Tawan still forever!!!

[Tawan Forever]

My first attempt at a report here, please go easy me!

I just returned from my latest trip to BKK, and my first trip since Atlas opened, I was very keen to check out the new competition to Tawan. It was a Friday night, the scene was quite busy, the outside of Atlas looks very impressive, modern, my anticipation was rising.

I entered to find a very large and well appointed venue, with one customer, and 6 very ordinary looking guys on stage,  4 skinny fat, and 2 beefy (the beefy were a possibility failing all else) certainly no muscle. These guys looked totally bored, hardly looked at us, could not even raise a smile, not even interacting with each other.The other customer finished his beer and left, that left me the only customer, being totally ignored and feeling rather awkward. 

I called one of the staff over and interviewed them for a bit, I was told there would be no show  and assured that Saturday night would be crowded!

I wished them luck and headed to my beloved Tawan Bar... There I was greeted with smiles and guys asking me to flex, and flexing at me. The place was reasonably crowded, I was given my table in prime position. The guys ranged from twinks, to beefy, to real muscle. There were at least 4 guys that I would consider, one a very cute young guy with some good firm tight muscle, he will grow well if he wants to, and one bodybuilder just recently from winning several titles. He saddled up to me, was very attentive and spoke reasonable English.

The guys on stage still look bored, and still using their phones, but they do at least look up, smile, and interact if you catch their eye. They also have fun and give cheek with each other on stage and with the staff in the audience. This gives the place the fun friendly vibe that was totally lacking in Atlas. 

Come Saturday night I returned to Atlas, same disinterested guys, no audience, so again no show....So it was back to the fun and frivolity of Tawan, where the place was busier than the night before, the guys even more attentive to see my return, and my bodybuilder guy got an excursion to my hotel

I think I will give Atlas the new name of Alas....  I am totally at a loss why anyone would open a bar in direct completion to a long established venue and not only copy but surpass all that is wrong with the original! Both bars need a huge revamp (Oh god I could get these places heaving!) but Atlas is not going to survive if they don't act soon!

Oh well, at least I don't have to change my user name

 

[floridarob]

3 hours ago, Tawan Forever said:

Oh well, at least I don't have to change my user name

I was wondering if there was some bias while reading this, lol

[Tawan Forever]

7 minutes ago, floridarob said:

I was wondering if there was some bias while reading this, lol

Haha, noooo, I was hoping to become a convert!

[vinapu]

22 hours ago, Tawan Forever said:

My first attempt at a report here, please go easy me!

 

great report, thank you very much, it kind of matches my impression of visit in both bars in August

[Foolish]

I visited Atlas in September and the experience was similar. It was a shame cos on my previous visit in April, Atlas had a great show and the guys were so friendly. Dunno what happened to them for this 180° change...

[mauRICE]

16 minutes ago, Foolish said:

I visited Atlas in September and the experience was similar. It was a shame cos on my previous visit in April, Atlas had a great show and the guys were so friendly. Dunno what happened to them for this 180° change...

Atlas Shrugged? 🤷

[vinapu]

14 hours ago, vinapu said:

great report, thank you very much, it kind of matches my impression of visit in both bars in August

but it looks they have quite a few very attractive twunks recently judging by the clip posted in another thread 

[Tawan Forever]

8 hours ago, vinapu said:

but it looks they have quite a few very attractive twunks recently judging by the clip posted in another thread 

I don't mind a Twunk for viewing pleasure, but none remotely like that post on my 2 nights

[jason1975]

1 hour ago, Tawan Forever said:

I don't mind a Twunk for viewing pleasure, but none remotely like that post on my 2 nights

Maybe they were already offed by customers on the nights you went!

[jamiebee]

Thank you for the update ☺️ 

[Keithambrose]

15 hours ago, jason1975 said:

Maybe they were already offed by customers on the nights you went!

🤔

[paulfort]

Tawan was always my first go to bar, from when I first visited in its former location across the Soi 20+ years ago, met loads of great guys from there over the years. I checked it out again when in Bangkok last month, a lot of pretty heavy large guys, some muscle but nothing amazing, one younger smaller but still ripped boy was frantically curling his dumbbell between joining the stage, but I didn't peruse and headed on to other bars! Was a bit sad to see one of their historic superstars who I knew well years ago sat at the entrance with nothing comparable to the former championship physique! I didn't visit Atlas on my last holiday, its opposite Midnight where I spend a lot of time as a friend works there, but didn't look like much was going on in Atlas, will check it out again on my next trip in February as I hope it does well! 

[emiel1981]

10 hours ago, paulfort said:

Was a bit sad to see one of their historic superstars who I knew well years ago sat at the entrance with nothing comparable to the former championship physique!

