SouthOfTheBorder

this is 100% true in context of providers. I see providers in lots of different places at very different price points. the rate has nothing to do with performance or quality of service. the $1000 dollar question seems to be more fantasy or fetish focused than expecting excellent service from a typical provider. Probably Instagram or OnlyFans people. Hard pass - absolutely not. I don’t like to waste money.

agree there was no attitude whatsoever in Bangkok - although the sex is often not totally straightforward. In the massage shops, I think it can be very hit or miss, depending on the shop & the “therapist”. never experienced attitudes in Spain and many different experiences over the years - while they don’t have the venues as in Bangkok, it’s a very straightforward transaction w providers in that you know what you’re going to get. And then there is Thermas in BCN, which has been written about extensively in other threads.

in Bangkok, there is sex available in almost every context - massage shops (most with extras), gogo bars (where is the business model is to take guys off-site), saunas (not rentboy saunas) host bars, & dozens of providers available online through various sites. no other city has all those options - not even close imo

no city in Europe compares to Bangkok - that’s in a league of its own. If someone is looking for that type experience, they will be disappointed. the best overall European cities for providers imo are Barcelona & Madrid, lots of options & reasonable rates. London is there too, but with rates generally higher than Spain.

the scam isn’t for cash, at first. usually they are looking for information & personal details - frequently they want to move conversations offline to WhatsApp or similar. Once they have a real phone number, you’re totally fucked. This happens all the time - more common on hookup apps where there is more information exchanged. Someone presenting a harmed victim seeking sympathy is the oldest trick in the book. Conman 101 you guys are way too gullible & naive - albeit well intentioned.

agree. the trolling will always happen. even tho the scenarios are far-fetched, it can bring useful dialogue. the difference here is there are 3 or 4 them simultaneously posting - and that’s unusual. it makes me wonder what the endgame is ? a lot of online fraud occurs when people present as victims, build trust & sympathy - then start asking for things in DMs; the “victim” becomes the perpetrator.

YOU GUYS ARE GETTING TROLLED, AGAIN this is exactly the same type post as two previous threads - all from members who just joined within days of making their first posts. And the first post is their lengthy dialogue presenting unusual/emergency circumstances & then asking for comments, advice. this one even pre-emptively says “I’m not a troll…..” yes, he is the other two are @Empire_Man “Friendship With A Gay-For-Pay Pornstar” @ANotAMouse “Please Help Me, I’m Scared to Death”

FWIW - I think you guys are getting trolled. This story is similar to the other thread “Please Help, I’m Scared to Death” both stories posted by new members on this site. both with a long & detailed story about very unusual provider situations that don’t make sense. and for both, it was their first provider experience. both posted their stories within a few days of joining the site. both seeking advice, but not really seeking advice coincidence ?? may be wise to check to see how long these people have been members or what else they’ve posted before engaging them with their unique & far-fetched provider problems. the members intentions are good to help, but someone is obviously trying to take advantage of the goodwill.

this story as described by OP is highly improbable. The idea that someone brand new to this hobby (and this site) gets a death threat from a simple inquiry that didn’t result in a booked appointment ? No - that just doesn’t happen. And if by some long-shot, portions of the story are true - you just block the person from contact on various phone numbers and move on. It’s beyond belief to think an established provider is going to travel a long distance to somehow retaliate for a simple ghosting. Even more so when the provider has been positively reviewed here & would put his entire reputation/career at risk for a non-event. reviewed providers on this site frequently check it to see what people are saying about them. If any of this actually happened & the provider is unhinged - I’d say the OP has made the situation worse. The correct way to handle it would have been either say nothing & block him, or if posting the story here, name the provider & help others avoid a potential problem. As is, it’s a far-fetched story that doesn’t make sense without any real purpose or help to the community. btw - don’t text providers months in advance to set- up appointments. It’s a waste of everyone’s time & the provider should have known the OP wasn’t serious from the start.

