Visiting Chiang Rai

[Guest nekete]

Hi people...

 

Any gay life in Chiang Rai? Can you tell¿

[Bob]

Sorry, can't report much. Although I've visited Chiangrai quite a few times over the last 11+ years, it's been a full year since I've been up there. Additionally, each time I've gone there it was with my bf so I wasn't out and about looking much for this type of thing.

 

Over the years, I've only known two gay bars there and both were very close to the Wangcome Hotel (with one right across the street facing south and the hotel itself and the other being down a small soi about a block north of the hotel). I don't remember the names but one of them has a sign that says "Boys Bar" or something close to that. Both are small places, I've only been in them a few times over the years, and I wasn't impressed at all by either place. I thought both places were a bit dingy and I don't remember being impressed by any of the boys (only 3-4 at each place) that I saw there. But, then again, I was only there for a drink and brief look-around.

 

Maybe you can google and find some more current information and/or somebody else who knows more than me will post some information here. There are a couple of discos there....I've never been to either....and I'd guess that there's likely a local gay contingent that frequents at least one of those places so that may be worth a try to you if you like that sort of thing.

[Bob]

Guess I snapped a couple of daytime photos of the two bars when I was there in late 2010. The Regency place is the one directy across the street from the Wangcome Hotel.

 

 

[Guest fountainhall]

If it is of interest, I have found quite a few Chiang Rai boys chatting on gayromeo. If you go into the users section, there are more than 220 registered members in the city.

[KhorTose]

I have gone several times, but I too was with my BF. He grew up there and he did take me to the discos and other action places and we saw very little action. Gay Romeo is probably the best bet as I agree with Bob about the two bars being dingy with little appeal.

[pong]

If it is of interest, I have found quite a few Chiang Rai boys chatting on gayromeo. If you go into the users section, there are more than 220 registered members in the city.

NO-again that same age-old mistake-they are as living in chRai PROVINCE-and for some that may be well over 100 kms away for the muang=city. This is the last time I will expand on that.

The situation appears to be the same as Bob describes, though the bars may-or may not-who cares- have changed names. This is the tipical private soi (just like Patpong) with entertainment places. ,mostly str8. BYOB is often a better advice if you do not want the luck of the lotteree or the sometimes endless perturbations in contacting GR users.

[Guest]

Whilst I doubt Chiang Rai would become a Mecca for gay tourism, there are other reasons why the cultured tourist may visit the city. Whilst there, why not visit the gay bars?

If they don't appeal, it's easy enough to leave fairly swiftly.

 

Posting details of bars in smaller cities is a useful service.

 

(Keywords: Chiang Rai gay bar)

[Guest fountainhall]

NO-again that same age-old mistake-they are as living in chRai PROVINCE-and for some that may be well over 100 kms away for the muang=city.

 

Good point! But equally I have found guys listed under Chiang Mai and Bangkok as actually living in Chiang Rai! And these were not guys studying or working in those cities. Also when I've been visiting Chiang Mai, I've had two guys specifically come from Chiang Rai to spend some time with me.

 

So I guess if you put in the your profile that you are visiting Chiang Rai, there should be a better chance of finding those who live there.

[Guest nekete]

Maybe you can google and find some more current information.

 

Hey, Thanks a lot to everydody for answering...

 

Bob,I´ve googled a lot, but I´ve found a very little information. But know, reading you and the others I know I had found all the information.

 

I´m afraid there is just that two bars, the regency and the other. I´m living a few meters of Regency bar...

 

I have also read about a massage place called BARNAO that is supossed to be in the same region of the two bars, but I can´t find it. Even I can´t find the BOYS bar, jaja.

 

And I also read about gay people who use to meet to play rugby or something I don´t remember know where.

 

The problem,well,my problem is that I would like to know mature gay thai man and not very young people.

 

Where are the people aged more than 35/40 in Chiang Rai or Chiang Mai?

 

Thanks a lot. I´ve searching this message in other forum and I didn´t find it, I startet to think that I´m crazy because I was sure that I had written it.

 

Sorry for my english, I know is awful

[Guest nekete]

Guess I snapped a couple of daytime photos of the two bars when I was there in late 2010. The Regency place is the one directy across the street from the Wangcome Hotel.

 

 

Hey, thank so much for this photo, now it would be easy to find the boys bar.

 

I´m located very near this bar, there are always some guys there, but they are so young...

