Phuket..anyone been there lately?

[latintopxxx]

Will be in Phuket later this month, assume that that bars, clubs close change frequently.
Anyone been there lately, any recommendations, good bars, clubs?
Is there a go go boy scene? Fuck shows?

Or is it like Bali, been there, very laid back and distinct lack of in your face sleaze!

I visit there often on business and I don't care for it because the selection is so tiny and it's more of a queeny katoey center.

Everything gay in Phuket is centered around a soi in front of the Royal Paradise Hotel. You can sit on the Connect dais and pretty much see every gay venue in Phuket from your table. There a very few places to go and only three or four go go bars which have skimpy offerings. Best place is My Way, which puts on a good show. If Mamasan is still there, watch out for the pushiest mamasan on earth, who'll literally be in your face from the minute you walk in and order herself a drink on your tab before you're bum hits the sofa.

There are TONS of ladyboys in Phuket, mainly on Soi Bangla nearby and also at the Simon Cabaret at the edge of town. They seem to have adopted Phuket as their home base in Thailand!

After the lights and glamour of Pattaya and BKK, Phuket is a bit of a letdown, but it's also a great place to hit the beach and take a bf. You'll have plenty of opportunities to meet Thai guys, but not quite as big of a pool to select from. Have fun.

[latintopxxx]

Just as i suspected, based on google results, very tame, guess i will have a 'wholesome" stay....damn!!!

[Brad the Impala]

Just as i suspected, based on google results, very tame, guess i will have a 'wholesome" stay....damn!!!

There are plenty of construction sites for you to hang about outside with your tongue and wallet out.

latintopxxx wrote:
Just as i suspected, based on google results, very tame, guess i will have a 'wholesome" stay....damn!!!


There are plenty of construction sites for you to hang about outside with your tongue and wallet out.

I'm DEAD serious here Brad...you don't have a PM option so I've no choice but to call you on this in public, in this forum: When I would spend my week in Phuket on biz I would enjoy MOST the drives down the central roads with all the trucks filled with gorgeous Burmese and Thai workers, or see them sauntering along the side of the road going to and fro work. I would daydream...pray for red stop lights and then race to get into position to oogle the cutest ones on the truck beds.

Are you absolutely serious about prospects outside construction sites in Phuket? I was always afraid to even hope, because I wasn't sure how Burmese would react.

Can you elaborate or at least humor me a bit? Don't tease me!

[Beachlover]

Yes, I have... My Way has the best show but it's not up to Bangkok standards and there are no fuck shows or anything like that.

The scene as far as gogo bars is tiny and there aren't really any non-pay gay venues that I know of like in Bangkok. But I don't mind. I only know one boy in Phuket and I usually like to just spend a few days with him. I miss him a lot.

In Phuket... enjoy the beach and the beautiful surrounds. Patong is one of the finest developed beaches in the world. There's nothing like a long run on the beach at Sunset with the waves crashing ashore surrounded by those lush green hills on the soft, generous sand.

The main downside of Phuket for me is the hotels... they are shit. There are no decent mid-range places. You have to pay a fortune (4,000-5,000+) to get anywhere decent. 1,500 to 3,000 will get you a badly designed, old, badly located room with no natural light and crappy layout.

And unlike, just about everywhere else in Thailand, most hotels Phuket charge for the internet... between 500-1,000 baht per day! F*ck... Everywhere else I go in Thailand they include the internet but in Phuket most hotels charge extra for it.

Anyway... I still enjoy Phuket a lot regardless.

I think Connect does a nice job on the rooms...and they have free internet.

