My first visit to Saigon, Vietnam, and I need info please

Hello, I have some questions about visiting Saigon as a tourist who wants to have some fun with the locals, as well. I have been to Siem Reap and Bangkok many times so I know the scenes there, but I don't know what to expect in Saigon as far as the gay sex scene goes. I am going with a friend in 2019...probably 4 nights. We would like to stay in the gay area of town or in a gay friendly hotel. Are there any gay districts in Saigon? We would also like to meet some local guys at the saunas in town. Any tips and suggestions about which sauna to visit if you are an older guy who is 50? Also, do the guys in Saigon use apps such as Grindr, Growlr, etc? Just curious. What can I expect when I use apps? Money boys or just guys looking for fun? Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

In Bangkok we usually stay at Babylon and have absolutely no problem getting guys in that place or in that town. It's a lot of fun, and we always have an amazing time. I heard that Saigon has a different feel than BKK. If so, what can we expect?

Google “Saigon Gay Saunas”. Quite a few places show up, with recent reviews. I’ve been living in Saigon since December 1999, with a Vietnamese partner, but neither of us has frequented the gay saunas and I’m not aware of any other board members who have done so.

Check some of the other threads in Sawatdee Gay Vietnam for accounts of travelers in Saigon.

An American friend of mine was here recently, stayed at one of the Liberty Hotels in Pham Ngu Lao Street, and on a late evening walk around the neighborhood was approached by several young men.

It’s like Phnom Penh in the sense that there isn’t really a discernible gay area, but in the Pham Ngu Lao tourist-friendly area there are many “opportunities” in the evenings.

And of course there are the usual gay apps.

Many hotels do not permit joiners but in the Pham Ngu Lao and Bui Vien Streets there are several establishments that welcome tourists and their new friends for short or long time.

Vinasun, Mai Linh, Vina and GRAB taxis are reliable and available 24/7.

Thanks for the advice Bobsaigon.

I went to Nam Spa several years ago & didn't see any evidence of any action at all. Had a dull regular massage.
Also went up to Na Dam spa. More people here, but not much going on. Eventually booked a massage. Ended up with the fastest & most pointless HJ of all time.

Will be interesting to see what more recent visitors have encountered.

I'm in Saigon now, too, 1 week has been very much fun, going out every night, locals are friendly. But no sex, apps are fairly quiet, plenty of offers for paid sex, handsome guys, going by profile pics. There are no gay bars here, it seems. But local guys often smile on the streets, few times when I did try to start convo, English seems to be main issue.

One thing is for sure, Saigon is very cool city, for several years I've been too lazy to visit, always going to Cambodia for short getaways, as if on auto pilot, twice every year. No more! Saigon is better than Siem Reap, PP, and the disaster that has become of once interesting Sihanoukville.
Tomorrow going to Vung Tau, a beach resort. I will report on app action, if any.

With the demise of Godmother there are no specifically designated “gay” bars but there are definitely bars where available boys and ladyboys hang around - as to where they are I dunno as I was taken there rather than making my own way and there is no chance of the BF telling me :D

After 1 week in Saigon, just wondering around, from coffee shop to coffee shop, I did look at the apps with purpose of finding a fuck. Days earlier I just gave apps a quick look, but not responding to messages, and looking to hook up.
So yesterday afternoon, finally bored, looked at apps and replied to few messages. In 10 minutes met the guy, I sent a map location, on main street, outside large hotel, to make it easy for a local to find.
Guy arrived on motorbike, not the guy on a profile pic, not even close, at least 10 years older, but in good shape and good enough looking. He wanted to go to his place, he kept saying that he lives alone, and kept repeating it several times. That seemed odd, maybe not strange for Saigon, certainly can not remember this ever happen in Thailand or Cambodia.
I kept saying we go to my hotel, and we did, on his bike, I asked if he'd like some beer, and grab it on our way to hotel, he said yes, we made a stop, picked up 3 cans of Bia Saigon, what seems most popular beer here. I handed street shop a 200.000 local bill, 3 beers were total 45.000 local money ($1.9 USD), seller looked a bit troubled over larger note, and Vietnamese app guy grabbed his wallet, and handed seller the exact amount. That was nice, can't remember this ever happening in Thailand or Cambodia. Of course, this could be the first and last such experience in Saigon as well.
No problems getting to my room, hotel reception didn't ask him anything.
At no point was issue of money brought up.
After about 20 minutes he left, I laid in bed for a bit, quite satisfied.

