Part One. I'm assuming that the character limit for posts is still in place so not sure how far i'll get spewing out data from a recent trip until it's used up, so I'll probably need 2 parts to complete it.
So after 65+ trips to Thailand over 18 years in low season...high season...this latest one is probably the saddest I've seen the state of Pattaya gay bars/venues/areas in terms of quantity of closed units (although I probably said that on last report on Feb this year and Oct last year). I don't, as stated on previous reports, come to Pattaya for the boys in the bars and the online platforms, nowadays it's just for a fun break bar hopping and enjoying music venues with bf, so not much info on off fees, tips and experiences with bar boys, just some notes/updates and factual info from the last month or so spent in Thailand. Yes..much of the basic info is on repeat from previous visits but it's updated/recent/current for those who might be planning a trip in the near future.
I do enjoy visiting Thailand outwith Pattaya, but Pattaya remains an important and enjoyable couple of weeks between the two separate visits we make there for our R & R and sheer fun to be had around town. So with the shrinking quantities of gay venues to visit I managed to get round most of the bars/clubs where the gay lads hang-out. 10 nights in Sth Pattaya and 4 nights near the start of the trip in Jomtien. Even though there might be a reduction in the quantity of gay/boy bars there are still tons of available gay lads all around town, and that's without using Hornet/Gayromeo etc.. Everywhere I went around town apart from the gay areas from Jomtien to Soi Baukow, Walking Street, 3rd Road, beach Road, North Pattaya, Central Shopping malls etc.. there were gay lads in evidence.
But have to admit BoyzTown was a shock at first sight...with Oscars, Le Café already closed and now Prisma along with the new restraint on bar tables in the soi while I was there, gave the main soi a very depressed look, rather than the bright, noisy strip of previous trips. Toyboys however remained a bright light with a nice selection of manly and twinky lads with decent customer numbers, one of the few bars where a few western customers were in evidence. Usual additional drink courtesy of papasan kept us there an extra while as I was with a farang friend. Prisma my usual early evening start place was missed and their nice bright lit-up chairs now just another dark space. Serene Bar was devoid of the in-season eastern bloc lads who turn it into party-central and so was very quiet indeed, not many tips for the excellent B-Boys the night I was there witnessing their show out front. Panorama too while very friendly and keen staff had way too little customers on hand to give it any kind of atmosphere. My farang friend who lives in Pattaya told me he was there just a couple nights before at 9.30pm and he was the only customer there!
Cupidol however, as I had read in the forums prior to my trip, had improved vastly from my previous two visits Feb/Sept-Oct in that they had a stage full of keen lads with 2-3 cuties, and a few customers one of which had a whisky set open and gave the place a lively feeling. Still too many waiters/mamasans there though. BBB as usual for me not much of an attraction inside, so another bf Birthday night on the terrace as well as another couple of nights there with good long-time friends, great fun and atmosphere. That was it really for the BT soi virtually every night we were there. Over on PL Soi 1 left only with 2 bars Dreamboys carried on where they left off for me last trip but with additional staff from defunct Kawaii helping to further the cause of a good night out there. Great atmosphere again and plenty willing, available lads keen to interact.
For the first time in a very long time on a separate night I crossed to X-Boys and although 2-3 attractive twinks keen to chat while show was in progress, the main atmosphere was provided by two groups of Asian female customers who shrieked their way through the show, but they were VERY generous with tips and drinks to the boys on stage and waiters and so complimented the fun aspect of this bar especially during show time, where the big cock, shower and fucking show had them in shriek overdrive. If not for them there would have been 1 farang (me!) and 4-5 other Asian male customers. Their presence also allows you to ascertain who are the man-men, pay-for-straight and gay lads there if any doubt was in evidence. Only other boy bar open in the area was A-Bomb which I passed on. So all-in-all now only 6 agogo bars in all 3 Sois of Pattayaland, which is an all time low. There used to be about that many on one side of Soi 1 alone.
Over in Sunee, not much better news in terms of dark spots. After an initial few days in Jomtien I headed to issan and on our return on June 19th it was the last day of Ouds Caf bar's 15 years residency in Sunee. Last party night was due to be 20th so almost missed it, but the new Arab renters wanted quick access so Oud was farced to close a day earlier than planned. But a great night it was with Ralf and partner in attendance and many, many old friends from other bars turning up to say goodbye, so ran into a lot of 'old' faces over the course of the evening. Oud himself was smashed but functioning and in good fettle, with Gai his main-man keeping a lid on things before starting work at Forest Bar next door a few days later. Not a lot changes at Forest Bar it's a dependable late night/early morning bar, and during my visit was busier with the Arab lads now in attendance in Pattaya after Ramadan. A few watch World Cup on their TV and a couple playing pool, and all regulars by the sound of it which is good for Forest Bar as you rarely see the Arab lads off their ridiculously large motorcycles and in the bars. Of course getting to/from Sunee later in the trip was a logistical nightmare trying to avoid some of the worst driving of any vehicle type I ever see. The sheer amount of close-shaves (and I see lots of them around Thailand) in the surrounding sois was staggering on a nightly basis and it was clearly much more out of control (literally) than I had previously witnessed.
