Do you use condom anymore ?

[Olddaddy]

Guys times have changed from many years ago ,and even being old I try to move on with the times.

It's great anti HIV meds were introduced a few years ago.

Back in the 80's many scare campaigns were around and if course rightly so for that era, but times have changed and taking Prep and wearing no condom is now not considered unsafe sex as far as I can tell by the health departments around the world 

So I used Prep for many months before taking my 2 month trip to Asia,I stopped it when I got covid and started feeling nausea.

However mostly I went back on it ,it's not 200% protection and you can still get other sexual diseases.

To be brutally honest I had sex without a condom probably 90% of the time whilst in Asia ( I'm bottom so a receiver)

The only time I had made my sex  partner wear one was if he was a "moneyboy" particularly in places like Pattaya.

I trusted many of the Filipino guys whilst I was in the Philippines mostly because they were non money boys ,and usually married closeted .

I had (paid) sex with one Filipino security guard no condom as he was a virgin ( turned out to be a dud fuck ,he cum in around 30 seconds of fucking🤨)but mostly only in Thailand I made the guys wear a condom especially if they were well entrenched moneyboys .

Are many of you guys taking Prep and now have you changed your sex practice not to use condoms?

To be brutally honest I hate my sexual partner wearing a condom,I enjoy the skin on  skin contact and just the fantasy of  the married guy ejaculating in me ?

It's more likely you can get other sexual diseases other than HIV especially if your blowing other guys and things like HPV in the throat  are more common along with red eye etc 

Times have changed and peoples attitudes towards sexuality have changed and I think it's great 

 

[floridarob]

This will no doubt have a lot of opinions/comments .....get ready 😵

[TMax]

I have the popcorn ready for this one 😂

However my 2 cents worth is easy, I wear condoms when having sex and when bottoming I have the partner wear one. I just don't want to risk it no matter what medications are out there.

[Londoner]

Anybody who has a friend who is hiv+, and  I have two in Thailand, will warn us not to believe that it has gone, or even more dangerously, that it is no longer a big deal.  A variety of problems may continue throughout life, including weight-loss, residual fatigue, problems with teeth and even sight. The recent Covid pandemic , as may other similar ones that  follow it, has fed on the vulnerability of hiv+ victims. And I am referring to two people who are fully-up-to-date with their medication.

Put simply, it is a lifetime of worry. And so I'd advise insistence on condoms for both partners, including for oral sex, in full knowledge that the chances of infection are small. I've seen what hiv does, not just to the victim but to those who love  him or her. 

I also wear a seat belt in my car, though I've been driving accident-free for over fifty years.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Olddaddy said:

To be brutally honest I hate my sexual partner wearing a condom,I enjoy the skin on  skin contact

Yup, this topic comes up frequently & tends to be polarizing.  My comments are specific to condom use with sex-workers or new sex-partners.

The brief version for me is I always use condoms for fucking with the basic idea that whomever is not using a condom with me is likely not using a condom with anyone else - I’m not special or the exception to their rules.  Meaning extremely likely that a person having multiple sex partners w no condoms will be exposed to some sort of STI and then I’m possibly  exposed.  The brief thrill of sex without a condom just isn’t worth a trip to the doctor, getting tested, waiting for the results and then getting treatment.  If I’m on vacation - that happening will ruin the rest of the trip bc I’m now out of commission & the party is over. 

There’s a also the idea that potentially spreading STIs in a developing country is wrong on the part of the “rich” gringo bc the locals may not have easy access to treatment & testing.  I personally agree with this.

 I like to hire only and I would only hire guys where condom use is standard practice.  I find that sticking to guys that care about their own health is correlated to a better experience for me.  They tend to be more responsible, trustworthy and professional than those w an “anything goes” practice. That’s just my opinion based on my experiences only.  

The working guys I’ve known over the years (in the US and abroad - some for many years) that consider themselves professionals and sex-work is their real job would never consider fucking without a condom.  It’s just too risky for them and they can’t afford the time out if they get sick. They also tell me that clients who insist on sex without condoms are usually the flakes, troublemakers and in general, the type of clients they avoid.  

