Tyke

you should check it out, but be warned its a very local style place The sign outside is in Thai only (Dton Fai or something similar - don't know if I transliterated that right). Run by some of the people from the old Doi Boy so take care.

You mean it's a place where an old Yorkshire faggot can't lurk around looking totally miserable, even if happy, and not wanting to say a word to anyone without some katoe remarking how miserable the old farang looks and why doesn't he want to talk to me? If so, forget it, I'll bugger off to Power Boys.

Being an irregular visitor to CM, I went there recently and came across the hotel by chance. I visited Power Boys a couple of times and was most impressed. It's such a change from those God-awful bars near the night market and am glad they have closed or are closing down. The location of the hotel is good as I think Huay Kaew and Nimennhemman roads will become the centre for the more up-market gay scene in Cm. The signs are already there.

The show was good and frequent and I liked the free tequila after each show (still offered?).

The hotel restaurant was empty and the food not very good for the price, but the decor was nice. I look forward to visiting the roof-top restaurant on my next visit.

The staff at Power Boys were very pleasant and efficient, but the hotel lobby staff seemed to have been left to their own devices and had reverted to their Thai ways - like shouting and laughing across the lobby and constantly giggling on the phone. This. along with the lobby restaurant food and prices, seems the only things needing attention for me.

Good luck with the venture - CM has needed something like that for a long time and it's conveniently located for me.

A few 100 M away from this hotel is an outdoor Thai style bar with gay customers and pleasing staff. Sitting there on a wooden stool banging glasses with a few fun local guys over a plate of fried rice and a few Leo's would be an altogether more enjoyable experience, and not because it's cheaper.

Where's this then? You mean Soho bar?

I'm English and love to queue. However when abroad and the rules of cricket may not apply, if someone pushes in front of me, I just simply walk around and push back in and smile with a quick toodle pip!

I'm English and just love to queue too. As soon as I see one, I'm as happy as a cucumber in a sandwich, and ignore all waiting service personnel with nothing to do. But you just try your tactic in China!

bit harsh for just cutting a line dont you think? i dont like queue jumpers either, but i dont think i would use my 'status' to report three supposedly innocent young blokes who were only 'guilty' of jumping queue.

Perfectly in order - wish I could do that myself.

I HAD A similar thing happen to me last year when i was leaving the airport.

As i got thru the scanner thing,a couple of young Indian,bangladeshi i presume young guys just so ever without hesitation walked up to me and pushed in front of me,im 6ft and 150kg but that didnt bother them.

I told them to get out of the way until a lady customs officer come up to me and told me to stop shouting so i left the 3 idiots in front of me.

Funnily enough they were getting on the same plane as me back to Australia.

When the plane arrived in Sydney the next morning i followed the 3 amigos to customs and showed my Australian Govt ID Badge to the customs officer reporting the 3 males as suspicious,they were all taken to a room i presume to be searched,i waved and smiled at them as they were led away to receive the gloved finger.

Love it!

Wear dirty or unfashionable clothes and you will be treated accordingly.

True that. I was wearing $70 hiking pants (cargo pockets, zip off knees) and had a 'friend' give me a talking-to about how unstylish I was. I couldn't determine if Thais were brand conscious or not but my friends were certainly concerned about style.

Just tell him it's all the retro rage in Europe and the USA because of a fictitious new pop group called 'Suave'. The pants fit perfectly with your retro 'Suave' hairstyle, shirt and shoes. Even your mannerisms and way of walking are fundamentally 'Suave'. And that he had better modernise his somewhat un-Suave appearance or the little shit is outta here.

Hey, you should forget Bangkok and come to Chiang Mai . Plenty of fun places to go, wall to wall gay boys, and no shortage of Farangs who've made a speciality out of getting drunk very cheaply. (That last one is meant in JEST before the indignant start replying )

Also, plenty of people in a similar situation to yourself. No prospects back home, life is hard and solitary, no chance of a job, expect for black market construction, no medical insurance, no family to help them if they get into trouble, serious alchohol abuse problems. Yet, they manage to get extremely drunk for 100 Bt per night (Bottle of lao kaao and a couple of sodas), or really shit faced for 250Bt with certain other substances (and the advantage you don't need to eat - another saving ) Yes, what you are planning is perfectly normal here, except most of the people I know who live like this come from Myanmar, not the USA

I know, sarcasm is the lowest form of wit....... (but Wit did have a nice body last time I checked )

Trouble is, Chiang Mai is full of gay farang looking to get poor, lighter -skinned boys, cheaply drunk, so the Op had better be careful!

