TotallyOz Posted March 2, 2008 Posted March 2, 2008 Whether you want to chill out, immerse yourself in history or simply check out the smoking hot nightlife, Chiang Mai, in Northern Thailand, has a little bit of something to please everyone. Like most of the cities of the north, Chiang Mai is far more laid back than the southern metropolises like Bangkok, and the prices are far more reasonable. Chiang Mai is not only one of the oldest cities in Thailand, it has also hosted western tourists for hundreds of years. The city traces its own origins back at least 700 years and there are records of European explorers writing home about this “fair and great town” in the 1500s. The long history of this town is a boon to tourists who can marvel at the archeological and historical artifacts that seem to burst out of the countryside. For much of its storied history Chiang Mai was an important cultural and religious center for both Siam and Burma, which helps explain the huge number of ruins and temples that still remain to this day. Although Chiang Mai has always boasted beautiful mountains and a pleasant climate, it did not start attracting large numbers of western tourists until the early 1990s, when people started looking for new places to relax and ways to save money. Once people started visiting Chaing Mai, word spread fast and by the mid 1990s, Bangkok tourism speculators started buying up large chunks of the city and converting them into vacation havens. Chaing Mai celebrated its 700th anniversary in 1992 and in 1998 played host to the Asia Games sporting events. During the day you will want to take a walking tour through some of the more than 300 Buddhist temples including Wat Phra Singh Wat Chiang Man Wat Phan Tao Wat Jet Yod and Wat Suan Dawk all of which are at least 500 years old. You can walk through the temples on your own or rent a guide for the day. Please remember to dress respectfully when you visit any temple in Thailand; flip-flops and shorts are not appreciated. If you are into shopping, Chiang Mai has one of the most exciting nighttime bazaars in all of Thailand. This is where you want to go in order to get great deals on silk and traditional hand made crafts. On days when you don’t feel like hiking or walking, you can enjoy any number of boat trips up and down the Ping River. Just sit back, relax, watch the scenery and let your captain take charge! Chaing Mai is known as the city to go to in Thailand if you want gourmet meals at affordable prices. There are literally dozens of restaurants in the city, and almost all of them are world class. You can find nearly any type of food you desire, and you won’t have to worry about busting your wallet. The most interesting ruins in the region are called Wiang Kum Kham. They are from a lively city that was washed out in a flood 700 years ago. By far the most popular tourist activity in Chaing Mai is to ride an elephant into the jungle. These tame beasts are so tall that you will be able to see for miles and the beasts are so tame that you will always feel secure. When we last went to the elephant farm in Chiang Mai, the elephant trainers greeted us and they put on a show for us. They showed us how they taught the elephants to paint, play soccer and basketball. All of this was quiet entertaining and just a warm up for the elephant trek through the wilderness. Riding one of these wild beasts is an incredible experience. It is simply one of the most amazing things that can be done in Thailand. The elephants helped build ancient Thailand and they are respected and revered. White water rafting is another popular activity, as is rock climbing. You can rent all the gear you will need for both activities fairly cheaply if you just ask around. There is a rock climbing wall downtown that you can practice at. It is also in the middle of many gay beer bars. If you are into people watching, watching the climbers ascend the wall while sipping on a beer is very relaxing. Thailand is becoming known for its amazing gold courses. There are many tours planned that bring US and European citizens to Thailand for a week or two of playing golf at some of the most amazing courses in the world. For those of you who like to explore on your own, local guides will be happy to prepare trekking maps that will explain how to walk into and through many of the tiny villages that dot the mountains around the city. Like all of Thailand the people of Chaing Mai are very tolerant and this extends to gays and lesbians. The nightlife is hot and you can engage a host or waiter at most of the gay bars, go go taverns and meeting places. As you would expect there are many Thai ladyboys; not for everyone, but if that’s your thing you know who you are. For all the bars in the area that have shows, your best bet is to arrive around 10 p.m. and scope out the local talent before the