no, it’s not the same situation today as it was 20 years ago - it is far worse now, mainly due to economic inequality getting progressively worse and a general feeling among the poor that there is no way out & there never will be. So, they turn to crime to put food on the table & money for basic necessities. It’s a desperate situation for many - so if robbing a tourist is the easiest solution, so be it. It’s survival for them. Robbing & assaulting tourists is easy in Rio because the tourists are crammed into a relatively small geographic area surrounded by extreme poverty in the favelas/slums which are the centers for drug dealers, gangs, weapons & prostitution. The criminals are in such close proximity to the tourists that they mix in easily and select their many targets at will, then they disappear back into the favelas. Its well known the Rio police are corrupt and are in on the some of the criminal activity - they get paid almost nothing. What do you spect them to do ?

for those who are interested in facts about Rio, from a Brazilian source - see the attached, the December 5 2023 headline is THEFT & ROBBERY RATES SKYROCKET IN COPACABANA, WITH ROUTINE SCENES OF VIOLENCE the point is overall Copacabana specific crime is up more than 25% in one year, (2022 to 2023) - and pedestrian crime is up 56% in one year. And that’s on top of an existing very high crime rate. Índices de furtos e roubos disparam em Copacabana, que vive rotina de cenas de violência G1.GLOBO.COM Segundo os dados do Instituto de Segurança Pública, o bairro teve alta de roubos (25%) e furtos (23%), na comparação entre 2022 e 2023. No último sábado... sure, totally safe - just like any other city. nothing to see here

some of these comments seem to be from people with limited or no experience in Rio you guys are way better off on “the other site” where it’s all fantasy & delusions

No - not really. It happened in Rio because of the specific circumstances there. Why ? Because the gringo had a home in Rio & frequently mixed with very young providers at local rentboy saunas and brought them to his home. If the murder had gone according to plan (meaning the real killer got out of Brazil), then everyone would have assumed it was one of the sauna boys. The husband who appears to have masterminded the plot, had suggested the killer was someone the victim met in the saunas & he could help identify suspects - so the plan was definitely to place blame on a sauna boy. Because the victim was known to frequent the saunas & bring unknown men to his house - it was the perfect plausible explanation for this crime. It would have been a somewhat ordinary crime in Rio had it simply been an unknown provider kills a client. These same circumstances do not exist in other cities. This was a plan that was specific to Rio because of its rentboy saunas and the victim who used them.

this has been written about ad nauseum. the real question is it safe for older (white) gringos traveling alone & who don’t speak Portuguese, as sex tourists to visit Rio ? Now add in mixing with much younger unknown local people who know you have money & then frequently bringing those people back to wherever the gringo is staying. Thats more like the real question & scenario given everything I’ve personally witnessed in Rio - no, it’s not safe compared to other major global tourist destinations. There’s no question Rio is one of the most beautiful cities in the world with the mix of tropics, mountains, beach & beautiful people. Yet, it is incredibly dangerous. For older gringos looking for sex, you’re basically a slowly walking target. If you think you fit in and they don’t know where you’re from - wrong. If you think they don’t know what you’re doing there - wrong. And that doesn’t matter except it makes you stand out as even more of a target. Americans have this odd presumption of safety & security and it puts them at significant risk when they fail to understand the actual environment and how they appear in that environment. The OP probably knows Brazil better than anyone here & frequently posts how dangerous it is for tourists. nobody seems to remember that for whatever reason and back to topic about the murder of the American man - did it turn out it was safe for him to visit Rio ? NO, didn’t work out so well

those aren’t the apps to use if you want to meet someone for more than sex. or, at least the probability is much lower. use the more mainstream apps like Grindr, Scruff, Hornet - make it clear you’re looking for more than sex & you will only meet for coffee or drinks first, before any sex. That screens out 95%+ of the people that want sex only and you might actually meet someone decent. i met my now husband online many years ago with exactly that strategy - it’s possible. I think it’s a better strategy to write a profile that is more about screening out the people you don’t want - something like “NO DRUGS” “NO PNP”. Instead of writing to attract more people.

