How did you know about Pattaya ?

When was the first time you came to Gay Pattaya and how do you know about it ?

I was actually told by a workplace colleague of mine back in 2002 and thus made my first trip there the same year,of course it was much more exciting back then.
If I hadn't been told by old Bob back then on one of his smoko breaks i would never have known.

Old Bob ended up being medically/forcefully retired after he told a customer who was dying at the time to go quickly to Pattaya to have a good time rootin and tootin before he passed on.

If my identity was really that which is currently alleged, then my answer would have to be :

We searched the map to find somewhere far away, where we could launder the loot

:rolling: :rolling:

But in reality, I was enticed here by a very dear Geordie friend (now deceased) who had been visiting since the very early days. He was the funniest guy I ever met and I'm having a chuckle just thinking about him now.

[lukylok]

I first came to Pattaya in 1987, as part of a trip organised by a famous weekly of my particular bit of Farangland.
I got a glimpse of the "life" which at that time was very quiet, and I had to come back !

[gaymandenmark]

I have always been attracted to asians, and 16 years ago I was reading in the gay guide Spartacus, one year after I was on my first trip to Thailand, BKK and Pattaya.
Luckely, after my first trip to the Land of Fairytales I found out that Thailand was much more than Pattaya and Asia was much more than Thailand. :hello1:

[tony279760-old]

Back in 1994 I was watching an episode of the British TV series The Knock, written by Stephen Leather (Private Dancer etc) and starring Murray Head (singer of One Night In Bangkok). Head's character went out for a night on the tiles and ended up in a boy gogo bar in Patpong (I think this might have been Screw Boys, but I'm not sure). The sight of all those lovely boys in their underwear was too much for me. Two months later I made my first trip to Thailand, and have been visiting regularly since then. Who'd have thought such a crappy TV show could lead to so many happy memories?

[Captain Swing]

It was the Spartacus guide for me too. I had absolutely no idea about the gay scene in Thailand until I bought a copy of Spartacus in New York, near where I live. I had been to Amsterdam and thought that was the only such place in the world. I was staggered when I saw the listings--and the ads--for Thailand. I was on a plane for Thailand within a year.

[maisoui]

Back in 1971, I met this guy in the Butterfly bar in Bangkok and he dragged me off to a sleepy fishing village where he rented a beach bungalow. His friend was developing a "Hawaiian" restaurant right on the beach. There were lots of GIs about as there was some war nearby and the GIs were all on R&R - some kind of drug I expect.

OK Scottish, I will give you the fact that I have waffled back and forth over your frock and now once again retract the fact that you are in fact the one in the frock.....did you get that? I retracted and once again (I think I did before) apologize from the bottom of my belly that you are the one in a frock. Now, that being said, it still gives you no right to hint to, make veiled comments to the point of revealing, one's identity on as annonymous board. You walk around so paranoid that people are following you and your tricks, dates or boyfreind, making strange calls to you etc, and yet it is no problem for you. Well I do really hope the day will come that I and others figure out your true identity and reveal you> I still am very curious how you know all this oersonal information and why it gives you the right to publish it.
Now I am sure we will hear from Pennyboy as soon as he gets his nose out of your ass, and your other two freinds.

You know your starting to get on my nerves Unkie Buckie/justme ,im sure many others on here are thinking the same.
I use to really love you,but as soon as the other poster stirs you up you take the bait and go off in a rage.
Scottish guy told you in the other thread that you can go to the global forum for your rants,how about using it son.

Now im trying to be kind to you as I know you were very kind to my Jewish Rabbi friend when he visted your bar, but maybe you should take in some Jewish wisdom and that's knowing when to shut up.
Of course if your fighting over me darling just as the Zebra and the Giraffe were doing in Sunee a few years ago then thats a different story you big big cuddly teddy bear you.
I suggest if you want to be a real man you go and confront the bloke personally and tell him to his face to shut it and show you some respect rather than write back threats on a forum because its obviously starting to upset you and its boring the tits off everyone else. :sleepy2:

Now go and give yourself an uppercut and keep the rubbish between you and the other fruitcake out of my threads,now lets get back on topic.......now what were we discussing before we were rudely interuppted by my EX boyfriend !

