Gay bars for Thais only?

[neoncrusade]

I'm only about 4 months away now from selling my house in the UK and moving out to LOS (Land of Scams).

As I am sorting thru all my shit here I have just come across the book that initiated my first trip to Thailand back in the early 90's...a book called 'Trees in the same forest' The Men of Thailand revisited book 1.

Re-reading, I was intrigued by this: 'Gay bars most frequented by the Thai are very different than those tourists visit, and many falang are repelled by them. Some feel that barboys are meat-racked, because they sit along a wall in street clothes. Whereas some Thai feel ashamed of GoGo bars where boys are nearly or completely nude.

Have I missed something here? The only bar in Pattaya I ever remember where boys were in street clothes was Adam & Eve. Are there other bars that catered (or still do) to Thai patrons only? I know that there are plenty of girly bars aimed primarily at Thais ( you know the ones I mean...small shop fronts with lots of pink neon strip lights). Is there still, or has there ever been a gay equivalent?

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[Narakmak]

Host bars in Saphan Kwai Bangkok for example. Some real choice young men there, for sure. Yes you have missed something.

[Marsilius]

The majority of bars in Bangkok's Saphan Kwai district are of the clothed "host bar" variety. Madam Ed's (used to be called Adam & Eve) is the only one I can think of in Pattaya.

[pong]

as above-but as you noted, your book (I have it too-plus later edtions) is now nearly 20 yrs old. There used to be the odd bar even barring those nasty stinky white farang-but that has all ceased last century. In fact most of those bars have closed altogether. And if you move to Thailand you should have noted that PTY is not a prime example of Thai habits-rather the opposite.
As has also ben reported here more as once, the new media, with sites like gayromeo and the like, seem to have taken over much of the trade. Also in big city BKK the nr of gay sauna's has mushroomed-well over 40 now. As have those all-in massageplaces (all in= not for the price-a big tip is expected for the extra) that deliver more as just that massage. But there is still the odd Sapan Kwai with clothed, but off-able bar-boys, offering karaOK to entertain you. In those massageplaces you usually also get a ''meatrack'' of boys to choose from. They may be fully or half clothed, but in general Thai rely on advice of the receptionist

Before the coming of the internet back in the 1990's Thai's ran escort agency's using Thai Magazines etc.. to advertise. Some of the more savvy ones would send a guy around to your apartemnt on a motorbike with an album of photographs so you could chose who you wanted, the escort agency would then send him/her around charging a fixed fee for either short or longtime. These were initially set up for the Thai punters but also catered for farangs who latched on to them.

As already pointed out most of the Thai style bars (boys were always wearing their street clothes sitting around inside) were located either in the Saphan Khwai area and the Sois off Sukhumvit Road. I never heard of or experienced any bar that refused farangs or made them feel unwelcome. One of the oldest that comes to mind going back to the middle, late 1980's in Bangkok was Big Boy Bar Sukhumvit Soi 11.

I also knew Eric Allyn (Men Of Thailand author) who was a true Gentleman and treated everyone with the greatest of respect when compiling information for his book.

[stevehadders]

I remember on my first visit to Chiang Mai I was told about such bars - for Thais mainly, and had boys in their street clothes......although I never visited - I was told that the Thai customers wanted discretion, and didn't really appreciate farangs in their midst (which I can fully understand )

[llz]

The Saphan Kwai concept (boys in their street clothes sitting in front of the customers) is still living and well, and some gems are sometimes hidden among the staff.
The same format is found in the less touristy places all over Thailand : in Hat Yai, Udon Thani, Phitsanuloke (this one still to be checked by me), and probably some other towns, the bars have the same model with case-by-case special rules (for example in Hat Yai, the tip for the boy must be paid upfront to the bar). In these places, farangs are usually quite welcomed.
And then there are the houses of boys which are more or less off limits for us ; I know there are (or have been) such places in Chiang Mai, Lampang, Ubon Ratchathani, Ratchaburi and probably many other towns. I almost never went to these places and would not even dare to tell anything about them.

I almost never went to these places and would not even dare to tell anything about them.

llz "I almost never went to these places" did you or didn't you? Rumours abound in Thailand as well as many other places about what kind of places are hidden away, but one rarely if ever hears of such places from a trusted source. It's like the Russian Go-Go Boys in Pattaya, that one was doing the rounds back in the late eighties if not earlier.

[Beachlover]

I was intrigued by this: 'Gay bars most frequented by the Thai are very different than those tourists visit, and many falang are repelled by them. Some feel that barboys are meat-racked, because they sit along a wall in street clothes. Whereas some Thai feel ashamed of GoGo bars where boys are nearly or completely nude.

I think you should distinguish that you (and this book) aren't referring to "gay bars" in general, but specifically, "prostitute bars", "commercial sex bars" or "gogo bars".

I'm only about 4 months away now from selling my house in the UK and moving out to LOS...

Cool... good luck with it!

[DamienZ]

Re-reading, I was intrigued by this: 'Gay bars most frequented by the Thai are very different than those tourists visit, and many falang are repelled by them. Some feel that barboys are meat-racked, because they sit along a wall in street clothes. Whereas some Thai feel ashamed of GoGo bars where boys are nearly or completely nude.

Have I missed something here? The only bar in Pattaya I ever remember where boys were in street clothes was Adam & Eve. Are there other bars that catered (or still do) to Thai patrons only? I know that there are plenty of girly bars aimed primarily at Thais ( you know the ones I mean...small shop fronts with lots of pink neon strip lights). Is there still, or has there ever been a gay equivalent?

Cool post.
I admit that I have only limited experience in host bars. However on those nights when I have felt adventurous, I have on occasion gone off the beaten path to a few "sticky" spa's. I mention this because I sense an underlying theme to your post. That of culture and human behavior in general. This is just a personal observation but in retrospect, I really cannot now find any fault (though I resented the hell out of it at first), with the inherent tendency of the Thai to "limit" foreign participation to major cities and venues. Many cultures have a way of protecting and isolating themselves from the "eyes of conquest" and all that it entails. Having culturaly exclusive bars, spas, and other venues where social ritual is exclusive is not unsual, and as a matter of course would be the norm. I mean honestly, can you blame the Thai? This might sound off topic and out there, maybe a little too academic, but give it a thought when you feel a twinge of resentment or you feel that you have missed something. Best of luck on your reallocation! Keep an open mind and heart and all will be just ducky! Right?

:hello2: