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This video about a Filipino boy who rescues a dog from the water will do it. Several days ago the local press put out a plea for information about the youth's identity. Today he was identified as "Angelo", a 16-year-old worker at a market in Laguna. I'm a dog lover and hope this brings a smile to your face at a time when we're finding increasingly less to smile about. https://www.facebook.com/AKFanimalrescue/videos/1415611865504964/

My Facebook algorithm knows I like watching these types of videos and has been showing me all types of animal rescues. There are still lots of good people out there.

Oh Lord but I feel the same frustration, although, in comparison to some of you, I was lucky in that I was there for New Year 2019/20, so its only been an 18 month gap for me, but I had become so accustomed to being able to visit once or, more usually, twice a year at times convenient to me, that the uncertainty over my next trip gnaws at me day by day, week by week, and month by month as this pandemic rumbles on and Thailand's vaccination programe still looks woefully inadequate. In theory, now I am both retired and double vaccinated, I could go back tomorrow and face the 14 day quarantine/sandbox, so what is holding me back? The answer is my concern as to what I would find if I did go back now, with the mass restrictions, bar closures and so many boys gone back home. In truth I am perhaps still rather naively hoping that there will be a time when everything will just go back to normal, and the Pattaya I arrive back at will look and feel the same as the Pattaya I left in January 2020. However, in all probability that will never be, not quite the same anyway, and I just have to come to accept that, and be prepared to 'take it as I find it' as I did on my very first visit back in 2009.

In 3 months time it has been two years since I was last in Thailand. In fact since I was last anywhere near it. I never could have imagined then that my next visit would not be for at least two years. And no end in sight.

Whoever thought of, started and runs these Cam Hotels in Colombia was genius! Turnover is probably quite high, but the successful guys and girls stick around for awhile until they figure out a way to use their own location. BTW, there's lotsa twinks like that on Chaturbate or F4F every day.

I also spent an inordinate amount of time planning trips to various places - Slovakia, Holland, Japan and, of course, Thailand but had to cancel each one as the virus quickly took hold all over the world. It was extremely frustrating. I have since given up all hope of travelling overseas until 2023 and so don't worry about it any more. And I can tell you, I feel a lot better for having let go! Reality sucks!

It feels like a lifetime ago. I keep making new tentative plans in my schedule in the hope that we return to some semblance of normal, and can return to Thailand (or anywhere in SEA).. each time that dates comes and goes and i push it back another 3-6 months, forever in a blind optimistic hope that the return to normal can be as rapid as the disaster unfolded. Maybe 2022.

After feeling so safe and glad to be in Thailand during the first year and a half of the pandemic I am now increasingly terrified as the number of infections and deaths have soared since the beginning of April and worsen daily. I am isolating in my condo. The only ray of hope for me is that I at least have an appointment at a hospital in Bangkok to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine in just over a week's time. We can but hope that things will improve over the next six to nine months in Thailand, but at the rate they are struggling to vaccinate people here I am seriously concerned.

indeed, I've saved a lot of money by not traveling over the last 16 months. Public health experts that I follow are quite concerned about the reporting mischaracterizing the new CDC guidance. I recommend everyone follow Dr. Ashish Jha on Twitter (@ashiashkjha). He's the dean of the school of public health at Brown University (and a regular fixture on US media).

Just keep piling up the savings account. When the time comes, and it will, it will be a GLORIOUS time with the very grateful boys!

A cam house, if Namazu would show up, he could explain the inner workings as he's been to them (I think he even stayed at one ) It's like Uber, promises of big money but by the time they dock you for whatever reasons they have and take their commission, you're not left with as much as you're led to believe you'd make. The look on his face when he counts the money, is like anyone that looks at their paycheck..."That's It?", lol Like a used car salesman said to me before, There is an ass for every seat. People use to buy AMC Pacers and Ford Granadas, lol If you've been to Thailand, you'd see all types and wonder...who would pay for that. And no sooner would that guy be offed.... That type is very common in Mexico City, from what I've seen......

Vaccine is the way to go, and like everyone mentioned already, thai gov is not doing well on procurement. But they can still amke do with whatever vaccine they have to slowly restart the nation. Start small, health care workers, high risk individuals, then straight to those who must work for the economy, which includes tourist area/workers, factories etc. They can also divert the supply the heavily hit province like bangkok, and all the dark red provinces. And then only for the general masses. As long as thai gov follow this, depending of how fast they get the supply, several part of the countries can slowly open for us to enjoy. When will that be, its anyone guess. My personal hope is pattaya sandbox to open by october, provided that the manage to vaccinate their population. One can only dream. Worth to mention, even countries that dont have issues with vaccine supply, are still having trouble to achieve 80% fully vaccinated population simply because some portion of the people who wont get themselves vaccinated. Im not sure how much of these people are in thailand but for the time being, its a non issue until there is a vaccine surplus.