[christianpfc]

I went to Pattaya for the first time in January 2010, and I read about it on the internet (on the blog gayboythailand if I remember correctly).

Fantastic Christian,see it's interesting stories like yours we want to hear rather than my EX boyfriend's blood pressure rising with his rants.

My first boyfriend back in 1990 worked in the Airline business and could get us cheap flights as "aircrew". We only went to Bangkok together but I heard about Pattaya from other genuine aircrew and eventually made the trip on my own. I've been back to Thailand every year since 1990 but didn't become a regular visitor to Pattaya until a few years later. There's a lot more to see than just Pattaya.

[pong]

in my first 2-3 years visiting Thaild I really shunned it-thought it was only a supersized patpong by the beach (ladies for rent).
Then I got that magic book that explained it all- TMOT-The men of Thailand (it was not even the 1st edition by then) and read about it. Sunee was nothing yet, perhaps not even being built, but what now is Boyztown with BzBzBz just coming up, was the magnet. PLus that PTY turned out to have an enormous amount of very affordable accomodation-and buses from BKK still ran along Beach rd (no need for a blue bahtbus to come into town). Then it turned out prices were lower, amount of boys much larger as in BKK and you even could have FUN in the bars of the time, without al that fuss from BKK-bars.
A few years later about the same discovery of what then was nearly brand-new established, Sunee plaza (drinks @ 20 bt). Plus I hit the nr 1 best performing boy of all my times in Thaild. Untill nr 2 was hit in BKK-and the decline and all that set in. Have not been there since 5-6 years by now and when reading all the reports do not sem to have missed a lot by doing that.

Wow 20 baht a drink back then,those were the days wern't they,probaly my most happiest in Thailand too !
Interesting about that book,The Men of Thailand,I can't seem to get a copy now,almost like a collector's item I imagine.
Well I will have to call my ex master over there at Canterbury Tales Bookshop to see if he has a copy.

[kittyboy]

In 1987 I was teaching english in taiwan and needed to leave every 3 months for a visa trip. One of my coworkers had done a stint in the american peace corps and told me about pattaya. Actually warned me against going as it was sex and sleaze. I of course flew to bkk and got the first bus to pattaya.

Was boyztown even around then? I recall going to gay bars but have no recollection as to where they were located. I met a guy at a bar took him to my hotel and spent 3 or 4 nights with him. Great fun...but being young and naive I assumed he was with me because he wanted sex and fun (I was 28 and not bad looking at the time). He asked me for money at the end of the trip and I was sort of insulted and I think I gave him about 500 baht for his trouble. I of course figured out later that he was a rent boy and worked for tips. To this day I sort of feel crappy about stiffing the guy on his tip.

Oh well, young and naive.
I recall going to the old Rome club on my trip back to bkk and hooking up with some local guys. Did a three way with a couple of thai guys in my hotel then flew out the next morning hung over.

God..that was a fun time...but all in all I am much happier as I get older....maybe a bit wiser...maybe not.

interesting about that book,The Men of Thailand,I can't seem to get a copy now,almost like a collector's item I imagine.

My second edition "The Men of Thailand" is dated 1988. It then became "Trees in the same forest - The Men of Thailand revisited" which came out in 1991.

The last edition I have dates from 1993 by which time it had become "The Men of Thailand - 1993 Guide to gay Thailand".

Don't know what happened to it after that.

... The Men of Thailand,I can't seem to get a copy now,almost like a collector's item I imagine....
Checked on Amazon.com a few minutes ago and there are 4 copies available (used, from $28)

Yes thanks Roger,I like to collect books about gay thailand,even Michael Burchall's book about the history of boyztown i imagine will become scarce.
Amazon it is.

[luvthai-2]

My first trip (March 1994) was with a tour group out of LA and my second trip was 6 mo's later. Since then I have made over 36 trips some for 3 months and others for a month.
I saw the ad for the trip in the Advocate.

