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You are so right sydneyboy1, while my NHS pension is not fantastic, I don't have to worry about how to pay my bills or find money for food while that money arrives in my bank account every month. What the people in Thailand are going through - apart from the 2% who own everything of course - is devastating to watch. As we face another extension to lockdown in Pattaya and the number of infections and deaths continue to escalate daily I can only imagine the appalling financial effects on the people in Thailand. This lockdown will last at least three months I think and I dread to think how many more will be homeless and destitute by then.

I too am a frustrated traveller. I retired 18 months ago with the main aim of travel with trips booked for last year including visits to the UK, Thailand and Brazil that of course did not eventuate. However we frustrated travellers should put our problem in perspective. In my country people have lost jobs, businesses etc with constant lockdowns and it is the same the world over. They are the ones who deserve sympathy at this dreadful time.

Like all of us

With so much gloom at present, more and more posters are hoping against hope that the pandemic in Thailand will be under control much sooner rather than later and their visits to this Paradise can continue. It started me thinking about Paradise and how different the word can mean for different people. When we were growing up, did we really buy into the idea of Paradise as an idyllic nirvana, a place where the vicissitudes and pettiness of daily life would be replaced by perfect peace, love and harmony? A Garden of Eden where there are no serpents hidden in the apples (as envisioned below by William Blake) and we can bask in its glory amongst gorgeous flowers, sumptuous fruits and an endless supply of beautiful guys? For some adherents of a certain religion there will be an abundance of virgins ready to fulfill their every wish. Another interpretation of that particular religion, I understand, suggests that there may instead be youths attending to them, presumably also fulfilling their intimate desires. Seriously, though, is Paradise, in Hamlet’s words, the life-ending experience “a consummation devoutly to be wished?” After all, getting there is no certainty. It’s either up or down for us. There is of course a middle path, but then who wants to spend years zooming around Purgatory desperately trying to find that exit to Paradise? Does Purgatory exist? Does an exit exist? Is it purifying or punitive? As for Hell, well that excision of part of our proud dicks as mandated by certain religions is certainly not as practiced here on earth. Down there, they lop off the whole damn organ as well as a great deal more, leaving our never-ending supply of blood continuously oozing forth as illustrated on this painting from the door of a Buddhist temple I saw near Tibet. But before leaving the horrors of Hell, there is a rather interesting little tale in the Preface of an amusing book titled SEX: Who’s Had Who. Written a few decades ago it is a lighthearted summary of who might just have had sex with whom over a period of years. Having sex is called “rogering” and each chapter is a series of who might just have rogered whom – rather like getting from A to Z by taking short cuts. Some rogers are historical. More modern rogers included are from GETRUDE STEIN to CLINT EASTWOOD in 8 rogers and from PRESIDENT FERDINAND MARCOS to PRINCESS DIANA in 7 rogers. Naturally it’s all just a bit of fun. In the Preface is this thought. “What if God knows everything except ONE THING. What if He has a blind spot: there is no one around as intelligent as Him to put Him right, and He doesn't know He doesn't know it because that is the one thing He doesn't know . . . “What, for instance, if God has always pushed a red button to send people to Hell, and a blue one to send them to Heaven. And what if the one thing God doesn't know is that He is colour-blind. And sees red for blue and vice-versa.” * OMG! After reading that, I wondered what God would do if instead of being colour-blind He was suffering from a touch of dementia, to the point where His short-term memory would be