There’s definitely a movement away from condom use with the idea that STIs are curable and HIV is treatable. These ideas get conflated with “sex-positivity” and used as a rationale to do whatever with whomever whenever.  I’ve got strong opinions on that, but that doesn’t translate into right or wrong for anyone but me.

Bottom line is condom use is a personal choice and goes to the level of risk one is willing to take while pursuing sex with new partners.  Based on the many posts here that somehow relate to various levels of risk tolerance - condom use will be all over the place.  I’m just not a risk-taker anymore when it comes to health & personal safety.  

Btw - I don’t think anyone really likes using condoms. That said, condom use is a learned behavior.  Once it becomes a habit, it becomes irrelevant and not even a thought when preparing for sex.  

 

 

 

[zombie]

OP writes:

"To be brutally honest I had sex without a condom probably 90% of the time whilst in Asia"

Well done for your honesty.

I have a straight friend who when in Thailand does not use a condom and a straight relative the same when in bkk; a gay top farang acqaintance  also living in bkk says he never uses one.

Seems with a lot of guys PREP causes them to think they are safe and likely they are from HIV but there are a number of other diseases they are not safe if doing bare back.

Whilst I can understand  non-usage of condoms as the feeling is better it is probably wiser to use....

May i ask anyone here what their views are on Monkeypox?

Seems in the western world the main ones affected are in our circle.

 

 

 

[reader]

From New York Times

'Captain Condom' Turned the Tide in Thailand's War on AIDS

BANGKOK — Mechai Viravaidya twice saw Thailand in desperate trouble — first from a ruinous population explosion and then from the AIDS epidemic — and he responded to both crises the same way: with condoms and his own considerable charisma.

Birth control was something Thais neither talked about nor very much practiced in the early 1970s, when the country’s population was growing at an unsustainable pace and the average family had seven children.

So Mechai decided to tackle the subject that no one else would touch, spearheading a nationwide campaign to publicize and demystify contraceptives.

“It wasn’t a job for intelligent people, smart people, respectable people, aristocratic people,” he said in a June interview.

Mechai, now 81, is in fact all of these, the foreign-educated son of two doctors, the husband of a former private secretary to the king and, over the years, a government minister, organizational leader and senator.

But he is also uninhibited, unpretentious and always willing to put on a show to persuade people.

His goal with the family-planning campaign, he said, was to make condoms just one more item shoppers picked up in the market, along with soap, toothpaste and dried fish. To pull that off, he knew it would help to lend condoms positive associations, something that made people smile.

“If I can accomplish that by blowing up condoms or filling them with water,” he said, “then fine, I’ll do it.”

Mechai was speaking not far from the Bangkok offices of the Population and Community Development Association, the organization he founded nearly 50 years ago to fight poverty in Thailand, with family planning a linchpin.

He toured the country, village to village, with an endless array of gimmicks and publicity stunts that linked condoms with fun. Filling them up with water past the point of breaking was a staple performance.

“Who can blow up the biggest condom?” he would call out to the crowds. “Who can make it burst!”

He opened what he called family-planning “supermarkets” at bus stations to distribute contraceptives and persuaded Buddhist monks to bless condoms, distributing videos of the ceremonies. To educate younger Thais, he produced a safe-sex English alphabet that included letters like B for birth control, C for condom and V for vasectomy.

In addition to the spectacle, the campaign had serious infrastructure behind it. He mobilized and trained a network of 350,000 teachers and 12,000 village community leaders.

When the AIDS pandemic began to overwhelm Thailand in the late 1980s, Mechai employed the same knack for publicity, persuasiveness and showmanship in combating the disease.

As with his first condom campaign, he initially struck out on his own, as the government refused to back a safe-sex campaign, fearing it would hurt the lucrative sex-tourism industry.

So Mechai turned instead to the military, a powerful institution beyond the reach of civilian government, which agreed to air regular safe-sex announcements on its 300 radio stations and five television stations.

Then in 1991, a new prime minister, Anand Panyarachun, embraced AIDS prevention, making Mechai his minister of information and tourism. Every government ministry was now called on to play a role in AIDS education.

