PeterRS

Probably a good many are owned by a senior politician, a General in the army or top policeman! Since one or two were involved in owning gogo bars, it's not outwith the bounds of possibility that even more were making oodles of cash from these other businesses. TIT after all! On a more serious note, I read somewhere yesterday that there are actually 3 million foreigners living in Thailand. No doubt the vast majority are from neighbouring countries and work in lowly jobs. But if these are included by the government in the expat figures when it comes to vaccines, the Lord only knows when most of us, especially those above a certain age, might end up with a needle in their arms.

Vietnam will now test all 13 million inhabitants of ho Chi Minh City in response to the discovery of the new variant of the covid 19 virus. Shops and restaurants will be closed for 15 days and new social distancing rules will be put in place. Vietnam's latest spike accounts for over half the total number of cases in the country. Even so, it still remains far better than most with just over 7,000 infections and 47 deaths. According to the BBC, this new variant first appeared in a cluster of 125 cases attending a Christian Mission in the city. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-57303306

Can't wait for the next episode. Two cops arrive through his swimming pool and he then fires more than 60 rounds and lobs tear gas grenades at them? And his excuse? "The man has expressed remorse for shooting at police during the raid but argues that he was defending himself as, without any knowledge who the raiders were and what they were doing there, he genuinely believed that he was about to be the victim of a kidnapping." Clearly the Chinese mafia has replaced the Russian mafia in Pattaya.

From the BBC website Sunday 30 May Vietnam has detected a Covid variant that appears to be a combination of the Indian and UK variants and can spread quickly in the air, officials say. Vietnam's Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long described the latest mutation on Saturday as "very dangerous". ... Mr. Nguyen said the new hybrid variant was more transmissible than previously known versions, especially in the air. He said it was discovered after running tests on newly infected patients, online newspaper VnExpress reported. He added that the genetic code of the virus would be made available soon.

You are correct. But it seems from a second viewing of the vdo, that Tokyo gay library is not a place for meeting up. Merely for reading. I think it would be unlikely you would end up hooking up with anyone there.

Seeing this thread rang a bell. It reminded me of the dreadful serial killer of young gay men in Milwaukee who murdered and dismembered 17 boys between 1978 and 1991. Jeffrey Dahmer was nicknamed the Milwaukee Monster. One case that almost had me in tears was when he had lured a 14 year old Lao boy to his apartment on the pretext of taking photos in underwear for cash. The boy was drugged with an injection into his brain. But he was able to escape from the apartment. He ran into three women who then called the police. By the time they arrived Dahmer had caught up with them. He persuaded the police that the boy was his lover and started to take him back to his apartment. One of the ladies noticed blood from the boy's rectum and asked the police to stop. They did not. Instead they ushered the two back to the apartment. One noticed a bad odour, emanating from another dead body in the apartment. Again they did not investigate and left, telling Dahmer to take more care of his lover. The Lao boy was quickly killed. The bodies of the two dead corpses were then dismembered, although Dahmer kept their heads.

In England penalising homosexual activity had been the official law of the land for centuries. Being accurate, it was not an issue of common law but enacted law. The 1533 Buggery Act affected both men and women. Those found guilty were put to death. That clearly did not stop the upper classes from enjoying the act. The son of Mary Queen of Scots, King James VI of Scotland who became King James ! of England from 1603 till his death in 1625, was a noted homosexual and had multi-year affairs with several of his courtiers. The 17-year old Robert Carr, later the Earl of Suffolk, was one. But the love of his life was the Duke of Buckingham. The 17th century French poet Theophile de Viau commemorated the liaison in a poem that ended, "And it is well known that the King of England / Fucks the Duke of Buckingham." That 1533 law was superced by Parliament during the Victorian era in 1861 when it was replaced by the Sexual Offences Against the Person Act. This removed it as a capital punishment offence and replaced sodomy with a term in prison. It was this Act that the English gradually spread to all its colonies. The first irony is that in many of those colonies, particularly in Asia, homosexuality had been far from uncommon. As is well known, many colonial masters thereafter still took male locals as their lovers. The second irony is that having got rid of most of its colonies, England then repealed the 1861 Act in 1967 and effectively decriminalised homosexuality. But that was too late for it to change the laws in its former colonies. Hence, countries like Singapore and Malaysia still have that 19th century law on their statue books! A few years ago, parliament in London passed another law offering pardons to around 50,000 who were penalised under the 1861 Act. Oscar Wilde is one who was somewhat belatedly pardoned. Another was Alan Turing, and the Pardon Act is now commonly referred to as the Turing Act. Like Totally Oz, personally I dislike the term queer. To me it was a definition at its time and of its time - and these were not good times for gay men and women.

