I think you have to remember also that by the start of the 1980s the gay liberation movement in the west was still very young. I thought Hong Kong might be more open - it wasn't. Hong Kong still had the old Victorian law against sodomy and so being gay was technically illegal. Not that that stopped lots of guys having gay relationships. But all behind closed doors. There was just one gay bar on Hong Kong Island named Dateline. To get to it, you had to go down a long flight os steps. This was always brightly lit. The reason? A police unit had rented an apartment opposite and photographed everyone who left the bar. Incidentally, that law still exists in Singapore and Malaysia!
So Bangkok - and to a certain extent Manila - were oases of sexual freedom. Everyone could relax, shake of all restrictions and just have a good time. Although I enjoyed both Apollo and Twilight, Barbiery was certainly the jewel in Bangkok's go-go bar crown. I'm not sure when it opened but I vividly recall my first visit with friends around 1985. It was located directly across Suriwong from Soi Twilight. On the ground floor was a bar with about 6 stools. To get to the go-go bar, you had to go through that ground floor bar, up the stairs at the end and then go through a door on the right.
Barbiery was not a large bar, somewhere between Twilight and Apollo in size. in the middle were two end-to-end small stages. On the wall ahead and the one to the left were banquettes. On the right was the quite small bar area and then another larger space (as though a wall had been taken down) where the boys had a gym and got ready before going on stage, At the weekends, many dozens of single seats would be crammed in so it was sometimes difficult to move. I guess there must have been about 100 boys, in those early years mostly twinks. The main difference between then and now as mentioned earlier, was the sense of fun that permeated all the proceedings. The boys were having fun, the audience had a great time and even the barmen smiled! The shows were far more interesting than nowadays, always ending with the most amazing sexual acrobatics on ropes, swings, ladders etc. Some bars still have some of that, but none is on the same level as the old Barbiery.
Boys were being offed the whole time, presumably one reason for there being so many! After a few years, the management added some bigger, slightly older guys but the bar retained its popularity right through the 1990s. Then, for some inexplicable reason - either because the building owner would not renew the lease or the management thought moving to a larger space would generate more profits - it closed on Suriwong and over to the 3rd floor of a new building across from Nature Boys (down the soi from the Mango Tree restaurant and near The Golden Cock bar). This was the start of the end. The new location was way too big, had none of the atmosphere of the old Barbiery, the spark had gone out of the boys - no-one seemed to care any more. I think it was less than two years before it died.
I often wonder if Barbiery had stayed in its old location and if Twilight had not totally changed its format under its new renovated title of Hotmale, would they still have attracted good crowds in the new century? A moot point since we'll never know the answer. Also it was around this time that the Thaksin government started its first Social Order Campaign with the aim of curtailing the 'entertainment' industry. Whenever the gay go-go bar phenomenon finally dies, I expect most will look back at this time as the beginning of the end.
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Originally Posted by AsDaRa
