Trip Report- Chiang Mai

[Guest pete1969]

I just spent three days in CM. It was my first visit there, but it will not be my last. I went with my current boy special (BS). For those who are interested, here is a trip report.

 

Hotel

 

We stayed at PJ's Place largely on the recommendation Stef posted about them here at GT and because of their great Internet site. I highly reccomend this place, and I will not stay anywhere else when in CM. We payed a low season rate of 1200 BT (normal 1500 BT). While cheaper rooms can be found, you want find anything like this. It is actually a beautiful house on the end of a small quiet soi. The house and the grounds are immaculate. The room we stayed in had a private entrance (as do all the rooms). It had the look, feel, and amenities of a top hotel, and it had free Internet to boot. The minibar prices were the most reasonable I've found (a can of pop was only 20 BT--a mere 6 BT markup from the 7-11). The boy who cleaned the room did a fantastic job. Plus, the price included a made to order breakfast. The owners, Peter and Jiab are a farang-Thai couple in a LT relationship (six years now) and were very hospitable. They also have two multilevel small houses on the grounds that rent for 2400BT/3000BT (low/high). It is very close to the gay venues and the wall. The only negative was their lack of parking. Everything else was first class.

 

Bars

 

The BS and I did make it to a few bars. More next time. Most of the ones have shows that start at 10:30. From our understanding, the boys in the bars are go-go boys until the show starts and hosts after the show until closing. We also heard that a number of the boys leave if they are not offed by show time as they are students and have to go to scholl the next day.

 

My Way- We went two nights and saw some of the show both nights (it repeats a lot of acts, so not worth seeing twice). The show was a mix of sex show and cabaret. Not good. There were a great number of fairly good looking boys to off. The problem we had was that the boys were all in street clothes and sat all over the bar. It was hard at times knowing who was a boy and who was a customer. Also, many boys sat behind us, so we couldn't even see them. The ambiance and seating was okay. It all looked a bit run down. There was also no mamasan, and we had to flag down the first available boy when we wanted our drinks refilled. Not much energy in the bar although the boys and customers almost filled it up. Not someplace I would rush back to except there were some nice boys there.

 

Circle- This bar had a lot more energy and a lot of very cute boys. The show was also a mix of cabaret and sex show. Much better than My Way, IMO. The hosts here all wore ties, so it was easy to know who was offable. There was also a very active mamasan who greeted and spoke with all of the customers. I liked the decor here much better although still not anything as classy as many other top gay bars in LOS. The BS and I saw a boy we liked and offed him. The boy was very cute, but it turned out he had a lot of tatoos (neither of us like tatoos), and he didn't kiss. Probably our favorite bar in CM.

 

Free Boys or Free Guys (this name might be wrong)- This was the oddest bar experience, I've had in LOS. We were seated in two big armchairs facing the stage. The problem was that there was no show and all of the boys sat behind us watching TV or playing some board game. There was a friendly mamasan who asked if we liked any of the boys, and even though I said I needed to see them first, we still had to turn around in our seats to look at them. The decor was okay--bright lighting and comfy but worn sofas and chairs. A number of the boys were very cute, but we had to turn to look at them and most never looked up from their activities or kept going off to the back. As we left, a very nice looking boy opened the door for us, and we ended up taking him off and not regretting it.

 

We did not get to Doi Boy or Coffee Boy or the beer bars. I also don't usually go to massge shops or saunas, but I'm told CM has a number of good massge places. The off fee in CM is 200 BT. The drink prices are 150 BT. The BS told me it cost 1200BT to open a bottle, but we never did as he doesn't drink. I will say that the service levels (or lack thereof) threw me. It was as if two of the bars really did not care if they had customers or not. I think a bar in CM with the professional service levels and decor that one finds in other cities could really flourish in CM.

 

Eats

 

Based on many rave reviews, we went to Lemon Tree which was in walking distance of our hotel. It was a cute restaurant with a young, cute staff. However, we must not have ordered well, because the food was very average to both of us. I will try it again, but I'm not ready to reccommend it.

 

A real find was Hoy Kaew (right name?) which is on the right side hidden away as one comes off of the mountain with the Royal palace and Doi Suthep. We ate there twice. It is like eating in a giant treehouse, and it overlooks a very nice waterfall. It is open air under a large thatched roof, has several levels, and has a very nice garden setting. The food was above average, but the ambiance and the beauty of the restaurant is what it special. I highly reccomend this place.

 

Our other meals were at the Airport Central mall, a local food stand the BS raved about and had to take me to (outside the BP hotel) which had excellent spicy noodles and pork rice, and a great meal of fried noodles at the zoo of all places.

