PeterRS

Fascinating study. It was clearly geared at saunas further from the centre of the city targeting almost exclusively younger Thais. No mention of Babylon, Sauna Mania, Heaven or Chakran. We must note that the survey was issued 5 years ago and so the findings are not up-to-date. I also have to add there is nothing in the study or the AVERT report to suggest that it was this study on which the latest AVERT findings were based. However, several very interesting points arise from the 728 men who completed the study. (Presumably they gave correct answers - and there can be no guarantee that this was the case). - the average annual wage of participants was Bt. 300,000. Even today, thats quite high. In 2012 it was a lot higher * almost 60% had completed secondary school and/or university * those under 30 get most of their info about HIV from the internet and family members * 72.6% had had an HIV test but only 57% in the previous 12 months * only 7% stated they tested positive * 12% said they would prefer not to say (which rather implies they could be positive) * those over 30 were more likely to have been tested than those under 30 * 23.8% had never been tested * gay kings (tops) were much more likely to have been tested than gay queens (bottoms) Other interesting factors - * 59% went to the sauna primarily to find sex * 31% went primarily to spend time with friends * 86.1% had anal sex * of these, 41% were tops, 18% were bottoms and 39% said they were versatile * 96.8% used condoms and 92% water-based lube * less than 3% had sex with a non-Thai A few conclusions at the end of the Report - As stated this study found the patrons were mostly highly educated. Counting those who preferred not to respond to the HIV question, the assumption could be that up to 19% had positive HIV test results. That is still way below the AVERT findings. IMO a further assumption could be that those saunas catering for less well educated Thais would probably find a lesser knowledge of HIV and therefore a higher proportion of positive clients.

https://www.blowingwind.io/forum/forum/5-blowing-wind-main-forum/ The real problem with Blowing Wind is having to wade through many hundreds of threads and posts to find out anything about local gay venues and events in Singapore. Its far easier checking other countries as they are listed in a different Travel Forum. Also, be aware that the average age of contributors to BW is probably no more than mid-twenties. So you are obtaining info that is generally more of interest to the younger generation. A look on the opening page of 50 threads has these as the first - Nudity with a Touch of Wisdom #2[NSFW] DO YOU BELIEVE IN KARMA OR RETRIBUTION Sexy/Hot / Cute / Cool Guys That Caught My Attention How Did You Turn Gay? Share Your Fantasies Dasmond Koh's NoonTalk What is The Longest Number of Days U Have Not Cum? Polling Day for P{residential Election set for 23 September 2017 Rumblings of an Aged Gay Fall in luv wif local mb China's Singing Competition / Songs etc. The only one related to a gay venue is a 132 page thread on Keybox Sauna. But there may be a few bits of interesting info if you have the time. No gay travel sites are perfect but this one has quite a bit of condensed info on Singapore https://www.travelgayasia.com/destination/gay-singapore/

Interesting statistical research. I am still waiting for Uranus to provide readers with the basis of his alleged findings. Sorry Uranus but I continue to believe they do not exist. I believe this trend has been continuing for some years if not longer. For those who lived through the early stage of the HIV-AIDS pandemic, we knew that infection meant certain death. Many of us were terrified. We took the best precautions we could by always wearing condoms. But there was always the fear - what if one broke? With the advent of the antiretroviral drugs, the disease morphed in peoples minds into a chronic illness. Keep taking the tablets and you will be OK overtook the safe sex message. Older guys who had been used to bareback sex before the early 1980s found it too easy to revert back to what they believed was a more enjoyable form of anal sex. Funding for safe sex programmes in countries like Thailand were drastically reduced. Young guys were no longer bombarded with adverts on television with the Grim Reaper and other pretty gruesome images. For them, it was just another STD than can be treated with drugs. Now with PrEP there is an assumption that safe sex is not necessary. And that is so stupid because every doctor will tell you that PrEP is only about 90% safe. Does it protect you against the host of other STDs? No! https://www.hiv.gov/hiv-basics/hiv-prevention/using-hiv-medication-to-reduce-risk/pre-exposure-prophylaxis

