Gay Bangkok in the 1980s

[fountainhall]

Since two posters in The Kiss thread have expressed interest in information about Bangkok in the 1980s, here are some of my observations. I first visited in the summer of 1979. IтАЩd moved to live in Hong Kong earlier that year and was returning after a quick business trip to Europe. The cheapest fare had been on Air France. That Air France 747 stopped in Dubai, Delhi and Bangkok before heading on for Hong Kong. So I decided to have a quick 24-hour stop-over in Bangkok. I had heard there was nightlife near Suriwong but not knowing the city I had stupidly taken advice from friends who said I should definitely spend some time seeing the Grand Palace and temples and recommended the Royal Hotel. Big mistake!

I took the Thai International minibus service from the Don Mueang, not realizing that it would stop several times and the Royal was right at the end of the line. After the near 3-hour trip I was so tired I decided to have a quick nap before the Palace tour. 2 hours became 6 before I realised IтАЩd be missing any chance of nightlife. Being a long way from Suriwong, I found a tout who took me in a tuk tuk to a gay bar. This was a dump called Stockholm at the foot of what is now very much upscale Lang Suan. Walking in to a large room with a raised stage area, I found about a dozen guys all in street clothes. I was the only customer! I was offered all sorts of choices. Never having seen a тАШshowтАЩ, I took 2 guys up to a barely furnished room. To a relative newbie to the delight of such Asian activities, the show was amazing with both guys seeming to enjoy themselves. I was later told the bar was a rip-off with high prices, but I had nothing to compare it with. Anyway, I never returned as I could never find it!

My next visit was for a week 8 months later. I stayed at the Rose Hotel off Suriwong тАУ next door to the Montien. Then it was a dump. The first thing I did was go out to get some spray to clear the room of a good 20 cockroaches. The only bar I can recall from that time was Apollo, although I believe there was also one nearby named Tom Boy. Apollo was on Soi 4 where Sphinx is now located. Smallish, it had a bar with a very cute bartender and about a dozen go-go boys who paraded on a catwalk stripping off around 9:00 pm to strutt their stuff in the nude. Unlike today, most of the guys seemed to be enjoying themselves and made an a lot of effort to do more than a soft shoe shuffle. Offs could be taken to rooms upstairs since many of the better hotels did not permit joiners. These guys were really fun to be with.

Thereafter I visited Bangkok around 4 times a year, usually en route to Singapore, Kuala Lumpur or Europe. I quickly discovered the old Twilight Bar (now Hotmale but a shadow of its former self), BangkokтАЩs original sleaze bar. Much bigger than Apollo, it was dark inside, had a long bar at one end behind which was a small stage on which 4 boys would rotate, all standing without any attempt to dance. Twilight was run by two older ladyboys and usually had lots more working boys than Apollo. Around 10:00pm, the mamasans would bark orders whereupon the boys briefs came off. After four had been on stage and replaced by another four, the original four would come through the тАШaudienceтАЩ and stand around a small pillar. Not sure if touching was permitted, but back then it happened a lot. Chairs would be put in the centre of the space as warranted by demand. Round two sides were padded benches where you could be more intimate with some of the guys in relative darkness.

It was always fun to sit at the left end of the bar to watch the boys trying to get erections before going up on stage. A visit to the toilet would usually result in one or two guys coming in to show their wares. Upstairs were at least a couple of rickety dirty rooms and a cold shower. Most nights thereтАЩd be a show on stage, with a pair of the тАШcoupledтАЩ boys clambering on to the bar. If you bought a drink for a boy, touching and feeling seemed to be the norm. Most weekdays there seemed to be not more than 20 punters in the bar. At week-ends, though, it would be absolutely packed, almost exclusively with Thais.

Around this time I also remember My Way, located in a small soi off Rama 4 between Silom and Suriwong. What made this different was that the boys were really good dancers and did great pole and other routines. I don't think there was nudity, only great dancing. My Way lasted a lot longer than the other original bars, having closed just a few years ago тАУ by then yet another shadow of its former self.

I don't remember any other go-go bars in Soi Twilight at that time. Soon thereafter, though, Barbiery opened on the first floor of a building just across Suriwong. This was much classier, had two stages in the centre and tended to employ a large number of younger twinks тАУ certainly way more than 50 - whereas Apollo and Twilight always seemed to have a wider age range. The shows here were also always fun with a lot of sexual acrobatics and acts you did not see in other bars which made it special. Again it would be packed to the rafters at week-ends and again mostly with Thais. All shows featured nudity тАУ without the need for appendages to be tied off with condoms to keep them erect.

The only other bars I recall starting up in the 1980s were SuperLek and later Super A. Both were in the little subsoi close to where the present Super A is located, just round the corner from the Mango Tree Restaurant. SuperLek at the end of the soi had a large stage with cinema-type curtains, around 20 тАУ 30 go-go boys, shower shows and more full on nudity. It had a bit more class than Twilight but a less hands-on approach.

Sometime in the 1980s Rome Club opened in Soi 4 between what is now Balcony and Sphinx. This was an amazing disco attracting a big mixed crowd but with lots of gays. The shows were lavish and fun and you could usually hook up with some great guys here, many not part of the scene. For some reason, the owner closed it in the early 1990s and turned it into a straight club, Very odd, as the soi was increasingly becoming a gay area with Telephone having opened. Most of Rome Club's various reincarnations have not lasted long.

Saunas started to appear тАУ or at least come on to my radar тАУ in the early 1980s. The owner of Apollo started a modest one in a residential district called GreyтАЩs Athletic Club. Quite difficult to find, it rarely seemed to have many customers but always a lot of money boys. The first western-style sauna was I think Volt, just off Asoke. Soon there was Obelisks, a small ten story sauna that did wonders for your leg muscles (although it did also have a slow lift)! It had quite an active jacuzzi on the roof. The Beach opened further along Sukhumvit, as well as a nice smaller one whose name I have forgotten. This was at the end of a small soi off Ploenchit between the President Hotel and Chidlom.

The revolution in saunas came with the opening of the original Babylon in the building at the top of what is now titled Soi Mozart off Sathorn Soi 1. This was the first to offer a tastefully designed and decorated building, a long rooftop terrace with bar, different shower areas and a small ground floor restaurant. Soon it was massively popular both with Thais and farang, the latter being not much in evidence in the earlier saunas. It would not be unusual to have to queue for up to 30 minutes for entrance at week-ends Around the same time, Heaven opened at the river end of Silom, still in the same premises today.

Not sure when the fashion in gay massage establishments started. The only one I sometimes visited was Volt in Soi Aree (close to Chakran sauna and now part of Chakran itself). Then Volt was extremely popular as it usually had a load of handsome guys working there, some being off-duty models and TV actors.

I donтАЩt know whether it is the rose-tinted spectacle syndrome or memory playing tricks, but a few things stand out for me from these times. The bars certainly seemed to be a lot more enjoyable and the boys themselves seemed to be having much more fun than today. I suspect more were actually gay whereas today a substantial majority are straight. Also the boys were generally less modest than today. Perhaps oddly, Pattaya did not have as many gay bars in the early-mid 1980s. Bangkok was the place to be.

IтАЩm really interested to hear lurkerтАЩs observations (and hope I haven't stolen all his thunder)!

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