Ten years ago - many bars now gone

I have just been browsing through and old Thai Scene Guide by The Gay MenтАЩs Press published 1997 so much of the copy will have been written in 1996 - ten years ago.

In the listings on Twighlight Bar is mentions тАЬ Readers complain of inflated drink prices. Entrance fee on weekdays 150 baht, weekends 200 baht includes one drink. 300 baht off-fee charged during high season (Sept-March). Current prices don't seem that high in comparison.

I was very surprised at the numbers of Bangkok bars which have closed, changed owner and or name.

Patpong 1 and 2

Screwboy
The Mask
J-Ju Pub

Silom

Charlies Hideaway
Henry Club formerly HarrieтАЩs Bar
Master Club
Rome Club

Suriwong

Boys
Khun Bar
Mama Sun
Super Lex Matsuda
Barbiery
Twighlight
Blue Star
Chardonnay
New Man
Passport

Saphan Kwai

Jupiter Cocktail Lounge
Paradise
K-Nude
Midnight Cowboy
Two Way, New Wave
Aladdin

Overall there are a lot more bars now than then and a huge increase in Massage Clubs and Saunas

Best remark in the book was about Aquarius Guest House
"The boy who came to our room was called So-so and he lived up to his name"

[TrongpaiExpat]

1997: Your list is missing Super A, still there but a very dark and dirty shaddow of it's former self and the Golden Cock, also still there.

The khun also went by the name the Khun Sweet Cigar and then in the late 90's some Frenchman got arrested in the short time room with an underage boy and they changed the name.

I am pretty sure that the Telephone Bar was around in 1997. That was just about the time that the Rome club put up a sign, no gays allowed.

In 1997 it was though that the up and coming area would be Saphan Kwai with the Midnight Cowboy leading the pack. Now, almost dead.

That's the nature of nightclubs all over the world. They come and go all the time. I doubt Thailand is any diferent from anywhere else. 5 years is a lifetime for a nighspot.

[Smiles]

" ... That's the nature of nightclubs all over the world. They come and go all the time. I doubt Thailand is any diferent from anywhere else. 5 years is a lifetime for a nighspot. ... "
No kidding. Vancouver is a good example (and it's population has exploded over the years). Twenty years ago I could count about a dozen gay bars, discos etc etc in a rather small area. Granted, some of them were not always busy ... but many were, and weekends every place was packed.

Nowadays pickings are sparse on Davie Street.
My used-to-be favourite bar Numbers is a shadow of it's former self, with the upstairs pool bar (always wall-to-wall) being closed on most nights. At 11:30pm you can still shoot a cannon through the place and wound no one. There's a leather bar down the street which I'm afraid to go into, and there's been a resurrection of an old disco (Celebrities) but the cover is outrageous and last time I was there it was "hip Hop" night and the main attraction was young guys with pants down to the backs of their knees ( that wasn't too bad :blackeye: ) spinning on their heads or asses ... to music! Appalling! No one giving a thought to cruising or leering . . . and I ask you, what the hell's a gay bar all about if not that?

Cheers ...

I wonder whether the days of the traditional go-go bar are over. Two weeks ago I visited four bars in Pattayaland soi 1; it was ten o'clock on a Saturday evening. The total number of farangs present was seven- including me. In one bar I was the only customer and, as I entered ten dancers looked up expectantly. Before long an air of resigned depression resumed as I fled, embarrassed and saddened at such a dispiriting scene. I know that it's the low season but I could not work out how these bars survive in such circumstances.
The bars in Bangkok and Pattaya that continue to attract crowds offer shows rather than merely showcasing guys for offing; my view is that gay visiters to Thailand now tend towards developing relationships with a particularly guy rather than offing dancers regularly. This is my experience over the last ten years; thrilled as I was when I first encountered the scene in 1996, I eventually tired of the one-night experience and wanted something different. I have I met many other farangs who have made a similar progression over the years. And my generation has not been replaced by a younger one seeking those experiences that were once so important for me.
I suggest tentatively that this may result from the more open life style gays in the UK now enjoy.

