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From Bangkok Post Japanese cancel tours en masse Thai tourism has been dealt another massive blow after 80% of Japanese tour groups cancelled packages to Thailand, prompting tour operators to urge airlines to reduce flight frequencies as Thais travelling to Japan also dropped by 20%. Anake Srishevachart, president of the Thai-Japan Tourism Association, said 80% of Japanese groups already cancelled packages to Thailand as concerns about the pandemic in Japan spike. The Japanese market ranked third for revenue contribution to Thai tourism last year with 89.8 billion baht from 1.8 million tourists, following China and Malaysia. Tour operators catering to this market expect to see more cancellations over the next few months as Japanese tourists are highly sensitive to health issues. https://www.bangkokpost.com/travel/1861139/japanese-cancel-tours-en-masse#cxrecs_s

You may find the member responses to another newcomer looking to lose his virginity in Bangkok helpful in your quest. We don’t know if he ever succeeded because he never bothered to post again.

Prime massage has established its popularity not just Among ASEAN and Chinese visitors but with westerners as well. Many have posted in this thread and others about the consistency of its quality and value. There’s something comforting, knowing that you can visit a shop where it’s assumed that you’ve chosen it—like a favorite restaurant—for a predicable and satisfying experience—sans the sex.

From South China Morning Post Bangkok shooting: gunman kills ex-wife, wounds one more at shopping centre in Thai capital A man killed his ex-wife and wounded another person at a shopping centre in Bangkok on Tuesday, police said, 10 days after mass shooting at another mall in Thailand’s northeast The gunman then fled the Century The Movie Plaza, near the Thai capital’s Victory Monument and is still on the run, Thai police said. “One person died and another was injured,” police Colonel Kissana Pattanacharoen said. Police said in a statement they knew the suspect’s identity and were working to apprehend him The gunman entered a beauty clinic at the mall where his ex-wife worked. He opened fire, killing her and wounding a bystander, Kissana said. https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3051184/bangkok-shooting-gunman-kills-one-wounds-one-more-shopping

From Bloomberg News China’s Aviation Market Shrinks to Smaller Than Portugal’s China’s aviation market, projected to overtake the U.S. this decade and become the world’s biggest, has shrunk to such an extent due to the coronavirus outbreak that it’s fallen from third to 25th, behind Portugal. Airlines have slashed capacity because of the epidemic centered in Hubei province, leaving the industry reeling. About 1.7 million seats -- almost 80% of capacity -- were dropped from China services from Jan. 20 to Feb. 17 by global carriers, according to OAG Aviation Worldwide. Meanwhile, Chinese airlines cut 10.4 million seats domestically. No event that we remember has had such a devastating effect on capacity as coronavirus,” John Grant, senior analyst at OAG, wrote in a report. “In many ways it highlights the importance of the Chinese market to aviation and the rapid globalization of air services as new markets and travelers emerge.” https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-02-18/china-s-aviation-market-shrinks-to-smaller-than-portugal

From Bangkok Post South Korea halts more Thai flights Holiday packages left hanging as coronavirus fears escalate Thailand's outbound tours have been left in limbo as South Korean airlines suspend more flights to Thailand amid coronavirus fears, a huge hit given South Korea's status as the second favourite destination for Thais, after Japan. The decrease in flights came after the South Korean government issued a travel advisory to its citizens on Thursday. The country's Health and Welfare Ministry urged South Koreans to refrain from travelling to regions0 confirmed to have infectious cases. South Korea has prioritised guarding against the entry of the virus from regions other than China, using screening measures for passengers who have travelled to Thailand, Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia and Macau. Thanapol Cheewarattanaporn, president of the Thai Travel Agents Association, said more countries are expected to follow South Korea and Taiwan in putting Thailand on their warning lists. The flight suspensions have dampened travel sentiment for tourists to Thailand who already booked tickets or those planning trips to South Korea in March and April. Mr Thanapol said tour operators are 60-70% booked for Songkran in April, but the unfavourable conditions mean Thais are likely to defer travel dates to avoid the risks. "Many Thais are not in the mood to travel, with some still pondering their destination choices," he said. "Tour operators must try harder to offer customers less problematic routes such as Japan, which is preferred by 30% of Thais, as well as European cities." Chotechuang Soorangura, associate managing director of NS Travel & Tours, which also provides air ticket booking services, said South Korean airlines have reduced flights to Thailand to control their costs because of slowing demand, which may lead to a cabin load factor of less than 50%. https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/1857909/south-korea-halts-more-thai-flights

