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Chonburi may get Sandbox nod From Bangkok Post The government will lower the Covid-19 alert level and is considering easing more restrictions to boost the economy, the health minister said on Tuesday, in response to a slower infection rate. Among measures being considered are establishing more "sandbox" areas for tourists, who can skip quarantine if they stay in specified areas for seven days and undergo two Covid-19 tests. Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul told reporters new sandbox areas could include Chiang Mai, Chonburi, Khon Kaen and Samut Prakan provinces. The scheme, a calibrated move to rebuild the decimated tourism sector, currently operates in Phuket, Phang Nga, Krabi and Koh Samui. Mr Anutin added that the 'Test and Go' scheme that allows free movement to tourists who pass one Covid test on arrival could be revived as soon as February. https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2249539/govt-to-lower-covid-alert-ease-curbs-as-infections-slow

Considering everything, the cost of sex and massages in Japan is not all that much higher than Thailand pre-covid. You can choose a guy from one of the several boy bars to come to your hotel room. Each website is likely to have at least 100 boys with photographs, statistics, details of what the boy will or will not do and how much an hour or more will cost you. These bars also have some of the aggressively cute boys who star in the plethora of gay porn movies. Best of all the photos will look exactly like the boys. For around US$113 inclusive of everything he will come to your hotel room (and be there exactly to the minute), spend a hour with you and 'perform' exactly as per the website and you have informed the mamasan in advance. I have yet to come across anyone who has been anything other than very satisfied. True, you can get away with a short time in Bangkok for around 1,500 baht although it has been creeping more towards 2,000. In Bangkok, though, you mostly have to get to and from the bar, pay for drinks for yourself and your chosen one, and then pay the off fee. In most cases you will get what you have asked for - but certainly not always. Tokyo also has several of the best saunas in the region where you can stay for many hours. And although most of the bars are for Japanese only, there are still plenty catering to a mixed crown. And it is here you are more likely to find Japanese wanted to meet foreigners. The apps, too, are becoming more foreigner friendly. No doubt the problem more guys do not consider Tokyo a gay destination is the 'fear/concern' of not knowing the language and the local customs. Then there is the climate. It is even more hot and excessively humid than Bangkok in the summer and cold, frequently with snow, in the winter. Against that the spring and autumn periods are stunning with glorious scenery just outside the city. For those not wishing to consider Tokyo as a vacation destination, as a stopover for 2 or 3 days it could be great. Just make sure you have a good bilingual map!

