I thought perhaps my trip notes from my last visit June/July might be my last due to the repetitiveness nature of the contents. However along with that repetitiveness I do add current updates for those, who like myself, visit regularly rather than live in Thailand permanently and so there is still an element of the membership to whom it might be relevant. Also a couple of forum members I met/ran into said the even though they live in Pattaya were sometimes not up to date with the goings-on suggesting I keep posting notes from trips. So for those reasons here are a few updates from a very recent Sept/Oct visit. I don't seem to have as much time as I did for posting on the forum but have always appreciated when others post updates so feel the effort probably worth it.
Slightly shorter than usual trip due to various reasons and was not quite the usual full month duration, but still managed to pack in aplenty. One thing which was more unusual than normal for the time of year was the amount of rain during my visit. I have visited during every Sept/oct for last 15 years+ and never found it so saturated with rain virtually every day, not that it impacted on my plans, enjoyment or fun just that I had to plan things closer to time and be more aware when going out and about.
Stayed In Jomtien first few days as is now usual, had previously stayed at The Venue Hotel for the first time last trip and was happy enough there to repeat. Room as before well presented with all amenities I need. Discussions on the various forums regarding futures of Twilight Bkk, BT and Sunee but from what I could see Jomtien still bucking the trend, certainly in terms of western visitors/expats the clientele that would have been most evident around Boyztown prior to 2008 financial crises. Main thing about Jomtien is despite no GoGo bars there are tons of boys in the bars, a couple of Show Bars as well as numerous dining options and of course the beach offer more than enough distractions for the few days I am there. Also this trip arranged to meet up with a forum member there who just happened to be visiting Jomtien at the same time, and introduced me to another long standing forum member, which was very enjoyable indeed, and a nice change from the 'norm' for me, I do 'run into' guys from the forum from time to time but it was nice to spend a bit of time catching up with a familiar forum handle, putting a face to it, and still have time to hit local Jomtein and Sth Pattaya bars.
Despite the fact the bars all seem to merge along the main strip I still enjoy visiting the different bars. At Home very welcoming with popular Bingo on Wednesdays always does well with plenty boys and hands-on owner. Sun Bar likewise welcoming and teeming with guys with good vibe and attitude. Went to most of the Jomtien bars at some point and can't say I didn't enjoy any of them with Kokatoo, 4T, Elysium all worth a visit. Question Mark was another of the more busy bars the nights I was there and good attentive staff and service. Sometimes at the bars I'm just happy to catch breath, catch up on social media/sms/phone sitting alone and other times my attention is interacting with the boys. I also like that there are a couple of bars L-N and Man Bar with good pool tables to help vary the evenings. Dolce Vita was certainly well positioned this trip as a large part of it is under a wide walkway above so rain not affecting where you sit, couple of nice attractive lads here too. Only one bar closure while there which was Angel Boys Bar, I know one of the lads who worked there and gave the usual 'no customers' as reason, but as it's coming up to higher season would seem more of a reason to wait it out, so suspect more likely other reasons for it's demise. But it's only a single shop unit amongst a number of close knitted bars so not that much of a miss.
Still enjoy late afternoon/early evening drinks at Festival Bar and Dicks, find that relaxing before the heavy duty nightlife exertions. The new bakery opened next to Fah? massage on the corner of Dicks Soi served very nice fresh coffee and cakes. Mixer Bar round the corner also open quite early and always have staff on hand to serve their regular early bird customers.
