Bangkok post-Covid, July 2022

[Londoner]

My enjoyment of this current trip started within twenty minutes of landing at BKK.....the many cute young guys  who work there  immediately reminded me just how different -and better-Thailand is for such as I. 

And then my  rather long wait at the luggage carousel was made bearable by the presence of two handsome young airline reps, my mask hiding an admiring smile.

My holiday was off to a flying start.

 

[macaroni21]

No one asked to see my vaccination certificate when I checked in for my flight. To my surprise, no one at Suvarnabhumi asked to see my vaccination certificate either, so I entered Thailand with no one knowing that I am fully vaccinated (and boostered).

Things are even better than pre-Covid. Although the cabin crew gave out TM-6 arrival cards while we were enroute, and I had dutifully filled out mine, about the first sign I saw as I approached the immigration queue - it wasn't too bad, only about 6 - 7 persons in front of me - was one that said "TM-6 not needed" or something to that effect. So, one fewer piece of paper than pre-Covid. Brought a smile to my face.

Travelling light, I decided to take the airport rail link to Phaya Thai. It cost 45 baht. The train was full. By the second or third station after leaving the airport, it was standing room only.

At Phaya Thai, the first of the post-Covid hiccups began. I had two Rabbit cards from my previous visits to Thailand. I was quite certain both contained money value, but as it had been more than two years since I last used them, they had since expired.

I had to queue up at the customer service counter to get the matter solved. Indeed, the clerk said both had expired but he could reactivate them and the money value would remain intact. That was good. I learned that there was about 140 baht in one card and about 180 baht in the other. In those two years, I had even forgotten what princely sums I had in them.

I reached Raya Hotel (thanks to some of you for the recommendation) almost exactly an hour after touch-down. Pulled all the curtains open and took a nice hot shower in the fully transparent shower stall in full view of Bangkok. No better way to announce my arrival.

[macaroni21]

A few minutes before 10pm when I walked in, Dream Boy had about 30 patrons, making it 75 percent full. Nonetheless, a good seat had opened up and I was shown to it.

Two things struck me immediately, though I had been pre-warned by other members here. (1) The boys, while shirtless, were in jeans. (2) The music was loud.

The waiter was helpful in explaining the charges without my having to ask. That's good; it suggests a degree of staff training. My drink would be 450 baht, a boy drink would be 400 baht, the off fee would be 500 baht and the recommended tip for short-time was 2,000 baht. I would later ascertain from the chosen boy that his share of the boy drink was 100 baht.

There were about 25-30 boys divided into three rotating groups, with an average age over thirty. Some had maintained their form, but not a few were losing the battle with either Covid or the passing years. In the thirty minutes watching the rotation, I could only shortlist four guys whom I might take. For someone like me who is not especially picky and who has a rather broad acceptance range for body types in my partners (also known as "slut"), four out of nearly 30 is a poor ratio. Visits to other bars in the subsequent evenings would confirm that Dream Boys has an aging problem compared to the others. I have no problem with taking a boy over 30, and in my experience, they can be better in bed, being more experienced in the arts of pleasure, but it would be nice if they were in reasonable shape.

Watching the scene before the show, a few more things struck me:

(3) with years, the boys seemed also to acquire more tattoos. There was one chap with full-body Yakuza-like work. No doubt, an ink aficionado might appreciate the skill and artistry there, but I find large tattoos way too distracting in bed.

(4) about all the waiters must have been at least fifty. Perhaps one or two could have been sixty. 

The show began almost promptly at 10:30pm, by which time the bar was nearly full (about 40 -45 patrons). It had eight "acts". Four were performed by lip-sync cross-dressers, and four by the boys themselves. The music got even louder!

The first of the boys' acts had three coyotes, one of which was among my shortlisted four. He turned out to be the best dancer of the lot which was more than enough reason for me to tuck 100 baht into his briefs. He was cheeky. He pulled the briefs open (forward, not down) and guided my hand deep into it till I was able to wrap the red note around his cock. 

At that moment, I kind of decided that I would off him later, but after the dance item, I saw him go straight to sit with another customer. I was too late!

The second of the boys' acts had three guys in briefs, and soon enough, their joeys (baby kangaroos) were poking their little heads out above mamas' pouches.

The last of the four boys' acts was a copulation show. 

I off'd one of the four from my shortlist, but it didn't turn out well. Back in the room, he was in a rush throughout, saying "we cum together" barely five minutes into playtime. All in all, I think he spent less than 40 minutes with me. He's best forgotten, so the less said here, the better. 