hot boys take the stage. All feature red-hot dancers and hosts that will be ready to meet any desire you seek filled. These bars change constantly and many open and close so for the most up to date information, please see our City Guide section. The boys that work the bars here do not make salary so they do not always show nightly. Some nights are great and others just OK. It is our understanding that the boys that participate in a routine get money for that but they don’t do this every night. Far raunchier is the House Of Male. This sauna has large cruising areas, an outdoor swimming area, a bar and lots of dark corners where naughty boys can get to know each other better. House of Male 19 Sirimangklajarn Rd Soi 3 Phone: (0) 5389 - 4133 Website: http://www.houseofmale.com/ Also, give the sauna that all the Thais go to for companionship. You may not find many other farangs here as it is really a bit out of the way but it is a great place and you will find the gay boys here. Sparoma 9/4 Bardat Rd Phone: (0) 5381 – 2900 The Night Bazaar area on Chang Klan Road is also a feast of gay establishments that will rock your world. Night Bazaar Bars and Peak Bars Chang Klan Rd At some point in your trip you will want to spend some time in the city center. While this is where most of the straight tourists end up passing most of their evenings, there is also a good deal of gay friendly fun to be found if you know where to look for it! If you just want to go cruising, head over the Thaphae Gate after dark. This is the headquarters for all of the local hustlers and bad boys looking to have a good time. We were lucky enough to find locals at PJ’s Guest House who were willing to show us the ropes and show us where all the night cruising areas were. If you have a local for a guide and they are gay and know the area, Chiang Mai is a wonderful gay meeting area. If you are on your own, you may not find what you are looking for. As with most cities in Thailand, the gay scene in Chaing Mai is constantly changing but this guide should give a good idea where to start looking for your carnal adventures. We just can’t wait for you to come visit; we know you will have as good a time as we do! Hotels in Chiang Mai There are several hotel options for Chiang Mai. I choose PJ’s Place which is simply amazing to stay at and a wonderful delight to get to know the owners better. Great service and a great experience. See the full post about PJ’s. http://www.gaythailand.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=2390 Bars in Chiang Mai I think the gays areas of Chiang Mai can be broken down into a few areas. First are the ones near PJ’s Hotel. This would include Soho, House of Male, BBeez’s, The other area of the area of bars near the D2 Hotel. This area reminds me of the Sunee Plaza area in that many of the boys are roaming the street area and they are all freelancers and you need to make sure you check ID’s as not all are the age they say. If you ask any Tuk Tuk to take you to the D2, they will and they will drop you off at a rear area that is adjacent to the gay bars. The first group of these bars is mostly straight boys who work the bars. They are all freelancers and the majority are very limited in what they will do. It has a very street atmosphere to it and you know that many of the boys there are very street savvy. There are two sides to the walkway. The first set is: Dragon King - with its red colors is the first bar on the right hand side. It plays some nice music and many western singers. The bar has a pool table that is used by some of the better pool sharks in the area. The bar is directly in front of the street so you get a good view of those walking up and down the Soi., Cruise Bar is one of my favorites. The owner is a very nice guy who is great at playing pool. This bar is small and has a nice feel to it. It has more hard rock, bad boy kind of music and the guys that hang out here are a bit more hard core than some of the bars. Crème is at the very end of the right side of bars and directly in front of the rest room. This bar stays pretty busy and has some very cute guys that work there. Left side: Secrets is the first bar on the left as you walk into the bar area. It has a pool table and several guys working. It also seems to have a nice clientele base. CU Bar is without a doubt my favorite bar. The owner is from Pattaya and use to own Soho Bar in Boyztown. He has a great selection of oldies music and soft beat that I enjoy. He is also willing to help out if you see any boy in the area you like. His English is excellent and he if very friendly. The other area is mostly a Gay area. If you were at the bars across from the D2 hotel, keep walking up the Soi in the direction the Tuk Tuks are going and you will come to this set of bars. They are there and easily seen from the street and 3 of them are