History of Soi Twilight

[JayToff]

With the lack of current activity in the nightlife scene and plenty of forum members locked-out of Thailand, perhaps this would be a good time to put together a history of the late Soi Twilight. There are occasional posts about Soi Twilight on this and other fora, but I have yet to come across a proper chronological history of it on any of them. Given the role that it played in the development of the gay scene in Bangkok, long before Pattaya took-off, a proper history of that Soi is surely in order. It would be fab if those of you who have direct knowledge and experience of the earlier history of Soi Twilight would actually contribute to this thread. A proper history of Soi Twilight really should reside somewhere on the net and this is as good a place as any.

The closest thing to a chronological history of Soi Twilight is from the stub history and monthly updates of Bangkok's nightlife scene on Bangkokeyes, which has been chronicling Bangkok's nightlife scene since the 90s. However, Bangkokeyes is mostly focused on the straight nightlife and while they hope to add a history of Soi Twilight to their site (alongside the existing histories of all the other straight nightlife areas of Bangkok), their information on the history of the Soi is still somewhat patchy. In any event, one would think that the best place for a comprehensive history of Soi Twilight would be this forum.

The skeleton of a chronology, as I understand it, would be:

1966 - The original Twilight bar opens on New Street
Beginning of the 70s - Twilight moves to Soi Pratuchai
Somewhere in the 90s Banana Bar opens
2005 - Soi Twilight begins to see a rapid influx of new bars
2010 - 2014 - Soi Twilight reaches its peak, with an average of 19 establishments in operation
2019 - The curtain falls on Soi Twilight

I will also post an excerpt from a recent email chat between John Morley of Bangkokeye and myself here, in which he elaborates on the history of Soi Twilight.


Our first adventure into Soi Twilight was at the invitation of author Jerry Hopkins, now deceased, who, like yourself, played in both houses. At that time he recommended we include Soi Twilight in our monthly updates on BKK Eyes. He recommended we call the soi, "Soi Hard-On", but as the gays and taxi drivers (and a surprising number of bar girls) already knew it as Soi Twilight, we ran with 'Soi Twilight'. However at that time, there were too few Nitespots on the soi (it had not reached "Critical Mass"), so we adopted a "wait-and-see" position. We revisited some 6+ months later to find it had in fact reached the 'tipping-point' - the magical 'critical mass'.

As a result, our history (genesis) of Soi Twilight is very sketchy. Our only meaningful interview with anyone on the Soi (who had been there for any considerable time) was with the owner of Banana (became New Banana, later relocated to Soi Katoey, Silom Soi 4 on the closure of Soi Twilight). Banana was just across Soi Twilight from the then-Hot Male. He recalled that the original Twilight bar had been there at least 20 to 30 years, and perhaps since as early as 1966, but couldn't give an exact date. We also asked Bobby of Bobby's Arms, now deceased, if he knew how long Twilight bar had been there. (Bobby had a more-than-passing knowledge of the gay community). He recalled that it had relocated there from New Road many years ago, some time in the early 1970's, but likewise could not recall an exact time (-note: this is unsubstantiated as of this date, so we have not included this in any 'historical' writings on Soi Twilight ). The only thing clear is there is no clarity.

For a long time, Soi Pratuchai remained without any Nitespots other than the Twilight , which was at the Surawong entrance. We, regrettably, have had no access to any accounts of the build-up prior to our visit there towards the end of 2005. Also, there is unsubstantiated chatter that a number of gay venues transferred to Soi Twilight from Surawong Soi Than Tawan during the 2005-2010 timeframe. The original Twilight bar became the New Twilight at some point in time not known to us, and eventually went out of business, being picked up by Hot Male at that juncture ( Hot Male remaining at that location until they relocated to Patpong 2 on closure of Soi Twilight).

Soi Twilight (Pratuchai) was a privately owned soi, which allowed it to become a 'Walking Street' at night - keeping out vehicular traffic. At its 4-year peak, (December 2010 - November 2014) Soi Twilight maintained on average 19 Nitespot venues.

Regrettably at this point in time, our only chance of improving / expanding on the history of Soi Twilight would be from readers' submissions of old photos and/ or accounts.


Some of the obvious questions in trying to put together a proper history of the Soi would be whether the early clubs that operated on Soi Twilight / Soi Pratuchai were new clubs or whether they had been operating elsewhere before that?

Also, what and where were the bars located prior to the move to Soil Twilight? There were and are, of course, the bars on Soi Tantawan; but, at least over the last 15 years or so, they are of a very different sort than the Soi Twilight bars.

Finally, what happened to the original Twilight Bar? Did it simply shut-down, with Hot Male simply taking-over the premises or did Hot Male also take-over some of the talent / management from Twilight, so that it can claim to be an affinity with the original Twilight?

If anyone has any direct information to add, it would be fantastic if you could, Note though, I am hoping that we get real information on this thread, not just reams of opinion... =)

Cheers,
Jay

[Brad the Impala]

Is it just the history of Soi Twilight bars that is of interest? The busiest street for Gay bars was in Soi Four Silom before Soi Twilight become known for more than the Twilight Bar.

I'm sure that we have touched on this topic before, probably more than once, and you will find that there is an excellent search facility here. So that is worth a try too. I'd put in "History", and it won't all be about the Wars of the Roses!

EDIT. I now see that even your own post has at the bottom "Similar Threads" which includes some of this information.

https://sawatdeenetwork.com/v4/showthread.php?12445-Does-anyone-know-Gay-History

[colmx]

This archive has a pretty impressive collection of scanned Thai gay magazines from the 80s, 90s and 00s
http://thairainbowarchive.anu.edu.au/catalogue.htm

The "Thai Guys" magazines only go back to 1999, but have good maps (although it should be noted that this company was well known for leaving out bars that didn't pay to be in their listings, or which they didn't like) http://thairainbowarchive.anu.edu.au/commercial_2000s/thai_guys/contents.htm

As for Soi Twilights peak, I would assume that was 2001-2002 before Purachai's "social order campaign" started, everything went downhill after that

[JayToff]

Below I post an expanded chronological history of Soi Twilight, from its origins in the early 1970s to its demise in 2019. This is hardly the last word on the subject, but should serve as a reasonable core to which members can add their own recollections of the Soi and its bars. As a new account, I can't post the pictures and maps to go with the narrative, but perhaps an eager veteran can chip-in.

The Origins of Soi Twilight

The origins of the phenomenon that became Soi Twilight go back far indeed. The original Twilight bar was founded on New Road in the Surawong area, possibly as early as 1966. By the beginning of the 1970s, however, it had moved to a small privately-owned street almost directly across Surawong Road from Patpong 2 called Soi Pratuchai. The Twilight Bar occupied the first shophouse on the left as one entered the soi from Surawong Road, operating on the first floor (which Americans would call the second floor). Early-on in its time on Soi Pratuchai was renamed New Twilight Bar. This earliest part of the Twilight Bar’s history was documented by John Morley at Bangkokeyes / Midnite Eyes magazine when he interviewed the owner of the original Banana bar, across from the original Twilight, in 2006.

As the seminal bar that gave rise, and its name, to Soi Twilight, a description of the original Twilight Bar is in order. The best description of it was given by forum member Fountainhall in a post on this site on 1st July 2014. I, respectfully, quote his, abbreviated, description:


It was dark inside, had a long bar at one end behind which was a small stage on which 4 boys would rotate, all standing without any attempt to dance. Twilight was run by two older ladyboys and usually had lots more working boys than Apollo. Around 10:00pm, the mamasans would bark orders whereupon the boys briefs came off. After four had been on stage and replaced by another four, the original four would come through the audience and stand around a small pillar. Not sure if touching was permitted, but back then it happened a lot. Chairs would be put in the centre of the space as warranted by demand. Round two sides were padded benches where you could be more intimate with some of the guys in relative darkness.
A visit to the toilet would usually result in one or two guys coming in to show their wares. Upstairs were at least a couple of rickety dirty rooms and a cold shower. Most nights there’d be a show on stage, with a pair of the coupled boys clambering on to the bar. If you bought a drink for a boy, touching and feeling seemed to be the norm. Most weekdays there seemed to be not more than 20 punters in the bar. At week-ends, though, it would be absolutely packed, almost exclusively with Thais.

Alone on the Edge of the World

Soi Pratuchai – the Street of the Gate of Victory – hardly seemed destined to become the centre of Bangkok’s boy bar universe at this point, and its glory days were still several decades away in the future. Indeed, for about two decades, Twilight remained the only gay bar on Soi Pratuchai. The centre of action was elsewhere. By the early 1980s Silom Soi 4 had emerged as the centre of Bangkok’s gay bar scene, although that street had already hosted gay bars and pubs since the 1960s. Sleazier options were to be found on the nearby Soi Tantawan. [Of the 80s sleaze bars on Soi Tantawan, four still remain as of 2020: Tawan, Nature Boys, Super A and Golden Cock, of which only Golden Cock has remained in the same location since the beginning.] Soi Pratuchai remained a backwater throughout this period, with Twilight still the only gay bar on the soi even at the beginning of the 90s. [The Spartacus Guide, 1991].


Things Pick-Up

Over the 1990s, however, what would later be known as Soi Twilight began to take visible shape as a number of new gay venues opened-up on Soi Pratuchai. Their number rose steadily through the 90s, so that as the millennium drew to a close, there were about 7 or 8 gay venues operating on the soi by the end of 1999. Apart from the original Twilight Bar, these included Dicks’s Café, Sprite Boys, Blue Star and The Boys Bangkok. The latter two were owned by the BBB Group, which also owned Dream Boys on the other side of Surawong Road. Also worth noting is that the bars that operated on Soi Twilight in the 90s were not transplants from other areas; rather, they were new bars and marked an expansion of the A Go-Go scene in Bangkok. The soi had now emerged as a distinct gay nightlife area in its own right, but had not yet achieved the iconic status that was soon to come.

In addition to the gradual build-up of bars on Soi Pratuchai itself, several other bars in the immediate vicinity also contributed to Soi Twilight becoming the epicentre of the boy bar universe, forming part of the local eco-system. Screwboys was located on the Suriwong end of Patpong 2, where it still remains today. On Soi Thaniya 2, beside the Suriwong Hotel, were located two of the boy bars that have remained at the top of the game for the last three decades – Jupiter and Dream Boy. Dream Boy had previously been known as Dream Boys Barbeiry, being a continuation of the older Barbeiry boy bar. Barbeiry itself had been one of the earliest gay A Go-Go bars in Bangkok, operating on Soi Thanuya 2 since the early 1980s and offering a classier experience than the sleaze that Twilight traded in. Barbeiry was also distinguished by having an all-Thai line-up, which Dream Boy adopted as official policy. Similarly, the black light and body paint dance shows that it offered back in the 80s also continue to form part of Dream Boy’s shows today.

A massive change in the bar scene in Bangkok – both straight and gay – took place at the start of the millennium as the Thaksin government launched a crackdown on the overt sleaze that had become an entrenched part of Bangkok’s A Go-Go scene. Explicit fuck-shows disappeared from both the boy bars and the girlie bars for a while, and bars that were known to offer under-aged boys or girls were shut-down. The crackdown in this period may have hurt Soi Twilight in the short-term, but probably helped it over the longer-term. The forcible shut-down of many of the sleaze bars pushed patrons towards the surviving bars on Soi Pratuchai. The more sanitised bars also appealed to a wider base of clients. Alongside that, Bangkok’s gay nightlife scene also benefited from the growth of the World Wide Web, which made it easier for travellers to find information on the gay nightlife venues, which were now much less scary places for the first-time visitor. Added to that was the rise of low-cost air travel in the region, pioneered by the much-loathed and loved Air Asia. Additionally, Soi Pratuchai was a private soi, which enabled its owners to close it to traffic at night, allowing This confluence of elements set the stage for the next phase of Soi Twilight’s development.

The number of bars on Soi Pratuchai remained fairly stable for the next several years, even as the number of patrons steadily increased and the soi itself increasingly began to be referred to as Soi Twilight. As late as 2003, though, gay magazines referred to “Soi Twilight” in inverted commas. The name was already in-use amongst those in the know, but it was now about to break into common usage. Ironically, though, the Twilight Bar did not get to long enjoy its status as the namesake of the new entertainment district...

Soi Twilight Takes-Off

In late 2004, the original Twilight bar was taken-over by new management and was rebranded as Hot Male. Hot Male continued to operate from the same location and maintained both the phone numbers for the old Twilight (02-236-1944 and 02-237-837), which was indicative of the continuity. Hot Male, which continues to operate as of 2020, can claim to be a lineal descendant of the original Twilight.

At the same time, Dream Boys moved from Soi Thaniya 2 to Soi Twiight in late 2004, taking-over the premises of Blue Star, thus beginning its run as the king of Soi Twilight. Throughout its time on Soi Twilight, Dream Boys had both the largest number of boys and drew in the largest number of customers. The number and quality of the boys in its stable was all the more impressive given its strict Only Thai Boys policy. Together, these two events - Hot Male operating under a re-invigorated management and BBB having consolidated much of its operations under the hugely-popular Dream Boys provided a shot in the arm for the growth of Soi Twilight. Note. that as Dream Boy replaced Blue Star and that Hot Male took-over Twilight, neither of them actually added to the number of bars on the soi.