Over in South Pattaya the Boyztown/Pattayaland picture was more or less same as previous trip with one or two new additions. Toyboys was usual mix of manly, twinky, straight guys to entertain the Asian guys and gals who favour this bar, but occasional westerners like me still warmly welcomed and if looking to off would be a regular place for me to visit, but as only out for fun during the evening once or twice a visit is enough. BBB as usual did not bother with inside except to visit bogs from outside table. But streams of Asian males and females still enjoying the delights on offer in there. Serene Bar I noted seemed a good bit busier than last trip, but Panorama seem to have stagnated, and despite it's prime location was simply not busy any of the nights we were in BT, it seems any bar with long standing ties to western custom and not changing with the times is being left behind in terms of trade. Didn't bother with Castro Showbar this time and the New Café Royal was still 'gearing up' for opening while I was there. Now hew huge for sale/rent signs up at the former Oscars Bar as the property owners get desperate to rent, again totally short sighted to have increased the rent by the ridiculous amount they did as they had a decent tenant in the guys who ran Oscars and would not budge on rent, only to later try and approach the former owners after they had decamped with all stock, furniture and fittings..bit too late by then!
Cupidol much the same as last trip retaining a few more boys than they had the previous year, with only a couple of real cute twinks they were best known for. With mamasan 'M' still swishing around like a whirling dervish coupled with most of the waiters gathered around a customer who had opened whisky bottle at far side of the bar added nothing to the atmosphere. Passed as usual on A-Bomb as not my style of dancer there, and round on Soi one to find Big Boys Bar had recently opened, didn't venture inside as 'big boys' not really my cup of tea, but should have just to see what was on offer and report back, but did pop in next door to reopened (as a gogo bar) Kawaii Boys as I knew manager Yaa from TingTong/Diamond Bar days, but only 6 boys here listlessly shuffling around none of whom would have been of interest if looking to off and as one of two customers sadly found nothing to be enthusiastic about. Down the Soi visited Dreamboys I always find it strange that they don't have more customers on a regular basis here, there are plenty of lads, they are keen to interact and have some offable lads yet only 3 customers at 10pm, so a bit of the 'all eyes on you' scenario and 2 mamsans too many. Passed on X-Boys this time round as neither show or gaggles of Asian females of much interest to me, also the aggressive barking from the doormen almost demanding that I, with new name "hey you!" "come here! come over there!!" did nothing but put me off 'coming over there'.
So to my usual 'go to' nightly place Sunee, to find a bit more upbeat compared to June/July visit, but the rain most certainly did affect some customer numbers if rain came early evening, and as I always question..why? all the bars have perfectly serviceable enough roofs and with umbrellas at Bt100 from the many Seven and Family stores or even loaned free by the sunee bars not sure why the rain puts off so many westerners from heading out. Forest Bar my very late go to e.g. after 1.30am changes little from trip to trip, as usual 3-4-5 waiters/boys there with friends of friends turning up as freelance and happy to interact if you are interested. Don't be put off by the gaggle of 4-5 bays round a bottle set there, if someone takes your eye just ask one of the waiters if they are interested in joining you for a drink. Up the, now darker soi, past old Ouds and TingTong Red to Diamond Bar which this trip was very busy many of the nights I was there. At certain times of the year they have very loyal customers who come with entourage and park themselves for the evening with whisky bottle sets which adds to the good atmosphere there. One or two new waiters moved from other bars, some new faces and a few freelancers based at other bars come and go. Also good place for game of pool with decent view of the surrounding soi and bars/activities. Eden Bar now seems to have established itself thanks to the efforts of Kone the manager and with 2-3 new faces based there and opens till the last customer has departed or been persuaded time is 'getting on' but always warm welcome and again has steady though small regular customer base. Euro Bar remains my favourite thanks to the boys and Yo the owner's very welcoming attitude and sheer good fun, always a good laugh to be had here and plenty of attention from the Thai/Laos/Cambodian boys based here. One night as I was leaving to meet up with bf and friends at SinLapin Issan the heavens opened and it thundered down, where even an umbrella would have been little use on this occasion, and Yo the owner overheard my attempts to arrange to get the four of us to Sinlapin as dry as possible so we were not sitting around in wet clothes kindly offered to transport us in his car which was parked behind the sunee bars, picking up my bf and friends from Mosaik first before depositing us at our venue. Like him the boys are sweet and polite as well as cute. One of the regulars 'Nook' had his birthday bash here and one look at his huge money baht chain let you know that there is plenty of footfall throughout the evening, but the free food bbq pig etc had to be shuffled back undercover as another night of rain arrived at the most inopportune time of 10pm!
