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No one knows for sure where things are going, but knowing your own fears and bias helps you see better. As the protests sometimes spilled into burning and looting a few days ago and police forces seemed to back off or blunder, a lot of smart, experienced, politically savvy folks began to wonder whether we might see a replay of 1968 when Republican President Nixon's racist law and order campaign helped him become President. Many of the same folks watched Trump threaten to impose marshal law and wondered as well whether a massive, dictatorial repression was imminent. I went to bed feeling pessimistic. But the young people who are clearly leading this uprising did not grow up in the shadow of Nixon or fascism or Reagan. And when Trump threatened to have Army soldiers shoot them down, they decided to call his bluff, militantly, but for the most part non-violently. Stay tuned.

I consider this to be "pick a theory" time. So many individuals, labs, governments, day dreamers looking for a way to get back to where things were. One of the best researchers I know is having his lab look for treatments 0f covid symptoms rather than a vaccine. He theorizes a vaccine is in the not near future and then it will take time to produce billions of doses and even more time to administer. And in the interim, folks will have covid and need health care/treatments. If I dwell on this too long, I could get depressed, so, instead, I'min the Bangkok by New Years theory group! Stay well Forum members and voyeurs, (sorry, I meant visitors)

I have to believe some part of Dave Barry was pretty amused that a male escort would steal his words to try to make himself more clever. Now that's a story to tell at cocktail parties. I found the whole controversy kinda silly. BN was one like Scott Adler who marketed themselves as 'top of market'. I don't spend that kind of money on escorts so I never met him. I'm sure I would enjoy the time even if it felt to me at times that BN was trying too hard. But Rockhard isn't wrong about the haters. There were a lot of very angry gay men on that board that really looked down on the escorts and got pretty mad when the escorts didn't act like the stupid whores they were supposed to be. Any excuse to tear them down was welcome.

Latbear4blk, don't be too hard on yourself. You made the effort, you engaged the discussion. What I think is different this time is the very thing you brought up early on- white privilege. I think many white people are finally seeing for the first time what a role that privilege plays in keeping things from improving. Just today I got an email challenging me, and others, to determine what practical steps we can take to make sure real change happens now. Partly because of disgust with Trump, people see things in the US as at a critical stage. Act now. Maybe it will be the children like you saw rally today that lead us, but there will be leadership, and, I think, real change.

My observation exactly. People with real money would be mortified to ever speak of it.

Nobody cares about your silly bragging and childish attempts to start a conversation with me yesterday. I was a comic actor at one point. People who are wealthy almost never discuss it publicly. My old friend Kenny could buy and sell you without a dent in his bank account

Can the USA? The current occupant of The Oval Office is gassing peaceful protesters and faking jobs reports.

Ignore me. I think I am going through my menopause. I am switching moods continuously, from apocalyptic dystopias to Viva la Revolución.

Generational change has saved societies again and again. I smell it now again. Just wait a little bit. These under-30-year olds — under 25, actually — who may seem asleep at the switch I think are about to erupt. Not that they have not done already. 200,000 of them marching to say, ’Please stop shooting us in our classrooms.’ The 2020 election cycle will tell.

Restrictions should make sense to be accepted by the public. Here, one is obliged to wear a mask more or less everywhere. In public transport, that makes perfect sense. In a shopping mall, fine. In the park or even on the beach? I don't think so. The same with the curfew, makes even less sense than mask wearing in an outdoor setting. That's where frustrations come from.... At your river park, I'd say the same: no need to wear a mask as it's outdoors and transmission risk is already very low. So common sense tells me it's all good there.

before governments will make their decisions, virus may do it's and mutate to less malicious version. I think is's what happened to Sars. Tourism by it 's very nature is care-free exercise and I can't envision too many people willing to put up with certificates, testing, quarantines etc so massive travel won't happen until those restrictions are gone, either because of government decisions or there's vaccine or whole scare is gone.