2006 was the seminal year in which Soi Twilight took-off, with the number of establishments on the soi almost doubling in the first six months of the year. By June 2006, the following establishments were operating on Soi Twilight:
As you entered from Surawong Road, on the left-hand side of the soi were Hot Male, Bar Lover, The Boys, Dream Boys and Fresh Boys. On the right-hand side were Banana, X-Boys, X-Man, Fresh Beach Boys, Bunny Massage (Bonny Massage), Dicks Café and Future Boys. Further down Soi Twilight, towards the Rama IV entrance were Classic Boys, Balls Sports Bar and Five Star. Five Star alone among the entertainment venues on the soi was not gay-oriented. How it managed to survive for all those years one gayest street in Bangkok until Soi Twilight itself came to an end must remain something of a mystery.

The number of establishments on Soi Twilight continued to rise in the years after that, hitting a peak in the four years from 2010 to 2014, when there were an average of 19 night-spot venues on the soi, including two massage parlours and several beer bars, apart from the A Go Go bars themselves. By this point, Soi Twilight’s status as the centre of the for-pay gay scene in Bangkok as firmly fixed with just about any internet search pointing the hungry and the curious alike in the direction of Soi Twilight. What is easy to miss though is that the boy bars were not exclusively gay. Women patronised the bars as well, with some of them having a regular female clientele. The Boys Bangkok, in particular, was popular with Asian women and that women customers have become an increasingly important part of the boy bar scene.

The composition of the Soi also continued to evolve. While stalwarts like Hot Male and Dream Boy remained where they were, other clubs saw changes of name or location and wholly-new venues continued to open. BY the end of 2016, for example, the old Banana had become New Banana, Fresh Beach Boys had become Fresh Boys, Classic Boys had become New Classic Boys (in exactly the same old place)

The Curtain Falls
By 2018, however, rumours were circulating that Soi Twilight was going to be re-developed and that the bars would have to relocate. The rumours proved true when the ThaiBev Group, brewers of Chang Beer, acquired the soi as part of the massive property development that they are carrying-out on Rama IV Road. By the first quarter of 2019, the curtain had fallen on Soi Twilight and the majority of bars moved across Surawong Road and into Patpong, long the home of venerable institutions like Super Pussy and the fabulously-named BadaBing. The move has not gone down well with the majority of Patpong’s old-timers who view the area as hallowed ground, sanctified by decades of ping-pong shows. Nonetheless, the gay ghetto at the head of Patpong 2 has got-off to a strong start.

Epilogue, not Epitaph

Hot Male, the descendant of the original Twilight, has continued to thrive in its new location on Patpong 2. Counting its antecedents from 1966, it has now been operating for up to 54 years. The idiotically-named Freshboys has also made the move to Patpong 2. Classic Boys has vanished as a stand-alone bar, but its human stock is now to be found in two locations. The new Lucky Boys is a combination of Soi Twilight refugees X-Boys and]Classic Boys.

The original Banana that sat at the entrance of Soi Twilight for decades now sits on Soi 4 as “Banana on 4”. Above it is the Banana Bar, which includes staff from the old Freshboys and Classic Boys. Neither of these is to be mistaken for the moronically-named Sweet Banana on Patpong 1.
Screwboys continues to occupy the same position on Patpong 2 that it has for years. Nonetheless, it deserves mention as a Soi Twilight bar, not just because it spent a brief period on Soi Twilight before returning to Patpong 2 long before the demise of Soi Twilight, but because its close proximity to Soi Twilight always meant that it formed part of the Soi Twilight eco-system, unlike the more distant and quite distinct bars on Soi Tantawan.
Dream Boy, the last vestige of the once-virile BBB empire sits comfortably on Patpong 2. Its decades-old policy of Only Thai Boys, thankfully, remains in operation. For those who might ask what difference that makes, the only reasonable answer must be that you haven’t spent enough time with Thai boys. Thai boys, after all, are the reason that this site and many others came into being in the first place. They are, quite simply, a cut above the moneyboys from neighbouring countries who have colonised the bar scene.

Finally, a quick note on Jupiter, which has, in one form or another, been in operation since the late 1980s. While it has never been on Soi Twilight and, in many ways, has held itself aloof from the Soi Twilight crowd, it nonetheless contributed to the growth of Soi Twilight. Its long presence on Soi Thaniya 2 brought customers to an area that was not, at that time, the centre of the gay go-go world. While it has often received bad press on this forum, Jupiter has been on top of the game for decades. It early-on recognised the need to court Asian patrons and to attract women to make-up for the decline in its traditional customers. What is clear is that the bars that have moved from the comfort of Soi Twilight into the big, bad word of Patpong will have to move in that direction as well, if they are going to continue to thrive. The owners of Hot Male have already recognised this by setting-up the highly-successful Moonlight bar, which occupies the site on Soi Thaniya 2 that Jupiter occupied from the 1990s until its move to Soi 4 in 2017, focusing on Asian and female clients.

Those of us who were lucky enough to play in Soi Twilight at its peak will probably look at its passing with regret, but Bangkok’s bar scene has always been in a state of flux. Soi Twilight itself was, in fact, a relative newcomer to the boy bar scene. The last to arrive, it has also been the first to go, taking with it the promise of decades more of pleasure on that little soi. Night has now fallen on Soi Twilight, but its place as brilliant, if brief, neon flash in the annals of Bangkok’s nightlife is assured.

[Oliver2]

My own posts reveal an interest in the history of Thailand's commercial sex scene and so I'm grateful to anyone who takes the time and trouble to research and provide such an interesting account, particularly when it is so well- written.

[Brad the Impala]

Thank you for this thorough and detailed report, which is all accurate, as far as I am aware, as far as memory allows . It should be stored safely somewhere.

On a minor note, for such a factual report gathered from various sources, a couple of the strongly held personal opinions did seem a little out of place!



moronically-named Sweet Banana on Patpong 1.


I thought that was a rather good name, given amongst all the varieties there is indeed a sweet banana. I was once offered such a thing by a boatman in Luxor!




fabulously-named BadaBing.


The fabulousness of this name escapes me.





the much-loathed and loved Air Asia


Were feelings really so strongly held about Air Asia?


As I say just minor comments that jarred while reading your otherwise excellent history.

[Aux1010]

I only first visited Bangkok / Soi Twilight in 2015, however I also find the history of the scene very interesting (being in my early 30's on that first visit meant I wasn't fortunate enough to experience the 'old scene'). I still haven't visited the new scene in Patpong, as most of my subsequent visits have been straight to Pattaya / Cambodia / other SEA countries. But the new Twilight is definitely on my list once travel is finally practical again!!

[Oliver2]

The "new" Twilight has (or had until recently) some of the same bars that the old one had. Unfortunately, they were not situated in a gay soi and it was this that made Twilight unique in Bangkok. Like Boyztown until recently, the pleasure were not restricted to the go go bars- P and I never visited any- but the bars like Dicks and Banana in Twilight and Panorama and Oscars in Boyztown where we could sit , have a drink and watch the world go by.
The loss of gay areas over the past decade is not restricted to Thailand; as we gain more acceptance across the world, the need for such areas declines.

[Smiles]

Thanks Jay for the putting together some history of Soi Twilight. Much appreciated.

[latintopxxx]

guess I was lucky enough to have caught BKK at its best and worse...been there when just about every gogo bar om soi twilight had a full on fuck show twice an evening...sometimes even a 3rd...and the shows were quite something..even had a guy who could shoot darts out of his butt hole..truly amazing...even made me stand on the stage holding a balloon between my knees...dart would shoot out of his butt and would pop it...then the depression when the new government banned all such shows and we had to tolerate mock fuck shows held under mosquito netting...

[JayToff]

Some notes on the prologue to the rise of Soi Twilight.

The question of what the oldest gay bar in Thailand was has been raised several times on the fora. We know that the original Twilight Bar was founded as early as 1966, but several members have also mentioned an even older bar, the Sea Hag.

In every post, however, the Sea Hag appears as a sort of ghost, with no clear dates on when it opened and when it shut, and certainly nothing clear about its history. Even the earliest, members who arrived in Bangkok mention that it had already closed by the time they arrived in Thailand.

The Sea Hag had actually been founded as a sailors’ bar in the 1950s. It might have been gay-friendly, but it did not become a full-on gay bar until July 4th 1967. The bar shut-down in 1969 but would give rise to the legendary Rome on Soi 4.

The dates for the Sea Hag can be established from two old posts. The critical one appeared on ThaiVisa back on December 3rd 2004 by the owner of the Sea Hag, who only ever made two posts, explaining the lineage of the Sea Hag and then never posted again. I quote the relevant portions of his posts.


The first gay bar in Thailand was the Sea Hag. It was an old seamans bar from the '50s converted to a gay bar and opened on July 4, 1967. Reason I know is that I opened it together with my then BF. Prior to that, there was Club 99 on Silom opposite where Narai Hotel now is and several other 'mixed' bars on Oriental ave. and a bit later the Balcony on Charoen Krung (New Road) which was also mixed.

I left Thailand for Japan in '69 and my then BF went on to open Siamese on the newly-built Silom Soi 4 (71 or 72). Siamese later expanded and became the Rome club of past international fame.


Just another add-in to the information previously provided: The oldest continuing gay bar presently in existence is Twilight, now in the bar row off Suriwongse. It used to be where Dreamboy is -- or next door -- can't remember which.

His reference to “where Dreamboy is” would refer to Soi Thaniya 2, rather than to Soi Pratuchai.

Another post that is relevant appeared on Stickman back in 2003. It was the reminiscences of a G.I. about his time hitting the girlie bars in Patpong with his mates in 1967. He mentions ending-up in a gay bar called the Sea Hag by mistake, finishing their drinks and then leaving. I quote:


Bangkok was a little expensive compared to Ubon but it had a whole lot more to offer too. The girls were the prettiest and most all could speak English. We did the bars and the bath houses and at one point even stumbled into a gay bar called "The Old Sea Hag". It was by accident but we had our beer and slipped out without any incidents. We had a good laugh over it later.

As to which bar really was the first gay bar, if the Sea Hag is only counted as a gay bar from July 4th 1967, then Twilight would be the older, original boy bar. But, of course, the Sea Hag had already been there since the 1950s in its earlier incarnation, so the argument could be made for its claim to that title. That, however, brings us on to the shadowy origins of Twilight itself. For that, a recent article in Nikkei about Patpong mentions that the katoey who set-up Twilight in 1966 had previously been running a male brothel. It seems reasonable that some of the boys in the original Twilight line-up would have been drawn from said brothel. I quote the Nikkei article


Although the entertainment was geared toward straight men in search of hostess bars, massage parlors and go-go clubs, Patpong also challenged taboos about homosexuality. Bangkok's first gay bar, Sea Hag, opened there in the late 1950s, and in 1966 the Twilight Bar was launched by a drag queen who had earlier opened a male brothel.

What is particularly interesting is how each of these two contenders for the title of oldest gay bar gave birth to one of the major gay sois in Bangkok. Twilight’s was the catalyst for Soi Twilight, and the current Twilight Zone on Patpong 2. The Sea Hag through its indirect descendants, Siamese and Rome, helped bring Soi 4 to prominence, although its role is less direct.

Take your pick as to who deserves the title of the oldest gay bar in Thailand. Both the contenders have a decent claim. Let those with deeper knowledge chip-in.

Note: The Sea Hag gay restaurant in Patong, Phuket, does not appear to be a lineal descendant of the original Sea Hag, despite such claims on some fora.

[Oliver2]

Is there any connection between the Sea Hag Bar and the old-established restaurant of the same name in Patong?

[JayToff]

Hi Brad,

I am almost certain that you could have written a much better history of Soi Twilight than the stub that I did, given that you were actually there before almost anyone else was. With regard to your earlier question, "Is it just the history of Soi Twilight bars that is of interest? The busiest street for Gay bars was in Soi Four Silom before Soi Twilight become known for more than the Twilight Bar", the answer is that facts and stories about the early bar scene are certainly welcome, given that all that has come before played its part in bringing us to where we are now, i.e. post-Soi Twilight and now into the Twilight Zone.

I would particularly welcome tales of your first visit to the Twilight Bar or the other early bars and of the bars that went into the making of Soi Twilight. That picture of your birthday at Lonely Boy, really is a glimpse into an era long before most of us showed-up. Fab if you can share more. Quite a few members have shared tales of the past, including yourself, but they have always appeared as vignettes. The new or casual reader would never quite have known how those bars relate to the way things developed. What was lacking was a framework in which to view the changes in the bar scene. That was the purpose of my trying to put together a chronological history. Obviously, however, Soi Twilight was only one small part of that and you and the handful of genuine veterans of that era are much better-placed to do that.

On BadaBing, I shall just say, as someone who enjoyed playing on both sides of Suriwong, BadaBing is fabulous from start to finish =) Not only can the girls there actually dance, but they actually smile. There are lessons that the managers of the boy bars could learn from a visit to that place.

On AirAsia, it is the airline that everyone loves to hate. It was lauded for bring prices down, but hated for just about everything else. There are enough "I hate Air Asia" pages on the net for me not to recount the issues here; there is even one on TripAdvisor.

