Quite an interesting exercise by Immigration to be helpful 

Gotta go digital 3 days before you arrive soon.

Similar to USA 

Whilst in Bangkok for a few days, I visited both Nana and Cowboy for old time's sake.

And whilst here were many who coulda rocked my planet, I deferred, not even drinking much.

Nana, one evening I did walk by and down the Soi to see what else was happening. I saw much what I saw 14 years ago.

The next night I went into Nana (security was not an issue, polite) and had 3 beers on one of the stools adjacent to a bar. It was early, so I got to see all the comings, not so many goings. When I left I poked my head into a few bars and saw girls on stage. Unremarkable apart from many tattoos.

Cowboy - a day later I walked the Soi, and again had a couple of beers. Early again and pretty much like I remembered it.

1. I'm getting old

2. It's all still there.

3. Unless I get single again, it's unlikely I'll return.

4. The allure of the places hasn't faded.

Interesting never the less. It's fortunate that they included "Art" in the title, because whilst here are many truly museum quality exhibits, some are very obviously new and visitor pleasing....

To get there, it's a near 1km walk over flooded rice fields

the following is several posts in order to keep it manageable.

Right in the middle of downtown, the house next to the one (now gone) that MLG spent her childhood.

     Walking around in the earthly evening, it seems a bit slow, even Saturday night seemed slower and quieter than I remember from years past. Noticing a lot of Nepalese working as street venders, not sure how this is happening, but it is…they seem to be giving better prices on some stuff so I won’t complain…Haven’t seen any African girls selling…er…ah…that…which seems odd…not as many loud African fuck sticks walking around either…again, not complaining…

     Food has been really good so far, my wife is happy to be gobbling up all sorts of stuff best eaten in a well ventilated area, We are excited to try Arab food. Funny how times change…years back I’d be posting about other exploits…Maybe time to buy a cardigan and take up pipe smoking..?

December 9^th, 2023 (NEW)

Greetings Gentlemen,

My return visit last December following an absence of over 10 years must have been agreeable to me – as I landed in BKK yesterday to have at it again! I’ll be around until Christmas day with once again NO visit to Pattaya – which was a first last year! I have found that I still enjoy visiting Thailand, although my behavior is somewhat subdued from the old days - that is no alcohol, fewer girls, fewer go-go bars with more healthy(?) touristy stuff these days, plus Geritol…

I had hoped Thai 360 might have enjoyed something of a comeback following the end of the Covid diabolical (US developed/escaped Satan bug) unleashed on the world. Unfortunately it doesn’t appear that has happened. Perhaps this forum (as well as others) is a thing of the past and was pretty much over with well before anyone ever heard the now dreaded word Covid (sure glad I didn’t get vaxed!!). One thing for sure, I don’t see an abundance of new posts from this past year on Thai360, but the Stickman website seems to be hanging on as maybe the best site these days, for current punter information. But it is not a forum.

Sorry about ending my posts last year prematurely, as I had promised a review of Nana, Cowboy and Thermie. Fact is, I ran out of time and returned home. In hindsight I don’t think anyone needed my two satang worth on changes to Nana, Cowboy or Thermie - since you need look no further than Youtube. That said, it’s possible I might still post something on Thermie since I have so many fond memories of the place over the years…

I do hope the few “old-timers” remaining here have had a good year, and most of all, I hope we haven’t lost anymore of the old crew due to meeting the grim-reaper!!

Of course my highest regard and many thanks go to Marcel for keeping this site going (over 20 years now) and NOT deleting any of my travel section posts from last December (as some outraged sponsors may have demanded!) More later... maybe.

S-T

Personal experiences, thoughts about reading books, reflections on what I have read in newspapers, magazines, blogs
and what I have seen in the cinema, on television or on the internet.

I thought this board was dying because there were hardly any posts left. So I switched to a very lively German board.
And I'm posting on an English Pattaya board by Scot Alex from the Rockhouse.

It is 21. / 22. December 2020; the sun has reached the Tropic of Capricorn, the point of the winter solstice; in the northern hemisphere we now have the shortest day and the longest night (the Scandinavians, British and Canadians know what I am talking about). We are in the season of winter. In our German low mountain ranges and in the Alps we have the first snow, in the Southern Alps in Austria and Italy - Tyrol - the first "snow disaster" happened with up to 3 metres of snow; in some regions even more than 4 metres.

The few hours of daylight here in Hamburg are mostly foggy, cloudy and gloomy. There is some rainfall, sometimes snow showers or dangerous freezing rain. Temperatures are between 0 degrees and 8 degrees; depending on the distribution of the high and low pressure areas. So everything is quite normal.

In my mind, I beam myself to Jomtiem in Soi Welcome, to the "Happy Bou" hotel. I burst into the middle of an exuberant party, loud rock and pop music, a terrific atmosphere among the party guests, drinking and laughing, everything is just the way it should be at a great party.
I sit in the middle of the celebrating guests, sip my Chang beer and begin to review a few adventures and events of the last 2 years in my mind.

How was it with Khun Fah, that wonderful girl?

She was suddenly there. Just like that. She was present and still is. That is an event of being that I am very happy to put up with. She's 38, has a daughter like me. Her guy ran away from her about 5 years ago. She doesn't speak a word of English. Our communication is via software applications with translation aids on her smartphone and my notebook. Works pretty well.