unable to recall which button He had last pressed. And thinking that it had been red, he continuously was pressing blue. Wonder of wonders! A Paradise with one section filled only with huge numbers of all manner of young men. Could I find here all the boys and men I have loved and lusted after during my time on earth just waiting for me without their having aged and just as I have always remembered them? How many boys from my later years at school and at University whom I was desperate to bed but much too shy to do so? Since life up there will presumably be without end, perhaps Hamlet was right. I wonder how many realise that the word ‘Paradise’ comes not from Christianity or Islam. It does have a religious background, though. It was coined much earlier in Persia when Zoroastrianism, the world’s oldest monotheistic religion, was the state religion for more than a millennium. The God worshiped by the Zoroastrians was Ahura Mazda – yes, the Japanese car company did indeed appropriate the name for their Mazda cars. The prophet Zoroaster is better known to us today through Nietzsche’s novel and the Richard Strauss tone poem Thus Spoke Zarathustra (whose first 100 seconds is featured not only in the opening of Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey but also as the prelude for years to innumerable sex shows in Thailand’s go-go bars). Pop singer Freddie Mercury was one of the religion’s adherents. Even today some 25,000 still worship the religion in Iran’s desert city of Yazd. The Ancient Symbol of Zoroastrianism The root of the word essentially means Garden. Not one with beautiful lawns, manicured hedges and perfumed flowers like Versailles or Hampton Court. Rather, Persian Gardens. These were and still are enclosed spaces with tall trees providing shade filled with orange and pomegranate trees but where water flowing in narrow channels and fountains, often with a pavilion in the centre, plays almost the most prominent role. A Persian Garden in Kashan Over time Paradise has graduated to become a much more mundane term. Nowadays anything that gives us a lift from our everyday lives tends to be termed Paradise. It can be cocktails on a fine sandy tropical beach at sunset, nuzzling up to our partner after the most intense orgasm of the year, speeding down an open road in a sparkling new red Ferrari . . . Even our gay community is associated with the word. Phuket is no longer very gay but most of Patong’s few remaining gay venues are clustered near the Paradise Complex. More recently I discovered another Paradise. From time to time I used to tune in to a light classical station when working. Some years ago I was listening to a rather pleasant piece of music quite unknown to me. The composer, too, was a name I had never heard before, Frederick Delius, an Englishman who composed around 100 years ago. The music sounded vaguely like a cross between the impressionism of Debussy with hints of the Germanic nationalism of Richard Wagner. I was quite surprised when the announcer informed listeners that the title of the piece was Walk to the Paradise Garden. Enchanted by its perfumed harmonies and sultry textures, I could imagine being led through shimmering golden fields of wheat and then towards a magical stairway to present myself to my Creator in the most beautiful of all gardens. My Angel Awaits Imagine, then, the comedown when, far from being a second Eden, the announcer informed listeners that Paradise Garden as envisioned by Delius in fact refers to a common or garden (oops) rather seedy country pub! Paradise – a pub? Oh well! I suppose in some parts of the world, a regular gay pub may be as close as many will ever get to Paradise down here on earth. But I still like the idea of all those youths up in the hereafter ready to look after my every need! Ah! But then I worry. What if I don’t end up by going up, as it were? What if I go down? What if the Creator is indeed colour blind? Clearly time for another drink. If thoughts of Paradise can’t cheer me up in these times of covid19, hopefully another large vodka martini will! Perhaps Delius was right after all. * from SEX Who Had Who by Simon Bell, Richard Curtis and Helen Fielding originally published by Faber & Faber, London

