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Went to visit and eat dinner at the fabulous new Schatzi's German restaurant in the Jomtien Complex, aka Supertown. https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61590577088216 Firstly, the interior decorations and design are beautiful, and as soon as I sat on the couch seat - I said to Johan - wow this seat is so comfortable and it reminds me of the comfortable seats over in the Candy Bar. Johan replied - yes, we spoke to the Candy Bar and we also bought our lovely sofas from the same place. For now during the "soft opening", there is a 1 page menu, which consisted of: Seductive Schnitzel, Cheeky Pork Bangers & Mash, Lust-Layered Lasagne, Bratwurst, Currywurst, Frikkadel, listed were also 2 Thai dishes, in case you are in the company of a Thai person; Massaman Chicken or Pad Kra Pau. I chose the Seductive Schnitzel and it was truly delicious. You can choose a mushroom sauce or paprika sauce - I chose the mushroom sauce. It also comes with a savory potato salad that included pickles and eggs and a side salad. As you can see, the schnitzels were served in the shape of a heart - as that is the symbol of the restaurant. Underneath the schnitzels was a sultry sauerkraut - which truly complimented the meal. I told them that Guido from G's new to-be restaurant over in Phratamnak (Pattaya) will have some stiff competition in the best schnitzel category. Next time I will need to order the German sausages to see how they compare to Guido's. By the way, they know Guido and are aware that Guido is to soon open his Pattaya restaurant. Instead of being accompanied by Guido's cat I was in the company of Tom of Finland After the meal I had the Bread & Butter Pudding dessert - which they referred to as the "Sweet Finale" and it was indeed very yummy - especially if you like cinnamon on crunchy bread with vanilla ice cream. Pricing was reasonable - I paid 580 baht for my meal, cola, and dessert. Additional notes: Restaurant is owned by Johan (South African) and his partner of 42 years, Ziggy from Germany. Ziggy is the chef and he is definitely talented. Previously, Ziggy was a ballet dancer and there are some of his very sexy ballet photos on the wall. They offer both white and red wines from South Africa - I did not try them - but I will on a future visit. The Thai staff are wonderful and pleasant and are all dressed in their purple Schatzi polo shirts. The stairs that you see in the first picture lead up to 4 rooms that they will rent out - 1 room is large and faces the Supertown street with a big balcony and the other 3 rooms are standard sized rooms. The hotel portion of their business will open later this year. Web page https://www.schatzis-eatsipstay.com/ is still being worked on and will come on-line later this year. For now use the above Facebook page. During the "soft opening" they are only open for dinner after 5pm. Future plans may include a lunch menu, and also a breakfast menu for the hotel guests. Notice Ziggy's ballet photos Outdoor bar area with the lovely rainbow heart on display In conclusion, Schatzi's is a welcome addition to the Jomtien Complex, aka Supertown dining scene and I wish them a successful business venture.

Another possibility instead of AirBnB is to utilize one of the rental agents in many of the View Talay condo complexes because during low season you can get a short term deal. https://www.facebook.com/groups/134393279939477/ https://www.facebook.com/ppattayaproperty

The historian in me could not resist - as I missed this place as my "discovery" of Pattaya was too late. Enjoy below video from 16 years ago of the La Cage - Mike's Bar

Oh no, how sad for our ambitious forum member. He will now need to find another guy to off who has more stamina.

They were stacked 3 high, which for me is more than enough, because they are already quite big and thick (the pancakes guys 😜). Foto from their Facebook page

Yes, I met the owner, who was out here in Pattaya to present at the PCEC (Pattaya City Expats Club). Afterwards, I had some questions that he graciously helped me to obtain answers to and he told me to stop by his Pancake Palace the next time I was in BKK. https://www.facebook.com/pancakepalacebkk If I remember correctly, it was when @emiel1981 was visiting Pattaya and I accompanied Emiel to BKK. It has typical American (International House of Pancakes) type of food. So, if you are familiar with IHOP (https://www.ihop.com/en) then you will probably enjoy it. The day I was there, Ben (the owner of Integrity Legal and has a Youtube channel of the same name where many of his Youtube videos were posted here in our gayguides forum) - passed through and I got to meet his Thai wife. Integrity Legal Youtube Channel The food was good - my only regret is I wished that they had a better coffee selection - as in to have a fancier coffee selection. I did not not have the heart to tell Ben that his wife's Pancake Palace was most likely the site of the former famous Golden Cock bar. With the work that they did to remodel the place, in my opinion, you cannot tell that it was the Golden Cock bar previously.

