Pattaya Dec 2021

[Guest]

I checked out of the Siri Sathorn and went to the MBK centre for lunch.  The vegetarian outlet in the food hall does a very good lunch for 60 Baht.

Then took the bus to Phaya Thai, the rail link to the airport and the bus to Pattaya.  Like several other members, I prefer the bus service from the airport to the one from Ekamai.  The airport bus is far more professional, it goes direct to Pattaya and the choice of getting off on Sukhumvit road or in Jomtien beats arriving at the northern bus terminal.

I returned to exactly the same room I had last winter.  I'm not sure how many guests they had since, but no one had changed the PIN on the safe since I left, 9 months ago.  I'd got messages on Grindr before even starting to unpack.   A couple of appointments with delightful lads from Cambodia were made.

Overall, I think the are more boys on the apps this year than last.

There have been more business closures.  Ranging from many 7-elevens to, would you believe, the indoor market between Tuk Com and the school.  Thankfully some of the more differentiated businesses that I actually use on a regular basis are still open. 

Quite a few of the bars in Jomtien are open and are doing good business.  Sunnee is closed, although one can get a drink at one bar offering a discrete service.

Boyztown is also closed, except for the massage shop.  I noticed a guy cleaning up at Panorama and asked when will they open.  He didn't know, as only restaurants are allowed to open at present.  All 3 hotels are closed.  The Classrooms is open on the next Soi.  I note Agoda are taking bookings for The Penthouse for check in on Saturday.  The hotel has been closed for some time, is looking dilapidated and has a For Sale sign.  I doubt they will open on Saturday.     

[Boy69]

Can you be more clear which hotel you are staying and which pending hotel you made booking Ambiance maybe ?

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Boy69 said:

Can you be more clear which hotel you are staying and which pending hotel you made booking Ambiance maybe ?

Just like most other contributors, I only post about hotels after I check out. 

Anyone can read these posts and there are lots of weirdos on the internet.  So some basic security is prudent. 

No one actually needs to know the information live.  

[Guest]

More photos.  Panorama appears to have customers already.

[spoon]

Red carpet!!! Very promising indeed. Is BBB parade back and ready for the christmas/new year?

[reader]

Two things I feel need to be acknowledged: first, it may have taken a lot of fits and starts but Thailand is making good on its promise to restore its tourism sector. Second, we all owe a tip of the hat to those members who have been among the vanguard of returnees and posted about their experiences. They are giving the rest of us renewed hope and entertainment while we impatiently await our trip.

A few naysayers were predicting that some Pattaya and Bangkok entertainment zones would never reopen. And the one most frequently cited was Walking Street, Sin City's celebrated girlie bar haven. So I smiled when I read an item (below) the Pattaya Mail this morning.

Some were assuring us that Soi 4 was doomed and Patpong was toast. Today Soi 4 seems to be nearly as popular as ever and Patpong 2 is slowly emerging from the doldrums.

==============================================

Pattaya’s Walking Street is back in business

By Barry Kenyon

Both pilloried and praised for 40 years, Pattaya’s most famous street is sputtering into life after being left for dead. Many buildings remain in darkness or disrepair, but about 10 commercial enterprises have already opened up in earnest in recent days. They include the New York Diner, a lavishly renovated eatery and extensive bar area which stretches from the cobbled street to the sea, an area of about 200 yards. The multi-page menu carries the logo of the former Insomnia nightclub. It’s popular with Thais and the as-yet small number of foreign tourists in town......Pattaya Walking Street began in the 1960s as a rest and recreation haunt for American service personnel. It has undergone many changes and, prior to the Covid pandemic, had already lost its wilder elements and pornographic shows. Many had assumed that the Asian foreign investors in the Eastern Economic Corridor (which includes Pattaya) were planning to knock down the entire street and establish a family-orientated leisure and business district. That is still on the cards. But the Walking Street certainly knows how to put up a fight for survival.

https://www.pattayamail.com/latestnews/news/pattayas-walking-street-is-back-in-business-383057

[Mateo_37]

Indeed, we are very thankful for all recent information and reports. You doing great job Thanks a lot and give us as many "good" information as you can .

[Guest]

Well, BBB, Panorama, Castro and the little bar by Serene seem to be open. Perhaps over 40 people in total.

BBB is obviously outdoor service.  Some of the boys outside there look surprisingly cute.  More of a K-pop boy band look than the type I'd normally associate with this bar.  I think they are staff, but their role is unclear at present.  Possibly hosts who have yet to learn the trade.

Their sign says Welcome, Show Time, All Beer 90 baht. 

A show starts on the red carpet, with what I suspect is a ladyboy in a leotard.  (More discrete than the ladyboy I recently saw crossing the nearby temple, with his tackle stetching the dress in the groin area, in all sorts of un lady like directions.  Is that normal ?)

Another couple of ladyboy acts follow.

