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table service by waiters who are as sweet as the cheesecake 👍

Another memory thanks to the friends at sawatdee network. This time a post by dab69 made on August 16 2011. "In its early days Soi 4's nocturnal entertainment was fairly low-key. Except for one bar which was perhaps the most famous and popular of the early gay venues. The Rise of the Rome Club The Rome Club had a number of unsuccessful incarnations before its long run as Bangkok's erstwhile foremost gay/mixed venue; initially occupying a single shop-house it was so popular that it soon quadrupled in size. The club presented a successful mix of extravagantly staged dance shows with a Saturday Night Fever-style disco. The owners presided over the events and the place did not warm up until the DJ strode across the floor, entered his box and played music that many recall as being the best disco selection in Bangkok. From 11 PM to closing the place was buzzing with bodies gyrating to the sounds of Abba, U2, Culture Club, Michael Jackson, Gloria Gaynor, Duran Duran and other pop greats. For the times it was an unbeatable formula. Decline and Fall of the Rome Club The Rome was a kind of Asian Studio 54, attracting a diverse and eclectic global clientele with many of what has been described as Bangkok's "Beautiful People" mixing and mingling with the more ordinary mortals. For many years the Rome Club dominated the Bangkok gay scene by providing what their public wanted and operating an inclusive door policy: if you were gay or gay friendly, bisexual or some other orientation and above all good looking and trendy you were welcomed to enjoy the bar. But in a strange, sudden and inexplicable reversal of strategy the club's owners decided that their gay clientele were no longer welcome heralding the beginning of the end for this particular empire." https://sawatdeenetwork.com/v4/showthread.php?12445-Does-anyone-know-Gay-History/page2 The end was quick. As soon as gays began leaving in droves, the Club desperately tried to survive. But when a good 70%-75% of your clientele has disappeared, survival became impossible. Perhaps after such a success for at least 15 years the owners just had a death wish.

I am sure @macaroni21 will have lots more fascinating anecdotes. As for those interested in the history of gay Bangkok going much further back, I note there is a series of articles in the sawatdee network forum. I'll wade through a few but in the meantime here is one from Brad the Impala dated April 13 2011 about his first Bangkok experiences in 1973. I am sure neither he nor the sawatdee owner/moderator will mind my copying that article here - "I believe that the oldest gay bar in Thailand was the Sea Hag in Silom Road. It opened and probably closed it's doors before I visited first in 1972, when I spent only a few days in Bangkok, before spending a couple of months in Pattaya, just enjoying the beach and exploring the area where there were no gay specific venues. The following year I investigated Bangkok a little further and discovered Silom Soi 4, which had the Lonely Boy, the bar next to it, Tomboy, owned by a working policeman, and the Apollo, which was wrongly thought of as only a Thai for Thai venue." https://sawatdeenetwork.com/v4/showthread.php?12445-Does-anyone-know-Gay-History I have written here before about the small Apollo bar located above where Sphinx restaurant and bar used to be at the end of the right side of Soi 4. It was definitely not a Thai-for-Thai bar although may have looked so because a quick glance inside would have shown there were hardly ever any farang. I had found the Apollo bar by accident in the Spring of 1980 and absolutely loved it. I was a regular on several visits every year, all before I discovered the first bar in Soi Pratuchai, Twilight, around 1983. I believe Twilight had opened quite a few years beforehand in a different location. It certainly seems to have been the first go-go bar in what became known as Soi Twilight. After that, from around 1986 for me it was almost always Barbiery across the road. I'm not sure when Apollo died but I think it was before then. Barbiery was such a fun place to visit and must have had around 100 boys working over the weekends. All the boys seemed to be having a ball, the shows were innovative and the mamasans never pushy. Mind you, you could tell from the attendance board in Twlight that it, too, had a large number of boys. And of course in those days I think every barboy was Thai, not a few from the same villages.

Christianpfc would be outraged at even a fifth of that, I think. 🤣🤣🤣 But seriously, at 5000, I'd get more value in Japan.

Reflecting recent opening and closers, our map of Jomtien Complex has been updated. See you all at Pride!

If a guy has no problem getting hard that doesn't mean necessarily hs is taking pills.

