hojacat

it was a very fun event. The parade stretched from Hyde Park to Trafalgar square. Lots of eyes candies among the people parading and the spectators. There was no one fully or partly naked though, so in a way Taipei pride is more transgressive than the London one.

Hard to give an estimate of the audience as people would just look for a while and then go their way. Definitely more than 30K people. Enjoyed the after party events. 

21 hours ago, PeterRS said:

Although this trend has been happening in several Asian countries for many years - e.g. Japan and Singapore - the problem in Thailand in the 1970s and 80s was too many births. In the early 1970s the high birth rate of 3.2% was simply unsustainable if Thailand was to become a more developed country. In stepped Meecha Veeravaidya, a half Thai/half Scottish economist trained in Australia, who realised that the first step had to be making birth control a subject that was not hidden under the carpet, as it were, but openly discussed. Through his Population and Community Development Association he made condoms not merely acceptable - but popular! He staged all sorts of stunts around the country including condom blowing contests and filling condoms as much water as possible and then dropping them from a great height. He had T-shirts distributed with stick figures involved in various sex acts and the message "condoms please". His original Cabbages and Condoms restaurant remains a fixture on Sukhumvit Soi 12 in Bangkok (excellent cuisine incidentallyl). Now there are a dozen more around the country and even two in the UK.

With his relentless advocacy, Meechai soon became known as Thailand's Condom King. And in many parts of the country, people still call condoms "meechais"! When HIV-AIDS came along, he intensified his efforts. For two decades he has been concerned that the younger generation is no longer taught about safe sex and the increase in the number of young people having unsafe sex. It was the first Thaksin government that reduced the funding for sex education in schools, something Meechai believes was a huge mistake. As he wrote some years ago, teenagers need to know that sex is natural, but “to master it rather than to let it master you.”

Reversing the population downward trend is unlikely to be easy. As the country and individuals become richer - and as has been seen in other countries, young men and women are putting off marriage till much later. They are also having fewer children. My partner's brother who lives in Myanmar got married aged 16. That used to be quite common in Thailand. No more.

On the other hand, isn't Thailand one of the easiest place in Asia to get Prep for free or by paying very little thanks through some sort of royal-family supported schema? most of the guys I meet in Thailand make use of it and say they get it for free. That's in contrast to even much richer places in Asia like Singapore and HK when guys complain that getting Prep is quite expensive and most who use it buy it online, usually from Thailand.

Wonder if that has helped push down HIV infection rates in Thailand, which once were one of the highest in Asia?!

I've had guys in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Manama and Muscat. Most of them either Thai or Filipino, though I had an African guy probably from Madagascar in Doha.

Got quite a few hits from locals too but they either don't want to show their face, are too hairy or don't have a good approach when communicating.

No question asked when brining guys to your room, though I tend to stay in big international chain hotels. Might be different in smaller hotels.
I would suggest you get a local SIM card or use roaming as sometimes the hotel's Wifi block some of the apps. 

Dubai has definitely the most guys on apps. There is even a Filipino guy living in Dubai that I follow on Twitter. He seems to be pretty busy.

I remember in Doha that beside the African and a Thai guy I met this American, in his mid-50s, a physical therapist for the US Athletics team as there was a big Athletics competition  in town. He just wanted to give me a massage and then jerk me off. It was actually a pretty good massage.

Also in Doha, twice when I was walking out at night, a car stopped by and asked me if I wanted a ride. I kindly declined. Then  I remembered  that when in college, a Filipino friend told me the same thing had happened to him in Dubai, though this were at a time when apps were still not popular. Seems like that pickup method might still survive in that area, though I think way less than before because of apps.

Soi13 has set the bar too high for any other sauna in Taiwan. If you thought it was good and a busy on a normal weekend, during pride it has almost double the crowd.

10 hours ago, 12is12 said:

On a Monday - when would b the best time to go?

Probably around 6-6:30. Don't expect anything like Soi13 though both in terms of facilities and crowd. If you read my post, I went twice there on a Friday and on a Saturday and only on Saturday the crowd was half decent. I don't expect many guys on a Monday, unless they have free entrance for younger guys like some did in HK.