I know exactly where you are at! I did this occasionally when I was a poor person on vacation in BKK or other parts of SE Asia.

My advice is to take in one of those small curved plastic bottles of local whiskey - cost little and 1 will just fit into one of your back pockets - and top up your mixers in the toilet. But there is one big danger to this - it's so tasty and cheap that you can easily get drunk that way, like I have done in the past - and as a young newby it may lead to some undesirables taking advantage of you - like spiking your drink or inviting you to a free party somewhere where you are spiked and robbed - or just robbed whilst you are fast asleep having taken back a guy - it can and does happen sometimes, even in gay places.

Enjoy, but beware. Trust but verify!

Listerine mouth wash!

Yes, it works wonderfully and is non-toxic. It is not residual meaning you don't spray the floor etc but if you spray or pour it onto the individual roach it immediately falls over dead as a doornail. It may be the alcohol in it that does the trick but it works better than any contact insecticide I have tried before. So keep a bottle handy in the bathroom ready to zap those little creepy blighters. I'm an expert as any roach that I have ever come across has had a life expectancy measured in seconds.

My cats takes care of them.

I usually find them on their back in the morning.

What? The cats or the roaches?

I grew up in that town - they didn't do that stuff when I was there. I thought I had received a good education but I feel robbed now.

The people you go to are the tourist police. Dial 1155, tell them the scam, but be careful if you let the "policeman" talk to the tourist cops on your phone, he might run off with it.

Alternatively, if you know you are in the right, say "okay, let's go to the police station to sort this out." That will usually deflate them.

Agreed. I would phone the tourist police if you are being scammed or asked for a bribe. For example, if you are stopped by the traffic police for an offence that you did not commit and asked to pay money without a receipt then phone the tourist police and let them sort it out between themselves. Divide and rule.

there is a strange kind of racism in Thailand, but usual a kind you can live with.

Things I really heard:

Manager in my company: All the Chinese are dirty and cheating. 5 min later: we give only credit to Chinese owned companies because they pay different to the Thai owned.

My wife learned in school: If you have a snake and an Indian, you need to kill the Indian first. But highly appreciate Indian Food, clothes art and culture

Germans are stupid: But try to buy German products because they are much better than Thai products

etc etc etc

Similar for black people.....

So terrible racists who generally love and regard foreigner

Winston Churchill once said 'I like pigs.... Dogs look up to you, cats look down on you, but pigs treat you as equals'.

Thais are sometimes dogs, sometimes cats, but never pigs.

There are international laws against interception of passenger aircraft (even private ones) without good reason. Why would Thailand want to risk being ostracised by airlines just to catch a flying rat? It would have repercussions for tourism, trade and the UN. The simple answer is to put a few bucks in the hands of the Cambodian mafia.

if they don't respect you then it is a pretty sure bet your woman doesn't either. if she did she would be adamant in your defense.

it is a situation of your own creation.

No. Thais seldom, if ever, adamantly defend a farang against other Thais. And they would NEVER adamantly defend a farang against their own kin. At best, they just keep quiet. Thailand is not a country of principle, or of professionalism, as most thinking is subjective.

It's the Thai government's own fault for letting him get away in the first place. Since then they have blamed the UK and now Cambodia. If any other country does not fall into line, they will blame them too. It's a great way to focus attention away from the problems Abhisit's government is under, particularly when members of his own government are actively encouraging Thaksin.TIT.

This is going to be a nice little earner. I am aware that they are out and about in Bangkok as well. I know one biz owner who had to change all of their software, they had been warned though that they would be getting a visit in advance.

Happening in Chiang mai too apparently. What do these guys do when they are not having a crack down I wonder ?

If they are not having a crackdown, they are normally creating a hub.

If they are not having a crackdown or normally creating a hub, then they are buying dodgy software at the IT mall or downloading porn as part of their 'research'.

naaa wouldnt say that at all

give the guy a break here, think whats hes been through

the guy is confused, know how he feels too, i been there

it understandable whats going through his head

i hope he finds peace of mind soon

and we get that guy off the streets

My step daughter who is 14 was out yesterday evening with a school friend at some concert by Tops, informed me on the way home that some 50 yo + farang pervert had approached her and asked her "go back my room" as well as asking for her number..... she actually looks about 12 so no way could she be mistaken for 16 let alone 18.. she has been warned about these leeches so ran away....i was having dinner with the mrs a few sois away so had left them alone for a couple of hours..

