Soi Twilight on a very Low Season Monday

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fountainhall

Soi Twilight on a very Low Season Monday

Post by fountainhall »

Went with friends to have dinner at Dick’s yesterday evening. When we arrived in the Soi around 8:15 it was all but empty. No customers at the two long beer bars as you enter the soi, and only a couple at Hotmale 2 where there was a small party for one of the cute Cambodian brothers from Siem Reap who work there. Dick’s had eight other diners/drinkers. In the 75 minutes or so we were there, we saw no one enter X-Size and only a couple to Dreamboys. Perhaps oddly, given recent reports, there were very few Asians around. We noticed one group of eight young Asian guys wander into the soi, get as far as Classic, then turn around and walk back out. Also two western straight couples passed but we did not see if they entered Classic.

The Bonny Massage boys sitting close to us looked far more enticing and fun than I have noticed before. Such a pity they wear white tops and black shorts. White shorts would be far more appealing! An elderly beggar came past and one of the boys got some coins from his pocket – a nice gesture. I tipped him Bt. 100 as I left Dick’s – but then he’d also been flashing his lovely smile at me during most of dinner.

Afterwards we went and joined the little party at Hotmale 2. The birthday boy was certainly aggressively cute and speaks very good English. We bought half a dozen drinks (total price Bt. 720!), enjoyed ourselves and tipped handsomely. Even by 10:30 pm there were very few visitors in the soi. I had a quick look in X-Boys, X-Size and Dreamboys. Mostly empty seats. Depressing! And there had been no rain all day.
bobsaigon3

Re: Soi Twilight on a very Low Season Monday

Post by bobsaigon3 »

Very well liked Dreamboys capitan reported that his and others' salaries were cut from 13,500 baht to 9,500 baht / month and last week he went four days without any tip income. Not surprising given the high prices for drinks and offs at Dreamboys and the encroachment of the apps.
Joachim

Re: Soi Twilight on a very Low Season Monday

Post by Joachim »

bobsaigon3 wrote:Very well liked Dreamboys capitan reported that his and others' salaries were cut from 13,500 baht to 9,500 baht / month and last week he went four days without any tip income. Not surprising given the high prices for drinks and offs at Dreamboys and the encroachment of the apps.
Precisely. They priced themselves out (not without the help of people who are willing to pay these outrageous prices). I ignore establishments like that (including some in Pattaya).
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Re: Soi Twilight on a very Low Season Monday

Post by Trongpai »

Dick's Cafe now closes on Thursdays. The food is good and Wed is roast dinner night, excellent. I go more often now to the Smokin Pug on Suriwong.

I was on Soi Twilight Sat 29 July (Saturday) with a goal of visiting every bar and seeing shows in three of them. I had planned to start at Hotmail and work my way down and go from show to show, bar to bar. Well, I did visit every bar but it did not work out. Most of the bars have customers mostly Asians for the first show but if the bar is empty at midnight they do not have a second show. Then if by 1230 no one comes in, they close up early. Every bar but one was closing up at 1230. The open bars remain open.

It was Saturday night but in low season and there was off and on rain.

Actually, the line ups had some quality boys in good numbers. Fresh Boys had some "new" Viet boys that were exceptional. I was the only customer after midnight and they said there would be no second show. I went in search for a second show and met with no have and closed bars on the soi. Many of the boys meet up leaving the bars in groups and it's easy to meet-up or hook- up along the food vendors on the street. Some go on to other late night venues and they are always looking for a farang with a wallet to go with.

In contrast the following night Sunday I had the occasion to visit the bars of Nana and Cowboy. Those were packed with customers. The shows if anyone cares in Cowboy were tamed down on order I was told by the Army but not so in Nana where it was business as usual. Drink prices run from 100 to 200.

There's also lots of great bars around and off of Sukhumvit that are more expensive then Twilight, roof top bars and up market places that are packed with customers. You actually need to book a cafe table several nights in advance in some places or get turned away. It just seem that the gay go-go is going the way of the dodo bird and it's not just the pricing.
neddy3

Re: Soi Twilight on a very Low Season Monday

Post by neddy3 »

It just seems that the gay go-go is going the way of the dodo bird and it's not just the pricing. [From Trongpai post.]

Seems to be undeniably true.
My impression is that the situation is more critical in Bangkok than Pattaya; maybe due to pricing.

These bars are still my preferred way of meeting boys, so I'm hoping that some will survive for a time yet.
Oliver

Re: Soi Twilight on a very Low Season Monday

Post by Oliver »

I was looking at some old Youtube footage of the soi last night and noted how busy it seemed compared to my last half-dozen trips....I assume that my expectations have changed without my being conscious of it.
Two points relating to fountainhall's post; were the host bars well-manned (sic)? In the clips, there were a lot of available guys and they were actively engaging with passers-by..
And secondly, the brief mention of the kind masseur giving money to a beggar was appreciated- I'm glad fountainhall rewarded him- and reminded me of a vignette many years ago. I was in Panorama when the I became aware of the distressing spectacle of a poor guy with no legs dragging himself along the soi, begging. He was ignored by all except a host from Oscar's and a waiter from Throb. By "all " I mean all the falangs. In my travels across the world a recurring theme has presented itself....the poorer the person, the more generous he/she is likely to be.
"There,but for the grace of God...."
bobsaigon3

Re: Soi Twilight on a very Low Season Monday

Post by bobsaigon3 »

Oliver wrote: a lot of available guys and they were actively engaging with passers-by..

