Temperance in Chiang Mai

San Kamphaeng Hot Springs, Chiang Mai

Being with Tam, I had a rather quiet stay in Chiang Mai. In fact most of my energy was used to visit further places around the town using our rented car. So we could make it to Lamphun and its temples, the Samoeng loop in the mountains, and another visit to the San Kampeng hot springs.

At night I did not forget to visit the main bars and found them to be as good as ever, be it Freeguys, New My Way or Adam's Apple. The shows are daring enough but very similar one to another, with a lot of nudity.. Only Freeguys bar had a male-only show, the other two having some katoey show as well. I did not go to Circle Pub as I know that this place has never been for my liking.

Another evening was spent in the sleazy allay near Night Bazaar, but I have to say I was not impressed at all by the freelancers who hang around there. The atmosphere did not look as bad as it has been written here and there.

Finally I found the most stunning boys in Chiang Mai were the ones working as waiters in the Sabaidee Pub and Restaurant - a rather hard to find place near Santitham Plaza ( http://www.sabaidee-santitham.com/ ). Tasteful decoration, cute waiters, great food for a very reasonable price, what do you want more ? Another magic place not to miss in Chiang Mai.

I am now in Bangkok after a strenuous 14 hours bus transfer following the cancellation of Nok Air flights. Bad luck I guess but the 1st class Nakhornchai busses are comfortable enough to support such a long punishment. Let now the plan to conquer the Samut Prakan boy's heart now go into action !

Raw nature

The first part of my stay is now over ; not a lot about the boys here - although they are never far when you are in Thailand - but a long and impressive trip in one of the remotest parts of the country.

As scheduled we got our rented car in Phitsanulok and this was not your usual Honda Jazz ; knowing that the roads will be tough, I had splashed out on a big four wheel Toyota Vigo, not the car that I would dare to drive at home if you ask me (by fear of being labelled as a braggart). My boyfriend Tam was happy about this choice and he drove most of the way, except in the really windy mountain roads which I am more used to.

Unfortunately the bar I had read about in Phitsanulok seems to have closed, at least we could not find it at the location it was supposed to be. I rather think that once again, the information I had being from thai people, it was probably false or incomplete as we spent one hour exploring this famous Soi 19 where nothing was to be seen looking like an open bar or even a closed one.

Our first stop was in Mae Sot and we made the mandatory trip to the so-called Friendship Bridge on the Burmese border. A rather curious place where burmese people come and sell their things - mostly cigarettes - down from the walkway which stretches along the thai side of the river, and under the view of the thai soldiers. Among them, some teenagers who would have a lot of success should they have sold something, say, more private ...

Refugee camp near burmese border, Tak province

Our second day took place along the thai-burmese border on very quiet roads with very few people around, except for many police controls. I was especially impressed by a huge refugee camp after Mae Ramat, hundreds of wooden houses all over the hills seeming to shelter so many unfortunate people fleeing their country. Probably a heavy burden for the thai Government. Besides this, there were viewpoints, waterfalls, caves, and a 50 km stretch of a rather small road on the borders of Tak and Mae Hong Son provinces, without any village, gas station, or eating place. You guess that finally arriving in Mae Sariang was a relief. A local karaoke gave a nice end to the day.

Mae Sariang to Mae Hong Son was a more civilised ride although with countless curves, and more beautiful waterfalls. To Tam's dispair, the Thung Dok Bua Tong (the Mexican sunflower field) had not blossomed yet, but the Mae Surin waterfall on the same road was in great shape after all this rain. Thanks to a thai guidebook, we visited a little gem of a cave in Mae La Noi ; Kaew Komon Cave Forest Park is a calcite cave and the glittering calcite shines sparklingly in the cave walls, making it look like ice (no picture allowed). In Mae Hong Son, we staid in the Bayoke Chalet Hotel, which doubles at night as a disco for the local teenagers, and of course we could not miss the opportunity to have a drink there. Mae Hong Son population is mostly Thai Yai, and this is a guarantee for fine-looking well-built young men. Also not to be missed is climbing up the hill which offers great views over the ton. At dusk it is also a flirting place for the local youth.

Mae Hong Son town from above

A long rest in a mud spa only 17 km from Mae Hong Son was enough for being ready for the following day driving to Pai ; fantastic viewpoints over the mountains, another beautiful cave near Phang Ma Pha (Tham Lot, where the river flows through the cave) made another great day. In Pai the atmosphere was more touristy, with a huge amount of mostly young farangs, as Pai is known as a paradise for travelers.The population has kept his smile though, and the prices are still reasonable. The C Bar which is sometimes advertised as a gay bar is a very small bar but it seems that only the owner here is gay.