11 hours ago, 12is12 said:

Someone wrote here that it's the best sauna in Asia. I'd say maybe it's the best sauna in the world (Brazilian garoto saunas excluded)!

 

Welcome to the club @12is12

Wonder who makes up the majority of the clients of African escorts in Bangkok? Locals or foreigners?

While I know there are quite a few white escorts, mostly from Russia, Ukraine and other ex Soviet republics in Bangkok and that they mostly target locals or other Asian travelers, it's more difficult to say it about African mbs. I remember showing the Twitter profile of an African escort in BKK to one of my Thai friends in January. He was surprised to know they were African mbs in BKK and said something along the lines of: probably not very popular in here and this is from the same guy that usually hires 2-3 escorts for his birthday parties.

On 4/2/2022 at 6:50 AM, Lotusleaf said:

And Blued is as bad... If not worse👎

I would say it's probably the worst.

2 hours ago, PeterRS said:

Please also remember Leslie's first major international movie Farewell My Concubine which won the Palme d'Or at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival. In 2005 TIME magazine listed it as one of the Best Movies of All Time. Leslie is marvellous and the tragic ending often brings tears.

Well, of course but that movie is so famous that I don't think it needs an introduction. I saw it at a very young age when I had no idea who Leslie Chung. I think for a very large part of Western audiences Farewell, My Concubine is the one and only exposure they have to Leslie Chung's talent. Happy Together is little known outside cinephiles circles as most people only know from its director, Wong Kar Wai, his next movie after this  In the Mood for Love.

2 hours ago, PeterRS said:

On a tangent, some time ago I found this photo on the internet. Can you imagine three cuter young Hong Kong guys? Actors Danny Chan, Leslie Cheung and Paul Chung in the 1981 Hong Kong movie On Trial. Danny and Leslie were closet gays at the time. All died tragically young. Danny of a drug overdose aged 35. Paul like Leslie committed suicide aged 30.

They were in their mid-20s but it looks more like a pic of three guys in junior year in high school. After my trip to HK last month, I'm convinced that Hong Kongese have the slimiest and the most petite body shape among the big cities in Greater China, much more so than in Taiwan where lots of guys are kinda obsessed with putting on muscles.

I made the same remark to this slim twink I met and hanged out with while in HK. His reply: "Oh we also love muscles, but I guess we work more than Taiwanese, so don't have enough time to hit the gym".  It made me chuckle.

2 hours ago, PeterRS said:

Taladafil which we know under the generic Cialis was discovered in August 1991 and approved by the US FDA in November 2003. To my understanding, with patents lasting 20 years, doesn't this mean the price of genuine Cialis should plummet by the end of the year?

Isn't it already available in generic form in some markets? Does it mean that the patent holder, I believe is Eli Lilly, still get royalties even from the generic manufacturers?

How about in Thailand? When can you buy Cialis? I know many pharmacies in Silom sell Kamagra, in pill or gel form, but that's actually Sidenafil, so Viagra.

On 6/10/2023 at 9:58 PM, Olddaddy said:

You will apparently need 2 shots of hep B vaccination guys too so consider at least 6 weeks before travelling.

As for HPV I must ask my doctor about that one?

He may consider it too late at my age ,any info on the HPV vaccination,I probably already have this disease no doubt 

In the US you can get a HPV up to 40 or 45 years old but of course maximum efficacy is reached when the vaccine is administered to a virgin patient. The older the person and the higher the number of partners the efficacy drops considerably as you probably have already been exposed to HPV.  They say it still might help though like for example reducing the frequency or the severity of genital warts.

Thanks for this article @PeterRS. It sheds light into a not-so-distant period but that feels light-years from the Hong Kong I've known (just returned from it two weeks ago).

Thanks also for mentioning Leslie Cheung. This year runs the 20th anniversary of his tragic death. I'm planning to watch Happy Together one more time on my long-haul flight this week.

Just a question, wouldn't have been better to make 5 posts under the same topic, instead of 5 separate ones? In time might get difficult find the different parts.

