ; the exact dates being from June 7 th (opening matches in Basle and Geneva) to June 29 th (grand final in Vienna).

My country (France) is now leading its qualifying group ahead of Scotland and Italy but of course nothing is decided yet and we will have to wait for the decisive matches especially Italy v. France on September 8th. If France qualifies, it will be very easy for me to go and see them, as I live very close to the Swiss border.

Shall I go ? Well I think that during this period, I'd rather go to ... Thailand. Why ? Of course, if my country does well, it's always nice to gain face from the boys, the taxi drivers or the hotel attendants who always regard you as a demigod if you happen to come from the same country as the World Cup or the Euro winners ...

But the main reason for scheduling to be in Thailand at this time is that thai boys are inveterate gamblers especially when it comes to football ... They gamble with borrowed money, they loose it and how can they repay their debts ? Stealing is one way, and selling themselves is another one. So I guess that the amount of freelancers should reach summits next June in the vicinity of Saranrom, Rama IV or Beach Road ...

Will you call me a vulture waiting for fresh meat ? I would rather think being a benefactor anxious to act for the common good of the boys ...

Saranrom update

Sure I am not in Thailand now (70 days and counting ...) and who I am to write about a place where I have not set a foot since so long .... Nevertheless there has been recently a lot of chatting on the boards about the Saranrom area in Bangkok, and I thought it could be of interest to some, at least for bringing a former entry on this blog up to date.

It seems this area has been for a while the place of choice for gay thais who look after some young male company. The Thai Rat daily published a long report in his July 26th edition ; the title was : "the yellow signboard boy" and it was the story of a 27 y/o rent-boy named Yao who provides services for gay people. So you can say that everyone in Thailand knows what is going on in the area - with all the overstatements that you may expect from a Thai Rat newshound ...

So the article was strongly questioned on many points by some regulars of the place. For example the journalist wrote that the going rate of the boy was 1500 THB, and he would not cut his price ... One poster assured that not a lot of rent-boys ask for more than 500 THB, but some customers use to give more. Especially as some customers are policemen or politicians who prefer to meet boys here than in the gay places : they feel that their privacy is more guaranteed with the street boys than in a gay bar.

Is the Saranrom area as interesting as before ? It seems that since the political demonstrations in Sanam Luang, there are less boys than before because police and army have set many barriers all over the area for checking motocycles and taxis. In fact these control posts are not a problem for the boys, who only fear the patrols who have been arresting them since a long time. But the new police checks are an ennoyance for the customers, who as a result (and also because of the bad economic situation) come in smaller numbers. Less customers, less boys ...

Nothing is lost ... another poster went in the area last Sunday, and he found less boys than before but there are still enough to please anyone. The problem is that he did not dare to chat with some boys because the police presence was a little bit intimidating ; now some boys are waiting in other places in the neighbourhood such as around the Wat Pho compound or south of the park.

Everyone strongly advises againts walking alone and wearing anything that could make the boy think you are a rich person. Chartering a taxi and visiting the whole area seems to be the best and safest way to find new friends ...

Gayboysiam ... I like !

The gayboysiam website had gone for a while and we could fear that it would be somewhat "sanitized" ... it has come back like before, except that all the former pictures have been deleted.

There is perhaps now slightly less porn than before, but the boys are as cute as ever ... I love these pictures which are not professionnal at all, but featuring boys who are so nicer that in the magazines...

 Another new thing is that almost every picture is now labelled as "userpost at Gboysiam.com" and the note obviously damages the picture - especially when it hides a strategic point, like for this delightful guy (and it is a real shame, isn't it ?).

Tasty

I generally do not let myself influenced by advertising ... but if I were in Thailand now, no doubt I would try these Volz crackers ...
(special thanks to the 2bangkok website)

Planning

In France we say that the best moment, in love, is when you climb up the stairs ... Planning a trip to Thailand is a little bit like this, because at this stage you still have the time to think carefully, to make choices ... In fact you are already in your trip but, what's more, you still have all the time and access to all information for making the right decisions.

