Government closing bars

[spoon]

28 minutes ago, hank75 said:

Not singling out. Didn’t mean it to come across in any other way apart from factual. Just quoting what boys and mamasans told me, that customers from China, Singapore etc are still arriving, as in entering Thailand this week and making bookings. They didn’t say customers from UK, USA or elsewhere. That could be the case too. I don’t know. At least two boys I know of have secured long term offs while their bars are shut, one customer is flying in to take the boy out of Bangkok since he didn’t have to work. I asked “customer have discount, no bar fee” and was replied to with smiley faces. 

If only malaysia dont have travel restriction now, i might be tempted to help out the boys too. No bar fee seems like a great deal already lol

[paulsf]

I wonder how many Are arriving from Singapore and China with the travel restrictions.   I’m out most nights and I just don’t see them.  

[hank75]

46 minutes ago, paulsf said:

I wonder how many Are arriving from Singapore and China with the travel restrictions.   I’m out most nights and I just don’t see them.  

The ones I was told about are Jupiter and Moonlight customers. 
ps: I haven’t been following the travel regulations quite so closely and was surprised to hear Chinese customers could still apply for short and long stay visas, no quarantine. Is this really true? Only the completion of a health declaration form?

[Travellerdave]

Thailand seems to have escaped the worst of Corona Virus as have surrounding countries with a relatively small number of confirmed cases and deaths. I wonder why this is so. Maybe because of a low amount of testing or maybe it’s genuine and perhaps the hot climate helps.

i returned to England 2 weeks ago after an enjoyable 3 week visit to Pattaya so my timing was good.

[Londoner]

I suspect that the virus spreads more quickly in cities. Perhaps the high number of Thais who live in rural areas may limit its spread. I write this for my own benefit because I'm trying to find something optimistic to say about P, who lives in rural Kamphaeng Phaet and whose relative isolation has bothered me. Until now.

[Boy69]

8 hours ago, Travellerdave said:

Thailand seems to have escaped the worst of Corona Virus as have surrounding countries with a relatively small number of confirmed cases and deaths. I wonder why this is so. Maybe because of a low amount of testing or maybe it’s genuine and perhaps the hot climate helps.

i returned to England 2 weeks ago after an enjoyable 3 week visit to Pattaya so my timing was good.

I returned 2 weeks ago as well an enjoyable 4 week visit to Pattaya , Krabi, Ayutthaya , Kanchanburi and Bangkok one of the best trips I ever had including stunning Vietnamese boy who stay with me 10 days, I think we had more luck than a good timing before all is shutting down at the moment in Thailand.

[ggobkk]

On a side topic, Viet Nam is quarantining for 14 days the boys returning from Thailand. 

[reader]

UPDATE on what ggobkk posted:

The quarantine facilities at the border crossing became overwhelmed with the influx of returnees. According to a report from a trusted source, about 200 returning VN nationals are in a holding area, waiting to be allowed to cross.

[reader]

SECOND UPDATE:

The Vietnamese (all from Ha Tinh who worked in Thailand) remain stranded in the rain at border crossing. No food in eight hours. A bus arrived to take some across but driver refused to allow them to board. He reportedly wanted assurance that his bus would be cleaned afterwards. Unsatisfied, he drove away.

[spoon]

A quick question, where is the border crossing the boys stuck at? My guess is cambodia/vietnam?

[reader]

Laos/Vietnam

[jason1975]

On 3/18/2020 at 10:34 AM, hank75 said:

At least two boys I know of have secured long term offs while their bars are shut, one customer is flying in to take the boy out of Bangkok since he didn’t have to work. I asked “customer have discount, no bar fee” and was replied to with smiley faces. 

Lucky for them! And their patrons save on their off fees as well!

[jason1975]

On 3/18/2020 at 11:03 AM, spoon said:

If only malaysia dont have travel restriction now, i might be tempted to help out the boys too. No bar fee seems like a great deal already lol

I know you have a good heart, @spoon

[jason1975]

On 3/18/2020 at 12:27 PM, hank75 said:

surprised to hear Chinese customers could still apply for short and long stay visas, no quarantine. Is this really true? Only the completion of a health declaration form?

Yes. No quarantine required if health declared fit by doctor.

[hank75]

26 minutes ago, jason1975 said:

Lucky for them! And their patrons save on their off fees as well!

One Moonlight boy is staying with a Korean customer in Bangkok for a full month. 

