Spice Magazine - Service or dis-service?

[Marsilius]

This is hardly surprising. We all know how quickly gay venues open, close, change their names - even turn into girlie bars... The lead time for producing magazines is sufficiently long to render it very doubtful whether one will ever be 100% accurate.

Given, too, the disgraceful journalistic standards of most English-language Thai publications (The Bangkok Post and The Nation are honourable exceptions), I have minimal expectations of accuracy/impartiality/honesty of anything in print.

That said, Spice is free of charge and can be an entertaining read that passes a boring half hour in the hotel room or on the beach. I'd just take it all with a pinch of salt and just pick one up for the feature articles and the pics of some handsome boys!

[maisoui]

It would of been nice of you to also say the site is very good and the other information is interesting, so we can then beleive you are just not trying to trash the site with a secret agenda.


...so in your universe, anyone who says something about something but neglects to praise it, is trashing it? :scratch: This explains so much.

Which issue of Spice were you reading? What colour was the cover? In past months the covers were all the same basic design but in a different colour.
A new issue of Spice came out this week under the stewardship of a new editorial team. This one has a multi-coloured cover with a new design and more detail. It was a bit late in being issued because the new team had to rewrite a lot of the input from the old editor.
It's coverage of Bangkok and Pattaya is better than before and I expect in time they will get someone up to the boondocks of Chiang Mai to re-do the listings, maps and articles.

It IS a useless, uninformative site. Actually, it's worse than useless: it is misleading.

Thanks to the OP for confirming that, so we don't have to bother looking at it again.

[Brad the Impala]

It IS a useless, uninformative site. Actually, it's worse than useless: it is misleading.

Thanks to the OP for confirming that, so we don't have to bother looking at it again.

Agreed! The guide to Phuket is also limited and long out of date.

[Marsilius]

Ah, there it is at last - the implied threat of legal action for a piece of arguably justified criticism.

Such a threat is, I would suggest, one of the major reasons (along with an ingrained tradition of backhanders and mutual backscratching) why the Thai media is so cringingly subservient and unquestioning.

Does the Pattaya Mail actually invite restaurateurs to get in touch in order to be reviewed? Does Miss Terry Diner of the Pattaya Mail ever have anything other than a delicious meal of helpings so large that (s)he is unable to finish it? Is the Pope Catholic? Do bears defecate in the woods?

It is hard to find some reliable sources in each city to update us

LOL...yeah, there's a real shortage of bored old queens in Phuket, Pattaya, and Chiang Mai. 555.

By the way Bottoms up did not write it Phil Graham the owner of Spice Magazine sent it to me


Uh, yeah...that fact did not escape me. The lack of kindergartner spelling and syntax errors was my first clue.

[thrillbill]

To me, Spice Magazine is a great venue for the gay tourist in LOS. Compared to other free handouts in other cities around the world, I feel it is one of the best. Like all free publications, these community magazines financially depend on their sponsors; thus, the "gay friendly" restaurants, bars, hotels... down to the go-go bar and massage parlors will have the glossy advertisemment and be identified on the city maps compared to the establishment that does not advertise. For us who live here, true,we know there are other "gay" venues that may not be mentioned in a publication but are worth attending. That is when research on the internet comes in. If one has information to contribute to Spice or any other "community magazine" they would most likely appreciate the information;for, these small publications do not have a large staff to get the "inside" scoop.

Spice Magazine has come a long way from what it was 5 years ago (when I arrived here)- Certainly it is more professsional with the colored layout along helpful articles that relate to ones health, places to see, and any cultural events happening in the BKK area. (Something must be going right--look at all of the "straight" establishments advertising in the periodical. )

A couple years ago I sent an email to the editor of Spice Magazine asking why they would only print pictures of skinny, young Thais instead of a variety of Asians, including those who look like "men" with muscles. He wrote back and thanked me for my suggestion. And now when you read/glance through a Spice Magazine, you will see some good "eye candy" in there.

For us who live here and have something resouceful to be pubished in Spice Magazine (and like to write) should not be shy but contact the editor of Spice Magazine and see if they could use your expertise. I am sure they could use the help.

[cdnmatt]

Why complain about something that is free? If the "good" gay venues in Chiang Mai want a good mention in the magazine, then drop some advertising dollars into it. Problem solved!

Otherwise, don't bitch, let the market take its course, and let the owner run the magazine as he sees fit. Or, you could always start up your own magazine. :)

If you want a good gay bar then buy one for your boyfriend and get him to staff it and just sit back and PAY THE BILLS

[springco]

Moreover, there are many new venues recently opened, or opening, catering to a more sophisticated gay clientelle which want something other than the very dated and decrepid venues around the old Night Bazzar area.

...what do others think?

Since you ask cnx4shan, I like the "dated and decrepit venues around the old Night Bazzar area." If I wanted to hang around more sophisticated gay client├иle I would stay in farangland. I don't travel half way around the world to be bored to tears by ersatz socialites feigning sophistication.

.... of the 12 venues listed only 3 are actually worth visiting these days and the "spice reccomends" choice is definitely not one of them (3 more have closed/moved and one is hardly gay). "Go-Go Clubs / Host Bars / Cabaret & Show Bars" of 6 venues listed, 3 have closed and the "spice reccomends" choice is easily the worst of the others. I could go on............
And then there's at least twenty places I can think of that would be worth listing, that don't even get a mention. ....

Oh come on CNX. The "Spice Reccomends" are paid spots as are most of the listings as well as the "reviews". It isn't some kind of Gay Lonely Planet, its an advertising magazine like Variety and Thai Puan. They give them away for free because they make money from businesses paying them to appear in the listings. And the "Essential Guide" stuff is just advertising copy.
I thought everyone realized this but I guess there are still some innocents in the world.......