My long-awaited and glorious return to Thailand

[flashbarryallen]

7 minutes ago, Min said:

That Cambodian is crazy about Caucasian males. Every time a farang customer walks by, he's literally salivating

You're totally right. I think he would do really well in one of the host bars in Jomtien in Pattaya.

[ichigo]

I'll start with coincidences in this post - firstly, I went to 7/11 twice yesterday (the one right next to Tarntawan - so handy) at quite different times of the day (one in the afternoon and the other after midnight), and BOTH times I bumped into the guy that I offed from Tawan on my first night. What are the chances? Second coincidence was a bit random too - whilst in 7/11 (the 2nd time), I saw a guy there who looked familiar (perhaps I saw him at the hotel or at a bar), anyway as I was going back to the hotel, so was he and he got into the lift with 2 guys and I took the stairs. When reaching my floor, said guy (and one of the other guys that got in the lift) got out of the lift on my floor and went to their room, which happened to be next door to mine.. again, what are the chances?

Dreamboys: Visited Dreamboys again last night with the intention of offing my guy who I offed on day 2 (and also in 2019), I'll just call him dreamboy for ease. I arrived shortly after the show had started and it was quite full! It has a different kind of vibe when there is actually a decent sized audience, and a really mixed crowd including some women who were quite shocked/excited with the fucking show. It was really hot in there though. Dreamboy came and sat with me and after seeing me ogling the rotation told me that he is okay if I want to try another guy, which was a nice thing to say. He knows I'm a butterfly. He asked me who I liked, and I told him number 3 because he looks like a BL star, and kind of Korean as well. Anyway, back to the hotel we go hand-in-hand, walking past the guys at green massage who see me with a different guy every night, and we had a steamy short-time session. It's kind of nice when you are familiar with each other, like a semi-boyfriend experience. 

Other things: Have been to Chatuchak market, MBK and IconSiam and there are lots of tourists around, which is great to see things picking up. Also went to the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre. Also hired a masseur from the rentmen website who was slightly pricey but well worth it. 

My final night tonight here in Bangkok before I am off to Chiang Mai for a few days and have not yet decided where to go yet. Should I try new twilight? Or dreamboys/freshboys/hotmale again? 

[flashbarryallen]

3 minutes ago, ichigo said:

My final night tonight here in Bangkok before I am off to Chiang Mai for a few days and have not yet decided where to go yet. Should I try new twilight? Or dreamboys/freshboys/hotmale again? 

As much as I loved catching up with mamasan Paul at New Twilight, the show and quality of guys just weren't enough for me to want to go back, so it would be a toss up between Dreamboys, Freshboys, and HotMale if it were me. I personally would love to hear about another HotMale experience.

[vinapu]

40 minutes ago, ichigo said:

 Should I try new twilight? 

I'd try NewTwilight, you never know if you don't look and see

[jason1975]

1 hour ago, ichigo said:

My final night tonight here in Bangkok before I am off to Chiang Mai for a few days and have not yet decided where to go yet. Should I try new twilight? Or dreamboys/freshboys/hotmale again? 

I recommend Freshboys or Hotmale. New Twilight has few guys - not more than 10. Or if you want, go to New Twilight at 10pm first and look at the guys on stage. If no one takes your fancy, proceed to Freshboys and Hotmale.

[scott456]

So far I haven't seen anything "glorious" from you.

[reader]

Freshboys for sure if you haven’t been there yet 

[Min]

6 hours ago, ichigo said:

I'll start with coincidences in this post - firstly, I went to 7/11 twice yesterday (the one right next to Tarntawan - so handy) at quite different times of the day (one in the afternoon and the other after midnight), and BOTH times I bumped into the guy that I offed from Tawan on my first night. What are the chances? Second coincidence was a bit random too - whilst in 7/11 (the 2nd time), I saw a guy there who looked familiar (perhaps I saw him at the hotel or at a bar), anyway as I was going back to the hotel, so was he and he got into the lift with 2 guys and I took the stairs. When reaching my floor, said guy (and one of the other guys that got in the lift) got out of the lift on my floor and went to their room, which happened to be next door to mine.. again, what are the chances?

Looks like you should go to 7/11 again before Chiangmai. Third time's a charm

[vinapu]

10 hours ago, scott456 said:

So far I haven't seen anything "glorious" from you.

what this is supposed to mean?

Very fact of  being back after long absence brings feel like ascending to a heaven or winning gold medal. 