Bachelor manners?
Khun Fah got me out of those habits within 1 ½ days; super fast. Peeing on the toilet seat? Is no more, finished. She goes into the bathroom, but comes out again after a second with a face full of anger. I thought, is there an evil spirit in the bathroom now, or some fat cockroach, or just a harmless gecko? She grabs me by the arm and with a loud torrent of words she drags me into the bathroom and points with a gesture of indignation at three yellowish drops of pee. I scratch my head in embarrassment and mumble some excuse in German. She takes toilet paper, moistens it a little with water and then wipes and away. Guys, I have learned that lesson.

to be continued

The board doesn't allow me to post pictures! What's going on? Where is the moderator?

Greetings Gentlemen, Happy New Year! and Welcome to The Morning After 2023!                             

Hope your heads are not throbbing too badly - as mine usually was! If you need a Tylenol #3 and/or icepack it is understandable and excusable. Also, I hope you all got a nice warm stocking-stuffer for Christmas, as I did.

Before I continue the bar crawl report, I want to mention a couple of things that are significant which I’ve not yet addressed (much). The first Biggy, is pricing for the BG’s and barfines. Second up, is what I’ll call the Japanese Invasion. A better name might be Japanese-Asian-Inflation-Invasion, but that’s too long. So, I’ll shorten it to the former with the understanding it is largely made up of Japanese, but also includes other non-Thai Asians. As brethren punters, I might also refer to this group affectionately as Tokyo Joes or the Rising Sun.

Tokyo Joes vs BG prices, these two are inextricably linked!

Since my arrival at the beginning of the month, I’ve been noticing Japanese restaurants and travel agencies scattered throughout the Nana area. When I last visited LOS, twelve years ago, I don’t recall these businesses being there. I can recall in years past, the late-night Thermae crowd regularly included a collection of traveling Asian businessmen. They would invariably be seated at the far end of the bar area. The rest of the punters dreaded these guys as they were often thought to be overly generous with the girls. Of course the girls follow the money, which often resulted in us cheap-charlie’s being ignored, that is unless we coughed up enough $$$ to once again show up as a blip on BG radar.

Gentlemen, that’s about what we have in the bars right now, only on a much larger scale! It doesn’t matter if you are in Nanaplaza, Cowboy, Patpong or even Thermae the Japanese invasion dominates, they set the prices and they are the ones you can point to for the high prices. It’s simple; they are willing to pay these inflated prices. Nana and Cowboy are flooded with these guys. Mostly they are younger, in groups of 2-6. Sometimes they are multi-generation with junior (in his 20’s), dad and grandpa. All together in the go-go’s, swilling wagon loads of beer, having lots of fun and of course barfining the girls. Often they can be seen literally throwing fistfuls of cash at the girls on stage! This kind of behavior makes life tough on the rest of us…

To make a point, with little effort you can get laid for 1200 or maybe even a 1000 baht using freelancers in and around beer-bars up and down Sukhumvit and around Nana (many LB’s watch-out). Once these freelancers enter Thermae, they double their asking price - since the place is full of Tokyo Joes who will most likely pony-up.

When I mentioned here, that a KC1 stunner would cost you maybe 3500B a couple of you growled, grunted and spoke up. From down under Mr my-penis-is-hungry pointed out, he could nail a stunner in OZ for same or less (BTW, is there still an old codger called Paul_C alive and kicking down there in Kangaroo-land??).

3500B is currently about 100 U$ bucks. Recall that this price was for top-shelf-tail not your average bargirl. In the US, I very much doubt you’d get a girl of this quality for $100, but for $200 you might…

Bottom line is, when it costs the same or more for pun-tang in LOS compared to your home country, where is the value? It would seem prices are currently so high they may be unsustainable. I sure hope so!

Nuff said. Ok, let’s continue on with the bar prowl. I believe I left off with Patpong. But, at the risk of being shot, I’d like to briefly (I promise) return and add something related to the above. You may recall I mentioned Pink Panther had a very nice gaggle of girls. On the night I was there I would rate it second, right behind KC1, with KC2 being third. I suspect KC2 may have been wiped out earlier that night as a result of the Tokyo Joes barfining most of the girls there – as so few were present. I would also like to add that Pink Panther is the only BKK go-go that I visited which was free of Tokyo Joes (didn’t see a one). Perhaps the consensus among the Japanese invasion is it’s just another gay bar on patpong 2, and they haven’t found it yet? Don’t know. As far as prices go, I would be willing to bet PP prices are the same as the KC bars, and in fact, Pink Panther may be a Kings Group bar – I don’t know, but I now suspect as much because of the quality and quantity of the girls there.

Ok, Ok, enough already, even I have had my fill of the ‘pong for now.

Moving on, how about some daytime action for a change? What’s available in the Nana area during the daytime hours nowadays? Aside from the usual massage girls and beer bars, not much. Eden Club, I understand is gone, and to my knowledge there has never been a go-go bar in BKK open during the daytime. Probably there was during the Vietnam War era, but that was before my time (student-deferment). Since I’ve never really been a massage parlor kind of guy, and for that matter, I’ve never frequented the beer bars to any real extent either. However, these are preferences not rules so sometimes I make exceptions.

