low season

[Oliver]

I know, I know....this subject is a perennial on our forum. But I must say this.
After P. Had gone to bed early, after a long day travelling from Chiang Mai, I took a walk through Boyztown and Sunee to observe what's left of the scene at this time of the year.
The four open-fronted bars at the end of Pattayaland 3 had, in total, fewer than ten punters at 2300. The Copa swimming show had, as far as I could discern, none, but I couldn't be sure. I have to say that the masseurs Copa had in the afternoon-more than usual- brightened the place up a little. Moving on to Soi 1, I saw no other falangs; I'd be amazed if any of the bars were thriving.
As I walked towards Sunee, the air of depression increased. Those who gloated at the demise of the shisha bars may like to reconsider; they added colour and vibrancy to the area around Sunee. Now they are boarded-up. The area is becoming a ghost-town.Thank God I live in a multi-ethnic part of London where different cultures are celebrated.
At least five of Sunee's bars were closed. The remaining ones were all but empty. I looked in at Suny go-go; a few customers. The guys were engaging, nevertheless.

Disappointing but hardly surprising; I know that this topic is discussed every year. I come here every June and so I'm used to a quiet scene; in some ways, I welcome it. But this year it is too much, even for me. And yes, I appreciate that Sundays are....well, Sundays.

[Manforallseasons]

I hope newalaan or Nirish Guy don't see this! :((

[Nirish guy]

:-( I just did and an already regretting leaving Bali to head to Bkk and Pattaya now as I'd pencilled in two weeks in Thailand, I may even now rethink that ! In the other hand I too have been there in quiet season and actually sometimes I don't mind it being quiet ( I may live to regret those words), saying that being Irish we have a certain way about us of usually living up even the most dead of bars and if I'm in an open bar, with a few also drunk cute Thai guys I'm sure between us we'll soon figure out a way to liven up wherever we are :-) Lets hope anyway ! Always look at the glass half full and not half empty eh ;-)

[Oliver]

After NIrish's comment I wish I hadn't posted! Perhaps I should have added that we are having a great time. We like the uncrowded restaurants and the attentiveness of the guys (probably the girls too, if we noticed). As far as the go-go bars are concerned, that ceased to be an interest years ago- and, from what I've seen, the bars weren't crowded even in high season. Gay Romeo is still there and I'vee just had a splendid massage at Copa.

A year ago we were in Bali for our tenth anniversary and had a wonderful time. But Pattaya's night-life is still (IMHO) streets ahead of Bali's; NIrish will have sanuk here, just as we are. ....as long as he doesn't mind the paucity of falangs. To be blunt, I'm not that bothered. It's the Thais I want here.

[Nirish guy]

as long as he doesn't mind the paucity of falangs.

Indeed no, actually I see that as a bonus ! And like yourself I really could care less what's going on in go go bars as I can hardly remember the last time I off'd a guy from one.

If I go out for a evening other than to "do something" and I'm at a loose end I might do the rounds of the go go's or Eros etc once or twice during a trip, where I go and stick my head in a few bars, buy a few drinks, have a few bullshit chats and then realise that absolutely nothing has changed in 10 years ( except the prices have gone up and the selection of boys has diminished) and so after an hour or two of that that's me done with go go bars for another trip and I tend to stick to beer bars and clubs and the likes after that.

Also as I've been going to Pattaya now for so long I know several guys as "special friends" and we often go out just wherever they want to go i.e. to straight bars or to lady boy bars with their friends etc where I'm glad to say they drop the farang ATM mentality bullshit and if I buy a bottle so do they and we all share and so we all usually have a great nights craic there with no bullshit about off's or tips or whatever as they know they'll probably end up back at mine anyway, either alone or en-masse ( if I'm lucky lol) ha ha that sounds like the start of a great Irish joke, an Irish man, a gay guy, a Lady boy and a straight guy all walk in to a bar........with the punch line just being.....and if he's lucky the Irish guy gets to fuck them all ! lol

So yeah, quiet or not I'm sure I'll be fine :-)

[thaiguest]

or perhaps more likely "the Irish guy gets to be fucked by them all!" financially. Would never happen to the cheap, khee neiow english.

[LoveThailand]

I can relate to Nirish's experience when one goes out with local guys. A year or two ago I had a late late massage at Silom - the guy and the massage was so-so, but when the massage ended he asked me what I was going to do. I said I was not sure and he asked me if I'd like to go to a gay bar with him and his friends. I agreed and we ended up at G-Star (?) - I think was the name of a huge bar. Caught a great ladyboy contest there, met my companion's friends and I had tons of fun. I did buy a bottle - the only one during the evening. The guys bought 2 or 3 more.

