DivineMadman

Yeah. Agree. I think there are lots of scenarios possible, but, personally, I think the relative success of the move to Patpong has shown the basic soundness of the business model, so even if places close temporarily or one or even two don't survive, the scene will return to normal. And some bars, of course, are still doing great business. I was at Lucky Boys the other night and it had a good crowd. People kept coming in during the show and by the end of the show they were smushing customers together to try to make more room to find places for people. A good very mixed crowd - including some locals. Good fun show as always. 18 guys in the "big cock" show - perhaps a sign of the times, with more guys opting for the extra money to participate. One or two of the guys might not have technically qualified for a big cock show, but kudos to them for participating - average, travel-size cocks and all. I do think the way the whole staff of Lucky Boys starts the show by singing and dancing along to YMCA is absolutely brilliant and so joyful. (Maybe they did one verse more than I would have liked.). Sort of like a Club Med or cruise when all the staff sing. And I will hand it to her, the dreaded mammasan Miss Lucy did a great job for the song. Oh, almost forgot. My friend and I couldn't get an exact count, but more than 40, possibly 50 guys in the regular rotation. So that's nice.

I don't know. I was assuming it meant private rooms where men who have just met can go and do calisthenics in private.... I don't think the whole place was shutting down.

I was assuming people who cared had already found out, but just in case, Babylon posted a few days ago that they have closed the "Rest cabins" in Building B. Whatever that means. Recommended workaround is bring guy(s) to your room. Rinse. Repeat.

If you scroll through the posts it looks to be a bit more than a year old. Certainly from the pictures it's not a place for sex pats, more for local guys (gays). It looks more like it would be in the category of Fake Club, etc. in BKK, which also - appropriately enough - aren't in Thai Puan. It was so easy to find with a simple search on google maps that I do wonder wonder about the post...., but one purpose of the forum is to gather information, so I went ahead and answered it. Too much free I time, I think.

I got this from Google Maps 38 Sirintron Rd, Tambon Chang Phueak, Mueang Chiang Mai District, Chiang Mai 50300 Best bet would still be to contact them via F'book messenger...... streetview

If you end up being quarantined, I'll go, get some food from there and bring it to you.

yes. but still.... I do wonder if the WHO went out with that 3.4% just to try to scare governments into action. I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt and say more likely that was the number their data showed, inflammatory or not, so they published it. Some HKG scientists just put it more in the 1.4% range https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3074015/university-hong-kong-researchers-put-covid-19 and UMN has some data about 2.3%. http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2020/02/study-72000-covid-19-patients-finds-23-death-rate. (UMN. hehehe) So it does seem that the scientists involved, even if we put aside the actual percentage, do seem to be saying it's worse than the regular flu. By multiples. And spreads very very easily. Not sure how much more we need to know. And even if the 80% don't have it bad, that 20% (!!!) number requiring serious medical attention (including hospitalization) is a big, expensive number and puts strains national healthcare systems. 20%!!! Plus of course their pain, suffering. This is always a tricky one. Yes that old or sick person was going to die - possibly in a year or two - anyway. Still - ugh - does that make losing those last few months/years meaningless if it could be avoided through government/socitety action? hmmm The great miracle of COVID-19 is that it is reported to be particularly mild for young children.

There's the health risk to yourself (+1) - young healthy guys probably not something to worry about, but up to you. How safe is it to stay in any of our home countries these days? The health risk to others - the risk that you (+1) are exposed, get it and are asymptotic or minor ignorable symptoms ("just tired after all that partying"), in good faith go home and uniwttingly expose others back home. A legit concern. That's the whole point of the blanket travel restrictions. As in any communicable disease situation like this, the potential impact on others is surely as important (or more) than on one's self. But right now Thailand isn't on the bad lists and the number of people with COVID-19 is very low. [yes - some people say the reported numbers are suspiciously low. Who really knows?] My plan is to be in home quarantine when I get back to the states regardless, just to be safe for others. Impossible to quantify this one? The inconvenience risk that Thailand goes on a high risk list in the week that you are here and you (+1) are put on some sort of home quarantine when you go home. Maybe not that much of an inconvenience at all. hehehe Presumably you're checking your respective travel health insurance policies for coverage in case you are stuck here. Bangkok isn't empty. Still lots and lots of people around. I just saw a friend's vid from DJ last night and it quite looked reasonably busy. Perhaps a bit more comfortable to dance. I would expect lots of your fellow circuit guys to cancel, but surely not all. So you won't be alone in BKK. Still, when I looked a couple of days ago tickets were available at the early-bird price, which makes me wonder if the event was cancelled for lack of bookings. With Pattaya and Khon Kaen cancelling main Songkran activities, despite the Tourism Minister saying all will be normal-ish, I think it's 50-50 that Bangkok does the same and cancels the main Songkran water events. So far nothing about Fake Club having its usual outdoor Songkran party. Hmmmmm. Still, I think it's very, very, very hard not to have lots and lots and lots of fun in BKK.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety disagrees. And they have numbers to back it up in the U.S. because speed limits were reduced to conserve oil but then allowed to rise again -- and fatalities increased. "An IIHS study examined longer-term changes. During 1993-2017, a 5 mph increase in the maximum state speed limit was associated with an 8 percent increase in fatality rates on interstates and freeways and a 3 percent increase on other roads (Farmer, 2019). In total, there were an estimated 37,000 more traffic fatalities during these years than would have been expected if maximum speed limits in 1993 had remained in place. In 2017 alone, there were more than 1,900 additional deaths." https://www.iihs.org/topics/speed#by-the-numbers

