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Haha, I defy anyone not to have a good time in NIce Boys ! haha - my favourite gay bar in Pattaya; happy, hands-on, debauchery! More generally, I have an exPat friend who lives not to far away from Sunee and I get regular reports from him, indeed he may wish to comment further himself...... It would seem that Sunee hangs on, with Nice Boys and Winner Boys being the main draws; Jomtien Complex also hangs on, particularly @Home Bar and Sun Bar, but it is BoysTown itself that is really struggling. Drink prices in BT are almost twice that of JC or Sunee. Sunee offers hands-on fun, JC offers companionable open fronted bars, and basically BT is a tourist trap for the wealthier foreign visitors. Ok so that's obviously a pretty simplistic assessment, but it does help explain why JC and Sunee can (mosty) struggle-on with exPat custom and BT lies mostly closed up (my long-time from Toy Boys says his bar is simply resting up, but thinks BBB has now gone for good - others may know different of course).

A friend has told me there are two main changes. 1. If you already have the basic Elite visa valid for 5 years which had cost you 500,000 baht, you can now extend it to 20 years for the price of another 500,000 baht. This compares to the basic price for a new 20 years visa of around 2 million baht. 2. If you are thinking about a Thai Elite visa but do not have one, the price of the basic 5 year one has now been raised to 600,000 baht. Unlike other retirement visas obtained here, there are no other financial requirements - i.e. no need to keep cash unused in an account or to remit a monthly amount. This information is from someone who has just extended his visa to 20 years. I am assuming it is correct.

I love the photos of this guy featured in the Myanmar protests who has been in the media on two separate days. Wonder if he might be gay???

In answer to the original question, here is a sort of copy of a message that I posted elsewhere, regarding a visit to Silom soi4 last Sunday. Sorry if these are not the sort of bars you were enquiring about. I visited soi4 on Sunday night. It was quiet with the following establishments open:- Balcony -- with a few terrace tables occupied and half a dozen customers inside. Telephone -- with few customers. Connections -- quite busy for a small bar Pride -- several customers. Bas Bar -- open. Banana terrace and Banana Room Club (upstairs) -- apparently open Fork and Cork -- open. 'G's German Thai Restaurant. Adam Massage -- open with staff sitting outside. Tattoo business above the now closed Welcome bar. (side shutter open) Closed -- Strangers Bar Jupiter Welcome Bar Sports on 4 Hugs Bar I went to Balcony and was shown a rough of a new Vegetarian page for their menu. 30% discount on all food. I was told that the entire soi was busy on Friday night. Quieter on Saturday and Sunday. Coming Friday, is the first day of the official three day Chinese New Year holiday. Let's hope for a busy and happy long weekend.

Good to know about other options but -- while it is not as rainbow-clad as in the good ol' days -- I found the Tarntawan Hotel Surawong -- despite the new owners -- to still be ideal. Modest price, large rooms, and very quiet (way back from the street) yet in the middle of the main scene. And they continued the practice of returning visitor's ID only after calling my room and confirming all is well.

My experience is similar to that Xclay. I had traveled there before, but the fun 10 years ago is quite different now. I was there for only three days last February before Covid hit the country. I was staying near the Corniche which has long been the place where street cruising occurs (in fact, any corniche in any northern Africa or Middle Eastern country is usually a great place for cruising). The trek to take is to start from the Alexandrian library to the east side, and then walk west along the corniche. If you are a single white older guy then you will get the smiles and winks. Now, the walk is quite nice, especially at night. During the day you can walk west and end it at the Citadel/Fort. You can then check out the cool fish market if it is operating, along with stopping at any of the cafes along the corniche as you walk back. BUT… here’s the warning I found from this last trip. On the first night, I walked with a female French colleague along the corniche. When I was getting to the Citadel, one of the usual sexy young male vendors approached us to sell us some popcorn. We bought some, and then we chatted for a few minutes. Suddenly two plainclothes men came up to us speaking Arabic and flashed they badges. One took the young man aside and started yelling at him, whilst the other asked for our ID. They asked us why we were talking to the guy and we told him. He then let us go. BUT… the young kid was yelled at in front of other people and then slapped several times on the head. My colleague who speaks Arabic said the young man was being told he was not allowed to talk with foreigners. Fast forward the next night. I went out walking again but this time alone. I saw the same young man now carrying a box with balloons he had blown up and modelled into figures. He was trying to sell them to people. This time I smiled, gave him the look up and down, and then kept walking. He followed me but started walking to my side. He kept whispering “police, police” and motioning with his head behind him. We separated and nothing came to be. I got to the Citadel/Fort and noticed police were taking away two western men and one young boy. I watched for a few minutes and noticed that there must have been 10-15 plainclothes police officers gathering around this arrest. I decided to turn around and start my way back. Right behind me I then saw one of the two plainclothes policemen from the day before had been following me all along. One might suggest that they are just watching out for the safety of foreigners. One might also say, as has been noted in the Gay press about Egyptian arrests, that they were targeting gays along the corniche as part of their normal crackdown on locations known to be gay cruising areas. I also tried the one Hammam listed in the gay cruising guides but there was no action there. I did not burn Alexandria’s port or library, but I did turn my back to it and head south of Cairo where the fun was less problematic.

