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The storm before the calm

What to do on a last night after a great massage in Home Spa ? I chose to go once again to Silom area, if only for immersing myself in the vibrant atmosphere ... so different from living in a small village !

After another meal in Foodlands (no atmosphere but good and cheap food), I suddenly thought of going to Silom soi 4, a place that I did not really take the time to visit before except for a casual beer in Telephone or Balcony. I obviously had forgotten to do my homework before my trip, as I rediscovered a lively street with a lot of interesting venues ; truth to be said, I had always regarded this soi as a place for gay couples or nosey tourists and had not fully realised that a lot more could now be found there after Soi Twilight closure.

Silom Soi 4

Lured by a persuasive waiter, I parked myself in Welcome Bar, next door to Telephone Bar but much quieter due to its location further into the soi ; I invited the (cambodian) waiter for a drink and was told that the boys here could be taken off. Going back to BTS station, I thought that soi 4 could usefully replace soi Twilight as place to begin an evening, with all the restaurants and open-air bars which dot the alley, not forgetting the Nakhara massage shop where the boys are steadily good-looking.

Last minute shopping, web checking-in for my flight (which saves a lot of time at the airport, wonder why so few people use it), withdrawing money in order to have at least 10,000 bahts for my next trip ... this is now the last day routine which I am used to. At 21,30 it was time to leave my beloved hotel and going back home ; the long flight should act like a decompression chamber before coming back to everyday life.

Last treats in Bangkok

Coming back from Pattaya at noon, I had only thirty-three hours left before leaving my hotel room for the airport ... making the best of the little time available was an obvious necessity. As soon as I had unpacked, I quickly proceeded to the Sutthisan massage shops for a third visit.

K Way gay massage ... how dare they !

These three shops are clustered along Sutthisan, about 1 km from the Saphan Khwai intersection (walking is not pleasant because of uneven sidewalks and heavy traffic) ; the shop frontages are difficult to spot as they are very discreet and their name is sometimes not written or only in thai : City Spa, Inthara Spa and Home Spa in that order when coming from Saphan Kwai. They have the same owner, who has just bought a fourth place (former Vanda Spa) which he has very boldly named K-Why (only thai language on the window) ! I hope that the local police will be lenient enough !

Similar to the first two times, I went to Home Spa but this time I was shown a tablet with pictures of the boys ; on my former visits they just opened a venetian blind for me to choose among more than 20 boys. I had already made a short list of the guys I wanted with their name, and the short list was long enough to get one of the chosen lads .. easier at 4 pm than two hours later I guess.

These shops do not always get good reviews on the Thai Massage website : their Line accounts show very promising boys, some of them videoed during sexy training sessions, or even in full hard action ... So expectations from the customers are great and many complain that the boy they had chosen was not available, or that the service was not satisfying.

Korn (from Line account)

I could have complained too : my first boy (on my first day in Bangkok) did a good massage but was not interested into further action, but at least he had been OK for cuddling and hugging ; the second one did not even accept close contact fearing getting dirty from the oil he had generously smeared over my body ! But his body was so perfect that I still have a good memory of him ; he had worked in the buff from the beginning, seemingly in compliance with the shop policy.

This third boy fully made up for the former ones. Korn, a 19 years old Thai Yai massaged me strongly enough until he began to work my back sitting naked on my butt. This is a situation when I am sorry to tell I usually lose completely my mind, and he responded with great talent. Of course he was duly rewarded and I will for sure go again with him if by chance he is still there next time - a very unlikely possibility as there seems to be a high turn-over among the boys in these shops.

I was smiling all the way back to my hotel despite this evening being the last one for this trip.

Pattaya routine ... I like !

As soon as I arrived in Pattaya, I found myself embracing the daily routine : lazying two hours at the hotel roofpool, then having a nice 150 THB all-you-can-eat breakfeast at Apex Hotel (Mike Shopping Mall area) followed by sitting for 4/5 hours at Dong Tan beach : as a mountain boy I am never tired of gazing at the sea view. Coming back to my room, I would usually do some shopping or read magazines on my phone.

Another day in Pattaya

Only from 6,00 pm would the sechedule vary a little, with visits to different restaurants depending on the mood of the day : alone, I prefer to go to Kiss Restaurant or Salt and Pepper where lonely farangs are the norm, while I would treat my boy du jour to Oh-Aharn ; there I was surprised to find empty seats much more easily than before, even at peak hour.

