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Slightly off topic, I have never understood why the USA has imposed such strict sanctions against Cuba for so many decades. Wasn't Cuba a den of vice for the mafia prior to the Revolution? Did the USA tolerate all that? I can understand the action against the island following the nuclear weapons discovery but that matter was resolved through back channel diplomacy between Kennedy and Kruschev. 6 decades have now passed. The Soviet Union ended 3 decades ago. The USA fought a long war against Vietnam which ended almost 5 decades ago. The countries are now friends with almost $100 billion of trade between them even though Vietnam is run by a one-party communist government. Cuba offers many of its people two items which cost a fortune for many citizens on the USA - free education and free healthcare. It also has a higher literacy rate than that in the USA. Why is the country crippled by continuing US sanctions? Why does Washington regard it in the same light as Iran?

Yes, I met many 'models' as they like to call themselves on my trips to Colombia. It takes a bit of effort, but it's certainly possible, although not all models do 'presenciales' as @Boy69 already mentioned. A couple more tips: Don't go for the 'first page' models, unless you are prepared to pay a lot. They earn more in a couple hours on the sites than they would earn by meeting you. Visit also the lesser known sites like stripchat, bongacams, strreamate, cam4,.. as a general rule of thumb, the less popular their page, the more interested they will be in meeting you for a reasonable price. Try to find out their real location first. They are often in another city than what is mentioned in their profile. You will need their whatsapp. Some of the guys will give it for free, some will ask tokens. Only spend tokens if you think that he would be prepared to meet you. Moderators of groups of guys can be a blessing or a curse. Some are willing to act as the pimp of their goup and other guys of the studio, others will just try to get more tokens from you and fence off any direct contact with the guys. It helps a lot if you can speak and understand basic spanish. If possible, send them a picture that proves that you are in that city (or at least have visited that city in the past). I keep selfies with the "I ❤️ name-of-the-city" boards that you find in every Colombian city for that purpose. Take the indirect approach. Go to the local gay disco and try to get their whatsapp over there. While maybe 15% of the guys in industry club (Medellin) work on webcam, I would guess that around 80% of the guys in pandora (Cucuta) are webcam models. Do always check their ID. Do not assume they are 18+ because they work on those sites. Some are not.

Just began watching "180 Degree Longitude Passes Through Us (TH Series)". Very interesting but much more serious then a standard BL Lakron. The two male leads, the young son and the middle age man are both very handsome. The son has already stripped down for his evening shower. I wish I could scrub his back... You can find it on Viki or maybe Bilibili.tv CHEERS

That ended in 2017......the Generation that came in the 1980 during the Mariel Boatlift and earlier were adamant to see Cuba sink into the ocean. They were the voting block you speak of because they had no one in Cuba and lately, they have been dying off. The more recent ones that have arrived in the last 20 yrs or so, still have family and friends there and want to see normalized relations between the 2 countries....which was happening until, as one of Trumps 1st acts in office, put travel restrictions back in place. I'm sure this order came direct from Putin 😉

Here’s a trailer:

I agree. The series has almost play-like qualities. Camera work is also different from other BLs, resembling more that of an art house or indie movies. It’s currently streaming on GagaOOLala with the episode 8 (finale) to be aired on October 3. The son - Pond - who debuted as Danny in Bangkok Love Stories 2: Innocence - is all grown up at 23 and looks quite a bit different from his debut role, where he was just 18 or 19. Surprisingly, Win, who played JC (parkour traceur) is 10 years older than Pond, but looked younger in Innocence - another mystery of Asian appearance. Spoiler alert: if you are looking for usual BL “action”, you’d be disappointed - none of that, so far, in the first 7 episodes leading up to the finale.

Cubans who can actually reach US soil are allowed to remain. Cuban Americans represent one of Florida’s strongest voting blocs. They tend to maintain conservative political positions, including maintaining sanctions against Cuba. This was never more evident when Clinton and Obama made attempts to liberalize relations with the Castro regimes. They must know something about Cuban politics that some do not.

The Bacardi Family still holds a grudge, Their distillery was nationalized by Fidel. They are the muscle (money) behind keeping Cuba the way it is until Cuba recognizes and returns properties that they took, which won't happen the way they want it to. Don't believe everything you read....When Michael Moore went there for his movie "Sicko", I couldn't believe what a rosy life he painted of their healthcare.

