Yes, I'm still alive and still here. Went to the States in early June for various reasons including Pfizer vaccination. This meant re-entering Thailand which means 15 nights Alternative State Quarantine (ASQ), i.e. a hotel room quarantine. Plenty of posts about this on the Net so I won't go into it.

Nor will I go into the Thai government's policies and efforts to vaccinate the populace. There's plenty online and I'll answer questions in this thread if anyone's interested.

There's good news and bad news, as usual, but here's the tl;dr: there were changes pre-COVID but the global pandemic has cratered tourism and dented/destroyed many businesses. It's not as bad as Brazil or India, but...it's bad. Tourist destinations like Phuket and Pattaya have been body-slammed. Almost no Thais are unaffected and many have lost jobs or businesses.

The bottom line: the mongering scene as we knew it is gone.

Here's my suggestion: do you have fond memories of said activities? Find your photos, and catalogue them. If they jog your memory, write down your recollections. We all have stories, but are they documented? Maybe now's the time.

Now's not the time to visit. The “dark-red” areas of Thailand—including Bangkok and Pattaya—have restrictions, including a 21:00 curfew. Nothing is open after 20:00 or so, including 7-11. Needless to say, go-go bars and massage places are shut tight. There's no point in even fantasizing about Thailand nightlife right now.

Bangkok's infrastructure survives, and it's still a modern Asian city. But business patterns are different now. There are resident expats—some farang, some Asian (many Japanese). Food delivery, always popular due to traffic, keeps people fed and keeps (some) restaurants alive.

I'll write more if people are interested.

JtB

Thanks for reading. Not sure what to post as an update. BKK and PTY are locked down until further notice. In BKK it seems no one is going anywhere except to the supermarket or pharmacy for essential items. There's little traffic, and few shops are open. I went to MBK and the only thing open in that gigantic mall was Tops supermarket.

Speculation online as to how long this lockdown will last. Speculation as to when the PM will be turfed out by the real powerbrokers. The baht now trades at ~33/USD, which theoretically helps exports, but things are different now. Supply chains are wonky...

On a personal level this is devastating for many Thais. There's deep-rooted anger here. One example: last week the most popular food delivery service, Food Panda, fired some workers for alleged participation in a street protest. The Net universe turned on FP in a flash. The "delete" button disappeared from the app very quickly as people deleted it, which annoyed people even more. This all happened within a day or two, but apparently FP's market share fell off a cliff. This week I don't see any of their drivers around, only Grab drivers. This may be covered by Thai media now but obviously it's a massive loss of face for whoever controls FP, and shows just how furious people are at the situation.

alex_french: Yes, it is a good idea. Many of us have fond memories of years gone by. Find those photos and write them down. Re-opening go-go bars and chattering about the price of draft beer is way, way down the list of priorities now.

gwailoplayer: You mean delivery, because there's basically no takeout now. If you wander around lower Sukhumvit you'll probably find streetwalkers during the day. Needless to say, they're gonna disappear around sundown because curfew.

Thai Friendly has options. I'm not on F**book so don't use Tinder. Skout may/may not work here. Sourcing technicians has moved online. Frankly I'd like the option for a nice nuru massage or high-octane romp in a Phrom Pong shophouse massage place.

There will be light at the end of the tunnel but right now the tunnel is deep, dark and cold.

JtB

@ adrenal: all takeout for you now? & sometimes nuru outstation?

ALL massage parlors have been closed for weeks. No massage...anything. No idea what's happened to the staff but many businesses are in the same situation.

Delivery as in I send a message and a lovely Thai woman arrives at my condo. That makes it hard to find new talent. Today I sent some queries out on TF & Line and, as Bon Scott put it: "Ain't it a shame/to be shot down in flames."

@ obe:  FP will regret that decision

I'm sure they do but it was SO fast. I didn't pay that much attention as I never use FP. But they managed to strike a nerve with the public and cratered their business.

Rumors of a coup as well.

JtB

I guess a lot of these girls must be moving to "escort" type service?

My guess is the Prime Minister is going to regret throwing his Health Minister under a bus 6 to 8 weeks ago. Prayut said he himself will be personally responsible for the COVID19 pandemic. Since then cases have tripled from 5k cases per day to 15k cases.

Thailand is now ranked 47 for most infected country. They were ranked 120 in April.

I'm sure there would be some talks happening behind his back  

Stay safe all,
Obe

QUOTE:

perriersons08: I guess a lot of these girls must be moving to "escort" type service?

Exactly. Sites like smooci and massagerepublic offer technicians. YMMV but there are of course plenty of women here who would enjoy the company of a generous gentleman...

JtB

QUOTE:

Thai friendly must be full of keen girls looking for $$$

@ obe: Yes, but it's more of a minefield than ever. In the last couple of days I've pinged a few to see what's up. Some are straightforward, and a couple straight-up asked for a donation. They're likely not organized scammers but women looking to parlay the current situation into small contribution or perhaps sexcam work. My policy is that I don't send cash or goods to anyone I haven't previously met, so that covers that!

Earlier you wrote:

QUOTE:

Prayut said he himself will be personally responsible for the COVID19 pandemic.

Prayut heads the CCSA, there are other competing agencies. The result was a mishmash of conflicting statements.

His motive for consolidation may have been altruistic, or maybe a left-handed power-grab move. No one knows for sure.

He has been keeping a low profile recently as you might imagine. We'll see what happens...

JtB

Thanks for the update on Bangkok and Thailand. I do enjoy these reports and perspectives. Some stray thoughts...

- I wouldn't mind hearing about your alternative state quarantine experience. How was your hotel and room? How bored did you get? What did you do to keep yourself entertained? What food did you get and how was it?

- Where I live in Canada we were on lockdown for 10 months. How many *weeks* has Bangkok been on lockdown lol.

- *High five* fellow Pfizer vax! Being in Canada a lot of us got the mixed vaccine schedule. No issues here. For those reading this, if your country is offering mixed vaccines then go for it. Better to be fully (if mixed) vaccinated than even partially vaccinated.

- I still haven't received a refund from EVA Air from my cancelled 2020 Bangkok trip. I don't want your fucking travel credit. I think this is a lost cause and it's really soured me on EVA Air which before this had been my favourite airline.