Londoner

My morale was lifted when the UK took Thailand off the Red List; and then further when Thailand (it is suggested) decided to welcome us back. Subsequently, each day has brought further uncertainties, prevarications and threats of even more cumbersome procedures. To put it bluntly, I'm p***** off.

Find a hotel before you book. Most are closed.

Frustrating though it is, I'm waiting until the middle of January. I want the place to liven-up, with hotels, restaurants and bars fully open. Reopening will not happen over-night. Remember that most hotels, even those which have kept up maintenance, will need to re-staff. There will also be more flights available and at better prices. At the moment (though this may change) EVA are only offering two LHR/BKK flights a month. Restructuring timetables, perhaps bringing back into use mothballed planes, will also take time. Sorry to be the harbinger of unwelcome advice, Mateo, but my advice is to wait. if you want a taste of what you would be seeing if you went too soon, check out recent You Tube videos of boarded-up shops, empty sois and queues for food hand-outs.

Yes, worth remembering before we complain about price rises. Assuming we return to a semblance of normality in 2022, I can look on the bright side by remembering how much money I saved by missing five trips. Here in London, as an example, a new h fi system I'd never have considered without Mr Covid's intervention, while in Kamphaeng Phaet, an enormous spirit house the size of the Vatican. More or less. And that's just a start.

Yes, I suspect that it is still the same. The super-rich often want complete privacy. They can do their shopping in NYC or London and Paris. Many probably never set foot inside a shop anyway.

Bearing in mind how relatively cheap Thailand is for us- whether it be spent at a beach resort, in a city, touring or (significantly for us) enjoying ourselves in other ways, I find it impossible to be bothered about an expense of a few hundred baht.

I suspect that it will have reservations about the return one type of tourist....us! However, our money talks so I do not despair.

Very short-sighted. The inhabitants who have to live in slums are the same people who clean the streets of Silom and the malls of Sukhumvit. And the same issue arises worldwide. Until all are safe, none of us are.

More guys make a success of their time in Pattaya than some may think. Yes, there are certainly casualties- hiv, drug abuse and, alcoholism take their toll and sometimes, an apparent LTR with a falang is suddenly curtailed when a new and younger boyfriend is found. A few years sago, P went through a list of ten or so of his friends (now Facebook contacts) from Dream Boys circa 2003, who had found their falang and were still enjoying financial support. Some of the falangs had relocated to Thailand to live with their boyfriends. And to underscore this, I've noted more couples recently in Pattaya consisting of a falang in his sixties (or thereabouts) and a Thai in his thirties, suggesting that these are indeed LTRs.

Thanks for the clip. I'd love to see Alan Bennet's "take" on Boyztown.

Insh'allah, as my friend in Palestine always says to me. "By the will of God." Yes, at Christmas we may well be thinking that soon we shall be escaping a cold, miserable home and finding warmth in the embrace of a lithe Thai guy, with smooth skin, opal eyes....etc. And then, we shall be able to say the next favourite of my friend; "Humd'allah. "Thanks be to God." It really is possible. Isn't it?

Perhaps the vaccination programme is intensified. Perhaps gay travellers return in decent numbers to Thailand in January. The bars are open, the apps are once more flourishing, the guys have returned. But how many visitors will return to their previous life-styles of frequent sex with different partners? and if so, will they require evidence of vaccination? or even the wearing of masks? I saw one such encounter on a porn site recently.

A fascinating thread...thanks , everyone. Reading the precis, kindly prepared by CurtisD, led me to consider , yet again, the eighteen years I've been with P. and in particular those periods of mutual incomprehension that were a feature of our early days. Line by line, I recognised what appeared to be puzzling aspects of this relationship and our attempts to explain to each other (mainly in Thinglish) what was going on. And how our struggles were likely replicated in many such relationships. A couple of things. Vessey is spot-on about the friendship groups that sustain the guys, particularly those who've just arrived. P arrived in Pattaya twenty years ago with two bosom pals. In times of plenty, they partied; in times of hardship, a lucky one who had enjoyed an off shared his winnings among the the three of them. Although he is now comfortably settled in his longed-for farm up in the north, he looks back at his three or so years as a Pattaya MB with nostalgia..... something that astonished me at first. He didn't mind the sex- even with people like me- but he loved the comradeship. Secondly, CurtisD reports that the study claims that guys from the country aren't clued-up on the hazards and prevention of Hiv/Aids. Not so in P's case. He was taught about this at school; even the famous banana/condom lesson was given.

Kangaroo and crocodile too, I think. I remember that its caneton a l'orange was particularly fine. And well-priced. As well as (it's all all coming back to me now!) a New England chowder. Opposite Royal Garden.

Wasn't there a restaurant in 2nd Road, years ago, that offered ostrich steaks? I think it was called Paradise.

If I were to date now, I would certainly ensure that my companion wasn't straight, as far as is possible. I know that some of us prefer straight or macho guys; indeed, a few specifically reject gay ones, claiming (quite wrongly , in my view) that they are effeminate. Some, and only some, are. I am not claiming to take the high ground on this and I'm certainly not denigrating those who feel differently but, for me the very idea of having sex with a guy who finds physical contact with a man unwelcome seems unwholesome. I wouldn't have expected a MB actually to enjoy his congress with someone of my age (despite my being staggeringly attractive!) but for a straight guy to submit to my demands seems just plain wrong. I suspect that this is a barely rational view to take but that's what I felt after a few years exploring the scene. I would add another aspect to this; I found in my butterfly days (when I must admit I usually chose on looks above everything else) that the truly gay guy performed better and that I wanted, expected and paid for more than a partner who merely laid back and thought of Thailand. Eventually, I only offed gays.

Good luck. I am envious but at the same time grateful; a few gay tourists putting their feet in the water and then telling me that it's warm and safe enough to swim in will persuade me to book a trip...in January.

Thanks : even a precis as short as this has identified several issues that have repeatedly arisen during my nearly eighteen years with P. I must explore further.

I try to be optimistic and so am heartened that the infection rate has stopped rising and that vaccinations are increasing. As for the resilient Thai population, I recall the sight of shop-keepers in Pattaya Tai standing knee-deep in flood water to continue their selling; I suspect that the moment restrictions are lifted we will see a similar determination to resume business. And to put my money in the till.

Brazil is open because its deranged President doesn't believe in Covid. Anyway, he needs more time to complete the destruction of the Amazon rain forest. Accordingly, the death rate rivals that of Florida. However distressing the situation is in Thailand and however incompetent the junta is, at least it's not in denial. In other words, one day Thailand will recover and, if Bolsonaro stays in office, Brazil won't.

".....hardline young protesters...?" I'd have thought that the Thai elite were the the "hardline" party in this conflict, bearing in mind its refusal to respond appropriately to demands for democracy and human rights.

He's probably good at jungle warfare....which is what his training and career prepared him for.

I hope that when (or if) Thailand re-opens, prices in hotels and restaurants remain the same as last year....not forgetting that the recent drop in the value of the baht puts cash in our collective pocket!

Hotel prices in Thailand have been amazingly good; anyone living in London, or other European cities, knows that that the cost of a 2* or 3* hotel here would pay for a 4* or even , in certain situations, a 5* one in Thailand. Eighteen months ago we paid about 2000 baht a night for the best beachside resort in Krabi. That sort of money wouldn't even pay for a guest house in the UK. As for restaurants, it's difficult to spend 1000 bht per person on the food even in the up-marketplaces in Pattaya. P and I invariably eat well in Thai restaurants for well under 1000 bht for both of us. A Macdonald's for two in London costs about 700.

Carpe diem.