And soon G's (BKK Guido) Pattaya (Phratamnak soi 6) branch will also have schnitzel? In addition to Guido's already famous "sausage" 🤪

With the irony being that this activity is "illegal". So, is this an overregulated "illegal" activity?

Schatzi's is now open in the Jomtien Complex, aka Supertown. https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61590577088216 Web page is still being worked on: https://schatzis-eatsipstay.com/ First review has been posted: I will try to go there and check it out within the next week.

Thanks for that link to that 2018 thread - as I was able to learn something new (but it is old information) as to why the guys may keep the number that they wear. I love this history stuff @abidismaili - as it helps us newer entries into the scene understand better as to how things evolved to be what we see and experience today in 2026.

In late May 2026, I reached out to both SWING Pattaya and The Venue (Hotel and Cabaret) and both entities confirmed to me that they were saddened to report that the tradition to have a Gay Parade and Pride Night in the Jomtien Complex, aka Supertown was cancelled for this year 2026 due to a lack of funding. Then miraculously, SWING Pattaya announced on 17 June 2026 that there would in fact be a Jomtien Complex Pride Night to be held on 18 July 2026. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1288225178002849/user/100001737403507 So, in the intervening 3 weeks, funding was found to continue this important grass roots tradition for Jomtien. Let us remember that the Pattaya City Gay Pride (27 June 2026) is much more commercial (financially backed by the large Thai entity = PATTANA) than the folksy grass root Gay Pride events that are hosted in Jomtien - which is financially backed by the non-profit NGO SWING Pattaya and some of the bars that are in the complex (The Palace, The Venue, etc.). I agree that the Hard Rock Cafe is a large multinational corporation with deep pockets but it is the first time that I see them working with SWING Pattaya to support this worthwhile cause - as Jomtien's events tend to be backed by more smaller homegrown local entities. Since many of us readers in this forum like to off some of the local guys - NGO entities like SWING keep our guys healthy and safe. A win-win for all of us.

Here are 2 important facts = exclusivity by nationality type = Burmese and/or Cambodian I agree with Jason - it is better to have 20k for 20 nights than taking the chance that: you may not get an off every day, you have the constant threat of being rounded up in the next police raid and have to deal with all of the ugliness (deportation, jail time, tea money, etc.) that entails.

Yesterday, SWING Pattaya announced a collaboration with the Hard Rock Cafe (Pattaya Beach) that when you order their gay-licious yummy: Beyond The Clouds Rainbow Cheesecake 30% of the price will be donated by the Hard Rock Cafe to SWING Pattaya. Today I had to go into Pattaya City to run some errands, so I had lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe and after my lunch I ordered the Rainbow Cheesecake. Note that technically this Rainbow Cheesecake is only available in the hotel portion of the complex but the wonderful team in the Hard Rock Cafe managed to bring me one and it was truly delicious - gay-licious. The Rainbow Cheesecake is available through 31 August 2026. I was very happy to support this worthwhile cause, especially since SWING Pattaya has decided to sponsor the Jomtien Complex Pride Night on Saturday July 18, 2026.