At the start of the year it was announced that Bangkok would host a Gay Pride Parade at the end of 2017 after a gap of 11 years. Then the Royal Cremation was announced for date in December and the Pride Parade was postponed. The Cremation ceremony has been moved forward by two months but I have not found any further information about the Pride Parade. Elsewhere in the forum there is a post about this years Phuket Pride Parade taking a year off this year. The Bangkok Parades in the past were damp squibs dominated by the commercial gay venues rather than by individuals who really wanted to take part. I hope I am wrong but I just cannot see a Parade working here. Best that anyone wanting to see a real Parade make the short hop over to Taipei where 90,000 are expected for their Parade next month.

If you only book for one person you might have a problem in some hotels, but only a few. Just book a double room for 2 people with a large bed and you will have absolutely no problem. Certainly it never caused me any difficulties. I usually add my partners name along with mine when I make the booking. a447a makes a good point about the Marina Bay Observation Deck. I still think its not worth going there or the bar because there is a good chance you will find yourself queuing for some time with lots of tour groups ahead of you. Singapore has a lot to offer. Enjoy it and have fun.

I gave the source of my comments. I can find absolutely nothing in that AVERT paper to suggest the figure for Bangkok is based on those visiting saunas. Look at the sources on which that AVERT paper is based. Where does your comment come from? I have never heard of researchers visiting gay saunas to take HIV tests in Bangkok. Frankly I find it extremely hard to believe and really doubt your accuracy. The percentage of Thais in Bangkok who have sex with other men has been in the high 20s for quite a few years. There is nothing unusual in the figures.

All the above sounds extremely welcoming. But it masks what are the real facts as they stand at present. These are horribly simple. * Unsafe sex accounts for 90% of new infections * 50% of new infections were between MSM * In Bangkok it is estimated that 28.6% of Thai men who have sex with other men are infected with HIV * Prevention programs are geared to straight sex with little concentration on gay sex * HIV prevalence is "far greater" amongst male sex workers than their female counterparts - 12% amongst males whereas only 2% amongst females * Thais under the age of 25 have lower levels of HIV knowledge and HIV testing and counselling than those over age 25 * Homophobia still prevents Thais from accessing HIV services. All the above facts are from the 5 September 2017 update of the Avert Report on HIV and AIDS in Thailand. https://www.avert.org/professionals/hiv-around-world/asia-pacific/thailand

Keep in the back of your mind that Singapore (and Malaysia) still have the anti-gay laws on their statute books penalising certain gay behaviour. It is rarely enforced now in Singapore but its best not to walk around holding hands or being overly affectionate. Not sure if your friend has a job or works in a bar. If the latter he might need to have a cover story if he is asked about his work at Immigration. But the fact that you will be with him should make that a piece of cake. Several gay places in Singapore. Quite a few saunas - Keybox, 10 Mens Club, Cruise Club, ShoGun, TenMen. A few bars like Backstage and Tantric, as well as large mixed clubs like the long-established Zouk which has lots of gay guys. Not much going on during weekdays but always packed at weekends. For sighteeing take a look at the outside of the iconic Marina Bay Sands Hotel - but dont stay there. Its vastly overpriced and there are thousands of guests. If you want, you can pay to go up to the roof to watch the guests swimming in the infinity pool and get some photos, But its a waste of money! If you want a good view of the island, take a trip on the Singapore Flyer, the large Ferris-type wheel not far from the Marina bay Sands. The Merlion, the symbol of Singapore is worth a photo or two. Walking along Orchard Road is good for just looking at handsome Singapore guys. There are small China and India towns if thats of interest. Your friend will probably love the Universal Movies Theme Park on Sentosa Island. To get away from it all, I have always really liked the Jurong Bird Park. At night, walk along Boat Quay and have dinner at one of the open-air restaurants.

