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The forum was down for a bit. It is now back up.

Bangkok Massage is closed. Talked to 2 guys that used to work there today and they said they were told it will be quite awhile if at all.

If we don't have someone on the ground sooner I will try to do a open/closed numbers check next week when I'm in Bangkok. Not 100% sure I'll be going to VCK but I'll at least do some reporting on Patpong 1&2 and surrounding sois. VCK Cool Space twitter shows they are open, but unsure on what the boy situation is.

One of those venerable and long standing BKK gay places- mentioned in any of the 100s of ´gay listings/travelguides´ in print or on www has also bitten in the dust. Its in Silom soi 4 and at the end could not longer survive all the restrictions. Even though I guess about anyone in this forum will also read/follow the other gay-TH forum (often named the ´bitchy one´) were I just read this, I felt it appropriate to also post it here-for the sake of completeness. It has been taken over by the Phuket based Pride concern, and it seems the old manager now works and leads the place for them. Not clear if those old telefones (well, most of you seem to be old enough to remember how these worked and what they were for?!) will be able to find a new place in this circus.

I have problems with my computer recently and last night I thought it was the reason , glad to hear that for a while others shared my misery

According to media sources, the government will propose removing the Test & Go scheme and Thailand Pass at a meeting with the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration on April 22. The Tourism Authority of Thailand is again requesting the cancellation with the tourism ministry, according to Tourism and Sports Minister, Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn. The Thaiger reports: "If the changes and revisions are approved, the changes could start as early as May 1, allowing travellers to enter Thailand using their vaccine documents rather than waiting 1 to 5 days for the Thailand Pass to be approved." Suvarnabhumi Airport officials report that an arriving passenger can now use the downloaded Test and GO QR code to find the booth of their booked hotel. The airport’s general manager, said the QR code will tell travellers which desk to go to. I recently had by Thai Pass approved with 48 hours of submission. I booked my hotel through Agoda which seems to speed up the process because the Thai Pass software can confirm Agoda bookings immediately upon submission of reservation ID number. My confirmation from the hotel also included information on what desk number I should go to for my hotel transportation. https://thethaiger.com/news/national/time-to-say-goodbye-to-test-go-and-the-thailand-pass

The Taiwan issue has been front and centre for some time now and has assumed greater prominence as a result of Russia's ghastly incursion into sovereign Ukraine. The question for Taiwanese now is surely: has the Ukraine invasion made it more or less likely that China will attempt to retake Taiwan by force. My view, based on no particular facts, is that China will now be less likely to use force and will again try the more softly softly approach. I say that only because China now has several major problems. One is covid and its seeming inability to control the pandemic. When entire cities like Shanghai are closed down, the once thought to be controlled pandemic is very clearly out of control. Second is the effect of the pandemic and to a lesser extent the war in Ukraine on the country's economy. Exports are falling, but it is the effect on an increasingly pissed-off population that will worry the authorities more. China's government rules through a bargain with its people. As long as the Chinese as a whole continue to prosper under communist rule, the leadership will face no opposition. Even though the country has a huge censorship department to control the dissemination of dissent, the current waves of localised dissent have to be more than slightly worrying. Of greater concern, though, must surely be the way the world has virtually united against Russia in its invasion of Ukraine. For all its rhetoric about external interference in its internal affairs blah blah, China's leaders are not so dumb that they do not realise full well that the country cannot afford a world united against it. For what it is worth, my view is that Taiwan will be off the front burner now for quite some time. That certainly is what i hope.

Virtually 100% of the time if a guy has a selfie in an elevator flexing his muscles in an elevator mirror he's in the trade. Escorts spend much more time than most other people in hotel elevators and on the way up they're cleaned, groomed, and dressed nice. They see themselves in mirrored elevators as top-form. Few other people take pics in elevator mirrors while there's few escort ads that don't have an elevator selfie. Anyway it works 90% for me. Usually a simple "escort?" will not be an immense insult. Usually. I would not ask in person though.

You think? Not as if Spin9 was posting something scandalous or inappropriate. He was calling attention to a situation that was causing confusion among arrivals. Thai officials responded by improving conditions. I give them a thumbs up.

Next time I'm in Yangon think I'll just take a cab because only places I'll be going are the spas that Vessey posts about. 🙂

Generally I would agree with the sentiments so far expressed. Joiners can be easier at less expensive hotels. I did have one very embarrassing experience at what was then the 5-star Regent Hotel on Rajadamri (so we are going back quite a few years - it later became the Four Seasons and is now the Anantara). I took a boy back from one of the bars at around 10:00 pm. I knew there were security staff on duty at the lift lobby and managed to get into a lift without being seen. I had forgotten about cctv cameras, though. Within a minute of getting to my room there was a knock on the door. It was security. I did not answer. After various similar episodes, the phone rang. And then rang again. I refused to answer. The end result was a less than satisfactory tryst. I also agree with @reader that the Montien definitely had a no joiner policy. I have written before about a conversation I had with the Assistant GM of the Mandarin Oriental hotel - again quite some time ago. We were having drinks in the lobby when a young man entered with what was obviously a bar girl. Before they even got to the lifts, a security officer approached them. End result? The girl had to leave. No argument about it. I asked my colleague what the hotel's policy was. No joiners after a certain time as it was against the law for hotels to accommodate non-guests who were not registered. But if the guest brought a girl or a boy who was dressed in line with the hotel policies - i.e. pleasantly casual but no tank tops, no flip flops etc. - then they would be given the benefit of the doubt and allowed upstairs. I have heard that there is no problem with joiners at Le Meridien on Suriwong. When I spent my one test&go night there last week, I saw no security in the lobby at all and the lift area can not be seen from the front desk. At two mid-price hotels in that area there used to be desks by the lift lobby to get extra payments for guests taking joiners to their rooms. Not sure what the situation is now. Checking hotel policies in advance as suggested by @z909 is a good idea, although given the government's overnight rule, I still think it is best to book a double room and then have your boy du jour register. Chiang Mai There is certainly a lot to see in and around Chiang Mai. From @musgrave's post, though, it seems Chiang Mai's gay scene continues in the death throes that started more than 5 years ago. We found the bars now situated across from Le Meridien boring. The money boys are more interested in the locals who frequent them or in their cell phones than new customers. There are certainly other gay massage spas in addition to Classic. The two gay saunas seem to be doing quite good business. Club One-Seven is located near the southern outskirts on the river across from the huge Holiday Inn Hotel. The older House of Male in the north west of the city always seems to have some students from the nearby University, but with the Songkran holiday about to start I suspect there may not be many until term time starts again. This site is worth checking - https://www.gay-in-chiangmai.com

If you're staying at almost any luxury hotel I would be shocked if they say anything to you about bringing a guest, I think mid-priced hotels trying to give the impression of luxury are usually the ones with more problems. I stay at mostly in Marriott Bonvoy properties but have never had so much as a sideways glance at walking in with guests anywhere in the world. You could email prior to arrival and ask if there is a guest policy, but I would just bring the guest in and walk straight to the elevators. In my view you're paying a premium for privacy and service, so I expect that.

Are you going to be in Medellin next week?

This still happens. I now see an error code: 2S119/1 if that helps.