When I try to imagine the amount of effort that someone (or a team of someones) had to exert to cover all of these gay economic locations in 15 distinct cities/towns throughout Thailand it is amazing and monumental. This was truly remarkable to have had all of this information consolidated into one single information reference document. And here is the irony, "then internet took over". Has it really? Where on the internet can you find a single consolidated source for gay information throughout Thailand that is catalogued by zone/city/town? Yes, a lot of this information is available here in: gayguides.com, sawatdeenetwork.com, christianpfc.blogspot.com, https://llz.blogspot.com/ and many others, but the amount of effort that is required to extract and locate the gay travel information that you require to plan a trip to some of these far away places (i.e., Phitsanulok, Nakhon Ratchasima, Hat Yai, etc.) requires an enormous amount of effort. Whereas, prior to the "social order campaign" of the early 2000s, much of this information was readily and easily available in these various Thai gay magazines; Thai Puan, TMOT, Mithuna Junior, and Desire Magazine. Perhaps the only "true" remaining centralized and organized information about gay destinations in Thailand is https://www.utopia-asia.com/tipsthai.htm where the gay information is organized by region, city, town/village and the information provided is updated by anyone who may have visited the gay business and can report back if it is still open, is it still good, has it changed, and this information displays the date so that you can know if it is current or dated information. So perhaps, is the substitute/replacement for the gay travel information that was readably available in the former gay magazines?

Wow @daydreamer, this is truly fascinating and amazing - TMOT seems to have been a precious resource - like a gay magazine + yellow pages all in one thick book. 6th Edition published in 1997 I know that I may sound like I am continually "beating a dead horse", but this still begs my earlier question: This 250 page TMOT featured gay resource and listing for 15 Thai cities was instrumental in the success of many gay businesses scattered throughout Thailand. So, if I was a small new gay bar in Phitsanuloke (spelling taken from the above TMOT cover) I could simply pay from a few hundred to a couple thousand Thai baht to place a small ad in this TMOT publication and reach the gay community of the world to give my new business some visibility for future gay tourists/expats to come and visit. My question (again) is what is the equivalent of this in the year 2026? Many of you had already stated that it is X, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, etc. But those are individual marketing initiatives and not a bundled global packaged initiative that TMOT offered. In my opinion, what is missing for Thailand in the year 2026, for a TMOT equivalent - like a Thailand Gay Chamber of Commerce (TGCC) - where all gay businesses could subscribe and advertise in TGCC. Then TGCC would take care of publishing and curating this information on the world stage. Then those small gay businesses out in the 15 hinterland cities and towns in Thailand would have a mechanism to be visible in the larger gay world. Since the death of the print versions of these many gay magazines in the early 2000s we have seen/witnessed the shrinkage and closure of many gay businesses in numerous places in Thailand (Chiang Mai, Koh Samui, Phuket, etc.).

Amazingly, I used to see those freebie magazines back in the USA at some gay venues (bars and saunas) and also at friends homes who had traveled to Thailand and had brought them back. They intrigued me many years before I ever set foot in Thailand. My bigger question is - do you think that there is a correlation with the demise of gay businesses in Thailand with the ending of these free magazines and Spartacus - which served as marketing mechanisms to attract the gay tourist from outside of Thailand - so that the gay businesses that advertised in these publications could be discovered - as there were no other ways to get the word out? From Pattaya's point of view, the demise of Sunee Plaza was shortly after the time that these free magazines and Spartacus stopped being popular. What I believe happened was: Free magazines peaked by the early 2000s and then disappeared when Thaksin came into power, Sunee Plaza peaked between 2008 - 2010, Boyztown peaked around year 2015, The Jomtien Complex growth surpassed Sunee/Boyztown after covid, Probably (I don't have any concrete proof) the net number of gay bars in existence in Pattaya was much greater in years 2000 - 2015 than they were after 2015 - especially after covid. My hypothesis is that small gay businesses throughout Thailand had a cheap and easy way to market and reach the external to Thailand gay tourist and after the demise of these free magazines and Spartacus this was no longer possible. Could this explain the decrease in gay businesses in Chiang Mai, Phuket, Hua Hin, Koh Samui, and Pattaya in the last decade?

This is still going on in Supertown in Jomtien. Often the targets are the massage shops and when the police/immigration arrive there is a mad run to: get outside of Supertown and run towards the beach, run into any of the abandoned parking garages and hide and wait for the all clear signal, run into the upper floor maze and disappear into the labyrinth of of Supertown, or, give up and allow yourself to be arrested.

