Sansuk Sauna reopening?

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thewayhelooks
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Sansuk Sauna reopening?

Post by thewayhelooks »

The Sansuk facebook page says Pattaya's gay sauna will reopen next month.

"SanSuk Sauna will open for service on this 15th September 2022. It will be open from 14.00 - 23.00 as usual and very special. Organise promotions for entrance, special services for Thais and foreigners."

Has anyone any more information on this? I know a facebook message further down the page said the same thing for November last year, so I'm hoping for a solid confirmation.

https://www.facebook.com/pattayagaysauna/
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Re: Sansuk Sauna reopening?

Post by Gaybutton »

thewayhelooks wrote: Wed Aug 17, 2022 8:30 am Has anyone any more information on this?
I don't, but if any information becomes available it will be posted. I am guessing there is a much better chance of the sauna reopening this year than last year.

If he does what I believe is the smart thing to do, I hope he'll make entrance free for young Thais as he did when he first opened and advertise it properly so they will know. That will certainly attract many more willing young gents looking for farang and will attract more paying farang too.
Jun

Re: Sansuk Sauna reopening?

Post by Jun »

Gaybutton wrote: Wed Aug 17, 2022 1:48 pm I hope he'll make entrance free for young Thais as he did when he first opened and advertise it properly so they will know. That will certainly attract many more willing young gents looking for farang and will attract more paying farang too.
Agreed.
How many farang go to Pattaya to get off with other farang of a similar age range ? I suspect it's not many.

Even if he does all the right things, making a success of the sauna is still likely to be a challenge.

1 As far as I can tell, saunas are in decline. Some close and the remainder don't seem to have many young customers these days. I suspect phone apps have something to do with this.
Even with free entry for young Asean lads, there's no guarantee that they will show up these days, now they all have phones.
Some supposedly go to gyms to keep fit. I'm not entirely sure if that's just good intentions, or something they really do.
However free gym access might just lure a few in ?

2 2022 tourist numbers in Thailand are projected to be about 25% of pre-covid levels. So a smaller market.

3 I got the impression that the place was in decline before covid. Not that many customers and the maintenance appeared to have been cut back.

Also, when I looked at the Sansuk hotel, I tended to quickly dismiss it. The rooms looked rather expensive for something basic with no balcony. The only reason to stay in this location is if you like saunas, as there's almost nothing else nearby.

Incidentally, the Sansuk website says "We are temporarily closed" and has nothing about reopening.

Also, Agoda has no availability in the Sansuk Hotel for a few random days in October. Of course, opening the sauna doesn't mean the hotel has to open at the same time.
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Re: Sansuk Sauna reopening?

Post by Gaybutton »

To address a few of the things Jun posted above:

1. I can tell you the boys who say they regularly go to gyms really do. I see that for myself. Also, many of their photos on the apps show them in gyms. Maybe hanging around the gyms would be good for trying to pick up boys who go, but I've never tried that myself.

2. I suspect if the boys can get into the sauna free, many will go. Who says they all go to saunas looking for farang and/or looking for potential customers? Maybe some just like saunas. I don't know how much that holds true for Sansuk - I've only been there twice and that was when they were still letting boys in free. But when I would go to Bangkok I would often go to Babylon sauna. Many boys were there apparently simply because they enjoyed saunas and showed no interest in farang at all. Some were there looking for other Thais too.

In any case, whenever Sansuk does reopen, I think it would be foolish of him not to even try letting boys in free and see what happens. Boys looking for customers on apps can be doing that inside Sansuk too. But if the boys have to pay to get in, I doubt many will go.

I believe the success of Sansuk is going to be dependent on how many boys go. I believe the boys are the main reason farang go. For sure farang are not going so they can look at each other or mingle "privately" with each other.

My opinion is the advent of the apps were both excellent for finding boys, but also a scourge. The boys stopped going to the beach, and for me that ruined the beach. Also, many boys stopped working in the bars for a pittance and only rarely getting taken off. I believe the apps was part of the reason the go-go bars nearly became extinct in Pattaya. Boys stopped hanging out in hook-up parks too. In Bangkok, for example, I remember there would be dozens of boys every night at Saranrom Park. Now somebody else will have to inform us whether many, or even any, boys still do that. It's been a few years since I was there. I've heard the Lumpini Park now is virtually devoid of boys looking for customers. I think the apps might be partially responsible for some of the boys looking for hook-ups having stopped going to the saunas, but I also believe charging them entrance fees had much to do with it too.

Many talk about how things were pre-Covid. That's not how I think about it. I think about how things were pre-Apps - and for sure things were much better then than they are now.

But I do believe if Sansuk does it right, it can succeed. I hope he really does reopen in October and see what happens.
Jun

Re: Sansuk Sauna reopening?

Post by Jun »

Gaybutton wrote: Wed Aug 17, 2022 4:28 pm I believe the success of Sansuk is going to be dependent on how many boys go. I believe the boys are the main reason farang go. For sure farang are not going so they can look at each other or mingle "privately" with each other.
Admittedly I only visited about once per trip, but in recent years, I've hardly seen any young Asian lads at the sauna. The ones who were there appeared to be either Thais who were already with a farang or the occasional Asian tourist from other countries.
The Thais with the farang were typically not the youngest. Possibly boyfriends ?
The Asian tourists would typically not be looking for older farang.

