Remember the old, now-gone, forums, such as Yellow Board and Penhball?

Like several Bangkok boards of yester-years (1990s), YB advertised a weekly meeting of forum members.

Posts on YB board consisted mostly of English spoken by non-Americans -- probably Aussies because their English is difficult for me to decipher (odd expressions and word usage) and understand (pronunciation).

Oddly enough, years ago when I first began to attend the YB weekly meetings whenever I was in Pattaya, the attendees were mostly Americans, a few Canadians, and occasional UK and Aussie.

As an infrequent Pattaya visitor, I found the weekly meetings to be very informative. Attendees provided a lot of good information. Most attendees were expats residing in Pattaya, who were knowledgeable not only on Pattaya but also other cities and countries being frequent travelers.

No one, no board sponsors these Saturday togethers. I have not seen mention about this regular get-together, but I do not read boards as much as I used to. In fact, a new attendee frequently asked, which board are we on? Everyone hesitate to answer. One or two say, Secrets, FLB, Pattaya-Addicts, and/or GlobalGentlemensClub.

This informal group tended to be comprised of people who were or used to be members of several boards and initially posted a lot. Over the years, most attendees tended to post less and visited boards less.

Similar to other groups, regular attendees varied. Reasons varied, such as returned to the USA, moved to other countries due to Thailand's strict enforcement of a maximum of 90-days-within-six-month-period for tourist visa, dislike of another attendee's attitude, etc. Usual reasons similar to any other groups, although all attendees were sex enthusiasts.

Saturday, June 7, 2014, I arrived about 2 pm at Welkom Inn, Soi 3, between Beach Road and Second Road. On previous Saturday visits, there would be half a dozen to 20 men sitting at a long table in the outside garden -- a few eating lunch, a few drinking beer, others drinking sodas, and one or two partook of the local ladies in a private room. After 2 pm, more men would arrive and join in. About 3 pm, people would begin to leave. About 4 pm, a few would leave together to go to the bars and clubs on Soi 6.

However, on June 7, I was the only one at the long table. Alone. Solo. I ordered and drank a soda water and waited over 20 minutes. The waitresses asked me, where were the others? I did not know. The previous Saturday get-together seemed the same as usual.

With two exceptions. One, a young guy who was an infrequent visitor to Pattaya was very excited about getting afternoon bj at places near Third Road, which the residing expats did not know about. Goes to show, residing expats and frequent visitors (including me) tend to do those things that we enjoyed in the past, while Pattaya continues to open new places in new areas.

Two, Aardvark, who married a Thai lady a couple of years ago at her request and took her to USA for the marriage ceremony and to live, was in Thailand to serve her with divorce papers. He said that she said that she did not like living in USA. More to this story, but the topics at the long table shifted quickly.

Unfortunately, I could not phone any of the expats, because I forgot to put my cell phone in my luggage. I spent the rest of the day, wondering what happened to the other guys? Maybe it was just an odd day when everyone had something else to do. Maybe there was a big event somewhere else at that time. Who knows?

I did my usual routine that Saturday afternoon and evening. Return to my hotel room. eat a small snack, watch television for local news in English and for a movie of possible interest. Read a detective novel. Nap a few minutes. About 7:30 pm, shower and shave. Then walk along Beach Road or Second Road towards Walking Street. A little after 8 pm, I visit my first club of the night. etc, barfine a nice go-go dancer, etc.

Sunday. Same vacation routine. Except no Sunday carvery for me. I used to eat a lot of buffets, frequently eating 3 or 4 full plates of main courses. But, as a senior, my stomach cannot hold more that 1.5 plates of food. So, the price of a buffet is no longer economical for a person with a small stomach capacity. Also, the price of a buffet in Pattaya has gone up while their selections have gone down -- still covering fish, pork, chicken, and occasionally beef steak, ribs, or other main course treat.

Sunday night. Same routine. About 9:30 pm, I was in the men's room of the Sapphire Club. I read a sign on the wall. It said, "The Annual Soi 6 Weekend Party" facebook, June 7 and 8, 2014, 2 pm -2 am.

My first thought was that might be the reason no one showed up at Welkom Inn yesterday. My second thought was tonight was the last night of that party and I had a little over 4 hours until the party ended.

Immediately, I exited the club, walked to Second Road, and boarded a baht bus. By 10 pm, I arrived at Soi 6.

Although a lot of guys like Soi 6, I do not. Mainly, because in prior years, every time I visited Soi 6 in the evening, several ladyboys sitting outside on the street would cross the soi 40 feet away and come at me like a prey animal. Then I would change my path, evade their touch, and tell them to go away. I guess that they regard any solo male walking by himself to be a target. So, I stopped going to Soi 6.

Unlike my previous evening visits to Soi 6, there were a lot of people on the street and sitting in front of bars and clubs. Some Thai's were pushing carts selling something. A few men were walking around, but not many. No one seemed to be having a party. At best, there was one girl standing in front of a cluster of balloons and popping them one-by-one.

I walked up and down Soi 6. On my return walk, I stuck my head inside every club that had a closed door or curtain to see if inside there was any dancer on a stage. Nothing. Usually empty. Finally, the Fun Seeker Dance Club had four females on a small stage around a pillar and no customer. No draft beer available, but 100 baht for a bottled beer. I was thirsty from the walk and the heat. The club had a little air conditioning and several revolving fans. So, I sat, drank, and assessed the four females.

One was young, blonde, medium body, and passable. Two were so-so. Fourth was 40s, heavy, ugly, and aggressive. From the stage, she kept pushing her boobs up and at me. Acting like an aged ladyman desperate for a customer. I looked away and waved my hand, no thanks. I wanted to stare at the blond, who was on the far side of the circular stage. But, the ugly dancer would not stop. After ten minutes, another female in a dress came in from the outside. She also looked 40s, heavy, and ugly. Another ladyman. She came and stood in front of me, and tried to shoove his-her big boobs into my face. I put up both my arms in a cross to block him-her. I quickly finished my beer, paid the waitress, and tipped her. As I walked out, I went over to the blonde and tipped her.

Leaving Soi 6, I could see why some guys would like going there. But, it is not my style. And that last club convinced me that my opinion of Soi 6 formed from prior visits was still correct.

At least, I thought I knew the reason why many of the usual Saturday attendees were not there yesterday. I guessed the Soi 6 weekend party was probably good on Saturday and/or early during the day or evening.

About a week later, I flew out of Thailand returning to my home pad. I checked my emails. My email address used for Pattaya expats and boards usually had emails containing ads for boards or forwarded jokes. But, one email mentioned that the funeral for Computer John was scheduled for Saturday afternoon, June 7, 2014.

Shit. If it was the John I knew, I last saw him with two other Pattaya expats in a small club in Barrio Barretto (frequently called Subic) in Nov 2013. We were happy, libation in one hand and a girl in the other hand. But, John and his girl were practically putting on a show for the rest of us. Shit, sorry to miss the funeral and real sorry to miss John.

Romance travel is my thing. Friendship with similar-minded guys is good and guys who speak the gringo English is even better. If of similar ilk, consider Saturday get-together at Welkom Inn, Soi 3, near Beach Road, Pattaya, about 2-3 pm.

Keep on mowing.

In Pattaya now. Will check out the meeting Saturday

Trek