I was in Ho Chi Minh City, also known as Saigon in Jan/Feb 2012. At that time there was no gay scene as such. Not sure what the case may be now?

I did find some guys to have fun with on the street, but nothing to call great. It's all underground as we were told.

One thing we found fascinating was the amount of mopeds on the road. Thousands of them. I have never seen anything like that before. I thought Thailand was many, but Saigon beats Bangkok and Pattaya by far, in terms of mopeds etc.

So at the time, Saigon didn't have much of what we were looking for. We had much more better fun in Cambodia.

On this trip in Jan/Feb 2012 we did Thailand - Saigon - Cambodia - Thailand.

I was in Saigon twice in 2016 and visited saunas, details here.
https://christianpfc.blogspot.com/20...and-hanoi.html
As for online dating, I used hornet and had one boy for free and met one money boy, but didn't take him to my room.

How much do money boys cost? Also I'm assuming that with most hotels I can have visitors over as long as its before 10 pm?

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Originally Posted by CambodiaVisitor

How much do money boys cost? Also I'm assuming that with most hotels I can have visitors over as long as its before 10 pm?

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I have been asked $50 USD, if you ignore them, the number drops to $20. Since I almost never reply, day later they keep coming back, seems it is buyer's market.

But funny thing, when in Saigon at least half of messages make it clear they want money, in Vung Tau, small beach town, 1.5hr away, buses going every hour, things are different.

Vung Tau is small town, huge long beach, and it is Saigon's weekend spot, really buzy on weekend, only Vietnamese, hardly any foreigners, haven't seen Chinese, zero Indians, couple of Russians. From Mon to Fri beach is completely dead, kilometers of clean beach, but no people. Apps are very different here, no one is asking for money! In one day I get 6-10 messages, all from locals, reason maybe be that there are no foreigners here, it is so strange.
I have heard that hotels may difficult for local to get in, not where I'm staying, few times that Vietnamese guy walked in with nothing was asked, zero.
Here is photo of Vung Tau beach, and 2 screen caps from app, convo with Vietnamese guy. Oh, his profile photo another fake, so far, 3 of the guy who I met, all had fake photos, not just "beautified", just photos of someone else.


Attachment 8327

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Where was this guy actually from ? He does not look much like a Vietnamese, although I suppose there could be some interbreeding.

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Originally Posted by goji

Where was this guy actually from ? He does not look much like a Vietnamese, although I suppose there could be some interbreeding.

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I'm guessing they use fake photos because they don't want to use their real faces, as they don't want friends or their family to know they are MB's or they may not be attractive? Lots of competition out there, so they use a photo of a more attractive person!

Before I make arrangements to meet, I alway ask to see more photos, how old is that photo, and ask them if that is really them in the photo/s?

Then I politely make it clear to them, if they turn up and they do not look like the person in photo, I will not go with them.

So far I have not had any problems, apart from the odd two or three who just look older that their profile photo, but still attractive to go with.

I remember on one occasion, one guy told me upfront that the profile photo is not him, and he sent his real pic, which he was much better looking that the pic on his profile. And when he turned up, he was very good looking. I politely told him he should change/update his profile photo.

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Originally Posted by goji

Where was this guy actually from ? He does not look much like a Vietnamese, although I suppose there could be some interbreeding.

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Agreed, his profile photo doesn't look anything like Vietnamese, but looks good, right?
It's all latintopxxx's fault, in another thread he said that if he was a bottom (as if he isn't), he'd rather go to Brazil. So I picked Brazilian looking guy. Of course I like Brazilian guys, but I also prefer to remain alive, so Rio is out of the question. Doesn't matter, it's all latintopxxx's fault anyway!
But he looked good, no reason to use fake photo on profile, unless it's about discretion and anonymity.

He has one more photo on his profile, here:


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Originally Posted by Blacktouch

I'm guessing they use fake photos because they don't want to use their real faces, as they don't want friends or their family to know they are MB's or they may not be attractive? Lots of competition out there, so they use a photo of a more attractive person!

