The Banana Men's Club Bangkok?

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Trongpai
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The Banana Men's Club Bangkok?

Post by Trongpai »

I think that it's finished as a gay massage venue. I walked in a few months ago and was met at the door by one of the staff, not Kaven, the manager. This guy must have recognized me as a regular. He held up his arms in an X and said, "finish". I was not sure if he meant the venue was no longer providing male to male massage/happy ending or it was just closed for the night for some reason. The bottom floor was full of customers for the chair massages. I tried to ask questions but all he kept doing was making the X and pointed me to the door.

Then I read two recent posts on https://www.travelgayasia.com/venue/banana-club/ that certainly spell out the end of what was one of the better gay massage venues in Bangkok. It goes back to the mid 90's at it's original location of Suk 11.

If it's no longer catering to gay customers you would think they would change the name and logo. I can only hope that this is a temporary adjustment and will soon return to what was in my opinion the best Bangkok had to offer in gay massage.

Anyone with more information is welcome.
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Re: The Banana Men's Club Bangkok?

Post by pong »

Have read the same, and anyway, its prices had gone up too much. Owner was Calvin or Kelvin.
You have to accept that about all such m2m places here in BKk have just a short shelf-life-often the 3 yr lease. But there will always be others (from the 30+ I've been to, at least 16+ have closed by now). I for myself cannot share it was ''the best'' so have much less feelings about it. PLus that they would readily accept you as customer for normal foot/etc msg. There also used to be place named ''baan kluay =banana house) in RamKamHaeng-closed and dismantled now.
Anyway, those listings at TGA remain a bit strange-as it also lists ''gay owned'' without any hint of ''special''service.
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Re: The Banana Men's Club Bangkok?

Post by Trongpai »

pong wrote: its prices had gone up too much.
700B one hour 600 for local residents and 1000 min tip. About average. Quite a bargain compared to soi Twilight go-go bar prices. Just a short time room at BBB alone sets you back 650B. Two drinks at 450B average and off fee, 600-700 and we've not even come to the payment/tip to the boy. Do the math and it's around 50% cheaper at most massage venues.

pong wrote: Owner was Calvin or Kelvin..
He's the Singaporean boyfriend of the Thai owner is my understanding. A very capable and talkative manager fluent in English.

You have to accept that about all such m2m places here in BKk have just a short shelf-life-often the 3 yr lease.
I don't think it was a lease problem, it's still open just not for massage/happy endings. I don't recall the exact date it opened but it's been around for 20+ years. The lease was up at the original location. It's now the space of a very up-market unique bar called, Havana.

But there will always be others
And, we'll always have Paris... But the Banana Club was well managed and I liked the set up. In any establishment it's often mostly the luck of the draw and no place is all that consistent. At Banana the boy took and gave you a pre shower. Many places you're left alone. He was nude from the get-go. The room was private, no common ceilings. The bed was not a massage table but a firm bed fit for two. I never got short timed. I never had the more money conversation. The manager gave accurate information on what the boy did and did not do.

The old Hero used to have all these attributes as well.

RIP Banana and Hero. Where to go now?
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Re: The Banana Men's Club Bangkok?

Post by Gaybutton »

Trongpai wrote:RIP Banana and Hero. Where to go now?
I don't know, but for a happy ending there's always self-service . . .
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Re: The Banana Men's Club Bangkok?

Post by Undaunted »

When I first moved to Thailand I lived a short walk from Banana and never having been to a message joint before I went, admittedly saunas and massage joints are not my thing but this one afternoon I thought I would give it try, I walk in there ere about 15 boys hanging around, the mamasan said he was from Taiwan maybe Singapore. Never have gone before I asked what the procedure was he explained about the fee and the tip I explained my requirements and I selected a boy he said he would surfice, I liked nothing about the massage and the boy was not what I expected, I left a minimal tip and have never been to a gay massage place again.
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Re: The Banana Men's Club Bangkok?

Post by Trongpai »

Perhaps if you had walked a little further down the soi to Hero you might have had a different experience. It's not possible to draw conclusions based on a single visit. No place is 100% consistent and it really just comes down to the luck of the draw. That is until you get to know some of the workers and go for repeat performances.
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Re: The Banana Men's Club Bangkok?

Post by Undaunted »

Trongpai wrote:Perhaps if you had walked a little further down the soi to Hero you might have had a different experience.
Nothing against Banana but was enough to know that gay massage joints are not my cup of tea......If I remember correctly not far away was Aubury and on the other side of Sukhumvit was a message place in a small Korean shopping mall and not far from that was a gogo bar of sorts called Inter Moustaches House, mind you I am going back many years.
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Re: The Banana Men's Club Bangkok?

Post by fountainhall »

Albury was on Soi 11 and opened in 1996. I always had a great time there, always with the same masseur who eventually moved with his American boyfriend to Chiang Mai. I was sorry when it moved a few years ago south of Emporium and not far from Rama 4. It was too out of the way and died in 2013. In the 1990s the small Korea town soi originally had two gay massage spas which again I enjoyed. Each had the boys line up for you to choose. One died after a few years but the one on the fourth floor carried on into the 2000s. I used to pop in there before getting an evening flight back to Hong Kong.

Twice went to Inter Mustache House on Soi 10 and found it a total dud as a go-go bar. It seemed much more geared towards Thais.
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