[Guest nekete]

If it is of interest, I have found quite a few Chiang Rai boys chatting on gayromeo. If you go into the users section, there are more than 220 registered members in the city.

 

I´ve done it. But it seem to me quite difficult to understand that gayromeo... Buah, I´m tired. Tomorrow I´ll try again.

 

Thank you.

[Guest nekete]

I have gone several times, but I too was with my BF. He grew up there and he did take me to the discos and other action places and we saw very little action. Gay Romeo is probably the best bet as I agree with Bob about the two bars being dingy with little appeal.

 

But I don´t understand. This city is not so small. There are a lot of people here, there must be a lot of gay people also.

 

Any cruising area maybe?

 

Thanks for answering. I appreciate it a lot.

[Guest nekete]

NO-again that same age-old mistake-they are as living in chRai PROVINCE-and for some that may be well over 100 kms away for the muang=city. This is the last time I will expand on that.

The situation appears to be the same as Bob describes, though the bars may-or may not-who cares- have changed names. This is the tipical private soi (just like Patpong) with entertainment places. ,mostly str8. BYOB is often a better advice if you do not want the luck of the lotteree or the sometimes endless perturbations in contacting GR users.

NO-again that same age-old mistake-they are as living in chRai PROVINCE-and for some that may be well over 100 kms away for the muang=city. This is the last time I will expand on that.

The situation appears to be the same as Bob describes, though the bars may-or may not-who cares- have changed names. This is the tipical private soi (just like Patpong) with entertainment places. ,mostly str8. BYOB is often a better advice if you do not want the luck of the lotteree or the sometimes endless perturbations in contacting GR users.

 

Well, I´ m travelling. Now I´m Chiang Rai, but in one or two weeks I´ll be in other city, maybe Chiang Mai, maybe more in the north. So everybody is welcome

 

Thanks for the answer.

[Guest nekete]

Posting details of bars in smaller cities is a useful service.(Keywords: Chiang Rai gay bar)

 

That´s for sure.

 

Thanks

[Guest nekete]

 

So I guess if you put in the your profile that you are visiting Chiang Rai, there should be a better chance of finding those who live there.

 

Okay, tomorrow I´ll try

 

Thanks a lot

[Guest fountainhall]

I'm sure you've seen the page on utopia-asia. Not much there, though.

 

There is a thread about 2-3 years old on the thaivisa forum with a post from someone who lives in Chiang Rai. His suggestion -

 

Look on gayromeo to meet some local guys and once you know a few nice guys it will be very easy to make friends with people in CR . Plus, there are two very large Universities.

 

http://www.thaivisa....-in-chiang-rai/

 

Also on your gayromeo heading, add the age range of the guys you'd like to meet.

[Rogie]

I'm going up to Chiang Rai later today, arriving tomorrow. A search brought up this thread from March this year.

 

Anyone ever stayed there that can recommend accommodation?

 

Any updated news re places to visit would be very welcome.

 

Khun Nekete: I see you last accessed the board last month so hopefully you are still reading this forum. I hope your trip in March went well.

[Bob]

I've always stayed at the Wangcome Hotel. Convenient walk to the main drag (one block east) and night market (one block east, one south), and I'd note that one of the boy bars is directly (north) across the street. Somewhat of a tired but grand hotel but nice breakfast/cafe area and everyone's always been friendly there.

 

Of course, make sure you visit the "wedding cake" temple (Wat Rong Khun, I believe) just south of town. Nothing like it anywhere else.

[Guest anonone]

Well...time to bump a thread. 

 

I am making plans to visit Chiang Rai in July.  BF and I will visit for a couple of days, breaking up our typical Pattaya visit.  During the days, we will have a driver/tour guide for some trips and activities outside of town.

 

For anyone with knowledge, I am having difficulty figuring out the scale of CR.  If we stayed at Le Meridien, would it be terribly inconvenient to get into town and back? 

 

Bob - Thanks for your comments about Wangcome.  Looks like a good location and a place I am considering.  I would not mind splurging a bit for us, so also looking at Le Meridien.   For such a short visit, I am leaning toward Wangcome so we can easily stroll down to the night market and wander around town.  But for $20 more a night, we can be in a bit of luxury.

 

Is there anything that is on the Must-Do list for CR?  Wat Rong Kuhn (White Temple) is already on the list...photos I have seen look amazing.  The days are pretty well filled up, but wondering if there is any place special for us to check out in the evening. 

 

Really, just looking for any insight from members that have been to CR.