In the evening, we are still spoilt for choice in Pattaya from massage shops to open-air bars and gogo-shows, but I did not visit a lot. I gave a second chance to Nice Boys but to no avail, and I just realise now that I did not enter any Boyztown bar, doing little more than a quick stroll in the area. I gave Sunee Plaza a short visit, as I had been lured into an almost desert The One Bar by a nice face - who disappeared as soon as I sat down ! Finally Jomtian Complex was once again the place to be, with BC Bar and @Home being the most welcoming. Some more remote places could give interesting results with some luck and some patience, like the new Akha Bar which just opened between Zing and Agate hotels ; a pity the boys there seemed more interested in chatting together than welcoming cuistomers, so that I will never know if they really are hilltribe Akha boys - not that it would matter !

I had two great massages in 41 Massage (former Somjit, near Tuk.Com) with very handsome young guys from Nong Khai ... nice experiences which make me more and more attracted to massage shops for meeting boys, especially as the queue system is now mostly a thing of the past. Compared with the bars, massage shops avoid all the trouble with drinks, mamasan, off, sleeping with a complete stranger and so on, and there are a lot of gems to be found.

Labanoon concert

Finally, I made my yearly pilgrimage to The Venue for their show, as well-done as ever. And above all I had the pleasure to make a dream come true : attending a live Labanoon concert. I am a fan of this group from southern Thailand and love their music more than any other thai artist (look thung artists apart). They came to Pattaya for Loy Krathong and I did not miss the chance, along with a cambodian boy who is a fan too. Despite a long wait, a huge crowd (99 % thai) took part and a great time was had by all.

Now back to Bangkok for two days (and one night !) before the unavoidable flight back home, where the daily routine will be MUCH more boring than in Pattaya !

Sexcapade

We had been friends on Facebook since at least two years, and his account was even deleted because of too daring pictures ... Noy (name withheld) is a 20 y/o local boy and lives with his family near the cambodian border in Chanthaburi province.

Boy in Chanthaburi

I had planned to see him in his province and he was OK for a meeting. Due to my health problem, I had cancelled the date but finally decided to go and see him on another day, as he was available anytime. Sure I wondered whether it was really worthwhile to spend so much time in a bus for so little time in a bed, but going to the provinces always provides good times and much stronger memories than another day in Bangkok or Pattaya.

So after a 4 hours bus trip, I arrived in Chanthaburi where I had reserved a room in KP Grand Hotel, the highest building in town with all the amenities for only 900 THB. Location was the closest I could find to Robinson Department Store, which like Tuk.com in Pattaya is the favorite meeting place in Chanthaburi. Noy had not forgotten the appointment but of course we met only at 16.20 for an appointment at 15.00 ... never mind, on this Sunday afternoon, the constant flow of brown-skinned local boys provided a lot of eye candy while waiting.

After a light meal, we headed straight to the hotel as it was clear I wanted to know him more. His boy-next-door face and boyish attitude did not disappoint and I was already drooling over his body in the lift. Unfortunately he was much shier in the room than when posting pictures on Facebook and sex was only so-so. Which did not prevent me to give a nice tip and a small gift for his birthday, as promised some days before. He left in the early evening and I reluctantly let him go back home : 60 km on a motorbike under a steady rain was not really the wisest thing to do but he could not spend the night with me (or did not want to).

Was I disappointed ? Not at all, I had been craving for this boy since our first chat and I enjoyed both the company and the sight. And I liked the trip to Chanthaburi, which is really a nice town, and one of the most underrated provinces in Thailand.

Being alone again after he left, I treated myself to a nice meal in an almost desert restaurant room and tried the local speciality : kaeng muu chamuang (a curry of pork with chamuang leaves) ... aroy ! . And before going back to Bangkok, I did not miss a visit to the old town and to the Cathedral where I could bless Our Lady for the good news I had just got about my mother's health. 

Old Chanthaburi town

New and old gay Bangkok

After seven days in Pattaya (instead of scheduled two days), I finally came back to Bangkok for a short stay in Saphan Kwai, my home away from home. These round trips are a waste of time for sure but I do not feel like staying in one place for more than a week, especially in Pattaya where I am quickly done with daily routine and too many foreigners.

Soi Twilight being now closed, I feel less attracted to the Silom area than before, when I used to sit at Dick's Cafe watching the people pass by and glancing at the nearby massage shops. Eating at Foodland is however a good excuse to go there more than once, if only to roam the sois and the streets where I had felt such strong emotions when discovering my first gay bars 23 years ago.

