Anyone in Bangkok or Pattaya for New Year's? Is the gay night life kicking in?

[Guest]

The problem of haunting boys and more frequently, haunting lady boys on the apps is easily solved by the block feature. 

[Boy69]

2 hours ago, vinapu said:

What do you mean ?, that's God sent, instead wasting time getting drunk past midnight grab the boy and have real fun with him in your room till morning. It's called Long Time.

 

Maybe if that is the only reason a person is traveling to Thailand for haunting boys and grab them to long term in room , otherwise traveling to a country which banned alcohol and opening of entertainment venues and more other redilucious restrictions seems very depressing idea.

[kokopelli 2]

3 hours ago, z909 said:

There's an awful lot to do in Thailand besides drinking, during the 16 hours or so I'm awake every day.  

Then, regarding holidays, we have 3 choices:

1. Go to Thailand and adapt to what is available
2. Go somewhere else
3. Stay at home

 

Now as for the "somewhere else" option, since the most frequently raised objection to Thailand is bar closures, where else can we go that has open gogo bars at present, complete with cute lads that I'd actually consider offing ?     I can't think of anywhere.   

 

Phnom Penh i

It has been reported that Phnom Penh , Cambodia, is active with bars open and lads available.

[vinapu]

10 hours ago, Boy69 said:

 otherwise traveling to a country which banned alcohol and opening of entertainment venues and more other redilucious restrictions seems very depressing idea.

I consider myself drinker but honestly I don't see  any problem if I can't drink in the bar as long as one can purchase bottle or three in 7/11 and the like. Closing entertainment venues bites much more but as Z909 noted above we have choice of going somewhere else or getting as much as possible form situation as it is.

[Travellerdave]

The idea of another trip to Thailand, particularly Pattaya is very active in my mind just now. Over the years I have visited Thailand (mainly Pattaya) for the tropical weather, excellent value hotels and restaurants, some sight-seeing and the exotic atmosphere very different to Northern Europe. But most of all I have travelled to meet and have sex with attractive Asian guys. Drinking alcohol in bars is not a priority for me. So I think a couple of weeks in late January would be a good decision. 

[Gaybutton]

7 hours ago, vinapu said:

honestly I don't see  any problem if I can't drink in the bar

It would be nice if you at least could go into a bar at all.  But so far you can't.  This thing about permitting alcohol in restaurants in Pattaya beginning January 16 is not engraved in stone.  That is not by any means guaranteed.

There is also nothing I've seen that says there are any plans to permit alcohol later than 9:00pm and nothing I've seen that says January 16 is necessarily going to mean the bars will open.

Folks, I hope none of you are going to wishful think yourselves into planning your holiday in Thailand too soon and end up disappointed.  You might want to consider waiting until the bars really do reopen and alcohol can be served - a lot later than 9:00pm.

Don't be all that upset that you're not in Pattaya right now.  You're missing all the bars closed, much less public transportation, some favorite hotels closed, and plenty of rain nearly every day just when you would want to be on the beach and just when you would be going out to dinner and the bars.

[Guest]

28 minutes ago, Gaybutton said:

Don't be all that upset that you're not in Pattaya right now.  You're missing all the bars closed, much less public transportation, some favorite hotels closed, and plenty of rain nearly every day just when you would want to be on the beach and just when you would be going out to dinner and the bars.

Unless climate change is playing some new tricks this year, the rain is likely to stop shortly as we get to the dry season.    So whilst it is wet now, history shows December~February are fairly reliably dry.    Which is far more pleasant than some of our home countries at this time of year.

Bars are nice to have, but not a deal breaker.   This may surprise some, but many tourists can survive without bars just as well as the expats.

There's less public transportation, but important things like the airport bus service were operating almost as normal earlier in the year and I expect that's still the case now they are relaxing entry requirements.  Most baht bus routes had an acceptable frequency. 

There were positives, like very good deals on hotels and the ability to walk up the street without having to dodge thousands of other tourists.

[Gaybutton]

51 minutes ago, z909 said:

Unless climate change is playing some new tricks this year

I believe that is exactly what is happening.  In all the years I've lived in Thailand I have never seen so much rain over such a prolonged period of time.  No seasons I have ever seen in Thailand come even close to what has been happening with this one.

Maybe things will dry out later, but the fact is we are now a month into Thailand's dry season - and around here it is anything but dry.  The only things dry are the bars . . .

[Gaybutton]

On 11/18/2021 at 6:47 PM, NIrishGuy said:

I see other posters also mentioning that DJ station is allegedly reopening again in some form.

I can only repeat:  The bars and entertainment venues are ordered closed.  If any are open, they are currently operating illegally unless they found some sort of work-around that I don't know about. 

Until the Thai government proclaims they can open legally, you for sure will not find me in any of them.  It might be fine for Thais and merely a slap on the wrist if they get caught as proprietors or customers.  Does anyone truly believe it would be the same for farang who get caught? 

In my opinion, if someone goes to a foreign country and intentionally flouts laws supposedly vehemently being enforced, that someone better be prepared to face the consequences.  Decide for yourselves, folks, if you think it is worth the risk.

If it were me, I would be delaying my holiday until the nightlife venues I want to go to are at least open legally. 

 

"That is what I would do.  I have not the remotest idea what you would do."

