Thailand in the low season (trip report)

[moistmango]

In the midst of my week-long Thailand jaunt at the moment, and so far, so so. It is the low season ...

DAY 1

My flight got in past 5 p.m. on a weekday. Maybe because the Chinese hordes aren't back yet, a situation that looks about to change soon, clearing immigration at Suvarnabhumi took all of 5 minutes. Decided to train it into the city, rather than risk Bangkok traffic at this hour, and, of course, when I arrived in Silom - am putting up at the Quarter Silom, more on which later - it was coming down cats and dogs. There's good reason why September is the low season! Thank goodness I packed a brolly. An hour later, the rain still hadn't let up, and the stretch of the soi in front of the hotel was literally flooded. Waited a bit more, then headed out to one of the many dispensaries in the neighbourhood. Enjoyed its merchandise for a bit - many feature a smoking area for customers - and then hit the Patpong go-gos.

It was not even 10 p.m. on a weekday, and still drizzling lightly at this point, so you can imagine that the place was pretty quiet. The papa from Hotmale dragged me up to its bar, but their boys, while fetching in an aspiring-Moonlight-model sort of way, were clad in red sweat pants. All very Abercrombie and Fitch if that's your thing, but it wasn't mine. I departed quickly. Across the way, the boys loitering outside of the new Sol bar seemed less than promising, so I skipped it in favour of an old favorite, Dream Boys, now housed in the second-floor digs where Lucky Boys used to be. Turns out, I was the only paying customer in the bar at that hour. The boys on stage were still "practicing", according to the papa, and doing so in white boxer shorts. It was a huge disappointment. Clearly, gone are the days when they would be prancing around in briefs and cowboy boots, pre-show .. The boys weren't bad-looking, but I recognized no one from even last year. They were just rotating around on the stage, with several trying to give me the eye, and that was it. I stayed for 15 minutes and drank my 500-baht bottle of Tiger, during which the stereo system gave out at one point 🙄, decided I wasn't interested in the company of a twink that evening, and took off.

Patpong 2 was looking sad in the drizzle, so Tawan it was. (Also, being right next to the hotel helps.) Well ... things weren't much better there, unfortunately. Aside from one regular - short, well-built dude with tats all over, even on his thighs, and vaguely reminiscent of a chipmunk in the face department, whose name I don't know - it was a small sea of new faces. Even the guy I off-ed last year was not to be seen. The biggest surprise was the fact that they now boast twinks in the employee roster! It's the end of an era ... They had about 12 boys there that evening, of which about 3 were twinks, 2 serious bodybuilders (incld. aforementioned guy with tats), several jock-y types (i.e. not quite bodybuilders), and with the rest looking like they could stand to hit the gym with a little more regularity. I was fairly stoned at this point, so I just sat and there at Tawan for about an hour and a half, watching the boys parade through their rotations, and then the show. The cute Asian otter seated next to me - most likely Taiwanese - tried to strike up a conversation, but I was too out of it to hold up my end, so that attempt died a pretty quick death ... The show was as it always was, just watered down. The highlight came during the cum competition, when one guy, quite the gusher, sprayed his load right at colleagues seated beneath the stage. Hilarity and some mild indignation followed. I was interested in none of the boys on stage, but I most definitely was in the bouncer at the door - a tall, built, dark type, with a great face, and likely well into his 40s, which I later found out was indeed the case. He would pop in occasionally to show new customers to their seats, and I'd grin at him like a dog in the presence of a treat, hoping he'd take the hint - which he eventually did. I brought him next door back to mine, and got to know him a little better, in all senses of the phrase. We made plans for dinner a few days later. I got the munchies in a bad way after he left, and cleaned the snack bar out in my room.