Final notes. Travelling in covid time is nerve wrecking due to multitude of regulations , not coordinated from country to country and from airline to airline but at end of day it proved doable. I’m glad I stick to my plan of jumping on earliest occasion as soon as quarantine will be cancelled. This did not happen but “Test and Go ‘ option seemed reasonable so when I learned it’s available it was no brainer to gather paperwork and apply. My Thai Pass came in exactly 7 days, 2 weeks later I was on my way. Mandatory tests and insurance raised prices but on another hand very good deals on accommodation mitigated that expense. I doubt in future I will be able to sleep in hotels and rooms I was utilizing this trip. Me and Crowne Plaza ? even few forum friends were surprised. I liked it even if really I don’t need fancy accommodations but if price is right, why not ?. Doom and gloom of some on forums proved exaggeration. Yes, bars were closed as well as many massager places but what was opened was good enough to keep me occupied and spending whenever I wanted. Line and apps helped. It was actually first time ever I used apps. Can’t say it was very successful but with more practice and more experience navigation of them may be more fruitful. One thing is sure , few guys I met had their profiles on apps and I must say almost universally I wouldn’t take them if I only saw them there. N, Ah-Poo, V, Soviet they all looked better in flesh. It’s why I like massages and bars better and always will because I can see real thing. I doubt you read those long reports with much attention to details but if you did you could notice one notable absence – covid itself. In those 25 days it was never really on my radar. Yes I wore mask like whole Thailand. If I spot 30 people without mask on the street in those 25 days , that’s it . I thought it will be annoying in that heat but actually was unnoticeably bearable. I have more problem at home in winter with constant fogging of my glasses . Wherever they measured temperature I placed my hand too but it was all like ritual, not a preventive measure. No restaurant bothered to check vaccination certificate and Zing was only hotel which asked for it. Accidentally it was also only hotel which asked my guest for ID. No problems with visitors I the room but dearth of foreign visitors was visible plainly and everywhere. Phor Liang Meun and Crowne Plaza were only hotels where there was some kind of crowd but even there ‘crowd’ was exaggeration. Thais now have country to themselves for good and bad . Unfortunately mostly bad. Closed and quiet Walking Street , Boyztown or Patpong are shocking views indeed. Even Silom , Suriwong and Sukhumvit are far from themselves in more normal times so economic devastation must be enormous. Foodland Patpong in lunch time was sometimes plain empty , so were malls and area around Grand Palace. Not even once I saw crowded BTS train. Those were things which I should enjoy but in fact made me sad as I was thinking about all those people who lost their earnings or had them greatly reduced. But boys are holding up . I never really heard complains , from time to time they ritually mentioned lack of customers but somehow managed to find other jobs, never before I heard from so many guys that they work also somewhere else. I did not notice notable reduction on tip expectations, neither bars reduced their prices with notable exception of Jupiter but even them raised prices for Christmas and New Year period. What was easier was to find guys willing to do long time, that may be positive covid effect but also possibly just my good luck or coincidence. I have pleasure to meet few forum member past and present,10tazione, Z909, Gaybutton , Aussie_, Newscene, ChristianPFC, 18past49, Anddy . Thank you for your time, in few cases introducing me to their friends and in impossible to underestimate case of 18past19 - leaving me few leads to guys he could issue personal recommendation for like V and above all X. Few people asked me which guy I liked the most. Hard question. S, the smartphone guy definitely sensed the best what makes me happy, N was crown of Pattaya stay and 5 nights with him were most passionate and steamy, T, T2 and X were three best built and for me , fond of manly muscular guys they were exactly made of my dreams. T was most offed by far and organized two memorable parties in his shop but failed to keep his promise on 2 occasions, T2 was most clingy out those three heroes of my dreams, muscles and not only were made of steel but was shorter than me , cooling factor in my book. X was hunk made of dreams and muscles , I had best conversation with him and service wise he was most professional knowing exactly what he is there for but also most costly but I knew what I’m getting into in this respect. And there were few guys I met only once who warranted multiple offs – sexy and talkative Soviet, funny and even more talkative M and quiet, manly but clingy V. Hard choice indeed so I need to go with one more trait – personality and here ranking become more clear so gold medal in competition ‘ Guy of the trip “ goes to X , silver to V and bronze to N. If you surprised take comfort that my ranking surprised me too. Regrets: I should go to Jey Spa more often, threw one more party at Sabaidee , off Gap , twink from Dreamboys from my 2nd night once more and try to off that very straight looking handsome guy from Jupiter. But with nobody to blame for those failures I just register them for curious. One of forum friends also noticed that I did not off at all guys known from previous trips. That’s correct with notable exception of Art in Pattaya. I don’t count Soviet as repeat since he did not recall me and I did not recall him until day or two after we met. No, it was not by design, it just happened, I just swim with the flow . When comes to hotels I don’t have a bad word against any of 11 or 12 I stay at , but I liked the best executive suite at Furama Sathorn, closest to normal flat. Of course for decoration Phor Liang Meun Teracotta Arts in Chiang Mai can’t be beaten. No idea when I will return, I hope it will be soon but until world will make it’s mind what to do with covid my advice , to myself and everybody else is to monitor situation closely and be ready to jump into any openings which will be created. I’m glad I did. thank you for all your 'likes" and contributions to this somewhat long thread

From Bangkok Post The government may revive the quarantine-free visa programme for vaccinated travellers from abroad, less than a month after suspending the waiver, as fears of a new wave of Omicron-driven Covid cases recede. Officials will propose lifting the suspension of the Test & Go programme to the nation’s virus task force led by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on Thursday, Deputy Prime Minister and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said on Monday. https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/2248875/govt-mulls-resuming-quarantine-free-travel-programme

Not that he's contagious any more, but to have lied on his visa application and to have promoted a false narrative regarding immunizations, I'm sure glad he received what was coming to him. He's a talented player with a despicable character, in my view... I'm glad he didn't receive some "exception" due to his fame. It would have sent the wrong message.

