How much do you think GayRomeo and other sites have destroyed the bar scene?

[TotallyOz]

I was having dinner with 2 world famous posters last night and we were chatting about the effect that GayRomeo and other sites have had on the scene of go go boys in Pattaya, Bangkok and other places. We all agree that the net and especially Gay Romeo has had a TREMENDOUS effect on the quality of boys that work on the bars. Many of the super star boys now forgo the bars and instead sell their good on Gay Romeo. We also all know of guys who use to take off at least one or two boys from the bars every night and now they take NO boys from the bars and instead make all hook ups online.

 

Some believe that GayRomeo and the other sites will completely obliterate the gay gogo scene in Thailand much as the Internet did for the gay money bars in Amsterdam.

 

Now in NYC, there are few (if any) good places to pick up escorts in bars. The entire scene has moved to the Internet.

 

What do you foresee as the future of the gogo scene in LOS?

[Guest]

It would be sad if the Internet finished off all the gogo bars, as sitting at a keyboard does not compare with the experience of going to a gogo bar.

 

On line dating is probably more convenient for money buys, however I prefer the bars, as at least he's going to turn up and what you see is what you get.

 

Obviously Gayromeo will be taking some business away from the bars, leading to some closures.

[Guest RichLB]

My view is that it is the bar owners/managers who are to blame for the decline in business. GayRomeo and other dating sites have merely filled the void created by uncreative and often lazy bar management. One can not expect continued success when offering the same product year after year with the only change being increasing prices.

 

Business success demands innovation - especially when faced with a changing environment. Make the bars fun and the crowds will return. Clearly sex alone will no longer work. Nor will aging farang drags, boys pulling flowers our of their ass, or dripping candle wax on themselves keep us coming back. If all the bar chooses to do is provide the same productat a much higher price than can be found on GayRomeo, of course it will fade in time.

 

Again, I urge the bars to be creative, make it fun to be there, provide some excitement and unpredictability in their offering. If they do that, GayRomeo will not be able to compete.

[firecat69]

My view is that it is the bar owners/managers who are to blame for the decline in business. GayRomeo and other dating sites have merely filled the void created by uncreative and often lazy bar management. One can not expect continued success when offering the same product year after year with the only change being increasing prices.

 

Business success demands innovation - especially when faced with a changing environment. Make the bars fun and the crowds will return. Clearly sex alone will no longer work. Nor will aging farang drags, boys pulling flowers our of their ass, or dripping candle wax on themselves keep us coming back. If all the bar chooses to do is provide the same productat a much higher price than can be found on GayRomeo, of course it will fade in time.

 

Again, I urge the bars to be creative, make it fun to be there, provide some excitement and unpredictability in their offering. If they do that, GayRomeo will not be able to compete.

Gayromeo will always be able to compete because it is open 24 hours a day not 6. But the Bars can take some of their lost business back if they try to compete instead of just rip their customers off. Happy Place seems to be doing better then any of the other Bars in Boystown area. Innovation is the key and cute varied Boys!!!!

[pong]

Here in BKK-if you simply look at the nr. of venues, it is not so much GR/or the other www-sites that have taken over, but the massage-shops. When I came to Thaild/BKK first-around 1989, there were hardly any. Now at least 60+ and spread out all over town. Sure-also 3 or 4 in soi Hotmail/Pratuchai, but the better ones are in suburbia. In Sapan Kwai the former gogo have all but 1 closed-changed format into KaraOke. Around Silom the total nr is only slightly declining. Pattaya simply has a giant oversupply in everything-far too much to survive if tourist nrs. go down or even just stable.

Real 5***-boys have always had other means to attract a steady, select and well-off clientele. Even before there was a mobuy fone. In the past-when I hit a nice guy, I asked for his nr and made a secret deal after once in the bar.

I write this as just yesterday I hit a former gogoboy in a massageshop. He was really glad to have made this transfer.

I would like to post a related topic:

Would you advise a boy working in a gogobar, with which he is not that happy, but is great in the services he provides to clients, to change over to GR as main forms of attracting customers? he is not that computer-savvy (yet?)-but I guess there are always others to help him out at the start for a small fee-just like in the past there were those letter-writing former bargirls helping out new girls in claiming lost buffaloes and the like.