3 hours ago, barcelona92 said:

Like i said i will be over to thailand in november for about 2 months, so i decided to do a week visa run to another country , i thought of HO CHO MIN , Its just a guess try , that i tought before nowing this forum, so i would like to ask you experimented lads to oriented me ,in wich city or country would be most fun to spend a week.

gracias.

There are plenty of options where to spend one week near Thailand. It all depends what are you looking for (more boys or giving yourself a break) , how much you want to spend, if you like city or nature, etc.

HCMC has a large selection of guys and gay venues (there is this gay sauna that supposed to be really good), the food is great and it's a pretty affordable, definitely cheaper than BKK. 

Hep A and B vaccines are recommended in the US for men who have sex with men. Plus, it's a good idea for anyone traveling to Southeast Asia. If you had it before, the doctor can check your antibody levels to see if you need a booster.

4 hours ago, PeterRS said:

There were indeed quite a few of these booklets, often with interesting information. But with respect I think your memory is not quite accurate regarding the Australian taken to Court. If we are referring to the same incident, there is an excellent report of it here - https://web.archive.org/web/20050606015724/http:/www.yawningbread.org/arch_2005/yax-435.htm 

For those not interested in wading through a very long article, the bare bones were these. Some may recall a travel company in the early 2000s named Utopia Tours with its office based in the Tarntawan Hotel (it actually started business in 1998). It organised gay-themed tours to various parts of Asia with gay guides, although only the guides for the evening tours took patrons to gay venues. I remember it well because it organised excellent tours to Phnom Penh and Luang Prabang for me.

In March 2004, police raided the company's office alleging they were on the lookout for companies arranging sex tours for pedophiles. This was total nonsense. It was based on the flimsiest of grounds and only because they had seen some free gay magazines on a table in the shop. It was titled 'Thai Guys'. All the company's computers and files were removed and all but one of the staff detained overnight. As is usual in this country, the following day there was a media conference with the 'evidence' placed in a table in front of the accused directors, Douglas Thomson, John Goss and Robert Scobie, whose apartments had been raided. And again as usual, the police painted a lurid picture of the men engaged in sexual enslavement of children and arranging prostitution.

Had it all been so simple and the full facts discovered, perhaps everything might have died down. Unfortunately Robert Scobie had been on the Australian Federal Police Watch List, although his fellow directors were not aware of this. While Deputy Ambassador in Hanoi in the 1980s, Scobie had been linked to questionable photgraphs sent in the diplomatic bag. For several years, according to the article, there had been a "simmering paranoia" about Australian pedophiles in Asia. Questions had been asked in parliament. It was alleged there were at least 20 diplomats engaged in such activity. It seemed that Scobie was being "nailed", rightly or wrongly. For a time the Australian police had a team based in Thailand to investigate the general accusations. It is even suggested that once Scobie had been arrested, the Australian ambassador went to the Immigration Department to congratulate them on the raid on Spice Trade travel (the formal name of Utopia Tours).

Goss, a US citizen, and Scobie had their passports confiscated. Eventually they were returned and the case basically dismissed!

But the Australians were incensed. Pressure was put on the Thai government and the case was reopened - to be heard not in the High Court where cases regarding pedophilia would normally be heard, but in the lowest Thai Court which would normally hear cases dealing with traffic offences. The trial took place in November 2004 before one judge. Extraordinarily, he gave an order that the media could not take written notes on pain of imprisonment! Scobie's private files from his home were entered into evidence even though they had nothing to do with the Spice Trade trial.

At the trial it was established that Spice Trade did not publish Thai Guys. Further that the publishers had not been arrested. In Thailand porn is not acutally illegal. Trading in it is. Yet, Thai Guys was a free magazine! Scobie was sentenced to 7 months in prison and a fine of 10,000 baht; Goss got 8 months and 20,000 baht. But both were suspended and some employees had work visas cancelled. By now the Tourism Authority of Thailand had become involved. It suspended Utopia Tours licence to trade for 6 months. Perhaps oddly, the Thais really wanted the case to disappear. It was the Australians who kept pressing for more and more action. 

Utopia Tours eventually returned under a rebranded name (I believe it was Purple Dragon). But the damage had been done. It could not last. The company died.

