Leaderboard

Anybody who has a friend who is hiv+, and I have two in Thailand, will warn us not to believe that it has gone, or even more dangerously, that it is no longer a big deal. A variety of problems may continue throughout life, including weight-loss, residual fatigue, problems with teeth and even sight. The recent Covid pandemic , as may other similar ones that follow it, has fed on the vulnerability of hiv+ victims. And I am referring to two people who are fully-up-to-date with their medication. Put simply, it is a lifetime of worry. And so I'd advise insistence on condoms for both partners, including for oral sex, in full knowledge that the chances of infection are small. I've seen what hiv does, not just to the victim but to those who love him or her. I also wear a seat belt in my car, though I've been driving accident-free for over fifty years.

Earth is overpopulated and those not using condoms for casual sex are doing great job of reducing that overpopulation. unfortunate side effect is pain and suffering of those affected before their demise but the same can be said about constipation. While using it or not is personal choice for most of us , by insisting that our poorer partners won t use condoms just to increase our pleasure is somewhat doubtfull morally.

Don’t go on a high-end cruise line, but rather opt for lower-end cruises or, better yet, free-style cruising like Norwegian (ncl.com) where there are no assigned tables or meal-times - you may not have to interact with anybody but the cruise personnel.

From Bangkok Post The Tourism and Sports Minister is planning to propose new opening hours for entertainment venues, allowing them to open until 4am to revitalise tourism sentiment during the upcoming high season. Tourism and Sports Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn said the extended hours will be designated to tourism-driven economic zones to avoid creating discontent among local communities. "We already asked each provincial governor to study the economic and social impacts as well as the necessity of extending operational hours," said Mr Phiphat. He said not every area in a province would be allowed to follow this as the government would only concentrate on areas which mainly focus on international tourists. Mr Phiphat said Thailand still has to work hard to bring in 1.5 million tourists per month from October to December, which would be a 50% increase from the current rate of 1 million tourists per month. He said it will propose this agenda to the meeting of the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) in September once the Apec Tourism Ministers Meeting 2022, which runs from Aug 14-20, has concluded.

+1

I have the popcorn ready for this one 😂 However my 2 cents worth is easy, I wear condoms when having sex and when bottoming I have the partner wear one. I just don't want to risk it no matter what medications are out there.

Yes many of them you meet in the apps (except the free married closeted guys) will want to see you again and be your tour guide etc ( mostly uni students) Even at 62yo I had a lot of free sex in the Philippines,it made it so difficult when I went back to Pattaya my last few weeks of the trip to have everyone ask for money for everything. It didn't seem "horny" is that the word? to have some guy fucking my ass (Thailand) knowing I paid him and he is staring at the wall barely enough to get a hard dick ! I would rather than have some tattooed tradesman in the Philippines for free who is closeted gay fucking my ass in his lunchbteak for free as his wife is not giving him pussy The best guys in the Philippines were straight middleaged guys , tradies who wore their high viz vest fucking me for 5 or 10 minutes. No money involved I had one guy in General Santos City ( I think he was a electrician) about 35,very fit looking, tatts , pull up at my motel directly outside the door,with his ute ,child seat in the back, he fucked me for like 3 minutes on the bed ,I was on my back watching his face as he enjoyed my old ass pussy, ,no condom , then say to me " now I empty my balls I feel so good ,my wife doesn't let me empty ! With that and a smile on his dial, he answered I presumed a customer call and he drove off on his merry way in his ute ,😃

I just watched Thirteen Lives (the Ron Howard film on Amazon Prime). It was better than I was expecting and gives a lot of credit to the many local volunteers, but focuses squarely on the rescue divers, which is fair enough I suppose. They had to build some quite elaborate sets, that's for sure. I haven't had a chance to see The Rescue yet because it's on Disney+ and I don't have a subscription to that one. But I feel like as the definitive documentary it's probably better.

The party that reportedly holds the lease on the Lucky Boys location (that includes Bangkok Massage on the lower level) isn't prepared to reopen until the numbers of potential customers (mainly from China) rival the pre-covid era. Being the largest boy bar in the area, it requires a large (40+) number of young men to fill ts stage in addition to a hefty supporting staff. The same lease holder reportedly also operates lady bars in the Patpong rectangle.

Nobody will force you to have real sex anywhere but minimum tip is minimum tip. HJ or BJ is still sex, no? Some massage places in Saphan Kwai area have lower minimum tips

Bangkok shutters 83 pubs after fire safety inspections From The Nation Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt said he had ordered inspections of entertainment venues in every district of the capital. Eighty-three of the 400 Bangkok venues inspected have been shuttered after inspectors found problems with fire exits and escape routes. Chadchart, an engineer by profession, said escape routes should be obvious and clearly signposted to aid victims’ chance of survival in dangerous situations. He ordered further inspections in a bid to weed out Bangkok entertainment venues that are operating illegally. Chadchart said the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration will ensure thorough inspections across the city.