Extracted From South China Morning Post Coronavirus: cleaning your phone more effective than wearing a face mask Singapore’s health ministry said there is no evidence the coronavirus is airborne, and that face masks are not the most effective protection Smartphones are among the dirtiest items people own, and are often held up to users’ eyes, noses and lips – key points for coronavirus infection Smartphones are among the dirtiest items a person owns, due to how often they are handled, and the fact that many people bring their phones to the toilet, where faecal matter often collects. Worse, these phones are often held up to our eyes, nose and lips – key points where the coronavirus infects the human body. Various scientific studies have found that smartphones contain more germs than toilet seats – meaning a quick and immediate way to limit contamination is to avoid taking your phone to the toilet. According to a 2018 study by four researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, sanitising phones with a UV smartphone sanitiser device was the most effective method of killing germs. sanitiser device was the most effective method of killing germs. Using an alcohol solution was also effective, the study said, adding that the crevice between phones and phone cases contained significantly more bacteria than the screen.

Visited Ganymede shortly after it opened so my impressions are dated. As Marconi observed, selection was boy-next-door type and happy to hear that it still is. My most lasting impression was that the guy I chose asked me after session if I had any suggestions how he could improve his performance. Turns out he was new to business. Think I said spend less time on legs. No one before or since has ever asked me to rate their service. A few weeks later I spotted him in a massage shop on soi Tarntawan. Would not hesitate to recommend it.

Haven't noticed any reported virus deaths. Just a few of usual kind in the past 24 hours: PATTAYA: An elderly German man was found dead with a gunshot wound to the head in Bang Lamung district of Chon Buri on Saturday morning. The body of the 75-year-old man, whose name was withheld pending notification of relatives, was found inside a room at a resort in tambon Na Klua, said Bang Lamung police. CHON BURI: The body of a man of unknown nationality has been found on the ground near a luxury hotel building in Pattaya, with multiple broken bones consistent with a fall from a great height. The body of the man, aged around 50, was found near the entrance of the Grand Centre Point Hotel on Pattaya Sai Song Road i

From Bangkok Post Commander and two others slain on base before attacker headed for mall in Humvee AKHON RATCHASIMA: At least 12 people were reported killed and an unknown number injured in a shooting spree by a soldier who sprayed bullets at a commander, fellow soldiers and civilians in Muang district on Saturday. The attacker first shot dead his commander and two others inside a military camp before fleeing in a stolen Humvee. He fired at civilians along the route to Terminal 21 shopping mall in Muang district, where he was believed to have taken hostages. The attacker streamed his activities in the mall on Facebook Live and took a selfie holding a rifle. "So tired," he wrote at 7.20pm. https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/1853334/12-killed-as-soldier-opens-fire-in-korat UPDATE (video now posted on link) Once inside, the attacker fired at a cooking gas container inside the mall’s food court, causing it to explode and sending shoppers into a panic. Troops from a special warfare unit were dispatched to the mall, where the attacker was said to be holding 16 people hostage on the fourth floor. There were unconfirmed reports that the man had hand grenades on his body.

From Bangkok Post Seven new virus cases found The Public Health Ministry reported seven new cases of the coronavirus on Saturday, including three Thais and four Chinese. The new cases brought the total reported in the country to 32, among the world's highest number of infections outside of China. "The seven new cases are all in hospital," said Suwannachai Wattanayingcharoenchai, director-general of the Disease Control Department. One of the cases was part of the group of 138 evacuated from China's coronavirus epicentre of Wuhan on Tuesday, Dr Suwannachai told reporters. The other two Thais had exposure to tourists, he said. One of the cases was part of the group of 138 evacuated from China's coronavirus epicentre of Wuhan on Tuesday, Dr Suwannachai told reporters. Among the four Chinese, three are members of the families of previously reported cases, while the other is a tourist from a "risky area" in China, said Suwannachai. Among the 32 cases Thailand has reported so far, 23 are Chinese while nine are Thais. https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/1853289/seven-new-virus-cases-found

