Which apps are the most effective for the boys at this time?

[topjohn5]

I generally use Grindr everywhere, and Romeo used to be good in Thailand, but I'm not sure if that's true now. Is it?
Blued has been good...is it still?
Are there some good ones I'm missing?

[vnman]

Hornet

[christianpfc]

If I had to choose one app out of Blued, Grindr, Hornet, Romeo for SEAsia, it would be Blued.

[goji]

If I had to choose one app out of Blued, Grindr, Hornet, Romeo for SEAsia, it would be Blued.

For SE Asia, I agree, since Blued seems popular in Northern Thailand, Myanmar and Cambodia. However, I don't need Blued in Bangkok or Pattaya.

I use Grindr a lot in Bangkok and Pattaya. Firstly, a little cleaning up is required by blocking all the lady boys and anyone else defacing the screen. This app has unlimited numbers of blocks. Then sort through who remains. I like this. Grindr does have a problem with spammers, but it's only a problem when I am in England not Thailand. I e-mailed the Grindr directors about the spam and they are full of excuses, which explains why they have a problem. Companies that don't make excuses manage to fix such problems. However, it's still a good app for use in Bangkok and Pattaya.

Amazingly, Hornet is still popular in Thailand. Where I live in England, this app used to be popular, but now has fewer than 5% of the people compared with Grindr. This decline is almost certainly due to the intrusive adverts that hang around for 30 seconds or more and insist on opening a browser window, followed by the Google play store. Why people still use it in Thailand, I have no idea. Hornet deserve to fail.

Planet Romeo. Still popular in Bangkok and Pattaya, but less than Grindr or Hornet. Good free functions, but only 50 blocks allowed. Ideally, everyone would desert Hornet and move here.

General: Search with and without age limits, as some boys forget to show their age.

[Moses]

Hornet + Blued.

Grindr looks useless for me.

[Nirish guy]

The two Apps on my phone which continually get me best success with the boys I find are .....Monzo and Santander ! lol

[vnman]

Amazingly, Hornet is still popular in Thailand. Where I live in England, this app used to be popular, but now has fewer than 5% of the people compared with Grindr. This decline is almost certainly due to the intrusive adverts that hang around for 30 seconds or more and insist on opening a browser window, followed by the Google play store. Why people still use it in Thailand, I have no idea. Hornet deserve to fail.


Indeed!

I was asking myself the same thing. Making your app better by offering incentives for paying customers is a far better idea than annoying those who are not.

[StevieWonders]

One problem that's not readily obvious is that Grindr has an American Puritan approach to profiles although there's some "realism" exercised in Thailand. In 1st World countries Grindr will remove any obvious reference to commercial sex in a profile especially if another member complains about it

[goji]

Read the warnings, but the numbers under 27, showing online at 2km or less in Pattaya were:
Hornet 75
Grindr 49
Romeo 3
Blued 10

However, I have blocked a lot of profiles on Grindr. Mostly Ladyboys, plus a few no hopers. I'd imagine true numbers might be close to Hornet.
The interpretation of 2 km varies. A lad showing at 2km on Grindr is 2.5km on Romeo.
I imagine the definition of "online now" varies, but cannot confirm that. On Grindr, people seem to quickly switch from online to offline and back again. Nothing stops an app having a more flexible interpretation of "online now".

[vnman]

One problem that's not readily obvious is that Grindr has an American Puritan approach to profiles although there's some "realism" exercised in Thailand. In 1st World countries Grindr will remove any obvious reference to commercial sex in a profile especially if another member complains about it

I never noticed this, to be honest. I'll pay attention to that.



Read the warnings, but the numbers under 27, showing online at 2km or less in Pattaya were:
Hornet 75
Grindr 49
Romeo 3
Blued 10

However, I have blocked a lot of profiles on Grindr. Mostly Ladyboys, plus a few no hopers. I'd imagine true numbers might be close to Hornet.
The interpretation of 2 km varies. A lad showing at 2km on Grindr is 2.5km on Romeo.
I imagine the definition of "online now" varies, but cannot confirm that. On Grindr, people seem to quickly switch from online to offline and back again. Nothing stops an app having a more flexible interpretation of "online now".

Good idea!