I staid mostly in Patphong and paid a visit to Lucky Boys which got good reviews on the webboards, but was not impressed by the staff .. As for open air bars, I could only imagine how nice it would be to have some of the current ground level bars in Phatphong 2 being turned into boys bars : sitting around a circular counter sipping a beer or three and looking at boys is exactly my idea of beginning a nice evening before possibly taking a lad off for more intimate activities. Many girl bars have this layout in Pattaya or Bangkok, but I cannot remember any boy bar arranged like this.

Less time in Silom means more time to go elsewhere, so I had the opportunity to visit the few remaining bars in Saphan Khwai. As already said, Adam and Heaven are now closed and their location is now being renovated for whatever purpose. In U-Turn, they honestly said they had no boys (it was on a week day, so I guess they have some on Fridays and Saturdays). In Street Boy, you have to open a bottle so individual visitors are clearly not welcomed. D-Door was more friendly but the boys were already busy with regular customers.

Stax Bar in Saphan Kwai

Finally my choice for the best bar in Saphan Kwai would be Stax, without any hesitation :attentive and welcoming staff, large premises with an overall nice atmosphere. I had a long chat with one of the staff (31 y/o but looking ten years less, from Tak) who explained me that his bar was very lively especially after 10,00 until late in the night. Customers invite boys to drink spirits at their table and, if not taken off, the guys get an usual 100/200 baht tip - which seems a little bit low if you ask me. The boys do not come before 22.00, and I actually could see - on a week day - a bunch of five nice hilltribe lads descending on the place at about 21,45.

If you can speak some thai, Saphan Kwai at large has a lot more to offer and to explore, mostly massage places of which I will tell more later. I am sorry I had not the stamina to investigate further : for example, I have yet to explore this "Khithung" bar in Soi 21 which I saw only during daytime and is still listed as a "gay pub" on the Thailand Gay Guide website.

Misfortunes and second thoughts

There had been this bad fall last year when visiting the Saranrom area ... and this year a pain (which passed quickly) in my foot when staying in Salaya, probably due to too many beers in Hua Hin. At the time, I was beginning mulling over the appropriateness to visit Thailand again, as a trip without beer could be quite boring and not really worth the effort and the money.

And here I was at 4,30 in the morning in my Jomthian hotel room, desperately trying to evacuate all the liquid (Red, soda, Coke, thank you !) I had taken during a long night in Tamnan Chon with three cambodian young men ... The night had been great, but ended in the Pattaya Memorial Hospital emergency service where a very efficient staff took good care of me. Some visits and medication later, everything is OK now but I must confess that my brain has been thinking hard for the three days I had to haul around a not so discreet medical device : should I come back to Thailand again ? Would'not I be better at home skipping the long flight and taking good care of my mother ?

I had scheduled only two days in Jomthian and planned to go back to Bangkok for some days, as well as a short trip to Udon and Nong Bua Lamphu ..; finally I cancelled everything and am now staying in my usual South Pattaya hotel : closer to the Hospital where I have to meet the doctor once again, and to the many facilities that I miss when staying in Jomthian : cheap laundry, eateries of all kinds, markets, commercial centers and so on.

Pattaya seems to be much quieter than usual, although Soi Buakhao is still brimming with girlie bars and massage shops, and the usual bunch of farangs going along with them. I cannot say the same about Sunee Plaza where for the first time in my life I could feel the sad demise of this place where I have had so many great times before. The closing of Sky Bar, the quite ordinary selection of boys in Nice Bar, and these dark and desert sois, were now too hard to bear. As for Jomtian beach, it also seemed very quiet to me, at least in my concession which is a little farther than the most attended ones.

Finally I made up with Pattaya in a dark corner of Day&Night area where I was walking glancing at the boys on offer in front of the massage shops. Win, a 19/y old from Khorat had ventured out of his place to improve his chances of hitting on a customer and accosted me .. bingo ! he was exactly the kind of boy I was looking for : eager, dark-skinned and available. Massage was OK and the boy was not shy and ready for everything. One hour later I was already thinking of my next trip to Thailand !

Unlikely short trip to Salaya and some other places

An enjoyable meal with Christian PFC put a nice end to my first three days in Thailand. On the next morning I was in Bang Sue, facing the huge future railway station, and waiting for the ordinary train bound to Ratchaburi, Petchaburi and Hua Hin. Not that I really like traveling by train which in Thailand are always slow, late and not convenient at all but this had to be better than one of these small minivans and their reckless drivers.

