macaroni21

In general, I agree, but it may be much more dynamic than that. The bottomline though is that the chief competition for Pattayaland Soi 3 (Boyztown) is Soi Twilight in Bangkok. I believe I've said this before, but still I don't know whether the business owners of Boyztown realise this sufficiently. Even in the early days, I remember Pattayaland Soi 1 and Soi 3 to be quite distinct. Soi 1 had (and still has) the smaller boys while Soi 3 tried to be the supermarket with a wide range of boys from small to beefy, and nightly shows at the Cockpit and Boyzboyzboyz. As Sunee developed, Soi 1 suffered, a decline that I have noticed from 5 - 10 years back. (What is the state of the bars there, can anyone update us?) Yet, the desertion of Soi 1 probably has its effect on Soi 3. Didn't people who liked the Soi 1 type of boys also visit the Soi 3 bars for showtime? In other words, even if they didn't off the boys of Soi 3, I would think they still added revenue through buying drinks. But, as Sunee grew, the same people stayed all evening in Sunee instead. They went less and less to the bars of Soi 1, and lately, it appears that the shows of Jomtien are in a position to cannibalise Soi 3's shows too. However, this effect, if any, would have been secondary to the chief competition - Soi Twilight. Over the years, Soi Twilight has been adjusting to market trends while Soi 3 has stayed stagnant. The trends were these: The rise of Asian tourism and the plateauing of Western gay tourism. Asian tourists have different tastes. They prefer more masculine boys, and think that watching a cross-dressing cabaret performer is a waste of time. Soi Twilight has gradually phased out the small queeny boys (only Classic Boys has them, and not even a majority anymore.) They've also ditched the queeny cabaret shows, and gone the whole hog with bold shows. The last remnant of femininity - using a femme guy in fuck shows - has now disappeared. Nowadays, they use a masculine guy as the bottom. At Soi 3, they have stuck to the drag queen and cabaret formula, a formula that does not interest the typical Asian tourist. And of course, Pattaya has stricter enforcement against nudity. Hardly any wonder then that between staying in Bangkok for the bold shows and travelling to Pattaya to see drag queens, the increasingly numerous Asian tourists (and Westerners with similar tastes) stayed in Bangkok. Yet the decline of Soi 3 could have been averted. Soi Twilight had two huge weaknesses - service quality by the boys once off'd and demands for money become worse and worse. Despite the handicap of not being able to put on bold shows, Soi 3 could have fought back on these two fronts to keep itself attractive, but I suspect they didn't know how (exceptions below). For a while, Wild West Boys showed the way with its more energetic shows with a lower drag queen quotient, but it soon shot itself in the foot with a mamasan that was even worse than the worst of Soi Twilight's. Then there's Funny Boys. Isn't it interesting that of all the bars in Soi 3, I think people will agree that Funny Boys is probably the only one that's still doing OK? It's the one with no shows and an attention to service - exactly the formula that is needed to hold one's own against Soi Twilight. Yet, my observation is that Funny Boys is getting more farang visitors than Asian, so by that measure, it is still not succeeding against Soi Twilight for the growing market. I guess, by itself, it can never. One bar cannot alone do it. The whole soi needs a critical mass.

That's a strange way of putting out revised information - trying to edit somebody else's post rather than saying it plainly. Naturally it got me interested in finding out what Gannymede (which I presume represents the business) is trying to bury under the mass of words, and so I just had to pick it apart. There seem to be three significant differences. 1. Gaybutton reported in his original post that there would be a sauna on the ground floor "and at least one level above will have privacy rooms." Gannymede changed that to read "and it will have 14 hotel rooms above the sauna." 2. Gaybutton reported that the sauna was "at least one or two months away from being ready to open. Gannymede wrote "two or three months". 3. Gaybutton's original post had these two sentences: "The off fee is 300 baht. The boys get 100 baht from that fee." They are omitted in Gannymede's version.

