Visa run

Now planning my winter break in the LoS, I am going to need one visa run in mid Feb.

- Where to?

Siam Reap is relatively easy. Although the flights aren't cheap, the timing avoids the need for a hotel in bangers - or travelling at ungodly hours. Visa on arrival also makes things simple.

But.. I've had my fill of Cambodia's rich but primitive culture. They breed some delightful guys, but those who work seem to taken advantage of ASEAN and decamped to Pattaya. On my last two visits I always woke alone, and not by choice..

But what are the alternatives? Laos is charming, in a French colonial way, but my one trip there suggested that the adult scene is so repressed that it trades in a dangerous gutter. I'm told that Vietnam is even worse.

Burma is a bit fussy on the visa front, but not impossibly so. It has been a very repressed country, and as it has opened up one hears of shortage propelling hotel room rates, but the words 'sex' and ' Burma' (let alone 'gay') never seem to feature in the same sentence..

Sri Lanka is tempting, but the flight timings are horrid. My distant recollection of the PI is of a country where one is constantly hustled, which I didn't like.

So back to Cambodia? Might PP be more fun..? Am I missing a trick in Siem Reap?? Hmm....

Saigon is a good alternative to Cambodia. Lots of guys online in gay apps. Much cheaper than Bangkok.

1. Air Asia now also serves SR-and as you know, they mostly do lower fares as budget. There is also the daily bus-direct even also possible (one still has to decamp at borderchecks).
2. Bali-also quite do-able with AA-though its rainy season then there and some areas full of ever screaming Ozzie pubescent girlies/sheilas. Malaysia-scene a bit hidden, but quite nice and much less pressured and commercial, or indeed the big VN cities. Though VN suffers out of those from the same Khmer syndrome: undeveloped, plus utter eager money grabbing people-even uch worse as the most notable Thai.

Hi,
There's a direct flight to KL from Vientiane, Air Asia is usually around $65 each way and depending on your nationality no visa to pay for in Malaysia and cheap food and hotels.
Cheers

Didn't shortlist Malaysia because of the islamic element - or am I judging too quickly?


Given that I feel too old to be using 'Apps' for finding guys - what's the scene like in KL? Are hotels 'guest friendly' Is it easy to pick up MBs? Can I get a drink...??

Hi,
I think you probably are...
Certainly in KL there are plenty of hotels that don't have a problem with guests, the apps are busy, and there must be bars around but I'm not really an expert on those so can't help. There does seem to me at least a lot of MB and also non MBs who are keen to have sex with westerners.
Drinking is easy and not a problem, it's available in most 7-11s and minimarts without the restrictive hours of Thailand and there are plenty of bars and restaurants around, especially the Bukit Bintang area. It's also good value.
Cheers

I can easily go a few days without boys, so gay scene is not important to me. But I detest having to apply for a visa, and therefore Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Taiwan come before Cambodia, Lao, Burma. (For German; for your nationality it may vary). My next visa run will be to Taiwan, even though flight and accommodation is more expensive, I appreciate that I can enter visa-free.

I'm pretty alergic to visas as
well, especially if it demands mailing off my passport or having to visit a Bangkok visa office before travelling. However, I hold a British passport, so I'd guess the rules are going to be the same as Germany..

Cambodia and Lao visas only demand a few minutes at the airport when you arrive, so no big deal. I was under the impression that Vietnam was more awkward though, although I didn't get very far down that route before a couple of recent visitors deterred me with tales of unfriendly attitudes toward tourists, and intolerance toward gays and commercial sex in general..

I keep wondering whether I've been missing a trick in Siem Reap. The boys who used to populate the Linga bar may have gone to Pattaya, but what about the tuk tuk drivers who wait patiently outside the Men's hotel? They seem quite content to earn a couple of dollars running guests into the town centre, but if I plucked up the courage and asked one to find me a boy - where would I be taken??

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Old git

I keep wondering whether I've been missing a trick in Siem Reap.

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Yes indeed.

Pray elaborate.. ;-)

The scene in KL is not that great. I was under the impression that the Bukit Bintang area was lined with MBs but I did not find that to be the case at all. And I gave up on the Otot-otot sauna as they don't seem to practise safe sex at all.

I got all the action I wanted in the gay massage places in Siem Reap and Phnom Pehn. The bars are a waste of time if you're looking to find a "partner" but in themselves, they are great for a drink and a bit of entertainment.

@A447 - can I ask did you use any of the usual gay apps when in the Bukit Bintang area ??

I can only tell you that I did and they didn't stop the whole time I was there and I'd (quite :-) a few fun encounters whilst there and nearly all down to the apps mainly.

There were several other interesting possibilities that popped up online and in the "str8" massage place of all places, plus in the main shopping mall cafe / ground floor bar area as well, plus blue boy bar of course - but as it was fairly grimy and fairly early there and so a bit dead I didn't hang around too much there.

Yeah, I did look on the apps but didn't find anyone suitable. And being a shopaholic I spent a lot of time in the big shopping malls -once I got over my fear of terrorism - but didn't see anyone looking for a hook-up. (But I did see lots of nice things to buy!)

There's no getting past it - when it comes to MB nowhere comes close to Thailand.

a447 wrote.
"There's no getting past it - when it comes to MB nowhere comes close to Thailand."

That is 100% correct. And it doesn't matter which place I've been on holiday in recent years, . HK, Cambodia, Japan or Vietnam. At some point I thought,,,mmm, I wish I was in Thailand instead.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by a447

There's no getting past it - when it comes to MB nowhere comes close to Thailand.

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I agree 100%. I'm in Kuala Lumpur now and the availability and quality of MB appear to be on the low side. And forget about go go and host bars - no such thing. The people are friendly, English is widely spoken, the food is interesting and cheap and it's pretty safe and easy to get around. An OK place to visit for the average tourist interested in shopping and sightseeing. Not recommended for the sex tourist.

Outside of Thailand, the easiest places I have found for getting some cute lad back to the hotel are Phnom Penh & Penang.
Siem Reap used to be good, but I think they have all moved to Pattaya.

In this day & age, using the correct phone app for the destination matters.


I get the impression sex is by far the top priority, rather than going somewhere nice. Another way is to go somewhere nice and get around the other problem by:
1 Flying a boy in with you
2 Over indulging in Thailand & making a short overseas trip to rest for a couple of nights
3 Making do with massage for a couple of nights

Gomez Place in Colombo Sri Lanka is ok with nice staff and a few visiting massage boys. But don’t do what I did - tell the locals on the beach where I was staying. I was treated like a leper from then on.
Siem R is ok but there’s more action in 2 bars in Jomtien than all of Cambodia. They do things in Jomtien that they would never do at home. Saigon is great if you’re into female prostitutes in their hundreds.
Laos is a beautiful country filled with millions of unexploded US ordnance and friendly people and commie leaders that don’t know that gayness is probably an addiction and not a crime.
I can’t comment on Myanmar but it looks a bit undercooked as yet.
Yep. NO PLACE is like Thailand except maybe in the Latinosphere.