Excerpted from Khaosod English Court Halts Controversial Chao Phraya Promenade Project BANGKOK — Opponents of the government’s plan to build a concrete promenade along the Chao Phraya River on Thursday welcomed the news that a court ordered the project to be halted. The Administrative Court on Wednesday ordered City Hall to cease development of a 57-kilometer boardwalk along the river, citing a lack of permits. Yossapon Boonsom, founder of Friends of the River which spearheaded the opposition, said he considered the ruling a tentative win. The court ordered City Hall to halt the project unless ordered otherwise after ruling that the officials have not secured appropriate building permissions for the construction. City Hall had earlier been given permission to build on the river from the Marine Department as they declared the promenade as a river pier, which spares them from the contentious process of submitting a blueprint and environmental impact assessment for approval. However, the court saw it otherwise, and regarded the project, which also includes bicycle lanes and sightseeing viewpoints, as a structure that requires a blueprint to be submitted prior to the development. The 14-billion baht project, presented by the junta government as a new landmark for the capital, has been beset with opposition since it was first approved in 2015. Activists also opposed the plan to extend concrete platforms 6 to 10 meters into the river, saying that the government has never consulted with residents who will be directly impacted by the structure, as well as criticizing its aesthetics. https://www.khaosodenglish.com/news/bangkok/2020/02/06/court-halts-controversial-chao-phraya-promenade-project/ ======================================================= From The Thaiger Government scraps Mekong blasting project The government has officially abandoned a controversial plan to blast rapids on the Mekong river in Chiang Mai province. The Chinese-led dredging and blasting plan, initiated in 2001, met with fierce opposition from locals and environmental groups, and the Cabinet agreed to scrap it at a weekly meeting on Tuesday. The plan was to enable ships to carry goods from China’s landlocked southern Yunnan province to ports in Thailand and Laos. It was highly opposed by conservationists and communities living along the river, who feared it would harm the environment and only benefit China. A deputy government spokewoman told Reuters: The government has officially abandoned a controversial plan to blast rapids on the Mekong river in Chiang Mai province. The Chinese-led dredging and blasting plan, initiated in 2001, met with fierce opposition from locals and environmental groups, and the Cabinet agreed to scrap it at a weekly meeting on Tuesday. The plan was to enable ships to carry goods from China’s landlocked southern Yunnan province to ports in Thailand and Laos. It was highly opposed by conservationists and communities living along the river, who feared it would harm the environment and only benefit China. A deputy government spokewoman told Reuters: “The communities affected and non-profit groups were against the plan. Above all fearing it would affect the way of life, and China also had no funding for it … so we ended the project. It didn’t take off yet. We were only doing environmental and social impact assessments” The Chinese embassy in Bangkok was not available for comment. A Thai cabinet document said that China had informed involved countries last year that it would not pursue the project, but work had continued along stretches of the river in Laos and Myanmar. “China’s mistreatment of the Mekong, and its control of upstream water supplies, already shows the problem. Treating the mother of rivers like an international canal is no way to conserve and protect the environment, fishing and Thai people’s traditional lifestyle.” China’s dams on the Mekong have also become controversial, especially since China revealed it was testing equipment in the river’s upper reaches. Thai farmers say they have collapsed fish stocks. https://thethaiger.com/hot-news/environment/thai-government-scraps-mekong-blasting-project

Excerpted from Bangkok Post (7 Feb.) 615 persons being monitored for infection in Thailand; 390 hospitalised Two returnees from Wuhan have been placed in hospital isolation for thorough examination as health officials warn people of the need to protect themselves from coronavirus infection, even though the number of local cases has stabilised. The Public Health Ministry reported on Friday that the number of confirmed cases of infection with the new virus in Thailand was steady at 25, and 16 of them remained at hospitals. Most of the hospitalised people were recovering. The condition of a male coach driver who also had tuberculosis was stable. The number of patients being monitored for infection stood at 615, with 390 of them still in hospitals. To read full article go to: https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/1852799/two-more-wuhan-returnees-isolated The number of patients being monitored for infection stood at 615, with 390 of them still in hospitals.https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/1852799/two-more-wuhan-returnees-isolated

