snotface
September 8th, 2020, 18:55
Yesterday I made my first night-time trip to Pattaya for about six months. A Thai friend and I went to see the new movie Mulan at Major Cineplex. We've often been to movies together and the usual routine is for one of us to thoroughly enjoy himself while the other falls asleep within half an hour. Mulan was that rare movie, one that we both liked. Lots of kung-fu-type action to satisfy my friend and for me the high production values and decent acting made the corny plot quite engaging. Only about a dozen people in the audience, but that's not unusual in my experience. I've often wondered how these cineplexes cover their overheads, let alone make a profit.
Plenty of carnage on screen and when we emerged at about ten o'clock plenty of carnage of another kind was everywhere to be seen. There's a stage with rows of tables directly outside Major. Last night the coloured lights were shining brightly and the music playing loudly, but not a performer on stage and one solitary customer sitting at a table with his beer. This was about as lively as things got and set the trend of eeriness that was to follow. None of the usual rows of stalls along the pavement and the walk back towards Boyztown was all shuttered windows, darkness and silence. Occasionally a car went past. I'm used to such deathliness in provincial towns at night, but until recently it would have been unthinkable in Pattaya.
We reached the first Pattayaland soi where the lights of Dream Boys and X-Boys were on. Little gatherings of boys outside each urged us in with even more than usual eagerness, but the tomb-like gloom within was not tempting. My friend greeted someone he knew from years ago, which made the act of just passing by seem less harsh somehow. Crossing the next soi we could see the A-Bomb sign lit up but had no desire to investigate. Places were boarded up, not merely closed, and lots of litter about. I didn't actually see scurrying rats or rabid dogs but they wouldn't have looked out of place. A ladyboy with wild eyes and the look of someone who was no stranger to living on the streets was standing outside a doorway; no sign as we passed that she had even registered our existence.
I thought the main Boyztown soi might be a bit brighter in more ways than one but it wasn't. Cupidol shut, ditto Boyz Boyz Boyz, ditto Panorama, ditto everywhere except Ambience where the entrance cast out a little light. A group of boys were huddled round a table on the terrace looking subdued as well they might. Toy Boys was shuttered with an air of finality about it, though I'd be surprised if that turns out to be the case.
All this on a long weekend holiday when an influx of visitors from Bangkok would normally be expected to give gay businesses a boost. Images of a post-nuclear apocalypse were hard to keep out of my mind. We were not sorry to make our way back to Jomtien where we had a drink at the new Double Shot bar. The Belgian owner has done a good job of fitting it out, has introduced nice little touches like free snacks delivered to tables and the boys look smart in their black-trimmed orange singlets. The bar seems to be doing quite well at the moment. Overall, of course, the bar situation in the Complex is pretty dire, but at least there are lights, music and people engaging with each other with animated faces. Perhaps we should be thankful for small mercies.
Plenty of carnage on screen and when we emerged at about ten o'clock plenty of carnage of another kind was everywhere to be seen. There's a stage with rows of tables directly outside Major. Last night the coloured lights were shining brightly and the music playing loudly, but not a performer on stage and one solitary customer sitting at a table with his beer. This was about as lively as things got and set the trend of eeriness that was to follow. None of the usual rows of stalls along the pavement and the walk back towards Boyztown was all shuttered windows, darkness and silence. Occasionally a car went past. I'm used to such deathliness in provincial towns at night, but until recently it would have been unthinkable in Pattaya.
We reached the first Pattayaland soi where the lights of Dream Boys and X-Boys were on. Little gatherings of boys outside each urged us in with even more than usual eagerness, but the tomb-like gloom within was not tempting. My friend greeted someone he knew from years ago, which made the act of just passing by seem less harsh somehow. Crossing the next soi we could see the A-Bomb sign lit up but had no desire to investigate. Places were boarded up, not merely closed, and lots of litter about. I didn't actually see scurrying rats or rabid dogs but they wouldn't have looked out of place. A ladyboy with wild eyes and the look of someone who was no stranger to living on the streets was standing outside a doorway; no sign as we passed that she had even registered our existence.
I thought the main Boyztown soi might be a bit brighter in more ways than one but it wasn't. Cupidol shut, ditto Boyz Boyz Boyz, ditto Panorama, ditto everywhere except Ambience where the entrance cast out a little light. A group of boys were huddled round a table on the terrace looking subdued as well they might. Toy Boys was shuttered with an air of finality about it, though I'd be surprised if that turns out to be the case.
All this on a long weekend holiday when an influx of visitors from Bangkok would normally be expected to give gay businesses a boost. Images of a post-nuclear apocalypse were hard to keep out of my mind. We were not sorry to make our way back to Jomtien where we had a drink at the new Double Shot bar. The Belgian owner has done a good job of fitting it out, has introduced nice little touches like free snacks delivered to tables and the boys look smart in their black-trimmed orange singlets. The bar seems to be doing quite well at the moment. Overall, of course, the bar situation in the Complex is pretty dire, but at least there are lights, music and people engaging with each other with animated faces. Perhaps we should be thankful for small mercies.