Time to Look Elsewhere

[christianpfc]

I think Christian found some action in Myanmar. I didn't find anything obvious there - and apart from going to a supposedly "gay" cafe, I didn't really look that hard.

Any report would be welcome.

That's an understatement. I had a ball / a whale of a time there.

At current situation, whichever country (Thailand or Myanmar) opens first to tourists, I will go there.. Independent of covid, I will spend more time in Myanmar in the future (after having traveled all countries in SEAsia plus Taiwan).

Myanmar being less reliant on tourism, one would expect Thailand or Vietnam or Cambodia to open their borders for tourists first.

Currently, my greatest hope of getting back to Thailand soon is a vaccine or change in policy, e.g. requiring a covid test some days before people start their journey, then testing at check-in and again at arrival, and if all are negative or show that the person has had covid and is cured, let them in.

[sglad]

I speak (and read) Thai to a reasonable intermediate standard, which makes my life as an expat much more enjoyable, but I am only really understood by Thais who deal regularly with Westerners. Out in the sticks I am used to having to repeat myself. I once stopped at a roadside stall in Pattaya and in my best Thai asked for a cup of hot coffee. The girl looked blank and I repeated my request. And again. Finally I gave in and spoke in English. Recognition dawned. The embarrassing part of the experience was that coffee was all that was sold at the stall.

Perhaps it's not so much the accuracy or intelligibility of your spoken Thai but how you ordered the cup of coffee. Ordering a 10-15Bt cup of coffee at a roadside stall is different from ordering a cuppa at a western-styled cafe frequented by farang. The girl's ears are probably attuned to receiving hundreds of pithy three-word orders a day from ordinary Thais and a farang's overly polite and hyper-correct requests may not register at first. And Pattaya, like Chiang Mai, attracts a lot of foreign workers from surrounding countries and the girl may not even be Thai but knows enough to function in her job by listening for certain word strings that she's picked from the locals while on the job.

By the way, I loved those roadside coffee stalls; would often stop for a cup and a steamed bun after my morning run. They're all gone now and replaced by little cafes and fancy 24-hour ones like Wake Up.

[sglad]

In my case, being unable to travel is unbearable.

What happened - is your broom in the shop?

[poshglasgow]

Wherever you go, after a few days you'll wish you were in Pattaya.

Is there anywhere in the world right now that resembles Pattaya twenty years ago? However much we love Pats, we may have to pull the net in and re-cast.

[Marc K]

If by SIMILAR you mean relatively safe and nonjudgmental, not too expensive and not a place which effectively requires you to speak the local language, then the answer is simply no. Get rid of the first requirement and you can surely try India (Kerala? Goa?) or Sri Lanka. Get rid of the second requirement and you can try Amsterdam or Berlin. Get rid of the third requirement and you can try Brasil (Rio? Manaus?)

[arsenal]

"Is there anywhere in the world right now that resembles Pattaya twenty years ago? However much we love Pats, we may have to pull the net in and re-cast."

A two centre trip to Siem Reap and Phnom Penh is probably the closest to Pattaya in terms of hotels, motorbike hire, ease of access, places to eat and available straight boys.

[Zebedee]

If by SIMILAR you mean relatively safe and nonjudgmental, not too expensive and not a place which effectively requires you to speak the local language, then the answer is simply no. Get rid of the first requirement and you can surely try India (Kerala? Goa?) or Sri Lanka. Get rid of the second requirement and you can try Amsterdam or Berlin. Get rid of the third requirement and you can try Brasil (Rio? Manaus?)

Thanks Mark K,I loved that post. Lol.

[Moses]

If by SIMILAR you mean relatively safe and nonjudgmental, not too expensive and not a place which effectively requires you to speak the local language, then the answer is simply no. Get rid of the first requirement and you can surely try India (Kerala? Goa?) or Sri Lanka. Get rid of the second requirement and you can try Amsterdam or Berlin. Get rid of the third requirement and you can try Brasil (Rio? Manaus?)

Or for 3 in 1 you can try Vietnam

[francois]

A two centre trip to Siem Reap and Phnom Penh is probably the closest to Pattaya in terms of hotels, motorbike hire, ease of access, places to eat and available straight boys.

What, no gay boys? Or are straight boys your preference?

[Manforallseasons]

What, no gay boys? Or are straight boys your preference?

And the problem is?