Gay Thailand is fading away on the net.

[bucknaway]

Years ago, I read about Thailand in a gay travel magazine. It spoke of jungle tours on the back of elephants, bamboo cottages being serviced by a staff of cute barefoot guys wearing nothing more than shorts and a smile. It told stories of friendly haggling for cheaply priced trinkets, tuk-tuk rides, boat taxi rides all in a gay friendly environment. It intrigued me so much that I decided at that moment I would get my passport and adventure outside of the USA for the first time in my life.

It was my plan to go there with my boyfriend from Bali, but he informed me that he could not leave the USA fearing that he would not be allowed to re-enter the country. My X-lover found my travel magazine, took it and booked himself a trip to Thailand. He enjoyed his trip a lot and even found a very attractive Thai guy that became his lover. Their relationship lasted over 5 years until the time that the Thai guy was forced to marry and start a family. But lets get back to the beginning.....

Before my former lover began his trip, I used the internet to find as much information as I could on Thailand. The internet was filled with informative websites that linked to other helpful sites. I found Thailandout, Dragoncastle, Thaiguys, Gaypattaya Message Board, Babylon, Dreaded Neds, Boxertravels, thaiboy.net, gayphuket. gay.com, ratefun and others. Every website seem to host a personals section filled with Thai guys looking and happy to meet with foreigners. The web was filled with pictures and videos of gay disco bars, gogo bars, massage places, hotels and advice. My search helped me find gay travel books written for Thailand.

In the past there was an endless supply of message boards that did little more than talk about gay Thailand but now that seems to be changing.

The message boards are dwinding down as well as the number of posts they host. The individual message boards membership changes very little from board to board, The website personals also seem to be fading away as well.

Yesterday I was thinking of the TingTog board and how long ago it has been since I last visited that site. When a webpage has no activity, it is often referred to as being a cobweb, the TingTong board seem to shun activity and is, in my own opinion, ready to fade away.

I miss the old sites...

Dragoncastle.... Gone
Thaiguy.... Gone
ThailandOut.... Gone
Babylon Chatroom.... Gone
GayPattaya.... Gone
Ratefun.... Gone

There are others that have gone but I can't remember there at this posting. I don't want to mention the other boards that are near death as their owners may not take to kindly to my opinion.

As we all grow old and also fade away, I wonder what will become of this board? Is the membership growing faster than we depart? Is the younger set not so keen on this type of web based communication that does not fit kindly on the screen of a cell phone and lacks a phone app or whatever new technology is coming around the corner.

Theses days, a smart phone with a tiny screen seems to be in the pocket of every Thai and traveler to Thailand and stuck in the underwear of almost every gogo boy and girl on display causing grumbles and moans from us... Maybe PC based webpages and message boards will become the communication of uncles and grandfathers and as we go, this too will fade away.

So here's to gay Thailand on the net... May it always be remembered.

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[goji]

It's just evolution. Some sites close, some new ones pop up. Just don't forget all the new sites that weren't there 5 years ago.

[Impulse]

Have to agree. Even these boards are dwindling.

I remember my first stay at Montes Guest House. I'd seen it advertised on the net. What a welcoming add. And Monty himself giving out free advice. Give the guy 100 baht for smoke, 100 baht more and he reciprocates. Same for boom boom, only 100 baht. Loads of bars and plenty of guys ready to jump into your lap! What a fun place! I found a new play ground to replace Las Vegas.
But every year it gets smaller. Been a year and a half since I've been there and I don't like what the members are posting. I'll be there soon on a more permanent basis and see for myself what's going on, or what isn't.

[colmx]

Dragoncastle.... Gone... good riddance!
Thaiguy.... Gone... An advertorial site... good riddance too!
ThailandOut.... Gone... Likewise!
Babylon Chatroom.... Gone... Never even heard of it!
GayPattaya.... Gone.... Miss GP and Allen its knowledgeable and genial owner, agree that this is a big loss
Ratefun.... Gone... Never ebe heard of it either!