So since I bought my flight ticket for next October, I am now in the process of planning the details of my trip. Not that I am too much into detailed planning - especially for holidays - but it helps not to be stuck in the wrong place at the wrong time ... coming back from Pattaya to Bangkok just after a long thai holiday for example !

As I love Bangkok, I always stay there for some days after arriving in Thailand, or between upcountry trips. And I must stay in Pattaya for long periods, for .. err ... health reasons that I already wrote about. This leaves too few days for exploring other parts of the country.

My first intention was going to Phuket where I did not set foot since before the giant wave... but reading the boards convinced me to rather go to Chiang Mai where I will stay four to six days ; there were great reviews about Chiang Mai both on the Sawatdee forum and the Thaivisa gay forum ; also many enticing threads on the thaimalemessageboard refering to the beautiful mountain boys ... I mean, views .... who can be found in the area.

Typical gay bar in the Climbing Wall area

Having staid last time in the Pornping Tower close to the Night Bazar, I would have gone back there as it is a nice and convenient place .. but too far from the Chang Phuak bars, and I always found it a pain in the ass to go back from Chang Phuak at night (travelling the other way is much easier).

A german poster on Sawatdee wrote he had a great time in Novotel, which is close to the Chang Phuak bars, has a pool, and is quite affordable if you use their own website to reserve (novotel.com), so I think I shall go there. Being out of the main touristy area is another plus, as well as the possibility to easily ride a bike (another of my favourite pastimes) to some places I have already spotted : Huay Thung Thao lake, the Samoeng loop, and of course Doi Suthep if I am fit enough !

Clinching argument for Novotel : the pool

So here I am bound to trip to Chiang Mai (Nok Air should be my choice, because travelling by train is really too time-consuming). Coming back would be on another flight, or preferably using the Nok Air flight to Udon Thani for one night (would REALLY love to spend a night there without any boyfriend !), and then another night in Khorat (where I have not set a foot since ten years !) before heading back to my Saphan Khwai nest.

Nice schedule isn't'it ?

Boys next-door

I am not too much into boys from magazines : too smooth, too white, too clean ... In the bars I always end up offing the boy-next-door type and am rarely disappointed. Here in Farangland, no boy like this in the streets but many on the thai forums... Here is another list of my favourites ...


















He wants to be called "catmagic", 19 y/o, 168 cm and 50 kgs ... manliness at its best




















Khim, 18 y/o, 176 cm, 60 kg ; he would like to be pampered like a baby ... any candidate ?

Off, 23 y/o, 165 cm, 50 kg ... I am now trying to find out where he bought his pants.

Personals

The Siamdevil website seems to be definitely closed now, but there many other thai sites with boys - although less daring than Siamdevil.

Now I regularly read the Gboysiam personals, where many thai guys send pictures, messages and phone numbers. Unlike Siamdevil which seemed to lure mostly money boys, Gboysiam aims mostly at gay thais looking for friends - even if some ask for some support or at least for someone who would take care ... I do not think farangs would be welcome on this site but I think I will try my luck when I will be in Thailand.

What is great about this site is the eye candy which it provides free of charge. Besides the odd nude picture, you will find heaps of young cute thai guys ... here are some of them (including some slightly under 18 y/o, but Gboysiam being an open website and the pictures not being sexual at all, I think I can post them without any problem). Some pics are not great quality (probably taken with mobile phone) but the featured boys are ....







His name Boy, 17 y/o, 172 cm and 56 kg ... he would like to chat with friends ... At least two of the answers he had, told him he had a too upcountry (baannok) face and he would better go back where he come from !!! Pay douay !!! ....



















His name Khe, 24 y/o, 178 cm and 65 kgs ... would like to chat with everyone except if you are called Daen ... I could stand a chance ...














He doesn't give his name, is 18 y/o, 170 cm and 60 kgs, and is looking for friends for chatting and playing games. His beautiful face has got him a lot of votes ... he has mine too !


More to come ...

Biggest ones

. . From what I can see, I would say ... isaan ? . . . 

