My flesh trips have become less frequent during the past couple of years because of enhanced seniority (old age), but every so often the need arises. I tried booking at the deArni but they were full up with Asian tourists, as was the Tawana. I would have booked at Le Meridien even with their 500 Baht per diem wifi charge, but their windows do not open and I refuse to be in a room where I have to inhale my own second hand smoke. So, it was back to the Tarntawan, where I can open the windows, and where I was assured that my seventh floor Suriwongse room had been refurbished only five years ago, though there are now multiple cigarette burns on the carpet (in addition to numerous stains) and burns on the table (table and chairs the same since my first visit in 1998), and where the bathroom fittings must now be at least 20 years old. (Do be careful about the very slippery bathtub. One night I suddenly found myself flat on my back with the shower blasting my face.)

By the way, if youтАЩre in room 710 and looking for the Thai-English New Testament provided by the Gideons, it is not actually in the room. A former guest objected to its presence and tossed it on the ledge outside the room.

In the past, I could always make calls in Thailand using my Vietnamese 3G sim card. Now I understand that one needs to register these sims, or actually, was supposed to register any 3G sim before 01 January. So, out to the Seven to get a Thai sim.

Mostly Asian tourists crowding the Suriwongse area and it does look like high season. I canтАЩt speak on the Soi Twilight go-go bars as I no longer use them. From one who does know: Dreamboys was taking in at least 300,000 Baht per night from Christmas to New Year, but before that it was quiet. Their peak season drink price was 500 Baht, now down to 450 per drink. Off still 650, boy drink 450.

My first night I almost went to Silom Soi 8 to check out a massage place, but having just turned the corner near the Tarntawan, I was accosted by the lead massage therapist at Indra Massage. Their staff is usually tattooed, sporting facial hair, but that night there was a smooth faced, minimally tattooed young guy standing out front, so I chose him. Name of Bee, from Laos (he whispered that) and he provided one of the best full service massages I have ever had in Thailand.

Next morning I had an appointment at the to Bangkok Nursing Hospital which is now part of a group that includes several major health care providers. Eight hundred Baht for a consultation (no meds), but for me it was worth it simply because the specialist spoke English well and that is a rarity where I live in Vietnam.

Second night, off to the boy soi. Dinner at DickтАЩs with an ex-bf. I met him in 1998, when he was 23 yrs old. Food is usually quite good at DickтАЩs, but I am not keen on being surrounded by so many of my contemporaries. Felt like being in a non-assisted living facility, and in some cases, like being at a full care home. Two men shuffling down the soi using canes, a man dragging one leg after having suffered a stroke. A fellow diner at DickтАЩs was even older (76) than me.

Chose a boy at BonnyтАЩs who turned out to be the same one I met last year. Great twink body but still reluctant to let his hands minister to any place near the prostate.

The next night I located Thai Best massage in Silom Soi 8. Half a dozen disinterested guys chatting out front and a disappointing masseuse.

Sunday at the Siam Paragon to hunt down a waffle iron. Incredible number of shoppers and diners there. Long queue at the taxi station, where I had to point out to some Russian ladies that a queue is appropriately joined at the end, rather than the middle. Spent the evening with my laptop, contacting colleagues in Vietnam and California.

And, btw, the wifi is much better now at the Tarntawan thanks to the additional routers they installed. Most annoying aspect of internet use in Thailand is the messages from the RTP that they use to censor the gay porn sites. Also, my laptop could only get a distorted version of SawatdeeGay Network. I donтАЩt know if that was thanks to the RTP or just a quirk of my MacBook.

Monday night, Good Fortune smiled upon me at Bangkok Massage where I found a Burmese massage boy IтАЩd met two years ago and had been fantasizing about ever since. Once again a sterling performance, guaranteeing him an enduring place in my hall of memories. Tipped him quite a bit more than necessary because I think he's cute, and because he said he was from a small village in northeast Burma, no electricity, water only from a well. Or is that the Burmese equivalent of the Thai "buffalo me die, send money" ?

Tuesday, went over to Silom Complex to get Jockey briefs at Central and various items at Tops Supermarket. As usual on trips to Bangkok, I went to the Little Home Bakery on the 4th floor for their bacon waffle, but not as usual I found that within 2 hours after the meal I was suffering from food poisoning. A few hours shivering under the bed covers, a trip to the loo to expel the offending micro-organisms, and I was almost right as rain, but not fit enough to explore any further delights that evening.

My last afternoon in Bangkok, I decided on lunch at Starbucks, but had to cancel because there was a line extending out the door. Stopped in at the Montien Plaza and got a silk wall hanging. тАЬSpecial priceтАЭ of 500 Baht. At the airport the тАЬspecial priceтАЭ for the same item was 390 Baht.

So, of the four massages IтАЩd had during my weekтАЩs stay, two were excellent, one was fairly good and the fourth quite forgettable. ThatтАЩs about average, I think. Once a year in Bangkok suffices and as IтАЩve already done several trips to Phnom Penh during the past 12 months, IтАЩm now eyeing Siem Reap for the next flesh trip, despite very mixed reviews of the place.

I do hate the travel and the associated inconveniences, but I guess IтАЩll keep doing this just to assure myself that IтАЩm not yet 6 ft (180cms) under, or compactly contained in a funeral urn.

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