-Tingtong was always ever a 1 man show with his 2-3 friends who agreed with the owners narrow views
-Gaybutton is busier than ever, as is this board since neals timely demise

Gayromeo is down but at the same time we now have:
-Grindr
-Jack'd
-Hornet
-Scruff
-Guyspy

All of which are busier than all of the sites that bucky has named above

And the "straight" sites like:
-facebook
-socialcam
-twitter
-line
All which are so cruisy!

Calm down chicken licken... the sky is not falling down.. if antthing the Thai net is 10 times busier than it ever has been!

[colmx]

And Monty himself giving out free advice. Give the guy 100 baht for smoke, 100 baht more and he reciprocates. Same for boom boom, only 100 baht. Loads of bars and plenty of guys ready to jump into your lap! What a fun place! .

Sorry rocket - but i think you are dreaming!

The last time any Thai guy accepted 100B for sex was before u or I were even born!

1000 has been the going rate for as long as all theese boards have been going

The only people willing to accept 100B in thailand since the turn of the century or sex are mentally challenged or drug addicts!

[bucknaway]

Dragoncastle.... Gone... good riddance!
Thaiguy.... Gone... An advertorial site... good riddance too!
ThailandOut.... Gone... Likewise!
Babylon Chatroom.... Gone... Never even heard of it!
GayPattaya.... Gone.... Miss GP and Allen its knowledgeable and genial owner, agree that this is a big loss
Ratefun.... Gone... Never ebe heard of it either!

-Tingtong was always ever a 1 man show with his 2-3 friends who agreed with the owners narrow views
-Gaybutton is busier than ever, as is this board since neals timely demise

Gayromeo is down but at the same time we now have:
-Grindr
-Jack'd
-Hornet
-Scruff
-Guyspy

All of which are busier than all of the sites that bucky has named above

And the "straight" sites like:
-facebook
-socialcam
-twitter
-line
All which are so cruisy!

Calm down chicken licken... the sky is not falling down.. if antthing the Thai net is 10 times busier than it ever has been!

Which proves my point that web based PC forums are dying out and are becoming Uncle and Grandpa forums.
Nothing is advertising, promoting and informing about gay thailand like the boards of old.
Now it just all about person focused phone apps.

[colmx]

Which proves my point that web based PC forums are dying out and are becoming Uncle and Grandpa forums.
Nothing is advertising, promoting and informing about gay thailand like the boards of old.
Now it just all about person focused phone apps.

Yes and you and me have gone from being the newbies to the uncles and grandpas!
Just as people mourn the loss to "the men of thailand" oe "long yang club" etc... the world has moved on...
Yes the poliferation of 1 man show forums is gone... and i for one am glad that i can now check out the 3 main gay thailand foums once per day and be assured that i have caught all the news!

[GWMinUS]

Bucky, I think your comment about Mobile Phones is to the point.
Just not possible to read long post on such a small screen.
And all my friends in the Philippines are now on PR or Line or Whatsup...
They could careless about reading a Forum.
But I am still a Reader. I enjoy the posts here and on Gaybutton.
Too bad their is not way to make them for viable.
Thanks for you comments and reconciliations!!!

[bucknaway]

Bucky, I think your comment about Mobile Phones is to the point.
Just not possible to read long post on such a small screen.
And all my friends in the Philippines are now on PR or Line or Whatsup...
They could careless about reading a Forum.
But I am still a Reader. I enjoy the posts here and on Gaybutton.
Too bad their is not way to make them for viable.
Thanks for you comments and reconciliations!!!

If you are using an android phone or tablet, there is an app called "Easy Text To Speach" that will read the threads out in very good english. I use it to read the Stickman weekly to me as I am working around in the kitchen.

You are right about the guys using Line, Whatsapp, Wechat, Facebook messenger and the like. It drives me crazy keeping up with who is messaging me and from where and I depend on Android's pull down notifications to help me keep up.

I don't know how these type of forums will transform. I'm sure it will happen, it will have to or it will be just like the old BBS dial-up message boards. Some are still around but for the most part they are forgotten.