Some strange decisions given several airlines history. Air Asia X returning to Europe? Its flights to London were axed after a couple of years because there simply werent the passenger numbers and constant flight delays meant many passengers missed connecting flights at KL. Cathay Pacific also made some strange choices that didnt work out. It opened up Istanbul and then closed the route after about 18 months. It opened Gothenburg and closed that pretty quickly. Now Dusseldorf - another big mistake. Copenhagen seems a better bet although it will still have to compete for fares with the much lower biz class fares offered by Finnair which has very fast connections in Helsinki. Brussels seems weird to me. Amsterdam, Paris and Frankfurt are all pretty close by. What is surprising is that the mandarins in the airline pay little attention to south east Europe. No flights to Munich or Vienna which are each served from HKG by just one airline. Still whod want to run an airline?

Check here - http://www.babylonbangkok.com/en/accommodations

Totally agree with you there.

It is a huge work of art. Why on earth would you call it a "horror"?

Correct. Its not just the cleaning staff. High end hotels have room supervisors who check virtually all rooms daily. Several times I have been in a room when a supervisor has knocked at the door to check that everything is in order and the room has been cleaned to my satisfaction. When rooms are empty, they do the checks themselves. Of course there can always be the odd cleaner who cuts corners because these guys _ strange its often guys in China - only have a certain number of minutes to clean each room. But it is almost impossible for a traveller who can afford to stay in such hotels not to notice if bed linen is fresh or has the odd little wrinkles to show it was used before. The only scam I can see working for lesser quality hotels is the one reader mentioned earlier with pressing and ironing only instead of a full wash.

This is quite typical of many westerners visiting countries where haggling is not only common, but the norm in many parts. Yet in our working lives at home we are used to negotiating. Thats precisely what haggling is. So whats the difference, apart from the haggler usually adding a lot more at the outset? Look on it is just a bit of fun. I was once in a city in another country where I saw a street seller with a pin button I quite liked. He could not speak English and took out his calculator. After a lot of punching and calculating, he showed me the number 5 (less than $1)! I frowned, shook my head and was about to walk away. But I wanted the button. So I turned back, asked for the calculator, did the same length of punching numbers as he had and showed him the number 3. The look on his face was almost tearful - obviously a good actor. So we went through this rather elaborate routine yet again. This time the number was 4. Face saved on both sides, I paid up. I would have happily paid 3 times as much. It was just fun.

Ill add my two cents worth. I only took a gogo boy once out of Thailand for a week more than a decade ago. I had met him twice in the bar, each time took him off, great sex and I enjoyed his company. He was hugely excited at the prospect of travelling overseas. The problems arose after about 2 days. Not his fault - mine! I just found him increasingly less attractive as time wore on. By the last two days we did not even have sex. I was glad when I took him to the airport. The mistake i made was just not knowing him well enough before becoming infatuated and making the invitation. A few years ago I took my then Thai bf on a similar trip. He was not a commercial sex worker and had never even been inside a gogo bar. We had been together for several months and I just adored the time we spent together overseas. The two experiences could not have been different. So Id suggest two long time offs is not enough, especially in these days of mobile phones when he will want to communicate with all his mates all day and everyday with selfies taken almost every minute.

No issue I assure you and I am sorry if my post gave any offence. I for one am glad you do not post full articles and so it is up to other posters to read them. As you will note from my posts I do not visit the forum as often as most. So sometimes a response will be a bit out of date. In this case, I merely wished others to avoid nynakedtops experience. On the other hand, it will pay readers to keep looking at this traffic situation. That closure was an experiment. The intention is to replace the ramp quite soon and that will definitely require longer times to get to DMK.

Better to have read the full Bangkok Post article which makes clear Unfortunately reader did not include this in the OP.