This hasn't attracted a large number of farang. The few who were going didn't have a good selection of local lads to chase after.
They definitely need to try free entry for local lads & they should remind them that this includes use of a gym. You need bait to attract fish.

If anyone was a regular visitor in recent years, I'd like to know what the attraction was. Were they just hotel guests taking advantage of the free entry ?

Gaybutton wrote: Wed Aug 17, 2022 4:28 pm I believe the apps was part of the reason the go-go bars nearly became extinct in Pattaya. Boys stopped hanging out in hook-up parks too. In Bangkok, for example, I remember there would be dozens of boys every night at Saranrom Park. Now somebody else will have to inform us whether many, or even any, boys still do that. It's been a few years since I was there. I've heard the Lumpini Park now is virtually devoid of boys looking for customers. I think the apps might be partially responsible for some of the boys looking for hook-ups having stopped going to the saunas, but I also believe charging them entrance fees had much to do with it too.

Many talk about how things were pre-Covid. That's not how I think about it. I think about how things were pre-Apps - and for sure things were much better then than they are now.

But I do believe if Sansuk does it right, it can succeed. I hope he really does reopen in October and see what happens.
Cruising seems to have more or less died out since the apps caught on. Certainly at Dongtan beach and some of the places around Silom.
Like you, I also suspect apps are responsible for the elimination of some of the gogo bars. However in certain cases, the management of the gogo bars have probably also contributed to their failure, as has been discussed previously. The latest example is certain bars putting fully dressed boys on stage. Now why would I pay 2~400 baht for a drink to watch that ?
I'd be delighted to pay 200 for a drink in a good Pattaya gogo bar, or slightly more in Bangkok. However, the moment the entertainment isn't up to scratch, they can forget my business.
If that's how they carry on, then I'm glad that phone apps exist as competition. From what I hear, Pattaya probably has 2 twink gogo bars worth a visit at present and Bangkok has none.

Sansuk sauna also needs to think about their business model. Previously he had a cheap guest house located mid way between Sunee and Boyztown. I never stayed there, but the location and prices were probably sufficient to attract customers.
The sauna is quite different and needs to be the attraction, since it's in the middle of nowhere.
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Re: Sansuk Sauna reopening?

Post by Gaybutton »

I agree entirely with Jun's post above.

If anyone asks whether the steps outside of the Silom Robinson's is still a good place to pick up a willing young gent - three guesses what the answer is. Cruising seems to me to be almost entirely a thing of the past.
Jun

Re: Sansuk Sauna reopening?

Post by Jun »

Gaybutton wrote: Wed Aug 17, 2022 6:06 pm If anyone asks whether the steps outside of the Silom Robinson's is still a good place to pick up a willing young gent - three guesses what the answer is. Cruising seems to me to be almost entirely a thing of the past.
Not only is cruising mostly a thing of the past, but so is Silom Robinson's as it's been a building site for some time.
I think my last successful cruising in Bangkok was in Silom Complex and that was about a decade ago. This may be partly down to not paying attention as much as I should.

On another forum, someone mentioned Vietnamese lads by the bus stop outside the Bangkok Christian Hospital. He even posted a photo. I've not noticed them, but will look out next time, although without setting expectations too high.
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Re: Sansuk Sauna reopening?

Post by BKKDreamer »

The last time I visited Sansuk Sauna - back in 2019 - it was quite busy with a mix of falangs and some Thai guys. The majority of the falangs were from Russia. Earlier in the day, I had been at Dongtan beach and I was sitting next to a Russian guy and he told me that him and his Russian friends found the Dongtan beach to be boring and were heading over to Sansunk for a place with more adventure. I did not join them right away - I went later in the early evening. Most of the Russians were cruising each other - as it is not so easy for them to meet in their home country - is what they told me. So, perhaps there would be some demand in the Sansuk business model - for falang on falang (Russian with Russian) ??
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Re: Sansuk Sauna reopening?

Post by Undaunted »

BKKDreamer wrote: Wed Aug 17, 2022 10:31 pm So, perhaps there would be some demand in the Sansuk business model - for falang on falang (Russian with Russian) ??
At the moment you’ll find very few Russians in Pattaya gay or otherwise.
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Re: Sansuk Sauna reopening?

Post by BKKDreamer »

Today I ventured over to the Sansuk Sauna today in Pattaya around 5pm - I can confirm that it is open.
73 baht Bolt taxi ride from Dongtan beach.
200 baht fee to enter - includes locker, 2 towels, and condom. Bring your own sandals or flip-flops if you don't want to be barefoot.
There were about 15 customers, of which 6 of us were falang and the rest were Thai.
All of the Thai guys were in good shape - fit swimmer bodies. Perhaps only 2 were older Thais --> above 35 years old. The remainder were all younger.
I met Pun, the long time manager (perhaps owner ?). He said after almost 3 long years of being closed he is truly happy to be open since the 15th of September.
Staff wise, there are plenty, around 8 guys and some were good eye candy. A couple of sexy Thais were working out in the gym.
I ate in the bar/restaurant. There is a good menu with Thai and Western food. There is also a wide selection of alcoholic beverages.
One masseur was on duty during my visit.
Let us support Sansuk and Pun.
Enjoy,
M.
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