Just try it

[ichigo]

17 hours ago, scott456 said:

So far I haven't seen anything "glorious" from you.

Sorry to hear you feel that way!

 

13 hours ago, Min said:

Looks like you should go to 7/11 again before Chiangmai. Third time's a charm

I mean I wouldn't mind so much if I actually wanted to off the guy again, but I kinda don't lol..

[ichigo]

The past few days have been spent in Chiang Mai, which I’ll get to soon but my last night in Bangkok (part 1) I didn’t end up going to any bars. I was feeling quite lethargic so I decided just to rest that night (sacrilegious I know..). I will be coming back to Bangkok soon so I’ll have plenty of time for more bar fun times.

My first time in Chiang Mai and it’s quite a nice place, lots of tourists and expats here. On my first day I hired a guide from Siam roads and we went around Doi Inthanon national park, went to the highest point in Thailand (amazing how the weather is so much different at the top of the mountain - it was quite cool), looked at some waterfalls which were beautiful and also visited Pha Chor which is a really cool rock formation. So many steps up and down though throughout the day. I was wrecked by the end of it. The second day I walked the perimeter of the old city which took a good few hours as I had to stop 3 times when it started raining.

The hotel I stayed at was DusitD2 which was quite good, it has a pool and gym etc but I didn’t check them out. This hotel had carpet which I hadn’t ever seen in a Thai hotel before, and it didn’t have a bum gun which was disappointing. But it was neat and tidy.

I visited classic house a couple of times, massages were good, and afters were also good. Nothing particular earth shattering but enjoyable nonetheless. Coincidentally the 2 guys that I chose (on separate occasions) both had mooks - first time I’ve encountered them.

Next stop is Phuket for a bit, then back to Bangkok. Tossing up whether to go to Pattaya first though..

[andylee801]

On 7/3/2022 at 11:50 AM, jason1975 said:

I recommend Freshboys or Hotmale. New Twilight has few guys - not more than 10. Or if you want, go to New Twilight at 10pm first and look at the guys on stage. If no one takes your fancy, proceed to Freshboys and Hotmale.

Was at New Twilight on my 5th night in Bangkok, around 15 boys on rotation, the whole night there were only 8 customers from 10pm to midnight. Only one of the 4 waiters on duties was offed by a customer at the end of show. At the second show segment ,  I was the only customer watching, tipped all the 6 performers for their efforts to keep the shows going even with only one customer. The location may not be known by many people, they are giving 5 months time in the hope that more customers will come.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, andylee801 said:

Was at New Twilight on my 5th night in Bangkok, around 15 boys on rotation, the whole night there were only 8 customers from 10pm to midnight. Only one of the 4 waiters on duties was offed by a customer at the end of show. At the second show segment ,  I was the only customer watching, tipped all the 6 performers for their efforts to keep the shows going even with only one customer. The location may not be known by many people, they are giving 5 months time in the hope that more customers will come.

New Twilight is on a street that had 3 gay bars pre-covid, so the street is "known" & has had gay bars for decades.    In addition to this street, there is another popular bar just around the corner.

They were a little slow putting this on google maps, but that is now done.   A search for "gay bars" does not find it, so a little more work is needed.

Once all that is fixed, the location should not be the reason for the success or failure of the bar.    I think the reasons which will determine it's success are:

1  The bar offer.    Do they offer what the customer expects and at an appropriate price point ?        

   (i)  Now I'm not sure what the current dress code is, but I have read reports of boys in jeans.   There was a poll on this board which emphatically shows that our members don't prefer that.     In my case, if the boys on stage are wearing trousers, I expect to pay host bar prices, not gogo prices.

  (ii)  I also expect to see some cute twinks.   If the bar has bigger muscular guys, I'm not interested.    I'm even less interested if those big muscular guys describe themselves as models and think they are worth 5000 baht.     Of course, some members may like this, but I think this business model would be competing directly with several other bars.     If almost every gogo bar is trying to do the same thing, they compete for the same pool of customers.    If they add a few twinks, the only current competition is Fresh Boys and in any case, this diversity would attract a broader range of customers.  

(iii)   If they really must do "shows", how about doing something more imaginative then the formulaic lady boy acts and other stuff with boring muscular guys in poor light ?

(iv)   The music must not be loud enough to deter customers.    If my memory is correct, some members complained about this ?

 

2  If marketed to foreign tourists, how many are coming to Thailand ?

 

#2 should fix itself in time and is out of their control.   The bar needs to concentrate on #1.    

