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I guess now it’s time for usual day to day update of my trip. Some repeats will be necessary as I’m too lazy to spend much time polishing text so bear with me. Short lived ‘Test and go “ scheme served me very well and we hope it will be re-instated soon but trip was not only matter of luck but also utilizing it. Long ago I decided that as long as quarantine will be eliminated or shortened to max 2 days I jump into plane ASAP. So when it happened it took me only few hours to complete documents , do the bookings of planes , hotels and tests. I may try to repeat the feast if scheme will return even if for shorter period of time. First few months of year are not really me travelling time as greed prevails due to much increased opportunities to earn some spending cash. For quarantine hotel I had chosen Centre Point Riverview Silom and looking back it was wise decision. Knowing I will be locked I was looking for big room with balcony and a view. They had it all with Executive Suite, as it turned out complete with washing machine and microwave. Location steps from BTS SaphanTaksin proved beneficial when I was released about hour before bars are closing / 11 pm now/ . It was costly at about 5200 baht but not when one considers that I paid 4600 baht for pre-departure test at home so for me it looked like for 600 baht I had transport from airport, spacious room and 3 meals a day. Nice gesture was to allow me to check in early ,even if my plane arrived at 6 am , I was advised when asked that booking should be done for 1 night only As noted before arrival was very smooth, documents checked before lining up for immigration, taxi from hotel was handily waiting and it did not take much more than hour from landing to be already in the hotel to start solitary confinement of my: Day 1 On admission I asked to skip today’s breakfast as I was well fed by Swiss and opted for next day breakfast instead. Waiting to be called for test I despoiled after long trip, did some laundry ( I travel light so usually my first thing in hotel when travel is to wash my shirt and undergarments ) drying which was easy as washroom was equipped with laundry line. In Swampy I bought SIM card so installed Grindr and Romeo in addition to already installed Hornet and to kill time combed through offerings there. At 10.30 knock to door from the staff inviting me to go to the testing area on the roof. I was told results will arrive up to next morning. Tasty lunch delivered around noon, then I fell to jet lag and slept till 6 when another knock waked me up announcing equally tasty dinner. It was 9.55 p.m. when I got a call from reception that results are in and I’m free man again. 10 minutes later I was already on the Saphan Taksin platform and soon after , after 2 years of absence I was pounding pavements of my beloved Silom again. Since it was Sunday evening and in pandemic time it was rater quiet and in one of massage shops I noticed very handsome masseur playing with cat. Perhaps I should stop there but fate dragged me to soi 4 which is kind of sarcasm as I never really liked it. But now with Jupiter , only one of three bars opened others being Dreamboys and Fresh Boys there was no place to be picky. Beer at Jupiter was cheap at 150 which lasted till before Christmas and now is at more “normal” 400 so I got mine and noticed few guys drinking beside , one of them familiar face of one of Moonlight’ s go-gos I never offed but tipped few times for a good looks. Smile and signalized my interest but he gestured that he is with that company. Did not worry me as it was first out if 25 nights but fate had it , shortly after they all left he returned with knowing smile. It turned out he in not Jupiter guy , just visiting his friends there to have a drink, is willing to check my stamp collection. So I paid off fee of 500 and we went. No not to Centre Point but to Furama Silom as when booking originally I was not sure what will happen with my early check in and took advantage of cheap rates those days , booked 1 night at Furama just in case. Not a long walk and soon we were there. Reception asked for 1000 baht deposit, gave us a key and up we went to have our fun, short time one for which I was asked to fork 3000. How it came to it ? walking I asked about long time , 3000, answer was 3000 is for a short time. After 2 years I was in no mood to haggle. Fun we had and he is nice and very well built man but also resolve came that we met twice – first and last at the same time. No repeat as Christian PFC use to say . When he left , soon did I collecting my deposit left 3 hrs ago and walked all the way to Centre Point past 2 at night through completely empty streets with rats being busy here and there but no soul in sight. And I thought “ where in the world on his 1st day tourist can walk at almost 3 am through empty street in the middle of 10 million strange city and feel completely safe and relaxed “ ? Try that in Paris, London, Rio , Nairobi or even Flint , Michigan. Long live Bangkok , long live Thailand. Slept without A/c , with open windows, just like summer at home. And that’s how I finished day 1.

