When will Bangkok again have vibrant gay venues?

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werner99
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When will Bangkok again have vibrant gay venues?

Post by werner99 »

When do you think Bangkok will again have vibrant gay go-gos, host bars, and massage centers? Gay life in Bangkok was certainly booming when I last visited in late 2019, before the pandemic. Go-go bars were packed with attractive guys. Lucky Boy, for example, sometimes had about 40 guys, including very handsome muscular guys and cute twinks. I had a fantastic time every night, usually a threesome. There were so many attractive guys that is was difficult to choose companions for the night.

Some members of this forum seem to have had great success finding hook-ups, boy friends, lovers, and even husbands on the apps. I have not been so lucky. I do not like to wait around for a guy to arrive, and find it awkward to say no, if for whatever reason, I do not like the guy who has arrived. Thai go-gos have offered dozens of attractive guys immediately, all at once, or in several nearby venues. During the past 5 years, I have visited Thailand about 25 times or so. About 85 percent of my offs from go-gos or host bars have been excellent or very good; I have had only one bad experience, and that was with a non-Thai guy.
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Re: When will Bangkok again have vibrant gay venues?

Post by Gaybutton »

werner99 wrote: Wed Nov 10, 2021 8:13 pm When do you think Bangkok will again have vibrant gay go-gos, host bars, and massage centers?
It is much too soon to get anything but guesses. We can't even be absolutely certain when the bars will be allowed to open, much less when or even if there will be anything resembling what you are hoping for. And if the bars can open December 1, there is a big difference between can open and will open. We also don't know yet what the rules will be and what will and will not be enforced.

For now, all anyone can give you is a guess.
werner99
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Re: When will Bangkok again have vibrant gay venues?

Post by werner99 »

Yes, for now it is only possible to guess and speculate. Moreover, the covid situation might turn very nasty again. We must wait several months and see.

And Bangkok might never again have a vibrant gay venues, even though by late 2019, Bangkok had recovered well from the demise of the Soi Twight venues.
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Re: When will Bangkok again have vibrant gay venues?

Post by pong »

werner99 wrote: Wed Nov 10, 2021 8:13 pm When do you think Bangkok will again have vibrant gay go-gos, host bars, and massage centers?
Hopefully sooner as later, but as for now none knows or will be able to tell.

werner99 wrote: Wed Nov 10, 2021 8:13 pmAbout 85 percent of my offs from go-gos or host bars have been excellent or very good; I have had only one bad experience, and that was with a non-Thai guy.
Equals roughly my own experience through some 25+ years, both BKK and long ago Pattaya. Let me guess: that was a Vietnamese?

But to compare; experience in Indonesia for me was even better-no gogo, no bars like TH, but then I speak the language.
Jun

Re: When will Bangkok again have vibrant gay venues?

Post by Jun »

I have no idea when Bangkok will have vibrant gay venues again.
werner99 wrote: Wed Nov 10, 2021 8:13 pm Some members of this forum seem to have had great success finding hook-ups, boy friends, lovers, and even husbands on the apps. I have not been so lucky. I do not like to wait around for a guy to arrive, and find it awkward to say no, if for whatever reason, I do not like the guy who has arrived. Thai go-gos have offered dozens of attractive guys immediately, all at once, or in several nearby venues. During the past 5 years, I have visited Thailand about 25 times or so. About 85 percent of my offs from go-gos or host bars have been excellent or very good; I have had only one bad experience, and that was with a non-Thai guy.
If I off a lad from a gogo bar in Bangkok, firstly I have the advantage of seeing what he looks like & checking if he can at least make eye contact. However, to speak to him, I need to invest 3~400 baht. So once he's sitting with me, unless something is a clear red flag, I've got this subconscious bias toward overlooking minor warning signs. Of course, those with clear problems are tipped and sent back to the stage, but the balance is tipped slightly towards overlooking minor issues. Once we have agreed an off, I might well have to part with 1400 baht to get him off the premises.

Then, if he's offed from a gogo bar, he's going to want 2000 baht short time and most of them are in my room for under 40 minutes. I've had certain cases where the mamasan from the bar phones up after little over 30 minutes.
So total 3400 baht down, with inferior service.

Operating with the apps needs care, but can get great results. Check all the photos. If they are not clear, ask for more. Then negotiate all the ground rules, including a clause that if he doesn't look like the photo, we don't meet. The ones with badly misleading profile pics quit the discussion at this point, so it's a good filter.
The other thing you can do with the apps is negotiate exactly how he is going to earn the money. Make sure he understands he's getting no tip if not providing certain services. As a result, he provides the agreed services.

