For Old Times Sake

[PeterRS]

Just a bit of fun. A question for everyone re Bangkok, old timers and newbies. If asked to recall your two favourite gogo bars, saunas and massage spas from your visits to (or living in) Bangkok, which would you choose with just a few words on each? I think I am correct in saying there is at least one member here from the early 1970s and a lot more from the 2000s onwards. Maybe there were out of the way venues that most of us missed. I'll start this ball rolling, although I have noted some favourites in older threads. Dates are appox. when I first patronised them.

Gogo: Apollo (early 1980s), small but with great guys, always smiling, nudity - Barbiery on Suriwong (mid 1980s), 100 or so guys, always enjoying themselves, nudity, great variety in shows

Sauna: Original Babylon (late 1980s), new, classy, mostly young Thai guys, great cruising bar - Chakran off Soi Aree (late 1990s), Moroccan theme, packed with young Thais, nice bar area, huge jacuzzi outside huge dark room, with eventually BKK's first all-nude area

Massage Spa: Albury (late 1990s), popular, great guys, excellent massages and afters - Aqua off Sathorn Soi 9 (early 2000s), lovely premises with bar and food, great guys. mostly vg massages and afters.

[TMax]

Here's my boring short list but can't add dates

• Bar: Hotmale on soi Twilight, I don't usually frequent the gay bars but this one was quite good for a cold beer and watching the world pass by
• Massage: a hard one but Adonis on soi Convent would be #1, massage was hit and miss but the boys there had big hard cocks and knew just how to hammer someone into the mattress
• Massage 2: Nine Spa over Sukhumvit 31, most memorable for some delightful 3 ways there

[Londoner]

 

I agree with the inclusion of the "old" Babylon"  Putting aside the fact that it was packed with cute Thais, some of whom actually liked us, the roof- top terrace was special. Some moaned about the labyrinthine building; not me- in those days I could sprint up and down it and smile when I came to a dead end. Which I did frequently. I tried others- the well-appointed Obelisks I recall well-but they seemed to be "sticky rice."

Bars? more difficult. Circa 1996, Screw Boys, in its old location, opened-up a new world of  forbidden sensuality for me, though I don't think I ever offed anyone from there. I liked the bars in  Soi Twilight, particularly Blue Star which offered two troops of dancers, one of twinks and the other of more masculine guys. They combined occasionally for  a few minutes of nude dancing.  It was a waiter from that bar who chased me down the soi to return my wallet  when I had dropped it.

[PeterRS]

18 minutes ago, Londoner said:

I tried others- the well-appointed Obelisks I recall well-but they seemed to be "sticky rice."

I also did not have much success there but loved the jacuzzi on the roof. I think I am right in saying it was the third or fourth sauna to open - Volt off Asoke was the first. One problem was Obelisks was a tall narrow building and so not much on each floor. That either meant continually clambering up and down a massive number of stairs or waiting, often for a long time, for the one lift to arrive.

23 minutes ago, Londoner said:

I agree with the inclusion of the "old" Babylon"  Putting aside the fact that it was packed with cute Thais, some of whom actually liked us, the roof- top terrace was special.

I could never remember the number of times I sat on that terrace with my vodka tonic and one of the guys I had earlier met just watching so many other handsome guys walking past from the showers at the right end to the stairs in the centre (and also on the left?). That original Babylon was a wonderful hang out for so many of us. 

[CallMeLee]

Note: I started my annual pilgrimage to Bangkok early 2010s

Bars-wise, hands down the old Tawan at its original location (same soi, opposite side) was my favourite. It was the venue of my first off and my foray into this slippery slope of bar boys. The friendly atmosphere won me over (there were even a couple of trips where I exclusively visited this bar).

For massage, the old Hero in Sukhumvit was reliable and consistent. I don’t know why it closed down — was quite surprised, actually, since it seemed pretty popular back then.

[PeterRS]

37 minutes ago, CallMeLee said:

For massage, the old Hero in Sukhumvit was reliable and consistent. I don’t know why it closed down — was quite surprised, actually, since it seemed pretty popular back then.

I have no idea why Hero closed given its popularity. I could not believe it would be a result of location but then Albury was very close by and it also had to move. I wonder if that area was redeveloped? Sadly Albury moved to the other side of Suk towards the end of a soi close to Rama IV. In that location it just died.