 

 

[ichigo]

Thank you for your recount of Dreamboys - I think I went there about 6 times during my last trip and I kinda miss it already (although the shows are mostly same same but with some slight differences from night to night), but your post brought me right back 😊

[Boy69]

2 hours ago, macaroni21 said:

No one asked to see my vaccination certificate when I checked in for my flight. To my surprise, no one at Suvarnabhumi asked to see my vaccination certificate either, so I entered Thailand with no one knowing that I am fully vaccinated (and boostered).

Things are even better than pre-Covid. Although the cabin crew gave out TM-6 arrival cards while we were enroute, and I had dutifully filled out mine, about the first sign I saw as I approached the immigration queue - it wasn't too bad, only about 6 - 7 persons in front of me - was one that said "TM-6 not needed" or something to that effect. So, one fewer piece of paper than pre-Covid. Brought a smile to my face.

Travelling light, I decided to take the airport rail link to Phaya Thai. It cost 45 baht. The train was full. By the second or third station after leaving the airport, it was standing room only.

At Phaya Thai, the first of the post-Covid hiccups began. I had two Rabbit cards from my previous visits to Thailand. I was quite certain both contained money value, but as it had been more than two years since I last used them, they had since expired.

I had to queue up at the customer service counter to get the matter solved. Indeed, the clerk said both had expired but he could reactivate them and the money value would remain intact. That was good. I learned that there was about 140 baht in one card and about 180 baht in the other. In those two years, I had even forgotten what princely sums I had in them.

I reached Raya Hotel (thanks to some of you for the recommendation) almost exactly an hour after touch-down. Pulled all the curtains open and took a nice hot shower in the fully transparent shower stall in full view of Bangkok. No better way to announce my arrival.

 

@macaroni21 love your report !

Is it really a 'pip show' bathroom right into the leaving room without an option to cover in your room at the Raya hotel ?

[Boy69]

On 7/17/2022 at 8:05 AM, Boy69 said:

@macaroni21 finally you are describing us the truth about the current situation in Silom-Suriwong area because  almost all the latest reports by other members you could get the false impression that things get back to normal which isn't the truth, I know some can enjoy hunting boys in Bangkok and tell the whole world how wonderful their latest trip was and ignore the lifeless streets , shuttered business, absent of street stalls and markets but I couldn't do it , I will not be able to enjoy my self on this gloomy post covid area.

I hope the situation will improve very soon so I can visit again my beloved Thailand as it was before. 

I know I made a lot of controversy here but I didn't mean to, I don't suggesting anyone what to do or not to do I just said that personally for me it will be very sad to come and see the consequences of the Covid and I am not sure I can ignore it and have a good time because it might be too devastated for me too see the closed bars which I liked ,the closed markets, businesses and street stalls so I prefer to wait for better times to come.

[macaroni21]

16 minutes ago, Boy69 said:

 

@macaroni21 love your report !

Is it really a 'pip show' bathroom right into the leaving room without an option to cover in your room at the Raya hotel ?

There are roll-down blinds, so boy-du-soir can shower without me ogling and salivating from the side of the glass. 🤣

[Guest]

3 hours ago, Boy69 said:

I am not sure I can ignore it and have a good time because it might be too devastated for me too see the closed bars which I liked ,the closed markets, businesses and street stalls so I prefer to wait for better times to come.

Don't be so sure that "better times" will come.   Most of the gogo bars I visited on my first trip to Thailand have closed and have not been replaced.  I wouldn't assume that all the gogo bars that were open in January 2020 will reopen.   Some of the new gogo bars seem to be trying quite hard to fail.  

Despite all that, there is plenty to do in Thailand.

Since we're not on this planet forever, I prefer to take holidays every year, whilst I still can.   Carpe diem.

[macaroni21]

3 hours ago, z909 said:

Most of the gogo bars I visited on my first trip to Thailand have closed and have not been replaced. 

In my case, I think only two that were around on my first visit are still around today: Tawan in Bangkok and BoyzBoyzBoyz in Pattaya. I'm pretty sure about Tawan, but not so sure about the latter. 

To be frank, I don't even think about the past much. So excuse me if my memory is hazy.

[macaroni21]

I had a dire need for a haircut, and as I arrived at Saladaeng Station (coming from the airport), I noticed a "David no.5" barbershop right where the steps from the station reach the street level (on the same side of Silom Road as the massage shops).

