April 2025 Bangkok Trip Report

[vinapu]

2 hours ago, CallMeLee said:

Stepping into Atlas ......

But the real gut punch? The lack of connection. Most of the guys there were from Tawan, or at least previously affiliated, but the vibe was nowhere near what Tawan was known for. That casual charm, the way the boys would stroll up, flash a grin, chat you up with zero pressure—it just wasn’t there. Instead, they clustered together in their own little bubble, chattering and giggling while customers sat like forgotten ornaments

 

what it's gut punch for one  is dream moment for another. I'd be very happy to be awarded that moment of neglect in that bar when nobody approaches me asking for drink or tip or both, lol

Curse of being loyal patron not exactly known for stinginess I guess.

excellent report and I read it twice just to soak in that , even if glum , atmosphere. Reading it  I got one of those moments ' dump everything and fly there"

[Foolish]

5 minutes ago, vinapu said:

would be nice to hear what was so disappointing at Moonlight

I was there before the 10.30 show start, the place was quite empty, probably around 1/4 full on a Friday night. As the night progress, more people did come in but it was at most around 1/3 of the capacity. On stage, there were only 6 boys available, excluding the models. This does not bode well as the wait staffs outnumber the boys...I asked the mama why there were so little boys and his reason was some of them were taken out by customers but considering it wasn't that late when I arrived, I don't think they had many boys to begin with 😅

BUT worst of all, the boy I wanted to see was off 😔

I stuck around for the first show. The show routine was safe and boring and IMO fail to engage the audience with no wow moment...and it does not seems to be pulling in the crowd. The gay tourists who go to the bars are mainly for the sleaze which moonlight is not providing and the curious tourists who wish to watch a tame show would have a better time at banana club with their well choreographed performance and engaging performers...

I visited some of the other bars and Freshboy continued to have the best show and even Hotmale's show have progressed with sucking shows now available. But Moonlight show seems to have stagnated...

I recalled the first bar i visited was Moonlight just a couple of years ago and it was packed then...but now they seems to have fallen off the side. Hopefully they could do something to catch up with the rest especially with Jupiter which consistently managed to draw in a strong crowd...

[vinapu]

Thank you Mr. Foolish for such speedy update. sadly you impressions are in sync with those of ShamelessMack in his blog , I'm attaching links below

Gloom under the moon, part 1 – ShamelessMack2

Gloom under the moon, part 2 – ShamelessMack2

 

My heart is bleeding at such news as I, for my personal use still warts and all , consider Moonlight my most favorite bar. But my love of it doesn't stop me from seeing that something may be amiss with such dearth of customers  - when visited in January on few occasions it was the same , even on weekends night  very empty. 

I think you may be right that lack of  sleaze factor is bleeding customers away. Few people want to pay 500 for the show with no sight of cock or  even pubic  hair   presented. Jupiter was the same but they learned lesson.

What a great thread this one is ! 

[CallMeLee]

12 hours ago, vinapu said:

excellent report and I read it twice just to soak in that , even if glum , atmosphere. Reading it  I got one of those moments ' dump everything and fly there"

Thanks - and at the end of the day, we all want Atlas to succeed - and I'm looking forward to visit again for sure.

[CallMeLee]

14 hours ago, ichigo said:

@CallMeLee I'm really digging the poetic style in which you write your reports, it's enjoyable to read

13 hours ago, jason1975 said:

Love your writing style @CallMeLee Descriptive and poetic. Maybe a professional writer? 🤣

Thanks. Hardly a professional writer. But I recently learned to feed my ramblings and writings to a proofreading app before uploading.

I re-read my previous trip reports and I was horrified with the spelling and grammatical errors. I can imagine you guys popping a couple of Tylenol after reading through my reports. 🤣 😂 

[jason1975]

You are too modest! Even if there's grammar and spelling errors, your writing style is interesting and bring your experiences to life for us readers. Thank you once again for writing. Looking forward to more trip reports!

