Coffee Boy - Chiang Mai

[BonTong]

Coffee Boy was for many years a Chiang Mai gay institution that I'm sure many here will remember. A go-go bar set in an old teak wood lanna style house that would tell many interesting stories if the walls could speak.

Closed periodically throughout it's life and then apparently permanently since 2009 after rumored problems with the bank and building, it re-opened again last night! More details here

Anyone remember this place and have interesting stories to tell? What about some of the alleged Farang "partners" who thought they owned it? They must have some interesting gossip :bounce:

My last visit there was one of my favourite only in Thailand moments.

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[Manforallseasons]

An equally Bazar story is what became of the original Lanna Lavender hotel, something out of a mystery novel.

[Giessen]

During the 1980тАЩs, I spent quite a lot of time working on projects at Chiang Mai University. Coffee Boys became my haven from being on display at the university and at the hotel. It provided everything I needed - a level of anonymity, reasonable entertainment, sexual adventures of varying enjoyment as well as a feeling of being in a very Thai place.

My contact at the University always booked me into the old Chang Inn near the night market. His relative was the manager and there was a mutual financial benefit for the two of them to have me stay. It also meant that they could тАШlook after youтАЩ which was well-meant but could be intrusive. Gossiping is a Thai national pastime and my activities always seemed a good topic of conversation. I try to maintain a little privacy so I generally kept away from the gay bars near the night market and elsewhere except a rather seedy place off Wu Lai Rd. I forget its name and the only memorable things about it were the low sensuality and poor sexual techniques of the boys.

I still remember my first visit to Coffee Boys. IтАЩd been told about it by a boy at one of the bars in Bangkok who gave me detailed instructions about taking a tuk tuk to get there. What he failed to tell me was that it was located in a dark soi off the main traffic route. I arrived totally disoriented, and feeling apprehensive but intrigued. We swung into the courtyard, I paid and the tuk tuk disappeared with a roar into the night. The old teak house was in darkness and I was sure I had been duped.

The noise alerted someone inside and the door opened spilling a weak pool of light into the yard. Shoes off at the door and into the gloomy interior. From memory, the twinkling red lights of an altar indicated that the bar was located at the far end of a long room. On the left there was a series of alcoves each capable of seating six or eight. There was a tiny stage on the right that was rarely used during any of my visits. Promises of a show were always dependent on more customers and there were never enough.

I cannot recall there ever being more than two or three other customers and they were usually Thais. It was difficult to tell if there were other customers as some of the alcoves were quite secluded. Dim lighting created an atmosphere of anonymity, exclusiveness and seediness, and covered up the rather eclectic d├йcor. The atmosphere was like some of the host bars in Saphan Kwai only darker and more country.

Once seated, the game began. The boys materialised out of the gloom and the more adventurous seated themselves in the alcove and began the usual questioning and massaging. Gradually the more timid boys drifted in and some reached through from neighbouring alcoves hoping to get noticed. I seem to remember drinks being cheap enough to being able to treat all and sundry. There were eight or ten boys dressed in a mix of shorts, gym pants and singlets. It was all pretty low-keyed and like being in a friend's living room.

Having spent sufficient time with polite conversation and discrete groping, it was time to get down to selecting the lucky lad. The competition was considerable with boys trying their best to convince me of their charms. The choice was mostly twinks except for one quite muscular boy I later discovered had just returned from working at the Twilight Bar in Bangkok. He won the door prize that first night and several thereafter.

Check bin settled, tips to the unsuccessful and we were out the door. The short-time rooms were located across the courtyard. There were also other rooms or bungalows that could be rented for longer stays. I never saw inside these rooms but hopefully they were better than the short-time rooms that were low-ceilinged concrete block bunkers. As pleasure domes they might not have been exuberant but they were functional.

Having exhausted my stamina, I emerged into a dark wet night with no transport in sight. To my dismay, muscle boy disappeared into the house. He reappeared with the manager and a number of the boys. They all stood in the rain discussing how to get me back to the hotel until one of the boys was delegated to take me on a motorbike.

We arrived at the Chang Inn somewhat damp. The doorman gave me an overly obsequious wai and asked тАШyou find happy ending in Chiang Mai?тАЩ By next morning, half the university seemed to know that I had been out on some adventure. Speculation kept them busy for the rest of my visit.

I was quite disappointed when Coffee Boys closed. Chiang Mai lost a lot of its attraction as I didnтАЩt find the other bars quite as alluring. After my visit last year, I wasnтАЩt sure that IтАЩd visit in the near future. Perhaps now that Coffee Boys is back in business, the butterfly will return.

[Dodger]

Thanks Giessen...your detailed account of Coffee Boy rekindled some very fond memories.

My first 2-1/2 years in LOS were spent working for a U.S. owned company in Rayong. I discovered the gay world in Pattaya near the end of my work related visits and immediately carved out plans to return on my own time and explore the gay scene. My very first holiday was spent in PTY totally submersed in BOYS (go figure)...I ended up with fifteen names and e:mail addrsses in my black book...and fell in love with about 6 of them.

My second solo visit to LOS was somewhere around 2002 and I had planned a little adventure which involved traveling up to Chiang Mai - going east to Chiange Rai - across the river into Laos - and then traveling south through Uttaradit and central Isaan, and ending up back in Pattaya 3 weeks later. I found Coffee Boy on the internet, booked a room, and arrived late at night similar to what you described and also thought that I had fucked up. Actually I remember that old teak building appearing as if it were haunted. It was dark outside with no sign of life anywhere, although the minute I opened the front door I was pleasantly surprised.