They shouldn't be making excuses about the location (which they selected).

Just concentrate on having the best gay gogo bar in Bangkok and then the customers will find it.

If they fail on any of the points listed above, some customers will just look inside the door and walk away.   
If they are too dumb to find out what is deterring the customers, they will slowly find out if they have a viable business with the customers that remain.  

 

[flashbarryallen]

@z909New Twilight tried the model thing in the beginning, but they have now moved away from that. The captain Paul informed me of that. I would describe the boys on offer here as next door types. Other than Lucky, one of the dancers, I would hesitate to use the word muscular to describe the guys here, with the performers being more on the toned/swimmer build type rather than muscular.

Upon entering before a show, boys are in street clothes. You don't see them without shirts until after the show. 

If you want a better understanding of what guys here look like, take a look at the pictures from Buzz Host Bar on Facebook. I would also describe the guys who work there as next door types.

 

[jason1975]

1 hour ago, flashbarryallen said:

@z909New Twilight tried the model thing in the beginning, but they have now moved away from that. The captain Paul informed me of that. I would describe the boys on offer here as next door types. Other than Lucky, one of the dancers, I would hesitate to use the word muscular to describe the guys here, with the performers being more on the toned/swimmer build type rather than muscular.

Upon entering before a show, boys are in street clothes. You don't see them without shirts until after the show. 

If you want a better understanding of what guys here look like, take a look at the pictures from Buzz Host Bar on Facebook. I would also describe the guys who work there as next door types.

 

I agree. And some of them are really handsome and good looking!

[Guest]

2 hours ago, flashbarryallen said:

Upon entering before a show, boys are in street clothes. You don't see them without shirts until after the show.

I won't see them without shirts at all, as if they want to charge gogo prices for fully dressed lads, I'll be right back out of the door within 20 seconds.   Even faster if the music is too loud.

 

The lack of customers is not just due to the location.

 

 

[a-447]

I've always seen that Soi as the Bangkok equivalent of Pattaya's Sunee Plaza.

Being hidden in a dark alley away from all the bright lights of the other gay areas, it is the home of hands-on sleaze. At the 3 bars before Covid it was cock everywhere you looked.

Cum one, cum all.

[VolleyBalls35]

12 hours ago, ichigo said:

The past few days have been spent in Chiang Mai, which I’ll get to soon but my last night in Bangkok (part 1) I didn’t end up going to any bars. I was feeling quite lethargic so I decided just to rest that night (sacrilegious I know..). I will be coming back to Bangkok soon so I’ll have plenty of time for more bar fun times.

My first time in Chiang Mai and it’s quite a nice place, lots of tourists and expats here. On my first day I hired a guide from Siam roads and we went around Doi Inthanon national park, went to the highest point in Thailand (amazing how the weather is so much different at the top of the mountain - it was quite cool), looked at some waterfalls which were beautiful and also visited Pha Chor which is a really cool rock formation. So many steps up and down though throughout the day. I was wrecked by the end of it. The second day I walked the perimeter of the old city which took a good few hours as I had to stop 3 times when it started raining.

The hotel I stayed at was DusitD2 which was quite good, it has a pool and gym etc but I didn’t check them out. This hotel had carpet which I hadn’t ever seen in a Thai hotel before, and it didn’t have a bum gun which was disappointing. But it was neat and tidy.

I visited classic house a couple of times, massages were good, and afters were also good. Nothing particular earth shattering but enjoyable nonetheless. Coincidentally the 2 guys that I chose (on separate occasions) both had mooks - first time I’ve encountered them.

Next stop is Phuket for a bit, then back to Bangkok. Tossing up whether to go to Pattaya first though..

What is a mook?

[ichigo]

10 hours ago, VolleyBalls35 said:

What is a mook?

They are like these pearl things that have been inserted under the skin of the penis. Can't imagine it would be very comfortable for them though, but who knows..

[flashbarryallen]

19 hours ago, z909 said:

I won't see them without shirts at all, as if they want to charge gogo prices for fully dressed lads, I'll be right back out of the door within 20 seconds.   Even faster if the music is too loud.

 

The lack of customers is not just due to the location.

 

 

@z909You're definitely not the only one who feels this way. I saw other farang take a look in the bar and walk right back out with clear disappointment in their eyes.

Paul told me that they will eventually be in shorts, but that will be too little too late I believe given the timeline you mentioned. Only thing that could possibly, though not guaranteed, save it is China miraculously letting a flood of tourists venture into Thailand.

