Travellerdave

Very interesting and sobering data there Z909. During my occasional visits to Bkk I used to go running in Lumpini Park in the early evening and found breathing the air not good and so kept the runs short. I suppose that air quality in Pattaya would be variable but mostly better, particularly on the beach and in the Complex. I recall stopping at a cafe on a busy road there and having to sit virtually next to the road in amongst the fumes from innumerable motor bikes and diesel baht buses. I shifted my seat when one further back became vacant. A waitress said “you no like sit there” I replied about the fumes and she said it was bad for those who work there.

That photo of the Zing Resort showing they are opening on 1 July is encouraging for me taking into account the U.K. government’s plan for foreign travel to be allowed from 17 June {I Think) . I’ve pencilled in a trip for July. However there is no word from the Thais as to if and when they will reopen. I have stayed there a number of times and liked the rather basic but adequate rooms and the decent sized pool. Happy memories sitting by it with boyfriends. I wonder if the Ambience in Boystown is open - that was my regular place before the Zing.

Over the years of my visits to Pattaya as a gay tourist, I have used both Grindr and Romeo to good effect, but with the latter it is important to upgrade by paying the small subscription to more easily get in contact with the more attractive boys. I occasionally logon to Romeo whilst at home but just now I was not impressed by the display. There was only two boys available in the 18-24 bracket and they were outnumbered by ladyboys, which are of no interest to me. I did recognise one of the older expat farangs and had a good online conversation with him. Romeo is of course suffering like everything else from the lack of high spending tourists. Gay Expats tend to have their regular boyfriends. It remains to be seen what contribution the dating apps make when and if things return to “normal”

Thanks z909 for that rather interesting and appropriate guide which If printed it would occupy perhaps one third of an A4 sheet of paper. If you were able to extend it to say year 2003 or 2010 I think you would have to compress it to stay within 1 page !. Maybe not, but in the period 2002 to 2003 when I discovered Pattaya there must have been 20 + gogos and many more gay bars. The apps are not substitute for the bars although they do have their place. I’m like a 100 metre sprinter poised on the starting block waiting for the gun to sound so as to return and spread prosperity amongst the bars and boys. Cant see it happening for at least 6 months. Government here in U.K. are warning us not to book any sort of travel until the pandemic situation is clearer.

I agree with daydreamer that whilst having a.longer term relationship it’s good to get away from Bkk or Pattaya for a few days to avoid things getting stale. The boys always like that and sometimes suggest it. With LTR boy I actually visited his family home in Samet Sakhon near Bkk. I was nervous about this but it turned out ok especially when I took 8 family members for a nice meal with lots of beer. They knew all about his work in Pats and it turned out I wasn’t the first farang he had taken there. I also went with that boy and a friend and his boy to Koh Samet for 3 nights at a beach resort. Lots of fun in and out of the water with our boys wearing very sexy speedos we bought for them in Pattaya Central sports store. Lots of stares from other guests of course. A great break indeed from trawling the bars in search of that 5* boy. I also agree with Londoner regarding the ambition of the boys to have a LTR. Great prestige is gained by showing your farang off to your friends and having him buy them drinks. The ultimate is when he is persuaded to develop a relationship with Western Union whilst back home (I have to plead guilty myself)

Yes on reflection I should have included the boys from Cambodia and Laos. In recent years they have been a very welcome addition to the Thailand gay scene. I hope to see them again when the wonderful day arrives for normal travel.

This is a very interesting survey and I am not surprised to see that meetings and offs after the first one usually prove to be better. That has by and large been my experience when I have had boys for multiple nights. The reason I think in my case is that I pay relatively well so from the second meet the boy will give good service knowing he will be well rewarded for pandering to my sexual tastes. in recent years I have visited Pattaya for multiple short periods whilst about 10 years ago I was able to stay for a couple of months. During those trips I settled after my first week, with one boy rather than “ do the butterfly”, with him being a live-in boyfriend. Although I did occasionally spice things up with threesomes. Looking back I believe those periods were the best periods of my adventures in Thailand.