On "Sweet Banana", that name isn't just scraping the bottom of the barrel, it's gone right through it...

[Brad the Impala]

On "Sweet Banana", that name isn't just scraping the bottom of the barrel, it's gone right through it...

As opposed to say the subtle Golden Cock?!! I'm not sure if it was there or somewhere similar that the guys used to all have 3D underwear representing the head of an elephant, and the cocks were supposed to go into the representation of the elephant trunks. It might have seemed a good idea but the end result, as the elephant trunks on the trunks were quite large in dimension and length was to diminish the outline of the cocks making them seem shrivelled and unattractive. Like deflating balloons.

I don't think that I've explained that very well, but hopefully I have given a sense of it.

I will attach some links below to some entertaining threads that I found about the early days of gay Bangkok and first experiences in Thailand. I'm sure that my memory was better at the time of my posts in these threads than it is now! If there are any subsequent gaps I expect someone here, or possibly me, will be able to step forward to help.

Memories were stimulated recently when I found an old letter addressed to me at my favourite Poste Restante address.

C/o The Lonely Boy Bar, 102 Silom Road, Bangrak, Bangkok. The letter was dated 2/11/73! As you noted I had a birthday party there around that time.

https://sawatdeenetwork.com/v4/showthread.php?16364-Gay-Bangkok-in-the-1980s&highlight=apollo

https://sawatdeenetwork.com/v4/showthread.php?12445-Does-anyone-know-Gay-History&highlight=apollo

https://sawatdeenetwork.com/v4/showthread.php?9992-Bangkok-scene-25-years-ago&highlight=apollo

https://sawatdeenetwork.com/v4/showthread.php?8909-Remembering-your-first-trip-to-LOS&highlight=apollo

[GWMinUS]

No one has listed my two favorite Go Go Bars. Both off Silom Soi 6 and Soi Thantawan.
Super Lex and Tomahawk...
My first visit to Thailand was in 2003. And I meet a friend from Germany there. He was my Guide and my Shill! HAHAHA
We enjoyed Super Lex and took off two guys from there. One was the STR8 Top and the other his willing Bottom!!
And they had no problem making a Video for us...
At Tomahawk I meet my first Thai Love!! It is a long story. He is now probably 40yo and last worked at Dream Boys in Soi Twilight.
He has two handsome Sons, both STR8.
AHHHH so many memories...

[GWMinUS]

I found a List from the "dreaded ned's" Web Site from 2003 that I saved to my PC.
It lists many many Saunas, Massage, Go Go and Disco places in Bangkok.
But it is more than 30 pages long!!! So I will not post it here.
You might try a Google Search.
Take care!!

[JayToff]

A Description of the Bars of Soi Twilight and the Terrible Things that Happened Therein, Along with A Brief Chronology of its Demise

The stub history of Soi Twilight posted above was necessarily constrained by the 15,000 character limit, so that while the reader is left with a decent chronology of the evolution of the soi, readers who did not personally experience Soi Twilgiht may also be left wondering about what distinguished one bar from another, how the scene on Soi Twilight evolved over time and how it all relates to the current, reconstituted, bar scene in the Twilight Zone in Patpong. While the skeleton of a decent history of Soi Twilight is to be found in the previous posts; this post aims to put some flesh onto the bones.

Rather than writing a follow-up post on the different bars purely from memory, I shall instead guide the reader to a contemporary account by that most astute and amusing of bar scene chroniclers, the late and much-missed Rush.

The additional benefit of doing that, of course, is to introduce the unfamiliar to Bangkokbois which, even five years after the final post, remains the gold standard for insight into the world of the Bangkok bar scene. For while Soi Twilight is no more, the majority of the old bars have simply reconstituted themselves across the road. Apart from that, it’s just a bloody funny read…

For a description of the bars on Soi Twilight in 2011, the year it attained its peak, along with some good pictures of the bars, see:
https://bangkokbois.sawatdeenetwork.com/2011/02/24/the-state-of-the-state-bangkoks-gay-gogo-bars/

For a raunchier description of what actually happened in those different bars, see:
https://bangkokbois.sawatdeenetwork.com/2012/04/17/bangkok-gay-gogo-shows-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/

Each of those links is a five-minute read.

Rush died in 2015 and so never chronicled the end of Soi Twilight, nor was it obvious then that 2015 marked the year in which the decline of Soi Twilight began as rumours started to circulate that that the soi was going to be redeveloped, giving bar owners little incentive to make new investments.

The years 2011 to 2014 marked the peak of Soi Twilight in terms of the number of venues. Then, in February 2015, The Zeus, which occupied the site of what had previously been Future Boys and then Ocean Boys, closed for good and no new bar opened in its place. This was followed by the closure of Mario Massage in mid-2015, with, yet again, no replacement venue taking-over the space. If things then seemed to stabilise, this was only a prelude to the flood.

In late 2017, Chai Massage closed on Soi Twilight, with nothing taking its place. In April 2018, Fresh Boys jumped across to Patpong 2 and then the long-running Dick’s Café closed in mid-2018, announcing that they were leaving Soi Twilight for Pattaya’s Jomtien Complex. The impending demise of Soi Twilight was now visible to everyone, despite the heroic insistence that it was “business as usual” by the remaining bars.

The upstairs X-Size A Go-Go bar closed in September 2018, followed by the closure of its downstairs pool bar at the beginning of 2019. The nameless pool bar with its stock of street urchins, located after Dream Boy, closed at about the same time and the Rama IV end of Soi Twilight began to be walled-off with sheet metal. With the not-quite iron curtain now falling, the stage was set for the final exodus.

In April 2019, the remaining venues left Soi Twilight. These included the Soi Twilight stalwarts Dream Boy, Banana, Bangkok Massage and Hot Male. Fittingly, Hot Male was the last bar to leave Soi Twilight. As the original Twilight Bar had lit the spark that led to the rise of Soi Twilight almost 50 years before, it was only right that its reincarnation, Hot Male, should have been the one to finally switch-off the lights on that little soi of neon-lit fantasies.

[christianpfc]

Then, in February 2015, The Zeus, which occupied the site of what had previously been Future Boys and then Ocean Boys, closed for good and no new bar opened in its place.
They closed in December 2014. I went there on 28dec2014 (with vinapu, prolific poster on gayguides) and it was not in business any more. Door was open, lights on but nobody in, so I took pictures of inside and the Zeus statue outside.


This was followed by the closure of Mario Massage in mid-2015, with, yet again, no replacement venue taking-over the space.
I remember Mario Massage. After Mario Massage there was a snooker hall and reception area for a massage related to X-Size on upper level. Here my one visit to this place:
https://christianpfc.blogspot.com/2018/06/gay-activities-jun-2018-thailand.html

Wed 13jun2018 X-Size massage
The cute boy Lee the Analphabet (whom I first met years ago in Pradipat Karaoke, then he worked in X-Size on stage, then in Fresh boys as waiter) now works in X-Size massage, which is my chance to get him after years of fruitless chat (he cannot read or write Thai or English)!

[JayToff]

Hi Christian,

Additions and corrections to anything posted are certainly welcome, particularly since even the shortest pencil is longer than the best memory.

For purposes of tracking the decline of Soi Twilight, however, February 2015 would probably be the correct date for the demise of Zeus. Shows at Zeus stopped at some point shortly before they began internal renovations in January 2015 ( Your visit on December 28th 2014 makes clear that the shows had ended by late December rather than in early January). By February, however, they had abandoned the internal renovations and Zeus never re-opened, nor did anything else take its place.

Your additional details on the site of Mario are also welcome and re-affirm that 2015 marked the turning-point for Soi Twilight. After Mario's closure, the site was utilised as an adjunct to an ongoing operation of the X-Group, rather than anyone investing in setting-up anything new. It certainly wasn’t obvious in 2015 that Soi Twilight was about to begin contracting but, looking back, 2015 was the turning-point.

[colmx]

[B]For a description of the bars on Soi Twilight in 2011, the year it attained its peak, along with some good pictures of the bars, see:
https://bangkokbois.sawatdeenetwork.com/2011/02/24/the-state-of-the-state-bangkoks-gay-gogo-bars/

Whilst I appreciate the effort that you have gone through to put together this report, I have no idea where you get the idea that 2011 was the peak of Soi Twilight. If anything it had peaked ten years earlier and was already in its death throes by 2011.

Of course if you look at the statistics it may seem that there were more venues in 2011 than in earlier/later years, but in this case quantity does not equal quality

By 2011 Twilight was already a shadow of its former self and had been abandoned by both its farang and Thai customer base, in this case they were replaced by Chinese tour groups who in the main were there for the shows and not to off boys, party or consume alcohol

[JayToff]

The one that started it all...

Adverts for the original Twilight Bar from the 1989 issues of My Way magazine. The main advert and two following pictures are from the third issue of My Way from 1989.The other pictures are from the adverts that appeared in the two earlier editions for 1989, which are, essentially, similar.

With Twilight having been founded circa 1966, 1989 would be almost exactly half-way through its existence under that name c.1966 - 2004.

10645
10646
10647
10648

The following ones are from the two earlier issues:
10649
10650
10651
10652

Anyone keen on viewing the actual magazines can access them through the link to the rainbow archive that Colmx posted earlier in this thread.

[Oliver2]

Thank you ....and I bet they actually danced in those days! Sic transit gloria.

[Nirish guy]

Jesus when you look at those lovely guys compared to some of the guys we're presented with now.......really does show you how things are changed and not for the better :-(

[goji]

Agreed. That lot look superb compared with the fat scruffy tattoo covered types seen at certain bars in recent years.
However there is still some quality to be found in select places. Fresh Boys and Winner Boys, for instance, before covid intervened. Also, there are a small number of the apps. Often from Cambodia of Laos.

[cdnmatt]

Jesus when you look at those lovely guys compared to some of the guys we're presented with now.......really does show you how things are changed and not for the better :-(

I'm assuming the photos are showing more twink type guys who are thinner and less tatoos than their modern counterparts?

I blame McDonalds and KFC.

[Nirish guy]

I'm assuming the photos are showing more twink type guys who are thinner and less tatoos than their modern counterparts? I blame McDonalds and KFC.

You are correct about the twink part etc - the difference being in the pics above out of nice guys pictured I'd happily take any one ( or more) of the nine without question, whereas lately in a go go bar if there were nice guys I'd be lucky to be ABLE to pick one or maybe two from the bunch - and yes KFC and to much beer and whiskey has a lot to do with that - and I KNOW that works two ways of course, but when the boys start paying ME then I'll start thinking about how they'd like me to look perhaps, but until then my requirements win.

[Brad the Impala]

I'm assuming the photos are showing more twink type guys who are thinner and less tatoos than their modern counterparts?

I blame McDonalds and KFC.

Those types were the norm at the time. Guys next door types. Who had heard of body building then?! Tattoos were really unusual at that time.

[a447]

OMG, is forgotten what it was like to see so many guys bunched together and not a single tatoo in sight. No fem-types, either.

Mind you, they do look rather young compared to the guys in the bars these days. But they are all very attractive. Maybe in those days there were a lot more guys willing to work in the bars and the managers could be more selective when deciding who to hire.

Many are probably happily married with kids now.

[goji]

Slim, cute, no tattoos, no facial hair and small underwear.
I'd off any of them, subject to ID card checks.

Now whilst bars like Winner Boys and Fresh Boys have a good quality selection, other bars can have no one fit to off.
All is not lost though. If we pick bars carefully (when open), or are selective on the phone apps, guys comparable to those in the photos can still be found. Just not so many in one place.

[Oliver2]

Remember that in 1989 sixteen was the minimum age for working in a bar. It was changed to eighteen soon after my first visit, in the late 90s.

[Armando]

Thank you ....and I bet they actually danced in those days! Sic transit gloria.
Actually dancing in Twilight was not the norm in the 1980s. The bar had probably 60 - 80 boys with 40 or more on duty on a weekday evening and almost all at the weekends. The stage behind the bar was tiny and I never recall more than four being up there at any one time. Most boys knew they were there for one thing - to be offed or at least to get a drink or two, and so the nearest they came to dancing was an occasional soft shoe shuffle. Some were shy at being naked on stage and would cover their assets with their crunched up underwear. That is until one of the two mamasans would bark an order whereupon all was slowly revealed. Once they had done their bit on stage and on the mirrored pillar in the centre of the bar, they became far more friendly. Inviting one or more to have a drink, all their inhibitions disappeared.

The next four boys waiting to go on stage would be hunched down behind the bar desperately trying to work up even a mini erection. They always seemed to be laughing and enjoying themselves. But once on stage, quite a few just seemed to be embarrassed. This was so different from the much smaller Apollo Bar in Soi 4 where in the mid-1980s all the dancers did do a bit of dancing on the catwalk even when nude and all seemed to be having fun.

The only bar with real dancing was My Way off Rama 4. These boys were great, constantly smiling and almost all aggressively cute. The stage had two or three poles and most of the boys would use them to enhance their dancing feats. Barbiery was somewhat similar in terms of dancing, although in that bar it was the shows which were the main draw. Barbiery had nearly 100 boys at the weekends when the place would always be packed with as many seats as possible crammed in. The shows featured nudity and the boys always seemed to be having fun. I don't recall any of the boys revealing all in My Way.