OP writes: "To be brutally honest I had sex without a condom probably 90% of the time whilst in Asia" Well done for your honesty. I have a straight friend who when in Thailand does not use a condom and a straight relative the same when in bkk; a gay top farang acqaintance also living in bkk says he never uses one. Seems with a lot of guys PREP causes them to think they are safe and likely they are from HIV but there are a number of other diseases they are not safe if doing bare back. Whilst I can understand non-usage of condoms as the feeling is better it is probably wiser to use.... May i ask anyone here what their views are on Monkeypox? Seems in the western world the main ones affected are in our circle.

This will no doubt have a lot of opinions/comments .....get ready 😵

Is a pretty low bar, I made it 😉 They had/have a program that if you overstayed your tourist visa and it wasn't your 1st visit to Mexico, you could "normalize" your status and become a temp resident without any income requirements. It started during Covid and as far as I know, is still in place.

From what I have read from the articles and from amigos in Colombia, there are some patterns. But the information is incomplete as many of the murder details are not public at this time. What I have noted is (not an expert in crime) - only one victim was found in a hotel (where he worked, not in a guest room) - most of the victims (again, publicly-shared) were in their own homes or apartments in Medellín - the age range of the known, publicly-shared victims are in the age range of 25 - 34 However, I MUST INSIST that this should give NO ONE should be thinking that he-she-it is safe from being a potential victim here. There are patterns here HOWEVER the police and the Alcadia have released so few details (hence the journalism references) that one should be on 100% surveillance for potential threats. Full stop. Please be careful about hookups in Medellín until this is resolved. Be cautious, ask friends or the reception to check in. Let people know your situation and be hyper vigilant about who you allow into your personal space.

I just watched a YouTube vid a farang who lost his job in the UK ,51yo,had enough of the UK, moved to Dumamagette in the Philippines (farang area)to be with his GF and after 7 months was so bored and got sick of the culture he has moved back. Now that's someone who I guessed went for his yearly 4 week vacation and loved it , and then tried it full time and couldn't lead the " normal life" there .

The only way to make sure God listens to our prayers is tagging him. @TotallyOz

Very interesting intel. I can empathise with the poor leaseholder's decision. It sounds like one of those situations where the losses are smaller just paying the rent on unused space, compared to trying to open the business and losing money paying the rent plus bleeding red ink from operations. But what it means is that there is hope... though it is debatable how long it will take for Xi Jinping to change course. It only proves what I have said before. Lucky Boys was way too big a space. The business does not have the agility to adjust to circumstances that a smaller business would have.

At 6’2” and >200lbs the only time I fly coach is on Southwest Airlines flights with duration of 1 hour or less.

Like Neyger and Vinapu, I travel at the back of the plane for leisure. I used to fly business class quite a bit but those were the days when others (company) paid the fare. I can appreciate the difference in service, but for me it all seems quite unnecessary. I'd rather spend the money on other things that are more important to me. It all seems quite unnecessary to me because I am lucky in a way. I am below average in height and I am able to keep my body mass index (BMI) under 25. So, an economy seat is OK for me. A premium economy would be plenty. One of the few blessings in life from being small-built. Other aspects discussed here are also unimportant to me. - Business class lounges? I don't want to sit while waiting to sit in the plane for the next several hours. I prefer to walk/explore the terminal, get some exercise while I can. - Nice food? I want to stay away from temptation to maintain my BMI. There's also the risk of bloating when air pressure is reduced at altitude, making sleep harder. - Drinks? Never really acquired a taste for that. I am no connoisseur of fine wines. A flatbed would be nice, I agree, but then I am able to sleep in a seat. I don't even own noise-cancellation earphones like Neyger. I have considered buying one, but my normal (wellpadded) earphones muffle cabin noise to a significant degree, and so far, they're good enough to help me sleep. Neyger's inflatable thing - I really don't know what to call it - is intriguing, but here's my question: How much huffing and puffing will it need to get inflated? In any case, I'm not sure that I would want to carry one more thing when my simple inflatable pillow seems good enough.

How dreadful! The more so considering how young some of the deceased were. Even at this early stage it seems perfectly clear that the fire department - or whichever one is responsible for ensuring fire regulations about materials used inside public premises meet fire safety standards - completely failed in their duty as far as granting premises a license to operate is concerned. Anyone who has been in the entertainment business knows only too well that cheap insulation material can be highly flammable. Sadly TIT! As has been said before, the fear for the gay community must continue to be Silom Soi 2. If there is a fire in DJ Station or any of the other venues in that soi, its tiny entrance is certain to cause panic if large numbers are trying to get out. It will be worse if, as was discovered some years ago, DJ Station's one back exit was padlocked shut!

