A Night in Boyztown June 2012

[TotallyOz]

I had a very nice night in Boyztown in Pattaya, Thailand last night.

 

After a nice dinner, we went to Funny Boys. As usual, Mama Rose was friendly and the place was great to sit and chat and watch some cute boys. Rose is known for running the best gogo bar in Pattaya and there really is no competition for comfort and cleanliness. If you like a boy that is slightly more effeminate, this place has to be heaven. They don't have a lot of ladyboys but they are filled with gay boys galore. It was really enjoyable to site and watch.

 

We tried to go in Wild West afterwards but there was a group of at least 20 customers in there and all were smoking. I could smell the smoke outside when I was walking up the steps and when I walked inside, wow, the smoke was thicker than anything I have seen in ages. It was just not for me so we left. I had smoke but will deal with it if just a few people. This bar seen to be hosting the Marlboro Foundation.

 

Happy Bar was next. Neal has a great deal of cute boys and runs a very nice place. I saw two guys I have known for a few years and loved talking to them and chatting with them. I took one off with me and had a nice time. Drinks were 150 baht and off fee was 400 baht for doorman and 300 for dancers.

 

All in all, I had a nice time in Boyztown. I did see Panorama was full and had a great business going on.

 

Having been to Sunee a few night and now to Boyztown, I can see that low season is really low and many of the boys talked about not having a customer in a while in both places.

[Guest fountainhall]

Why is it that the low season is so 'low' this year? We know that the worldwide recession must be resulting in fewer gay tourists from the traditional markets in the west and Australasia. Yet arrivals in BKK are at a record high and tourists from other markets like India and China are flooding in in massively increased numbers. Some of these tourists have to be gay. We know that in the Bangkok bars, it's now quite usual to see some Chinese tourists (although whether these are from the mainland or only the more regular markets of Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore, I really do not know). Recently I saw a bunch of Koreans there. Are they not filtering through to Pattaya? If not, why not?

 

Is this part of a longer-term trend - that low seasons will just continue to get lower and lower?

[TotallyOz]

FH, IMHO and IMHO only, I think the low season is low for those of us like like gay bars and the like. However, the nice hotels I stay at are BOOKED with family tourists. I have been amazed every hotel I have been at in LOS (3 so far) and all were full of tourists that are more family orientated. Even in Pattaya, the hotels are full and have tons of guest but they are families with many kids. I was swimming with some from Middle East and I asked them how long they were in Pattaya and he said 10 days. I asked him why as he had 7 kids with them. He said he likes the beach and the kids love the pools and so many things to do around Pattaya. I asked if the bars bothered them and he said not at all that the kids don't go outside the hotel grounds late night.

 

He did say last year they spent 3 weeks in Phuket and the year before in Chiang Mai. He said Thailand is a bargain and his family loves it and Pattaya has been fantastic for them.

 

I just wonder if this is going to continue to be the trendy place to bring more and more families and the gay bars slowly dwindle down?

[Rogie]

Well I don't know for sure if every low season is worse than the year before because I don't visit Thailand often enough out of the October - May period to be able to see with my own eyes, but reading these boards for several years the same comments keep recurring, "this 'low season' is the worst I can remember" and similar. A recent topic was titled Lookin' for fun this VERY low season.

 

I wonder if comments such as these and discussions such as this one do not serve to put gay men off. I recall at one time somebody telling me "I love the off season, nice and quiet and more boys for me!". Fine if there are indeed lots of boys, and all he wanted to do was mess around like a true pteradactyl, but what about the atmosphere, the 'feel' of a place? Anyone other than possibly a first-time visitor must surely enjoy interacting with other people in a non-sexual way, other farang, joking with the boys in the outdoor bars whilst enjoying a drink, etc.

 

If I had to make a guess I would say talk of a really bad low season is more likely to put men off coming rather than Pattaya's popularity as a family destination. As alluded to in the previous post "I asked if the bars bothered them and he said not at all that the kids don't go outside the hotel grounds late night." I would imagine men in Pattaya for the sex are not going to let a few families holed-up in their hotels bother them in the slightest!

 

The other aspect of concern might be age - is the average age of the gay population either resident in or visiting Pattaya increasing? I would suspect the answer to that is 'yes' for those in the ex-pat community. Visitors I don't know, but unless Pattaya is getting a constant supply of fresh new faces of all ages then clearly it will start to decline. The lack of fresh new faces from China, Korea, etc has been mentioned already.

[Guest fountainhall]

the nice hotels I stay at are BOOKED with family tourists. I have been amazed every hotel I have been at in LOS (3 so far) and all were full of tourists that are more family orientated. Even in Pattaya, the hotels are full and have tons of guest but they are families with many kids

 

It's been some time since the City Council announced they planned to turn Pattaya into a family-oriented destination, rather like Las Vegas transformed itself from a gambling den into a major family and conference centre. I never thought Pattaya would achieve it, but clearly they seem well on the way to their goal.