Coming to Bangkok since 2002 and don't think I ever booked a massage or offed a guy who wasn't smiling. You can't gag and smile at same time. ☺️

Fascinating conversation. In my experience, some love sex work and some hate it. I am just so happy that the ones that love it seem to be attracted to me more than the other group. Or, maybe it is that smile? I have had many LTR in Thailand: 16 years, 15 years, 7 years, 6 years, and more 1 years than my age. My experience has been good in LOS. But, it has been just as good in USA and Brazil (but not the length of time as the Brazilians always fuck it up by having an emergency like the bank was robbed and all their money was taken).

Agree entirely. A story about an over-paid and profoundly ignorant (and dishonest, it now appears) sportsman has been headline news here in the UK for a week. Why? Tennis is a minority interest at the best of times and this ludicrous man managed to keep refugees dying in the English Channel and much else off the front pages. I ask again, why? Sometimes I despair of the msm.

What's a video game?

I would put the popper in checked luggages. I don't think I need it during the flight.

This labour shortage problem is a long time in the making. Falling birth rates need a 20 - 30 years to produce its effects on the labour force. 1991 was the year in which Thailand's Total Fertility Rate fell below the replacement level of 2.1 births per woman, and the TFR has fallen steadily since. It's exactly 30 years since that cross-over year, and now the effects will begin to show. With the gradual reduction of new entrants into the labour market, coupled with the steady economic progress the country has made, it cannot be surprising that job opportunities (or business oportunities for those prepared to venture out on their own) are aplenty, as the news story above says. With that, we can expect wages to rise. Sex work is the one area that is extremely sensitive to labour shortage and rising wages. Sex work tends to be performed by young men (and women) who have no other viable alternative for a livelihood; it is what in economics might be called a leading indicator for a tightening labour market and rising wages. To put it bluntly, there has to be a degree of desperation for a vibrant sex market to develop. That desperation began disappearing among young Thais at least 15 years ago, which was when I began to notice the appearance of Cambodians, Burmese and Vietnamese into the industry. Those of us making regular visits to Thailand will also have noticed the price inflation over the years. But a more interesting comparison can be made between the 2019 massage parlour prices in Phnom Penh, Manila and Bangkok. In Phnom Penh, they were asking for US$10 - U$20 as tip for one hour's service. In Manila, about US$20. In the same year, a typical massage parlour worker in Bangkok would have been asking US$30 - US$50. Go to Japan, and it's at least $150 (likely more -- others with more up-to-date information, please correct me if I'm wrong). The price spread says a lot about unemployment or underemployment in each country. If Thailand prices rise to approach Japanese or European levels, will Bangkok still be a destination? I doubt it, though it may be a while yet before Thai prices go that high. What I will find interesting to observe in the years ahead is whether Bangkok remains a destination but staffed mostly by lads from neighbouring countries, or whether other cities in the region with native supply of labour become the new destinations. Of course, political and moral climates will play huge roles too. The double whammy will be if Bangkok prices rise thus dampenng its appeal, but the scene in neighbouring countries does not take off because of regulation.