located right in your view. Chez Nous was our favorite bar in this area. The boyfriend liked it as it had a very cute ladyboy there each night we went and she flirted with him nonstop. It also had a good side view of the Cabaret show that is done in front of the old Climbing Wall. The wall burned down and when I was there, it had not yet been rebuilt. Paradise MTVee Bar Friendship Cupid Circle Bar Circle has been remodeled since I was here last. They did a great job of the place and expanded it in size. It does get crowded around Showtime so you may want to get there a bit early if you want a good seat to see the show. I loved the guys who worked at Circle and had a few of them over to my hotel. They are all very sexy men and I found the ones I took, I had a good time with. There were very few (if any) openly gay guys there but as long as you are not stuck on the labeling of things, you will find many of the guys are willing to do things to make sure you have a good time. I would be specific in what you want and make sure they are willing to do it before you take them off. I think drinks were around 150 bath each and the off fee was 200. I honestly don’t remember exactly but I think this was the price. The show is nice and enjoyable. It is a mixture of ladyboy show with sexy boys show. The show seems to be the one thing that most of the bars did to attract customers. All had one show or another and the performers were all very good. Circle Pub 161/7-8 Soi Erawan, Chang Phuak Rd Phone: (0) 5321 – 4996 Free Guy Club Free Guy is the place in Chiang Mai that is has the younger group of boys. Most are over 18 and between 18-20. The mamasan seems to know a great deal about all the guys and about what they will do and will not do. As always, this depends greatly on each customer. I was told that there are only 3 guys in the bar that are gay. The rest are straight which means they are top only. I had one guy I really liked and had for drinks. He was so cute and he was new to the bar and to the business. When asked the questions as to what he would and could do he was very limited. Once outside the bar, he was totally different and a fun surprise. The bar has a book of photos of all the guys. The photos are very well done and if there is someone in the book you want to see, you ask them and they will get for you. The mamasan and one waiter spoke very good English but the rest of the staff was pretty limited. The bar has a gogo show at 10PM. We got there around 8:30 and were the only customer for over an hour. There were few boys that were there but they straggled in as we had drinks. The seating is comfortable but a bit used. The outside you go through a nice walkway with a pond on each side of the runway. The bar is easy to find if you know where you are going, if not, see the map on the site. It is really right around the corner from the Novotel Hotel. Tuk Tuk’s are easily had once you leave the place. Drink are 200 bath each which I thought a bit high for the place but they say they have the only gogo boy show in town and that the rest are cabaret shows and not real gogo shows. The off fee is 200 baht. The boys there were very sexy and if you are into testosterone, this is a good place to spend an evening. The “straight” guys watched the “gay” porn on the screen and made jokes at it all night. The porn was offered for sale to me in a little book they have. They were all local Thai guys from the Chiang Mai area. The videos were pretty poor quality and a bit weird to be honest. I had to laugh at them myself and I have seen more than my share of videos over the years. One guy was getting a blowjob while the camera guy jacked him off. Anyway, the boys I met were lovely and the place defiantly has it appeal. This is one of the few places with an Internet site and they say they are working to expand it. I wish they had put the pics of the boys in the album on the site. There were some amazing pics in the album. They do have an in call facility and you can get a room upstairs or you can get massages from the guys. You can book in advance for the massage or you can get a guy that is there. Circle Club New My Way Bar This bar has always been one of my favorites in Chiang Mai. I love the show here and the guys are hot. The show lasts for 2 hours and starts at 10. Again, many of the boys don’t get there till after 9:30 so you won’t see a huge selection before. None of the boys in this bar or other bars in the area pay the boys a salary so some nights you get many and some nights you don’t. The bar has a great selection of guys working and I have never left the place without finding a date for the evening. The guys tend to be more on the bigger more masculine side and not too many smaller guys in stock but there were a few and some very sexy ones at that. The show is a mixture of showing off the boys