Are Naughty Boys Really Declining?

[Dodger]

Interesting take on the sex scene in Pattaya in the article below.

Not sure what the rate of decline is, but hard to argue with the fact that fewer punters are around...less pink money flowing...and as far as the gay scene the quality of the service providers is gradually going down hill. Note that I make that observation from the sidelines so others may have a better read on this:
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WEEKEND EDITORIAL

by Pattaya Mail

March 9, 2025

The-ever readable Stickman internet site for March 9 emphasizes that Pattaya or Sin City no longer revolves around sex and gogo dancers. It reckons only 2-3 percent of overseas visitors these days are primarily motivated by bright nightlife here, although the article doesn’t speculate what the rest of us are doing.

The column suggests that the declining ratio of naughty boys to mainstream tourists is caused by several factors. They range from the natural ageing of traditional westerners and the escalating charges for post-covid prostitution to the decline in the quality of the bodies on offer and the booming music which used to be fun and isn’t any longer.

Of course, it’s impossible to quantify overseas visitors solely on the basis of their sexual proclivities. A foreigner may visit cultural heritage sites in the daytime but hurry down to Soi Pothole after dark. A businessman could be attending networking conferences whilst the sun is shining, but looking for a very different trade in the light of the moon.

To state the obvious, Pattaya has changed beyond all recognition. Five star hotels, penthouse condos, luxury malls, family-friendly entertainment and expensive restaurants are everywhere. Whatever bits of central Pattaya are still standing are in danger of being knocked down and redeveloped. Indeed, the major stumbling block to even quicker transformation is the shortage of both Thai and immigrant cheap labor rather than the lack of investors.

Nightlife is increasingly concentrated in streets or areas such as Soi Buakhao, standalone streets such as Soi Sex (Six) and bar complexes scattered throughout the city and Jomtien. There are at least 30 bars in Jomtien’s Rompho market stretch although only a few are really busy. In any case, they mostly cater for retiree foreigners wanting to drink, people-watch and chat with friends.

Stickman rarely mentions the gay scene, reasoning that his readers wouldn’t be interested. But here too the changes are substantial. At the Jomtien Complex, gay sex is certainly on offer but there’s a choice of restaurants and several professional cabaret shows catering largely for social groups. Whether the arrival of gay marriage will make much difference to non-Thais in Pattaya is a debating point. So far, insiders say, no real impact.

So Pattaya is at a sort of crossroads. The naughty boy market still exists, howbeit on a smaller scale than 20 years ago or even 10. It will likely continue to decline because that once-cheap lifestyle is increasingly expensive even as the steep decline in the Thai birth rate means there are far better life-chances for the 18-35 year olds than selling themselves to strangers on a regular basis.

Meanwhile, Pattaya sits adjacent to the Eastern Economic Corridor which is fast becoming Thailand’s most successful technology hub. Chonburi province, which houses the city of Pattaya, is amongst the top three wealthiest provinces in the country according to Board of Investment business data. If naughty boys are now only 2 or 3 percent of tourist arrivals, that number could half by the end of the decade.

https://www.pattayamail.com/latestnews/ ... aya-493229

[Jun]

By "Naughty Boys", obviously Stickman is referring to customers, on the straight scene.
There are no end of girly bars catering to them, all over town. Soi Bukhao, various streets between beach road and second road. A few new units beyond third road. A bustling scene at Rompo Market and various other bars in Jomtien. I don't spend my time looking for girly bars, but when I go around looking for food, coffee etc, I see so many of them.
There are enough customers to sustain all that. But are we interested?

As for the gay scene, well there are plenty of very high quality service providers around.

We just need to make sure we're looking in the right places.
There has been, in my opinion, a marked decline in the quality of boy on stage at certain gogo bars.
I solve that problem by not going to those bars. Times have changed.

Where the good boys are:
Jomtien has an outstanding selection of lads.
Classic Boys gogo was OK on my last visit.
There's a good selection on the apps. Just fon't expect them to be on the apps 24-7 and also check more than one app.

Whilst there are some cute Thais around, many come from other countries these days. I'm quite happy with that. I've changed my behaviour slightly, as what worked with Thai boys 15 years ago doesn't work as well with certain other nationalities now. Looking in the mirror, I'm 15 years older as well.

However, I'm very happy with the attitude and service I'm getting. The boys seem happy enough too, as they keep asking for repeat visits. I had messages from 3 of them whilst typing this.

The good ones get plenty of repeat visits.

As for customer numbers on the gay scene, well I have no idea.
Clearly Sunne Plaza used to be full of customers and it's almost finished now.
But in the same time, Jomtien has expanded dramatically and so much dating is done online now. So who knows?

[Gaybutton]

I disagree with his statement: "escalating charges for post-covid prostitution". Other than the bars significantly raising their prices, as far as I can tell I have seen no increase in the prices the boys ask.

I do agree with him on this statement: "the booming music which used to be fun and isn’t any longer".

For me, the booming music was never any fun and all too often would drive me out of the bars. I don't know anyone who loves the booming music. All I ever hear about it is complaints, and you can count me in as one of the complainers. It's one of the reasons I rarely go to the bars at all anymore.