[Armando]

For a description of the bars on Soi Twilight in 2011, the year it attained its peak
Sorry I cannot agree that 2011 was when Twilight attained its peak. Yes, perhaps it had more bars that year (although I actually doubt it) but then many had opened and closed in between 2000 and 2010. Sitting in Dick's Cafe, some will remember a bar diagonally opposite with some sort of technology theme. Can't remember the name but it did not last long. I only remember it because one of the boys always outside was aggressively cute and as I later found out completely hairless apart from on his head and lower down. What a turn on! It became a billiards bar.

Then there was the short lived X-treme Bar. This was run by a white haired Englishman who I believe had worked in some position for the Church of England. He tried a different theme. He did have some regular gogo dancers but the main 'act' was a group of 8 or so young professional dancers or dance students who put on a different dance show every week. There was never nudity but these boys were great dancers and the shows were really fun. They would also mingle with customers after the shows. When the bar closed - probably around 2003 - the boys moved over to the German owner's bar across the soi. But even he found the act did not bring in the customers and so they migrated once again to the old Rome Club in Soi 4, then called Roxy. Again I think they did not last long.

We really have to remember that nightlife definitely changed after the Thaksin government's Social Order campaigns in 2001 and the new rules they laid down. One result was that many of the Thai customers who had been quite frequent bar hoppers in the 1980s and 90s began to disappear. By the turn of the millennium, gay saunas and massage establishments had been operating for well over a decade and they also tended to take customers away from the traditional gogo bars. In 2006 an article in The New York Times mentioned Bangkok's dwindling number of night spots. It also highlighted the increased number of raids on nightlife establishments. These were always accompanied by a media scrum. Who can forget the raid on Babylon led by some senior Minister who was photographed outside gingerly holding a condom and pronouncing that this was evidence of illegal sexual activity? The fact that another branch of government had been actively promoting the use of condoms for years as an anti-HIV measure seems not to have occurred to him!

The NYT article even quoted Kurt Wachtveitl, the legendary manager of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, who that year spoke out against the social order rules, especially those that mandated the closure of bars and clubs at 1:00 am. "If Bangkok continues to be the kind of city that begins to look sleepy after midnight, it will be wasting all its advantages to the upscale foreign visitors. They'll go to Beijing, Shanghai and now Singapore," he lamented.

https://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/01/travel/social-order-takes-the-life-out-of-night-life-letter-from-bangkok.html

[goji]

This archive has a pretty impressive collection of scanned Thai gay magazines from the 80s, 90s and 00s
http://thairainbowarchive.anu.edu.au/catalogue.htm

This contains references to 600 dpi tiff files. Has anyone found the location of those ?
Having seen the wonderful pictures above, if I see anything worth posting, it would be good to get the best resolution.

[Oliver2]

In 1995, the year of my first visit, dancing was the norm in all the go-go bars I visited and I can assure you that I visited a hell of a lot- though not Twilight- in Chiangmai, Patong, Bangkok and Pattaya. . Even the very small ones like Superboys (Patong) and Moonlight (Pattaya) had small dancing areas for three at a time.
Dancing of various levels of enthusiasm continued for another ten tears or so, as I previously mentioned.
I cannot recall any where the guys stood around and posed as they do now.

[daydreamer]

Armando, the technology themed bar across from Dick's Cafe may have been Boys.com, that was in that area of Soi Twilight around the year 2000. I think it was on the ground floor underneath Blue Star bar, what would later be the X-Size Bar on the second floor. I remember they played music at an ear splitting volume. The next year when I was in Bangkok, I believe Boys.com bar had closed.

At that time, several bars added a year to their name, Future Boys F-2000, Jupiter 2002, and there was also a boy bar named Y2K Bar in Sunee Plaza in Pattaya about that time.

[Armando]

Armando, the technology themed bar across from Dick's Cafe may have been Boys.com, that was in that area of Soi Twilight around the year 2000. I think it was on the ground floor underneath Blue Star bar, what would later be the X-Size Bar on the second floor. I remember they played music at an ear splitting volume. The next year when I was in Bangkok, I believe Boys.com bar had closed.
Thanks daydreamer. I am sure you are correct with the name, but it was certainly still operating in late 2002. So I expect it must have closed around the end of that year.

[a447]

I cannot recall any where the guys stood around and posed as they do now.

That's because they didn't have mobile phones!

[Oliver2]

True.... though I do remember a guy at a Soi Twilight bar way back in the late 90s who had somehow got hold of one of the earliest mobile phones. It was huge. Obviously unwilling to leave it in his locker, he had stuffed it down his briefs. Not a good look....there was barely room for the damn thing. Nor for anything else.

[daydreamer]

Thanks daydreamer. I am sure you are correct with the name, but it was certainly still operating in late 2002. So I expect it must have closed around the end of that year.

Armando, no doubt you are correct about the date. I remember the bar was open around the turn of the millennium, I most likely got the date off by a year or two. After so many years and so many trips, It's difficult to pin down an exact date for me. Around that time, I was visiting Bangkok about six times a year, as my home was only a two hour flight from Bangkok.

[Blueskytoday]

What was the name of the bar that had Fish Nets all around inside, anyone remember...I forgot exactly the name...

[neddy3]

Where was this?

[Blueskytoday]

I believe it was the only bar on Soi Twilight....at the time...so damn long ago....late 70's...

[Brad the Impala]

I think that the only bar in Soi Twilight in the 70's would be Twilight, if even it had had already moved there(of course it was the first in that soi).

I didn't go often(methinks she doth protest too much) but the things I remember do not include fish nets. Although I never knowingly went there, I wonder if the Sea Hag, in Silom, might have had fishnets to go with the sea theme(or the hags).

[Armando]

I think that the only bar in Soi Twilight in the 70's would be Twilight, if even it had had already moved there(of course it was the first in that soi).

I didn't go often(methinks she doth protest too much) but the things I remember do not include fish nets. Although I never knowingly went there, I wonder if the Sea Hag, in Silom, might have had fishnets to go with the sea theme(or the hags).
Twilight definitely did not have fish nets.

[Blueskytoday]

OK SEA HAG......anyway I recall fishnets all over the ceiling haha thanks...

[JayToff]

The use of nets in the Sea Hag sounds logical, except that the Sea Hag closed in 1969, so it can’t be the same bar that you visited in the late 70’s. The timeline for the Sea Hag is given in the 11th post in this thread.

The Twilight Bar is the only boy bar recorded in Soi Twilight / Soi Pratuchai even as late as 1990. As per the map attached below, the 1991 edition of Spartacus still shows only Twilight on that Soi. Spartacus is hardly the first and last word on anything though, so any information to the contrary is certainly welcome. As far as I know,though, Chardonay was the second bar to open there and that was in the 90’s.


Originally Posted by Brad the Impala
I think that the only bar in Soi Twilight in the 70s would be Twilight, if even it had had already moved there(of course it was the first in that soi).

On the matter of where the original Twilight Bar was located at different points in time, the information on its early movements that we have pieced together from Midnite Hour, Bobby de Crozier of Bobby’s Arms, the Banana Bar guy and the post by the owner of the Sea Hag on ThaiVisa, is that it started-out on New Road as early as 1966, then moved to Soi Thaniya 2 around the start of the 70s where it occupied the location that became Barbiery later-on, or the shop right next door. It then moved to Soi Pratuchai in the early 1970s. So, if Blueskytoday visited in the late 70s, Twilight would already have been there and was almost certainly the only boy bar on that soi.

I am attaching the Spartacus map from 1991 here , which I have shamelessly stolen from one of RonanTheBarbarian’s old posts.
10746

I am also uploading a 1999 map of the Silom / Suriwongse area from Thai Guys magazine, just for contrast.
10747

As for where the fishing nets were, or might have been, I will leave it to those of you who where there in the 70s to debate...

On a tangential note, BRAD, I am aware that you have been in Thailand for longer than almost anyone else on any of the fora, but when, exactly, did you first arrive?

[Brad the Impala]

On a tangential note, BRAD, I am aware that you have been in Thailand for longer than almost anyone else on any of the fora, but when, exactly, did you first arrive?

I first came in 1971 for a long beach holiday in the unspoilt village of Pattaya. Rented a traditional wooden bungalow with a huge balcony that was on the beach, in the position where the Siam Bayshore swimming pool would later be found. I had a ball, although there were no gay bars there at that time. Great eight or nine piece band played at the Fantasy Club, which had a large terrace out over the sea. I was there most nights for the music and became friends with some of the band. Good times.

Moved to Thailand the following year and lived in Bangkok for most of the next eight years.

[goji]

So are Tawan and Super-A the only surviving Gogo bars, in the location from the 1991 map ?
Plus from 1999 map, Screwboys ?

(Question based on map observations, since I didn't visit Thailand until about 15 years ago)

[Armando]

If I recall correctly, Super A was originally a larger bar on the ground floor on other side of that little soi. Screwboys also in its present location.

[StevieWonders]

If I recall correctly, Super A was originally a larger bar on the ground floor on other side of that little soi.Yes, with a bare concrete floor. A friend of mine used to refer to it as “the garage sale room” so basic was it. Like many of the Soi 6 bars past and present it catered to those who prefer the younger look.

[JayToff]

I first came in 1971 for a long beach holiday in the unspoilt village of Pattaya. .

I remember when Pattaya was a respectable holiday destination and it was the mention of Hat Yai and Chiang Mai that used to lead to snickers and knowing smiles.

Brad, you really must write a history of Soi 4. You have contributed so many fascinating vignettes on here but what still missing is a narrative history of that Soi, and of Soi 2 for that matter. Someone who has actually experienced it from the earliest years needs to put into words how the air on that soi has changed over the decades and how it has evolved from the Soi Katoey of the early days to being the Soi Dining of today. Soi 4 has never been my playground, but its days are numbered, as it has also been bought over for re-development by the same group that bought Soi Twilight, and its history is worth recording. I can't think of anyone who could do a better job of it than you.


So are Tawan and Super-A the only surviving Gogo bars, in the location from the 1991 map ?
Plus from 1999 map, Screwboys ?

(Question based on map observations, since I didn't visit Thailand until about 15 years ago)

Tawan has been in the same place since that map was published, but had only moved to Soi Tantawan around that time. It was previously just off Suriwongse Road, a little bit further down towards the New Road end. In its old location, it started-out as more of a twink bar.

Screw Boy is now back in its original location, which is the location on the map. Bear in mind that it moved to Soi Twilight for a while though. It moved first to the back of the Soi, into the Five Star building and then towards the front of the Soi into the X-Boys site. So, while it is back in its original location now, it can't claim to have been its original location throughout. Before Screw Boy opened on Patpong II, the site was previously the Princess' Castle girlie bar, which was owned by the KIng's Group, which also owns Screw Boy.

The bar with the longest run at its original location would be the Golden Cock, which was in the same place from the time that it opened in the 80s until it moved across to Nature Boy in September 2020.

Why did the chicken finally cross the road? To save on the rent, I assume.

[Patanawet]

Soi Katoey[/I] of the early days its days are numbered, as it has also been bought over for re-development by the same group that bought Soi Twilight.

Screw Boy is now back in its original location, which is the location on the map. Bear in mind that it moved to Soi Twilight for a while though. It moved first to the back of the Soi, into the Five Star building and then towards the front of the Soi into the X-Boys site. So, while it is back in its original location now, it can't claim to have been its original location throughout.

.

Ye gods -- I'd forgotten 'Soi Katoey' (in Amsterdam, the little street with many gay bars was known by the straights as 'rue de Vaseline').

A slight correction --- wherever did you get the idea that soi4 has been bought by a development company?
It is still owned by the same family that reside at the end of the soi and have owned it since the very beginning. I can hazard a guess about where you got that info from. Not true.

And Screw Boy's original location, before Patpong 2/Twilight etc., was in the square (I forget the name) just before soi Twilight.. When it moved to Patpong it had a semi circular bar surrounding the stage. 2 boys behind the bar (one the owner's son) guarding two bottles of spirits. Often the sound of music was drowned out by the sound of rats scurrying in the ceiling void. I think one of the original waiters/mamasans, Lek, is still at S.B. now.

[Oliver2]

Screw Boys has an interesting history, as well as the most indecorous name in Bangkok. I recall the circular bar but also a period before that when sex shows were produced in the centre of the bar. It was the first time I'd seen such a show.

Then it moved to Soi Twilight for a short period; the shows continued but the premises (ex-Chardonnay, perhaps?) were devoid of decoration apart from numerous balloons. It moved back to Patpong quickly suggesting that its stay in Twilight was temporary.

The "Screw Boys" name may be indecorous but the original choice was even worse...."Schoolboys". This is according to Michael Notcutt's (spelling?) guide to the gay scene- my estimable companion during my first few visits.

[Armando]

Does anyone remember Apollo, the gogo bar at the end of Soi 4? It was definitely there in 1981 and I am reasonably certain a couple of years - if not more - before then. It was located where Sphinx used to be but on the floor above. Quite a small bar but with great guys.