Not that I am particularly interested because I know that generalization is not truth ... but there is a thread now running on a thai webboard about where in Thailand you can find the boys with the biggest ones ....

The general opinion is that the Northern boys have it generally short and round (about 5"/ 6"), and if you find bigger ones, they probably come from the mountains or from beyond Mae Sai (meaning : Burma).
You will get the right size (6 / 7 ") from the boys in the center of the country.
Num isaan have it long (from 7" upwards) and big, swarthy (almost black), stiff, and they know how to use it (เอาเก่ง).
The biggest ones come from the south : 7" to 8", fleshy, dark-coloured, but rather violent and not inclined to wheedling ...

Our thai counterparts seem to have the same feeling as us, but they do prefer northern boys because they are neat and clean, handsome and unblemished. And of course some dek nua have it quite big too ...
Which I can personnally confirm ...

Dream

Those of you living in Thailand have probably forgotten it now ... waiting for a time that seems never to come, counting every week end every day and see the numbers go down VERY slowly ... Many people are always complaining that time flies but be sure that those who are waiting their next flight to Thailand see it very differently.

Anyway I have nearly reached the two-thirds of my 11-month stay in Farangland, but it is as if my next trip to Thailand was still only a dream, as if it will never happen.

A poster on the Gaythailand forum expressed exactly what I am thinking now :
I don’t know what it is about the place that has me so obsessed with it but not a day that goes by that don’t think about it or just up and moving there and some how making a living there if I can. It’s like some sort of spell has been placed on me and I cant stop thinking about being there. I find myself getting very sad about not being able to return as fast as I would like, do to the fact I am working to much here and just don’t have the time

This was on a thread asking which were the top five reasons for holidaying in Thailand ... I simply could not answer, as the boys are surely not the only reason to go ; I could only answer that I guess it is a subtle mix of softness and freedom :
- softness and beauty of people (including the boys), landscapes, climate, the language, the food
- and the sense of freedom mainly because of the cheap prices and the unmatched quality/price rate for almost everything (including sex).

When you are in this state of mind, you must have something tangible you can grab to ... for now, this is for me a flight ticket that I bought three weeks ago (arrival on October 17 th for 28 nights), and a work of planning which takes most of my freetime - not that I like planning every detail, but at least it makes feel you like being there.

I should be on my own this time, because I don't think I could spend all my days and my nights with someone. I did not phone Tam since New Year, and he phoned me only once in April ; he told me he was going to bouat (enter monkhood for some weeks), and then he will perhaps work in a restaurant in Pattaya - he may well be there already.

Will the dream come true ?

Rainy day

To-day was a holiday in my country but it did not stop raining, so I had
a lot of time to surf the net.

I came across one of the many thai websites that I did not know, and this place seems quite interesting especially for finding a boy.The site is called Siamdevil but the links I had found are now all down.

This guy is called Tor, 19, and from what he says, he looks for someone who will take care him.

I will not (however I logged his phone number just in case), but he really made my day ...

Life in thai prisons

Some of us often use the Paknam web network to learn thai, order books, read thai blogs and forums, and much more. This network includes many websites which are maintained by students from a school in Samut Prakan, and in fact I could not think of more complete resources covering many aspects of life in Thailand.

One of the students, who from what I understand was the leader in developing the sites, was called Gor, and he used to write a weekly column in the Bangkok Post when he was still very young. I had met him in his school where I had bought some books and besides being quite cute, he was also a very shy guy but with a great personality.

Gor is now in prison for having been found with five drug pills in his pocket ; he has just written a book which is a story about life of thai teenagers. This book (in English !) is entitled "Gor's Thailand life" and could interest many of us I am sure ...