Well, i was (am) absolutely fuming and looking back if i had been there i would have definately kicked the living sh*t out out of him.... i mean it !!!! just wondering what kind of support i would get from the local police if i was arrested ?? especially wouldn't want any immrigration issues but some scum like that just makes my blood boil.. preying on kids at Thai concerts ..

I fully sympathise with you and would feel similar but to be honest, you have mouthed a lot of tough guy stuff and then meekly asked on here what the consequences would be. I would say that if you really were going to "kicked the living sh*t out out of him.... i mean it !!!! " you wouldn't be asking for advice on here.

If he's confused then it means he's not really a violent guy and that's why he's asking for advice. I fully understand that. I'm making the point that actually he's only likely to be violent in his head. I doubt he would be violent to the guy in reality. He's fantasising what he should do and he won't be kicking the shit out of anyone unless it happened in a flash at the time, rather than sometime after the event. If he really was the violent type, he wouldn't be concerned with the consequences of his actions - he would just do it naturally.

There are lots of places to visit. Nong Nooch gardens are pretty good,sriracha tiger zoo, floating market, but the absolute place not to miss for me is "The Sanctuary of Truth" A truly magnificent structure that is still ongoing, the only thing is, if they are not very mobile there are a lot of steps there. Hope this is of help to you.

Avoid ALL places that exploit animals or people in Thailand, especially zoos, however happy the animals might look.

A boat trip to Koh Larn is nice, but don't look at all the plastic in the sea, or the dead coral.

My step daughter who is 14 was out yesterday evening with a school friend at some concert by Tops, informed me on the way home that some 50 yo + farang pervert had approached her and asked her "go back my room" as well as asking for her number..... she actually looks about 12 so no way could she be mistaken for 16 let alone 18.. she has been warned about these leeches so ran away....i was having dinner with the mrs a few sois away so had left them alone for a couple of hours..

Well, i was (am) absolutely fuming and looking back if i had been there i would have definately kicked the living sh*t out out of him.... i mean it !!!! just wondering what kind of support i would get from the local police if i was arrested ?? especially wouldn't want any immrigration issues but some scum like that just makes my blood boil.. preying on kids at Thai concerts ..

I fully sympathise with you and would feel similar but to be honest, you have mouthed a lot of tough guy stuff and then meekly asked on here what the consequences would be. I would say that if you really were going to "kicked the living sh*t out out of him.... i mean it !!!! " you wouldn't be asking for advice on here.

One of the reasons most of us enjoy living here in Thailand is the dual pricing system which is quite simply that prices here are generally less than back home. If you are finding that you are not finding it cheaper to live here in Thailand then by all means feel free to return home. Otherwise, enjoy this beautiful land; it really is quite nice here...

Jeez it took almost 12 hours to get the "if you don't like it go home" guard to arrive.Thought they were too busy enjoying dual pricing.

Quite right, I like Thailand a lot but I dont like everything about it especially some of the idiot farrang that encourage Thai people to remain a third world country with their nonsense ideas such as encouraging the notion of 'cheat the farrang because you obviously cant make a living any other way.' How about as an alternative educating them that they can get much much richer by not scamming people? Probably too deep for the "if you dont like it go home brigade' poster.

I agree but have you ever tried 'educating' Thais in changing any of their ways? It's a no brainer and nonstarter so forget it. Just 'walk away' is my motto.

The way to look at it is not that us Farang pay more, but that Thai companies understand that generally Thais have less money, so the Thai prices are discounted.

They just should present it differently ie everybody pays "X" baht, but if you are Thai we will discount or rebate you "Y" baht. The way they do it with the two tiered price structure that makes us think we are paying more and loses them business for sure.

The only thing I concern myself with is whether the price I have to pay is reasonable to me.

Nonsense - Thai airways is not a food stall in a market. It is a major business player and flagship for Thailand. Why should foreigners subsidise Thais in a business transaction like this? If Thais pay less then Thai airways has to recoup their loss by charging more to foreigners. If Thais paid the same then Thai Airways would not need to charge others so much.

It means they are suspended from active duty outside.

You mean they are no longer allowed to plod the streets, run after criminals and case various joints of iniquity? Sounds like the crime rate is going to spike until they are back on the beat.

funny, i was just thinking we haven't had a crackdown in weeks

Crackdown or crackup?