About the Quarter Silom: as with real estate, it's all location, location, location. It's set smack in the middle of Soi Tarntawan, between the gay massage joints like Prime and 19-teen on one side, and Tawan on the other. The Patpong go-gos are five minutes away. There're lots of eating options on the soi itself, including a branch of Mango Tree - the grub is way too sweet for me, a real hazard in Thailand - as well as several izakaya-type Japanese joints. You could, as I have been doing, take forty-step stroll out for a massage in the late morning, have lunch, head back for a nap and maybe a puff and a swim, and then hit the bars. Frankly, this is the only reason to consider the Quarter Silom. (That, and the fact the their rooms come with a microwave oven, if that's a bonus.) The hotel may be barely two years old - I think - but already it's towels are looking pretty threadbare, for one. Walls are thin in this building, so you hear quite a bit of what happens in the corridor. (Thank goodness there are no families with small children, or at least I haven't seen or worse, heard any.) The staff are also, well, nonchalant, I guess, is the polite term for it, but being left alone is a plus for some folks, so whatever floats your boat. I paid a bit more than 2,200 baht a night, all in, so maybe I can't complain.

TBC. 

[floridarob]

I'm taking my final flight home tomorrow and will post about Thailand for the last 2 weeks, but your 1st night sounds a lot like my 2 weeks, except for the rain, I was lucky.

I still like the Tarntawan place and at 1100 thb with b'fast, was still a bargain. I stayed at the Conrad for a couple of nights, but can't beat the location on Surawong for just going around the corner to look for fun.

[Department_Of_Agriculture]

3 hours ago, moistmango said:

Patpong 2 was looking sad in the drizzle, so Tawan it was. (Also, being right next to the hotel helps.) Well ... things weren't much better there, unfortunately. Aside from one regular - short, well-built dude with tats all over, even on his thighs, and vaguely reminiscent of a chipmunk in the face department, whose name I don't know - it was a small sea of new faces. Even the guy I off-ed last year was not to be seen. The biggest surprise was the fact that they now boast twinks in the employee roster! It's the end of an era ..

Tawan started-out as a twink bar when it was on Surawong Road in the 80s. It only gradually became a muscle man bar. It was several years before the first muscle men started showing-up and they had both twinks and hunks alongside each other for several years.

 

3 hours ago, moistmango said:

There're lots of eating options on the soi itself, including a branch of Mango Tree -

That is the original location. The others are all branches. Mango Tree is owned by the same people who own that Chinese restaurant across the road from it; or at least it was.

[vinapu]

7 hours ago, moistmango said:

 

Patpong 2 was looking sad in the drizzle, so Tawan it was. ........The biggest surprise was the fact that they now boast twinks in the employee roster! 

........

About the Quarter Silom: as with real estate, it's all location, location, location

When I was planning my first and so far only Sept trip back in 2017 several members warned me ' pack your umbrella". It was not bad abut I needed it few times.

I find twinks at Tawan very refreshing, at one visit I counted at least 5 and I must say I like them  even if twinks are not really my territory. Is good to have a choice.

For bar it's good idea as it broadens clients base.

While I agree location of Quarter Silom is close to perfect, central yet bit hidden. I'm not big fan myself as I find rooms bit cramped for a price. But they are well appointed and organized and very modern so it may satisfy many. The same I can say about Icon Styles on Silom between Convent and soi 3

[vinapu]

5 hours ago, floridarob said:

I'm taking my final flight home tomorrow and will post about Thailand for the last 2 weeks, but your 1st night sounds a lot like my 2 weeks, except for the rain, I was lucky.

I still like the Tarntawan place and at 1100 thb with b'fast, was still a bargain. I stayed at the Conrad for a couple of nights, but can't beat the location on Surawong for just going around the corner to look for fun.

waiting for your word  abut last trip impatiently.

Do they still have that desk and guard by elevator in Tarntawan where they check ID of visitors, even in day time?

[moistmango]

7 hours ago, vinapu said:

I find twinks at Tawan very refreshing, at one visit I counted at least 5 and I must say I like them  even if twinks are not really my territory. Is good to have a choice.

For bar it's good idea as it broadens clients base.

I guess, but Tawan was always the place where one could go to find a particular type - rugged bodybuilders who still had an edge to them, not all smoothed out in the way of Moonlight's models. Now it's just more or less like the other bars .. 