John Goss gave his own version of the story with much more detail in another very long article - https://web.archive.org/web/20050731080446/http://www.yawningbread.org/guest_2005/guw-098.htm

Were that company also the host of utopia-asia.com or it's completely unrelated? I remember they were my main source of information for bars, clubs and saunas when I started my travels in Asia around 2009. In the coming years though the advent of social medias and dating apps changed the game completely. The number of sites regarding gay traveling and venues recommendations also seems to have multiplied in the last 10 years or so.

On 5/31/2023 at 7:19 PM, PeterRS said:

Do you know why Kaohsiung was stripped of the right? Was it stripped or did Washington just pip it at the post? (I have no idea - merely asking!) I have been a few times. I agree it's a pleasant city and it does have its own annual Pride Paade with tens of thousands participating. But it does not have a lot of very active gay venues. As it's not at present regarded as a major gay centre, I do question whether it would actually rival such an entrenched and huge event as the Sydney Pride.  I agree thouands would descend on the city from around Asia - but from elsewhere? Just curious.

It was because of a naming issue, about which many people felt it had political undertones. As per Wikipedia: 

Quote

WorldPride 2025 was scheduled to be held in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, which was to be the first WorldPride event in Asia.[50] However, the event was later cancelled over naming disagreements between InterPride and the Taiwanese organizers.[51] Taiwanese organizers had been using the name "WorldPride Taiwan" during the application process. Nonetheless, they alleged that Interpride insisted the name be changed to "WorldPride Kaohsiung", removing "Taiwan" in the event's name, in the final contract.[52] On the other hand, InterPride states it suggested the use of the name "WorldPride Kaohsiung, Taiwan".[53]

Washington DC just came up as an immediate alternative. While I agree that the most natural choice in Taiwan would have been Taipei, sometimes these events are also used for promoting a city in the eyes of the world and not just reaffirming established gay capitals. I mean Kaohsiung has as many gay venue or even more than Copenhagen has, which even though an amazing, tolerant  and livable city, it's not probably in the top 10 gay cities in Europe when it comes to nightlife. It was however selected for the World Pride 2021.

To be completely honest, I wanted it to be held in Kaohsiung so that I could feast my eyes and hopefully another part of my body in a sea of Asian twinks. There were a good number of them during Sydney pride, both locals and visitors. Most of the tourists though were more from the richer Asian countries like: Taiwan, Singapore, Korea, etc even though I met a guy from Indonesia and another from the Thailand visiting Sydney just for the pride. In terms of visas, cost and time you would definetly get a bigger gathering in Taiwan.

I guess for now there is only Taipei Pride and to a certain degree Songran and NYE party in Bangkok for people looking for a large gathering of young Asian gay guys.

They do have sex toys at Donki's in Ximending, Taipei but I didn't see them at the one in Silom. The music at that one though is really loud.

On 5/30/2023 at 12:15 AM, PeterRS said:

Since Aniki died 2 years ago, most of the discussion on saunas in Taipei has revolved around the relatively new Soi 13in. It certainly remains THE sauna for meeting mostly young Taiwanese and other Asians, especially at the week-ends when it always seems packed with way over 100 cute guys.

But another sauna is undergoing something of a rebirth! For at least 2 decades, Hans Mens Sauna near the Red House gay complex of bars and cafes has continued to attract mostly older Taiwanese with occasional university students after classes and on a Saturday. The last time I went pre-covid it was pretty run down and sleazy, its one main attractive feature being a hot pool where you could sit and watch guys taking their showers, those having emerged from the very dark steam room often sporting sizeable erections.

Four months ago it moved two blocks further up XiNing South Road into totally new premises. It now occupies the entire 8th floor of Wan Nian Building. It has obviously been designed from scratch and is spotlessly clean. It obviously hopes for a large number of patrons as I counted more than 300 lockers. I went twice, the more active being late on Saturday afternoon. Since it is so spread out, I could not accurately estimate the number of patrons but I reckon at least 70. Most seemed to make a beeline for the two steam rooms, at least to start their visits, and these were pretty active. The facilities also include a sauna, TV room with reclining loungers for relaxing and watching one of the regular TV movies, a corner with a long couch showing porn, a karaoke lounge, a decent number of private rooms (but not nearly enough if it ever gets packed) and about 4 totally dark spaces with mattresses. It also has an open-air balcony which I did not venture on to.