“We had condoms out everywhere on the streets — everywhere, everywhere,” Mechai said in a TED Talk recounting his approach. “In taxis, you get condoms, and also, in traffic, the policemen give you condoms.”

And Mechai — despite or perhaps because of his MBA from Harvard — took it upon himself to become the recognizable symbol that he said every successful marketing program needs, dubbing himself “Captain Condom” and going to schools and nightclubs to promote safe sex.

The World Health Organization called Thailand’s approach to the AIDS crisis “the quickest response to the problem that we have ever seen.” The United Nations said Mechai’s program had achieved a 90% decline in new infections, and the World Bank estimated that it had saved 7.7 million lives between 1991 and 2012.

Continues at

https://www.yahoo.com/now/captain-condom-turned-tide-thailands-182429121.html

[Olddaddy]

4 hours ago, Slvkguy said:

Yup, this topic comes up frequently & tends to be polarizing.  My comments are specific to condom use with sex-workers or new sex-partners.

The brief version for me is I always use condoms for fucking with the basic idea that whomever is not using a condom with me is likely not using a condom with anyone else - I’m not special or the exception to their rules.  Meaning extremely likely that a person having multiple sex partners w no condoms will be exposed to some sort of STI and then I’m possibly  exposed.  The brief thrill of sex without a condom just isn’t worth a trip to the doctor, getting tested, waiting for the results and then getting treatment.  If I’m on vacation - that happening will ruin the rest of the trip bc I’m now out of commission & the party is over. 

There’s a also the idea that potentially spreading STIs in a developing country is wrong on the part of the “rich” gringo bc the locals may not have easy access to treatment & testing.  I personally agree with this.

 I like to hire only and I would only hire guys where condom use is standard practice.  I find that sticking to guys that care about their own health is correlated to a better experience for me.  They tend to be more responsible, trustworthy and professional than those w an “anything goes” practice. That’s just my opinion based on my experiences only.  

The working guys I’ve known over the years (in the US and abroad - some for many years) that consider themselves professionals and sex-work is their real job would never consider fucking without a condom.  It’s just too risky for them and they can’t afford the time out if they get sick. They also tell me that clients who insist on sex without condoms are usually the flakes, troublemakers and in general, the type of clients they avoid.  

There’s definitely a movement away from condom use with the idea that STIs are curable and HIV is treatable. These ideas get conflated with “sex-positivity” and used as a rationale to do whatever with whomever whenever.  I’ve got strong opinions on that, but that doesn’t translate into right or wrong for anyone but me.

Bottom line is condom use is a personal choice and goes to the level of risk one is willing to take while pursuing sex with new partners.  Based on the many posts here that somehow relate to various levels of risk tolerance - condom use will be all over the place.  I’m just not a risk-taker anymore when it comes to health & personal safety.  

Btw - I don’t think anyone really likes using condoms. That said, condom use is a learned behavior.  Once it becomes a habit, it becomes irrelevant and not even a thought when preparing for sex.  

 

 

 

Not a habit among young people though it seems, particularly in the West where PREP usage  seems to be high 

I guess many didn't live through that era of Aids , and now with PREP encouraged they take the risk without condom usage .

 

[Latbear4blk]

Condoms?

[vinapu]

Earth is overpopulated and those not using condoms for casual sex are doing great job of reducing that overpopulation.

unfortunate side effect is pain and suffering of those affected before their demise but the same can be said about constipation.

While using it or not  is personal  choice for most of us , by insisting that our poorer partners won t use condoms just to increase our pleasure is somewhat doubtfull morally.

 

[Latbear4blk]

1 hour ago, vinapu said:

While using it or not  is personal  choice for most of us , by insisting that our poorer partners won t use condoms just to increase our pleasure is somewhat doubtfull morally.

+1

[vaughn]

I have been on PrEP for years, I joined the medical trials when it was first introduced. My risk taking with sex has reduced significantly since those days, but I would say I still only use condoms 25-50% of the time, usually when the other guys aren't on PrEP or if they prefer condoms.