I'm kind of optimist as recently I managed to visit country with half of Thailand's population which as late as April 2021 had almost 30000 cases a day, vaccinations changed everything , at least for time being

The only time you ever pray for turbulence, isn't it?

My visits have been limited to the Colonial Zone and after seeing this expanded view of the city with the somewhat irritating South African Kurt Caz I find that on my next visit I want to see more of the city.

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.

I bought some stuff to send to malaysia and the price here is definitely cheaper than buying from local sources. Currently they have 20% discount on certain brands and 5usd off for new user making the item im purchasing almost half the price i pay here. Definitely worth it and hope delivery is smooth. Free delivery to Malaysia for orders above usd 40 is a bonus as well.

The Bangkok Post, on the occasion of its 75th anniversary, thought it would be fitting to invite several "visionary leaders" to tell us how they imagine the Thailand of 2031 in all its potential guises, from the economic and political to the technological, environmental and social. Here's a few takeaways: "Mass tourism will give way to small groups of eco-conscious travellers, he said. National park regulations will be updated with sustainability in mind." The wet dream of hi-so bigwigs for several years, this portends the great advantage of leaving behind what has made Thailand one of the world's most visited destinations and instead catering to small groups of wealthy eco tourists. Why they think it's necessary to wait a decade to see how that plays out in reality when the evidence is available today in the streets of Bangkok and Pattaya. "The pandemic also triggered a big gap in income disparity because poor people are less able to cope with the crisis due to low education levels and lack of access to digital technology." No argument there. Unfortunately, nothing follows about changing the public education system that perpetuates those levels. "The private sector will continue to play a vital role in propelling growth and development in the next decade, but the country's stumbling block remains the bureaucracy, says Somkiat Tangkitvanich, president of the Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI)." He's surely got that right. In regard to the political landscape over the next 10 years, Mr Stithorn predicts deep-seated divisions in society and politics will remain at least five years from now. The ruling Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP) is staying loyal to the "three Por" clique led by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon and Interior Minister Anupong Paojinda. At the same time, opposition parties, made up mainly of large parties — Pheu Thai and Move Forward — vary in the way they operate in parliament, even as they are described as the mainstay of the "pro-democracy" camp. "A turning point will come after the senators lose their power to co-elect a prime minister along with MPs in 2023. That is when the progressive party will gain an upper hand in parliament as it draws on support from younger voters. The base of older voters captured by the PPRP will dwindle while most first-time voters are likely to cast their ballots for the MFP and Pheu Thai. "But the majority of votes from younger voters will go to the pro-democracy bloc. They won't switch sides," he said. If he's right, those deep seated divisions he cites could resolve themselves by about 2026. At least it's something to look forward to. You can read the article in its entirety at https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/special-reports/2158083/thailand-2031-a-glimpse-into-the-future

To be fair, the Post has not been shy about acknowledging the existence of corruption and cronyism in the past. And in an opinion piece in today's Thai Enquirer, you'll find the following excerpt: "Do our politicians even have political beliefs? Or is it a pu pu platter of electoral promises designed to get them elected so they can reap the most rewards from corruption and cronyism."

Not really. There is something in the way they drag the vowels and seem to take their time always, but I am not sure whether that is what triggers the effect.

I've visited Santo Domingo once but yearn to return after some semblance of normalcy has occurred in the world. When I was there, I used taxis to get around, but I had NO desire to go to the area that was suppose to be the worst part of the city. I feel for the poor, but I have no desire to witness their life as experienced on a daily basis. One dayI visited a principal market and was deluged by almost every vendor who had a shop. Their unusual bombardment onto me acutely lessened my interest in any of their wares/offerings. I returned to the Zona Colonial and made a few purchases: a sculpted wood turtle and some Cuban cigars. Because of my physical looks, I was taken as a native. Both the sales person and I had a good laugh about this. Whenever I do return to the DR and to Santo Domingo-- I, more than likely, will take those cable cars but with a local. I'll get my overview merely from the air. [While in Rio I took two tours to the favelas but with companies that had established them, one being the originator of favela tours that have the same surname as I.]

9 Thai BL series to Watch this August :

sad to see Oak is leaving Wayufilm and it sounds like he won't be acting, but I suspect he may be back at some point

RD is always in my list, however I find it less affordable compared against Brazil or Colombia. Flight tickets are relatively ridiculously expensive. Additionally, all the stories I heard are about a Paradise for bottom visitors. I am still waiting for a top praising the glories of Dominican bottoms.

Don't imagine it's only happening in Thailand... Reichsleiter Patel has plans for England too: Fury at plans that could jail reporters for up to 14 years for stories that embarrass the government How a proposed secrecy law would recast journalism as spying When even the Daily Wail thinks it's a bad idea, something is seriously wrong.