Then no other time could be better than now. you could get the whole Ayutthaya to yourself. only a handful of visitors at most famous places i went yesterday with the exception of Wat Phanan Choeng where there were a lot of locals paying homage.

Today i went to Ayutthaya with a local friend by train. it was such an experience. more details to come ….

Handy, cheap and nice smelling micro-towel. I always made sure I have few on me at any time . Refreshing , stays moist for few hours, can be washed and reused. Whether you feel sweaty, oily , soiled you appreciate having it on you . comes in 3 sizes ay 9, 13 and 16 baht, can be found in 7/11 and the like not where other toiletries are but curiously where dairy items are shelved. Don't ask me why. I even went as far as bringing few of those home.

It's lovely in Thailand now. Here in Chiang Mai we have 28-30C highs during the day, dropping to 16-20C at night. Just perfect.

I agree with 18past19, now one has feeling of having country to himself. There are visitors but nowhere in overwhelming numbers, even Chao Praya Tourist Boat had choice of seats whenever one wanted. Thais finally have country to themselves but that's mixed blessing as we can imagine.

From Reuters / The Thaiger He will forever be known as a hero, but Dr Li Wenliang, the Chinese ophthalmologist who first sounded the alarm over Covid-19, was initially shut down and threatened by his government. Now, nearly 2 years after his own death from the virus, thousands of Chinese netizens have posted messages to honour the Wuhan medic who tried to warn the world. According to a Reuters report, the messages have been posted on the second anniversary of Li discovering a pneumonia-causing virus in the central Chinese city of Wuhan. On December 30, 2019, Li, who worked at a hospital in the city, caught sight of a medical report that referenced potential SARS coronavirus infections in Wuhan. He posted about the outbreak on the Weibo social media platform but his warnings were badly received by the government. He was reprimanded by the local police and accused of creating panic. On January 12, Li was admitted to hospital, infected with Covid-19. He died on February 7, 2020. Along with the grief triggered by his death came a rare outpouring of anger at the government over its lack of transparency and its attempts to censor Li. Nearly 2 years after his death, he is being commemorated as a hero. According to the Reuters report, Weibo is awash with candle emojis and messages of thanks to the doctor, with many posting as if talking directly to him. “Happy new year Dr. Li, we will remember you forever.” According to Fang Kecheng from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, people seem to feel more comfortable posting on Li’s Weibo microblog. “Such places for anonymous expression are needed in any society, and this is especially true in today’s China.” https://thethaiger.com/china/chinese-netizens-pay-tribute-to-the-doctor-who-tried-to-warn-the-world

His treatment by Chinese authorities will be forever reminder that authoritarian governments can't be trusted , no matter their achievements are. Mussolini made trains going on time, Hitler eliminated unemployment and still very few tears are shed for them and this should act as warning to all who think they have all answers

I love visiting Ayutthaya and other similar places, just love wandering around tne ruins and soaking up the history of those places

no, it's fabric , not paper , It's why i like it's usability and re-usability. I agree that weather wise December and January are best months to come to Thailand. Hot but not too hot. In my 25 days there perhaps 1 hr of rain total

Lol. There is a free outdoor gym at the lumphini park. Should be open for all.

Hi, its nearly or already sawasdee phimai (=happy new yr!) there for you? Thai sign says simply ´paa yen´=cold towel. hence they have to be stored in refrigerated box. From your description I understand its a little more as the usual paper things you get handed out in every AC bus or local airplane? These sell in big packs also in about any store, but unrefrigerated-that you have to do by yourself. Is it still so hot in THailnd now?

eat less, don't sleep during day, have a daily walk to Hualampong or ChitLom and back and don't let boys to do all the work should do the trick. Don't waste your money on gym, waste it on guys

I, too, enjoyed the series, and like @Riobardwatched it in one sitting 😊

Gievn the number of gyms that have gone bust in recent years, I'm not sure that would be a very good business idea.

Both the post and the times allow you to share subscriptions with another person, so I have one to the post that I share with my mom, and she shares her times subscription with me. Not a bad deal for us.

I was checked twice: when checking-in in Madrid airport and again at my arrival in Brazil, in the waiting line for immigration. You must produce the vaccine certificate (I have the regular EU pass), the Anvisa declaration and a negative test. If every thing is ok the controlling guy give you a kind of receipt, to be presented at inmigration with your passport. We were few passangers and the line proceeded quickly.

