Weekly Reports on Pattaya activities, 2nd January 2000
Weekly Reports on Pattaya activities
2nd January 2000
Summary:
- Splash Bar, BoyzTown, officially opens tomorrow, Jan. 3
- Mike’s Fantasy for a “Jungle Bar”, “Somewhere in Thailand”
- Boy Zone Opens with emphasis on “After Hours”
- Mango Bar and Sports Corner Bar, Sunee area, now primarily “gay”
- Pattayaland Hotel offers short time rooms, “Baht 400 and up”
- Sunee Plaza Brochure : “The town with the village atmosphere”
- Holiday Season appears to fizzle; cold wave now gone, as are many customers
SPLASH BAR NOW OFFICIALLY TO OPEN TOMORROW, JAN. 3
Although the long-awaited and long-time-to-finish Splash Bar in BoyzTown did not make the December, 1999 estimated time frame, nor the Jan. 2nd opening a guy usually knowledgeable about such things had mentioned as the most recently planned date, it will open tomorrow, Monday, January 3. Its web site, www.splash-pattaya.com , still announces a “mid-December 1999” opening.
However, the new bar, which will feature a swimming area in which the young men on the staff will swim in full view of the patrons, has yet to open. The bright SPLASH sign in front of the bar is already lit tonight (Sunday), and signs are posted (flyers, affixed to surfaces all around the bar entrance area), now announcing the opening of the bar on January 3. A notice on a blackboard written in Thai mentions 2000 hours on the third, which presumably is “reporting time” for the boys who will staff the bar. Although the swim scene has been preceded by the Octopus Club (see “Maps”, Icon-Octopus District, this web site), the Splash’s opening has been widely anticipated and anxiously awaited by many looking forward to seeing how the Ambiance Group, its owner, will operate the “manquarium” scene and put on both a classy show and a welcoming ambiance.
Splash is located in a portion of the former Cockpit Bar, between the entrance serving both the Body Club Fitness Center and the Ambiance Hotel annex on the upper floors, and the highly acclaimed Throb Bar, which are all located directly across the street from the area’s foremost bar, BoyzBoyzBoyz, in the heart of BoyzTown, Pattayaland Soi 3. (See “Maps”, Pattayaland area, this web site).
MIKE’S FANTASY FOR A “JUNGLE BAR”
The fantasy below was inspired by the opening of a club in Bangkok called “Nature Boy.” This would be how the author would envision a nightclub, if only he had the money to open one! Mike says, “For now, it is just my fantasy of what I would do, if I had unlimited funds for a club. Enjoy, and feel free to share.”
The Jungle
“The facade outside the door is like a big ol’ tree. You enter through the trunk and proceed down a dimly lit hallway. Birds and crickets chatter. Vines weave through the darkness overhead. In the distance, one hears the throb of a jungle drumbeat. One enters the clubroom through a green, leafy curtain. A large stage sits in the center of the room, encircling a huge tree with thick branches that extend outwards above the seating area and the bar at the far side. Boys gyrate to jungle rhythms (African, Caribbean, South American) on-stage. Small green woven bracelets grace either an ankle, wrist or neck–each boy’s own choice. Their attire is simple. A large fig leaf covers their genital area.
Behind, a slender fern barely hides the lure of the mysterious cleft. The side and back walls of the club display full murals of lions, tigers, elephants and serpents–all peering out from a jungle of leafy vegetation in planters. The whole room is heady with oxygen. A mamasan, dressed in tribal regalia (feathers and faux leopard skin) seats the visitors as they gape about them. The farang and Japanese tourists fall back into the phony fur draped seats and watch the barely dressed boys–some wearing necklaces of animal’s teeth–rotate past them on the stage. A visual feast.
Finally, the customers become aware of movement above them. Looking up, each is surprised to see more boys above them, lounging on the overhanging branches, some of which dip to only a foot or two above their heads. (For OSHA people, there is an almost invisible safety net that protects the boys from falling to the floor– [but OSHA applies only in the USA, of course]).