From South China Morning Post Coronavirus: Whistleblower Dr Li Wenliang confirmed dead of the disease at 34, after hours of chaotic messaging from hospital Li, 34, was one of eight doctors who tried to share information about the coronavirus only to be reprimanded by Wuhan police Wuhan Central Hospital initially denied reports he was dead, saying he was in “critical condition”, before finally confirming he had died Li Wenliang – one of the first doctors who tried to alert the public about the coronavirus outbreak, only to be reprimanded by local police – has died, Wuhan Central Hospital confirmed early Friday morning, hours after it initially denied reports of his death. “In the fight against the pneumonia epidemic of the new coronavirus infection, our hospital's ophthalmologist, Li Wenliang, was unfortunately infected. He passed away after all the efforts we’ve taken to resuscitate him. We deeply mourn his passing,” the hospital said on its official Weibo account. Li, 34, died at 2.58am on Friday, the hospital added. The announcement capped several chaotic hours in which Chinese media first reported Li's death, only for the hospital to respond that Li was alive, though in critical condition. The earlier reports of Li’s death by multiple Chinese outlets, including Beijing News and Global Times, triggered an outpouring of mourning and tribute both on Chinese social media and at health agencies trying to stem the outbreak. “We are very sorry to hear the loss of any frontline worker who is committed to care for patients … we should celebrate his life and mourn his death with his colleagues,” said Michael Ryan, director of the World Health Organisation's health emergencies programme, said during a briefing on Thursday. Chinese social media has been awash with anger over the death of the whistle-blower – some mourning Li’s death with candles, some demanding that the authorities apologise for the way they had treated him “None of the police has ever apologised to you. You could have been a national hero, but the dereliction of duty has claimed your life, along with a few hundred innocent lives,” a user said on Weibo. On December 30, Li warned his medical school classmates in an online chat group that a Sars-like illness had stricken several patients in a Wuhan hospital and that all of them were quarantined in the emergency department. The same day that the doctor shared the message, local health authorities announced that the city had confirmed 27 cases of a new type of virus, most of them linked to a seafood market. However, Li, along with seven other doctors who shared information about the outbreak, was summoned to the local police and forced to sign a letter promising to make no further disclosures concerning the disease. On January 1, CCTV, the Communist Party’s mouthpiece, accused the eight doctors in Wuhan for spreading what the government had called “rumours”. As of Friday, according to Chinese health authorities, the deadly virus had claimed 563 lives in mainland China, plus another two in Hong Kong and Philippines. The outbreak has infected more than 28,000 in China, far exceeding the 2002-03 Sars epidemic, which killed almost 800 people worldwide. https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3049411/coronavirus-li-wenliang-doctor-who-alerted-authorities-outbreak

From Reuters BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand’s central bank unexpectedly cut its benchmark interest rate for a third time in six months on Wednesday, taking it to a record low as a virus spreading from China puts further pressure on the struggling economy. The Bank of Thailand’s (BOT) monetary policy committee voted unanimously to cut the one-day repurchase rate THCBIR=ECI by 25 basis point to a fresh record low of 1.0%, the lowest in Asia outside of Japan. “The Committee viewed that the Thai economy would expand at a slower rate in 2020 than previously forecasted and much further below its potential,” the MPC said in a statement. The virus outbreak, a drought and a delay in passing the fiscal budget would affect a large number of businesses and employment, it said. Analysts say potential growth shocks emanating from China are raising the chances of further central bank policy easing in Asia. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-thailand-economy-rates-idUSKBN1ZZ105