Again if I remember correctly, the manager opened a spa/sauna type place in a residential district named Grey's Athletic Club probably around 1983. It had a number of boys working there, mostly from the bars. It seemed more a place for rent boys to meet customers than a proper sauna. Volt off Asoke was the first sauna I can remember probably around 1985.

[StevieWonders]

Does anyone remember Apollo, the gogo bar at the end of Soi 4? It was definitely there in 1981 and I am reasonably certain a couple of years - if not more - before then. It was located where Sphinx used to be but on the floor above. Quite a small bar but with great guys.

Again if I remember correctly, the manager opened a spa/sauna type place in a residential district named Grey's Athletic Club probably around 1983. It had a number of boys working there, mostly from the bars. It seemed more a place for rent boys to meet customers than a proper sauna. Volt off Asoke was the first sauna I can remember probably around 1985.
Sphinx was opened in 1991 if I recall correctly - it was founded by the same American (“William”) who founded Telephone Bar in the late 80s and then sold it to Richard St L in 1989. Once his non-compete clause in the sale agreement expired he opened Sphinx. It was once my favourite go-to restaurant but the only thing upstairs that I recall was some ghastly karaoke joint (ghastly in the sense that all karaoke is ghastly). The only gogo bar I recall was on the Telephone Bar side of the street, opposite (but upstairs) the current Jupiter. I never visited it, preferring to bar-hop in Soi Twilight where there was more choice once go-go took over from the host bars in Soi 2.

However a Google for “Apollo gogo Bangkok” will give you slightly more information. It predates me but Brad may have been.

[Patanawet]

Screw Boys has an interesting history,

Then it moved to Soi Twilight for a short period; the shows continued but the premises (ex-Chardonnay, perhaps?)

It also had a short time (no pun) above a straight ground floor restaurant/bar/karaoke on the bend of soi Twilight diagonally opposite to (and before) Classic Boys.

[Armando]

Sphinx was opened in 1991 ...

However a Google for “Apollo gogo Bangkok” will give you slightly more information. It predates me but Brad may have been.
Apollo was certainly dead long before Sphinx opened. I have checked on google. It throws up an excerpt from a book titled First Queer Voices from Thailand: Uncle Go's Advice Columns for Gays .. by Peter Jackson. The relevant section states this -

"In Thailand in the 1960s and 1970s, host bars were called "partner" bars and, as the name suggests, this type of venue provided dance and drinking partners to accompany male customers. Phan Thathorn then named a number of gay bars in Patpong – Tulip, Apollo, Tomboy, Siamese Cat, Twilight, Garden and Harry's – and described the scene at one unnamed gay bar where the male sex workers had numbers attached to their clothes in the same way that female sex workers in heterosexual brothels wore numbers for ease of identification by clients. He reported that these male sex-workers were more expensive than female sex-workers in Patpong, with an "off" price of between 100 and 500 baht for Thai customers and a much higher price of 500 to 1000 baht needing to be paid by Western customers for the privilege of taking a male sex-worker off the premises to spend the night."

I believe much of this is pure speculation. Most of the bars were not in Patpong, but that may merely have been stated to give an idea of location. Would bars that morphed into what we know as gogo bars have ever been just dancing bars where a Thai boy would dance clothed with a westerner? Surely these had to be go-go bars. Certainly Apollo and Twilight were. 1000 baht off fee for an overnight was also very much on the high side even by the mid-1980s. This Khun Phan often used the magazine Plaek to put forward his views. Its first edition was in 1975.

Trying to find out who Khun Phan Thathorn might have been, another google search throws up another section from the same book. His name was Pratchaya Phanathathorn. Although heterosexual he was an early advocate of gay rights and by 10975 was suggesting that Thailand should copy the west to develop "a sexual model for Thailand to follow."

There is also the suggestion that it was not Western gay residents and tourists who encouraged the development of Thailand's gay culture. He reckons it was much more Thai gay men returning from overseas. So Thailand's gay culture is not an implant but one seeded by better-off Thai gay men who had travelled outside the country.

This view is repeated in another article Reinventing Sexual Identities: Thai Gay Men's Pursuit of Social Acceptance. On page 20 it states -

"At least in Bangkok, the first generation of gay bars and night clubs along Silom Road were said to be frequented by young Thai western educated gay men who had had first hand experience of Western gay lifestyles abroad."

[StevieWonders]

My earliest experiences are of Telephone Bar (independent money boys), Harry's & (New) Garden Bar (semi-independent host "bars"), both in Silom (Sois 4 & 2 respectively), and Barbeiry (gogo - Suriwong opposite Twilight). Those were the days before the Western do-gooders came along when if a boy was in a bar there was no question of any "age of consent" and the age of patrons or workers in bars certainly wasn't policed (although I saw only teenagers and above). I never thought to ask. In Harry's and Garden Bar I don't recall there was even an "off" fee after you'd bought the guy a drink. The first guy I ever "offed" (my first night in Bangkok) was from Barbeiry Bar - 500 baht and I don't recall whether there was an off fee but there probably was.

After that I focused my attention on Soi 2 for sex and Soi 4 for socialising with other ex-pats.

[Smiles]

Socialising???? You???? Hahahaha ;);):D:D:rolleyes::rolleyes:

With other ex-pats????? You????. Hahahahaha :D:blush::love::love:

5555555555555 ????????????

[christianpfc]

The bar with the longest run at its original location would be the Golden Cock, which was in the same place from the time that it opened in the 80s until it moved across to Nature Boy in September 2020.

Why did the chicken finally cross the road? To save on the rent, I assume.
I haven't been in Thailand since April 2020, so I cannot check in person. But both sides of Nature Boy were already occupied, and the place Golden Cock is in looks pretty cheap.

[a447]

Golden Cock has closed and moved to Natureboys??

I often saw the farang owner of NB in GC, accompanied by his wife and some guys. They'd come over to party and everyone from both bars knew each other.

The owner of GC apparently didn't bother whether or not he made a profit; it was more of a hobby for him. The guys told me that making money was not one of his concerns. Pretty obvious, I would have thought. Same same NB which it seemed rarely, if ever, turned a profit.

And no, I don't get it either!

I wonder if that soi is up for re-development?

[goji]

When I wandered down that soi in December, I noticed the Nature Boys premises now has both the old Nature Boys sign and a new Golden Cock sign. So who knows what the name now is ?
Nature Boys Golden Cock ?
Golden Cock Nature Boys ?

[Moses]

When I wandered down that soi in December, I noticed the Nature Boys premises now has both the old Nature Boys sign and a new Golden Cock sign. So who knows what the name now is ?
Nature Boys Golden Cock ?
Golden Cock Nature Boys ?

Golden boys with nature cocks...

[Armando]

The late great Barbiery Bar moved from its original location on Suriwong across from Soi Twilight to the third floor of a newish commercial building directly opposite Nature Boys. I guess it must have been around 2000. Sadly it became a very different type of bar. Whereas the original had been cosy, staffed mostly (but far from exclusively) by twinks with great waiters, the new one was too large a space with one small stage at one end rather than two in the middle. The boys, too, were older. I don't think it lasted more than 2 years before it finally died.

[StevieWonders]

The late great Barbiery Bar moved from its original location on Suriwong across from Soi Twilight to the third floor of a newish commercial building directly opposite Nature Boys. I guess it must have been around 2000. Sadly it became a very different type of bar. Whereas the original had been cosy, staffed mostly (but far from exclusively) by twinks with great waiters, the new one was too large a space with one small stage at one end rather than two in the middle. The boys, too, were older. I don't think it lasted more than 2 years before it finally died.
I remember going there late one rainy night near closing time (just before it shut its Surawong location) with a visiting former BA trolley dolly who remembered it in its glory days. We were the only two customers although there was one punter just leaving with a very happy guy in tow - a woman (the sort that bleed not the guys with a rich fantasy life). I think someone took over the location and renamed it but it didn’t last long.

[a447]

Ten (fifteen?) years or so ago a new bar appeared diagonally opposite Natureboys. It had lots of sofas scattered about the bar.

The rather young guys working there appealed to a certain clientele but I found myself racing out the door.

The next time I visited Bangkok - a few months later - it had disappeared.

It's now a Chinese ktv bar. At least I think that's where it was.

In those days bars which were considered too risky for Soi Twilight tended to operate in Soi Golden Cock.

[Smiles]

Golden boys with nature cocks... I thought it was a typo as in ... "golden boys with mature cocks".

[christianpfc]

Ten (fifteen?) years or so ago a new bar appeared diagonally opposite Natureboys. It had lots of sofas scattered about the bar.

The rather young guys working there appealed to a certain clientele but I found myself racing out the door.

The next time I visited Bangkok - a few months later - it had disappeared.

It's now a Chinese ktv bar. At least I think that's where it was.

In those days bars which were considered too risky for Soi Twilight tended to operate in Soi Golden Cock.
I think that was Night Boys. I had a good off from there in 2011 ? , but when I went back in 2012 ? it was gone and became a Chinese restaurant or KTV.

Years later, I found the boy in Screw Boys, but we couldn't re-enact the great first encounter, the second was only average.

[a447]

Yes, thanks Christian. That's the one.

[Armando]

There were also two bars which only lasted a short time very close to where Super A is now. One might have been Night Boys but it definitely was under the old Super A. It had couches all facing in the direction of the door and boys willing to start dropping pants if you invited them to sit by you. One boy who said he was a student had a very large appendage.

The other was, I think, next door. I recall it was coloured yellow inside(?) As you entered, there was a little stage on the immediate right and a bar along the right wall. It also had rows of seats facing the stage, some of them couches but I never remember any dancing let alone shows. Very much a twink bar with a number of lady boys. Probably lasted little more than 6 months.

Nearer in time and moving closer to Twilight there was also a bar an the end of a little sub soi down one side of The Wall Street Tower. It was very much for twink lovers, had a large stage area with lots of boys and semi-closed banquettes. Very much touchy feely especially when drinks were offered. Even the waiters would get into the act. I never saw many customers but it seemed to stay open for about two years.

Then back in the mists of time I have not seen a mention here of Stockholm bar. I wonder if anyone has a Spartacus Guide going back around 1980 or before. This was probably the largest gay bar in terms of area with a big stage and seating in a sort of semi circle around it. But it was not near Soi Twilight. It was in a large Thai house near the park end of now up market Lang Suan. A tout took me there. It was raining the only time I was there and no other customers. There were only had about 12 boys and they were in street clothes. But there were rooms upstairs where I took two cute looking boys for a show. They really performed. Thinking back it was probably patronised mostly if not exclusively by Thais.

[StevieWonders]

Lucky S was thereabouts and in the same garage sale style

[neddy3]

Nearer in time and moving closer to Twilight there was also a bar an the end of a little sub soi down one side of The Wall Street Tower. It was very much for twink lovers, had a large stage area with lots of boys and semi-closed banquettes. Very much touchy feely especially when drinks were offered. Even the waiters would get into the act. I never saw many customers but it seemed to stay open for about two years.

Then back in the mists of time I have not seen a mention here of Stockholm bar. I wonder if anyone has a Spartacus Guide going back around 1980 or before. This was probably the largest gay bar in terms of area with a big stage and seating in a sort of semi circle around it. But it was not near Soi Twilight. It was in a large Thai house near the park end of now up market Lang Suan. A tout took me there. It was raining the only time I was there and no other customers. There were only had about 12 boys and they were in street clothes. But there were rooms upstairs where I took two cute looking boys for a show. They really performed. Thinking back it was probably patronised mostly if not exclusively by Thais.

I don't remember any bar down the side of the Wall Street Tower. Not that I knew about.
But the description of the interior sounds a bit like a go-go bar which operated in this soi some few years ago.

Regarding Stockholm bar, I went once many years ago. Memories are vague, but I was definitely taken there by a tout.
I formed the impression that this was their modus operandi.
When I arrived, I don't recall any other customers, but a group of girls were dancing.
When I expressed disinterest, the girls were quickly sent offstage, and a group of boys appeared in their place.
And yes, there were rooms upstairs, where two boys would 'make a show'. But no touching, at least in theory.

[StevieWonders]

I don't remember any bar down the side of the Wall Street Tower. Not that I knew about.
But the description of the interior sounds a bit like a go-go bar which operated in this soi some few years ago.
There was one in that Soi but in one of the buildings near where that great traditional Thai massage institution Marble House operated (diagonally opposite the Tower building) (and maybe still does - I used to be massaged twice a week there by the same old duck for years but haven’t been back since she retired which was before there was a boy bar in the Soi).

[Armando]

There was one in that Soi but in one of the buildings near where that great traditional Thai massage institution Marble House operated (diagonally opposite the Tower building) (and maybe still does
I am sure that must be the one. tt was on the ground floor of the last or penultimate building opposite Wall Street Tower. There was only a wall on the Wall Street Tower side. Many people used the soi for parking as you could park either against that wall or in two lines in the centre. The bar had an illuminated sign at its entry on Silom Road and occasionally guys handing out flyers about it.It lasted about 2 years. I wish I could recall the name!!

One of the waiters ended up later in Hotmale 2.

[a447]

I remember going to a bar in a small soi on the opposite side of the street from Soi Twilight.