Power Boys on the couple nights I visited had not too bad a line-up, 4 gay-femme lads and about 10 man-boys, all keen to interact, the mamas an/waiters there know I like to be left in peace and am only interested in the lads on stage so no hassle for me there nowadays. A few customers here too, good for low season. Next door at Nice Boys however maximum fun was in progress the nights I visited, decent range of boys/bodies/cuteness and although mainly man-boys perfectly happy to encourage hands-on and gay-for-pay not an issue here. Beer tries hard to keep a good stable of lads and is rewarded with decent customers numbers including Chinese and Japanese. He says though that sometimes it's a challenge to deal with the man-boy issues, attracting them and keeping them on board. Plenty fun to be had here.
Up the dark Soi past Goodboys where I had promised myself to stop by for a drink this trip, but there always seemed to be somewhere else more inviting for me so unfortunately passed again. Sky Bar though was a regular at some point of an evening most nights and had a couple of very enjoyable sessions here along with the drop-in evenings. Also for the first time had an early evening meal here, it was excellent very tender pork and veg with delicious sauce concocted by Alain and very generous portions. Double Shot same as usual, but lacking the occasional party-nights they are famed for I usually see there, but again low season so to be expected. Also closed for 3 nights from 29th June so that didn't help the brightness of the area. Green Chairs/Sunee bar again as per last trip had surprising numbers of I assume, expat visitors and plenty on the night World Cup football was on TV there. But next door at Rainbow Bar it was deathly quiet, couple nights there catching up on the sms/phone front I was only customer, even with it's excellent vista of the Winner Boys coming and going for food/smokes/rest. No Eros again for me, but more than made up by the visits I made to Winner Boys still charging very reasonable prices with beer at only Bt99 all night, and some great fun to be had here all boys with superb attitude as gogo bars used to be. Once again I have to mention the very generous customers who visit here, it must be something which happens to them as they pass through the magic curtain at the entrance because all nights I visited many boys were seated with farang customers with drinks, and good number of tips handed out around those on stage, although plenty of skin on show when requested might have been a reason.
Again outwith Winner Boys Euro Boys Bar was the busiest, certainly from about the 19th June, as before that many of the boys had returned home to Cambodia/Issan for farm work and visa renewal, but back to full compliment of boys and customers when we got back from Issan too. Boss there was sounding a couple of us out about how he though the bar would fare if they re-opened agogo inside to compliment the already successful outdoor area. As long as they could attract plenty of the same boys as work in Winners I think they would do pretty well. Eden Bar next door is a small affair with manager Kone and 2-3 staff but always lively later in the night, due mostly to the fortunate residency of a youngish dancing farang customer who appeared every night and later on inviting a few boys from Winner and around for late night drinks and music/dancing which at least offered up some lively entertainment in low season Sunee. Diamond Bar too while mostly quiet early on could bust into life later on from midnight with the appearance of a Bt850 bottle of Blend285, a couple new recruits here with one of the cute Ting Tong boys now working there. Lads here also good for a game of pool, table quite busy some nights, great vantage point for surrounding area.
The walk down past the closed Ting Tong Red and Ouds Bar later in the trip was very sad indeed.
Over to Jomtien Complex where I had another enjoyable stay. Busiest bars about town in terms of staffing, but there were a good few customers too which was encouraging, they seem to now have many regulars loyal to the area. First night at The Venue I was surprised at just how full it was for show time, very few decent seats left by 11pm, considering they now have a rival up the soi in M2M which I just didn't find the time to visit, Sun Bar as usual plenty of boys available and good smattering of customers, as was the case with @Home across the way and bingo nights here still big draw in off season. ?Mark seemed to be doing well and had had couple of long- standing Dolce Vita staff here now as they had issues with new? owners there. Kokatoo, Elysium also seemed busy enough the nights I was there as was 4T Bar which still seems to have a real loyal band of regulars there nightly. Other bars on the soi like Angel, Man Bar, Big Kiss also have custom but sparse compared to others and was surprised to see the Cambodian Boy bar BM? with very few customers.
Also made it round to a new gay bar across from Tops/Linda Restaurant on the main Jomtien Road to Sth Pattaya called Dog and Duck . Away from the main bar area like Bamboo down beside Dong Tan beach but had about 6 lads on the evening I visited a couple of them attractive and at 6pm when I visited had another 2-4 farang customers also, plenty of attention here and offers of games of pool but was in more 'relaxed' mode and not yet ready for full-on drinking session, but polite and engaging staff there and enjoyed my visit. Main late afternoon hang out after trip to Dong Tan beach were Festival Bar and Mixer Bar next to the massage place up from Dicks Caf who were still open despite the Bkk closure.
On the subject of Jomtien Complex I elected to stay for the very first time at The Venue Hotel and would certainly recommend it. I prefer a room with balcony and although they had no Junior Suites available with balcony the next best Deluxe room with front facing balcony was excellent. Decent size of room as was the bed, good bathroom, small sofa, quality TV with DVD player, kettle/coffee/tea, safe and even hairdryer, a real bargain too at low season price of Bt1070 per night, not that the price is a factor when choosing a room, I normally stay at East Suites at Bt1500-Bt1700 but full booked for my dates. But The Venue more than good enough for a repeat stay for next trip in September which is already booked, also they give 20% discount on bar tab at the show bar as part of the deal. They have a lift but as I prefer taking the stairs while the spiral staircase could be a challenge after a few Vods was doable. Also found the staff there very helpful even though seemed to be tasked with more than one responsibility. Stopping there in case I over step the character limit so will post 2nd part when time allows.
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Originally Posted by a447
