Thailand advice, please

[HardnThick]

What's the weather in December and January. I wouldn't want to be there for a monsoon, or even cooped up in a hotel room because of continual rain. Warm enough for the beach? Is that high ot low season?

 

What's the current rate for bringing guys to your room for a couple hours or overnight?

 

Hotel or guesthouse suggestions? Prices I should expect then?

 

Thanks, guys!

[jeanclaude44]

High Season because this is the least rainy and least hot/humid time.

 

300-400 baht off fee for the bar plus 1000-2000 baht for the boy depending. 1 USD = 36 baht

 

Hotels are about 30-50% of what you would pay in usa.

 

It's a fun and lovely place.

[HardnThick]

Thanks.

 

Suggestions for hotels? Book diretly with hotels or is there a local who gets better deals (like Romanus in Rio)?

 

How about guides for cultural/tourist places?

[+ Axiom2001]

This is one of the better times to venture to "the land of smiles." I was there on my third visit during last December and January of 2006. I encountered thirty plus glorious days in Bangkok, Pattaya, and Phuket.

 

In terms of hotels, I'd highly recommend the Tawatawan in Bangkok, excellently gay-friendly. (It seemed like a gay hotel to me.)

 

Go to http://www.gaythailand.com and other sites that are similar to get additional suggestions and recommendations.

[ServeUncutUncle]

http://www.asiarooms.com has probably the lowest rates at 80% of the hotels in Thailand. The Beach Resorts usually have high supplements for 24 and 25 December and 30 and 31 December, so look to stay in Bangkok on these dates.

 

 

In Bangkok you need to be in the Silom/Suriwong area.

 

Selection of hotel much depends on your budget or if you have upgrade status possibility with one of the International chains.

[fedssocr1]

I don't know what your budget is, but I arranged my trip with Purple Dragon tours http://www.purpledrag.com They arrange pretty much everything except the international airfare. They take care of the hotels, hotel transfers, tour guides, internal and regional flights and some admission fees. Of course you pay a premium for this service, but I thought it was well worth it for me. They are a gay operated company and most of the guides are gay. Everyone was completely professional, friendly, and helpful.

 

I stayed at the Tarntawan Place and the Siam Heritage in BKK. Tarntawan is OK and the staff there is incredibly nice. The breakfast is just so-so and the hallways are un-A/C'd so they get really hot, but the rooms are comfortable enough. I had some trouble with my bathroom with the hot water. The wireless internet is OK but not always very speedy. Guests in your room are no problem and they will keep his ID until they check with you to make sure everything is OK. Siam Heritage was a cut above Tarntawan in terms of comfort and furnishings, but they have a pretty strictly enforced "no outside guests" policy. I had an executive suite that overlooked Suriwong Rd which was great. They also make you pay for internet access, but I just leeched off the Tarntawan's wireless network since it is literally right around the corner. I think for most people Tarntawan is fine, especially first time visitors, since it's right in the middle of the action.

 

I stayed at Ambiance in Pattaya. The room was just so-so again but the staff was really great and helped me out immensely when I got food poisoning and had to go to the hospital. Bangkok-Pattaya Hospital also had very nice cheap accomodations, but I recommend avoiding it if you can. :-)

 

In Chiang Mai I stayed at a beautiful new-ish hotel called the Lanna Mantra. It's located a little far from downtown though which is it's only drawback. It is right on the banks of the Ping River. I had a river view room that had the most comfortable bed I slept on in my time in Thailand.

[+ Axiom2001]

For the hotel which I alluded to at this site, I booked online and received a discount. You can confirm two weeks before your plane takes off. Also, I think the same goes for cancellation; in other words, one doesn't have to pay via cc right at the time of booking!

 

The rates at the sites that I consulted were posted in dollars; there was a conversion site that's available so you can see how much you're paying if dollars are not quoted.