Gor a student, columnist, webmaster, drug addict, father and prisoner

Gor also writes a blog about life in prison and describes his daily life ; you will find it at http://www.thaiprisonlife.com/

Those who want to know more about sex in thai male prisons will probably read this excerpt with some interest ...
Now I am the cell boss which is sort of good news, but it is also really bad news. I didn’t ask for this job. The old cell boss is now chained up in solitary confinement. Last week, about five people from my cell gang raped a hilltribe boy. It happened during the middle of the night and as I was sleeping I didn’t learn about it until the following morning. Normally these kinds of things don’t get reported if it happens to boys from Burma, Cambodia or Laos. They are never here longer than 90 days. But, this hilltribe boy knew someone who had been here for a while and he reported it for him. The cell boss didn’t actually have anything to do with this gang rape, but he is responsible for anything that happens. So, all of them have now been chained up and moved to a different section of the prison. The cell boss will probably wear leg irons for about three months. I doubt he will get his job back again.
Rapes don’t really happen that often. Usually after the first time it happens, the boy sort of agrees for it to continue in return for food and other stuff. This doesn’t mean that they are gay. It is just that they have been here a long time. People can also buy sexual favours from the lady boys. I hope I will never have to do that, but I must admit that some of the ladyboys are starting to look attractive. Pornographic magazines are naturally banned in prison. However, it is possible to rent one for the night for one packet of cigarettes. If the guards catch you they will punish you and confiscate the magazine. The owner of the magazine will then fine you 15 packets of cigarettes. You have to pay otherwise you will get beaten up.

Silver scab

This is my biggest secret and I cannot hide it : I suffer from some psoriasis (โรคสะเก็ดเงิน in thai, which could be literally translated as "silver scab desease"). If you do not know what it is, the thai word says it all : it is a skin disease which causes white-silvery lesions mainly on elbows and legs ; although looking like lepra, it is not contagious at all and it is said that about 2-3 % of the western population is affected.

By chance, mine is not too widespread and not too spectacular, but nevertheless can be very annoying on the beach, or with a boy. I had to download information in thai about this disease, so that I could show it to the boy should he worry about these curious spots on my skin ("you motoby eksident ? "). In fact I never had to use it, and my boyfriend accepted it without any problem.

I tried many treatments and no one really worked except sunbathing in a hot sun ... in fact psoriasis provides me with a steady excuse for going to Thailand and the fact is I generally come back with an almost healed skin ; unfortunately this lasts only for about one month and then the lesions and the itching come back.

I guess that in my case it was caused mainly by stress so I can only hope it will improve as soon as I will retire ; as it is still a long time before this blessed day, I have to live with it for the time being.

Hot and clean water in Sattahip, near Pattaya ...

A massage boy in Jomtian advised me to go and see a specialist in Sri Racha hospital, which proves that thai people may suffer from it as well (but probably not because of stress !!!). I went there and the physician provided me with a very complete brochure (in thai) explaining the causes, the effects, and possible treatments. He gave me a lot of medicines too, and they seemed quite efficient although I don't know wether the improvements I felt came from his treatment or from my holiday ... probably both, as every time I have a paddle in clean and hot sea water, things seem to improve as well.

I have begun scheduling my next holiday .. and because of my psoriasis I am compelled to give at least fifteen days to Pattaya ... What a pity, how much I would prefer to visit all the wats and museums elsewhere in the country ....

Songkran Festival

I never attended Songkran festival in Thailand and never will until the glorious day when I will retire ... seven long years if it ever happens ...

However it seems worthy to be there if I judge after this picture that I found in a french blog .... what is the percentage of cuties on this car ? About 100 % I would say ....

Missing Thailand

Time elapses so slowly now ... like every year I am entering the period when I have loads of work, and in the same time I am craving for sun and heat after the winter (although this one was a little bit TOO bearable ..).

If I had not my family, good friends and nice pastimes (such as bike riding if you want to know), I would feel like a prisoner counting every day ... and I have not yet fulfilled half of my sentence here in Farangland ! Useless to say that reading the boards are my daily breath of fresh air ... I would feel so miserable without them !