If I knew or had any reasonable conclusion I would have specified a time. I'm sure you realise I am grasping at straws as much as everyone else. I have no idea when Thailand will get to 70% vaccinated or whatever other percentage of the population is regarded as ideal for opening up. For your infomraion, the interval for the locally made AZ vaccine is 12 weeks. I just know that with the Prime Minister only a few weeks ago having revealed what he should have told the public many months ago - that the roughly 70 million AZ vaccine doses being manufactured locally and due for delivery between June and December will not in fact all be for Thailand since over 50% are earmarked for overseas (I believe negotiations are underway to have the Thailand amount increased but have seen no result) - and, so far as we know, not a great many other millions of doses are scheduled to come into the country soon with the exception of the Sinovac and Sinopharm vaccines, the government has a huge problem. The Prime Minster has even admitted this. In April and May he was saying publicly that the 70% would be reached by September. By early June that had been moved back to the end of December. Even that now seems very overoptimistic. Young people still remain very much at the back of the queue and they seem just as prone to the delta variant as older people. I know of about a dozen guys in their 20s who cannot get a date for vaccinations. One has got an August date for his first Sinopharm vaccination but only because he knows a nurse at a hospital. Even then he has to pay 3,200 baht for both. Having been jobless for many months he has had to beg and borrow that sum. What of all the boys in Pattaya, I wonder? I thought the organisation bringing in Sinopharm was doing at as a charitable exercise since a great many Thais will find it hard to pay that price. That apart, as you rightly point out, the Chinese vaccines do not seem to be as effective as the others. I think you have discounted the point made in my earlier post about the CDC's latest pronouncement. So we really do not know how effective present vaccines are other than keeping many people out of hospital. But surely the CDC's comment about vaccinated people still being contagious with the delta variant, does that not throw a rather big spanner into predictions for the future? And what if, as is surely likely, more variants appear? I wish. But you know the background to the awarding of the contract for AZ vaccines. Do you seriously believe that the Prime Minister is going to change the rules given the principals involved with the AZ production - and these include his dreadful Minister of Health, Anutin, who is from an opposition party? Anutin could have involved the government's own department which for years has manufactured various vaccines, some for the WHO. But he elected not to. Changing the rules now would be politically dangerous in my view. As for yet another lockdown, since the Prime Minister was terrified of the effect on his public image if he accepted the advice from all his medical experts to cancel Songkran this year, I cannot see him shutting down the country more than he already has. So I remain unconvinced that this country will be able to open up for a long time. I'll hazard a guess. Mid 2022. Sadly!

I definitely agree that wait and see is not only the best strategy, it is the only one. With nearly 18,000 new cases yesterday - and those are only the ones we know about; the chances are there are a lot more - the government is nowhere near in control of the virus. Add the lack of vaccines and the very deep unrest being expressed on Thai social media, I would stay clear of Thailand for quite a long time. Worse, the CDC in the USA today claims that the delta variant is more dangerous that they have been aware to date. One chart on a CDC presentation yesterday shows that it is "as contagious as chickenpox . . . and spreads more easily than the common cold, the 1918 flu and small pox." Worryingly, it then states that in one recent outbreak in Massachusetts "vaccinated and unvaccinated people had nearly the same amount of virus recovered from test samples, indicating that vaccinated people are just as contagious as unvaccinated people when it comes to the delta variant." A summary slide states that the CDC should "acknowledge that the war has changed." This is just one variant. How many more variants are likely to appear over the next 6 - 9 months? The CDC presentation first appeared in The Washington Post. https://www.npr.org/2021/07/29/1022580439/a-cdc-internal-report-says-the-delta-variant-is-more-transmissible-than-a-cold

It's been 2 years since my last trip and I am only dreaming about my next, whenever that may be. I fully intend to make up for lost time if and when we can return and I can say that it will be a wild ride for sure😄

https://www.outsports.com/platform/amp/olympics/2021/7/12/22565574/tokyo-summer-olympics-lgbtq-gay-athletes-list Top of the list by country is USA and top of the list by sport is Soccer. 27 countries have at least 1 lgbtq athlete and this time, the first transgender olympian competing as well! https://www.outsports.com/olympics/2021/6/21/22542991/laurel-hubbard-new-zealand-weightlifting-transgender-olympics-tokyo A funny tiktok commenting on the list hehe c96620ac28e1706b50c2c1def6e492c7.mp4

It's been about 2.5 years since I was last in SE Asia. I really miss it. Almost 2 years since I was in Taiwan and Korea as well. I'm glad I managed to travel as much as I have over the last 15 years or so since it looks like it might be a while.

After two years in Pattaya I returned home a week ago and received Pfizer the following day.