A handsome boy and a farang are sat at another bar.  Enjoying each other's company so much that they are both on their phones.  The boy is chatting to me on Grindr.  And, for all I know, several others 😊.  

[reader]

56 minutes ago, z909 said:

A handsome boy and a farang are sat at another bar.  Enjoying each other's company so much that they are both on their phones.  The boy is chatting to me on Grindr.  And, for all I know, several others 😊.  

Definitely back to normal 😉

[vinapu]

BBB open! That's good news. What a change one week made!

 

 

[Guest]

What a difference a day makes !  

Wednesday

 

Thursday

[gerefan]

What happened?

[Guest]

At the moment, I don't know what happened. 

My Friday night plan involved heading to Jomtien and firstly checking out a guy I'd been chatting to on Grindr.  His photos looked rather too much like studio work and I suspected some were at least a couple of years old. So I wasn't going to invite him around unseen.  Anyway, the guy at the bar must have been about 15kg heavier than implied by the photos.  Thankfully he was drinking with another customer, so I didn't have to fend him off. Drinking heavily.

Hi profile says "I not like liars". Presumably deceptive photos are OK though?  

A couple of the other bar staff were very cute, but were also occupied at the same table.   One of them had arrived from Cambodia 2 days ago.

Beer 80 Baht. 

After that, I left and scurried off down to the other end of the soi, where they also have plenty of very cute staff, but the beer is now 100 Baht. 

One cute lad, who apparently runs a couple of businesses, wandered down the soi in swimwear, but was diverted into another bar before reaching ours.

Totally unrelated, the latest photo is of Sunee Plaza at about 8:30 pm.  Taken from about where Oud's bar used to be, with the lights on at Diamond Bar (open).

[Guest]

I'd been planning on enjoying more S&M in Pattaya, but not everything goes to plan.  Boy S buzzed me on Grindr as soon as I arrived in my room and we have met several times.  However, I didn't spot boy M anywhere on Grindr or Hornet for quite a while.  It seems he's been on Blued.  In the meantime, I'd met a few other lads, including the delightful T, more than once.

Today, I finally met the delightful M again, short time.  Despite hearing of him partying frequently, he's still in very good shape and as cute as he was when I first met him 3 or 4 years ago.  He was absolutely delightful and he alone would be a very good reason to come to Thailand.  

Although, for completeness, I must say neither S, M, nor T are from Thailand.

I ventured down to Boyztown and ordered a beer.   The taste was unusual and further investigation showed a fill date of Jan 2020, with a best before date of Jan 2021.  As times are hard for bars, I'd let the matter go when this happened at the sister bar.  However, upon reflection, I figured it's better to inform them, so they know why they are losing customers.  The beer on sale elsewhere, including, for example, BBB, is typically bottled in November 2021.

There was a brief show, with big muscular guys.  I forgot to ask why the soi was closed on Thursday.

[spoon]

1 hour ago, z909 said:

with big muscular guys

Music to my ears. Glad boyztown alove again.

[Guest]

Early in the evening, I had an excellent 90 minute oil massage at Somjit, near Tuk Com.  That's the place with orange outfits.   The massage lasted almost the full 90 minutes and was of good quality, including both the professional part and the afters.  A good tip was paid and it was well deserved.

Far better than a recent maasage at Relax@Me,  where they chopped 1/3rd off the time, the massage was terrible and he made a very lame effort to upsell.  I resisted, on the assumption that he would be no good at that either and I'd need to give a substantial but undeserved tip.  

 

Later, I visited Jomtien with another forum member.    We were not asked to do COVID tests and we didn't see anyone else doing a test either.  However, lateral flow test kits were available at some bars.  Today, I spotted an Instagram post by the cutest bar manager on the soi, with about half a dozen labelled covid tests, presumably from his staff.   

Having heard that lateral flow test kits are available for 49 Baht in 7-Elevens, I spotted the empty shelf space for them in one 7-Eleven today.  I guess selling out was predictable.

There are also three free test centres, all conveniently located for the girly bars, two almost next to each other in Soi Bukhao and one on Walking Street.   Just like most other people, I don't plan to use these until Thailand very clearly removes the threat of being sent to a quarantine centre.

Whilst at one bar, I observed three of the lads I've, er, "met" sat on two tables with clients, almost together, directly in front.   The two I've seen several times disappeared part way through the evening.  I didn't see them leave with customers, so guess they hooked up via apps.  Even one who is regularly serving drinks also seems to have no problem meeting me via the apps during bar hours.  Incidentally, I don't off lads after several beers and they have probably figured that out long ago.  

The third lad who I don't intend to meet again remained there at the bar with a customer. 

Today, I also noticed the door open at Dream Boys in the afternoon.  It rather looked like there was some ongoing maintenance work (photo).   Hopefully this bar will reopen when the Chonburi Governor realizes we need to learn to live with the plague.