PeterRS

Even with an ass that looks clean, rimming could expose you to any and all of the disesases that could be contacted by human feaces. These include a host of bacterial diseases like hepatitis A and B, HPV, parasites which carry giardiasis - and that's before you consider syphillis, chlamydia and gonorrhea. How high the risk is, I have no idea. But there is a risk.

"Take a boat! I did!"

I have been in a taxi passing Pinnacle Hotel quite regularly. It was reported as permanently closed a few months ago and there seemed to be quite a lot of construction equipment around. There is still a website but with no local phone or email contact details. Also in the description it states that nearby is the Lumphini Thai Boxing Stadium (moved about 4 years ago) and the Suan Lum Night Bazaar (moved at least 10 years ago)! Yet the website apears to take bookings and booking sites other than agoda also list it. https://pinnacle-lumpinee-bangkok.h-rez.com/contact.htm

Having once taken Concorde from London to New York, I'll start by saying I loved the experience. The pampering at both ends was also great. Since it was an upgrade, I have no complaints about the price! Did halving the journey time mean much to me? No, but then I was not a businessman in which time meant money. My one dislike was the narrow seat and lack of legroom. Then again Concorde was a design from the 1950s/60s when leg room was not a major issue for relatively short haul flights. According to information put out by Boom, there are 500 over-water routes that can be served by their new supersonic plane. It will cut the time dramatically on trans Atlantic routes. Not so much over the Pacific because its range will require a refuelling stop. Will 6 hours from SFO to Tokyo encourage many passengers to switch from the current 10 hours for subsonic jets? According to the International Council on Clean Transportation it will also burn three times as much fuel as subsonic jets with higher payloads. Its engines are likely to be standard military jet engines which will be quieter than Concorde's engines. But it will not eliminate the sonic boom and so presumably, like Concorde, it will not be able to fly over land.

My understanding is that poppers are illegal in Thailand.

And in the meantime Thailand is proceeding with its purchase of three Chinese submarines!! The reason? Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore have subs of their own! The Thai government mght have added that Myanmar also has two submarines - a second-hand one from China and one from India. Offers were made by Germany, South Korea, Russia, Sweden and France. China was chosen - because they were the cheapest! https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/explained/article/3176532/thailands-chinese-submarine-deal-why-it-stuck-limbo-and-will-it?module=perpetual_scroll_0&pgtype=article&campaign=3176532

Certainly a beautiful city with a wonderful display of eye candy almost everywhere. But you'll need a lot of cash. It's an expensive city. I spent two weeks in Iran almost 4 years ago. I had decided to go only because I was returning to the UK on Qatar and wanted to have a stopover to explore another part of that part of the world. Also, friends in Shanghai had been to Iran twice and absolutely loved it. To say I loved it would be an understatement. I expect the city to which @tassojunior's friends refer is Esfahan, truly one of the world's great cities. Apart from a few sights, I'd give Tehran a miss due to its horrendous traffic, but Shiraz, Esfahan, Yazd and Kashan were quite stunning. I found everyone I met warm-hearted, courteous and friendly. I found this odd given that I am from a country which has placed considerable sanctions on Iran. On talking to some, it was clear to a man/woman they loathe the regime they live under. My guides even openly talked about the extensive corruption of the regime. But while I would happily return regularly, especially to Esfahan, it is not a city I would not consider living in full-time.

There are now in Thailand quite a number of assisted care homes that are far more attractive than perhaps we expect. I know of three just outside Chiang Mai. One elderly Thai friend whose partner had just left him after he was diagnosed with the onset of Alzheimers moved to one on an island just upriver of Chiang Mai 18 months ago. He loves it. He has his own room with en suite, a lovely garden setting, communal dining room, daily nursing care and plenty of buzzers for unexpected emergencies. His facility also has half a dozen daily return minibus trips in to Chiang Mai. Best of all the all-in monthly cost is far lower than he expected. I'm not sure of the exact price but will post it when I next speak to him.