I'm thin but tall (1m85 / 6'1), fly +- 180h a year and always book economy. I simply prefer to spend my money on other things than on luxury during the flight, although I certainly understand why people book business once you have experienced it. I have my routine and try (and mostly manage) to sleep on every flight, even if it's just a short one hour haul. I bought custom made earplugs, comfortable and they block all the noise when you try to sleep. I love my noise canceling headphones. I've got the sony mx1000m4 and couldn't miss them on a flight. Lately I often fell asleep with those headphones on and my earplugs still in my bag. I always pick a seat at the back of the plane (a bigger chance on an empty seat next to you) and select an aisle seat in the middle part (only one person can ask you to stand up when he/she needs to go the bathroom). On long haul flights with a 3-4-3 layout, it often narrows to a 3-3-3 layout. My favorite seat (and I do pay extra for seat selection if necessary) is at the left side of the second row of 3 seats in the middle. (see screenshot, the green spot). You can stretch your legs, nobody bumps into you and even that bathroom was closed on my latest flights (people tend to go anyway to the bathoom that they can see). As other posters mentioned, always check seatguru. I never watch movies, they keep me awake, but I do use an e-reader (makes me sleepy). I used to take a sleeping pill before flying, but that made me dizzy. Now I just drink one whisky at the start of the flight. I use a pillow similar to this one: https://www.amazon.com/Inflatable-STTARLUK-Airplane-Comfortably-Supports/dp/B093HD2RK7 It's bulky, but comfy and I can even read an e-book in sleeping position. An added advantage is that it seems to refrain people to ask me to stand up if they want to go to the bathroom. I do buy a last minute business class upgrade if the price is right. On one of my latest air france flights, I had a business class upgrade on both legs of a 11h flight for less than 400€ in total. If the flight is delayed, I always ask for a free lounge voucher (and often get one). If you don't ask, you get nothing..

Vinapu is right. No matter what "service" you want, even if it is hardly anything at all, you still will be expected to give the boy at least the minimum tip. After all, whatever you want is not something he decided. You're the one making that decision. He is providing what you ask for. Don't forget, you're spending a great deal of money just getting to Thailand. You're probably going to stay in a good hotel, eat in good restaurants, and have plenty of drinks. So, don't try to save money by being less than generous with the boys. After all, most likely the boys are the main reason you're going to Thailand in the first place. If the boy is giving you what you ask for and doing a good job of it, I suggest tipping beyond the minimum, even if what you ask for is minimal in itself. And if you do that, he will be genuinely happy to see you if you return and will do even better than the first time - and that beats hell out of him thinking "Oh no, him again!"

Guys times have changed from many years ago ,and even being old I try to move on with the times. It's great anti HIV meds were introduced a few years ago. Back in the 80's many scare campaigns were around and if course rightly so for that era, but times have changed and taking Prep and wearing no condom is now not considered unsafe sex as far as I can tell by the health departments around the world So I used Prep for many months before taking my 2 month trip to Asia,I stopped it when I got covid and started feeling nausea. However mostly I went back on it ,it's not 200% protection and you can still get other sexual diseases. To be brutally honest I had sex without a condom probably 90% of the time whilst in Asia ( I'm bottom so a receiver) The only time I had made my sex partner wear one was if he was a "moneyboy" particularly in places like Pattaya. I trusted many of the Filipino guys whilst I was in the Philippines mostly because they were non money boys ,and usually married closeted . I had (paid) sex with one Filipino security guard no condom as he was a virgin ( turned out to be a dud fuck ,he cum in around 30 seconds of fucking🤨)but mostly only in Thailand I made the guys wear a condom especially if they were well entrenched moneyboys . Are many of you guys taking Prep and now have you changed your sex practice not to use condoms? To be brutally honest I hate my sexual partner wearing a condom,I enjoy the skin on skin contact and just the fantasy of the married guy ejaculating in me ? It's more likely you can get other sexual diseases other than HIV especially if your blowing other guys and things like HPV in the throat are more common along with red eye etc Times have changed and peoples attitudes towards sexuality have changed and I think it's great

You still may be, after all vacations are from everything, including being sociable. I just arrived from 4 weeks trip during which I checked my email grand total of 2 times and I did not feel I missed anything important ( lottery did ot send any winning notification emails)

+1 I was on Norwegian cruise to the Caribbean and indeed, you are free to mix ot not mix with anybody. In case of big age difference, if somebody asks you are traveling with your grandson or son in law. Even on higher end cruises you can skip fixed meals and tables easily by dining in you can eat cafeterias with benefit of gaining less weight.