I rarely if ever have met anyone I knew at a Taipei sauna. This time I was attracted to a young guy who came in and seemed to smile at me. After he had changed into his towel, he came up to me and said, "Obviously, you do not remember me!" I hate it when someone says that, but fortunately he went on, "It was at the hot spring about 4 years ago when I was 18. I only spoke a little English then but we chatted a little." Then the icing on the cake, "Really nice to see you here!"

Needless to say, after he had showered and we had met up in a steam room, we chatted a bit and then proceeded to a dark room where we had a really great time. Afterwards we exchanged Line IDs and will keep in touch.

The one thing the new Hans lacks is ambience, but then few attending will be looking for that. The walls are mostly industrial concrete and the floors linoleum. But overall I thought the clientele had moved down an age bracket or two. Clearly some guys were in their 20s but I reckoned most were between late 20s and mid-50s - except for me, that is!!

To get to the sauna, probably the best way is to go through the Red House from near the subway exit to Sol Bar at the very end on XiNing South Rd.

Exiting Sol, turn right, cross over the traffic intersection and walk up about 80 meters to the next intersection which is from the pedestrian area. Across the street you will see a large building in green. This is the Wan Nian Building.

Find the entrance on XiNing South Road and walk through the small stores (a bit like Terminal 21 in Bangkok although these are mostly watch shops). There is no sign in English for the 8th floor, only one with two Chinese characters on a blue background.

The lifts will be on your left. Entrance is now NT$400 (US$13), NT$50 more than at the old premises. I noticed there is a hotel on the 6th floor. No idea what it is like but I imagine pretty inexpensive.

On a more general note, as far as the apps are concerned, I gave up on Blued a couple of years ago and was a bit surprised that some of my Taiwan friends had also ditched the app. Grindr was arguably the most active for young guys seeking older westerners, but Hornet and Jack'd were not far behind.

I did venture out one evening to the gayish Hot Spring, Huang Tzu. Not as many guys as normally the case, but then it was very hot in Taipei last week and a hot spring is better suited to cooler if not colder weather. Still, there must have been 60 - 70 guys there with some as usual being agressively handsome.

Glad to hear you had one of the few twinks at the Hans Men sauna Peter. Soi13 is great but maybe competition is needed for it to lower the price, though on a second though it's better when all the twinks have only one place to go to, unlike Hong Kong. Much easier fishing them. I'm surprised you don't really go to Soi13 during your trips to Soi13? Correct me if I'm wrong but I have the impression you know some Mandarin which usually helps a lot approaching the guys you like, even with a big age difference.

I also noted that there wasn't much activity on Blued when I was in Taipei in January. There were so many guys on Grindr and to a lesser number in Hornet. Didn't try Jack'd.

Such a shame that Kaohsiung was stripped off the right to host the World Pride in 2025. It's a beautiful city and it would had attracted crowds from all over Asia, much more than Sydney did (even though the crowd was amazing there and I had so much in every way). 

I have been to the last three editions of the world pride (NYC, Copenhagen and Malmo) but not sure if I want to go to the one in Washington DC in 2025, probably will go the one in Amsterdam one year later. Hopefully they assign it to Bangkok in 2028 as I'm sure the crowd will be great but that it still 5 years away.

2 hours ago, scott456 said:

Speaking of foam party, the good old (now gone) Babylon had the best foam parties and hottest guys. Those were the good old days.  Then, there is Chakarn, guys just let me jack them off under the foam there.  The foam is like a lubricant that lubricates everywhere on your body, it's s very erotic.

I went to the Babylon's foams party for Songran a few years ago. Really crowded. there was a line outside to get in. R3 also had foam parties during the same period and I would say they were equally good. The venue at R3 was smaller so there was not much space to move but that made touching guys way easier.

Never been to Chakran. I'll be going to BKK next week and might want to check it out. Any day/time you recommend? How often do they their foam parties. If I remember correctly, Babylon's used to have a monthly cadence. Both people in this forum and the reviews I'm reading online say that's not really farang-friendly. What's your personal experience?