From Thai Enquirer Thailand should stop publicizing Covid numbers by April Thailand must learn to live with the Covid-19 virus and stop publicizing daily pandemic numbers by the end of April to boost public confidence and allow the country to get back to normal, a senior public health expert told Thai Enquirer on Monday. Thailand recorded 6,929 cases on Monday but just 13 fatalities. On Sunday, the number of deaths, 9, was the lowest recorded in over a year. However, one of those fatalities was from the new Omicron variant of the disease. “I think there is an understanding among health officials that the new Omicron variant is less deadly and could mean the end of the pandemic for us,” said Kanyarat Wanna-anant, a public health expert with Chiang Mai Rajaphat University. “You have to factor this in with our vaccine numbers which are increasing everyday including the use of boosters to know that the end of the pandemic is in sight.” According to Kanyarat, the economic effects of the pandemic have been much more devastating than the virus itself and the country must do all it can to boost consumer and public confidence. “The only number that matters is the death toll and it has gone done by a massive amount since last September and will continue to stay low. If it hovers around the single digits then Thailand will see more road deaths per day than Covid-19 deaths,” she said. “That means we have to reevaluate our priorities, continue to be vigilant, keep acquiring the latest technology to fight the virus but also not induce undue panic in the population.” Kanyarat says if the government were to set a target to stop publicizing numbers by April, then it would signal to the country that there is an end date to the public health crisis and that it was not a “forever war.” “Barring another variant that is more deadly, we will see the world emerge out of this shadow by the middle of this year.” https://www.thaienquirer.com/36572/thailand-should-stop-publicizing-covid-numbers-by-april/

I think this clearly demonstrates that a guy who's savvy enough to understands this will never find himself desperate for work.

Perhaps this is why he came to work in Thailand in the first place.

I, for one, have definitely taken ideas from your many past reports. I'm still eager to visit Moonlight some day when it reopens which I only discovered from your reports. I now have a couple of other ideas to add to the list for the next trip. A visit to Sabaidee and trip up the MahaNakhon. Thank you.

Today, I went to Thailand for about 30 minutes ... at the World Expo in Dubai. Maybe I am not unbiased, but they have one of the best pavilions. I suppose this doesn't count??? Anyway, thank you very much vinapu for your reports.

Horace goes Skiing, played on the Sinclair ZX Spectrum + .

I can see that happening more and more too -- for jobs that are "above board". I don't know how the government will be issuing work visas for sex work and related trades. To your question posed rhetorically above, "Will gay venue owners be prepared to continue operating with boys from neighbouring poorer countries"?, one should factor in legal risk. Now, one might make the point that many establishments already operate with majority (if not 100%) foreign staff, so why not in the future. That is one possibility; indeed the most likely possibility so long as the astonishing number of people doing pointless work in the immigration department continue the glorious tradition of being ineffective (or perhaps being on the take). In my view, such would be the best outcome, keeping Bangkok on my list of holiday spots. However, this will not mean that prices will remain where they are now. As the cost of living in Bangkok goes up, as Thai themselves (those still doing sex work) charge higher prices, so will the migrants. It's instructive to note for example that the Cambodian working in Thailand does not charge the same price as the Cambodian in Phnom Penh. The one is Thailand is charging similarly to the Thai guy.

OK, vinapu's reign as forum scribe is over for now and he will be missed; the question is, who's next? any takers?

You seem to believe that the available options are toiling in the rice fields or selling bananas. But Thailand has been rapidly transforming into an industrialized country with many entry-level manufacturing jobs available. Working in the rice field is normally something that the whole family contributes to in the planting and harvesting seasons, but some of that labor is now mechanized. It's not the Thailand of 40-50 years ago. The options aren't as humble as you project. You twice refer to suppressing the gag reflex. You and I have obviously had very different experiences in Thailand because I've not encountered that behavior. Many are up front in setting their personal limits but so do we. If I treated an affair as a purely transactional arrangement, I would expect a mechanical and impersonal response. I've found that trying to learn a little about the guy as an individual frequently makes a difference in how he views both me and himself. It's been my experience that most of the guys I meet have much better self-images than you present here.