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According to my taste, the guy in post 10 is LESS attractive than the typical under 30 year old Vietnamese. I like cute twinks and wouldn't even bother to contact this one.

Then for the type of people who want that kind of guy, if someone completely different shows up, they are going to be disappointed.
Conversely, if I found the kind of slim smooth guy I like and this one from post 10 turned up instead, I would be sending him away.

I was in Saigon/HCMC in February.

The apps are busy (Grindr, Hornet and Blued). Most guys with shirtless (and faceless) pics in the apps will be looking for money (massage/MB). Going rate is as low as 500k VND and if the guy is hot/gym fit body closer to 1,000k VND. If a guy accepts < 500 VND you need to be careful and most likely he will look nowhere near the pics he sent you. I agree with then previous posters that you need to ask for more/recent pics, ask if these pics are his etc. before agreeing to meet. Apparently, VN guys have no issues using fake or misleading profile pics (even if they didn't really need to do it as they turn out to be attractive when you meet) - I guess it may be for privacy reasons/to be discreet.

I had no issues bringing guys to my room at the hotel I stayed (they asked for his ID at the reception). I stayed at one of the many hotels on/near Ly Tu Thong str. near the Ben Thanh market in Distr. 1 - in general Distr. 1 (or Distr. 3 or 5) is the place to stay for tourists.

"Thi bar" on the busy Bui Vien street is a gay bar (but nowhere near the gay bars in Soi Twilight in BKK). There are others gay friendly bars as well.

Thanks Speedoo1 -that's good information.
Would you mind giving us a few more clues about which hotel please ?
Hopefully, they are mostly tolerant of joiners, however maybe it's safer to stay at one which is known to be OK.

That is no secret. I stayed at the Silverland Yen hotel. A new and great hotel - gets excellent reviews on Tripadvisor (but also a bit pricy compared to other hotels in the area). You could also consider the nearby but less expensive GK Central hotel or Lavender Boutique hotel (I didn't stay there but went in and inquired about prices etc - as for the Lavender Boutique hotel I visited a guy there and saw the room - very nice indeed). It seems that the Lan Lan 2 hotel is closed now - it got good reviews and was praised for its flexible policy about guests visiting you in the room.

the pink tulip hotel.right in the middle of the nightlife center but not noisy and is gay friendly and run by a really nice dutch guy , can highly reccomend

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Originally Posted by bazzabear

the pink tulip hotel.right in the middle of the nightlife center but not noisy and is gay friendly and run by a really nice dutch guy , can highly reccomend

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That looks like a good tip, so much so that I googled it, with the intention to put it on my shortlist for future use.

However, their website contains the following (extract):

"The owner of the property we rent from has sold it.
As a result, we soon have to let our Pink Tulip child go.
As of November 1, 2018, our Pink Tulip Hotel is no more.
But from February 2019 we will start raising our second child under the name Pink Tulip Hoi An.
We hope that with you as a guest, friend and family we can let our second Pink Tulip child grow up to become another home for you far away from home."

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Originally Posted by goji

That looks like a good tip, so much so that I googled it, with the intention to put it on my shortlist for future use.

However, their website contains the following (extract):

"The owner of the property we rent from has sold it.
As a result, we soon have to let our Pink Tulip child go.
As of November 1, 2018, our Pink Tulip Hotel is no more.
But from February 2019 we will start raising our second child under the name Pink Tulip Hoi An.
We hope that with you as a guest, friend and family we can let our second Pink Tulip child grow up to become another home for you far away from home."

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thanks goji that is usefull information for me too, he had told me that he was trying to buy the hotel opposite the pink tulip as to expand , but looks like he had a change of mind , will definitely try this new hotel when i visit hoi an next. so thank you

Vietnamese here. If u are good-looking, chances are you are gonna get with more boys! If you are not so, get your wallet out! Vietnamese gay is just the same at the end of the day! They have tastes and preferences as well. Ask for face pics because there are reasons to stay discreet!

"Em có ảnh mặt không?" = any face pics?
"Có ảnh nào nữa không?" = more pics?
"Em muốn "vui vẻ" không?" = are you looking for fun?
"Em muốn gặp không?" = meet up?