Londoner

The Military's tight control of the media probably ensures that a lot of the protests remain unreported. I've seen them in Chiang Mai on a number of occasions, most recently the last time I was there in January. Seemed to be mainly young people, perhaps students, just as we were having breakfast. You wouldn't find British students protesting so early in the morning! They were marching around the road next to the moat next to the Old city. A couple of hundred, I'd guess. I wanted to join them but P persuaded me otherwise.... probably correctly!

The Government has got off very lightly following its rigged elections after staging yet another coup against a democratically elected government. This is a conversation I often have with my boyfriend; why the passivity? is it just fear of the consequences of dissent? or are there other forces and influences at work? I can relate to fear- the massacre of Red Shirts without any consequences was, and was meant to be, a warning. But other populations face equally severe consequences and take the risk. Is it religious? is it to do with the monarchy? Or are there other reasons? I wonder. But I agree that the financial crisis will soon bite, even if it hasn't done so already. And it's not just the likes of Pattaya that will be hit but Isaan et al whose citizens receive much of the money that is made from tourism through its exported workers.

I'd add to that the high percentage of non-city dwellers. Many Provinces have no large towns and have hardly been touched.

I've been thinking....are the guys keeping their masks on in flagrante delicto?

My guess is that the no-quarantine arrangements will be reciprocal; both governments will have to agree to lift restrictions at the same time. By the way, my boyfriend has an extension to his house in Kamphaeng Phaet, thanks to the virus. If the October trip meets the same fate as the June one, as seems likely, I'm bloody well spending that money on myself!

I suspect that this a revised list of those countries which the FCO deems safe for us to travel and not the "no quarantine list". Not quite the same. However, this government is often confused, so who knows? At least it makes insurance easier to find.

No infections in Thailand for more than four weeks. I'm expecting further countries to be added to the list. Originally, it was reported that there would be seventy-five. Of course, its posssible that the Thais don't want us and asked to be taken of the list to avoid problems later. Still clutching at straws.

It is claimed that the UK Government -when or if it is eventually able to get its act together- is planning to lift quarantine requirements for visitors from a large number of countries. The Bangkok Post thinks that Thailand will be on the list, as it should be in view of its success in fighting the virus. If this is true it's good news for those of us straining at the leash to return to our boyfriends . It may encourage the Thais to consider adding the UK and its vast tourist potential to favoured countries in a couple of months and, of course, any proposed trip to Thailand for me depended on being allowed back to my home without some form of imprisonment. The full list was due to be released today; now it's intimated that it'll be tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

Vinapu always cheers me up! October has been my hope for some time but I fear that, even if Thailand has awoken from the pandemic, air travel may be unavailable. Please tell me I'm wrong.

Only very occasionally in my twenty-five years association with Thailand has the country had a government elected fairly by popular vote; and when it has had one, the military invariably forces it out. Food queues and reliance on charity tend to create social disorder, wherever they are.

I too have often heard the phrase, "It is sad that we cannot trust the guys we meet." The words are spoken by Thais and they are talking about us when we promise more than we deliver.

The usual response from me....Agate! P and I love it; after decades of travelling in Thailand it's our favourite. A warm welcome to gay visitors. Book direct for the best prices, not on line and certainly not on Agoda etc. Email the reception. Too expensive? Zing, also gay-friendly, is nearby.

Don't mock; sounds as if he's in with a chance of making it as Trump's successor. Black lives Matter but Liars Become Presidents.

Joking apart, if you helping the disadvantaged, you are making merit even if you don't subscribe to Buddhist philosophy. To know that you are needed and are able to answer that need gives meaning to our lives. Thais have given me so much of the decades (including but not only pleasure) that I "owe" them. Particularly P!

Don't forget the impact of shame on the part of parents who can't feed their children. A "real man" makes sure his family eats; if he doesn't he loses his sense of manliness. I recall a few years ago when I was back in Palestine that a Gaza father saw his children picking-up and trying to eat a discarded, rotten orange because there was no food in the house because of the siege. He hanged himself.

Recent news from Pattaya suggests that the distribution of free meals to the unemployed is facing the problem that the givers are struggling to maintain their generosity. I doubt whether the government will be able, or willing, to step-in make up the short-fall. Over the centuries and all over the world, extreme shortages of food have led to social unrest and Thailand has a long history of dissatisfaction with military and right-wing governments.

I've always taken the opposite view. With one guy, in particular, he came to me strongly recommended by an experienced expat but for me could do nothing. He seemed disinterested and withdrawn. He had come on time and wasn't rude or aggressive; we just didn't connect. I took the view that it may be that my style just didn't work with him....my friend was much more out-going than me. Perhaps had I been more assertive and demanding sexually and socially, he'd have pleased me as much as he pleased my friend. And after all, had I just informed him that I would that I would to him what I wanted to do, he may well have submitted. That was just not my style. I always sought a connection. I gave him the minimum of the time (1000) and let him go after twenty minutes of failure. There are two more aspects to consider; firstly, the possibility of a public scene which I'd be very bad at dealing with. And secondly- speaking as one of the alt-Right's snowflakes- who knows what his situation was? There was genuine hunger fear of losing rooms at the time of which I speak; 1000 was nothing to me. Possibly it was vital for him.

I understood that Babylon was soon to close ( I read this somewhere before the advent of the coronavirus) and assumed that it would never re-open. Accordingly, I'm rather pleased with this latest news and, while I have no desire to go there under these conditions, I am hoping that it will one day be a sauna again. To be honest, unless I need to be in Bangkok for a flight, a visit to Babylon is the only reason I stay a couple of days there.

Vinapu is right but we older guys (or at least me) fear that soon, travel to Thailand may be beyond us. The months of sanuk we are missing now may not be available.

And I'll there too....as long as the vaccination is validated in Thailand. With all the research taking place all over the world, I foresee competing claims getting in the way.

It is astonishing that this still a topic of discussion. In some ways, it is a remnant of the west's imperialism; everything is OK for us at home due to improvements in treatment, so why consider those benighted parts of the world where, for some, Hiv is still a death sentence, or at least involves a lifetime if struggle?

The efforts to find effective vaccinations for MERS and SARS were unsuccessful. It may be that better treatment may be the best hope.

Very true, assuming we can believe the figures. My boyfriend's province (Kamphaeng Phaet) has barely been touched and yet he has observed the lock down conscientiously, including not going to the hospital when I wanted him to. I suspect that maybe Thai citizens have obeyed the restrictions better than we have here in the UK. However, what surprised me the most is that the ratio of deaths to infections is much higher here. I assume the treatment offered is comparable, so why? Some have suggested that Asians have developed some sort of partial immunity following other epidemics like SARS and chicken 'flu. Possible?

My hopes and expectations change by the hour. There has to be a confluence of four issues for the trip to proceed; the level of infections at home, the flight itself (including immigration), the situation in Thailand and the availability of insurance. I'm hoping without confidence for October.

Agreed, but surely if there are vacancies and a down payment is offered we wouldn't be turned down? My concern is that I could leave LHR perfectly fit but, after twelve plus hours on board, pick -up the virus. On Monday, two hundred Thais returned home and a worrying number (twenty?) showed symptoms of fever at BKK. I can't be the only one who has often picked-up a bug on that journey.