Gaybutton

That's the problem. When planning a trip to Thailand I suggest taking very seriously the possibility that they could close the borders, both coming and going, without warning. They've done it before and a lot of travelers found themselves stuck in Thailand, some for weeks, some for months, unexpectedly - with no way to return home. I definitely would plan for that possibility. I would not suggest brushing it off with an "it won't happen to me". When people say it won't happen to me, that's when it happens - to them. Speaking only for myself, considering past history and precedent, the way things are right now, and where things seem to be headed, the last thing I would be doing would be planning international travel without a damned good reason. I would wait until things stabilize and stay that way and I would wait until the places I want to go, including the bars, are actually open. I would not rely on when the powers-that-be say they can open. And the next consideration - I will repeat what I've said before. There is a big difference between the bars can open and the bars will open. I have no idea how many bars, especially go-go bars, plan to open as quickly as possible, assuming they survived to be able to open at all. Even when they do open or reopen, how many boys will there be working in the bars? If you are planning a trip to Thailand, make sure you're not wearing rose colored glasses while doing your planning. Remember - think with your brain, not your crotch.

Not a disaster - at least not yet. But the powers-that-be seem, for whatever their reasons, to be turning it into an artificial disaster.

For me it depends on the mood, whether I get to choose the boys, and their "pre-massage" behavior, meaning whether it looks to me like I will have two boys who are not shy with me or each other, doing what I want, and whether they will have fun doing it

You might be right. Maybe I'm naive, but to me doing it that way seems awfully farfetched. Then again I look at what is going on in American politics. That alone is enough to convince me that your take on it perhaps makes sense after all.

That did not work. They have plenty of ways to exercise their power without destroying an entire industry their country's economy depends on. Of course the way things work around here, it would come as no great surprise to me if it turns out you are exactly right. As far as the length of my "I Don't Get It" list and how many items are on it - after all these years living in Thailand, think of the number of stars in our galaxy . . .

The part on my "I Don't Get It" list is why. Why would the Thai powers-that-be want to use the Omicron variant to shoot its own tourism industry in the foot and put thousands of people out of work yet again? What's in it for them? I have not been able to come up with a logical answer, even by Thai logic standards, for that one.

Who's talking about whether life is fair? I'm talking about whether prices are fair. Don't you think that's just a little bit different? Like I said, I don't mind paying a fair, reasonable price beyond what Thais pay. But I mind very much when somebody is trying to rip me off. The venue owners of some of those places that try to rip-off people don't mind at all having their hands out, but if the situation was reversed and they find themselves having to pay an unreasonable price somewhere, they would be the first ones to start screaming. To me it's very simple - if you don't mind paying the price, have a good time. If you do mind, then don't go.

I agree about 90%. Dual pricing is not a "one size fits all." There some things where I would agree dual pricing is fair. Others where I think it is unfair and unacceptable. Also, I know of no standard amount or percentage more that foreigners should pay as opposed to Thais. Some of the actual amounts are fair enough. Others are my idea of price gouging and sheer greed. And sometimes I wonder just who it was who decided that dual pricing at this venue or that venue should even exist, along with how much more foreigners should be charged. Sometimes it is reasonable and sometimes it is outrageous. In short, when it is truly fair I have no problem with it. But sometimes I see it as nothing more than a scam and rip-off. When that happens I usually won't go to that venue. I'll just have to try to survive somehow without going wherever that was.

The good news is, according to a report in today's - January 4 - Pattaya Mail, restaurants outside the city part of Pattaya at least so far are ignoring the edict. The last paragraph of the article says: Full article: https://www.pattayamail.com/latestnews/news/pattaya-opens-4-free-screening-points-to-meet-covid-19-test-mandate-385101