Important caveat: My experience limited to only 2 suits made about 2 years apart from two different tailors. The quality is passable but not great, but considering the lower price, I've been happy. On the second occasion, I asked for some specific features which they never quite understood and in the end didn't deliver accordingly. I figured out what the problem was. The tailor who takes your measurements does not do the tailoring. He passes on the key measurements to a subcontractor. With such a production chain, they are good at handling the basic measurements and features, but ask for any variations and they get mighty confused... or lost in translation between shop and subcontractor. So I smiled and accepted the "standard" suit/cut they could produce and got my special suit made in Singapore instead (at 3 times the price). Of course it now means that I have one more suit than I need. (I also suspect that if you have a non-standard body shape, they may have similar problems coping.) I have no experience asking for heavy material. I've forgotten the price range (US$100?) The shops put their prices up front ... but beware, that's for suits made of the cheap material. Shop around and ask for a more precise quote. Yes they can do it in three days (I think it's the minimum), but as I mentioned... don't expect them to handle special requests if you're relying on the production chain method.

While I'm not a regular visitor to Sunnee, of all the bars I've popped into when I was last there (March or April this year, I think) Euroboys struck me as one of the few eye-pleasing places. The boys - generally on the smaller side - actually danced and seemed to be enjoying it, unlike so many other places where they appear comatose. The lighting is also good, with a slick modern feel. My one gripe about it is that the seats are uncomfortable, probably because the shop is so narrow and there just isn't space.

Yes, I've been to Royal House and had a pretty good time. See review here: http://shamelessmack.wordpress.com/2009/02/05/black-t-shirt/ Then there's a very basic-looking massage shop just a few steps from Smart Relaxation on Second Road, called Pawanthip Massage. Review here: http://shamelessmack.wordpress.com/2009/05/24/floppy-thai-massage/

I understand the Thai system. I've heard that other Asian cultures also apply a similar system, though I'm no authority on that. It makes sense. It's just as logical as the Western system to say "He's in his fifteenth year" meaning he's somewhere between his 14th and 15th birthday per the Western system. What I've been meaning to ask for a long time but never had the opportunity, is this: If that is the Thai system, then wouldn't Thai law be interpreted in the same way? That is, if the law says a boy needs to be 20 to enter a bar, would that mean that the boy needs to be in his twentieth year (i.e. past his 19th birthday) to enter a bar?

Yes. I noticed last week that that possibility exists. I actually think moving the check-points for hand-carried luggage to BEFORE duty-free compromises security. Now it is possible for someone to check in at Suvarnabhumi, go through passport control and bag control and then mingle with thousands of other travellers in transit in the duty-free area. Think of the possibilities of two terrorists meeting up within the transit area with the in-transit guy passing a gun or small bomb to the guy who's just checked in from the Bangkok side. The Bangkok guy can then proceed to board his flight with no further checks. How easy is it for a guy in transit have a gun or bomb to pass to the Bangkok guy? That depends... how many dodgy airports have flights into Suvarnabhumi? This means that Suvarnabhumi's security is only as good as the worst airport that connects to it. I flew from Suvaranabhumi to Changi Singapore and for the first time I saw the Singapore authorities putting up a checkpoint to screen passengers as they disembarked. All hand-luggage had to go through scanners, all pockets checked before people could enter the Changi terminal. I thought it showed how much trust the Singapore authorities placed in Suvarnabhumi's security.

When you say "Silom line", do you mean the BTS (skytrain) line that runs from National Stadium to Wongwien Yai? I think the answer is that there is no direct transfer. The website http://www.bangkokairporttrain.com/index.html says - * - * - The Airport Link to Suvarnabhumi Airport will provide 2 Transit options: * A Direct Express Train that will take 15 minutes from the City Air Terminal (Makkasan) train station. This service will connect to the city

It runs only once per hour. Costs 150 baht (before adding the cost of the taxi from Makkasan to hotel). Doesn't sound competitive.

I assume you realise that the +86 numbers are China. I believe +86 136.... would lead you to a cellphone in that country.