I forget who I heard this from but apparently Tawan's move to the smaller location is an attempt to cut back on costs until things pick up even more. The goal is to eventually get an upgraded space. I wouldn't be surprised, though I know you'd be disappointed, if Tawan eventually takes over the New Twilight space. The reality is they have something special that people (but I know not you) will seek out no matter the location.

Then again, I actually like the more intimate Tawan location now. 

[Guest]

2 hours ago, flashbarryallen said:

I saw other farang take a look in the bar and walk right back out with clear disappointment in their eyes.

Paul told me that they will eventually be in shorts, but that will be too little too late. 

If the bar management are not constantly observing customer behaviour and adjusting their offering until they are attracting customers, they deserve to fail.

If you see customers taking a look and walking straight back out, why are they not doing that & asking why ?    If the customers walk into the bar and leave, the problem is not the location.

 

2 hours ago, flashbarryallen said:

II wouldn't be surprised, though I know you'd be disappointed, if Tawan eventually takes over the New Twilight space.

Actually, I wouldn't be disappointed.

My "optimistic" scenario involves New Twilight stuffing the bar full of cute twinks wearing under sized white underwear and then, the same twinks participate in the show, minus the underwear. 

However, that is far too much to hope for.

The "base" assumption is that they carry on as they are, with a pretty average selection of lads* who are over dressed, but they still try to charge gogo prices.   Then, eventually, the bar closes.   That's the price of having management too dumb to manage.

If Tawan takes over the premises, for me, it's no different to the current scenario.    We still have a bar that I'm unlikely to patronise.    Fans of Tawan may or may not like another change of premises.  

I suspect fans of Tawan go there for the boys and don't care if the premises are glitzy or plain, as long as they don't stick to the seats.

 

[* My comment on the selection of lads is based on what I see on their Facebook page & takes into account my preferences for the type of lad.  So not necessarily fair -but like all the other customers not staying, I decide how to spend my money.   I think someone who has actually been there made similar comments about the boys recently]

 

[ichigo]

Some thoughts about Phuket. Tourism is starting to pick up again which is great, and even though it’s slightly busy, it’s not at pre-pandemic levels just yet. I’ve been here once before and I decided to visit again as I wanted a bit of a beach holiday. I stayed in party central patong (which is not really my scene, but I thought I would try) and don’t really recommend Seaview hotel for a number of reasons, one of which is I was put into a room with an adjoining door and I could hear everything very clearly from the room next door (including s3x, but fortunately, or unfortunately for them, it did not last too long). I did book the cheapest room type though and I didn’t really complain as I was only there 2 nights. Can’t fault the service though, it was actually very good. They also played the Thai national anthem at 8am each morning quite loudly and I’ve never experienced that in a hotel before.

In terms of guys, I visited 4 massage in the past and I thought I would return as I had a good experience previously. The guy that massaged me in the past still worked there and remembered me (but not quite at first) but I chose him and fun times ensued. Later on after exchanging line details he even invited me to have drinks with him later, which I thought was nice, but declined in the end. Grindr has been a lot more active than in bkk and cnx and 2 guys I was chatting to also worked at 4 massage. I told them they can massage me next time I come to Phuket.

Phuket is generally a little pricey but it’s a good time to travel now. Hotel prices are decent and it’s not yet overrun with tourists. Would I come back? Probably yes but I think next time I may try stay somewhere different, somewhere a little more relaxing. I stayed in Karon before so I’ll explore the different beaches. The smart bus at the moment is only 100 baht but I think it’s only a promotion for a while. 

I’m coming back to Bangkok for about a week before I go back home, lots of guys to see, and I think I might do some day trips to like Ayutthaya or the ancient city etc. Looking forward to it!

[Min]

43 minutes ago, ichigo said:

I’m coming back to Bangkok for about a week before I go back home,

You won’t even go to Pattaya?

[ichigo]

12 hours ago, Min said:

You won’t even go to Pattaya?

I think I’ll give it a miss this time, but definitely on the cards for next time. Lots of guys I still want to see here in bkk!

[ichigo]

Since the bars are closed tonight (I did not factor the public holiday into my planning!), I thought I would have a night off and give a little bit of an update. I'm coming towards the end of my Thailand trip and it has been really great to be back here after a 2.5 year absence. My last update was made in the Phuket airport waiting for the flight back to Bangkok which was pretty non-eventful and upon arrival, I caught the arl/bts to Sala Daeng and walked with my suitcase back to Tarntawan whilst it was lightly raining. The room type I chose for this leg of the trip was the 'executive' and even though it is smaller than the corner suite I stayed in previously, I think I like this one better as it has a full length floor to ceiling window and a view which gives it a brighter feel (the corner suite felt a little dark and there was not much of a view).

