Phuket/Patong

[Brad the Impala]

An update on Paradise Complex in Patong. I was there a month ago for a week. It was generally fairly quiet, but then it was the rainy season. Although the rain wasn’t bad. Heavy rain only one day for a couple of hours.

Currently operating in the main street in Paradise are, down the left hand side looking towards the Paradise Hotel:

James Dean and Friends is always a good place to sit, comfortable chairs, and have a drink outside, and people watch. Friendly and good people there, and some hosts, gay and straight available.

OK Karaoke, has some very sexy southern straight/available hosts, it can also stay open as late as you like.

Zag is a great success, very busy some nights. It has a drag show with male dancers, a mix of feathers and leather. The guys also perform as coyotes in between shows when most of the customers are also dancing. Customers are a mix of freelance off guys, groups of western gay guys who don’t mix much with thais, and groups of middle class thais from elsewhere on the island.

Sundowner next door is a chilled “lounge bar” next door under the same ownership.

Down the right hand side first is Passport, a small gogo bar that has seen better days, followed my MO2 run by the ex owners of Tangmo. An average selection of guys, maybe 15, and they do a couple of advertising shows in the street with all the guys in their underwear(a good view from James Dean and Friends!)

Next is the Connect Restaurant and Guesthouse, followed by James Dean which is an open air host bar, with a few hosts and regular customers.

Next is Time which is a smaller host bar, usually quiet. This is followed by My Way which has now dispensed with the ladyboy shows, and has got back to it’s core. Guys! It’s the biggest venue on the strip, and is now back to completely gogo and has a good selection of guys. Also has a regular big cock show whose participants wouldn’t be shamed in similar shows in Bangkok. The compere is a slim young guy with fluent English and hung like the proverbial horse. Tips are solicited after the special shows.

Finally the Boat Bar a showbar which, with My Way, is one of the originators of the gay move into Paradise. The show, drag with male backing dancers, is not as good as it has been, but it still has the drag star of the street in Turk. Gay freelancers, thai middle class and gay tourists are the clientele.

I’d recommend My Way, Zag, Boat Bar and James Dean and Friends.

On Patong Beach, deckchairs are still forbidden, but cunningly circumvented by digging armchairs made out of sand.

Best “street food”, chicken/pork and rice, still comes from Briley Restaurant, Andaman Plaza, Ratuthit Road side. 50 Baht per plate.

For a treat and European Cuisine enjoy Joe’s Café, with it’s fabulous position overlooking the floodlit sea on the road between Patong and Kalim. Very romantic for a special evening. Great cocktails and staff.

Phuket/Patong is still a good place to visit.

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[arsenal]

I would genuinely love to know exactly the reasoning behind the banning of deckchairs.

[Smiles]

I would genuinely love to know exactly the reasoning behind the banning of deckchairs.

There is no 'reasoning' at all, unless you are willing to except pure power plays as legitimate 'reasoning'. This is Thailand mate. The Army/Police do what they want, because they can. That's it. Know that ... know Thailand.

[pong]

I would genuinely love to know exactly the reasoning behind the banning of deckchairs.

Why? THis is THailand. One never will ever know what the ''real'' reason-assuming its there, is/was. And if, it will be mostly incomprehensible for the average white farang anyway.
BUT when it was done, one of the first measures of the then new junta govmt, it was to end the endless and multiple complaints of the very sort of people you also belong to when there; the TOURIST. Phuket was and still is renowned for its smart and seemingly never ending skill in fleecing people, with some bad tongues telling there was a strife between the ''mayor'' and the province ''governor'' behind it-both trying to pocket AMAP. Most famous were the jet-ski fleecers-to the extent that several ambassadors/consuls even came to talk with the new MP about it and put a stop to it.
PLUS that the beach as such-anywhere in TH, is never ever private property and as about any Thai vendor tries to, claims to ''this is mine'' had to be adressed in the end too. Pretty much the same for street-side blocking vendors in about any town, but many more in BKK.

[Smiles]

" ... My Way which has now dispensed with the ladyboy shows, and has got back to it’s core. Guys! It’s the biggest venue on the strip, and is now back to completely gogo and has a good selection of guys. Also has a regular big cock show whose participants wouldn’t be shamed in similar shows in Bangkok. The compere is a slim young guy with fluent English and hung like the proverbial horse. Tips are solicited after the special shows ... "

Thanks for this. I remember My Way with affection (pre-Suphot ) from the early 2000's where it was all-out fuck shows and incredibly handsome guys ... a few of which came a-calling. Apres- Suphot we traveled down to Patong a few times only to find My Way only an annoying shadow of it's former self: i.e. adrift in lady boys, amateur dancers and cheap feathers. Haven't been to Patong since 2005.
Perhaps I shall sneak away for a nostalgic peek one of these days.

[goji]

What are the costs like in Phuket gogo bars these days ?
Drink, off fee & expected tip.

[Brad the Impala]

What are the costs like in Phuket gogo bars these days ?
Drink, off fee & expected tip.

150 Baht for drinks, 300 for off, and 1,000 to 2,000 for tips.

[Old git]

"I would genuinely love to know exactly the reasoning behind the banning of deckchairs"

I've not been there for a long time now, but I did go to Phuket to do 'my bit' by visiting and spending money there a couple of weeks after the Tsunami.

There was a lot of discussion about reconstruction and a very positive attitude to the disaster while I was there. One of the things that everyone seemed to agree on was that the shanty town of vendors that had littered the beach and got entirely swept away, should not be allowed to return.

Whether that policy has managed to prevail in the fifteen years that have elapsed since, I have no idea; but a ban on deckchairs might relate to the resolutions made back then..

[Brad the Impala]

"I would genuinely love to know exactly the reasoning behind the banning of deckchairs"

I've not been there for a long time now, but I did go to Phuket to do 'my bit' by visiting and spending money there a couple of weeks after the Tsunami.

There was a lot of discussion about reconstruction and a very positive attitude to the disaster while I was there. One of the things that everyone seemed to agree on was that the shanty town of vendors that had littered the beach and got entirely swept away, should not be allowed to return.

Whether that policy has managed to prevail in the fifteen years that have elapsed since, I have no idea; but a ban on deckchairs might relate to the resolutions made back then..

I very much doubt that the recent deckchair ban has anything to do with the Tsunami.

The beachside reconstruction has indeed been of a higher standard that that which was swept away. Sadly this has meant the replacement of the basic but much loved Patong Beach Bungalows. These were well placed beside the gay beach and with a swimming pool that you could dally in at night. Sadly replaced by some chi chi Hotel at twice the price and half the charm.

[arsenal]

Pong: You've made some very good points. My own personal belief is that it was a shot across the bows to the police. The army making it clear they can close down any source of police income they choose to. So toe the line.

Remember that in certain areas of shall we say, 'commerce' the police and the army are actually competing with each other.