I quite agree. The difference with Thailand, in my view, is that corruption here is totally endemic - it is everywhere from villagers to the highest persons in the land. Of course it is not considered corruption at the lower levels of society. It is a way of helping out and getting things done. But as long as this acceptance of corruption for what it is remains rooted in society, Thailand is not going to change. The Prime Minister has said he will root out corruption in 20 years! By then he and his family along with his cronies will all have made their large retirement piles and it will be left to future governments to solve. I have written before that the model for rooting out most corruption is very close by - in Hong Kong. By the early 1970s the territory was one of the most corrupt in Asia. This extended not just from the triads and their grass roots activities but right up the chain to senior civil servants, the police force and even the judiciary. In 1974 the then Governor, the much respected Sir Murray Maclehose, determined drastic action had to be used to clean up Hong Kong. He stablished the Independent Commission Against Corruption. In essence, this had its own police force recruited mostly from the ranks of British sergeants, a separate group of lawyers and even judges - all answerable only to the Governor. It took a few years, but eventually public trust in the ICAC was established after it had prosecuted many police officers, civil servants and even judges. One judge packed his bags as soon as the ICAC was set up and left the territory. One senior police official fled to the UK. He was eventually repatriated, charged, found guilty and served a term in prison. The ICAC was not a total panacea but it resulted in one of the most corrupt territories in Asia becoming one of the cleanest. At the end of the millennium, the people of Hong Kong were asked what were the most important events over the previous century. The establishment of the ICAC came very high on that poll - around #7.

I wish I could believe you. But when you come from the 2nd most wealthy family in this country with a net worth according to Forbes magazine of US$26.4 billion, you can buy your way out of almost any kind of trouble. As long as corruption remains endemic in the country and there is no change to the status quo, the mega-rich will never need to repay anythiing. This is Thailand!

Very true - and very sad. He had posted on this Board about his cancer which he had had treated in the King Chulalongkorn public hospital near Lumphini Park. He raved about the treatment he received and said it was a small fraction of what he would have had to pay in the private hospitals. Unfortunately he either had no medical insurance or very little. So when the cancer returned he had no money for more treatment. I recall he wrote he stayed with friends in Bangkok who let him sleep on their sofa. And then he passed away. No matter what your feelings about him, it was a very sad way to die. It also brought back on to the forum the absolute necessity of members who live in Thailand having some form of insurance to cover costly on-going medical treatment.

No. I am saying I cannot understand - nor accept - that the highest court in any land has a right effectively to overturn a long standing law in a city and as a result insist that citizens be given the right to carry hidden weapons. From what we have read over the last years, it is obvious that in the USA criminal histories are not always checked. And what about mental history? The right wing always blames the mental health issue. How is that to be checked? Only for those who have visited a psychiatrist? The mental health issue is to all intents and purposes a red herring. The checks and balances clearly do not work.

With respect I think your comment is not wholly accurate. Even in straight relationships, the man will often be the main breadwinner and provide for his wife/family. Many gay relationships with younger Thais may not include cash (I can think of several long term relationships where the Thais actually make more in good jobs than their farang partners) but will include payment for things like dinners and overseas holidays. My partner will very occasionally get a small amount of cash for a special purchase. Otherwise, we take care of our own expenses other than those I have listed above. I wonder if it is because most of those who read this site look for or are in relationships with commercial boys that there is this belief that every relationship will involve the transfer of regular amounts of cash. There are many which do not. I realise Thai social attitudes to gay men result in it being difficult to find Thais profession, but it is a lot more difficult I believe for visiting tourists than for those who live here.

Very sadly the number of deaths will almost certainly continue to rise. When fire has all but destroyed your lungs, the chance of life is extremely limited. And they are all so young! That the owner was provided bail is in my view monstrous.

