WARNING! A New and Virulant Strain ... .
 

-- I picked-up the flg. web-site and its msg. on an SGP.-based web-site and make it know here, even although it's MORE applicable to the USofA. -

- http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl.../MNI5UE0L8.DTL

- It's potentially serious news, so 'Read, mark, learn and inwardly digest.' and always enjoy SAFE SEX.
-- bibi. --

I feel compelled to post for a very first time.
For those who knows Ninja via this forum please be advised that he has passed away last week due to aids related illness.
It’s a classic example of playing hard but never tested his blood till it’s too late. He became very sick few months ago and less active in his posting.
So, for you guys that enjoy cruising do take care. Play hard but be safe. As my mother always said be good or be careful.

sorry to hear that .... it was always interesting to read his posting .... hope he did not suffer ... hugs

That is very, very sad news indeed. Thank you for letting us know.

It is very sad. I enjoyed reading his sometimes contentious postings. Though he may have been ill for some time, the last ones seem to have been in mid-November, so his ultimate decline and death must have been fairly fast. Unfortunately, it almost surely would not have been without suffering.

Bill

The good news is no one should suffer like this any more !
If tested at early stage one can almost live a normal life for a long long time.
Unfortunately being a Japanese with a very strong mind all advises were ignored since almost 20 years ago back in Sydney Australia.
I noticed he developed KS 2 years ago but still refused blood test till six months ago when things got out of hand.
Yes, his last post was around November warning about STD @ the cinema.
I wish that he did take care of himself and also others for this matter.
By the way STD now is called STI (sexual transmitted infection), so guys it does sound better than diseas right ? So be tested be save be careful and Happy cruising :)

Checking his last postings, I see that in September he said he was living with a full-time partner, which was one of the reasons he was no longer playing around so much.

If so, his partner may deserve our condolences.

Bill

anonymous testing in Bangkok is easy
 

okay, now I as well feel compelled to deliver my first Post here.... and its not a nice topic.....

at the THAI RED CROSS ANONYMOUS CLINIC, it is very easy and anonymous (u dont have to give ur name, u just get a number) to get the blood tested.
so no excuses for not being tested....

their clinic is very near to Silom, at Rama-4 road, just opposite the Montien Hotel (a few meters behind Surawong road, but across the street.

just for ur information: a survey in 2007 showed, that 28 % (!!!!!) of the "MSM" (men having occasional sex with men) in Bangkok carry the HI-Virus ! so, how many hundreds of Saturday-night's "DJ-STATION-goers" will be positive then ?

Up 10% from a few years ago..... scary

do it safe.....

The latest study actually shows more than 30 percent of MSM in Bangkok tested positive for HIV. These studies are done in saunas and I am not quite sure how representative they are of the actual MSM population in Thailand (or Bangkok).

Nevertheless, it is always wise to assume that all men you have sex with are HIV positive and practise safer sex accordingly. If condoms are always used during anal intercourse, then feel free and do not worry too much.

[quote=SUCK_humvit;657964]
at the THAI RED CROSS ANONYMOUS CLINIC, it is very easy and anonymous (u dont have to give ur name, u just get a number) to get the blood tested.
so no excuses for not being tested....
Their clinic is very near to Silom, at Rama-4 road, just opposite the Montien Hotel (a few meters behind Surawong road, but across the street.
.....[/QUOTE]

-- BKK. XTN. HOSP'L., on Si Lom rd., in conjunction with CDC. Atlanta run a free and anon. clinic, too; with them it's called the Physical Examination Unit and is sign-posted from Recep'n. to its loc'n. on the 3rd. floor.
- Hrs. are tue.-sat. 16.oo.-22.oo.hrs..
- Testing is free and anon.; at one's first visit one enters certain & basic info. on a computer screen and is given a swipe type of card that gives no indication of its use.
- They test for HIV. and for Syphillis, as CDC. has found that HIV. pats. are prone to suffer from Sy., too.
- Any follow-up medications are not free!
- contact: (02)-634 2917. --- DrZ@tuc.or.th - silom@tuc.or.th --http://www.silomclinic.in.th
- E&OE.. Usual disclaimer. -- bibi. --

Is that only in Bangkok? I have two newbie friends who have asked me to bring them to Thailand for a holiday in April and the last thing I want to do is to expose them to this kind of risk. I mean, I can tell them to be careful and I can even provide condoms but I can't do it for them...or be there when they are, so I truly worry about what might happen when they are exposed to the delights of LOS for the very first time in their lives. Perhaps Phuket might be a little bit safer in their case.

I test regularly (every six months - and always negative so far) but I don't know if I can convince my friends to do the same. Over the years, I have noticed something - it isn't a question of anonymity during the testing. It's the fear of finding out that they might actually have it which prevents many men from getting themselves tested.