I agree that it is a dismal photo!

Thanks, @Xclay Just so you know, the NYT and WP links have paywalls, though I read the former piece extolling vaccine virtues a while back, cannot remember how accessed. Sometimes one can Google the title and find a ‘pirated’ full version or the print media eventually unblocks it for non-subscribers. At times if it’s not too lengthy I’ll share an article here on the Board by entering a few screenshots that capture the full text. On my smartphone I can pinch the borders in order to reduce the number of files selected from Photos. —— I’m certain as well that I recently received research trial vaccine rather than placebo. —— CommonPass is interesting ... apparently non-profit, has Swiss chocolate neutrality, and seems to be flexible for all modes of cross-border travel. The IATA initiative may be too specific. Yet various countries appear to be developing there own versions and there is the usual bickering about scientific merit and legal legitimacy, so the system may evolve to one of ‘right of passage’ nationalism rather than a single unified global documentation protocol.

Nice to see you're embracing "Americanisms" The correct phrase is "couldn't care less," but dictionaries and language experts say the Americanism "could care less" is gaining ground and even acceptable in some situations.

In a nutshell: I'd already deduced I was vaccinated in September (sore arm and an independent antibody test), so the January unmasking at the clinic was nice but anticlimactic. Then, as you stated, my only options were to drop out or to let them continue monitoring my health (two questions per week on an app and paid quarterly blood draws this year, maybe longer). With this chance to continue to do my little part to fight the scourge, I'm staying in the long-term study that will let Moderna discover how long its vaccine sustains resistance and how much it protects against new strains. Back to the card... Since yesterday, I've discovered that the leading digital candidate is called Common Pass, coming to app stores soon. See link below.

Jupiter said on their fb that they will open 1st of March

Wondering what kind of money would be required for a partnership in Telephone Bar to keep them afloat? How many 50% partnerships are available?

I don’t think that pharmaceutical companies will be getting into the business of immunity passports per se, but there will be eventually a systematic way of getting access to services or countries using documentation, likely biometric, in which reasonable proof of vaccination, natural immunity, etc are integrated to meet the bar that is set. At this point it would not be surprising to have restrictions, as already set by precedent, based on regional infection incidence and known problematic variants. As there is already chatter about heterologous inoculation it is questionable whether one vaccine one format one company will be the norm down the line. Expect privacy-related pushback as well ... not from me; I could care less what authorities know about my CoV status. I don’t expect that a paper system such as exists for YF will be workable because there are too many variables and a mosquito is (presumably) not needed to bridge coronavirus transmission. Being in a double-blind RCT myself, for which efficacy analysis is a long way off, I am curious about the Moderna (& Pfizer/BioNTech) unblinding protocol. I believe that you were likely notified about a ‘vaccine transition option’. I assume that it included the choice to go the distance of about 12 months total, or to have your study assignment unmasked and receive vaccine currently if so desired. Perhaps there is a subgroup that will stick it out and salvage some degree of longer-term efficacy evaluation. But I am also wondering if there is a ‘blinded crossover’ sub-study on offer in which those vaccinated are given placebo and vice versa, a partial cohort that is followed to the original endpoint, but that makes no assumptions about when they received vaccine (originally versus the crossover design) while enabling a comparison of immunity bio markers between two time frames. Obviously, ongoing efficacy is out the window in such a protocol following the point at which vaccination is uniform. Last but not least, do you have your final Moderna walking papers? Are you completely opted out due to unblinding or will they do follow-up serology for immunogenicity data?