From South China Morning Post Coronavirus turns Teflon Thailand’s wealth gap into a economic chasm As Covid-19 eats into exports and tourism, the gap between rich and poor in one of the world’s most unequal countries is only getting wider With both the lower and middle classes now facing ruin, ‘Teflon’ Thailand’s reputation for weathering financial crises is feeling the heat like never before On a roadside in a mixed Bangkok neighbourhood stands a shiny metal box – a “Pantry of Sharing” – where the haves in one of the world’s least equal countries can leave food for the have-nots, the ranks of whom are bulging as the coronavirus lays waste to the Thai economy. Each day, maids from the grand mansions nearby drop off an inventory of essentials – eggs, noodles, milk, sugar and water, sometimes a bag of mangosteens or rambutans – charity for those suddenly jobless. Opposite the pantry, Sumarin Boonmee says her life has been pitched into uncertainty since she was put on unpaid leave from her job at a supermarket three months ago. “I have no idea when I can go back, so I am selling meat skewers here for a little income,” she says, tending to a tabletop grill. She is a member of the Leelanut community, a slum of day workers and stallholders living under corrugated roofs amid cluttered walkways beside a mucky canal. The community is flanked by wealth – gated villas, wood-panelled cafes, condos and high-end salons. It is a hangover from old Bangkok, before money poured in and breakneck development airbrushed most of the poor from prime areas of the city. There are millions of newly unemployed like Sumarin, according to the Thai government, which last Sunday secured a near-US$60 billion stimulus package – the largest in Thai history – to resuscitate an economy flatlined by the virus. Bangkok locked down in late March. It is stuttering back to life. But jobs have been shredded, especially for those who depend on daily wages or low-paid jobs as cleaners, motorbike drivers and security guards. At the pantries, most are embarrassed for being forced to turn to handouts. “I’m just taking enough for now, so that others have something too,” says Suthep, a 49-year-old truck driver, taking a red-bean bun and a carton of milk for his granddaughter. Thailand’s economy leans heavily on exports and tourism and has been cruelly exposed by the impact of the virus, which has closed international travel and shrunk global demand. Now the “Teflon Thailand” tag, earned for resilience through financial crises, disasters and cycles of political turmoil, is being tested like never before. There are now scores of pantries across Bangkok, lifelines for those in need but also rare connection points between the rich and the poor. The pantry at the Leelanut community is filled twice daily by an heir to a large sock company, who lives 100 metres along the road in a grand house. “My business has been hit hard by Covid. But I’m very lucky,” says Pinnarat Sethaporn, 51. “I really feel for those living hand-to-mouth at times like this.” But it is not just the poor who are facing ruin. Middle-class workers are losing their office jobs, and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are bleeding cash, with knock-on effects on mortgage, car and school payments. Between six and seven per cent will be hacked off annual growth, according to an IMF estimate. The damage is already worse than the “Tom Yum Goong” crisis of 1997, when Thai banks overly leveraged with foreign debt collapsed, leading to a slump in the baht, white-collar redundancies and capital flight – problems that spread across the region and led to the Asian financial crisis. “This time, those who will be hit the hardest are the low and middle classes,” says Pavida Pananond, an academic at Thammasat Business School in Bangkok. “This crisis will further widen Thailand’s inequality.”

For what it’s worth, two of the Viets I know messaged me about the July 1 reopening. They are in Vietnam and indicated they are going back to Bangkok.

Gentlemen.... Please!

Your fondness for hijacking a thread can be irritating. Since the thread is mine... Benjamin Nicholas is the reason I joined Hooboy's Forum, which, at the time was a cesspool of hateful queens and trolls. Seriously hateful. Doug69 had a particular talent for hate, and for writing. He wrote like a Roy Cohn, a self-hating, closeted litigator. At a certain point Doug69 became obsessed with BN, hell bent on taking BN down. I joined the hate-filled Hooboy Forum to save BN from Doug69 and the vultures who fed off Doug's blackened witch tits. In very simplistic terms, I had a crush on BN. In the early 2000's, he was a notorious young escort from Texas. He displayed unique talent as a marketer, along with being my type of preferred sexual partner; tall, lean, defined, blond, White, handsome, and most important, healthy. BN marketed himself as "upscale," and that's the ass I wanted to munch on. Many hateful guys hated his schtick. BN's talent included writing. He was an early blogger, a sort of pioneer, with dreams of being an escort version of Hedda Hopper, Louella Parsons, Rona Barret, Liz Smith, and/or Cindy Adams. Dreaming of mixing gossip with escorting proved to be a misjudgment, but few hateful gay men wanted to forgive BN his youthful indiscretion and misguided choice. Many haters were out for blood and wanted him burned at the stake. Cheaper queens, most of Hooboy's following, who could not afford one minute with BN let alone one hour, felt BN slapped their faces with classism and snobbery. This drove their hate for him even higher. BN claimed to travel with powerful creatives, linking him by default to show business. He also demonstrated an enjoyment for show business and for those who work in the industry. Since show business is my life, I easily saw myself enjoying BN, with him returning the pleasure. I also enjoyed a good piece of gossip. As a writing talent showing promise, BN stumbled under pressure to deliver. He stole words from writer Dave Barry and possibly others, and Doug69 made the case for plagiarism on Hooboy's board. The case was strong against BN. BN was forced to come clean and he publicly apologized. Hooboy had a private relationship with BN. They had a friendship. At one point, Hooboy linked BN's blog to Hooboy's Home Page, promoting it. The haters hated the link. When Hooboy died, the future of the link was in jeopardy. Daddy struggled with the controversy, but eventually caved to pressure. The link came down. My fantasy sex with Benjamin Nicholas did not include grading blog notes. I'm a writer, too, and human beings often get lazy. I know plagiarism can ruin a writing career, but not always. Some writers, like Doris Kearns Goodwin, survive the scandal. When I'm thinking about having sex with a writer, I don't give a flying fuck about his stealing words. For a long time I had a crush on Jonah Lerher, and that was partly due to his writing talent. His mistakes brought his career down, but I'd still have sex with him, and I still long to read his words. Benjamin Nicholas continues his blog, and I'm happy. His talent at sex continues, too. As for Doug69, perhaps Karma caught up with him. Haters eventually get payback. Hate is an invitation to cancer invading your body, encouraging the rot from inside out.