NOTE -- If the article from Science magazine cited below turns out to be correct, it may be the first piece of good news about the spread of the virus. Abstracted from Science Magazine Study claiming new coronavirus can be transmitted by people without symptoms was flawed A paper published on 30 January in The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) about the first four people in Germany infected with a novel coronavirus made many headlines because it seemed to confirm what public health experts feared: that someone who has no symptoms from infection with the virus, named 2019-nCoV, can still transmit it to others. That might make controlling the virus much harder. Chinese researchers had previously suggested asymptomatic people might transmit the virus but had not presented clear-cut evidence. “There’s no doubt after reading [the NEJM] paper that asymptomatic transmission is occurring,” Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told journalists. “This study lays the question to rest.” But now, it turns out that information was wrong. The Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the German government’s public health agency, has written a letter to NEJM to set the record straight, even though it was not involved in the paper. The letter in NEJM described a cluster of infections that began after a businesswoman from Shanghai visited a company near Munich on 20 and 21 January, where she had a meeting with the first of four people who later fell ill. Crucially, she wasn’t sick at the time: “During her stay, she had been well with no sign or symptoms of infection but had become ill on her flight back to China,” the authors wrote. “The fact that asymptomatic persons are potential sources of 2019-nCoV infection may warrant a reassessment of transmission dynamics of the current outbreak.” But the researchers didn’t actually speak to the woman before they published the paper. The last author, Michael Hoelscher of the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich Medical Center, says the paper relied on information from the four other patients: “They told us that the patient from China did not appear to have any symptoms.” Afterward, however, RKI and the Health and Food Safety Authority of the state of Bavaria did talk to the Shanghai patient on the phone, and it turned out she did have symptoms while in Germany. According to people familiar with the call, she felt tired, suffered from muscle pain, and took paracetamol, a fever-lowering medication. (An RKI spokesperson would only confirm to Science that the woman had symptoms.) Given how fast data are coming out amid the growing global crisis, it’s good to read even peer-reviewed papers with some extra caution at the moment, Lipsitch says: “I think peer review is lighter in the middle of an epidemic than it is at normal speed, and also the quality of the data going into the papers is necessarily more uncertain.” Marc Lipsitch, an epidemiologist at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, says calling a case asymptomatic without talking to the person is problematic. “In retrospect, it sounds like this was a poor choice,” he says. However, “In an emergency setting, it’s often not possible to talk to all the people,” he adds. “I’m assuming that this was an overstretched group trying to get out their best idea of what the truth was quickly rather than somebody trying to be careless.” The Public Health Agency of Sweden reacted less charitably. “The sources that claimed that the coronavirus would infect during the incubation period lack scientific support for this analysis in their articles,” says a document with frequently asked questions the agency posted on its website yesterday. “This applies, among other things, to an article in [NEJM] that has subsequently proven to contain major flaws and errors.” Even if the patient’s symptoms were unspecific, it wasn’t an asymptomatic infection, says Isaac Bogoch, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Toronto. “Asymptomatic means no symptoms, zero. It means you feel fine. We have to be careful with our words.” The fact that the paper got it wrong doesn’t mean transmission from asymptomatic people doesn’t occur. Fauci, for one, still believes it does. "This evening I telephoned one of my colleagues in China who is a highly respected infectious diseases scientist and health official," he says. "He said that he is convinced that there is asymptomatic infection and that some asymptomatic people are transmitting infection." But even if they do, asymptomatic transmission likely plays a minor role in the epidemic overall, WHO says. People who cough or sneeze are more likely to spread the virus, the agency wrote in a situation report on Saturday. “More data may come out soon. We will just have to wait,” Lipsitch says. The German cluster does reveal another interesting aspect about the new virus, Drosten says. So far most attention has gone to patients who get seriously ill, but all four cases in Germany had a very mild infection. That may be true for many more patients, Drosten says, which may help the virus spread. “There is increasingly the sense that patients may just experience mild cold symptoms, while already shedding the virus,” he says. “Those are not symptoms that lead people to stay at home.” https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/02/paper-non-symptomatic-patient-transmitting-coronavirus-wrong

From Channel News Asia SINGAPORE: Singapore confirmed on Tuesday (Feb 4) its first locally transmitted cases of the novel coronavirus, among six new cases of the disease detected in the country. Four Singapore residents with no recent travel history to China have tested positive for the virus, which has sickened more than 20,000 and killed more than 420 people since it was detected in Wuhan in central China. One of them was a tour guide for a group of Chinese tourists, two work at a shop the group had visited, while a fourth case of local transmission was the domestic helper of one of the cases, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said at a briefing. The tour group had arrived in Singapore from China on Jan 22 and went to Malaysia from Jan 24 to 26. They re-entered Singapore via Woodlands Checkpoint at 3am on Jan 27 and flew from Changi Airport Terminal 1 at 6am. Another two new cases announced by the authorities on Tuesday are Singapore residents who had been evacuated from Wuhan. This brings the total number of cases in Singapore to 24. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/wuhan-virus-coronavirus-singapore-community-spread-tourists-12389314