Yes, the masks come off in restaurants. Meanwhile, up to now, how many people contracted Covid eating in restaurants? To the best of my knowledge, there have been no incidents of large or small numbers of people getting sick after eating in a restaurant. I don't recall even one person getting sick that was traced back to a restaurant. Are they basing this edict on fact and data or is the idea that eating in restaurants is dangerous something they simply made up? If it's really so risky to eat in restaurants, then why is Chonburi the only province out of all of Thailand's 77 provinces and Pattaya the only major city in all of Thailand to impose this rule? Have I missed something? Is it really more likely to get Covid in Pattaya restaurants than restaurants anywhere else in Thailand? Should we now expect other provincial governors to start saying, "What a great idea! Let's do the same here."? I have not been afraid to eat in restaurants and I see no reason to become afraid. The way some of these people drive, I'm much more afraid trying to go to and from a restaurant than I am once I get there . . . The good news is the information I'm getting is so far Pattaya restaurants have not been complying. I am hearing that people going to restaurants not only have not been asked to do the Covid test, but have not been asked to produce any kind of proof or documentation at all.

Maybe, but when I go to a restaurant the only people I might be sitting next to are the same people I went with to the restaurant. Other tables are far enough away that it shouldn't be a problem, even with masks off. Another way of looking at it - in a restaurant you might be sitting close enough to strangers, but it's the same strangers throughout most of your meal. The odds are they're not carrying Covid whereas in a grocery store you come in close contact with dozens of people. Even though it might only be a second or two, that's enough to spread Covid. When the local news publishes places where people did pick up Covid, it is always places such as grocery stores, department stores, and the like, along with labor camps. I don't recall even one that was traced back to a restaurant. Why is the face mask, hand disinfectant, and temperature check enough to enter any other venue, but not enough to eat in a restaurant? That's the part that makes no sense to me. In my opinion, going to this extreme in restaurants is both absurd and unjustified. Oh well, the powers-that-be forgot to ask my opinion . . .

If that actually happens, will you be surprised? They won't have to evacuate the city. People will leave by their own choice. I hope this won't result in massive free food lines and lost jobs yet again. This bizarre edict is on my "I Don't Get It" list. It makes no sense. Why would anyone be more likely to get Covid in a restaurant than in any other venue? I'm closer to many more people in a grocery store than I am in a restaurant. Pattaya is a tourist dependent city. What kinds of tourists will go to Pattaya and have to deal with this when they can go anywhere else - and I mean anywhere else - in Thailand and walk right into a restaurant perfectly normally? And as a local living in Pattaya, I'm not going to deal with this. I'll either do my own cooking at home or order from one of the food delivery services. This rule is going to help what? They talk about learning to live with Covid - so let us live . . .

My guess is something went wrong with the WiFi, not the board. It works perfectly for me and I have experienced no such problem.

I think most of us already know the real reason - and you got it right . . . In case nobody noticed, as far as I know not a single case of Covid, including the Omicron variant, has occurred due to any of the restaurants, bars, or even bars pretending to be restaurants being open. So, if the current governmental policies remain in place and the police are busy closing down venues, what exactly are they protecting us from?

You are not mistaken. Charlie was a nice guy, but unfortunately a very heavy drinker, which eventually had the unsurprising effect. Most nights he could be found at the Yaya bar after the Kaos bar went out of business. Charlie did have a Thai boyfriend, I believe a Chiang Mai native if I remember correctly. I have no idea what became of him after Charlie's death. He disappeared from Pattaya. He most likely ended up back on the rice farm.

I am surprised by the behavior of the boys. With so few farang currently present I would have thought they would be trying their best to entice an off or at least a drink and a tip. Apparently not. Here we are, concerned about the bars reopening. It never would have occurred to me that the boys would show such little interest. If the bars reopen and customers find that kind of attitude from the boys, then why bother to reopen at all? If I had gone to a bar and was treated like that, it would be a hell of a long time before I'd be a customer there again. If I were the owner of a bar with boys behaving like that, I would be furious. Entertaining and attracting customers - that's their job. They're not supposed to be there to goof around by themselves and virtually ignore customers. The bar owners better wake up and figure out that it is going to take much more than simply reopening to attract a profitable customer base. They better have a little chat with the boys and make sure of an attitude change - like right now.