Another topic for another thread! As a blogger, you will find the story interesting.

I think bar owners will have to make a choice between when they are allowed to open and when it is financially viable for them to open. Some can perhaps survive just with the ex-Pat custom, but others will need the influx of foreign customers to make it viable for them to do so, and that, sadly still seems a long way off.

I watch a lot of kdrama but thank to lockdown in my country, i discovered many BL thai series. It makes me feel to have holidays in Thailand. Those actors are gorgeous. I didn't know that there were so many gay series. South Korea have drama and Thailand have BL series

Happens. Believe me at 60 now.

Getting back to Hey Daddy, Go Fuck Yourself! Thank you LeBron James for this: Yo Daddy, do you understand yet?

Actually, I think it is too late for us. We are fucked up beyond hope. Look how we behave in this and the other forum. We are old sad bitches hating each other. I try to do better, but I keep failing. They are saving themselves, despite and/or against us.

Today we were celebrating the birthday of one of my best friends, a colleague who lives in Maryland. Because of the pandemic protocols, we chose a park in Largo, one of many DC suburbs. When we chose the park, we did not know that local high school students organizations were having a rally at 2:30 before marching to the local city town. We enjoyed ourselves from 11 up to 2, when the people started to arrive. I am not good to make estimations on crowds sized, but this was at least 1K, probably twice that number or more. In a suburban area. You can see the diversity in the video. I wish you would have heard the speeches given by the kids. They made me cry. Oh, their passion and determination! The clip documents the beginning of the rally. People kept arriving in good numbers as the speakers delivered their speeches before marching. I have been frustrated so many times during my almost 6 decades of living. I would participate or witness popular uprisings, I would feel full of hope, and then nothing would happen, and I would slowly become more and more cynic. This time, again, I am filled with hope. I cross my fingers. IMG_4963.MOV

Poor RockHard. He couldn't win me over as an ally, and he cannot support his argument that I am unpopular. Let's face it.In over 20 years of posting one is bound to ruffle feathers, and I have. Yet most of those folks continue to either like me or tolerate me. Some don't. There is no continuing animosity among board veterans still posting except for RockHard. He doesn't seem to like anyone whom he cannot dominate. RockHard is a smart guy. He can make some great arguments and I often agree with him. But he loves to insult and loves to tell others what to do. Years ago, he and I were on friendly terms. I visit New York often and offered more than once to get together with him. He hemmed and hawed, and once even said his son didn't think it was a good idea. I suggested maybe I should meet his son to show him how harmless I am. There was no sexual connotation to it. I don't know if he even has a son. I don't even know if he lives in New York. I don't know if he actually has any connection to Hollywood, even on the fringes. He has built a character here without any real proof that he is telling the truth. I do believe that he masturbates a lot on Newtumbl.com, and I believe that he takes vacations to Sardinia or wherever in Italy he says. He has actually posted pix of that. Because I have met almost 100 men who post on the boards, people do know me for better or worse. I started the Palm Springs Weekend and people came. Oliver later helped turn it into an even bigger event. So knowing who I am as Lucky is easy. Like me or not, I am here to entertain myself, not you or RockHard. Finally, in a time of pandemic and systemic oppression of people of color, a time when whites are finally beginning to cope with the idea of white privilege and how it is used to prevent change, it seems odd to have a petty squabble with a poster here. I offer a truce to RockHard, in the spirit of the times and because there are just so many more important things to talk about.

I think they will be watching close if partial re-opening creates increase in new cases and if not , actions to reopen will be swift and brave . And then many countries will discover that bringing back normal economic activity will actually INCREASE death rate compare to Covid closure period due to jump in pollution. I still have high hopes to attend that Grand re-opening of Senso on Aug 1, LOL

To clarify a weee bit. This quote is with respect to the current phase - the opening up for domestic tourism. So the "self-assured, have high standards, expect new innovations to combat the health situation, and are concerned for family and friends once back home" is how they are characterizing the young upwardly-mobile Thais. The kind that flock to craft beer shops and Prada. For foreigners, I expect they will be looking for the low-volume high value tourists who will be happy holed up for a week or so at a nice resort on Phuket or Samui to start.

I know this is an old post but I wanted to add this. When I was in Bangkok, I met and became friends with an African black guy. He often told me that he wanted to give me his big black cock. I think when it comes to sex the real world takes a back seat to fetish and sexual gratification.

Oh please. Gays can be so gullible. Beware of fake news on an escort board.