Looking at google maps, it may have been the Wall Street Tower Soi. The bar was right at the end.

There weren't any guys in the bar - you had to go to a room upstairs. For reasons you can probably guess, I made a very quick exit indeed.

I don't think the bar lasted very long.

[StevieWonders]

There weren't any guys in the bar - you had to go to a room upstairs. For reasons you can probably guess, I made a very quick exit indeed.Memories of your very very detailed posts of what you got up to at Golden Cock (on the ground floor) have come flooding back

[Keith]

I have fond memories of Golden Cock, though now some time ago. Twink guys, on sofas, whipped their cocks out on request. A farang at the bar, having a blow job! I took quite a few boys upstairs, and remember the handrail at the corner was always loose! Rooms pretty bare, but private shower. Last time I went there, 2019, almost dead, two boys only, getting on in years!

[goji]

My visits to Golden Cock were always short. Walk in the door, see they have no one even close to my type and walk out within 20 seconds. Repeat at 2 year intervals.

In contrast, Nature Boys used to be much more interesting, back in the days when they had those little green aprons and nothing else. More recently, there has been very little to tempt me in.

[Armando]

I remember going to a bar in a small soi on the opposite side of the street from Soi Twilight.

Looking at google maps, it may have been the Wall Street Tower Soi. The bar was right at the end.

There weren't any guys in the bar - you had to go to a room upstairs. For reasons you can probably guess, I made a very quick exit indeed.

I don't think the bar lasted very long.
That is definitely not the bar I attended on a few occasions. There was no upstairs as far as I knew. Just a big area with a large stage in the centre and lots of twinks and lady boys. I went there on a few Sundays with friends before we discovered Solid Bar and that became our more regular haunt. I cannot recall when Solid Bar opened but I think it was around 2008 or 2009. So it immediately predates that period. I am still trying to recall the name!!

[a447]

I only visited the bar once and if I recall correctly, I was taken there by that ex-gogo boy who had a book written about him. He accosted me on the street outside the Kasikorn Bank near Soi Twilight. We crossed the road and after a very short walk ended up in the soi where the bar was.

That's why I think it might have been the Wall Street Tower Soi.

Christian, didn't you once mention it in a post?

[christianpfc]

The following venues were open some time between 2013 and 2017 (from memory).
At the end of that soi (West of Wall Street Tower) was a massage place where you went upstairs.
On the right (West) side of that soi was a gogo bar Heart Beat Club that didn't last long.
In the basement of Wall Street Building was a bar (gogo or host?) that didn't last long. I went once or twice, but when I was refused to have a look inside and told to order a drink before entering, I left.

[a447]

Heart Beat Club - that's the one!

Thanks, Christian. Always reliable!

[Armando]

Heart Beat Club - that's the one!

Thanks, Christian. Always reliable!
Bingo! Heartbeat Club. Thanks Christian.

[JayToff]

I only visited the bar once and if I recall correctly, I was taken there by that ex-gogo boy who had a book written about him. He accosted me on the street outside the Kasikorn Bank near Soi Twilight. We crossed the road and after a very short walk ended up in the soi where the bar was.



I assume that you are talking about Chai Pinit, who wrote Bangkok Boy. It is a good book and anyone who wants an insight into the lives of the bar boys in Bangkok and Pattaya may want to take a look at it. The publishers have added a rather dramatic sub-title; the reviews on Amazon are more balanced.

https://www.maverickhouse.com/books/bangkok-boy/

https://www.maverickhouse.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/ChaiPinit.jpg

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It is also available on Amazon and all the other usual places in both hard copy and soft copy.

Pinit later ran a bar beer on Soi Twilight.
https://foodsexandart.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/img_4870.jpg?w=1400


On a tangential note, talking about bars that have remained in the same location throughout, the A Go-Go bar that has been in a single location for the longest time anywhere in Thailand is Safari on Patpong 1, which is also Thailand’s oldest operating A Go-Go bar, having opened in the mid-70s and is still run by Khun Ning. It’s a shadow of what it once was, but the interior hasn’t changed in decades, so it definitely worth visiting when the opportunity arises.

The oldest A Go-Go in Pattaya is the Tahitian Queen on Beach Road, which has been in the same location since it opened in 1978. It announced its closure late last year, under the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic, but was rescued after an online fundraiser by its fans. Whether it will survive the continued travel restrictions remains to be seen.

[Oliver2]

Bangkok Boy is certainly an interesting book. It's a long time since I read it but I recall that It seemed like a composite of more than one guy's Bangkok story, so varied and sometimes contradictory are the experiences.
Anyone who knows Soi Twilight will be fascinated.

[daydreamer]

The oldest A Go-Go in Pattaya is the Tahitian Queen on Beach Road, which has been in the same location since it opened in 1978. It announced its closure late last year, under the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic, but was rescued after an online fundraiser by its fans. Whether it will survive the continued travel restrictions remains to be seen.

I remember seeing the Tahitian Queen bar on Beach Road the first time I visited Pattaya in the early 1980's. The sign on Beach Road still looks the same today as it did 40 years ago.

The property is owned by the Patpong family, and is leased to the bar operators. Yes, that's the same Patpong family from Bangkok that owns Patpong 1 + 2.

[Blueskytoday]

I am not going to BUY the book...wonder if somewhere it is printed to read freely?

[Jellybean]

I am not going to BUY the book...wonder if somewhere it is printed to read freely?

Perhaps it's available at your local library?

[Nirish guy]

I met Chai Pinit in his ? beer bar in Soi Twilight several years ago, actually I think someone else owned the bar and he was there simply trying to cadge drinks from fairing more just perhaps ? Either way he went to great lengths to tell me he had written this book ( which was it seems actually ghost written by a farang writer on the request of a farang publisher who figured the "story" might sell books I guess). So after he pointed out the book up on the shelf in the bar ( perhaps trying to sell me a copy ?) I so I just politely congratulated him on his literary success and left it at that.

Later when back home in the UK I bought the book and whilst it was interesting I guess I seem to recall that it certainly didn't paint us Farang in a particularly good light (funny that eh, I cant think why !? :)). But I do remember thinking to myself that I wished I'd read the book whilst still in Thailand as I might not have been just so congratulatory to him after me reading some of his ( the ghost writers?) comments and thoughts and stories about farang ( some of which no doubt were true though no doubt ).

I do remember that a few of the other bar boys I met and mentioned him / the book too hadn't very much nice to say about the guy. They all knew of him and his book and weren't it seems that happy with him for "writing" a book at all ( he wasn't very complimentary about some Thai's too from what I recall? ) and they also felt that he was perhaps giving away some details of their trade that would have been better kept private for fear it might hurt their trade / other Thai people may look down on them ( even more) than they (already) did.

But also I seem to recall that with the other Thai boys he just wasn't very well liked for other reasons and their main view was more that he was just full of shit ( or whatever the Thai expression for that may have been!).

So, whilst I've no doubt that much of the book is probably true and Im sure more sex workers could relate similar horror stories and I'm sure the guy did have had a hard life ( as had many guys there do without feeling the need to bare their soul to a farang publisher) the Thai bar boys reminded me that he DID get paid for telling his / A story to a farang ghost writer / Publisher - and we all are already well versed I'm sure on just how talented Thai boys can be when it comes to telling / embellishing a story when they feel the need to for "whatever" reason !

[a447]

the Thai bar boys reminded me that he DID get paid

He told me the publisher had ripped him off and he only got a pittance from the book. Apparently that's why he still had to work.

TIT. Who knows what the truth is?

Somewhere in between, I expect.

[Nirish guy]

Actually now that you mention it I seem to remember being told the very same thing - but at the time wondered was that just the usual Thai embellishment in order to aid an off / drink etc, but when you think about it it is also the most likely outcome of any deal that he might have made so I wouldn't be at all surprised. But as half of what he told them was probably made up anyway perhaps it all sort of balanced out in the end.

[goji]

Is writing a book with niche appeal and presumably corresponding low sales volume something one should expect to fund retirement ? I doubt it.

[StevieWonders]

Is writing a book with niche appeal and presumably corresponding low sales volume something one should expect to fund retirement ? I doubt it.We’re all waiting for your autobiography

[Nirish guy]

On looking up on Waterstones ( large UK book seller) I see the book is out of print just now it seems ( I'll have to go look for my copy in case it's worth a million ! :-)

I did see the one and only review that someone left which I felt summed the book up fairly well, it went as follows :

"The book appealed to me as I was interesting in reading why child prostitution is still occurring and how that situation is. The more pages I read, the more I knew that the book was not going to give me an answer to that. The book is written by a male prostitute that ends up in go-go bars because of his own decisions and mistakes. It is not a story of a stolen childhood. It is a story of a male prostitute and his motivations to be in this industry. Because I got a wrong image of the book when i bought it, it was really disapointing. However, if the cover of the book was honest, I would still have found it interesting. I have been in Thailand for quite a while yet and the cultural differences and barriers that occur to me, are being discribed from the Thai perspective. Therefore, I found it nice to read. A thought the story would be about a boy, not about a man that is 22 when he first sells his body and at age 44 discovers that he has taken the wrong path in life"

[StevieWonders]

Read it via the Kindle App

[Jellybean]

On looking up on Waterstones ( large UK book seller) I see the book is out of print just now it seems ( I'll have to go look for my copy in case it's worth a million ! :-) . . .

I bought a copy of Bangkok Boy at Kinokuniya bookstore at Siam Paragon Shopping Mall in Bangkok. On checking the back cover, I see that I left the price tag on and note that I purchased it for the princely sum of 525 Baht. :)

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[RonanTheBarbarian]

You can find a copy to read on Archive.org

Go to the site, click on advanced search and search for title “Bangkok Boy” - they have a scanned PDF copy available.

If you create an account on Archive.org you can then “rent” it (for free) in chunks of one hour at a time. Just keep renting it out again and again until you have it read. Don’t know exactly about the copyright implications of reading it this way, but I leave that to your own conscience...

Incidentally, that search also brings up a book called “Bangkok oh boy!”apparently about the adventures of a middle-aged gay American on the boy bar circuit in Bangkok, which could perhaps be a more entertaining read.

[Oliver2]

Inspired by this thread, I re-read the book a couple of weeks ago. I'm sure many of us will recognise the descriptions of Soi Twilight a decade or so ago and the portrayal of some- some- of the go go boys. Very different, I have to say, from the few I got to know well in Pattaya whose lives were more relaxed....and more fun.. Not so sure about the sections which deal with village life. Some of it sounds like life in Dodge City.
Nevertheless, certainly worth a read.

[JayToff]

This "walk" has to be broken-up into four posts because of the number of pictures. This is Part 1 of a 4 part post.

THEY LIVE BY NIGHT
A PICTORIAL WALK THROUGH SOI TWILIGHT

When it comes to Bangkok’s night scene, one can think of a myriad of reasons to want to slap the idiots walking around with cameras, or with their smartphones at the ready. Nonetheless, there are some who capture Bangkok' s nightlife amazingly well without intruding into the fun of revellers. Stickman is by far the best of these. The pictures that he takes in the bars capture the personalities of the girls remarkably and his pictures of facades and street scenes are always atmospheric. Stick does not do gay though. So the areas in which Sawatdee’s readers play will never benefit from his remarkable eye and lens. Fortunately, however, the chaps at the Midnite Hour have diligently profiled some of these areas as part of their record of Bangkok’s nightlife, which goes back to the 1960s in some areas. Their record of Soi 4, for example, goes back to the mid-1990s. With Soi Twilight though, only to the early part of the Millennium. They have been remarkably generous in allowing me to use pictures from their archive for this post on the bars and venues of Soi Twilight. If you are going to use these pictures anywhere else, please attribute them to Bangkokeyes.com (http://bangkokeyes.com/)

With a dearth of photos on the bars of the 1990s though, I have had to use pictures from adverts in magazines from the 90s. The problem with that is that while I want pictures of neon signage, facades and street scenes, the bar owners would rather have bar boys in briefs in their adverts. So it is that I have been compelled to post pictures of hot young lads in skimpy briefs on here simply to capture something of the insides of the old bars. Fortunately, however, from the turn of the millennium, we get to the really exciting stuff, like neon signage.

I do think that the post would have worked better if the images actually appeared in-line though, rather than requiring readers to click-through on them. Still, that shouldn’t be too much trouble as you should have at least one hand free even while looking at pictures of hot boys in briefs.

A WALK THROUGH SOI TWILIGHT
To anchor this walk through a vanished street, I am including a map of Soi Twilight from 2006. Since the Banana Bar and Dream Boy remained in single locations from 2004 to the end of the soi, they are useful points to anchor discussions on where what was when. Right-side and left-side are based on entering from Suriwong Road. Veterans will note that a few known bars such as Sprite Boys and Boys.com are not on this list. For those, I have not been able to find pictures.

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Before jumping into the individual venues, though, here’s a sequence of street scenes of Soi Twilight from 2004 to 2018 to jog one’s memories and because you can’t have too much of good neon..

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[JayToff]

This is Part 2 of a 4 part post.

