Thanks for the info @fastone. Sounds like I should just get my Thai/Asian fix from watching premium porn sites for now! Keep us updated mate!

I live in Thailand, so my problem is I can't leave to travel other places like Amsterdam. I am not expecting them to allow reasonably free travel again until well into 2021 & then only if there is a viable vaccine. With essentially no domestic transmission for several months and under 60 deaths, the ordinary Thai's feel safe & categorically don't want mass foreign tourism to re-start.

Made a couple of trips to Pattaya & Phuket, but both are largely closed down, as only domestic tourists are visiting. Pattaya has a big expat population so some nightlife still functions but 80-85% of bars are shut. Many roads consist of rows of shuttered shops & closed or bankrupt hotels & restaurants, its frankly a depressing sight - although the beach is spotless & empty in the daytime. Phuket is the same - I stayed in Kata Beach - and walking around day/night I often did not meet another person: eerie. At night one popular beach bar/ restaurant was open but both nights I went I was the only customer - it really is that deserted.

Thanks for this update. Sometimes it is hard to get a good update on thailand. I do chat with one of my girls and she is set up alright for now but does acknowledge that she needs some income pretty soon.

I'd like to thank you too George, it's helpful to hear from someone actually still in Thailand. I still talk to a handful of girls on Line, but it's not the same as getting a report from a fellow farang.

One of the girls I still talk to is currently working at Kink in Soi LK Metro. She tried to ride out the original two month shut down, but when it dragged on she went home. Couldn't hang there but a couple of months so moved back to Pattaya and work at a restaurant for a month until Kink opened up again last month. Says there are only a few expat customers, the ones who rarely buy drinks for the girls. Pretty much just making a reduced salary now. Went from having a private room to sharing one with 3 other girls. Expects the club to shut down again in a few months if things don't change. Another girl works at a massage parlor on Soi 13/2. Went from having 6-8 customers a day, to now 1-2 a week. She's ok, has a couple of farang boyfriends who help her out. One girl who lives in Bangkok and has a regular job. She doing ok since her job isn't in the entertainment field. The last I keep in regular touch is a girl who use to work at Showgirls in LK Metro. She had the bad luck of going home to Buriram for a month right before the virus broke, never made it back to Pattaya. Lost out on probably two months of salary before they shut down. She took me to visit her home a few times just south of the city center way back when. Says people don't have much money since it's not flowing back anymore. Still not too much is shut down so people are getting bye.

Even so, they don't really talk about what things look like in Pattaya or Bangkok. Only how their life is going or not. Different perspective, both are interesting and useful. Thanks again.

Damn I miss Thailand.

Well Bangkok is hardly affected by the lack of foreign tourists accept in obvious tourist centres like Khao San Road & high end shopping malls now with no Chinese buyers only Thai window shoppers. Places like Nana Plaza & Soi Cowboy are very quiet as they are now wholly dependent on expats, particularly midweek - in Nana Plaza only a couple of bars [ie Billboard] are really busy the rest lucky to have a couple of customers. Difficult to see how many could survive into 2021.

There still seems to be some belief in the tourism industry here that the 'high season' might help them, but until foreign tourists are freely allowed to enter again realistically there is little chance of that. Domestic tourism keeps maybe 20-25% of the tourism infrastructure going but the rest frankly have little hope of surviving. My hunch is there is about a 25% chance of TH opening by end March 2021; 50% chance between April & end September 20121; 25% chance after October 2021. I have a flight BKK AMS booked for March 2021 but as above realistically I think its a 1 in 4 chance I will be able to take it.

Good summary of current tourism situation: https://thethaiger.com/coronavirus/hard ... -right-now

I am hopeful that everything can return completely back to normal within the next 6 months.

Have subscribed to every well recommended premium porn site related to Thai girls, Thai ladyboys possible. I love seeing pretty Thai girls in sexy high heels and stockings. Yes, I still pay for high quality porn out of personal preference. It saves me having to look for it through all sorts of other free sites and I can get my fixes from very concentrated sources.
I have even expanded my interests into JAV! Just love seeing sexy girls in high heels and stockings. Of all the Asian women out there, Thais do it for me the most, they are in my view just perfect.

My hand is aching from all the online "viewing"! :)

Nothing beats the real thing though, so desperate to go back and visit some Go Go or Bar Girls.

Within the next six months, by April say, that's probably pushing it. Personally I hope so as I normally take a Thailand trip for Songkran. However I kinda doubt it, probably more likely by the fall. The country is opening painfully slowly and even then in fits and spurts. They allowed in it's first group of tourists last week, a mixed group of 39 Chinese and Thais. Since all the Chinese were returning to care for businesses, properties and reunite with families, and the balance were repatriated Thais. Therefore not sure why Thailand considered them as "tourists" other than they came back on new STV (special tourist visa). Even so the group was only 39, a far cry from the supposed full size group of between 120 - 150. According to the Thai travel minister, there is suppose to be two more groups of Chinese and one of Scandinavians between this week and the end of November. That should be about 400-500 people over a two month span. This from a country that was taking about 3M per month pre covid-19. After those 4 groups Thailand has none others scheduled nor any interest from citizens of other countries. Keep in mind, you have to be coming from a country classified as "very low risk" and still are required to quarantine for 14 days and spend about $5K in cost to cover the expenses associated with the visa and said quarantine. No wonder they are getting such low interest from actual tourists. There is talk about lowing the quarantine to 7 days or even none at all, but again only from very low risk counties. Still it's just talk at this point, nothing more. I wouldn't expect Thailand to open up in a major way until there is a vaccine readily available to the average tourist (think summer to fall of 2021), or the economy gets so bad it is worth the risk. On a side note, I'm hearing the Philippines might open by March, they are having a tough time right now. However their economy is so bad right now, it will almost force them to open as soon as they believe it's safe. They have started taking foreign businessmen and people who already had approved retirement visas, homes and families. It might be a worthy alternative considering the situation. Hope I'm wrong since I do miss Thailand.

For anyone interested, here is the latest with Thailand. Today Thailand approved the go ahead with the so called "Sandbox" scheme for Phuket staring July 1. The scheme is designed for fully vaccinated people only and it allows them to travel to Phuket without quarantine. Anyone past two weeks from their second jab (one if it's J&J), but no more than one year are allowed to fly to Phuket and stay without being required to quarantine. The vaccine used must be those approved by Thailand or the WHO. You will still need to pass a pre-flight PCR test no more than 72 hours before, get a visa and certificate of entry from your local Thai embassy. No special flight but you must either fly directly into Phuket or transfer in Bangkok airport. You will be required to stay in a approved hotel for a minimum 14 nights in Phuket (you can stay less for those who fly out of Phuket directly to another country). After which you can travel to other parts of Thailand but only after passing a PCR test after the 14th night. You are required to remain on Phuket island the entire time, no day trips to places like Koh Phi Phi or Phang Nga Bay will be allowed. However you are free to travel about the island as you wish. Other cities of Thailand are expected to have their own sandbox openings starting in October. I would expect the island of Kho Samui, Bangkok, Pattaya, Hua Hin and Chiang Mai to open around that time. Just in time for the start of high season. Of course with Thailand anything is possible. So even though the plan is now officially approved, everything is subject to change at any time.