anddy

yes it is open, but currently closes at 2am, same as DJ, which makes it pointless IMO

Fully agree with you, makes zero (political) sense and is the epitome of hipocrisy. However, this pretty much explains it - "this is how things are done around here"

I don't think rimming so alien to Thais, I see it in Thai porn, both semi-professional and home-made amateur stuff all the time. Maybe they just don't like to do it with hairy farang asses? Very understandable, I wouldn't either! It's a matter or, as it were, taste after all 😉

you can have gonorrhea in your throat (an in fact in your anus, too) with hardly or no symptoms at all. A camera won't find that (stupid doctor to do that), but a swab with lab test. Very easy

spot on analysis. There were, in fact, some people and banners about political issues, especially gay marriage, legalization of sex work, but also and critically, issue 112. My Thai friend I was with, who is very royalist got very upset about that, asking what that had to do with gay issues. I tried to explain that gay issues are very political indeed in many respects and have always been ever since pride became a thing some 50 years ago. Prime example is gay marriage, doesn't get more political than that. But also various freedoms including a general freedom of expression and press freedom, which is let's say underdeveloped in Thailand (for 112 reasons, among others) and which the younger generation yearns for, gay or straight. But such arguments count for nothing for the "conservative" people if some holy thing is being involved.

joining the app just yesterday rings yet another alarm bell. DO NOT DO IT.

in terms of ease of travel, (hopefully) yes. In terms of crowds guaranteed not as the Chinese will definitely not be able to return by then. So still plenty of opportunity to visit the touristy yet awesome sites crowd-free.

correct. It is exactly opposite Nature Boy

well, I live here....

speaking of road safety in taxis, this would be a prime example: driver watching youtube while driving. Happened just yesterday.

when I was at Moonlight a few weeks ago, and another few weeks prior to that, some models seemed to have lost their muscles and either became just slimmer, or the muscles turned into fat, or both. Not so attractive to the muscle-lovers here I presume. The super muscly "floor boy" A, on the other hand, is in outstanding shape.

all Saunas of the R3 group (Sauna Mania, R3 Sauna, BKP, Baan JV) are open and do NOT have any age or nationality discrimination any more. Maybe Covid brought them to their senses. It's cheap too, Mania is 100 or 120 only As for going naked in Bangkok, Onsens (Yunomori Sukhumvit/Rama 4 and Sathorn Soi 10, Let's Relax Thonglor, Panpuri) are obvious places as nudity is mandatory there. While not gay, there is always eye candy and some gays will often be there. Panpuri seems more gay than others.

@PeterRS I really really recommend online over the somewhat convenient 90day service by Elite, because Elite require you to provide a truckload of paper documents, including a TM30 confirmation, which in reality nobody cares about AT ALL at immigration, especially not for 90day. In the (new) online system you need virtually nothing, not even the TM6 landing card number (as in the old online system). It really couldn't be any easier. One has to register for the system once, gets a non-changeable password to login and from there it's all smooth sailing.

I did the same a year ago. Convenience and peace of mind has a lot of value, so I don't regret the expense at all. However, it does not absolve us from the idiotic 90 day reporting. But that is WAY less of a nuisance than all the other stuff, as it can be done online in a matter of a couple of minutes. I've done it since it became relevant for me with covid and has worked like a charm (except one time when the system was down for some weeks or even month. The new system they introduced I think in December is even much much easier to use than the old one, so doing that is even more convenient than the other option to avoid an unnecessary trip to Chaengwattana, i.e. have the Elite people do it for you, That involves a trip too (to their office, twice). When the system was down last year I had them do it, but for me that trip is negligible as it is a 3 minute walk from me 😉 Anyway online is THE way to go with that. 2 minutes on the couch.

