Mall

[chip]

The last time I visited Silom, the mall across from the BTS station Sala Daeng had just finished be remodeled. Prior to the remodeling, it was quite the cruisey place.

Siting on one floor, having coffee and looking up one floor to see the guys looking for, well you know, looking down at all the old guys looking up.

After the mall had been remodeled I don't remember seeing much activity. Perhaps I was looking in the wrong area of the mall?

Will be back the beginning of December, if this mall is no longer the place it use to be, where now?

[Marsilius]

The fairly large U.K. city in which I live used to have a street where, every evening, money-boys would congegrate. It was a very quiet street with virtually no passing traffic (apart from the cars that were actually cruising) so the boys could go there and know that their relatives or friends wouldn't spot them from a passing bus. As a result, you could go there any day and find a small group of new would-be temporary friends.

One day, however, the city council decided to introduce a new traffic sysytem and, as a result, the volume of traffic - including public transport - on that street suddenly increased dramatically. Understandably, the boys, along with the whole long-standing system, disappeared overnight and have never reappeared since. Obviously, they had no opportunity to decide collectively - let alone to notify their would-be clients - of where any replacement meeting area might be set up. As a result, the city now has no easy-to-access money scene at all, even though the boys would presumably still have been willing and the customers available.

My question is this: if, at some point in the distant past, a money-boy picked up a customer by chance at some place, there would have been no logical reason for him to go there again (or to encourage any of his friends to do so) given that the first encounter had been just a random one. So how do such places - including the particular mall described by the OP - come to be established and widely utilised in the first place? How does word get around (and over what period of time) that transforms them into permanent institutions used by significant numbers of buyers and sellers?

I appreciate that, these days, technology may well supersede the open-air pick-up scenario entirely and so render this an obsolete issue. On the basis of my own local experience described above, however, I have often wondered how these long-established and widely-recognised meeting places ever came about - and eventually went on to become so institutionalised - in the first place.

[frequent]

The mall is Silom Complex and security is quite tight. My favourite lavatory above KFC on Silom is now locked during the evening - had some great times there as well. You can still get lucky at Silom Complex but it's often a long wait and slim pickings

[dinagam]

My favourite lavatory above KFC on Silom is now locked during the evening - had some great times there as well.

That explains the source of the unmistakable sounds of chicken cackling in the barn in the afternoon. Too early for them to return to roost.

[goji]

Will be back the beginning of December, if this mall is no longer the place it use to be, where now?

I also used to quite enjoy cruising in the Silom Complex. However, just like you, I find that scene seems to have died out in recent years.
I have no idea if they cruise somewhere else. This seems unlikely, since Silom Complex is by far the most suitable venue for that in Silom, which is after all, the gay area of Bangkok.

I suspect phone apps have taken over.

[neddy3]

I suspect phone apps have taken over.

IMHO the phone apps have taken over far too much.

[chip]

IMHO the phone apps have taken over far too much.

I agree, I still like to take a look at whatever selection of, excuse the expression," merchandise" is available in person. Everything seen on the computer, phone aps etc. can be deceiving. I was looking at one guy and I swear, he had three different ads, with slightly different wording, none of the pics were him, prices were slightly different, but he had three different phone numbers one for each ad. Phone numbers are not hard to get on line, I have one through my computer called textnow does not cost a cent to use. I took a chance, when he arrived in person, it was a disaster.

[Smiles]

" ... Sit[t]ing on [the] floor, having coffee ...".... will not get you a Mall Boy, and neither will you get gobs of respect. You will however get plenty of twitters hammering away about the ting tong dirty old farang "In The Mall!"
But carry on.

[goji]

I agree, I still like to take a look at whatever selection of, excuse the expression," merchandise" is available in person. Everything seen on the computer, phone aps etc. can be deceiving. I was looking at one guy and I swear, he had three different ads, with slightly different wording, none of the pics were him, prices were slightly different, but he had three different phone numbers one for each ad. Phone numbers are not hard to get on line, I have one through my computer called textnow does not cost a cent to use. I took a chance, when he arrived in person, it was a disaster.

There are various issues with appearance on the phone apps. For example:
1 I know of at least one Pattaya boy who has at least 2 Grindr IDs running simultaneously and he has been using the same pics for several years. I think he had ALL of these pics on his Planet Romeo profile, so the most aged one of the set is presumably what you get.

2 There is another lad in his late 20s who has recently discovered some kind of photoshop app, as years have suddenly come off his profile pictures.

Learning to recognise these is one way of dealing with it. Another way is to tell them that they have to look like their profile pic and if they don't, just send them away. I have no problem at all with sending away anyone who looks significantly different to the pic, with zero baht, since fraud should not pay.
The more difficult area is with minor differences to the pic. I feel obliged to go ahead in this case.

However, it must be said, cruising used to be much more fun. I don't think it's coming back.