I used to visit Morocco alot and then moved on to Hamburg. Met a person in Hamburg who introduced me to Prague and then from there that frind and another talked me into Thailand. Since we all went together, I wasnt was comfortable but seeing the boys in the Bangkok bars when they were swinging from acrobatic ropes and doing erotic things, I was hooked. We split the trip between Bangkok and Pattaya. For many years I liked Bangkok better but for some reason the tide changed and much to the dismay of Scottish Guy and a few friends, I settled here.

... much to the dismay of Scottish Guy and a few friends, I settled here.

Not to my dismay at all - if you weren't in Pattaya how could we have such fun every day?

:rolling:

True True Mrs Werthers.

Hi,

First time I went was after meetingthe late Mick Cockroft in a bar in Bradford and he had just returned with the photos. I looked out of the pub window, it was a grey, dirt,rainy afternoon.

I took a view there and then and contacted Kuoni. I booked with them into a two centre holiday. The Sheraton in Bangkok and the Island View in Pattaya, we are late eighties here and the two hotels were amazing. I found BT and I checked into Honey Lodge around the corner because I couldn't be bothered going back and forth to Island View, even though it was a great hotel.

Incidentally,I was introduced to Bangkok by this kid, after I ditched a straight guy I was travelling with. He took me to Super A and Babylon. It was a baptism of fire. I was hooked. I had NEVER seen anything like it in my life.

I remember going berserk with the offs and having up to 6 or 7 at a time. I even brought two down from Bangkok. The rest was a blur of discos, Karaoke bars, booze and beaches.

I remember the last day and thinking I am not going back. Mick was in the same hotel at the time and there was a tug of war, he was packing to get rid of this lunatic (me) and throwing my stuff in the suitcase and I was throwing it back out at the same time.

What times they were indeed. The bars were booming, Pattaya was paradise in those days and it used to take you up to 7 hours to get from the airport to Pattaya when there was no motorway.

Big guys used to cry when they left, now they are often glad to be going home saying ' It just isn't the same anymore' when they e mail me. That could be just what they call moving with the times, I suppose or the place has become over developed for its number of customers.

It is a great memory to have though.

The first few times were always the best times,funny how we always remember our first trip but never our other ones.

[colmx]

My first trip to Thailand was in 2001 when i was travelling to Oz on a "gap year"

That time i stayed just 4 nights in Bkk

On my return home a year later - i travelled overland from Singapore-Johar Bahru-Kuala lumpur-Butterworth-Penang before flying on to phuket
Had a great time in Phuket with straight friends and managed to sneak out to paradise complex a few times to expeience the night life there.

After 1 week in Patong i flew on to Ko Samui without y travelling companions.
Unfortunately i arrived to Samui the same weekend as a full moon party AND the easter holidays and could only find a ratty room.
Next morning i went straight to the airport and booked the next flight out of there... first flight had a destination pattaya

On arrival in U Tapao the mini bus driver wanted to know what hotel i was staying in... I had nothing booked and had no idea... but i was scared to say that i wanted to go to boystown!

Having read up on the early forums on pattayagay.com, dreadedned and gaybutton i was a little bit familiar with pattaya but had no real knowledge of where any place was

As we were driving around dropping people off at their hotels i saw the huge sign for Boystown - and knew that was where i wanted to go... but there was no way i would tell the driver that! :blackeye:

Eventually he dumped me and another young farang outside Burger King at Royal garden. After a quick bite to eat I put on my backpack and tried to find Boystown again.... 10 mins later i was settled into the only available room in the Ambiance.

That night in BBB i spotted HIM... he would make me fall head over heels in love... pity I wouldn't learn for a few months after that what a F*cked up underage (with fake ID) yaba addict he was!

Luckily i found some much better apples in the barrel before my taste for pattaya got soured!