Here's another option that is usually available in most pharmacies. Each small packet contains a single use alcohol-soaked pad that is usually used to wipe skin before an injection. But they have multiple other uses: (1) cleaning hands (2) wiping down contact surfaces in plane seats (3) cleaning remote control devices and other surfaces in hotel rooms (4) quick cleaning of a scratch or laceration (5) wipe down toilet seat and flush handles They are commonly sold in small boxes of 100. Easy to stuff some in pocket. Often found among diabetic supplies in pharmacies. Avoiding known vectors of transmission Based on anecdotal evidence of how some became victims in Bangkok, being in the presence of an infected person inside a confined space (i.e., tax, van) appears to more common. Several drivers have acquired the virus in this manner. It may be safer to ride with the window open. If you're traveling in a plane, train or bus, aside from wearing a mask, simple precautions include avoid touching as much as possible and surface (In a plane you can use alcohol gels or pad to wipe down everything you're like to touch with special emphasis on food trays and remotes. I do the metal seat belt releases, and that was before the outbreak). Others have written about precautions to take when using public toilets and that advice is woth repeating. Avoid touching handles, faucets and as many other surfaces as possible, using tissues. If we're traveling to Thailand we can't avoid every possible vector unless we're prepared to hole up in our rooms for the duration. I plan to enjoy my next stay but also plan to exercise due caution to avoid the the known ways of common transmission. Yes, I'll be more cautious than in any previous trip (Reuters now reports that Thailand has more coronavirus cases than any nation outside China at 25) but not lose sight of why I'm making the trip in the first place.

From Bangkok Post Price control for face masks The government is putting face masks and alcohol-based hand sanitiser on the state price control list as part of efforts to deal with the deadly virus outbreak. Commerce Minister Jurin Laksanawisit, who chaired the central committee on prices of goods and services on Monday, said the committee approved inclusion of face masks and alcohol-based hand sanitiser on the list and will propose the move to the cabinet Tuesday. Once on the price control list, manufacturers, distributors, exporters and importers have to inform the Internal Trade Department the production cost, sales prices, production volume, export and import volume and stocks as wells as price labels. Those who export more than 500 pieces need to gain prior approval from the department. Similar measures are applied to hand sanitiser, except for the limit on export volume as there are still adequate quantities for domestic demand. https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/1849949/price-control-for-face-masks

This is a good case in point. It's not exactly "fake" news but it is "manipulated" news. Hence my lead-in note preceding my original post. What first caught my attention was what appears to be highly questionable methods used by a researcher at the University of Southampton to arrive at his conclusions. But no bad deed goes unrewarded: the Daily Mail has the third highest circulation of UK newspapers and triple that of The Times. I wasn't surprised that the Daily Mail gave it the treatment but I was more than a bit surprised when The Bangkok Post took it off the wire and ran with it. Worse, they used in its weekly Learning from News educational offering. (The original source of the story is listed as Bloomberg News). From the Bangkok Post Bangkok ‘most at risk’ for virus spread https://www.bangkokpost.com/learning/advanced/1849749/bangkok-most-at-risk-for-virus-spread

NOTE -- I'd take the following with a grain of salt. It appears that the principal criteria of the research was the number of Chinese visitors. It fails to take into consideration screening efficacy, prevention practices of the populace or other mitigating factors. From The Daily Mail Bangkok is the city most in danger of deadly coronavirus because it gets so many travellers from China, as scientists warn LA, New York and London are all at risk Academics at University of Southampton mapped global threat using travel data Bangkok, in Thailand, is most at risk. One case has been confirmed there so far Sydney, Melbourne, LA, New York, Dubai and London are in the top 20 It comes as European and American citizens stranded in Wuhan wait to escape Bangkok faces the greatest threat of the killer coronavirus spreading there from China, scientists have warned. Academics at the University of Southampton today used travel data to work out which cities around the world are most likely to see cases in the future. Los Angeles and New York place in the top 20 and London is more at risk than any other city in Europe, researchers warned. Paris was 27th on the list and Frankfurt was 30th, despite cases having been confirmed in France and Germany already. Bangkok faces the greatest threat of the killer coronavirus spreading there from China, scientists have warned. Academics at the University of Southampton today used travel data to work out which cities around the world are most likely to see cases in the future. Los Angeles and New York place in the top 20 and London is more at risk than any other city in Europe, researchers warned. The report by the University's WorldPop team found Bangkok in Thailand is under the biggest threat, based on the number of air travellers predicted to arrive there from the worst-affected cities in mainland China. Paris was 27th on the list and Frankfurt was 30th, despite cases having been confirmed in France and Germany already. Bangkok faces the greatest threat of the killer coronavirus spreading there from China, scientists have warned. Academics at the University of Southampton today used travel data to work out which cities around the world are most likely to see cases in the future. Los Angeles and New York place in the top 20 and London is more at risk than any other city in Europe, researchers warned. Paris was 27th on the list and Frankfurt was 30th, despite cases having been confirmed in France and Germany already. Continues with charts at https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-7938847/Bangkok-faces-greatest-threat-killer-coronavirus-LA-New-York-London.html

Thanks for a comprehensive and current report. You made great use of your time. Although I'm not a regular Moonlight customer, I recall from prior visits that the non-models represented a good cross section of guy-next-store and twink types. It offered something for every taste. Is this is a change in ML selection criteria or a random event?