I get tested for full screens (blood, urine, fecal, throat) every 3 months at a sexual health clinic, and I have my HEP vaccine efficacy tested every few years to see when I need the booster.

I'm top only, so I always ask whoever I'm with if they want me to use a condom, but ultimately i prefer sex without if they want that. PrEP only solves part of the problem with other STIs out there, but regular testing and vaccinations against whatever I can prevent it's within my risk tolerance.

 

20 hours ago, zombie said:

May i ask anyone here what their views are on Monkeypox?

Seems in the western world the main ones affected are in our circle.

I'm concerned about it, it sounds like skin to skin contact is the transmission vector.. and well, i'm in Thailand right now where i'm engaging in skin to skin contact. If it gets out here it could be devastating, luckily we're a few steps ahead with this one, so hopefully it will be brought under control in farangland before it finds it's way here in the numbers we see in EU and NA.

[Olddaddy]

The throat testing,is that a swab?

Is that looking for strep throat do you know?

The only reason I'm asking is I have just come back from Asia after sucking like 100 young cocks & rimming a lot of butt ,and unfortunately have a sore throat in which I will see a doctor about tomorrow.

But I didn't know what test I should suggest to him?

 

[floridarob]

55 minutes ago, Olddaddy said:

But I didn't know what test I should suggest to him?

Just tell him that you sucked about 100 cocks and ate a lot of ass....he'll probably think you are joking, but tell him you just came back from Asia....he'll know which one to give you  😉

[vaughn]

3 hours ago, Olddaddy said:

The throat testing,is that a swab?

Is that looking for strep throat do you know?

The only reason I'm asking is I have just come back from Asia after sucking like 100 young cocks & rimming a lot of butt ,and unfortunately have a sore throat in which I will see a doctor about tomorrow.

But I didn't know what test I should suggest to him?

 

yeah the throat and the fecal are both swabs (separate swabs haha).

I think the throat swab is looking for gonorrhea and chlamydia, I assume that any bacterial infections like strep would show up.

I would ask for a full screening for STIs, the doctor may look at your throat and know what it is, but best to get it all done before and after any trip. I find sexual health clinics are the best place to go in Aus, they're more knowledgeable and accepting than some GPs.

[Olddaddy]

1 minute ago, vaughn said:

yeah the throat and the fecal are both swabs (separate swabs haha).

I think the throat swab is looking for gonorrhea and chlamydia, I assume that any bacterial infections like strep would show up.

I would ask for a full screening for STIs, the doctor may look at your throat and know what it is, but best to get it all done before and after any trip. I find sexual health clinics are the best place to go in Aus, they're more knowledgeable and accepting than some GPs.

Yes I'm a bit embarrassed going to a medical clinic tomorrow about my throat  in case the doctor judges , 

Great idea about the sexual health clinic ,I may go there instead 👍

[vaughn]

5 minutes ago, Olddaddy said:

Yes I'm a bit embarrassed going to a medical clinic tomorrow about my throat  in case the doctor judges , 

Great idea about the sexual health clinic ,I may go there instead 👍

I wouldn't worry too much, they've heard it all before. Every public sexual health clinic in Aus that I've been to are very LGBT friendly, the nurses and doctors make it very easy. Best of all, free.

[aussie_]

28 minutes ago, vaughn said:

yeah the throat and the fecal are both swabs (separate swabs haha).

Is there a clinic in Pattaya which does the throat and fecal swabs? In Australia both are normal practice at the health care clinics. At Lifecare and other clinics in Pattaya where i have had testing done they only take a blood and urine test.

[Guest]

3 hours ago, Olddaddy said:

rimming a lot of butt

the thing to look out for w rimming is parasites.  totally different than contracting an STI.  the symptoms are extreme cramping, diarrhea, fatigue, etc.  it’s really pretty awful & many doctors have a hard time to diagnosis properly bc symptoms are similar to many other things.  The proper diagnosis requires a stool sample and then a harsh 7 day course of pills to get rid of it.  If you have never had a parasite, consider yourself lucky.  Once you’ve had it - you know right away when it happens again.