I don't think the days of go-go bars are over. However, I do think that go-go bars need to do more than just offer a few boys on stage. They need a fun or classy concept or a great show. In Thailand, they also need to be able to draw local gay Thais as well as farang. Old clubs need to continue to offer high levels of service or else reinvent themselves as needed.

IMO, gay travelers are looking for more than just a few go-go boys on a stage. I get bored in most gay clubs because the shows are boring or the boys are boring or both. Hopefully, more gay places in Thailand will create a more fun bar atmosphere for their guests.

Pete

I have the 1998 edition of the Thai Scene guide which was revised by Damon Hammer who I met in London (it was a pen name). Most of the "readers quotes" in the Pattaya section are mine and it makes interesting reading to see how things have changed. Actually they were out of date by the time they got published which is the problem with any printed guide. There's some comments from me about various hotels as well.

I see I gave a glowing report to Gentlemen Club back then. I remember writing a complimentary piece about The Golden Cock in Bangkok which was quite posh then but it's not quoted.

[Surfcrest]

In 1997 it was though that the up and coming area would be Saphan Kwai with the Midnight Cowboy leading the pack. Now, almost dead.

I'm pretty sure the lights went out at the Midnight Cowboy sometime ago.
The Be High Bar has been around for sometime and is still there, although faintly.


Vancouver is a good example (and it's population has exploded over the years). Twenty years ago I could count about a dozen gay bars, discos etc etc in a rather small area. Granted, some of them were not always busy ... but many were, and weekends every place was packed.

Nowadays pickings are sparse on Davie Street.
My used-to-be favourite bar Numbers is a shadow of it's former self, with the upstairs pool bar (always wall-to-wall) being closed on most nights. At 11:30pm you can still shoot a cannon through the place and wound no one. There's a leather bar down the street which I'm afraid to go into, and there's been a resurrection of an old disco (Celebrities) but the cover is outrageous and last time I was there it was "hip Hop" night and the main attraction was young guys with pants down to the backs of their knees ( that wasn't too bad :blackeye: ) spinning on their heads or asses ... to music! Appalling! No one giving a thought to cruising or leering . . . and I ask you, what the hell's a gay bar all about if not that?

Cheers ...

Smiles, I think you'd fit right in at the Pump Jack.
Yes there's leather but it isn't a pre-requisite.
It closes early, people migrate to Numbers after midnight or much later.
There's a nice lounge down from Pump Jack where they drink martinis, as
opposed to mugs of cheap draft.
There's Fountain Head, Sugar Daddies and Oasis for the more relaxed.
Celebrities has different themes for different nights.
I'm too old for either it or the Odyssey, so up to you if it's really for you.
Being a club kid isn't as hip as it once was and quite often you'll see
as many fags hiking, skiing, biking, diving as you would at the bar.

Surfcrest

[Sen Yai]

Here's some scans from TMOT(5th Edn) circa 1995. (I've attached images, rather than pasting them to see the detail without stretching the width of the page)

Interesting to see that the only bar listed on Soi Twilight was....Twilight!
(Chardonay wasn't listed until TMOT#6)

http://upload4.postimage.org/1526152/TMOT_5SilomSuriwongmap.jpg (http://upload4.postimage.org/1526152/photo_hosting.html)

Does anyone remember all of the bars listed? I never went to Lionceau or Lucky S

http://upload4.postimage.org/1526157/Silombars1.jpg (http://upload4.postimage.org/1526157/photo_hosting.html)


http://upload4.postimage.org/1526162/Silombars2.jpg (http://upload4.postimage.org/1526162/photo_hosting.html)


http://upload4.postimage.org/1526165/Silombars3.jpg (http://upload4.postimage.org/1526165/photo_hosting.html)

[TrongpaiExpat]

I'm pretty sure the lights went out at the Midnight Cowboy sometime ago.


Closed 1999 or there-abouts when the owner died. Someone new re-opened it for a very short time and then closed again. It sat there for a few years with only a faded sign.

The Midnight Cowboy drew farangs into the neighborhood back before the Sky Train when the only way in was the bus or a taxi.