yeah....but..... WHO just said fatality rate for COVID-19 is 3.4%. According to the LA Times, the fatality for regular seasonal flu last year was .15% in the U.S. (so possibly higher in some parts of the world??). Even if regular flu has fatality rate of 1%, COVID-19 would by one measure - fatality rate - be quite a lot worse than the normal flu Same LA Times article said that Spanish Flu fatality rate was 2.5%. And I think people thought the Spanish Flu was really bad. Maybe the WHO number will come down. It does seem that with testing being so inconsistent the "denominator" in the fatality fraction can't be that reliable. We can hope. https://www.latimes.com/science/story/2020-03-05/flu-killed-more-people-coronavirus-covid-19 When you play out the percentages into large populations, they become numbers of real human beings and it does seem that this is an area where we would rather avoid the deaths. I had a professor once who pointed out that in the U.S. if you really wanted to save lives, lower the speed limit. Statistically it saves lives. But no one cares about that. Sometimes we care. Sometimes we don't.

Mad Face Food Week is scheduled this year for 13-15 March. (I know, not really a week ). It's held on an open lot along the River. Easy to get to - just a short walk from the cross-river ferry at Saphan Taksin. Beers, lots of different good food to sample. Live music. Nice fun friendly young/mid/mixed crowd. I think it' 100B entry and that includes a drink. They have a series of chef's meals scheduled but those look too pricey for me. Certainly check to make sure it's not COVID-cancelled before going. https://www.madfacefoodweek.com

I agree the health minister is a bit of a buffoon. I read somewhere that he has ambitions. We can only hope his mishandling of all of this stuff puts an end to that. Personally, outside the magnifying glass of this forum (and similar) and some the Thailand-centric press, I don't think the minister's push-me-pull-you on his Facebook page is really going to make a difference to travelers' plans, and if it does, it will be very tiny and just at the margins. It was only up for a few hours. Of course with the numbers so small right now, every incremental bit hurts. But I still doubt anyone from Belgium - to pick at random - is not going to visit Thailand because of this latest kerfuffle. This virus is having such a huge impact on travel, I think this bit of buffoonery just gets lost in the noise, if it ever even was noticed by John Q. Traveler. In any event, it's all been clarified. Countries at this point are being taken on and off the danger zone lists all the time, so to be fair, tourists from a country like Italy, etc., have to be used to all of this "you're not really welcome" treatment being a possibility. And we all need to be prepared for our country - or a country we visit - to be added to the lists like this. It's not just a Thailand issue. I think everyone who is traveling now understands that uncertainty is the rule of the day. Is any of us really confident that our flights won't be cancelled or schedules changed? I head to the U.S. for a bit in a few weeks. I am fully prepared for Thailand to be on the CDC high risk list requiring home quarantine. Vietnam was on a higher risk level, then off, and may go back on. The 14 day home quarantine rules are just the way to say "let's impose the rules the doctors say we should" without the heavy-handed absolute prohibition on visitors from, for example, China. It's the same thing the U.S. has instituted for high risk countries. I can't fault Thailand for it.

The author has been giving talks/book signing events in BKK lately (FCCT, SEA Junction and I am sure others). I hope he gives more - Very entertaining and informative if you can catch one.

Good catch!!

