Hoot

Happy New Year Lung and the rest of the LBR brothers. I hope 2013 is a great year for everyone!

That is one good looking commode they have at the new location. The place will be the envy of all other ladyboy establishments. LaBamba should garner five Michelin stars in 2013. Always hard to tell from pictures, but that looks like a really nice upgrade to the old establishment. Nice to see you giving LaBamba some press. With all the camera shy ladies there, it doesn't really get its time in the spotlight.

Thanks guys for all the input on visa and travel information. It gives me a lot to chew on. I'm still in the planning phase and there's a lot to figure out and squared away. Thinking about and planing how to uproot your life for a year is a daunting task. I appreciate the concern Rossco, definitely good advice. As I mentioned in my OP I'm not packing it all in, or taking a leap of faith as you put it. I'm planning on - counting on, working while I'm there. Without it the plan is a no-go. Without giving away too many details on a public forum, I'll just say I'm fortune that I can work anywhere I have a high speed internet connection. A lot of things can change between now and when I'm planning to depart, as well as after I get there. And If the option to work remotely is no longer available I'll be changing my plans accordingly.

Romney not ready to concede on Ohio... and the loss. Rove trying to get Fox to change their call, live on air. Must have heard from Romeny HQ.

I only quoted part of your text DC, but I appreciate everything said and that one paragraph hit home. The contingent planning has been one thing keeping me anchored at home. And as it's a finite amount of time, I do have to worry about what awaits me when I return home. It's also something I had to be comfortable with before makeing the move. I was hoping you'd be around to weigh in. You give some solid advice and solidify a lot of what I've been thinking about. Plus I really loved your recaps of your adventures in SEA you posted on another forum. I think in the back of my mind I know I'd be moving from place to place, country to country - that's what it's all about. But a part of me wants a place to call 'home'. Even though I'd be in Thailand, I'd still be moving from city to city. Sometimes it's just good to hear it from someone who's been there. Thanks for taking the time for writing such a comprehensive response. It's much appreciated. I hope we do get to meet up again, if you're still on your 24 month adventure when I arrive I'll make sure to track you down

I'm looking for insights on how those of us not old enough to qualify for an expat/retirement visa spend extended periods of time in Thailand (6mo to 1yr +). I've heard from a travel blogger who spent 6mo living in Chiang Mai doing visa runs every two months, another who enrolled in a Thai language school for a year and got an edu visa. I realize there are drawbacks and advantages to various methods. What do you do, or know of what others are doing? As a little background... I've have come up with many plans to spend more time in Asia, Thailand in Particular, over the last few years. Most have not panned out, or more accurately I've made the decision to stay and work than taking the plunge of traveling for an extendend period of time. Even though I have my concerns, I'm finally ready to make the plunge within the next year. I'm doing it for more than just the mongering, though it would still play a part, I want to live and travel in Asia for a year. I'd like to make Thailand my home base (probably not Pattaya) to explore Cambo, Lao, Vietnam, Phill, and Burma. Though I want to travel cheap and not jetset everymonth to a new country and back to Thailand agian to gain another visa. I'm not packing it all in, I'm lining up some remote work that I'll be able to do from overseas. It may not bring in much or it might be a full on western salary....I'll just have to wait and see what I can work out. But I'm not looking for a job teaching english. Just looking for your thoughts on ways to make Thailand my home base for a large stint - 6+ months in a row. I know this post is a bit verbose. But it any of you guys have been there, done that, and got the t-shirt I'd appreciate your advice. Cheers.

It looks very bad at this point - major flooding and power outages. Lower Manhattan flooded, parts of the East Side had the East River running through it. Water flooded to within a few hundred feet of Wall Street. Transformers poping, water reported in the Subways and Tunnels. We'll know more tomorrow when the sun rises, but they are worried about another round of flooding at high-tide tommorrow. Looks bad at the moment. And that's just part of NY. I'm on the other side of the country but have been following it closely as I've got family back on the Jersey Shore and it was hammered hard as well.

The first time in Pattaya is like no other experience I have had. I’d been to Thailand once before. It was mainly a tourist excursion with a side trip to Guess Bar, back when it was in its old location in the high rise across the road. I fell in love with the well-equipped Eats who pummeled me in the bedroom then invited me to join her for Loy Krathong and a bit of sightseeing, but that is another story. My first Pattaya experience was much different. I was itching to get back to the Kingdom and had to wait a whole year. It seemed like a decade before I was wheels up again. The butterflies in my stomach were swarming and I was even more nervous than my first trip. This time it wasn’t about visiting temples. I knew what I was going to do, yet I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I was a little more active poster on the forums back then, though not by much. I posted that I was heading to Pattaya in November and wanted to meet other board members. Only one guy replied, told me to PM him when I arrived. I was pretty shocked, figuring a few more board members might be willing to show a newbie around. I wasn’t sure I could handle the onslaught to the senses that I had been told to expect in Pattaya. I checked into the Pattaya Bay Resort, which was the place for LB lovers at the time and sent my contact a PM. Within minutes I had a PM back, he was down the hall from me an invited me for a beer. A bit skeptical about meeting people off some internet forum, I shored myself and headed down the hall. After a quick knock on the door I was greeted by the smiling face of Petesie, beer in one hand the other outstretched for a warm greeting. We sat and chatted for a bit, downing a beer as we got to know each other. After the beer was finished and the small talk exhausted, he suggested we go on a wander. My life has not been the same since. We hit every ladyboy bar there was from Soi Bukahow to Soi 6 and back to Walking Street. It was a fantastic day. I was younger, thinner, and handsomer, and fresh meat to the girls. Or at least that's how I like to remember it. I had so much attention that I didn’t know what to do with myself. It was like a fantasy come true. Like being dropped into an adult Disney Land. He introduced me to not only the bars, but to many other board members who I now consider friends. It was an amazing trip. I’m not sure to love him or curse him, because since that trip my life back home has never matched up. I was hooked. I can’t believe that was seven years ago. The gravity pulling me back to the land of skin and sin is as strong as ever. For some reason it is even stronger these days. Maybe because I know I can’t get back there for a while. Enjoy your trips to the fullest lads.

