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Sounds like you may have missed the Priority feature that @TotallyOz installed in the last software upgrade. It’s a pulldown menu that lets you determine your level of notification for new posts. The default is Level 1 and it’s pretty hit-or-miss. I expect that’s what you got. Level 2 makes sure you get a notification within 30 seconds of a new post showing up. Level 3 adds a siren sound which comes through even if your computer or phone is switched off. And Level 4 hooks you into the IPAWS Emergency Alert System and all your connected phone, computer and TV devices will sound off within three seconds of a new post. That’s the one I signed up for and I’m glad I did, as I was following one of @AdamSmith's poop threads at the time. Even so, I’d be reluctant to sign up for Level 5.

The saying that should be repeated here is, “those who know better, do better.” If you are a man of a certain age from a first- or second-world developed country, and you also have the means and ability to travel abroad, then you damn.well should already know about the risks of transmission from bareback sex of not only HIV, but other potentially deadly or chronic STDs (whether treatable or not — are we just going to forget about the rise in the USA in STD transmission since the use of PreP — some of which are becoming resistant to antibiotics?). There’s been a recent explosion in meningitis cases in men who have sex with men. https://www.vox.com/platform/amp/science-and-health/2018/5/22/17376742/truvada-prep-hiv-stds I’ve had several Brazilian garotos and non-garoto (and in other countries) dates offer me bareback during the “heat of passion”, which I always refuse. If I had to estimate, the percentage who have offered it is maybe 10% — still too high (even one is too high). I’m 48, and started going out to gay clubs in the 80s — so, I’m old enough to remember watching men drop like flies weekly, but still young enough to be considered like an uncle or older brother to some of these brasileiros. So, it isn’t that hard for me to sit one down after he offers me bareback to tell him to be careful about doing that with someone, just because you think they’re “clean” because of how they look or because of what first-world country they are from. I made it through the Plague Period without ever seroconverting to HIV+ status (fortunately, and probably because back then, I wasn’t having any intercourse with men, which probably saved my life) , but I saw enough death and tragedy from friends and clubgoer colleagues who did — and at the time, it WAS considered a “death sentence”. So, I’ll be damned if after making it through that dark period unscathed, that I do something (or allow someone to do something) that is high-risk behavior for me or themselves. The harsh truth is that while some here are demonizing the garotos for unsafe sex practices, some of the clients and tourists participate in riskier sex than the garotos — and this is how HIV and other STDs are transmitted. As “hot” as the garoto you’re with may be to you, he’s also been with quite a few of those same clients that you’d rather not fuck. That mental image right there is enough to sober me up.

I have been grateful to learn so much from the reviews of others over the years. Now I have just returned from my most recent visit to Bangkok, I thought I would share my experiences with everyone. It is certainly a time of change around the gogo bar scene in Bangkok just at the moment. I will include my observations of some of the new bars, alongside the old. Day 1 Flight arrived at 7pm. Quickly through fast-track immigration and bags rapidly available. Traffic into the city was terrible. This might be usual on a Friday night or possibly because of the celebrations for the Kings coronation over the weekend. Settled into hotel in Silom close to the scene. Tired, but feel like a beer and a quick look round the bars to get settled in. First visit to Lucky Boys. Arrive as the show is drawing to a close with big cock show boys walking around the crowd seeking tips for a quick feel. A big barn of a place and it is packed. Lots of staff around who find me a seat. Good layout, with a mix of booth style seating for groups and other individual or small seating areas. Lots of boys. Mostly twinks. Place empties fast at the end of the show. Not in the mood for an off, so finish drink and go back to hotel. Left with the impression that Lucky Boys has quickly established itself as the leading bar amongst the new group on Soi 1. They have probably taken lots of business from the old Dreamboys. I wonder if they will be able to sustain this longer term? Back to hotel and a lengthy sleep. Day 2 Late breakfast then a couple of hours at the hotel pool. Mid-afternoon decide to go for a massage. Keen to try 'Magic Touch by the Tree' based upon some very positive recent reviews. Arrive around 3pm. Easy to find and nice venue - clean and nicely decorated. No choice of masseur as I hadn't booked in advance and I am allocated to the next masseur on their rotation system. No problem with this in principle if all the masseurs have the same skills. Take 90 mins scrub and oil massage. Huge disappointment. Whilst masseur was friendly and attractive, his massage skills were average to poor and not a sensuous experience at all. He remained in his clothes throughout. Only towards the end did he offer me the 'special' service and suggested I'd like to tip him 2000Bht. Politely declined! He's going to have to work much harder for a tip anywhere near that size. So I leave unsatisfied, but with further opportunities ahead over the next week. I have no reason not to believe the earlier positive reviews of Magic Touch. I guess I was just unlucky in the selection of the masseur. But I'm not sure I'll go back, which is a pity given the convenient location close to my hotel. In the evening I decide to try more of the new bars - Hotmale and then Freshboys. Both bars a decent size and familiar layouts to the previous bars - with main stage area and tiered seating around 3 sides. Good number of boys in both bars - again mostly twinks - and the shows were the usual range of acts including fucking shows at the end. Freshboys has a fun group of waiters who seem to be competing with the stage boys for drinks and possible offs (the waiters all have numbers) from customers. There was lots of amusing interactions going on with the waiters. I found the waiters more attractive than the stage boys. After the 12 Midnight show, I offed my favourite waiter - back to hotel together for a couple of hours of fun. It made up for the poor massage experience earlier. Day 3 onwards to follow soon ...........

