Ages on the apps

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Hadrian

Ages on the apps

Post by Hadrian »

Newb question: I'm looking at the apps (Hornet especially) and a lot of the boys' profiles say 18/19 but also say "member for 4/5 years".

So, have they been 18 for four years? Can you trust any of the age on profiles?
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Gaybutton
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Re: Ages on the apps

Post by Gaybutton »

Whether for that reason or any reason you don't trust what you see on a young gent's profile, I would move on to a different young gent whose profile you feel is a safe one. If his actual age seems questionable, I would tell him so and if you decide to take him I would make it clear you will want to see his ID card when he shows up. I would let him know if he shows up without it, or if the ID card appears to not actually be his (that's an old trick some boys tried - rarely though - using some else's ID card) then he will have to immediately leave - without being paid. If he agrees to that, you're probably safe.

Jim Lumsden, who used to manage the Ambiance hotel, many years ago had a great story. His desk clerk lost his ID card. A few days later a farang staying at the Ambiance showed up with a boy. The policy then was to hold the ID cards until the boy was ready to leave and the farang had informed the desk clerk that everything was ok. When the boy handed over the ID card, the desk clerk had a pleasant little surprise. The ID card the boy tried to get away with was the one the desk clerk had lost! Needless to say, the desk clerk was delighted to so easily get his ID card back, but a disappointed boy and an angry farang were unceremoniously whisked out the door . . .

It seems to me, rather than bothering with a questionable profile, it is much easier to just move on to another profile. Maybe there are not so many bar boys these days, but there is certainly no shortage of boys on the apps.

And for yourself, make sure do your thinking with your brain, not your crotch.

The good news is there used to be very frequent arrests of farang who were caught with under-age boys. But it has been a very long time now since I've seen any reports of that happening. Also, almost all the time that happened with farang who lived in Thailand and were diddling with neighborhood boys. It was only extremely rare to hear of such arrests involving bar boys or boys on apps. As a matter of fact, I have never seen or heard of any under-age arrest problems involving boys on the apps. Even so, why take chances?

In short, if you don't trust what you see on one profile, move on to another profile.
Hadrian

Re: Ages on the apps

Post by Hadrian »

Thanks for such a detailed reply.

I was more worried about the opposite of an underage guy: the 30 year old guy with 10 ten year old pictures. Do they ever agree to video chat?

But as for underage guys, aren't there extortion scams involving that? I mean, the fact that there aren't arrests might just be because payoffs are happening?
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Re: Ages on the apps

Post by Gaybutton »

Hadrian wrote: Tue Dec 15, 2020 11:52 am But as for underage guys, aren't there extortion scams involving that?
I know of 2 cases of that, many years ago now. The perpetrators were caught. As far as I know, it has never happened again. It made for a lot of gossip and rumor at the time, but these days I doubt you need to worry about that. If you want something to worry about, worry about whether the boy has any STDs. Make sure you use safe sex methods.

Regarding video chat, of course some will, some won't.
Jun

Re: Ages on the apps

Post by Jun »

With both farang and Asians, the age on the phone apps is often out of date and a work of fiction.
For example, I know one farang in his late fifties who still shows an age of 48.

With the lads, I think you're more likely to get one much older or more over weight than implied by the profile on the app. Anyone who is 18 and has been on the phone app for 4 years is more likely to be in his 20s than a genuine 18 year old in his 4th year of trading.

There are various ways of dealing with this:

1 Browse all the apps. Check ALL the pictures. Even on Grinder, they often have several pictures. On Planet Romeo, it's not unknown to see several photos of a cute lad and the last photo shows him several years older, heavier or with breasts.
One can quickly see that a cute lad with one nice pic on Grindr also has a profile on Planet Romeo and one of the pictures might give away his age.

2 If there's no body shot, or the best one has him lying face down, assume he's carrying some weight.

3 Some who have been around for years have resorted to photo shop. Look out closely for that.

4 In dialogue with the boy, ask for a current photo. My usual approach is to tell the lad we don't meet unless he looks exactly like the photo. If he doesn't reply, I have the answer. We then meet away from the hotel. If there's a significant discrepancy between the photo and what shows up, he gets sent away. With zero baht, as I don't believe in rewarding fraud. Paying them 300 baht to go away makes no sense at all, since that's the best part of the daily minimum wage & provides an incentive to repeat the scam.
Of course, I am reasonable and allow some variation of appearance.
It's several years since I've actually had to send one away based on appearance, since all the up front checks and questions filter them out.

The last one I sent away was because he showed up without an ID card, despite me mentioning it twice in the conversation. That was a lucky escape, since his face showed a distinct lack of enthusiasm for the meet and he was overweight. I hadn't done the checks well enough, but I was in Mae Sot and since I hadn't met a lad for a few days, I was in too much of a hurry. The lack of an ID card was the perfect excuse to send him away. Besides, he was of an age where there was no way I would risk it without ID.
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Re: Ages on the apps

Post by bkkguy »

Jun wrote: Tue Dec 15, 2020 2:05 pmWith the lads, I think you're more likely to get one much older or more over weight than implied by the profile on the app. ...

There are various ways of dealing with this:
...
this is perhaps one of the advantages of the bars - you can check out what he looks like in a safe place away from your accommodation, and you can check his ID before offing - of course the ID may still be questionable if you are not good at checking IDs, and he may still promise to do more than he is willing to actually do once you get him home, so it is not a perfect situation either!
I can’t even be bothered to be apathetic these days!
Hadrian

Re: Ages on the apps

Post by Hadrian »

Considering this is a transaction, could I just ask him to send a selfie holding up three fingers or something like that?

Still trying to guess from pictures if they have any oversized tattoos (shudder).
Hadrian

Re: Ages on the apps

Post by Hadrian »

Gold. Your profile pic is in line with what I’m looking for, so you speak with authority.

So sorry you actually went a few days without meeting a lad. I can’t imagine what that is like. (said after 10 months in lockdown)
Jun wrote: Tue Dec 15, 2020 2:05 pm I was in Mae Sot and since I hadn't met a lad for a few days, I was in too much of a hurry.
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Re: Ages on the apps

Post by catawampuscat »

I asked one farang in his seventies, why his profile said he was in his forties. He said he thought the boys used filters to
avoid the elderly. I replied it doesn’t matter how old one is as it’s only money that matters.
Jun

Re: Ages on the apps

Post by Jun »

Hadrian wrote: Tue Dec 15, 2020 11:57 pm Your profile pic is in line with what I’m looking for, so you speak with authority.
So sorry you actually went a few days without meeting a lad. I can’t imagine what that is like. (said after 10 months in lockdown)
The young lad in the profile pic was in Japan. A picture lying facing down is sometimes used to hide an oversized gut, but in this case the website had other pictures to prove that's no problem. As confirmed when meeting him.

I've met one lad in the last 8 months, partly down to not wanting to take risks with covid infection in the UK. This will soon change.

As for ages of boys, I notice several people using the same photo for years. In some cases I've got screenshots saved on the phone, which provides a useful reference, as the phone stores the date when I took the screenshot. Today I did have a first, in noticing that a lad actually had the date and location showing on one photo on his profile. 2015 !

There are some boys who apply an age limit. There's one small lad in Pattaya who has never replied to my messages and I've only ever seen him out with young westerners, in their 20s or early 30s. Often with the same guy night after night. Thankfully there are plenty of equally cute lads who show more flexibility.
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