There are more than 2 BJ bars now in Tokyo. I think they are a development of what are called the hattenba which started to appear in the early 1980s. A hattenba is usually a smallish apartment that has been converted using simple things like sheets to create a small maze. Some parts may be a little larger than others and have something like a sofa or a mattress. On entry you pay your entrance fee, go into the small changing room, use a small towel or just walk around nude. The aim is to find someone interesting to have sex with without worrying who might be walking around. Treffpunkt is well known and long established one in the Akasaka district but unless you know your way around Japan adresses, it is very difficult to find. Treffpunkt had only one tiny cubicle-like shower. So if there are several guys in front of you, it might be better to skip the shower and wait till you get home. These are definitely not saunas or bathhouses and there will be no other place to wash! Quick sex is the norm. Here are the two main Tokyo BJ bars. Note that anal sex is not permitted in these new style bars. On the map in this website, the Shinjuku GHbar is on the north east side of the massive Shinjuku station on the edge of the raunchy nightclub Kabukicho district. http://www.gloryholebar.com/en/ I'm not sure the library idea would work for foreigners. In Shinjuku ni-chome there are 2 or 3 shops selling gay books, DVDs, calendars, gels, toys etc. My guess is that these are of more interest to visitors, the more so as they are close to the foreigner-friendly gay bars and the popular 24 Kaikan sauna. For those interested, in Taipei the Gin Gin Gay Shop is very similar to those in Shinjuku ni-chome. The staff are particularly friendly and speak English. This is the location close to the Taipower Building subway station.

Sounds like Wells Fargo is like the Royal Bank of Scotland. My VISA debit card expired at the end of September. Earlier that month, I received the usual reminder notice as well as the usual reminder that the bank does not send cards overseas - by any method! No problem as I have always had it sent to my brother who then just mails it to me. Plus last year I did not need to use the card until late October. As requested, I wrote a day later requesting as I have always done that the card be sent to my brother's UK address. Since mail between Thailand and the UK could not be guaranteed at less than 90 days(!) due to covid, I had a few UK/European letters ready to go and so popped them all in a DHL envelope. It should therefore have reached the customer service people no later than the 15th. Nothing had arrived at my brother's by the 28th. I went on line to chat to one of the agents. What a total waste of time! Said they could not trace anything. Please would I write again! Turned out in a later on line chat they had in fact received the original letter on the 15th and despatched the card three days later with the PIN advice one day thereafter. Nothing had arrived. End result was it took an expensive phone call plus a lot of checking. I was told they had posted out a second card and the PIN - but even these had not arrived. Each time the card they advised had been sent was cancelled and another mailed. Where they went to, goodness only knows. A week later the PIN letter for the 3rd card arrived. It was another 10 days before my brother finally received that VISA card. Thankfully nothing had been debited from my account during all this nonsense. I suspect I had been lied to all along.

I'm with TMax. But there is no way I could afford it. It is a very expensive place to live. If your company is providing your accommodation, you have few financial worries. If you have to pay for your own accommodation, you have to be rich. I would not even mind the notorious Section A377 anti-gay law. I have known enough gay people who live in or have lived in Singapore and that has had virtually no effect on their lifestyles.

I don't know. But I believe a mass demonstration against a government is not a case of losing face. Thailand has had many such demonstrations, many involving students and some as in 1972/3 and 1992 ending in bloodshed. The same is true in China. Large anti-corruption and general anti-government demonstrations had been a not uncommon occurrence in Tiananmen Square prior to 1989. Would South Korea have got rid of dictators without years of mass student demonstrations? Japan regularly has militaristic right-wing demonstrations even today. All that is very different from one boy/man making a specific allegation against another older individual where all individuals involved and the case itself being publicly identified in the media.