From my previous job-admittedly ended some years ago now in happy retirement-on the side of what some call ´the travel industry´ I can clearly state that about any of the dedicated gay tours agencies etc. did not see any remote ´market´ interest from enough people, and not even talking about that time would suit them etc. to organise such trips as Mavica describes. But that comes from ´the continent´ of EUrope. Even organised short time tours to such well-known gay resort like places like Mykonos in summer, Ibiza, Canarias etc were more often cancelled due to low interest as running. Take it as it is, but gays seem to be a most individual type of people and if they would even consider to go in a group what seems to matter most is that he+he+him etc are not in that group-an utmost impossible task for an agency to organise and still make some profit. They also seem to have no real ´midmarket´-it is either superdeluxe does not matter what it cost or barebones bekpekking. THis is not at all my own preference, I am here just passing on from sources well into this type of business how they feel about it

Back to original: in fact many of such places in Thai suburbia often have 2 ´MIN´ tips (the Thai simply take that as the price to pay, MIN means nothing to them), for hard and soft. What you describe clearly is ´soft´. Have not still yet been back to TH since covid outbreak, but just before in such places the tip was mostly 500/1000 for soft/hard. That 1000 would indeed include ´everything´ Quotes of some spoilt JoU-TIPah guys etc have nothing to do with massageshops. And again: really, there is no clear sign (like the recent raise for postage stamps) that ´the fees/tips go up´. There is also no general listing nor tariff for such still semi-legal activities in TH. I think British railways call that-in their own quest of trying to get as much as possible out of their clients: ´what the market will bear´

I think the exclamation mark indicates that it is. Like others here, I have always flown business class because I wasn't paying. When I was a child and dad was transferred to Asia, mum and I always got special treatment because of dad's job. There wasn't any business class in those days, but we were usually seated away from others, or at least did not have anyone sitting next to us. And I was given all the icecream I wanted! The nature of my job also meant that I got to travel business class but that stopped after I retired. But once you get used to something nice it's hard to downgrade, especially on a long - haul flight. From Perth just about everywhere is long-haul! If I had to go economy I'd probably just not go. The best business class is Emirates Imho, but I'm also waiting to try Qatar's Q suite. I'm not a large person and really don't need a big seat but I do appreciate being able to lie down on a bed and sleep most of the way. I'm not particularly interested in the food as I'm very fussy about what I eat and often I can't find an entree or a main course. But I can always visit the bar at the back of the plane and find something to eat. In any case, I usually enjoy the food in the lounge rather rush what is served on the plane. The lounges in Dubai are awesome - I can always find something delicious to eat. I'm not a drinker so I'll just have a few glasses of champagne. Red wine tastes like vinegar to me. I would never fly first class as it doesn't offer value for money. I don't eat caviar or foie-gras and can't really tell the difference between Moêt and vintage Dom. On Emirates the first class seat is pretty much the same as the business seat anyway - just a little shelf with lights under the TV and a few extra creams and lotions for parts of the body I didn't even know existed!

You forgot " staying on the firm ground class"

He overpaid to a rate of 3. Boys there may quote 5000 for overnight but not even all of them, some will settle for as low as 3000 ( that,s what I paid to my last off of my Dec 2021 trip ). The same applies to other bars if they think they can squeeze 5000 of you because your buttery eyes , that,s what thay quote. Others happily settle for 3000 . Some models may try for more and as we see with degree of success. On another hand I,d not call quoting 15000 cheating if boy did his part. He just took advantage of market at work. Store selling toothpaste for 150 which can be bought somewhere for 50 is not cheating you, is just encouraging to do maRket research.

Not a habit among young people though it seems, particularly in the West where PREP usage seems to be high I guess many didn't live through that era of Aids , and now with PREP encouraged they take the risk without condom usage .

It's all about money. There are people flying private jets. Is it necessary? No, beyond basic food and shelter, nothing is necessary. But people with different levels of wealth do different things, that's what we call "classes": First class, business class, economy class".

I don't know that "younger gay tourists seem wealthier". Not post-COVID. Travel costs more today than it did several years ago. The worldwide economic situation is not favorable for many, currently. North American gay tourists seem to more frequently visit Mexico, Brazil, etc. It's closer, less expensive, and there seem to be plentiful opportunities to find play for pay relationships.

Most of the treasures come from The Forbidden City. When the Japanese invaded Manchuria, museum managers packed the most important and valuable items into around 20,000 crates. These spent 14 years travelling around China to keep them away from the invaders. They were moved by train, truck, ship and on the backs of porters. Following the end of World War II, the crates ended up in Nanjing before being sent back to Beijing. Not one article was destroyed. I was incorrect in saying all the treasures ended up in Taiwan. Only three shiploads with 3,284 crates made the journey. The National Palace Museum just outside Taipei was constructed to display them. The remaining 16,176 cates were returned to Beijing where their contents remain to this day. But it is generally agreed that the Taiwan part of the collection has some of the finest artefacts. Being mostly in the Forbidden City with its 999 Palaces (having visited three times I have no idea where most can be found), I doubt if any would have been destroyed during Mao's time. Even during the Cultural Revolution, the Forbidden City was basically out of bounds and the revolutionaries never went inside. This site explains the journey of the artefacts rather simply. https://multimedia.scmp.com/culture/article/2179879/treasure-odyssey-of-palace-museum/

For what it's worth, I travelled on Scoot in their 'scoot plus' section which is I guess their version of business class, but considering it is a low cost carrier, much less luxurious than a business class on a full service carrier. Comparable to premium economy I guess. Whilst I luckily don't need to take a long haul flight to get to Thailand, and don't really need the extra leg room (as I am smaller in stature), it was sure nice sitting up the front of the plane! And for some reason, I don't know whether there was a glitch in the system, or some promotion, but at the time that I booked the ticket, the scoot plus fare was actually cheaper than the regular economy fare.. lucky me!

