More on Boyztown

[Oliver2]

An interesting week in Boyztown which we left on Friday with some unanswered questions.

1) What's happening at Panorama? It has been shuttered for a few days and appears to be undergoing some renovations. Will it be Panorama when it reopens?

2) Toyboys has ben closed all week. For good?

3) What on earth is happening at Le Cafe Royal? It seems to have installed some infernal, gigantic sub-woofer/bass units which penetrate walls, floors and ceilings. At about 0300 on Saturday morning, I tried to discover what was going on, apart from an asymmetric thump-thumpity-thump which had seemingly no relationship with the almost inaudible music: and secondly, who was responsible for the persistent screaming and shrieking. Ladies or ladyboys? I couldn't discover. There seemed to be few people enjoying this entertainment but those I saw appeared to be young Thais of different sexuaities. I'm really not sure. Has anyone experienced this audial and visual feast at close quarters?

I'd be interested to know but not bothered that much since P and I have decided to stop staying in Boyztown (in my case after twenty years) and have found a gay-friendly hotel in Jomtien Complex. A quiet one. I'm sad to say goodbye to Ambiance; its Penthouse rooms are particularly good and competitively priced, as are Copa's opposite.

[gerefan2]

An interesting week in Boyztown which we left on Friday with some unanswered questions.

2) Toyboys has ben closed all week. For good?



If its closed for good then I predict the gay world of Pattaya will start to implode imminently. It may be Low Season holidays, unless someone has offed them all for a gang bang in Whore Hin

[Mancs]

I messaged one of the men who works at Toy Boys. It's news to him that the bar has been closed. Is anyone else on the spot to confirm either way?

[aussie_]

Toy Boys was open Saturday night. A Bomb has re-opened after renovations. Panorama closed for renovation by new owners from the nearby Castro bar.

[Daveuk]

An interesting week in Boyztown which we left on Friday with some unanswered questions.

1) What's happening at Panorama? It has been shuttered for a few days and appears to be undergoing some renovations. Will it be Panorama when it reopens?

2) Toyboys has ben closed all week. For good?

3) What on earth is happening at Le Cafe Royal? It seems to have installed some infernal, gigantic sub-woofer/bass units which penetrate walls, floors and ceilings. At about 0300 on Saturday morning, I tried to discover what was going on, apart from an asymmetric thump-thumpity-thump which had seemingly no relationship with the almost inaudible music: and secondly, who was responsible for the persistent screaming and shrieking. Ladies or ladyboys? I couldn't discover. There seemed to be few people enjoying this entertainment but those I saw appeared to be young Thais of different sexuaities. I'm really not sure. Has anyone experienced this audial and visual feast at close quarters?

I'd be interested to know but not bothered that much since P and I have decided to stop staying in Boyztown (in my case after twenty years) and have found a gay-friendly hotel in Jomtien Complex. A quiet one. I'm sad to say goodbye to Ambiance; its Penthouse rooms are particularly good and competitively priced, as are Copa's opposite.

I have made the same decision that staying in BT is not much fun if you are sensitive to early morning noise. I’ve also switched to the gay friendly hotels in the Complex where sleep is appreciated by both myself and my offs.

[arsenal]

At any time any bar in Jomtien is likely to have a heart pounding bone shattering ear bursting brain haemorrhage inducingly loud party.

There is no guarantee of quiet there. But it's still classed as a residential area apparently so no go go bars. Go figure.

[Oliver2]

The rooms in Agate (and I assume Zing) that face away from the Complex are silent; P and I have stayed there four times without problems. Furthermore , there is distance and a row of buildings to protect them.

It is true that the bars are noisy but only at the level that Boyztown was until to about four years ago. It is the sort of noise that double-glazing adequately conceals. It was never a problem for me.

Some may consider it surprising that, during the period when the soi was packed with punters and successful bars with go-go dancers in the hundreds in BBB and Cockpit and customers numbering more than that, and in which some were open most of the night, the noise levels were consistently lower than today, when there are only a few people about.

Boyztown has suffered an increase in the number of street parties in recent years; these parties involve massive loud-speakers, drunken karaoke singing (sic) and last until 0300 and beyond. Allied to this has been the fashion of "open" bars which disdain the use of walls and doors to protect those who don't wish to participate in their activities.