We may be using the word “desperation” a little differently. I wasn’t referring only to abject penury, though there is that unfortunately, but to what might be described as relative desperation. By this I mean wanting a certain standard of living or lifestyle but with no other way to attain it except through sex work. The lads may indeed have options such as back-breaking work in the ricefields or as servers in humble provincial food shops, or pushing a cart around selling bananas. Such work may even provide an income that keeps body and soul together, and many young people will accept the wages that go with them. However, those that aspire to a better lifestyle and not adverse to selling their bodies may rule these humble options out, choosing the path of stripping on stage night after night, the risk of social shame and having to suppress their gag reflexes when customers, old enough to be their fathers, pick them. My point was that as wages for planting rice, waiting on tables and selling bananas rise in tandem with a tightened labour supply and generalised prosperity, the reward for stripping, social shame and suppressing gag reflexes must necessarily go up to be worthwhile. The "demographic doomsday" notwithstanding, Thailand’s sex scene may continue well into the future, but with quite different price points. This then raises the question whether that pricier sex scene will remain a draw for visitors; whether Thailand will remain a destination. After all, Japan has sellers of sex and massages at first-world price levels, and they have their buyers, mostly other Japanese. But it’s very hard to make a destination out of the Japanese scene. So, I was musing: what would be the price level for Thai (and migrant sex worker) sellers that would begin to turn off visitors? I don't know the answer; I was just thinking aloud. I agree we shouldn't overstate the success rate. I think we're likely to agree too that far more visitors to Thailand come as butterflies than as potential husbands, of both gay and straight kinds. This observation is even more pronounced when we look at the Asian segment of visitors which now forms the bigger portion. Secondly, your point is just putting my original point in a different way. The hope of landing a farang husband is simply a variation of the sex-work choice. It’s when they want a certain lifestyle but cannot attain it through regular work that they choose the sex work route. This can then lead to a fork in the road. Either, with luck, end up with a sugar daddy so that one does not have to strip on stage every night and suppress the gag reflex too often, while turning social shame into social capital, or - in the absence of luck - persevere at sex work for years on end, which must have been the case for the 40-ish gogo”boys” I have seen in several Patpong bars. I also wonder whether the farang husband species is disappearing. We’ve heard plenty of reports of the demise of Pattaya due to reduced farang traffic (Pattaya has never managed to attract enough gay Asian visitors to replace the vanishing farang). Bangkok survives because of the Asian traffic, but somehow I’ve yet to hear of an Asian sugardaddy for the boys. Such a species may well exist… I don’t know.

Just a gentle reminder that you can relatively easily leave the US…but it’s much more difficult to escape the reach of the IRS. It’s well worth paying for excellent legal and tax advice before you change your permanent residence. There are several schemes, such as that for Portugal described above, in various EU countries. One important factor, among many, is to decide whether you hope to work in your new country of residence.

That would be nice if they do return it, I will certainly use that over the sandbox if available. I have lost a bit of confidence in it though, not necessarily because they revoked it at such short notice but because the comms were so horrible and if I were traveling around the 15th of this month it would have been very stressful to navigate what was happening.

Thaiger channel just mentioned that the public health minister is going to propose CCSA to consider resuming test and go program. hope it will materialize soon.

It's sometimes easy to forget that 50 years ago couples in Thailand were each bearing between 5 and 6 children. The governments of the day agreed this was unsustainable and so started a major nationwide campaign to promote birth control. Leading the effort was Mechai Viravaidya who decided much greater use of condoms was required. He then travelled the country promoting condom use - basically through taking the stigma out of them. He would organise condom balloon contests, filling them with water and dropping them from heights and seemingly silly things like that. But it worked so well that condoms are still today referred to as Mechais! His restaurants Cabbages and Condoms are still operating. And it worked even better than expected in reducing the birth rate. Being at best a second world country, 5 to 6 children were economically unsustainable for families. Hence many were mired in basic poverty. As birth rates fell, incomes rose and the incentives for having fewer children were significant. At the present rate, Thailand is going to become eventually more like Singapore and Japan where birth rates are so low an increasingly smaller labour force will have to look after an increasingly larger percentage of those in the older age group. At present the birth rate per couple in Japan is 1.36. The spectre of importing foreign workers, once considered anathema, is now openly discussed. In Singapore the birth rate has fallen to 1.21 despite many government efforts to boost it. The nation-state now is home to 1.2 million registered foreign workers. This all helps to explain why the very large numbers of Thai boys working in the bars in the 1980s and 90s began to drop off by the mid-2000s very significantly. With all respect to @LondonerI do think this is now far less of an alternative to find work in gay venues than it was 30 - 40 years ago. Then the alternative to gay activities was indeed the rice field. I believe that is much less so today. Of course there will always be young Thais who like being with a farang, especially if he has money to provide a better life for him and his family. Same with the girls. But as - and if - the country keeps developing economically, I also believe these numbers will continue to fall. Will gay venue owners be prepared to continue operating with boys from neighbouring poorer countries, virtually all here either illegally or on one month non-work visas? I guess only time will tell.

