Are Naughty Boys Really Declining?

[Jun]

Not everything needs mathematical proof, does it? My eyes still work. I don't see how anyone can deny that the numbers of gay tourists frequenting the Pattaya bar scene are way down compared to years ago.

You are offering a measure of bar visitors, not tourist numbers.
We already know that much of the sex trade is on line these days and the sex tourists no longer need to visit the bars as often.
So how could we conclude, with any certainty that bar visitors are a reliable measure of sex tourist numbers ?

In principle, it's like counting horse drawn carriage traffic as a measure of economic activity. It worked until people no longer needed horse drawn carriages.


Next, you're probably going to remind me about all the bar closures in Sunee Plaza.
I just fished out a map from 2007 and counted 34 bars in Sunee Plaza & it's now 3. Or if we're really generous, 5. Admittedly of low quality now.
However, in the same time, the number of bars in Jomtien has gone from 7 to 36. Roughly offsetting the decline in Sunee. In an era when visitors don't need the bars to get sex. And total visitor numbers have only just recovered from daft pandemic policies.

Also, I remember going into plenty of bars in Sunee and seeing few customers. That's not a new thing either.

Unless of course, you're thinking of a comparison from 20~30 years ago, when I have no reference.

[Gaybutton]

Next, you're probably going to remind me about all the bar closures in Sunee Plaza.

How did you know . . . ?

[Dodger]

Who knows, maybe the owners of roughly 45 gay bars operating in Pattaya are wrong when they say that business has been steadily declining for years...

Who knows, maybe all the Thai boys who left the scene because of a lack of $$customers$$ are wrong too. And this would apply to customers they hook up with in the bars and on the apps.

Who knows, maybe 25 popular bars in Sunee Plaza would have survived if they would have just waited a bit longer for all the sex tourists to return.

Who knows just how many of the gay bars that are operating now are running profitable businesses versus just staying afloat.

Who knows, maybe there's a mathematical formula we don't know about that would show everybody that they're wrong...

[Jun]

There's plenty of evidence that people don't need bars for hookups any more. Phone Apps have replaced gogo bars.

The thread is about "Naughty Boys" visiting. You are talking about bar visitors. Which is something quite different.

I find this quite odd, when coming from people who don't even visit the bars themselves, which surely must serve as a reminder that visiting bars is optional ?

You talk about 25 bar closures in Sunee & forget the ~30 additional bars which have opened in Jomtien.
It's easy to get the answer you already have in your head if not counting properly.
Thinking about it might result in a better answer.

Who knows, maybe the owners of roughly 45 gay bars operating in Pattaya are wrong when they say that business has been steadily declining for years...

(i) There's a tendency for people in this trade to talk down the business.
(ii) Despite that, they don't all talk it down. I know one who opened a bar between my last 2 visits to Pattaya. They're doing so well that they bought a second bar. They're keeping the first bar as it gets a lot of early evening trade.
There's at least one who owns several bars.

Incidentally, I don't recall seeing you write one recent report of a bar visit in the last 10 years & you say you don't visit the bars.
Yet you're professing to know what 45 bar owners say ?
Really ?

[SP55]

I have a quite wealthy friend who visits Thailand occasionally. I like what he does. He throws a party for farang friends in the condo he rents, including plenty of food and booze. He also hires a good number of boys to be the waiters and the "entertainment" - and he also provides their attire - attire that leaves very little to the imagination.

Somehow that's a little better than going to bars . . .

I wish I had a friend like that!

[SP55]

Beer (Nice Boys) told me years ago that he saw the dating apps as being the death blow to the bar scene. I hope he's not right.

No, but charging 300 baht for drinks and 700 off-fees in a bar with overdressed boys might be the thing that keeps customers away!

[SP55]

they're also impacted greatly by sex tourists who primarily stick to the apps for their boy fun versus spending money at the bars.

I believe the key for bar owners to do is try the suggestion I made for years, but fell on deaf ears. The bar owners seemed to think all they needed to do was open a venue, hire some boys, and do little else. There was a time when that worked. No more.

My suggestion was - and still is - start doing things that make your bar much more attractive than the apps. Give your customers a reason, a good reason, to go to your bar rather than sticking to the apps. Even if the bar owners need to get together and come up with ideas, they could work together to attract customers. Even offering free food buffets used to draw in the customers. Anyone seen anything similar lately?

I believe if the bar owners won't do anything, then the trend we've been witnessing for years will continue until the day comes when the only thing to be seen at any of the venues is the "For Sale" sign on the door. When staying home and watching re-runs of "I Love Lucy" is a more attractive prospect than going to the bars, then the bars are in big trouble.

I stopped going to the bars because of the availability of the apps, the prices, the lack of boys, the more conservative attire, the lights, paying more attention to their phones rather than the customers, and the excessively loud music.

Would you like to know my main reason - the one that supersedes those? I stopped going because (speaking only for myself) to me they simply became one big bore.

This post is spot on. I couldn't agree more.

I was shocked a few days ago when I saw a newly opened bar in Jomtien complex offering bargames. You know those simple, cheap but entertaining games that are available in any ladybar all over Pattaya. Any ladybar will offer you to play four-in-a-row for example with the girls over a beer. Yet I have NEVER ever seen a boybar in Pattaya offer this choice of entertainment. Until now, in 2025...
This has always been on my "I don't get it"-list why bargames work so well for the ladybars but no boybar owner has tried the idea.

[SP55]

You talk about 25 bar closures in Sunee & forget the ~30 additional bars which have opened in Jomtien.

We only need to go back 10 years in time Boyztown was also thriving with gogo-bars all over the place and soi 13/4 and 13/3 full of them. They were great fun and average drinking price was as I recall 130-150 baht.
Now the prices have doubled and the few remaining bars there are maybe 20% as fun as in the past. No mystery to me why there are fewer customers.

[Dodger]

......No, but Beer charging 300 baht for drinks and 700 off-fees in a bar with overdressed boys might be the thing that keeps customers away!

No argument there.

The swan song has been playing in Sunee for nearly 7 years now and I'm surprised Beer still has doors to open.

[Dodger]

This has always been on my "I don't get it"-list why bargames work so well for the ladybars but no boybar owner has tried the idea.

Most of the gay bar owners I've met had ZERO experience running a bar before launching their adventures in Pattaya. Where the ones with experienced ladyboy mamasans always seemed to offer more in terms of entertainment.

I always thought it would be fun to watch the boys playing with ping pong balls the way the girls do. You have to use your imagination for that one...