Continuing the theme of gay bars and venues in Bangkok of old, although not on topic I think the Moderator will not mind this being posted here. The name Professor Peter Jackson will be known to some as a result of the books he has written about Queer Asia. He is Emeritus Professor of Thai History and Cultural Studies at the Australian National University's College of Asia and the Pacific's School of Culture, History and Language (I wonder how he gets all that on to a business card 😵)! He is also a member of the Hong Kong-based editorial collective of the HK University Press' Queer Asia series of monographs. The histories of Buddhism, gender, sexuality and globalisation in Thailand have been his primary research. His recent books include Queer Bangkok and The Language of Sex and Sexuality in Thailand. He has frequently made the point that rather than being "traditional", the country's queer communities only came into being in the latter decades of the 20th century. One of the posts on the sawatdee nation thread on the Gay History of Thailand has a link to a long academic paper he wrote for the Journal of Gay and Lesbian Studies in 1999. This is titled An American Death in Thailand and subtitled The Murder of Daniel Berrigan and the Hybrid Origins of Gay Identity in 1960s Thailand. The post was made by RonantheBarbarian on August 17 2011. As he introduces the paper, he writes - "One of the best known gay westerners in Bangkok in the post-World War II years was Darrell Berrigan. He was one of the founders of the 'Bangkok World' newspaper in 1945, which was up until the 1980s the main competitor of the Bangkok Post. He was quite closeted seemingly, it is only known that he was gay because he was rather sensationally murdered in 1965, by a male sexual partner, and this became something of a celebrity scandal in the press. "The article can be hard reading, because as with all academic articles Jackson has to spend the firsts few pages spouting theoretical jargon. I would suggest you read from the paragraph entitled 'Expatriate Homosexual men in Postwar Bangkok' From that point on it is fascinating. In the article, as well as giving a lot of information about Berrigan's life and times (he was involved with the CIA, American espionage, etc.), Jackson also talks about Jim Thompson. Thompson was almost certainly also gay, although some who have written about him, such as William Warren, have made an attempt to make him out as straight. However Jackson does not accept that argument at all and according to him, we can take it one of the most celebrated farangs of mid-twentieth century Bangkok was gay." I entirely agree that the first pages should be skipped (unfortunately there are no page numbers but each section is headed in large type and so it is not difficult to find Expatriate Homosexual Men in Post-War Bangkok.) The name Daniel Berrigan may not be known to many now but he became something of a cause celebre as a result of his murder. The history surrounding that event is fascinating. At a time when the new government-to-be (hopefully!) is talking about gay marriage, in the mid-1960s the Thai language media was almost vicious in its declared loathing of homosexuality. The Thai Rath newwspaper referred to Berrigan's "sexual degeneracy"; Siam Nikorn described Berrigan as "having the illness of sexual degeneracy". Indeed the word "gay" had never been used in Thailand until around that time. Kathoeys were accepted. A man with a desire to have sex with another man was not! Berrigan himself had adopted two young men who lived with him. But they were referred to as his sons. Even so, one Thai newspaper claimed it was common knowledge that Berrigan had forcibly assaulted him sexually not once but twice. Jim Thomson features in Berrogan's story. It was always assumed that, like his friend Berrigan, Thomson was gay, although his official biographer threw in suggestions of romantic affais with women. On his last visit to Bangkok in 1959, Somerset Maugham was invited to dinner at Jim Thomson's house. Berrigan was also a guest. The author William Warren, who was to write one of the first books on Jim Thomson's later mysterious disappearance The Unsolved Mystery, described ". . . Thompson, and we might add their mutual acquaintance Berrigan, as resembling characters from a Maugham tale, 'lone—but never lonely—men who find contentment in exotic places': often homosexual men attempting to escape homophobic attitudes and laws back home or on a romantic quest for foreign partners." When Berigan's murderer was arrested, Thai Rath had a banner headline stating the murderer "Confesses He Shot Berrigan While 'Making Love.'" All the while the English language media were far more reserved in their reporting. Other interesting issues Jackson raises is describing how in the early 1950s the police and the army formed two opposing politicoeconomic cliques. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/12116

I only remember Roxy because for a time it employed a group of genuine dancers - as oppposed to go-go dancers. This group of 8 or so students had been formed in early 2001 specifically to provide alternative entertainment in the X-treme bar on the first floor of a building in Soi Twilight. Many found it a bit strange that the bar was run by a retired expat who had been employed by the Church of England in some capacity. All I recall is that he had a full head of white hair and his Thai boyfriend who was sometimes studying in the bar was aggressively handsome! The bar also had a dozen or so go-go boys who never seemed very enthusiastic about the dancing part of the job. The boys in the real dance troupe on the other hand were great - mostly very good looking, excellent dancers, generally well-choreographed numbers with a bit of sexiness thrown in, and they happily flirted with customers between their two sets. If there was any problem with their 'act' it was long pauses between numbers. X-treme died about a couple of years later when the German who owned 2 or 3 go-go bars on the opposite side of the soi took the dancers on for his bars. They obviously did little to improve his patronage and so he let them go. Roxy on Soi 4 took them on but there again I think they did not last long. I still have a DVD produced by the bar, although the visual quality is not good.