[bing]

Hi Latintopxxx, the guys have been a bit hard on Phuket, one even suggesting you bring a Thai guy with you. It seems they went to a totally different place than I visited. I stayed at Connect, basic but clean and certainly in the heart of things. If you like side tirps there is James Bond Island and Phi Phi Island. The Connect still offers a Gay boat trip to a beach, which in low season last May had 50 signed up for the jaunt. I'm not sure if it was the open bar and the call of the warm water or a combination of both that dissipated just about any semblance of inhibitions. Ah be still my heart. Phuket is the jumping off point for these wonderful trips. I saw the show at My Way and agree it is not on a par with Soi Twilight in BKK. You will have no problem in finding a bevy of boys who will delighted to share your vacation, and they will be perfect companions to the James Bond adventure. At least I found it so. The gay beach in Phuket is small compared to Pattaya, not the beach itself, but he gay section, which is marked by gay flag flying in the wind. It is a good 15 minute walk from the Paradise Complex, but there is shade on the way and not a burdensome stroll.

What BING says.

As for the rest of the comments:

There is NOT one Soi - there are 3 Sois, with some gay venues in each soi

Cannot agree that My Way is any way entertaining. There is a Thai guy - dunno who the hell he is maybe mamasan or owner - that wanders all over the bar with a microphone talking one load of crap before, during, and after the show. It is impossible to enjoy the show or have a conversation because of this guy. The object of this exercise seems to be to entertain a small group of his farang friends/regulars who prop up the bar from opening to closing every night. Would not thank you for this place at all.

Mid range hotel - try Poppa Palace, literally across the road from Paradise centre. Good rooms, reasonably priced, no joiner fee, very gay friendly.

Go-Go - Passport, Tangmo, My Way, Mama San, Super Boy (across road).

Beach - to my mind preferable to Dongtan. Not as busy, but neither do you get porn DVDs stuffed in your face every 30 seconds either.

"Been once that was enough" - try Chaing Mai and you'll really know what boredom is like and what the word "clique" means.

To summarise: Phuket is not Pattaya or BKK and I would not contemplate spending any more than 5 days there maximum, but it is a good break away from the aforementioned.

:occasion9: :occasion9: :occasion9: :occasion9:

Everything gay in Phuket is centered around a soi in front of the Royal Paradise Hotel.



There is NOT one Soi - there are 3 Sois, with some gay venues in each soi

I don't think anyone can dispute that everything gay in Phuket is CENTERED around a soi in front of the Royal Paradise Hotel?? I don't consider a few straggler beer bars not larger than a Pattaya studio and a few overrated guesthouses to be worth distracting someone by contending that the gay scene in Phuket is somehow bigger than it really is.

Superboy is (was? Can't believe it is still around) the most piss poor go go bar on the planet and if it's still there by all means check it out. Last time I glanced down the soi the sign was gone.

That 'My Way' is the considered the best gay show in Phuket is an accurate reflection of just how bad the scene there is. I note no one has offered a runner up... at least that 'small group of farang' you talk about was entertained! Thank goodness SOMEONE was entertained somewhere in Phuket outside of Simon Cabaret.

Patong Beach is okay, but the Europeans use it as an ashtray. The Thai vendors there charge 100 baht a chair and they do a terrible job of keeping the beach clean, in my personal observations. All the other beaches in Phuket kick its ass. Try Kata for the nicest beach in the Patong area.

Having said all that, as long as your expectations are lower and your tropical island vibe is switched 'on' it's a nice departure from Pattaya.

[pennyboy]

I regularly visit Patong as well as Pattaya and I have a great time in both places. I have yet to see a cabaret show, with boys available to off , in Pattaya as good as My Way in Patong. I agree the owner Bon can be a bit of a pain at times when he has been drinking too much.

As for the chairs on the beach, they are all loungers and at 100 bt per day are the same price as Jomtien. Deck chairs are not available in Patong.

I think it is well worth a visit but a bit like Pattaya it has too many regulars who can only slag off other options in Thailand.

[Surfcrest]

Been there one time....one time to many!


Pattaya.....The best thing about living here is not living there! :bounce:

Wow....you're a bitter Mary! Why don't you go home darling?
Its like having Andyinoz back againтАж..not getting laid enough or something?
Let me guess...you're gonna call me some names again for rightfully pointing this out to you?
I'm an asshole...self centered baffoon (whatever that is) and now I am a.............?

