goteed1
December 13th, 2011, 10:22
My first time here and it was like landing on another planet in many ways. My overall impression after returning home is that everything and everyone their is for sale! I have been in many many big cities all over the world and I know there is a lot of hustle in big cities, but I was definitely not prepared for the amount of hustle that goes on here.
I took Cathay Pacific from SFO to BKK in Economy and the best thing I can say about Cathay is that they got me there safely and on time. Also I watched alot of good movies.
Arrived at my hotel at midnight and (Glow Studios in Silom) and it's a pretty nice new 3 star hotel. The bellhop brings up my bags and the first thing he says to me is "You want lady friend now?" Uhm, no. I had gotten very little sleep in the last 24 hours, but I was in Bangkok for the first time and wired, so I couldn't just go to sleep. Like a big moron, I went out for a stroll and got hopelessly lost in the small sois around the hotel. I eventually made my way back (Thanks to one of the touts at some gay go go bar, which I can't remember the name of).
Glow Studios is actually a great choice for a seasoned traveler. I had a suite with breakfast included for $90 a night and the room was really nice. Location is perfect for gay nightlife and for sightseeing during the day as well. I didn't bring anyone back to my room (Didn't order up a lady friend!) The rules state that only registered guests are allowed in your room, but if you don't make a big scene, I can't imagine any of the staff there stopping you from going to your room. (The night staff wouldn't even know to stop you and a friend, because they don't check when you come in at night). Most of the guests seemed to be people in shopping excursions anyway.
I did all the touristy things during the day. (Took me about a day to get used to all the touts EVERYWHERE)
At night:
I was eager to see a GoGo bar. This is something unique to Thailand and I really wanted to check it out. I didn't really have any plans to off anyone, but I was open to this if I thought it would be worth my time.
I think I went to most of the GoGo bars in Silom. And I was amazed that most of the "shows" consisted of guys just shuffling across the stage. At one of the places I was talked into buying a host a drink and felt kind of dumb afterwards. I actually liked the touts more than the boys and enjoyed their sales pitch every night. In each bar there were TONS of guys, but not many customers.
The bar I like the best was by far Tawan. There is nothing like this show in my part of the world, and I really like watching the muscle boys go at it. Also No Sales Pressure! These guys don't really want to be offed I think, so you could just sit and enjoy the show. Also, the staff here was so nice and polite! My last night in town, the place was kind of dead and one of the muscle boys did finally try to cozy up and get some business. After a few minutes, it started to get more like a used car saleman trying to sell me the special of the month so I took off.
I saw that there were other go go bars in Soi Twilite and had heard that these were usually empty and maybe cheaper and a little raunchier, so I checked these out too. One really small one had about 4 scraggly go gos in there and no customers. I went in for a beer and they all went in for the kill, so Paid for my beer and left.
The next one was an upstairs bar (Sorry, I can't remember the name) in the same soi and this one had about 20 guys and no customers. About half the guys were very cute, and beer was only 100 baht so I sat down like a moron. Immediately 20 guys went into a feeding frenzy, literally. The mamasan kept asking which one I wanted. Finally I managed to convince them to let me breath a little. The Mamasan said I wouldn't have to take any of them back to my hotel I could do them there. Well, I'm about 8 beers into my night and though maybe this will do. Mamsan says 1500 baht and then starts talking about all kinds of rules and side deals and it became so complicated that just paid for my beer and left.
One really odd GoGo bar I went to was Jupiter 2000, because it's designed for Thai men. This place probably had the best looking men I have seen in Bangkok. Model caliber. The show was really cheesey lip synching and amatuer dance stuff and the guys don't strip down to their underwear, but boy they were hot! Also very few "farang" in the audience, so I had absolutely no pressure here at all.
I also enjoyed the regular bars very much, The telephone pub and Dicks.
Babylon Sauna. Although I'[m not a bathhouse guy, I wound up here because I wanted a good workout in real gym. California Wow told me a day pass is like $34, so I said fuck that and walked over to Babylon from my hotel. (Not a bad walk actually, about 20 minutes) I was really amazed by this place. Great facilities, LOTS of people when I was there. I had a great work out and they have a lot of eye candy. I"m not sure what the hot guys in the white uniforms do in the Gym except pose, but they were appreciated. AFterwards I had a nice sauna and hung out at the pool for some drinks. This was late afternoon and the place was very busy. Lots of hunting going on.