Sorry I have not seen any of the BLmovies. If I interpret the above post correctly, the dinner scene takes place in the parents house. In that event, Thai law - perhaps oddly - says that is perfectly acceptable for sex with a 15 -18 year old boy or girl in the parent's house as it presumes the parents have given their permission! Make of that way you will! The vital importance given to 'face' in most Asian societies - certainly Japanese, Korean, Chinese and Thai - is rarely understood in the west. The following article is an interesting introduction. I shall quote merely a few points here. The writer starts with an introduction about 'face' and then discusses it in relation to Chinese communities. Given that a vast number of Thais intermarried with Chinese in the 19th century, it is absolutely applicable here - "One way to describe Face is that it is the prevention of embarrassment at all costs. But that is insufficient as Asian cultures emphasize a concern with loss of Face for the individual personally, and for others as well. For example, a son would never disagree with his father in public, a colleague would never criticize another in public, nor would a subordinate point out an error made by a superior. "There are many aspects of Face: one can lose Face, gain Face, and lose Face for others. One can also get the most unfortunate reputation of one who does not want Face, or worse, one who has no Face. ".... It is important to remember that many Chinese see themselves as seamlessly integrated with a wide range of other people, including their schoolmates, co-workers, and extended family, as well as their social, professional, and friendship networks. "Since Americans don't have this same strong sense of integration with an extensive community, the concept of Face is based on a kind of relationship between people that is literally foreign to us. "By explaining Face as shame, embarrassment, or loss of honor we are individualizing and personalizing the concept in a very American way, which prevents us from truly understanding it the Chinese way. An individual's loss of Face can unravel the complicated, carefully woven fabric of social relationships, what the Chinese call Guanxi, upon which every person's success in society depends." Because face has been so deeply ingrained in the vast majority of Asians and Thais for centuries, I believe it that reducing its importance will equally take at least a century. https://internationalman.com/articles/what-is-face-in-asian-culture-and-why-should-we-care/

Sorry to come back to this point but it seems @vinapuis not so well aware of Thai customs and law. In Thailand, the age of consent is 15. However, a rather unique aspect of Thai law is that if a teen (15 - 18 yo) has sex outside the home, parental consent is required. As I have said before and as @Boy69has clarified in his last post above, the issues of face and destruction of a potential career are powerful considerarions. As if that is not bad enough, there is the publicity issue for the family. Anyone accusing another of forced sex or sexual harassment whilst between the ages of 15 and 18 will have to drag his parents into Court. That will expose them to publicity they will certainly not want. Their positions in their communities will be subject to ridicule, if only because it will be assumed/gossiped they had failed as good parents to control their child. That would doubly result a case of loss of face. I have to say again, it will not happen in Thailand. Do you know of any case where such an case has come to Court and been successfully resolved in favour of the boy (or girl)? I have wondered whether instead of taking a case to court a molested boy might seek a substantial amount of cash in lieu of legal action. I cannot see that working either, athough some paltry amount might be given just to get rid of the boy. The reason it won't work is it becomes a he said/he said case. In Thailand the senior high-so married with kids "pillar of the community" will always win.

Last summer when Thailand was virtually free of cases - ah! those were the days! - I went to the Post Office with a card for my sister's birthday. The clerk looked at the address, checked a notice and then informed me the minimum time for delivery would be 9 weeks! 9 weeks to the UK? I went straight to DHL and paid through the nose to send it. Since then things got better but I expect now that Thailand is in the middle of a covid surge, mail may again be taking much longer.

Singapore has always been a virtual dictatorship - a hugely successful one (unless you are gay and want greater LGBT rights like many other countries). It depends on its economy being successful and its taxes being low. Other things like high-end apartments, all types of car and driving around may be expensive. But no way is the government going to start seizing money from mega-rich overseas tycoons. The only reason would be proven cases of money laundering, in my view. Singapore is probably the safest place for parking cash and assets, certainly in Asia.

Another "great" Thai idea that is given wide publicity - except that it is just pie in the sky. It hasn't even been presented to the Heath Ministry yet, let alone the cabinet. When will these idiot officials learn?!!

Her $2.5 million fee may have paid for quite a bit of nipping and tucking!!

And I for one do not give a f--k! Since the end of last year the government has been a disaster in terms of its anti-covid programme. If the Princess's Academy can do what the government seemingly cannot - or, more likely, will not - do to relieve people's suffering, do we really believe anyone in the country is going to shed tears over a non-functioning democracy? They will worry about that once the country is safe again and people are no longer in fear of dying or being out of a job for more months on end.