From Variety / MSN %7B%7B © Totem Films C.B. Yi’s Un Certain Regard title “Moneyboys” is a moving exploration of Chinese rural-to-urban migration that feels authentically emotional despite being peppered with incongruous moments and details. The film follows Fei (Kai Ko), who moves from the countryside to different Chinese megacities to support his family as a hustler. When he realizes that they accept his money but not his homosexuality, their relationship breaks down. Although set in China, “Moneyboys” was filmed entirely in Taiwan. Linguistic inconsistencies also rear their head unexpectedly to jar viewers otherwise immersed in the film’s melancholic mood, with Beijing accents mingling with lilting Taiwanese intonations in the same village where neither should be at home. And while leading man Kai Ko delivers a nuanced, heart-rending portrayal of the hustler Fei and real chemistry with his male love interests Long (Bai Yufan) and Xiaolai (JC Lin), none of them publicly identify as homosexual. First-time director Yi waited nearly ten years for the chance to shoot “Moneyboys,” intending all along to do so in China. At the last minute, however, he moved production to Taiwan, which required a rush to adjust the story but also cut costs and brought in financing from the Taipei Film Commission. He doesn’t attribute the shift to censorship, saying that the choice was made for budgetary reasons before he submitted the script to China to get approved for a shooting permit, and because it was easier to work with Taiwan’s more Westernized production system. Shooting in China, he admits, would have yielded a “totally different” film, but he’s satisfied with the final results. “I didn’t make a film of total realism. If I wanted to have a realistic film, I would have done direct cinema or documentary. I made this with an artistic mindset and with the situation I was given, which forced me to adapt,” Yi says. Yi was born in China but immigrated to Austria as a teen, and is most comfortable in German. A Sinology major, he first encountered the topic of gay prostitution nearly two decades ago while studying abroad to improve his language skills at the Beijing Film Academy, where he discovered that a classmate was hustling on the side to help his ill mother. Yi first planned a documentary about money boys, but later morphed it into a fiction over concerns that it might put subjects at risk in a country where prostitution remains illegal and there are few legal rights for LGBTQ citizens. As censorship tightens in the mainland, the “Moneyboys” model of a China-born director with foreign citizenship making a China-set film shot outside the country with foreign funding and crew may become an increasingly common avenue for cinematic explorations of otherwise taboo Chinese subjects. %7B In a choice between 'death or penitentiary,' an addict discovers recovery and… %7B Appeals court sides with CDC, Norwegian Cruise Lines over DeSantis on… %7B © Totem Films C.B. Yi’s Un Certain Regard title “Moneyboys” is a moving exploration of Chinese rural-to-urban migration that feels authentically emotional despite being peppered with incongruous moments and details. The film follows Fei (Kai Ko), who moves from the countryside to different Chinese megacities to support his family as a hustler. When he realizes that they accept his money but not his homosexuality, their relationship breaks down. Although set in China, “Moneyboys” was filmed entirely in Taiwan. Linguistic inconsistencies also rear their head unexpectedly to jar viewers otherwise immersed in the film’s melancholic mood, with Beijing accents mingling with lilting Taiwanese intonations in the same village where neither should be at home. And while leading man Kai Ko delivers a nuanced, heart-rending portrayal of the hustler Fei and real chemistry with his male love interests Long (Bai Yufan) and Xiaolai (JC Lin), none of them publicly identify as homosexual. More from Variety Cannes Un Certain Regard Grand Prize Winner 'Unclenching the Fists' Sells to Mubi For North America, U.K. (EXCLUSIVE) 'Babi Yar. Context' Review: Sergei Loznitsa Grapples With a Heinous Massacre The Fanny Pack Is the New 'It' Bag: Here's How Your Favorite Celebrities Are Wearing Them First-time director Yi waited nearly ten years for the chance to shoot “Moneyboys,” intending all along to do so in China. At the last minute, however, he moved production to Taiwan, which required a rush to adjust the story but also cut costs and brought in financing from the Taipei Film Commission. He doesn’t attribute the shift to censorship, saying that the choice was made for budgetary reasons before he submitted the script to China to get approved for a shooting permit, and because it was easier to work with Taiwan’s more Westernized production system. Shooting in China, he