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+1

Sauna Mania, R3, BKP, Bann JV are all open as usual (all part of the Mania/R3 group, that's why I mention those four)

not at all. Since we here in this forum all know all the bars, I suspect it was maybe shot in one of the girlie gogo bars. Same same but different... testBKK has been around for many years. It's not a clinic per-se, but kind of an educational campaign for sexual health. They often had booths at big gay events such as the circuit parties as well as Songkran, handing out freebies with their logo on it (including tons of condoms, needless to say).

I've heard of Dragonfly, but not stayed there. There are a few other naturist resorts around the country and most (Dragonfly not anymore) are members of Naturist Association of Thailand, run by a nice Danish guy out of his own naturist resort in Bangkok called Barefeet Resort. They are all gay friendly. I have recently stayed at Peace Blue Resort in Phuket. https://thailandnaturist.com/all-naturist-resorts/ Apart from that, there is the Gay Homestay in Phuket (https://phuketgayhomestay.com/ ) and the Club One Seven in Chiang Mai (https://cluboneseven.net), which are both clothing optional (I have recently stayed at the Phuket one)

just came back to the forum after a hiatus of a few months (for no particular reason) and found your post here @tallamerica. When are you due to arrive? I have lived here in Bangkok for 8 years now and instead of written advice here I could offer you to meet up with me for coffee or a drink or dinner or something to talk about things. Since you said you're very new too gay settings I might be your guide, so to speak, to make you more comfortable than going alone. The same goes for a sauna visit. I have occasionally done such things with visitors from various countries before. Feel free to PM me if you're interested.

Yes, in principle such tourist tax is no big deal. Even German seaside resorts towns have (or sued to have) local tourism taxes collected through hotels. It might even be a good thing **IF** the money is being put to good use such as maintenance of national parks, keeping islands and beaches clean, improving tourist infrastructure, include a tourist health insurance etc etc. That's a HUGE "if" obviously, especially in Thailand. I think everyone ahs a good idea where large chunks of such money would end up.... Especially now that in the latest proposal such uses have been omitted as this damning editorial in teh Bangkok Post points out: https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/2195359/tourist-fee-could-be-nail-in-coffin However, this being Thailand, the last word is far from having been spoken and the whole thing will go through countless more iterations and might eventually be scrapped entirely for the time being, considering the timing is incredibly poor. In booming times, go for it, but when the revival of tourism is the highest priority for the sector then WTF.

Yes, by and large they still do that. However, a while ago they introduced a "home isolation programme" in Bangkok, and Bangkok only, but not because they had enlightenment from their dumbness, but simply because they ran out of field hospital space and thus were forced to do it. With case loads now declining I don't know if they reverted back to the incarceration of ALL positive cases.

Another blatant example of a site claiming to give "travel advice" I came accross the other day is this one: https://traveltriangle.com/blog/nude-beaches-in-thailand/ It actually claims that on the 5 beaches listed, which are regular, public beaches rather than some really hidden "secret" ones, it is possible to practice nudism. No way this is actually true.

what a crappy site, more about fear-mongering than useful, realistic advice. Reading it one gets the impression that Bogota is safer than Bangkok. what nonsense.... sounds like these things happen ALL the time. Of course they do happen as everywhere, but they are certainly by far not as common as this wording makes it sound.

@numazu I'd say don't expect to be able to make a trip to Thailand that's worth your while this year. The country is still virtually closed, the supposed "opening" through the Phuket Sandbox is way too onerous to deserve the label "opening". I don't see a true opening anytime soon really. They could have done a test- and qaurantine-free true opening for vaccinated guests during this 3rd wave, since they pose a close to zero risk to the covid situation in Thailand with their 20k domestic new cases every day. But they are still irrationally paranoid about foreigners. Go figure. As for nightlife and bars, hard to predict when they will open again and under what conditions. Now a "green card" is being touted in a way back to a "new normalcy". Any bar openings will probably gradual, with some remaining closed because it's not (yet) viable to open with the continued lack of foreigner. Sad state of affairs, predictions and planning are futile, so I advise to follow the single best strategy there has been since this began: wait and see.