And, one of these exceptions would have to be the BeerGarden located on Sukhumvit Soi 7. For newbie’s this is not just another beer bar as it has some notoriety amongst punters. Been there longtime, you could even say it is something of an historic landmark, not quite the status of Thermae but similar. In some respects you could even say BG7 is a daytime version of the Thermae, since they are both legendary freelance pickup joints. And damn good ones too!

This Convention however was only a warm-up to the New Year’s Eve bash that followed a week or two later. On this evening as it turned out, I nearly missed the convention antics altogether even though I had gotten there a little early. Seems there was only one attendee present when I arrived. I want to say it was a Mr. Oaktoad, who is a very fine gentleman indeed, but I can’t recall for sure. Anyway, while waiting for the others I spied a couple of freelancers sitting alone, one of which looked good enough to die for! So, I managed to join these two, again while I waited for the arrivals – none of which I had met. I guess I became enchanted with said beauty-queen as time passed and I temporally forgot why I was there… Suddenly, there was an eruption (not from below) and maybe a dozen or more conventioneers stood up, came to attention, and started for the exit. Realizing I had missed out on becoming acquainted with these Gents, I had to awkwardly confront their apparent leader and make a desperate plea they not leave me behind, while I sorted out the love of my life – as there was no-way I was gonna leave this unexpected prize behind for someone else!

Fortunately, the fellow I had appealed to turned out to be none other than a Mr. Sarasin, who just happened to be the organizer of the conventions and also led the bar crawls that always followed. Meeting this rotating crew of the very most seasoned punters certainly changed my life. As luck would have it, ms-beauty-queen had taken a liking to me, so we said goodbye to her friend, and I walked her out on my arm to my awaiting new friends… I felt like Donald Trump with suitable arm-piece! What a great way to start an evening outing in Bangkok!

Nice story and it did have a happy ending, she even sent me a postcard, but that was then and what remains of BG7 today? As I said, I arrived early December and one of the first places I visited was BG7. The gated entrance was chained and locked down. It was apparent the bar had been closed for a very long time. Maybe ten days later, I was walking past Soi 7 again when I glanced down BG7 way, I thought I saw someone enter. Also, I noticed a sign out-front that had not been there previously. Sure enough, they were now open – great I thought. Upon entry, I figured I’d see the same old crowded bar-room (rose lenses again). Not exactly, there were only two freelancers present (no one else) and they most certainly had seen the better side of 40. These two morbid mascots I deduced were probably frightening off business! I continued to check-back on the place at different times in the afternoon and on different days, but I never did enter for a dink. In fact, I think I saw the same two old vamps again, and again, but never more than a few customers, maybe half a dozen at most.

I really hope the place eventually springs back to life. There are still plenty of freelancers around Nana and they need a better place to work during the day. Problem is, if it ever does become popular again it will most surely be taken over by the Tokyo Joes with the same pricy results. There is still hope though – read on…

Well, BG7 was a bust. It’s still daylight so let’s pay a visit to yet another hold-out and one of my old favorites. Lolita’s is located within a bulls roar of NEP, but if you’ve never been there it can be tricky to find. It is somewhat hidden in a special, perfect location. The easiest way to find it is to go down Soi 8 and take a right at what I believe is the first or second opportunity, which is an alley that extends maybe 50 yards into a dead-end. All the way down on the left, at the end you’ll see the neon Lolita’s sign.

I often wear a mask while I’m in public places, particularly so when I’m visiting the entertainment venues. Not that they do any good against fighting covid critters, as the filter mesh is far too porous to trap a virus. No, it’s to conceal my face. It’s not that I’m the Elephant man or Dillinger either; I’ll come back to this later but for now, I also turn off my cell phone…

Back to Lolita’s, there is another entrance, but it’s only known to Thais and the most hardened of punters… This ‘dead-end’ is not really a dead-end as it has a hidden passageway. It can be accessed on foot only, from Soi 6 on the other side. This entrance/exit can be very useful. To find it coming from Soi 6, (wrong way) go all the way down to the end, where you can go left or right only. Right will take you way down to Soi 4 Nana, left, maybe 15 yards looks like yet another dead-end, and this is it! Once you get close enough you’ll see the passage. If you enter from the Soi 6 side you can make a quick right and disappear into Lolita’s unobserved… Don’t run as you might trip over a service girl or four sitting outside. Haha! This is where your trusty protective mask comes in… Do I need explain??

Entry is not nearly as awful as exiting, as you are faced with that terrible walk of shame… However, once again, if you mask-up you can make an exit like Zorro – that is, dart out the door, hang a quick left, then bolt through the hidden passageway and vanish into the abyss! I told you it’s in a perfect location! Best of all, I didn’t see a single Tokyo Joe there on any of my visits; I guess that’s why the price is still 800 baht. hush-hush.

End of part three. Part four (coming) – Short-Time continues his bar crawl with NEP, Cowboy, Thermae and more…

December 25, 2022

Greetings Gentleman and Merry Christmas to all!  Ho!Ho!Ho!

As promised, I’ll continue my recent Bangkok wanderings and old-fart ramblings with a tour of the go-go (mostly) watering holes.