It's not exactly correct some are working only on line and some will agree to meet but only after they know you better ( some pm massages , private/password shows with them act. ) the problem is that many perverts annoying them so their first reaction is to refuse suggestions for meeting. you have to be patient and polite some of them will finally agree.

I'm fairly sure nobody in Washington DC neither knows nor understands either. or that paragon of human rights and religious freedom Saudi Arabia

No, they don't. They only put the mask on when they leave with a farang. It's a good disguise.

Sansuk has reopened. See the thread on here and the one on Sawatdee.

Thais wear masks so, for me, it's a case of "when in Rome do as the Romans do". I do however draw the line when I am exercising in our semi rural area and when I'm alone driving the car. In that same area I do see the majority of motorcyclists fully masked up.... but not weating a helmet. TiT.

This online health declaration can be stressful. I had previously read about hassles and glitches getting to successfully completing it, as well as efforts to trouble-shoot. There are third party companies offering to assist for a fee! There are likely more experienced travel ‘paisaxperts’ here that will weigh in. First of all, the timing prior to departure is ambiguous. It is either 1-24 hours prior to touching down in Colombia, or possibly 72 hours (that makes more sense). I opted for completing it 23 hours prior to arrival, but a pop-up emerged suggesting no more than 72 hours prior to arrival. Which is it?! I asked fellow travellers in the Immigration queue in Colombia and nobody seemed to know. One must also need to complete it to depart Colombia. Since the initial form lasts 30 days, I wonder what fun and games will ensue upon trying to use the system again for a new purpose when the system already has me registered for arrival and might not free up a departure application. The airline in Canada emphasized it would absolutely be needed to board. I was late at night struggling with it prior to very early morning call for flight. I completed the form but received no “receipt” of acceptance or proof either within the site or by email. I understand there is no QR code. I will attach what it looks like, from someone posting it in Google images, so I don’t need to spend time redacting mine. I tried again several times but kept getting a prompt indicating I was already registered. Eventually, going back and entering a few dozen times to no avail, a receipt finally emerged a few hours later, within the application, not via email. Crisis averted and I was able to get at least a few hours sleep without worrying about navigating it again on check-in at the airport. Interestingly, it has recently added a VARV screening, also see attached. Good thing I am not prone to hives when frustratingly pulling my hair out meeting mandatory form completion and receipt proof that is elusive owing to system problems. I assume the Immigration officer accessed the declaration when scanning my passport upon arrival.

From Thai PBB World Cubans have voted overwhelmingly to legalise same-sex marriage, making the country the 33rd to stop defining marriage as being exclusively between a man and a woman. Cuba’s landmark new family code also allows “altruistic” surrogacy, whereby a woman gives birth to a baby on behalf of another woman or couple but no money changes hands, bar for expenses. Here is a global overview of same-sex marriage and surrogacy: The Netherlands in 2001 became the first country in the world to allow same-sex couples to marry. Since then, 17 European countries have followed: Austria, Belgium, Britain, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Slovenia and Switzerland. Most also allow same-sex couples to adopt. Some countries allow same-sex couples to enter civil partnerships but not to marry, namely the Czech Republic, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Greece, Hungary and Italy. Most eastern European countries allow neither gay marriage nor civil partnerships. In Russia, homosexuality was considered a crime up to 1993 and a mental illness until 1999. Now legal, a 2013 law however punishes the promotion of homosexuality among minors. In Hungary, a law passed in 2021 made “promoting” homosexuality or gender change to minors punishable by a fine. Assisted reproduction for lesbian couples is allowed in 12 European countries; the Nordic countries, Belgium, the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Spain Austria, Ireland and France. Far fewer countries allow surrogate motherhood, with critics slamming the practise, which is permitted in Russia and Ukraine as turning women into “wombs for hire”. “Altruistic” surrogacy is legal in Belgium, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom but France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden and a handful of other countries forbid all surrogacy. https://www.thaipbsworld.com/same-sex-marriage-and-surrogacy-where-is-it-legal/

I don't know a great deal about Cuba except from some Gay Cuban friends of mine. One of them left Cuba for Spain, and eventually US, a couple decades ago because he was gay. I will have to ask them about their take on this. I was surprised it was supported by their President and therefore the Communist Party. Without the Communist Party's support there never could have been a referendum. I know some guys here had expressed a desire to visit Cuba during the period Obama had opened up on visiting there. https://www.npr.org/2022/09/27/1125344835/cuba-approves-same-sex-marriage

