Re: A future for Soi Pratuchai?
I think you have to remember also that by the start of the 1980s the gay liberation movement in the west was still very young. I thought Hong Kong might be more open - it wasn't. Hong Kong still had the old Victorian law against sodomy and so being gay was technically illegal. Not that that stopped lots of guys having gay relationships. But all behind closed doors. There was just one gay bar on Hong Kong Island named Dateline. To get to it, you had to go down a long flight os steps. This was always brightly lit. The reason? A police unit had rented an apartment opposite and photographed everyone who left the bar. Incidentally, that law still exists in Singapore and Malaysia!
So Bangkok - and to a certain extent Manila - were oases of sexual freedom. Everyone could relax, shake of all restrictions and just have a good time. Although I enjoyed both Apollo and Twilight, Barbiery was certainly the jewel in Bangkok's go-go bar crown. I'm not sure when it opened but I vividly recall my first visit with friends around 1985. It was located directly across Suriwong from Soi Twilight. On the ground floor was a bar with about 6 stools. To get to the go-go bar, you had to go through that ground floor bar, up the stairs at the end and then go through a door on the right.
Barbiery was not a large bar, somewhere between Twilight and Apollo in size. in the middle were two end-to-end small stages. On the wall ahead and the one to the left were banquettes. On the right was the quite small bar area and then another larger space (as though a wall had been taken down) where the boys had a gym and got ready before going on stage, At the weekends, many dozens of single seats would be crammed in so it was sometimes difficult to move. I guess there must have been about 100 boys, in those early years mostly twinks. The main difference between then and now as mentioned earlier, was the sense of fun that permeated all the proceedings. The boys were having fun, the audience had a great time and even the barmen smiled! The shows were far more interesting than nowadays, always ending with the most amazing sexual acrobatics on ropes, swings, ladders etc. Some bars still have some of that, but none is on the same level as the old Barbiery.
Boys were being offed the whole time, presumably one reason for there being so many! After a few years, the management added some bigger, slightly older guys but the bar retained its popularity right through the 1990s. Then, for some inexplicable reason - either because the building owner would not renew the lease or the management thought moving to a larger space would generate more profits - it closed on Suriwong and over to the 3rd floor of a new building across from Nature Boys (down the soi from the Mango Tree restaurant and near The Golden Cock bar). This was the start of the end. The new location was way too big, had none of the atmosphere of the old Barbiery, the spark had gone out of the boys - no-one seemed to care any more. I think it was less than two years before it died.
I often wonder if Barbiery had stayed in its old location and if Twilight had not totally changed its format under its new renovated title of Hotmale, would they still have attracted good crowds in the new century? A moot point since we'll never know the answer. Also it was around this time that the Thaksin government started its first Social Order Campaign with the aim of curtailing the 'entertainment' industry. Whenever the gay go-go bar phenomenon finally dies, I expect most will look back at this time as the beginning of the end.
Re: A future for Soi Pratuchai?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
AsDaRa
I think the real middle class is still relatively small.
Was thinking some more about this. Perhaps one of the best measures of affluence is the number of vehicles on the road, and the numbers of new car dealerships that have sprung up.
Fifteen years ago you could get anywhere in Chiang Mai in 10-15 minutes or so. These days you are sometimes talking that long to do 100 metres at peak times. Although vehicle purchases are largely made on credit, the enormous increase in numbers is a clear indicaor that the average man in the streets has more disposable income. Same out in the villages, 15 years ago you saw very few vehicles. Now every second or third house has a brand new pickup outside (at least in Northern Thailand).
Re: A future for Soi Pratuchai?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
BonTong
Was thinking some more about this. Perhaps one of the best measures of affluence is the number of vehicles on the road, and the numbers of new car dealerships that have sprung up.
Fifteen years ago you could get anywhere in Chiang Mai in 10-15 minutes or so. These days you are sometimes talking that long to do 100 metres at peak times. Although vehicle purchases are largely made on credit, the enormous increase in numbers is a clear indicaor that the average man in the streets has more disposable income. Same out in the villages, 15 years ago you saw very few vehicles. Now every second or third house has a brand new pickup outside (at least in Northern Thailand).
Good point. But then the average income in Thailand can not be 12.000 baht. It must be higher. What do you think the average household income is for a family which owns a car?
Re: A future for Soi Pratuchai?
Fountainhall,
Thanks for your comments about Barbiery, which was the first Thai go-go bar that I visited [in December 1989].
In its heyday in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Barbiery was a great bar with many very attractive guys, both hot muscular types and twinks. It sometimes had about 50 or 60 guys available. Many were so attractive that it was hard to make a choice.
The customers were gay men, although heterosexual couples occasionally came to gawk at the show -- and at the gays.
Isn't the present owner of Dream Boys the former owner of Barbiery? I wish he would run a bar similar to Barbiery. Perhaps he now has to depend on the Chinese tourists to make a profit....
Re: A future for Soi Pratuchai?
Isn't the present owner of Dreamboys a German? I don't recall a German being around Barbiery - but I was always more interested in what was going on on stage than in who might be running it.
Re: A future for Soi Pratuchai?
Once in a while I stop by GBT. I resigned from the forum long ago, so I can't communicate with anyone over there. I was surprised to see that my post (#25 above), was called "insightful" and used to start a new thread on GBT. No mention is made of the original writer. Not important. Not a copyright matter. Just annoying.
Re: A future for Soi Pratuchai?
I was watching a man on TV last night who I presume to be the Prime Minister. He mentioned a special program for Thais earning under B40,000/annum. If that figure is correct, (it was translated into English) I would say that the supply of young men will be forthcoming for a while yet.
I examined the callouses on my 29-year-old from last night's hands and he said working at the bar was just too much easier.
Re: A future for Soi Pratuchai?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
werner
Fountainhall,
Thanks for your comments about Barbiery, which was the first Thai go-go bar that I visited [in December 1989].
In its heyday in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Barbiery was a great bar with many very attractive guys, both hot muscular types and twinks. It sometimes had about 50 or 60 guys available. Many were so attractive that it was hard to make a choice.
The customers were gay men, although heterosexual couples occasionally came to gawk at the show -- and at the gays.
Isn't the present owner of Dream Boys the former owner of Barbiery? I wish he would run a bar similar to Barbiery. Perhaps he now has to depend on the Chinese tourists to make a profit....
That was the first go-go bar that I entered. I had to catch my breath. The were boys there for all tastes.
Re: A future for Soi Pratuchai?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
bobsaigon2
I was surprised to see that my post (#25 above), was called "insightful" and used to start a new thread on GBT. No mention is made of the original writer. Not important. Not a copyright matter. Just annoying.
Quite agree. It's purely a matter of courtesy which that poster has not shown. It's also usual to post a link which is a courtesy to the owner of the other site. One of my long posts has been copied on to gaythailand but with a proper link and credit.
Re: A future for Soi Pratuchai?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
fountainhall
Isn't the present owner of Dreamboys a German? I don't recall a German being around Barbiery - but I was always more interested in what was going on on stage than in who might be running it.
On my earliest trips to bkk there was a bar called "Dreamboys Barbiery" in the location that FH describes for the original Barbiery, it was owned by the same people as Boys Bangkok and Blue Star Sexy Circus
All 3 bars eventually merged into the Blue star premises that is now Boys Bkk/Dreamboys