The storm before the calm

What to do on a last night after a great massage in Home Spa ? I chose to go once again to Silom area, if only for immersing myself in the vibrant atmosphere ... so different from living in a small village !

After another meal in Foodlands (no atmosphere but good and cheap food), I suddenly thought of going to Silom soi 4, a place that I did not really take the time to visit before except for a casual beer in Telephone or Balcony. I obviously had forgotten to do my homework before my trip, as I rediscovered a lively street with a lot of interesting venues ; truth to be said, I had always regarded this soi as a place for gay couples or nosey tourists and had not fully realised that a lot more could now be found there after Soi Twilight closure.

Silom Soi 4

Lured by a persuasive waiter, I parked myself in Welcome Bar, next door to Telephone Bar but much quieter due to its location further into the soi ; I invited the (cambodian) waiter for a drink and was told that the boys here could be taken off. Going back to BTS station, I thought that soi 4 could usefully replace soi Twilight as place to begin an evening, with all the restaurants and open-air bars which dot the alley, not forgetting the Nakhara massage shop where the boys are steadily good-looking.

Last minute shopping, web checking-in for my flight (which saves a lot of time at the airport, wonder why so few people use it), withdrawing money in order to have at least 10,000 bahts for my next trip ... this is now the last day routine which I am used to. At 21,30 it was time to leave my beloved hotel and going back home ; the long flight should act like a decompression chamber before coming back to everyday life.

Last treats in Bangkok

Coming back from Pattaya at noon, I had only thirty-three hours left before leaving my hotel room for the airport ... making the best of the little time available was an obvious necessity. As soon as I had unpacked, I quickly proceeded to the Sutthisan massage shops for a third visit.

K Way gay massage ... how dare they !

These three shops are clustered along Sutthisan, about 1 km from the Saphan Khwai intersection (walking is not pleasant because of uneven sidewalks and heavy traffic) ; the shop frontages are difficult to spot as they are very discreet and their name is sometimes not written or only in thai : City Spa, Inthara Spa and Home Spa in that order when coming from Saphan Kwai. They have the same owner, who has just bought a fourth place (former Vanda Spa) which he has very boldly named K-Why (only thai language on the window) ! I hope that the local police will be lenient enough !

Similar to the first two times, I went to Home Spa but this time I was shown a tablet with pictures of the boys ; on my former visits they just opened a venetian blind for me to choose among more than 20 boys. I had already made a short list of the guys I wanted with their name, and the short list was long enough to get one of the chosen lads .. easier at 4 pm than two hours later I guess.

These shops do not always get good reviews on the Thai Massage website : their Line accounts show very promising boys, some of them videoed during sexy training sessions, or even in full hard action ... So expectations from the customers are great and many complain that the boy they had chosen was not available, or that the service was not satisfying.

Korn (from Line account)

I could have complained too : my first boy (on my first day in Bangkok) did a good massage but was not interested into further action, but at least he had been OK for cuddling and hugging ; the second one did not even accept close contact fearing getting dirty from the oil he had generously smeared over my body ! But his body was so perfect that I still have a good memory of him ; he had worked in the buff from the beginning, seemingly in compliance with the shop policy.

This third boy fully made up for the former ones. Korn, a 19 years old Thai Yai massaged me strongly enough until he began to work my back sitting naked on my butt. This is a situation when I am sorry to tell I usually lose completely my mind, and he responded with great talent. Of course he was duly rewarded and I will for sure go again with him if by chance he is still there next time - a very unlikely possibility as there seems to be a high turn-over among the boys in these shops.

I was smiling all the way back to my hotel despite this evening being the last one for this trip.

Pattaya routine ... I like !

As soon as I arrived in Pattaya, I found myself embracing the daily routine : lazying two hours at the hotel roofpool, then having a nice 150 THB all-you-can-eat breakfeast at Apex Hotel (Mike Shopping Mall area) followed by sitting for 4/5 hours at Dong Tan beach : as a mountain boy I am never tired of gazing at the sea view. Coming back to my room, I would usually do some shopping or read magazines on my phone.

Another day in Pattaya

Only from 6,00 pm would the sechedule vary a little, with visits to different restaurants depending on the mood of the day : alone, I prefer to go to Kiss Restaurant or Salt and Pepper where lonely farangs are the norm, while I would treat my boy du jour to Oh-Aharn ; there I was surprised to find empty seats much more easily than before, even at peak hour.

In the evening, we are still spoilt for choice in Pattaya from massage shops to open-air bars and gogo-shows, but I did not visit a lot. I gave a second chance to Nice Boys but to no avail, and I just realise now that I did not enter any Boyztown bar, doing little more than a quick stroll in the area. I gave Sunee Plaza a short visit, as I had been lured into an almost desert The One Bar by a nice face - who disappeared as soon as I sat down ! Finally Jomtian Complex was once again the place to be, with BC Bar and @Home being the most welcoming. Some more remote places could give interesting results with some luck and some patience, like the new Akha Bar which just opened between Zing and Agate hotels ; a pity the boys there seemed more interested in chatting together than welcoming cuistomers, so that I will never know if they really are hilltribe Akha boys - not that it would matter !

I had two great massages in 41 Massage (former Somjit, near Tuk.Com) with very handsome young guys from Nong Khai ... nice experiences which make me more and more attracted to massage shops for meeting boys, especially as the queue system is now mostly a thing of the past. Compared with the bars, massage shops avoid all the trouble with drinks, mamasan, off, sleeping with a complete stranger and so on, and there are a lot of gems to be found.