Regarding timing, agree a meet time and location. Tell him you will wait for 10 minutes maximum.

The lads will usually turn up and provide service in Bangkok for 1500, sometimes less. Oddly, if you're chatting with a bar boy, he will usually agree to 1500 via the apps, yet if you had offed him from a bar, he'd be asking for 2000, after providing less service.

Now am I doing this all wrong ?
Instead of sending the mamasan away in the Bangkok gogo bars, should I just wait until he suggests offing a boy, then ask how much ?
Then point out I can get a boy on Grindr who will spend time with me, provide great service and then be happy with 1500 baht & see what he says ?

I know I've got to pay more for the gogo experience, but after parting with a sizeable sum to off the lad, it's a bit much to then be asked for a higher than normal tip for lower than normal service. Something needs to give. If they want high tips, at least provide a superior experience.
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Re: When will Bangkok again have vibrant gay venues?

Post by Gaybutton »

I guess it has been longer than I thought since I last took off a Bangkok bar boy. 2000 baht? And now they want to leave after 30 minutes?

And this is what everybody is in such a big hurry to get back to Thailand for? Are you kidding me?

Not me. I would not enjoy that at all, especially with the stopwatch running. Apps or finding a willing young gent on my own (which is usually easy to do in Bangkok) - or doing without. But 2000 baht and 30 minutes? If customers are willing to put up with that, include me out.
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Re: When will Bangkok again have vibrant gay venues?

Post by Undaunted »

If and when things in Pattaya return to some form of “Normal” which GoGo bars if any will reopen however, in times before Covid you bought yourself and the boy you wanted a drink usually 200-300 baht each paid the off 500 baht and for a non hurry short time 1000 baht I have zero interest in long time. I haven’t offed anyone in BKK since the bars moved from Soi Twilight.
"In the land of the blind the one eyed man is king"
Jun

Re: When will Bangkok again have vibrant gay venues?

Post by Jun »

Gaybutton wrote: Sun Nov 14, 2021 1:19 am I guess it has been longer than I thought since I last took off a Bangkok bar boy. 2000 baht? And now they want to leave after 30 minutes?

And this is what everybody is in such a big hurry to get back to Thailand for? Are you kidding me?
Not kidding.
Of course, it may be possible to send them away with 1500 and if returning to the bar another night, he's going to be eying you up and wanting a repeat. Suggesting that's enough. However, you're firstly going to have to put up with him pushing for 2000 at the end of the encounter.
Probably because they have been trained to do this.
Why do I need that grief spoiling the experience?
Particularly when I have the apps to tide me over until getting down to Pattaya ?
Then, guess why the bars were in decline even before covid ?

I don't mind paying more if I get more, but paying more to get less is a hard sell.

Of course, if someone says there's a better way to deal with the Bangkok gogo bars, I'm all ears.
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Re: When will Bangkok again have vibrant gay venues?

Post by Gaybutton »

Jun wrote: Sun Nov 14, 2021 2:14 am Of course, if someone says there's a better way to deal with the Bangkok gogo bars, I'm all ears.
The only way I can think of is not to go to the Bangkok go-go bars at all. That is what I have been doing for years. I stopped going to the Bangkok bars years ago when I thought they were getting outrageously expensive. The drinks alone were priced too far out of line to suit me. But from what you're saying, it is way beyond outrageous now.

Of course farang on a one or two week holiday will probably be in those bars every night and won't care about the prices, although the idea of being on some sort of 30 minute timer is unlikely to sit well. I shudder to think what they must be charging for an overnight stay. What do you have to do, mortgage your house to pay for it?

I wonder if the Bangkok bars will be smart enough, once they reopen, to reduce their prices to attract customers, but my guess is, if anything, they will probably even further raise their prices in the usual Thai method of trying to make up for losses.

You gents get to be the ones who find out if I'm right or wrong. I won't set foot in a Bangkok go-go bar at those kinds of prices.
Jun

Re: When will Bangkok again have vibrant gay venues?

Post by Jun »

In recent years, my solution to the high prices in the Bangkok gogo bars had been to make just 1or 2 offs, then use the apps until I go down to Pattaya.

However, now the disparity in service levels is also becoming more obvious.

On the first day out of quarantine on the last trip, I could either off someone from the gogo bars and risk poor service, or use Grindr to meet a nice considerate lad who I knew from previous trips. So I went for the Grindr lad.
Of course, I did venture into the gogo bars on a couple of days, but didn't off anyone in Bangkok, as I'd already used the phone apps.
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