[Gaybutton]

Business success demands innovation - especially when faced with a changing environment. Make the bars fun and the crowds will return.

I agree with RichLB. I think sites like Gay Romeo are probably much more attractive to those who live in Thailand than those who are in Thailand for a holiday. For me, many of the bars have become nothing more than dull, expensive, money traps. One bar seems to me to be pretty much the same as the next. I don't enjoy the bars now anywhere near as much as I used to.

 

Living here, my thinking is more in line with why should I go to go-go bars at which the boys stand there doing little more than the "One Knee Shuffle," music far too loud for my taste, pushy waiters and mama-sans, bar shows that I don't enjoy, high prices for drinks I don't want in the first place, and off fees of 300 to 400 baht? Why should I do that when from the comfort of my own home I can easily find boys who are my type on Gay Romeo, at any time day or night, and have to endure none of that?

 

I think RichLB is absolutely right. If going to the go-go bars was fun, then I'd be going to the bars. But for me, going to the bars is more of an expensive chore than anything else, where I have to sit there "playing the game."

 

Before sites such as Gay Romeo came into existence, if I wanted a boy I would go to the bars. Now, I don't have to go to the bars to find boys. Obviously, that makes Gay Romeo competitive. I don't think Gay Romeo will put the Thailand bars out of business, but it is bound to have an impact. I don't have any idea of just how much of an impact that would be.

[Guest]

For anyone living here the whole year, I can see the attraction of Gay Romeo.

For a short term holiday, I see it as much more fun to visit a gogo bar & there's more certainty in that hookup process, as what you see is what you get. You also know he's going to turn up. Some eye contact & a little kiss in the bar both mean you avoid dating someone who can't even bear to look at you.

 

The massage parlour theory is interesting. I dodenjoy getting pampered for 90 minutes or so in such places. Innovating to create a gogo-massage bar would be nice. Have a drink,select your masseur off the stage, then take a massage.

[firecat69]

For anyone living here the whole year, I can see the attraction of Gay Romeo.

For a short term holiday, I see it as much more fun to visit a gogo bar & there's more certainty in that hookup process, as what you see is what you get. You also know he's going to turn up. Some eye contact & a little kiss in the bar both mean you avoid dating someone who can't even bear to look at you.

 

The massage parlour theory is interesting. I dodenjoy getting pampered for 90 minutes or so in such places. Innovating to create a gogo-massage bar would be nice. Have a drink,select your masseur off the stage, then take a massage.

 

Maybe I am getting old but it is really hard to remember the times it was Fun to visit a GoGo Bar . But I do in fact remember when I walked into one and there were 30 boys I would take . Now it is a miracle if there are 3. I don t think my taste has changed that much but the overall quality of the boys has for whatever reason. Maybe its the massage shops, gayromeo etc, . I just know there are very few venues that make it enjoyable and charge prices that are reasonable when compared to the competition.

 

If you are a one week visitor especially first time then I agree the Bars are your best option. Anyone who is here 2 weeks or longer and has been here before is missing a great opportunity in not trying Gayromeo. Don t use it as a replacement for the Bars but as an added possibility. You may be very surprised!!!

[Gaybutton]

Don t use it as a replacement for the Bars but as an added possibility.

I fully agree with that statement. I wish I had said it. You bring out a very good point - not a replacement, but an "in addition to."

[Guest]

Also, with bars they are all money boys, so you know where you stand.

 

Log on to GR outside of Pattaya & there is quite a high proportion of people who don't seem interested in anyone over 35.

 

All considered, for as long as there are solvent gay tourists & whilst gogo bars are tolerated by the authorities, at least some of these bars should survive.

[Guest beachlover]

In Sapan Kwai the former gogo have all but 1 closed-changed format into KaraOke.

I'm curious. What format is a gay karaoke bar? I've been invited but never got round to visiting one in Thailand (elsewhere yes). What's the setup? One big bar or little individual rooms? Is it all customers or are there "host boys" too?