Pardons are one thing. Making sure that those who have broken the law, especially in the case of murder, are incarcerated rather than their cases getting tied up in legal wrangling and the passing of presumably very large amounts of cash, is another. When will the government, the police and the judiciary finally capture the Red Bull heir and place him in jail where he belongs for many years? His crime in killing a policeman took place 10 years ago come next month. Why so much lying? The government's statement that he had been put on an Interpol wanted list was untrue, as it was easy for people like me to discover. That they say they are unable to find him is equally untrue, given that he has appeared under their noses in this country several times in recent years.

Throughout my career I have visited the USA 32 times and each time taken in several cities. I love much of the country and have very good friends there. But I think I have seen my last visit. The idea that the highest court in any country can order, in this case, New York where I always spent most of my time to overturn its no concealed gun carry policy so that anyone can carry a gun hidden on their person is anathema to me. Of course, that is not my only reason. But to use an inappropriate analogy, it's the icing on the cake.

Perhaps it is important to draw more recent members to this Board's Mission Statement and Code of Conduct. They have been in operation for many years when the Board was mostly about Thailand issues. Since they are clearly stated, I assume they apply equally to other countries on the expanded Gay Guides network and not just Thailand. Mission The Gay Guides Message Center forums are provided as a venue for the discussion and exchange of information about Thailand and other related issues. It is a place to submit queries and share experiences, information, concerns, news, and views, and maybe even a little humor for the benefit of members. Responsible, non-abusive, free and open dialog is fostered between members and between members and guys in support of the Gay Guides site mission. Abusive posts shall not be tolerated. Code of Conduct: Gay Guides membership is restricted to Adults Only. That Message Center members shall be expected to behave as adults is not an undue burden. The expected conduct standard for the Gay Thailand forums is the same as that observed every day in society by adults in our neighborhoods, towns, and cities. It is based on straightforward mature behavior, civility and courtesy that you find in a neighborhood Pub or Tavern where neighbors and acquaintances joined by occasional strangers come together to socialize in good temper, to share conversation, and to hoist, in moderation, a glass of favorite beer or wine or a cup of coffee or tea. These forums are NOT presented for abusive arguing and name calling, score-settling, thread stalking, or general cyberspace blood sport for the chronically bored.

That's OK for those who have a home in Hong Kong. If not, then I assume that means yet another 4 days in some hotel. That still makes it too expensive. My pre-covid visits were 5 or 6 times a year with 2 - 3 nights per stay. There is nothing that would keep me there for 7 days, unfortunately.

Much more informative and interesting than many posts on a similar topic. Under our happy exteriors in our retirement years, I think many of us have locked at the back of our minds the torments we went through when younger, some much more than others. Looking back, I enjoyed much happiness and success, but there were times when it was really tough being gay. As a teen, the fear of being found out and what that might entail. Keeping the secret as my brother and sister went out with their girlfriends and boyfriends. The temptation to just find a nice girl and get married, to appear 'normal' no matter that this would undoubtedly eventually cause misery for both parties. Then having found a pleasant way of adapting to my closet lifestyle there appeared on the horizon HIV/AIDS. Having just been through a couple of years of covid, few outside the gay community can surely understand these just-passed years were a mere inconvenience for most gay guys compared to the spectre of death from an act of love or just momentary passion that started little more than 40 years ago. I was visiting Bangok quite regularly during the 1980s and early 1990s before the researchers came up with medication that would ensure we no longer faced a death sentence. Perhaps oddly Thailand had been at the forefront of condom use - not for gay sex but to encourage couples to use them to reduce family sizes. Khun Meechai, the condom king, had all but totally taken the stigma away from using condoms. In the villages, he organised condom blowing competitions, dropping water filled condoms from a height to see if any did not explode - and so on. So common did they become that condoms became known as meechais. (His Bangkok restaurant Cabbages and Condoms is still a fun place to dine - it's just off Sukhumvit). With more Thais than foreigners making up the customers in many gogo bars, the need to wear condoms was more understood than in most Asia countries early in the pandemic. I always felt that prior to Bangkok becoming known as a gay sex destination, Manila with its gay clubs like Coco Banana and huge, barn-like 690 Retiro Strip with its seemingly endless stream of naked and near-naked boys attracted more foreigners. For anyone still in the closet it was first Asian paradise.