[quote="jacklipton
Superboy is...the most piss poor go go bar on the planet [/quote]

You have obviously forgotten Jungle Boyz (now closed) adjacent to Siam Palm guesthouse.

:laughing3:

You have obviously forgotten Jungle Boyz (now closed) adjacent to Siam Palm guesthouse.


No, I didn't. It wasn't my cup of tea with the older boys there but I didn't think it would be closed down. Classy, gentle place.

There seems to be a need for a critical mass for gay areas to survive, with Chiang Mai being a notable exception. Wonder why?

[Pet]

Scottish-guy wrote:
Try Poppa Palace, literally across the road from Paradise centre. Good rooms, reasonably priced, no joiner fee, very gay friendly.

Tree years ago I was in Phuket and stayed in Poppa-Palace: a nice hotel on a good location but they charged me for a boy B 500 even though he stayed only a few hours!

The beach of Phuket is nice but there are no boys for massage. Only women: most of them thick and fat. Nice for people who like that. But I missed te boys from Jomtien.

In Jomtien/pattaya there is much more tot do in the evening/night!

Pet

[pennyboy]

Jungle Boys next to Siam Palm was never a gogo bar but I don't expect little facts like that would stop Scottish Guy's bile. It was always a host bar and I had some great fun nights there.

Scottish-guy wrote:
Try Poppa Palace, literally across the road from Paradise centre. Good rooms, reasonably priced, no joiner fee, very gay friendly.

Tree years ago I was in Phuket and stayed in Poppa-Palace: a nice hotel on a good location but they charged me for a boy B 500 even though he stayed only a few hours!

Pet


Sorry to hear that - I last stayed in October 2009 and there was no charge, but when I booked by Email I specified right from the start that there was to be "no joiner charge" and insisted they agreed in writing. In fact I do that with every hotel I book and I have never had a problem. If they hadn't agreed I would have gone elsewhere. I found the hotel nice and the staff friendly.

On a related note, I know from speaking to the Managers of some "tourist" hotels (eg Welcome Plaza) in Pattaya that if they receive a booking through an agency (to whom they must pay commission) then they see a "joiner charge" as a way of making up the difference, whereas if you book direct with the hotel you can often get the same rates as agencies and they are less likely to try this scam. I have been in the situation where, arriving back after midnight "we" have been waved through whilst others have been stood paying a joiner charge.

Hope this helps
:hello1: :hello1: :hello1:

Jungle Boys next to Siam Palm was never a gogo bar but I don't expect little facts like that would stop Scottish Guy's bile. It was always a host bar and I had some great fun nights there.


Hmmmm I can't see any bile in anything I've posted on this topic so far - but .......................

I'm happy to accept that Jungle Boyz may have been a host bar rather than a gogo bar. I only visited once - it was almost empty, the bar service was indifferent, and a large cockroach was scuttling all over the floor.

However, I'm glad you had "some great fun nights" there - maybe you scored with the cockroach?

Birds of a feather etc...... maybe applies to insects also

Happy now?

:hello1: :hello1: :hello1:

I used to travel to Phuket often in the mid-nineties when 1) you could go day diving for $40.00 and everyone was happy, 2) you could get a decent 3 star hotel room in Patong for $20.00 a night 3) you could go to and from anywhere in Patong for 10 - 20 baht in a songtaew, 4) the beach road was pleasant with mostly independent small restaurants/bars, etc. These days a day dive is $100 and no one seems happy to be making money, the greed of the hotels is just outrageous, the gang members who control the taxis won't look at you for under 100 baht for anything and they all sit around empty on the streets, and the beach road is filled with retail minimarts and fast food joints and hawkers bent on ripping off stupid European tourists at inflated prices for merchandise dumped off container ships from Taiwan. IMHO all a result of a spike in popularity among middle class European tourists for whom the inflated prices in phuket are still a deal.

So what do you do after a tsunami? Well, you do more construction right across the street from the beach (which blocked my view from my favorite hotel). I'm not sure what to think about that but I guess that in case another one hit at least that mass of cement was in front of me.