One hour is a bit too short of a timeframe.

I forgot to add regarding Hutong sauna some people mentioning that before Covid they used to have something called doorless nights, where all the door's rooms couldn't be closed for 6PM to 9PM. Not sure if they have restarted having them now. their website doesn't mention it.

4 hours ago, Lucky said:

"Central Escalator (HK island) - remembering reading so much about this sauna before heading to HK the first time. It was supposed to be the place where the young rice queens of HK would hang out. However, got pretty disappointed when I visited. It's quite small and it was almost all elder guys, both Westerns and locals. "

Rice queens are not young Asians. The older ones wanting Asians are. So to speak.

yeah, my bad. I used an incorrect term. I guess I wanted to say potato queen. Looks like you can't edit your post in here.

I'll be heading to Hong Kong in two weeks. Have only been there once in 2014, though I stayed for a good amount of time. Quite excited to go back as I really had a great in there.

My first time I went to around 5 different saunas, though I remember the name of just three of them. Based on that experience and doing some research on different websites, I'm listing the names ana d a description of some of the numerous (probably one of the highest in Asia) gay saunas in Hong Kong:

Central Escalator (HK island) - remembering reading so much about this sauna before heading to HK the first time. It was supposed to be the place where the young rice queens of HK would hang out. However, got pretty disappointed when I visited. It's quite small and it was almost all elder guys, both Westerns and locals. Remembering leaving after only 20-25 minutes. Still see positive reviews about it online but I think I'll skip it this time.

Hutong (Kowloon) - this was described as the best sauna of HK where the young and beautiful would go on weekends and it really was. Had a blast both times I went there. The guys were young and hot and would get pretty wild in the dark corners. It had the reputation of refusing entrance to old or out-of-shape guys. However I read in a personal blog that from 2016 or so they stopped doing that as they actually wanted to maximize their profit. Having a more mixed crowd left some of the younger guys unhappy and they started heading to other saunas like Big Top (now closed and My Way Sauna which also offered big discount to younger guys. Looks like the competition made Hutong also match that discount as the price for guys U-27 is only 55HKD and for those U-33 only 99HKD. The reviews say that the crowd is still good on weekends, so I plan to go there at least once. they don't have any theme night.

Chaps (HK island) - I remember it was a cute two-floors high sauna mostly frequented by young professionals, so mostly guys in their early 30s. Read that now it's just one floor and continues to attract the same crowd. I think I'll skip this time.

My Way (HK Island) - seems to be the favorite sauna for young twinks as guys u-28 pay only 50HKD. They have theme nights every night and seems like naked Sundays are really popular. However, different sites agree that there is a big sticky rice vibe in there even though they don't refuse entrance to foreigners. Planning to go at least once, at least just for the eye candy, though I should be prepared for rejections.

Gateway (HK Island) - the reviews praise the level of facilities and its cleanness a lot. Seems to have a very mixed crowd when it comes to age and foreigners are warmly welcomed. No theme nights. Plan to go at least once.

Soda (HK Island) - this one has to have the most opposing reviews I have encountered. A lot say it has the biggest dark room in HK and it's clean, others say it's small and describe it as dirty (there were mentions of people getting beaten by bedbugs). Most agree that it attracts a large enough crowd, including young people. There are also a few strange reviews about the behavior of the owner towards white guys. Seems like he is a bit of a rice queen and kind hits on most of the white guys going to the saunas and gets quite unhappy when getting refused. He and his staff then gets quite towards the guy. Same behavior applies also to the Asian guys that meet the white guy and some say he even refuses entrance to locals he knows are into white guys. People say also there are security cameras in the cruising areas. Undecided for now if I will go once or not.

Colony, Galaxy and QQ - three saunas that attract mostly older guys. Planning to skip.

If anyone of you guys have been to these saunas or have heard about it, feel free to add your review. I plan to write a follow-up post after my trip.

@PeterRS @Marc in Calif or others that have been there lately, what app do you recommend using from: Grindr, Blued, Jackd and Hornet? 

5 hours ago, vaughn said:

I have just come back from my Taiwan trip, it was amazing. I don't really have the time to write a big trip report but here's some info for newbies (like myself).