Some readers could think that when in Thailand I only go to the bars ... not really true but these places are probably what makes Thailand so special to me. Beaches, temples and mountains can be found in many countries all over the world, but where can you find these magic places ? Looking at these beautiful thai boys, inviting them for a chat and more, this is exactly what I am beginning to miss here.
I am very fond of every news I can read about closures, new bars, transformations ... like every year there will be new places to discover, and reading about them makes your imagination wandering to new decors, new atmospheres ... For example I cannot wait to go to this Happy Boys Bar near Sunee which seems to be very promising from what I read on the Ting Tong board. Just hoping they will still be there next October !

One bar which closed since I left is the Focus Bar (facing New Paradise Inn in Sunee Plaza) ... although employing some questionable lads, it was a quiet place that I liked - although I would never have taken a boy from there ! A German website had a picture of this bar that I am happy to see again (especially as I had a long talk with the boy in the orange/grey jersey). A poster wrote that this place could open again, perhaps it has now ?

Another place where I want to go is the former "La Cage" Bar, which is said to have been sold. I knew this place when it was a sleazy nameless joint (although some called it "Young Guns" bar, a name which fitted perfectly with the place ...) and liked it, especially as I had met my former boyfriend there (a sturdy long-haired Udon guy, who was fresh from the farm when I met him but became too quickly a Pattaya boy)...I could never go back there after it became "La Cage" : too clean, too bright ... Will the new owners turn to the former format ? I doubt it, but you just can hope when you are 9 500 km from where the action is ...

200 days and counting

I have not yet realised that I will go to Thailand for only one stay this year. Not enough time, unexpected expenses, so I will go only in October. My flight is not booked yet, but the travel fares seem to stay on the same level as before, so I am not in a hurry.

From what I read every day on the boards, things seem to change quickly in Thailand. Some say there are very few people in the bars especially in Bangkok, others report about unexpected raids for all kind of offenses, and the baht is at its highest level against the euro since the end of the year 2002. I wonder if this country will still be a dream destination in five or ten years.

Of course I am already planning, because this is the best way to be able to stand boredom, dullness and stress at work. Will Tam be with me ? I did not phone him since more than 2 months, and he did not call me back as well. "Mutual oblivion" would be a nice way to break up ... And I think more and more of staying alone this time in Thailand, like before : free to go where I want to go, to "off" whoever and whenever I wish, to choose a cheap hotel when I think it is enough for me and to turn air-con down if it is too cold in the room... Pretty trivial I know but holidays are so short and freedom in everydaylife so scarce ...

If I am alone again I know I will miss going with him to thai places, chatting about all and everything, and feeling so good with someone I trust and love... but I have reached a point where freedom claims its rights again, be it for only one stay. I just fear to stumble into him in Pattaya, because I know I will immediately cry my eyes out and run towards him....

Tribute to Dong

With Dong in Phanom Rung, Buriram province

Bangkok memories

Since I come to Thailand, I never gave Bangkok a miss. In fact my first stay (eleven years ago) was spent only in Bangkok but it was only for ten days, and I never felt bored at all, as I still had to discover everything...

My first hotel was the well-known Malaysia Hotel which was strongly recommended by the "Men of Thailand" Guide (which is not issued any more). This hotel had - and seems to have still now - a special atmosphere, and a nice smell that I will never forget.

My days were devoted to visiting Bangkok tourist attractions and hanging up in eating places ; at night, I made my way to Patpong where my favourite haunts were the Galaxy Bar and Khun Sweet Cigar ; in these days, Soi Twilight was still very quiet with only three or four bars, and I (already) prefered the seedier bars in Soi Anuman Ratchathon. I ventured to Pattaya only on my second stay in 1996, but was very disappointed by the boys there and left quickly ... how times have changed ! 

Nevertheless after one year I decided to test the bars in Saphan Kwai, where you could go only by bus or taxi. It was a long trip in the evening traffic jams, but I immediately loved the boys bars there. I met a boy in Aladdin who was my boy special for about two years and whom I was really in love with.

I remember that at this time, seeing the Victory Monument from the green bus (line 74) was always a great time, as it meant I was getting closer to my dearling ... This is why I regard this place as my special place in Thailand - unfortunately looking at it from the Skytrain through glasses covered with advertising is much less romantic nowadays ...