[kokopelli3]

On my first visit to Thailand, 25 years ago,  my first bar was Sweet Cigar in Bangkok, which was a learning experience! My second bar in Pattaya was Gentlemen Club where I met my first BF and who is still with me.

[PeterRS]

13 minutes ago, kokopelli3 said:

On my first visit to Thailand, 25 years ago,  my first bar was Sweet Cigar in Bangkok

Out of curiosity where was Sweet Cigar?

[Department_Of_Agriculture]

7 hours ago, CallMeLee said:

For massage, the old Hero in Sukhumvit was reliable and consistent. I don’t know why it closed down — was quite surprised, actually, since it seemed pretty popular back then.

Hero closed because the Chinaman who owned it pulled a typical Chinese scam. He didn't pay the rent for several years, which was several million in arrears by the time they closed, and siphoned out all the money. When the property owner attempted to claim the money, the Hero owner simply closed down the business. Typical Chinese scammer. That the business itself was viable in that location was evident by the opening of the unrelated, and not as popular, My Hero in that same location afterwards.

7 hours ago, PeterRS said:

Sadly Albury moved to the other side of Suk towards the end of a soi close to Rama IV. In that location it just died.

Albury did not "just die". It moved to a new location even further down Sukhumvit and it continues even today as Jey Spa. Having originally been on Soi 11 Sukhumvit, it moved to Soi 23. The original owner eventually sold it and the new owners moved it even further out and then, eventually,changed its name to Jey Spa. Even after the change of name, they continued to use the Albury social media for quite a while. Of course, it has moved yet again since the pandemic, but it is the same thing. Although it has been in four locations over the years, Albury/Jey Spa has has only had one change of name and, as far as I know, only one change of ownership. Not that I would actually know as I haven't been there for ages. 

2 hours ago, kokopelli3 said:

On my first visit to Thailand, 25 years ago,  my first bar was Sweet Cigar in Bangkok, which was a learning experience!

 

2 hours ago, PeterRS said:

Out of curiosity where was Sweet Cigar?

Sweet Cigar, aka Khun Sweet Cigar, aka Khun Bar was a disgusting paedo joint in the Soi 6 area close to the Golden Cock. It was such a vile place that even Dreaded Ned preferred not to mention it. It was on the corner of that lane that leads to Super A. You had to go past that bloody place to get to the Golden Cock or Super A or Super Lex if you were coming from the Patpong side. Considering its out of the way location, I wonder how @kokopelli3 ended-up there on his "first visit to Thailand, 25 years ago, my first bar". A recommendation from a dear friend perhaps? No surprise that there was no elaboration about that "learning experience". 

[Travelingguy]

There is no need for racism

[floridarob]

2 hours ago, Department_Of_Agriculture said:

Albury did not "just die".

However I thought you did.....apparently not 🤷‍♂️

[khaolakguy]

5 hours ago, kokopelli3 said:

On my first visit to Thailand, 25 years ago,  my first bar was Sweet Cigar in Bangkok, which was a learning experience! My second bar in Pattaya was Gentlemen Club where I met my first BF and who is still with me.

Congratulations!

[Londoner]

8 hours ago, PeterRS said:

Out of curiosity where was Sweet Cigar?

I believe it was also named "Khun Bar". If so, it has the distinction of being the first bar in BKK I visited. it was situated in the same soi as Nature Boys and Solid, about 100m beyond near a parking lot. Wasn't there a bar called Super Lex nearby?

 

[PeterRS]

1 hour ago, Londoner said:

Wasn't there a bar called Super Lex nearby?

Yes - a large bar at the end of the Soi, run by Lex Masuda or a name like that.

[kokopelli3]

12 hours ago, PeterRS said:

Out of curiosity where was Sweet Cigar?

Others have given a good description where it was located.  Myself and two friends arrived, for the first time,  toward night in Bangkok and stayed at the  Tarntawan Hotel. After dinner we wandered the nearby sois and one friend found a bar he liked and myself and friend  looked further and found Sweet Cigar. It was quite large with very few customers but had a small stage and a few costumed performers dancing on the stage. No one bothered us other than a waiter who took our drink order. There were some boys sitting around the periphery of the room but none approached us.  But what was strange was an older Asian man with his grandson sitting on his lap, which I found odd.  Later it dawned on me, the boy was not his grandson!  We finished our drinks and returned to our hotel. As I said earlier, a learning experience. 