Dreamboys: Unexpectedly, and despite my plans for butterflying around, I have a regular boy here now - I'll call him DB (for lack of a better nickname) for short. As mentioned previously, he was my best off of my last trip to Thailand (2019) and we ended up reconnecting when I arrived here a couple of weeks ago. I didn't tell him I was coming, I just showed up and surprise! Anyway, I have offed him 4 times so far and every time it has been a really hot experience. There is definitely some sexual chemistry there, he kisses really well, is passionate, is always smiling and cheeky, has a beautiful body and an attractive face. And little things like he is not afraid to kiss me straight after he has just cum in my mouth. We are quite similar in age so it feels like he could just be a friend. I could easily fall for him, but I'm not the type to get attached so easily. It's just really nice when you are familiar with someone. It's these kinds of connections that I'm looking to make, and bear in mind that I haven't been doing these Thailand trips for that long so I still have plenty more time and plenty more trips to look forward to. I do like the boys at dreamboys - there is a wide variety and probably someone for everyone, but oh my lord, it is so loud!!!

Freshboys: I decided to give this place another go after my last encounter with a straight boy, and inspired by @Min I asked the mamasan for a list of who is gay and got her to write it down for me. Being gay is not always an indication that they will perform better, but I'm sure that they will likely do more than the straight boys who do nothing. Anyway, some good choices from the list but I decided to go with the boy who had been previously trying really hard to get my attention the last time I went. Effort deserved reward right? Well.. this encounter was different. I wouldn't say that he was the dud, more like I was lol. Anyway, when he sat with me he was very clingy straight from the get go, and he was trying really hard in the bedroom, but I just wasn't really into it. He wasn't unattractive, and he has a really nice body but for some reason I just could not get into it. Kudos for him though as he was able to fuck longer that some of the other guys that I've had. I'll chalk it up to experience. 

Massage: I went to Prime again (gosh I love that place) and opted for a 1 hour Thai/1 hour oil and my goodness the oil massage was getting pretty sensual towards the end and I wondered if this was going to be one of the rare times where a handjob would be given, but alas it was not, but I didn't really mind as the massage quality was quite good. I also had a foot massage at Green (just right in front of Tarntawan). Since I walk past all the time, and the boys out the front see me walk past with a different guy, I thought I would try it out. Decent foot massage, nothing to complain about. And I also tried the star massage (one of the many on soi 6) - I decided to try them as they have quite a strong social media presence. Opted for an oil massage, but the guy at the counter said I could have an aroma oil massage for a discount, and I didn't ask to choose the masseur as the one that was assigned to me was pretty hunky. The massage itself was fine, a 'special' was offered (handjob) which I accepted, and it was just okay. There is a fine art to a sensual massage and there have been few that have been able to achieve - the subtle touches, the "accidental" grazes etc - all of those things are really important to segue seamlessly into the afters. I want to really be gagging for it! I often walk down soi 6 and there are quite a few massage shops there which are probably worth exploring.

Other things: I haven't been doing a lot of the things which I had planned as I seem to always be tired - whilst the time difference between here and my country is only an hour, I am usually in bed by 9pm and awake by 5am, but here when I'm going to bars at around 10pm, and not going to sleep until 2am or so, but my body still wants to wake up at around 5 or 6am, there are going to be problems! I also developed this cough which has mostly gone now, and earlier in the trip I found some red dots that appeared on my leg which I thought may have been monkey pox so I went to the hospital - turns out they were (I think) burst blood vessels and the doctor gave me some tablets and topical medicine (which I didn't end up taking, but the dots went away on their own). I've been doing a lot of walking though, went to some of the shopping malls (central world, Siam paragon etc), and have been eating a wide assortment of food - stuff from 7/11, local Thai food from grab, and sit down restaurants in shopping centres. I even tried out a vegan restaurant which was nice. There have also been numerous times where I am spoken to in Thai, which amuses me, so perhaps I had better learn a little of the language so I am able to answer back in Thai rather than just looking confused before they realise I'm not actually Thai.

I have 2 more days here before I go back to my reality, and definitely will look forward to my next trip now that international travel is more accessible - hopefully the end of the year.