 

Attractions

 

We did some touristy stuff. We went up the mountain to the Royal Palace. The drive itself is worth it. The palace is more of a series of residences but with beautiful grounds. Make sure to wear long pants or shorts that go well below the knee. We rented a golf cart with a tour guide for 200BT (normally 300BT but it was the 45th anniversary, so we got in free and got a reduced rate on the cart). This was a good idea as I'm not one for climbs up hills. There is a beautiful resevoir as well with lights and fountains (and a great waffle stand). The flowers weren't blooming, but when they are, I'm sure it is beautiful.

 

On the way back down the mountain, we stopped at Doi Suthep which is a very holy temple. It costs 30 BT to ride the lift up to the temple. The temple is covered in gold plate and was very beautiful. There is a small museum and some smaller Buddha shrines. There is also a gorgeous view of CM from a lookout area (worth it just for this). If one has a car, I reccomend this.

 

We also went to the Chiang Mai zoo. It is not a decent zoo with good animal habitats. It is sprawling, but we had a car. There are also buses to shuttle you. If you walk the whole thing it is quite a trek. I thought the grounds were very well done. Across from the baboon area is a great little restaurant that serves passably good fried noodles. It also had a great view of CM. I think the zoo is worth a visit just to see the natural elements. Try to go between 4-7 and avoid the hordes of school children. Our total entry for two people with car was 250BT.

 

We drove around the old city inside the walls but did not do walking street or a Ping River trip or any treks this time around. I did allow BS to drag me to see Garfield 2 at the Airport Central. Don't feel as if you have to rush out and see it.

 

I really like CM. Great history, good air, cool breezes, lots to do. The gay scene leaves a bit to be desired, but at least there were a number of cute boys in all of the bars. I saw no fem boys in any of them, BTW, so if you like fem boys CM may not be for you. I will go back because there is so much left to do.

 

Pete

[Guest JD]

Thank your for the report, it has some good information and I enjoyed reading it .

[dapitt]

Thanks, pete1969. I'll visit Chiang Mai at year's end, and so was very pleased to read your very good report. I appreciate the info.

[Guest A Rose By Any Other Name]

This was a wonderful report. Thanks for taking the time. One other suggestion for those of you heading out to CM anytime soon. If you like Italian food and want a reasonable, friendly and delicious place to eat, try Georgio's. I had their triple cheese tortellini with alfredo sauce. It was to die for. The wine list is also wonderful. We enjoyed a lovely Pinot Grigio.

 

Highly recommended.

 

The Rose

[Guest TOQ2]

This was a wonderful report. Thanks for taking the time. One other suggestion for those of you heading out to CM anytime soon. If you like Italian food and want a reasonable, friendly and delicious place to eat, try Georgio's. I had their triple cheese tortellini with alfredo sauce. It was to die for. The wine list is also wonderful. We enjoyed a lovely Pinot Grigio.

 

Highly recommended.

 

The Rose

 

Thank you,

 

I was going to have a lite dinner this evening, now im starved

 

john

[TotallyOz]

Thank you for the excellent report on Chiang Mai. I also think that PJ'S Place is simply amazing. The staff are great and the complex was built with high standards. Peter also cooks a mean breakfast.

 

Thanks for the great report!

[Guest coffeecup]

Thanks Pete for the report. I have been in "Circle Pub" last January and it was a pleasant place to go. A lot of cute guys there, and really very nice to talk with, some of them speak english very well and for sure better then me. It was near the closing time when I was there and when I decided to leave, one of the guys drove me back to my room with his car, I believe I was lucky because it is very hard to catch a tuk-tuk in the area at near 2 AM.

 

For femboys in Chiang Mai, you must go to The Peak's bars on the night market area, open air bar with some hosts, if you need to go "chin-chong" the toilets are busy.

 

[Guest wowpow]

A very nice report, thanks for taking the trouble. I'll certainly be thinking of PJ's place for next visit.

 

My Way seems to be a bar that varies. I was there three years ago and they had the most spectacular array of guys. They paraded along a gallery over the bar, walked downstairs to the bar counter and then around the room exitting throught the stage. They started off in suits and each trip shed a garment. They last three boys stayed on stage and made 'love' it was pretty spectacular. The mamasan told my friend that they had just imported a load of hill tribes boys.

 

A couple of years back all had changed and it was pleasant enough but a bit dull and no guys that appealed.

 

These bars do change almost by the hour, day, week, month and year so the motto is don't write one off after one unexciting visit.

 

 

Three years back I went on a Saturday night to Coffee Boy expecting it to be busy. One customer left as I arrived and I knew the other one from Pattaya. They had three boys. One with the other customer and one dancing on stage was not special. Then J came on stage and I offed him onsight. We since met up in Bangkok and he has visited me in Pattaya - a delightful young man.

 

He was behind with his University fees and only worked ay Coffee Boy for a week. Then he went to Phuket to My Way there for a three week stint. He walked on stage and was immedaitely offed for 3 weeks and had a good time in a 5 star hotel.