I'm a method actor

He didn't lose them. They just didn't match his new handbag so he left them behind. Attempted murderers are so vain.

I love music but know almost nothing about the bands I listen to, unless it has been made into a major motion picture But Zeppelin was the sound track to much of my misspent youth and still love 'em. I remember the radio station I used to listen to back East many years ago had a 'bring out your Led hour'. I got all giddy recently when I found a station doing that same thing on my commute home from work. Preceded by the 6 O'clock Stoner...it makes the long crappy ride home better.

Does that mean it's no longer appropriate time to tell my Fox Force Five joke? It wasn't funny anyway.

What's in that plastic bag that they showed all blurred out? Never mind, I think I know but I really don't want to know the answer. It's impossible to know what really transpired from reading a short blurb on Pattay One, but losing one's life in a bar brawl is a horrible way to go. I respect that Pattaya is a dangerous place. It's filled with miscreants from all over the world. Fueled on alcohol, drugs, and bad judgement. Whether it be by locals or foreigners, bad things can happen in the confrontation with the wrong person in this city. Life sure seems cheap here.

That brings back some good memories from the trip. A good find, a pity I didn't have more time to go back and enjoy the delights. You do have me wondering if they are still there.

The cop had to shoot him twice, must not have got him in the head the first time around. Everyone should know you need a head shot to kill a zombie, that should be first day stuff at the police academy. I'm locked in my apocalypse bunker right now waiting for the report from the hospital that both the bodies have gone missing. The end is near, but they won't get me. Fucking zombies.

I can sure relate to those statements. My life and job here is now just a means to an end, travel and adventure. There is not a lot I enjoy around these parts, everything by comparison seems so boring. Getting up going to sit in a cube to tap on a keyboard all day, eating, sleeping, then getting up and doing it all over again is not living. Sometimes it feels like I am living a double life. The real me only gets to live 2 or 3 weeks every year. Getting to hang out and talk with like minded fellows, surrounded by beautiful ladyboys. The rest of the year is my cover story. I've made some decisions and choices to travel more and live in a cubicle less. I've been talking about it for a while, but the fear of the unknown and change has kept me paralyzed. But moving to contract work and cutting expenses has been two big first steps. Now I'm in the process of planning the first extended trip. Of course this decision has been met with criticism and skepticism from family and friends. They think I am running away from life, I believe I am running towards it.

It sure rings true with me. I said I wasn't coming back for probably more than a year as I had some other things my hard earned dollars needed to be ear marked for. But there I was again last night just as JaiDee described, up late at night researching and trying to figure out a budget to get be back quicker and for longer. Acutally I should be working now - and here I am talking about it. I haven't stopped thinking about it since I got back even though I wanted to put it out of my mind and get on with 'life'. I tried not visiting the forums much as it just made things even harder to forget. But at this point my trips to Thailand are the highlight of my year, which sounds kind of sad when I think about it. Thailand, Ladyboys, travel, gets in your blood. Much like other addictions it doesn't hook everyone, but for those of us whom it does it won't let go.

Nah - I'd feel better if we were both back scouting for comfy wicker chairs in a no-hassle ladyboy friendly environment. It is one of my favorite lines SLBT - I'd forgotten the circumstances until you retold them here. Makes it even funnier, at least for me. :D

Maybe it was just the company you were keeping those evenings Bumblebee I remember both those interactions well, the second really stands out. You left out the part about her kissing the supposed 'taxi driver'. That abuse she was giving was enough to make me uncomfortable - good thing we found another chill out bar on the way back ending my trip on a high note, and with a wicked hangover :D Hard to believe I've been back 3 weeks, the trip already seems like ages ago.

this one's got potential

A few more of tonight's eye candy

Annie, a total doll. I don't think the cameras do her justice.

Another night at the Famous Bar. Once again my presence had the girls all a flutter.

Some of the changes are pretty shocking DK. I only remember 3 of them, maybe someone else can fill in the blanks. From Left to right Ohm - Bee - ? - Dao - ?

That was an excellent outing. Don't remember the 3rd girls name but this one's named Jenny. Cute as a button but her English is limited...has managed to master the term "I love you" though