I guess one is safe to stay at Aquarius so long as prior confirmation of the age of any boy is determined before he is taken to one's room!

According to the guy who was busted before, the boy he was with was not underage. He was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"According to the guy who was busted before, the boy he was with was not underage. He was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time." Now that puts a whole new spin on it all. If he was engaging in consensual sex with a boy over the age of 18, how could he be busted? Or am I being naive?

LuvThailand . . . the gentleman who ended up in the calaboose was probably ~ as they say ~ simply "in the wrong place...".
I don't believe he was charged with the underage thing, but the whole thing ended up being thouroughly complicated by his attempting to pay a "bribe" to the cops and/or the judge. Whether this worked or not I have no idea, but the end result was some months in jail for him and then being released which cost him a lot of money.

The reason Aquarius was raided in the first place, I believe, had to do with boys from Burma being illegally employed there rather than it being an underage issue.
The Farang just happened to be in a room (quite naked) with a young man. Unfortunately for him the news reporters "just happened" to also be there at the time & the photos were plastered all over the morning papers.

So one assumes that Aquarius no longer has boys from Burma on the payroll, therefore it should be a 'safe' place to stay?

Well not really . . . you could always be in situation of "being in the wrong place . . . " in Thailand or any country for that matter.
I have heard that nothing in the nature of The Raid (in, I believe, Oct. or Nov. of 2000) has ever happened again since. So does that make it a "safe" place? Your guess is as good as anybody's. After what the owner went through during and after the raid, I'd be surprized if there were any illegal boys (either foreign workers or underage) allowed in there anymore . . . but who knows.

I had a very nice 3 weeks there in 2001 with no problems at all . . . though we really only slept there as we were pretty well on the go from morning 'til night. So to us it was just an hotel: pleasant, friendly, quiet, good breakfasts, price about 900baht/day I believe. All we needed. (Though as I mentioned above, I heard the whole raid story only AFTER I left).

So tell me subtle, would you stay at Aquarius again?

Hi LuvThailand,
In 'theory', yes I would.
That may sound a wishy-washy answer to you, but my circumstances have changed. When I visit Thailand now it's to be with my boyfriend & for longer periods of time than I used to. He does not really care for the place (not because of the raid) and we've other digs that we like more ~ with a pool for the sweaty Bangkok afternoons!

But, if I were alone I would have Aquarius on my list, yes. However, I would not be telling the truth if I said I could stay there without EVER thinking about The Raid.

I think I would not off a boy from the hotel itself. And of course all the usual precautions regarding age ID etc etc.

Hi Subtle
Hmmmmm, interesting. I guess it would be inevitable for one to be conscious of the raid if one was staying at Aquarius. I'm kind of intrigued by the place and I'd quite like to give it a crack as far as accommodation goes, but I must admit to some nagging doubts..........

As I said before, I also recommend this place. I suppose if the boy in your room is over 18 and willing, there is no need to be afraid of the police, am I correct?
I don't know whether the Burmese house-boys are illegal workers, but definitely they are over 18 at my time of stay.
I still remember, in the evening at around 8pm, those house-boys liked to gather at the garden after their whole day hard work, playing guitar and singing Burmese love songs.... I liked to watch them through my window on the 2nd floor....

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