Pai was the first step back to bustling thai cities but it was still quiet, probably due to the long and windy route leading there from both sides. We had still another hot spring and a waterfall to look at before finally arriving in Chiang Mai. Back to the bars and the boys, although the experiences with the boyfriend in tow should be tamer than when I come alone ...

Noo (rising tone)

Noo (rising tone) is the thai word for "mouse" ; it is also the way parents call their children, or teachers their young pupils. But this boy wants me to call him "noo" as well, and he also always call me "than" which is the pronoun that you should use for people you respect (your parents). He is definitely not a child, and I have been chatting with this this 19y/o guy on Camfrog since about two months. He had told me that when I would see him for real, I would flee the scene because he was not handsome ... of course I was not worried as I know that for some unexplained reason, thai boys always look better in real life than through any camera.

I wanted to meet him near his place, and not near my hotel so that he would not feel uncomfortable. And here I am, like a pre-teen going to his first date, sitting in the BTS train towards the new Bearing Station, as he lives in nearby Samut Prakan Province. The appointment place was not romantic at all as there is an easy to find Esso gas station just under the BTS. I even did not have to wait too long, and he appeared on the back of a motorsai. As handsome as I had imagined, as shy as I had guessed when chatting. We went to the nearby Imperial Word commercial center and had some steaks in a thai only atmosphere (BTW Samut Prakan province is a very populous area with heaps of nice boys all over) . We never had talked about sex on Camfrog, and we never talked sex either on our first meeting. I do not even know whether he is a king or a queen. And I cannot figure why he wants to talk with me ...curiosity, money or anything else. He laughed, I laughed, we promised to meet again and I think we will. I had brought some eau de toilette for him, and slipped a banknote in his hand, telling him it was for helping him start studying again.

He is a common next-door thai boy, meaning a very handsome, always smiling and very easygoing lad. Will we go further together ? Time will tell, but I guess I will have to make the first move if I want him in my bed, which is of course the ultimate goal. Anyway a refreshing experience, so different from the relations with your usual thai rent boy.

This was my first night in Thailand and I did not go anywhere else ; going back from Samrong, I made a short visit to the Silom area for a drink in Dicks Cafe ; I did not see a lot of customers in the whole soi. Same in Soi 6 area where there was almost no one in the Thai Boys 2011 Massage place, but it was already 11 pm and I guess I should have come much earlier to see the nice guys the place is well-known for. I was too tired for going to Super A Bar, this will be for a next time as I plan to stay in Bangkok longer than before.

The travel to Thailand with Lufthansa had been a breeze with very few travellers at Immigration in Suwanaphum airport. During my waiting time in Frankfurt, I wanted to go to downtown where I had a one month work experience about 38 years ago : I did not find anything I had known then and the closest thing to this period of my life was a beer in Romerplatz. I could not find either the "Come-In" hustler bar which I just wanted to visit, despite being in the right street. And I could see once again how quickly my formerly good knowledge of German language had gone away...

I am now awaiting my boyfriend Tam, and we will fly to-morrow to Phitsanulok where we will start our trip to the North with a rent car. Not many boys bars for a while I guess except for the special mission I have been assigned with, namely exploring the only gay bar in Phitsanulok.

I just hope that Don Muang airport will stay clear of flooding like Bangkok is until now. You would not even know of this threatening disaster when staying in downtown Bangkok, if there were not some rare shops (mostly Seven Eleven and banks) having built brick protection walls just in case. Phitsanulok should be better as everyone says the situation in the North is improving at last.

Halcyon days or ...

Rayong boy in Gayromeo

Thirty three hours more and I will land at Suwanaphum airport .. or wherever. I made more planning this time than ever and everything could as well be cancelled because of the terrible floods that thai people have to face now.

I can only hope that I will be able to fly from Don Muang to Phitsanulok on next Tuesday ; from there, it will be travelling the way I like it : a car, a boy - my boyfriend of eight years - and freedom to stop and to go wherever we wish. Should the weather be nice, it could be great from Mae Sot to Chiang Mai via Mae Hong Son .. albeit without any boy bar (except one I have spotted in Pai).

Until then, I have only to pray that Saphan Kwai will stay dry so that I can taste the atmosphere once again. If no one of the Camfrog boys is free, it could as well be a trip to some massage place in the Silom area ... And if the area is wet, the closest boy bar is only one hundred meters from my hotel.

Holidays have begun and the magic is here once again.