Bar Reports

[Jun]

If only Thai boys are being hired, getting larger numbers of bar boys might be a problem. Time will tell. I would think in many cases working in a go-go bar is more attractive to some boys than working on the rice farm.

I agree. Getting the type of boy I and some other customers like will be difficult if they are limited to Thais. There was one other cute Thai on the premises on my first visit of this trip. However, I haven't seen him since. I merely sat with him and didn't off him or get his Line.
However, the bar is certainly short of lads in the slim and cute category. Such lads were once plentiful in Sunee and remain widely available in Jomtien, or online

I'm not sure what hiring constraints apply to Toy Boys these days, but when I checked in there, most of the lads remaining on their stage were certainly not slim either.

Of course, when I look on the apps, I have no constraints with nationality.
It's going to be a major problem for bars like Winner, if the types of boy we expect to see there are available online, but not in the bars. Heavy handed policing finishing off the last of the gogo bars ?

[gerefan]

Of course, when I look on the apps, I have no constraints with nationality.

I can see why some bar owners are worried about employing non Thais.

From my circle of Asian friends in Pattaya most, if not all, of the non Thais are here illegally.

One is from Laos and has been here we’ll over 10 years. Says he has no passport.

Another, from Cambodia, openly told me he was now on a 4 year overstay.

A Burmese guy aged about 45, who hangs around a bar remote from the gay areas has been here several years and tells me he doesn’t want to return.

Finally, another one who has also been here a long time and frequents the gay areas told me he had given his passport and money to someone to get him a visa. He has not seen either since.
I think that’s a cock and bull story but he never seems to do any more visa runs.

All these guys drive motor bikes. I doubt they hold International Driving permits or a Thai licence!

I bet they haven’t got medical cover either!

If the few I know are dubious I wonder how many others are…

[Gaybutton]

If the few I know are dubious I wonder how many others are…

My guess is probably a great many. When it comes to random passport and visa checks, the police seem to be much more focused on checking farang than they are Asians who can easily pass for Thais. I rarely hear about Asians being checked except when caught during bar raids. And when they do get caught, nothing much seems to happen to them unless they were also caught committing crimes other than simply overstaying. As far as I know, they simply are sent back to their home countries and that's about it. It seems to me it would be an exercise in futility to try to fine them when obviously they have no money and it is probably much less expensive for Thailand to just send them back home than to keep them in jail.

If anything much more than that usually happens to them I'm not aware of it. Many get sent back home and before you know it, they're right back in Thailand again.

Many also really don't have much reason to overstay. Most Lao and Cambodian boys I've met over the years enter Thailand legally with some sort of visa. When the visa is about to expire they go back to their home country, get another visa, and return. They only get in trouble if they are caught working illegally.

[Jun]

Of my rented friends here:

One from Cambodia avoids the topic, but says he's not been home for several years. So illegal.
Two from Laos tell me they have 45 day stamps and do visa runs, or go home. One of those would rather NOT have a work permit if stopped by the police, although I didn't quite understand his logic.
Another from Laos was paying an agency to sort out his arrangements, when I asked on the last trip. That sounded rather like covid extensions, which were allowed then. I forgot to ask him recently, but his Facebook shows what looks like a recent visa run.
Another from Laos claims to have crossed the river illegally, then he travels around Thailand on domestic flights.
Yet another Lao boy arrived here in December, for the first time since before covid and will do a visa run to Cambodia when his 45 days are up.

I forgot to ask the others.

I haven't checked any of these documents, as a lad only has to show me his ID once, if he's young enough to need proof of age.

I don't think bar owners would have much trouble checking their staff were legally in the country, if that were the only thing that mattered. Of course, it's not the only thing that matters.

I'm guessing the illegal ones are not that scared about getting caught. The one who hasn't been home for years regularly travels from Jomtien to Pattaya by motorcycle taxi, despite regular road blocks on that road. Of course the roadblock is always in the same place, so I would think it's easily avoided.

Of the lads I mentioned, one tells me he's pumpui, but he is in better shape than some of the Winner Boys or Toy Boys. All the others are slim and would enhance the selection at these gogo bars. The fact that I can find these boys online, but not in gogo bars is just going to speed up the decline of the gogo bars.

[Gaybutton]

The fact that I can find these boys online, but not in gogo bars is just going to speed up the decline of the gogo bars.