[Nirish guy]

ha ha every man has their price :-) And yes you're right they may well fuck me financially ( and physically too if they're hot enough) but hey just think of the fun I'll be having whilst those very same English men are sitting alone, jerking off in their apartments and counting their baht and congratulating themselves as to just how astute they are for not going out and throwing money around them and wasting it on things like having "fun"......and then after 10 years of that and those very same guys gathering up their nice little nest egg to enable them to go have some fun at last then they DIE .......and so it's only THEN that they're fucked and only when it's all too late !

So yes, fucked I may be.... but fucked I most certainly and happily am and I don't regret a second of it ! Ha ha bring on the fucking and be damned with the consequences I say ! lol

[Rogie]

. . . whilst those very same English men are sitting alone, jerking off in their apartments . . .

Crikey, the Englishman's lot certainly ain't a happy one if that scenario is true!

What about Scotsmen and Welshmen? Are they more alike these awful English, or more like you?

Rog (nothing gives me more pleasure than spending a quiet night in counting my baht. . . )

[Nirish guy]

You make a good point and of course the Scots are just about the same ( except tighter when it comes to buying their round), the Welsh enjoy a fuck just the same as us Irish ( except it's usually more with sheep of course) and the English, well no they can rest happy at most definitely bring the Hearst what they do as the are for sure the biggest wankers out of the lot of us !! Lol

* I should add that all of the above is purely in jest and I'm just throwing around some well trodden stereotypes for fun and if the English actually appear to match their stereotype..... well I guess you'd have to ask them about that I suppose ! Lol ( joke !!! :-)

[thaiguest]

. . . whilst those very same English men are sitting alone, jerking off in their apartments . . .

Crikey, the Englishman's lot certainly ain't a happy one if that scenario is true!

What about Scotsmen and Welshmen? Are they more alike these awful English, or more like you?

Rog (nothing gives me more pleasure than spending a quiet night in counting my baht. . . )

Hey! Hold on there! I'm not talking about the English race as a whole- only "the cheap, khee neiow english".
England is a divided nation as in its being a nation of discreet parts.
You have those who own everything that matters as in land, rivers, lakes, property, money, power.
You have the artists, performers, poets, writers, scholars, warriors, inventors, comics and the generally excentric.
Then you have all the foreigners-60% of Londoners are now non-english for example.
Finally you have the massive cohort made up of " them that know their place." This latter group is quiet happy to sit around muddy pools throwing stale bread to carp while the gentry still fish for salmon on the fly.
And also other types as well no doubt.
What a race!

[marti]

It does not appear that Bangkok suffers the Summer Blues as badly as Pattaya. The bars on Silom Soi 4 appear to be much as usual at this time of year. Don't know about Soi Twilight since I hardly ever go to those rip-off joints.

[Rogie]

. . . and the English, well no they can rest happy at most definitely bring the Hearst what they do as the are for sure the biggest wankers out of the lot of us !! Lol

Sorry, do you mean hearse? The only thing that comes to mind if you really meant Hearst is that episode when Patty Hearst was kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army.

If you meant hearse I don't think the English are quite that bad, although I don't think anything was past the late Jimmy Savile's talent to plumb the depths of sickening depravity. . .



* I should add that all of the above is purely in jest and I'm just throwing around some well trodden stereotypes for fun and if the English actually appear to match their stereotype..... well I guess you'd have to ask them about that I suppose ! Lol ( joke !!! :-)

I'm sure the Americans and Canadians (because they're much bigger countries) do something similar, taking the mickey out of their compatriots who have the misfortune to live anywhere other than they themselves!



Hey! Hold on there! I'm not talking about the English race as a whole- only "the cheap, khee neiow english".
England is a divided nation as in its being a nation of discreet parts.
You have those who own everything that matters as in land, rivers, lakes, property, money, power.
You have the artists, performers, poets, writers, scholars, warriors, inventors, comics and the generally excentric.
Then you have all the foreigners-60% of Londoners are now non-english for example.
Finally you have the massive cohort made up of " them that know their place." This latter group is quiet happy to sit around muddy pools throwing stale bread to carp while the gentry still fish for salmon on the fly.
And also other types as well no doubt.
What a race!

As explanations go, that's not bad!

[Nirish guy]

Sorry no, that was nothing more than typing to fast and autocorrecting ( or in correcting in this case) kicking is as what I meant to say was simply " they can rest happy at most definitely bring the best at what they do as they are for sure the biggest wankers" :-)

[Oliver]

Marti is correct; Surawong was busy last week. So was Chiang Mai-but with Chinese tourists in groups who also dominated both Bangkok airports.

I find Babylon a good indicator of falang presence in the city. Last week-oddly in view of my experiences here and in Chiang Mai- there was no shortage of them. A disaster for me- the fewer the number, the better my chances of an interesting Thai-encounter.