The gay scene is still much as it was back then. WALK to the Paradise center. Lot's of fun outside and inside the Boat Bar. Connect Pub a good choice of Thai and western food.

[Nathan B]

Nobody has really mentioned the 2 gay nightclubs - Kiss and Boat Bar - which are a great advantage over anything Pattaya can offer. Both are lively in peak season, plenty of freelancers are available, and you can often pick up Westerners too if that's your thing. Many gay tourists in Pattaya are in their 20s, 30s and 40s, whereas the average gay tourist in Pattaya already has their bus pass. This gives the Phuket scene a very different vibe from Pattaya.

The Kiss and Boat Bar shows are the best. Tangmo and My Way try hard, but they're a little formulaic. Kiss often has visiting acts from Bangkok.

If you want to spend your entire vacation in a gay ghetto then Phuket is not for you, but I really like it. There's just so much more to do in the daytime.

[Beachlover]

I used to travel to Phuket often in the mid-nineties when 1) you could go day diving for $40.00 and everyone was happy, 2) you could get a decent 3 star hotel room in Patong for $20.00 a night 3) you could go to and from anywhere in Patong for 10 - 20 baht in a songtaew, 4) the beach road was pleasant with mostly independent small restaurants/bars, etc. These days a day dive is $100 and no one seems happy to be making money, the greed of the hotels is just outrageous, the gang members who control the taxis won't look at you for under 100 baht for anything and they all sit around empty on the streets, and the beach road is filled with retail minimarts and fast food joints and hawkers bent on ripping off stupid European tourists at inflated prices for merchandise dumped off container ships from Taiwan. IMHO all a result of a spike in popularity among middle class European tourists for whom the inflated prices in phuket are still a deal.

So what do you do after a tsunami? Well, you do more construction right across the street from the beach (which blocked my view from my favorite hotel). I'm not sure what to think about that but I guess that in case another one hit at least that mass of cement was in front of me.

The gay scene is still much as it was back then. WALK to the Paradise center. Lot's of fun outside and inside the Boat Bar. Connect Pub a good choice of Thai and western food.

Heh... that sums up Patong Beach well.

It's simply too crowded (limited space/supply) and there's too many people wanting to go there (high demand)... which causes all these things.

The thing that gets me is the tuk tuk drivers. I never take them now a days. They prefer to sit there in their shiny new tuk tuks (ever noticed all the tuk tuks in Phuket are new and shiny?) and not take passengers. They refuse to take anyone for under 100 baht. If I'm going out of town (the only time I need a taxi) I prefer to get one of the taxi services.

[TrongpaiExpat]

... that sums up Patong Beach well.

It's simply too crowded (limited space/supply) and there's too many people wanting to go there (high demand)... which causes all these things.

The thing that gets me is the tuk tuk drivers. I never take them now a days. They prefer to sit there in their shiny new tuk tuks (ever noticed all the tuk tuks in Phuket are new and shiny?) and not take passengers. They refuse to take anyone for under 100 baht. If I'm going out of town (the only time I need a taxi) I prefer to get one of the taxi services.

Yes, I agree that's an excellent take on Phuket but there's a few solutions. First rent a car and don't just go and stay at Patong. Rentals at the airport are reasonably and available and I often use a company called Nine Rentals. For dive trips and boat trips don't go to the middle men at any of the beaches in walking distance to any farang habitation. There's small beaches in Phuket and north of Phuket where you can negotiate directly with a boat owner.

So, now you have your own car and there's no more rip-offs. Not quite. Then there's the fake official looking guy with a notebook approaching you as you pull into a public parking space in Patong telling you that there's a 40B change to park here. The songthows and taxis sometimes take up most of the beach parking spaces. Take one when they're away and you will find them double parked behind you.

There's also a big bus service but I don't know anything about it.

[pennyboy]

Nice to see that Scotch Git has not forsaken his nasty side.

Following his logic I would like to nominate Zardan Tailor as the worst GoGo Bar in Thailand on the grounds that it has been closed for 3 years and was never a GoGo bar.

