I decided Greece's woes will continue for a little while yet so hopped on a plane and here I am in Bangkok. For the frequent flyers it was a Turkish Airlines flight (two actually) - Athens/Istanbul and Istanbul/Bangkok. I can recommend the Business Class product. I think they won an award in 2014 for their service. We arrived just after 2pm. The Thais now have a single queueing system in Immigration, which seemed to move relatively quickly.
The friend I'm seeing lives in Soi Ngam Duplee so had booked me into a local hotel (I won't give the name just yet; I don't want a447 popping around thinking he can claim droit de seigneur - I had enough of that in January). That Soi is, for those unfamiliar with the area in Bangkok, a money boy ghetto and my friend has booked me up with a couple of Cambodian* boys for a threesome before dinner, which I think will be somewhere local. Vincents has closed - or, rather, re-located - but not yet open in its new abode. However there are plenty of small places hereabouts. I had suggested Silom Soi 4 but apparently Balcony Bar is having a quiz night, so that's one place definitely to be avoided. My friend tells me he started out at one of those hole-in-the-wall bars in Soi 4 last night and, between it and its immediate neighbour they had six customers. He then ate at Eat, Drink, Man, Women where his and only one other table were occupied inside (and not much outside) the entire time. Spanish On Four was similarly deserted. How low can the low season go?
Certainly it's low enough for boy prices to be negotiable. The two boys started with "up to you", accepted 1500 each (sorry latin), tried unsuccessfully to increase to 2000 (having already accepted the lower price). That must be them at the door.
* My boycott of the Thai economy in disapproval of the political situation continues where practicable