admits, would have yielded a “totally different” film, but he’s satisfied with the final results. “I didn’t make a film of total realism. If I wanted to have a realistic film, I would have done direct cinema or documentary. I made this with an artistic mindset and with the situation I was given, which forced me to adapt,” Yi says. Yi was born in China but immigrated to Austria as a teen, and is most comfortable in German. A Sinology major, he first encountered the topic of gay prostitution nearly two decades ago while studying abroad to improve his language skills at the Beijing Film Academy, where he discovered that a classmate was hustling on the side to help his ill mother. Yi first planned a documentary about money boys, but later morphed it into a fiction over concerns that it might put subjects at risk in a country where prostitution remains illegal and there are few legal rights for LGBTQ citizens. As censorship tightens in the mainland, the “Moneyboys” model of a China-born director with foreign citizenship making a China-set film shot outside the country with foreign funding and crew may become an increasingly common avenue for cinematic explorations of otherwise taboo Chinese subjects. Equal Opportunities? For a director who has spun such an intimate portrait of gay love, Yi at times appears less versed than one might expect on the politics of its representation or the state of LGBTQ issues in China and Taiwan, the latter of which in 2019 became the first in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage. In Hollywood, the question of whether straight or cisgender actors should play gay or trans characters is an ever-evolving hot-button issue. Although Yi hadn’t considered the topic, when pressed he says that while the intention behind the idea of reserving gay roles for gay people was a good one, “it also leads to problems” by being too reductive. “Many heterosexual actors wanted to be part of the project because they were touched by the story and wanted to support the LGBT community, and that empathy…is a [positive way] of spreading more understanding of LGBT issues worldwide,” Yi says. “I also think playing a homosexual role gives heterosexual male and female actors the opportunity to fulfil their curiosity and satisfy their subconscious desires to live [the experiences] of LGBT people.” He elaborates: “Film is not really politics: it has some politics, of course, but not the kind of outside politics where you go to a demonstration. Everything in film is there to tell a story, but the stories have political messages and issues packed within them. I just want the best actors to play the characters; to forbid anything or to question that minimizes the artistic work.” His stars both concur. “The character is what the director chooses him to be…Homosexuals should also play straight men, and so on, as long as the actor develops the character well,” adds Ko. Lin says what matters most is how convinced the audience is. “I think there should be equal opportunities to take on roles no matter what your identity, as long as you’re good at your craft and willing to take on the challenge.” Yi wasn’t sure if an actor could openly identify as gay in China, but notes that while in Beijing he saw many women holding hands in the streets. “I think homosexuality in China is not a big issue, because it’s common. In the 1990s, they already said it’s not a disease, or something like that.” China decriminalized homosexuality in 1997 and declassified it as a mental disorder in 2001, and while mores are slowly changing, gay content is still regularly censored in film, TV and online media — most recently via the mass deletion of social media accounts for LGBTQ student groups and research associations at most major universities just last week. Bai, who adroitly plays a young villager who follows Fei into the world of prostitution, is a rising commercial star in China who also appeared this month in a very different sort of film: the historical propaganda film “1921,” a tribute to the Chinese Communist Party. While he is on screen at Cannes learning to turn tricks, Bai is in theaters in China as the staunch military leader Ye Ting, who joins the Communists after leaving the Kuomintang, the party that went on to rule Taiwan and is still one of its most powerful factions. There is past precedent for Chinese actors playing controversial gay roles pushing on unabated to mainland stardom. For instance, Chen Sicheng and Qin Hao, the leads of Lou Ye’s 2009 Cannes competition title “Spring Fever,” are now top industry figures even though that film resulted in Lou receiving a five-year ban from filmmaking. Continues at https://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/news/e2-80-98moneyboys-e2-80-99-director-cb-yi-balances-gay-love-story-between-china-and-taiwan/ar-AAMeJZm