The Bars:

Should you desire to visit the major Bangkok entertainment areas after more then ten years, where do you begin? Some might say with NanaEntertainmentPlaza since it probably attracts more visitors than any other with its three floors of whores. Soi Cowboy still seems to have its share of loyal fans and they might beg to differ. Instead, I’m going to start at the bottom with the oldest, dirtiest, seediest and most loathed - the one and only Patpong!

For those who don’t give a hoot about Patpong, you can scroll down to my summary and skip the details.

Patpong seems to have always been at the top of everyone’s shit-list. Of the guys I have met I can count on one hand, the number that would be willing to visit the place without being chained and dragged there from a tuk-tuk. Why?

Down on the ‘pong everyone is on the game. Back when it was booming it was surreal - like something out of a Salvador Dali movie. Certainly the most aversive aspect of all had to be the night-market with its overly aggressive pesky sales totes that blocked the narrow walkways, always (more on this later). I’ve already mentioned the taxi mafia which adds trench warfare to your escape plans when it comes time to withdraw (BTS only runs till midnight). Not to be forgotten are the notorious upstairs clip joints of the past with their forbidden sex-shows. Is the Rose hotel still in business, anyone?

Regardless of all the above mentioned problems, and more, I have to confess I’ve always loved the place.

What might outweigh all these negatives? A couple of things come to mind - namely Patpong had the best go-go bars and historically the best looking go-go girls (in my humble opinion). Also, I like to listen to classic rock, not that insulting rap/techno noise found everywhere today, and Patpong had maybe four or even five go-go’s which cranked the stuff out continuously. Names like: Safari, Kiss, Supergirls/Superstars, and maybe Thigh Bar or Gold Finger (can’t recall for sure) come to mind. Additionally, I’ve always thought the better Pong bars just had a better party atmosphere with the most fun girls, and I like to have fun. So shoot me!

Reflecting back on how the pong was prior to its demise, it just might be the case that the night-market congestion, together with all the knockoff bargain shoppers and hustling totes added extra energy and excitement to the place – even a sense of danger. You could feel the energy. I have seen a couple things happen down there, both inside and outside the bars and have also heard some stories…

The hustling totes, as mentioned, were the most aggressive and determined I’ve encountered anywhere, currently they are all gone. Some would just not take no for an answer. I recall being down there one night with Bluto and two or three others. A tote had attached himself surgically to Bluto like a slug in tow, forcing on him sex-show pictures or something, relentlessly, even after Bluto repeatedly told him in Thai he wasn‘t interested. As we all made our way down the pong at snails pace, he got louder and became more threatening. Things got very tense indeed and for a moment I thought it was going to end violently with Bluto forced to punch this guy out - and then I don’t know what the hell would have happened! But my concerns proved to be unwarranted since Bluto, always the gentleman diplomat expertly managed to defuse the explosive situation and said slug finally got the message, detached, and backed off. Should this have happened to anyone else things might have gone very differently.

Back to the girls - as far as quality goes the Kings Group bars were hard to beat in this respect, that is if you could cope with the shitty music and stomach the pricy pay-for-play fees the girls there were asking (Kings and Queens Castle 1 & 2 for instance). I’d add Kings Group must have always taken good care of their girls as they seemed very loyal. Perhaps they are sex slaves? I can’t ever recall meeting a go-go girl in NEP or Cowboy that had worked the ‘pong. That may have changed nowadays though.

As mentioned above, since Kings Group always had a reputation for having a stable full of super hot babes, I visited both KingsCastle 1 & 2 for a soda. I was not surprised to find KC1 had a knock-out lineup of lovely’s. The place was so thick with stunners you could hardly find a seat without climbing over one or two! While I was eyeballing the candy something occurred to me – it seemed there were noticeably fewer girls with tattoos. Maybe some of you fellas prefer your girls covered head-to-toe with skin illustrations, but I don’t. It’s just my personal opinion, but I’ve never seen anyone who looked better with a tattoo. While you would not be out of luck there if tattoos are your thing, many seemed to have none at all. To me this adds quality to the girls worth paying for.

And pay you will! While the barfine is only 600B - which is the lowest I found in any BKK a-go-go. The going rate for the girls is 3500B and if past experience is any guide that’s about what you’ll end up paying in a KG bar. If you waited till 1:30 you might get a little better price, but with the BF only being 600B you would be picking from leftovers. So, if you see the girl of your wet-dreams there you might as well just cough it up, suck it in, and call it a special night and splurge a little.

A few locked doors down you’ll find Kings Castle II which was hardly in the same league as KG1. It had perhaps only a third as many girls. Quality also was not quite up to the mark of KG1. However, they did have two or three tiny little girls dancing there that at a glance you might think were 10 years old as they were only about four feet tall - cute as hell though. Of course upon closer examination they were all of legal age, but some guys are turned on by such little petite darlings, so if you are one of these, this might be your place.

(Note: I want to be very clear here – I’m not suggesting anything that might interest the likes of the late Jeffrey Epstein, or his low-life pals Clinton and Gates who are all confirmed pedophiles by association. Some guys just like smaller girls and that’s no crime as long as they are of legal age, which is the case here.)

