Londoner

That's a good deal better than I'd have expected.

Glamour? I don't remember any on my first visit in 1997. On that occasion, I knew only Boyztown; Patong (and the Paradise Complex ) compared very badly to it in terms of gay venues available, costs, and- most of all- environment. Much of Pattaya was pretty shabby in those days but the Paradise Complex was, bluntly, dispiriting to visit. I've returned to Phuket with my boyfriend on an number of occasions since and we prefer to spend our time in other parts of the island.

How many punters at the bars visited?

The popularity of gay go-go bars has been declining for twenty years. An owner of one of the biggest and most popular confided me in about 2007, just before he sold-up, that he saw no future in the game. Admittedly, that was before the major Asian influx and a few have certainly been kept alive by straight Chinese tourists who go to look but only spend money on drinks. As the guide said, the apps have removed the need for money-boys to prance around (or nowadays, stand around) in underwear. Some of them do well-enough from their apartments and some don't....but the same was true of go-go dancers. Host bars in Jomtien are coping as are massage joints....but few traditional go go bars have looked busy for years. My impression of Nice in Sunee a couple of months ago - a popular bar that has a devoted if elderly clientele- was that the guys were making their money from services offered on-site rather than offing.

What time did you arrive in Patpong? I hope your trip improves....

I agree that some of the guys are better-looking than their photos suggest. I'm thinking of those photos where the guy is putting on a moody James Dean look or, even more irritating, pulling faces at the camera...sticking out a tongue for instance.,

Let's be honest about this....the guys back then were hungrier. Larger, pre-birth control families were still encouraging (or allowing) their sixteen year-olds to migrate to Bangkok and Pattaya because there wasn't enough to eat at home. The Isaan busses were met in Bangkok by bar-owners, and offers of work and accommodation made. In 1996, my first visit to Pattaya, sixteen was the legal age for go go dancers. These guys were often poorly educated, desperate for money and, frankly naive, having spent their lives in some very isolated communities. There was certainly nude dancing in soi Twilight in 1997. Blue Star had two troupes, one of more mature guys, the other of the younger ones. They took the go go responsibilities in turn but appeared together for the full-frontal display. Even then, I was conscious that some of the younger guys were very shy, keeping their hands strategically placed while the older ones were usually more comfortable. I also saw nude dancing in a tiny Patong Bar, and the old Adam's Apple in Chiang Mai. Once or twice in Sunee, too.

We oldies tend to romanticise the past. Ask me about BKK in 1997, the year of my first visit and I'll recall the exciting , vibrant and busy bars I visited, all of them full of cute and willing guys. And they actually danced and engaged with us. So different to the statuesque ones that took over ten years later when straight guys with muscles became the fashion. And yet, and yet....if pressed, I can also recall bars with no customers and few guys. Even then, there were too many bars, a couple of them in Patpong where the exodus is taking place, and even at the end of Silom Soi 2 where the clubs are now. Some of them had disappeared before my next trip the following year. Come to think of it, I'd even suggest that the last few years of Soi Twilight have seen a period of relative stability. And, by the way, in 1998, Soi Twilight had only a few of other bars -Twilight Bar itself, Blue Star, Extreme......it was hardly the centre of gay life. Others can correct me on this but my recollection is that it wasn't even paved in those days.

I have come across cases where guys who work and live in Jomtien don't know where Boyztown is. Come to think of it, there was one who lived in Sunee and needed directions. I'm not sure whether this is a comment on the decline of Boyztown or the parochialism of the young men!

I agree with JackR. Too many bars were established in the last fifteen years to cater for a dwindling market. Empty bars drive away customers, empty sois likewise, just as a vibrant atmosphere encourages custom.

If someone's life-style is so embarrassing that no one must know of it, even after he/she is dead, my suggestion is to change that life-style. That's what millions of our forebears did to avoid persecution. And of course, others campaigned, often at great personal cost so that our generation need not be embarrassed....

In my seventy-plus visits, I've only been inconvenienced by flooding once. That was during a September/October stay. Sometimes in June the area near the Temple (Junction of 2nd road and Pattaya Tai), the water will quickly reach a few inches but no one seems to take much notice. And thirty minutes later, it's gone. Flooding is very localised. Once P. and I thought ourselves stuck in Central Mall; the water outside was about twelve inches in depth. He bravely ran (waded!) across 2nd Road and called a taxi. Five minutes later it had taken us to Boyztown, only a km away....which was bone dry. By the way, that one day on which I was inconvenienced and watched fish being caught in Boyztown had dried -out by the evening. The soi was barely damp.