[PeterRS]

I wonder how many remember - or even visited - the original My Way. It was a small bar situated just off Rama IV between Silom and Suriwong. I don't recall  gogo dancing or shows. But what sticks very firmly in my mind is the incredible pole dancing done by most of the boys, almost all of them cute. These boys acrobatic skills (at least in terms of pole dancing!!) were fantastic.

[Patanawet]

15 hours ago, kokopelli3 said:

On my first visit to Thailand, 25 years ago,  my first bar was Sweet Cigar in Bangkok, which was a learning experience! My second bar in Pattaya was Gentlemen Club where I met my first BF and who is still with me.

Both bars notorious!

[Londoner]

2 hours ago, PeterRS said:

I wonder how many remember - or even visited - the original My Way. It was a small bar situated just off Rama IV between Silom and Suriwong. I don't recall  gogo dancing or shows. But what sticks very firmly in my mind is the incredible pole dancing done by most of the boys, almost all of them cute. These boys acrobatic skills (at least in terms of pole dancing!!) were fantastic.

I did. My first visit to BKK. 1997. In those days I was too shy to take a guy back to my hotel so we used a strange little cubicle with a plastic -covered mattress. A porn video was running the whole time. Strangely enough I remember that video more then events in the cubicle.

[Keithambrose]

3 hours ago, kokopelli3 said:

Others have given a good description where it was located.  Myself and two friends arrived, for the first time,  toward night in Bangkok and stayed at the  Tarntawan Hotel. After dinner we wandered the nearby sois and one friend found a bar he liked and myself and friend  looked further and found Sweet Cigar. It was quite large with very few customers but had a small stage and a few costumed performers dancing on the stage. No one bothered us other than a waiter who took our drink order. There were some boys sitting around the periphery of the room but none approached us.  But what was strange was an older Asian man with his grandson sitting on his lap, which I found odd.  Later it dawned on me, the boy was not his grandson!  We finished our drinks and returned to our hotel. As I said earlier, a learning experience. 

'Sitting on his lap', or balancing on his lap!

[kokopelli3]

1 hour ago, Patanawet said:

Both bars notorious!

Twenty-five years ago there were many notorious bars at least in Pattaya; I am not particularly  familiar with the scene in Bangkok. 

[TMax]

I just remembered a decent massage shop that has been lost to all but memories now, Body Club (from memory was just off Sukhumvit soi 8 ?), I had some very enjoyable times there with some rather cute guys with hot bodies and very decent cocks. It moved way down Sukhumvit rd but unfortunately was never the same and died off

[Kiwi306]

Definitely the Babylon sauna. I stayed at a nearby guesthouse called the Aquarius and would visit Babylon most nights.  No need to go the bars apart from occasional visits.

Then I discovered Tawan Bar. Despite its shortcomings, I made many visits to it last year and didn't go to any other bars.

I also remember a bar called Screwboy back in the day. What is etched in my memory is a young male repeatedly banging his erect dick against a pole. I could only help but think that he would have serious problems in later years.

[Keithambrose]

I recall Golden Cock of blessed memory,  20 or 30 years ago. It was one of the few open in the afternoon.  Greasy sofas, dangerous handrail, etc. When they had decent boys, many years ago, they would whip out their cocks when you came in, and vie for attention! Sometime  there was a boy giving a customer  a blow job at the bar! Alas....

[PeterRS]

1 hour ago, TMax said:

I just remembered a decent massage shop that has been lost to all but memories now, Body Club (from memory was just off Sukhumvit soi 8 ?)

I don't recall the name but a complex called Korea Town is in that area and for a few years in the late 1990s there were two massage spas there on different floors. I was living in Hong Kong then and would sometimes pop in for a massage before getting a taxi to the airport. Body Club might have been one of them.

Not far from there is Inter Moustache House, a gogo bar that seemed mostly for Thais although it did advertise in the free gay mags. I did go there once but don't recall taking anyone off. The vibes of the place didn't do anything for me.