The result of this is the current LCR lunacy; a whole soi subjected to the desires of a handful...until the early morning.

[arsenal]

Caveat emptor.

[Daveuk]

My regular hotel in Boystown was the Ambiance. However at 3 am and in bed with a nice boy the fun was often eliminated by a drunk farang’s rendition of “my way” sung completely off-key.

[joe552]

I can see how that might spoil the mood, Daveuk.

[Oliver2]

The tragedy for hotels like Copa and Ambiance is that the quality of the rooms they are offering- particularly the penthouse suites- is far superior and more competitively priced than elsewhere.
For years, there was an understanding among the different businesses in Boyztown that they needed each other. Success was shared; a busy, vibrant environment benefitted all.
Now that times are tougher, it appears that they are disinterested in the success of the soi as a whole. How else to account for the business model of LCR which appears to be to attract young people from other parts of Pattaya to a noisy late night venue (0100-0300 plus) to what was once a predominantly gay soi. Many gay customers are deserting the soi for Jomtien and once popular gay venues are all but empty. And are the numbers at LCR worth this? not that I could see....but as I said earlier, others may have more experience of what's happening there than me.

[gerefan2]

This is the scene in Boyztown tonight. Looks really dismal and this is my first night in Pattaya this time round. Cup idol had a few statues on the stage and I was the only customer. Toyboys full. No red carpets at BBB, nothing in the street. Panorama closed in darkness same as Oscars

[Manforallseasons]

Looks depressing. I was briefly in Jomtien Complex tonight most bars full, if you like twinks and don’t mind being grabbed by the arm with that annoying “Hellooooooo” you’d think you died and went to heaven.

[Daveuk]

Yes it would seem that BT is facing a long term decline. Sunee is like a ghost town with one twink oasis ie Winner Boys, where I offed two separate boys during my March trip.
Gays - expat and tourists are gravitating towards the Jomtien Complex where there are good gay or gay friendly hotels and of course a good number of host bars from which you can watch street theatre from a comfortable chair in company with others or maybe a newly acquired boyfriend, prior to retiring to your quiet room.

[joe552]

It sounds like I'll be spending my evenings in Jomtien in September. I really like Winner Boys bar, as I'm staying in Yensabai, but if Sunnee is dead, I'll make the effort to travel.

[arsenal]

A bit of balance here I think. It's low season. The skiing resorts that charge bizillions of quids for a toasted sandwich are closed as is most of Coney Island in winter as is Blackpool. Disneyland Paris does not pack them in when it's snowing and the pier in Southend does not bother to open the kiss-me-quick hat and I'm only-here-for-the-beer T-shirt stall in February.

Boyztown seems (to me at least) to have somewhat arrested the decline. Panorama is awaiting a refit.
A-Bomb has just been refurbished. Le Cafe Royal was booming in high season as was BBB. Toyboys had plenty of customers, even in May and Dreamboys often had even more.

Jomtien is busy pretty much all the time and Sunee remains the best place to go for a little slap and tickle fun.

gerefan2 is pulling a sleight of hand with his post. Whenever I've been in a deserted Boyztown I've always felt that the the whole place was there just for me. All those boys to be harvested and only me there. It's like picking wild cherries from a tree. If you're there alone. Rejoice rejoice.

[Oliver2]

I think we can agree that LCF was "booming" on Saturday morning at 0300! Or at least its sub-woofers were. But my original question remains; who was actually there? how many, roughly? and was I right to suggest (very tentatively) that they were young Thais? I thought that the target audience was Chinese?

Arsenal is, as ever, an advocate for Pattaya- something that I respect and I pay through the nose to show my support happily- but Boyztown ain't a happy place. The eight days I spent there were...well, not depressing because I had someone with me and I had one of the best rooms in Pattaya to enjoy....but rather sad for an old-timer, who was there in its heyday.
P and I would play a game we called "spot the falang" in the relatively early evening (2130 or so) on our way back from dinner, and never once got above three. Honesty compels me to admit that it was early in the evening and our view was partial and, we obviously, didn't see beyond such walls as are left in the soi. But I suggest that it is an indication. And a later visit to 711 confirmed that there were few visible falangs on the terraces and Serene. I was there in late January and it was busier but still quiet.