I agree but it does sound like he is enjoying himself. Good for him. I have spent a lot of time in the Chang Mai/Chang Rai area and I also enjoy being there. The only real downer is when they burn the crop remnants and the area becomes so smoky. C'est La Vie!

there are two quite new hotels in the area worth a try: ibis styles silom (silom opposite to soi 6) and the quarter silom by UHG just opposite of the prime massage in silom soi 6. both reasonably prices and nice from what i saw and heard from friends. personally i stayed in another very nice, cheap, new hotel called "the cotton saladaeng" at sathorn soi 2 (2 min from so/ sofitel). i can recommend it, no problem bringing guests into your room :). a bit off topic, concerning partying: as clubs (GOD) must close at 3, there are 2 small, speakeasy-style after parties at "the kitchen" (krua restaurant in silom) and banana club (soi 4). go there, to the back or upstairs and you will be surprised how much is still going on :D. i enjoyed it a lot the last 2 weeks!

PeterRS's comment about JAL's economy class food interests me because the last thing on my mind when I upgrade to business is the food. I am totally incapable of enjoying it on the flight, preferring to eat prior to departure. As for drink...well, EVA's Business had a splendid wine list on Tuesday and yet the best I could manage was one small glass. EVA no longer have First Class but, many years ago when it was still available on the old 747s, I was "double upgraded" and found myself one of six (?) passengers in First on a BKK-LHR flight. The food and the wine was of luxurious quality, chosen to include the most expensive items available, such as pate de fois gras and caviar. I managed to eat very little of it . And, incidentally no doubt, I suffered stomach pains the next day which have never occurred before or since. Even on Easyjet. I put it down to divine retribution for mixing with the wrong company.

I have been very spoiled. From the mid 1980s I have worked for companies in Asia which allowed me to travel in business class. For three years in the early 90s, one of those companies alllowed me first class travel for long haul intercontinental flights, of which I took about a dozen a year. Travelling so frequently, I amassed a very large number of air miles each year and these enabled even more business class trips for vacations, often for annual visits to friends in Sydney and once for a trip to and around South America. Intercontinental first class in the early 1990s was not much better than business class in most airlines now. Only two real differences - a lot more space and mostly very fine cuisine and wines, especially the latter. In the years since then, I have been upgraded a few times and find the difference with business class getting even closer. Since semi-retirement, I have had to pay for most of my own travel and the mileage bank is close to empty. I'm medium height and now 88 kg. I have still only done 2 longish-haul returns in economy class. First was LHR to Chicago on BA in mid-2015. Hated it. Outward trip I was seated in the middle of about 30 girls who had been at some hockey tournament in Israel. They were as high as a kite. The flight was miserable. On the overnight return, I declined dinner but said I would like breakfast. Assuming this would at least be juice, coffee and a bacon roll or something lilke that, little did I know how desperate BA's economy catering had become. Breakfast was tea or coffee and a tiny hard wrapped slab of fruit cake that was all but frozen! At the other end of the scale JAL's economy class 787 on the BKK/Tokyo route in 2018 was extremely good. Comfortable window seats and the best economy menu I have ever experienced. This had been created by JAL chefs especially for economy passengers.

I can't do economy. I'm large and tall. What I have found is airlines that have business class for reasonable prices. For example, I have booked a few times on Hainan Airlines from Bangkok to Chicago and the business class fares were right at 2k USD. That was almost the same as the economy or premium economy on AA or Delta. I liked the airline and the service was fine. It was not as luxurious as Singapore or other airlines but the seat was fully lay back and comfortable.

I have decided to try Amara this trip because of the rooftop pool. I also like the idea of splitting the stay between Amara and the Raya. However, since I only stay for 5 nights this trip, I think I will just stick with one for now 😁

I wonder if language barrier issues could be part of that difference?

But what would we leave behind if we were to locate? I decided back in 2004 when this issue was uppermost in my mind, that frequent visits were the better option for me. And then came Covid.