To put the record straight, I took the same walk round Boyztown and Sunee at much the same time last night. I was pleased to note a more lively atmosphere - not that different to previous low-seasons. Heaven knows where the falangs were on Sunday evening- surely that weren't in church?

[BonTong]

Judging by half the comments on this thread and the directions it's wandered in, it must be low season on the forum too @-)

Oliver is alluding that Chiang Mai is quiet, which sadly seems to be very much the case :(( Doing the rounds of the various gay bars the last month or so it is dire. Adam's Apple is the only place I've been that had any life. In several places I've been the only customer! I don't know how the massage businesses are doing, but the fact several have closed in the last few months is probably an indication....

However, its not just gay places. Other bars that were usually busy are quiet too, including local Thai style places that are normally packed, as well as other farang places. Whilst so many new bars and restaurants have opened in the last year or two, they are chasing too few customers. I predict second hand coffee machines will soon be a good business to get into.

Chiang Mai has lived of the property boom over the last few years. The signs this is ending are there, even if many seem convinced the bubble won't burst. It scares me as construction has become such a big part of the economy here. If it collapses the effects will not just be on the lowly paid construction workers, they will just go back to Burma. But, a slowdown would have a huge effect on the very large support business which employees many Thai's on higher incomes. I suspect they are the people who actually keep the local economy ticking over. Add to that water shortages having a big hit on the agricultural sector this year and we may have a perfect storm. :-o

[Oliver]

We didn't look at any of the gay bars while were there and so I can't judge....though we spent an hour at House of Male and that was certainly quieter than I remember from the past. I do not know the city as well as I know Pattaya so it's difficult for me to compare this low season with others. But I stand by my observation that it's falangs who are missing, not the Chinese.
My hotel (near Thapae) was busy but only 5% falangs in my estimation- if that. Dominated by Chinese tour groups.
P. wanted to look at some of the temples. I can't judge whether visitors were fewer usual but they seemed to be busy and, this time, not just with Chinese groups. The night markets were crowded, mainly Thai-no idea if they were residents or visitors. No difference in numbers at the restaurants we ate in, which were the same ones as in January '14, our last visit.
Chiang Mai remains, for both of us, a pleasant city to visit if only for a few days unless you are going to do some touring into the rural areas.

[BonTong]

But I stand by my observation that it's falangs who are missing, not the Chinese.
My hotel (near Thapae) was busy but only 5% falangs in my estimation- if that. Dominated by Chinese tour groups.
Don't disagree with you at all! No shortage of Chinese tourist, problem is they typically come in groups, eat in the hotel and don't spend money.


The night markets were crowded, mainly Thai-no idea if they were residents or visitors. The weekend walking streets are still very popular. Too popular; I avoid them because of the crowds!

But, the original night bazaar is totally dead and has been declining for a number of years. There was a time when you couldn't walk through the stalls on Changklan it was so packed. Now it's all vendors sitting playing with their smart phones and you could almost ride past on a motorbike. Doesn't improve much in high season either. The rear of the original Night Bazaar building, once packed with handicraft stall, is turning into a beer bar center, and more bars opening up in Kalare. e.g. Ozeed, Orion and Ice Bar.


Chiang Mai remains, for both of us, a pleasant city to visit if only for a few days unless you are going to do some touring into the rural areas.Glad to hear it, and I don't think it will change from that perspective. Visiting, the surrounding areas is becoming a more attractive proposition. Many more new places to stay in other towns and plenty of resort style accommodation in the countryside. Big improvements in the roads too, and several places are quite up and coming, e.g. Fang, Phayao and Chiang Dao, as well as places like Chiang Rai and Chang Khong

[thaiguest]

Marti is correct; Surawong was busy last week. So was Chiang Mai-but with Chinese tourists in groups who also dominated both Bangkok airports.

I find Babylon a good indicator of falang presence in the city. Last week-oddly in view of my experiences here and in Chiang Mai- there was no shortage of them. A disaster for me- the fewer the number, the better my chances of an interesting Thai-encounter.

To put the record straight, I took the same walk round Boyztown and Sunee at much the same time last night. I was pleased to note a more lively atmosphere - not that different to previous low-seasons. Heaven knows where the falangs were on Sunday evening- surely that weren't in church?

Maybe they were in church. Guilt is a strong emotion.

[Oliver]

Seriously....why are Sundays so quiet in the gay entertainment areas of Thailand? I'm barely conscious of the different days of the week while I'm here.

[christianpfc]

It is indeed quiet, but still worth going. Seems our time in Pattaya overlapped.

Detailed report here (with numbers of boys and customers in bars I went to):
http://christianpfc.blogspot.com/2015/0 ... -2015.html (http://christianpfc.blogspot.com/2015/06/pattaya-june-2015.html)

[thaiguest]

Thanks for the report. Re the boy in the picture "getting fat" over time. I disagree. He's not getting fat. He's developing the body of a mature young man.