[Guest]

Right now, almost all the cute guys on gay Romeo in Bangkok specify 18~35 for partners.

I found one exception, who looks fit and wants to meet, but it seems he doesn't do enough English to answer questions like "Do you have an ID card?".

 

Soi Duangthawee beckons.....

[Guest beachlover]

That indicates they are probably not money boys. I imagine most boys in Pattaya are money boys, where as in Bangkok you are more likely to find boys who won't take cash for sex.

[Guest]

I'd kind of reached that conclusion too.

Update:

One of the BKK GR guys contacted me. We exchanged phone numbers & I tried calling him, however he had some problem with his phone.

So off I went to Soi Duangthawee again & he tried calling when I was sitting with a gogo dancer in Classic boys. Too late!

[Jason1988]

What has helped to ruin the go-go bars is the loud music, pushy mamasans, those dreadful (and boring) drag shows and the overall quality of the boys on display. If the bar owners could tone down the music, stop the pushy the mamasans and get rid of those drag shows they would begin to make things a bit more interesting. It would help a great deal if they found some better looking boys too. I've found myself not visiting the bars on various holidays because of the fact I see nice looking boys outside of the bars. I know everyone's tastes vary but they should strive for quality over just having many boys that are either too old, too fat or just not nice to look at. This is my opinion and I'm sure not the opinion of many others.

[firecat69]

In many instances the age listed by the boys on Gayromeo means nothing. Pay no attention and attempt contact. I would guess 50% of the boys will contact you and the others are looking for younger.

 

The market is very different in Bangkok compared to Pattaya. In Pattaya the over whelming % of boys are in fact money boys. Everybody has a different definition of Moneyboy. Mine is a boy that supports himself completely by selling his Body in the Bars, on Gayromeo or a combination of both.. nothing wrong with that just a definition.

 

In Bangkok it is the opposite. The overwhelming % of guys have full time jobs, non sexual. They are looking for hook ups and in many cases a little extra money for MaMa or new clothes etc. They can be a lot harder to meet because they have to work. If you have time many of these are very rewarding to meet. Most will need at least taxi money and many will want more but to me at least it is a different mind set. But there are some who will ask for nothing. This is probably directly related to your appearance and whether you seem to be Jai Dee to them (most important)

 

They do not need your money to pay the rent or eat. Of course there are exceptions to this in Bangkok but they are more the exception then the rule!

[Guest]

What's happening to the straight bars? Is the quantity of such bars open about the same as it was 3 years ago? Is there a GayRomeo equivalent taking business off these? I barely know where the straight bars are, so have no idea how their business is holding up during the economic downturn.

 

GayRomeo update:

Having now travelled onwards from Bangkok, the streets are full of slim cute guys, yet on GayRomeo I've been contacted by 2 chubby guys and one who says he's 19, but that his ID shows a birth date of 1993, "as he spent 2 years in the US". Conversation stopped right there, thankfully nothing saucy had been discussed.

[atri1666]

Tomorrow morning my holidays are over and i dont paid any off-fees in the 3 weeks. In Krazy Dragon and Happy Boys can have fun without leaving the venue and mostly every day had up to 4 hookups over GR (asking for 0-800 baht). One sweet 19 years old boy from north pattaya only asked shy to give him money for taxi( he got a big tip )I liked many boys in the host bars but they seemed to have enough money. They have done only their job with drinks and towels.

[pong]

Tha Sapan kwai karaOKe bars are just that: boys were street clothes, there is one big bar with maybe a few partly separate ''boxes'' and you order a drink and if, you want/like that, can choose (in Thai only) from enormous books full of CDs with KaraOke. Then you can do what that is supposed to be (and what most farang dislike like hell and most Asians seem to enjoy like heaven), if you want with the boy of choice too.

The usualThai set-up: most order a big bottle of Johnny or cheaper and mixers for the time and invite some around. Steady customers leave their bottle (with a stripe to check the contents) for next time if unfinished. The boys are off-able. There are several cheap and cheerful short-time HTLs nearby.