The question surely is: what adaptation and who pays for it? Babylon was a pet project of a very rich man. It was hugely successful for a long time and known worldwide. How does one adapt the Babylon model unless there is another rich Thai with oodles of cash to pay for a sauna experience in a reasonably accessible part of the city - even though it never pays its way? As mentioned, I thought the Moroccan-themed Chakran came close even though it was a much smaller land area. It was certainly the most enjoyable and relaxing sauna compared to the others. I understand the rooftop area was renovated a few years ago with a sort of Japanese theme including a jacuzzi, an onsen and an area with mattresses to relax naked at sunset. I do not know who owns it. No doubt the same man who ran the V Club massage spa on Soi Aree, since V Club was incorporated into the Chakran land some years ago. Before than V Club was a great place to visit as it often had some models and TV starlets available as masseurs. Chakran has been mostly Thai-for-Thai/Asian for quite a few years. I wonder if more farang were to visit regularly they would all be made welcome. Entrance prices depend on age with those over 50 paying about 360 baht, three times the price for 20-24 yos. Still far from unreasonable when you consider that the centrally located and smaller Sauna Mania off Soi Convent seems now to charge 2,000 baht (US$64) for over 50 yo patrons.

Just thinking more about Babylon's closure. Is this the end of the gay sauna complex as a concept? Will the future see only sex catered for with the usual sauna, steam room, dark room, jacuzzi and private rooms? Perhaps with a bar? After all, I can think of few saunas anywhere that included a very large pool, large gym and several bar/restaurant areas. I only experienced one large one in New York around 1982 before the AIDS crisis was being openly talked about, but I can recall little about it. In Europe around the same time I remember being staggered at the size of Le Continental Opera near the Palais Garnier Opera House. It had a huge pool in the basement. Perhaps I am biased but there was a large number of Vietnamese boys and I spent two great evenings there. I believe it died some years ago.

Also loved The Persian Boy. Read it probably 40 years ago and so will return to it. Having been to Iran and especially the stunning ruins at Persepolis, I am surprised that Alexander was such a Persia-phile. After all, he was the one who stole all its wealth and then burned it to the ground. That he accepted Bagoas as a gift is also unusual since the Greeks as a whole did not accept eunochs other than as occasional servants. Interesting too that before Alexander Bagoas had been the lover of Persia's Darius III. He has been described as "a eunuch of exceptional appearance and in the very flower of boyhood." That is generally interpreted to mean he was around 15 when presented to Alexander. Clearly an experienced boy!! Renault had many gay fans due to her novels. Yet she disliked the gay rights movement and later in life spoke openly against it.

Hell may break loose? Sorry, that will not happen in Thailand. Views on sex here are very different from the USA, and the mai pen rai attitude will definitely prevail in such a situation. The only way there might be any form of public scandal would be if a mid-teen was held against his will and repeatedly raped over several days. But making any such allegation against a man seen as a pillar of Thai hi-so society whose family has a long record of public service would only end up with the boy being regarded as a liar who was trying to get money out of the producer. I believe that's a nice summation of the situation. We may not like the situation - but who are we to throw stones at glass houses? After all, most of us happily have had/still do have sex with Thai guys in return for cash. There are no saints. But lots of cute actors who are thrilled they finally made it on to the screen.

No, not at all (I think you mean Harvey Weinstein). In all countries with a movie/TV industry, if you are a young aspiring actor/actress and a producer considers you for a leading role, it is far from infrequent that you will be prepared to sleep with the producer or at least have sex with him - perhaps regularly - to 'seal the deal', as it were. How do you think Marilyn Monroe got into movies? As she herself admitted, she slept around with producers and agents. She only stopped when she became a star. Some of the Thai boys may already have been gay or bisexual. Others would be like straight guys in gogo bars who have sex for cash. Sex to cement a lead role with the possibility of becoming a popular longer term star must seem hugely appealing to more than a few aspiring Thai teen actors. I suppose there is a temptation to compare the power of Thai producers over teen aspiring actors with Weinstein. But I see no parallel. Weinstein sexually abused and raped over 80 women against their will. In Thailand I am pretty certain there is consent amongst all parties.

I was nearly in tears watching that vdo. These guys are absolute saints. I am sure there are others in other parts of the city. All need our help. Let's get out our wallets or credit cards or whatever way is easy to make contributions. They need and deserve our help - as do all those thousands of Thais they themselves are helping. God bless them!

Before you buy, please be aware that the section on nightlife is relatively short. It is very much a book for those who have been to Bangkok and known a bit about it - not a guide book for first-timers or those who have only been for a few sort visits. It deals a lot with various elements of Thai culture. So it is not for everyone, although I found it both interesting and enlightening.