From Coconuts Bangkok Reenter the cave again and again with two more rescue saga adaptations A promotional still for ‘Thai Cave Rescue’. Photo: Netflix The Ron Howard-directed Thirteen Lives premieres today – but not in Thailand – two days after Netflix pinned a September release date on Thai Cave Rescue, a six-episode limited series about the 2018 ordeal to free the boys and their coach from a flooded cave in northernmost Thailand. Directed by Kevin Tancharoen (Mortal Kombat: Rebirth, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) and Nattawut “Baz” Poonpiriya (Bad Genius, One For the Road), the Netflix dramatization will portray the incident with more emotional heft, focusing on the points of view of the 12 boys and their coach, as well as the volunteers. When it was first announced in 2019, Crazy Rich Asians director John M. Chu’s name was attached to it. Billed as “the most authentic and expansive retelling yet,” it was filmed in Thailand and is the only project officially sanctioned by the government agency established to control access to those involved. Scenes were shot at the boys’ homes as well as the cave site. It will feature a mostly Thai cast led by Papangkorn “Beam” Lerkchaleampote as football coach Eak, and Thaneth “Ek” Warakulnukroh as Chiang Rai Gov. Narongsak Osottanakorn. It stars Urassaya “Yaya” Sperbund and Manatsanun “Donut” Phanlerdwongsakul as Kelly and Pim, who represent real-world hydraulic engineers and park rangers. That it won government support suggests that audiences should expect a noncritical examination of events, given the complaints from Narongsak and other officials over the depiction in the first cinematic treatment of the crisis, 2019’s The Cave. Thirteen Lives, on the other hand, was filmed in Australia, and therefore avoided any creative conflict with the government-created 13 Tham Luang Co. Ltd. The film’s star-studded cast includes Viggo Mortensen, Colin Farrell, Joel Edgerton, and Tom Bateman. Mortensen, Farrell, and Edgerton play cave divers Richard Stanton, John Volanthen, and Richard Harris, respectively. Thirteen Lives will be released Aug. 5 on Amazon Prime, the same day as The Cave is released after a three-year pandemic delay in North America by Lionsgate as Cave Rescue. Thai Cave Rescue premieres Sept. 22 on Netflix. In late June, the boys visited Tham Luang to make alms and pay respects to their rescuers on the fourth-anniversary of their world-gripping ordeal.