@PeterRS, you make a good observation. I took some time today to look at some archives of these free gay Thai magazines and what I saw was what I suspected - they contained advertisements from various gay businesses and venues from all over Thailand; Phuket, Chiang Mai, Pattaya, and Bangkok who used these paper based magazines as a vehicle to advertise their existence on the world stage - as often the recipients of these magazines where to people who could understand English and generally lived outside of Thailand. So, that implies that there was a time in Thailand's gay economic history when they would advertise to the outside world - as evidenced in these Thai gay magazines. I agree with you that these magazines are now dead and hence the reach of Thailand's gay economy is now not (or barely) advertised to the outside non-Thai world. Does this mean that Thailand's gay economy has continued to exist based only on word-of-mouth since the death of these paper based gay magazines? Does it also mean that a Thai gay business now (today) does not have an easy vehicle/mechanism to be advertised on the global gay world stage?

@a-447, Spot on about what you wrote above. But it goes beyond trying to market to China. Firstly, the Pattaya gay business community should join hands and try to market to the world about their existence. From what I see, there is next to none or little international marketing about the 3 gay areas in Pattaya - Sunee Plaza, Boyztown, and Jomtien Complex, aka Supertown. In fact, there is not much cohesion between these 3 entities - as one example is evidenced in the Gay Pride parade - Pattaya does theirs and Jomtien does theirs. As I am fairly new to the scene here - I moved here as a new retiree 4 years prior - would anyone be able to describe what the distribution of patrons was to these 3 distinct areas were during their peak in the years 2000 to 2010?: Sunee Plaza - I saw old maps that showed like 30 bars, hotels, and massage shops existed back in the day, Boyztown area - I believe that the number of bars was fewer than Sunee Plaza had? Jomtien Complex - It now has in excess of 30 bars - but I believe that its footprint on the local gay scene only took off after the decline in Sunee Plaza ? In other words, would it be safe to say that when Sunee Plaza became a ghost town that the patrons just moved over to the Jomtien Complex and the net increase in patrons to Pattaya was zero? I still believe that if Thailand will win the competition with Barcelona to host the World Pride 2030 - then there could still be a unique chance to get the Pattaya gay brand back onto the world stage. The winner will be announced in January 2027. I wrote to the author of the recent Nation Thailand article: https://www.nationthailand.com/the-opinion/commentary/40066684 and he agrees that there could be a unique chance for Thailand to give recognition and economic life to the "outside of Bangkok" gay economic centers in Phuket, Hua Hin, Koh Samui, Chiang Mai, and Pattaya - which have all been shrinking in the last decade. Would you all agree that Thailand has a vested interest to try to save its "outside of Bangkok" gay economic zones?

Breaking News - Pride Night will take place in the Jomtien Complex aka Supertown on Saturday July 18 2026. SWING Pattaya just released the news in conjunction with the Supertown The Palace bar owner.

