george1515

Landed yesterday at BKK Saturday 10am
7 minutes to walk from plane to immigration.
3 minutes through immigration
10 minutes to wait for my bag and bang in a taxi. No queues at immigration
Taxi took just over 45 minutes from Old Swampy to Sukhumvit Soi 13, a bit of traffic on the highway. Taxi cost 275 Baht plus 2 tolls, 25 and 50 baht.
Good to be back!

I just got the clip 4 fanfuckingtastic. Just hang it off my luggage

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JBL Clip 3
https://www.jbl.com/bluetooth-speakers/JBL+CLIP+3.html
 

I know them, so I book direct. Info@rompomansion.com. Paul is the guy at this end. Fantastic guy, he will look after you.

You can just book fast track only if you prefer. The car service is certainly more expensive than taxi, but you won't have to wait in the taxi queue (they bring the car directly to you out front of the terminal), and you will also get a driver who won't try to avoid the toll roads and knows where you want to go with no communication issues. 

I think Knobby may be referring to these guys, Bangkok Airport Limousine. 1250 baht for fast track service alone, 1090 baht if you book car service along with fast track. I used them on my very first ladyboy trip years ago because I didn't want to be standing in a long immigration line while badly jet lagged. I haven't had need for them since, but it all went off without a hitch when I used them. It was very efficient and fast. They are not a dodgy outfit, they've been around a long time. Their car service was solid also. Spotless cars driven by sane drivers with good English skills. 
https://www.limousine.in.th/fast-track-immigration.php
 

I landed on the 17th and I booked Bangkok Limousine fast track service.
Am glad I did as my time of landing was 10:40 am and immigration was very busy.
Fast track meant I was off the plane and out of the airport in 10 mins.

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Cathay Pacific connects thousands of passengers at HKG every day and have doing so for decades. Assuming your 1st flight (Heathrow?) departs reasonably on time, there is no need to worry about missing your connecting flight at HKG. Airlines use algorithms that will account for precisely what time your 1st flight arrived at HKG gate that day and exactly how long the lines are at transit security at that particular moment. If your flight arrives slightly late or the lines at security are longer than expected, Cathay will adjust your 2nd flight's departure time accordingly. There will be other passengers on your plane with the identical travel itinerary as yours and Cathay won't be leaving anybody behind because doing so just creates headaches for them. 
I have flown Cathay on several trips to Thailand and transited through HKG on all of them. The longest transit security ever took was maybe 10 minutes.  Lines can move slower at HKG than other airports, but Cathay knows that better than anybody and they account for it. Relax and enjoy your trip. 
I pay little heed to travel reviews on trip advisor etc. because many of them are written by Karen-types who complain about everything under the sun. 

The only Hotel I can think of with both a swimming pool (small pool just a bit bigger than  galleria 10) and a balcony that I’ve stayed at is @Mind Suites in On Nut where I’ve stayed a few times, taking a one bedroom suite.
Here’s my review from the hotel section 
 

I have 3 SotteVests and have been using them for over 10 years--never go without wearing one.   I carry everything in the vest that I do not want to lose and that I want to access during the flights.  I also haven't checked a bag for 25 or more years and my trips are usually 4-6 weeks.  Never had a problem finding a wash and fold shop, and some hotels will do it cheaply.  

The best way to do this is to wear multiple layers of clothing. Yes you are legally allowed to wear multiple layers. I mean two or three pairs of underwear. A pair of shorts and your pants over that. 3 socks and two t shirts and a polo shirt over them. Grab a t shirt and roll it over your head as a turban.
The rest you can put it in your carry on. Once you get thru the airline staff just take those off and put them in your carry on. 

They're handy even if you take a checked-in  bag.....no need for a carry-on.Everything you'd usually put in a carry-on will fit in the vest.
And convenient going through security.

Agreed, going back there is like putting on an old pair of slippers....it's old fashioned ways are part of it's charm. I took the best suite they had last time as it was
ridiculously cheap and not much more than one of the executive rooms.....in truth it was still decades behind the one I had at Citrus suites, but as you say the 
location is the best you will get, and reception and security have seen every single kind walk through them doors....nobody bats an eyelid....I look forward to returning soon.
You know what, as I think about it, I believe that Nana use it's dated old fashioned persona to attract a target guest.....single traveller, 50+, with one sole
intention of sleeping, eating, and Mongering.....I guess that's me and a load more besides!......Millennials, generation X, package tourists and ex Hotel
inspectors should probably look elsewhere.

I concur with ipartridge regarding Nana Hotel. It’s the grand dame of all the BKK hotels. Can’t beat its location as it is located right smack in front of Nana Plaza, it has a good size pool to lounge during the day, it offers a more than decent breakfast buffet (included with room). If you were put off by its old fashioned rooms, they were renovated around 2015. Their staff are very efficient and utterly professional and believe me they have seen and heard it all so no need to fret when walking thru the lobby with two lb’s by your side.
I have found memories of staying there on my first visit to the LoS and I am glad that some things like Nana Hotel never change.