The bars and venues below are, broadly, presented according to the order in which they first opened on Soi Twilight. As it should, this walk through the historical Soi Twilight begins with the original Twilight Bar…

1 Twilight Bar
The Twilight Bar was opened in 1966 by a katoey named Khun Yosawadee, who had previously run a boy brothel in the New Road area. Twilight was the first bar in Thailand to offer off-boys. She originally opened Twilight on Soi Thaniya 2, in the location that would later become Barbiery and afterwards the original Dream Boy. Somewhere in the early 1970s it moved across Suriwong Road to a spot at the mouth of Soi Pratuchai, which would eventually become known as Soi Twilight.
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Twilight would remain the sole gay venue on that soi until the beginning of the 1990s, when a number of new boy bars began to open. By the late 1980’s, it had about 80 boys in its stable and offered a degree of raunchiness that the later bars on the soi simply could not match. In 2004, after almost four decades, it was sold to new owners, undergoing a change of name and becoming the Hot Male bar, which continues today.

2 Chardonnay
The second bar to open on Soi Twilight was Chardonnay. Its name was, supposedly, chosen because the middle-letters spelled “Hard-On”. The bar opened in the first-half of the 90s and was located mid-way down the Soi, on the right as you entered from Suriwong Road, where Fresh Beach Boy / Fresh Boys would later be.
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Chardonnay aimed to provide a more upscale experience than the sleaze at Twilight, with actual show routines and karaoke later at night. Pictured below are the entrance to the bar and some of the boys in 1996. The pictures are from Morakot magazine. Chardonnay fizzled-out at the turn of the millennium.
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3 New Man
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The New Man bar opened circa 1995, on the right side, in the upstairs location that most recently housed the Bangkok Massage. Its immediate successor in that location, though, was the X-treme Bar in 2001. Pics from MidWay.
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4 Blue Star
Blue Star opened in the middle of the 90s, occupying the upstairs location that would later become Dream Boy. This was an early venture of the BBB Group that would own Blue Star, The Boys of Bangkok, Dream Boy, Yes! and the BBB Inn. As an upstairs bar, there wasn’t really much of a facade, so, we will just have to make do with an advert of their boys in briefs, c.1996.
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In 2004, it would merge with Dream Boy to form the largest and most popular bar on Soi Twilight. Pic from MidWay.

5 Boys of Bangkok
The Boys of Bangkok opened c.1997 and offered some of the wildest shows in Bangkok in its black and chrome interior. It was originally located in the second lot on the right as you entered from Suriwong, immediately after the Banana Bar. The site would later become X-Boys. Picture below of a show in the original Boys of Bangkok location 2004
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In 2005, it moved across the soi to the location of the old Yes! Music Pub, below its sister bar, Dream Boy. The new venue offered a large central stage with clear visibility from all the seating.
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As traffic on Soi Twilight eventually began to decline, Boys of Bangkok began to function as an annexe to Dream Boys, hosting the second, late show, which was less scripted, more raunchy and often a lot more enjoyable then the earlier main show upstairs. It was nudity galore downstairs. In June 2009, Boys Bangkok added a statue of Neptune to their façade, giving it the look that endured until its closure in 2019.
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The bar lives-on in the current Dream Boy on Patpong 2, which has based its exterior façade on that of the old Boys of Bangkok.

6 Dick’s Café
The popular and long-running Dick’s Café opened circa 1998 as the first non-bar gay venue on Soi Twilight. It sat on the right hand side of the soi as you entered from Suriwong, towards the end of the main block of bars. Pictured below in 2007, with the outdoor seating. While the Soi Twilight branch closed in 2019, its Pattaya branch carried-on.
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7 Banana Bar
The long-running Banana Bar bar beer at the mouth of Soi Twilight was a favourite place for people-watching. It was located directly across from the old Twilight Bar. Pictured below in 2010
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They renovated and redecorated several times and with the end of Soi Twilight approaching, it opened an outpost on the nearby Soi 4, where it continues today. Pictured below in July 2017.
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8 Future Boy
Future Boy, which kicked-off at the start of the millennium, was once the hottest bar on the soi. At its peak Future Boy boasted of over 100 boys in it stable, with both a large main stage and a smaller enclosed shower stage at the back. Some will recall that Noom, of Bangkokbois fame, got his start in this bar.
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Located on the right, at the end of the main block of bars,. Its reign as king of the soi eventually ended with the arrival of Dream Boy and the slew of new bars that opened-up. Future Boy closed in May 2010. The site would then be taken over by the short-lived Ocean Boy and then Zeus bars.
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Future Boy managed to have both the best and the worst signage on Soi Twilight. Its multi-lingual neon sign still ranks as my favourite on the soi. Its lower-down fluorescent sign, on the other hand, was singularly uninspiring.
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9 X-treme and X-Man
The X group of bars that became so prominent on Soi Twilight kicked-off with the X-treme bar in 2001. It took-over the upstairs venue that had previously been the New Man and would later be the Bangkok Massage. It offfered shows and A Go-Go. In late 2004 or early 2005, X-treme rebranded as the X-Man bar, carrying-on under that name until mid-2008 when the venue became the Bangkok Massage, also part of the X group.
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10 Classic Boys
The long-running Classic Boys with its troupe of amphibious urchins popped-up around the turn of the millennium. Located deep in Soi Twilight, where the road curved to the right, its defining feature was the water tank in which shows were staged. Boys were of the twinkier sort, although rarely the best that the soi had to offer. Below, Classic Boys signage in 2006
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In mid-2016, it rebranded as New Classic Boys. Things remained the same old, same old though, although they did put-up new signage in mid-2017. Pictured below in June 2016 as they awaited their new signage
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Following the end of Soi Twilight in 2019, it merged with X-Boys to form the new Lucky Boys on Patpong 2

[JayToff]

This is Part 3 of a 4 part post.

11 Bar Lover
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The Bar Lover, located on the left side of the soi, immediately after Hot Male, was not one of Soi Twilight’s great success stories. It popped-up somewhere around 2004 and closed in November 2006, with the property then becoming Hot Male 2.

12 Hot Male
Hot Male opened in 2004, with its owners taking-over the original Twilight Bar. Note that it retained the phone numbers for the old Twilight, showing the continuity. Remaining in Twilight’s location, it also featured a street-level bar beer that was popular for people watching. In March 2008, Hot Male expanded into the next door premises that had been the Bar Lover, creating Hot Male 2. The Hot Male 2 sign would appear and disappear several times over the years ahead. Not that it really mattered because everyone only ever referred to the bar as Hot Male. Pictured below in 2009 with its original signage.
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Hot Male’s line-up of boys was usually middle-of-the-road and it never came close to being the dominant bar on the soi, with the new owners toning-down the sleaze for which Twilight was famous. Of course that didn’t prevent it from promising punters their One Night in Bangkok experience
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Nonetheless, it continued to do well enough to remain in business until the closure of Soi Twilight, being the last bar to leave the soi in May 2019. It has continued to thrive in its new location on Patpong 2, with a much stronger stable and having recently established the street-level Midnight bar beer below the main bar. Including its antecedents as Twilight, Hot Male has now been in operation for 55 years. Pictured below with its new signage in 2014.
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An interesting shot of Hot Male’s signage after they put-up their new awning.

13 Dream Boy
Dream Boy arrived on Soi Twilight in 2004 and quickly became the alpha bar on the street. It occupied the first floor site that had previously been Blue Star, absorbing their stable of boys. With its “more than 100 boys”, including some of the best-lookers in the business, and its army of barkers outside, this place kept reeling them in. That it did so despite the highest prices on Soi Twilight - the cover charge with first drink price had reached 550 baht in its final years on the soi - was testament to its enduring lure. No other bar in Bangkok offered that combination of quantity and quality. Fittingly, it also had the most prominent signage on the soi, seen below in November 2007.
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Dream Boy moved to Soi Twilight from its previous digs on Thaniya 2, occupying what had previously been the Barbiery boy bar and, before that, the original site of the Twilight Bar. What gave the bar its unique character was its strict “only Thai boys” policy and the fact that it was farang owned and run. That old German understood what foreign customers wanted and that they were willing to pay for it. There were periods when the excitement shifted elsewhere, but Dream Boy always eventually came back. Still going strong at its new location in Patpong 2.
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Above, the entrance to Dream Boy. For some, the stairway to heaven.

14 Fresh Beach Boy
Fresh Beach Boy was one of the bars that opened during the 2004 – 2005 period as the number of venues on the street began to grow.
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Personally, I always thought that they should have stuck with plain “Beach Boys” and a proper tiki theme. Instead, in early 2012, they dropped the “Beach” and segued into being Fresh Boys, putting-up a new sign to that effect. Their tale therefore carries-on under “Fresh Boys”.
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Pictured above during Chinese New Year 2012, just before the change of name.

15 Fresh Boys
Fresh Boys has the slipperiest history of any bar on Soi Twilight and it needs to be read alongside Fresh Beach Boy and Screw Boy. The original Fresh Boy opened c.2005, occupying the ground floor space immediately after Dream Boy, deep on the left-hand side of the soi, (below the later X-Size bar venue). The early Fresh Boy was never one of the major bars on the soi and its signage was not particularly impressive either
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In May 2007, it disappeared and the venue was taken-over by Screw Boy, which lasted for less than a month before moving back to Patpong. Fresh Boy then returned to the site as New Fresh Boy, as per the signage below.
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There was nothing new or fresh about it though and it never really ignited. At the end of 2007, it became the Fresh Boy X before going over the cliff and vanishing in July of 2008. The site was then taken-over by the Siam Angel Boys.
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Of course, in the Twilight Zone, dead doesn’t really have to mean dead, just like “I do everything” doesn’t really have to mean “I do everything”. As noted above, in 2012, Fresh Beach Boy assumed the Fresh Boys name and it is as Fresh Boys that it carries-on. Note, though, that the original bar was Fresh Boy, but it carried-on as Fresh Boys from 2012.

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The bar would update their façade in early 2017, but by that point they must have already seen the writing on the wall as far as the future of Soi Twilight went. In 2018, they opened an outpost on Patpong 2 which carries-on today and following the closure of Soi Twilight in 2019, the rump Fresh Boys would move to Soi 4 as Banana Boys.

16 X-Boys
Another one of the X Group bars, this one had its moments as the hot bar on the soi.
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Opening c.2005, X-Boys usually had a decent stable of about 50 boys of different types and their shows were often quite original. Shows were usually shared with its sister bar, X-Size further down the soi once that bar opened.
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It occupied the site near the beginning of the soi, just after the Banana Bar, which had previously been occupied by the Boys of Bangkok.
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Pictured above with its changing facades and signage in 2006, 2011 and 2014. With the end of Soi Twilight, it merged with Classic Boys to form the new Lucky Boys on Patpong 2.

17 Bunny Massage (Bonny Massage)
Located above Dick’s Café, the long-running Bunny Massage (Bonny Massage if you want to be Thai about it) popped-up on the soi circa 2005 during what was a quite rapid build-up of venues on the soi around that time. Its initial signage was unimpressive.
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In April of 2009, though, it debuted its classic neon, which was a definite improvement for the venue and for the soi.
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18 Screw Boy
Screw Boy had initially opened in the Soi Twilight area but quickly moved to the site in Patpong II that it still occupies today. In January 2007, however, Screw Boy moved back to Soi Twilight, opening as New Screw Boy at the back of the soi in the Five Star building, opposite Balls. Alongside Screw Boy, they also opened the late-night $BM Discotheque (Black Market Disco). The Five Star site was not a great success and they closed less than two months later, in February 2007. Pic below.
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In May 2007, it re-opened as New Screw Boy X in the old Fresh Boys location, next door to Dream Boy.
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They lasted here less than a month before moving back to their old location in Patpong II, where they are still to be found today. As noted earlier, following Screw Boys’ departure, Fresh Boys then re-opened in its old location as New Fresh Boy.

[JayToff]

This is Part 4 of a 4 part post.

19 X-Size
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Sister bar to X-Boys, X-Size opened in November 2006, located upstairs on the left side of the soi, just after Dream Boy, above the site of the original Fresh Boy and the long-surviving pool bar. Not very big, it often got fairly packed. Remarkably for such a small bar, they also managed to fit-in a glass cubicle for their shower shows. X-Size closed around September 2018. Pictured below in 2016 with its new signage, which was a lot less appealing than the original sign.
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20 Red Massage
Some might still remember the Red Massage which opened in February 2007 deep on the left-hand side of the soi, past Dream Boy and the old Fresh Boys. It met its demise in November of 2009 and was almost immediately replaced by the Mario Massage.
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21 Mario Massage
The Mario Massage would have a decent run from the time that it opened in December 2009 until it closed in mid-2015. I can’t testify to the quality of its massage or other services, but it obviously had its fans.
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22 Maxis
Maxis opened on Soi Twilight in April of 2008, a decade after Dick’s. With it’s opening, there began the debate as to which one actually provided better food, a better atmosphere and better value for money. Opinions differed, but a bit of competition is usually a good thing. Maxis definitely won on the lighting, in my opinion.
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23 Bangkok Massage
The Bangkok Massage had only marginally more to do with massage than the Bunny Massage had to do with bunnies. The third massage parlour to open on Soi Twilight, it occupied the upstairs digs that had previously been X-Man, and had been the New Man a go-go bar before that, opening in June 2008. Pictured below at the time of its opening with its gentler look, before Soi Twilight went ultra-neon.
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And again in 2014 with their more familiar look.
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The Bangkok Massage shared ownership with the X group of bars and made the move to Patpong 2 when Soi Twilight closed.