 

Thanks.

[Bob]

I'd think that staying at the Le Meredien wouldn't be too much of a bother.  Not that long a walk from there to downtown.  And I'd guess the place has regular transportation.  We stayed once at the Dusit Island Resort up there and that was a bit of a distance from the center of town (but the place was gorgeous).

 

Other than Wat Rong Khun, I can't think of any other must-see places in Chiangrai itself.  Normally, when I was up there, we often were off during the day to the bf's dinky home village which is a bit east of Mae Chan.

 

Oh....we've been to the Queen Mother's place twice (and I'll think of its formal name hopefully before I finish this).  She (the King's mother) had a Swiss chalet built up on one of the small mountain areas and it's surrounded by several acres of beautiful gardens.  The chalet/lodge itself is now a memorial to her.  Oh (had to go look at some photos), the name of the place is Doi Tung.  It's about a 45 minute drive north of Chiangrai but worth a visit.  I'd note that it often rains up there (think it was raining a little both times I visited).

 

[Chiangrai itself was founded about 1262 by the first Lanna king, Mengrai.  And, of course, he named the city after himself ("chiang" means city and, naturally, "rai" in that name refers to the king himself).  But, given all the wars and destruction around that area, I'm not aware of anything around the town that would remotely date back to the 13th century.  Near the end of the 16th century, after the Thais finally forced the Burmese out of of the area now known as Chiangmai and Chiangrai provinces, the cities of Chiangmai and Chiangrai slowly began to repopulate.  And many of the people brought to the area at that time were from a couple of cities located in the Shan state of Burma.]

[Guest anonone]

Hi Bob.  Thanks once again for providing some info.

 

We are going to Doi Tung, for the Queen's house, gardens, and wat...that is already on the agenda.  Glad to know it is worth seeing.  Another day we are going up to the hills for elephant ride, raft trip on the river, and some other things.

 

I am pretty much decided on staying at Wangcome.  Le Meridien looks nice, but I prefer being able to just walk out of the hotel and be in the city, take a look around, and pop back to the room whenever.  And reading the fine print, Meridien does not even provide free wifi in the room....450 baht per day.  What a ripoff. 

 

Did you arrange for transport with the hotel, or just grab a taxi at the airport?  200 baht a person for what looks to be a 3km trip is what the hotel is charging.  Seems rather pricey, but maybe taxis are not easy to come across...?

 

Thanks again for your input.  If anyone else has any thoughts or ideas, don't be shy. 

Rogie...looks like you were going to CR late last year.  Any thing to share?

 

Oh, and I am loving google maps.  I just took a "walk" around the Wangcome hotel via the google street view.  Found the Regency Boy Bar (you are correct, just across the street), the night market area...very cool.

[Bob]

If you stay at the Wangcome, you can get around the town itself by foot (not that big!).  For our trips out of town, we rented a car.  We've used the car rental place directly across from the front entry of the Wangcome (and maybe north 100 feet or so?) several times and felt that outfit was reasonably fair (we had no problems).  I've never used any of the guides/transport/whatever that the Wangcome offers (presuming they do).

 

Things change up there all the time but that Regency Boy Bar has been there forever (well, at least 10-12 years).  When I was last Chiangrai, there was a second boy bar (named, aptly, simply "Boys Bar" versus the "Regency Boys Bar" you saw on streetview) open and it's about 2 blocks north of the Wangcome.  As to whether it's still open, heck if I know.  Both of the bars were (and I'm being kind here) disappointing. 

 

I've only flown into Chiangrai twice and I really don't remember how we got downtown.  We must have taken a taxi or tuk tuk or something (whatever was available at the airport).  Nowadays, we drive from Chiangmai and have our own transportation but we haven't been up there since October of 2011 if my memory is correct.   

[Guest anonone]

Thanks Bob. 

 

I found the private tour guide from another source, and am pretty confident that will go well.   He also provides all the tour transport, so I will not bother with renting a car.  We are only staying in the CR area for a couple of days.  Seems like Wangcome is in a very good spot to visit the night market for some food, then just wander around town. 

 

Doesn't appear Wangcome can be booked anywhere except directly with them.  I was hoping for a deal on Agoda or something, but they don't come up in a couple of websites I have checked. 

[Bob]

Have a good time.  Although not very big, I rather like going to the Chiangrai night market as sometimes I can find something different (usually some type of wood carving) that I end up buying.  Rather low key compared to the night markets in the big cities.