An interesting report about HIV among Brazilian men who have sex with men (MSM) appeared in June 2018 in Folha de São Paulo about a paper that had just been published in a peer-reviewed medical journal, International Medicine. The study included 4,176 MSM from all social strata and age brackets in 11 Brazilian capitals. Each participant had two interviews and HIV tests and half of the participants reported that this was the first HIV test they had ever received. 83.1% of the considered themselves gay, 12.9% heterosexual or bisexual and 4% "others". Of the total, 75% were having sex only with men. 3,958 of the participants agreed to be tested and, taking all of the participants in the Brazilian cities as an aggregate, 18.4% were HIV-positive compared to 12.1% in a study set up in the same way in 2009. Of all of the Brazilian capitals in the study, São Paulo ranked first, with 1 in 4 MSM HIV-positive. Rio de Janeiro had an HIV-infection rate near the middle of the pack at 15.3%. Among MSM 15-19 years old, the rate of HIV infection had tripled since 2009, going from 2.4 to 6.7 per 100K inhabitants. Among MSM age 20-24, the rate had doubled from 15.9 to 33.1 cases per 100K inhabitants. The authors wrote that Brazilian MSM are experiencing a "second wave" of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The factors they hypothesized for this increase included: The reduction of HIV prevention campaigns in Brazil related to the economic crisis. The anti-sexuality instruction in schools movement of the Brazilian extreme-right [and this was even before Jair Bolsonaro became president and, as one of his first policies in office, acted to remove sex and diversity education in Brazilian schools]. The rise of social media, giving MSM the ability to have many more sexual encounters. The fact that young MSM don't remember what the worst years of the AIDS epidemic were like and never met anyone seriously ill with complications of HIV/AIDS. The [false] notion that HIV has been cured by current medications, losing the fear of death has led to a "relaxation of preventive measures". They provide this telling quote: "Young [Brazilian] men think of themselves as supermen, who'll never get sick, and so they don't seek out health care services."

from that great report above it looks that mourning after soi Twilight death will be short lived as bars seem to be picking up the speed. And no doubt we need to keep close attention to those waiters at Freshboys. Waiting impatiently for a next installment of your adventures

Alex is right..."New Screwboys" dates to 2013 and is the Screwboys we all talk about. Screwboys also has a karaoke further down the soi. I reconfirmed with one of th guys who works there.

Sometimes rules that are in effect are not enforced. There are also plenty of instances where various immigration offices, and even individual immigration officers, make up their own rules. I think many of us have heard plenty of those stories. I can understand why Thailand would want farang retirees to have medical insurance that covers inpatient. But outpatient - for 40,000 baht, which is less than US $1300 for a full year? In my opinion that is asinine. Why not simply require 40,000 baht to be held in a Thai bank account, just like that 800,000 baht? If they ever do put this rule into effect, maybe that will be an option. The bottom line is we simply don't know yet what to expect or how this will play out. I have no idea if this rule is actually in effect and being enforced. If it is being enforced, how? What would immigration require as proof of insurance? All I know is when I renewed my retirement visa this past Friday, nothing was even mentioned about medical insurance. That means either nothing about this is being enforced or I just happened to renew my visa on the last day it could be done without showing proof of insurance. At the time of this post, so far all we have is a couple confusing news articles and a lot of people talking without having any idea what the hell they're talking about. I'm a believer in "Don't worry until you have something to worry about." If my visa renewal experience is any indication, then at least for now there is nothing to worry about. If anyone wants to worry, then if you are living in Thailand without medical insurance, unless you are independently wealthy that's what to worry about - rule or no rule. In my opinion people in the retirement age bracket are taking much too great a risk if they're here without decent medical insurance. I'm an example. About 2 years ago I ended up in a hospital for 7 days - pneumonia. If I wanted to stay in a semi-private room, then all I would have had to pay would be the deductible - and for me that is US $375 - around 12,000 baht. But I decided to pay the difference to stay in a private room. For the week, the total out-of-pocket I ended up paying was 42,000 baht - a little over US $1,300. Meanwhile the total bill was over 400,000 baht - almost US $13,000. You're not gonna catch me without good medical insurance - again rule or no rule . . .

If you think that’s gross, take a look at some of the clients or customers.

