What I've learned from my last holiday in Thailand.

[bucknaway]

My last holiday in Thailand only lasted about 11 days, but I spent nearly as much as I did when I stayed in Thailand for 3 weeks, less the costs associated with accommodations. I spent with a certain level of abandon. I tipped those I liked when no tip was called for which earned me a gift of a rose from a gogo boy I flirted with one night. I did little shopping but a lot of spending or money gifting. I gave one guy my old I-Phone, you would think that would be enough? No, I had to give him 1,500 baht to have the phone factory unlocked as well. Another guy wanted to "Borrow" a few thousand baht to pay for his room. Sure... A loan.... I gave him the loan and considered it a gift knowing I would never get it back, but I didn't tell him that because I wanted to see if he offered to pay it back. You guessed it, he didn't.... but I only saw him once more and then after that, I avoided him and ignored all the notes he left under my hotel room door. He seem to always be around... Before I left my hotel room, just to be sure he was not in the lobby, I turned the TV to the station showing the hotel lobby so I could be sure he was not there waiting for me. I had to do that because I was about to go out and I got a call from a friend telling me that the guy I was avoiding was in the hotel lobby. I know I will see him when I return, he works at a hotel I like to stay at. Note to self, stop having sex with the hotel staff.

Another waste of my money, but was something I enjoyed a lot -- Bar Hopping! Going from bar to bar was a major source of my spending. Not only for the drinks I purchased, but I often had a guy sit with me so I had to buy him a drink and tip him and once the check came I had to leave a tip in the folder once my tab was paid. Once done, I was off to the next bar to do it all again. Another drink, another mamasan asking for a drink, another gogo guy sitting with me and me buying them a drink, another check-bin arriving with me tipping the waiter, gogo boy and paying for the drinks and then I am off to do it again at another bar!

Once I was done all my bar hopping, I would buy some food and begin to make my way back to my room. Once I am back in my room, if I have not called a friend to come visit me for some fun, or hired a friend to come for some paid fun, or found a match on one of the apps, I may log on the PC and meet-up with a guy online with them either coming to me or me going to their room. I am a person that prefers to end my day with sex. I enjoy sex at night or in the early morning. If I have an orgasm in the middle of the day or at night before I go out, I will loose interest in being active and social and may just stay in my room and be content to just watch TV or work on my computer.

So this August when I return, I plan to have a plan.

#1 Have a plan for the night.... Before I go out I want to know what my objective is. If I want to see a show, then I will pick 1 or 2 bars and see their show. If I also want to flirt with a gogo guy I will stay at the bar I saw the show at and flirt there.

#2 Try to focus. Instead of trying to do everything every night jumping from bar to bar to walking street to boyztown to sunee plaza to Jomtien Complex, focus on an area and set a budget.

#3 Take time to smell the roses. I hope to stop being in a hurry to enjoy a "Gay Holiday". I hope to do some sight seeing with either a tour guide or one of the locals and not put all my focus on the Saunas, Bars, Apps, Discos and such and get out and explore the area and discover things I have not seen before on previous visits to Thailand.

#4 Don't throw money around. Thailand seems to be a place where I tend to forget the value of a US Dollar. Maybe it is because a 100 Baht note is so deceiving to my mind just like the 20 baht note is. I keep forgetting that 20 baht is closer to $1 USD. At home I don't waste money but in Thailand I have a habit of being less respectful to the money I've earned. Sure, others will tell you to spend and be dammed. Let them spend their money without care... I'm going to get back to spending wisely and responsibly.

[LoveThailand]

Dear Buck -
I think some planning/rationalizing is ok - but looking back: did you not enjoy the go with the flow time you had on your holiday? I think one of the attractions of a holiday in Thailand for me is that it is still very affordable and that there are so many options - both in terms of erotic pursuits and regular touristy stuff. So I tend to behave exactly in the same pattern.
That said - at some point I also felt a need to explore more of the places I went to - other than the bars, the saunas etc. Shamefully I saw the temples of BKK and the Grand Palace only on my 4th visit!
For my next trip (some time this fall) - I am thinking about a week on the sea shore - some nice beach but also with a gay scene and not too far from BKK where I want to spend the rest of my vacation. PTY does not seem an option - I am looking for a nicer beach. Been thinking about Hua Hin. Any advise from those who have visited HH?
Thanks.

[lego]

Now you've confused me.

Firstly, there's your "10 Days - Minus $2,000 USD" thread already, and here you're more or less just talking about the same, albeit in more detail.

Secondly, in that other thread, you mentioned (heck, even in the thread title) that you spent a grand total of $2k. If that isn't "spending responsibly", then what amount do you consider reasonable instead? And just to put things into perspective, did that figure include accommodation, or had you prepaid for that at home, like for your flights?

Thirdly, I'm really surprised that you paid 1,500 baht to have an old iPhone unlocked. From all the expenditures you've mentioned, that's the one that would bug me the most. I'm not that surprised that you as a tourist fell for such a ridiculous amount, but the boy you've gifted the phone to could and should have secured a better price for that service. Or maybe he did.