I concur with ipartridge regarding Nana Hotel. It’s the grand dame of all the BKK hotels. Can’t beat its location as it is located right smack in front of Nana Plaza, it has a good size pool to lounge during the day, it offers a more than decent breakfast buffet (included with room). If you were put off by its old fashioned rooms, they were renovated around 2015. Their staff are very efficient and utterly professional and believe me they have seen and heard it all so no need to fret when walking thru the lobby with two lb’s by your side.
I have found memories of staying there on my first visit to the LoS and I am glad that some things like Nana Hotel never change.

I will always have a soft spot for Hotel Nana. I know its a bit of  a hole but I like the staff and enjoy chatting to the guests. It also has the best location going. It was the first Bangkok hotel I stayed in so probably a bit sentimental about it. Will be in BKK end of October, first part of the stay I have treated myself to the Landmark, always admired the place and after 3 years of not going away thought I would push the boat out. on the last leg of the holiday will stay at the Nana.
 
 
 
 
 
 

I got my bag weight down to 5.44Kg now.
One new packing "hack" a bro of mine told me about and I tried it today.
Get one of those travel neck pillow things and stuff it with small items of clothing. 
I asked for more details  
The type in question has a memory foam sponge inside. The outer cover has a zip. Remove the memory foam then stuff it with small items. 
These never get weighed at check-in, wear it round your neck when you roll up at the check-in desk. 
So I got one and today I tried it, I got 6 pairs of socks, 2 vest tops, and one other long-sleeve top inside. weight of this is 675 grams.
 
 

Here in Los Angeles, California in the US where I reside they started offering the vaccine to these groups below
Monkeypox vaccine is now available to the following high-risk groups:
Gay or bisexual men and transgender people who had: Multiple or anonymous sex partners in the last 14 days OR (NEW) Skin-to-skin or intimate contact (e.g., kissing, hugging) with persons at large venues or events in the past 14 days. (NEW) Persons of any gender or sexual orientation who engaged in commercial and/or transactional sex in the past 14 days (e.g., sex in exchange for money, shelter, food, and other goods or needs) I am/was past 14 days since I had any direct skin contact with anyone, but given I'm a single guy who's always on the hunt I took the opportunity to get the vaccine especially since I plan to be doing some "high risk" by their standards activity soon lol. I've now gotten my first shot a week ago from today. My arm still is itching, the injection site is a little red, and has a bit of a bump. Now just got to get my 2nd shot 3 weeks from today. I'd rather deal with those vaccine side effects than catch this though. I'd advise anyone else that's here in LA to get it while you can too especially if you like me are hoping to be frolicking with lots of lb and gg between now and the end of 2022.

Thats what I say to some of the lb's!.

Again.
In Thailand people got vaccinated for smallpox to a much later date than in the west. Plenty of people in the scene have the vaccine scar on their arm.
Those vaccines are lifetime effective and cross protect against monkeypox. This is the current hypothesis of why some countries have almost no spread.
I can tell you with absolute certainty that this disease is not strongly underreported. Those blisters are huge, very painful and very visible. 
 
If you simply don’t have sex with anyone with blisters, your chance to get monkeypox go from absolutely neglible to theoretically possible in Thailand.
If you are still worried, get vaccinated. Several countries in the west have started vaccinating At risk groups. In France we get a lot of foreigners coming here for vaccination.

I have to admit fellas, I'm a little worried about this. I'm no hypochondriac, I never feared covid at all the last 3 years, I just don't get how this isn't ripping through the p4p scene in Thailand.  Specifically the gay p4p scene. I kinda have this gut feeling that it will explode and when it explodes you don't want to be there.  I'm pretty bummed about it, I'm finally gearing up for a trip after 3 years and at the very least it's going to make me super cautious, no more trawling the lower suhkumvit area drunk as a skunk and blowing 3 ladyboys in a 2 hour window. That's where the fun was.

I have never seen anyone carrying or displaying a Nazi flag in this country, much less "plenty of people" marching on the streets doing so. Oh sure, cable "news" networks love taking some tiny and extreme example of American life and depicting as typical, but that's because peddling bullshit sensationalism is their business. 
Anybody who does something as dumb as parading around as a Nazi either has his head bashed in by bystanders or ends up publicly identified, and then loses his job, is doxxed etc. It's a very unpleasant existence for Nazi or Confederacy enthusiasts after they out themselves and they deserve it. 
In a country of 320,000,000 people, of course there are some clowns who display offensive symbols or say offensive things. They are allowed to do that because of the first amendment of the US Constitution that guarantees freedom of speech. The first amendment also guarantees the right of other people to loudly oppose them, shout them down and that's exactly what happens in the case of Nazis and the like. That's the beauty of the first amendment. Anybody can say anything but nobody has the last word. 
 

9400 +Dengue cases this year in Thailand.
9500 road deaths in 2021
About 50 cases of Trichinosis a year
Seems a bit silly to worry about the 4 cases of monkeypox of which 2 were foreign nationals when you accept the risks above.
Context is everything. Only realistic preventure measure is to avoid contact with people who have blisters. I assume that goes without saying.
 

Presumably some factory owner in China thought swastikas would be a goid little earner in SEA and didn't really bother with research. Either that or maybe southern Laos is a hotspot for Nazi sympathisers.

Men having sex with men is the point of this forum. Looks like it'll be buyer beware for the foreseeable future.