Anonymous Testing Thai Red Cross offers anonymous testing for HIV and STDs. I don't know if Pulse Clinic does, but they seem pretty "woke", so one could check there as well. SWING is an excellent support/health group for the gay & trans sex workers. I don't know if they provide testing for customers or the general public, but they could be another source. On/Off Use. As I understand it, going on/off PrEP is fine, as long as you follow the guidelines. This means always getting tested - for HIV and kidney function - before starting/resuming and getting tested again when you stop. Again, just to point out, PrEP can fuck up your kidneys if they are not healthy and kidney health has nothing to do with your sexual escapades. So you can't really make a judgment about the state of your kidneys on your own. So proper testing for HIV and kidney function, etc., is essential. [I follow this particular regimen myself.] It is not a drug that should treated like a recreational viagra. Do Not Let the Perfect be the Enemy of the Good PrEP is important and useful. It does not protect against STDs and it doesn't promise 100% protection against HIV. I am pretty sure, however, that the health professionals who work with sex workers in Thailand (and elsewhere), strongly advocate PrEP for those who are eligible. When I read posts here sometimes the "oh it's imperfect" seems to drown out how good and important it is. The organizations that provide free PrEp and support to sex workers such as SWING, and Pulse for those who pay, and Thai Red Cross for anyone, make regular periodic testing a part of their PrEP programs. There are bound to be exceptions, of course, but these guys/gals are actively taking care of their health. Having a discussion with your guy about PrEP and where he goes for PrEP and testing is a perfectly fine thing to do. Because I have had the unpleasant task of accompanying an acquaintance to be tested for HIV where the results were positive, I almost always end up talking about PrEP with working guys I get to know. In my non-statistically valid sample of Hornet guys in Bangkok, identifying as "Negative on PrEP" does not mean they will necessarily bareback. (applause!).

You are a bright guy and probably nice on top of that. However, your writing is unnecessarily difficult to read. By way of example in the first paragraph of your post that I quoted above YOU HAVE 64 WORDS in the first paragraph. Not even a textbook would contain 64 words in a paragraph. If you want most others to understand your input, you should shorten your paragraphs by not including several different subjects and thoughts. Sixty-four words in a casual paragraph are unreasonable. Please do not feel offended by my observation and suggestion. If you want people to understand your posts, you should break each thought and/or subject into a separate paragraph.

At the decision juncture, then, it is proverbially the elder who apparently should know better and be expected to model prudence by explicitly, politely, calmly, verbally, taking a pass on the offer or request; taciturn seamless condom application as though this is the most natural acceptable norm and not up for discussion; or attempting to engage in an instructive dialogue about risk and safety. This third option reminds me of the proverb: *Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.* It is a challenge because many younger people know everything whilst not knowing what they don’t know. I believe on-the-spot HIV test kits are available in Brazil. I suggest scooping up a supply so that if any one ‘garoto de programa’ importunes for bareback, the client shove one in his face saying “you will be needing this”. Or alternatively, “your choice buddy ... condom or needle prick, unless you plan to be among the 15,000 AIDS deaths in Brazil during some future calendar year”. Who is in the best position, holding the money and power, to add STD awareness and openness to education as an added precondition for playcheque? Public health campaigns are obviously failing and brothel owners be like honey badger don’t give a shit.

Yikes, u can close ur eyes til its finish...

I have done the very same thing. I knew I was negative, but he did not, and could not have. Very selfious to reinforce his dangerous delusional notions & instincts.

This is happening in the states, too. When I'm topping, guys sometimes ask me to take off the condom. Yesterday a "straight" young man I met online said he wanted to feel me cum inside him... In the heat of the moment I gave him what he asked for, but he was taking a stupid risk for a reason I honestly don't understand. Maybe it's because these 20-somethings didn't watch half their friends sicken and die of AIDS back in the 90s.

The bars don't get it for me anymore. In pattaya, I visited bbb only once and once was enough. I use to love going there but now with the guys in jeans, why bother? They show more skin on the apps. Bangkok, I went to tawan but not by choice. Jupiter was charging 500 baht entry and as it turns out I didn't enter any of the gogo bars after tawan. And the show at tawan... It was like watching a veteran tuktuk driver have sex with his fat older cousin.

Mean bitches....

I think OP is on the right path. He had planned his upcoming visit to Lima with all non-sexual activities first: eating, shopping, sand boarding. So his main reason for going there is not sex. And now he just wants to add the escort sex element as bonus. It's great if he found some, if not, at least he won't be bored, or regret taking the trip.

@SolaceSoul, you hit the nail right on the head with this response. Weve had garatos tell us that because they really like my husband and myself, they would have sex with us bareback. We were shocked considering the amount of men they sleep with in a day, week or month. Weve visited last year in June of 2018 and about 2 of the guys we saw when we were there in March of 2019 look sickly and frail. One guy, a favorite of mine, I didnt even recognize at the sauna in March.

Yes. I do know better. I've used rubbers religiously for decades. He was so hot and I was halfway to the finish line when he asked me to lose the rubber. I'm an old man and not used to being desired like that these days. Scary how easily I lost control...