I did the ride yesterday, full operational length from Samrong BTS to Hua MAK Airport line. Transfer at Samrong is easy via covered walkway and well posted. Ride is now free and is facilitated by distributing free tickets. Ride takes 31 minutes and frequency is every 10 minutes. I managed to secure position at front window for better experience. Nice views of Bangkok skyline, at few points MahaNakhon seems to be dwarfed by other buildings. Line is totally elevated so views are guaranteed. At Hua MAK there, s still some connection work to be done and is pretty long walk, I, d not advise to connect with ARL that way with substantial luggage. Will post some pictures when arrive home as I need to sort through them. From tourist point of view line us if little use but when full length will be operational it will greatly ease an access to Lad Prao upper sois and their massage places.

There are the TokyoBTMs. Their channel is entertaining to me. https://www.youtube.com/@TokyoBTM But I agree that there is a huge number of Thailand vloggers out there so you would think there would be at least some covering gay things. Ethan Lusby has some decent videos and a lot of click bait. But he's been forced to leave Thailand because he had too many entries and exits. https://www.youtube.com/@ethanlusbytravels/featured

On the 6th of June, JQK Bar was closed by Jomtien Complex staff and all residents evicted due to failure to pay rent. Sadly, I don't think it will be the last this low season.

Ya, what did I miss? It's sometimes fun to watch catfights, but I try to tell myself that it's never any fun for moderators. So, let me put in a word of appreciation for the hard and stressful work they do. Thank you for keeping this a valuable forum.

The official Jomtien Complex website has re-launched after being offline since 2020. Check it out! www.JomtienComplex.com Also, we have the new updated 2023 map! See you all soon in the complex!

As I go to pack my bags for my upcoming trip ,it just occurred to me I need to pack Viagra . Not for me as I'm a bottom but for the straight boys I will encounter. I only had a few last year unable to get that hard young erection up 🍆,I have no idea why not, most guys in seeing my old 62yo behind immediately get a hard on , but I still tipped them on the agreed price anyhow, which I recommend not to do ,but they made up for it in other ways 😉 I'm tossing up to wait until I get to Thailand to buy it ,whether I should even bother ,oh it's a worry now, maybe the Kamagra ,I know Cialis takes a long time to work , it's not a easy decision and one I must make 😀

If rising to the occasion should become an issue, they’ll simply go to phone porn. Wouldn’t even bother bringing it. in any case, you may very well be in no position to even be aware of it.

several videos up on YT from opening day

I'm man. You love men? Shock, you must be a gay then

Doesnt seem we have any Gay Vloggers in Asia unlike the straight crowd ? I wish Christian & macaroni would start vlogging .

Please do some more blogs and even vlogs if you can,I miss your stuff

It looks that one if us had good luck or other had bad luck. For me Dreamboys visit was low and most disappointing point of the trip. But this again supports what I always advocate " go and see for yourself"

Too much thinking causes headache for uninitiated

I beg to differ! I just visited Dreamboys and out of 30 guys on stage, I would take half of them. Yes, many are old timers but they are keeping themselves in shape. Music was not that loud. I found music at Jupiter to be louder. I was at 1030pm show on a Thursday night. Show is same same but opening coyote dancing is not done by professionals anymore. It's now in-house with 11 of the Dreamboys guys on stage dancing. Unfortunately, most can't dance. Kudos for effort. Rest of show was entertaining enough. Quick transition between performances. Just the right balance of drag queen diva lip synching and other performances including two big cock shows with sucking. There was a Magic Mike style dance where two hunks in police uniforms danced and e eventually stripped down. That was the highlight for me. Comparable in standard to Jupiter and Moonlight. Macho guy in high heels dancing was there as well. Many customers and had to squeeze. Main difference is no ladies in crowd unlike Jupiter which had many lady customers. I have visited 3 out of 4 bars on Soi Patpong. Left Hotmale to visit on another night.

Have you guys met? Your quick wit never ceases to amaze me 😱

It was a welcome sight last night when I was again greeted by the “S and M” tout on Patpong 2. The bar has reopened as has the one adjacent to it on the Silom end of Soi after a month’ or so closure.

Love between those two never stops

Governor Gavin Newsom got right to the point when seeing immigrants from Florida showing up at a Sacramento church. The CA Attorney General is talking kidnapping charges! https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jun/05/california-florida-migrants-sacramento

Disney canceled a 1 billion dollar investment in Orlando. That slowed his mouth a little.

Ya think?

Very nice place for coffee. Was there this afternoon.