Day 0: Brazil on my mind, even in Thailand Needless to say that I have changed some personal information of certain individuals mentioned, due to some weird stalkers in this site. So Brazil had me for itself for a better part of a year and a half during the pandemic. And when you get to know a place for that long on a regular basis, you tend to get to settle on what works for you best, after the initial novelty wears off. After running wild through the famous saunas of Brazil, I’ve actually grown tired of it all, believe it or not. Don’t get me wrong, sex with a variety of beautiful guys will always be on the table for me, but during this time, working remotely in Brazil had me looking for something more substantial, after getting tired of the run-of-the-mill sauna-show-cabine-programa routine. Because of the dire economic circumstances the pandemic has left some of the less fortunate of us, you can find that even more boys are available than usual. Most of them are after money, of course, but I have found that a few of them needed something else. I’ve certainly have met a few very interesting guys, who would not sell themselves in a Brazilian sauna, nor expose themselves in escort websites, but would like to earn a few dollars from you. I found these guys mostly from referrals from other boys, and they appreciate the discretion you give them, not being found out by familiars in saunas or websites, and they will pretty much do anything for you. And then there are those, when I tell them I am going to Europe or Dubai for some work or vacation for a few weeks, ask for just a one-way ticket to the place in question, and they will be more than willing (thrilled in fact) to accompany you during your stay, free of charge (you pay for incidentals of course), and when its time for me to go, they opt to stay in Barcelona or Paris or Dubai or London, where they try to earn the money they were after in the first place (by usually escorting). I am probably responsible for a (not) significant amount of Brazilians ending up in Europe or the Middle East, using this method. And then there’s this Brazilian guy who wanted to Thailand. Let’s call him Tiago. He is 28, European facial features, always bronzed skin, and let’s just say he is from the south of the country. Beautiful, of course, with a MMA fighter's body. Oddly enough, I met him at a Smart Fit Gym in Sao Paulo. He was a personal trainer there, and a working boy introduced me to him in one my visits to his gym. He didn’t work at the sauna in Sao Paulo, nor did he sell himself in the websites. He did, however, belong to a Jiu Jitsu team in Sao Paulo, and did personal training on the side to pay the bills. He has done some MMA fights (20+), but wanted to train in Muay Thai, in Thailand, to expand his resume. He intended to stay for 6 months in Thailand, and has saved up enough for the gym fees and accommodation in his chosen Muay Thai school. What he didn’t have was the airfare to get to Thailand. There has always been a Thailand-Brazil connection I wasn’t aware about till this trip. So during the next few months we talked about it that possibility, in between some dates and gym training with him, of course. Throughout all that he didn’t ask me for any tips during my time with him in Brazil, I guess to sell me the idea that he is trustworthy and worthy of the cost of an air ticket. So when I told him in April that I was thinking about going to Thailand, after a trip to the Middle East, he said that was perfect timing, because that would get him back to Brazil in December, in time for Christmas and the Holidays. He even made himself available for the two weeks before to accompany me with some business in Doha and Dubai, before heading over to Thailand. I told him I’d go the extra mile and take him personally to his Muay Thai gym, which was not in Bangkok, but was a plane ride away. He was excited, and so was I. I was as curious to get to know more about this side of his life, as he was about going. I took him for a test run to a nearby country just to see if we were gonna be good travel buddies. He passed with flying colors. So in the next few weeks we try to get our requirements ready for Thailand. As we were entering Bangkok in mid-June, we didn’t have to do a COVID test to get to enter Thailand, but we still needed to complete the Thai Pass, which was easy enough since we were both vaxxed and boostered and he was able to get official documents and QR codes from the Brazilian health authority after some expected red tape. We still needed COVID tests to get into Qatar, and to complete their version of Thai Pass (Ehteraz), but that was easy to do as well, with my help. I guess after going through all this for almost two years, a few more QR codes was just easy-peasy for me to complete. Two weeks in the Middle East with Tiago was a blast. He was game for a lot of my shenanigans, kept fit in the hotel gyms while I was working, and on my free times, he devoured all the tours and walking that was needed to explore the rich wonders of the area. He was even open to certain sexual exploration if he thought it would be fun to join in, and left me alone if he knew I wanted some alone time. Through it all those two weeks just flew by, and pretty soon it was time to go to Thailand. We were in Dubai to catch our Qatar Airways flight to Bangkok via Doha. I decided to cash-in some Avios points from my British Airways account and buy us Business Class tickets, which was a just a surprisingly cheap 40k each from Dubai to Bangkok. Since our flight was at 5:30 AM, we decided to not sleep the night before and just enjoy Dubai nightlife. After an interesting encounter with some gay Emiratis hanging out at a Starbucks in the JBR district in Dubai, we were on our way to the airport at 3 AM. At the check-in counter, the nice Qatar Airways lady didn’t even check our Thai passes or COVID vaccination cards or any of his documentation. She was flirty and had some tips for Thailand, since she’s been there once. We played along, and got our tickets eventually, if we were cutting it close to boarding time. She ended with bidding us good luck, and she was sure we will have a great time, since we were men. Not sure what that meant but we ended that convo. We were actually the last ones to check in. And the last ones to board. Still, Qatar Airways is famous for its top notch in-flight service, so we were pampered all throughout. I am always amazed by their first class service on one-hour flights. They are still able to get us 3 drinks and some yummy breakfast even with the very short (40-minute) flight from Dubai to Doha: Doha airport on a Sunday was a madhouse. The place was packed. And there were almost no places to sit at the Biz class lounge but we managed. This was indeed a sign the time of COVID restricted travel was over. There was still mask wearing in the airport but that was the only apparent thing I can see that was COVID-related. Since we were super tired from not sleeping the night before, we slept the whole 6 hour and half plane ride from Doha to Bangkok. We got woken up by the flight attendant to say that we had to unrecline our seats for the initial plane descent. Still, five stars to Qatar Airways, we were still served a full dinner while we were descending, since we missed all the in-flight service. As we landed, I got a bit of goosebumps and got excited. I was too tired to actually think about it before, but it just dawned on me now that I was going to be in Thailand after 2 and half years of being away. I started going to Thailand in 2014, and after a few years, the novelty has worn off. But after being away for that long I think the distance was all I needed to recharge my longing for Thailand once again. Tiago, of course, was beside himself. He was super excited to start his life in his new home. Once we were our of the plance we raced to immigration. All this was still super familiar to me, the walk to the immigration desks. We eventually got to the intermediary desks, the Thai Pass station: It was painless, they just needed to see the QR code, passports and COVID vaccine card. They attached stickers to our shirts saying we passed Thai pass and we were on our way to immigration. Since Tiago’s English was not that good, I knew I had to help him with this process (as I did in Doha and Dubai). At the immigration desk, I got my usual 30-day stamp. When it was Tiago’s turn, the immigration officer confirmed if the dates in the immigration card were correct. I said yes, so Tiago got his 90-day stamp. No other documentation was asked. Not the letters of invitation Tiago has from his Muay Thai gym, not our COVID vaccinations, not his yellow fever vaccine he got because that was requirement by the Thai government. Figures. And I always wondered, why people from the USA or UK or some other rich country can only get 30 day tourist stays in Thailand at a time, while Brazilians and Colombians, among others, can get 90 days? After getting our luggage, I immediately get 20,000 baht from the ATM. Then, as a favor, I immediately got Tiago a Thai SIM card from dtac for 90 days, which cost 1100 baht. I didn’t need one since I got Google Fi cell service. I then swiftly guide us to the ground floor to the taxi line, got a taxi ticket from the thingie, found our taxi number and taxi stand, flashed our AirBNB’s address and directions, in Thai, to our driver, and we were on our way, for a 40 minute ride to Silom. Along the way, Tiago commented on how efficient I was with getting things done at the airport. I told him that Thailand was a very familiar place to me, and I still knew how things were done even after years away. Since Tiago was Brazilian and naturally warm, he immediately tried to talk to the driver, who obliged with Tiago’s broken English and answered with some broken English of his own. Noone understood anyone though, since the accents were unfamiliar to each other, even if both were speaking English. Except to me of course, I was used to hearing both accents, so I was there to pretty much smoothen out the conversation. It was pretty entertaining, and pretty soon we arrived at the AirBNB. I chose to stay at an AirBNB for our Bangkok stay, after staying in hotels for two weeks in Doha and Dubai. An AirBNB will afford us many creature comforts that hotels won’t have, like a washer and dryer in the unit (two weeks in the middle east meant we needed clean clothes), two bedrooms for cheap (more on this later), and some basic kitchen stuff if we needed to make something. Also, it’ll give Tiago a glimpse of Thai domestic life that he will be living in pretty soon, something that is not apparent in the insular confines of, say, the Crowne Plaza Lumpini Park, even if I love that hotel sooooo much. It was 9:20 PM by the time we got to the apartment. I knew I wanted to at least check out a boy bar or two, even if we were both tired, so we had to hurry. And Tiago was hungry. So to save time, we showered together (hot water in the unit worked!), and prepared for the night ahead. Since it was raining, I decided to get us a Grab Taxi (which I downloaded on my phone on the way to the apartment), and set up our destination to the first restaurant I thought of that served food really quickly: Happy Beer Garden. As we get off the taxi and before we go in to eat, I look across the street: The end of Soi Twilight, and the beginning of something else. I remember that I when I used to eat at Happy Beer Garden, when it was around 8 or 9 PM, and I’d hear boys shouting at me from across the street, sitting in bars that don’t exist anymore, enticing us to join in the fun once I was done with dinner. Those were amazing times. I wonder if those time will ever come back. Probably not, as Soi Twilight was not coming back. Time to make me new memories. Next post, guess which bar we went to first?