Why is it that everybody except the bar owners and managers understand that the excessively loud music does more to drive away farang customers and attracts next to none.

And yet many bars still persist in that kind of music volume and we have been talking about this for many years. One question: WHY?

[Jun]

I just went for a curry at the top end of Rompo Market. That "market" alone has over 50 girly bars trading. I then walked down Soi 7 to Jomtien beach. That had 30 girlybars.
No sign of collapsing demand there.

I believe Jomtien Complex has about 37 gay bars at present. Thst's up from about 5 when I first came to Pattaya. So that's been growing quite nicely.


As for music, well the majority keep the volume at a sensible level. Last year, there were a few occasions where The Palace, Sun Bar and The Best Bar had the music so loud that it ruined the experience at other nearby bars. This year, it's been better, although recently The Best Bar was pushing the limits when I was at another nearby bar.. I'll be delighted when that place closes for good.

[Gaybutton]

the music so loud that it ruined the experience at other nearby bar

That's the part that makes it to my "I Don't Get It" list. I can't believe they are not well aware that most customers don't like and don't want to be anywhere near a venue playing music at such a volume. I wouldn't be surprised if the majority of bar boys also don't like volume that high. Why do they do it? What purpose do they think it serves?

[Dodger]

I'm not sure I agree with everything said in the article either.

There is certainly no shortage of sex workers or host bars in Pattaya (gay and str8), although on the gay scene the migrant workers are rapidly replacing our beloved Thai boys, which, unfortunately, is a trend that will almost certainly continue.

As far as the "naughty boys" (punters), just from what I see with my own two eyes during my infrequent visits to the night scenes, there aern't near as many gay tourists flocking to the scenes anymore, with the majority of customers these days being expats who seem more intent on socializing than they do in boy chasing. That's the biggest difference I see. Understanding of course that the proliferation of dating apps has influenced a lot of this change.

Another change I see is that there are much fewer working boys who would fall in the "Dream Boy" category as compared to days-gone-by. I'm talking about the super stars who would take your breath away at first glance. Every bar had a few of this caliber, and if you walked down any soi in-and-around the gay scenes at night you would spot one every 60 seconds. That's probably the most disappointing part of these changing dynamics.

Something is better than nothing. The fact that more migrant workers are filling the gaps left by the Thai boys who worked the scenes before is definitely a good thing.

Pattaya will never be anywhere close to what it used to be - but it's still the best place on earth for naughty boys to have naughty fun.

[Gaybutton]

Pattaya will never be anywhere close to what it used to be - but it's still the best place on earth for naughty boys to have naughty fun.

I absolutely agree with that. I don't know of anywhere else in the world as good as Pattaya for "naughty fun", although I have never seen it as in any way "naughty". I see it as "fun" and the word "naughty" doesn't apply.

Of course, if anyone does know of somewhere as good as Pattaya for our kind of "fun", don't keep it a secret. Please post.

Even in it's current decline as compared to years ago, in my opinion when compared to anywhere else, Pattaya is still Number 1.

[Jun]

There is certainly no shortage of sex workers or host bars in Pattaya (gay and str8), although on the gay scene the migrant workers are rapidly replacing our beloved Thai boys, which, unfortunately, is a trend that will almost certainly continue.

I'm perfectly happy with this trend. After changing my approach for the different nationalities, the butterflying is better than ever.

The only downside is the declining scene in Laos and Cambodia. So many of the willing lads come here now.

Another change I see is that there are much fewer working boys who would fall in the "Dream Boy" category as compared to days-gone-by. I'm talking about the super stars who would take your breath away at first glance.

Whilst the average is dragged down by moustaches, excess tattoos or excess weight, there are still some very cute lads around. More than enough.

You might have a point about the dream boys. I look at pictures of some of the lads I was meeting around 8 years ago and some would be 19 and looking perfect.
However, some of this is my choice. These days if there's a perfect 10/10 cute 18 year old and a very cute 25 year old, I'll pick the boy with the best attitude. That's what I should have been doing all along.

Various other members aren't chasing the perfect 18 year old either.

Even in it's current decline as compared to years ago, in my opinion when compared to anywhere else, Pattaya is still Number 1.

Number 1 by an increased margin, due to the decline of alternatives ?

[Gaybutton]

Number 1 by an increased margin, due to the decline of alternatives ?

Number 1 because there is no better place and as far as I'm concerned, there never was. If there was someplace better, isn't that where you would probably be?

[Dodger]

What seems surprising to me is why we don't see more naughty Chinese Boys visiting the gay scenes in Thailand. There's plenty of horny Chinese woman visiting the gay gogo bars and cabarets, but where are all those cute gay boys hiding?

They have some real dolls...and with an estimated 75 million people identified as being LGBTQ in China it's really strange that there aern't more young gay punters coming where the actions at.

In comparison I've seen (and actually gone with) Koreans, Japanese, and plenty of Malaysians, but I've yet to cross a Chinese boy (other than Chinese-Thai) off my bucket list.

I'm sure there's a reason. Any ideas???