From The Thaiger / Thai PBS 7 Bangkok Bang Sue Grand Station volunteers are currently under investigation for a suspected scam. However, Amnat Traipot, the commander of the railway police said today that even more people are suspected of being involved with the scam. The Bang Sue scam was reported to the police yesterday by officials from the Department of Medical Services. Reportedly, the volunteers would make reservations for people when the facility was closed. Amnat says multiple people will be summoned for questioning, such as people who did not personally register themselves but retained the services of volunteers at a cost of 400 to 1,200 baht a person, and that they accepted cash or a money transfer. The director of the vaccination facility, Dr Mingkwan Vichaidith spoke of the Bang Sue scam saying officials first noticed something was amiss in the registration system last week when additional reservations appeared after the facility closed. Additional poking around into the matter revealed 2 volunteers had made the registrations for around 2,000 people through the True mobile phone system during off hours, says Dr Mingkwan. The doctor adds that there is evidence of money changing hands via money transfers that incriminates 4 volunteers. The doctor says people should register by themselves and to avoid scams like this where con artists/volunteers ask for money to get you a vaccination reservation. It has been reported on social media that there are large crowds at the Bang Sue site, but the Health Minister cleared up the matter by saying it was just an issue of “camera angles or whatever”. The health minister has yet to address this Bang Sue scam, or the other issues it was riddled with today including online registrations opening 2 hours late, the 18-59 age group quota quickly filling up, and a variety of other, unspecified problems. https://thethaiger.com/coronavirus/bangkok-bang-sue-scam-under-investigation-7-volunteers-and-counting-to-be-questioned ==================================== Sleeper trains in Bangkok to become isolation facilities Sleeper trains in Bangkok are being converted into isolation facilities for Covid-19 patients who are waiting for a hospital bed to become available. With the surge of Covid-19 cases, today hitting a record high of 17,669 new cases, hospitals in Bangkok, the epicentre of infections, have run low on beds to treat patients infected with the coronavirus. At Bang Sue Grand Station, 15 sleeping cars will become temporary isolation areas for those waiting for a hospital bed to become available. Each train car has 16 beds, allowing 240 people to isolate themselves at the railway station. https://thethaiger.com/news/bangkok/sleeper-trains-in-bangkok-to-become-isolation-facilities-for-covid-19-patients ==================================== US to donate 2.5 million vaccine doses to Thailand According to a Thai PBS World report, the US has confirmed it will donate 2.5 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines to Thailand. Thai-American senator Tammy Duckworth made the announcement during a webinar on Thai-US relations. It’s understood the donation is part of a pledge by the administration of US President, Joe Biden, to provide vaccines for developing countries. The US has already donated 1.5 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine to Thailand, with the Thai government pledging to administer 700,000 doses to every frontline healthcare worker in the country. Despite the assurances, a group of medical workers and other concerned persons have called on the US to oversee the distribution of the donated vaccines in order to hold the government to its word. The long-awaited Pfizer doses are now expected to land in the Kingdom tomorrow, with the US Embassy planning a press conference to confirm their arrival. Thai PBS World reports that 645,000 doses will be given to the elderly, women who are more than 12 weeks’ pregnant, and people with underlying conditions. 150,000 doses will be given to foreign residents who meet the same criteria. 40,000 doses will be used to study the vaccine’s efficacy against new variants, while 5 doses will be reserved for further research. Thailand has already taken delivery of over a million doses of AstraZeneca, donated by the Japanese government. The UK government has also announced its intention to donate 415,000 vaccine doses to Thailand, part of 9 million doses it plans to donate to countries around the world. https://thethaiger.com/coronavirus/cv19-vaccines/us-government-to-donate-2-5-million-vaccine-doses-to-thailand

The amount of porn on the web is gigantic. It's virtually unlimited. As one site bites the dust, another pops up. No one will be hurtin for porn. Every facet, every kink, every taboo, every type. It's endless. It might just take a couple more clicks.

The OP seems to focus particularly on click and paste news items without any comment attached to them. While my preference is always for a poster to add his own views, chunks from the news media can be useful for those who have not seen them. And if they do not like them, as with all posts they don't have to read them.

Reading it and talking about it with like minded individuals are two different things.

From Bangkok Post Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has estimated the intense Covid-19 situation will affect the country for the next two to three weeks or four weeks at most, said Deputy Public Health Minister Sathit Pitutecha. Mr Sathit said Gen Prayut told this to a cabinet meeting on Tuesday where the PM added that relevant agencies must let people know the reality of the situation. The kingdom had a record high of 16,533 new Covid-19 cases and 133 new fatalities over the past 24 hours, the Public Health Ministry reported on Wednesday morning. Mr Sathit said the prime minister has given a directive that in 14 days, the lockdown and the curfew will be reviewed and a decision will be made based on the severity of the situation at that time. The deputy public health minister said the cabinet meeting discussed measures underway to bring down the Covid-19 curve, including sending those infected back for treatment in their home provinces so to alleviate overcrowding at hospitals and medical facilities in the hardest-hit provinces, including Bangkok. https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2155735/pm-gauges-virus-review ==================================

He spent his money on weekly room. Now he needs to set up monthly 2500 baht room. Needs 5ooo baht to set up. Good luck with sharing with others that can't work- no job, no money.