Some notes on the prologue to the rise of Soi Twilight.
The question of what the oldest gay bar in Thailand was has been raised several times on the fora. We know that the original Twilight Bar was founded as early as 1966, but several members have also mentioned an even older bar, the Sea Hag.
In every post, however, the Sea Hag appears as a sort of ghost, with no clear dates on when it opened and when it shut, and certainly nothing clear about its history. Even the earliest, members who arrived in Bangkok mention that it had already closed by the time they arrived in Thailand.
The Sea Hag had actually been founded as a sailors’ bar in the 1950s. It might have been gay-friendly, but it did not become a full-on gay bar until July 4th 1967. The bar shut-down in 1969 but would give rise to the legendary Rome on Soi 4.
The dates for the Sea Hag can be established from two old posts. The critical one appeared on ThaiVisa back on December 3rd 2004 by the owner of the Sea Hag, who only ever made two posts, explaining the lineage of the Sea Hag and then never posted again. I quote the relevant portions of his posts.
The first gay bar in Thailand was the Sea Hag. It was an old seamans bar from the '50s converted to a gay bar and opened on July 4, 1967. Reason I know is that I opened it together with my then BF. Prior to that, there was Club 99 on Silom opposite where Narai Hotel now is and several other 'mixed' bars on Oriental ave. and a bit later the Balcony on Charoen Krung (New Road) which was also mixed.
I left Thailand for Japan in '69 and my then BF went on to open Siamese on the newly-built Silom Soi 4 (71 or 72). Siamese later expanded and became the Rome club of past international fame.
Just another add-in to the information previously provided: The oldest continuing gay bar presently in existence is Twilight, now in the bar row off Suriwongse. It used to be where Dreamboy is -- or next door -- can't remember which.
His reference to “where Dreamboy is” would refer to Soi Thaniya 2, rather than to Soi Pratuchai.
Another post that is relevant appeared on Stickman back in 2003. It was the reminiscences of a G.I. about his time hitting the girlie bars in Patpong with his mates in 1967. He mentions ending-up in a gay bar called the Sea Hag by mistake, finishing their drinks and then leaving. I quote:
Bangkok was a little expensive compared to Ubon but it had a whole lot more to offer too. The girls were the prettiest and most all could speak English. We did the bars and the bath houses and at one point even stumbled into a gay bar called "The Old Sea Hag". It was by accident but we had our beer and slipped out without any incidents. We had a good laugh over it later.
As to which bar really was the first gay bar, if the Sea Hag is only counted as a gay bar from July 4th 1967, then Twilight would be the older, original boy bar. But, of course, the Sea Hag had already been there since the 1950s in its earlier incarnation, so the argument could be made for its claim to that title. That, however, brings us on to the shadowy origins of Twilight itself. For that, a recent article in Nikkei about Patpong mentions that the katoey who set-up Twilight in 1966 had previously been running a male brothel. It seems reasonable that some of the boys in the original Twilight line-up would have been drawn from said brothel. I quote the Nikkei article
Although the entertainment was geared toward straight men in search of hostess bars, massage parlors and go-go clubs, Patpong also challenged taboos about homosexuality. Bangkok's first gay bar, Sea Hag, opened there in the late 1950s, and in 1966 the Twilight Bar was launched by a drag queen who had earlier opened a male brothel.
What is particularly interesting is how each of these two contenders for the title of oldest gay bar gave birth to one of the major gay sois in Bangkok. Twilight’s was the catalyst for Soi Twilight, and the current Twilight Zone on Patpong 2. The Sea Hag through its indirect descendants, Siamese and Rome, helped bring Soi 4 to prominence, although its role is less direct.
Take your pick as to who deserves the title of the oldest gay bar in Thailand. Both the contenders have a decent claim. Let those with deeper knowledge chip-in.
Note: The Sea Hag gay restaurant in Patong, Phuket, does not appear to be a lineal descendant of the original Sea Hag, despite such claims on some fora.
Reply With Quote