In Thailand? Please give me about 15 minutes to finish having my little laugh. And if you really want to start laughing, that controversial health minister - the one who called us "dirty farang" announced today that he is "ready to be Thailand's next Prime Minister".

I look at it a little differently. I don't have a preference. I look at all the apps. Whichever one has the boy I like best and if he is available, that's my favorite app - for that day . . .

Police ban the appetite for booze in Jomtien’s gay street By Barry Kenyon December 11, 2021 A police raid at the Jomtien Complex, sometimes known as Super Town, has effectively closed the open-street gay bars just one week after they had reopened. It had been widely assumed that the bars were in the clear serving alcohol provided that they had obtained the SHA (Safety & Health Administration) certificate issued by government bodies. However, Pattaya police and officials from the Department of Provincial Administration, which issues licenses, pointed out that the SHA certificate covers many types of businesses including restaurants, accommodation, travel agencies, health spas, souvenir shops etc. The SHA is not in itself a go-ahead to serve booze. The other requirement is that the business is licensed to serve food and – crucially – has eating as its main income earner. Bars which serve booze as the mainstay, but offer food to customers as a sideline, are not deemed to be eligible under the Chonburi governor’s provincial edict of December 4 which specifies “restaurants”. They must also have the SHA certificate which requires a vaccinated staff, satisfactory sanitation and high-level public services. The popular Yupin’s restaurant in the Complex is an example of a fully-qualified business which can legally serve beer, wine and spirits to dining customers. Police captain Tanakit said that the bars in question were really posing as eateries to justify selling alcohol, but this was not the purpose of the provincial edict which was designed to limit the spread of Covid. If bars wished to operate, they must offer food and soft drinks only and should close by 9 pm. Making a commercial profit on this basis is a no-no, although one Complex bar has been open for coffee and cakes for several weeks already. Properly licensed restaurants with SHA certification can serve alcohol from 11 am to 2 pm and 5 pm to 11 pm under the provincial decree. Police added that they had received reports in the last few days that parties had been held in the offending bars until well past midnight with minimal attention paid to social distancing and mask wearing. No bar owners, staff or customers were arrested during the initial raid, but warnings were issued in clear language. The Jomtien Complex, prior to the pandemic, was the center of Pattaya’s once-famed gay scene with competitors Boyztown and Sunee Plaza already well past their prime. Police later told reporters that they were not specifically targeting gay venues, pointing out that their raids until now had been on non-gay establishments operating illegally. But bar workers in the Complex commented that a merry Christmas 2021 now seems out of the question. Government spokesmen have said that the intention is to allow night life to operate normally from mid January. But this depends on the success of the national vaccination program, the level of Covid infections and, in particular, the behavior of the Omicron virus variant. Meanwhile, Pattaya’s well-known nighteries such as Walking Street and Sexy Soi 6 remain mostly shuttered. Shaking off the resort’s ghost town image is proving very difficult indeed. https://www.pattayamail.com/latestnews/news/police-ban-the-appetite-for-booze-in-jomtiens-gay-street-382600

I walked through this evening, Saturday December 11. Dead as a doornail. Mostly dark. A couple restaurants were open. A couple massage shops were open. The only bar I saw open was @Home bar. I doubt there was a total of more than 25 boys in the entire complex.

Where did I say anything about thinking I could make a case?

That was a great experience. I'm glad you shared it with us. I really like that story.

I'm usually the same when eating, but sometimes there are things worth getting distracted for. Besides, if the boys are wearing next to nothing in the restaurant, if the food isn't any good WHO CARES . . . ?

Why not? If the waiters were clad only in underwear, guess which restaurant I'd be eating in most often . . .

Fully clothed? That's a lot of slack. And I don't know why they are fully clothed or even wearing jeans. I know of no rules that say they can't be in their briefs, as before. I remember the good ol' days when in some bars they weren't fully clothed. They were fully naked - not even the briefs. That is going back quite a number of years now, but it was true. However, for me, the boys in briefs are much more appealing than completely naked.