I'm very surprised about Romeo. They seem to have the app that is least restrictive when it comes to the free version. Does anyone have a theory about that?

[goji]

I'm very surprised about Romeo. They seem to have the app that is least restrictive when it comes to the free version. Does anyone have a theory about that?

My theory, or more accurately, my hypothesis, is that Romeo were too slow to move from PC to phones and lost a lot of turf at that stage.
They also have a slight disadvantage that if doing a pure sort by distance, it shows people who were last logged in about 3 months ago. The activity page is better, but not ideal.

In an ideal world everyone in Thailand would tell Hornet to stick their Crypto.com ads up their arse and migrate en masse to Romeo.

[arsenal]

Blued is pretty good.
Shows distance.
Not a bad translation facility.
Worldwide search function.
Can choose to only display a certain demographic. Mine is set to remove anyone over the age of 26.
When you block someone you disappear from their search so they can't find you.
It allows multiple profiles, this does mean that MBs can have 3 profiles on screen at the same time, each with a slightly different photo.
Can choose to send photos that disappear after 5 seconds.
Also a tad puritanical but not too much.

[vnman]

Blued is pretty good.
Shows distance.
Not a bad translation facility.
Worldwide search function.
Can choose to only display a certain demographic. Mine is set to remove anyone over the age of 26.
When you block someone you disappear from their search so they can't find you.
It allows multiple profiles, this does mean that MBs can have 3 profiles on screen at the same time, each with a slightly different photo.
Can choose to send photos that disappear after 5 seconds.
Also a tad puritanical but not too much.

On Blued you could always see how deceptive photoshopped pictures actually are. You could see the pictures of boys that were streaming live, and the difference between the picture and what you would see live, was often very shocking.

[Dodger]

In an ideal world everyone in Thailand would tell Hornet to stick their Crypto.com ads up their arse and migrate en masse to Romeo.

In a real world, people would toss those smartphones in the garbage and migrate back to LIFE where the real action is.

What ever happened to the thrill-of-the-chase - or the rush of excitement when you meet someone special spontaneously at a market... food stall...shopping mall...or just strolling along a beach?

You used to be able to walk in a host bar and be greeted by enthusiastic boys with welcoming smiles who were totally focused on showing you a good time with asperations of hooking up. You were made to feel special. Like you really mattered. After the advent of the smart phone, the only thing the boys want to be hooked up with is their Facebook account....Twitter...dating apps... line calls, etc. And when they do lift their heads for a breath of air it's only to snap a selfie to send to someone else in their cyberworld. Customers have simply become inanimate objects - outside of the sphere they're existence - serving only as a distraction.

All said, I owe a debt of gratitude to Planet Romeo, because that's how my partner and I hooked up years ago. I used to enjoy surfing Romeo, and other dating sites, when I was back working in the U.S. just to feel connected and chat with some of the honies to help pass time until I could return to Oz again. But once I returned, it was all about LIFE...and I never once carried a smartphone or even lifted the lid of a laptop.

Cruising the apps and using dial-a-date will probably be necessary until things reopen over here, especially for those who only have a few weeks to holiday, but even then, if you want to meet a boy, you can...but only if your eyes are focused parallel with the planet - and not straight down into a plastic screen.

[arsenal]

"You used to be able to walk in a host bar and be greeted by enthusiastic boys with welcoming smiles who were totally focused on showing you a good time with asperations of hooking up. You were made to feel special. Like you really mattered."

Zac's place is exactly that. Maybe that's why his bar is always full. Nice Boys too actually..

[Armando]

I have not heard of gaydar for years and wonder if it still operates. It used to be great, especially if travelling outside Thailand. Met a lot of really nice guys in Singapore, Hong Kong, Taipei and Tokyo between 10 and 15 years ago.

[Dodger]

.

Zac's place is exactly that. Maybe that's why his bar is always full. Nice Boys too actually..

Memories Bar used to ban the boys from even taking there smartphone out of their pockets when there was a customer in the Bar. They were always filled to the max with customers as a result.

[a447]

Memories Bar used to ban the boys from even taking there smartphone out of their pockets when there was a customer in the Bar. They were always filled to the max with customers as a result.

Eros did the same thing. Boys were fired if they were on their phones.