Yes I assume the majority of Pattaya’s sex workers are still back at their homes in Isaan where the living is much cheaper and maybe a few low wage employment opportunities exist. Meanwhile the bulk of their customers are in some form of lockdown in farang land reminiscing about happy times.

I’ve also noticed the quantity of ladyboys logged onto Grindr and Romeo when I’ve occasionally checked looking for boys I remember. Compared with pre-COVID there were few boys in the prime 18-25 age group - in fact outnumbered by ladyboys. Yes the reason about no alternative work is likely. But I wonder also if there is more of a market for ladyboy sex in lockdown wanted by expats, whereas gay tourists like me want boys and we are not there.

The investors in that hotel must be hoping for tourists to return and maybe putting pressure on government to make happen.

I wonder if we could collectively name over 10 Sunee gogo’s ?

Biguyby,- yes thinking about it - the Coco gym must be as you say on the 4th floor. During my February trip I visited I think 5 times. The entrance was on beach road via a lift. There was not much else on that floor.

The ninth floor was a gym a year ago called Coco. I went there a few times.

Maybe the leases forbid tenants to operate as a Gogo. Here I am assuming that the Complex freehold is owned by some sort of property company which receives rent. It is of course common in the West for leases to contain clauses that forbid certain activities, such as not operating as a bar or brothel. I have even seem a lease clause forbidding the keeping of pigeons (they make a mess).

Is there not some sort of office in the Complex which deals with tenant relations and matters like the maintenance of utilities and repairs ?. Perhaps a member currently in Pattaya could call and make enquiries. He could say that he is acting on behalf of a good number of gay visitors who would appreciate the opening of one or more boy gogos as soon as the current COVID crisis is over. This would increase footfall and lead to less vacant units. Another point is that the Venue has Caberet style shows featuring boy and ladyboy performers. Is there an essential difference between this business and a Gogo ?

The Venue is the only hotel in the Complex where I have not stayed - my favourite is the Zing Resort. I suppose I should edit my statement to something like “where the noise problem largely does not exist”

I believe that some hotel owners or managers have never actually stayed in their establishments. I have stayed in hundreds of hotels over many years for work and tourism ( budget and premium) (U.K., Europe, North America and of course Thailand). Just a few of things I have found and which annoy me are :- Room doors not adjusted so they don’t slam, worn key cards that don’t work, huge mechanical keys more appropriate to a jail. sinks that don’t retain water due to a faulty or missing plug, toilets that don’t flush properly, showers when it’s impossible to set a desired temperature, tv’s with incomprehensible controls, dud batteries in aircon or tv remotes, dim bedside lights rendering reading impossible, useless wifi, rip-off rates for house phone calls, lack of coat hangers, etc etc etc

Londoner - after reading your piece above I reflected that it could have been written by myself given the sentiments you have described. I first discovered Pattaya in 2001 when I visited in company with a gay friend from home, with whom I had spent several holidays in Playa del Ingles, Gran Canaria. After finding our feet we discovered we were in some sort of heaven the centre of which was BT, with its gay gogo’s and outdoor bars. Subsequently I stayed many times at the Ambiance and came to love its querky architecture. There were usually some str guests but usually civilised m/f couples who often had been attracted by positive reports on trip adviser. The change happened after the discovery by Chinese females of BBB, turning it from a gay orientated bar to a boy bar, and contributing to the late night sleep defeating noise with their shrieks. Finally i shifted my custom to the Jomtien Complex where the noise problem does not exists and a pleasant seaside atmosphere prevails for us gays including GAY bars. In BT.I used to patronise Cupidol, after it shifted premises into BT despite the pestering mamasam, who eventually found that I wasn’t an endless source of drinks and that I preferred to select a boy myself rather than be guided by her recommendation. However during the last couple of trips I just found it no longer had the sort of atmosphere and boys I preferred. when I eventually get back to Pattaya (when is the question) I don’t know what I will find in BT (maybe nothing) I hope there are enough elderly dinosaurs like myself to provide sufficient business for a recovery to a semblance of the place we used to love.