It is correct. Exactly the same as the cremation of His Majestys older sister Princess Galyani. The procession from the Royal Palace will be very impressive.

Not sure I agree that it has been blown out of all proportion. A massive structure made largely out of teak and other flammable materials would produce an almighty conflagration that would put not only the VIP onlookers at serious risk. The sparks flying around could result in fires amongst the tens of thousands of spectators. It would be spectacular, but that is not how cremations are carried out. I am not blaming anyone. Merely remarking that Id have thought Thais might have at least watched Princess Galyanis cremation if not the earlier one of the Princess mother.

Seems to me that quite a few Thais and at least one bf havent much clue what goes on at a Royal Cremation even tho the last one was only 10 years ago!

Very few hotels even at the top end of the range now routinely change bed linen and towels every day. I have stayed at quite a few Marriotts, Intercons and Hiltons etc. Each now has a notice either on the bed or by the bedside advising it is hotel policy to change bed linen every third day of a guest's stay. If the guest wishes daily changing, that will be done if the card is left by the pillow. Towels are replaced if they are put into a basket or left on the bathroom floor. Those left on the towel racks are not changed. Not chainging linens and towels after a guest checks out is a last warning offence. I find that Report not just highly suspicious. I suspect it was faked. How is it that only western managed chain hotels were targeted? What about the Chinese hotels - like the huge Beijing hotel? I agree with Christian. 999 times out of 1000 it is absolutely impossible to get the same room as a friend stayed in at least 24 hours earlier. With the exception of a few regular guests, rooms are allocated by reception staff as and when they become available after check-out of the previous guest and cleaning. How come they checked out presumably by noon one day and then were able to get exactly the same room on check in presumably around 2:00pm the next? It beggars belief. The only way I know to guarantee the same room is not in fact to check out at all but just to hand the key over to a friend. He then goes to the room a day later where the first guy only stayed one night, it is perfectly natural that linens and towels would not be changed as the hotel cleaning staff assumed it would be the same guy staying for two nights and had not requested linen and towel changes. The possibility of the cleaning staff making a mistake in such high end hotels is also difficult to believe. If you go into a room to clean it and find no luggage, nothing in the bathroom, nothing on the desk, nothing in the wardrobe, nothing to indicate there might be a guest coming back, either the room would be completely cleaned or at least the cleaner would check with reception.

Thai Lion has a good reputation. Skytrax gives it a better overall score than several legacy carriers including British Airways.

I think you are wrong. The structure has contained within it an oven like structure and it is in this that the body is cremated. It was exactly the same for Princess Galvani. Anyone doubting this can see it very clearly on youtibe. It has already been announced that parts of the wooden structure will be dustributed to temples around the country. If it all went up in flames, there would be massive danger to the dignitaries attending.d Th body is presently lying in state in the Throne Hall of the Royal Palace. It will be taken from there to the crematorium.

That used to be true but major improvements have been made. In the latest Skytrax poll Garuda ranked 10th Best in the World. Some years ago it was banned form flying to both Europe and the USA. Incidentally it also came top of all airlines in the Best Cabin Staff category and 4th in the Best Economy Class. No rankings I can see for maintenance and safety but they seem a lot better now.

I would be more prepared to pay the extra Skytrain fees if the BTS would just add one more carriage to trains on the Sukhumvit Line. It is ridiculous that one was added on the Silom Line about 2 years ago but not on the Suk Line. Why open many new stations and not increase space on the trains? Travelling at almost any time of day now the trains are quite packed. Rush hour often means waiting for 2 or 3 trains before you can get on. I also fail to understand the pricing of BTS fares versus taxi fares. In most cities the subway fare is a small fraction of the taxi fare. In Bangkok, two people can travel in a taxi (outside rush hours) for the almost same price as two Skytrain tickets. That is no encouragement to get people off the roads. Taxi fares are certainly extremely cheap. Perhaps the answer is to hike them considerably. but not before more carriages are added on the Skytrain system.