Moving on down PP1 I was in search of one of my old haunts mentioned earlier, so what remains today of these? NOT MUCH!! Of the classic rock go-go’s mentioned, the only one still in business is Thigh Bar, so I dropped in for a coke. Big mistake, a Coca Cola there will set you back 300B! The girls would not be worthy of a barfine even if their services were included! And classic rock? Forget it. Suffice to say I’ll never visit Thigh Bar again and would suggest you fellows give it a miss as well!

Things are a little different over on Patpong 2. A few more customers around but the entire Soi is now gay with only a few exceptions. About the only bars I ever visited there with any regularity was Electric Blue and occasionally Pink Panther. I’d also have to include Star of Light, but that was a BJ bar not a go-go. I noticed their old sign but didn’t see an entrance so most likely its no longer in business. Even if it is you can bet the ‘girl’ behind the little curtain opposite your bar-stool will most certainly be a ladyboy (truth be told at least some always were - if that matters with your beer goggles on!).

As mentioned, not all the bars on PP2 are Ladyboy bars although it appears that way without close scrutiny. Pink Panther (sure sounds gay) is not, so I entered the place for a look-see. I was told the girls there are 100% female and they looked it. Surprisingly, the place had an over abundance of girls with some real lookers present. Sorry, in my brief walk thru I did not inquire as to pricing, but the girls looked good. Down on the other end of PP2 there are a couple other non-ladyboy bars, one called XXX something, I can’t recall the other but one is the former home of Electric Blue. Across the Soi, Cosmos is also gone, but it wasn’t a go-go bar anyway.

Patpong Summary: It was mostly quite depressing as it is a mere shadow of its former glory days. Most of the old bars still have their signs in place but are probably closed forever. On the plus side (I guess) the night-market is essentially gone as well. The KingsCastle bars are open for business and they have a plethora of hot sexy babes inside to choose from, but it’s not for bargain hunters and never was. All of the other Kings Group bars such as the Queens Castles and Kings Corner’s are gone. I only noticed one upstairs joint on PP1 open for the pussy-show business (can’t recall the name, not sure it had one). Patpong 1 is in dire need of customers, but absent any new reason to go there I don’t see this likely to change.

Aside from Pink Panther, most punters will not want to venture any closer than a bulls roar to Patpong 2 as it is somewhat radioactive. You have been warned! Sadly, the reports I’ve read indicating that Patpong may be fading out for good ring true. Another possibility might be PP1 could go all gay and the entire area transformed into another ‘BoysTown’. I can’t say as my crystal ball is broken.

End of part two. Part three (coming) – Short-Time continues his bar crawl with NEP, Cowboy, BG7, Lolita’s, Thermae and more…

December 17, 2022

My last visit to the Land of Smiles was late January 2010.  That’s a lot of nam under the saphan. Also, following that visit I stopped reading forums which were dedicated to keeping Punters informed as to ongoing changes to Thailand’s nightlife.

What sparked my interest in an eventual return visit following the relaxation of Covid lockdown rules and the resumption of tourist visas was the Kingdoms surprise announcement of the ‘Legalization of Marijuana’.  I found that 180 degree turn totally out of step with most Asian countries past draconian laws on illicit drug use - A stunningly progressive step forward in my humble opinion for any nation state.

I read there were no controls on sales of cannabis whatsoever. Enterprising entrepreneurs were selling weed in parking lots and on the Soi’s out of the trunks of cars… This kind of change I just had to see for myself!

My attempts to catch-up on over 10 years of change was hampered by the demise of most of the websites that I once depended on for such information – including the old ASFO list. Seems about the only survivor is Khun Sanuks Thai 360 forum. Unfortunately, it appeared light years since anyone had made any informative contributions there…  The Stickman website also remains, which appears to be something of a takeoff on Trink’s (RIP) old weekly Bangkok Post column – The Night Owl, although not as slick or informative as the original. Still, it does have value. (Please, I’m not trying to start a debate on Trink here.)

But time marches on. My first visit to LOS was December 97 and I had recently turned 46. Fast forward, today, now in my early 70’s this constitutes real change and my age presents challenges to just getting around. I recall one Ihopeyoudo telling me the difficulties he had at the time in just climbing a flight of stairs… Now, although I’m still in pretty good shape, still have real hair on my noggin and a few good teeth in my head, I’m now acutely more appreciative of Ihopeyoudo’s then dilemma.

Still, I’m not ready for a rocking-chair just yet. But before I comment on my recent bar crawls to the Bangkok Farang entertainment venues, let me say a word or two regarding general change and my observations following a 12 year absence.

First, it’s more the same than different. This is less obvious when looking at areas of business devastation left behind in the wake of the Covid lockdowns (Patpong comes to mind here). Far as I know, Thai Air remains grounded. That said, tourism is rapidly returning; hotels long closed are opening (Dynasty Inn just this past week). I see young backpackers (even a few attractive European girls) out and about. More to the point – there are lots of Punters, many (as always) are European.

It’s my understanding more than a few are displeased with the current exchange rate of Euros/Pound Sterling to the Thai Baht. Not to be a smart-ass, but this brings a grin to my mug when I recall some 20 years back when the shoe was on the other foot and the U$D was in the dirt with the Euro on a roll. HaHaHa, HoHoHo, 555, what goes around comes around! Now days, considering the World Geopolitical situation, I’m more concerned about being vaporized prior to my natural demise than any exchange rate fluctuations. Anyway, fellas, it’s better now than it was several months ago when the Euro hit parity with the greenback and briefly even dipped below parity. Ouch!!