There were only a half dozen boys crammed on the tiny stage and none of them were my type, but at least the place was open and I could get a bite to eat and a cold beer. No sooner than I sat down this "doll" comes out of nowhere and asked me if I wanted a drink. He wasn't wearing a silly costume like the boys on stage - nor did he appear to be one of the entertaining staff either, but he took my breath away. He was just my type...slim, cute, fem, and the shape of his little round butt cheeks in the tight jeans he was wearing caused me to lose my appetite.

For the first 20 minutes or so I just sat there sipping a beer and trying to act as if I was enjoying the show, all the time watching this dream boy serving the customers. He looked over at me several times and delivered the SMILE that we all know too well. Finally he returned to where I was seated and started asking the routine questions, i.e., "where you come from", "how long you stay CM", etc., and then came the perfect question..."are you alone"?

The more I observed this guy the more convincef I became that he was either the owners BF, or at the very least already spoken for by some other lucky guy. When I told him what I was doing in CM and the fact that I was traveling alone - it was all downhill after that. He joined me for a drink - then a second - and a third - who's counting.

I had planned to stay in CM for 3 days before heading to Chiang Rai and then over into Laos, and during that 3 days had planned to see and experience as much of CM as I could possibly squeeze in those 3 days. Well, I never saw the outside of my villa at Coffeee Boys...couldn't evan tell you what part of CM I was in...never saw the downtown area...never sat in a single restaurant...nada...zero...zip.

The boy, who I'll refer to as "A" only because I haven't the foggiest clue what his name was, stayed with me in the small lanna style villa I had rented day and night which made me forget all about the golden temples of Chiange Mai. He was obviously quite proud of his body and enjoyed reamining naked most of the time. Who am I to argue. I think I may have promised him that I would return to see him after my trip to Chinge Rai was over - but honestly, I can't remember...555.

With the exception of the experience I had with "A" I guess Coffeee Boy would have been OK except I'm not much of a show person and CB is well off the beaten path with not too much else to offer in the immediate area. I did appreciate the building itself as it was built somewhere around the turn of some century and very well maintained. My villa gave me the feeling of lodging in a 3 star tree house...basic furnishings...but a nice jungle feel which I just love.

Thanks Bon Tong for bringing Coffeee Boy out of its coffin. I just may take a trip down old memory lane again sometime to see if A (or whatever his name is) is still around.

[pong]

yes have been-2-3 times maybe, not really worth going that far, as I remember (usually staid in the TaPae gate area) and nothing special to tell about it. And with other bars closeby- first to enter for me was the Butterfly, long since gone, and met a really nice guy first time.

I visted once, maybe 2007-ish.

My recollection is: hard to get to (taxi required there and back), but nice place, clean, very quiet, 1 "working" boy and 4 customers.

:hello2:

[fountainhall]

An equally Bazar story is what became of the original Lanna Lavender hotel, something out of a mystery novel.

A lot has been written about it, but I wonder if there is more we don't know about. From what I have read, the man who took over that hotel made massive errors in his business plan. Creating a gay complex with hotel, sauna and nightclub in Chiang Mai was never going to be easy. But then, there are other predominantly gay small hotels and guest houses, the sauna House of Male seems to thrive, and the few gay bars do get enough customers to keep in business.

The key to the above, though, is that they are small. The Lanna Lavender had a massive 110 rooms. When it reopened under that name, accompanied by what must have been a monstrously huge advertising budget, only a few rooms had been renovated. This led to a deluge of complaints resulting in a lot of upgrading for no extra revenue. I ate with friends on the roof terrace a couple of weeks before it closed. The location was good, but the meal was just average. Worse, the cashier wrongly calculated our bill. It had to be recalculated three times before it reflected what we had actually consumed. The show downstairs was an expensive, splendidly lavish production - one of the best in the whole country - with some really cute guys. But a club presenting two shows a night with seating for well over 100? That was never going to work. When we were there, I seem to recall there were less than a dozen patrons.

We got the impression that the visitor and revenue assumptions on which the business plan was based were so hopelessly optimistic as to be totally impossible to achieve. Given the lack of numbers in the first couple of months, the owner must have been in a state of utter panic. But now I am guessing, and so will leave it there.

[Oliver]

Opening a gay establishment anywhere in Thailand is perilous enough , but Chiang Mai?
I recall staying at the Lavender Lanna when it opened and, while noticing teething problems, was pretty impressed.
We all know what happened within a year, despite some hard work and imaginative ideas.

I love the city but the fact is that the visiting gay community is small and the resident gay community is just not big enough (or interested enough) to support adventurous venues... I have the impression that a higher percentage have ltrs there than in Pattaya.
Things did seem to be different when I first went there in 1998. But now, I visit with my boyfriend and have no interest in the gay venues.

[BonTong]

An equally Bazar story is what became of the original Lanna Lavender hotel, something out of a mystery novel.

Well there was more to the Coffee Boy story too.... that has a bizarre twist. Things were not quite what they seemed! You can read my thoughts here: Chiang Mai City news - Gay Scene Blog

Enough has been talked about the Lavender Lanna already, but you can read my last words on the subject here: Gay Parties - The memory arty

"Chiang Mai 19" looks to be the stuff of nightmares.