Lies, damned lies and discounts.....

[Dodger]

Sitting around Thailand cruising the apps for a boy would be like going to Disneyland and sitting in a room watching the rides on TV to me.

The last time I visited the scene in Jomtien Complex I was surrounded by dozens of available smiling boys. Not much to complain about there.

Sitting at a small table right in front of me was a farang who had his eyes glued to the screen of his I Pad, and remained that way for the entire length of my stay which was about 2 hours. He never flinched during this entire time...remained frozen to his screen...only nodded briefly when the waiter came over to see if he wanted another drink...completely oblivious to the hundred boys who crossed his path that night - as their welcoming smiles bounced off the top of his head.

As always, there were many others sitting around the bars doing the same thing. It was almost comical: Farang glued to their screens looking for a sex partner - with a table full good-looking available partners sitting directly next to him doing the exact same thing. I've seen this for years and still haven't the foggiest clue why people do this.

[Jun]

Sitting around Thailand cruising the apps for a boy would be like going to Disneyland and sitting in a room watching the rides on TV to me.

The apps are open 24-7, the bars are not. Yesterday's encounter was mid-afternoon. A very nice lad. I never drink at his bar, because it's one of the two most notorious for inconsiderate loud music. So the apps do open up additional opportunities.

Also, whilst I have sat with several lads in Jomtien, they don't always turn out to be good off candidates. Even when I met one who was ideal, I wasn't looking for an off right then and I haven't seen him at his bar since.

Having said that, when I go to the bars 90% of the time is spent either talking to people or looking at who is around, not on my phone.

Noting your kind advice, how often are you sitting with and offing lads from Jomtien?

Noted that some ads on Hornet can’t be closed resulting in exiting the app and in one case resetting my iPad.

This is against Google app store policies, but when I report them, Google do nothing.
I presume Apple have similar policies. Perhaps you could try reporting them.

As for "should be free", well clearly the app developers have to fund their business.

I can accept reasonable advertising or reasonable subscriptions. The ads on Hornet are unreasonable.
Only the Hornet 399 baht subscription is reasonable. The Hornet UK rate is too high, particularly considering the ads have already driven away 99% of customers in the UK.

I've never seen a reasonable subscription offer on Grindr.

[Pigseye27]

It essentially boils down to greed! Maybe someone needs to come up with a descent app with minimal ads that all can use and enjoy. Good luck contacting anyone at any of these large corporations like Google, Meta, etc. They have NO support help staff and no way to contact them. They could care less … too big. It took me five weeks of trying to fix my Instagram account and finally, after sending an email to Meta Corporate I got results.

[Gaybutton]

They have NO support help staff and no way to contact them. They could care less … too big.

Sounds just like the USA's IRS (Internal Revenue Service). I've had a good size tax refund coming for the 2021 income tax year, but I'm still waiting for it. Their web site, all this time, only says my tax return is being processed. It never says anything else and provides no way to contact anyone about it. If there is any way to contact IRS to find out why, whether I need to do anything, or get any information as to when I can expect the refund to be paid, I can't find it.

I know this is off topic, but to me it amounts to the same premise - too big and self-important to be bothered with us small potatoes people.

[Dodger]

Noting your kind advice, how often are you sitting with and offing lads from Jomtien?

Sorry, it seems like I may have hit a nerve which was not my intention.

The comments I made were just personal "opinions" - not intended to be "advice" to anyone.

I'm sure my partner wouldn't appreciate me sitting around bars offing boys, thus the reason I abstain. When we go out for a night on-the-town we enjoy doing it together...works for me...works for him...no apps needed...no off fee...no guessing games...available for each other 24/7...and cums with a 100% satisfaction guarantee.

These are the words of a very content retired gay expat...not at all the same sentiments as when I was a punter on holiday.

[Dodger]

......If there is any way to contact IRS to find out why, whether I need to do anything, or get any information as to when I can expect the refund to be paid, I can't find it.

Just call IRS Customer Support at 800-829-1040 during working hours (U.S time). Be patient. When I had to call them a few years ago I waited for 10-15 minutes before they answered the phone. After that I found them to be very responsive.

Good luck.

[Jun]

Sorry, it seems like I may have hit a nerve which was not my intention.

You didn't hit a nerve, but on the other hand, I "calibrate" advice off people telling us to find our boys at the bars, when they're not doing that themselves in recent years. The bar scene evolves with time.

I agree with you on the matter of excess phone use at bars. Last night, I noted numerous people just sat at a bar on their phones. Not necessarily dating either, as they might be watching Facebook or some similar junk.
Mainly farang, but at least one bar, a couple of the lads were sat at the front of the bar on their phones.

Some lads use phones for translation when sat with customers. I think that's becoming more common. Although I sat with one lad who was very proficient with translation apps and didn't learn any more English in the first 5 years or so that I knew him. Now he has a boyfriend and he's suddenly learnt a lot more English.
Last year, I remember one Lao lad bollocking a Cambodian colleague for being on his phone when sat with a customer and the Cambodian protested that he was using the translation app.

In the last few years, I've been mainly dating on the apps. Helped down that path by the government using covid as an excuse to close bars. This works very well for me.

There are, of course boys in the bars that I don't see on the apps. Even chasing them can be a slow process. One I like, but haven't seen for days finally appeared yesterday. Unfortunately it was almost midnight and I was sat with another lad.

[Gaybutton]

Just call IRS Customer Support at 800-829-1040 during working hours (U.S time).

Thank you very much Dodger. I will certainly give it a try. Fortunately with Skype, calls to USA toll free numbers cost nothing. I will post after I talk to them.

I like how they call it "Customer" Support. IRS considers us "customers"? Ok . . .

[Dodger]

........I "calibrate" advice off people telling us to find our boys at the bars, when they're not doing that themselves in recent years. The bar scene evolves with time.

Sounds logical to me.

I wonder what's evolving faster - the bar scene, or us?

[Jun]

I wonder what's evolving faster - the bar scene, or us?

An interesting question. Have you read a book called "The Beak of The Finch" ? Highly recommended. The composition of finches on the Galapagos can change rapidly according to the weather in a particular season.

The bar scene seems to evolve from day to day, or even hour to hour. With longer term trends as well.

When I first arrived here, the gogo scene was the best place to find boys, possibly followed by cruising, including at the beach.
As far as I know, most of them didn't have phones. I didn't bring one either. It wasn't until the following year that Steve Jobs launched the damned iPhone. Within 5 years, almost all of the bar boys had phones.

Now they're using them for dating, begging, communication, translation and umpteen other uses.
One had a video call with his mother whilst in bed with me, with no attempt to hide who he was sharing a bed with.
It appears that the translation app means some boys are less likely to learn some English, but they're also less likely to rely on a mamasan as well

As for us, well, when I first came here, I hadn't quite reached 40. The one thing that's increased is the age gap between me and the bar boys.