The following morning, I enquired how much a basic haricut would be. The guy at the door said 350 baht. For Thailand this didn't sound right and so I declined. I walked around the Silom area a bit and couldn;t see any other barbershop. Stupid me forgot about the upstairs barbershop on the opposite side of Silom Road which I had patronised many times before. See what Covid does to one's memory of Bangkok? I can't recall what its charges were but I'd be mightily surprised if they were anything like 350 baht.

Back in the hotel room, I surfed the net and found a recommendation for a place in Sukhumvit Soi 23 charging "local prices". I went there; it was not hard to find, only about 100m northwards from the junction of Sukhumvit Road and Soi 23, and about two-thirds of the way towards Soi Cowboy.

Here's a map and a photo of the shop sign.

Lex Barber had 2 barbers working there and no one waiting. So I was attended to immediately. It's an old-fashioned barbershop with nothing fancy, but they gave me a nice enough haircut the old-fashioned way. That's all I needed. I was out of there within 15 - 20 minutes and only 150 baht poorer.

Then as life has it, I began to see barbershops all over the place. You know how it is. You look and look for one thing, and as soon as you have found it, you start seeing a similar thing everywhere you turn.

Immediately on walking out of Soi 23, I saw a barberhop right across Sukhumvit Road. It's name was "G Club".  Hmm, interesting choice of name, I thought, so I crossed the road to take a closer look. And what did I see? On its glass front was its price: 600 baht. Madness!

Then on my way to Sabardee Spa, walking from Lumpini MRT station, I saw another barber shop "TJ Design". This one was on the southwest side of Rama 4 Road right where the first overhead bridge is after crossing Soi Ngam Dupli. A paper sign on its door said 200 baht. I can't read the Thai words but I reckon it refers to a haricut.

I carried on walking up the overhead bridge, down again and into Soi Plukjit. Not 100 metres into the soi I saw yet another barbershop. Then another, and another. Altogether there were five within a stone's throw of each other. I didn't enquire about their prices, but looking at how they're tucked away behind phone stands, clothes sellers and food stalls in a shantytown, there's no need to ask.

Haircut adventures were not what I planned for this visit to Thailand, but it's interesting - and fun! - when it happens.

None of the barbershops looked busy. In only one case did a customer walk into one, sit down and begin getting his hair cut while I was taking pictures. A big farang guy went into G Club. Yes, the shop charging 600 baht. And here I was going to write, "I wonder how they stay in business with those prices?"

[Guest]

17 minutes ago, macaroni21 said:

The following morning, I enquired how much a basic haricut would be. The guy at the door said 350 baht. For Thailand this didn't sound right and so I declined.

There are an awful lot of barbers shops around the Silom area, charging around 300~350 baht, which seems to be more than I would expect to pay in Thailand.    

The gay friendly C&B place charges 400.   The standard of cut is very good and it's still cheaper than the UK, but that does seem high for Thailand.

When visiting Pattaya, I usually pay about 100.  

 

As for translating Thai signs, google lens is very useful.

[macaroni21]

Thanks for the suggestion z909. My google translate of the Thai words above the figure "200" came out as "cut - vowel -set". I think my guess is right... it's the price of a haircut, maybe it also includes wash and dry?

[10tazione]

7 minutes ago, macaroni21 said:

Thanks for the suggestion z909. My google translate of the Thai words above the figure "200" came out as "cut - vowel -set". I think my guess is right... it's the price of a haircut, maybe it also includes wash and dry?

ตัด to cut

สระ to wash hair, but means also vowel

เช็ด to rub (dry), I think the spelling on the sign เช็ต is wrong

I think google lens doesn't work well if it's only words not sentences, and especially if those word's are spelled wrongly lol.

 

[macaroni21]

Thank you @10tazione

[10tazione]

3 hours ago, z909 said:

There are an awful lot of barbers shops around the Silom area

There are not only an awful lot, but also a lot of awful ones. I guess the minimum requirement for calling someone a barber is being able to use an electric hair trimmer as well as being able to use scissors. Many fail with the second requirement.

Last time I was in BKK in February I wanted to go to C&B and expected it to be in Patpong 2 somewhere one the second floor - is that wrong? Couldn't find it and 2 local people I asked told me there is no barber in PP2. So I went to a barber in PP1, which I now identify as Wong Barber Shop on Google Maps, it was ok.