The Girls:

Prior to my recent arrival (early December) I had read reports suggesting the current stock of bargirls left something to be desired. That the available girls were for the most part getting a bit long in the tooth, with young stunners in particular painfully absent from the go-go’s. This I found to be somewhat exaggerated. Firstly, I don’t recall there was ever an over-abundance of so called stunners. They were always few and far between. So, don’t be put off by a few negative reports. Read on…

Early the other night I just happened to be sitting in Bigdogs at the entrance of NEP around the time the go-go girls start arriving for work… I can tell you for a fact, in the brief time I was there I saw at least four stunners reporting in – one of which could go toe-to-toe in the looks department with any girl I have ever seen working NEP. Further, these girls were young and yes, they were real girls – NOT ladyboys!! I can’t tell you which bars they work in but they are there. Of course, should you desire to bag a bargirl of this caliber you damn well better get there early, and unless you are a very handsome man indeed, you are gonna have to bite the bullet and cough up whatever fee she demands. Also, you can forget about dodging the pricy barfine!!

The Taxi Mafia:

In past visits it was never much of a problem finding taxi drivers who would agree to use their meter to determine your destination fare instead of barking out flat inflated prices of maybe 500B! That is unless you were attempting to flag down a ride home from Patpong! If that were the case it could turn into major trench warfare. I can recall occasions where I had to repeat the process five or six times before I found a driver with ‘meter working’. Well, those were the good old days - now it’s like that everywhere. Just today I needed a ride from the Grand President, Soi 11 to Dynasty Inn, Soi Nana. I confronted no less than four drivers, lowest fare quoted was 300B. Mention meter and they just drive on. Dealing with these scumbags was such a pain I decided to walk – luggage and all. From now on I’ll use BTS only or walk.

New Breed of Ladyboys:

I’ve never paid much attention to ladyboys unless they were trying to pick my pockets. So, perhaps I just never noticed before but I’ve been seeing these six-footers standing around who could put a Victoria's Secret runway model to shame! I saw another just this afternoon in of all places Foodland. I mean are these ‘girls’ taking Harry Mudd Venus pills spiked with human growth hormone or what? How is it possible for a six-foot Man to look better than 99.999% of the genuine female BG population?? Go figure, its like falling into an upside down Arcturian parallel universe or something.

The Real Dope on Weed:

OK fellas, I’m gonna let you all in on a well kept secret. I don’t think you’ll see this info on the likes of Facebook or Twitter (don’t know really as I don’t do social media).

Of course by now everyone has heard about the weed shops sprouting up all over Bangkok. What you almost certainly have NOT heard is that all, and I repeat ALL of these vendors are selling totally worthless depleted leftovers of what was once potent weed. They sell this useless material to clueless, unsuspecting dopes standing in line to pay 800 – 950B per GRAM! That’s over $750 buckos an ounce! I know this because I started smoking pot early on in 10^th grade…no big deal now, but that was over 55 years ago! I can openly talk about this now, as I’ve been retired since late 2009 and no longer have or need a security clearance. I’m no Keith Richards, but you could say I have had more than a little experience as a consumer in this area (reefer only).

Weed was weed (more or less) up until about five or six years ago. Then someone clever discovered that if you pour cold liquid butane over a batch of buds in a suitable vessel and let it percolate through, the rapidly evaporating liquid very effectively dissolves (extracts) the sticky resin which contains the active THC. The resulting butane extract is allowed to evaporate leaving behind the active resin which is then used to make all of the vaping and edibles sold in dispensaries everywhere. Of course they also sell the leftover weed after they hang a sign on it saying it contains 25-30% THC!! The beauty of this process is the leftover weed (incredibly) appears little changed to the unaided eye.

Dope peddlers have always been a bunch of dishonest crooks. Goddamn the pusher! Only now have they managed to aspire to such heights of fraud and obscene profit – legally even. The Corporate weed farm business model is based on complete and total fraud. Try to find anyone in that business, top to bottom, who will admit that the weed they are selling has been stripped of all but maybe 1% of the original THC content. And it’s now ALL the same. I’ve looked high and low in places like California, Oregon, Nevada and Colorado (all recreational). Now Thailand, and its all the same. The ONLY way you are going to get your hands on weed that has NOT been messed with (extracted) is to grow it yourself. Period.

Doubt what I say? Examine a sample with lighted maybe 8x magnifier; if you look carefully you will notice there is no sparkle. The tiny clear droplets (tricombs) of THC resin is what accounts for the sparkle (or lack of). Also, you may notice the stripped weed has little odor. That’s because its been mostly washed away with the resin. If you crush a very dry bud with your fingers it typically reduces to a tiny, tiny pinch of worthless powder. Oh, and there’s something else missing - you don’t get high when you smoke it!  Nuff said. To be continued…

End of part one. Part two (coming) – In a blast from the past Short-Time re-visits NEP, Cowboy, The ‘pong, BG7, Lolita’s, Thermae and more…

She went to the Thai embassy in Nairobi. They thought she was traveling alone and the Kenyan clerk told her it would be denied. My guess is prostitution if a single woman from Africa is coming to Thailand. Anyway, I told her to show that we were traveling together. Her ticket and accomodations had me with her. She was double vaxed as well. We filled out the Thai Pass thing. This included the vaccination report, insurance, housing, flight info. 