Just sitting in my hotel lobby waiting for my taxi to the airport 500 pesos I think Filipino money is equivalent to Thai baht They let me check out late for no additional cost.at 2pm I last had free sex guy 27yo at 1230pm today in my room. Got him off grinder ,said im checking out at 2pm he said I'm a electrician in the area and I can come around and light your spark I'm near your hotel now Sucked his dick, he was clearly married, obviously doesn't tell his wife , anyway 27yo boyish face, lean brown skin fit tradie body , but cock too big ,I wasn't going to risk the noise as I heard cleaning staff outside my room giggling. 15 minutes into it he had blown his load and I refused his unloading in my mouth, he answered I presume a electrical customer call whilst he was getting dressed and flew off quickly obviously ashamed at himself 😅 So now 6 guys sucked over 3 days if there was no sex here on Cebu it would if been boring . I have to stop asking ,are you moneyboy? Are you moneyboy? Everyone on grindr I'm asking this question and getting boys replying back that they are offended ! Some even go into detail, " you have asked me that 4 times ! " I don't need your money Sir !! this is to guys with huge dicks & abs I'm replying back to me ? But...but . Why would you want me Im thinking a chubby granddaddy? But this was here in Cebu & Davao, doubt if it will be like that in Manila ? But I ask them repeatedly because I'm so used to money for eg money boys in thailand.....i can't understand why these young hunks in Cebu want to fuck me for free ? There are some negative to free sex I have found out , you have to find guys , either in apps or walk around and talk to guys working in shops etc it's a lot of work hunting !!! Secondly you can't ask for exactly what you want eg if I want my butt slapped I can't ask a free grinder guy would he do that ? Can U slap my left butt cheek for example like I can with a money boy Anyway today I was in Anytime fitness in Cebu I'm on the treadmill logged onto grinder there are like 12 exercise bikes at the back of me all full., I get a Grindr message from a blank grinder profile " nice ass cheeks Daddy " I look behind me , I see all bikes full and no one really looking at me 😅👍 I think rather than have guys clinging onto you everyday you better to hire a day or night tour from Siam Roads gay tours to get to know the area so your confidence to be by yourself hunting for either free sex or gayy4pay boys . I mean you might want a clingy guy to be with you everyday and you can find that here but I prefer to be by myself, I made the mistake of meeting up with my Filipino Aussie bf and he doesn't like walking as it's too hot etc and doesn't like what I like looking at ,eg artitechure and Asian boys etc .. he likes casinos and farang guys like that better to come alone and you can do what you want when you want and have better chance of meeting guys alone ! Just hire a tour guide for a few days if your not confident

I also worked in Istanbul for some time when Covid first started to die down here and the rules were relaxed, I visited Aquarius a few times. I found that they all said they were absolute 100% tops, and even though I am a top some were so hot I couldn't resist I would still agree to take them to the cabin, I would say at least half would bottom for me. I also fell for a silly scam on Grindr, some very handsome man said he would come to my Airbnb, he did, took his clothes off and put a knife down on the table, said that he didn't feel like sex so If I could give him the money and he would come back tommorow for the sex, of Course he didn't but how could I argue with a knife there. It was only 300lira anyway, about 35euro. He actually wasn't very smart as I was there for 2 months and it could of been a nice money earner for him.