Grindr was quite easy to find guys on, but I didn't see any profiles offering massage or MB. I had the most luck picking up guys on the same night rather than trying to schedule ahead, 6-9pm there's lots of guys active every night.
I didn't end up needing to try Blued or any other apps.

Taipei Ximending area was full of attractive guys, it's a good area to stay.

Soi13 sauna was very busy and worth going to on a Saturday night, easily 100 guys most aged 20-35, a lot are fairly shy but the dark rooms can be very intense. It was busy 6:30 until about 9:30 then it started to get quieter, i left so i'm not sure if it picks up again after guys have been out clubbing. Foreigners pay NTD800 entry.

https://goo.gl/maps/pVhZfGqMkhNM11cz9

The day I planned to go to Emporor hotspring the plans didn't work out, so I still need to go back to experience that. http://www.emperorspa.com.tw/about.html
https://goo.gl/maps/VYM47sdBspm1e6xXA

I went to Mars sauna in Taichung, Mars was harder to find, mostly because i went in the wrong entrance and tried to use the service elevator instead of the staircase entrance in the next door building. there are stickers on both doors saying mars, but if you find yourself looking at elevators with no staircase to the right, go next door. NTD350 entry, the front desk will need to help you with the ticket machine if you don't read mandarin.

https://goo.gl/maps/sYVDEcouGoGBHF5Q6
Mars had good facilities, hot and cold plunge pools, steam room (wasn't working when i was there), cabins, a dark room, cinema playing chinese movies, chill out area.
I didn't pick the best nights to go Friday (before an event on Saturday) and on the Sunday. On Friday there were 35-40 guys, most in mid20s-30s. The guys at mars were less shy than the guys at Soi13 for me, I met a great guy and ended up going for drinks and back to my hotel with him.
Sunday was rough, maybe 10 guys most >35.

I was in Kaohsiung as well, but i didn't try the sauna there. I found Kaohsiung the most difficult to find guys, I had one catfish dud from Grindr and met one cute guy that said he works at a KTV in Taipei but translate wasn't doing the best with my questions so we didn't communicate much and just had fun. Kaohsiung is worth visiting but I didn't stay long.

Overall the language barrier is manageable, in Taipei it's easier than Taichung and Kaohsiung but that's to be expected.
The saunas don't need any language because people don't really talk except in the cabins or chill out areas, glances and hand touches were the signs of interest. Mars sell colored wrist bands to show your position which i liked, in Soi13 i just put keys on left wrist to show i'm top (idk if that's universal everywhere).

Next time I plan to try the hotsprings and I want to figure out the KTVs because it seems like there are gay KTVs around but it might need more than google translate to find what i'm looking for there.

People are friendly, food is great, the country is beautiful. I'll be back for sure. My next trip will be Bangkok or HK, so i doubt i'll be back for Taipei Pride but maybe next year.

 

 

Glad to hear you enjoyed your time in Taiwan @vaughnAs most of the people in these post said, it's truly an amazing place to visit.

Most of the local people go to Soi13 between 6:30-7:30PM as that can get it for only 300NTD and yes Saturday is the busiest night. They apply the same discount from 12:00-1:00 AM, so probably the crowd might bet bigger late at night.

Not sure if you have to pay again if you want to enter again later, my local friend said you can go out and get in.I never made it past 11:00PM in there. I get completely drained.

I didn't go to the sauna in Taichung but kinda had the same experience as you in the Kaohsiung one. Went on Friday and there were only 15-20 people, mostly old but then on Saturday there were around 40-50 people with many young twinks. ended up messing with three different guys. 

I'll be in HK in two weeks so will create a post in the coming days about the different saunas in there that I know from my previous visit in there and from doing research online. HK has one of the highest numbers of gay saunas for a city not just in Asia, but probably in the whole word so picking which one to go to can be tricky.

I would still encourage you to consider visiting Taipei again during pride. If you thought Soi13 was busy on a normal weekend you would be in awe during that period. There are at least #X more people. It's really incredible. Plus you can treat yourself to so much eye candy just by strolling the streets of Ximen and other areas of Taipei.