 

[Guest]

37 minutes ago, 10tazione said:

Last time I was in BKK in February I wanted to go to C&B and expected it to be in Patpong 2 somewhere one the second floor - is that wrong? Couldn't find it and 2 local people I asked told me there is no barber in PP2.

C&B is in Patpong 2 upstairs just along from Hotmale & Fresh Boys.  Directly opposite Lucky Boys.     Also on google maps.

Asking Thais for directions can lead to poor results.

[bucky13]

"For someone like me who is not especially picky and who has a rather broad acceptance range for body types in my partners (also known as "slut")..."

I spit out my coffee reading that !   😂   Well done.  

 

[emiel1981]

Talking about barbers in BKK... 

Need to find out where this hottie is having his shop.... Lol

 

 

[fedssocr]

It's nice to know the Rabbit cards can be reactivated. I guess MRT can now accept wireless credit cards for payment which seems easy enough. Is there any sort of unified payment card yet? I thought the Spider Card was supposed to do that but don't know if it ever materialized.

[macaroni21]

I can see no reason to visit New Twilight again until it has substantially impoved. Numazu has given a detailed description of the interior in his post of July 18, 2022 (thread: https: // www.gayguides.com/forums/topic/37995-bangkok-trip-report-2022-the-wait-is-over-what-was-i-waiting-for/page/3/). I will just list here my immediate (and similar to others') impressions on entering (about 10pm):

1. Large hall;
2. Quite large stage with underfoot lighting and a massive video screen as backdrop;
3. Ear-piercingly loud music;
4. Cold airconditioning;
5. Seats quite far from stage.
6. Boys were fully dressed in shirts, jeans and shoes.

After seating me, papasan informed me: Drink = 350 baht. Off fee 500 baht. Recommended tip for boy 2,000 baht.

After 10 minutes, a few more observations:

1. Only eight boys on rotation;
2. Boys were all "standard twinks" (to distinguish them from "skinny twinks"), in their twenties;
3. There were only 3 other customers in the bar at 10pm. 
4. There were
     - 3 or 4 papasans
     - maybe 5 waiters,
     - a bar tender,
     - a DJ,
     - and one of the former top dancers in Moonlight (there was even a Youtube video that featured his life) whose role was not clear to me, but he was definitely not one of the rotating boys (he could be the choreographer),
     - a manager,
     - 2 barkers and greeters at the front door
5. In other words, staff outnumbered customers 4 or 5 to 1

Generally, their rotation boys were (in my estimation at least) almost all quite good looking and of "off-able" quality. However, not a single one made eye contact with customers or smiled.

By 10:30, there were about 8 customers (including me). The show began and some cross-dressers came on to lip-sync, with 3 or 4 of the boys as backing dancers. Each lip-sync item was interspersed with another item done only by the same 3 - 4 boys. (Obviously, the other 4 boys didn't want to dance). As the fith and final item, five outsourced street dancers ("B-Boys") did a number.

Halfway through the show, one of the customers lit up - so they allow smoking inside - which meant I left as soon as the show was over.

The 3 - 4 boys who performed at least did so stripped down to underwear. But no cocks seen. Then at 11pm, rotation resumed and it was fully-clothed boys on stage again. I was on my way out.

In my one hour there, I didn't see any customer take an off.

In the minutes prior to the showtime, I had the opportunity to talk to a 30-ish guy introduced to me by a papasan as the manager. I wanted to stress to him the absurdity of running a  gogo bar with fully-clothed boys and deafening music. We went on to discuss a bit more about the challenges of staying in business. Given the deafening music and language gap, it wasn't easy to maintain a coherent conversation, so all I have a a rough sense, reading between the lines of his responses.

1. He volunteered that their location already put them at a disadvantage;
2. He mentioned something about the difficulty of attracting gogoboys should they insist that they strip down on stage ("Boy don't want to work here."). I would have thought that if that's the boy's position, then this cannot possibly be a vocation for him, but New Twlight might think differently.
3. I tried to ask about tea money and if there were different rates for strip bars versus jeans-and-shirts bars, but got nowhere (or he didn't understand my question);
4. When I asked how they expected to compete against the other bars, especially given their locational disadvantage, he mentioned "But have you seen our show?"

The conversation went on a bit following the last point, so I shall summarise my take-aways: They're a bunch of people, starting from the owner down, who somehow think that business success in this sector hinges on a super show. ("Ah, that's why they've spent tons of money building an opera house!", I said to myself). They seem to think that if the show is great, there would be customers, and as a trickle down effect, there would be offs.