in the beginning and then a cabaret show. The routines are great to watch. There was a few that really stepped out and made me watch from beginning to end. The one with an artist drawing a guy’s portrait and the drawing was very homoerotic was great to see. I also enjoyed one skit when the guy is asleep in bed and is moving back and forth scratching himself and hit nice hard cock is able to be seen from time to time. The ladyboy numbers were good and enjoyable to watch as well. Like most bars in Chiang Mai, the boys seem to be the secondary focus of the bar and the show is the big draw. Being a gogo lover, I don’t really understand this but that is the way it is. I guess the bars have little overhead, as most of the workers are not salary. The drinks were 150 baht each. They didn’t have a great mamasan the 4 nights I went and no on really approached me with any information. The waiters I talked to about the boys would basically bring them over to sit and chat but little information was known until this point. Perhaps, I just didn’t know the right person to talk to but if you see a repeat customer who you know you will take someone, it seems to me that you would make sure someone went over to chat with him. They pretty much kept hands off until you asked someone to sit with you. New My Way 3/5-6 Hatsadisawee Rd, Chang Phuak Phone: (0) 5340 - 4361 Khun Khantoke Friends and I went to Khun Khantoke when I was visiting Chiang Mai on a holiday from Muay Thai camp. The please is very nice and defiantly a fun thing to do while in the city. Khun Khantoke is a facility that combines food with traditional Thai music and dance. The food is delivered on a round tray that has many different options. Of course the Thai boys with us preferred the spicy dishes, while I enjoyed the more low key non spicy dishes as well as the friend banana. The dance show had a variety of numbers including both males and females. There was a knife dance and many different dances from the different areas of Thailand. Perhaps my favorite was the Issan Music and dance. It was much more lively that the girls dancing with the traditional Thai dance. The food and the atmosphere were enjoyable. The compound is set in a lovely area and has many different buildings. We were in an open-air pavilion with a few hundred others. The boys really enjoyed the music and the food. The audience consisted mostly of tourists. I was surprised to hear that in Chiang Mai, the average stay for tourists is 3 days. There is simply no way to see the city in that number of days. The city is lovely and there is so much to see outside of the major tourist attractions. Amazing Sandwich If you have a craving for a nice sandwich with your selection of toppings, give Amazing Sandwich a try. It is about halfway between PJ’s Place and Central Plaza shopping. We ate there on several occasions and always had a nice time and good food. Amazing Sandwich 252/3 Pra Pokklao Rd Phone: (0) 5321 - 8846 Theaters in Chiang Mai are relatively inexpensive. You do need to reserve tickets if it is a big opening as the tickets are bought for specific seats. There are a few theatres in town. You can see what is playing in advance at http://www.movieseer.com/showtimes.asp?Channel=2 Art Gallery This is a gay restaurant with a rainbow flag. I always much prefer to support any business that flies the flag than others. I had to try this place. We were a group of 4 and the cost for appetizers and full meals for all and drinks was 800 baht. The place is an outside area and has 2 floors. It has a great view and the manager is the gayest guy I met in Chiang Mai. The waiter staff also appeared to be gay but my gaydar doesn’t work in Chiang Mai. The food was good and my Thai boyfriend enjoyed the spicy nature of the food. The Thais that had dinner with us even had trouble eating the soup as it was very spicy for them. I know it is not for me, if they have trouble eating it. They kept eating it saying how good it was. As their faces reddened, I knew that one soup was not for me at all. I had a chicken dish that was very well done and presented. The Art Gallery does have artwork downstairs for sale as well. I will go back to this place and wish I had found it earlier in my trip. Art Gallery 119 Kampangdin Road Phone: (0) 84803 - 4265 Located opposite Mae Ping Hotel Bowling 100 baht 3 games at the places we went. One of them was close to Central Plaza shopping and it had great rates for food and drink as well. We were there two times and were the only ones there so it was nice for that extra attention of having the workers play with us and help us in our game. The Drinks were reasonably priced and the beer flowed very fast for the guys I took at the waiter really wanted to make sure we drank as much as possible. We had a fantastic trip rock climbing as well. See: http://www.gaythailand.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=2389 Quote
