Stickman giving up the gun.

[forrestreid]

It looks like Stickman is retiring from the Stickman Bangkok website, with his final weekly update scheduled for the end of the year. It feels like the end of an era.

For those unfamiliar, Stickman Bangkok has long chronicled the straight bar scene in Thailand. (If you Google “Stickman Bangkok,” you’ll find it.)

He has published a weekly column every Sunday morning for the past 25 years. But with readership declining—especially among younger visitors, many of whom are, according to him, Indian or East Asian and don’t follow his column—he’s decided to retire.

I’ll be sorry to see it go. While his focus was squarely on the straight nightlife scene, he occasionally touched on broader issues like transport and general pricing. Some of the discussions such as about the price of a bar fine (the straight version of an off fee) could be eye-opening. Notably, he never covered the gay scene—he seemed to avoid acknowledging it altogether. That’s understandable to a degree, as the scenes are quite separate, but it was striking that even as the gay bars shifted from Soi Twilight to Patpong, he never mentioned them—he was liable to make comments along the lines of “naughty bars seem to be dying out in Patpong Soi 2” without mentioning that this was only if one was blind to a certain type of naughty bar…

For me, his departure isn’t entirely surprising. I had a sense it was coming. Stickman hasn’t lived in Thailand since 2015 (when he returned to his native New Zealand), and while he used to visit three times a year pre-COVID, he’s only been returning once annually since. However, I will regret the end of Stickman Weekly, as in an era of increasing generic and click-baity travel and nightlife websites, Stickman stood out for having a distinct voice and being fairly reliable.

Another site worth mentioning—especially since it DOES include coverage of gay venues —is Bangkok Eyes. (Again, Google “Bangkok Eyes” to find it.) It’s run by some real old-timers, with the main writer apparently having memories dating back to the Vietnam War era.

The site is meant to update monthly, but that’s been slowing down lately. The last update was September 1st, and the October 1st edition still hasn’t appeared as of today, 19^th October. They usually include a roundup of Bangkok’s naughty nightlife zones, noting openings and closings (often with photos), but that segment has been missing recently. I understand the contributor who used to do the rounds is now in a wheelchair, at least temporarily.

I suspect he is in an age-group that finds it hard to get out of being stuck in a wheelchair, once they are in it, and have a sinking feeling that Bangkok Eyes will be the next site to say farewell to its readers.

If you’re interested in Thailand’s unique demi-monde, these two websites are well worth a look—while they’re still around.

[PeterRS]

Wasn't there another weekly column in the Bangkok Post until at least 2000 with info on bars? That column did occasionally mention the gay gogo scene and give news about the gay scene in general?

[TMax]

I used to read Stickman a lot and got a lot of info on the straight bars but since I started visiting the gay massage shops I stopped reading his stuff, I should have still kept reading it but alas not. Sorry to see it all go but time does catch up on everyone eventually.

[khaolakguy]

5 hours ago, PeterRS said:

Wasn't there another weekly column in the Bangkok Post until at least 2000 with info on bars? That column did occasionally mention the gay gogo scene and give news about the gay scene in general?

Nite Owl(Bernard Trink) wrote a weekly entertaining column about Nite Life in Bangkok. He always signed off with "Nuff Said".

He died five years ago.

Attaching a link to memories of him from his colleague on the Bangkok Post, Roger Crutchley, who also had a regular entertaining column about travelling up country.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/2003931/early-encounters-with-the-nite-owl