I would have thought the opposite. Intimacy and contact should be what counts, not dazzle and spectacle. Getting offs for the boys should be the #1 business aim. That means hiring plenty of boys, seducing your customers with lots of skin and keeping prices reasonable. There are many ways to get that boy-customer interaction which gogo bars in Thailand hardly even try:

1. table dancing close up (unlike the opera house distance between seats and stage that they have);
2. private dances (500 baht for 15 minutes in a cabin at the back?);
3. boys circulating among customers and chatting a little bit without immediately demanding that customers buy a boy drink for one minute of hopeless language-barriered "what is your name? where are you from? how long you stay Thailand?"
4. fun games with discounted off-fees as prizes to customers.

Coming back to tea money as a possibility for clothed boys. I thought this might be the case at first, but later came to the view this was probably not so. While it is possible that without enough tea money, the powers-that-be might frown on boys parading in underwear, thus compelling them to put on jeans, I can't imagine that the powers-that-be also compel them to put on shirts. I think it's an internal policy of New Twilight. 

Given the size of their space and the large number of staff relative to customers, the running costs (e.g. airconditioning and wages) must be higher than other bars. Fresh Boys had half the space, 30 boys, 3 mamasans (one doubling up as show MC), one DJ, one bartender, 2 barkers and 3 waiters (total 10 employees) serving easily 25 - 30 customers (as at start of showtime). No cross-dressers for their show, so they don't have to pay for outside talent. And there, I saw at least 3 offs in the half hour before showtime.

[sydneyboy1]

How were the Fresh Boys crew dressed?

[zoomomancs]

29 minutes ago, sydneyboy1 said:

How were the Fresh Boys crew dressed?

Freshboys' men were in white shorts a week ago. I will be there later so any change I will report. 

[macaroni21]

2 hours ago, sydneyboy1 said:

How were the Fresh Boys crew dressed?

White shorts. And I mean shorts, not bermudas. No shirts. 

[Guest]

3 hours ago, macaroni21 said:

I can see no reason to visit New Twilight again until it has substantially improved.

That's the impression I get from all of the posts on the bar, including the relatively positive ones.

 

3 hours ago, macaroni21 said:

I wanted to stress to him the absurdity of running a  gogo bar with fully-clothed boys and deafening music. We went on to discuss a bit more about the challenges of staying in business. Given the deafening music and language gap, it wasn't easy to maintain a coherent conversation, so all I have a a rough sense, reading between the lines of his responses.

1. He volunteered that their location already put them at a disadvantage;
2. He mentioned something about the difficulty of attracting gogoboys should they insist that they strip down on stage ("Boy don't want to work here."). I would have thought that if that's the boy's position, then this cannot possibly be a vocation for him, but New Twlight might think differently.
3. I tried to ask about tea money and if there were different rates for strip bars versus jeans-and-shirts bars, but got nowhere (or he didn't understand my question);
4. When I asked how they expected to compete against the other bars, especially given their locational disadvantage, he mentioned "But have you seen our show?"

The conversation went on a bit following the last point, so I shall summarise my take-aways: They're a bunch of people, starting from the owner down, who somehow think that business success in this sector hinges on a super show. ("Ah, that's why they've spent tons of money building an opera house!", I said to myself). They seem to think that if the show is great, there would be customers, and as a trickle down effect, there would be offs.

I would have thought the opposite. Intimacy and contact should be what counts, not dazzle and spectacle. Getting offs for the boys should be the #1 business aim. That means hiring plenty of boys, seducing your customers with lots of skin and keeping prices reasonable. T

 

You have the right idea.  

They do not and are just making excuses. The worst excuse of the lot is "location".   They chose the location and have sank quite a lot of capex into it.   So they either need to make it work or write off that capex.

If they have the best gogo bar in Bangkok, or the best niche gogo bar in Bangkok, people will find it. 

I'd be really surprised if finding gogo boys prepared to strip down to underwear on stage were that difficult.   Boys are not that shy.   Times have been tough for some money boys, so they ought to be at least as keen as in 2019.  

If I were in the position of a gogo boy, standing on the stage in underwear wouldn't be the problem -getting up close to some of the customers would be the difficult part.

 

Besides, if a bar intends to charge 350 baht for a drink, they have to offer something that customers want to see.

 

However, thank you for trying to explain the basics to them.

[fedssocr]

maybe it's too cold for them to wear less clothing