-- Last year six of my 'Talking boys.' - as opposed to 'Bed boyz.' - informed me that they're now HIV+., one definitely from infected needles and the others, presumeably, from unprotected s*x., incl. two of whom I'd have expected to know better.
- But, as has been pointed-out to me, there's at least one and elderly farang in 'SILOM COMPLEX SHOPPING PLAZA.' who will pay only for unprotected s*x - maybe, at his age, he reckons that as he's got only a short time left to live and thus has little if anything to lose?
- And, as I may have mentioned in some other posting, the last time that I was in 'BABYLON SAUNA.' there were two farangs - Tops - and one TH. - Top - who indulged in unprotected s*x., and this despite those discreet, but arty-crafty, posters about the dangers of unprotected s*x - quite different from the MORE 'In yer face.' posters that I've seen in some of London's saunas.
-- bibi. --

Where do they live now, on the moon? HIV is EVERYWHERE; if they're not safe where they are, they'll get it sooner or later regardless of whether they ever visit Bangkok or not.

555 well said Icon !

I am sorry if my post seems to have rubbed some people the wrong way but like I said in my post, my friends are newbies. They do not, to the best of my knowledge, go to saunas or pay for sex or indulge in any of the many sins of which I am personally guilty. I am not even sure that they are not still virgins - which is why they are so excited about visiting Bangkok where they hope to sin as badly as me. However, even if they did do naughty things in Penang, I am inclined to suppose that the risk of catching HIV from male prostitutes (you won't find any easily here - and if you did, I assure you they would not be as affordable as in Bangkok) is much lower here than the 30% mentioned.

I highly doubt the HIV figures among the gay community in Penang are signficantly lower than they are in Bangkok.

But even if they were, say, 5% compared to the claimed 30% here, would you have any different advice for them? I hope not, because all it would mean is that one in 20 of their contacts in Penang would be HIV positive compared to 1 in 3 in Bangkok.

In other words, big deal! Even if they had only one contact a month, it would still take them less than two years to run into an HIV+ sex partner in Penang...and they're still dead if they are unsafe.

Bottom line: if they're doing anything unsafe in Penang that they're also doing in Bangkok, they're dead meat. They have to be safe in both places, and with whomever they fuck -- I don't care if it's a prostitute, a virgin schoolboy, or Mother Theresa. Make sure they understand that, then show them the time of their lives in Bangkok without fear and without guilt.

I am so sorry that it was so hard to understand from my post that I simply did not want the responsibility of taking my friends to a place where there is a much higher risk of AIDS.

If it is HIV or Aids you are worried about, it is not matter of WHERE you bring your friends, but WHAT they do! In order to be infected with HIV you need to have unprotected sex with someone who is already infected. As you are not able to see who is HIV positive, the best way to protect yourself is to not engage in unprotected sex. As simple as that. Enjoy your trip with your friends.

-- Taoboxer,
- One appreciates the possibly sensitive pos'n. in wch. you may find yourself, and your natural and u'standable. reluctance to expose your friends to any risks of picking-up AIDS..
- But your friends are aware adults, aren't they?
- After you'll have advised them about any potential risks here in BKK., whether from unprotected sex, having something slipped into their drinks or whatever, they should then be able to make-up their own minds about risky activities, shouldn't they?
- You advise them, concluding with that all too well-known BKK. saying of: 'Up to you.'! Then they have the choice, don't they?
-- bibi. --

-- The flg. is condensed from a BLOOMBERG article in today's 'BKK. Post.' -

-- HIV. uses the protein Integrin Alpha4Beta7. in an early phase of infection when the virus invades and grows in the human gut's lymph tissues.
- The virus disables the Human Immune System by targeting its T-Cells, leaving patients vulnerable to many other and subsequent infections.
- Much of the destruction of the lymphatic tissues occurs early on in the course of the disease. One of the earliest events that occurs with HIV. infection is the depletion of memory of the T-Cells in the human gut.
- It is believed that the level of of the virus that becomes established in human blood and tissues early in infection - the Viral Set Point. - will determine the severity of the patient's case - hence it's important to try and lower the patient's VSP.. Blocking the A4B7. may offer such a path.
- Why is there this association between the human gut and the HIV. virus? It is believed that the A4B7. is the prime homing receptor of the lymphoid tissues in the human gut.
- Another molecule involved with HIV's. attackand early entry into the cells is CCR5., wch. is blocked by Pf*z*r's 'Selzentry.' medication - wch. is the first such new type of HIV. drug to be approved in MORE than ten years.

-- Further info. may be found in the journal: 'Nature Immunology.'.

-- E&OE.. I write as a non-medical person. -- bibi.. --