Feast

I am upset everytime I come in Pattaya … I hardly have got out of the bus and it seems that the whole atmosphere is loaded with beauty and sensuality … Bangkok has its fair share of nice boys in the streets but you don’t always get the feeling that you could actually sleep with them … too much civilised, too much normalised …

But all over the streets in Pattaya, wherever you look, you will see nice lads … be it riding a motorbike, working on a building site, waiting the customer in front of their shop or being a bell boy or the pool attendant in your (not gay) hotel. Why ? Probably because the booming economy in Pattaya lures many young men from all over the country – and I do not mean only for working in the sex industry. And that makes you getting an eyeful of cute boys when you walk along the sois, any time in the day and in the year .

The most beautiful face I saw during my last trip was from a motorbike getting me to Jomtien … it was 5 pm in the evening, the boy was packed in the back of a truck among other fellow workers, probably coming from some building area where they had been working hard the whole day . It lasted for fifteen seconds, and then our ways branched off …

Everyday life in Pattaya - spot the cute one

Another one was among a bunch of roadworks workers who were mending the sewage pipes on the road leading to Jomtien … What stroke me at first was that despite the deafening noise and the stench, the guys were laughing at what they were doing – a perfect illustration of what sanuk means for the thai. I quickly noticed that some of them were real cuties under their dirty clothes, especially the one who was leaning against the truck. No saucy adventure to relate, but the simple memory of one of this short moments that make living in Pattaya, among other things, a permanent feast for the eyes …

Bangkok extras (2)

Saphan Kwai

I already already wrote how much I was impressed by the selection of the boys there ; I dropped in on most bars with a preference for Be High (the only gogo bar in Saphan Kwai) where the boys are nice and friendly. Nothing new about the venues except some not too good news :
- Collection Boys was the name of a bar next door to Street Boys, but although some activity was to be seen inside during daytime, it did not open during the period I was there
- Eagle Pub, which is located on Pradiphat Road near Karmanee Hotel still has some good-looking boys and a friendly mamasan, but they told me they will turn to a karaoke at the beginning of the year ; this will leave only Charmming as a host bar in the area, all others are more or less karaoke (fortunately not all customers come there for singing and some evenings are very quiet)
- Hippodrome was a small karaoke place on Soi 12 and seems to have closed.
- Do not go to First Karaoke, which could be mistaken as a boy karaoke on the little soi leading to the gay 39 Sauna (near the BTS station) : this place is in fact a dump with overpriced drinks and absolute no boy to be seen.

Since last year, Saphan Kwai has also grown as a great eating place, with food stalls lining up along Pradiphat Road, all busy with customers, which is a sure sign of tasty food (and how convenient when you come back hungry from your short-time hotel and the coffee lodge of your hotel is closed ... ). There is also a great open-air restaurant in front of Pradiphat Hotel (on the northern side of the street) which is called Rakhang Thong (golden bell) to which I like to treat the boys I am with. Many farangs to be seen there, probably coming from the neighbouring Mido and Elisabeth Hotels.



Saranrom

I went there once again on my last night in Thailand. This time I did not want to depend on the willingness of the taxi drivers - who often drive past the boys too quickly, so you do not have the time to see them. So I went on foot along Sanamchai Road to the Saranrom park, then back around the whole main area rectangle, and then near Tha Chang along the Wat Phra Kaew compound.

I was some times among the boys, sometimes on the other side of the street ; the experience was a little bit intimidating, as most boys will hail you and ask you to go with them. I nearly accepted to go with a sturdy 20 y/o lad who accepted to spend the whole night with me but I changed my mind at the last minute, as he did not look trustworthy enough. Others wanted to go short time, some begged for money to eat.

Not a lot of people walk around the area at night but at least on the Sanamchai Road, there are some pedestrians, street hawkers or people waiting for the bus, making you feel almost safe. I also found that speaking thai was almost mandatory when walking, so that the boys assume that you know the ropes and you are not a rookie making an easy prey for some bad trick.

So much for my 2007 Bangkok observations ...

Bangkok extras (1)

During my last stay, I did not go to many places in Bangkok, except for my usual Saphan Khway bars and for my new-found playground in the Sanam Luang area ... However I thought it could be of interest to give a short report about the gay places I went.

Lao tourist in Bangkok

Silom/Suriwong area

I went there once with my lao friend who had never come to Bangkok before. After a long day visiting some Bangkok tourist attractions (read : Wat Arun, BTS and the mobile phone zone in Mahboonkrong ...), I asked him wether he wanted to visit the gay places. He was OK and after Dick's Cafe we headed for Classic Boy - nothing to write home about - and X - Boys where we staid for the show. The room was full with customers - a big part of them being asian. I liked the show which was very professional, with a wide range of different scenes and different boys. 

We also liked the Balcony, probably because they sell Beer Lao and the atmosphere is very lively ... and less noisy than before, which I really enjoyed. 

Other places in the area were visited on my own because they are not places where you would bring neither your grandmother nor your boyfriend : Nature Boy for a short time of sleaze with the long-haired Chiang Rai boy (I was astonished he remembered I was French, although I had not visited for one year ...), the infamous Super A which remains true to form (with perhaps a better selection of boys than before), and the new Nice Boys below which has still a long way to go before matching its name. I also paid a visit to Solid where no one catched my fancy, and to My Way on Rama IV where the boys dance again on a small stage, which allows you to see them better than when they are heavily busy with other customers.

For my last evening in Bangkok (my flight left at midnight), I was also as free as the air, as Tam had already gone back home. I thought it would be a good idea to have a last massage and I headed to Suriwong at about 6 pm... The boys had not all come yet, so there were noone to be seen in front of Bonny ; I walked on and a guy in front of Red Massage tried to push me inside saying : "young boys, many boys" ... He was himself quite attractive but I chose to walk on to see more. Around the corner from the soi, I was again in Rama IV Road, I walked past K-Why where I saw only one boy.

At a loose end in the afternoon ... go to Soi Twilight ! . . . . . . . .

I suddenly remembered a less-known massage place along Suriwong ; the cute face of one of the two boys sitting on the street was enough for me to climb upstairs. The name of the place is Eve House, it is not expansive but the boys are not as friendly as in Bonny and will ask upfont for a minimum 1000 THB tip for a "special message". However Kai, a 19 y/o from Khon Kaen was quite good except that he did not want to kiss on the lips. He knew how to press on the right buttons and I thought it was a nice way to leave Thailand ...

(to be continued)