Many will tell you that Songkran is a time to avoid in tourist areas. My boyfriend's experience in the northern countryside is very different....washing Buddha images, visiting grandparents and parents to pay respect with a sprinkling of water. My experience, a week before Songkran when I was in Pattaya, was receiving a bucket- full of icy water in the face while travelling at 30+ mph on the Jomtien road. Accordingly, Songkran joins New Year as the only times of the year when I'm happy not to be in Thailand!

Traveller123 is correct about Jomtien. The gay scene there- no gogo- is more lively than in Pattaya and there is a good selection of gay and gay-friendly hotels in Jomtien Complex. The buses to Pattaya are numerous; seldom do you have to wait longer than a minute though you may have to queue in the late evening to return to Jomtien. The cost is 10 bht. It takes up to fifteen minutes. Why not try both? My boyfriend and I love the Agate Hotel in Jomtien but prefer the evenings in Pattaya staying in the newly refurbished Ambiance....so we split our trips between the two.

Correct; beachlovers wanting reliable weather in June to October should stay in Koh Samui rather than (for instance) Phuket or Pattaya. As far as Chiang Rai is concerned, I visit with my boyfriend and enjoy the surrounding countryside, particularly Mai Sai and Chaeng Saen. The city has my favourite night market in Thailand which is particularly good for hill-tribe produce. The Black House, as traveller123 suggests, is interesting....and bizarre! Gay travellers seeking a commercial scene will be disappointed.

Can the hosts be taken-off?

I've spent every June in Thailand this century , staying throughout the country from Krabi in the south to Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai in the north. The weather will not affect your enjoyment though it may curtail some time spent on the beach, if that is important to you. The guys will be there, eager to meet due to the relatively low numbers of falangs. And, if you are a sauna-enthusiast, you are in luck; Babylon will provide a more productive afternoon than in the high season. for the same reason. Bring an umbrella; short, intense showers are a possibility. In Pattaya, there is a possibility of localised short-term flooding- I once saw a Thai catching two fish outside Ambiance. Two hours later, the soi was merely damp. I'll be in Bangkok, Krabi and Pattaya this June. And I can't wait. As for other places to visit, Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai are my favourite cities, Krabi has my favourite beaches and, for the gay scene, Pattaya and Jomtien are by far the best.

I must recommend a short course in Mindfulness to Abidismali. Worrying about what may or may not happen after our deaths and what mysterious secrets may or may not be revealed about our lives seems to me to be a little unbalanced. Mindfulness teaches us to live the moment and avoid "catastrophisation", of which Abidsmali's fears are a superb example.

Isaan, and the north generally, including Chiang Mai, is Thaksin's power-base. I've yet to meet a guy on the Pattaya scene whos isn't a Thaksin man. Nor a Bangkok taxi driver.

Yes; the smaller bars were much more fun than the glitzy ones. Remember Khun Bar?

No; it was the Democrats and the Yellow- shirts who closed down Bangkok, undoubtedly at the behest of the generals so they could seize power. One of the few good things that came out of the election farce was the demise of the Democrats. When working-class people demonstrated, they were mown-down by the Army; when the bourgeoisie did so, they were indulged

Is the Hotmale host-bar reopening as well?

The longer the ballot boxes are in the hands of the military establishment, the easier it is to maintain the status quo. Had the stolen "election" result been announced quickly, the long-suffering Thai people may well have done something naughty- such as protesting- but the a month or so will help to keep anger underground. A pity; what the generals deserve is millions of angry Thais on the streets.

Solid was my favourite go go bar for a number of reason....the dancers were all twinks, the music level was tolerable, it was just round the corner from Tantawan, the atmosphere was cosy and the prices were lower. I met some nice guys there. The mamasan amazed me... he recognized me on each of my infrequent (and short) visits to Soi Twilight ten years (or was it longer) after Solid's closure.

I did....once. There were about six or seven guys dancing. More than a couple interested me. A falang entered, sat down and lit-up what was to to be the first of many cigarettes. Then he called over to his table four of the guys, including all the ones I had had my eye on and began a long monologue at them. They just sat there. The remaining three carried on dancing. I left. It was only via a post on Sawatdee that I learnt that he was the owner.