Patong vs Pattaya

[Tantric]

Gents,

I’m planning a trip to Thailand in March and need your advice.  

CONTEXT

During a couple of work trips to Bangkok more than a decade ago I did lots of vanilla tourist activities, so my upcoming trip will instead focus exclusively on carnal and hedonistic pleasures.

I enjoy romping with—and getting massages from—muscular or athletic guys. Based on feedback offered by others on this forum, I understand that I should be able to easily find such guys while in Bangkok (at The One, Moonlight, Jey Spa, Arena, Sabaidee, Jupiter, Krubb, Grindr, etc.).  I’ll definitely spend a few days there.

For the beach, I will also visit Pattaya and/or Phuket.  After lounging at the beach during the day, it would be great to have access to muscular or athletic guys at night, but I understand that Pattaya (and maybe also Patong) will primarily offer twinks.  

MY QUESTIONS FOR YOU

1. Are there more options for finding (via bars, massage shops, Grindr, etc) muscular or athletic guys in Pattaya or Patong?
2. Or should I count on a dearth or complete absence of muscular or athletic guys in both Pattaya and Patong? (Based on his posts, I suspect the esteemed @vinapu is of this opinion. This is not a dealbreaker for me. I would still go to P and/or P for the beach and would simply lower remove my expectations and allocate my time there accordingly.)  
3. Is boyinthai.com a reliable resource? More specifically, do the masseur photo albums and prices on the spas’ pages of that site seem up to date and accurate?

Looking forward to your feedback.

Cheers!

[spoon]

For the beach, phuket is much much better than pattaya. For the gay bars, massage and boys selection, pattaya wins by far, as phuket gay scene is really small. What i did for my phuket visit is to bring a muscular guy with me to phuket lol. You can still find muscular guys in pattaya though, specifically in dreamboy and boyzboyzboyz, but only a few are my type. Beach wise, ive never even tempted to swim in pattaya beaches, but i still go because of one guy i like who work there as beach chair attendant lol. 

[Tantric]

39 minutes ago, spoon said:

For the beach, phuket is much much better than pattaya. For the gay bars, massage and boys selection, pattaya wins by far, as phuket gay scene is really small. What i did for my phuket visit is to bring a muscular guy with me to phuket lol. You can still find muscular guys in pattaya though, specifically in dreamboy and boyzboyzboyz, but only a few are my type. Beach wise, ive never even tempted to swim in pattaya beaches, but i still go because of one guy i like who work there as beach chair attendant lol. 

Thanks for that input!  Especially the point that muscular/athletic guys can be found in Pattaya. It sounds like you’re saying that I should not count on finding muscular/athletic guys in Patong.  That is good to know!

BTW, if I choose Pattaya, I will probably go to the beach on Ko Lan (taking the ferry). My understanding is that that beach is much better than Dongtan beach.  But let’s stay on topic on focus on the men 😉

[vinapu]

6 hours ago, Tantric said:

 

1. Or should I count on a dearth or complete absence of muscular or athletic guys in both Pattaya and Patong? (Based on his posts, I suspect the esteemed @vinapu is of this opinion.

as spoon said , in Patong it may be hard work to find one and even harder  to hook up with one but I seen few in Zag Club. If you go there keep your eyes opened but leave expectancies in the room. If it happens , happens.

In Pattaya it may be easier as hunks definitely exist and are available in Boyztown . In BoyzBoyzBoyz it may be plenty but those days there are covered from head to toe, only few will be bare chested so it's hard to assess them. Heed Spoon's advice and start with Dreamboys. I had luck in Jan and Aug so you will have too most likely

[Tantric]

3 hours ago, vinapu said:

as spoon said , in Patong it may be hard work to find one and even harder  to hook up with one

In Pattaya it may be easier as hunks definitely exist and are available in Boyztown . In BoyzBoyzBoyz it may be plenty but those days there are covered from head to toe, only few will be bare chested so it's hard to assess them.

Thanks for that confirmation!

Pattaya was an afterthought but now I’m getting more excited about it.  (Am not thrilled about the prudishness of BoyzBoyzBoyz and can’t imagine the models there are happy about having to cover up either. Hopefully that changes in a few months!)

[Zipper]

I was in both places last year. When I go back to Thailand I’ll take a pass on Phuket and find a place in Pattaya with a pool.

[emiel1981]

I agree with @vinapu and @spoon and I would choose Pattaya over Patong.