-  David Ogden Stiers (Major Charles Emerson Winchester), 'M*A*S*H'

__________________________________________________________

Govt explains delay in reopening entertainment venues

19 November, 2021

The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration has given two reasons for delaying the reopening of entertainment places, and said operators must improve disease control standards.

Apisamai Srirangson, a spokeswoman for the CCSA, admitted on Friday that when the  government postponed their reopening from December to Jan 16 the operators of entertainment venues were bitterly disappointed.

One reason for the delay was that the country had not been able to bring the number of new daily Covid-19 cases to below 5,000 and fatalities continued at about 50 a day, she said.

The other reason was the Public Health Ministry and local organisations said the operators of entertainment venues had not registered compliance with the Covid-19 control standard, known as Amazing Thailand Safety and Health Administration Plus (SHA+), Dr Apisamai said.

The standard was mandatory for reopening, she said.

"Please improve your premises ... Whether reopening will happen or not does not depend on the decision of CCSA, but on the readiness of the premises themselves," Dr Apisamai said.

Covid-19 vaccination of staff of entertainment venues was among the criteria of the SHA+ standard. Details of the standard were available from the Department of Health, she said.

Premises that met the standard would get an SHA+ sign from the Tourism Authority of Thailand. Visitors would look for such signs at entertainment venues, Dr Apisamai said.

Under the CCSA's plan, from Nov 16 to Jan 15 the Interior and Public Health ministries would enforce disease control and ventilation regulations and officials would evaluate the reopening readiness of entertainment places.

From Jan 16 onwards, entertainment places would reopen only in high surveillance, surveillance and tourism pilot zones. Places that cause Covid-19 outbreaks would be closed.

Entertainment venues have been ordered closed since early April after some of them were found to be the centre of Covid-19 outbreaks.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2218367/govt-explains-delay-in-reopening-entertainment-venues

 

 

 

[vinapu]

2 hours ago, Gaybutton said:

 

 I hope none of you are going to wishful think yourselves into planning your holiday in Thailand too soon and end up disappointed.  You might want to consider waiting until the bars really do reopen and alcohol can be served - a lot later than 9:00pm.

 

that would be second trip later in 2022 

[vinapu]

58 minutes ago, Gaybutton said:

 

Maybe things will dry out later, but the fact is we are now a month into Thailand's dry season - and around here it is anything but dry.  .

hopefully they harness all that water so we will not hear about the drought in the spring

[pong2]

Hi apero, moin/moin. I am still in same doubt, having visited Th for the winter monthes since some 20+ yrs by now. But seeing-as you likely also do, how the nrs of covid here in EUR are spiralling high my next doubt will be how long TH will still consider us here in EU, vaccinated and all, as ´safe´.

Also be aware that BKK really empties out (or at least did-its all pre-covid) exactly the few days before 1/1 to return after a few days/week. With 1 super-advantage: you can sit in the BTS and there are no traffic jams. But with peak high in Pattaya. Khao Sarn+around has always been a world on its own and without much, if any at all, opulent gay life.

[vinapu]

30 minutes ago, pong2 said:

 

Also be aware that BKK really empties out (or at least did-its all pre-covid) exactly the few days before 1/1 .....

In Bangkok  ' empties out " means less extremely crowded

[Patanawet]

On 11/18/2021 at 3:19 PM, aperolspritz said:

I was wondering, I thought Bangkok isn't in lockdown anymore and bars are fully opened. It's just that there aren't enough tourist from my understanding?

.

 

 

 

It depends on what you mean by 'lockdown'.

Bars, clubs discos, karaokes etc. ARE fully locked down till 16th January.  News today is that several committees are pushing the CCSA (Pinocchio) to ease the alcohol restrictions earlier.

In Bangkok, establishments with restaurant licences are allowed to sell alcohol till 9 and must close by 10.

HOWEVER local police divisions might interpret the rules differently.

For example, I left a packed soi 4 at 01:00 last night.

Christmas is never anything special in Thailand, Christmas Day being a normal working day.

 

 

[reader]

I appreciate the good intentions of ex-pats living in Thailand who have been warning about the potential for disappointment if we arrive in the near future. But I'm at that age where I don't really know who many trips I have ahead. For me, the future is at hand.

I last left Bangkok in March of 2020. I'm hoping to return in February--a month shy of a two-year absence. I can't account for ether what has happened during that period of what I will find when I arrive. The only thing I do have control over is the decision to remain home or to go.

I don't need--or expect--it to be exactly the same place. What I need are the sights, sounds and--yes--smells of Bangkok. I want to be in a place where I'm free to be the myself. I first found that place nearly 20 years ago and I'm not ready to part with what has become a ritual for me.

I'm grateful for those members--expat and tourist alike-- who have shared their Bangkok and Pattaya experiences with us. They showed us that it's still possible to enjoy yourself amid much tighter restrictions then we would now encounter. They helped keep hope alive.

I think know about what Jim Morrison (The Doors, "Light My Fire") advised in 1967:

The time to hesitate is through
No time to wallow in the mire
Try, now we can only lose
And our love become a funeral pyre

 

[vinapu]

4 hours ago, Patanawet said:

 "Christmas is never anything special in Thailand, Christmas Day being a normal working day."

 

doesn't mean retail is not cashing in and festive decorations are quite common