I found that Starbucks initiative for Gay Pride in Vietnam to be very interesting - as my impression after living in Da Nang for 4.5 months last year was that gay life and gay rights were still somewhat suppressed and stigmatized. So, I had to ask Grok (take its response with a grain of salt) to see if the Vietnamese communist government has shifted towards a more positive attitude towards the acceptance of gay life and gay rights within its borders: =========== Grok response below =============================== No, the Vietnamese government has not undergone a major shift in attitude toward gay pride or LGBTQ+ rights as of mid-2026. While public acceptance has grown and some symbolic or health-related reforms occurred earlier, core legal limitations persist, and there were notable setbacks in 2025. The Starbucks "Shine with Pride" campaign (a June Pride Month promotion with rainbow-themed items and messaging like "Love Wins") reflects commercial and cultural visibility in urban areas rather than a national policy change. tiktok.com Key Legal and Policy Status (as of 2026) Homosexuality has never been criminalized in modern Vietnam. Same-sex activity is legal, and people can serve openly in the military. Same-sex marriage or unions: Still not recognized. A 2015 reform removed penalties for same-sex ceremonies and lifted an explicit ban, allowing symbolic weddings, but couples get no legal protections, inheritance rights, or adoption benefits. A draft bill for broader recognition was delayed/removed from the agenda in 2024–2025. en.wikipedia.org Gender recognition: Transgender people can change legal gender after surgery (per 2015 Civil Code amendments), with some updates to ID processes. A draft Gender Reassignment Law has been under discussion, potentially allowing more rights from 2026 onward, but it remains stalled as of early 2026. en.wikipedia.org Health policy: A significant 2022 Ministry of Health directive declared that being LGBTQ+ "is entirely not an illness," banned conversion therapy, and instructed medical staff to treat people with respect without discrimination. This aligned Vietnam with WHO standards. theguardian.com Public support for same-sex marriage has risen steadily (around 65–67% in recent Pew and PAPI surveys), and urban areas (especially Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City) show visible LGBTQ+ scenes, media representation, and events. en.wikipedia.org Recent Developments and Setbacks In late 2025, Ho Chi Minh City canceled its major Pride march and several other LGBTQ+ events, raising concerns about a potential tightening under the Communist Party—possibly tied to leadership changes or broader controls on assemblies and civil society. Hanoi events were scaled back but not fully canceled, suggesting the moves may have been local rather than a uniform national reversal. Activists noted fears of regression, though no sweeping new anti-LGBTQ+ laws emerged. dw.com As of 2026, Pride-related activities continue in some form, and commercial campaigns like Starbucks' are allowed, indicating tolerance for visibility in consumer and cultural spaces. However, the government maintains a cautious, control-oriented approach: it avoids strong endorsement of "Western-style" identity politics while not actively persecuting LGBTQ+ people. Societal stigma, family pressures, and discrimination (especially in rural areas or schools) remain issues. outrightinternational.org In summary: Vietnam is relatively progressive in the region compared to some neighbors (no criminalization, health depathologization, growing public support), but it has not shifted to full embrace of gay pride or rights in 2026. Legal equality (especially marriage) lags, and 2025 event cancellations highlight ongoing limits on organized advocacy. The Starbucks initiative shows commercial openness in cities, not governmental transformation. Progress has been incremental and uneven, with the one-party state prioritizing stability over rapid social change.

This is true - I just wanted to illustrate the tameness of Supertown's pillow action versus what is available over in sin city. wow @macaroni21, that sounds HOT!! You were brave and you did not need any pillows to hide your lust.

When I lived in Rome and on the rare occassion when I was invited into a wealthy home in the Parioli area, sometimes the local Romans would show off artifacts that were "stolen" from the Colosseum by the local Romans, even though it was a crime. They were proud to show off these artifacts, as they believed that it made them feel more Roman. There was no shame. It got so bad that the city had to install metal barricades after the millenial (2000s) to protect what was remaining of the Colosseum from further looting. Another interesting tidbit of gay history was that from the late 1940s through the 1970s, the arches of the Colosseum were a famous gay cruising sex pickup area. Pier Paolo Pasolini documented this specific underground subculture in his poetry, essays, and in his 1955 novel Ragazzi di vita (Boys of Life).

Yes you remember correctly - we refer to them as "pillow" bars. M Bar - more pillows are available for discretion Great Bar (formerly Gus Bar) - less pillows are available so it is more difficult to be discreet. But these 2 Jomtien bars are way less brazen then what is on offer over in Pattaya City at: Boys Nigh Club X-Boys Pattaya where the touching and jerking of cocks is more in your face - especially when at X-Boys Pattaya they place the guy who is being f%£ked on your lap while the top bangs him away. I do miss the famous Sunee Plaza jerk off bar = Good Boys where after 1 hour there your arms were very sore.

Unfortunately no. I was the number 1 candidate on the short list - but due to political reasons, it was awarded to a personal friend of the highest in command at the organization where I worked. That was a very dark period during my long working career with them, as the idea to work in Bangkok was like to have a dream come true.