[scott456]

12 hours ago, floridarob said:

I'm taking my final flight home tomorrow and will post about Thailand for the last 2 weeks, but your 1st night sounds a lot like my 2 weeks, except for the rain, I was lucky.

I still like the Tarntawan place and at 1100 thb with b'fast, was still a bargain. I stayed at the Conrad for a couple of nights, but can't beat the location on Surawong for just going around the corner to look for fun.

I agree on Conrad, it's location is not desirable for gay night life. 

[spoon]

59 minutes ago, moistmango said:

I guess, but Tawan was always the place where one could go to find a particular type - rugged bodybuilders who still had an edge to them, not all smoothed out in the way of Moonlight's models. Now it's just more or less like the other bars .. 

The ripped muscular guys who are still competing or kept their shape are mostly freelance and comes to bar if and when they are free or in need of money. So it can be a stroke of luck to find them if your star arent aligned. If u already have a person in particular u wanted to meet from previous encounter, maybe u can ask mamasan if the guy still with the bar or totally off the scene. Better yet, mamasan might call the guy for you to check if he is free, in which case, he deserve a tip hehe.

Many of the good ones have other jobs, PT, gym owner, etc, so they might not come everyday, especially during low season. 

[moistmango]

38 minutes ago, spoon said:Many of the good ones have other jobs, PT, gym owner, etc, so they might not come everyday, especially during low season. 

So I was told! There were a bunch of regular faces at Tawan in the pre-pandemic days of yore - Tiger, for one - but I haven’t seen them around since I started coming back to Bkk last year. 

[vinapu]

2 hours ago, moistmango said:

 Now it's just more or less like the other bars .. 

not really, specially when you take their show into consideration, much more progressive than all other bars combined. And no, guys on the stage are not in jeans or even boxers.

[Keithambrose]

3 hours ago, scott456 said:

I agree on Conrad, it's location is not desirable for gay night life. 

Meridien is very close!

[moistmango]

DAYS 2 and 3 

My two and half days in Bangkok were completely unproductive. Had plans to check out a couple of cafes, finally visit Icon Siam, drop in at a friend’s new gallery space - but of course all I did was get a few massages, toke up, hit the bars, in that order. The rain didn’t help. Kicked off my second day with some work, then it was off to Prime, a hop and a skip away, for a Thai massage. Was considering a more erotic experience at Jey or Prince, but those required a commute and I needed a real massage more than anything else. The clientele at Prime was almost exclusively male and gay; hardly a surprise. My masseur had some muscles on him, and looked pretty cute behind his mask, but gave off what I can only describe as straight vibes. (Has anyone tried propositioning the guys at Prime?) It was 550 baht for an hour and a half, sans tip for your boy. Had lunch at Mango Tree post-massage, but as I pointed out in my previous post, the chef there is a little too generous with the sugar. 

Wound up the day with dinner and drinks with a pal in Chinatown, which can be wonderfully tranquil after hours. Thanks to the reality of gentrification, there are any number of chic eateries and bars popping up these days. We dined at the Chop Chop Cookhouse, a new entity that took over an entire building that used to house a goldsmith’s. After food, we ended up for drinks at the cluster of bars on Soi Nana: the well-known Ba Hao is overhyped, but Asia Today - queer-friendly, queer-owned(?), both perhaps - was great. They have a cocktail menu that features drinks made from their collection of honey. Tried a couple, both fantastic. Cute, nerdy engineer type by himself next to us truck up a convo, and I think was trying to be friendly with me especially, but we didn’t hang out to chat, so that was that. 