Andrew Sullivan's new column at substack explains how it happened through his perspective. He lives there. Let It Rip How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Live With The Virus Andrew Sullivan 20 hr ago 40 Brent Thomas, dressed as the historic figure Anne Hutchinson, leads a tour through Provincetown on July 24, 2021. Thomas said they limit their tour to 10 people and ask people to practice pandemic protocol. This group confirmed they had all been vaccinated. (Craig F. Walker/The Boston Globe via Getty Images) It started with a text. Hey Sully — I started feeling cold symptoms a couple of days ago and didn’t think that much of it but then found out a house of SF guys we were out dancing Fri-Sat-Sun tested Covid-positive despite vaccination. Started with sore throat, cough, etc which is what I have. Most of another house too I know have similar symptoms (and perhaps half of town from last week at this point). Anyway I went to the clinic this morning and I’m positive. Still have some smell and taste, feel just kinda cruddy But I don’t think a fever. He asked me to be on call if he needed something. A day later, he wrote, “Felt cruddy last night — chills, a little sweats, but slept 10 - 11 hours and slightly better so far today.” Symptoms lasted about a week, and we texted until I bumped into him as we were both walking our dogs on the beach. He seemed fine. Then I spotted an old friend near some distant tidal pools, began to walk toward him to say hi, and he waved me away for the same reason: he was sick. The next day, I spotted my next-door neighbor, wearing a neck gaiter alone on the beach, and I was about to tease him but saw the look in his eyes. Another one. Then three texts from health agencies in DC and Ptown telling me I may have been exposed. I’ve had no symptoms, so I haven’t gotten tested. But I’m a little bit happier I decided to get a Pfizer shot after my J&J. Is Provincetown our future? Count me skeptical. In Fourth of July week, the town was completely swamped this year, followed swiftly by Bear Week; lines for the bars lasted for blocks; the bars themselves were packed; the weather was dreadful, forcing most of the crowd to pack tightly inside. A tiny town built for a few thousand residents has to absorb up to 40,000 in peak season. One bar in particular — the home for a dance party with the inspired name of “Fag Bash” — resembles a kind of dank dungeon where sweat drips from the ceiling and mold reaches up the walls. It might have been designed for viral transmission. A big swathe of the crowd had also just come from a week of Pride partying in New York City and were likely not, shall we say, at their immunological best. It was a muggy, viral heaven in a classic post-plague burst of bacchanalia. I’m way too old for that kind of thing these days, and don’t like crowds, and so stayed away, finishing the audio version of my forthcoming essay collection. Good call, it turns out. But would I have gone if I’d had the energy? You bet I would have. Maybe not into the crammed basements, but I had a blast at the open-air tea-dance the same week and since. And why not? I’m double-vaccinated. The chances of becoming sick enough to be hospitalized are extremely small; the chance of death, none at all. My friend who first texted me is super-fit (as are most of the young torsos who show up that week), but he’s also my age (weirdly enough, he’s the same friend I went to stay with when I first tested HIV-positive in 1993). He endured a nasty week of a fluish bug: the kind of thing that happens without any plague at all. Just part of the inherent risks of being human on a planet that does not belong exclusively to us. And this seems to me to be the key question here: do we really want to get back to living? I do. So take the rational precautions — a solid vaccine — and go about your business as you always did. Yes, I’ll wear a mask indoors if I’m legally required or politely asked. But I don’t really see why anyone should. In a free society, once everyone has access to a vaccine that overwhelmingly prevents serious sickness and death, there is no reason to enforce lockdowns again, or mask mandates, or social distancing any longer. In fact, there’s every reason not to. We are at a stage in this pandemic when we are trying to persuade the hold-outs — disproportionately white Republicans/evangelicals and urban African-Americans — to get vaccinated. How do we best do this? Endless, condescending nagging won’t help. Coercion is not an option in a free country. Since the vaccinated appear to be able to transmit the virus as well, vaccine passports lose their power to remove all risk. Forcing all the responsible people to go back to constraining their everyday lives for the sake of the vaccine-averse is both unfair and actually weakens the incentive to get a vaccine, because it lowers the general risk of getting it in the broader society. So the obviously correct public policy is to let mounting sickness and rising deaths concentrate the minds of the recalcitrant. Let reality persuade the delusional and deranged. It has a pretty solid record of doing just that. The government cannot be held responsible for sickness and death it has already provided the means to avoid. People are responsible for their own lives. The government can do some things — like making vaccination mandatory for federal workers and contractors, and especially in the military as George Washington did in the Revolutionary War for smallpox. It could offer money — or entry into a lottery, as many states are doing. All good. But the most potent incentive for vaccination is, to be brutally frank, a sharp rise in mortality rates. The more people who know someone who has suffered and died the likelier they will see the logic of taking measures to avoid the same fate. In other words: if people recklessly refuse to face reality, call their bluff. Sullivan's column continues here: https://andrewsullivan.substack.com/p/let-it-rip-f9c