[vinapu]

12 hours ago, CallMeLee said:

 

I re-read my previous trip reports and I was horrified with the spelling and grammatical errors. I can imagine you guys popping a couple of Tylenol after reading through my reports. 🤣 😂 

don't be so modest and remember it's common misconception that native speakers speak AND WRITE  good English or in fact any language. 

Not Tylenol but looking for pack of tissues is what we look after reading your reports, at least it's my case, lol

 

[CallMeLee]

Decided to ease into the day and take it slow—no adventures below the belt, at least while the sun’s up. Figured I owed it to my upper and lower back, which has been quietly screaming since that long-haul economy flight. I’d been bouncing around Bangkok without a proper massage, which in hindsight felt like a form of self-neglect.

Found a massage shop not far from the hotel. Nothing shady, just a legit setup with calming music and an actual menu where “oil massage” meant oil massage, not a coded invitation. Signed up for a two-hour oil session with a body scrub thrown in for good measure. The masseuse, bless her, had this perfect balance of grace and power. Those long, slow strokes that coax your muscles into submission, plus the occasional elbow that found every buried knot I didn’t know I had. I came dangerously close to nodding off more than once. When it was over, I floated out of there feeling like I’d been steamed, basted, and reset. My skin was glowing, my jetlag had vanished, and for once my shoulders weren’t attempting to fuse with my ears.

Back at the hotel, I just... lounged. Let that post-massage blisd linger. Ignored the growing pile of Line messages from massage shops with tempting offers. But I told myself to chill. I didn’t come all the way to Bangkok just to rush from one boy to another like a horny hummingbird (maybe I do but not on a daily basis? Lol). Sometimes you’ve got to just soak in the stillness.

Once evening rolled around, I rallied and headed out to meet @Raposa at Have a Zeed in Silom Complex. First time linking up with a fellow forum member, so I was excited and curious. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but Raposa turned out to be a great guy! easy-going, quick with a joke, and a solid conversationalist. We hit it off immediately, chatting about everything from the quirks of the Bangkok scene to our favorite travel spots. He wasn’t just a fellow forum member------he was someone you’d actually want to hang out with. A perfect balance of laid-back and insightful, which made for an enjoyable dinner and even better company as we swapped stories about past trips, mishaps, and of course, some bar gossip.

After dinner, we moved to the bar beneath Hotmale since it's too early to head inside, but the street-side seating is perfect for people-watching. The boys started rolling in, tight tees clinging in all the right places, sneakers hitting the cracked pavement of Patpong with that slow, deliberate swagger. No pretense, just streetwise charm and easy sex appeal, the kind that fits right in with the buzz of motorbikes, neon glare, and the persistent shriek from  hustlers trying to reel in a passing tourist. It wasn’t polished. it was raw, alive, and sexy in that unmistakably Bangkok way.

Eventually, we wandered over to Dragon and Koi. Chatted with Pi and one of his mates while the shows cycled through their dance routines. Somewhere in between drinks, I got a Line message from James (last night’s boy) saying he’d seen me with a friend and wondered if I wanted company again tonight. I laughed. Sweet guy, but I wasn’t looking to run it back just yet. Variety is kind of the point, isn’t it?

We made our way to Good Boy after that. And there he was—---Mai—---sitting right by the door eating dinner like a scene straight out of my dreams. He hadn’t been around during my last visit, so seeing him now was a very unexpected treat. He looked up as we approached, gave a casual smile, and I swear I felt my face flush. It was ridiculous, like I was in some adolescent romcom. There’s just something about him. his energy, that effortless charm that hits me square in the chest. Total schoolboy crush territory, and completely off-limits.

The place was packed, and we ended up with one of those horribly positioned tables where you need to rotate your neck like a barn owl to see the stage. I only bothered with the contortions when Mai came out during the Big Cock show. Couldn’t not watch. When he came down after to collect tips, I made sure our table got his attention. Of course I tipped. How could I not?

Once my Mai moment was ticked off for the night, it was time to turn my attention elsewhere. Raposa had already locked in his choice and was deep in conversation. Looked like they were either negotiating an off or the merits of neo liberal fiscal policy. I spotted a guy with a warm smile and a relaxed vibe, waved him over mostly to avoid looking like Raposa’s lonely wingman. He introduced himself as Nam, from Vietnam. This trip’s theme,as I will later realise was unintentionally, going to be “Boys from Vietnam and Myanmar,” and I’m not mad about it.