Victory Monument

It was another Saphan Kwai boy who convinced me to stay in a Saphan Kwai hotel. "Malaysia no good", he said, and advised me to book in the "Embassy" Hotel which is next door to the Saphan Kway gay bars. His name was Dong, and he enlightened my life in 2000. He was a gorgeous isaan guy and I had a short trip with him in Buriram and Ubon, but he did not wanted me to go to his home ... "too poor". I had met him in "Street Boy" bar during my first stay in May 2000, we staid mostly together during my second stay in 2000 but I couldn't find him again when I went back in 2001.

I "offed" some other guys from the Saphan Kwai bars, all of them being very nice and cute.

Each time I go back to Thailand, Saphan Kwai is now my starting point : I love the location (which was still better when we landed at Don Muang), the atmosphere and .. the boys, and I am still grateful to Dong who convinced me to take this area as my second home away from home.

Look look look ....

......... Just for fun ...............

Shorts

Singha beer

From a thread on thai360.com, I hear that Singha beer is changing its alcohol content down by 1% to 5% (the thread reporting about this was curiously entitled "Singha turns gay"...).

As it is my favourite drink when I hang out in the bars or when eating, I feel quite concerned by this important news ... Well, it is not such a bad change, as I should be less tipsy after a night out. I just hope that this wonderful beverage will taste as nice as before.... Anyway Singha beer is still 6 degrees here in France.

Google Analytics

I have just installed "Google analytics" with my blog, so that I can get some better knowledge about people who visit this place (at least where they come from and how did they link). Not that I am really interested in getting a lot of hits, but this is a pleasant toy... So I just can say hello to all new and regular visitors, especially to some who seem to visit quite frequently. I would like to update more often but hey, what could be of interest being so far from Funland, and not only from a mere geographical point of view.

Chiang Khong

I keep fond memories from the night we spent with Tam last time in Chiang Khong (Chiang Rai province). We were staying in a nice guesthouse facing the lao side, and I really liked the quiet atmosphere there. As for Tam, he got the best message for his aching leg and often spoke about it after we returned (see October 2006).

I just read that there will be a new bridge linking Thailand with Laos in Chiang Khong, so go there very quickly before it becomes another Mae Sai ....

Thai music

Listening to thai music helps a lot to overcome the uneventful and boring days I have to go through before going back to Thailand.

I discovered a wonderful tool for listening and recording thai radios ; it is a small free software which is called Screamer : you just have to go to their website (www.screamer-radio.com), download it and you will be able to listen to - and record - radios from all genres and all countries. For Thailand only five or six are preset but among them there is Virgin Hitz which broadcasts the current thai hits, or Muangthai Chayio which has some lukthung at night. I try to send them some links from time to time to broaden the choice. My tastes are not limited to thai music and I discovered a wide range of radios for the music that I like most : dance music, hardcore, US country and even guggenmusik (very eclectic, isn't it ?).

Other places for listening thai music are Trueworld.net where you have to register for free, and of course the ethaimusic website where you can get many lyrics and some translations.

I find that thai music is nice but this has probably a lot to do with the fact that I love Thailand. Labanoon (a male group from the south) and I-Nam (the singer being a cute Buriram guy) play the music I prefer.

Madiow, one of the G-Jr cuties

Besides this, thai music scene provides a lot of eye candy, such as the famous twins Bang Kaew or lastyear's hot boyband G-JR project (a group of teens recruited through the Grammy development project). Their music is rather run-of-the-mill but God are they cute ...







I also like some songs for their words especially when these words are in keeping with my present mood. For example if I were currently in a karaoke with Tam, I would ask for this song by Instinct : "Khor yoo khondio" (I would like to stay alone), or this one by Peacemaker : "yoo yaang ngao-ngao" (living with loneliness), because they express better than words all I am feeling now.

I sometimes wonder whether I am not going back into my teen years ...