Despite changes mentioned by OP in this thread, things remain the same along gay Soi Patpong. Tuesday night but no lack of customers. In fact many were casual tourists who went inside the bars for the shows. Hot Male beer bar downstairs remains best spot for people watching as they walk up and down the soi. And of course it's a great spot to perv at the shirtless Dreamboys guys on the balcony. Hot Male beer bar staff are as friendly and chatty as ever. Freshboys 10.30pm show was well attended - a group of farang tourists comprising one guy and three ladies, a gay Taiwan couple, a big spender with bottle service and two Freshboys guys (who have changed out of Freshboys white shorts) and a mamasan around him and an eclectic Asian group in their 40s/50s (5 men, 3 women). The lead guy was seated with the women and dispensing tips to performers on stage. The other men called down a Freshboys guy to sit with them. Later before second show, two farang ladies came in, with one of them using crutches as her leg was in a cast. She must have heard many good things about the show because she was willing to climb up the narrow stairs to the bar! As for Freshboys guys mostly twinks and some twunks. Many familiar faces from last year. Mamasans and waiters also same, including one lanky handsome waiter with a number tag. Show was same as well. Mix of ladyboy lip synching, shower show and big cock show (4 of them). Drinks at 400 baht.

Friday evening Tawan bar packed for the show at 10.30.had few, Ok, four, boys sitting with me and one of them noticed that i'm only one of three farangs in audience. Show included ,ahem, special show ,passive was one of their twinks of whom I counted six including original one ,Mas. Again I think it's friendliest bar of them all, BananaClub ,surprisingly perhaps considering fearsome Lucy is mamasaning there being second.

Let me start by saying how much I really enjoy @macaroni21's posts and longer comments on the shamlessmack site. I still have copies of his guide to masseur types and the ground plan he posted years ago about his ideal Bangkok go-go bar. if only someone could have taken him up on his suggestion! As for Bali, I agree with his comments about Ubud. I now find it much overrated but then my memories go much further back, although not nearly as far as @Marc in Calif. My first trip there was in 1981 when I stayed in the Campuan Hotel just over the bridge at the end of town on the way to Sayan. It was merely a large wooden building which incorporaed the admin offices and an open dining room. Each accommodation was a simple hut on the hillside with gauze for windows and buckets with holes in the base for showers. The hope was you could raise the bucket high enough to get some water before it emptied! Yet I loved that hotel and its wonderfully friendly staff. There was a western style bar nearer the bridge and just over it Murni's Cafe with superb honey drenched yoghurt with fruit! I returned 10 times over the next five years. Wandering through the rice paddies you could make out the sound of gamelin playing in several villages. There was virtually no sex but it was the culture of the island that totally gripped me. Yet it was starting to become clear that more and more tourists were visiting. So I stopped going. The charms of Bangkok had won me over some years earlier and so I concentrated my future visits in Thailand. I did return in with my bf in 2005 as he was desperate to see Bali. I was reluctant but gave in. I found the island almost overrun and the peace I had enjoyed two decades earlier had all but disappeared - even in Ubud. But then that is just how tourism works. I was saddened by that visit, but remain thrilled at my meories of earlier times.

This is confusing on two levels. I'm probably out of date, but I've always thought that BTS refers to the the original "skytrain", whereas "MRT" refers to the subway system. But here I see BTS Group Holdings, MRTA and the Yellow Line (which I believe is an MRT line) all in the same press release. Does that mean that BTS has taken over the MRT? If so, why don't they have a seamless ticketing system? On a more minor note, if the Yellow line is part of the MRT system (as I think it is) why the need for cabinet approval to collect fares? And if people can hop from one colour line to another, how exactly will the "free" rides work?

Feasting there on churros as we speak. Very nice place , not expensive and nice respite from midday heat. And yes right across from Tawan,s old location and 2 door from new one. Generous mug of tea. Staff cute and smiling. Great addition to the scene and area.

Jomtien Complex Supertown Thriving In 2023 https://jomtiencomplex.com/2023/03/08/jomtien-complex-supertown-thriving-in-2023/

Some years ago I saw a tv programme about the possibility of a mega-tsunami hitting the US East Coast. Apparently one of the islands in the Canary Islands chain has a major fault line and the western edge of the main active volcano Cumbre Vieja could collapse into the sea. Much of the Canary Islands coastline is made up of massve steep cliffs. Were a collapse to happen, 1.5 trillion metric tons of earth would crash into the ocean. There is a paper about it in the Penn State/University of New Orleans site - "models suggest that if it were to collapse it would generate a tsunami 1000 m high that would be 50 m when it arrived in Europe and along the eastern coast of the US. Because this scenario would be devastating to cities including New York, Boston, and Miami as well as coastal real estate in New Jersey, North and South Carolina, and Florida, it has been rigorously investigated by scientists." The tv programme estimated the height of a tsunami reaching the US East Coast as nearer 100 m. Whichever it might be, the site does point out that not all scientists are in agreement, but it is one of any number of natural disasters that might just happen. https://www.e-education.psu.edu/earth107/node/1609