To each his own. I could never live in London or New York. Happy to visit but certainly not to live.

I find it unbelievable that the 27-year old owner of the club was freed on bail of 300,000 baht although he has to wear an ankle monitoring bracelet. Just 300,000 baht when more than a dozen have been killed due to his negligence? The police opposed bail. So who was paid off is my first assumption. And will he ever return to the court?

How true! And how many of this generation married primarily to escape from the possibiliity that their gayness would be discovered? After all, it was only in 1967 that being gay - being queer, a fag, "one of them" and all the other epithets used at the time - was decriminalised in England and Wales, and in 1980 in Scotland. I have four good friends of approximately my age who married and each had children. Three knew they were gay; the other that he was bisexual with a greater fondness for guys. The last opened up to his future wife before their marriage. She understood and realised that she would have to share him occasionally. Even so, their marriage was a happy one and they had 5 children. The other three all divorced - eventually - and set up home with a gay man. Only one divorce was reasonably amicable. This friend was from continental Europe and had moved his family to New York for work. One evening he was on the small balcony of their apartment tormented by the dilemma of constantly lying to his wife and as constantly cheating on her. He even thought of jumping. Then reason took over. The next evening he opened up to his wife. He was then staggered when she said to him in a sympathetic way: "I know!" Theirs was the amicable divorce. He soon moved to Thailand and found a Thai boyfriend. I was once at dinner in their apartment when his two children were staying. Another had a very messy divorce. He had met and fallen in love with a Thai who lived in London. They also now live in Thailand, but his earlier family refuse to speak to him. I continue to look up to the sky and say thanks for university. In that freer evironment with its less hide-bound tradtions, I met a fellow student and instantly had the most enormous crush. I was never sure if he knew I was pursuing him but we quite quickly became very good friends even though I hadn't the slightest idea that he might also be gay. Although it took almost a year, we did finally kiss and end up in bed. I realised then I could stay in the closet and enjoy relationships if I was careful about it. And that's how I lived before finally coming out.

The cities listed, agree with them or not, were not there for their attraction to visitors. They were for those who live in them. How many orchestras and theatres do you want in the city of your choice? Given the choice I'd rather regularly attend performances of the Vienna Philharmonic or the Royal Concertgebouw than orchestras in other cities. True, musicals and theatre are more difficult outside NYC and London if your only language is English. But to generalise the performing arts in terms of number of venues to visit is, to me, not a valid reason. Quality is more important than quantity. Besides, the cost of living in NYC and London would make it more difficult to attend many performances unless I lived outside the cities and commuted in.

Without being too specific, let's just say it was in the management of the arts, entertainment and related businesses. I think reading my posts some will certainly have guessed it was something like that. And knowing this, you can understand why I can never not work in some way or another. I was so fortunate in that my work was essentially my passion. As for all my travel, hardly a trip went by without my attending one or more operas, plays, musicals etc. In fact, I once flew from Bangkok to Chicago just to see an opera. Another time it was to Dresden. Now I am quite heavily involved in writing with a first book published in March and a second one about to go to the printers.

A report in today's Guardian newspaper reveals that another virus which has spread from animals to humans has been identified in China. "The novel Langya henipavirus (LayV) was first detected in the north-eastern provinces of Shandong and Henan in late 2018 but was only formally identified by scientists last week . . . Initial investigations into the virus were outlined in correspondence published by scientists from China, Singapore and Australia in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) last week. "There have been no deaths from LayV to date. Prof Wang Linfa of the Duke-NUS Medical School, a co-author of the NEJM paper, told the state-run Global Times that the LayV cases had 'not been fatal or very serious' so far and that there was 'no need for panic'. . . . Infectious diseases experts have long warned that the climate crisis and the destruction of nature will increase the risk of viruses being transmitted from animals to humans, in events known as 'zoonotic spillovers'”. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/aug/10/newly-identified-langya-virus-tracked-after-china-reports-dozens-of-cases