Off to Thailand in Oct

[fountainhall]

The community seems nice but wow this thread is really hostile. I'm going back to my blog bong bong!

Well, that must be one of the quickest hello and goodbyes on record!

I still can't apologise for taking a couple of your blog posts apart. I firmly believe you made a big mistake by altering the dates by a few years - or even if the original dates got lost, by then updating them to make them look as though they were penned a few years later. That just devalues any blog, especially one about Thailand where, as others have pointed out, things have been changing quite a lot in the last 5 years or so.

I have since read the Japan posts as I know Tokyo well having worked there and visited many times, most recently 6 weeks ago. I'm sorry to say but again the information is very much out of date. With respect, the post dated November 5 2013 can not have been written at any time in 2013! It mentions this information which I suspect quite a few of your readers might be interested in -

. . . there are plenty of cruisy spots in the area. The most predominant being Shinjuku Park where gay sex workers are common

That was certainly true even though the Park was tiny - barely 20m x 50 m - and it was difficult to find it on most maps. The problem is: that Park closed in 2012. When I was there in late April 2013 it was completely enclosed with a large steel barrier prior to total redevelopment. So anyone relying on that information could spend a great deal of time finding the Park and then discovering it had all been wasted. And I have to add there's another piece of misinformation in the same blog post -

There are however, many great venues very welcoming with signage in English and pleasant staff eager to welcome any who arrive. Its generally predicted that as the economy continues to stagnate many more venues in the area will need to be more welcoming in order to survive.

The first part is just not true. Few venues welcome "any who arrive" unless they are with a regular Japanese customer or speak Japanese and are known to the mamasans. The number welcoming foreigners hasn't changed much in the last couple of decades. But the last part of the quote is true. Ni-chome is not surviving well - for a variety of reasons. Walking around the area in late May I noticed even more blocks have succumbed to the wreckers ball. Go there at the week-end and it can still be fun. On a weekday, I'd stick to the apps.

This is meant to be constructive. Gay life is changing so fast in many parts of Asia. Don't update posts that have information related to a specific tme. Start afresh is my advice.