Ratchaburi was my destination, not at all for a date as one could imagine but only to collect another province in my lifetime quest to spend one night in each one of the thai provinces. The train was full, many thais going to their place or to the beaches for their Sunday ; during the first part of this two-hours journey I could not sit except on the floor, slight annoyance that frequent glimpses towards a group of five local teenagers greatly counterbalanced. 

Passing through Photharam station station, I could not help thinking of the resort which specialized in providing young local males to interested travelers ; I had read about it in some thai forum and the news had already made its way to farang forums when the thai police closed the place for good mostly due to drugs problems. This was about fifteen years ago … another era !

Khao Ngu near Ratchaburi town

I do not have a lot of time when visiting new places but did not miss the trip to Khao Ngu (Snake Mountain), 8 km from town ; this park is like an island set in the middle of limestone mountains that rise out of then flat area. One of these low-profile places that I like to discover. Nothing else to tell about Ratchaburi town except that finding a decent eating place at night is difficult if you do not like Japanese food.

On the following day, the same train brought me to Hua Hin where Sirin Hotel has in the same time a fantastic location, low prices and welcoming staff. I had scheduled this short visit just to see how the Hua Hin scene was going, and no one will be surprised that it is very quiet. The historic Red Indian Bar is still open near the beach entrance ; no boy at 20.30 and two hours later still no boy and a sleeping waiter. New Guys is doing better with a nice setting and four or five very welcoming boys, but not a lot of customers.

Coming back to Bangkok, I had planned a stop in Salaya, one of the populous farang-free districts between Nakhon Pathom and Bangkok. In fact, the whole three days program had been scheduled around this visit as I had a date with a lao boy working in the area. I had been friend with him on Facebook for more than one year, and it appeared quickly that he was willing to meet, including when he was still in his town in Lao. I discovered that he had just turned 18 one week before, though he had long claimed to be older. 

Appointment was in the huge Central Plaza where he of course arrived late, but he has some justifications : he gets only one day off a week, with outrageously long working days in an old people’s home. He quickly and smartly made the deed, including kissing on the mouth which is nice from a newbie, and departed with a nice reward and a broad smile ; this did not prevent him to call me on the next day asking for more money …  I guess some older sister had briefed him about it after our meeting.

Now back in Saphan Khwai where I intend to pay more detailed visits to the local bars … the first one yesterday was promising !

33th first day

Just arrived in Thailand to-day for what should be my 33rd stay in the country I love. Speaking frankly, I come this time with mixed feelings mostly because of my mother’s declining health. I have to spend more and more time assisting her for everyday life and I cannot help thinking that she is probably not too happy seeing me leaving for one month – but then I have a younger brother who will be more than able to stand in for me during my leave.

Mixed feelings also because of the worrying increase of the thai baht towards euro, which makes everything more expensive by at least 50 percent when compared to, say, ten years ago. Fortunately I had transferred a good sum of money four years ego securing an acceptable rate but this nest egg is quickly dwindling away.

My pen rai, as they say, better to seize the moment, and here I was arriving in Suwanaphum after an uneventful flight where I was fortunate enough to have two seats for myself for each leg of the journey. Surprising to see that the first leg to Doha was quite full compared to before, and the second one to Bangkok on a smaller plane than before and not even full … just as if people were as keen to go to Asia as before but dropping Thailand for other countries.

My first day was as usual used to explore the area I use to stay to look for changes, and there were a lot of them, beginning with my hotel of twenty years going up for much needed renovation works and the price increase going along with it. Saphan Kwai is gentrifying a lot with new high rise buildings everywhere, but keeps its charm ; street food is still there, as well as small businesses and local people.

As for gay places, Soi 20 remains the main spot for karaoke bars, which seemed once again very quiet at least during weekdays. I still did not enter one of them, owners do not even bother to invite walkers to enter their place. Adam and Heaven are closed, leaving five places open all within a 50 meters range.

On the contrary, massage shops seem to do quite well ; they are mostly located near the BTS station ; two towards the north and four or five in the back sois on the south. There is also a cluster of them further along Suthisan Winichai which advertise heavily on Twitter keeping in the same time a low profile on-site. I must say I went to one of them – which seem to have the same owner, and was very satisfied with the shop - if not by the boy I chose who did not really deliver as promised by advertised description.

The schedule for this trip includes mostly trips to provinces, mostly for meeting new Facebook contacts and older acquaintances. Pattaya will be one of them, some others will be reached by train, a way of transport I have not used since a long time in Thailand – but for short distance only.

Sweet Valentine's Day

 













VALENTINE'S DAY
BOYSTYLE ...