The view for customers is stupendous as it is evident that nothing is being worn beneath the boys’ fig leaves. Happily, the boys lift their leaves and flaunt their ferns, to better display their wares. It is a mature jungle with thick, strong trunks raising themselves in pride . . . and it is a young jungle, with young stalks quivering in innocent excitement. Here there is something for everyone. Come off the streets, it is a jungle in here!
“The building is 5 stories high. Level 2 has three short time air conditioned rooms, each with a double bed. A shelf holds a stack of bottom fitted sheets and a stack of pillow cases. Each boy is instructed that at the end of the tryst, he is to change the sheet and pillow cases for the next customer, then join his “friend” downstairs, if the friend so wishes. The floor also contains two shower rooms with “real” showers, not the hand-held kind.
“Levels 3 and 4 contain the air conditioned (controlled centrally) rooms for the boys who live with us (my business partner and myself). The boys stay two to a room and each of the quarters is fitted with a locker for each boy (they supply their own padlocks). Level 3 also contains 2 study carrels with Thai/English tapes & sets of headphones, for those who want to learn. Two teachers are on retainer and will help any boys who want to complete their primary or secondary education. At the least, we want them to be able to read and compute math (Hey, I was a teacher). For boys who complete one full year with us, we will pay their bus or train fare for a trip back home to visit, or stay if they wish (Hey, I work in Human Resources).
“By the way, Jaet and Dam are on the 3rd Floor, not the 4th. (They are friends of my partner and me. For the Floor reference, see “Encounters with Em” on the Khun Sweet Cigar site, http://go.to/khun
“The 5th floor is half ours. My partner and I each have small three-room apartments (bedroom with double bed, sitting room with 26” TVs, CD stereos connected to satellite dishes, and bathrooms). We often “interview” new prospective dancers in our rooms. The other half of the floor is a recreational area with garden and 10-person Jacuzzi. During the day, the boys can use it, up until 4 p.m. From 4 to 6, customers can reserve it for a nominal fee (say $10.00) to spend time there alone with a boy or two. A cushioned area is available beside the Jacuzzi for “events.” The area is cleaned at 6:30 p.m. each night, then opened again for the evenings. Again, for a nominal fee, ($5.00), customers may take their boys up there before or after their tryst, however this time it is not private and several customers may be there with their hosts.
“At all times, our policy is that if boys wish to pursue a trade or college, scholarships to trade schools or universities will be made available. There will be a health plan, etc., etc., etc. Hey, it’s my fantasy (although contributions are accepted) so we have lots of money. This way, we also keep the do-gooders off us (and big bribes mean that Bai and Aey can live there as well.) (End of Fantasy re: The Jungle”)
(The author of this fantasy produces two web sites, http://go.to/khun , which also covers activities in the Pattaya area, and a site on Bangkok area bars and sites, http://travel.to/chaidee This “chaidee” site deals with the author’s experiences in Bangkok and Kanchanaburi, with a special emphasis on Bangkok’s Top Man Bar.)
BOY ZONE OPEN; HOURS 10 P.M. TO 6 A.M. FOR AFTER HOURS RELAXATION
Boy Zone Bar has started operations in the Sunee Plaza area. It is located on Soi VC, just past the easternmost Sunee Plaza Soi on the southerly side of Soi VC, just after TopMan Nightclub, White Night Restaurant, and another restaurant, the name of which is unknown. (See “Maps”, Sunee Plaza District, of this web site). The newest addition to the “stable” of bars created by the ever-growing Studio Group, www.gaypattaya.com ,adds one more major entity to its group. Studio Group earlier took over (or established outright) Boys Studio Boys Bar, Jolly Boys Bar, Studio Suites, Studio Food, Believe Bar and Nok-Nok bar. Boy Zone is being operated as a later-evening and late night “after-hours” spot, open from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. This will be the only all-night gay place in that particular area, to the best of our knowledge, and thus is likely to attract “boys” from other bars after their closing time. We have no information yet as to whether short time rooms will be available there, and the web site does not yet give any detail on this operation. (Please note that this web site, www.pattayagay.com, has no relationship whatever to Studio Group or its website, despite the similarity in names.)