I have vague memories of visiting a girlie Gogo maybe 15 years ago but more recently I went with a str guy who I chatted to at the Ambience where he was a fellow guest. The subject was soccer as the World Cup was in progress. He proposed we go to a sports bar to watch a match. This was very busy of course not just with customers but with a range of girls anywhere from 18 to 40 years old. There was a happy atmosphere with much soccer talk and with banter between the customers and the bar girls, promoted by the manager. The bar was well fitted out with a number of large screens and the drinks were at a relatively low price. The girls were sexily clothed and had made a big effort with their appearance which no doubt paid dividends when the customers thoughts turned from sport to sex. later I proposed that he accompanied me to BT where he rather reluctantly agreed to visit a Gogo (Cupidol where I had offed a boy two nights previously and wanted to do so again). Having a final drink back at the Ambience with me and my boy he commented about the lack of enthusiasm of the boy dancers and the high drink prices compared with str gogos and also he found the atmosphere rather subdued compared with the sports bar. He agreed with me that the boys could be better presented wearing more variety than white underwear. He liked his girlfriends in fetish gear and asked why the boys did not wear that stuff on stage. Perhaps gay Gogo proprietors should get some ideas from the str ones.

My impression is that currently in Europe, N America and Australia there is a huge pent up demand for holidays. Many who have retained jobs or business are flush with cash due to lack of spending opportunities in the lock downs. My hope is that when the vaccines start to defeat COVID probably next May to July that dam will burst and tourist friendly resorts such as the Thai ones will experience a boom. Numbers of Gay visitors will arrive in Pattaya and Bkk to enjoy the sun, nightlife, value hotels and the exotic atmosphere and of course interaction with attractive young Asian guys. Opening a closed gay bar or Gogo takes little capital, only perhaps a little generosity to the boys in brown. I personally would not like the Gogo boys to dance naked regardless of what goes on in girlie bars. Perhaps variety away from the whities maybe more towards thongs jocks or speedos.

I used to be a little amused and more than a little annoyed when the Chinese tour parties passed through BT gawping at us gays sat in the open bars. Of course that did not happen in Sunee and in the Complex there was sometimes only a few harmless str MF couples visiting to see the action and us gays with our Asian boyfriends.

The reduction in gay tourists visiting Pattaya has been discussed within several threads by members. There is no doubt that it has happened with numbers of older gays dwindling and not being replaced by younger. This is in contrast with the vast increase in family holiday makers and str sex tourists. I first visited in year 2000 and for me the attraction of the low priced facilities , the climate, the gay nightlife and especially of Asian boys has never faded. We have had to live with incursions. into OUR bars by Chinese ladies and onto OUR beach by females. I still do not understand why it has happened

Vinapu - that’s a very depressing question ! As to z909’s advice about the joiner issue. I have seldom had a problem with this. In Pattaya I stay in known gay friendly hotels, but on several occasions in Bangkok when just walking in looking for a room I have asked about joiners and in addition stated that I am gay and my joiners will be male.

Z909 That picture taken from the Classroom balcony is torturing me, in excise in dark cold locked down England. What I see is sunshine and blue sky and a view of the darker blue of the warm tropical sea. Worst of all you mention you mention a naked boyfriend walking on the balcony. A sign I see reads “short time long time” - Anytime with a Pattaya boy would would would be heaven for me just now !.

I would go along with z909 in that if you are looking to off one of the more attractive boys it would be better to get there early, when most of them are in the bar and have not been claimed by other customers either for an off or for in -bar activities. It’s very frustrating to arrive with the intention of offing a certain boy only to find him draped around someone else. This is less likely to happen 8 to 9 pm.