george1515

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. 

We stopped vaccinating for smallpox in the west 50 years ago because the disease was erradicated.
Lesser developed countries stopped vaccinating much later than the west.
In Thailand I have seen quite a few younger people with the typical smallpox vaccine scar.
This vaccine works a lifetime and should at least strongly protect against monkeypox.

Ergo.
1. If you are older and still got this vaccine, you really should not worry at all.
2. If (I have no info how many younger people Thailand are innoculated) a decent amount of sexworkers/civilians in Thailand got innoculated, chance of getting infected is very very low when mongering.

As far as I know, Thailand has gotten very few monkeypox cases. Seeing this disease is pretty visible, I don't think there has been a huge underreported outbreak. I read they have 4 cases of which 2 are foreign nationals.

If you come into contact with someone who has obvious blisters, go to the hospital and get vaccinated. The vaccines tend to still have effect when taken after the moment of (possible) infection.

This looking like a nasty little forker. Certainly worthy of conversation considering it’s preference of spreading.

At the time I booked, I looked at them all, 
non-stop and 1 stop.
Some 1 stop flights were cheaper but over 30 hours to get there, so that wasn't going to happen.
And some while looking cheaper when you went into the booking it was for carry-on baggage only, so by the time you added checked baggage and seat selection that wasn't going to happen.
Then a lot of flights got ignored due to flight take-off and landing times being no good for my personal situation. 
So my booking with Cathay ticks most of my boxes, good take-off and landing times both ways, seat selection was free, I also have hand luggage and 2 checked baggage of 23 kg which is a surprise. 
At the time of booking it was £750. Price now for the same dates and ticket, £920. I booked at the right time it seems.

A new hotel on Sukhumvit Soi 11, the place looks quite nice. They opened this month, and have some great deals for people coming in the next month or two.
BTW, in response to an email query, they indicate that they are guest-friendly, asking only that guests leave ID at the front desk.
https://www.airahotelbangkok.com

Fair question,and gets asked a lot.
How far will I have to walk back at the end of the night?
I always recommend to watch this Youtuber's vids. on the Sukhumvit sois . You can see the real distance you'll have to walk from Sukhumvit to your hotel in real life.
Soi 29 on this vid:
Soi 11:
 

Not sure where you consider “Sukhumvit area” but if you take the BTS to Chit Lom and go to CentralWorld there’s an OWNDAYS store there. Glasses are very cheap but excellent, they’ll do a free eye test and they’re ready to pick up in half an hour.
Would absolutely recommend. 

I lived in an apartment building on Soi 10 several winters ago about ten minutes walk from CIB and this was before CIB relocated there. The only place in that area near CIB was Lollipops. Further down the Soi, there is nothing going on and just a few small hotels and one or two restaurants near the beginning on the Soi. It’s only advantage is its proximity to the parks at end of Soi. Unfortunately, the cool venue in Chavit Park closed after Covid and it’s now slated for a large condo and commercial space, which is oh so sorely needed in Bangkok…
At least the location is discrete for punters. Unlikely, you will run into anyone you know there unless they are in the area for the same reason. 

We get it

My room did have a full length mirror placed next to the desk. I didn’t mind it at all as I was able to ogle Ice (ex CIB) from all angles thanks to its placement in the room.

No swimming pool to relax during the day sadly. Ibis on Soi 4 does have a rooftop pool and is closer to the action.

Well, I used my credit. 
My booking used all of the £560 and had to top it up by £176.
But prices now are much higher so happy with that.
At least the credit is used. See how this flight goes and who knows, I might use them again.

All I know is if they fly it out of LAX, it's guaranteed to arrive late at its destination even if it flies at the speed of light. 

Agree with Taas and Ropey.
White Temple is spectacular esthetically but hollow spiritually. 
 
Would it be possible to get a taxi straight from the airport to temple and then back to the airport? Yes, half an hour max between Chiang Rai airport and White Temple.
How many hours would i need? 1 Hour taxi + 1 Hour visit max. 
If there are other things that are a must to see or do while in Chiang Rai . Maybe im missing something else?  
1 day you have time to visit the Black Temple : Baan Dam Museum. Unconventional, weird and touristic too.

And then you'll be able to spend some time in Chiang Rai. There was a cats bar, very nice, last time I visited.
 
The Gold Triangle and its opium museums is about 60 kms/1 hour drive away from Chiang Rai.
You can do all that in a day if you are well organized.
Many flights to come back to Bangkok in the evening and go straight to CIB or Why Not for a quiet night with Angels to end this spiritual day in a good note.  
 
chiang-rai-thailand-november-05-2014-baan-dam-museum-interior_78361-6310.webp