I try and ignore them now, Every time I see one that I like the look of and click on him - he is never the one that opens on my screen, and when I try and back track the one I like is long gone. Very frustrating. If I want to see boys 'live' I look to another 'Chat....' site haha

Say it ain't so. Big fan of Mezzaninu. Hate to see those great PA guys forced to retreat to the filthy, smelly squalor of Plataforma. Yes, wmcemdub, surely with a metro area of over 4 million people Porto Alegre ought to draw an entrepreneur to buy the purpose-built Mezzaninu building!

I stand corrected. Thank you. I have many happy memories of meeting up with friends using the old style 1920s telephones along the bar and on the tables. It was fun just to watch someone's reaction when their telephone rang. I found that most first looked around the bar to see who would have a receiver at their ear before answering! In the mid-1990s I had a client who visited the Oriental Hotel once month. Each time I had to have breakfast on the terrace with him. The hotel had quite a few cute waiters at that time, but this one was special. I noticed that he smiled at me as he passed our table on my first visit. Every time thereafter, we would smile at each other, occasionally winking, but I never had the courage to go up and chat with him. After my client's project was complete, I popped into Telephone Bar for a final drink before flying home the next evening. Who should be sitting at the bar but the cute waiter from the Oriental. I went up to say Hi and he gave me a very, very long mouth to mouth kiss. He gestured that i should sit with him. End result was that we had a lovely chat and it seemed he was very interested in coming back to the hotel with me. As I got up to leave, he asked if Id like him to join me. Of course, I said yes. He then pulled my head gently to him and whispered in my ear 20,000 baht!!! Oh well. I suppose some who stay at the Oriental can afford that kind of tip! I did not even try to negotiate. I smiled and said goodbye. Never did see him again.

Sawadee krap! Promising news: Thailand is set to waive its onerous quarantine for tourists who have been vaccinated! https://www.ttgasia.com/2021/01/26/thailand-to-warmly-welcome-inoculated-travellers/ Next week would be better but the relaxed rules are supposed to start July 1. Excellent incentive to get your shots if you haven't yet. Impressive NYT assessment of the vaccine's potency here: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/18/briefing/donald-trump-pardon-phil-spector-coronavirus-deaths.html

Thanks again for detailed info! You got them to last as long as two minutes sometimes! Impressive. My guys always blasted in less than a minute, sometimes somehow within seconds! I found that, rather than resident pros who know the score, it was always extra fun, when the opportunity arose, to connect with excited Egyptian tourists who had never talked to a white guy, such as young men from El Fayoum visiting Cairo, from Matrouth visiting Alexandria, from a western oasis visiting Luxor. I've been all over Egypt, including the western oases, with the exception of the Sinai. I figured: Why go see all French and Germans at Sharm El Sheikh when I can see plenty of Egyptians elsewhere? So... one more question to the master santiaodc: Have you visited Sharm and, if so, do you recommend it at a place to see and to play?

Based on a large sample of regular, masculine, working-class guys (not like the self-selected extreme who, in other countries, might display themselves online or in saunas or in porn) the answer is that most are a resounding average to slightly above average -- with the usual bell-shaped curve around the mean. Throughout the Middle East and Maghreb, nearly all are cut of course. Most notable was that they were invariably hard as a crowbar and so horny/excited that they often blasted very, very, very quickly.

Santiaodc, your most practical, detailed posts with cruising details yet! Thanks! When I was in Manila twenty years ago, I hooked up twice with very handsome, young salesmen who were working at Robinson's and came to my room at the Holiday Inn when they got of work. When I was there for a conference ten years ago, the sexy, mini-bar guy was hungry for white guys, stared at my crouch, and asked if he could help me in any other way. I screwed him every morning from then on.

santiaodc, There used to be one or two theaters where the balconies were filled with action. And even in the more proper theaters, when an action movie brought in almost entirely young guys, I'd always have a few come sit beside me for a hand job. Did you check out any theaters in your recent trip? I guess they are all closed. Are all the awesome hammams closed too? Those used to filled with horny young workers and soldiers looking for someone to drain them. Speaking of soldiers, I'll never tire of watching fit, masculine, young Egyptian soldiers kissing each other on each side of the mouth, holding hands, and walking along entwined.