Post-Thailand depression

If you go to Thailand only for your holidays, you know well what I mean when I talk about post-Thailand depression. It generally begins somewhere in a taxi rushing in the night to the Bangkok airport - no matter wether you go east to Suwanaphum or north to Don Muang. And it disappears all of a sudden when you go through the customs leaving your country. Unfortunately there is a long period (from some weeks to several months) when you just have to live with it.

A boy I came across surfing a thai webboard - he should be an efficient nurse

Of course you may try to alleviate it through your work - if not boring -, your family, your friends, sport or whatever. Nothing is efficient enough. So here is a short list of what could help further :
- reading the webboards / sites / blogs related with Thailand (and not only the gay ones, some of which are rather depressing ...)
- looking at the international Thai TV channel which can be received all over the world with a dish
- preparing the next trip (but the excitement fades quickly when you realise that you use several long months to organize a stay that will last only some short weeks)
- learning thai language
- listening to thai radios on the web, keeping updated with the current hits and training for singing them in some  Soi Day&Night karaoke
- now and then, drinking a thai beer that you will have bought from the next asian shop (beware the cute shop assistant who will make things worse ...)
- of course calling your thai boyfriend if you have one (I am not sure I have one now)
- reading your Thailand travel logs of many years ago - just to be sure that things were not that better before ...
- looking for the umpteenth time at the pictures / films you made in Thailand and remembering the good times.

If you have other ideas, please feel free to post them ... Still eight months to go back (eight months !!!!!)

Boring ?

The weather is shitty, the work is boring and thai webboards are very slow .... what is better than a cute asian boy to feel good again ?

Bangkok guns

Saranrom has been for a long time a well-known place where you can find street rent-boys in Bangkok. The boys mainly ply their trade along Sanamchai Road, from the Ministry of Defence to the Saranrom Park, on the side facing the Wat Phra Kaew coumpounds. I dropped by there once or twice many years ago but never took a boy, mainly because I did not feel really secure with this place, and also because no one attracted my interest.

The place was brought out again to everyone's knowledge by a recent thread on the Gaythailand website ("Oodles of boys !") with Gaybutton writing enticing things such as : "If you go to Saranrom Park at night you're going to find available boys virtually everywhere !!" or "Many of these boys are very good looking. VERY good looking!".

Guns at Defence Minister - sorry prefer guns that stay there at night ...

To complete this interesting information (or shall I rather say "confirmation"), I read a very long thread which is currently going on on the TM messageboard ; the main poster writes about the most intimate details of his encounters with Saranrom rent-boys, explaining things that we farang would not dare to expose on a public website ... for example you will know that he took Khim, a 18 y/o boy who is a student in a technical school in the Phetkasem area ... This boy only agrees to top but he does it extremely well (soot yot ...), his sperm sprouted like tap water and he came twice ...

Besides this, the poster gives advice that should be of interest for all of us who would wish to go there.
At first he says that there are three very different periods in the evening : from 8 pm to 9.30 pm, the boys are mostly students and there are not a lot, but they are cute and it is the most secure time to go. There is some police presence after this time and then from 10.30 pm to 1 am, the regulars come in numbers (especially on Fridays and Sundays) including some rough ones ; there are a lot of car-driving cruisers too and you find all kinds of boys. After 1.30 am, fewer people and lower prices.

Another advice is to choose boys who are alone rather than those who stay in a group.

Third advice is avoiding gold and mobile phones - but this is a common precaution everytime you go with hustlers, especially in Thailand.

In the fourth place, and most important : be fully aware that you are mostly dealing with boys who have few education, so don't be selfish and inconsiderate, and never go into an argument about the price (which should be 500/700 THB).

As the posts go by, there are lots of other information and experiences (better to cruise in a car - or taxi, better to go in a nearby hotel such as Rose Inn (?),... ) and you will even know that the boys do not like to stay on the south part (Wat Pho, Saranrom) because the Phraratchawang policemen are harsher than their Samranrat counterparts who rule the Defence Ministry area...

All in all with the information provided by the Gaythailand website and all what is written on the TG Messageboard, I am sure I'll give Saranrom rent-boys a new try next time I am in Bangkok