We all get older... I wouldn't compare my body today to my body from 10 years ago...

[floridarob]

16 minutes ago, emiel1981 said:

We all get older... I wouldn't compare my body today to my body from 10 years ago...

I thought the same thing, but then read again, "championship" physique and thought, while I was in better shape when younger, I wouldn't consider it championship 😝

[Tawan Forever]

1 hour ago, emiel1981 said:

We all get older... I wouldn't compare my body today to my body from 10 years ago...

I would, my body is way better than 10 years ago, and improves every year... Age is no excuse, I am approaching 60 and my motto still stands: Never stop growing!

[Tawan Forever]

On 11/16/2025 at 12:20 PM, jason1975 said:

Maybe they were already offed by customers on the nights you went!

Could be, but doubtful. I was there around 10pm and back again after 12 midnight...I can't imagine a huge crowd stampeding in and out again rustling up all the prime beef before and after my visits. I do hope I'm wrong, but......

[Keithambrose]

3 hours ago, emiel1981 said:

We all get older... I wouldn't compare my body today to my body from 10 years ago...

I do, but the comparison  is not flattering!

[mauRICE]

2 hours ago, Tawan Forever said:

Age is no excuse, I am approaching 60 and my motto still stands: Never stop growing!

😯 Are you referring to your eyebrows and the hair in your ears?

[macaroni21]

We probably have to accept that the idea of a muscle bar with boys who can be rented out are over. Even the non-muscle bars on Patpong 2 and the massage parlours I know, have increasing difficulty getting Thai staff. Where will new muscle boys come from? Not Thailand. But is it realistic to expect bodybuilders from neighbouring countries to come to Thailand to sell their bodies? Somehow, I think not.

[mauRICE]

2 hours ago, macaroni21 said:

We probably have to accept that the idea of a muscle bar with boys who can be rented out are over. 

The good news is that younger Thais have embraced health and fitness since Covid like I've never seen before. Gyms are mushrooming everywhere, from 20-baht-a-day municipal gyms to 15,000-baht-a-month "by invitation only" fitness clubs. Plenty of fine, athletic bodies on the streets - and the shorts are getting shorter and tighter.😉 To me this is a welcome development; it's great that they're sweating it off in the gym instead of drinking or drugging themselves to death.

As for the veterans in the muscle bars, I reckon few of them were natural bodybuilders; I suspect many were getting jacked on roids and thus haven't aged well or suffering from the long-term side effects of steroid use. I understand that this is quite common among bodybuilders everywhere, not just Thailand.

[floridarob]

12 hours ago, Tawan Forever said:

I am approaching 60

 

12 hours ago, Tawan Forever said:

my body is way better than 10 years ago

If your body keeps getting better every year, I’m impressed… and also curious. Just how bad was the starting point 10 years ago? Because nature usually isn’t that kind once we pass 40.... Or is this some Australian thing ,  do the testicles dropping lower count as ‘growth’ down under?

[Tawan Forever]

24 minutes ago, floridarob said:

 

If your body keeps getting better every year, I’m impressed… and also curious. Just how bad was the starting point 10 years ago? Because nature usually isn’t that kind once we pass 40.... Or is this some Australian thing ,  do the testicles dropping lower count as ‘growth’ down under?

Full boring story: I was obese all through school, the fat guy no one wanted on their team. 

As soon as I left school the fat dropped off, I put it down to stress and teen hormones holding the fat while at school.

I was now 60kg with size 28 inch waist. I looked painfully thin and sick when I look back at pics. I held this into my 30's... then I decided to build. I developed a decent physique but stalled at 80kg.

At 40 I decided to do it properly, I tried various ways of eating, various ways of working out, till I found what my body responded to the best.

Nearly 20 years later I am 96kg, constantly asked if I compete, get looks and comments everywhere I go, and have to swat off every twink and twunk any time I go out.

I will disclose that I am on prescribed testosterone replacement therapy, as I was starting to lose muscle mass. It is a fraction of what bodybuilders take to grow (4ml every 8 weeks, Bodybuilders take that, and more in 1 week to grow)

I've lived a life in every body type, and I know which one I prefer...I'm going to hold onto it as long as I can.

 

To get back on topic, if these guys are trading as Muscle Bars they need to have some muscle!

[floridarob]

Fair enough, that’s a solid transformation ,  respect. Nature usually isn’t that generous after 40, so if you cracked the code, good on you.

And yeah, with these Muscle Bars… muscles are relative. What counts as ‘muscle’ to one guy might be Tuesday-afternoon twink arms to someone else. Not that I’m a size queen or anything 😳