Thx! I’m actually getting to be pretty good at reading Portuguese (thanks Doulingo) and even better at texting in Portuguese (thanks Grindr). My auditory comprehension needs improvement and my pronunciation still needs a great deal of improvement though. Tips for improving either one from those that have learned the language are very welcome. Quem não joga não ganha.

Boxer in a boxing boxer? Hehe

I’m not sure what you mean. The Thai Pass is free. This service is something different and costs money. The site I’m recommending is for people who are having problems such as Queries or a flight in the next few days. They will somehow expedite the issue of your Thai Pass. They are NOT the same people who issue the Pass. It worked for me as I had only a few days left before I was due to fly and no end of phone calls or emails to the people who issue the pass helped. I hope that answers your question.

I agree with much of what you said above but I have to take issue with assumption that "desperation" is necessarily the primary factor that drives them to taking up sex work. For most who I've encountered, the schedule and the amount of tax-free cash they can earn are the overriding factors. And not everyone is suited for the work. Those with the right skills, appearance and personality earn wages significantly higher than construction or seafood processing, the two areas that attract most of the ASEAN workers who find their way to Thailand--and are so sorely missed now. And then there's some who enjoy the ancillary benefits of free meals and travel, and the opportunity to meet visitors from around the globe they'd never have the chance to meet otherwise.

I am in my 70's and have had no problem with the sauna guys.

I am glad to hear that X earned the Title. Conversely, T - the one whom you introduced to me won my crown of the trip. And it was with T that i had my last meal in BKK before my return trip.

finally voice of reason

Too bad that your report is ending. Can never have enough of trip reports!!! If anything, its my sole reason why i join this forum. A lot of the information shared here cant be obtained elsewhere hehe.

Thank you for all your "thank you's", if I ever be sentenced for community service I'll ask judge to account those reports for

I am a bit disappointed from this series the great cast was promising but the plot is weird and sometimes boring, However I watched the whole series because I like the actors .

Like in the States or in any gay nightclub/bar/circuit scene, just as I tend to avoid hard / recreational drug users, they tend to avoid me as well. Like attracts like. I’ve managed to visit Brazil regularly for 12 years now and have not had one experience with a garoto using anything “harder” than smoking weed in my presence (although I have been asked by a few before, I always decline and let them know it’s not my thing). The beach scene is also rife with drug offers, and easy to find, or turn down / avoid, if you so choose.

Just be careful bringing the poppers with amyl nitrate into Brazil or having possession of them in the country. Unlike in most parts of the USA, poppers made out of anyone nitrate are a controlled substance. Amyl Nitrite is a drug that requires a prescription in Brazil. Attempts to bring them into the country or even possession could result in jail / prison time and deportation. “Could” doesn’t necessarily mean “will”, though.

I also prefer to stay in República, but it might be considered too dangerous, grimy and seedy for many other people’s tastes. It reminds me of old school Times Square, pre-Guiliani. I personally don’t ever want it to change, but it is going through a bit of a rapid gentrification period — so all the fun might be over soon. When the seedy bars, video booth shops, street hustlers and hooker trannies are replaced with avocado bars and cupcake shops — then you’ll know it’s over.

He directed Saint Jack too, filmed in Singapore in 1979, about hustlers making a living off American GIs having their R&R in Singapore during the Vietnam war. Kind of Patpong-ish, though somewhere in the middle of the film is a gay cruising scene. It's on youtube. Post-Vietnam war, you know the rest: Patpong flourished for decades more, the Singapore scene died. RIP Peter Bogdanovich.