My Isaan adventure

[frequent]

And that's not to mention the dancing:

There's plenty more on Youtube if you're really interested

[frequent]

Sweet isn't he?
DancingBoy.jpg

Moses: Not sure why this attachment isn't showing

He's a dancer in one of the famous Isaan entertainment troupes. You can see an example in the link Smiles posted, or here:


He performed at the village we visited on the Saturday, before the rocket festival (I said I'd be reporting events backwards, timewise). The concert is apparently less a concert, more an opera, and like Kabuki or the Peking Opera it's a set of traditional moves and often tunes, with the story (in Isaan) being made up according to the whim of the promoter and lasting all through that year's performances (I'm just reporting what I was told)

You're much more interested in the boy (I can tell). He's 18 and yes, if you do one of christian's favourite Internet moves to find the origin of the picture (I didn't take it myself) - the Back 3 1/2 Somersaults in the Tuck Position reverse image search - you'll find him on one of the "dating" ie. let's meet up for a fuck Apps

I'm told someone like him earns 300 baht a performance, performs around 160 times a year, takes the Buddhist Lent off to go and work in the family fields, and rarely goes anywhere near Bangkok. And by "performance" I mean the solid nine hours of the concert we attended somewhere west of Sisaket on Saturday night (I said I was very tired Sunday night after the rocket festival). On top of the 300 baht it's "all found" which in his case is meals and the chance to sleep in the bus as the troupe moves from village to village and town to town

OK, if you've reached this far ... he doesn't speak or write English so bad luck to most of you, and as for the rest he's "sticky rice" so that's pretty much everyone else ruled out

[frequent]

If you want to go to Isaan there are boys everywhere on the Apps and they're lining up to talk to Westerners - even the old and infirm among us. I'd guess that they're mostly not interested in money - I was certainly never asked. In fact one guy had as the notes to his account in English "I don't want money I just want fat old man". However, be prepared for those who might want you but neither speak nor write English, and those who don't want you because you're not Thai. However, that's also true in Bangkok

The Apps even had locals online in villages quite remote from the major centres (who contacted me without prompting) - the concert we attended was in a quite distant village but there were roughly a dozen boys online, and the concert itself was attended by scores of lady boys and gay boys all dancing to the music

I'm a big city guy so it wouldn't do for me, but if you're desperate for a rural idyll there are places in Isaan you could settle down. I'm not sure how you'd fill in your day or who you'd talk to, but it's a possibility I guess. I encountered Westerners all over Isaan - a memorable couple of deadbeats and the Thai wife of one of them in a Tesco Lotus between Sisaket and Yasothon, for example

[frequent]

Who were "we" then? A bunch of gay Thais and me, travelling as the guests of a Thai who'd done well for himself overseas and invited us along for the ride. Included were a couple of lady boys, whether pre- or post-op I did not enquire. Since we were all guests I did not once put my hand in my pocket to pay - food, entertainment, petrol was all taken care off for 4 days by a Thai

Those who complain about being treated as "a walking ATM" by and large don't understand the rigid nature of Thai society nor its social norms. Every Thai family relationship is carefully defined, so that word for the son of my father's older brother is different to that for the son of my father's younger brother or my mother's older brother. How do foreigners fit in? They don't - there is no defined role for them. However there is a role in Thai society for "the Big Man" - the patron, the godfather. Everyone seeks such a person to do favours for them - one reason why corruption is so pervasive. If you trust no-one except your family (the norm in Asian societies) you look for "facilitators" who through their personal networks can find you such a patron. Enter the foreigner. The only role he can have is patron - the "walking ATM"

Our host on my Isaan adventure played the Big Man to our motley crew for a few days

The downside of the trip? The katoey who spent every waking moment primping and preening for a never-ending sequence of selfies. Every meal was Instagrammed. Facebook was her constant companion

When I first came to Thailand an old Westerner once said to me "You can keep a Thai boy entertained for hours - just buy him a full-length mirror." The need for a mirror has almost gone; the "selfie" has replaced it. The sentiment however is still the same

[cdnmatt]

Yeah, living in Issan is fine, especially if you're in a city, or at least on the outskirts of one. I don't think I could ever do village life though, or actually I know I couldn't. Leo keeps trying to convince me we should move to his village is Laos, and sorry honey, but not a chance in hell.

In the village, you would be viewed as an alient, and would probably be hounded day-in day-out to buy things for people, such as food, Pepsi, beer, laos khao, etc. Plus depending on the village you end up in, you may have to constantly listen to red neck rice farmers talk shit about you behind your back, or actually right to your face but they just speak in Laos / Issan so you don't understand.

As for apps, back when I used them I found same as you. I found finding young and cute money boys was a little diffcult though. If I'm going to pay for sex, I want top grade 20 year old ass.

Was really easy finding 28+ year olds for free sex though, and some were a little too forward for my liking, but that's just me. Then seemed like a lot of genuinely great guys out there, many who are just looking for a friend or BF.

But yeah, Issan is totally fine to live in. I'm not right in the city, but it's only about a 20 minute songtaew ride away. It's nice, peaceful and communal living where I am, and 95% of what we need for daily life is available in walking distance. Then for everything else, the city is just down the street, and has everything we could possibly need available in it. Well, except Cumin. The cunts discontinued it about 2 years ago, and still haven't brought it back.

One good advantage is rent is cheap here. I only pay 12,000 baht/month for a nice 3bdrm, 2 bath furnished house with large gated yard, and 4 A/Cs. I'd be lucky to get a half decent studio apartment in Bangkok for that.

[Oliver]

Frequent; may we have some more photos, please?

[Smiles]

" ... rent is cheap here. I only pay 12,000 baht/month for a nice 3bdrm, 2 bath furnished house with large gated yard, and 4 A/Cs. I'd be lucky to get a half decent studio apartment in Bangkok for that."

12 thou anywhere in Isaan will get you a semi-mansion. Lots of walls and 45 degree turns to make. Must be a bitch to be blind as a bat. Right?
Do you stub you're toes (in Poughkeepsie) on the big-puppy king bed? I'll bet you do.

[cdnmatt]

No, but I do wander around saying "watch your bum!" all the time, so I don't accidentally kick one of the dogs, because unlike the walls and furniture, they keep changing places.

Also, quit being such a smug asshole. Very un-Canadian of you.

[frequent]

Frequent; may we have some more photos, please?

Much as I would like to oblige, Oliver, not only don't I take many photos but they most often include the faces of people who'd rather not have their mug shots plastered all over a family-oriented, clean-living site like SGT. I value everyone's privacy and I doubt I'd get their informed consent if I asked for it. After all - as I routinely remark - I only ever log onto SGT by way of a VPN (which has never stopped Surfcrest asserting and publishing where he thinks I am or am not from time to time) and I will always use a VPN while living under a military dictatorship. I even deliberately obscure when and where I am most of the time; as you can see I've been deliberately vague about where I was at any given time apart from in Yasothon for a public event on a specific day

[Oliver]

Fair enough....but thanks for Isaan - and Luang Prabang.