Pal headed back to her hotel after cocktails, and I to Moonlight. One thing you’ve got to say about the place: they bother about standards. Whole new roster of faces in their non-model department, with quite a few head-turners. The papa I was acquainted with, Maxco, had also disappeared. Nothing new show-wise, but the models were a small group that evening, with only six present. There was Tum, York, Babe (of course), Mark and two others whose names I don’t know. I offed one of the regular boys, who told me he was Bank from Chiang Mai. He was a classic twink: fair-skinned, slim, athletic, big-eyed (likely the result of a surgeon’s knife rather than genetics, though I didn’t ask). He stayed the night, and the next morning, over a bagel and coffee, gave me the real scoop on himself: no Thai boy from CM, but like so many others in this business, from Myanmar. In his case, a Shan boy hailing from a town on the Myanmar-Thai border. He did go to school in Chiang Rai though, educated in a NGO-run school for underprivileged kids. The result: he proved to be a pretty good conversationalist with better-than-average linguistic skills, esp. English, and a decent dinner date. My thanks to the NGOs of SEA. 

My third day was even less thrilling; it was rinse and repeat. Work matters in the morn, a massage at Prime after lunch, a nap, and then I met Mr. Bouncer for dinner (from my first evening at Tawan). Original plan was to check out The Commons, but Saladaeng Rd was completely flooded out and near impassable on foot. We ended up at one of the Japanese joints on Soi Thaniya instead, cheek by jowl with the girlie bars. Got to know him a little better: he used to work as a Tawan boy back in the old space, but, now in his mid 40s and with a teenaged son to support, has decided to focus on more sustainable income sources (bouncer-ing is one of several side gigs apparently). I like him quite a bit: friendly and unpretentious, not hardened like some other bar boys, and clearly not out to fleece me for all I'm worth - though appreciative of the income opportunity I represent. Will probably hook up with him again the next time I'm in town. 

Rounded out my short, rainy stay in Bangkok on the rooftop deck of the Quarter Silom, staring up at the illuminated Lego tower that is the Mahanakhon, with a roll and some Donald Fagen on the playlist. Things have been decidedly dull so far in the sex department, but making a couple of new friends hasn't been a bad way of spending the last few days.

Sitting in a restaurant in Pattaya as I type this, my first time in this city. Here's hoping the rest of the trip is more exciting .. 

[CallMeLee]

21 hours ago, moistmango said:

The papa from Hotmale dragged me up to its bar, but their boys, while fetching in an aspiring-Moonlight-model sort of way, were clad in red sweat pants. All very Abercrombie and Fitch if that's your thing, but it wasn't mine.  🙄

Cheers for reminding me of this. I remember overhearing another guest speculating around the red joggers saying that........ maybe because red is a lucky colour for the Chinese 😁

[scott456]

Except Abercrombie and Fitch models used to be all white.

[Department_Of_Agriculture]

Actually rather nice to read an actual trip report that isn't just another tedious litany of "when and where I got fucked in the arse", - or the pursuit thereof - which is, effectively, what most of them are these days. Let us hope it doesn't go south from here...

[floridarob]

9 hours ago, moistmango said:

It was 550 baht for an hour and a half,

700 for 1.5 hrs, no?

I told my guy that my butt was hurting from walking so much,  he paid a lot of attention to my ass, I got hard, lol

Then when I turned over he kept brushing between my legs into my crotch, purposely teasing me... thought he was going to go further, but he didn't 😟

[moistmango]

7 hours ago, Department_Of_Agriculture said:

Actually rather nice to read an actual trip report that isn't just another tedious litany of "when and where I got fucked in the arse", - or the pursuit thereof - which is, effectively, what most of them are these days. Let us hope it doesn't go south from here...

Lol, high praise - I appreciate it ..

[moistmango]

 

2 hours ago, floridarob said:

700 for 1.5 hrs, no?

I told my guy that my butt was hurting from walking so much,  he paid a lot of attention to my ass, I got hard, lol

Then when I turned over he kept brushing between my legs into my crotch, purposely teasing me... thought he was going to go further, but he didn't 😟

550 for the regular Thai plus a head-and-shoulder working over - no feet (which hurts like hell for me).