Richard Barrow posted this graphic on his blog today, showing the cumulative number of Omicron cases as of yesterday. In comparison to what the US and Europe are experiencing, the numbers are minuscule even when you factor in population differences.

The same soi , just diagonally across. That may build some panel as you are spot on with your observation. Main point is, they are back on the scene which is good whether you like big boys or not

I won,t be there very unfortunately but one of members may. I m on my way home already. We should be happy it,s opening again at least. Smaller size means we will be closer to the boys.

As you guys can see, Tawan almost ready for Friday,s reopening

Tawan

Posts 4 and 5 Let me start with an apology for taking so long to complete this report. Unfortunately upon my return home I had some unexpected work issues to deal with which derailed me from finishing. A lot has happened since (the cancellation of Test & Go and the opening up of Pattaya) so I have decided to condense the final two posts into one. Post 4 was originally going to be about Pattaya but I will cut this short as I now see that many more bars are open and from trip reports on here and Facebook posts it looks very different to when I was there early December. It would be unfair on the businesses to give a report now on how it was a month ago, although even when I was there a few bars that had converted into coffee and cake establishments gave some relief of somewhere to go. What I will say is that there was still much action to be had both on the apps and meeting guys out and about (ok it's not as easy as a bar, but a knowing look can still score) All of my meets except one were from the apps. The one other time for me was a knowing look in 7/11 on Jomtien beach. We left at the same time where I bravely first asked if he knew where a nice place for coffee was, he said rabbit resort and even more braver I asked if he would like to join... one thing led to another where for research purposes he came back to the hotel to check out the room... no money was discussed but I made sure expenses were covered in the usual manner and he left with a smile. As for the apps I found plenty of availability. My stay in Pattaya was at the Hilton, taking advantage of the lower rates and had no problem with joiners. I usually stay in the Agate, I originally thought it was closed but it seemed to be open when I walked past and pleased to see other reports confirming this. No complaints about the Hilton, but I look forward to returning to the Agate on my next trip. Restaurants - lots of choice - huge variety to suit all budgets and tastes. I dined in Casa Pascal, Robin Hood pub, Royal Cliff and Nickys cafe on soi bukahoi. I was happy with all these choices for different reasons. Overall, my Thailand trip using Test and Go was well worth the effort. I came with zero expectations and had a very nice time. There were a few hurdles to get through to enter Thailand but once I was past the first 24 hours that was all put behind me I had a month of enjoyment. I only had to show my vaccination certificate for internal flights and a few other limited places, so it was worth keeping a copy of it on my phone - I kept copies of everything but nothing else was needed during my stay in the country. Whilst I was there Omnicron kicked off so I had a few more unexpected hurdles to overcome (such as additional covid tests before returning and when I got home) but this were all arranged very easily with little problem. I can't wait to return again. Should the 24 hour Test and Go reopen in the new year then I'd happily go through all the bureaucracy again, hoping to spend more time in Pattaya next time.

I live in Istanbul Asia side and please let me know if you need accompany for free

I have tried, but decided I am not attracted to Thais. Negotiating sex with Asians(including Thais) are too complicated. On top of that, they often didn't deliver what they promise and I just had to pay them to leave. My first time in Brazilian sauna was an eye opening experience, and I had no desire to visit Thailand ever since.

A Brasilian friend once told me....if they suck cock for money, there's no telling what else they're capable of doing. Either at the sauna or my room, they are not out of my sight....I make them either shower with me or talk to me in the bathroom while I'm in the shower. If I have to use the toilet, I send them to the store for something.....I don't like overnights either, hate sleeping with one eye open, lol

do I read it correctly or I have a stroke ? You took taxi from Arena to Raya ? That's extravagance of Thai boy level ( I had once request to take taxi from old Jupiter, now Moonlight to Tarntawan) Congratulation of great and fun filled first day , now we are all curious who happy model was , just teasing, LOL

I had heard his name when I was young and he has been a constant for most of my life. RIP https://edition.cnn.com/2021/12/27/africa/desmond-tutu-lgbtq-climate-palestine-reaction-intl/index.html