24 Siam Angel Boy
When the original Fresh Boy (Fresh Boy X) went over the cliff in July 2008, it was almost immediately replaced by the Siam Angel Boy. Customers on Soi Twilight must have been looking for Siamese boys of the non-angelic kind, though, because the bar had failed and closed-down by January 2009. How many remember it?
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25 The Pool Bar (After Dream Boy)
The old Fresh Boy / Siam Angel Boys didn’t seem particularly lucky for the A Go-Gos that operated there. After the Siam Angel Boys returned to wherever is that Siamese Angels come from, the site was quickly taken-over in February 2009 by what looked like a temporary pool bar.
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Temporary, however proved to be a long, long time. The nameless pool bar, alone out of all venues, would make a success out of that location, staying until the end of Soi Twilight, closing in February 2019. It even, eventually, sprouted a small bar out front. It was a good place to meet boys of a certain type.
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Seen above in May 2017, with the entrance to Dream Boy in the background.

26 Balls
Balls, The Sports Bar, which stood at the rear of the soi as it veered right towards Rama IV, was never really a hot spot. Owned by the same chaps who owned Dick’s, it was eventually taken-over by Hot Male in 2015, becoming the Hot Male beer garden.
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27 Ocean Boy
Ocean Boy opened in the old Future Boy location in October 2010, picking-up many of the old Future Boy staff. Its stable of boys, though, was nothing too exciting and it kicked the bucket somewhere around March of 2012. Their signage was an odd mesh of the best and worst elements of the old Future Boy signs. Pictured below in November 2010.
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And again in November 2011 after the bar beer opened on its veranda
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28 Blue Man
Some will remember the Blue Man bar beer that opened on the Rama IV end of Soi Twilight in 2011.
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29 Scorpion Bar
Carrying-on the growth of street-level life, the Scorpion Bar, co-owned by Chai Pinit, former bar boy and author of Bangkok Boy, opened in late 2011 deep in the soi, on the right hand side, past Ocean Boy.
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And Chai Pinit being a stud daddy...
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It was the growth of the bar beers and the street-level activity that really gave Soi Twilight so much of its flavour. I think the current Twilight Zone on Patpong 2 would be much-improved by the re-opening of the Scorpion.

30 Zeus
Zeus was the last A Go-Go to open on Soi Twilight, launching in July, 2013 in the vacant Ocean Boy site, which had once been Future Boy. Whatever aspirations their name might have suggested, it wasn’t to be. They held their last shows in December of 2014, before closing for renovations. By mid-February, they had given-up the pretence. No new venue would open in that location. No further A Go-Gos would open on Soi Twilight. As an aside, their statue of Zeus was pretty bad.
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31 Hot Male Beer Garden
The Hot Male Beer Garden took-over the venue from the closed Balls Sports Bar in mid-June 2015, shortly after the two little bar beers across the soi opened.
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They carried-out some additional decoration a year later, but it never really emerged as a major hotspot. Whether or not the Rama IV end of Soi Twilight could ever have emerged as a popular drinking and dining area, we shall never know for this was the first bit of Soi Twilight to face the wrecking ball in 2019. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.

Here ends our walk through Soi Twilight.

[Oliver2]

Once again, thank you.

Some may find the name "Screw Boys" a little indecorous. However, according to the first Thailand Gay Guide I owned ("Thai Scene", as I recall), the owners originally wanted to call it "Schoolboy Bar." "Screw Boys" was an improvement.

[Armando]

Excellent summaries. I see you have not included the bar that was open for 2 or 3 years in the early 2000s across from and fractionally to the right of Dick's Cafe. It had a computer/internet theme and another poster reckons it was named Boys.com. t had a couple of cute doormen! Later it became a pool bar.

[TaoR]

I know this post has nothing to do that is directly related to soi Twilight, but I stumbled upon this business card, which I must have picked up in 1981/1982 and I thought I would share it.

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[Keith]

Thanks. Brings back memories!

[Nirish guy]

Thanks for the lovely walk down Soi Twilight memory lane.

With Covid keeping a lot of us away from Thailand for so long now it's so easy to forget the battered boarded up Soi that it became and it's almost as if it's all still there, with it's lights and boys all TWINKling and just waiting on our return - alas that will never be again of course now - such a shame as so many happy times there drinking and partying with all the beer bar boys / friends who worked in the Soi :-(

[TaoR]

I was 23 the first time I visited Barbiery Coast! I was 27 the last time. I was planning on going back in 2020 but obviously COVID derailed those plans. Now I am not so sure but I wonder if memories are not best left undisturbed.

[Armando]

I was 23 the first time I visited Barbiery Coast! I was 27 the last time. I was planning on going back in 2020 but obviously COVID derailed those plans. Now I am not so sure but I wonder if memories are not best left undisturbed.
I assume you are referring to the bar whose name was simply Barbiery. I don't recall it ever used the name Barbiery Coast. Was there another bar with that name?

Just as well you did not try to find Barbiery in 2020 because it died around 2002/3. As mentioned some months ago in this thread, for some reason it moved from its Suriwong location to the 3rd Floor of a modern building opposite Nature Boys down the soi from Mango Tree. In the move it totally changed its character. It lost all its charm. The layout was similar to many other bars with a smallish stage at one end rather than in the middle. It also seemed to change from a wide range of boys with a greater number of twinks to one with older heavier built guys. As a regular over many years at the old Barbiery who loved that place, I went twice with a friend to the new premises and we disliked the experience both times. I never returned. I heard it closed less than a year later.

And one small correction to your description of X-treme Bar which as you righty point out opened in Soi Twilight around early 2001, again as stated in post #32 in January 2021. The 'show' was not a regular show. The English bar owner had engaged a group of handsome young dance students to perform kosher dance numbers that were slightly sexy - but no nudity - for about 30 minutes twice a night. I liked that bar because it was different. These boys were excellent dancers and they were happy to interact with customers in between their routines. The bar also had a small number of gogo dancers but I never saw any offed. When X-treme died relatively quickly - certainly by the end of 2002, the dance students were taken over by the German who had the bars on the other side of the soi. That did not last long and they had a brief stint thereafter at Roxy on Soi 4.

[Oliver2]

The dancing in X-treme was undoubtedly of a high quality though I thought it sometimes over-choreographed....that is, too fussy, too detailed. Nevertheless. I enjoyed it and at a time when much of the entertainment was "samey", it was welcome.

There were certainly a number of go go dancers who were quite separate from the troupe and I remember their being very much my type....twinks! I was sad when it closed. The owner had obviously put a lot into it. That soi, which also hosted Twilight, Chardonnay and Blue Star, was full of delights.

[colmx]

The worst part about x-treme was the indeterminate gap between each act in the show. Sometimes the gap was as long as the act themselves. Divas and their costume changes! But they definitely needed an equivalent of a circus clown between acts!

Incidentally I offed a boy from there probably in 2002. Around 7-8 years ago he hit me up on Gayromeo. He was now working as a nurse in Bangkok-Pattaya hospital, so it's nice to see that some Gogo boys end up in a career and not back on the farms in issan

(And no we didn't have a ST reunion!)

[TaoR]

Armando,

I shared this business card in an earlier post:11460 11461

Do note that in 1981 to at least 1985 it was referred to a Barbierry Coast and the only sign outside that was mounted to the ceiling overhang above the door stated "Barbiery Coast."

[Armando]

The worst part about x-treme was the indeterminate gap between each act in the show. Sometimes the gap was as long as the act themselves. Divas and their costume changes! But they definitely needed an equivalent of a circus clown between acts!
I reckon what they needed was a producer, someone to crack the whip (as it were) to ensure the show ran smoothly without all those long gaps. There was surely no reason for all the boys to dance in each number.

[Armando]

Do note that in 1981 to at least 1985 it was referred to a Barbierry Coast and the only sign outside that was mounted to the ceiling overhang above the door stated "Barbiery Coast."
Thanks. My first visit must have been around 1985. I wonder why they shortened the name - and got the spelling of Barbery wrong! Ours not to reason why.

[TaoR]

My last visit was in 1985 and I actually spent most of my time in Phuket during that visit. I know the sign above the door said Barbiery Coast, the business card said Barbiery Cocktail Lounge, and I remember one cab driver didn't know where "Barbiery" was but when you said "Barbiery Coast" then he knew.

All I know is that I fell in love with one of the waiters my very first visit and that kind of sealed my fate for further visits. I remember when they expanded with a third floor at the same location and I never once explored that floor. I was pretty satisfied with what the second floor provided and I knew who my off was....

I wish I had paid more attention as we used to cruise all the bars but I really do not remember much outside of the Apollo Club......

[Armando]

I remember when they expanded with a third floor at the same location and I never once explored that floor. I was pretty satisfied with what the second floor provided and I knew who my off was....

I wish I had paid more attention as we used to cruise all the bars but I really do not remember much outside of the Apollo Club......
In all my many visits I never realised there was anything on the 3rd floor other than changing space for the boys. Lots seemed to go up there after their their stint in the shows and after. I expect there may have been short time rooms. If so, the waiters never advertised them to my group.

Loved Apollo. First visited in 1980 and was a regular until either it closed or I happened upon Twilight and Barbiery.

[TaoR]

I actually fell in love with a waiter at Barbiery and I always hooked up with him every visit from 1981 until 1985. The third floor also had a lounge area but I never went up there as I had no need. I know were always swung by Apollo as it was a great place to dance back then. There was also one other club we would visit but I cannot recall its name. The bar boys were pretty loyal to their bar....

[Armando]

I know were always swung by Apollo as it was a great place to dance back then.
Not surprising that memories are somewhat hazy that far back. Having been there many times I just do not recall Apollo ever being a dance bar! As I remember it was a small space with a small bar on the left as you entered and a sort of zig zag catwalk on which the boys did their stuff. The rest of the space was seating for customers. I wonder if you might be thinking of Rome Club which then was the famous Soi 4 gay dance club.

[Brad the Impala]

Bar designs/styles change, which may explain conflicting memories. My recall of Apollo from the late 70's was of it being on the first floor, with a bar on the right as you entered. I also remember that the main feature was the the customers dancing, disco style. As to whether it was a "small place" it was always a two shop house size, larger than the other bars on the soi at that time.

[TaoR]

Armando, You are correct, I remember two spots both of them had names from Greece and or Rome. I remember the Rome Club because I loved to dance and we always spent a lot of time there. I also remember a bar that had a odd catwalk...so that was Apollo. Then outside of those three (including Barbiery) that is all I remember. I do not remember anything along the size of the pictures I see today of Bangkok or Pattaya! If this is "demise" (pre COVID) then I don't know what to say....

[Armando]

Bar designs/styles change, which may explain conflicting memories. My recall of Apollo from the late 70's was of it being on the first floor, with a bar on the right as you entered. I also remember that the main feature was the the customers dancing, disco style. As to whether it was a "small place" it was always a two shop house size, larger than the other bars on the soi at that time.
I have checked my Bangkok visits and see that my first Apollo experience was 1980. I can say definitely that by then the little bar was on the left of the entrance. I remember because I spent many visits over 2 or 3 years perched on a bar stool as I had a thing for the student bartender. Sadly he did not have a thing for me, but it was still lovely chatting to him and then turning to watch the boys strut their stuff on the catwalk, especially when underwear came off and at the boys were in their birthday suits.

So I expect it had been remodelled. It certainly had an upstairs with one or more short time rooms, But the ground floor was occupied by another tenant. I never attended any other bar on that soi which may be one reason it seems to be etched on my memory!!

[Armando]

I have been doing some clearing out this weekend and was surprised to find I have a photo of the X-Treme Dancers and an old DVD of two of their routines. I now remember that the owner had decided to make DVDs. I doubt if he sold many, though. The only boy whose name I remember is Jay who wears the black shirt in the front row.

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[TaoR]

Well, those are a clean cut, good looking, group of young men! Not a tattoo in sight!

[christianpfc]

What do you mean by recent? Tattoos have been around in large numbers since I first came to Thailand in 2009.

When I was at the Soi Twilight demolition site in early 2020, I found some VHS cassettes whose titles suggested that they recordings of shows or special events in Soi Twilight. A friend has a VHS player, and when I'm back in Thailand we will have a look.

I have more memorabilia salvaged from the demolition site, if someone wants to start a museum, contact me.

[Jellybean]

A copy of posts #123 & 124 together with unrelated posts have been moved within the Sawatdee Gay Thailand forum and given the new title, Thai guys, to tattoo or not to tattoo . . .

To contribute to the new topic, please click on the following link:
https://sawatdeenetwork.com/v4/showthread.php?22397-Thai-guys-to-tattoo-or-not-to-tattoo

[Armando]

Well, those are a clean cut, good looking, group of young men! Not a tattoo in sight!
That's because they are mostly clothed! One guy - I think the boy to Jay's left - did have a large circular tattoo low down on his right abdomen. No idea why it was there or what it represented. But it was definitely there.