[moistmango]

Day 4

The Pattaya virgin arrives in the promised land. Unfortunately, most of the day was spent in an incredibly frustrating back-and-forth with the hotel: I arrived to find that my category of room had been overbooked; I didn't like the room they offered me and requested another, only to find that the wifi in my substitute room of choice was non-existent, so ultimately returned to the original room they had offered. Ugh. The only thing that kept me from losing my sh*t like any entitled first-world tourist was the toke I had earlier, so all involved kept smiling on in the Land of Smiles - the most graceful outcome one could have hoped for. In between, I managed to make my way to Central Festival, a short stroll down Pattaya Beach, for lunch. Chain restaurants in a mall are just that, though, and the bucket list for tomorrow involves a decent place for a meal, either the buffet lunch at the Hilton or a nice seafood joint on Jomtien. I am dying to have a whole crab, all to myself ... 

After a post-dinner nap, I make my way to Boyztown - finally! I poke my head in at Toy Boyz first. There's a decent line-up of about 20 boys or so, all clad in their skivvies, but no show, so it's a tad awkward with them on stage all staring at you ... TB doesn't charge an entrance fee; beers are 300 baht. Only a handful of boys in the roster catch my eye. It's me and maybe 4 or 5 other johns in there, including several women, and at one point another shows up - a South Asian dude - and very quickly picks a boy out. Boy disappears to change into his civvies, and while he's gone, there seems to be some drama or misunderstanding of some sort, and the john leaves sans boy. The boy quite naturally throws a hissy fit, having already put on his clothes and assumed he was offed for the evening. In any case, I wasn't enthused about hanging around at TB, and decide to make my rounds of the other bars.

I amble over to X-Boys and Dream Boys. Business seems slow, even for a Friday night. XB has a small crowd, and several small-ish twinks in their undies and angel wings are performing a number onstage. Not my cup of tea, so I cross the soi to Dream Boys, where the boys are wearing jeans. It's dead quiet, with no one in there - "no show", I was told - but several boys look promising, and I make a mental note to return if nothing else transpires elsewhere. At A-Bomb, the boys sitting outside again suggest a lack of patrons inside. When I show up, they all follow me indoors and leap up onto the stage to begin parading. They're all clad in jeans, and I'm not convinced. I ultimately end up at, yes, Boyz Boyz Boyz. The place is *packed* to the gills. They have a small army of boys parading around up on stage, and, unsurprisingly, quality varies quite widely. Only a handful are flaunting their wares shirtless, while the rest are fully clothed, which I find bizarre for a go-go. One guy catches my eye: he's built, tatted, with a real bad boy vibe to him, and quite obviously straight. There's also a big muscle daddy type - who goes by the handle "jakkrit_pongpaew" on Insta - so if anyone's on the prowl for huge bears in Pats, the zoo ain't where they're at. Like most other bars, BBB doesn't charge an entrance fee, and beers begin at 350 baht. I stay for the show, but clearly a single guy who's nursing one beer isn't a priority when there are large groups buying their booze by the bottle, so service standards aren't great, plus bad boy and muscle daddy get called over to a table by another guy, so after the show ends I cut my losses and return to Dream Boys. There's one other group of Thais in there playing a drinking game, but otherwise everyone seems to be jostling for space at BBB. No complaints from me. The DB crowd seems a little more on the rough trade side than their TB counterparts - just one man's impression - and there are one or two cuties. "All straight", the mama tells me. OK. I make my pick: a jock-y, party boy type who has one of the cutest faces in the room, and goes by "Arm". Off fee 500, tip 2000 minimum. We head back to my hotel, and it becomes quite obvious that Arm is certainly not as straight as DB mama claims. I think my dry spell is over. 

I'm not sure if I should do a second round of Boyz Town tomorrow, or hit Jomtien or Sunee. Suggestions welcome. 

[forrestreid]

If you like rougher-looking, straight-acting lads, Sunee Plaza might be a good option for you.

[CallMeLee]

Thanks for such a detailed and well written report! I'm interested to read more as I haven't ventured to Pattaya in any of my Thailand tips. ❤️

[spoon]

7 hours ago, moistmango said:

 

550 for the regular Thai plus a head-and-shoulder working over - no feet (which hurts like hell for me).