All in all, I was very glad I got to see Bangkok, but it's not a city I'll be back to very soon. Too much hustle and everyone looking to make an extra buck. Too much damn shopping! But I will say that the food was amazing everyplace I ate. Next trip I'll check out some of the beach cities.
Thanks for your help
I took Cathay Pacific from SFO to BKK in Economy and the best thing I can say about Cathay is that they got me there safely and on time. Also I watched alot of good movies.
Arrived at my hotel at midnight and (Glow Studios in Silom) and it's a pretty nice new 3 star hotel. The bellhop brings up my bags and the first thing he says to me is "You want lady friend now?" Uhm, no. I had gotten very little sleep in the last 24 hours, but I was in Bangkok for the first time and wired, so I couldn't just go to sleep. Like a big moron, I went out for a stroll and got hopelessly lost in the small sois around the hotel. I eventually made my way back (Thanks to one of the touts at some gay go go bar, which I can't remember the name of).
Glow Studios is actually a great choice for a seasoned traveler. I had a suite with breakfast included for $90 a night and the room was really nice. Location is perfect for gay nightlife and for sightseeing during the day as well. I didn't bring anyone back to my room (Didn't order up a lady friend!) The rules state that only registered guests are allowed in your room, but if you don't make a big scene, I can't imagine any of the staff there stopping you from going to your room. (The night staff wouldn't even know to stop you and a friend, because they don't check when you come in at night). Most of the guests seemed to be people in shopping excursions anyway.
I did all the touristy things during the day. (Took me about a day to get used to all the touts EVERYWHERE)
At night:
I was eager to see a GoGo bar. This is something unique to Thailand and I really wanted to check it out. I didn't really have any plans to off anyone, but I was open to this if I thought it would be worth my time.
I think I went to most of the GoGo bars in Silom. And I was amazed that most of the "shows" consisted of guys just shuffling across the stage. At one of the places I was talked into buying a host a drink and felt kind of dumb afterwards. I actually liked the touts more than the boys and enjoyed their sales pitch every night. In each bar there were TONS of guys, but not many customers.
The bar I like the best was by far Tawan. There is nothing like this show in my part of the world, and I really like watching the muscle boys go at it. Also No Sales Pressure! These guys don't really want to be offed I think, so you could just sit and enjoy the show. Also, the staff here was so nice and polite! My last night in town, the place was kind of dead and one of the muscle boys did finally try to cozy up and get some business. After a few minutes, it started to get more like a used car saleman trying to sell me the special of the month so I took off.
I saw that there were other go go bars in Soi Twilite and had heard that these were usually empty and maybe cheaper and a little raunchier, so I checked these out too. One really small one had about 4 scraggly go gos in there and no customers. I went in for a beer and they all went in for the kill, so Paid for my beer and left.
The next one was an upstairs bar (Sorry, I can't remember the name) in the same soi and this one had about 20 guys and no customers. About half the guys were very cute, and beer was only 100 baht so I sat down like a moron. Immediately 20 guys went into a feeding frenzy, literally. The mamasan kept asking which one I wanted. Finally I managed to convince them to let me breath a little. The Mamasan said I wouldn't have to take any of them back to my hotel I could do them there. Well, I'm about 8 beers into my night and though maybe this will do. Mamsan says 1500 baht and then starts talking about all kinds of rules and side deals and it became so complicated that just paid for my beer and left.
One really odd GoGo bar I went to was Jupiter 2000, because it's designed for Thai men. This place probably had the best looking men I have seen in Bangkok. Model caliber. The show was really cheesey lip synching and amatuer dance stuff and the guys don't strip down to their underwear, but boy they were hot! Also very few "farang" in the audience, so I had absolutely no pressure here at all.
I also enjoyed the regular bars very much, The telephone pub and Dicks.
Babylon Sauna. Although I'[m not a bathhouse guy, I wound up here because I wanted a good workout in real gym. California Wow told me a day pass is like $34, so I said fuck that and walked over to Babylon from my hotel. (Not a bad walk actually, about 20 minutes) I was really amazed by this place. Great facilities, LOTS of people when I was there. I had a great work out and they have a lot of eye candy. I"m not sure what the hot guys in the white uniforms do in the Gym except pose, but they were appreciated. AFterwards I had a nice sauna and hung out at the pool for some drinks. This was late afternoon and the place was very busy. Lots of hunting going on.
All in all, I was very glad I got to see Bangkok, but it's not a city I'll be back to very soon. Too much hustle and everyone looking to make an extra buck. Too much damn shopping! But I will say that the food was amazing everyplace I ate. Next trip I'll check out some of the beach cities.
Thanks for your help