In the very past (<2000) S Kwai had more go-go bars, for a time most fanous was Midnight Cowboy. Now only Be High is left and the remaining other bars are all concentrated into 1 short sidesoi-they sued to be spread around all over.

[pong]

When you exactly count the nr of go-go-bars in Silom/Suriwong in BKK, then the total is stable since at least this century. Sure, some close, get refurbished and a new owner and a new name, then reopen, the odd one has moved (to a cheaper rent-location),but bars like Golden C-k, MyWay (on Ram IV), Screwboy, the former twilight-then Hotmail, are around since about as long as I can remember.

But before 2000 there were hardly any massage shops around there and now at least 7 in this area plainly aiming at gay-not so much massage but afters, and a dozen or so (quite a few opened the last 3-4 monthes) acting more hidden.

Agree what several others have written about a clear distinction between PTY and BKK. It always seemed to me that about any boy in PTY would make himself available-even the most ugly motosy-taxi-drivers.

Still I wonder if a boy would be able to gain a living in ''selling body'' (as that is the exact translation from Thai as they name it) via gayROmeo or whatever site. Here in Europe this is for rental boys THE way to do bisnis.

[Guest beachlover]

Everybody has a different definition of Moneyboy. Mine is a boy that supports himself completely by selling his Body in the Bars, on Gayromeo or a combination of both.. nothing wrong with that just a definition.

 

In Bangkok it is the opposite. The overwhelming % of guys have full time jobs, non sexual. They are looking for hook ups and in many cases a little extra money for MaMa or new clothes etc. They can be a lot harder to meet because they have to work. If you have time many of these are very rewarding to meet. Most will need at least taxi money and many will want more but to me at least it is a different mind set. But there are some who will ask for nothing. This is probably directly related to your appearance and whether you seem to be Jai Dee to them (most important)

I agree... There's a difference between a moneyboy who only does that and nothing else to support himself, and a boy who studies or has a mainstream job and is more of an "opportunist", doing the moneyboy thing to earn some extra income.

 

I think, even if you are looking for a relationship with a moneyboy, you're more likely to find a better candidate in Bangkok who works, studies or has another productive occupation, other than simply selling his body, as most in Pattaya do.

 

Tha Sapan kwai karaOKe bars are just that: boys were street clothes, there is one big bar with maybe a few partly separate ''boxes'' and you order a drink and if, you want/like that, can choose (in Thai only) from enormous books full of CDs with KaraOke. Then you can do what that is supposed to be (and what most farang dislike like hell and most Asians seem to enjoy like heaven), if you want with the boy of choice too.

The usualThai set-up: most order a big bottle of Johnny or cheaper and mixers for the time and invite some around. Steady customers leave their bottle (with a stripe to check the contents) for next time if unfinished. The boys are off-able. There are several cheap and cheerful short-time HTLs nearby.

In the very past (<2000) S Kwai had more go-go bars, for a time most fanous was Midnight Cowboy. Now only Be High is left and the remaining other bars are all concentrated into 1 short sidesoi-they sued to be spread around all over.

Thanks... nice to know. I'm not a big fan of karaoke but will participate as a fun social thing.

[pong]

I think, even if you are looking for a relationship with a moneyboy, you're more likely to find a better candidate in Bangkok who works, studies or has another productive occupation, other than simply selling his body, as most in Pattaya do.

NO-this is Thailand-the scala of opportunities is far bigger as you now think. To be very honest: this comes from a decent scientific study from at least 20 years ago now (I must still have it somewhere in the attic). It described various styles of how MBs could operate- from near criminal (also thieving etc.) street side vendors to very skilled hi-5 class ''serial relations''.(paid, that is-perhaps even without the obvious hint of being paid, but all expenses taken care of).

In fact I distrust BKKs smart students a bit-as I do with most BKK people (remember their bak waan=sweet mouth?). You simply never can trust them. Well-you cannot trust any Thai, but once a simple Isan boy has discovered that sugar-daddy pays for anything and keeps him, he may be quite satisfied with that undreamt of employment.