I will base my predictions (read ‘wild flights of the imagination’) on a few macro trends as I can’t hope to compete with Vinapu on street-level prognostication. 1. The Chinese will be the major customers as more of them achieve the middle class income that supports travel. 2. European presence will decline due to events in the UK. Britain’s post-Brexit economy will not be strong enough to support current living standards, leading to a revival of Victorian era poverty and income disparities which in turn increase the number of young men willing to use their physical charms to get by. Cultural differences with Thailand will lead to a more behind-closed-doors commercial expression of this abundance of flesh – refer to the Cleveland Street scandal for what this looked like 130 years ago. With Britain becoming Europe’s Issan, European customers will be diverted there, as will some Chinese. 3. As the Thai economy continues to grow and more Thai enter the middle class, the bar boys will become overwhelmingly imports from neighboring countries and possibly the UK. 4. As climate change induced flooding increases in frequency and severity Bangkok real estate will become increasingly less desirable. The maps below are from the Nov 2 2019 Bangkok Post and show the area below predicted annual flood heights by 2050 under two different mappings of the true land height – the very red one is the more accurate. The most low-lying parts will be abandoned to low-rent use first, possibly by 2030, creating an entire new entertainment zone. Think of 1920s Berlin meets Bangkok with neon illuminating permanently flooded streets and punters moving between buildings via second story walkways.

Thanks for another brilliant north Africa post! After a five year absence, I'm returning to Egypt in April/March. It is indeed the working-class guys who love to be serviced, but the more middle-class guys are more prissy about it. However, the Nile Hilton health club steam room used to be a nonstop orgy. Don't you find that extra eye contact plus a grin will trigger a horny young Egyptian's interest on the street just about anywhere in the evening!? Be sure to check out santiaodc's Tunisia report too:

Wow, thanks for the thorough post! Any thoughts on pickup on sellers in the souk? A few years ago, I had some luck with hot guys working there. Do you go into the desert Berber areas?

accurate right now but it doesn't mean much when we think about the future, There's empty lot in my area but I know that when time comes - in November it will be busy and full as it's where they sell Christmas trees. When we return then will Pattaya resurrect to it's former glory. Amen

I agree with daydreamer that whilst having a.longer term relationship it’s good to get away from Bkk or Pattaya for a few days to avoid things getting stale. The boys always like that and sometimes suggest it. With LTR boy I actually visited his family home in Samet Sakhon near Bkk. I was nervous about this but it turned out ok especially when I took 8 family members for a nice meal with lots of beer. They knew all about his work in Pats and it turned out I wasn’t the first farang he had taken there. I also went with that boy and a friend and his boy to Koh Samet for 3 nights at a beach resort. Lots of fun in and out of the water with our boys wearing very sexy speedos we bought for them in Pattaya Central sports store. Lots of stares from other guests of course. A great break indeed from trawling the bars in search of that 5* boy. I also agree with Londoner regarding the ambition of the boys to have a LTR. Great prestige is gained by showing your farang off to your friends and having him buy them drinks. The ultimate is when he is persuaded to develop a relationship with Western Union whilst back home (I have to plead guilty myself)

Back to the subject of Tawan... If you do find a hunk you like at Tawan, my main recommendation is to get very explicit agreement, ideally in front of the mamasan, about consent to do X, Y, and Z. I found Tawan guys were the worst in BKK in terms of promising but not delivering. Their default is to just want to be blown.

Yes, the best way is Grindr, although at some hotels if you flash friendly, admiring glances at the handsome staff you'll get offers to help them out sooner or later, along with a tip.

This news item does not bode well for a return to anything like normal in the next year and more. THAI is laying off 395 pilots leaving the airline with only 905. Worse, it is grounding much of its wide body fleet - the Boeing 747s, A380s and A330-300s. This is in addition to the A340s which it has been trying unsuccessfully to sell for about 8 years and which are stored at U-Tapao. Other airlines have been reducing their fleets by getting rid of long haul aircraft. British Airways has already sent its 31 747-400s off to a graveyard in the States. Qantas has mothballed all its A380s until 2003. This surely presages a major reduction in long haul travel. https://thethaiger.com/news/national/thai-airways-lays-off-hundreds-of-pilots-under-debt-rehabilitation-plan

I have been in Pattaya since the end of December. Nothing in Boyztown has been open, apart from Cupidol on the odd night. Walking through there is similar to walking through an unlit Mersey Tunnel! As nothing has opened since 1 February when bars were allowed to open again, I wonder whether it will ever be back in business.