Each year large numbers of Western men travel to Thailand for sex tourism. Although many will use condoms during their sexual encounters, others will not, potentially exposing themselves to the risk of acquiring sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. Although sex tourism in Thailand has been well documented, the social drivers underpinning voluntary sexual risk-taking through the avoidance of condoms remain poorly understood. Engaging with R.W. Connell's concept of hegemonic masculinity and drawing on data collected from 1237 online discussion board posts and 14 face-to-face interviews, this study considers the ways in which understandings and performances of masculinities may inform the sexual risk-taking behaviours of Western male sex tourists. It argues that for some of these men, unprotected sex is viewed not as a reckless behaviour but, instead, as a safe and appropriate masculine practice, supported by relationships that are often framed as romantic and within a setting where HIV is still largely considered a homosexual disease. With sex workers often disempowered to request safer sexual practices, and some men's attitudes towards unprotected sex resistant to external health promotion advice, the paper concludes by considering what this might mean for policy and practice.

Background Engagement with conventional weight management group programmes is low. Objective To understand participant experience of accessing an adapted programme via videoconference. Participants Adults with obesity (BMI ≥ 35kg/m 2 ), referred to an NHS Dietetics service in Wales, were offered a group videoconference weight management programme as an optional alternative to in‐person groups. Thirteen participants (mean age 48.5 ± 20.2 years, 8 female) recruited to two videoconference groups were interviewed. Study design A Registered Dietitian delivered a behavioural programme using Skype for Business in 10 sessions over 6 months. Participants joined the groups from any Internet‐connected device with a webcam. Participant perspectives were audiorecorded in one‐to‐one, semi‐structured interviews. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and thematically analysed using self‐determination theory as a theoretical framework. Results Ten themes were identified, three relating to service engagement and seven relating to behaviour change facilitation. Key themes in engagement included ‘reduced burden’, described as saving time and travel and ‘reduced threat’ as participants perceived joining a group from home as less daunting compared to attending in‐person. Despite reporting some initial technical difficulties with establishing video and audio connection, participants described beneficial peer support although not physically with other group members. Conclusion Accessing a group weight management programme via videoconference may be the preferred option for some participants, overcoming some of the barriers to access to standard in‐person programmes, particularly in rural areas. Participants are able to experience peer support via videoconference. During the COVID‐19 pandemic, weight management programmes could utilize videoconference groups to continue to provide support.

Every year thousands of Western men travel to Thailand as sex tourists to participate in paid-for sex. Although many of these men will use condoms to protect themselves against sexually transmitted infections (STIs), others will not, despite the risks. By applying Steven Lyng's (1990) concept of edgework to data collected from 14 face-to-face interviews with male sex tourists in Pattaya, Thailand, and 1,237 online discussion board posts, this article explores the ways in which these men understood and sought to rationalize the sexual risks they took. We argue that notions of likelihood of infection and significance of consequence underpin these behaviors, and we identify the existence of understandings of sexual risk that reject mainstream safer-sex messages and frame condomless sex as a broadly safe activity for heterosexual men. The article concludes by summarizing the difficulties inherent in driving behavior change among this group of men, for whom sexual risks appear to be easily rationalized away as either inconsequential or irrelevant.