[bucknaway]

I don't care if a new thread is close to that of another thread that was posted. One thread was about money totals and this one is about what I've learned from that trip.

Yes, I did enjoy myself and I am sure I will enjoy my return trip but it needs more structure and more planning.

I know this is a short reply but I just woke up, I'm still in bed and I have to shower, make breakfast, get dressed and get to work... Sigh

[goji]

I'm not surprised the guy tried to keep meeting you, after you gave him several thousand baht to pay for his room.

Such generosity will encourage these problems. Just figure out what the going rate is and pay that, nothing more.

[bucknaway]

It was not an off, he worked the desk of the hotel I stayed at

[daf4]

what hotel????????????????

[bucknaway]

I won't say which hotel. I don't want to cause him problems because I like to run my mouth on a message board. :ymsigh:

[latintopxxx]

nice u got to fuck with hotel staff....love it when they stray outside their job decription.

[joe552]

I thought the point was they didn't get together = buckie just gave the guy the money to see if he'd get it back. I could be wrong. bucky you need to clarify. did you fuck with the boy (hotel staff) that you gave the money to?

[bucknaway]

I had met the guy (Hotel Worker) when he was first hired at the hotel and though he was hot. I also didn't think anything would happen between the two of us. Last year I always was happy to see him at work but he was shy and nothing but professional with me. This year he was a changed man. When I checked in he remembered me and we exchanged numbers. We did get to spend the night together and that is when I learned that we were not a good sexual match. Sex was fun but not the fun I was looking for.

He left my hotel room before the shift change to avoid any problems after explaining to me that he was taking a risk being in the room with a guest. Before I checkout out, he returned to the room and that is when he asked for a loan to pay for his room.

[joe552]

so you paid the guy for sex. what a surprise. from you original description I had assume you'd given him his rent money as some kind of social experiment. btw this ain't a criticism in any way. we all do it - and dress it up differently (except latin of course

[bucknaway]

It was not a sex payment in the original sense. We had sex and he left the room in the early morning before the night ended. Later that morning I was meeting up with friends to go to Pattaya and they were coming to my room for us all to meet the Taxi I booked. My Thai Hotel friend was back on Duty at the desk and he called my room to say hi. I reminded him I was going to Pattaya and he asked if he can come to my room. I said yes and he told me that he would ask a favor of me and I had an Idea where this was going.

My friend was in the room when the Thai guy came to my room. He was quiet and shy and only spoke in whispers to me. That is when he reminded me that he needed a favor. I asked what it was and he told me he needed help with his room and wanted to know if I would loan him the money. He promised to pay it back when I return. I asked how much and he whispered it to me and I handed him the money. He went back to resting his head on my shoulder and asking when I come back and where will I stay. After a while he left the room telling me he had to get back to work.

Was it a sex payment? It was what it was.

[lego]

Okay, to rephrase what Joe has written, you had sex with him and then he felt brave enough to ask you for money a couple of days later.

And let me add: Probably by sheer coincidence. Duh.

Nothing wrong with that. What would really drive me nuts is the iPhone thingy. The cheek of someone who just got a free (if used) iPhone to ask for an additional 1,500 baht to have it unlocked... that really only works with very naive tourists and with fools in love.

[latintopxxx]

relax lego, I'm sure bucky is aware that the comapny he rents for his entertainment is not in love with him but with his moeny. I'm certainly aware and make that the money boys are also by the way I treat them.

[bucknaway]

I won't tell you that , that was the 2nd iphone I gave him...... And I knew I was going to give it to him when I no longer needed it.

[lego]

I won't tell you that , that was the 2nd iphone I gave him...... And I knew I was going to give it to him when I no longer needed it.
Okay, so it's true love. :x

[bucknaway]

No, there is no love but I do understand him. He is only interested in the material things he can get from me. I am interested in occasional sex and the fun of our game of cat and mouse with my money. I often tell him no to his requests and mean it when I say it. When I first met him he was having fun spending my money at a Thai bar outside of the city of Bangkok. Once he reached the spending limit I had set in my mind for the night I told him that was it for my spending money and I wanted to go. He wanted to stay a little longer and walked to the back and asked me to wait. I waited a minute or two and walked out the front and saw him outside talking to the bar manager. He said something to me as I walked past them. I stuck out my hand and got in a passing taxi and passed them again as the taxi took me back to my hotel. For the rest of that trip I told him to go to hell and to leave me alone. I refused to talk to him until I returned on another vacation to Thailand.

So we have now been "Friends" for 5 to 6 years and we still have sex once or twice during my visit. He knows I want to meet other guys so he does not stick around. If I need any assistance, guidance, translation or information he provides that for me. I in turn give him money and gifts from time to time.

Love? No.

Convenience? Yeah.

OK so you rent not buy? Or is time share a better way to describe it?

[bucknaway]

It is what it is hahaha