[Surfcrest]

Nice to see that Scotch Git has not forsaken his nasty side.

Following his logic I would like to nominate Zardan Tailor as the worst GoGo Bar in Thailand on the grounds that it has been closed for 3 years and was never a GoGo bar.

Sometimes I think posters like you, new, with little to add yourself....who zoom in on some of the best posters we have here (and scottish-guy is defintely one of our best) are vandals from other boards trying to undermine SGT. How far off do you think I am with that pressumption darling?

seems to me like a LTMU/BB/DH troll.

[pennyboy]

oh dear!!!!.

I apologise for being new.I know that can be a serious crime on this forum.

Please let me know how long I have to wait before i can contribute the put downs so loved by your fav poster Scotch Git....darling!

Oh dear!!!!.

I apologise for being new.I know that can be a serious crime on this forum.

Please let me know how long I have to wait before i can contribute the put downs so loved by your fav poster Scotch Git....darling!

I can't speak for others and I'm relatively new myself, but there's a kind of 'battered poster syndrome' because of what I think people see as LMTU/BB/DH (and whatever the hell others he uses) type posts. I automatically suspect any newer poster that disparages others as possibly being him trying on a new avatar. He's probably laughing thinking how paranoid I am but he has a certain style, a voice, that is pretty similar in all his posting identities. Scottie's edgy style is definitely different and not over the top, so his contributions are well thought of.

It's not that the forum members are touchy and bitchy as much as they've had to put up with those that have abused it in the past.

[Surfcrest]

Having just crawled out of my sewer to commentтАж

It took me about 5 minutes to go through all 17тАж of you short posts. It would appear as though you have a brief history at taking jabs at posters, that you appear to have prior knowledge of the folks you take jabs at (your first message to many isnтАЩt based on any past dialogue from SGT under the name pennyboy), and you have yet to contribute anything yourself.

Are you really a new poster?.....or is pennyboy here under other motives?...clear enough now?

They refuse to take anyone for under 100 baht. If I'm going out of town (the only time I need a taxi) I prefer to get one of the taxi services.

The reason they 'refuse' is that if any of them dares to offer any kind of reasonable bid the others will vandalize, terrorize or even kill the driver. The Tuk Tuk Mafia in Phuket powerful (the Police is supposedly in cahoots as well) and have done more to destroy the reputation of the island than any other aspect. They also have some kind of threat going against motorbike tax's as well. The bike boys are relegated to non tourist areas that cater to regular thais and are not to avail themselves to the standard tourists at places like hotels. This is especially so after 10 pm, when the tuk tuk's are the only ones in town. There is no public transport in Patong, period.

I visited a few months after the tsunami and you would have thought with zero tourists there there would have been a breakthrough, with desperate drivers doing anything for business. No. NOTHING. The Mafia held the line. It's that bad. My friends that live there and visit regularly will not, under any circumstances, use tuk tuks. I personally would walk five miles rather than use one.

Oh, and the parking on the street? Can't do, because they suck up every other spot in town. I've had friends who have parked at what they thought was an open parking spot not knowing that it really belonged to tuk tuk taxis (and there's no way to know!) had their windows smashed, paint keyed or tires slashed. If you park legally somewhere but any Thais tell you not to it doesn't matter if you're in the right. They will vandalize you.


********************

On the issue of pennyboy and his posting heritage I'm all in favor of banning any post that has the sole purpose of denigrating anyone without offering something constructive. There is no good reason for the forum to be used in a solely negative way.

IMHO

[Brad the Impala]

There seem to be a few extreme comments on Phuket in this thread. I have been going there regularly as a tourist, and have lived there while working, for more than thirty years, and it has always been my preferred beach life destination in Thailand.

Phuket is a very big island, and comprises a lot more than just Patong, although that is where the gay night life is centred. Don't forget Phuket Town is well worth visiting during the day or at night time. There are hundreds of beaches around the island, some built up and some not.

