A Walk Around Gay Bangkok - July 4, 2020

[TotallyOz]

I went to the gay bar area tonight. Most places are still closed. The two gogo bars open in the area were Hot Male and DreamBoys. Hot Male had about 15 guys working and they had some customers. They are practicing social distancing at least by putting red x's on the seats. Boys had plastic face shields. Dreamboys has one boy on stage so I didn't try it. There were several beer bars open but they were very slow and not many customers. A walk from that area to Tawan was so quiet as no street vendors and no one begging me to come in for massage.  A soft opening for sure, but look like some places are starting to try to open back up.

[spoon]

Did u manage to take a peek on soi 4?

[vinapu]

1 hour ago, Michael said:

. A walk from that area to Tawan 

So how is Tawan doing ? 

[Aikuchi]

sounds absolutely surreal ... 

[TotallyOz]

7 hours ago, spoon said:

Did u manage to take a peek on soi 4?

I did not get over to Soi 4.

7 hours ago, vinapu said:

So how is Tawan doing ? 

They had some guys there. But, I was headed to a bar around the corner from Mango Tree. It had about 14 guys there but none on stage. I always forget the name as no big sign there. I think it is called Super A.

6 hours ago, Aikuchi said:

sounds absolutely surreal ... 

That is exactly the word I was looking for!

[vinapu]

2 hours ago, Michael said:

But, I was headed to a bar around the corner from Mango Tree.  I think it is called Super A.

 

yes it's Super A indeed

[Boy69]

12 hours ago, Michael said:

 They are practicing social distancing at least by putting red x's on the seats. Boys had plastic face shields.

Depressing... Like trying to entertain yourself at the hospital .

[TotallyOz]

1 minute ago, Boy69 said:

Depressing... Like trying to entertain yourself at the hospital .

It truly wasn't bad. The face shields made them entirely visible. A face mask would cover their face up. But, the shields allowed for full view.

Now, in Super A, they did have on face masks. It was hard to tell what they looked like. But, buy a whiskey for them all and they take them off to drink. Problem solved!

[t0oL1]

did the kathoey give you change when you paid the check bin 

or did she keep it?

[TotallyOz]

11 hours ago, t0oL1 said:

did the kathoey give you change when you paid the check bin 

or did she keep it?

I take exact change in there!

[vinapu]

4 hours ago, Michael said:

I take exact change in there!

good idea in any bar

[t0oL1]

She adds up her own prices also . 

250 baht rounds to 300 in her head.

It makes adding easier.

[Londoner]

I've been thinking....are the guys keeping their masks on in flagrante delicto?

[manuelmendez]

plastic over face. sure hard to breath. 

[Guest]

4 hours ago, Londoner said:

I've been thinking....are the guys keeping their masks on in flagrante delicto?

I presume that a mask would be rather pointless in such circumstances.   If one party has COVID, I presume transmission to the other is near certain in such circumstances ?

Also, the mask would prevent a fair percentage of the activities, so I can't see it working.

[Jasper]

Like this

[spoon]

Hmm, he lose weight/muscle it seems. 

[floridarob]

3 hours ago, z909 said:

I presume that a mask would be rather pointless in such circumstances.   If one party has COVID, I presume transmission to the other is near certain in such circumstances ?

Also, the mask would prevent a fair percentage of the activities, so I can't see it working.

This gets the point across.....

[spoon]

For anti-masker, maybe this one would be better analogy.

[vinapu]

2 hours ago, spoon said:

Hmm, he lose weight/muscle it seems. 

perhaps just camera angle

[Guest]

6 hours ago, floridarob said:

This gets the point across.....

Just for clarification, I'm no anti-masker.   I've been wearing a mask in the UK every time I enter a shop or other public building since arriving back from Thailand in February.  

I also believe our scientific advisors (UK) have their heads so far up their own arses that they will not mandate mask wearing until the benefit is proven beyond all doubt.   A simple reading of some scientific papers, followed by a consideration of the risk v reward for the mask v no mask decision makes it clear enough to me.   There is significant evidence that masks help and a potentially great reward in terms of reduced deaths.   The downside risk if they don't help much is minimal.   So even if not 100% sure, I think our scientists should recommend wearing masks.       They need to learn how to make decisions.  

 

The scenario where I was saying a mask would probably be pointless is "in flagrante delicto".   I think if it cums to that, one party would transfer covid to the other, with or without mask.   That's just my hunch.    I haven't been wearing a mask in such circumstances and have no intention of doing so based on current evidence. 

 

[spoon]

Im not sure why UK and US needs the gov to make wearing mask mandatory. Here in Malaysia, mask is not mandatory at all but the gov does always recommended it. In one press conference, a reporter did asked our Health director about this and he insist that it will not be made compulsory. Even so, most people wear masks when they are in public or crowded places, during the peak of the infection but nowadays, with local transmission in the single digit mainly in KL area, and zero cases in many area, mask wearing has gone down. 

One guy gave a theory of how asian were raised by our parent to be obedient to authority and the elderly is one of the reason we heed advice from gov and there is no need to make it compulsory. A friend of mine also said if you dont wear mask when most people do, people will give you the look and stare at you as if you have commited a grave sin lol. 

[vinapu]

years  before Covid one could see occasional people in masks on the streets of east Asia  while we in the west saw those only in hospital placed movies so it seems there's some entrenched habit there.

But sleep well, we are catching fast , I got scolded few times by random people / invariably ladies on mature side of life /  for not wearing one in a store.

[anddy]

22 hours ago, floridarob said:

This gets the point across.....

 

22 hours ago, spoon said:

For anti-masker, maybe this one would be better analogy.

these two highlight one reason why I believe mask wearing doesn't catch up in the West: masks do NOT protect the wearer, but protect FROM the wearer (should he/she be infected). So since most people think (most rightly so, but many wrongly so) they don't have the virus, they don't see the need. Same in the pee example, the guy who does the peeing doesn't really have to care (other than out of courtesy to others); he wouldn't get wet not wearing pants, so why wear one? 

Asians, on the other hand, have a a long history of wearing masks, yes, but only to protect themselves, not others, which gives an immediate (perceived) benefit and incentive to do so. That's where the WHO's initial opposition to masks came from, that they actually do not protect (much) from this virus, so may give a false sense of security and thus facilitate rather than obstruct its spread. 

It's about doing one's fair share in protecting everyone else, just as everyone with a drivers license does without question for in road safety: you have to obey traffic rules to protect everyone else, and can reasonably expect everyone to do the same to protect you., This is the comparison Tom Hanks recently made, which I found fitting:

Quote

Hanks said: "I don't get it, I simply do not get it, it is literally the least you can do."

"If anybody wants to build up an argument about doing the least they can do, I wouldn't trust them with a driver's licence," he said.

"I mean, when you drive a car, you've got to obey speed limits, you've got to use your turn signals [indicators], you've got to avoid hitting pedestrians. If you can't do those three things, you shouldn't be driving a car.

"If you can't wear a mask and wash your hands and social distance, I've got no respect for you, man. I don't buy your argument."

source: https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-53318653

It seems reckless drivers drivers still dominate the Corona race track....

[PeterRS]

1 hour ago, anddy said:

these two highlight one reason why I believe mask wearing doesn't catch up in the West: masks do NOT protect the wearer, but protect FROM the wearer (should he/she be infected). So since most people think (most rightly so, but many wrongly so) they don't have the virus, they don't see the need.

Did I miss something here? Of course masks protect the wearer. Wearing a mask results in much less chance of the wearer getting the virus from an infected person to their nose and mouth, the degree of protection depending to a large extent on the type of mask. Masks protect both parties. I thought this is self evident.