From the Thaiger / Bangkok Post With the US dollar strengthening and Thailand’s struggling economy, economic experts predict the baht may fall to 38 to the dollar by the end of this year. The head of capital markets research for Kasikorn Bank believes the baht will continue its instability along with the global money markets as a result of domestic and international factors. While the US dollar continues to grow in value against foreign currencies due to the hawkish continued federal fund rate hikes, the Bank of Thailand’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is likely to boost its benchmark policy rate from 0.75% to 1% in a meeting scheduled for next week. That would pump a little power into the baht and keep it closer to 37 baht to the dollar, but it’s only a temporary fix with the baht expected to drop in value after. The news for the Thai currency isn’t all bad though, as K Bank predicts that, as tourism brings in more revenue toward the end of the year, the baht may climb back to 35 against the dollar. And November’s meeting of the MPC is predicted to raise the policy rate again to 1.25% further propping up the baht. Amonthep Chawla, the head of the research economist office at CIMB Thai Bank, agrees with the analysis, expecting the baht to fall to 38 to one to the US dollar, but predicts an even higher policy rate increase for the bank of Thailand to 1.75%. In fact, he believes it will reach 2.5% by the end of 2023. “We expect the central bank will raise its policy rate two times, each by 50 basis points, this year to contain the spread between Thailand’s rate and the fed funds rate. The move should help slow the baht depreciation.”

From Thai PBS World The Philippines will deport 40,000 Chinese workers in a crackdown on unlicensed online gaming businesses, an official said Tuesday, after reports of kidnapping, prostitution and murder in the gambling industry. So-called Philippine offshore gaming operators, or POGOs, have boomed since 2016 as former president Rodrigo Duterte pursued closer trade and investment ties with China. But the influx of tens of thousands of Chinese workers in the sector that targets customers in China, where gambling is illegal, has created friction. Many Filipinos complain POGOs have evaded taxes and driven up property rates while not providing job opportunities because not enough locals speak Chinese languages.

Guatapé with El Penõl capture, Antioquia lake country; 2-minute reel: IMG_6255.MOV

Whatever it may be, fact is that USA policy is taken hostage by that group as USA was and is much friendlier with much nastier regimes than Cuban and for example geographically close to our hearts , did not have any problems of supporting so called Democratic Kampuchea i.e Pol Pot's murderous regime claim on UN seat representing Cambodia well after Khmer Rouge were chased to jungles by Vietnamese. We will not even mention Saddam Husain nomination to a Man of The Year of Time magazine , Somosas , Truillos, and numerous African kleptocrats and Arab autocrats.

check-mig was a drama. If I remember correctly, if you tried to complete it on the website, you couldn't choose a date. It would always chose the present day. That forced you to the app, with all the above named issues 🤪

As are some others of us. 🤗

Yes the Philippines hotel prices are way over the top just do research on Agoda , Thailand must cheaper in the accommodation area .

If your favourite exchange in Pattaya is closed, take a walk along Soi Buakhao. They are nearly as frequent as 7-11s. 😊

Not quite the best. I used to find better rates still in a little enclave in the Siam area at Soi Ratchadamri 1 just off Soi Petchaburi 30, behind Pratunam Pier. Something like 6-8 exchange shops all in one block. Street View will give an idea.

I did and I used it when there in May as for Bangkok, traditionally best exchange rates were offered by booths at Airport railway station but I'm not sure it's still a truth as , again in May, I found better rates at XOne on Suriwong , 2 or 3 sois past soi Tawan going away from Patpong. Another place with good rates is on Narathiwas , going from Silom PLaza ( where Arena is) to MahaNakhon. Shop offering very good rates on SalaDaeng station was closed in May but can be possibly reopened now with increased tourist traffic. There are two jewelry shops offering close to the best rates , one on Thaniya close to Suriwong end on the left side going from Silom, another one beside former soi Twilight warning, at least in Patpong / Silom are all shops with good rates are not opened on Sundays and holidays and those who are opened on Sunday are opening bit worse rates than on other days so don't leave your exchange to Sundays. Keep in mind that attractiveness of rates in particular place may depend of currency you are exchanging and best shop for AUD not necessarily will be best for yen although unlikely difference will be big but still may be noticeable on higher amounts. This brings us to another issue - keep your cool as sometimes when exchanging smaller amounts is not worth to spend too much time hunting best rates. One of our members once confessed to me that he once went from Silom to shop at Nana station with very good rates to change 50 or 100 USD and savings , while existing, after deducting cost or round trip on BTS amounted to few bahts over price of Singha at 7/11

So a vacation in The Philippines with a couple of boys a day probably costs roughly the same as in Thailand.