you must be joking - for some here, it’s obviously a popularity contest of sorts. they post everything & anything and most of it has nothing to do with sex. conditioned to crave online attention, it’s an effort to stay relevant or popular on this site, for whatever that’s worth. Interesting to note those same people post nothing about their meetings with actual providers, which is the reason the site exists.

there is a way to get a WhatsApp number that is different from your real phone number. Depending on how you use WhatsApp, you may want a different number. In the US, when someone has your real phone number (if it’s the same as WhatsApp) - they can basically find out everything about you through a reverse number search which yields your name. Once they have your name and phone number, everything else follows including home address & friends/associates. Depends on search site they use, but there are several. Vast majority of providers would never engage in privacy invasion - but it only takes one to cause major headaches. Btw - the easiest online scam on any social site is they try to move the conversation offline & get your real phone number. The frequent goal is harassment, blackmail & extortion More common than people think. Especially on Grindr.

let’s be realistic - it far more often women than men. And usually it’s about a woman’s weight and/or age. There is no equivalency between cultural critiques of looks re: men/woman. It’s a relic of the patriarchy and just shows whomever is participating is probably much older, out- of-touch w norms today & ignorant. definitely, bc there will always be very stupid people engaged in very dumb things…….. haven’t you heard, Taylor Swift is a CIA asset ???

a word of advice since you’re new - if you’re reaching out months in advance to multiple providers , that’s wasting their time and it’s not polite. while there are no hard rules, a week would really be the most I’d reach out & then only if I’m visiting a city where a provider is located. If in my city, then 3-4 days advance max. Providers are inundated with inquiries where there is zero chance it happens. Dont be one of those people. You will be appreciated that much more when providers know you are serious & follow through.

just my opinion, but I think denigrating people based on looks is always in poor taste & shows a certain ignorance. especially when it’s men discussing women who are aging in a very public environment as they say, beauty fades - but stupid is forever

the plan was probably for the killer to get out of Brazil asap & return to Cuba, evading Brazilian law enforcement. If that had happened, they would have gotten away with the murder. Since the killer is now in Brazilian custody, it’s only a matter of time before he tells the whole story & implicates the husband. It will be a complicated prosecution of the husband since the murder was in Brazil & he seems to have been in the US when it happened. They probably thought if the real killer could get out of Brazil, then the assumption would be he was killed by a local garoto that just couldn’t be found - there are other stories online where the husband was suggesting exactly that. A truly horrible & evil story. This is far from over - the story has all the lurid details the media loves.

In the US, technically they are in a legal grey area. you’re unlikely to encounter any problems traveling with them bc of the small size - I’ve don’t it countless times on domestic US flights. but, in Palm Springs you’ll be able to find them easily, so why even bother ? I would not fly with them on international flights bc there could be an issue at final destination, depending on laws and if your bags are checked. the odds are extremely low you’d have a problem, but it’s possible.

while the NY Post article doesn’t say it directly - the implication is there was a plan to kill the victim by his estranged husband (according to the Post, a former provider from Cuba) and the perpetrator, who is also Cuban and worked for the couple at their home in Cuba. There was a multi-million dollar divorce in progress that was not yet finalized. So, it doesn’t appear random a killing, but rather something premeditated for financial gain by at least two people.

this is correct. I remember going to the North Miami location - super sleazy & they usually had pornstars there, back when there were real pornstars. Re; Johnson’s Ft Lauderdale - if strippers are your thing, then that’s as good as it gets. It’s well done & safe.

the people targeting visiting tourists wherever aren’t real providers - they are thieves & criminals. if you give it some thought, the typical tourist looking for sex is the perfect target. A relatively wealthy foreign tourist, has cash & valuables, traveling alone, usually drinking & hiring unknown people for intimate encounters in unfamiliar environments - and probably not able to speak the language. then add in corrupt police & not a great scenario. true - this type of crime can happen anywhere. The recent NYT article & State Department warning was specifically about Colombia though & a recent surge of criminals using scopolamine in context of robbing tourists who are using apps to meet people. These crimes are vastly underreported- most victims just leave asap.