Other than our office, owned by a shareholder (not the Gazette itself), our primary asset has long been the Gazette Online. It has now been sold to a well-funded and rapidly expanding tech-based company in Hong Kong. The sale and the buyer’s plans for the site will be announced shortly.

Meanwhile, we continue to wind down in a process that started in November last year with an advisory to our staff. We announced the stoppage of the newspaper in May and have since been in direct communication with all of our stakeholders to ensure that no one would be caught short.

All freelancers, of which there were 28, have been notified.

As of August 1, just six staff will remain as our ‘closing team’. All others have either resigned or departed with agreed termination packages. All subscribers have received refunds for the unused portions of their subscriptions, and refunds are in process for any unused commercial ads under contracts expiring beyond the end of this month.

All accounts payable are current and will likewise be settled in full at the end of this month.

The seizure of the drug was announced at a press conference on Wednesday afternoon by Phamuang Taskforce chief Col Thongchai Mee-anant, Mae Fah Luang police chief Pol Col Boonwart Mungkarat and Mae Fah Luang district chief Kanisorn Phapiranon.

In the first case, troops arrested two suspects at a road checkpoint in Tambon Mae Salongnai at 7.30pm on Tuesday after 150,000 meth pills were found in their pickup truck.

Initially, no drug was found in the pickup but police made a double-check after a sniffer dog became restless and the drugs were found hidden in a compartment behind the front seats.

The two suspects were identified as Boon Jomkham, 35, and Phu Tal, 28. Their arrest led to another suspect, Yingyai Boonchai, a resident of Chiang Rai’s Mae Chan district.

In the second case, troops from the same taskforce patrolled the borderline in Ban Mong Kao Lang Villae in Tambon Thirdthai of Mae Fah Luang district and spotted two men carrying bags.

They left the bags and fled on foot after they saw the troops. The troops found 110,000 meth pills in the bags.

Pre-exposure prophylaxis, commonly known as PrEP, is a type of medicine that, if taken daily, can reduce the risk of HIV infection via sexual intercourse by more than 90 percent, according to health studies.

Several countries recommend the drugs as a weapon to prevent the spread of HIV among people in high-risk groups, such as gay men.

However, the China Food and Drug Administration approved PrEP in 2015 for the treatment of HIV/AIDS – not prevention – which means doctors are not allowed to prescribe it to patients unless they test positive for the virus.

Xiao Dong, who runs Tongzhi, an NGO based in Beijing that is committed to combating AIDS, said he began traveling to Thailand early last year, for vacations and to stock up on anti-HIV medicine.

As an openly gay man, he said health and safety are his top priorities: “I use both condoms and PrEP to guard against HIV,” he said.

Advocates say prevention is worthwhile, given that the prevalence of HIV among Chinese gay men averages more than 5 percent in most cities and can exceed 10 percent in major metropolises, according to the National Center for AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Disease Control.

Given increasing awareness, more gay men in China have followed suit. Xiao said he knows nearly 100 men from Beijing who have also traveled to Thailand to purchase PrEP.

“It’s a positive sign that our community has become more responsible for our own health, and each other’s. They are willing to pay out of pocket,” he said.

Thailand is easy to visit, as Chinese citizens do not require a visa, and the country is recognized for its friendliness toward the LGBT community.

It also offers easy, affordable access to PrEP, Xiao said, who added that generic products can cost 300 yuan ($44) for a one-month supply, while brand-name products are about 800 yuan for the same amount.

By contrast, the brand-name drugs sell for nearly 2,000 yuan in China, said Wu Hao, director of the infectious diseases department at Beijing’s You’an Hospital.

You’an treats most of the AIDS patients in Beijing. Last year, he said, more than 90 percent of the newly detected HIV sufferers in the capital were gay men.

According to Wu, who specializes in sexually transmitted diseases, the efficacy of PrEP has been widely recognized internationally. It has been included in the HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment guidelines of the World Health Organization and health authorities in the United States.

However, Wu said, China has not yet introduced PrEP in its national guidelines. In addition, he ruled out the possibility that the government would give the drugs free to willing subjects, largely because of the high costs involved.

Wu’s department will launch a yearlong PrEP research study this summer with the center, recruiting 600 to 1,000 gay men and giving them free PrEP drugs.

“I welcome PrEP as prevention for those who are at high risk of infection, given that condom use is low, particularly among gay men in China,” he said.