The JC (which, bluntly, I've never liked as much as BT) was busy for the week we stayed there. That's where the ex-BT gay men were. I'd be delighted if BT recovered. However, I'd be amazed if Le Cafe Royal were to play a part in this.
I honestly wish 'twere different.

[Jellybean]

As Oliver2 says above, arsenal has been a consistent advocate of the joys of Boyztown and, indeed, the other gay areas of Pattaya. No doubt one’s expectations during low season must be somewhat lower than during high season. But from what I've read of his Pattaya trip reports, no matter what time of year he visits, he appears to have oodles of fun and is never short of amenable companionship.

The same would appear to be the case with ShamelessMack, whose reviews of bars in Boyztown during May – June 2019 can be found on his blog at: https://shamelessmacktwo.travel.blog/


. . . All those boys to be harvested and only me there. It's like picking wild cherries from a tree. If you're there alone. Rejoice rejoice.

And lastly arsenal, your appeal to us, in the final sentence of the above quoted post, to "Rejoice rejoice" rather strangely triggered a long forgotten memory of a controversial, impromptu Downing Street statement Mrs Thatcher (the then British prime minister) gave, along with the then UK Secretary of State for Defence, in April 1982. A YouTube video of the episode exists and is posted below:


https://youtu.be/qHwCbIEVmG0

[Jellybean]

I think we can agree that LCF was "booming" on Saturday morning at 0300! Or at least its sub-woofers were . . .

For what it’s worth Oliver2, after many years of staying at Le Cafe Royal and the Ambiance hotels, I too decided that the early morning cacophony in Boyztown was too much to bear. And, somewhat reluctantly, I decided to move on to pastures new and now thoroughly enjoy staying at the Avani Spa and Resort whenever I am in Pattaya. It is only a short walk from Boyztown.

[arsenal]

Jellybean wrote.
"But from what I've read of his Pattaya trip reports, no matter what time of year he visits, he appears to have oodles of fun and is never short of amenable companionship."

Absolutely. But then I ride a motorbike and don't drink. Therefore I can zip about all over the place from 8.00pm until 4.00am looking for boys or anything that's going on. Deserted Boystown? So what. Take a seat in Castro order a drink and a snack (chicken dippers or sate, both 120 baht) and see who goes past. Fancy a walk then put the money in the bin, tell them you're coming back and take a stroll around the other streets just to see who's hanging around outside looking to be offed. My hotel is situated about 10-12 minutes from each of the gay areas so I can off boys and get them there easily.

[Oliver2]

And ,like Arsenal, my loyalty remains undiminished, as does P's..... and that loyalty has been proved by two flights booked and paid for yesterday for September and January.

[Eddie]

And ,like Arsenal, my loyalty remains undiminished, as does P's..... and that loyalty has been proved by two flights booked and paid for yesterday for September and January.

Yeah but Pattaya doesn't demand your loyalty. Go somewhere else if you don't like it instead of subjecting yourself and others to all this negativity.

I just got back from eight days in Bangkok and Pattaya and had a great time. Many thanks to arsenal, gerefan2 and the guys on gayguides for your trip reports and reviews.

[Nirish guy]

Have to say those pics of a fairly dead boys town do have their advantages as my BF happened to be standing next to my computer when I had this site open and I was able to launch into a world class level of portraying just HOW dull thailand was going to be on my forthcoming trip and how I'm sorry I even booked it and how I'm going to be stuck walking around empty streets in the rain looking at temples for days on end it seems as the Pattaya of years gone by is alas no more it seems ( according to those pics anyway).

To be fair he wasn't buying it all and just raised an eye brow at me, smiled and walked away as (semi) playfully slapped the back of my head saying "what and you think i'm THAT stupid that I dont know that SOMEHOW I'm SURE you'll manage to put your time in "enjoying yourself" there as you always do no doubt when you're away In Asia ! "

Damn, busted again !! Oh well, it was worth a try anyway I guess :-)