There is a 3 year gap in the thread. So maybe with that in mind we don't have to conclude that the OP is clueless. All he's saying - now - is that after three years his partner (and he) is (are) going to apply for a K-1 visa. I don't think the OP ever said his partner has been to the U.S., so I just don't understand the issue about a 10 year visa. Just seems to be off-point. I think all he said was after three years they have decided to get married and will try for a K-1 visa. As a first visa for his partner. These days it is quite difficult to get a visa to the U.S. K-1 is an option. I most certainly do know someone --a former working guy -- and his partner (now husband) who successfully got a K-1 visa to the U.S. and then got married in the U.S. It happens. Not saying it's easy. But it can be done. I also know other former working guys who have run the gauntlet and are in the U.S. on visas.

Actually when I used those words I wasn't particularly thinking of KT. Just like I wasn't accusing him of racism. I simply trying to articulate when I go bat-shit at people. I do think KT can be taken to task for (1) saying "troll" without really a compelling argument for why it has to be true and necessary and (2) saying the members of the forum who might think it's possible OP is not a troll are "idiots." So KT tells us he has a superpower to see the truth through the internet and the rest of us are "idiots". His word. "idiots". If he said that in his experience it takes more spade work to make a go if it, etc., that would be one thing. But he didn't. So to me it seems you are defending the post he didn't actually make. The post he actually did make, maybe harder to defend.

I love that story. I don't think anyone was forecasting the guaranteed success of the OP's (and his partner's) adventures in love. But they are grownups and entitled to try.

Well somebody is a grumpy-puss today! The absence of the info about letters, mails, etc., doesn't necessarily mean the whole thing is a fake. No one asked for all that sort of information (thank goodness). No need to submit audited financials to submit a post. In fact, I think an excess of details is often an indication of falsehood. It is of course possible that the OP is trolling, but it is also possible that the OP simply decided not to share the info about whether he's providing a monthly allowance or anything like that. Fine with me. And who really cares, anyway. There are different kinds (species) of trolls. Most are harmless. Personally, I think the "I'm a virgin" posts have a whiff of troll-ery about them. But so what? I usually ignore them. A little collective fantasy - and often useful info gets collected into a convenient single thread. No harm done and if you (or I) don't like it, you (or I) don't have to read it and you (or I) don't have to comment on it. I think trolls who spread false information, violate privacy, spew racism, offensive derogatory over-generalizations, etc., can and should be called out, as they should be in real life Personally, and this is just me, I think just popping up to spew a bit of unnecessary venom is trolling in its own way. The forum doesn't check IDs and - although I've been fortunate to meet many active Forum members - the members I have not met I always assume are a bit of created "persona." And that's fine. No need to sit in the corner and shout "Troll! Troll!"

It's a good quick read for language nerds. Article -- How Thai language reinforces hierarchy

The annual Siam Society Book Fair is this weekend, 29 Feb & 1 Mar from 10:00am to 5:00pm at the lovely Siam Society just a short walk from the Asoke BTS station. http://www.siam-society.org/library/2002Bookfair.html Visitors are advised to bring their own bags to take home all those good books.

I do the same. I recently came back from Malaysia and the time between last passenger getting off the plane to when we were allowed to board was less than 15 minutes. Thorough cleaning much less sterilization doesn't seem likely in that period. (AirAsia). Without being unduly cynical, perhaps just worth observing that the doctor quoted in the Bloomberg article has connections with IATA.

A very sobering/depressing article in The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/02/covid-vaccine/607000/

In the same building as Arena but not really similar except all male staff. It's an upscale massage place. On the pricier side. Masseurs usually fully (or mostly ;0) clothed. Very good massages. I always leave happy.

I haven't seen lap dances but I've seen customers have guys line up and flash their junk (occasionally for a fondle) for 100-200 and I've seen guys go over so the customer can very quickly suck the guy's cock (not a proper blow job, more something for the fun of it, I guess) for probably similar tips, so my guess is yes, it can be arranged. Not something that all the guys would do in front of their friends, so you might not get your choice, but almost certainly there's going to be someone game. One of the "anything for a buck" guys. I wouldn't expect it at Jupiter, Moonlight, Lucky Boys and maybe Dream Boys, just because they offer a more wholesome family entertainment set up. But maybe. And it certainly wouldn't hurt to ask (with some explaining because not every mamasan would know what's expected.

MRT have introduced temperature screening at the busiest stations (according to the MRT Facebook page), including Silom and Sukhumwit. I don't know if the BTS is following suit. Now open season on whether the device they are using requires direct physical contact (in which case - eew, are they wiping it off between uses?) or is he just doing it wrong (in which case, )