[hank75]

https://thethaiger.com/coronavirus/army-disinfecting-bangkok-streets

Rather a pointless move? But government has never been less popular so perhaps they are trying to prove their efficacy. 

[jason1975]

On 3/18/2020 at 9:42 AM, hank75 said:

Finding alternative jobs on short notice especially when they have zero other skills will be close to impossible.

You will be surprised that some of them are skilful because I know boys who used to work as baristas, cooks and tailors. They started as apprentices at these trades and worked some years before going part time and eventually full time to be gogo boy.

i had the delightful opportunity to chat a while with a Myanmar boy whom I took back to my room on Sunday night. After our short time session, we chatted about tailory and Nike shoes and I learned a lot! Can’t wait to learn more from him when I go back to Bangkok to meet him after covid-19 virus outbreak ends.

[vinapu]

34 minutes ago, jason1975 said:

... when I go back to Bangkok to meet him after covid-19 virus outbreak ends.

you are really into long term planing

[spoon]

5 hours ago, jason1975 said:

I know you have a good heart, @spoon

 

5 hours ago, hank75 said:

One Moonlight boy is staying with a Korean customer in Bangkok for a full month. 

Im afraid i cant afford a whole month though

[reader]

FINAL UPDATE: The Viets were finally moved to an army barracks where they will begin their isolation period.

[vinapu]

13 hours ago, reader said:

FINAL UPDATE: The Viets were finally moved to an army barracks where they will begin their isolation period.

both good and bad news at once

[hank75]

As the video is embedded I don’t know how to link to it directly, but click here for “Bangkok nightlife goes quiet” with very brief glimpses of some familiar spots.

https://www.straitstimes.com/videos

[anddy]

1 hour ago, hank75 said:

As the video is embedded I don’t know how to link to it directly, but click here for “Bangkok nightlife goes quiet” with very brief glimpses of some familiar spots.

https://www.straitstimes.com/videos

even Bangkok Massage can be seen with several boys...

 

Al Jazeera has a similar piece, though not as focused on the nightlife:

 

[hank75]

If this isn’t stupidity I don’t know what is. Far too soon surely?

https://thethaiger.com/coronavirus/chinese-tourist-packing-their-bags-to-come-back-to-thailand

[reader]

From Coconuts Bangkok

Bars throughout Thonglor, epicenter of infections, skirt shutdown order

Around tables they sat drinking and sharing food last night, steps away from locations where dozens are believed to have been infected with COVID-19 in one of the capital city’s biggest outbreak clusters.

A survey of Bangkok’s trendy Thonglor district on the first Friday night since its bars and nightlife venues were ordered shut found customers patronizing numerous venues either defying the order or operating through a loophole.

The Thonglor Police Department earlier Friday said it was enforcing the order but for one giant exception: If a bar happens to sell food, then it’s fine.

“We’re asking for cooperation,” said an officer answering the phone who declined to give his name. “But no bars and nightclubs dare risk to open at this time anyway or else they would get into trouble when a patron is found to have become infected with the virus.”

But dare, they have. A day earlier on Thursday, several bars were seen with patrons at stools and tables.

Asked about specific bars that have remained open since the order came into effect Wednesday, the officer asked if they were “a bar-bar or a semi-bar and restaurant.”

“If it’s a restaurant too, then the venue can still open because the order only applies to bars and pubs,” he said.

That would seem an academic distinction when it’s not alcohol but proximity that has infected dozens in what has become one of the viral epicenters of Bangkok.

On Friday night, I counted at least 13 Izakaya-style Japanese bars open, with patrons seated together sharing snacks and beer towers. There were also at least three conventional bars openly flaunting the ban. One famous after-hours joint where carousing can stretch into the morning had its sign turned off but the doors open, and people seated inside.

Asked if they were supposed to be open, an employee at one recently opened rooftop bar said with a grin, “Supposed to close!”

As I was leaving, two cops emerged from the elevator.

“Are you open?” one called out before instructing it to close. One of the officers told me they had ordered “many, many” venues to close Friday night.

Continues at

https://coconuts.co/bangkok/news/bars-throughout-thonglor-epicenter-of-infections-skirt-shutdown-order/

================================================================

From Bangkok Post

89 new cases in highest daily jump, total 411

The Public Health Ministry reported 89 new cases on Saturday in the largest daily jump since the coronavirus outbreak, bringing the total to 411.

Of the new cases, 51 were linked to existing patients.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/1883525/89-new-cases-in-highest-daily-jump-total-411