Florida? Shocking right? The place where there are no mandates or attempts to get this under control.

@PeterRSYou are right in that these are the ones we know about. Jupiter Boy has Covid as does at least 20 of his friends. None of them are counted in the numbers as they are given at home testing and they stay there to recover. I would estimate the number is 10 times the reported numbers. @Vessey What you find is paradise. I have had so many boys message me on apps and want to stay with me or visit me. Yesterday, I had sex with one of the hottest guys in years. As I worry about Covid, I was as careful as possible. But, I had to see him and I did. Amazing and sweet. He is stuck here from another country and can't return yet. That leaves his free time (all the time) for doing nothing and Bangkok is boring. He said he liked being with me as he has someone to talk to and he thinks if he can stay with me more, I'd be open to letting him fuck me and he said his dick was magic. I laughed. He had me at liked. @bucky13 I love the optimism and I know it will be glorious when you return! @kokopelli Glad you got the vaccine. Stay safe and return as soon as you can!

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.

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.

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

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.

Well, Brazil, despite Bolsonaro attempts to let the pandemic runs its course (and killing the projected 2 million deaths if no control measures were taken) is starting to see a downturn in cases, thanks to the vaccination rates gathering pace. The restrictions are much softer now (bars and restaurants - including saunas - can stay open up to 11 pm in São Paulo, the state with most restrictions). Keep in mind the virus is still in circulation, but if you are vaccinated and would use masks in public places , I guess it’s an reasonable risk to travel to Brazil now, and you would not lose much in terms of fun in Rio or SP - unless you would want to engage in crowed parties like the ones in The Week or other pool parties (some can still be found, but “underground”).

I guess I'd be in for a double date. You take Will and I Jaden

I went last year (2018) I met 2 guys on Grindr. One was 19, the other 21. I could have met perhaps 2 or 3 more also. But ran out of time. Both quite nice guys. Not really escorts as such. But willing to see a guy in his late 30's (me) for a fee. Actually, nothing was arranged up front. Just at the end, they asked if I could 'help'. Which was completely expected. And of course I did not mind. I asked how much they would like, and really they would be happy with 50 euros, but i gave them that, plus also 1000 to 1500 UAH, which is only about 25 to 35 Aussie dollars. Plus I gave Maxim, a 50 Aussie note at the end to remember me by! But I think he cashed it in. Actually both were happy to come back and see me again, which they did (not together). I actually not into penetration at all, so really, just kissing, sucking, plus massage and feeling there bodies. plus we went out to dinner a couple of times, and I went to the market and got some drinks. So I'm easy! But yes, I like Kiev, I've been now 5 times. I'm quite shy so I don't really go up to anyone in the street. But lots of beautiful straight guys around. Actually I think Ukraine, and Kiev are on the move, after some pretty tough economic times (and still not great). I say this to people, and they don't believe me, but Kiev is so cheap for an Australian (and therefore cheap for an American). It's actually cheaper than Thailand or Bali for eating and drinks. And a single trip on the metro costs something like 20 cents. I have only been in the summer I should add. I would like to go in winter, but a Aussie like me would probably freeze to death!

From Bangkok Post Weekend city jab shutdown A shortage in supplies of Covid-19 vaccines led to the weekend closure of 25 vaccination centres in Bangkok, while the "Mor Prom" app also cancelled all bookings scheduled for Friday and Saturday and has yet to resume offering new appointments. Chairman of the Thai Chamber of Commerce (TCC) Sanan Angubolkul said on Sunday that supplies had not arrived as scheduled, forcing all 25 vaccination centres operated by the TCC and private sector in Bangkok to suspend operations until new deliveries are made. "We have no choice but to close our vaccination centres from tomorrow [today] onward until we get more vaccines; we hope there will be spare vaccines allocated by the centre at Bang Sue Grand Station to help ease congestion there," he said. At the same time, the account for the "Mor Prom" application announced yesterday that due to a technical error, all bookings made for Friday and Saturday were cancelled and no further bookings would be taken until the app is fixed. "People can still register directly on hospital websites. The Mor Prom team would like to apologise for the inconvenience," it said. It was unclear what caused the problem with the app or how long the repairs will take. https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2158215/weekend-city-jab-shutdown