 

And back to your original Q: (yes, I fully understand you wwre smitten by him and now feel thrown in the dustbin).

just imagine this guy had landed him a well-paid job for say 10kTHB/month. he would still come to DJ -maybe not 7 days/week, but 3-4-5. He would still down the required red Johnnies-if just to impress his friends, who know he has the money. And go with anyone whom he fancied.

In a month of 3-4 he would not that even his quite big salary would not be enough to sustain those habits (if he did not note-he is not worth that job at all anyway). So there would be that smiling farang, well knowing about easy preys. Result: same same, but just a few weeks later.

[pong]

as another side:

GR has much more done to outdo the street-side sex for rent vendors. I hardly ever come there (you may want to take a walk around the block when visiting that DJ again) but the once fanmous Ram IV late eve. scene is said to have all dried out.

BKKs other most well known venue for that-Thai style, the Saranrom park, is also in obvious decline-re nr. of boys idling and times when they can be seen.

Now back in a very cold and snowy Europe I read the same about the various closures of former gays -meet-bars. This also being blamed to GR and those sites. Seems rather that BKK is still lagging behind that.

[Guest beachlover]

NO-this is Thailand-the scala of opportunities is far bigger as you now think. To be very honest: this comes from a decent scientific study from at least 20 years ago now (I must still have it somewhere in the attic). It described various styles of how MBs could operate- from near criminal (also thieving etc.) street side vendors to very skilled hi-5 class ''serial relations''.(paid, that is-perhaps even without the obvious hint of being paid, but all expenses taken care of).

In fact I distrust BKKs smart students a bit-as I do with most BKK people (remember their bak waan=sweet mouth?). You simply never can trust them. Well-you cannot trust any Thai, but once a simple Isan boy has discovered that sugar-daddy pays for anything and keeps him, he may be quite satisfied with that undreamt of employment.

Interesting... Yeah, I imagine the money boy/girl thing has many levels and niches in Thailand and in Asia.

 

When I'm with a boy I don't have that issue of wondering if he's just doing/saying stuff to get money out of me because I never pay them anything. But I do try to pay for most stuff without going overboard (some feel awkward if you pay for everything).

 

Having said that, I'm aware, in most cases, except a few when the boy is already well off or from a well off family, they know I'm considerably wealthier than them, and I wonder if this influences their decision to go out with me. I kind of feel bad if they're just doing it for the possibility of a long-term relationship with someone many times wealthier because that's not going to happen. I'm in their country/city for a few days at most before moving on.

 

. You simply never can trust them. Well-you cannot trust any Thai

I don't think that's entirely true. You just have to be aware of the wealth gap and assess their motives accordingly.

 

Funnily enough, I would trust a wealthier boy more since I know the money gap is less likely to be a motive for the relationship.

 

(yes, I fully understand you wwre smitten by him and now feel thrown in the dustbin).

Sensitive LOL... No no no, I didn't feel tossed aside at all. I was just a little sad he went down that path, rather than work hard to earn a living in a more mainstream role. He was cute... but not really the type I would take for more than a one-nighter. Too simple minded. I think for a relationship that's more than flirting and sex, you need someone a bit more intellectual or educated and better exposed.

 

just imagine this guy had landed him a well-paid job for say 10kTHB/month. he would still come to DJ -maybe not 7 days/week, but 3-4-5. He would still down the required red Johnnies-if just to impress his friends, who know he has the money. And go with anyone whom he fancied.

In a month of 3-4 he would not that even his quite big salary would not be enough to sustain those habits (if he did not note-he is not worth that job at all anyway). So there would be that smiling farang, well knowing about easy preys. Result: same same, but just a few weeks later.

Interesting... I can imagine that scenario. I guess it depends on how emotionally intelligent the boy is. If he's self aware enough to realise what he's doing he might control his spending, stick to the day job and perhaps use the 2-3 nights of moneyboying each week to just supplement his income.

[Guest]

as another side:

GR has much more done to outdo the street-side sex for rent vendors. I hardly ever come there (you may want to take a walk around the block when visiting that DJ again) but the once fanmous Ram IV late eve. scene is said to have all dried out.

There were several people offering themselves on that street when I walked down it last week.

None were quite as fit as the offering in Classic Boys, so I kept on walking.