Take oil massage next time. This is where i believe prime shines hehe.

19 hours ago, moistmango said:

Has anyone tried propositioning the guys at Prime?

Rarely but not zero chance. And most of the time, it happens with oil massage. 

[macaroni21]

7 hours ago, moistmango said:

and at one point another shows up - a South Asian dude - and very quickly picks a boy out. Boy disappears to change into his civvies, and while he's gone, there seems to be some drama or misunderstanding of some sort, and the john leaves sans boy.

I've witnessed something very similar before - not at Toy Boys, but in a Bangkok gogo bar. Also a South Asian dude. And I was seated quite close to the action, so I caught a bit of the conversation. In my incident, the mamasan was explaining that the off fee was for the bar and the boy still expected a tip of [whatever amount - I can't recall]. The customer objected and claimed he had been misled, and said - this I remember - something along the lines of "In my country, 500 would be for everything." Of course, I don't know what country he was referring to, or even whether it had gogo bars of similar variety.

[vinapu]

17 minutes ago, macaroni21 said:

In my incident, the mamasan was explaining that the off fee was for the bar and the boy still expected a tip of [whatever amount - I can't recall]. The customer objected and claimed he had been misled, and said - this I remember - something along the lines of "In my country, 500 would be for everything." Of course, I don't know what country he was referring to, or even whether it had gogo bars of similar variety.

in reality what other country has boy gogos of similar variety ?

Mamasan was sensible by explaining whole process as in fact it's quite possible for novice in Thailand , not knowing prices , to assume that price quoted includes everything. This is a case in Japan I understand but of course not 500. 

Quite possible Toy Boy incident in report above  was result of such false assumption

One of massage guys I know recently had misfortune of having two Chinese customers in one day and they both refused to tip him claiming that massage fees should include everything. He says they were explained all , just played cheap trick. Poor boy, two assholes in one day on the table!

26 minutes ago, macaroni21 said:

 

sorry , double quote by mistake

5 hours ago, CallMeLee said:

Thanks for such a detailed and well written report! I'm interested to read more as I haven't ventured to Pattaya in any of my Thailand tips. ❤️

then go next time , If you don't you will never know doesn't matter how many reports you will read and how many clips on YouTube you will watch.

6 hours ago, forrestreid said:

If you like rougher-looking, straight-acting lads, Sunee Plaza might be a good option for you.

Nice Boys is a must to visit IMHO

 

7 hours ago, moistmango said:

I'm not sure if I should do a second round of Boyz Town tomorrow, or hit Jomtien or Sunee. Suggestions welcome. 

Depending of how many days you will be there but I would say make sure you visit  both areas. Not that it's very far, in 10-15  minutes by motorsai taxi you will be in Jomtien and walk from Boyztown to Sunee is even less then that. In Sunee you have only 2 go-gos, Winners and Nice Boys  so easily you can visit 2 areas  on one night. 

Second round in Boyztown is also good idea as there may be some pickings you missed on your first visit because of their absence.

[vinapu]

16 hours ago, Department_Of_Agriculture said:

....... trip report that isn't just another tedious litany of "when and where I got fucked in the arse", - or the pursuit thereof - which is, effectively, what most of them are these days. 

Perhaps you should try to put together your own report before making such uncharitable, to put it mildly , comment.

Sure , reports are of varied quality but also readers expectation may be different, some may be looking for juicy details, others for practical leads about accommodation, where to go, to eat or how organize their vacation day.  Some like short , up to a point stories , other may be looking for longer narratives but one thing is sure : we should be grateful that members are taking their time and effort to put something together for us.

Specially hats off for those who take chunk from their vacation time to update us on their adventures in almost real time.

Tedious is process of writing report  , not easily avoidable treat, even if doubtful  of reading it.

16 hours ago, Department_Of_Agriculture said:

Actually rather nice to read an actual trip report 

 fully agree with this part though