Labanoon concert

Finally, I made my yearly pilgrimage to The Venue for their show, as well-done as ever. And above all I had the pleasure to make a dream come true : attending a live Labanoon concert. I am a fan of this group from southern Thailand and love their music more than any other thai artist (look thung artists apart). They came to Pattaya for Loy Krathong and I did not miss the chance, along with a cambodian boy who is a fan too. Despite a long wait, a huge crowd (99 % thai) took part and a great time was had by all.

Now back to Bangkok for two days (and one night !) before the unavoidable flight back home, where the daily routine will be MUCH more boring than in Pattaya !

Sexcapade

We had been friends on Facebook since at least two years, and his account was even deleted because of too daring pictures ... Noy (name withheld) is a 20 y/o local boy and lives with his family near the cambodian border in Chanthaburi province.

Boy in Chanthaburi

I had planned to see him in his province and he was OK for a meeting. Due to my health problem, I had cancelled the date but finally decided to go and see him on another day, as he was available anytime. Sure I wondered whether it was really worthwhile to spend so much time in a bus for so little time in a bed, but going to the provinces always provides good times and much stronger memories than another day in Bangkok or Pattaya.

So after a 4 hours bus trip, I arrived in Chanthaburi where I had reserved a room in KP Grand Hotel, the highest building in town with all the amenities for only 900 THB. Location was the closest I could find to Robinson Department Store, which like Tuk.com in Pattaya is the favorite meeting place in Chanthaburi. Noy had not forgotten the appointment but of course we met only at 16.20 for an appointment at 15.00 ... never mind, on this Sunday afternoon, the constant flow of brown-skinned local boys provided a lot of eye candy while waiting.

After a light meal, we headed straight to the hotel as it was clear I wanted to know him more. His boy-next-door face and boyish attitude did not disappoint and I was already drooling over his body in the lift. Unfortunately he was much shier in the room than when posting pictures on Facebook and sex was only so-so. Which did not prevent me to give a nice tip and a small gift for his birthday, as promised some days before. He left in the early evening and I reluctantly let him go back home : 60 km on a motorbike under a steady rain was not really the wisest thing to do but he could not spend the night with me (or did not want to).

Was I disappointed ? Not at all, I had been craving for this boy since our first chat and I enjoyed both the company and the sight. And I liked the trip to Chanthaburi, which is really a nice town, and one of the most underrated provinces in Thailand.

Being alone again after he left, I treated myself to a nice meal in an almost desert restaurant room and tried the local speciality : kaeng muu chamuang (a curry of pork with chamuang leaves) ... aroy ! . And before going back to Bangkok, I did not miss a visit to the old town and to the Cathedral where I could bless Our Lady for the good news I had just got about my mother's health. 

Old Chanthaburi town

New and old gay Bangkok

After seven days in Pattaya (instead of scheduled two days), I finally came back to Bangkok for a short stay in Saphan Kwai, my home away from home. These round trips are a waste of time for sure but I do not feel like staying in one place for more than a week, especially in Pattaya where I am quickly done with daily routine and too many foreigners.

Soi Twilight being now closed, I feel less attracted to the Silom area than before, when I used to sit at Dick's Cafe watching the people pass by and glancing at the nearby massage shops. Eating at Foodland is however a good excuse to go there more than once, if only to roam the sois and the streets where I had felt such strong emotions when discovering my first gay bars 23 years ago.

I staid mostly in Patphong and paid a visit to Lucky Boys which got good reviews on the webboards, but was not impressed by the staff .. As for open air bars, I could only imagine how nice it would be to have some of the current ground level bars in Phatphong 2 being turned into boys bars : sitting around a circular counter sipping a beer or three and looking at boys is exactly my idea of beginning a nice evening before possibly taking a lad off for more intimate activities. Many girl bars have this layout in Pattaya or Bangkok, but I cannot remember any boy bar arranged like this.

Less time in Silom means more time to go elsewhere, so I had the opportunity to visit the few remaining bars in Saphan Khwai. As already said, Adam and Heaven are now closed and their location is now being renovated for whatever purpose. In U-Turn, they honestly said they had no boys (it was on a week day, so I guess they have some on Fridays and Saturdays). In Street Boy, you have to open a bottle so individual visitors are clearly not welcomed. D-Door was more friendly but the boys were already busy with regular customers.

Stax Bar in Saphan Kwai

Finally my choice for the best bar in Saphan Kwai would be Stax, without any hesitation :attentive and welcoming staff, large premises with an overall nice atmosphere. I had a long chat with one of the staff (31 y/o but looking ten years less, from Tak) who explained me that his bar was very lively especially after 10,00 until late in the night. Customers invite boys to drink spirits at their table and, if not taken off, the guys get an usual 100/200 baht tip - which seems a little bit low if you ask me. The boys do not come before 22.00, and I actually could see - on a week day - a bunch of five nice hilltribe lads descending on the place at about 21,45.

If you can speak some thai, Saphan Kwai at large has a lot more to offer and to explore, mostly massage places of which I will tell more later. I am sorry I had not the stamina to investigate further : for example, I have yet to explore this "Khithung" bar in Soi 21 which I saw only during daytime and is still listed as a "gay pub" on the Thailand Gay Guide website.