I am currently in Dubai and we left from Dubai. We took Qatar Airways and was told at check in that according to their list, she (and possibly myself) may be required to show 40,000 baht cash to ensure we can fend for ourselves for the 10 days there. Our flight and rooms were already paid for. if you can do that, surely you can feed yourself, no? Well, I went to a currency exchange place after the security screening and got 40,000 baht each....IN CASH. Didn't feel good carrying around that kind of cash. I didn't want to take any chances. I know...I know...its bullshit but why chance showing up at Bangkok and told you didn't fulfil the requirements for entry? She got the visa and this was not a requirement. Her Kenyan bank account had enough money in it (she's a school teacher), I think they wanted to know if she had at least the equivalent of $700 in her account. 

Anyway, we arrive at BKK and the clerk asks her if she has a yellow fever certificate. Never heard of it. She saw it on some list, probably dated. I did some fast talking and said she lives in Dubai and it was there and not required. The clerk spoke to someone else, said "Dubai", the passport had Dubai stamps so we got in but it was touch and go. My guess is the Thai embassy, the immigration don't all have the same info. They never asked for the proof of 40,000 baht. The point is we (or rather her) was hair close not to be let in over some requirement that is no longer needed. 

Anyway, the last time I was in Pattaya was Spring, 2018. The city is just getting back to normal. Walking street had a lot of construction and for all intent and purposes, dead. I think after the construction is done and by Xmas it will be close to pre covid19 levels. The bars were mostly empty as well up and down the sois between Beach road and 2nd street. The prices varied for women. My gf, as mentioned, likes women and likes 3somes or watching me bang women (obviously a primary reason for dating her). The quality varied. Overall, tough to find stunners but as I said arriving in June it was the first summer of removing most of the covid19 restrictions. Sometimes people wore masks, somemtimes not and didn't see many places insist on it. 

The one thing that has changed is there aren't the number of Chinese tourist busses I saw in 2018 on my last visit. I did see a whole lot more Indian families. Husband, wife and kids. That was very surprising. I love Indian food so there were a lot of Indian restaurants to choose from. The middle class there must be growing. Didn't hear too many American accents as well...will take some time for us to get back there. 

Post script. My Kenyan gf (ex now) is a slim dark skin beauty. Pretty girl. The girls either loved her or hated her. No inbetween....haha. They were either clamoring to touch her, her hair and especially after I said she liked girls (she was a bit shy at first, her first time in Asia), a few were enamored and were squeezing her tits, rubbing on her cooch outside the shorts....haha...she was in heaven. Others had that stink face...

We had 3somes with girls who were intrigued and excited about being with her. The weather was decent. A little raining here and there but okay. We did the tourist stuff like elephant rides, Tiger park, and Buddhist temples. It was fun despite our personal issues that we couldj't quite work out between us. 

The funny thing is I'm looking forward to easy access to Thai food as much as I'm looking forward to "other things"...

By the way, in the course of the last 25 years (since the existence of the internet and the many Thailandboards - almost all are dead; e.g. the Secrets-Board) I have reported
about Düsseldorf on various boards. It's interesting how many board members from the Anglo-American world know my city.
So, let's start. Yes, the Düsseldorf Altstadt (Old City, Downtown) is something special.
There are 150 to 200 Kneipen =  bars, pubs, beer bars, discos, music clubs, cafes, restaurants and snack bars on just a few hectares.
There are many places of entertainment and fun for every taste and for every age group.

For about 55 years I have been a regular in the many pubs in Düsseldorf's old town. I enjoy my Altbier and the very special atmosphere of each location.
I remember Petula Clark and her greatest hit „Downtown“ from the early 60ties:
"When you're alone and life is making you lonely
You can always go – downtown"
The writer of this pop song must have had my beloved Düsseldorf Altstadt in mind.

The next weekend I'm going out with my daughter and a few friends and have fun.
The Kneipen, beer bars and music clubs and trendy locations of our beloved Alstadt are always fun.

"The lights are much brighter there
You can forget all your troubles, forget all your cares
So go downtown, things'll be great when you're Downtown"

Here a panoramic view of the old town

On a summer's day in Bolker-street, the heart of the old town.

Inside a typical Alstadt-Kneipe.  [NOTE:  If her boobies are availably is unknown to me. I never asked her for barfine and longtime price.  55555]

Here we have a MILF; 50something, the landlady of the jazz bar "Em Pötzke".   Pötzke is great fun. Go there.

And here's what's most important: Alt Bier from Düsseldorf; top-fermented dark beer.

Here a photo from better and younger times; years before my stroke. With a few friends in a trendy pub called  "Einhorn" = Unicorn
trendy pub means in German Szene-Kneipe.
Students, artists, bohemians, bon vivants and me.