Tuk Tuks' attitude have certainly got worse over the years, but if you think how little 100 Baht for a within Patong journey actually is, and don't sweat the small stuff.............It's not like Pattaya where you are hopping on and off a songtaew. The tuk tuks will take you straight to your destination. However I recommend hiring a car, and agree that Nine Car Rent at the airport is a good place to do it. A local family run firm.

Driving yourself you can get the best out of the island, going into Phuket Town, visiting beaches, and if you want to stay in Patong, it makes it easier to stay in the pleasanter hills surrounding the bay with great views. Parking can be found everywhere, not always immediately, and I have never had tyres slashed etc. If you are nervous to drive, hire a car with driver for occasional days.

The gay nightlife suits me very well, but if you want to spend every evening looking at young men in their underpants it probably isn't right for you. There is a village atmosphere to it, open air bars, people watching, a few go go bars, and as previously recommended, two excellent club type venues in the Boat Bar and Kiss.

Even the much pilloried Super Boys can be entertaining in a sleazy way when the other venues close, but it carries on as an uninhibited mixed karaoke venue.

The gay beach is small, and not over crowded, and you can get some space and the sun loungers are comfortable. And enough eye candy to make it interesting. It is worth also repeating the previous comment that In Phuket there appears to be a more normal balance of visiting age groups and types.

[pennyboy]

I also refuse to use a Tuk Tuk In Patong as in my experience they will not turn on the engine for less than 150bt . They are also generally aggresive and are forcing the motorbike taxis to charge a minimum of 50bt for the shortest of journeys. Some time ago a small bus service was tried out running from Kata,Karon to Patong but unfortunately one of the drivers was taken out of his cab and beaten ,probably by the Tuk Tuk mafia. The authorities are still requesting someone take on this route but wisely there have been no takers.

I have always liked Phuket but as I get older I find Pattaya more suited to the older visitor looking for commercial sex. Phuket seems to be attracting more younger gay guys who arrive with their own partners and prefer places like Kiss and Boat bar to the gogo bars.

I was in Phuket for a few days recently, leaving on 1st December. I have been there for a visit every year since 2000. Certainly it doesn't have the same size gay scene as Pattaya, but I always enjoy visits there.
The chief disappointment this year was the change at Tangmo bar, which seems to be full of katoeys now. I didn't go in. The new go-go bar Mama San, right at the end of that soi and round the corner, seemed to have some nice guys. I enjoyed the company of one of them for several offs.
The good feature of Patong Beach is the beach, where the water is much cleaner than at Jomtien/Dongtan, and pleasant for swimming.

[Smiles]

" ... and I have never had tyres slashed etc. ... "
Interesting comment, and brings up an observation perhaps worth making.

I've not often heard of out-and-out, just for the hell of it, destructive vandalism as being a big problem in Thailand.
Lots of petty theft here, lots of break ins of private homes (Hua Hin has quite a problem with this in the outlying areas), Thai-on-Thai fights, stabbings etc etc, and frankly, a quite high murder rate per capita.

Incidents of outright vandalism to property (e.g. drunken window breaking along High Street; (as Brad says) tire slashing; graffiti plastered everywhere . . . all those kinds of things) seems quite rare in Thailand ~ or perhaps, unreported(?)
Those petty thugs who find vandalism a fun thing to do at 3 in the morning are a scary group because the violence is so random and so unmotivated ... it's just pure 'kicks'.
I 'understand' robbing a bank (for instance): It has a certain economic ~ though antisocial ~ rationality to it ... "I need money, and over there in that building there's lots of it". But vandalism for the sake of pure destruction with no benefit save a peer or drug-driven 2 minute high bothers me in a visceral sense far more than a bank robbery. Given the circumstance, a vandal 'will do anything'.

Canada, the US, and Europe are plagued with senseless vandalism ... granted, certain areas of large inner cities have a far higher occurrence rate, and I don't know the stats on vandalism in Thailand, or for the dark bowels of Bangkok where farang hardly ever step.
But this particular crime just 'seems' to be much less of an issue in Thailand than in the west.