Have been coming back to Pattaya 3-4 times per year ever since (but not for the original guy obviously) :violent1:

[joe552]

My first trip was in July 2002. I was with a straight couple who had a friend living here, and my best friend, who was bisexual. I fell in love with a boy from Isaan working in Star Boys, and was back in October of that year (maxed out my credit card) for 10 days with him. I came every year for 3 or 4 years, spent a glorious 3 weeks with him and his family at home, seeing a good part of the North East - best holiday of my life.

We eventually lost touch, but I would give anything to see him again. I still sit at Panorama or wherever when I'm there, hoping he'll just walk by.

[thonglor55]

My second edition "The Men of Thailand" is dated 1988. It then became "Trees in the same forest - The Men of Thailand revisited" which came out in 1991.My favorite piece of advice from that book (which was unintentionally funny in parts) was that the visitor should change his diet for some weeks before The Visit so that his body odor would not be so objectionable to his sexual partners :8(

[joe552]

i think there are a number of visitors from the subContinent who may not have read that piece of advice.

[daa raa]

I first went to Pattaya in 2004 with a coworker. I fell in love with the place and just recently completed my 20th visit. I am planning my next trip now.

[thonglor55]

i think there are a number of visitors from the subContinent who may not have read that piece of advice.I think you have missed my point.

[Beachlover]

I found out about Pattaya on this forum and visited soon afterwards to check it out. My first impression was that it was a real "anything goes" nut town with a lot of undesirable nut cases around. That opinion hasn't changed, but I do see plenty of upsides to Shitsville as a place to visit - never for more than a week though.

I have been back more than once since then, usually when I'm in Bangkok and want to get my head down for a few days near a beach but can't be bothered getting on a plane for Phuket.

It was on a map :occasion9:

[Brisboy82]

An old friend from Sydney raved about it many years ago. I was intrigued. I went there for a look one day and walked through Sunee and met the hottest boy who grabbed me in the street, had sex a couple of times in a row and refused to accept payment, then came to BKK the following week to meet me again and relive the experience. It was a nice introduction!

[TravellerDave]

I used to spend my holidays at gay friendly resorts in the Mediteranean, especially Ibiza and also Gran Canaria in winter. One guy I had sex with told me about Thailand and Pattaya and the boys you find there. After a little research on the internet I booked my ticket and made my way to Pattaya. I found everything he told me about was true, especially about the young slim boys. I dont go to the Med anymore although I miss the nude gay beach of Gran Canaria.

[jinks]

I miss the nude gay beach of Gran Canaria.

The dunes too :sharm:

[lexusgs]

I miss the nude gay beach of Gran Canaria.

The dunes too :sharm:

Christ! The Dunes and the Yumbo Centre :hello1: It was always such a long walk to the Dunes....

[stevehadders]

My friend suggested Thailand as a destination for our previously cancelled holiday - neither of us had ever been before.....I have to say I didnt know what to expect and it wouldnt have been my choice. In the pub before we left some older guys were telling me " once you visit, you will want to go back time and time again...you will love the boys"...and I thought they were all dirty old men! I didnt really fancy Asians at all. That was 12 years ago

Anyway, had the best 14 days of my life, booked my next trip within 1 hour of arriving home, now visit Thailand three times a year (with pattaya included twice) as well as Cambodia, laos, Malaysia and Vietnam. I guess I am now a "dirty old (just 40 yrs!)man" in some peoples eyes, and a self confessed rice queen! When people "raise their eyebrows" when I mention Thailand I do laugh and remember that many years ago that was me....and how wrong I was!

[anonone]

My first trip was to Bangkok and was not about the sex scene in any way. Once I started doing some research about things to do on the trip, I quickly learned all about the joys of Thailand.
Gotta love the internet !

Of course while sussing out what to do in Bangkok, references to Pattaya popped up and I decided to come back to Thailand and check out "sin city", and the rest, as they say, is history.

I enjoyed Bangkok, but really have an affinity to Pattaya. The scale is much more manageable, I enjoy Dongtan Beach (when free of Russians :tongue3: ), and of course it is much less expensive.
At some point I want to check out more of Thailand, but as a visitor with limited time, it is hard to give up the sure-fire fun of Pattaya trips.