......the poorer the person, the more generous he/she is likely to be.
It has been years since I had any trouble walking on Soi Twilight. In the long ago past, I could not escape the touts, who often grasped my arm to "invite" me into their bar. Now the open air bar staffs are generally silent as I pass by. The massage boys are often too busy with their phones to notice prospective punters. It's almost as if they expected one to say "Excuse me, sorry to trouble you, but would you mind terribly if we went up stairs for a massage and some sex?"

And you're right Oliver. The poorer the person, the more generous they tend to be. Almost always in such situations, the Thai I am with will give the person a few baht. Perhaps many farang avoid making a donation because they've heard tales of the "beggar mafia" that takes almost all of the money that the mendicants collect. Whether the Thais contribute out of sympathy or because they wish to improve their karma is not relevant. They see a person in need and they respond.
Joachim

Re: Soi Twilight on a very Low Season Monday

Post by Joachim »

bobsaigon3 wrote:many farang avoid making a donation because they've heard tales of the "beggar mafia"
I never give to beggars. It is not a question of greed but rather a philosophy. I am glad to tip person for a good service but to give away money for nothing is to promote the idea that some people should work hard for their living while others should get everything for free. This is especially true in case of able bodied beggars who quite obviously in position to work for living. Back at home (where, in fact we have very few beggars, my neighbour likes to engage them by offering some odd job (like repairing something in the house etc). None usually accept. In my view, it is profoundly unfair that majority of people should work really hard while others (frequently drug uses) believe that they are entitled to get everything for free.
fountainhall

Re: Soi Twilight on a very Low Season Monday

Post by fountainhall »

Trongpai wrote:It just seem that the gay go-go is going the way of the dodo bird and it's not just the pricing.
This topic has come up quite regularly over the last couple of years at least. I totally agree - and am sad that this is so. I can't help feeling that if the BIB and society at large had been prepared to allow bars to retain their 1980s/ early 1990s model, they would have remained as busy as they ever were then. Perhaps even busier, because of the huge influx of new tourists.

The one issue that still surprises me is how the Thai customers have all but disappeared from the bars. 30 years ago, they provided the majority of the customers and, as I recall, the majority of the offs. We have all heard of those establishments where Thais go and farang never hear about. The Thai partner of one friend did go to one quite some drive outside the city. To this day, he has not told even his partner what goes on there, other that to say he did not enjoy it.

But times change and the possibility of the business model changing is zero IMO.
Oliver wrote:Two points relating to fountainhall's post; were the host bars well-manned (sic)? In the clips, there were a lot of available guys and they were actively engaging with passers-by..
And secondly, the brief mention of the kind masseur giving money to a beggar was appreciated-
1. No! Over a two and a half hour period, Hotmale 2 had 4 customers. The bars at the front of the soi had not many more. Not sure about those beyond Dick’s but I cannot imagine they were any busier. Sitting in Hoymale 2 it was obvious there were very few people coming in to the soi.

2. The only reason I saw the beggar (and he was certainly old) was because I had been smiling to the massage boy. I assumed he would then pass his can around the patrons at Dick’s but as I was getting some cash from my pocket, he just passed by. The boy's gesture warmed my heart.
Joachim wrote:I never give to beggars. It is not a question of greed but rather a philosophy. I am glad to tip person for a good service but to give away money for nothing is to promote the idea that some people should work hard for their living while others should get everything for free. This is especially true in case of able bodied beggars . . .
And what do you do with those who are old, infirm and totally unable to pay their way in return for the few Baht you might give them? Clearly nothing! You just let them pass by.

I have absolutely no sympathy with this philosophy! It is obviously impossible to give to everyone with a begging bowl unless one has a lot more income than most of us. But handing out a few Bt. 5 or Bt. 10 coins is nothing to most people (10% of the entry to a Soi Twillight gogo bar??) but may mean a great deal to the recipients.

I will add, however, that I was once conned. With a Thai friend I was walking across the pedestrian bridge from Central World to Gaysorn Plaza. At the Gaysorn end was a man with no arms. I put Bt. 10 in his can. As we walked down the steps, my friend asked why I had done that. I told him. “Didn’t you see that his arms were tied behind his back?” I felt foolish. I certainly had not noticed - perhaps because I had not looked closely enough. Yet for every “con” there are many dozens of people who are in genuine need – and who are unable to work to earn enough to live on.
firecat69

Re: Soi Twilight on a very Low Season Monday

Post by firecat69 »

Well said FH!!
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