Many of us remember the times when someone on a two or even three week holiday would be unlikely to have been able to visit all the go-go bars by the time the holiday was over. And that was just Pattaya. Plenty more go-go bars were in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phuket, and various other locales in Thailand.

Now, in Pattaya it wouldn't be difficult to visit all the go-go bars in just one night. That's how far downhill things have gone. Covid, the worldwide economic problems, the apps, hardly any boys on the beach anymore, prudish regulations - all that has contributed to the downfall of the go-go bars. Seems to me the Pattaya go-go bars that still exist are only hanging on by their fingernails. I had hoped the end of the Covid restrictions would begin a real go-go bar scene resurrection in Pattaya, but so far it hasn't happened.

I believe in yesteryear the go-go bars and boys on the beach were the main attraction for gays to travel to Thailand. As far as I can tell there are still just as many, if not even more, boys available now as there ever was, but now it's a whole set of new methods of finding them - mainly the apps and beer bars.

In the "Golden Years" even the crappiest go-go bars were usually loaded with boys. I don't think anyone reading this needs me to tell that now it's a totally different story.

[Jun]

Yes. About 10 years ago, when in Pattaya, I would visit the beach almost every day and the gogo bars every night. I can count over a dozen Pattaya gogo bars where I've found and offed the type of boy I like. That was despite repeated visits to centres of excellence like Funny Boys.
Now Pattaya is down to 7 gogo bars. Of those, traditionally only Winner and Toy Boys would have the type of boy I look for consistently. So effectively 2 bars, but even their selection of lads is not what it was.

I still come here, because I don't know of anywhere else on the planet with such a selection on the phone apps.

Then, when I want to go to a bar, it's usually one in Jomtien. That's where the cute boys are these days.

I've adapted to this, Whilst I would prefer to see about half a dozen interesting gogo bars, I wouldn't want to go back to finding most of my boys in them.

[Jun]

On a recent visit to Winner Boys, I forgot to mention that one farang offered to buy a boy a beer. The customer called the boy over in the middle of the drink preparation and asked "What's that?" The boy answered "Whiskey". At which point the customer insisted that he get a beer, as that's what he was offering to buy for him.

He was too much of a control freak for my liking.
The boy drinks are all the same price, so they can drink what they like as far as I'm concerned, even if their drink looks like Listerine. If they work in the bar almost every day of the week, they have a very good reason for choosing a very weak or non alcoholic drink.

I still see Jomtien as by far and away the best gay bar area. Loads of bars and there are some very handsome young lads around. The area from The Palace down to Home Bar can get noisy, but just move away from those bars when it gets loud.

Still just host bars and some with cabaret, but so far I've just observed the latter from a distance. Far better for the hearing.

The Jomtien host bars easily beat the gogo bars for the selection of lads. According to my tastes.

[Gaybutton]

On a recent visit to Winner Boys, I forgot to mention that one farang offered to buy a boy a beer. The customer called the boy over in the middle of the drink preparation and asked "What's that?" The boy answered "Whiskey". At which point the customer insisted that he get a beer, as that's what he was offering to buy for him.

Many of us have seen all kinds of strange, bizarre behaviors in the bars. Maybe the farang was a cheapskate who thought beer would be less expensive or thought the boy would be less likely to be drunk if he was drinking beer. For me, the odds on favorite was some sort of weirdness that defies explanation.

If someone offers to buy me a beer, then I'll drink a beer. If someone offers to buy me a drink, but then insists on what the drink will be, unless it is what I wanted in the first place, for me it would be a no thanks and don't do me any favors.

Oh well, at least that's something I don't have to worry about. I don't see anyone lining up to buy me a drink. There goes my chance for 50 year old Glenfiddich - neat . . .

[BKKDreamer]

I don't see anyone lining up to buy me a drink. There goes my chance for 50 year old Glenfiddich - neat . . .

hmmm, I seem to remember that I could not wait to buy you a dinner and drink when I arrived into Thailand last September.
It was the least that I could do for all the help that you gave me to my never ending questions....

[Gaybutton]

hmmm, I seem to remember that I could not wait to buy you a dinner and drink when I arrived into Thailand last September.

Yes, you did. Thank you again. Damn! I didn't think of the Glenfiddich while we were there . . .

No problem about the questions. Once in a while I even know the answers.