dapitt Posted March 2, 2008 Posted March 2, 2008 Art Gallery This is a gay restaurant with a rainbow flag. Art Gallery 119 Kampangdin Road Phone: (0) 84803 - 4265 Located opposite Mae Ping Hotel Agreed, GT. I've also enjoyed the Art Gallery very much. Very relaxing setting. And Happy Sun {the owner you mentioned} and his boys can make you feel very welcome. It will become a regular hangout for me in my visits. Quote
Guest Posted March 4, 2008 Posted March 4, 2008 Agreed, GT. I've also enjoyed the Art Gallery very much. Very relaxing setting. And Happy Sun {the owner you mentioned} and his boys can make you feel very welcome. It will become a regular hangout for me in my visits. I could not agree more and will make it a regular on my next visit as well. Happy Sun is the owner? Well, that does explain why I felt so comfortable. With a hame like Happy Sun could he be anything other than joyous? Quote
Guest farangfriend4u Posted April 1, 2008 Posted April 1, 2008 After a week in Chiang Mai, albeit low season, here are some of my observations on the esteemed Gay Thailand's opinions. If you just want to go cruising, head over the Thaphae Gate after dark. This is the headquarters for all of the local hustlers and bad boys looking to have a good time. I did not see anyone there....admitedly my gaydar has a very very low frequency. There are several hotel options for Chiang Mai. I choose PJ’s Place which is simply amazing to stay at and a wonderful delight to get to know the owners better. Great service and a great experience. I completely concur! The other area of the area of bars near the D2 Hotel. ....... If you ask any Tuk Tuk to take you to the D2, they will and they will drop you off at a rear area that is adjacent to the gay bars. Not enjoyable at all for me. I was quite bored the 3 nights I stopped by this area. ALso had difficulty getting a tuk tuk there the first time......3 of them had no idea what I was talking about. After wandering around the night bazaar for nearly an hour and a half I stumbled across it. The other area (KNOWN AS THE PEAKS) is mostly a Gay area. If you were at the bars across from the D2 hotel, keep walking up the Soi in the direction the Tuk Tuks are going and you will come to this set of bars. They are there and easily seen from the street and 3 of them are located right in your view. Paradise was too loud for me. I did enjoy Friendship as it had the most guys hanging around, one of which was an old friend who used to work at nature boy in bangkok. I was quite surprised to meet him there. Circle Bar Free Guy Club New My Way Bar My favorite of the three was definitely Circle Pub......I liked the smart look of the guys....a definitely different approach from Bangkok or Pattaya. The guys seemed more friendly there as well. Did not off anyone though, as a confirmed 100% top, the mamasans of all three locations told me that most of the staff would not be able to accommodate me; the few that would were not my type.......so I thought I should be frugal and play it on the safe side. Amazing Sandwich I was definitely a regular here. Very good lunches. My favorite "hang out" place was Soho Bar, next to Amazing Sandwiches. I met some wonderful people there. Sexually, Chiang mai was not very fulfilling for me. Now, I did travel there alone and roamed around the city alone so I may not have had the benefits of the experienced local guide. This was my own doing as this trip was mainly for relaxation and a rare escape from Bangkok. Good friends who I have spoken to about this and who know Chiang Mai well, are surprised by my recent experiences......maybe I had the look of "leave me alone" eminating from my person. Quote
Guest Posted April 1, 2008 Posted April 1, 2008 Sexually, Chiang mai was not very fulfilling for me. Now, I did travel there alone and roamed around the city alone so I may not have had the benefits of the experienced local guide. This was my own doing as this trip was mainly for relaxation and a rare escape from Bangkok. Good friends who I have spoken to about this and who know Chiang Mai well, are surprised by my recent experiences......maybe I had the look of "leave me alone" eminating from my person. I understand this and perhaps if I had stayed a short time I would have felt the same. I think that it takes more work to find what you are looking for in Chiang Mai but it is all out there. Most of the boys that I knew were not available during my first few nights. The more they saw me the more comfortable they became. Most of the boys by the D2 are not professionals. They are really not very smart in attracting a customer. It took more effort on my part to get the guys I wanted. I am so glad you had a good relaxing trip. I found that Chiang Mai was indeed a much needed break for me as well. Quote