The French, the Chinese, the Burmese. You find them all wanting. And you haven't got much respect for readers with your contrived--and often incomprehensible--writing. You cite "recent reports" without any attribution.

From NY Times As New Coronavirus Spread, China’s Old Habits Delayed Fight At critical turning points, Chinese authorities put secrecy and order ahead of openly confronting the growing crisis and risking public alarm or political embarrassment. WUHAN, China — A mysterious illness had stricken seven patients at a hospital, and a doctor tried to warn his medical school classmates. “Quarantined in the emergency department,” the doctor, Li Wenliang, wrote in an online chat group on Dec. 30, referring to patients. “So frightening,” one recipient replied, before asking about the epidemic that began in China in 2002 and ultimately killed nearly 800 people. “Is SARS coming again?” In the middle of the night, officials from the health authority in the central city of Wuhan summoned Dr. Li, demanding to know why he had shared the information. Three days later, the police compelled him to sign a statement that his warning constituted “illegal behavior.” The illness was not SARS, but something similar: a coronavirus that is now on a relentless march outward from Wuhan, throughout the country and across the globe, killing at least 304 people in China and infecting more than 14,380 worldwide. The government’s initial handling of the epidemic allowed the virus to gain a tenacious hold. At critical moments, officials chose to put secrecy and order ahead of openly confronting the growing crisis to avoid public alarm and political embarrassment. A reconstruction of the crucial seven weeks between the appearance of the first symptoms in early December and the government’s decision to lock down the city, based on two dozen interviews with Wuhan residents, doctors and officials, on government statements and on Chinese media reports, points to decisions that delayed a concerted public health offensive. In those weeks, the authorities silenced doctors and others for raising red flags. They played down the dangers to the public, leaving the city’s 11 million residents unaware they should protect themselves. They closed a food market where the virus was believed to have started, but didn’t broadly curb the wildlife trade. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/01/world/asia/china-coronavirus.html

Hanoi would be one recommendation. Going there with a Vietnamese friend would be ideal (I went there twice with my regular guy), I think anyone you’d meet in Thailand would enjoy it because it’s so unlike Bangkok, HCMC, KL and Singapore. The French influence is heavily felt in its architecture and food, and it has an intimate feel about it. It’s not unusual for some guys from certain parts of Laos, Cambodia and Thailand to have some familiarity with the language and vice versa. So communicating shouldn’t be a big issue. English, of course, is spoken in the hotels and most restaurants. It’s a very young city, which I think is among the reasons guys from other ASEAN countries travel there (as Divine Madman points out in another thread) on their own for a quick getaway. And it’s less expensive than bkk and Sinapore. Flights there are frequent on Vietnam Airlines, Vietjet (both our of BKK) and Air Asia out of DMK. The best time to go is on weekends when the area surrounding a small lake (Hoan Kiem, aka Sword) on the edge of the Old Quarter becomes a pedestrian mall (locals refer to it as the park). Performers of all types appear anywhere around it. Young and old, locals and visitors, share the space. You certainly won’t feel out of place. I found that although my friend was familiar with the layout of the town (his sister works there), he was wholly unfamiliar with its cultural attractions which abound. Over the course of a few visits we covered all of the major museums and historical spots. I was taken aback by his enthusiasm to learn more about the real history of his country and its culture. (Divine Madman was kind enough to provide us a list of spots he thought we’d both enjoy and my guide followed it scrupulously!). There’s a huge range of accommodations to fit any budget. Although public transportation is the city’s weak spot, the bus system is improving and a BTS-like rapid transit is in development. The airport is easy to navigate and, unlike most, the food options are inexpensive and satisfying. You’d have to try hard not to enjoy yourself—and your partner—in Hanoi.