[fountainhall]

It's just evolution. Some sites close, some new ones pop up. Just don't forget all the new sites that weren't there 5 years ago.

Out of curiosity, which new ones have opened up in the last 5 years? I know of Gatbuttonthai - just about to celebrate 5 years - but that opened as a result of the announced closing of Gaythailand. That site ended up by being sold and not actually closing, but it was dealt a major blow when quite a number of its regular posters had by then already moved over to the new GB site.

In addition to those mentioned earlier in the thread, there were the various bitchboard incarnations that thankfully did not last once the members started turning on each other. One of the most informative blogsites and best written, Bangkokbois, seems now to have died, as some years ago did Shamelssmack's excellent blog. Christian's blog remains a mine of information. In terms of general gay chat sites that cater in large part to westerners, though, I cannot think of any that have actually opened and survived over the last 5 years. The odious Neal registered at least a couple that attracted a few posts. Both have collapsed.

As a topic, how to get more members onto a chat site is far from new. There have been several threads here and in gaythailand.com. One on gt was opened by PattayaMale 5 years ago and starts -

I don't have an answer to this. But I am hoping that others may have suggestions. It seems to me that there are only a handful of posters.

http://www.gaythailand.com/forums/topic ... ster-base/

Perhaps somewhat ironically, that thread refers to a competition the Board owner - who had just sold out to the present owners - organised with prizes for those who posted 300 or so posts over a 3-month period. The irony is that this drew the attention of a very new member who then started flooding the site with his own mostly feckless posts. Beachlover became a posting monster. As a result the competition was cancelled.

Yet this and a few other sites do a major service. The problem remains how to attract new members that can expand the readership base and give new insights into gay life in Thailand. For if sites like this do not do it, those planning to visit Thailand will be at the mercy of the panoply of gay travel sites which frequently are in the pay of interested parties or write blurb that is more fiction than fact. Two years ago one site named gaytravel.com and based in the USA had a "reporter" write about his visit to Bangkok and Chiang Mai. It was mostly drivel. I was incensed and wrote to the editor -

. . . it is a pack of utter rubbish. If he did go to Thailand, he went nowhere near Bangkok, Phuket or Chiang Mai. You need spend only a few hours in Bangkok to know that streets are called sois, not Snows; that Soi Cowboy is where the straight bars are located, not a gay bar in sight; that there is no Tiger Temple in the city (EVERYONE visits Wat Phra Kaew - the stunning Temple of the Emerald Buddha - as part of the Grand Palace Tour, Wat Pho, Wat Arun, Wat Benchamabopitr or some of the dozens of other glorious temples); that Phuket is the largest of all the country's islands; and that Chiang Mai has less than 200,000 inhabitants [the writer had claimed it had 2 million!]. If he visited, where did he stay? Where are his photos (essentials in all travel articles)? Where are the little personal details that mark a true travel experience from a made-up adventure? And why did he "review" (i.e. steal info from other sources) about two of the most expensive hotels in the city that have no gay connections? There are, again, dozens of gay and gay friendly hotels close to gay areas - Le Meridien, Tarntawan Place, The Sukhothai (a 5-star deluxe hotel hugely popular with gay visitors, especially during holiday periods in other Asian countries) etc.

If you paid for him to come to Thailand - or even paid one cent for his contributions, then you should seek every cent of your money back!

As a further examples I have just relooked at that site. For the section on Taipei LGBT nightlife it lists all of two bars. Of the LGBT gay scene it says merely this -

The gay scene is Taipei has exploded over the past ten years, growing from only a smattering of gay bars and clubs to having its very own тАЬgayborhoodтАЭ in Ximen, located near the heritage Red House entertainment complex. With roughly 120,000 gays and lesbians and increasing popularity as a gay travel destination for visitors from Asia and North America, Taipei is working hard for the title of Gay Capital of Asia. Enjoy everything it has to offer.

And this site which writes in appalling and frequently inaccurate generalities has a fair amount of high end advertising!!

But back to the question: how in the age of mobile phones, Pads, social media and the growing number of dating sites, do chat sites like this survive in the longer term?