Sat at Rainbow Bar when I needed a few moments to myself and while most nights had few customers did have their regulars, as does the Green Chair Bar which as I noticed last trip did well with customers most nights. Double Shot was its usual self, some night very busy some not so, but I still love this place due to it's size and lighting effect of area as well as strong good quality drinks if on spirits, when it is busy has a great atmosphere and usually plenty of man-boys around keen to chat, and owner very sociable. Sky Bar as usual suffers a little from it's location but it's very loyal customers along with effervescent owner Alain make up for it, again very welcoming and some nights with a real fun vibe when regulars are in. Passed on Good Boys despite very polite approaches from the boys outside every time I came by. As for Sunee GoGo scene, again not that much changes from previous trips other than Nice Boys being consistently busy now with very very keen boys there up for any kind of fun as long as there's cash in it. One of the nights I visited the 'theme' was ass-smacking, as one (looked Asian) customer was in his element settled down on the far side with whisky bottle sets 5-6 boys sitting with him and every minute or so inviting boys down from the stage, who were in fact lining up to drop their shorts, to have their buttocks slapped for however much a tip he gave each time, not sure if Bt20 or Bt100, but was very popular with all the boys. Power Boys next door was the first time for a while I didn't even go in, when the door was opned as I passed the place seemed empty of both boys and customers, but as usual Winner Boys was quite busy many night depending what time of evening you were in, some night had most tables taken and some nights only 4-5 customers, also it seemed not as many boys on hand as previous trips, but still great fun and exceptionally well priced beverages at Bt99 for Vod Coke and beers, so plenty of reason to buy a few. Eros as usual I only looked in once as I know one of the lads there over many years, not my cup of tea, but I know very popular with many.
As for late night venues once again Sinlapin Issan and Walking Street were the favoured places. Visits to Sinlapin remain best option and had thoroughly enjoyable nights there on every occasion. For the first time I actually had the bill receipt from Sinlapin as I never usually check it, often a friend or bf will go through the motions but I tend to just pay the thing and on my way, however it was still nestled in my levis pocket next morning to find that as there are no Beer Towers when bf and I are on beer the large Leo bottles come in at Bt120 each, Sang Som bottle at Bt599, Ice Bt100 for large bucket, soda/coke at Bt40 per bottle with food like Moo (pork) and chicken at Bt150/plate and the French fries always bought for me, but rarely eaten by me Bt100 so all-in-all very reasonable night out here and packed with gay lads all out for a good time. Finishes around 5am, main shows starts about 1.30am, so if you're in before then it gives a chance to warm up and chat with friends before the music starts.
Walking Street fave places for bf and friends are still Lucifer/Music Café (acceptable especially Music Café at front with their excellent live band) 808 (which I hate) so only 30 mins of my time in there for me, Stones House with its great mix of lively Thai pop/rock, western pop/rock and Morlam/Issan music produced by top-notch Thai musicians is probably my favourite but every Thai I go there with also loves it too. And of course Zap Bar for top quality Morlam/Issan music.
Only one outdoor Morlam/Issan Music event while we were there in Pattaya at the old Xyte ground off Soi Baukau/3rd Road. This was a midweek night and prior to going had been constantly raining from 8-10pm that evening, I was in Sunee first so rain there no problem but expected the Morlam ground to be sodden. However fortunately the rain subsided as we headed along Soi Baukau on the baht bus and although wet underfoot was relieved to find the Morlam ground had plenty of solid areas and little water actually lying. Went for about 10.30pm, Bt140 each for entry with large Leo bottles still at Bt100 decanted into plastic cups and was very well attended considering midweek and the amount of rain during the evening. Again looking across the ground it is much like a scene from Sinlapin Issan with a sea of gay lads, groups together and many familiar faces from the bars and gay places around Pattaya. Toilet inside area at Bt5 which was handy given we were all on beer.
Ran out of 'characters' as usual so will try post rest in follow up.
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Originally Posted by colmx