A few years ago I lived and worked in Phuket (actually Khao Lak, but went to Patong frequently) and back than there was more action going on in the gay area (the Paradise Complex). There was two or three clubs, some terraces/bars and if I remember correctly two host-bars (the good old concept: guys with number buttons). On my latest visit to Patong I found out there was now host-bar anymore, only only big club (Zag) still open. But that was over a year ago. I hear the old "Boat Bar" opened again. So maybe there is something more going on in Patong again.

But definitely more bars and places to choose from in Pattaya. The beaches aren't great in Pattaya, but also beach in Patong itself is not the best. There are good beaches on Phuket, but Patong Beach itself is not that special. I do like hanging out at the "gay area" at the beach in Pattaya (Dongtan Beach).

9 hours ago, spoon said:

Beach wise, ive never even tempted to swim in pattaya beaches, but i still go because of one guy i like who work there as beach chair attendant lol. 

I wonder if @spoon and I go to the same beach area. As I also have a favourite spot because of the nice and goodlooking guy working there...  Without shirt, nice body (light muscled).

[Tantric]

1 hour ago, Zipper said:

I was in both places last year. When I go back to Thailand I’ll take a pass on Phuket and find a place in Pattaya with a pool.

I’m now leaning towards taking a pass on Phuket too!

[Tantric]

1 hour ago, emiel1981 said:

goodlooking guy working there...  Without shirt, nice body (light muscled).

You could’ve just started with that.  I’m sold! 😉

[vinapu]

4 hours ago, Tantric said:

(Am not thrilled about the prudishness of BoyzBoyzBoyz and can’t imagine the models there are happy about having to cover up either. Hopefully that changes in a few months!)

don't assume anything about BBB and don't count it will change anytime soon as it was the same last year and both times I was there this year , in Jan and Aug.

I was told and I have good source there that boys are free to undress, yes only few are taking advantage of that freedom. Apparently Chinese girls like it that way.

coupled with 1050 off fee, I have no idea how often their guys are offed, but yet scene is full of boys so something is keeping them loyal to the bar.

[vinapu]

2 hours ago, Tantric said:

I’m now leaning towards taking a pass on Phuket too!

keep in mind Phuket is more expensive than Pattaya and getting there from Bangkok involves 80 $ flight while you can get to Pattaya by bus for 5 $. 

[emiel1981]

10 hours ago, vinapu said:

don't assume anything about BBB and don't count it will change anytime soon as it was the same last year and both times I was there this year , in Jan and Aug.

I was told and I have good source there that boys are free to undress, yes only few are taking advantage of that freedom. Apparently Chinese girls like it that way.

coupled with 1050 off fee, I have no idea how often their guys are offed, but yet scene is full of boys so something is keeping them loyal to the bar.

Exactly. The fact the boys are almost alle fully dressed on stage and the off fee went up so much, BBB is a no-go for me now. There are better alternatives in Pattaya.

Only reason I might be tempted to have a quick look at BBB, is to see if the cute waiter is still around that I offed last year. To have him as a "repeater".

[tm_nyc]

12 hours ago, vinapu said:

getting there from Bangkok involves 80 $ flight

And then there's the taxi mafia to deal with, getting to & from Phuket airport.

[Londoner]

I'm a little surprised by this. When we were last there, pre-Covid so things may have changed, we were irritated by the  cost of travelling a couple of kms in Patong on

6 minutes ago, tm_nyc said:

And then there's the taxi mafia to deal with, getting to & from Phuket airport.

 one of those little buses. 200 bht a time? or is my memory misleading me? On the other hand, our taxi fare to and from the airport I recall was better value than that from Bkk to Pattaya.

In general terms I agree that Phuket is more expensive than Pattaya but we have found  good prices at hotels in the low season. There seems to be a bigger hike for the high season than in Pattaya.... the place we stayed in last time was excellent  but way beyond our  budget had we gone there later in the year. 

 

[vinapu]

5 hours ago, tm_nyc said:

And then there's the taxi mafia to deal with, getting to & from Phuket airport.

now there's 100 baht bus from airport taking all the beaches on his way so very economical alternative.

5 hours ago, Londoner said:

On the other hand, our taxi fare to and from the airport I recall was better value than that from Bkk to Pattaya.

 

 in January I paid 700 for taxi from Patong to Phuket International. 30 kms ride

Just recently , in Aug Bolt fare from Swampy to Boyztown was 1000 and Grab fare in reverse few days later 1300 . 120 kms ride so one can argue which one is better value