MANGO BAR AND SPORT CORNER BAR NOW PRIMARILY BOYS BARS, AS SUNEE PLAZA GAY BUSINESSES GROW EVEN FASTER
Friends advise that both the Mango bar, situated on the westerly-most Sunee Plaza soi across the street from Bad Boys Nightclub and Discotheque, and the Sports Corner Bar just southerly of Bad Boys Nightclub (see “Maps”, Sunee Plaza District, on this web site) have both changed their emphasis to attract primarily a gay crowd. Neither openly identifies itself as a gay bar, although one friend indicated that Sports Corner Bar had a sign calling itself a “boy bar” for a while, but it was not there when we looked this past week. However, their clientele is almost exclusively male, while at the same time the pool table or snooker table each has on site attracts some female participants.
PATTAYALAND HOTEL NOW OFFERS SHORT TIME ROOMS, “BAHT 400 UP” –PERHAPS ONLY THROUGH HIGH SEASON?
Pattayaland Hotel, located on Pattayaland Soi 1 in the downtown Pattayaland area next door to and above Charlie’s Boys Bar (see “Maps”, Pattayaland District, on this web site) has recently changed its “short time rooms available” sign to indicate its short time rooms are now 400 baht per night “and up”. This appears to be an increase from the earlier Baht 300 per night. It is quite possible this higher rate is intended to remain in effect only during the “high season”, which basically seems to be December and January, with perhaps one or two additional weeks in November and February. The “400” baht figure is pasted over the prior figure on the sign, and appears to be only temporary in nature.
SUNEE PLAZA BROCHURE : “THE TOWN WITH THE VILLAGE ATMOSPHERE”
Twenty-two business entities in the Sunee Plaza area have combined to produce a colorful brochure touting the Sunee Plaza area as “Golden Sunee Plaza”, “The Town with the Village Atmosphere.” Constituting most of the primary businesses operating in the Sunee Plaza area, which has attracted so many new, primarily gay-oriented, businesses within the past two or three years, the brochure includes a map of the Sunee Area, as well as a location map showing Sunee Plaza’s area in relationship to the Walking Street, Pratumnak Road, the Pattayaland district, and its proximity to South Pattaya Road and Third Road as well.
The map is a joint enterprise of the sponsoring businesses, and evidences a community spirit of working together to bring ever more customers to the area, rather than “knocking” each other area business as a competitor. It is great to see business people, gay and straight, working together to promote their local business area, an effort that more businesses should emulate, to promote the overall Pattaya area as an outstanding place to do business. (This web site has its own “Map” of the Sunee Plaza District for the reader’s easy reference, showing the main gay businesses in the area, and some smaller ones which aren’t participating in the sponsorship of this brochure, as well as a few of the gay friendly businesses that are not predominantly gay themselves.) Working together should help the gay businessmen of the Sunee Plaza district gain even more recognition as “the Second Boys Town” of Pattaya.
HOLIDAY SEASON FIZZLES? COLD WAVE NOW GONE; MANY CUSTOMERS APPARENTLY LEFT, ALSO
The Christmas week cold spell that brought the coldest weather to the Pattaya area in 25 years (according to the local English language newspaper, the “Pattaya Mail”) appears to have had a harmful effect on the businesses which depend so heavily on a really great “high season.” The cold wave has passed out of the Pattaya area, and out of most of Thailand, but, judging from visits by friends and myself to various area entertainment and eating establishments, many customers were apparently chased away by the unusual cold also. Despite warmer weather the past five days, the usual swarm of customers in all the entertainment establishments and restaurants seems to be much lighter than in past years. Several hotels in the main areas, however, particularly in the Pattayaland area, continued to report being fully booked, and having to reject registrations into this current weekend. Bars, especially, in the Pattayaland area and in the Sunee Plaza area, all seemed to have less than capacity crowds, but this seeming “lack of concentration of customers” could also be due to the heavily increased number of entertainment facilities, gay and straight, in and near the downtown area of Pattaya.
That’s it for this week, guys. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season, and that if your holiday continues into Monday, that you continue to enjoy a great and joyous long weekend.
Gay Pattayan January 2, 2000
e-mail: gaypattayan@pattayagay.com