Thailand is more expensive than the Philippines in terms of buying sex 1000 pesos and under I paid for most tops to fuck my old daddy butt I think that's like 700 baht The only thing that Thailand was much cheaper on was hotel accommodation which I was shocked at Philippines prices which was double Thailand hotel prices Everything else was cheaper in Philippines

I don't get anything in Wales, but that said I do get offers on Grinder off guys that are usually way off my radar 😬 I now have 2 holidays per year to Asia /'Jomtien in order to get what I fancy.......nice young twink Asian boys.......in fact I think that's all that does it for me now. I really don't want overweight, old or hairy lol, as I'd rather go without ☺️ I do have an Indonesian friend here in Wales that I play only badminton with ( sadly nothing else) and one day we did go together to a gay Sauna in Northwich, Cheshire, UK. That was my first experience of a gay Sauna so clearly I was nervous and didn't know anything. My friend certainly attracted a lot of attention though 😜 Since that time, I've frequented a few Saunas in BKK and Jomtien and I am pleased I stayed at Babylon when it was open. Brilliant time there and similarly at Sansuk, Jomtien where I've had a few great times. I return in a couple of weeks and hope Sansuknhas reopened in order to enjoy the experience once again post- covid. 😜

The TT Exchange opposite Boyztown is still operational and offers the best rates. During Covid the one on the same side of the road to BT was closed. I’m not sure if it reopened. I also use the one in Jomtien which offers exactly the same rates. Not sure about BKK exchanges

They were, but a lot of it is the exchange rate. Using @thaiophilus 's numbers, the chart shows the number of Chang beers you could buy for the cost of a Soho pint. Currently it is 1.75 but in the past it has been as high as 3.25. This doesn't account for any change in the local currency cost of beer, which may make the difference even larger.

One guy asked if I was "Gen" on Grindr. I heartily replied "yes". Now and then I set my profile to say "GENtleman" and occasionally send pics of cash to certain hotties. I also note this rarely works on any profiles listed as "bottoms"

Thais wore masks on buses doing the Jomtien trip when I was in in Pattaya a few weeks ago. Occasionally, one or two passengers of the twelve didn't, invariably falang. I thought it showed disrespect to our hosts.

I will never forget my first visit to this extraordinary and stunning city. It was a three-day week-end in a goriously sunny October in 1978. Since then I have returned three times, twice with my bf of the day. Once with a Thai friend was in 1991 on a trip which we started in Grindelwald in Switzerland at the foot of the famous Jungfraujoch cable railway that takes you well above the snowline. We then drove over the Alps for a night by Lake Garda before three days in Venice where we enjoyed great weather, before driving over the amazing Dolomites to Salzburg, Munich then Zurich and home. The second was more recently in 2003 with my Taiwan bf when unfortunately we hit the period for high tides coupled with heavy rains. The day after our arrival St. Mark's Square was flooded and we had to crawl with other tourists along the raised platforms. Yet both young men showed the same sense of joy and wonder. St. Mark's Square in August 2001 St. Mark's Square in October 2003 A colonnade at the side of St. Mark's Square in December 2020 Venice has been slowly sinking for centuries. It's partly due to the piling of the buildings and the city's substructure. But it is only relatively recently that the city has seen regular virtually annual flooding. It was not supposed to be like this. As illustrated in an excellent article on today's BBC website, the lagoon barrier (name Mose - Experimental Electromechanical Module) was supposed to stop flooding from the sea. Conceived in 1991, as a result largely of Italy's labyrinthine politics, work was not even started until 2003 and was supposed to be completed by 2011. It is hoped - hoped - it will finally be ready by the end of next year. Sadly, with rising sea levels it may already be almost out of date. The gates will not be raised until there is a sea water rise of 110 cms. St. Mark's Square floods at a level of 90 cms. Each time Mose is put into operation it will cost the city over US$300,000! As bad if not worse than the flooding has been the effect of the wake of the motor boats which ply the Grand Canal and which has adversely affected 60% of the buildings. Part of the Grand Canal Three mildly positive issues are that since last year the port for the mega cruise ships which had frequently dwarfed St. Mark's Square was moved away from the city. Also from next year a daily charge of €5 will be levied on tourists. A limit will also be placed on the number of daily tourists which until recently outnumbered locals by 100:1 over the course of a year. Will Venice still be around in 100 years? It will be desperately sad for future generations if it sinks below the waves. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20220927-italys-plan-to-save-venice-from-sinking Photos 4 and 5: copyright Getty Images from the BBC article