"Downtown - no finer place, for sure
Downtown - everything's waiting for you"

In our trendy Cafe

Here in a famous scene cafe at the edge of the old town, called Bazzar. ====>  https://bazzar.de/gastronomie/
A meeting place for the young, the beautiful and the rich.
All qualities that do not apply to me and my friends. 55555

In this cafe we meet once or twice a week and discuss the current political situation in Germany.
Again and again the common result of our long and heated debates: Germany is about to abolish itself!
"Deutschland schafft sich ab" = "Germany is abolishing itself" is the title of a famous book by famous Berlin boy Thilo Sarazin from 2010, which sold over a million copies.
The policy that has been pursued by the Merkel government for over 15 years:
* the energy turnaround
*the hasty and badly managed phase-out of nuclear energy
* the switch to renewable energies such as solar and wind; also carried out amateurishly: electricity prices in Germany are twice as high as in neighbouring countries
* the destruction of a key industry: car manufacturing
* the Euro catastrophe, for over 10 years we have been saving the euro; the debts are rising to immeasurable levels; the ECB is now drawing trillions from nowhere to save the southerners, many banks and companies from bankruptcy.
* the disastrous immigration policy with open borders for everyone.

I could go on, but I stop here. It is all so sad.
The saddest thing is that the German voter, the sovereign, is going through all this.
In elections, he votes 80% for the parties responsible for this policy.

RESULT:
The Germans, the German nation, that has been so successful so far, one of the leading countries in the world,
wants to get out of the Champions league and into the second, third league with all its might.

I started out so happy, so good-humoured and I end up full of grief, sorrow and heartache.

"Denk ich an Deutschland in der Nacht,
so bin ich um den Schlaf gebracht"

"I think of Germany in the night, so I am deprived of sleep"   wrote the great Düsseldorf poet Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856), full of love but also with a critical eye.

Let's go back to Petula and a better mood:

"Downtown - no finer place, for sure
And you may find somebody kind to help and understand you
Someone who is just like you and needs a gentle hand to
Guide them along - happy again"

I sincerely hope that Nana Plaza and Pattaya, the Rockhouse, Mr. Phil's le Pub and all the other Kneipen and Bars and Pubs and Gogos I love will survive the Corona crisis.

Nasiadai

I repeat once again:
I have about 30 people on my e-mail list. Family, friends, acquaintances etc. For these approx. 30 people I write travel and experience reports.
I write my impressions and experiences in a MS-Word compatible text file. In the text I insert pictures which loosen up the report and show the reader
very concretely where I am and what I am writing about.

One more remark:

I have often reported about my beach and the area here. I have been coming to thjis place for over 25 yeras now; I assume that some things are known,
so that I don't have to describe many things again.

When I'm proofreading, I notice:
I translated some sentences according to German syntax. This is incorrect for native English speakers; I apologize.

Now let's start ...

Annotation:

We see here „my little brother“. I know, I admit I presented this little story before; about 20 years ago, or so; cannot remember exactly. Sorry, Khun Sanuk for this repeat.

(((I have no new news to report at the moment. I could not fly to SOA and Siam for health reasons in this winter, my doctors said No! Too dangerous.

Last February I was delivered to the clinic in an emergency ambulance; second stroke was suspected. I spent 4 days there.)))

This beautiful mermaid is located on the beach of Songhkla in the south of Siam.

I made this series of pictures with tripod and self-timer.

The locals watching me and laughed and smiled at me: Crazy farlang! Hahahahaha

That must have been in February 1996 or 1997.

Well, I could do all and everything, but this Lady did not react.

I touched her sweet body -----> nothing

I caressed her boobies -----> she did not respond

I even kissed her cheek -----> uselessly

I whispered words of love and tenderness in her ear -----> it was in vain.

She was a femme fatale sans merci; she was a snubbing and repelling belle dame sans merci.

The beautiful Lady without any mercy.

It was time to go back to the girls of Nana Plaza and Pattaya.

and here the archetype for all mermaids

By the way:

The inspiring example of the mermaid of Songkhla in southern Thailand was the mermaid of Copenhagen (Denmark). Here you can see her. She's very beautiful.

This charming little statue is Copenhagen's landmark.

I first saw the mermaid of Copenhagen when I was a young guy of 17. It was a warm summer night in August.

The small statue was illuminated by two spotlights and impressed me deeply.

This wonderful figure was inspired by the ballet version of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale of the little mermaid.

For all mermaids in the world, this statue was the unrivalled model. Her grace, elegance, beauty.

Charly - Nasiadai - Bakwahn

from fucking cold Hamburg – 17. March 2018 - 3 degrees below zero - No sign of spring

Rather she promotes beer

Shock horror!

Travel is part of my DNA . Many of the chaps here have posted info which I have ( thank you ) used in my travels. Places to go - and not. I made note. I am sure by now I could pen a paper script which may interest a few.

On one occasion - a mate and I decided one night ( ( in a Bangkok Bar ) to visit Myanmar . The posters on this board made note of the bird flu in Myanmar. I canceled this trip and flew elsewhere. Good advice.

And as I have noted the the postings - I've also noted the posters.

So here I now pose my question .

So many posters are no longer here - or silent - whatever - so are the folk on this board aware where these chaps are?

For example - where is the prolific poster ' Old Hippie'?

OH was a computer of travel info.

So chaps - occasionally post news of our buddies who may have left us or are residing elsewhere.

Best for 2017 - I'm off to NZ for a visit / a trip to Cambodia / a look at LOS as retirement looms.

And I remain on this board - ðŸ‘