Nam didn’t waste any time. He slid in close, his hand casually resting on mine, leaning in to whisper something soft in my ear. A kiss on my neck, a slow, teasing move that made it clear what he was after placing my hands strategically to make his case compelling. There was no talk of long time, just a mutual understanding that tonight was about keeping it simple and easy. After the whirlwind of last night, a quick and uncomplicated encounter seemed more than appealing.

Raposa wrapped up his deal around the same time. We paid our off fees, shook hands like soldiers in the trenches, then went our separate ways. Each with a boy on our arm and a story to tell for next time.

[Raposa]

On 4/20/2025 at 10:56 AM, vinapu said:

My heart is bleeding at such news as I, for my personal use still warts and all , consider Moonlight my most favorite bar. But my love of it doesn't stop me from seeing that something may be amiss with such dearth of customers  - when visited in January on few occasions it was the same , even on weekends night  very empty. 

I think you may be right that lack of  sleaze factor is bleeding customers away. Few people want to pay 500 for the show with no sight of cock or  even pubic  hair   presented. Jupiter was the same but they learned lesson.

What a great thread this one is ! 

In regards to Moonlight I am not unbiased. My regular is from there.

With the boys, Moonlight is very popular for the precise reason that it has a reputation for being less sleazy than many other venues. The atmosphere is more relaxed and respectful for them. The boys can keep their t-shirts on for a good part of the night, and the boys feel less gawked at and more in control.

In addition the mamasans are genuinely kind and look out for the boys. They can afford to be so because the stable of boys are not huge and they tend to be a bit more mature, so mamasans dont need to enforce discipline to the degree that Freshboy mamasans have to. The mamasans at Moonlight don’t just let anyone up on stage; there’s a certain quality standard. Since Moonlight is popular with the boys, the bar can be far more selective. Moonlight also tends to attract a wealthier clientele, and even though there may be fewer customers than in some of the louder, rowdier bars, the boys actually do well for themselves, even the non-models.

If you ever notice there aren’t many boys around on a particular night, it often means they’ve already been offed by customers from outside, which is pretty normal for Moonlight. In short: quality over quantity.

So yes, all customers complain about the show being boring (the boys tell me this), but boys are quality and they like the bar. So the lack of sleaze has its merits.

[Raposa]

@CallMeLee Very happy to have made your acquaintance and to have explored the bars together.

[jason1975]

Glad to know that the management of Moonlight looks after welfare of their guys. I agree that the main customers at Moonlight are the high rollers who order bottle service and happily give garlands to the models. They are the ones keeping the bar afloat despite the noticeably fewer customer numbers compared to other bars.

[jason1975]

I have a Laos guy at Moonlight. He was at Moonlight then he moved to Freshboy and now he's happily back at Moonlight.

[vinapu]

14 hours ago, Raposa said:

In regards to Moonlight I am not unbiased. My regular is from there.

since mine is also from there I'm dying to know if we are long lost brothers-in-law  by any chance, he, he .

[vinapu]

14 hours ago, Raposa said:

 

In addition the mamasans are genuinely kind and look out for the boys.

in must be truth because I heard the same from at least 2 boys 

[vinapu]

13 hours ago, jason1975 said:

Glad to know that the management of Moonlight looks after welfare of their guys. I agree that the main customers at Moonlight are the high rollers who order bottle service and happily give garlands to the models. They are the ones keeping the bar afloat despite the noticeably fewer customer numbers compared to other bars.

That's good point. It's hard to measure  how any venue is doing financially without actually sitting at the cash register.

Attendance may be some indicator but by no means accurate one . From my working days I recall that often busy day in the office did not result in big deposit at end of day and other way around

[jason1975]

2 hours ago, vinapu said:

since mine is also from there I'm dying to know if we are long lost brothers-in-law  by any chance, he, he .

My regular Laos guy is a twink.

[sydneyboy1]

How is the Moonlight bar these days?