[christianpfc]

What ever happened to the thrill-of-the-chase - or the rush of excitement when you meet someone special spontaneously at a market... food stall...shopping mall...or just strolling along a beach?
But the chance he is gay is in the low single digit percents.
Let's say 2%, which means gay online dating removes the remaining 98%.
Or increases my chances 50-fold, or give same results by spending 1/50th of the time.

[Brad the Impala]

But the chance he is gay is in the low single digit percents.
Let's say 2%, which means gay online dating removes the remaining 98%.
Or increases my chances 50-fold, or give same results by spending 1/50th of the time.

That only holds if you believe that no "straight" man would have sex with you. And in some countries, especially Thailand, we know that isn't true.

[Dodger]

But the chance he is gay is in the low single digit percents.

I understand where you're coming from, but not sure I agree with these odds, especially in Thailand.

If I go to a market, shopping mall, beach, or other public place, and spot a cute guy who returns the type of smile I just sent him, the odds of him being at least bi-curious, if not bi or gay, are pretty favorable.

Another point to consider is that a fairly high percentage of working boys in Thailand are str8-for-pay, which includes those dial-a-date guys on the apps - regardless of what they say in their profiles. You really have to trust your instincts.

There's no doubt that your chances of having sex with a guy who's selling sexual services on dial-a-date are much higher than with a guy you just met at a department store, but if you rule out these types of opportunities and only interact with on-line money-boys, you'll never know what you're missing.

One of the HOTTEST sexual encounters I can recall was with a guy I bumped into at a food stand at Pattaya Park once. He was married and straight as an arrow...to Brad's point.

[arsenal]

And. One can gently proposition any boy in Thailand and while there's a good chance he'll decline your immoral and nefarious advances but he's not going to bash you in.

[goji]

If I go to a market, shopping mall, beach, or other public place, and spot a cute guy who returns the type of smile I just sent him, the odds of him being at least bi-curious, if not bi or gay, are pretty favorable.

This is correct, as is Christian's probability based decision making.

However, since we are often on holiday or retired, there may be plenty of time to waste on the chase.
I agree that if a lad returns a smile, it's a good start. Unfortunately, due to COVID restrictions, we're all wearing masks, so he might not even see the smile. I walked past one hairdresser yesterday and didn't get any reaction at all. Now he's probably not interested, but with my facemask, sunglasses and hat, I also doubt there was much chance of him noticing my interest.
Since my hair was cut recently, it definitely was a time to consider the probabilities and decide that getting an unnecessary haircut wasn't worth it.

Due to the phones, it's several years since I actually met someone on the street and ended up in bed with him. Silom Complex was a good place to meet them.

Online dating also needs some care. I get good results, but am wary of people using old or enhanced photos. Only yesterday, I was chatting to one who was 28 and had clearly turned the dial up to 11 on the skin smoothing app. Pasty white skin with no texture at all. Not a focus issue, since the lips were textured.
Now the actual face pic might look fine, but since I know of examples where the photoshopping has turned a pigs ear into a silk purse, I like to be careful.
Being in a diplomatic mood, I said "your skin is very smooth" and before making a more direct request for an unmodified photo, a date had been arranged with another lad.

One way around this is to match up Grindr profiles with people I see on the street or in the bars. Again, this is made more difficult by face masks.

Has anyone here successfully cruised a lad where it is compulsory to wear a face mask ?

[Dodger]

Has anyone here successfully cruised a lad where it is compulsory to wear a face mask ?

Unless you wear a clear face mask, or, cut a slit in your mask so you can wag your tongue at him - cruising may be a bit difficult...LOL

Beaches, swimming pools, restaurants, etc., where masks aren't required would probably work best.

[Dodger]

Better yet...

[christianpfc]

That only holds if you believe that no "straight" man would have sex with you. And in some countries, especially Thailand, we know that isn't true.

I tried many times, in Thailand as well as in Cambodia, wasted a lot of time and money but got nowhere.

The few I could recruit for gay activities for remuneration turned out to be duds.

[Dodger]

I tried many times, in Thailand as well as in Cambodia, wasted a lot of time and money but got nowhere.

The few I could recruit for gay activities for remuneration turned out to be duds.

I usually prefer being in the top role - but whenever I was coupled with a str8 boy I always let him do what he was best at. I honestly can't recall ever being disappointed.