I stiil wear a mask here in Western Australia when on public transport or if going into crowded places like shopping centres and I will no doubt wear a mask in Thailand when I go if mandated or not, the risk for me will be restaurants, bars and massage places. My reasoning is simple, underlying health conditions, even a common cold can be bad news for me. If others choose to wear one or not is up to them.

If I recall correctly, even after his column was axed he still wrote book reviews for the Bangkok Post. The only problem with his regular columns was they were focused almost entirely on the girly bars. Only occcasionally there would be a nugget or two about the gay scene. But it was always fun reading those columns.

Don't be an idiot. I am expressing my opinion.

Another promising series: Fahlanruk

The Check-mig app and mobile website are nightmares and a case study in shitty User Interface design for small screens. Just trying to "click" on the correct radio buttons on the questionnaire could trigger PTSD. Or worse. I make a point of filling out the form on the website from the comfort of my desktop 48 hours prior to departure and have never had an issue. That way I can print a copy of the completed submission (shown above) and to have a screen of same on my phone as a backup. Ironically on my last trip in May I wasn't asked for my Check-mig but I assume that it was already on the agent's screen and she chose not to request it.

The Pride Parade is a wonderful day. I have been to 7 of the Parades since my first in 2011. My latest was in 2018 when there were more than 160,000 marching. The parties over that weekend are also packed. Other gay venues are also totally full. For my second Parade, I decided to go to a hot spring in the evening. For the first time ever, I experienced a 20-minute queue to get inside the door and then it was another 20 minutes before I could get to the locker area. Glancing at the main pool on the left, I was so surprised I could see no water. It was just packed with naked young guys, almost all Asians. A few photos of previous parades. The first was taken by me but has been stolen from a chat site and is now used in at least two commercial gay sites!

Received this photo today from KK Massage (the same outfit that operates K-Man Spa in Saphan Kwai). It boasts a large stable of guys from twinks to hunks. Although its location is more out of the way than K-Man, I believe it can be reached by BTS / MRT. If I was lucky enough to book this guy, think I'd spent a good portion of the time massaging him. 😉 For more pics, check out KK's Twitter site.

There is another shop advertising on twitter, called "Arayan Massage" or "Arayan Massage Hotel" (arayan_massage). For the adventurous among us. The pix mostly gym fit / muscle guys.

and your are right. Jomtien places are charging 300-400 for massage so with 1200-1500 fee it leaves plenty of room for boy's tip , specially all he has to do is walk 50-100 meters if you are based in Complex as well. Don't expect the same in Bkk where fees are much higher and distance to cover large. VClub, JeySpa or Senso have fees of 1000 and min tip 1500-1800 so obviously they will quote much more. But if you order massage from apps 1000-1500 may be all you will pay. I had Grindr guy three times , 1500 was all he asked for excellent massage and extras, funny part was, it was actually him who was contacting me for business, not other way around. I'm glad I gave in

According to twitter "Taywa Massage and Spa" could have rather masculine masseurs. But I never went there, it's location is pretty inconvenient, not near any convenient BTS or MRT. One day I might try, but currently I am totally overbooked.

you won't be disappointed at Sabaidee. Keep in mind than many guys there may not be available if you just show up on given day. From what I was told guys there are free to come and go without fixed schedule. On another hand they may be few interesting whose pics are not posted for some reason. For hunks it's now most interesting option but that may possibly change if Senso and Prince re-opens. On another hand VCK Club in Aree area is still alive and kicking although with reputation of being more place for Asians K-Man's accolades are well deserved but guys there are less hunky, more next door types , no shortage of handsome and sizable though. In general, while a lot of places closed still there's enough of them to keep one busy and his funds depleted for quite long vacations so availability of handsome and willing masseurs is least of any tourist concerns.

K Man Spa has received a lot of positive attention in this forum K man spa - Home | Facebook